What does it mean to be a new testament church in our current - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

What does it mean to be a new testament church in our current reality?

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS DESTROYED THE 3 BASIC METRICS MANY NORTH AMERICAN CHURCHES USE TO MEASURE SUCCESS:

• Buildings - Physical campuses are empty
• Bodies - Attendance cannot be accurately counted and success cannot be
• Budgets - Giving has decreased radically (a trend that has already begun)

Problem

H O W T O B E T H E C H U R C H I N A P O S T - P A N D E M I C W O R L D

What does faith look like when “going to church” isn’t a part of it?

BLOWING UP THE NOTION OF SUNDAY-ONLY FAITH

Will God’s people be generous for the sake of loving one another when the transactional expectation of receiving goods and services ceases?

CHALLENGING CHRISTIANS TO GIVE WITHOUT GETTING

3 WAYS THE CORONAVIRUS IS KILLING CONSUMER CHRISTIANITY:

B R E T T M C C R A C K E N , G O S P E L C O A L I T I O N , A P R I L 7 , 2 0 2 0

“What if God…is downshifting the American church into a mode of simplicity, stripped of nonessentials, renewed in its fundamental identity as the people of God?” quote in article from Duke Kwon

STRIPPING CHURCH OF EXCESS

Opportunity: 3 kinds of

• utcomes

SOME CHURCHES WILL CLOSE

Fragile churches

SOME WILL SURVIVE

Figure out how to do business as usual

SOME WILL THRIVE

Forced to think differently, will discover the treaure of people!

C O L E

REPENT RETURN REIMAGINE

THIS IS A CALL TO:

• 1. Repent
• Idol of the Event
• Idol of Success
• Idol of the Gifted Leader
• Idol of Busyness

H O W T O B E T H E C H U R C H I N A P O S T - P A N D E M I C W O R L D

• 2. Return
• Return to the New Testament vision
• f Church
• Ask, “What is the essence of all that

God intended us to be corporately?” (Chuck Wood, #NPL)

H O W T O B E T H E C H U R C H I N A P O S T - P A N D E M I C W O R L D

What we see in the NT

ACTS 2:37-47

• Worship
• Discipleship
• Ministry
• Fellowship
• Evangelism
• Prayer

What we see in the NT

Gathering (Circle) Bible Study (Book) Baptism (Water) Giving (Dollar Sign) Lord’s Supper (Bread & Cup) Fellowship (Heart) Prayer (Kneel) Worship (Raised Hands) Disciple-Making/Evangelism (Multipying) Caring Leaders (Smiling Faces)

A C T S a n d E P I S T L E S

3 Essential Leadership Roles

• 1. Every Believer Ministering the Gospel
• 2. Servant Deacons Caring for the

Vulnerable

• 3. Pastors Equipping the Saints

H O W T O B E T H E C H U R C H I N A P O S T - P A N D E M I C W O R L D

• 3. Reimagine
• We will have to apply New Testament

principles to new modalities of practice.

• We must have imagination grounded in sound

New Testament ecclesiology. “If we aren’t deliberate about thinking theologically and systemically about beliefs, then we hand the systems story of the church over to pop culture, mere pragmatism, or the many other prevailing forces that simply co-opt our thinking and doing,” (Hirsch and Ferguson, On the Verge, 152).

H O W T O B E T H E C H U R C H I N A P O S T - P A N D E M I C W O R L D

Principles of Innovation

• We must maintain mission as our catalyzing

principle.

• We must recognize that the pandemic will lead

to a new - and still unknown - contextualization

• f missional approaches into a setting that will

be a “new normal” at best.

• We must work together to share ideas and

approaches!

• Mission: How can we prepare and equip our members to live out

the mission of God WITHOUT being dependent on a building or program?

• Leadership: How can you develop others to lead allowing pastors

to focus on their primary ministry responsibilities?

• Fellowship: How can you organize and equip scattered members
• f your church to care for one another, minister to one another?
• Giving: How can you more effectively manage the budget well

while thinking creatively about how to encourage giving?

Six-Week Cohorts

H O W T O B E T H E C H U R C H I N A P O S T - P A N D E M I C W O R L D

TITLE HERE:

THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC HAS DESTROYED THE 3 BASIC METRICS MANY NORTH AMERICAN CHURCHES USE TO MEASURE SUCCESS:

• Buildings - Physical campuses are empty
• Bodies - Attendance cannot be accurately counted and success cannot be
• Budgets - Giving has decreased radically (a trend that has already begun)

Cohorts of 8-10 people

• Role
• Size
• Geography

Join a cohort for clarity!

H O W T O B E T H E C H U R C H I N A P O S T - P A N D E M I C W O R L D

Registration Link in the Comments Sign up by Friday, May 8