Big Storm Ahead
Finally, Jon is back to continue on where he left off: Further insights of the topic "The Compromising of the Christian Worldview"
Though, it's an intellectual CG lesson on a "Heavy" topic, Jon is terribly disappointed on how the session went. Its not because the chairperson's inability to teach (In fact he managed to inteprete all the "Bombastic" words) but the fact that the session is almost an one-way teaching rather than two-way discussion due to lack of time (only 45 mins allocated) actually killed the essence of this topic.
Jon felt this session a big "turn-off" because as most of the people are unable to voice out their thoughts... Looking at the conclusion: "Is the Word Of God Supplemental or Central to our lives?" Here we are trying to finish off a lesson in 45 mins without in-depth discussions... So Jon would like to ask, "Is this a supplemental lesson for CG or are we more keen to find out how are we going to face this crisis as a church and how do we overcome this problem?"
Next, Jon was also very surprise by a comment made during one "cross-fire" enquiry from a German visitor who brought up an interesting finding that our church's teaching is not too focus on the teaching of the Word Of God as compared to the church back in Germany, but rather touch on how the preaching here is catered to our daily lifes.
One reply arised was that our church is tuned to the "frequency of the mass" in the teaching so that we are able to reach a wider range of audience for faster church growth... In short someone mentioned that some churches basically preach things that most people in this "new age" society want to hear in order to become "Mega Churches" in the shortest possible time?!!! To bring it to an extreme, someone also mentioned that there is a "cost-time factor" which affects how some churches preach...
Well well, this is something NEW that Jon ever heard!!! Its very disturbing for Jon to find out that churches adobt its own style of preaching in terms of how the style "attracts" audiences. Without mentioning names of any churches, Jon really felt worried if this has any impact on our individual's spiritual growth...
Questions to ponder:
1. Is our spiritual growth been manipulated?
2. Are we at a church that preaches the "truth" about the Word Of God or preaches the things that we want to hear only?
3. What will happen to the Christians who belong to the kind of churches who preaches "superficially".
4. Is there any differences to God for Christians who studied the Word of God well and those who briefly know the Word by its meaning only?
5. What exactly are the standards for church practises?
It looks like its going to be a long journey for Jon again, as he recovers from the last spiritual storm and now heading to another challenging one. Well, just like Paul in Acts when he was sailing through the storms, Jon would like to ask God to be with him so that his life will be safe in His hands no matter what happens.
May all souls be saved! Amen.
posted by Jon Tan @ 7/04/2005 10:55:00 PM
4 Comments:
The Hope model is actually an effective model of ministry despite the answers given. The sermons are designed to show visitors that christianity is not a rigid religion. Eventhough the sermons are catered towards everyday life, one has to remember that the sermon does not end on the pulpit. The pulpit sermons should be generic for maximum outreach and inreach effectivity.
As for doctrines, that's where CG n Word for Life classes comes in. Once a person accepts Christ, every CL encourages his/her members to attend these classes for deeper, in-depth lessons on doctrines.
What I like about Hope after my many experiences with other churches:
It is not a feel good church nor is it a feel bad church. It is a balanced church that preaches truth as well as hope.
As my cousin put it (he was an elder in my last church), "The heavy doctrinal stuff should be left for small groups and bible studies while pulpit sermons should be those that revitalize the people after a long week."
Hey Bro,
This certainly sounds like a good answer! Cool! At least we know we are in safe hands... =)
Cheers
Jon
Jon, I do find that article you have written about interesting, and I did have my doubts about church too at times.
What I do realize however, is that at the end, Hope Church emphasizes that Christians need to know and live the Word of God. The basis of Hope Church's existence and fellowship is to obey God's word. That is good enough for me.
I'm glad that Mervyn cleared this up for both of us!
Yeah, Merv is a gem. Should consider gg into ministry full-time since he is out of job now... heh...
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