Incorporating New Christians into Community

John Cleary
John 17:17

Incorporating new Christians into community is important but not necessarily easy. First, our own growth in the gospel is essential, because it ensures that people are settling into a growing community. We also need to emphasize our relationship with new believers instead of focusing more on the meeting. This often means we must bring the community to the person we are hoping to incorporate. Along the way, we must recognize Satan's attempts to thwart our efforts and fight to ensure the believer is exposed to the Word and growing in their own personal learning about God. Finally, we must keep in mind that we are only assisting God in his moves to incorporate believers into the body of Christ. \r\n

The High Commitment Church vs. The Low Commitment Church

Dennis McCallum
John 17:17

Creating a committed ethos in a church involves theology, application of truth, expectation, and making judgment calls. Ultimately, the ethos is where your theology meets your value system. The elements needed for a committed ethos include: strongly held and clear convictions, clear points and counterpoints, being relational and practical, encouragement, and honesty. Against these, there are many ethos killers to look out for.

Intro to the Xenos Home Group Model

Phil Franck
Acts 2:46

Xenos' structure is centered around small Bible study groups called home churches. This model is Biblically based. The New Testament gives multiple examples of the early church operating "house to house." Countless New Testament principles such as the "one another" passages also indicate that the church must provide smaller group settings where relationships can grow between members so that they will be able to discover and meet one another's needs. Home church leaders should be developed before selection and then selected on the basis of character, knowledge, relationships, and ministry. Leaders should have four areas of focus: 1) their own growth in God's grace, love, and sanctification, 2) outreach to non-Christians, 3) Biblical community, and 4) discipleship. This teaching discusses a typical home church schedule and meeting format. Evangelism is often a weakness in adult home churches, for a variety of reasons. But it is also a vital part of a healthy home church's ministry. Evangelism can be done in two ways - "come and see" stepping stone events, where the lost are invited into Christian community to experience fellowship, and "go and be" evangelism, where Christians go out into the secular community to witness. Several examples of these types of events are given. This teaching also plays a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMyTMTmJU6E) in order to comically show how shallow some small groups can be. The remedy to shallow community is discipleship. The product of successful discipleship is multiplication on both an individual and home church level.\r\n

Wisdom in Interpersonal Conflict

Jim Leffel
James 4:1-12

Wisdom in dealing with interpersonal conflict is given by contrasting worldly friendships with spiritual friendships. Worldly friendships are based on self-centered needs, inordinate desires, and expectations, i.e., "I want things my way or else." Spiritual friendships are rooted in God, honor doing things God's way, and are based on grace.\r\n

Welcome One Another

Gary DeLashmutt
Romans 15:7

All Christians are called to welcome one another. This includes welcoming people who have significant sociological differences. Welcoming does not mean passive acceptance or tolerance; and it does not mean snobbery or prejudice. To welcome means to actively and personally invite someone into your life. Welcoming one another is compelling evidence that Jesus is the living Lord. Christians can learn to welcome others by thanking God regularly for His undeserved welcome through Christ.\r\n

Encourage One Another

Gary DeLashmutt
John 13:34-35

All Christians are commanded to regularly give and receive biblical encouragement. This "one another" command is foundational for three reasons: 1) it is the most used of the "one another" commands; 2) all of the other ?one another? commands work best within an encouraging relationship; and 3) experiencing Jesus' encouragement is central to biblical Christianity. To become an effective encourager you must commit to have regular face to face meetings with the other person and also think carefully and prayerfully about that person. Four practical ways to communicate God's encouragement to others are explained: 1) affirm others' value and potential in Christ; 2) recognize and praise others' steps of faith to follow Christ; 3) remind others of God's comfort and faithfulness to those who are suffering; and 4) exhort others to take scary steps of faith to follow Christ.\r\n

The Last Night

Dennis McCallum
Exodus 12:3-9

On his last night before he went to the cross, Jesus sat down to have communion with his disciples. The purpose of communion is not some sort of religious ritual, but is served as remembrance of Jesus' atoning sacrifice on the cross for people to have a relationship with God. It is also a proclamation before God of the importance of Jesus' work before he comes back and an opportunity for fellowship of Christians. Communion is one of the two New Testament rituals believers are called to practice at their discretion because of the freedom they have in Jesus Christ.

Admonish One Another

Gary DeLashmutt
Romans 15:14

Christ calls Christians to live counter-culturally by giving and receiving admonition as needed. Three convictions all Christians need to understand about admonition are: 1) wise counsel for major decisions is necessary for a God-honoring life because none of us has the knowledge or wisdom to make complex life decisions on our own. Also, we are members of God's family and therefore our decisions impact others; 2) sin has the power to deceive us and we all have blind spots in our lives that others can help us see; and 3) God's grace enables us to view admonition as loving discipline versus condemnation.

Building A Ministry

Jim Leffel
Ephesians 4:16

Building onto his argument for how the church the should function in the world, Paul encourages using God-given talents in order to minister to others and meet their needs. Participating in ministry and it's effects is what glorifies Christ.