MC591 – The Morphing of The Church (Session 2)

So what…(questions)

Our covenant defines our community and our story. It shows we are not susceptible to the shaking.

This must affect the way we build churches. We need to be light weight and low maintenance. (Flexible & Adaptable)

Don’t build supertankers but rafts that are attached together.

We import language & symbols to deal with what God has done. One of our faults is that we use language & symbol to explain what we think God will/should do.

Covenant/kingdom

Abraham/Sarah > how you become one with God again after the fall

Joseph > shows what it’s like to rule…how you get there

So much of our theological education takes us away from story telling

to change a society you must tell an alternative story – ellich

what we wear is one of the fundamental ways we communicate

Vineyard’s story > worhsip = intimacy

often in our academic discussion of worship we go story to symbol…

we should be going to story to sp. power to symbol

matt redman & chris tomlin & tim hughes seem to get this.

john 4 > worship > (spirit) the identity of the worhsip & (truth) authenticity

if people are only used to story & symbol without power…they think that story w/power is wrong or out of bounds

Christ’s words in red make them more important than his actions…maybe not a good thing.

to change a culture you have to change the language

unbelievable amount of information attached to symbols (disney, cross, swoosh)

feudalism/property owning/building owning models are not american. struggling long term.

did you give your heart to jesus…yeah, i think i did that on my license

changing the culture is imperative or the gospel has failed there (this is a huge sacred trust) it is not just me getting out & in but God’s agenda to redeem a whole culture
this is tough on american individualism where it is just about me & me being what I can be