The elders and Deacons are currently reading through a book entitled Total Church by Tim Chester and Steve Timmis. Even though we are only in the second chapter we are already finding ourselves encouraged and challenged by its contents. I thought I’d share some quotes that were particularly thought provoking.
We often divide into word-centered and Spirit-centered churches. For some the key event on Sunday mornings is the sermon; for others it is the “time of worship” or “ministry.”
We reject this polarization. Our concern to be word-centered does not conflict with a concern to be Spirit-centered. The church is the community of the Holy Spiriti. It is a living community where things happen because God is at work. When our hearts are moved in worship, when people are changed by God’s word, when we turn to God in prayer, when we care for one another, when we act in selfless ways, and supremely when people are saved- these are all signs of the Spirit at work…
Churches can also polarize between intellectualism (what you think is what matters) or emotionalism (what you feel is what matters). In some churches the issues of the heart and emotions have become functionally absent. We acknowledge their importance, but they feature little in our lives. Some of us just do not like to talk about our relationship with the Lord in emotive terms… Churches should be emotional communities- communities in which our faith is felt as well as understood. -p. 29-30