Just this past week, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to pass a resolution on the importance of family worship. I am greatly encouraged that among all the important issues to address in our day, our convention leaders and messengers saw fit to make this a priority and pass this wonderful resolution affirming and encouraging biblical family worship. I encourage you to read it below.
Matthew Henry, the great Puritan preacher and author, wrote these words: “I know not any thing that will contribute more to the furtherance of this good work than the bringing of family religion more into practice and reputation. Here the reformation must begin. Other methods may check the disease we complain of, but this, if it might universally obtain, would cure it. Salt must be cast into these springs, and then the waters would be healed.”
This message is designed to help fathers (and parents generally) fulfill their high calling and privileged blessing of leading their families in worship and discipleship. Our age is one which professionalizes Christianity and calls on the clergy to do the work of ministry. But God has not ordered it so (Eph. 4:12
)! The command to transmit God’s Word and make disciples in the home is given to parents directly (Dt. 6:4-9; Eph. 6:4). They are the teachers, trainers and worship leaders of their children. Therefore, if we are to recover biblical ministry and biblical church life, it must begin with a reformation of family worship. I pray that this message and these resources will help us all be more faithful to raise our children “in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4). May Christ get all the glory in every home!
Here is a short video from John Piper about how he got his children started in private devotions:
Amen. Thanks John.
Studies show that less than 1% of evangelical church members are involved in one-on-one discipleship. Therefore, it should not startle us that so many church members can come to church for ten, twenty or thirty years and never really grow. It should not surprise us that sin is so easily tolerated and overlooked by a people called by God to be holy. Where is the accountability? Where is the zeal for spiritual growth? Billy Graham once said, “Mass crusades in which I believe and to which I have committed my life, will never finish the Great Commission; but a one-by-one ministry will.” We need solid preaching, but we need more than that. We need Sunday School classes and home bible studies and small groups, but we need more than that. For discipleship to be balanced and healthy, every Christian and every church must have an intentional one-on-one discipleship plan so that every individual Christian is challenged and encouraged in their personal walk with God. I hope you will follow Christ in the Great Commission charge to “make disciples of all nations.” What better place to start than in your own local church through a one-on-one relationship?
In addition to some theology on discipleship, this message is intensely personal for me. I am nothing apart from the grace of God and the labor of godly men in my life. I have been taught, instructed, encouraged, rebuked, grounded and made joyful by the diligent labor of other men who invested themselves in me personally. This message is also the story of how God took a rebellious soldier and molded him into a passionate preacher and a loving shepherd. You will hear about the legacy of great men in my life – men like my father, Max Barnett, Dave Edwards, Ronnie Rogers and many others. You will understand your pastor much better when you have understood the difference that one-on-one discipleship has made (and is still making) in my life. In fact, there is so much of my testimony that I had to leave out part of my message! Check the manuscript for the theology and the mp3 for the testimony. I pray you will be convicted and will join me in the labor of making disciples, one person at a time. Soli Deo Gloria!
“Here the reformation must begin.” Those were the words of Matthew Henry on April 16, 1704 when he preached an abundantly practical sermon entitled, “A Church in the House, A Sermon Concerning Family-Religion,” as an encouragement to fathers to develop the spiritual life of their families in their homes. Henry exhorted that “every house should be a little church.” His point was not that the home should replace the church, but that the home should become a fountain of blessing for both the local church and the community at large.
His precedence is thoroughly biblical:
“These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)
For He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, that they should put their confidence in God and not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments (Psalm 78:5-7).
Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)
Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Ephesians 6:4)
It’s time that modern fathers listened to the ancient words of Scripture and the wisdom of godly men of old who raised their children in the ways of Jesus Christ. Let’s stop pointing fingers at the public schools, the fractured government, and weak youth ministries. Parents - God has called YOU to be the primary disciplemakers in your home! I urge you to look at the attached document, Family Worship Resources, and begin the journey on leading your own wife and children in the worship of Jesus Christ. Let’s band together and encourage one another to live and lead worship in our own homes. Let’s make “every house a little church.” Soli Deo Gloria!
And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” Luke 9:23-24
The great irony of the Christian life is that real life – abundant life, joyful, fulfilling, eternal life – is gained in personal death. If we are to experience eternal life in Christ, we must die to self and live for God. This is the gospel. These words of Jesus will transform your life a thousand times before you ever approach a full understanding of it.
must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever wishes to
save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save
it.”23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”
Structure is an essential part of any institution. This is no different in the church. Church structure is what brings order and provides security to the ebb and flow of ministry. However, as the world is rapidly changing around us, we are discovering that structures that were created years ago to fulfill the Great Commission are not as effective today as they once were. Traditionally, churches have been structured in a way which put vocational ministers (pastors, worship leaders, youth pastors) front-and-center so that they could exercise their spiritual gifts in a way that benefited the church. Over the years, almost imperceptibly, the laity of the church has largely become content with coming to church and hearing their ministers preach and teach. In fact, most of the current structures of the traditional church are designed in such a way that forces the clergy to lead and the laity to listen. Think about it. Sunday School – one teacher, many listeners (sometimes with discussion, but overall little lay participation). Worship – a worship leader and the pastor are central. Sunday night – pastor teaches, laity listens. Wednesday night – pastor teaches, laity listens. Do you see a pattern here? The traditional structures of many churches is set up so that the pastor does the majority of the ministry when the church is gathered. This is not to say that the laity are not doing anything – that is certainly not true! However, it is to say that when the church is assembled, the ministry of the pastor is prominent and the ministry of the laity is marginalized, particularly in smaller churches. Furthermore, it emphasizes the teaching role of the pastor so much that it overwhelms the serving ministry of the saints. We must have BOTH to have healthy churches – solid, biblical teaching (from gifted pastors and teachers) and loving, diligent service (from gifted saints).
Let’s go to the premier passage in the New Testament on church growth to see how God’s Word should shape our thinking about church structure.
Eph 4:11-16 – 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Notice that Christ has given pastor-teachers (one group in the original Greek) FOR the equipping of the saints FOR the work of ministry. In other words, the ministry of the pastors is to equip (train, disciple, teach, etc.) SO THAT the saints can do the rest of the “work of service.” That word “service” can be translated “ministry”. This results in “the building up of the body of Christ” – i.e. church growth! True church growth happens as God calls gifted men into ministry who then devote their lives “to equip the saints” so that the entire body is grown toward the fullness of Christ’s maturity. Given this theological foundation, it is essential that our church structures are organized in such a way that allow BOTH the ministry of pastor-teachers in equipping and the ministry of the laity in working. In Liberating the Laity, R. Paul Stevens describes how he tried to equip the people in his church for doing the church’s ministry but failed because the structure of the church required him to do the ministry. He writes, “Structure, I discovered, is important; there is no point in saying that every member is a minister if the structure of the fellowship ‘says’ the exact opposite – by making it hard for people to discover their gifts or to exercise loving service.” We must organize our churches in such a way that allow everyone to minister – not just vocational leaders. Hence, structural changes are necessary for the survival of the church and vital for the growth of the church.
These are the reasons that we have ended our adult Bible study on Sunday night and Wednesday night, replacing those structures with service ministries (Awana, encouragement ministry, visitation ministry, etc.) on Wednesday night and small groups on Sunday night. There will still be Bible study, but it will be more effective Bible study because more saints are participating in it and leading it.
Berry Road – I encourage you all to remember that the main goal of our church is to glorify Jesus Christ by making faithful disciples of all nations. This is an institution for fulfilling the Great Commission. The structural changes we are experiencing are biblical, Spirit-led and will help us fulfill the Great Commission BETTER than we ever have before. That doesn’t mean that discipleship will happen automatically because these changes have been made, but that we now have a greater opportunity for lay ministry to operate within the structures of the church, which in turn will “cause the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” I am confident that God will use these new structures to conform all of us more into the image of His Son. More lost people will be saved, more saved people will be sanctified, and more sanctified people will serve at Berry Road now than ever before. Let’s remember our roots, and at the same time rejoice in the renewed vision He has given us!
Parenting is a tough job in today’s society. We live in a culture that reinforces and encourages sexual sin, idolatry and busyness to the extent that our children’s lives are totally devoid of gospel focus. If we are going to fulfill the basic commands of Scripture in Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (and numerous other passages), then we must be radical, serious and focused in the way we raise our children. This passage in Ephesians is a great place to start to give us the theological foundation to raise our children in “the way they should go” (Prov. 22:6).
Spirit Filled Parenting Part 1: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Spirit Filled Parenting Part 1: Download Spirit Filled Parenting Part 2: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Spirit Filled Parenting Part 2: Download
This message is an awakening call to effectively fulfill the great commandment and the great commission in Norman. It is the result of two years of prayer, study and vision that has finally resulted in following God’s call to change the very DNA of our church’s ministries. I believe that if we can live up to the truth in this message, we will build a legacy that lasts for generations. It will require our people devoting themselves fully to God’s glory and to the saints doing the work of ministry. It will necessitate a restructuring of our meeting times that is effectively ‘open heart surgery’ for our church. But the results will be wonderful and the fruit plentiful if God’s people will plow, plant and sow the seed of God’s Word among our people and in our community. Soli Deo Gloria!
The Purpose of Berry Road Baptist Church: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download The Purpose of Berry Road Baptist Church: Download Discipleship Structures for Fall 09: Download
Church discipline is so rare in our day that most Christians don’t even know what it is. It is a lost art of disciplemaking that has produced a famine of true repentance, deep cleansing and a commitment to corporate purity. However, it is a distinguishing mark of the true church of Jesus Christ. In a day where most immoral sin is ‘swept under the rug’ or alltogether ignored among God’s people, the words of Christ in Matthew 18:15-20 have never been more needed. This message was preached just moments before Berry Road Baptist fulfilled that passage of Scripture by expelling an immoral brother from among us. Though it was probably the most difficult corporate act of its 50 year history, it brought incredible cleansing in our church. It stretched our understanding of God, our obedience to His Word and our commitment to Christ’s Lordship. Yet the church was faithful to walk through it biblically and graciously. I have never been more proud of my church than I was this evening, though the process came with great sorrow and personal suffering.
This message examines the link between discipleship and church discipline and makes a case that no church can be a church where Christ is Lord unless it is practiced.
Just days after it was done, one of our deacons wrote this statement as he prayed over our church:
“I don’t think I have ever been as proud to being a member of this body as I was this week. Not because of what happened, because God knows there was a lot of sorrow, pain, hurt, tears, and a lot of love, and concern showed last Sunday night. For the first time in a long time we were truly a body of Christ, fulfilling the Word of God regardless of our personal feelings. The togetherness that was displayed on handling a bad situation according to God’s Holy Word was awesome. So buckle up Berry Road – the best is yet to come because God blesses where His Word is held up.”
Hold on to your seats Berry Road. It just might be time for God to unleash His transforming power among us. Soli Deo Gloria!
Fulfilling the Great Commission Through Church Discipline: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Fulfilling the Great Commission Through Church Discipline: Download
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