Re-defining Church, Part 1.

It is time for us to review Biblical definitions of church so that we know who we are, how we ought to exist in this world system, what our mandate is and how we ought to operate. Many of us have gone to start churches or to be part of churches without due consideration of [...]

Transformation: Dream or reality?

by Bob Moffit God brings about transformation in individuals, families, communities and nations where local churches understand and respond to his full intentions. Too often, however, transformation has not followed evangelism and church planting because Christians miss God’s intentions. The term transformation is a “hot button” in Christian mission circles. It merits analysis from a [...]

Mission of the church

Mission of the church begins with Jesus and is outlined in the gospels Jesus announces the coming of the Kingdom – Matt 4:1 The coming of the Kingdom isn’t a message it is an event “When Jesus spoke about the Kingdom he wasn’t talking about heaven for which he was preparing his followers but about [...]

Your Kingdom come

by Ric Benson The fundamental purpose of the Christian church, and therefore every local Christian congregation, is to work with God in the realization of His kingdom. It is the kingdom of God that powerfully and predominantly lies at the heart of the teaching, life and action of the Lord Jesus and it is this [...]

Church can change the culture of cities

by Mal Fletcher We live in a time of unprecedented change. The sci-fi writer and futurist Arthur C. Clark noted that, “Only a century ago the poles were utterly unknown, much of Africa was still as mysterious as in the time of King Solomon, and no human being had descended 100 feet into the sea [...]

Mission of the church

Feb 2010 The Mission of the Church I have enjoyed reading recently Tom Wright’s book ‘Surprised by Hope’. The second section of this book is an excellent discussion on the mission of the church in the light of the centrality of the resurrection. In it Wright encourages us to rethink some of our basic truths [...]

Missional Shift or Drift?

Report by Helen Lee In the summer of 2000, Mike Lueken had every reason to be proud as a pastor of Oak Hills Church in Folsom, California. Every Sunday, thousands of people flocked to Oak Hill’s sixteen acre campus with its 35,000-square-foot facility, and the church was doing everything that a thriving, suburban megachurch with [...]

The place of the church in the wider community

by Ric Benson The importance of asking questions Socrates is reported to have once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” If examination of one’s life is an imperative for the individual, then how much more is it for a church that purports to be carrying out God’s will, and is composed of and [...]

Creating A Culture Of Influence

by Mal Fletcher It is fundamental to the Christian worldview that human beings were created for influence. According the Gen. 1:26-28, the first calling God placed upon the shoulders of humankind was command to influence. We were enobled and enabled to influence our environment more than it influences us; to shape our world more than [...]

Building Monday’s church

by Brian Medway We are facing a long term problem in the church. We have the right doctrine, we have good preaching and teaching capabilities and we have access to every kind of resource we can name in order to do our job, but we are not doing our job. Despite the succession of short [...]

Next Page »