You are looking at posts that were written in the month of December in the year 2007.
Posted on December 31st, 2007 by Brian Sparks.
Categories: Blogs.
I had an amazing vacation. On vacation I love to visit other churches for a time of reflection and worship without the responsibility to lead. I had visited two totally different churches in totally different cultures. Here are the churches that I learned and here is what I have learned.
Gateway Church – Saturday Night at 5:45, totally contemporary, in Southlake, Texas which is a high professional, middle class section of Dallas.
Gateway didn’t have a choir but a larger praise team. This team spanned the stage which is shaped just like ours leading the congregation that was in front of them. Gateway writes their own music which meant that Rachel and I didn’t know a song. But that was great. Because its not about you knowing the songs, its about giving your heart through music. There were times when I couldn’t carry on with the song, due to the immersion of God’s Presence.
The Sermon was well prepared and well thought out. The staff had created a devotional that the entire church was to work through, along with a fast for the first 30 days (the fast was not 30 days, just the devotional). Along with the devotional was cd’s that gave a time of worship everyday as well as a 5 minute devotional to help their members start the day. Rachel and I are excited about working through the book together.
Highland Terrace Baptist Church – Sunday Morning 9:30, totally traditional but with contemporary music, in Greenville, Texas which is a lower middle class workforce outside of Dallas.
This is where things became interesting. The previous night I sang my heart out with songs I’ve never heard, but then I come to this church where I actually knew the songs but I quietly sang. The night before, the congregation was actively involved in worship. Here, they were passing out gum.
I know what this music minister was going through. There is nothing worse then giving everything that you have into a worship service, were everyone is just staring at out with a look of complacency. People seem to have wanted to join in worship, but they held back.
I am leaving out a part of the story, but the question that I have for everyone is, why do congregations join in worship at times and not in others? There are a lot of reasons, but for the sake of learning, I need you to answer the question. What helps engage the congregation in worship?
Posted on December 12th, 2007 by Brian Sparks.
Categories: Blogs.
Yesterday I was up at the church almost all day getting everything ready for the Christmas cantata as well as the children’s musical. Hoping to leave the premises before all the kids showed up (knowing that all the adults would add another couple of hours to my day in things they should have done several weeks ago), I didn’t get out quick enough.
Here’s where the story begins. I’m talking to one of our adults and there are a couple of boys are who sitting, yet rough-housing around the alters at the front of the sanctuary. This became a good teaching lesson for the adult. Listen carefully.
“Hey boys. Do you know why we shouldn’t rough-house around the alters? Do you know what happens at the Alter? This is where we meet with Jesus. Do you also know why we are not to run around in the church? Because this is where we worship Him.”
Well, at least she got the boys to settle down.
Here in SW Arkansas, we have engrained so heavily that we go to “church” to worship God. And that we come to meet with God at church.
Problem #1: You can’t go to something that you are. “Hey, let’s go to Brian Sparks. Oh wait, I am Brian Sparks.” You can’t go to church. You can go meet with the church. The problem is that we have split our spiritual life with our secular life. We believe that there is church and there is everything else. Did you know that when you meet with a church member at the coffee shop, you are not forsaking the assembly as some do? I personally think that barbecuing with your church members is closer to the meaning of that scripture than meaning that a true Christian must show up to every worship service. The proper response would be to tell the boys to settle down, this is not just your stuff. We don’t want to break anything.
Problem #2: You cannot meet with the church to worship God if you have not wanted to worship God all week long. Jesus said, “I don’t care about your sacrifice. I care about your mercy.” When we meet with the church, it is because we have worshiped God all week long. There is nothing sacred to the building. John 4, Jesus clearly states that there is no specific location which people must go to worship. Romans 12:1 that our whole life is worship, not just quite time with a tie on. There is nothing wrong with Sunday services, as long as we enter the worship service with our hearts already poured out. It’s a reflection of the week, not a catch-up time for all the cheating.
Problem #3: We have made these cute little phrases like “Don’t you lie in the church house.” “Don’t run in the church house.” Why? Because we don’t want kids to break stuff? – That’ll do. Because you want your kids to be obedient? – That great. Because this is God’s house? – That’s sad. That stinks for you. Want to see God’s house? Come to my house. Get in my car. Search out my heart. Not everything is perfect, but I don’t want to leave the Lord behind after the invitation. I’m not interested in locking Him up after I turn out the lights. I want my house to be a place of holy ground. I want my son and my wife to catch me staying up late on my knees. That’s where God is. He’s with me. Don’t leave God at the worship service.
Posted on December 7th, 2007 by Brian Sparks.
Categories: Blogs.
Have you ever been in debt? I mean a lot of debt. Not just a house mortgage either. I found out that last year the majority of Americans spent %110 of their paycheck. That means that they spent more, way more, than what they actually made. Do you know what you call someone who makes financial mistakes? “Older than 12″. In the words of Dave Ramsey, I’ve done stupid with 0’s at the end of it.
Now Rachel and I are finally climbing out of the whole we created and we have been put in places to teach others how to get out as well. One person that we have been coaching has come back and said how different their overall look on life is. It’s like a breath of fresh air. And all the principles applied is biblical.
Here’s the deal. I have never been more disgusted than a politician that states that his faith will not be issue with his presidency (different post that I’ll write after the rage is gone). We have bottled our faith with only our spiritual life. THIS IS WHY YOUNG ADULTS WILL NOT COME TO CHRIST! Christ did not come to ease your conscience. He came to give us life and life more abundantly. He wants all of your life.
So lets define it like this. Luke 10:27 states to love the Lord your God with all your 1) heart, 2) soul, 3) mind, 4)strength. This is the greatest commandment.
In each of us lies our emotional side, our spiritual side, our mental side, and our physical side. We have this idea that Christianity only involves our spiritual side. But it also effects every side.
Posted on December 3rd, 2007 by Brian Sparks.
Categories: Blogs.
These conversations make me, as a full time staff member, very nervous. People need to be dedicated to their church. But when is enough, enough. Throughout the last few years, we have begun to create programs and meetings and more services and expect true Christians to show up to everything we plan.
One website states “Get Connected to God by attending one of our worship services”. So is that it? Is that how we grow closer to God? By attending a worship service? How can we not see that we are moving back into a “work for your relationship” religion?
Are we trying to build empires on every street corner? We make mention that if only people were more dedicated to the church, everything would be great. Dedication would be great, but who is dedicated to whom? Are we as ministers helping the “whole-life” of our members or only trying to get them to work together to build larger churches? Are we as pastors helping our members become more dedicated to God or to our church?
Tough questions. These are not easy to answer. But if we want Acts 2 revivals to take place, I believe this is the place to start.”One of the lessons from this letter that I found most impressive was that Paul, like Jesus, was less concerned about religious ceremonies and completing a checklist of activities and events than he was about people being tuned in to God. Not once did he rant about being present at church every week or completing specified amounts of activity. His message was profoundly simple: stay in touch with God and follow your instructions as they are provided. It’s all about deepening your relationship with God, not about consistently engaging in your routines” (George Barna, Revolution, pg. 94).
Posted on December 3rd, 2007 by Brian Sparks.
Categories: Blogs.
There have been a lot of discussions on what is a personal belief and what is really bible. I find it amazing how much stuff we have inserted into our beliefs. How many wise men where there? Well, this question has gone around a lot. No one knows and no one cares. But there are instances where we teach things out of tradition and have no idea why we believe them.
One of which is people making fun of Noah’s Ark. The story goes like this. People made fun of Noah because he was building an Ark in the middle of the desert. They would come by mocking him because they have never seen a boat before. It has never rained and therefore people had no need for boats. And as Noah went door to door telling people to get in the boat, no one would except for his own sons and their wives. Not only is totally illogical, it is also the opposite of what the Bible really teaches (Gen. 6).
Sound familiar? I remember coloring pictures of people throwing rocks at the ark. Who cares about the wise men. This story is a little different. I had gone to a revival where the evangelist made his last point about doing things out of faith. He began to use this version of Noah’s Ark and I was ready to walk out. I’ve heard a lot of preaching on this version.
There is a major problem with our Biblical negligence. People actually believe us. And when our teenagers are questioned about their faith, when they find other opinions, then these stories only help us lose credibility.
But if we are wrong about Noah’s Ark, if we really believe this version was in the Bible, what else do we think is in there?
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