Apr 26, 2012
The Others
Posted by Michael Howarth in Community - Mission | Comments (0)
Your life is busy. You have bills, and school, and work, and kids, and cars, and car repairs and books to read and things to get done. My life is busy, too. I often get tunnel vision trying to focus on getting more done in less time. If I let this tunnel vision persist for too long, I start to think that the sum of living is doing, when in reality, the true point of living is loving. Everyday we are surrounded by the others. They are going through struggle, pain and confusion. Some are lost in pride and self-delusion.Read More...
Feb 28, 2012
Manual Labor, Toddler Chasing and Holiness
Posted by Michael Howarth in Church Practices - Mission | Comments (0)
One of the clearest signs of a mature Christian is their service to others. Service is a fundamental element in the Kingdom of God, and one of the basic mechanisms by which the Kingdom operates. Serving others is often menial, laborious, boring and time consuming: think setting up chairs at church when everyone else is late, or absorbing the collective drone of screaming toddlers in the church nursery while everyone else enjoys the sermon. At Sacred Journey, we expect all of our members to serve on one of two basic ministries: Nursery Team, where workers look after the congregation&rsquoRead More...
Sep 22, 2010
Church Culture: Suits and Ties or Jeans and Tees?
Posted by Mitch Sliwa in Gospel Identity - Mission | Comments (4)
Did you grow up in a church where it was the norm for men to wear suits and ladies to wear skirts? Was it considered sinful for women to wear pants? Were you told that rock music was sinful and that anything with a drum beat would lead to dancing and that dancing would lead to fornication? Were you told that if you listened to the band Journey you would inevitably end up doing methamphetamines and kill your parents? If so, you grew up in what I would call a fundamentalist church. What is a Fundamentalism? Mark Driscoll offers someRead More...
Sep 15, 2010
How to Love: Your Agenda vs. True Transformation
Posted by Michael Howarth in Gospel Living - Mission | Comments (5)
In the most recent sermon series “Unvangelism” Pastor Todd has been dismantling the contemporary view of sharing the gospel we all know as “evangelism” and advocating for a return to a very biblical and revolutionary invention: the church as a gospel community. The differences between the two are quite dramatic and I would encourage you to listen to the entire series so far as it takes some time to unpack the nuances. Here are some reflections thus far... Us vs. Them This sectarian mentality is a very well worn rut that Christians haveRead More...
