a Shared Life

Several years ago, I worked with Young Life while living in New England. I’ll never forget a Bible study one morning at the home of one of our high school students. We met regularly to share what we learning in the Scriptures, cast the vision for the ministry we were doing at the high school and pray for the people at the school. One morning, we decided to go back to the basics of how to study Scripture. As we handed out the worksheets with the Bible Study method, the eyes of the students lit up. They excitedly asked for more copies. I ran out and promised to email more to them.

I marveled at this because these were our solid, spiritually growing kids. Many of them regularly read their Bibles and shared what they were learning. It was at that moment I realized that even though I regularly emphasized reading the Bible, I had rarely given people the tools to study the Scriptures.

Regular Bible reading and study has changed my life more than any other spiritual discipline. Study methods come naturally for some people. But, for many, these methods must be learned and practiced. In Ephesians 4, Paul describes the role of church leadership as using their roles and gifts “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (v. 12)”. Since the morning of that Bible study, I have tried to equip people with the tools they need to study. Once practiced, these methods can become such a habit that we no longer need to think about each step of the method.

So, what tools should we use to study Scripture? Looking back, the method we used that morning was far from simple. It has been replaced with a simpler one, to which we were introduced. Here’s the simple method: SOAP.

SOAP is an acronym for Scripture, Observation, Application & Pray. So, when reading the Bible, follow these steps…

Scripture
Start with the Bible. Have a reading plan, pick something out of the scripture that you like

Observation
Make some observations about what is happening in the passage. What do you know? What is God saying?

Application
Reading and studying Scripture is of no use unless you actually apply it to your life. (Matt 7:24) How can I apply this today??

Pray
Spend time talking to God like you would your friend. Ask for the wisdom and strength to apply what you just learned.

So, try doing these steps with a Scripture. Write out and journal (or blog) your thoughts and prayers.

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After the first trip, including the visit to Frontline, I performed a wedding for a friend who lives in Washington D.C. and works as a lawyer. His former law professor and current employer was seated with me at the reception. In making conversation, we talked about the “Interview Project” and my recent visit to the Washington D.C. suburbs. Very interested in the project, the older gentleman asked if it was necessary to be younger to reach the younger generations. Most American churches interested in attracting and retaining significant populations of twenty-somethings either explicitly or implicitly respond to that question. Many churches do not seem to notice the missing 18-35 year olds in the church or dismiss it as a temporary situation. The churches that do notice and take action mostly respond by hiring a young, cool, hip guy to reach twenty-somethings, thereby implying that it is a job best accomplished by a younger generation. While hiring a younger person often means there will be a common culture, Continue reading »

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ADVENTURE # 5: NATIONAL COMMUNITY CHURCH (WASHINGTON D.C.)

Although popular today for churches to open or begin new services in movie theaters, National Community Church (NCC) adopted this approach to ministry out of necessity, before  the widespread acceptance of the idea. Real estate prices in Washington D.C. caused them to open up in a theater in a subway station. However, they continued to be innovative by purchasing their first piece of property, an old rundown building, to create a creative, high quality community coffeehouse, Ebenezers. AOL City Guide recently named Ebenezers the number one coffeehouse in Washington D.C.

As mentioned before in the discussion of Mercy Hill, there is an obvious cool factor about meeting in a movie theater-especially in a subway station. There is no “churchy” feel to the building and many young adults find it less intimidating to enter a movie theater or coffeehouse than a church. For the purpose of this project, timing made it impossible to do an onsite evaluation. So, Heather Zempel’s sermon was evaluated through their podcast. However, previous visits with young adults to both the Union Station and Ebenezers Coffeehouse venues received extremely positive feedback. Continue reading »

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ADVENTURE #4: VALLEY CHURCH (ALLENTOWN, PA)

Located in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Valley Church originally existed as Christian Life Community Church. Under Eric Miller’s leadership, the church transformed into Valley Church. Eric’s brother Craig served on staff at a large Assemblies of God church near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After leaving staff, Craig relocated to Allentown to work alongside his brother at Valley Church. When Craig relocated, a group of young adults decided to move as well. Quitting their jobs, they moved across the state to find new employment and serve as volunteers at Valley Church. While not technically a church plant, this variation of the Team Planting model demonstrates the commitment to community and mission, which affects the nature of the church.  When asked about the change in dynamics, Eric notes that the contingent from Harrisburg brings servanthood and loyalty to the table—but to others it can appear to be Craig’s posse. The addition of Craig to the staff frees Eric from being solo pastor and having to have a hand in everything. Craig’s unstructured and creative nature balances Eric’s structured and academic personality. Their chemistry and complementary relationship creates a unique dynamic that others notice and appreciate.¹ Continue reading »

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1. Ed Stetzer, Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age (Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2003), 64-69. [↩]

ADVENTURE # 3: LCBC (MANHEIM, PA)

LCBC originally stood for Lancaster County Bible Church. At some point, the meaning behind these letters became Lives Changed by Christ, which better reflects the current vision and reach of the congregation. LCBC broadcasts their sermons live to a multi-site about an hour away. Since each uses a live band, this requires coordination of the timing between services. A high-energy feeling permeates the sanctuary. Broadcast quality lighting, stage décor and professional sounding musicians produce a worship experience equivalent to or better than many concerts. Continue reading »

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ADVENTURE #2: FRONTLINE (VIENNA, VA)

Frontline is a high energy, huge auditorium worship experience complete with smoke, lights, a live worship band and everything else expected in a contemporary large-scale worship event. In addition to meeting in the main sanctuary of McLean Bible Church, they offer multi-site experiences at Tysons Corner (Vienna, VA), Arlington (Rosslyn, VA) and a live simulcast through the Internet. The Gathering, the college ministry division of Frontline, does not have a separate service. Instead, they rely on Bible Study groups on or near the college campuses served by Frontline and meet in places attractive to students like Panera Bread and Starbucks.

Sermon Evaluation

Content and Delivery
John McGowan, who directs The Gathering, spoke the night we came to observe and interview. He began with a personal story told in such Continue reading »

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ADVENTURE #1: MERCYHILL (STATE COLLEGE, PA)

The start of many churches contains unique elements. Mercy Hill’s genesis is perhaps the most unique church in the Penn-Del Conference of the Assemblies of God. In order to reach the population of twenty-somethings not attending State College Assembly of God (SCAG), Mercy Hill began through a staff member of SCAG, Keith Davis. With SCAG’s permission and blessing, Mercy Hill launched as an independent congregation within the same college town as SCAG. While operating independently, the two churches continue ties. In fact, SCAG serves Mercy Hill by brewing and delivering the weekly coffee for Mercy Hill’s services.

Mercy Hill meets in a movie theater in State College. Storefront churches have long been a part of American church planting. High visibility in the midst of where people already congregate allows churches easy access to potential “customers”. This merging of the marketplace and faith is attractive to younger generations, making the movie theater the new storefront. Continue reading »

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The Beginning of the Journey

“What type of preaching reaches young adults?” is a question I ask myself repeatedly as I attempt to speak and preach about faith in Christ in a way that connects with twenty-somethings.¹  With a variety of styles and values available to a speaker, how and what they choose reflects their own beliefs and values and also influences how the message is heard. The message the majority of American churches preach is not connecting with young adults. Church attendance among the youngest generations continues to decline. Reggie McNeal cites a study by Dawson McAlister, a nationally known youth specialist, on persons actively involved in high school youth groups church as teenagers. Ninety percent of those actively participating as teenagers no longer attend church by their sophomore year in college. One third of those never return to church as they mature.² Using statistics by David Barrett, Stephen Lim notes that globally, the number of committed Christians continues to grow two times faster than the world population. In the United States, however, younger generations decreasingly identify themselves as Christians.³ Thom Rainer surveyed 1300 people in each of the four generational groups. Rainer found that sixty-five percent of Builders (born before 1946), thirty-five percent of Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), fifteen percent of Generation X (born between 1965 and 1976) and only four percent of Generation Y (born between 1976 and 1994) responded to survey questions in such a way as to be identified as born again.⁴  There is an obvious disconnection between the church and younger generations. This series of blogs is about a journey to observe, experience, evaluate and reflect on ministries and churches that are attracting young adults. Continue reading »

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1. Although variously defined, young adult normally refers to people approximately 18-35 years old. This term is often used interchangeably with twenty-somethings. However, for the purpose of this series of blogs, twenty-somethings shall refer to the subset of young adults approximately 18-29. [↩]
2. Reggie McNeal, The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2003), 4. [↩]
3. Lim, Stephen. “Leading Missional Ministry.” Class notes for Core 2 Course at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary, Springfield, MO, June 11-14, 2007. [↩]
4. Reggie McNeal, The Present Future, 4 [↩]

I love road-trips to observe and interview people doing ministry among young adults and twenty-somethings. It’s exciting to see the creativity and passion that God has given people as they connect with younger generations. Benson Hines “recently returned from a yearlong road trip researching Christian college ministry around the U.S. After 181 campuses, 44 states, and hundreds of interviews.” I stumbled upon Benson’s Facebook Group a while back and excitedly joined it. Today, he announced through his Facebook Group that his site was live and his free eBook, Reaching the Campus Tribes (An Opening Inquiry), is ready for downloading. If you’re excited about what God’s doing on college campuses, you will want to check it out.

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Can faith fix everything? Does forgiving mean forgetting? Does everything happen for a reason?

A lot of cultural myths about God surround us and many people believe them. At times these myths cause people to stumble in their faith–often blaming God and hurting other in the process. In 10 Dumb Things Smart Christian Believe, Larry Osbourne takes on ten popular myths about God. This book contains clear, simple answers to the myths and spiritual legends that many people believe about God and will challenge you to think about faith myths you might believe–or help you explain them to others. A study-guide is included in the appendix making it easy to use as a small group study.

Book Summary:
Just Because “Everyone Believes It” Doesn’t Make It True!
People don’t set out to build their faith upon myths and spiritual urban legends. But somehow such falsehoods keep showing up in the way that many Christians think about life and God. These goofy ideas and beliefs are assumed by millions to be rock-solid truth . . . until life proves they’re not. The sad result is often a spiritual disaster—confusion, feelings of betrayal, a distrust of Scripture, loss of faith, anger toward both the church and God.

But it doesn’t have to be so. In this delightfully personal and practical book, respected Bible teacher Larry Osborne confronts ten widely held beliefs that are both dumb and dangerous. Beliefs like these:

• Faith can fix anything
• Christians shouldn’t judge
• Forgiving means forgetting
• Everything happens for a reason
• A godly home guarantees good kids
…and more.

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