Thoughts & Misc

Consider making 20-minute TED Talk videos on important aspects of culture of the church. They would be emailed out in between weeks of the class. Including important topics to shape culture:

One: Evangelism & Discipleship (Take a long-term view. Be patient.)

Can they be brutally honest without fear? Or do they think they need to take it to outside professionals?

Biblical counseling is just discipleship+ and can cover things like eating disorders, alcoholism, suicidal, pornography. Everyday members can be involved in these things.

Train the members not to be scared by giving them time and attention. Fear can be overcome.

Do you live in a defensive posture against time-stealing sheep? Or do you proactively take time to disciple and invest in others so that they’ve been risen up as elders who can help carry that burden?

Link to CCEF. A gold mine for those who are interested in pursuing lay counseling.

Two: Gathered Worship

Preaching

Music

What might be the third video?

Auxiliary ministries: TBC Kids; Youth; Women; Men

Kids

Want to bring your kids into the whole serivce? Great! Maximize time in kids ministry? Great! Some mix of the two? Great!

Create a lead pastor reading group covering discipleship books. 7:45-8:30am.

Be respectful, don’t twist arms, but communicate and gently prod them into discipleship with others and hope the Lord convicts. Some will rise up.

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Send an email to new members three months in, to see if they’ve begun to settle into the church life.

Put discipling/evangelism prayer requests in front of people often. (That makes an expectation that this is what it means to be a Christian. It’s normal. To have awkward conversations. To love on and sacrifice time for each other.)

About Gathered Worship

Affiliations

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https://thesouthgatefellowship.org/⁠

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https://cbmw.org/nashville-statement/⁠

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Notes on Reformed Soteriology

Though it is a mistake to reduce the beliefs of Calvinism to give emphases, it is true that most of the objections and attacks on Calvinism focus on certain doctrinal distinctives, sometimes known as the “five points of Calvinism.” The five points are as follows:

Total depravity: Our bondage to sin in Adam is complete in its extensiveness, though not in its intensity. In other words, we’re not as bad as we can possibly be, but original sin has thoroughly corrupted every aspect of our existence—including the will.

Unconditional election: Out of his lavish grace, the Father chose out of the fallen race a people from every race to be redeemed through his Son and united to his Son by his Spirit. This determination was made in eternity, apart from anything foreseen in the believer.

Particular redemption: Christ’s death is sufficient for the whole world, but secured the redemption of the elect.

Effectual grace: The Holy Spirit unites sinners to Christ through the gospel and faith is the effect, not the cause, of the new birth.

Perseverance of the saints: All of those chosen, redeemed, and regenerated will be given the gift of persevering faith, so that not one will be lost.

The above is taken from Michael Horton’s For Calvinism, page 15.

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Belgic Confession of faith, article 16, On Divine Election (written in 1561):

We believe that, when the entire offspring of Adam plunged into perdition and ruin by the transgression of the first man, God manifested Himself to be as He is: merciful and just. Merciful, in rescuing and saving from this perdition those whom in His eternal and unchangeable counsel He has elected in Jesus Christ our Lord by His pure goodness, without any consideration of their works. Just, in leaving the others in the fall and perdition into which they have plunged themselves.

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As we read through our Statement of Faith one article at a time, you will notice each will fit into one of three categories.

You can imagine these categories like concentric circles. They begin very broadly with what we believe in common with all other churches and then narrow down into what sets us apart from other churches.

Some are Broadly Christian—The word “catholic” just means “universal.” That means some things we believe align with what anyone within the three broad branches of historic Christianity would believe. That includes Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox or Protestants. The most important thing about a church is what it holds in common with all other Christian churches, not what makes it distinct from other churches.

e.g., the doctrine of the Trinity

Some are Evangelical—Evangelicalism is built on the material principle (the work of Christ) and the formal principle (Scripture as the final authority) of the Protestant Reformation. So these articles mark us out as an Protestant church, in contrast to Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox friends. (We love and care about them. But they have made some crucial errors on core beliefs like justification and glorification.)

e.g., justification is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone

One is Baptistic—That means we don’t baptize babies like our paedobaptist brothers and sisters in Protestant churches such as the Presbyterians or Anglicans.

e.g., baptism is by immersion upon repentance and credible profession of faith in Jesus Christ as Lord.

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