Scrappy Church Week 2

All right, good evening in the calvary Heights Baptist Church. Facebook live is going to be looking at our Scrappy Church bible study this evening or does our book study this evening or glad that you guys are with us and you're turning in as we are. I guess I'm kind of hunkered down and what we're affectionately calling The Cove at Bunker as we can do our worship services or Bible studies and podcasts and all these things this way. We are glad to have you guys with us and we are thankful that you're here. Let's go ahead and open up with the word of prayer and we'll start from their father in Heaven. We just thank you so much for the day. You've given us we thank you for this time. We have we thank you for Unique opportunity to be able to share the word and to be able to the gather together and study even in times where where we think we can't we can't gather but we can gather through digital media and we thank you for that. We asked if we go into this time of of study this evening that you would just stop bless us and keep us close to you and you would just speak to our hearts in Jesus name. I pray amen. All right, so we are looking at Scrappy Church. That's what our Bible study is of a book by mr. Thom Rainer and we've really kind of just jumped into this. This is in Chapter 2 just this week and last week. We kind of looked at some of the highlights from chapter 1 were just a quick review here. Just some of the six transitions The Church Must make to be kind of a crappy church that we're going to have to go from making excuses the ownership of what happens within our own congregation instead of trading excuses. We're going to go ahead and and own mistakes are going to own failures were going to own we're not doing what we're supposed to do. Then we got to look at being out from going from obstacles to allies taking those those things that are a tough and figure out ways to smooth out over you want to look at also taking folks who may be Not necessarily up for the changes that have to happen to make our church a little scrap yard and then we'll hold on a little bit more in and work them into making them allies as well. One of the other changes that have to kind of transition to have steak places. We got to look from going from limitations into abundance realizing that God has already provided everything that we need is giving us an abundance of things for our life and that we aren't limited by anything that he hasn't already given us in so that we can look at that we go from despair to Joy as well in a transition from being a declining Church into it to a scrappy church this that's growing was really easy to get bogged down into to wonder are we going the right direction will look at all. These other churches are doing are we going to make it we need to just take a moment to step back and realize that there is joy in the Lord and that we can use that to move us forward we go from here to courage. That's a big one. So many times in scripture. We see God telling us do not be afraid or fear not And we need to take that for real that he has got this in his hands. He's under control got it all under control and we just need to listen to him and then moving from the impossible to possible that we know that With God all things are possible for those who are called by him and told you want to focus on those ideas as we move on in Chapter 2 this week and chapter 2 is is the chapter entitled preparing for Scrappy church and Rayner's he's writing this book. He starts off really kind of with this Winston Churchill quote and listen Churchill is just Fascinating People in in in world history anyway, but he's he's coming at the end of the speech that you delivered to the House of Commons in June of 1940 as as Britain was facing Potential Annihilation from from the Germans and he says we shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets and we shall fight in the Hills. We shall Never Surrender and in these kind of writing this book. He's he's given us this incidence of this attitude that Churchill had as a way for us to kind of think about our own selves. Are we as followers of Jesus Christ are we thinking this way that we're going to fight for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Are we going to fight for what we know to be true and holy through the through scripture. Are we going to be fighting for those things? We going to Never Surrender? For the cause of Christ in Ms. That's what a scrappy church will do that. That's what is a tenacious body Believers in Jesus Christ as their dad that we will never surrender the sake of the gospel for anything. We will continue to fight for it hard and for Law and for a long time and so you search them to go into town and some of the things that a scrappy Church does its first one he does. Is it a scrappy church still believe that God has a plan for them at Calvary Heights we've talked about this is a body believed her several times that we were a small congregation now, we're at down to 25 or 30 folks worshipping together on a on a Sunday morning, you know. But right now I guess everybody is right no Gatherings larger than 50 here in the state of Indiana because of the cove at 19 virus. But what are we doing that what we believe that God still has a plan for us music questions were going to have to ask him when we can get together face-to-face easier questions will have to the really mediate through and kind of work our way through but but we need to really ask yourself. Do we truly believe that with all of our hearts that God still has a plan for our church our little local congregation Carver Heights Baptist Church. I believe that God has a plan for us Chris. He and I were talking. We still believe that God has a plan for a mini of many of the folks that are on our congregations every Sunday still believe that God has a plan for us to hold to that hold of that true that God will be more glorified there are staying Open and vibrant and willing to do things our community. For the sake of the Gospel that he will be more glorified through that and that we are going to stay there because we want to stay the course. We're never going to surrender and do that. Now the next thing that they talk about is returned to the prayer. That's crappy churches turn to prayer for the turn around in this this is one that really is going to be important but I think about small congregations in and I'm seeing some folks that have their kind of tuned in to the to listen to us as our kind of looking at what's going on about small congregations and in those sorts of things and I'm I'm thinking of some of some dear friends up at Eastside Community Church in Indianapolis who checked in and I saw that Jody checked in and I'm thinking about that little conversation is one of my favorite congregations outside of Calvary Heights Baptist Church here in Indiana. There's some people that I love dearly and they're there a tenacious Little Scrappy Church in a in an inner-city situation where they are working hard to Show love in their neighborhood and if they meet and they gather for prayer regularly, and as a congregation, that's one of the things that we need to be doing as well that at a church that wants to have a turn around in there in there. In their growth in their their pattern in and what they've been they want. They want to be actively involved in prayer with Acts 2:42 says and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship to the breaking of bread and the prayers when I think about that piece of scripture there they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching ever Heights does a great job of of devoting ourselves to teaching Chrissy Chrissy kakkanad the Elders of Calvary Heights. We are not Apostle. We are not going to use that term to describe herself. That's not who we are. But we want to teach the word of God. That's why when We Gather on a Sunday morning, we sit down for a time of preaching that it's through entire chunks of scripture. These are the things we do for Fellowship right now. This is difficult, man. And Chris and I are trying to find ways that we can interact with one another we can have fellowship with one another besides just online sorts of things the breaking of bread in this time. This is a little difficult but we are Baptist and we do know a joke around about the eleventh commandment as we don't meet unless we eat as Baptist and you know, you don't see very many thin Baptist preachers out there like to break the Robey like to gather his friend but that last part the prayers this one that's often neglected as a church that we gather is a whole body a large group to just pray for one another to pray for what's on our hearts this typically this time on Wednesday night between 6:30 and 7:30. Is typically our prayer meeting and with a with a devotional and bible study. We need to win this time. We have many of us time extra maybe in our day or times. We're just kind of we're not out and about maybe we're using this time to pray. They were using this time to The Growler cell phones. Give somebody a call to hey, how can I pray with you today? What's with the prayer Quest where you have and just praying with one another as Believers in Christ and in looking at all, the different things that we could be doing printfirm congregations. I was in a meeting this afternoon via zoom and I was meeting with about 30 other church leaders around the state of Indiana. And in that conversation we're talking about this thing exactly. How do we still make in this time? We're supposed to be distancing ourselves a minimum of six feet and CDC is said no groups larger than 10 gathered governor of Indiana said, no groups larger than 50 gathered how we can Gather up and be face-to-face with one another still through different Media or how can we do this while sorts of things can we do in and we're working on some of those things for our congregation. How can we still have an impact and show that we love

Jesus Christ, we love the body of Believers and we love the people of our community in a tough time. Lexus IS celebrate the presence of other churches now. This is always kind of interesting small churches tend to I feel like we're I don't know outnumbered outmanned by larger congregations in a community folks from Calvary Heights of heard me say this several times and and and I've mentioned this before the closest church that's got this interesting. Kind of dynamic did it feels like there's a church on every street corner that we could probably very easily say that Martinsville is over churched but yet under Jesus and so we need to think about ways to celebrate what good things other churches are doing in our communities how to how to encourage churches that are proclaiming a true Gospel of Jesus Christ with other people. nearly think about Folks that are that are not attending churches, you know, it's interesting in Martinsville. I said there's a Church's feels like on every street corner but yet think I I read statistically that it's almost 6,000 people on a given Sunday or not attending that was before none of us were gathering in a congregational space on a Sunday morning and so can't even imagine then what was going on here. How can we celebrate the presence of what other churches are doing? And how can we share the gospel Jesus Christ really kind of a cohesive way with them letting people know that they are loved by not just Jesus but by Jesus as people as well.

Scrappy churches are are going to greatly increase their efforts toward out or on outward focus is one of those interesting things as a church where we can look at our building in particular, you know, our our our new building was built in 1971 or old building was built somewhere between 63 and 64 and we can walk into that facility and look and see nothing but headaches and nothing but the troubles and entrust me as a church Elder there often times that that's what I walk into the church and I see not that I don't see people that I don't love or are people that I love or people that I think highly of her anything like that, but there are times I just walk around and I see a facility that needs a lot of maintenance We got to remember that the church is not that facility. The church are the people of Jesus Christ gathered the warship celebrate him and then to live out the gospel call to tell others about the love of Jesus Christ in their lives. We're going to start looking at increasing efforts on an outward Focus that did if we want to see the the church change you want to see the kingdom of God grow in the city of Martinsville, Indiana. We're going to have to do some things for that. We're going have to stop looking Inward and start looking outward. Common today is I was on my zoom chat with some of the other church leaders around the state were or ideas about. Are we a come and see? Church, are we a go and tell Church Calvary Heights really need to become a go and tell Church. The turn our congregation around to it to show that we're we're being effective for the kingdom of God that this is idea of going and telling is what we've been called to do. And so we're going to go out and we're going to be looking at doing that. And in this rain or is he's writing this book. He talked about this blueprint of preparation. Now, this is where the elementary school teacher in me wishes. I had my Smartboard and I can't point my finger and I could do all that sort of stuff that I would normally be like where we start here. We're going to work our way around the circle, but I can't really do that very well from this this meeting right now with the first thing he kind of looks as we look at this is a blueprint for Preparation that this is what we would call the turnaround cycle and it all starts really with an attitudinal adjustment. My dad used to give me attitude adjustments when I deserve them. And and that's okay. The church will also need to get some attitude adjustment if they want to look at growing the kingdom of Jesus Christ. The first thing that has to happen is that add to mulled justment. The next part of that is going to be this out word Deluge want to talk about what that means making sure that we're pulling into the the outside and and out of our own congregation pouring into the community. The next is going to be a welcome readiness. Are we are we ready to welcome people then the next the last part of that will be a back door closure getting folks in and keeping them in and we'll talk about all of those sorts of things as well. So it was just take a quick look at an attitudinal adjustment. I'm Scrappy churches have to make attitude adjustments. First thing that Scrappy churches are going to have to do is we're going to have to stop making excuses. 4 problems we see in the church or at stop making excuses for not presenting the gospel red. Stop making excuses for not gathering together at stop making excuses for not loving our neighbor. We're going to have to just stop making excuses for the sake of for the sake of the Kingdom. We have to stop making excuses. Nothing. This crappy churches have to do is we have to stop blaming others. It is really easy. To say well, there are other people out there doing this over there. It's just not how it works. Well there is going to be opposition to change in any situation where they're changing Church weather change it. It's cool weather change it home is the voice of opposition change is one of those things that nobody really likes but everybody has to deal with and so we're going to stop blaming people for being resistant to changing and look at ways to pray for them. Look at ways to love them. Look at ways to gain their insights. Maybe there's a reason they're up there posing. Some of the changes change for change's sake is not always good but changed it is purposeful and meaningful. And we can explain and share that meeting that will bring people over and let them understand what we're doing. Their thing. That's crappy churches have to do is stop comparing their Church to others. This is this is a big one. You know, when you think about congregations that are that are much larger than ours this this afternoon cuz I was in that that chat time one of the one of the guys was talking about the 1,100 people that gather on Sunday mornings typically at their congregation and I'm thinking wow 1100 people. You talked about the small group of of 35 people and I thought your small group is the size of our congregation.

I can't compete with that and we're not called to compete with that were called to be Calvary Heights Baptist Church in Martinsville, Indiana doing what God has called Calvary Heights Church of Martinsville, Indiana to do if he wanted us at 1100 members going out he would have created that position for us. He's not done that for a reason we've got to stop comparing ourselves to other churches. We just need to be who Jesus wants us to be in Martinsville. The fourth thing the scrappy churches have to do is I have to deal with critics and a healthier Manor there will always be critics to change their always be critics two things that just happened to have to deal with it in a positive way. Sometimes taking criticism is hard but sometimes taking criticism is necessary. Nobody likes to do it. Nobody wants to get it but it's it's there. We have to have it I think back to just this particular school. You're my very first evaluation we go through a process in the MSD of Martinsville as teachers we go through three evaluations to the recall shorts and one long one of my first short evaluation tanked it was it was horrible. The lesson just didn't go anywhere blocked and so I'm sitting there in front of my my administrator. He's watching this lesson this just kind of flopping on me. I'm like, I don't know and it's just I got to suck it up and deal with it. But the criticism that came from that was not necessarily. The harm me, but it was the better me. Let me re-evaluate what I was doing and how's the better the people that I was trying to teach and reach anyway with it as so as we think about that when we do take critics in the church. That's one of the things we're going to need to look at. How can I look at this and say this is for my betterment. This is for the good that's why I want to look at doing that as well. And the fifth thing that the scrappy churches have to do Santa become continuous Learners that is that is one of those things that is in me easy. I love to learn I've been reading off and on all day today trying to find new stuff out learning new things went to sign up for a webinar just because I want I was curious about some things and I wanted to learn something new that's easy, but there's some folks that are little resistant to that. When a church as a body of Believers gathers and they become continuous Learners and keep looking to go deeper and deeper and deeper into the word and to learn more about the word changes are going to happen in that church. They're going to be so positive and so

so for moving for them that it'll be just a mistake Ubly something from God. Next part of that cycle after we have the attitude adjustment is called the outward Deluge now now we're still use it. Is this kind of idea that we think about like those two words are our kind of chosen for a reason. It's a clear statement that as a church. We're not going to be looking inside of our four walls that we have in our facilities Ruby looking outside of our four walls that that has a congregation as a body Believers in Jesus Christ. We're going to start focusing more on our community of the outward focuses is to help us fulfill the Great Commission and to live out the great commandment right that we want to we want to share the gospel with all his we're going but we also want to love our neighbors as ourselves. In the second focus of that we talked about this Deluge of flood. That's that's great. We want to see everything just kind of go crazy. We want to start looking at Outreach less as a moment in time and Outreach more is who we are what we do. And and that's an idea that that's going to be a shift in our mindset a little bit when we think about reaches is as events or this is going to start kind of shipping as we look at an outward Del use as being less of an event and more of a lifestyle and so it is going to be this flooding. Of the Holy Spirit In Our Lives encouraging us to live out that outward that Outreach lifestyle we talked about the next one is as welcome readiness.

This is something that the lot of churches I think do fairly well that they're they're very welcoming their very, you know, we're ready to receive guests who come into our worship Services where we're ready to the movies or something something I think Calvary Heights does that if I'm talking about specifically our congregation that's what we do that there's a lot of churches that are very very welcoming. So we do all of these these things so if we've done a ton of work, I'm at outward Deluge. We're really really reaching out into the community were really building relationships were we're letting folks know we think highly of them we love them and then we're letting them know that when they come to our worship services, will they come to our our studies that they come down some of our other Gatherings if they don't feel welcomed. Then all of that other stuff was kind of lost and so we want to make sure that we are doing some some good welcome Readiness with that. The next kind of thing is is what we called back door closure. Now, this is kind of a very churchy phrase in the fact that we have a front door. We have a back door and a lot of times in church. We talked about this idea of closing the back door. It's this idea of folks who come in and they welcomed and then they're their there that you can get greeted they participate and worship, but they don't get plugged in and don't join into small group X, they don't join into prayer circles. They don't join into activities that are being a part of the church. Maybe they're just here for just Sunday morning worship only or they're here for just specific events only. Well as a as God's people were called to just kind of gathered them all together. Where were called to to make a community amongst. Our people were called to kind of close this gap of the front door in the back of the disses a church is supposed to be a family and It's going to be messy because families are messy. It's going to be loud sometimes because families are loud. Sometimes it's going to be tense sometimes because families are sent sometimes. but very rarely Do family members ever just up and walk away from the family? And that's or talk about with back door closure that we don't want people feeling they can just easily walk out then. We want them to feel like they're part of the family and we want to get them integrated into who we are as as a body of believers who want to keep them there. We want to make sure that they are feeling that all the time but there are a part of us. And so we want them with us in that regard. You got to go back to Sky review that that blueprint for Preparation cuz that's what we're looking at. We're going to be preparing to be a scrappy church at Calvary Heights and that's what you wanted to look at. So there's going to be some just ways to think about these things again that attitude adjustment and I know I could have spent much more time talking about those things. We will look at that out word Deluge letting the community with the love of Jesus Christ outside of our four walls that cowardice Baptist Church. Welcome Readiness making sure that folks when they come into our worship Gatherings and they come into our event me feel welcome and closing that back door getting them integrated into our community into who we are the body of Believers because we want them to feel that this is part of their family that we aren't extended family with them. They're only looking at that now like I said earlier some of these. These times on Wednesday nights for us are often a time of like said Bible study devotional but small some prayer time tonight. We're going to spend some time in prayer. It's been a been a very interesting few days for many of us here in in in in the world and we're still trying to sort some things out and we want to have some time to to pray. I'll have some some quiet time for you guys to pray a lot quietly and then I'll I'll kind of close this out. One thing that I would ask is it as a body of Believers right now that we would be praying for specifically Jeff and Darlene Spencer Jeff's a pastor the Southern Baptist pastor up in in Northwest, Indiana and Darlene is currently in the hospital in intensive care unit being treated for David 19 and and things are not going well for her. And Jeff is is heartbroken as he has to be on self-isolation right now. He's not allowed to be in the Intensive Care Unit with his wife. And in this is a difficult time that this is affecting a lot of folks. We want we want to pray for them to think about the idea of praying for our our our medical care workers in all these folks are out there and Healthcare everyday EMTs. Don't get a day off during a crisis like this nurses firefighters doctors police officers First Responders are not getting a day off in in times like this and they need our prayer. They need the energy they need rest. They need just reassurance that that what they're doing is is right to want to continue to pray for them and it could be a lot of folks are going to be possibly losing jobs during this time with that. There's looking at it layoffs in and those sorts of things because what do we do when when were asking people to stay inside all the time through our pray for folks that could be affected that way by their jobs as well. You know, if you have something you would like for us to pray for I'm I'm hoping I can see comments. If you have something you can go ahead and and and type in a comment and let me know if there's something specific you like for me to pray for but I'm going to give us just a little bit of Silent time to pray and then as well as we go into then to just kind of close this out will have a time. I'll close this out and in a time of prayer, so we'll have a moment. I just kind of Silent quiet prayer.

Alright father. We just thank you so much for the day. You've given us we thank you for this time as we think about. The song all the things are going on. If we kind of gather remotely just for this time of of some Bible study and some prayer we want to lift up specifically Jeff and Darlene. We want you to the healed Darlene. That's that's kind of my heart for her and I don't want you to comfort Jeff in this time as he can't be with his own wife while she's second in the hospital probably won't want to pray for healthcare workers for those doctors nurses EMTs was First Responders firefighters and And a and m and police officers that are that are out there every day in this and they're their families and what they're going through. We want to pray for those that are going to be affected job-wise by this that this is going to going to hurt some people potentially losing their jobs, and I only want to remember the info you want to lift up our leaders, but we think about the number of leaders that are having to make difficult decisions School superintendents all the way up at this is this is a tough time for them. We want to lift them up and we want me know that you got this in control. We know that that you've you've got this squared away, but it's it's tough and we ask that you would just give them wisdom in this time. Father a vs. Also that you'd be with with Pat Woodman. Is he still struggling with some of that the blood issues that he's had? We thank you that he's got dear friends like Bruce and Jennifer that are part of our congregation and I love him enough to ask us to lift him up in prayer to you father. We know that he's a he's a man after your own heart that he desires to see you more than anything and desires to serve him or anything. We just asked you would continue to bless him and and and just give him the healing he needs as well father for the churches everywhere large small that are at this time kind of kind of struggling and floundering just like everybody else right now saying what do we do? How do we gather? How do we share? our compassion and our love with others that I ask that you would just

Give us wisdom as we seek to serve you into the show you. The the glory that you deserve the show you that the reference that you deserve father just be with us in that way. Jesus name I pray these things. Amen. Hey, I will be back again on.

Sunday 11 for sermon time from right here inside of the little bunker Studio. I'm not sure what we're calling it right now, but we will will be looking at that. I'll be bringing the message this Sunday, and so we encourage you guys to turn back into Facebook live for that as well. And so we appreciate everybody checked in and time then we appreciate you guys letting us have your prayer request and we hope that you were blessed this evening as we were blessed to be able to share this with you. Thanks again, and we'll talk to you soon.