4 Childlike Traits That Every Christian Needs To See God Work Through Prayer

by Jed CoppengerBible, Christian living, Church, Ministry, Practical Ministry, Prayer, UncategorizedPosted on No Comments

God can do more in a moment than we can do in a lifetime. Whether creating the universe with a word, splitting the Red Sea for the Israelites, enabling Daniel to walk out of a lion’s den unscratched, raising Lazarus from the dead with a word, walking Peter out of prison the night before he was supposed to be executed, the Bible portrays a God whose power and love is unstoppable and unending.

That’s why we pray. Or, at least, that’s one of the reasons we pray.

Unfortunately, most people don’t have a daily prayer life. The reasons for this lack of prayer are many, but the proposed solution to it usually includes something along the lines of “I’ll try harder” or “I need to be more disciplined.”

But I’ve found over the years that a change in prayer life won’t happen in any lasting way by simply trying to be more disciplined. I’ve had more success in my own prayer life and in helping others with theirs, in trying to be more childlike, not more disciplined.

It’s interesting that when Jesus taught on prayer, he didn’t start by telling us to be more disciplined, he said to be more childlike. When he teaches us to say, “Our Father,” he is teaching us to think of prayer as a Father-Child conversation. Jesus didn’t call people to a higher, more sophisticated spiritual level to pray differently, he told them to act like children.

As I’ve meditated on this truth over the years, it’s radically changed my prayer life from a “once in a while” prayer life to an “every day, throughout the day” prayer life. This change hasn’t happened because I’m strong, but because I’m more aware of my weaknesses. The more you grow up in Christ, the more childlike you become. And I’ve found that there are four childlike traits that every christian needs to see God work through their prayers.

Childlike Faith

Just about every child has a moment or a stage where they think their parents can do anything. That’s the feeling Jesus wants us to have about “Our Father in heaven” (Matt. 6:9). Because he is “in heaven,” he is unstoppable. Jesus is connecting the Father we speak to in prayer with the God “who is in the heavens and does whatever he pleases” (Ps. 115:3). Why is this so important? Because your view of God determines your practice of prayer. If you think he can help you today with your work, relationships, finances, or whatever, you’ll ask. If you don’t, you won’t. Battle the specific sin of unbelief that says, “God can’t really make a difference in my life enough today for me to ask him for that help in prayer.”

  • What does your prayer life say about God’s abilities?

Childlike boldness

Most kids go through a long season where they don’t think twice about barging into their parents’ room in the middle of the night. Whether it’s a bad dream, they can’t find their blanket, or something else, they never apologize for the disruption. That’s a boldness that no one else could get away with. And that’s precisely what you need to have, especially once you understand the greatness of God. God’s power is matched by his love. That’s why we can ask the amazing God who “is in heaven” to give us “daily bread” (Matt. 6:11). Because he’s “our Father” we can approach his throne like a child, boldly (Heb. 4:12).

How can we, an unholy people, approach a holy God? Because Jesus bought our access with his blood. Our childlike boldness is a blood-bought boldness. He took our place on the cross to secure a space for us in his family. Because of this, we can be bold as we talk to God, asking God anything and everything.Do your kids get organized before they talk to you? Hopefully, not normally. Do they only talk to you about subjects that are “proper”? Nope. When you’re bold like a child, you feel the freedom to talk to God about what’s really going on in your life.

  • What does your prayer life say about God’s love? Do you have a high enough view of God’s love that you think he will help you today if it’s best for you?

Childlike Specificity

The older I get, the more I struggle to come up with “gift ideas” for Christmas and for my birthday. It didn’t used to be this way. When I was a kid, I could throw out all kinds of worthless things I was dying to have. My kids are the same. Most are. I believe God uniquely loves specific prayer requests from his kids. Why? When we get specific with our requests, we give the invisible God an opportunity to become visible in our lives in a way he wouldn’t be able to without that request. Specificity leads to visibility. Don’t know what to get specific about? Pray your problems. Pray your plans. Pray your Bible. Fight the “vague prayer syndrome” and write down specific enough prayer requests that you’d know it, if God answered it.

  • If God answered every one of your specific, written prayer requests, what would be different for you, your loved ones, your church, and the world?

Childlike Trust

“Ouch! I’m telling!” I heard my youngest son say, just before he made his way into the kitchen. After he told me what happened, I said to him, “I’ll take care of it.” With that, his countenance changed and he joyfully walked right back where he came from. I overheard him self-righteously say to his sibling, “Dad said he’ll take care of it.”

He didn’t, of course, know “how” or even “when” I’d take care of it. Frankly, shout out to imperfect parents like me, he didn’t know “if” I would take care of it. He simply knew “who” would take care of it. Because he knew who would take care of his problem, he walked out of that conversation without the burden he brought into it.

That burden-relieving, peace-producing, change-you-right-where-you-are-from-the-inside-out kind of interaction in prayer only happens when there is an unshakable trust in the one to whom you just presented your problem. That’s childlike trust. That’s wrapped up in the “your kingdom come, your will be done” (Matt. 6:10). If you have a God who is great enough to do something about your problems and plans, you have a God who is great enough to have a better way forward that you don’t understand. That’s why you have to trust God to do what’s best with your request. If you don’t trust him, you won’t rest. You won’t experience the “peace that transcends all understanding” (Phil. 4:6-7). Thank him for doing what’s best with your request before you know what he’ll do with it because you know WHO you’re talking to, not HOW he’ll handle it.

  • Is there any area where you need to trust God to do what’s best for you, even if it’s the thing you most fear?

How different could this year be, if we started asking the God who can do more in a moment than we can do in a lifetime, to help us everyday? How different might our relationships, work, inner sense of well being, churches, country, world, be if we starting acting like children who have a Father in heaven who does whatever he pleases?

5 Simple Steps Christians Take To Experience God’s Power In His Word

by Jed CoppengerBible, Christian living, Redemption City ChurchPosted on No Comments

God’s words are powerful. Whether creating all things with his words (Gen 1), bringing a dead man to life with his words (John 11:38-44), or calling Abram to himself with his words (Gen 12:1-3), just to name a few examples that show the power of God’s words, God wants us to know that his words are unlike any other words in the world. The words recorded in the Bible are “breathed out,” authored by, him (2 Tim 3:16). That’s why, when the writer of Psalm 119 was struggling and felt like his life was “in the dust,” he prayed that God would “give him life through his word” (Ps 119:25).

Unfortunately, most Christians are missing out on the power available to them in God’s word. Last year, a study conducted by Lifeway Research found that, “A third of Americans who attend a Protestant church regularly (32%) say they read the Bible personally every day. Around a quarter (27%) say they read it a few times a week.” The numbers go even further down when less frequent church attendance.

I’m not sure how many of the 62.2 million “Protestant Christians” (that is, non-Catholic Christians) would be considered “regular attenders,” but let’s just say for the sake of this post that all of them are. That would mean that about 43.54 million of them are walking through the day without the amazing power (not to mention wisdom, grace, love, etc.) that is uniquely found in God’s word.

Think about how different the flavor of American Christianity would be if that many people were being empowered by God’s word? How different would our relationships be? How much more hopeful do you think we would be? More loving? More at peace? The list could go on and on. When we leave our Bibles on the shelves we leave a lot of power on the table.

That’s why I LOVE helping people get into God’s word on a daily basis. I want to see more people experiencing God’s power on a daily basis. And listen, while reading through the Bible in a year is an awesome goal to pursue, I’d encourage you to prioritize daily Bible reading. If you are in God’s word each day, but don’t make it through in a year, that’s a WIN!

If you want to experience God’s powerful presence in his word, I’ve found that the following 5 steps help Christians experience God’s power in his word.

Find The Right Bible – When I worked for a Bible publisher, we saw a study that said that Christians choose their Bibles for about 4 different reasons. Some Christians chose their Bible because of it’s cover, some the type of translation, and others chose the translation their pastor preached from. Whatever your reasons are, look on Amazon and find what you like best. If you’re new to Bible reading, I highly recommend you use a study Bible (ESV or CSB). These study bibles enable you to understand God’s powerful word with greater confidence and ease.

Use A Bible Reading Plan – Most people engage with God’s word consistently when they have some kind of plan. I’d encourage you to start in the NT and read a Psalm a day. But for a wide range of plans, check out this help list from our friends at the Gospel Coalition. As you start a plan, if you are connecting with a particular passage, please feel the freedom to “get behind.” I’ve spent weeks coming back to a passage of Scripture plenty of times. When I was tempted to try to “catch up” by reading a large portion of Scripture quickly, I had to remind myself that it’s not about “keeping up,” it’s about a daily encounter with God in his word.

Observe, Interpret, And Apply – When you read the Bible with a few key questions in the back of your mind, it increases the impact of the Bible reading in your life. That’s why so many Bible readers have been helped by observing, interpreting, and applying the passage that they are reading. When they observe the passage, they ask “what does it say?” When they interpret the passage, they ask “what does it mean?” When they apply the passage, they ask “how should I respond?” For a little more information about how to think about this, read this helpful post.

Find And Prioritize A Regular Devotion Time – Identify and prioritize the best time for you to spend 15-30 minutes in reading God’s word. I’ve found that going to bed a little earlier so that I can get up a little fresher, pays off big time with my Bible reading. Maybe you’re more of a night owl. However you are wired, find a time to get into God’s word. Whatever it is, understand that the Enemy wants to do anything he can to stop you from taking these simple, but significant steps (Eph 6:10-20).

Ask God To Help You Do What He Says – Once you understand what God is telling you to do, ask him to help you do it. Don’t just read your Bible, pray your Bible. Ask your heavenly Father to help his “kingdom come” in whatever specific way you happen to be reading about that day.

God has fresh, unlimited power available for you each day in his word. Ask him to help you experience it as you experience him each day in 2020.

How Long Does It Take To Read Each Book Of The Bible?

by Jed CoppengerUncategorizedPosted on No Comments

The Bible’s a BIG book. With something around 783,000ish words, the Bible easily fits into the “longer than average” category for books. A book of this size, as important as it is, can be hard to work through in the busyness of life.

That’s why I love the infograph below. It breaks down the amount of time it takes on average to read through every book of the Bible. This info helps busy people see how much time is required to read through a book of the Bible. When you compare the amount of time we spend on our phones, watching T.V. (several hours a day), and other things like this, you see we really could work through the Bible in the year.

Take a look at it and commit to saying “no” to a few more television shows or hours spent on social media, and yes to God’s life-giving word.

Paul Miller On “Finding Community”

by Jed CoppengerChristian living, Church, Ministry, Paul Miller, Practical Ministry, QuotesPosted on No Comments

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“You don’t find community; you create it through love. Look how this transforms the way you enter a room of strangers. Our instinctive thought is, ‘Who do I know? Who am I comfortable with?’ There’s nothing wrong with those questions, but the Jesus questions that create communities are, ‘Who can I love? Who is left out?’ Instinctively, we hunt for a church or community that makes us feel good. It is good to be in a place where you are welcome, but making that quest central is idolatry. And like all idolatry, it ultimately disappoints. But if we pursue hesed love, then, wherever we go, we create community.”

From page 100 of Paul Miller’s A Loving Life: In A World Of Broken Relationships.

3 Sentences Worth Celebrating

by Jed CoppengerChristian living, Church, Evangelism, Genius, Homepage Slider, Ministry, Missions, Practical Ministry, Prayer, UncategorizedPosted on One Comment

Nashville

In Mid-TN, where there seems to be a church on every corner, a Bible on every bookshelf, and Jesus in every heart, it’s easy to forget that 85% (ish) of the people here don’t have a relationship with Jesus. It’s common to assume that everyone has “arrived” spiritually. It’s not unusual for people to think there are no more new steps of faith to take.

This type of thinking isn’t accurate and it isn’t harmless. I believe it represents one of the most successful lies of the Enemy, causing people to ignore the everyday opportunities God gives them to advance his kingdom. The people in our area aren’t just from our area. In fact, it’s very rare to meet people in Mid-TN from Mid-TN. Our city attracts people from all kinds of families, regions, and more. And like all of us, they’re broken, living in a broken world, looking for an eternal, satisfying life. We believe Jesus is the life they’re looking for. And we also believe that people typically find Jesus and follow Jesus through the church’s Spirit-empowered, imperfect efforts.

One of the greatest parts of being a pastor is the opportunity to hear so many life changing stories to capture both the great need for Christ that exists and the great progress that is happening. One of the worst parts of being a pastor is the challenge of communicating so many life changing stories to so many people. It’s easier to hear and celebrate them than it is to pass them on in a way that does justice to them.

With that said, I’d like to share a few stories, imperfectly, that I can’t keep to myself! All of these happened in the last week. I’ve removed sensitive details, but I want you all to know that God is at work in our midst!

“You have no idea how much of a miracle it is that they are coming!” Recently an RCC couple pulled me aside and told me, that someone they invited has been coming to RCC worship gatherings consistently for the past few months. I knew who they were talking about, but I didn’t know much about them. And the RCC couple told me with an excited seriousness, “you have no idea how much of a miracle it is that they are coming.” I had no idea. Turns out there is quite a history there. Praise God he’s allowing RCC to be the people amongst whom God is working this miracle!

Perhaps there are people around you right now in your neighborhood, at work, or some other well worn path in your life that God wants to work a miracle through your invitation?!

“For the first time, I’m asking God to show me something ‘big’ that he wants me to do.” Recently a couple was invited to a group for the first time. They went and God changed their life! They said as they listened to the group talk about following Christ, it made them realize that they hadn’t been including God in their lives in a significant way. So they started asking God to show them something “big” God wanted them to do with their lives! In the next couple of days, something “big” came along and they acted courageously and took the step out of their comfort zone. Praise God he’s using Groups to change lives!

Perhaps there are people around you right now in your neighborhood, work, or maybe at the worship gatherings, who you can invite to your group and see God change their lives?!

“Thanks for the invitation to grab some coffee. I’ve been waiting for you to ask.” A guy that had been hanging around RCC on and off for the past couple of years was recently asked to coffee by one of the people that saw him the most frequently. And the guy immediately said he’d love to and that he’d been waiting for someone to ask him! How many people is God preparing for our invitations?

Perhaps you could ask God to show you someone that you can invite to grab a cup of coffee and see God work?!

The people of Mid-TN need Jesus. And Jesus loves to use his imperfect church to advance his perfect, miraculous purposes in places like this. I’m praying that God would allow everyone of us to play a meaningful part in helping people start a relationship with Jesus and grow in their relationship with Jesus. Are you making yourself available to him and his purposes today?

5 Reasons I’m Excited That We’re Starting Another Worship Gathering

by Jed CoppengerChristian living, Church, Evangelism, Ministry, Practical Ministry, Redemption City ChurchPosted on No Comments

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Four years ago we set out to start a church that would join Jesus in building Redemption City with the gospel—a city where everyone is redeemed, every aspect of life is redeemed, because it is completely centered on the Redeemer (Rev. 21-22). We’ve given our lives to connecting people to Jesus and growing people in Jesus with the gospel. While we’ve had a lot of blessings and difficult moments, Jesus has faithfully and fruitfully advanced his work through it all.

As we prepare for the “back to school” and “back from vacation” bump in weekly attendance, we are facing a challenge we’ve never had before—we don’t have room for all the people Jesus is bringing us through your efforts! In fact, during the month of July, a month that we’ve historically seen a decrease in attendance, we have had two record attendance Sundays! On one Sunday, we literally did not have enough chairs in the building for all the people who came (thankfully some servant leaders found some without finding the fire chief!). That’s why we are excited to announce that starting on August 13th we’ll be adding another worship gathering, one at 9:00am and 10:30am!

As we approach this strategic next step, I thought I’d share five reasons why I’m excited about adding another worship gathering at Redemption City Church!

I believe it increases the chances of lost people having their lives changed by Jesus at Redemption City Church! Redemption City Church loves to introduce people to Jesus. One of the many challenges to seeing more unbelievers having their lives changed by believers has nothing to do with the gospel. It has to do with seating capacity. Studies say that people, some of whom are unbelievers, don’t want to come a worship gathering where 80% of the room is full. Most people want a chair between them and the person next to them, when it is a person they don’t know. Since we have reached our seating capacity, we have to either find a new location with more space or create more space at this location to continue to introduce more people to Jesus. With no good alternative locations, we’re creating space at our current location by adding another worship gathering. Because Jesus made room for us, we want to make room for others. Our prayer is that with more worship gathering options, more will opt! And when more opt, we pray more lives will be changed by Jesus!

I believe it improves Redemption City Church for the Redemption City Church family! Redemption City Church loves to introduce people to Jesus AND grow in Jesus. Since we have very limited space available, many people have had a hard time finding a seat. I’ve seen families eagerly searching for seats who have had to climb over a bunch of people for that one middle seat, divide their families into different sections in the space, or even go to another building for more chairs. By having more worship gathering options, we’ll have more seating options. This will take the focus off of looking for a seat and back where to it should be, on looking to Christ! It also allows great flexibility for those who have a schedule conflict with a worship gathering. Whether that is coming back in town, leaving town, going to a Titans game, or something else, more options to worship improves your ability to make needed adjustments without losing needed worship time!

I believe it will improve the Ministry Team Ministries for our volunteers! Adding another worship gathering improves the Ministry Team Ministries for our volunteers in two ways. First, serving becomes more sustainable, since two worship gatherings creates the scenario for volunteers to serve weekly AND go to a worship gathering weekly! This “Serve One, Attend One” reality creates the opportunity for those serving others to be served by others every week, those refreshing others in the gospel to be refreshed in the gospel every week. Secondly, serving becomes more strategic. Adding another worship gathering doesn’t just increase our work, it changes our work. The increased work leads to greater specialization, allowing us to let go of areas of weakness and play to our strengths! Those gifted with Kids can pour more consistently into kids. Those more gifted in worship can focus more on worship. When we play to our strengths, we advance more effectively.

I believe it will improve the Kids City ministry for kids! Since the Kids City ministry will continue during both the 9:00am and 10:00am hours, kids in the Kids City will have the opportunity to benefit from some important improvements. First, since there will be two opportunities, our class sizes will move to a more ideal size. While we’ve loved the high attendance, sometimes it felt like we didn’t give some children as great an experience in Christ as we were hoping to give them. This sweet spot allows for greater attention for each kid. Secondly, since the “Serve One Attend One” allows for a more consistent presence from Kids City Leaders, kids will be known better by their leaders, which will enable them to be helped better by their leaders!

I’m excited about adding a second worship gathering because I believe it will improve the Kids City ministry for parents! Because the “Serve One, Attend One” scenario created by two worship gatherings exists, Kids City Leaders can serve more consistently than they used too. This reality enables them to be more present in the kids lives AND the parents lives. Greater consistency will lead to greater familiarity between the leaders and parents, which will lead to greater partnership between leaders and parents!

As we approach this significant next step, I wanted to share these areas that I’m particularly excited about. I hope they excite and encourage you too. Let’s continue to be thankful for all Jesus is doing and prayerful about all we want to see him do!

Life After Your Short Term Mission Trip

by Jed CoppengerChristian living, Church, Evangelism, Missions, Prayer, Southern Baptist Convention, UncategorizedPosted on No Comments

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Life after a mission trip can be difficult, especially when it was your first trip. It’s difficult to make sense of what you just saw while handling all of the responsibilities that have piled up. But with a little forethought, life after your mission trip can be a powerful, life-changing season. I’m praying that God would use these 12 insights to help you advance further, faster into the mission of Christ. In the last post, I offered up 6. Here are the remaining 6.

Remember what it’s like to meet God outside of your comfort zone – There are a lot of places mission teams go around the world. Rarely, if ever, does this list include a “comfort zone.” God’s mission pushes outside of our comfort zone. It’s important to remember that God offers his children special blessings outside of their comfort zones, not in them. This is true when you head back to “normal life.”

Remember what it felt like to be an outsider – Most mission teams feel what it is like to be an “outsider.” For many, feeling like an “outsider” is a first. We typically stay in circles where we feel like “insiders,” especially the older we get. Yet, on the mission field, we feel strange. When we go to the worship gathering or the work site, we aren’t in control, we don’t know everyone. We’re outsiders. Remembering this experience will help us do a better job following Jesus’ example and reaching the “outsiders” around us back home.

Remember what it’s like to be on guard – Mission teams know that they encounter strange situations and pressures when they decide to join Jesus on mission amongst the nations. So they put up their guard. Often times, people let their guard down when they get back to the states. Unfortunately, the Enemy often works harder to stop the kingdom momentum generated by the Spirit on these trips. Stay on guard when you’re back in “normal life.”

Remember what it’s like to be flexible – Flexibility is the name of the game on the mission field. You have to learn “to hurry and wait.” Plans change quickly and often. But most mission teams understand that God sets the agenda on the mission field, so they face their changes with expectancy, not anxiety. The same God is setting the agenda at “home.” Face your unexpected problems with expectancy, not anxiety, when you get back to “normal life.”

Remember what it’s like to be a missionary – Most mission teams are made up of people who see “missionary life” for the first time. Often times, people are both inspired by their example and encouraged by their normalcy. Missionaries aren’t the super heroes that we often make them out to be. They are regular sinners, like you and me, following Jesus in normal, grace-dependent ways. By God’s grace, you can live more like one where God’s placed you.

Remember what it’s like to be saved by grace – I’ve never met a person that followed through perfectly on their post-mission trip commitments. So many of them end up struggling from what I call, “post-mission trip guilt.” You experience this when you don’t feel like you did on the trip, don’t change like you hoped you would, or don’t _______________. Remember that you are saved by grace, not by your works. Jesus is the only one who has ever performed perfectly. So expect to be imperfect as you take new steps of faithfulness. Rest in his grace, even as you reach for more.

I hope these have been helpful. I’m sure I’ve left some off. What would you add?

Life After Your Short Term Mission Trip

by Jed CoppengerChristian living, Church, Missions, UncategorizedPosted on One Comment

igor-ovsyannykov-191182I love “mission trip meals.” Not so much for the actual food, as much fun as that can be, but to watch the way team members respond to the “exotic” meals placed before them. These meals aren’t the kind that you’ll find at Whole Foods or any other American restaurant. They are, shall we say, “unique.” Thankfully, most people find a way to show their appreciation for the great generosity being shown to them. While it’s rare for anyone to eat everything, most of us end up eating something.

As you make your way back into “normal life,” I’d like to offer you some food for thought. I’d like to serve up a few pieces of advice that might help you transition back into American life in a way that energizes you and positions you to take greater steps forward for the kingdom. Like your “mission trip meals,” I doubt anyone will take everything I offer here. But, perhaps, you’ll find one or two pieces of advice nourishing to you as you go. Here are 12 insights I think are worth remembering when reentering the States.

Remember What It’s Like To See Past “Normal Life” – When you spend time amongst people from different cultures, you realize pretty quickly that your definition of “normal” really isn’t “normal.” You don’t have to be on the go all the time, pursue more and more, care what’s happening on the internet, or be involved in ___________, to have a life of joy, hope, love, peace, and meaning.

Remember What It’s Like To Be Thankful – Most of your days on the mission field are filled with gratitude. You’re thankful for big things and small things. Often times, you’re gratitude naturally overflows into conversations where you share your thankfulness with others. Gratitude is supposed to be one of the key marks of every Christian’s life, although it’s often missing in our normal lives. If you discover it anew on the mission field, don’t let it go when you come back.

Remember What It’s Like Not To Be “Too Busy” – The slower pace of the mission field often helps us realize the hyper speed we’re accustomed too. It’s amazing how much more of life you actually see when you slow down a bit. You won’t be able to keep “mission field pace” when you return to “normal life,” but perhaps you are better equipped to slow down in life giving ways.

Remember What It’s Like To Disconnect From The Internet – Limited internet access on the mission field is steadily becoming one of its most transformative elements. After a few days of detox, people often realize they enjoy life more when they have limited internet access. When you go back to normal life, try to maintain “limited internet access” so that your life can be more of what you hope it will be.

Remember What It’s Like To Be Present – Mission trips are typically filled with people talking with others more often and more deeply than they would otherwise. The amount of time you spend with a mission team requires you to move past the surface. Some of this level of fellowship is caused by the lack of Internet access. Indeed, when we lack internet connection, we often find personal connection. There’s, of course, more to this dynamic. At the very least, remember to be like Jesus who prioritized consistent, unhurried conversations.

Remember What It’s Like To Engage With God Daily Through Bible Reading And Prayer – Most people find themselves praying and reading the Bible more on mission trips than they did before. These habits are necessary for any relationship to grow, especially one with someone you don’t “see” everyday. Remember how meaningful these moments were to you on the mission field as you get back to “normal life.”

In Part 2, I’ll offer the remaining pieces of advice. In the meantime, would you pray with me for a team that is transitioning back into “normal life”?

2 Unusual Reasons Why I’m Grateful For Tonight’s Student Worship Gathering!

by Jed CoppengerUncategorizedPosted on No Comments

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We’re just hours away from our 2nd Monthly, Student Worship Night at Redemption City Church! Tonight, at 6:30pm, students and leaders from all across our area will gather for a time of fun, eating, and worship! Here are just 2 unusual reasons why I’m grateful for tonight’s student worship gathering.

The Monthly Student Worship Gathering Is A Unique Moment Of Kingdom Unity – Jesus calls his people to unite in Him. In one of Jesus’ most famous prayers, his “high priestly prayer,” Jesus prayed that his followers would be united (Jn 17). Christians are commanded to be united with one another. While some level of unity is often present, unfortunately, it’s rare to see expressions of our unity in Christ that reach beyond one church’s particular ministry. That’s why I’m so excited about tonight’s student gathering. At it, there will be students and leaders from several other churches and ministries. These other churches and ministries could have done any other number of things tonight, but they chose to join arms with other churches and ministries for the sake of the gospel. I think that’s a big deal. What a beautiful picture of kingdom unity!

The Monthly Student Worship Gathering Is A Unique Moment Of Kingdom Diversity – Jesus is building a united and diverse kingdom (Rev 5; 21-22). The kingdom is diverse ethnically, socio-economically, generationally, and more. But, unfortunately, our local church expressions of the kingdom aren’t usually as diverse as we’d like. That’s why I’m so grateful that tonight I’ll get to see churches and ministries gathering tonight that are made up of students that represent an unusually high level of diversity for our area. Students are coming together that don’t usually come together. What a blessing it is to see the Spirit bring all of these churches and ministries together in the gospel!

I’m so grateful for what God’s doing amongst Redemption City Church’s students and the students in our area. Would you join me in praying that God’s kingdom would advance powerfully and discernibly tonight? Would you join me in praying for these students, their leaders, and their ministries? Let’s ask God to do above and beyond all we could imagine or think in these students’ lives tonight.

The ERLC, Prestonwood, And The Mission

by Jed CoppengerChurch, Diversity, Evangelism, Southern Baptist ConventionPosted on No Comments

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Since 1845, Southern Baptist’s have focused on “… eliciting, combining, and directing the energies of the Baptist denomination of Christians, for the propagation of the gospel….” While it’s true that our faithfulness to this cooperative mission has varied over the years, it’s hard not to be overwhelmed with gratitude for the grace of God so evident in the SBC’s impact on the globe for the gospel. Faithful pastors, entity leaders, and messengers have come and gone, along quite a few controversies, yet here we are, advancing the gospel for the sake of the nations.

Yet, a quick look at the history of denominational life in America shows that past successes don’t necessarily equal future flourishing. Each generation of Christians have to face and overcome unique challenges. Or, more accurately, each mixture of generations has to figure out a way to do more together than they could apart to advance the kingdom of Christ.

More and more, I’m convinced that Southern Baptists are facing one of these unique challenges. As many know, Pastor Jack Graham has led his church to hold their CP monies because of concerns with Dr. Russell Moore, the president of the ERLC. This is a significant conflict in SBC life because Graham is a former-SBC president and leads one of the largest churches in the SBC and America.

Tense moments like these cause our hearts and minds to go in a lot of directions. I’ve found that most of my initial reactions to situations like these to be “less than helpful” to cooperative mission and “less than pleasing” to the God we all serve. Maybe I’m not alone. Hopefully, the following beliefs about our cooperative mission add something to the existing conversation that will lead to greater cooperation and greater glory for God.

I believe our cooperative mission would be hurt if Dr. Russell Moore resigned or was fired – What many thought was a small disagreement over how leaders handled one of the most unique presidential races in U.S. history, has quickly turned into a situation where “resignations” and “firings” are being talked about publicly. I think this would hurt our cooperative mission significantly. Moore has done a fantastic job of leading the ERLC in the short time he’s been in his role. Not only has he done a great job representing Southern Baptists on some of the most significant and nuanced issues our churches are facing, he’s done a great job creating more Southern Baptists. That is, since he has been in his role, many pastors and churches have partnered with the SBC for the first time—starting CP giving, increasing CP giving, increasing diversity in the SBC, and more. I believe Moore is uniquely qualified to lead the ERLC in these increasingly difficult times.

I believe our cooperative mission is helped when we affirm the autonomy of every local church in the SBC – It’s hard for many outside of the SBC to wrap their minds around the nature of our cooperation. I consistently find myself having to explain the nature of our cooperation to new members of the church I lead, to reporters, or people interested in learning more about the SBC. Most think that someone can make a decision at the SBC headquarters for all of the 50,000 SBC churches. This, of course, simply isn’t how it works. Every church is autonomous. They decide the nature of their engagement in our cooperative mission. Churches review these things all of the time. I think it’d be a mistake to attack this key, Southern Baptist commitment just because you don’t like one particular church’s reasoning.

I believe our cooperative mission is helped when we recognize that disagreements are evidence of our growing diversity – I don’t know of a church in the history of Christianity that has had complete agreement on every key decision. No pastor I’m aware of has ever had 100% of the church they lead on board with every significant decision they’ve made. If that’s true of our churches, how much more will it be true of a denomination like the SBC that is made up of 50,000 churches?! If there’s no significant disagreements in our midst, then we’ve become something different than what we see in the NT (Eph 2:11-20). Conflict isn’t always a sign of weakness, it’s often a sign of strength. I think we should be grateful to God that we are diverse enough to disagree. As our diversity grows in the coming years, we’ll have even more disagreements. By God’s grace, we’ll be better prepared to face them because of our current conflicts. Disagreements are often evidence that God’s using his glorious gospel to unite people at levels they’ve never experienced.

I believe our cooperative mission would be helped if we give a little more to the CP to advance the mission and take the pressure off of Prestonwood – The beauty of the SBC is that it’s made up of 50,000 who give around a billion dollars a year. That means churches can change their level of financial support for the CP without the whole thing falling apart. I think it also means that churches can give a little more to make up financial gaps that inevitably appear. I know the SBC is made up of churches of different sizes, most of which are smaller. But what if half of our 50,000 churches gave just 40 dollars more this year? Or, perhaps, we could find a 1000 churches that would give 1000 dollars more this year? Whatever the exact giving strategy is, I think we could easily make up the immediate financial gap in a way that keeps the mission going forward while taking the pressure off of Prestonwood as they carry out their internal review and decide how they want to handle their missions giving. What a beautiful picture of cooperation it would be if SBC churches were able to signal that the mission is too urgent to let up while allowing churches more space and less pressure to figure out how they want to cooperate in the coming days.

I’m thankful for all that Prestonwood has done to help advance our cooperative mission over the years. We wouldn’t have been able to accomplish as much as we have without them. I’m hopeful that they will reengage financially in the cooperative mission of the SBC. In the meantime, let’s remember that Jesus is on his throne and our current disagreements won’t be our last. Let’s lean into the gospel for hope. Let’s pray for unity. And let’s stumble forward together in cooperative mission by God’s grace and for his glory.