the glorious exchange

We had our first real leadership meeting tonight, and I was real pleased with what we put in place. We worked out a general service order from the point of view for a visitor, and it seems like a good plan, on the face of it anyway. We also talked about some awesome coincidences (our worship guy’s friend received a campus bag, etc.), and some aspects of church planting that we needed to address (solidarity in leadership, having one another’s back, etc.).

Before we actually started planting, I had always heard that church planting brings a lot of opposition. Up until this past week, I hadn’t received any, and was praising God for it. I spoke too soon. This past week has been rife with opposition, from little things like the power going out to major things like a strike against my reputation from someone who really doesn’t know me. Oh well.

We’re all fallen. And I lean on Christ. ‘Nuff said. 

First of all, we doubled last week’s attendance! That’s awesome. If we’re going to impact Greenville, that’s what it’s going to take: people reaching people. Secondly, we had power. Which was good! Since we had a lot of new people, we went over the Guiding Document again, what kind of church we were going to be, where we’re headed as a church, etc. I then gave a devotion from Daniel 3: the basic reason that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego went into the furnace was for the glory of God in front of King Nebuchednezzar. Basically, the trials and fires we face aren’t for our faith: they are for those watching us go through them.

We wrapped up with a great discussion on chapter 2 of Don’t Waste Your Life, which discusses Scripture as authoritative, Jesus as God, and finally the relationship between our joy and God’s glory. It was a great discussion, and I can’t wait until next week! See you then, and bring a friend!

Ups

• We got the campus bags packed and reay to go!
• We had a great time together and are really coming together with one vision.
• We talked about multiplication: echo groups and future church plants.
• People are really interested in where we’re headed.
• We really have a heart for the lost. Really. Some people say it but don’t. We’re not them.
• I’m loving getting to know everyone’s story.
• Piper’s stuff is great.

Downs

• We had about 7 no-shows. Some we knew about, some were unexpected. That’s the name of the game.
• The frickin’ power went out as we were about to watch a DVD. We went into discussion while barely skipping a beat. Candles and flashlights, baby!
• We’re realizing the difficulty of what’s ahead (though this could be an ‘up’).
• Because of the storm, we couldn’t chill on the porch. We watched the DVD once the power returned.
• We have a problem practically unheard of in church planting: our females are outnumbered 2:1.
  

If you’re reading this and anywhere near Greenville, NC, you need to get to our Echo Group meeting tonight! We start at 7pm at Miranda’s (email for directions), and will be providing finger food and beverages. Bring a friend! Looking forward to having you guys. More info here: Harmony Greenville - Echo Groups and on Facebook here: Echo Group - Winterville

Chapter six is pretty intense, and it only gets more intense as we build up to the conclusion of Amos. Here’s the past links: Intro, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5. And here’s the notes:

• Amos 6:1-3 - Don’t Think It Won’t Happen to You
  1. V1. You think it won’t happen to you. You think you’re safe because you worship God. But remember what Christ says: some that claim Him, He never knew. People look at their leaders, and expect them to be leading them in a right direction, down a right path. But the people should always examine who is leading them. Always. Even as I teach this, you should be thinking about it in your heart and head, let the Spirit talk to you. Take it with a grain of salt: does it reveal Christ? Does it line up with Scripture? If the answer to both of these questions is “yes”, then embrace it as truth. If not, hold me accountable for my teaching, because I will be held accountable for your reaction to it.
  2. V2. Calneh was a major trade city, equivalent to a modern day Charlotte. Hamath was the rather large capital of a Canaanite kingdom, equivalent to Raleigh. Gath was also a regional capital within the Philistine kingdom. It was Goliath’s hometown. All of these cities were great, and Israel knew it. But at the time, they had been destroyed by the Assyrians, if you remember from chapter one.
  3. V3. You think it won’t happen soon. But it will. And your actions aren’t helping.
• Amos 6:4-7 - Take Advantage of Your Comfort While You Can
  1. V4. Beds of ivory? That’s rich even today. Couches back then? Crazy. They can afford to eat lamb whereas most people have to keep them for wool and income. They can eat beef where most people have to keep them for trade, milk, and work.
  2. V5. They invent instruments but they play idle instruments. It’s useless to create if you’re not creating for the glory of God. Art, music, literature, all of it is useless if it does not reflect Christ in some way.
  3. V6. They drink wine and anoint with fine oils, but are completely oblivious to the coming judgment and ruin that is occurring under their feet.
  4. V7. When the Assyrians show up, the rich go first.
• Amos 6:8-10 - The Lord’s Promise
  1. When we talk about the promises of the Bible, we often forget these. Heh.
  2. V8. God swears according to Himself, because nothing else is good enough to swear by, that He will deliver Israel to Assyria. All of Israel: people and property.
  3. V9. Ten men gone.
  4. V10. The whole problem is this: Israel is gaining wealth evilly, and is falsely worshipping God at the same time, while worshipping idols “behind God’s back”. So they are constantly using God’s name in vain, calling on Him in show, etc. But here, they are shown to be weary of using God’s name, because they know that doing it for show has gotten them where they are today. They are repenting, in a way, of their actions.
• Amos 6:11-14 - The Judgment Revealed
  1. V11. The big houses will fall, the little houses torn down.
  2. V12. No one will be able to survive in the rubble that is to come. You’ve brought it on yourself.
  3. V13. You think that you can save yourselves because God has blessed you.
  4. V14. The judgment revealed: a nation is going to lay the smack down.

Great stuff from Amos.