Here is part 1 of an 8-part essay by Dr. Gary Deddo titled “The Christian life and our participation in Christ’s continuing ministry.” It’s a revised and expanded version of chapter seven (written by Gary) in the book An Introduction to Torrance Theology: Discovering the Incarnate Savior, edited by Gerritt Scott Dawson. To read other parts of the essay, click on a number: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. For all 8 parts combined in one article, click here.

Introduction

There has been in recent years in North America a rising emphasis on the nature and obligations of the Christian life, especially within the evangelical branches of the church, whether within mainline denominations, historically evangelical denominations or independent churches. This emphasis in itself is not problematic and could be an indicator of a growing awareness that being Christian requires a living coherence of piety and practice, faith and obedience, private devotion and public witness, personal holiness and social righteousness. In these days when there seems to be a significant moral decline, a call within the Christian church to obedience and faithfulness is understandable. This focus on the Christian life is registered in the vast sales of books like Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life. A hunger for more integrity and depth in the Christian life can also be seen in the ongoing interest in spiritual formation and the accompanying proliferation of books, seminars, and retreats on this theme.

Some in the church see the great social needs of our society and world, especially apparent and magnified by natural disasters and wars. The issue of global justice has grabbed the attention of many in the church who are wrought up over terrorism, war, human trafficking, starvation and the devastating AIDS epidemic especially witnessed in Africa. There is an acute awareness that the Christian Church ought to be more involved in bearing faithful witness to the justice and compassion of God in these situations.

On another front, some long for a transformed and emerging church in which we would find “A New Kind of Christian.” In such churches, Christian witness would attempt to address our postmodern society more by deeds than by words, more by community than individuals. Among the youth we saw a brief and not unrelated revival of concern for faithful Christian living embodied in the motto that was printed on thousands of armbands worn by teenagers and admired by adults: WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?).

In light of the seeming ineffectiveness and apparent irrelevance of the Christian faith in our secularized culture, other voices are calling for the establishment of a missional church. Such a church would be captivated by a vision that saw its very reason for being the engagement of the world though service, evangelism, and outreach. All of what the church is and does would gain its impetus and justification by virtue of its contributing to the missio Dei, the mission of God, to take the gospel to our postmodern culture.

I mention these interests, trends, and themes of our contemporary church not to disparage them. There is a genuine hunger for Christian faithfulness in all of these. There is much to affirm, admire and commend in these movements that no doubt reflect something of the heart of the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have no intention to commend to you yet another emphasis, program, theme or movement as a superior alternative to those just mentioned.

The question of a proper foundation

Taking as my cue the theological vision of the Torrance brothers (Thomas F. Torrance and James B. Torrance), I want to raise a question about the foundations on which these various approaches to the Christian life are built—about the theological foundations that undergird them. Further, I would like to offer a theological foundation for any or every one of these movements. First, so that they might remain faithful to the gospel and its Lord, Jesus Christ. Second, so they do not lead to burnout and disillusionment in the Christian life and ministry.

The theological insight of the Torrances bears witness that if these genuine impulses of the Spirit regarding the Christian life are not properly grounded, if they do not begin with a proper theological starting point, they will be open to subversion, even co-option by alien spirits and sooner or later take their adherents into spiritual exhaustion. As the former student of Thomas F. Torrance, Ray Anderson, has repeatedly stated throughout his 35 years of seminary teaching, “Burnout in the Christian life and ministry is essentially a theological problem.” Unfortunately, but to the glory of God, I can attest to this truth, hidden from me until well into my 20 years of university campus ministry. It turns out that theology, when grasped at its center, is the most practical aspect of the Christian life. It must undergird and direct all other Christian practice: whether prayer or the practice of spiritual disciplines, social justice, racial reconciliation, worship, evangelism, compassion for the poor, church renewal, or the missio Dei, God’s mission. It was not until I had a profound grasp of the Torrances’ theology that I could clearly see this. The Christian life requires a properly grasped theological foundation that directs us to the living source of our Christian work, witness and worship.

The legacy of the Torrance theological vision guards against faulty and false foundations for the Christian life and the worship and witness of the church by grounding the whole of the Christian life in its true source. The life of the church has but one foundation. There is only one thing that makes the Church Christian. That foundation is Jesus Christ. It is not first the faithfulness of Christians or the richness of their experience or the dedication of their service or even the acumen of their theological pronouncements. Theological reflection that honors this foundation takes as its sole starting point the question: Who is Jesus Christ? After addressing that inquiry, and only after, can we take up the secondary theological question: Who are we in relationship to Jesus Christ?

Following that theological trajectory, set out for us by Jesus himself (see Mark 8:27), the Torrance brothers provide the essential answer to who we are in Jesus Christ. They hold forth the reality and actuality of a) our union with the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ and b) our participation or ongoing communion with him in his continuing mediation and ministry for us and on our behalf. James Torrance often referred to these as the twin doctrines of our union with Christ and our participation in the gift of the life of Christ. What the teaching from the Torrance brothers identifies this as the core reality of the Christian life. Union with Christ and communion or participation in Christ are the two foundational realities of the Christian life and should never be separated from each other.

For some, the words that follow in this series of articles may be a welcome review. For others, I trust this word concerning our union with Christ and the Christian life as participation may, God willing, renew your faith, as it did mine years ago.

The reality to which the doctrine of union with Christ points

A case easily can be made from the New Testament that essential to the very meaning of being a follower of Christ was that one is united to Christ. If you asked someone in the early church whether they were followers of Jesus, they might answer, “Yes, I am united to Christ.” Centuries later, this was also true of the magisterial Reformers. Being a Christian meant for each: I am united to Christ.

Now think of how we most often identify ourselves as Christians. Is one of the first things you think of, “Yes, I’m united to Christ”? Or would you begin, “Yes, I made a decision for Christ.” “I follow the teachings of Jesus.” “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” “I attend church regularly.” “I was baptized and confirmed.” “I’m committed to Jesus Christ.” “I am born again.” There’s nothing wrong with these answers in themselves. They contain part of the truth. Notice, however, that they all refer to something we do or have done. The emphasis is on our response and action. But does this get to the root of who we really are as Christians?

By leaving union with Christ unacknowledged, all these other definitions and declarations leave us on a precarious perch. As James Torrance used to say, we can easily be thrown back on ourselves when we concentrate on our response apart from grasping the truth, reality and actuality of our union with Christ. Jesus Christ, when viewed from within an emphasis on our making a response, can appear to be at a great distance from us. The work Christ does can be regarded as largely in the past and relatively external. The grace of God can begin to seem merely as if it provided us with a new potential. We can end up thinking: “By grace God made the Christian life possible by forgiving our sins and giving us a new status of being in right relationship with him. Now all we have to do is appropriate, apply or actualize that new potential life that God has graciously given us.” So we turn with enthusiasm (or perhaps in desperation) to one of those emphases, visions, tasks or goals I noted earlier. We attempt by our efforts to make the Christian life practical, relevant, and vital. That is how I went about my Christian life for many years—as if God in Christ had given me a potentially new life. It was up to me to make it real and actual.

What I have often observed in the Christian church is that whether conservative or liberal, traditional or contemporary, emergent or megachurch, Christians basically live as if saved by grace but sanctified by works. We depend on our own efforts, choices, accomplishments or zeal. Grace is where we start the Christian life, but often we somehow end up “thrown back upon our own resources” and feeling under a great burden. Then we become first unimpressed, then perhaps depressed, and finally even coldly cynical about the whole Christian life itself. A great part of the problem is that we often have not grasped and we often have not been taught, either in our churches or in our seminaries, about the full extent of the grace of God extended to us in Jesus Christ. We have failed to hear what union with Christ means and of our participation in the continuing mediatorial ministry of Christ.

Following is an essay from Dr. Gary Deddo titled “What Christian Revelation Understands About Reality and Relationships (that secular culture does not).”

It’s easy to under-appreciate what God has revealed to humanity—a revelation that began with Israel and came to fullness and consummation in the self-revelation and self-giving of God in Jesus Christ. That revelation, which is preserved for us in the Bible, is centered on the person and work of Jesus. It’s a revelation not merely about religion, morality, or even God and salvation, but about the very nature of reality itself—a reality grounded in God’s nature, purposes, mind, heart and relationship with creation, along with the nature of humanity and humanity’s relationship with God, one another, and all creation.

Foundational realities

Like the letters of the alphabet, we tend to assume, even overlook the basics of what God has revealed. So it’s good to examine those basics in detail from time to time. To help us do so, I’ve compiled below a list of what I consider to be the foundational realities of God’s revelation. All have Jesus at the center, for he is the Logos (the “Word”) meaning rationality and intelligibility (John 1:1-5), the source of all “wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3). Here is the list:

• There is a God.
• This God is knowable by human beings because this God is capable of revealing himself, of making himself known, to human beings in a definitive, actual and real way.
• This God is the creator of everything that is other than God.
• This God is good and all that this God does is good.
• This God interacts with the creation he has made.
• This God is the source of life and existence. Nothing would exist and nothing would have life if God did not give and sustain its life and existence.
• All things God created have been given a purpose, a meaning, and that purpose/meaning is good.
• Created things have natures, that is, a design, form or shape. Those natures cohere with the purpose assigned by God to those created things.
• God created a vast range of kinds of things with differing natures. The multiplicity and distinct differences of the nature of things are essential to the goodness of those things and to God’s purposes for them.
• The creation, with its multiplicity of kinds of things with their distinct natures, were created to interact with each other in harmonious and fruitful ways that maintain and lead to abundant life. Such harmonious relationships among the variety of created things with their respective natures, involve a kind of synergy that is productive.
• Created things are given appropriate creaturely freedom. The freedom of creaturely things is to express their nature fully so that it reaches their purpose for being created.
• Human beings are one of those “things” that God created for a good purpose. That God-given good purpose corresponds to the kind of nature with which human beings are created.
• The freedom of a human being is to live out its God-given purpose according to its God-given nature.
• Essential to the ultimate purpose and nature of a human being is to be in relationship with God. Without that relationship, human being would have no being and would not and could not realize its purpose.
• Human beings then are not autonomous beings—they have their being by being in relationship to God, first by virtue of being created and sustained in existence, and second as the redeemed creatures of God.
• God is Lord and Savior of all humanity.
• Human beings, created to live in a worship relationship with God, their Creator and Redeemer, are beings who are becoming—living towards their ultimate purpose in relationship to God. No human being is yet fully who God intends them to be.
• Human beings live in a dynamic history of relationship to God that has a destiny, a designated good and a glorious endpoint (telos). In and through that relationship, they become who God intends them to be in relationship, first to himself.
• That relationship with God is rightly characterized as one of love in fellowship (communion).
• But that love has a distinct form, shape and meaning. Its clearest, most concrete demonstration and definition is expressed in the person and actions of Jesus Christ. That relationship is most comprehensively understood as a relationship of worship.
• This worship relationship can be further characterized as a relationship of holy love. A particular Greek word used in the New Testament to refer to God’s kind of love as embodied in Jesus Christ is agape. That word is to be distinguished from other forms of love indicated by the Greek words eros and philia. In the Old Testament, agape is expressed by the words aheb and hesed, meaning covenant love. This covenant love was fulfilled in Jesus Christ.
• God’s good, harmonious, fruitful and life-giving creation became fallen and corrupted from its earliest days. As a result, every relationship within all creation is now distorted, broken and diseased to some degree. All relationships, at every level, are in need of a repair, reconciliation and regeneration in their very natures that only God the Creator can provide.
• God pledged himself from the beginning to make all things right and to regenerate all creation, thereby restoring everything to right relationship and bringing about a renewed harmony and life-giving productiveness to it. God’s promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our Reconciler and Redeemer.
• Evidences of Christ’s finished work can be found in this “present evil age” by the working of the Holy Spirit. Though that work is the first fruit, down payment, pledge, guarantee and seal of “the age to come,” the full and glorious effects of Christ’s work will not be consummated until he returns, bringing his kingdom in fullness and establishing a fully renewed heaven and earth in right relationship with God.
• Because creation is fallen, we cannot know with clarity or certainty who God is or what his ultimate purposes for his creation are by surveying creation.
• We humans, in all our capacities (including our moral judgments and reason) are fallen and thus naturally distrustful of God, further preventing us from truly and accurately knowing God and his will for us. Such knowledge comes to us only by the grace of God’s self-revelation in Jesus Christ, the Living Word of God.

Implications

Because our increasingly secular world tends to ignore or even deny these foundational realities, it’s important that we, as followers of Jesus, examine their Christ-centered implications carefully. To that end I offer below thoughts about the foundational realities that are related to a Christian understanding of humanity (a theological anthropology). These thoughts move from reflecting on the nature of humanity in general to focus more particularly on God’s purposes for human sexuality (including gender distinctions) and the related topics of marriage and parenting.

– Created for worship and holy love

We begin by noting again that human beings were created for relationship with God and people, relationships that reflect a certain kind of love, namely agape love (God’s holy love). God gave humanity a nature that corresponds to that purpose. In accordance with that nature, God our Creator and Redeemer, out of his love and grace, commands human beings first to love him with all their hearts, minds, souls and strength, and then to love their neighbors. In that way, human beings live first in a worship relationship with God and second in a relationship with others that reflects, bears witness to and corresponds to their primary worship relationship to God. We can refer to these secondary relationships with humans as ones of witness for they bear witness to (reflect) the primary worship relationship humans have with God as God, Lord and Savior.

Being in a right, loving (agape) relationship of worship with God involves all of who and what we are as humans: our heart, soul, mind and strength/body—the entirety of our being (nature). The entire biblical revelation, including its directives or commandments, indicates the same since they cover the whole range of human life and activity. Indeed, every aspect and dimension of human life is to be ordered first in relationship to God and then in relationship with other people and finally with all creation.

Note that the bodily aspect is specifically included as essential to our worship relationship with God. All human action involves a bodily aspect, and most biblical commandments refer to some sort of bodily action. The body was created good and has a moral and spiritual meaning and purpose—it can be used in a right and loving way or in a wrong or abusive way. The body is to be honored according to God’s good purposes in accord with the human nature that God has given it. This bodily aspect of relationship is particularly included in passages of Scripture that deal with human sexuality (more about that later).

Of crucial importance is the fact that human beings have not only an outer life but also an inner life. And there is a dynamic relationship between the inward and the outward bodily aspect of human nature. We indicate the inward aspect by using concepts such as mind, will, spirit, soul (psyche), desires and affections. In God’s design and purpose the inward aspects of a human life are to be coordinated with and harmonized with the outward aspects of the body and its speech and acts. But in this fallen world this relationship between the internal and external dimensions of human life are also broken and distorted and in need of healing and restoration so that they are properly related and work together in a fruitful, life-giving way that enable us to participate in fulfilling God’s purpose for humanity.

– Created for loving relationships

In his person, teaching and actions, Jesus reveals that there are three levels of relationship. Though comparable and interconnected, they are not in any sense identical:

1. The Trinitarian level. Jesus explicitly reveals that he has been loved by the Father (in the Spirit) from all eternity. These eternal relationships internal to the being of God are Trinitarian relationships of holy communion.
2. The Christological level. Jesus teaches and demonstrates in word and deed that as the Father has loved him, so he has loved us. This is the Christological relationship—God’s relationship with us through his Son. Jesus loves us with a love comparable to the love between the Trinitarian persons. Though Jesus’ love for us is not love between equals, it is no less loving for that. God’s love for us, in Christ, mirrors the intra-Trinitarian holy love that is its source.
3. The human (ethical) level. Jesus teaches that, in a way comparable to his love for us, we are to love each other (John 13:34). This kind of love is the essence of human relationship. This intra-human love is similar, though not identical to Jesus’ divine love for us (humans are not equal in ontological status with Jesus Christ).

All three levels of relationship can be called loving. Indeed, by God’s design, all three are agape relationships. However, the particular forms of expression of that love are different at each level due to the different natures of those involved at each level. At each level, what is truly loving takes into full account the differences of nature of the beings in the relationships. Doing so makes these relationships dynamic, harmonious, and fruitful, leading to the abundant life God intends.

Without such differences the love expressed in those relationships would and could not demonstrate the fruitfulness, productivity, and life-giving dynamics that reflect the inner life of holy love in God the Trinity. Indeed, they could not fulfill their God-given purpose to glorify God by showing forth his kind of relational goodness. Consequently, they would not be able to provide a “place” where humans would experience that goodness through participation in the relationship.

Loving relationships require differences if there is to be, in and through those relationships, a truly loving, life-giving exchange. In the unity of the Trinity the difference is found in the distinct and non-interchangeable divine Persons. In Jesus there is the difference between his divine and human natures that are united in his one undivided Person. Concerning human beings, recall the apostle Paul’s description of the Body of Christ with its oneness in the Lord and yet difference of persons and gifts.

– Given one nature expressed through human differences

Humans were created for relationship with God, though they have an infinitely different nature (being) than God. Humans also were created for relationship with other humans who share the same being (human nature). The New Testament refers to this nature/being as flesh (sarx in Greek). By God’s design, it is expressed by each human as a distinct person with a unique origin, a separate body (including the spaces and locations that go with that body), a distinct mind, human spirit (psyche), will and history. Thus humans share one humanity (nature) but as distinct (different) individuals.

These human differences contribute to, rather than take away from, our shared humanity when the human relationships we enter into are carried out in ways that reflect God’s agape (holy love), being moved and directed by a worship relationship with God. We find such relationships most clearly and fully revealed to us in the New Testament depiction of and directions given to the many-membered Body of Christ.

– God’s purpose for gender differences

One of the differences within humanity that contributes significantly to abundant life when ordered by God’s agape (holy love) is that of gender or sex. By God’s design, humanity is made up of both men and women (men or women). By God’s decree, this difference is good—it’s God’s gift to humanity and represents a God-given task for humanity. Gender distinction is built into what it means to be a human being.

As an essential part of human being, becoming and flourishing, gender distinction shares in the process of our maturing spiritually—our growing up into Christ, becoming fully who God intends us to be as his beloved creatures. And like every other aspect of human activity gender distinction is an aspect of life that we are called to use for God’s purposes and according to God’s good design. Being gendered or sexual beings means we actively and deliberately participate in its transformation, its sanctification.

The goodness of gender distinction becomes apparent only when the relationships between men and women (whether married or unmarried) are governed by God’s agape (holy love) and thus ordered according to God’s purposes related to the natures God has given to us. It is the nature of humanity to exist in the polarity of being differentiated by gender. But that nature needs to mature as directed by its proper use and transformation under Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of the sexuality of all human beings.

Given that human beings are beings who are becoming in right relationship with each other, the relationships between men and women, as men and women, are included in this becoming. The differentiation of humanity into the polarity of two distinct sexes or genders is for the good of humanity and essential to individuals in their becoming who they are in right relationship to each other as men and women (men or women) whether single or married, as parents and children and as neighbors one to another. This process involves all human beings.

– God’s purpose for marriage

When a man and woman enter into a covenant relationship with each other and so into a special form of God’s agape (holy) kind of love, there is a unique and special purpose for that unique relationship which, more generically, we refer to as marriage. Marriage in the church among Christians, is not fundamentally a legal relationship—ultimately and foundationally, its purpose is spiritual. That is, it finds its meaning and significance in relationship to God as a particular way to glorify and make known God’s own goodness and glory as extended to human beings.

Marriage is a gift given by God. Its special purpose is to reflect God’s covenant relationship with humanity, which in turn reflects the internal and eternal relationship of love among the members of the Trinity. Human marriage grounded in covenant love witnesses to the truth of the relationship of God through Jesus Christ to his bride, the church. Through it we are directed in a unique way to God’s covenant relationship with all humanity. Covenant marriage between a man and woman has a unique moral and spiritual meaning by which we can glorify the Triune God. The special form of agape (holy or covenant love) exhibited in marriage is to be life-long because it is to bear witness to God’s unbreakable covenant love and faithfulness to humanity.

– God’s purpose for children and parents

The special form of human love exhibited in the covenant of marriage is ordained by God to be the unique “place” where the productivity (fruitfulness) of love results in children who are uniquely related to their parents. Such children are historically, biologically, psychologically, sociologically and even spiritually united to their parents. Children, born of two parents of different sexes/genders united in covenant love, bear witness to the unique kind of relationship human beings have with God as God’s children. The parent-child relationship is irrevocable, permanent, and bears unique witness to our union with God in Christ. In our union with Jesus Christ we are joined by the Spirit to Jesus’ humanity, which he shares with us in a union that is biological, historical, social, and spiritual. The parent-child relationship uniquely mirrors this union.

The parent-child relationship also uniquely bears witness to the deepest fruitfulness of the loving covenantal relationship between God and humanity—a relationship between two distinct and ontologically different beings. It bears witness to our being born from above—to the power of our becoming really and actually children of God who share in Jesus’ own sonship to the Father in the Spirit. As one of us, Jesus truly is our “kinsman redeemer” (goel in Hebrew). We truly are his brothers and sisters in flesh and blood. The parent-child relationship then has a moral and spiritual meaning and significance by which we can glorify the Triune God.

Note: What is said here about parenting does not address, nor does it seek to cast negative light on, the topics of adoption or involuntary or voluntary childlessness. Those relationships have somewhat different significance and meaning, and exploring them is beyond the scope of this essay, which focuses on just a few of the implications extending from the most fundamental assumptions of biblical revelation. We’ll address these other important topics at another time.

Conclusion

It is important to remember that the entire universe is fallen—to one degree or another it is imperfect, incomplete and distorted. That means that every relationship, of every kind and at every level, needs repair, healing, restoration and even regeneration. The distortions, brokenness and corruptions that we experience in every relationship in this fallen world hinder our attempts to live out the purpose and to experience the full goodness of the God-given being (human nature) we have been given. The good news, however, is that the grace of God has broken in and we can live here and now in ways that demonstrate hope for the healing and restoration that serves as a sign or as a down-payment of God’s complete restoration that is coming with the new heaven and new earth.

As the people of God, we live knowing that all creation is fallen (and that includes all relationships). But we also live with hope, knowing of the in-breaking of God’s grace now and the promise that, ultimately, God will make all things right, including all relationships. These are some of the fundamental assumptions conveyed to us in the Bible concerning the reality in which we live and move and have our being—a being that, in Christ, by the Spirit, is in right relationship with God and with others.

What does authentic evangelism leadership look like? The Billy Graham Center for Evangelism (BGCE), partnered with Q Place, has created a YouTube channel to equip and inspire leaders in all levels and sectors of society to prioritize gospel witness. Below is the first video in the series featuring Ed Stetzer, the executive director of LifeWay Research and lead pastor of a new church that has grown quickly by prioritizing evangelism. Other videos in the series can be accessed at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLQx-pX_bs2d-2FAKrjznzg

On YouTube at http://youtu.be/x4nwdMm-oXY.

Here are some resources that helpfully address LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) issues from the perspective of the true identity all humans have in union with Christ, by the Spirit:

• Ron Highfield’s book God, Freedom and Human Dignity: Embracing a God-Centered Identity in a Me-Centered Culture. As a teacher at Pepperdine University, Ron knows the American youth culture well. His book helpfully addresses the secular trends shaping young people’s thinking about life and sexuality.

• Rosaria Butterfield’s book Openness, Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ. Having taught LGBT studies for years at a secular university (Syracuse), Rosaria knows the modern/post-modern culture well with its particular sexual ethic. Her personal story of conversion to Christ is powerful. To read excerpts from her book, click here. For a presentation from Rosario at Wheaton College, watch this:

On YouTube at http://youtu.be/GG54Dy3pmbE

Here is a video report from GCI-USA leader Greg Williams concerning the community outreach of our congregation that meets in San Francisco, California.

On YouTube at http://youtu.be/QIRRBEMxqyM.

The following report is from Lee Berger, pastor of GCI’s congregation in Longview, Texas.

Not that many years ago (it seems) our congregation had over 200 members. We met in mid-size rented halls and movie theaters, had a fairly elaborate sound system, and sat in theater-style rows. That arrangement was appropriate for where we were at the time: all congregations looking alike with an emphasis on teaching and learning. Sitting in straight rows worked well for those purposes. But now we’re concentrating more on “relationship”—seeing our Triune God as fundamentally relational, and carrying God’s nature into our relationships with other people—including those in our church family.

Many of GCI’s congregations are small in attendance (ours averages 14), so awhile back our members discussed how we could most effectively worship in a group of this size. We began to experiment with various setups for church, and it seems we have found a good fit (for now) with what we refer to as church-in-the-circle. As shown in the picture above, we set our chairs in a circle, facing in. Doing so was a bit scary at first, but we soon discovered we like looking at each other’s faces (rather than backs of heads) as we sing, pray, comment and listen. We dispense with setting up an elaborate sound system. Instead we use a single microphone for the main speaker/facilitator (this helps our hard-of-hearing folks). Instead of setting up a video projector to display song lyrics, we sing out of songbooks put together in simple folders. The sermon speaker/facilitator remains seated, and the sermon generally allows for group interaction (reading Bible verses, sharing a story, and asking questions along the way).

Since church-in-the-circle was new to us, we initially used it only on fifth Sundays. But we soon found we liked it so much we moved to once-a-month, then to the first, third and fifth weeks of the month. For now, we continue to use a traditional lecture hall setup twice a month with full sound and video systems. This allows us to show video segments (such as GCI videos) and provides a part-time familiar setup as we transition to what works best for our congregation.

Yes, it was scary at first to try something so different. It took a few tries to work out the bugs. The risk and potential shock was not really about how we arranged the chairs, but rather being ready for the intimacy of looking into the faces of people with whom we have spent decades worshiping together. These days I hear nothing but positive comments, and I see ongoing benefits (for our aging members) in the reduced hall setup, and increased intimacy and interaction. Now when someone shares a prayer request, we see the tears well up in their eyes. This gives us a clearer view of the requester’s heart as they ask for help in the situation.

Church-in-the-circle may not be the best fit for every small church, but I feel it would be a rare one that would not benefit from this personal, family setup. So give it a try. Circle up and worship!

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Note: for an issue of Equipper that addresses a related topic, click here. For some resources related to conducting church in a circle, click here.

We’ve often been asked for a small booklet (tract) that presents the gospel and includes an invitation to receive Christ. Toward that end, we’ve written the article below (based, in part, on the work of Dr. Martin Davis of AsiAfrica Ministries). To download this article formatted for printing as a booklet, click here (.docx version) or here (.doc version). To download it formatted for printing as a tri-fold brochure, click here (.docx version) or here (.doc version). These documents are designed to be customized by replacing text in brackets, logos, etc. with local church (or local ministry) information. You can also print the version below by going to www.gci.org/gospel-tract, scrolling to the bottom of the page, then clicking on the print icon. For assistance with printing, email ted.johnston@gci.org.

Here’s Good News for Everyone!

[Jesus said] “God’s Spirit is on me;
he’s chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor,
sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set the burdened and battered free, to announce, ‘This is God’s year to act!’”
(Luke 4:18-19, The Message)

God the Father sent his one and only Son Jesus to show us how much he loves us. Jesus not only proclaimed that good news (the gospel), he is the good news for all people, and you are included!

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16)

Only Jesus can teach us about God’s love because, as God’s eternal Son, he alone knows the Father in person and for all time (Matthew 11:27). By his words and actions, recorded for us in the Bible, Jesus teaches that God is our loving Father and we are his beloved children.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us,
that we should be called children of God!
And that is what we are!
(1 John 3:1)

Before he created the earth, our heavenly Father decided to create us to be his beloved children—to “adopt” us into his family, where we would live in perfect relationship with God and with each other.

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is!
He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ,
and takes us to the high places of blessing in him.
Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind…
to be made whole and holy by his love.
Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ…
He wanted us to enter into the celebration
of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
(Ephesians 1:3-6, The Message)

Although God’s plan all along has been to include and adopt us, we humans (beginning with the first created humans) rebelled against that plan, and all creation has suffered the effects of that sin ever since. Maintaining his intention to adopt us as his children, God the Father graciously sent his Son to live among us as one of us. Of one mind and heart with the Father, Jesus freely and gladly came to be joined with us forever.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son,
who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John 1:14)

And being found in appearance as a man,
[Jesus] humbled himself by becoming obedient to death
—even death on a cross!
(Philippians 2:8)

As our representative, on our behalf, Jesus lived a life of perfect love, faith and obedience so that all of us may be reconciled to God and rescued from sin, death and the power of evil. Jesus came to undo evil and its devastating effects, and ultimately make everything right.

Though we were created for deep and lasting relationship with God, none of us naturally trusts God and his love. To one degree or another, we all have chosen to disregard God and his good design for our lives.

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
(Romans 3:23)

Rather than trusting God and receiving life from him, we have sought life, love, meaning and security on our own terms. The result is the world we now experience. Though there still are signs of God’s good creation all around us, more often than not things seem hopeless, lost, beyond repair.

Despite the fact that we all have failed and sinned, God demonstrated his great love for us by sending his beloved Son Jesus to die on the cross at the hands of evil men. Jesus willingly and even joyfully gave his life in exchange for our broken and distorted lives.

God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:8)

Only Jesus’ life could overcome the death that has overtaken all humanity. Only Jesus, the eternal Son of God, could restore our broken relationship with God. But the price that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit paid to rescue us from ourselves, from sin and from death itself, was well worth it.

On our behalf, Jesus conquered death and overcame evil, rising from the dead to never die again. In him we have been restored to a right relationship with God. In him we will live forever.

But God did not give up on his original intention for his creation. He decided to intervene to rescue it—at his own expense and despite resistance from those he loves. God took personal responsibility for every wrong we have done and for the wrongs done against us, doing everything necessary to renew all of creation.

After his astonishing resurrection, Jesus returned to his Father, promising that he would return to earth one day, bringing with him a new heaven and earth where all will be made right. In the meantime, he is preparing a place for us so that, restored to the heart of God, we may live forever in the house of our loving and gracious heavenly Father.

[Jesus said] “In my Father’s house are many rooms.
If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again
and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
(John 14:2-3, ESV)

Jesus demonstrates that God is not an aloof and angry judge seeking to condemn us. Rather, God the Father freely and gladly gave his Son to be our Savior and Lord (John 3:16-17). After Jesus’ earthly work was done, he with the Father sent the Holy Spirit to put God’s love in our hearts, to transform us and guide us in the way that leads to abundant life.

Hope does not put us to shame, because God’s
love has been poured into our hearts through
the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
(Romans 5:5, ESV)

What should you do?

There is nothing you need to do to earn or deserve God’s gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9), but like any gift, it is given to be received. How do you receive God’s gift? Note what Jesus said:

“The kingdom of God has come near.
Repent and believe the good news!”
(Mark 1:15)

To repent means to change your mind—to stop relying on false hope, security and identity, and to rely on God, putting your hope in Jesus and his kingdom (reign) of peace, joy and harmony. To repent means to stop living in the darkness of sin and begin living in the light of God’s love and forgiveness. To believe is to entrust to Jesus all you are and own to follow his way of love, growing in your relationship with him.

[Jesus said] “Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your strength
and with all your mind, and, love your neighbor as yourself.”
(Luke 10:27)

You may begin following Jesus and his way of love with a simple prayer like this:

Thank you, heavenly Father, for loving me. Thank you for making me your child. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to be my Savior and to take away all my guilt and shame. Thank you for the love and forgiveness you have shown to me in Jesus.

Thank you dear God for sending the Holy Spirit to live in my heart. Come Holy Spirit—guide me into all truth. Teach me to love God and others and strengthen me to follow the way of Jesus.

In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

In relating this way with God in prayer, you are now on a life-long journey with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—a journey that will transform your life one step at a time.

By the Holy Spirit, Jesus will lead you to join with others in following and worshiping God in accordance with his written word, the Bible. You are not alone.

That’s the good news—for you and everyone!

It’s common for small churches to struggle trying to be something they are not—a big church. Doing so often leads to frustration and discouragement, even burn-out. It also fails to capitalize on the advantages of being a small church.

Bob Desagun, a pastor in the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination, helpfully addresses this subject in a blog post entitled “Small is Big.” Here is part of what he wrote:

As a pastor I was frustrated with the failure to see our attendance increase. It brought me to the point of questioning whether my “season” of ministry was over. Should I throw in the towel and call it quits? Instead, I took an overdue short vacation coupled with a long time in the prayer closet. God revealed to me that I was trying to make the church something it wasn’t—big…. I came to realize that it was time we started acting our size.

Bob goes on to describe steps his congregation took to take advantage of who God had made them. To read the post go to http://www.cmalliance.org/alife/small-is-big/.

To download a free book with helpful tips about operating as a small church (what the book refers to as “simple church”), go to http://www.simplechurchrevolution.com/.

The video below from Impact Ministries helps us understand an important difference between disciple-making and discipleship. For more on this topic on the GCI website, click here.

On YouTube at http://youtu.be/dXRxg5FghV4.

As noted in a recent Leadership Network blog post, culture—not vision or strategy—is the most powerful factor in any organization (churches included). Culture determines receptivity to new ideas, unleashes or dampens creativity, builds or erodes enthusiasm, and creates a sense of pride or of deep discouragement. Ultimately, the culture of an organization shapes morale, teamwork, effectiveness and outcomes. To read the post, go to http://leadnet.org/culture-trumps-vision/.