Tag Archives: LifeWay

Mission: Show Jesus Through Word & Action

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The final part of a series of posts from the book “Transformational Church.”

The third transformational loop described by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer is labeled Engage. It contains three elements, the third of which is Mission: Show Jesus Through Word and Action.

Good news and accompanying good deeds are like the two wings of an airplane. Each is incomplete without the other. Each complements the other. Each gives “lift” to the other. To study the life and ministry of Jesus is to study a tapestry woven of good news and good deeds.

Transformational churches create environments to present the gospel of Jesus Christ. They train, model, and create platforms to invite people to cross the line of faith and follow Jesus.

Transformational churches have found a way for the convergence of value and activities to result in something specific – transformed lives.

Transformational churches engage people in ministry within the church and mission outside the church.

Transformational Churches seem to have a greater number of people who share their faith out of the overflow of the rest of their Christian experience.

To live as a missionary is to live and work among the people.

Engaging Fully in the Mission

  • Define success
  • Prepare
  • Provide personal leadership to believers

To be transformational, a church must constantly commission their people into service for the city to display and tell the gospel

The mission of God does not progress unless people are talking about God’s mission to save.

Transformational churches multiply vibrant missionaries for the harvest.

In a Transformational Church the influence is on moving people from new to the mission to active on mission to leader in the mission.

Mission is the opposite of self

The excerpts above are from the book “Transformational Church” by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer. TC is the result of a comprehensive study of thousands of churches where truly changing lives is the standard set for ministry.

The principles in Transformational Churches are powerful. If you want to “transform” your church, this is a great guide for the journey.

Previous posts in the series include:

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Community: Connect with People

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Part 7 of a series on the book “Transformational Church“

The third transformational loop described by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer is labeled Engage. It contains three elements, the second of which is Community: Connect with People.

The church must have a process (organic and/or systematized) by which believers are connected to one another and growing in Christ. Today’s church needs to experience a methodological regression to the early church of Acts 2.

The point of this transformational practice is that believers join their lives for the purpose of maturing in the faith and engaging in God’s mission.

Values That Support Small Groups

  • A smaller number of people provides a greater opportunity for personal discovery
  • Smaller communities are just that…communities
  • Small groups are the best way to genuine life change through the local church

Five Myths About Smaller Communities

  • Your current small group configuration is permanent
  • Small group meeting locations are limited to church facilities or member homes
  • Your facilitator must be a highly trained spiritual superstar
  • Small group organization must be complex
  • Only pastors are qualified to administer pastoral care

The Five Deliverables of Smaller Communities

  • Smaller communities deliver deeper friendships
  • Smaller communities deliver accountability relationships
  • Smaller communities deliver environments for spiritual growth
  • Smaller communities deliver maximum participation
  • Smaller communities deliver missional opportunities

Five Obstacles Facing Transformational Church Smaller Communities

  • Transference of information is valued much more than life transformation
  • Teaching is valued more than learning
  • When they become a reflection of past practices
  • Segmentation of the mission of God
  • Lack of intimacy

Five Elements of a Transformational Church Small Group Environment

  • Missions orientation
  • Word-driven mentality
  • Multiplication mindset
  • Stranger welcoming
  • Kingdom focused

Living in community creates a “safe zone” where unbelievers feel comfortable asking hard questions and believers feel comfortable finding the encouragement they need for growing in the faith.

The excerpts above are from the book “Transformational Church” by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer. TC is the result of a comprehensive study of thousands of churches where truly changing lives is the standard set for ministry.

Next: Engage – Mission: Show Jesus Through Word and Action

Previous posts in this series include:

Worship: Actively Embrace Jesus

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Part 6 of a series on the book “Transformational Church“

The third transformational loop described by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer is labeled Engage. It contains three elements, the first of which is Worship – Actively Embrace Jesus.

Reasons for corporate gatherings:

  • God is glorified when Christians gather together to worship Him
  • People will look over our shoulders to the God of our experience
  • Worship provides a defense for the faith that is not man-made but is God authored and supernatural

What Happens When We Gather?

  • How many encountered the transforming presence of God through worship?
  • Are we creating consumers of religious goods and services or making disciples?
  • When people attend worship, are they simply observing a show or being transformed by God?
  • The Transformational Church plans on seeing people drawn in before God’s presence, experience His power, and be transformed by His grace

Worship serves to connect us with Christ and equip us for ministry. Little of substance will be done in the name of a God we have never experienced. True worship allows us to experience God at a deeper level. When you experience God on a deeper level, personal and corporate mission will always follow.

Real worship will transform the worshipper. Transformed worshippers will change the world.

Worship Pleasing to God 

  • Transformational Churches find a way for people to avoid the debates about place, style, and method. They focus on maximum participation in worship.
  • Passive worshippers usually live passive Christian lives
  • Transformational Churches actively engage people in worship and are led by worship leaders who value participation over performance

The Purpose of Worship

  • In corporate gatherings, we are not called to lead worship but to lead people into the presence of God
  • Worship is a spiritual discipline that communicates a biblical meaning in a cultural form
  • Worship from your unity and choose music out of your mission
  • How can worship be planned to lead people in this time and place to worship an eternal God?
  • How can our worship be planned so people can focus on God and give Him praise, glory, and honor?
  • Worship is to be understood by those in need of transformation

Address Tough Worship Questions Together

  • Ask the Lord
  • Involve people
  • Study Scripture
  • Die to self
  • Avoid “truces”
  • Ask new questions
  • Focus on revelation
  • Design new scorecards 

When lives have been reformed by the presence and power of God, then your worship is working.

The excerpts above are from the book “Transformational Church” by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer. TC is the result of a comprehensive study of thousands of churches where truly changing lives is the standard set for ministry.

Next: Engage – Community: Connect People with People

 

Previous posts in the series include:

Prayerful Dependence

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Part 5 of a series on the book “Transformational Church“

The second transformational loop described by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer is labeled Embrace. It contains three elements; the first two have been covered in previous posts here and here. Today, a look at Prayerful Dependence.

Prayer is our link to receive understanding from God about His church and move forward in obedience to His mission.

Prayer is done with expectancy rather than out of repetitive behavior

Strategies, excellence, methods, or even commitment cannot substitute for humble dependence on God

Prayer Priorities of Christ

  • The proper use of His house
  • The accessibility of “all people” to a relationship with Him
  • The response to His praying people

Transformational Prayer Practices

  • Praying churches experience breakthroughs
  • Praying churches have praying leaders
  • Praying churches commonly experience answers to prayer
  • Praying churches pray for members by name
  • Praying churches have systems and processes
  • Praying churches have corporate prayer
  • Praying churches engage their communities through prayer
  • Praying churches have praying events 

Prayer is the engine of Transformational Churches.

The excerpts above are from the book “Transformational Church” by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer. Transformational Church is the result of a comprehensive study of thousands of churches where truly changing lives is the standard set for ministry.

Next: Engage – Worship: Actively Embrace Jesus

Previous posts in the series:

Relational Intentionality

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Part 4 of a series on the book “Transformational Church“

The second transformational loop described by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer is labeled Engage. It contains three elements, the first of which, Vibrant Leadership, was covered here. Today, a look at Relational Intentionality.

A relational approach to reaching and developing people is woven throughout every ministry and practice. Relationships are the substance of the church culture.

We Are a Friendly Church

  • Transformational Churches intentionally build platforms to create relationships
  • The purpose of relationships in the Transformational Church is to see lives changed through the power of Christ

The Look of a Relationally Intentional Environment

What are the challenges within your church environment to cultivate relationships, and how can you address them?

What are the challenges in your church environment to intentionality, and how can you address them?

  • Produce family
  • Practice one-on-one relationships
  • Provide space for difficult people

Every member must be willing to minister because when God really moves, broken and hurting people show up. The outcast and marginalized need the compassion of Christ.

Systems and processes are present and must be aligned

  • A system is an environment, a way of doing things, providing the “how”
  • A process is a path with a purpose, a destination, providing the “where”

God’s delivery system for the gospel is relationships with people who have met Him

The excerpts above are from the book “Transformational Church” by Ed Stetzer and Thom Rainer. TC is the result of a comprehensive study of thousands of churches where truly changing lives is the standard set for ministry.

Other posts in the series:

Next: Embrace – Prayerful Dependence

Watching the Scoreboard

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Last night I was watching preseason Sunday Night Football – maybe not quite the real thing (the Panthers played their starters for the first half only; ditto with the Jets), but to the teams playing, it’s real enough. They’re out there to play well, help their team score, and be ahead at the end of the game.

Couldn’t you say some of the same things about the church?

Congregations have long measured success by “bodies, budgets, and buildings” – a record of attendance, the offering plate, and the square footage of facilities. But for growing, healthy churches, the scoreboard can’t stop there.

Maybe it’s time for a new scoreboard – one that reflects transformation, not just information.

LifeWay CEO Thom Rainer and LifeWay Research president Ed Stetzer led one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind to understand what sets “transformational churches” apart from others. In their book “Transformational Church“, they take us to the thriving congregations where truly changing lives is the standard.

As a part of my responsibilities with Auxano, I am working with LifeWay and their Church Partners network. Transformational Church has been an integral part of their work for the last two years, so I thought it appropriate to take a deeper look into the material.

After distilling down their research, Rainer and Stetzer found three principles that were common to transformational churches. These principles transformed people to look like Christ, congregations to act like the body of Christ, and communities to reflect the kingdom of God.

In the first of a multi-part post on the book, here is a brief overview:

Discern

Missionary Mentality – church understands the community and will minister in contextually appropriate ways to reach local people with the gospel

Embrace

Vibrant Leadership – leaders showing passion for God, His mission, and its transforming power on people

Relational Intentionality – deliberately connect with one another; accountability, encouragement, long-term relationships

Prayerful Dependence – natural disposition of communicating with God about the hope for transformation; dependence on prayer rather than a program for prayer

Engage

Worship – expectancy; knew something great was going to happen; trusted God to deliver transformation rather than the musicians to deliver a good show

Community – activity of joining lives together through ministry systems

Mission – God’s mission to make disciples of Christ and to engage the world as Jesus calls; understand disciplemaking as the normal sate of the Christian’s life

Stetzer and Rainer develop these three categories of transformation as a loop that can be entered at any point.

 Principles of the Loop

  1. Connecting to the loop – all three categories and seven elements are necessary parts for a transformational ministry, but churches can begin anywhere.
  2. Cathartic Experience – the change to a transformational mindset begins with a moment of decision that is beneficial and liberating.
  3. Convergence of Elements – churches with transformational disciplemaking allow for a free convergence of all the elements.

Tomorrow: Discern

The Gospel Project

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As a lifelong learner, one of the most exciting developments announced at the SBC this week was The Gospel Project, LifeWay’s first new Bible study series for adults, students, and children in more than 10 years.

The Gospel Project (TGP) is a three-year, in-depth study that launches this fall. Over 12,000 churches have already participated in a pilot project this spring, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.

TGP draws its focus from The Baptist Faith and Message, where the last sentence of the Scripture section states: “All Scripture is a testimony to Christ who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.”

Trevin Wax, managing editor of TGP said “The main emphasis is Jesus Christ, who He is, and what He has done for us. It’s centered on how all of the Bible tells us this one over-arching story of redemption about what God has done to save us through the work of Jesus Christ.”

For more information about The Gospel Project, go to GospelProject.com.

To see the video announcing The Gospel Project, click here.

30 Years Ago…

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30 years ago this week I was just finishing up the first year of my master’s program at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. I was also employed by SBTS as an audiovisual technician, and I was working the convention in two roles: running the multimedia program for the Seminary’s alumni luncheon, and serving as a photographer for the Seminary’s new President, Roy Honeycutt, who had just been named the Seminary’s 8th president.

I was also a part-time staff member of one of the largest SBC churches in the state, serving as Minister of Media for Highview Baptist Church in Louisville. The pastor did a live radio show every afternoon during drive time, and using that connection, I was able to do live radio news reports throughout the convention.

1982 was still the “early years” of the controversy in SBC life, so there was a lot going on at the convention. I love history but am not a historian; I wrestle with theology but am not a theologian. This post is not about what happened in SBC life during the early 80’s – history records it.

This is about today.

I am in New Orleans this week, once again attending the Southern Baptist Convention. A lot has happened in 30 years…

This time around, I am attending the SBC Pastor’s Conference and the Convention as an Auxano team member. My role at Auxano includes that of convention manager, coordinating our team at convention events. I will also be working in the Exhibit Hall area, in the LifeWay exhibit where Auxano has a white board conversation space.

Last night I served as host of the Green Room for the Pastor’s Conference. The Green Room is like a speaker’s lounge, where the speakers and family can relax before and after an event. As it was father’s day, the opening lineup consisted of father and son teams: Bailey Smith and J. Josh Smith; Don Wilton and Rob Wilton; Ronnie Floyd and Nick Floyd; and Tony Evans and Anthony Evans. It was great meeting these men, and since several of them were Auxano clients, we caught up on where they’ve been – and where they’re headed next. Exciting stuff!

I will be Tweeting as time allows (@auxano) and also trying to make notes for later reflection. I would love to hear any comments you might have about the SBC, the past 30 years, and where you are today.