Two really thought provoking quotes about the relationship between family and church life. These are taken from the excellent book You are What you Love by James K.A. Smith. “Our baptismal promises attest to the fact that “the church is our first family.” And “if the church is our first family, then our second homes should be defined by it, and our doors ought to … Continue reading Family Discipleship
This is a wonderfully thought provoking quote from James K.A. Smith’s book ‘You are what you love’: “…When you unhook worship form from mere expression, it also completely retools your understanding of repetition. If you think of worship as a bottom-up, expressive endeavor, repetition will seem insincere and inauthentic. But when you see worship as an invitation to a top-down encounter in which God is … Continue reading Three Cheers for Repetition
This is such a helpful quotation from James K.A. Smith: “Christian worship, we should recognize, is essentially a counterformation to those rival liturgies we are often immersed in, cultural practices that covertly capture our loves and longings, miscalibrating them, orienting us to rival versions of the good life. This is why worship is the heart of discipleship” (pg25) Continue reading Worship a counter-formation
I want to encourage you to read the following quote slooooowly and then to reflect upon the implications for when churches gather… “We love God because he has revealed the gospel to us, so it is natural that our expression of love would be framed by the contours of his redemptive work. Worship is our love response to his loving provision, so nothing is more … Continue reading Worship shaped by the contours of God’s redemptive work
READ He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:26) THINK Today I want you to pause and consider this amazing verse. Picture the scene: Apollos (which you’ve got to admit, is a pretty cool name), is energetically and passionately preaching about Jesus! … Continue reading Acts 18: Heat and Light
Here is a thoughtful quote on the importance of thinking carefully about the shape (some might even say structure) of our Sunday gatherings: “During his many years of fruitful ministry, noted churchman Edmund Clowney advised many to think of their corporate worship as “doxological evangelism.” His words were a reminder that true worship without evident gladness, awe, and security in God’s redemptive provision and providential … Continue reading Doxological Evangelism
the following is a fabulous quote by John Stott based on Gal 6:7 : “Sow a thought, reap an act; sow an act, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character reap a destiny” Continue reading Reaping a destiny
READ “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also” (v16) THINK What an amazing claim! By chapter 17 in the book of Acts, the mission of the church had so impregnated the culture and communities around it that the accusation was able to be levelled at the church that they had “turned the world upside down” (I think a better … Continue reading ACTS 17: A WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN
I’ve finally got round to reading J.C. Ryle’s classic Holiness. Here is a quote that captures the piercing writing style of Ryle: “Heavy must that weight of human sin be that made Jesus groan and sweat drops of blood in agony at Gethsemane, and cry at Golgotha, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46). Nothing, I am convinced, will astonish us … Continue reading Heavy must that weight of human sin be…
At Kingsgate over these last few weeks, we’ve been exploring together ‘Healthy Church Life’ through the last few verses of Acts 2. Here we are painted a glorious picture of a devoted community who give themselves wholeheartedly to the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, communion and prayer and then, allowing those things to spill out into ever-increasing circles – taking care of the needy, witness and evangelism … Continue reading Bread and Butter Christianity
