Rio de Janeiro was pleased to host the Atos 29 Brasil conference, which took place at the Hotel Presidente de Rio. Let us return to the Gospel was very kindly invited to cover the conference, and I, Alan, were there with great pleasure.
The theme of the conference was: Reform? Planting and leading gospel-centered missionary churches At the beginning of the first day, a phrase by Jay Bauman (coordinator and founder of Atos 29 Brazil) summed up the spirit of the event:
“More important than knowing how to establish churches is knowing what our heart’s motivation is to do this.
When I heard this, it became clear to me that this was not a conference prepared to talk about methods, but a true Christian conference with the aim of strengthening and spiritually equipping pastors and church planters. .
Shortly after Bauman’s introduction, Burk Parsons climbed into the pulpit to warn of a very common reversal of roles in pastoral ministry and church establishment. Based on Romans 1:1-17, he noted that:
1) Paul says that he is a “servant”. How many times do we complain about our failure and forget that we have been called by and for God?He’s calling and we’re not. Breed, qualify and equip pastors and church implementers.
2) Does Paul identify the gospel as the gospel of God (vs. 1)?And not our gospel. The gospel is Dieu. Il was idealized and created by God. We cannot use our techniques at the expense of the gospel.
“How often do we complain about our lack of success and forget that we have been called by and for God?
3) The gospel is immutable. Parsons pushed us back to the beginning of time in Genesis 3, reminding us that we sin against God, but still, He dressed us, showing compassion, God does not change, his redemption does not change, his gospel does not change, and our need for the gospel does not change either.
4) Is the gospel the life of Christ and not our testimony?Or ‘take someone to church. ‘ Although they are present in evangelization, if we do not communicate the work of Christ, we are not talking about the Gospel.
5) The Church does not belong to us. Some plant, some water, but it is God who makes her grow, because the Church belongs to her.
Parsons closed his message with the following phrase: “All who are saved are saved by the works. “After a brief pause and several whispers, he added: “The works of Christ. “
“You have to be careful with extreme answers because we contextualize too much and lose doctrine, or we overestimate the way we don’t adapt to the environment.
After a short break, Luiz Sayo talked about the challenges of setting up a church Have you noticed that in recent decades the urban population has grown more than historic churches?And these churches have not adapted to this, according to Sayo, advancement Secularism requires a response to the capacity of the church; However, we must be careful with extreme responses because we contextualize too much and lose doctrine, or overestimate the way not to adapt to the environment.
One example Sayo gives is the church of Ephesus founded by Paul, a firm doctrine like all the churches established by the Apostle, but it was a church that met in a school rather than a synagogue Another example is the passage from Acts 17 where Paul meets the Athenians on the Areopage, talking about things related to his culture , as the monument to the unknown God, and quoting profane poets to understand their language.
“Many current pastors only care about ‘easy life’?Be in church?
Subsequently, with a contagious passion, Ant. u. Costa shared with us his experiences in the field of church initiation and the social role that the church implantist will have to constantly face. Antinio spoke of the number of current shepherds who only care about what he calls. To be present in the Church in all events, to promote camps and feasts, while the Church of Christ is called to imitate Christ in her ministry to the poor and afflicted. Faith without works is dead, and the works of the Church cannot be to create a way of life for you, but to be an answer to the social ills that came with the Fall.
Renaut van der Reit then preached an excellent sermon on how to communicate gospel truths so that they could be heard.
“Ideas shape beliefs and beliefs shape behaviors. If I transfer an inaccurate idea, the person will have a different belief and behavior than expected.
1) Start by answering a simple but valuable question for obvious reasons: what is communication?Renaut summed up his conclusion to this question as follows: “Communication is to take an idea and transfer it accurately and effectively to another person. “If we can accomplish this task, we communicate well. If the idea is not transferred accurately and effectively, we communicate poorly.
2) The importance of communicating well, according to Renaut, is that ideas shape beliefs and beliefs shape behaviors. If I transfer an inaccurate idea, the person will have a different belief and behavior than expected.
3) The challenge for pastors and teachers is very great, because we are responsible for communicating the most important ideas facing humanity. The Bible says that we should not try to be teachers in a hurry, because the judgment will be greater. It makes sense, because we have to transfer ideas effectively so that they are received properly, and that is very serious.
Hitler is an example of a bad idea communicated very effectively, so we must take God’s great ideas and communicate them effectively.
Is church establishment devastating for the planter’s family for idyllic reasons?
Finally, with simplicity and clarity, Chan Kilgore preached about what a gospel-trained pastor is. Armed to the teeth with Richard Baxter and Charles Spurgeon, whom he called “my dead disciples,” Kilgore described in 2Pedro 1: 3-9 some of the virtues a gospel-trained pastor will have.
It alerts us to the fact that we will almost always establish or maintain churches for selfish reasons, such as personal realization, human approval, status, etc. , Kilgore shows how devastating the establishment of churches is for odolater reasons for the planter’s family, presenting an impressive amount of research conducted in the United States recently.
It therefore offers practical advice from his “dead disciples”
It was the end of the first day, what impressed you the most?
By Alan Cristie © Return to the Gospel.
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