I am looking for emerging church leaders at Grace to join me in a Book Study. It will be about 15-17 weeks. Once I see who commits then we pick what will be the best day that works for all involved. Please review the following then let me know if you are interested.
"No Perfect People Allowed" (Living out the message of Jesus in today's ever changing culture.)
John Burke, gives us the following insights into cultural issues that impact the way many people outside the church view the church and Christianity.
5 CULTURAL REALITIES THAT IMPACT HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE THE CHURCH
1) Trust – there has been a breakdown in trust in many families due to abuse, neglect, broken relationships. Many people’s trust is waning in institutions and authority figures, including churches, clergy and anyone who claims authoritative truth. When people arrive at church, we can assume they have issues with fully trusting what they hear and experience.
2) Tolerance – A “litmus test” many people will use on the church is, “Are you tolerant?” The question may be “What do you think of other religions?” or “What do you think of gays?” but the real question is, “Are you guys the self righteous hypocrites I’ve been hearing about?”
3) Truth – Generally emerging generations do not ask, ‘What is true?’ They are primarily asking, ‘Do I want to be like you?’ In other words, they see truth as relational. ‘If I want to be like you, then I want to consider what you believe. If I don’t see anything real or attractive in you or your friends as Christ-followers, I don’t care how true you think it is. I’m not interested.’
4) Brokenness – If you are reaching the average person under age forty, more than likely, one out of every three women you interact with will have had an abortion. One or even two out of six women you talk to will have been sexually molested. More than six out of ten people you speak with will think living together before marriage is the wisest thing to prevent divorce, and five out of those ten will have already lived with someone. Most will have been sexually active, and the thought of waiting until marriage will sound totally foreign and will need explaining. Most men will have struggled with pornography or serious problems with lust. One in vie to ten people will struggle with substance abuse. If the church is to be the hope of the world, we must realize what a broken world we live in.
5) Aloneness – Family breakdowns and geographic distance, increased life-transitions including job changes and moving, isolation in front of TVs and computers, have all contributed to a sense of aloneness many people experience.
Adapted from John Burke, No Perfect People Allowed p. 33-47
check out more about the book HERE
"No Perfect People Allowed" (Living out the message of Jesus in today's ever changing culture.)
John Burke, gives us the following insights into cultural issues that impact the way many people outside the church view the church and Christianity.
5 CULTURAL REALITIES THAT IMPACT HOW PEOPLE PERCEIVE THE CHURCH
1) Trust – there has been a breakdown in trust in many families due to abuse, neglect, broken relationships. Many people’s trust is waning in institutions and authority figures, including churches, clergy and anyone who claims authoritative truth. When people arrive at church, we can assume they have issues with fully trusting what they hear and experience.
2) Tolerance – A “litmus test” many people will use on the church is, “Are you tolerant?” The question may be “What do you think of other religions?” or “What do you think of gays?” but the real question is, “Are you guys the self righteous hypocrites I’ve been hearing about?”
3) Truth – Generally emerging generations do not ask, ‘What is true?’ They are primarily asking, ‘Do I want to be like you?’ In other words, they see truth as relational. ‘If I want to be like you, then I want to consider what you believe. If I don’t see anything real or attractive in you or your friends as Christ-followers, I don’t care how true you think it is. I’m not interested.’
4) Brokenness – If you are reaching the average person under age forty, more than likely, one out of every three women you interact with will have had an abortion. One or even two out of six women you talk to will have been sexually molested. More than six out of ten people you speak with will think living together before marriage is the wisest thing to prevent divorce, and five out of those ten will have already lived with someone. Most will have been sexually active, and the thought of waiting until marriage will sound totally foreign and will need explaining. Most men will have struggled with pornography or serious problems with lust. One in vie to ten people will struggle with substance abuse. If the church is to be the hope of the world, we must realize what a broken world we live in.
5) Aloneness – Family breakdowns and geographic distance, increased life-transitions including job changes and moving, isolation in front of TVs and computers, have all contributed to a sense of aloneness many people experience.
Adapted from John Burke, No Perfect People Allowed p. 33-47
check out more about the book HERE
2 comments:
i'm in...
Looking forward to this group! Thanks Aaron.
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