Posts by toowoombacrc (Page 19)
How to share the gospel with a stranger
“Christians talk about the importance of fishing and the abundance of fish, and we tell others to fish—but few actually go out and fish, because we feel we’re no good at it. Here are some practical tips to allow you to be more confident in approaching people to talk to Jesus and put your line in the water.” Read more…
Friends to Christ, Strangers To His Church
“It’s remarkable how often the Bible describes the Christian life as a shared life. We become Christians through a personal commitment to Christ, then immediately bind ourselves in a corporate commitment to Christ’s people. There are so many biblical commands we can fulfil and examples we can imitate only if we are involved in one of these Christian communities we call “church.” The notion we can be friends to Christ but strangers to his church is completely foreign to scripture.”…
Ordinary Christian Work
We care called by God to serve him in ordinary work. “There will be some who are called to full-time church ministry as their vocation. There will be some who will put aside manual labor in order to be trained and tasked as full-time pastors, dependent on the support of others. There will be some who will stop working with their hands to go into the mission field. This is good, and it honours God. But it is not a…
Being “Right” in Relationships
“… Walking to the beach the next day, with a relationship that was a bit chilly, and feeling stuck, a simple truth broke through. One of the beauties of Scripture is that it gives the way of wisdom and makes it available to anyone with ears to hear. Though there is a place for keen insight and sometimes our behaviours deserve careful analysis, simple truths are usually the means of our deliverance. The simple truth was this: Did I love?…
Be a Gospel Neighbour
“Every Christian wants to make a difference. It’s part of our spiritual DNA. We know humanity’s greatest need is salvation, so we long to see our friends respond to the gospel in repentance and faith. But if we’re honest, we admit we struggle here. We know our friends need the Good News, but we have a hard time opening our homes and opening our mouths to make the gospel known. Too often, we’re like a postal carrier who can’t seem…
The Half-Trained Dog
“Over the years we have had a couple of dogs. Like most people, we planned to train our dogs until they were perfectly behaved, until they could go head-to-head with a police dog and perform just as well. For a little while we made good progress. We taught the dog to do its doggie business outdoors instead of indoors—that took only a week or two. We taught the dog to sit, which was simple enough because all we needed to…
Why I Don’t Sit With My Husband at Church
“Every week, men and women wander into our gatherings for the first time, some invited, others of their own accord. Some have recently moved and are seeking community while others haven’t been to church in a while, or ever. Their experience will determine whether they ever come back. For my husband and me, offering hospitality has meant breaking down a common church practice: sitting together as a family.” Read more…
Standing in the Pulpit
“I am of the conviction that we should, as much as we can, have a reason for everything we do as a church. For instance, you should have a reason why your sanctuary is set up the way it is; the position of the pulpit, the communion elements, and the like. Everything symbolises your beliefs, or lack thereof, about something. The obvious example of this is the pulpit. The reason most Protestant churches have their pulpit front and centre…
Awkward is better than Silent
“When we overcome all the fears we face in evangelism — slaying the deadly fear of man, dying to our fears of failure, and inviting people into our churches — there are deeper joys lying on the other side of the awkward conversations we often dread.” Read more..
A Church with Great Music
“I am convinced that the best measure of a church’s music is not what takes place on the stage, but what takes place in the pews. It is not so much the sounds and sights of a band leading, but the sounds and sights of a congregation worshipping.” Read more…