Discussing Church 11
The trendy website of this church gives no indication of their focus or affiliation. In contrast, their Facebook page says they’re charismatic.
Consider these four discussion questions about Church #11:
1. Despite their claim to be charismatic, their service is much like nontraditional evangelical churches.
If your church is to stand out, what are you doing that’s truly different?
2. According to their pastor, many of the people there dropped out of other churches, disillusioned and discouraged. This church became their sanctuary.
What can you do to embrace the disillusioned and discouraged?
3. For the second time in two weeks, there’s no effort to obtain our contact information. I’m not sure if this is good or bad.
Does your church attempt to get contact information from visitors? If so, what do you or should you do with it?
4. Contrary to their self-description as charismatic, there was little in their service to support that claim.
Does your website and social media accurately reflect your church?
Though this church billed itself as charismatic and showed hints of that leaning, they landed on the light side of being Holy Spirit focused. How does your church represent itself to the public? Does it accurately portray who you are? Or maybe it’s a reflection of what you once were or who you want to become.
[See the prior set of questions, the next set, or start at the beginning.]
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Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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One reply on “A Charismatic Church . . . or Not?”
Hi Peter,
Your observations concerning this particular congregation tend to confirm my thoughts about “the institutional Church”. I believe many believers know deep down in their souls that there’s something missing when they attend a gathering of God’s people. Much of this comes from the traditions that we have inherited here in the West. Most of us just assume that what we experience on Sunday morning is what believers in all times and all places have experienced. Many Christians, I feel, are totally lacking any knowledge of Church history or how the practices we view as normal came about. Sometimes it takes time spent on the foreign mission field to see how far the Western Church has strayed from the First Century Church. For others, it comes in the form of a crisis of faith, when they realize they have a form of religion without the power of Christ within it. I personally believe, and have had this thought confirmed in conversations with other believers, that we are entering a time of testing. I believe that God is going to bring about another season of Church renewal, but first there will come a time of suffering, as He prunes away the unproductive dead branches that hinder our growth in and dependence on Christ (John 15:1-8). I believe the ultimate goal of this renewal will be to bring about unity and maturity within the body of Christ. Keep up the good work.