Suggestions for Local Church Training Events
By
Bishop Thomas L. Brown, Sr.
This overview is offered to pastors in the Fourth Episcopal District to assist in their formulation and plans for teaching events around the mission of the church and on the Means of Grace.
The Mission of the Church
The significance of defining the Church’s Mission as noted by Rich Warren:
a. “Builds Morale” (1 Corinthians 1:10)
b. “Reduces Frustration” (Isaiah 26:3)
c. “Allows Concentration” (Phil. 3:13)
d. “Attracts Cooperation” (Ezra 10:4; Proverbs 11:27)
e. “Assists Evaluation” (2 Cor. 13:5)
Rich Warren offers Five Purposes of the Church:
I. “Purpose #1: Love the Lord with all your heart” – (Magnify) -Matthew 4:10; 22:37-40
II. “Purpose #2: Love your neighbor as yourself” – (Mission) - Matthew 22:37-40; Eph. 4:12
III. “Purpose #3: Go and make disciples - There are five Great Commissions found in the Gospels – Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47-49; John 20:21;Acts 1:8. – (Membership)
IV. “Purpose #4: “Baptizing them” - (Maturity)
V. “Purpose #5: “Teaching them to obey” - (Ministry)
Additional Scripture readings: Matt. 5:13-19;9:35;11:28-30; 16:15-19; 18:19-20; 22:36-40; 28:18-20; Mark 10:43-45;Luke 4:18-19; 4:43-45; John 4:23;10:14-18; 13:34-35; Acts 1:8; 2:41-47;
Some Questions that need to be asked:
1. “Why does the church exist?
2. “What are we to be as a church? (Who and what are we?)
3. “What are we to do as a church? (What does god want done in the world?)
4. “How are we to do it?”
“Ways to Communicate Vision and Purpose”
1. “Scripture” – Teach the church (officers and congregation) what the Bible teaches about the church.
2. “Symbols” -Creating signs that convey the message that is being communicated.
3. “Slogans” – Creating catchy phrases or sentences that can be posted in the church and used in Sunday’s bulletins that give a summary of the purpose and vision you which to communicate.
4. “Stories” – Every local church has a central story that tells its significance, i.e., how it got started; who began the church; or something of how it survived or endured through some great ordeal. First instance, my last pastorate, College Park CME Church, College Park, GA, existed as a mission of two or three persons for some 18 years prior to the annual conference borrowing $250,000 and granting it a place to be birthed. Several preachers had come and gone, and it had moved from houses to various schools during this period. Thus, one of the things I did to help this fledging congregation was to periodically tell its story of endurance during many years when most people had given up on it. Now, it is the fifth of sixth leading congregation in the Georgia North Region. Positive stories that are told effectively can mean much to the morale and energy of a congregation.
The Means of Grace – Some Scripture References – Galatians 5:6
One of the distinctive contributions of Methodism to the Christian faith has been its emphasis on the free grace of God through Jesus Christ. That is, God’s love is universal – given freely towards all persons for their salvation. God’s offers His love for us through relationship (a free relationship of love that is a gift to everyone); God’s relationship to us through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and our responsive relationship of faith and works. We receive God’s love through faith and it is worked out through loving God and neighbor.
I. Sin and Grace – (Romans 1:18-32: Galatians 5:2-21)) -John Wesley taught and preached that all of us are bound by original sin – the pull of Adam’s fall – trying to be what we cannot be (God). Because of original sin, all of us are in a state or the inherited condition of sin. We cannot rid ourselves of this state nor overcome on our own. As a consequence of our original state of sin, we commit actual sins, and unconditional love towards us) is in response to our sinful predicament. The strength of our sin (both original and actual) is overcome by the power of God’s love, mercy and forgiveness. (Rom. 5:20) These are some of the characteristics of God’s free grace in our lives:
a. “Grace is a gift grounded in God’s free act in Christ.
b. Grace is free for all; the atonement contains a universal invitation.
c. Grace is free in all; prevenient goodness leads and strengthens every person
d. Grace is free in salvation, independent of any merit or work.
e. Grace is free to accomplish full salvation, consummated in entire sanctification and Christian perfection.” - Lovett H. Weems, Jr. John Wesley’s Message Today, 30.
II. Wesley’s Understanding of the processes of God’s grace in our lives. God did not create us to become sinners and does not will that we remain as such. Therefore, God’s grace is experienced and received by faith through the following processes:
1. Prevenient grace (Porch Religion) – (Romans 3:21-31) - Grace that goes or comes before which awakens us and prepares us for the coming of God’s saving grace. In other words, God took and takes the initiative to come to us first. God seeks to save us long before we are ever aware of the power of God’s love and mercy towards us. God took and takes the first step towards our salvation. Wesley called this stage of grace “porch religion”. It is like being on the porch of a house but not near the door nor on the inside. At this stage, we are developing a sense of God’s grace and goodness towards us which gives us the impetus to repent (to come to know ourselves for who we really are before God). To repent is to truly desire the saving grace of God to deliver us from our sinful predicament.
2. Justification by Faith (Doorway Religion)–( Romans 5) – The Results of Justification) - Through the acts of God’s prevenient grace upon our lives, we come to accept by faith what God has done and is doing for us through Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, God has made the sacrifice, paid the debt, which makes us right with God although we are unworthy to be in right relationship with God. God has justified us which we receive by faith which moves us into a son or daughter relationship with God rather than that of a servant. Justification sets us free to live totally in response to God’s grace and for the purposes of God in the world through the Christian church. As a result of this new found freedom, the believer is filled with joy and peace that is unspeakable!
3.
Sanctifying
Grace (House Religion) – (Romans 6; Galatians 5:22-25) ) - Justifying grace
frees us from our obsession and constraint of sin to live joyously for God who
has begun to recover the true image and likeness of God in our lives. Our sin
taints, discolors and distorts the true image and likeness of God in us. As a result, we live as if we are not God’s
children. By justifying grace frees us to see and discover ourselves before God
as God’s children. As a result, the Holy
Spirit gives us the assurance that our sins have truly been forgiven and God
has truly accepted us as His sons and daughters. In Romans 8:16, Paul writes the “Spirit
itself bears witness with our Spirit, that we are children of God”. For John Wesley, the assurance of our salvation
was more than just a feeling. The Holy
Spirit gives us an assurance that is firm even when our feelings might not
correspond all the times to this certainty.
Moreover, Wesley believed and taught that the evidence of our
sanctification and our assurance are the fruits we bear. It is said that Dwight L. Moody once commented
– “it’s not how loud you shout or how
high you jump, it’s how straight you walk when you come down that counts.” Sanctifying grace purifies us to live a life
of perfect love for God and neighbor.
III.
The
Means of Grace – (Romans 12:1-15:1-6) - Christians are not saved by God
just to be saved and go to heaven. We
are saved in order that we may grow more and more into the likeness of God in
Jesus Christ by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit such that we become
disciples in the world helping to transform the world by offering others the
liberating faith in Jesus Christ. Thus,
any saved believer will continue to grow in faith and evidence this growth by
bearing words, actions, ordained of God,
and appointed for this end, to be the ordinary channels whereby he might convey
to men (women), preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace.” Wesley made it clear that there is a
difference between “means” rather ends.
Therefore, Wesley offered three guidelines for the right use of the
means of grace:
1. Keep an ongoing sense that God is above (transcends) all means that the church may offer. Thus, we must never seek to limit God’s availability or presence to any means of grace.
2. The means of grace are not offered as vehicle for the believer to find power in them. The means of grace provide us with avenues for making ourselves available to God’s transforming presence and power in our lives.
3. Always seek God alone, above everything else. “Remember always to use all means as means, as ordained, not for their own sake but for the renewal of your -
A. The means of grace (works of piety) – (Matthew 5:3-6:1-34) - This is the first category Wesley defined as means of grace. These include: 1) Prayer (Matt. 6:5-15;1 Tim. 2) – The believer is invited by God to wait or tarry in prayer to receive grace. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus urged - “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for everyone who asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” 2) Scripture (2 Tim. 3:10-17) – Believers are to search the scriptures through reading, hearing and meditating upon the Word of God found in the Holy Scriptures. (2 Tim. 3:15, 16) We are to meditate day and night on the Scriptures so as to receive confirmation of our faith, inspiration and instruction for the faith, and for gaining wisdom from God for the daily living out of our faith in the world. In this regard, Wesley offered the following suggestions: a) “set apart a little time every morning and evening for that purpose; b) at each time read a chapter out of the Old Testament and one out of the New Testament; c) read with a fixed resolution to know and do the whole will of God; d) have a constant eye for connection with the grand doctrines of the faith; e) pray before and following reading; and f) pause throughout reading to examine your heart and life.” (Weems, 43, 44); 3) The Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17-34)- “The Lord’s Supper was ordained by God to be a means of conveying to persons either preventing, justifying, or sanctifying grace, according to their particular needs.” (Weems, 44) We are to partake of the Lord’s Supper as often as we can in remembrance of the sacrifice, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. ; 4) Fasting (Matt. 4:1-11; 6:16-18) – This ought be a time or season of humility, mourning, godly sorrow for our sins, the confessing of our sins, the seeking of God’s guidance and will for our lives; and the offering of ourselves completely to God in praise and submission; and 5) Christian conference (Acts 2:42f; Hebrews 6:1-12; 10:19-39)– Every believer, Wesley taught from his experience of working with those being saved, needs a small group (Sunday School and/or Bible study or Class Meeting) whereby he/she is being in fellowship with other believers and nurtured in the maturity of the faith. Being a Christian is not a solo journey. When we are confirmed as members of the local church we make a covenant with God and the congregation to be mutually responsible to and for each other on this Christian walk. One of the reasons the devil enjoys visiting some of our churches is because there are so many persons trying to be solo Christians whom the devil can devour, prey upon in their weaknesses and destroy them before they have the opportunity to enjoy the rich fellowship of other saints.
B. The Means of Grace (Works of Mercy) –(Matthew 25:31-46: Luke 10:25-42; Acts 3:1-10; )- We are not saved just to be saved! We are saved to join God in the transformation of the world around us. These are the headings of the works of mercy:
1. “Doing no harm” – (James 2:1-13) - Every person who is saved will desire to flee from the judgment of God by avoiding every kind and form of evil to include taking the name of God in vain, profaning the day of the Lord, using or selling liquor, fighting, quarreling, practicing usury, spending time in unprofitable conversations, and wearing gold or costly apparel, etc.
2. “Doing good” – (James 2 & 3; 1 Tim. 5)) Taking advantage of every opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of others. This commitment is expressed in many forms such as feeding the hungry, visiting the sick and those imprisoned, clothing the naked, mentoring a young male and/or female; addressing those social and systemic forces which oppress and demean the lives of so many.
3. “Attending upon all the ordinance of God” (Hebrews 13:1-19; 1 Peter 4:1-11)) – Every local church ought offer its membership opportunities for growth in the faith to include public worship of God, teaching of the Word, observance of the Lord’s Supper, offering opportunities for family and private prayer, Bible study, Love Feasts, Healing services, and time designated for fasting and prayer.
C. The Goal of the Means of Grace – The goal of observing the “means of grace” is “holiness of heart and life” (“inward and outward holiness”). For Wesley, the Christian is called to a life of “Christian Perfection” (love of God and neighbor). (Phil. 3:12)
RESOURCES
Paul Wesley
Chilcote. Recapturing The Wesleys’ Vision: An Introduction to the Faith of John
and Charles Wesley
Rick Warren. Purpose Driven Church: Growth Without Compromising Your Message & Mission.
Lovett H. Weems, Jr. John Wesley’s Message Today.
The Holy Bible. (KJV & NRSV)