MIDWEEK CONNECTION
A few weeks ago I came across the above cartoon on Facebook. As you can see, a pastor takes the brain out of an attendee and says, “Welcome to church. You won’t be needing this.”
The cartoon emphatically declares that when you attend a church gathering, you don’t need to think. You don’t need your brain. It’s basically saying that weekly messages and lessons from the Bible are for people who don’t have a mind of their own, or it's saying Believers don’t really think for themselves. Worse yet, it's saying pastors encourage people to not really engage their minds when they come to church.
Nothing could be further from the truth. So I responded to the cartoon by posting a message to our Urban Life Facebook followers:
“This will never be true at the Urban Life Family Center. We expect spiritual and mental engagement with the Bible as we explore the life and ministry of Christ. We are making every attempt to provide solid contextual and balanced instruction in the Word of God, to not only inspire our faith, but to also challenge our thinking!”
This Midweek Connection features another mind-challenging, heart-probing message. By now you have realized that Chris and Carol Green talk about life and bring up issues in ways that go beyond the surface. We don’t preach condemnation sermons about WHAT people do, because we delve into WHY people do what they do.
We address more than the problems and trials that we are all going through in life. We get into the overall purpose and will of God and how what we are going through is connected to the ONE who is greater than ourselves.
We don’t give you an emotionally charged and hyped up church service about getting a financial breakthrough or gaining deliverance from some storm in your life. We emphasize the importance of learning Biblical principles and Godly wisdom, so that we can understand how we got into the situation, how we can navigate our way out of it, how we can avoid getting back into a similar circumstance, and how to turn the focus of our lives to Christ.
By now you realize that we don’t try to answer everyone’s questions or solve everyone’s problems here at Urban Life, but we try to provide the tools that everyone will need; so that each person can learn and grow in the ways of God and not become dependent upon a pastor or another Believer to spoon feed them the scriptures or carry them in every single step they must take in their life. We want you to learn how to properly read and understand the Bible for yourself.
Last Sunday, we explored some of the reasons WHY this ministry functions the way it functions; so you can have a healthy expectation of what GOD is actually trying to accomplish in your heart and home.
If you don’t understand that Urban Life is a place where Believers are being TRAINED and COACHED to live out their faith outside of the walls of our facility, then you might become very frustrated, confused or disappointed with the direction in which we are going.
There are several benefits for you and your family when connecting with a LIFE-DEVELOPMENT ministry like Urban Life. A life-development ministry establishes the foundation of Christ in your life. For instance, did you know that the Bible is not about us? It was not written just for us to pick up quotes on how to get through our problems. It was written to point us to Christ. Accepting this foundational truth will change your life forever.
According to Ephesians 4, there are several benefits to having the right foundation, but we’ll just mention three for now.
First: A solid, Christ-centered, foundation will keep you from being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine or the trickery of men in cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. Stability will come into your life and you won’t be swept away by the latest trends, fads and false teachings from some Christian entertainment and television programs.
Second: This solid foundation will help you grow up (mature) in Christ.
Third: This foundation will help you find your place in the Body of Christ and enable you to do your part with no envy, strife, or insecurity in your heart.
As we continue to move forward in this season of the Open Door, we are being equipped to serve in our families, on our jobs, in our schools, and in this community.
So come prepared, every week, to engage your brain. Come prepared to have the Word of God challenge the way you think and live. Come prepared to learn about the priority of Christ in every area of our lives. Come prepared to be equipped to do the work of the ministry.
