Month: December 2008

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Mega Church or Mini Church?

churchsunsetsmallA while ago I ran a poll asking what size church did you prefer. The majority chose a church between 1 and 350.

Interestingly the Adventist Review has a discussion of very small “house” churches. Many leaders see this as more in line with the Biblical idea of church than what the church is doing today.

Celebrating Consumption

Brad Cecil argues that many churches today are “celebrating the idea that people show up and consume their sermons, songs, and ministries.” Cecil argues that consumption is not transformative. In contrast the smaller churches change people by building relationships.

Small Groups or Small Churches?

This is interesting to me in that many of these larger churches are agreeing that the larger church is less transformative because of a lack of relationships. Many of these churches are trying to institute “small groups” so that they can have a “small” component to their church and presumably touch more people on a deeper level. I have seen larger churches institute this kind of thing with varying degrees of success.

However this movement towards small groups begs the question, if being small is what is desired, why not just go small totally and split up these big churches into a number of smaller ones? Instead of attempting to manufacture smallness in a large church which is very difficult to do, why not just have small churches?

On another note, is this a problem of the “consumption” mentality that the article states is in many of the churches? Is a smaller church a check against this? Can the smaller church have the same mentality? Many questions…What do you think?

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Exodus 16:21-26 – Don't Gather on that Day

Exodus 16:21-26

To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD
It is sometimes argued that the Sabbath was instituted at Sinai, but here is unequivocal Biblical evidence that the Sabbath was instituted before the commandments were given. As we have noted, it was instituted at creation itself.

God rained a regular portion of bread from heaven on 5 days. The children of Israel were to gather it to eat, but on the 6th day they were to gather a double portion to experience on the 6th day and the 7th day. They were then to prepare for the 7th day. This was a day that they did not have to gather but simply enjoy the bread that was gathered and prepared on the 6th day.

bake that which which ye will bake to day, and seethe that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

The Sabbath was not meant for the same activities as other days. It was meant to be a day where you set these activities aside so that you can do other things that you normally would not be able to do. There is nothing wrong with baking or seething, but there is something wrong with anything that takes you from you Sabbath Purpose.

In this text, God is graciously providing a mechanism for the children of Israel to get ready for the day so that the gathering of bread, even though there is nothing wrong with that, will not deter us from the blessing of the Sabbath.

How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?

Some instead of gathering the double portion on the 6th day waited till Sabbath to gather the food. They ended up missing the food that was provided on the day before. When God gives a blessing on the 6th day that is meant to be enjoyed on the Sabbath day, you can’t attempt to get the blessing on the Sabbath and enjoy it on the Sabbath as well. God has provided for our tomorrow blessing today, but we must work to gather the double portion today so that we can enjoy the Sabbath blessing tomorrow. There are many people who are waiting to gather the Sabbath blessing on the Sabbath.

Summary

God provided the blessing of the Sabbath in this scripture in two ways. First God rained a double blessing of bread on the 6th day. They were to gather that double blessing and prepare it not only for the 6th day, but also for the 7th day. Then God protected the bread so that it would last through the 6th and 7th days. The blessing of bread that was meant for the Sabbath blessing would not be ruined by time, what God meant for the Sabbath would be there for the taking on the Sabbath.

God graciously provided one day where they would not have to worry about gathering. Why do we choose to labor when we do not have to? Perhaps we didn’t do the double gathering on the sixth day. Or maybe we don’t trust the double blessing of God on the Sabbath. Whatever the case, today we can begin celebrating the good news of God provided rest.

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Sanctuary Power

May God send you help from the sanctuary…Psalm 20:2

Psalm 20 is a prayer for God to help someone else. The writer states many petitions for the hearer like: May God answer you in your trouble, May God protect you, May God remember all of your offerings, and here, may God help you from the sanctuary. As I think about this the startling conclusion comes that the sanctuary is not normally thought of much at all,and when it is through of, it is not seen in the context of Help coming from there.

Minutia diminishes the Big Picture

I know many members of the Second Advent Movement cringe when an Elder or minister gives a seminar on the Sanctuary. Sometimes it becomes a discussion of the color of the cloth that was used in the ancient service. Sometimes it becomes an intricate discussion of ancient religious choreography that outlines the priest’s steps as he performed his duties. Most of us have heard presentations that were simply mathematical calculations that only sought to demonstrate that 1844 was the year on which the “cleansing” found in Daniel 8 began. And finally you may have heard of architectural descriptions of the celestial realities as someone delineates each piece of furniture and its connection to Jesus Christ. Each of these approaches can easily help us lose the forest while looking at trees.

What is the Sanctuary at Core?

While each of those other approaches have their place, we can never lose sight of the fact that deliverance comes from the Sanctuary. Our hope is in the Sanctuary. Salvation is in the Sanctuary. The conclusion of the Great Controversy is delineated in the Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is where God puts together God’s plans to lead the earth to its conclusion. So, the next time someone speaks about the Sanctuary or the Sanctuary message, before you think about mathematical calculations, choreography, or architecture, just think about it being the place from which God sends help to God’s people and try to understand it within that context. Perhaps then you will have a stronger understanding of the the architecture, choreography, and calculations.