Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down

In their book The Great Commission to Worship: Biblical Principles for Worship-Based Evangelism, authors David Wheeler and Vernon Whaley contribute their respective expertise in evangelism and worship in an attempt to synthesize the two categories by showing each fundamental imperative of the Christian disciple to be integral to and an outflow of the other. The impetus for evangelism par excellence is the “great commission”

The Art of Personal Evangelism: Sharing Jesus in a changing culture By Will McRaney, Jr. Nashville: Broadman & Holman Academic, 2003, 268 pp., $19.99 paper.

Preaching to a Post-everything World offers several contributions to the art of preaching. New ideas and concepts facilitate sermon design and construction; while at the same time a fresh perspective was given to old ideas and concepts. Eswine’s work added to the discussion of expository Christ-centered preaching as well.

Galindo analyzes that the fundamental “mission” of a congregation is the same as any other congregation that exists in any part of the world. He argues that though every congregation has a mission and a vision, at the same time, it shares a basic common mission. (43) This reminds me of my home church The First Church of Evanston and my Field Site, The Evanston Vineyard Church. Both churches have a common mission of welcoming people to the church, irrespective of their ethnic, cultural, racial, and economic and, gender backgrounds. The mission is to help people be received in the house of God with due and deserved Christian love so that they feel loved and welcomed. Both these churches encourage church attendees to attend the service and receive the Eucharist.

Many people believe that that the motivation of the Christian church is to radically “change the world”. However, through his book To Change The World, James Davison Hunter explains how this common believe is a misconception. Rather, he shows readers that, from a sociological perspective, while Christians thrive in many areas of life by reaching others individually, they fundamentally components of creating cultural change.

Church buildings, musical instruments, ministers’ attire, choir robes, hymns, names of converts, schools and curriculums had Americans’ religious, cultural, and economic trademark. The Christianity that addressed issues of life in the American cultural context was transplanted in different parts of the world. Unlike the transition of the Hebraic-Christianity from the Jewish culture to the Gentile world in the first century, which developed its own unique theological, cultural, and leadership identity in a short period of time, the phenomenal growth of Christianity in the majority world has been largely influenced by the dominance of American Christianity. As the result, we have Christian faith that is not well anchored on local theology. And to most of the churches in the majority world, up until recently,

This article raises awareness of the historic value of open-air preaching, being seen as radical, in no way limits it to being a method utilized by such as Jesus Christ, Paul the Apostle, and in modern times Rev. Billy Graham. It is a great article for those that aspire to enter the ministry at the grassroots level and beyond.

No doubt, you are aware the Church is in decline—both in membership and in its influence in the world, for the past several decades. Several key elements are missing in the lives of most Christians, which are rarely addressed in our church pulpits or in the books we read. How We Christians Miss The Boat unabashedly addresses these issues, with dead-on solutions, which will change and revolutionize the lives’ of all its readers.

The purpose of this project is to demonstrate how the Sacramental Life or Incarnational Tradition help me focus on my life as a harmonious unit and to illustrate how my life is impacted by my view of worship. In addition, I will give a theological analysis on how focusing on life as a harmonious unit is essential to the myself, the individuals I administer spiritual counseling to and my ministry constituents.

In Chapter 3, Joe Horness sets forth an argument for contemporary music-driven worship. This style of worship has an emphasis on relationship. Horness seeks to set forth the true goal of contemporary worship. It is not just about the instrumentation; instead it focuses on the communication. Horness takes the reader personally through his journey from traditional worship to contemporary worship, including his experience with Willow Creek Church. In his chapter, Horness promotes an emphasis on connecting: connecting unbelievers with believers and ultimately, connecting all people with God. He states, “People of this generation are longing to experience the genuine presence of God. And God is longing to move in and among the hearts of his people. If we will learn to worship from hearts that are fully engaged, God will be glorified and set free to move in us and among us (104).” Horness ends his chapter with some brief warnings for those involved in the contemporary worship. He then encourages all worshipers to seek above all to bring their best to God

A primary reason parishes are dying today is because the music and language of Christian worship rarely mirror the commonly understood idioms of the host culture. Assemblies today are guilty of preserving the Gospel's idiom rather than proclaiming its content. As a result, assemblies end up showing too much mercy toward themselves (the indoctrinated) - who do not need it - and too little mercy to spiritually starving outsiders who do.

I believe that it is imperative for those of us in the “free church” to enter the discussion,

The idea of spiritual formation has somehow gotten lost in the shuffle of “going to church” versus retaining the understanding that we in fact are the church and we carry within us the knowledge and the skill to be transformational. The role of evangelism in Christian education is to aid in church growth and expansion, as well as advancement toward the salvation of souls.

Reflecting upon the readings of Torrance’s Worship, Community, and the Triune God of Grace and White’s Introduction to Christian Worship will deeply shape how I look at worship in the churches I now order worship for the congregations. I used one of the churches in which I serve to do the Order of Worship assignment. It is a blue collar, small membership church located in a rural, retirement/ vacation area of North Carolina, Lake Gaston. It is also predominately Caucasian. Torrance’s focus is on trinitarian worship, participating in Christ’s communion with God, the Father and Christ’s life, death, and resurrection through the power of the Holy Spirit. And White’s focus is to look at how the forms used in worship give worship its meaning. These forms include but are not exclusive of, time, space, music and art. There are implications for both focuses in the order of worship for the congregation used for my order of worship.

Furthermore, it is vitally crucial for the church leadership to clearly articulate its missional vision, which is to be embraced by the rest of the church’s community. The process of spiritual transformation starts from the invitation and continues through engagement and discipleship. This transformational process embodies the missional vision and the language for 'right now ' and 'here '. Surely, the church’s vision ought to be aligned with the missional attributes of the gospel itself, which are 'the good news is for everyone ' and 'belonging before believing '. Our witness should take place amidst relationship and listening. One principle that I consider to be exceptionally useful in my community is St. Patrick’s idea of Celtic Evangelism: establish community, engage in conversation, and invite commitment (2009, 101).