When people think of church, they usually think of the place where you sit, listen, and sing on a Sunday morning, but church was intended to be much more. Church can be a lonely place if you never get past the crowd. You need relationships with other Christians you can invest in and be supported by. You need people to pray for and who will pray for you. You need a place where you can experience the family of God, not just a meeting with God. Small groups, or what we call life groups, are where those things happen.
Brian McLaren says, “The kingdom of God is not a ticket to heaven but a call to transform this world through love and justice.” Have we got it wrong? Are Christians too preoccupied with the life to come? If we stop talking about heaven will that make us more useful here on earth? The Bible presents an interesting balance.
Did Jesus eat meat? Exploring His diet reveals key insights into His mission, cultural practices, and how food fosters fellowship.
The Book of Acts reads like a novel. There’s drama, intrigue, death plots, and shipwrecks. The ending is disappointing though, right? As the book ends, Paul is under house arrest, awaiting a verdict from the emperor regarding false charges. But there’s no resolution. Not only is there no happily ever after but there isn’t even a conclusion to Paul’s story. Have you ever considered why?
[Please note: Due to technical difficulties, a video could not be recorded again this week.]
Christians love the Parable of the Prodigal Son. And why wouldn’t we? There’s drama, loss, family tension, crisis, and reconciliation – all the ingredients of a great story! While it’s one that we love, there are lessons that we seem to keep missing when we read it. Jesus’ parable wasn’t just told as a beautiful illustration of the gospel. It was told in response to the grumbling of the religious elite over his eating and drinking with sinners (Luke 15:1-2). There are 3 lessons we can’t afford to miss.
People like William Carey and Hudson Taylor get mentioned so often in conversations about missions that you could get the impression that the spread of Christianity is just the story of European evangelistic exploits. That certainly isn’t the case. Today, Christianity is thriving in Africa while it is struggling to survive in many parts of Europe. And now there are more missionaries being sent out from South Korea, Brazil, and Nigeria than any country in Europe. I’ve been reading a book called Clouds of Witnesses that chronicles the contributions of African and Asian Christians to the church. Because Grace Baptist has been so blessed by the testimony and ministry of Zimbabweans over the years, I was intrigued to learn about Bernard Mizeki, one of the first missionaries to bring the Gospel to that nation.
In Luke 9:25, Jesus asked, “What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” He was saying that you can get everything you want but lose yourself along the way. You can do whatever you want, but you might not like the person you become in the process. More importantly, you’re not the only one who will evaluate how you spend your life. The Bible says that “each of us will give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). Matt Perman suggests three principles for charting a life course that is both satisfying and meaningful.
On Saturday, I attended the Wonder Worship Conference along with seven members of our worship ministry. For me, it was an opportunity to reflect on what God is doing in this area of the church. This week, I’d like to look at some of the lessons people should learn from the contemporary worship movement. Next week, I’ll address some of the lessons I feel people should learn from what I’ll call the traditional worship stream. My hope is that as people on both sides of this discussion are able to listen to each other in light of Scripture, our preferences will give way to greater unity in how we approach this topic. So, let’s start with what you should learn from the contemporary worship movement even if you don’t like guitars and drums.
Our life groups at Grace are a place where people can get to know others and be known by them. They’re small enough for discussion, prayer and encouragement. But our vision for the groups is to look for opportunities for neighbourhood-sized mission projects. Who can we serve in Jesus’ name? How can we reach out to people around us? How can we make Jesus known? They’re not easy questions to answer but they’re important ones to deal with if we’re going to be faithful to Jesus’ commission. Back in January, I contacted one of our missionaries, Darryl Dash, and asked if there were any ways that our life group might serve with them. That call led to our involvement in the Toronto Art Crawl in Liberty Village last Saturday. Let me share what I observed.
On Sunday, we were away in Brampton serving at Bramalea Baptist’s missions conference. I preached and Jennifer sang in their morning services and Jennifer sang again in the evening at their short-term mission fundraising event. The reason for our involvement was their Japan focus. Specifically, they’re sending two teams to Japan to serve in two cities with which I have a deep connection. The first, Toyama, was the place where I was baptized and served initially teaching English as a new believer and recent university graduate. The second, Tsukuba, was where Jennifer and I served to plant a church. It’s exciting to see God continuing to raise up people to support the work of the gospel in these two cities.
There were three take-aways for me from the day of ministry.
