Acts 29 North America Conference – "Building Healthy Churches" – with Matt Adair, Jerome Gay, Matt Chandler and more in Dallas, TX from November 6-8, 2014
Between the 2014 Acts 29 Northeast Regional conference, the 2014 Thriving Frequency conference, and the Acts 29 North America conference, the last couple months have involved a plethora of fresh wisdom, friendships, and vision that I have greatly benefited from and am still reflecting on. Notes for the 2014 Acts 29 Northeast Regional conference and the 2014 Thriving Frequency conference are up. Feel free to check out the Acts 29 North America
While I won't be able to share my notes from all the breakout sessions at the conference, I will be posting video links and my notes from the three main sessions:
- Acts 29 North America Conference | Becoming a Network of Radically Diverse Churches with Matt Adair Vimeo Video (25:17 minutes)
- Acts 29 North America Conference | How Our Theology Compels Us with Jerome Gay Vimeo Video (32:30 minutes)
- Acts 29 North America Conference | The Healthy Leader with Matt Chandler Vimeo Video (40:09 minutes)
Main Session 1 | Becoming a Network of Radically Diverse Churches with Pastor Matt Adair
Speaker: Pastor Matt Adair is the lead pastor of Christ Community Church in Athens, Georgia. He is also the North American Director for the Acts 29 network of churches that plant churches. Text: Ephesians 2:11-22
Theme: We – not just one color, not just one culture, not just one class – are the inheritance of God.
Have we become comfortable with "our own people"? What does it mean to be radically diverse and globally ambitious? In light of the gospel and view of what Jesus has accomplished with His church in Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul instructs us that "Therefore" there will be implications and that we will need to "Remember" them again and again:
In loving us, He has redeemed us to declare and display the greatness and glory of our great reconciling God together. We are not only citizens of the kingdom of heaven, we are part of the household – the very family of God – together. We've been joined together and we are built together.
There are no illegal aliens or lesser races in the kingdom of heaven. There are no homeless or abandoned people. There is a family of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation with all their leaders bringing gifts to the King of kings (Revelation 21:22-27). If this glorifies Jesus, then the questions we need to ask in order to provide glimpses of this kingdom on earth are:
- What are we willing to do in order to obey this part of God's Word that too many in far too many churches have chosen to make secondary or ignore?
- Are our efforts at making disciples as diversified as the towns or cities we live in?
- Are we willing to go through the Christ-like patience and sacrifice necessary to see the grand implications of being built together into the dwelling place of God by the Spirit (Ephesians 2:11-22)?
Remember throughout this that the Spirit's transformation of you and timing of reconciliation with others not like you might be a lot slower than you want it to be. But intentional actions that you and your church can take are:
- Elders/Pastors and deacons must be able to articulate and whole-heartedly believe the biblical necessity of diversity in the church.
- Use portions of your budget to inspire and innovate towards this view of biblical diversity in the church.
- Plant different churches in different parts of the world.
- Diversity needs to be expected to show up in the living rooms of the church's members so that it shows up – in style, song, appearance, etc. – in the gathered services
In light of Paul's instruction about how the gospel creates unity in diversity in Jesus in Ephesians 2:11-22, take the path of Paul towards prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21:
When you see who God is (Ephesians 1) and what He has done (Ephesians 2:1-10), then you'll know that what He's called you to (Ephesians 2:11-22) is not only His plan (Ephesians 3:1-13), it's something He wants to do far beyond what you can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:14-21). "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven in heaven and on earth is named ... " (Ephesians 3:14-15)
Next post: Acts 29 North America Conference | Main Session 2: How Our Theology Compels Us
– Sully
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