...you used to have to write on the first day of school?
The one with "What I Did On Summer Break" at the top of the page?
Each July we ask our lead pastor, Glen Schneiders, to step away from the busyness of his routine. We ask him to rest, get refreshed and to listen for how God might be leading our church community.
Although we miss his teaching and presence in July, we believe this month is essential for him and our church.
Glen is back in the saddle this weekend and will unpack what he sensed God teaching him over the last month.
Don't miss it!
11 comments:
I thought I would put this here, since I didn't see a post yet for this past weekend's teaching.
I've spent some time digesting Glen's weekend message about revolution. I'm hoping the teaching team is going to "unpack" that topic a little more over the next few weeks and shed some light on how Crossroads and this community is going to become more revolutionary... but until then, here are some observations about revolution. Let's start by looking at what a famous book says the definition of revolution is... Webster's.
a : a sudden, radical, or complete change b : a fundamental change in political organization; especially : the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed c : activity or movement designed to effect fundamental changes in the socioeconomic situation d : a fundamental change in the way of thinking about or visualizing something : a change of paradigm
I'm not sure which revolution Glen was talking about.
Here I was thinking Crossroads just began a revolutionary journey a year ago when we merged all of our service styles, sharpened our focus on becoming more culturally relevant and began to strive to reach an emerging culture with new style, more worshipful music, conversational teaching and a more technological environment.
Now, we hear that young people are not finding or experiencing God in our church afterall.
Sounds like we are too busy chasing a "moving target" when we should be chasing after the revolutionary himself... Jesus Christ.
I just posted this a second ago and now I don't see it. If it posts twice, I apologize.
I have no doubt that Glen and the teaching team have every intention of unpacking what he meant by being revolutionary as time goes by. In the mean time, though, here's how I interpreted his message.
Being revolutionary means stepping outside of our four walls and taking the message of Christ to Lexington and the world in a more radical way. It means realizing our place in our community and on the planet and not just being content to sit in our services preaching to like minded friends and the seekers who find their way to us.
I've been a part of a lot of conversations with fellow members concerning the merge last year - and I don't think our style of worship is a minor issue by any means - but I don' think the radical behavior Glen was talking about is going to take place inside of our building or have much to do with our teaching style or worship music. Most of us don't have any say in that sort of thing anyway as, conceptually, it originates on a staff level. What we do have control over is how passionately we're trying to reach out to our neighbors, the poor, and the lost.
I'm not trying to be an apologist and of course Glen can speak for himself better than I could, but I just thought I'd contribute what I heard yesterday. I've been known to hear what I want to hear with these kinds of things, though, so take it with a grain of salt.
Well said. And I agree with what you say.
I just hope and pray Crossroads can be a place of integrity and authenticity.
Trying to fulfill the great commission, feed the hungry, clothe the poor, etc. because that is our heart... and the heart of Jesus.
That central idea of charity has been around for a long time... not so radical.
Hey, I'll weigh in on this one.
Looks like Glen is challenging all of us to step outside of ourselves and norms to reach more people for Christ. Whether that's a conversation at work, a service or mission project, feeding the poor, etc. Just be bolder, more creative, more radical in our approach. Good idea.
However, I also see the point of anonymous... all of this new energy has been put into reaching the emerging culture only to have Glen kind of say (or at least it sounded like) we weren't doing a great job.
The difficult task of being an externally focused church, yet providing a significant experience when they finally get here is a challenging one.
Jesus wandered the land bringing people to him... to his feet and to his Word. They gathered in all kinds of different places. On the shore, in a house, in a tree even.
If Crossroads speaks the truth of Jesus it will draw people in. In the church, in the marketplace, in a blog even. However, it will also divide and infuriate. That's the radical part people... the truth of Jesus. Not how we say it.
Man, I really appreciate the dialogue around the message - it's always good to know that people are listening and desire to take it to heart.
Just to clarify - the person that came into my office was talking about how do we as individuals radically serve Jesus. That will have church wide implications, but the major intended emphasis this weekend had little to do with weekend services. It had everything to do with what we do with the information as we leave to make disciples wherever we go.
Wow! Great dialogue everyone. Definitely a good reminder that we all come from diff. perspectives and hear things in our own way.
Personally, I didn't hear Glen saying that the younger crowd wasn't connecting with Crossroads. I heard him quoting research that says the next generation is much less likely to be familiar with Jesus than most of us were at their age.
But, I might have missed the point too.
If you want an interesting perspective about revolutionary Christians, look up George Barna's book "Revolution".
Personally, that's not where I am right now... but according to his research, it's where the American Church is headed.
I must say I thoroughly enjoyed the message this weekend as it was in line with a lot of things I've read recently in the book "Jesus of Suburbia" by Mike Erre.
It's also a great read if you are interested in the shift from the "watered-down, white-washed, religiously safe version" of Jesus toward "embracing the message and movement of Jesus as a call to revolution." (Quotes from Mike Erre, not me).
Thanks for the book recommendations Faith & David.
Revolutions originate with people who are not afraid to be independent thinkers, to strike out against the proverbial phenomenon of "groupthink". As I read over this series of blogs I thought it was interesting how compelled my fellow bloggers were to "position" themself on the issue- clarifying their statements, speaking for others, defining the "real" issues. A lot of scrambling to solidfy the company message. Interesting process. A lot of good hearted, well meaning souls- but, revolutionary? So... let our next message be on fear- that paralyzing, crazy emotion that keeps us from living up to our revolutionary potential. I know that is a message I need to hear. How about you?
I think it's a little unfair and maybe a touch cynical to accuse the other posters in this thread of scrambling to solidify a company message. It seemed to me more like a handful of people who recognized a common thought in Glen's message were simply trying to express that thought to another person who came away with something different.
There are enough different opinions and viewpoints among the Crossroads staff and membership that I don't think anyone feels the need to toe a company line. I think a group of people all simply heard Glen saying the same thing.
At least that's what I saw. Someone else's mileage may vary.
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