Full Circle

In the last year and a half a series of changes has brought me full circle. I moved back to my home in Redmond and found my church to be going through major transitions. There were two key people with whom I had been journeying in our quest to understand Sunday morning and the Church. They were called away and in the ensuing changes and splits in our Body, I lost heart. There was no room for dreaming as we were endeavoring just to make it through the storm. Now I've seen that this storm has caused not just painful pruning, but growth and hope. As the rainbow started to appear this past Spring, the Lord suggested that I pick up the book I had put down the year before: An Unstoppable Force, by Erwin McManus. The stirring began again. Once more, the time for dreaming and realizing dreams has come. In fact, it was not coincedence that this question was put on my heart before the first raindrops appeared.

What I have been reading:
An Unstoppable Force, Erwin McManus
A Theology as Big as the City, Ray Bakke
Simple Church, Rainer and Geiger
Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The starting gate - a collection of preliminary thoughts

Here are the websites and Scriptures I have been reading.

House Church Blog
Symphonic Blog

Matthew 18:20
Acts 2:42-47, 13:1-3, 20:7-38
1 Corinthians 12-14
Ephesians 3-4:16

Books I want to read
Houses That Changed the World by Wolfgang Simson
The Barbarian Way by Erwin McManus

Thoughts so far about "church"

What
1. The Kingdom of Heaven (want to look at all Scriptures on this subject)
2. Wind Chime (analogy found on symphonic blog)
3. Wine/Wine Skin (Matthew 9)
4. A Sacred Space (symphonic site make this sound bad...I disagree) - instigated by God's instructions for building the tent of meeting (Exodus 25-31, see esp. 30:31-32, 37 regarding the idea of sacred things)
5. Jam session (analogy from symphonic blog)
6. ekklesia - a group of people (house church blog)
7. Gathering in God's Name (Matthew 18)
8. God's Family (Ephesians 3:15)

How
1. Collaborative (1 Cor 14:26)
2. Fasting and Worship (Acts 13:2)
3. Communion (Acts 2:42, 20:7) - I've seen this happen every week with a different member of the congregation giving a meditation beforehand...thus incorporating item #1 at the same time. Why not?
4. Preaching, sharing wisdom (Eph 3:8-10)

Why
1. Edifying the people gathered (1 Cor 14:1-5, Eph 4:12)
2. Hearing God speak through the Holy Spirit (Jn 16:13)
3. Unity (Eph 4:3)
4. Preparation for service - service which builds up the Body (Eph 4:12)
5. Service (Eph 4:12)
6. Maturity (Eph 4:13)
7. Glorifying God (Eph 3:21)

Tithing

I'm not aware of a great debate on tithing...besides the internal debate in so many of us regarding whether we can "afford" it. I think most would agree that we are to give to our church and that God has set the rate at 10%. In fact, tithe means a tenth part payment. In a recent sermon about tithing at my temporary church home at First Christian Church, Pastor Steve called to our attention 1 Corinthians 16:2 in regards to supporting a preacher. This passage indicates that the money was set aside on the first day of the week. Could this have been the regular meeting time? According to the study notes in my Bible, Justin Martyr indcates that in his time (c. A.D. 150), offerings were brought to the church on Sundays. All this to say that in my quest for the function of the Sunday morning meetings, I see tithing/other giving as a key and biblical item.

So I found out that PayPal can help a website set up online giving. I move around a lot, so I think the idea of being able to give online to my church would be super convenient. So the obvious pros are convenience and who knows whether some stranger surfing might decide to drop some cash, too? The first con I see is that 1.9% to 2.9% + $0.30 of every transaction goes to PayPal. From what I hear that is a really low rate comparatively speaking. However, it's still money going somewhere other than the church itself. You can see my experimental "Make a Donation" button in the section at your right. It is an experimental button just to see how it works, but if anyone does happen to give money, it will go to Union Hill Church. You only have my word for now, but maybe someday we'll have a link on our website! :)

The first day of the week

Most people who go to church go to church on Sunday morning. I don't have any stats for that, I just think it's true. Regardless, my home church, Union Hill Church, holds the main service Sunday morning and that's what this is about. I've been reading lots of Scriptures and blogs about "church." What is it? I read on HouseChurchBlog that the word comes from the Greek ekklesia and it wasn't even a religious word. It originally just meant a group of people. We hear that a lot: "Don't go to church, be the church." This isn't new, but there are people out there starting new churches or renewing old churches based on this concept. Herein I hope to collect the thoughts and ideas I encounter in my exploration of what this looks like. I won't pretend to think that I'll have any original ideas. This will be more of a place to collect Scriptures and other people's ideas, including yours. Hopefully, from this "research," I'll get a clear picture of what God wants Sunday morning to look like at Union Hill, and most importantly, what my role in it is.