Comments on: What Does the Future Hold for This Church?

By: Katie

Katie — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:37:12 +0000

I think I’ll just say this: I go to a missions church (www.wotc.org) we don’t have lots of technical savvy or a big stage. Our buildings a little run down and we don’t have tvs and pricey coffee. Our preacher just loves the Lord and tries to follow His Will and it shows. All that is taught there is the Word from the Bible. No censors. No judgements but the Truth is told.

There have been those that have come and left because they don’t like the Truth. And those that stay because they know what it means. I have been to Big business like churches and smaller nondenominational churches and it is nice to have Sunday Schools and lots of extras but to me church is about the preaching…not about the outside. And I’ve been to the old school churches…they are not for me but the truth is. I think sometimes simpler is better. But that’s just my little opinion.

By: Don

Don — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 03:45:00 +0000

Wow! Can’t you see the humor in this?

This church is using irony to promote its distinctive – it’s preaching the Gospel. It’s the good news about God’s work through Jesus that saves;

not cool music,
not ear-splitting music indistinguishable from MTV,
not great bands,
not even wonderful music artists,
not seeker-friendly Starbuck cofee served in the church ‘lounge’,
not multi-media latest techno-gizmo’s,
not smoke machines,
not strobe lights,
not websites,
not twitter,
not facebook,
not linkedin,
not even hip preachers,

- well you get the idea.

This church promises the Word of God – does anything else win souls? Don’t all these ‘contemporary gimicks’ confuse the lost, hide the message and crowd out the Spirit? The “Old Time Religion”? – About 200 years old, I reckon.

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 01:19:03 +0000

Paul used contemporary language, language that the masses knew. He worked in cultural references and made things applicable.

If the church rules out contemporary “things” just becasue they are contemporary, as long as they focus more on doing what they do, rather than being anti contemporary, they will thrive and reach people.

Not everyone wants to hear drums, electric instruments or any instruments. Some do. As long as the gospel is true and given the way it should be, who cares if its connected to an amp?

By: Patrick

Patrick — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 17:47:30 +0000

Wow, I think Mike’s comment (5th above) is right on. I’m 22 years old and a musician, so if we can get together as a body and exalt Jesus with an awesome contemporary band and maybe even some lasers, I’m all for it! But if the concern is about being a “culturally relevant” church, rather than a gospel-heralding missional one, something’s not right. Why ditch the biblical model of church for a business model of church? No matter what you do, the gospel will still be the stench of death to some. Our hope is found in the wrath-absorbing, blood-splattered cross, and that is the only thing worth clinging to.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 20:03:41 +0000

I don’t remember the poster in the youth room exactly but in essence it says, preach the Gospel and if necessary use words. If we live the gospel, people will come.

By: Chimneyphish

Chimneyphish — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 00:24:33 +0000

If God desires this church to last, it will. If not, it won’t. Simple as that. Bottom line, it’s not the building, the pastors, the style of worship or anything else. It’s about Jesus. If this church holds true to God’s word and spreads the love of Jesus and the Gospel, it will endure.

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 23:05:00 +0000

One more comment stimulated by my son’s blog…
***
Perhaps another significant question would be, if the shepherds came to find the redeemer in our church would we welcome them or would we all move to the other side of the auditorium to escape the smell…???

By: Leon

Leon — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 22:57:17 +0000

This sign like most of the others advertise a product, whether the good quality of the handmade traditional ways or the excitement of the high tech.

The answer to whether any church will survive centers on their commitment to missional living. One of the best summaries of missional living reads in Matthew 4:23, “Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.”

This is the Christmas message pure and simple. It is not about getting people into the church, it is about getting us out of the church. – Leon Hill

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:18:15 +0000

I don’t think the apostles fretted over whether they were relevant or contemporary or (fill in the blank) in order to reach certain demographics.

They focused on prayer, the word and preaching the Gospel.

I’m not against guitars/drums/etc. (“contemporary”) in worship, but if the reason you’re using it is to reach the lost and/or bring in the youth, then you have forfeited the right to be a church. We are supposed to preach Christ crucified, not win them to our side with our ‘cool’ music and ‘cool’ look, then hope they join our ‘Jesus’ team.

It is the Gospel that saves, not how contemporary your services are.

By: Rich

Rich — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 07:34:49 +0000

The sign has a liking to those old motel signs that advertised ‘free cable tv’. If the church body is that dull and life-less… no way.