CULTIVATING FRUITFULNESS
"My Father is glorified by this,
that you bear much fruit and become my disciples."
(John 15:8)
The Five Practices below capture the core ministries in our congregations. The words help us understand our purpose and mission as disciples of Christ in the world. Individually or with other households we will journey through five weeks of daily devotions, scripture readings, prayer, introspection, and challenge, as we rediscover our role and purpose in following Christ.
This collection of writings for daily devotion and prayer is taken from Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, by Robert Schnase.
A Daily Prayer for each day:
PRAYER OF JABEZ
"Oh , that you would BLESS ME and enlarge my territory!
Let YOUR HAND be with me, and KEEP ME from harm so that I WILL BE FREE from pain."
Chronicles 4:10
PRAYER FOR GAINES
"Oh , that you would BLESS GAINES and enlarge our territory!
Let YOUR HAND be with us, and KEEP US from harm so that WE WILL NOT CAUSE PAIN."
Chronicles 4:10
Lord, help me to be faithful with what you have entrusted to me! AMEN.
Please enter your reflections each week below.
(all reflections will be displayed on this page each week)
The Practice of Radical Hospitality
Christian hospitality is the active desire to invite, welcome, receive, and care for those who are strangers so that they find a spiritual home and discover for themselves the unending richness of the life of Christ.
Radical describes that which is drastically different from ordinary practices, outside the normal, that which exceeds expectations and goes the second mile.
Practicing Radical Hospitality means we offer the absolute utmost of ourselves, our creativity, and our abilities to offer the gracious invitation and welcome of Christ to others. We pray, plan, and work to invite others and help them feel welcome and to support them in their spiritual journeys.
REFLECTIONS:
What are some "RADICAL" things we can do to entice people to come to Gaines and to keep them here once they come?
What "RADICAL" activities would make the following groups want to come to Gaines:
children
teens
young adults
singles
families
senior adults
other races and cultural groups
I LOVE this reading. It has shed light on ways I am or not practicing RADICAL hospitality. I was never comfortable with sharing my journey with non-believers or inviting them to worship. I once had a visitor say to me, "thank you for your hospitality". I never thought I was being hospitible that day; I was just being myself. So I thought about our conversation; I told her about the different bible studies, offered to introduce her to the Pastor and explained to her what Consecration Sunday was about. More daily readings make me think what are small ways we can be bring persons outside of our walls inside? A catholic church in Pleasant Ridge is having a bonfire night. That would be a great way to attract persons to gaines; just like the pig roast. We could offer hot coffee, hot chocoate, cookies and maybe some singing or instumental music in the parking lot. We could bring our own chair and just stand around enjoying a fall evening. The fire itself will draw the people in who want to know what is going on; we just have to be ready to be accepting of who comes and make them comfortable to be around us.
I was in Sam's Club this week making the monthly purchase of paper goods and a few other staples. A fairly routine visit, middle of the day no real issues. As I finished my check out, the clerk said to me," Thanks you for choosing Sam's today...there will be something special for you at the door." My curiosity heightened. I go to Sam's sometimes twice a month...and they don't usually give away anything. Sure enough after the checker cleared me at the door, he reached into a box and handed me a small reusable shopping bag that contained a roll of bathroom tissue, a bottle of hand sanitizer, a box of facial tissue, and a blister pack of laundry detergent. Before I left the store he shook my hand and said,"thank you for your business and have a wonderful and safe afternoon." Wow,that was radical!!!!!! My thoughts immedately moved from the dollars that I had just spent in the store to the way they made me feel as a customer. Although I know that this was a company-wide promotional event...it still worked. They made me feel special and welcomed. We can probably find a way to put a few things in a reusable bag, or even in a ziploc to give to our guests...to say thanks for coming to God's House today and for being in worship with us...we'll save a spot for you next week. Radical Hospitality does not have to be extravagant. It just needs to be obvious !
I feel good about this aspect of Gaines. We haven't had that many people join Gaines in the last five years, but those who have noted how friendly they thought we were and that aspect was one of the reasons that they decided to join the church. I know radical hospitality goes beyond that into how we program and plan our ministries. We need to find a way to identify the ideas that people have as they read each segment of this book.
Your Reflections:
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The Practice of Passionate Worship
Worship describes those times we gather deliberately seeking to encouter God in Christ. God uses worship to transform lives, heal wounded souls, renew hope, shape decisions, provoke change, inspire compassion, and bind peope to one another.
The word passionate expresses an intense desire, an ardent spirit, strong feelings, and the sense of heightened importance. It describes an emotional connection that goes beyond intellectual consent bringing eagerness, anticipation, expectancy, deep commitment, and belief.
Passonate Worship, whether traditional or contemporary, means an extraordinary eagerness to offer the best in worship, honoring God with excellence and with an unusual clarity about the purpose of connecting people to God. It is worship that is not dry, routine, or boring, keeping the form while lacking the spirit. It is not performance; it is devotion and celebration expressing our love of God.
REFLECTIONS:
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Can you recall a worship service at Gaines or another church that continues to resonate with you? What was special about that experience ? Was it music, prayer,technology,preaching, fellowship or some combination of all of these elements?
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What aspects of our Gaines worship services are most or least appealing to you and your family members or friends?
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What can we add or change that would allow us to meld our lives into God's, rather than appear to "squeeze" Him into ours every Sunday?
Some thoughts for the week: "Passionate Worship should/will.....
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form Christian Communities.
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shape and win souls.
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connect us with God and with each other.
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renew our spirit.
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at some engage everyone present for worship.
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represent the very best that we have to offer God that day.
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create a sense of comfort and belonging for those who visit us and invite them to return.
The opportunity to practice Passionate Worship is a powerful gift from God. As we discuss and pray over possibilities this week, please thank God for generous gifts that He has already blessed us with in our worship ministry; and also pray for increase in this area as well.
Your Reflections:
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The Practice of Intentional Faith Development
Intentional Faith Development refers to all the ministries that help us grow in faith outside of weekly worship: Bible studies, Sunday school, small groups, and retreats where we learn in the community of other Christians. By these practices we mature in faith; we grow in grace adn in the knowledge and love of God. We pray that we are closer to Christ today than we were five years ago, and that by the grace of God, we may be closer to Christ five years from now than we are today.
Intentional refers to deliberate effort, purposeful action, and high priority. Growing in grace does not come without purposeful commitment to learning the faith and cultivating our love for God.
Your Reflections:
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The Practice of Risk-Taking Mission and Service
Mission and Service refers to the projects, efforts, and work people do to make a positive difference in the lives of others for the purposes of Christ, whether or not they will ever become part of the community of faith. Mission and Service includes activities such as clean up and reconstruction after disasters, after-school programs for at-risk children, foold banks, and soup kitchens.
Risk-taking pushes us out of our comfort zone, stretching us beyond service to people we already know, exposing us to people, situations, and needs that we would never ordinarily encounter apart form our deliberate intintion to serve Christ.
Risk-Taking Mission and Service involves the efforts to alleviate suffering and injustice to improve the conditions of others in the name of Christ.
REFLECTIONS:
When we look at the life of Jesus, we will discover that Jesus didn’t spend the majority of his time with those who were just like him. Nor did He spend the majority of his time inside four walls. We find Jesus out in the world, serving others.
We find Jesus healing the sick who had been discarded from society, we see him at the well with a woman that others avoided, we find him among the down trodden and the outcasts. We find him dining with tax collectors. Even at the end of his life, we find Jesus between two thieves.
Where do we find ourselves? Where are we spending our time and energy for Christ? When we think about Risk Taking Mission and Service, we need to think about how Jesus performed Risk Taking Mission and Service each day of his life.
It is easier to talk about risk from the opposite perspective. When we are not taking risk, we are comfortable, safe, at home, only in our neighborhoods, we are certain, we do what is convenient, we do what is easy, we serve ourselves, and we are fearful to change.
Matthew 25:35-36 tells us what Risk Taking Mission and Service looks like. “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Risk Taking Mission and Service moves a church from ‘doing church’ to being church by serving those in need, spending time with those in need, by giving of oneself and not just one’s money.
As you read and study Risk Taking Mission and Service this week, think hard about how and what we need to do as a church. What mission should we embrace that takes us out of our comfort zone? How predictable have our ministries become and who are they serving? How are we serving those who do not look and act like us? What would we do, if we were bold enough to do it?
The prayer from Cultivating Fruitfulness says, “Father, help me to distinguish between what is merely convenient and easy for me and what is essential for serving others with real love and respect.
Your Reflections:
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The Practice of Extravagant Generosity
Generosity describes the Christian's unselfish willingness to give in order to make a positive difference for the purposes of Christ.
Extravagant Generosity descibes practices of sharing and giving that exceed all expectations and extend to unexpected measures.
Fruitful congregations thrive because of extraordinary sharing, willing sacrifice, and joyous giving out of love for God and neighbor. Such churches focus on the abundance of God's grace and emphasize the Christian's need to give rather than the church's need for money. In the spirit and manner of Christ, congregations that practice Exravagant Generosity expicitly talk about money in the Christian's walk of faith. They are driven to be generous by a high sense of mission and a keen desire to please God by making a positive difference in the world.
Your Reflections:
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