RIVERLAKES COMMUNITY CHURCHRIVERWAY CLASS

Week #2

GENERATION OF EXPERIMENTATION

Instructor: Ernie Zarra

REMEMBER THE HOMEWORK?

Think: How am I using my time? What percentage of my week is about God, me, family, work, leisure, etc.

Think: What improvements can I make to adjust things, if they need to be adjusted?

Think: How are things different today than they were when I was younger?

Think: In what ways has culture changed, and the church along with it?

SUGGESTIONS:

Bible Study, Church Service, Small Group, Fellowship Group, Sunday School, Helper in a Class, Usher, Committee Meeting, Just Meeting for Coffee with a Believer, Book Study With Friends, Mentoring, Support/Recover Groups; Sleeping with Bible Next to Your Bed Does NOT Count. Nice Try!

Consider the Major CHRISTIAN activities you might be involved with each week: Place one or more tally marks in the boxes below. One tally equals one activity/service.SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

We’ll Be Analyzing To See How We Did

THE BABY BOOMERS BEGIN TO EXPERIMENT

During the 1960s and 1970s, the still youthful BBG begins to experiment and society is right there to offer opportunity.

As the BBG grew into teenagers and young adults, there was a concerted push to reach them for Christ, speaking to them in their language and culture.

New ministry paradigms were devised to reach a generation seeking its individual way in the Faith. Music changed, attire changed, language changed, the Jesus Freak Movement was spawned.

COUNTERCULTURE

THE 1960S--1970S

SOMETHING HAD CHANGED

EXPERIMENTATION WITH MIND, BODY, AND SOUL

EASTERN MYSTICISMMy sweet lordHm, my lordHm, my lord

I really want to see youReally want to be with youReally want to see you lordBut it takes so long, my lord

My sweet lordHm, my lordHm, my lord

I really want to know youReally want to go with youReally want to show you lordThat it won't take long, my lord (hallelujah)

Hm, my lord (hare krishna)My, my, my lord (hare krishna)Oh hm, my sweet lord (krishna, krishna)Oh-uuh-uh (hare hare)

Now, I really want to see you (hare rama)Really want to be with you (hare rama)Really want to see you lord (aaah)But it takes so long, my lord (hallelujah)

Hm, my lord (hallelujah)My, my, my lord (hare krishna)My sweet lord (hare krishna)My sweet lord (krishna krishna)My lord (hare hare)Hm, hm (Gurur Brahma)Hm, hm (Gurur Vishnu)Hm, hm (Gurur Devo)Hm, hm (Maheshwara)My sweet lord (Gurur Sakshaat)My sweet lord (Parabrahma)My, my, my lord (Tasmayi Shree)My, my, my, my lord (Guruve Namah)My sweet lord (Hare Rama)

TUNE IN, TURN ON, AND DROP OUT

The Chicago 7

THE CHICAGO 7

Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines, and Lee Weiner—charged with conspiracy, inciting to riot, and other charges related to protests that took place in Chicago, Illinois on the occasion of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Bobby Seale, the eighth man charged, had his trial severed during the proceedings, lowering the number from eight to seven.

Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham? Can you tell me where he's gone?He freed a lot of people, But it seems the good die young, But I just looked around and he's gone.

Has anybody here seen my old friend John? Can you tell me where he's gone? He freed a lot of people, But it seems the good die young, But I just looked around and he's gone.

Has anybody here seen my old friend Martin? Can you tell me where he's gone? He freed a lot of people, But it seems the good die young, But I just looked around and he's gone.

Didn't you love the things they stood for? Didn't they try to find some good for you and me? And we'll be free. Someday soon, it's gonna be One day.

Has anybody here seen my old friend Bobby? Can you tell me where he's gone? I thought I saw him walkin' Up over the hill, With Abraham, Martin and John

SOME ALARMING DATA

AS we view the following, think about . . . In what ways is the modern church both a

cause of and a responder to these issues? What ministries are best equipped to

handle these issues? What if I have made some of these same

errors and I am a statistic? What scriptural advice and truth are we

offering the church and those of us who are struggling?

2000

Much Seems To Have Changed

~The Barna Research Group's national studyshowed that members of nondenominational churches divorce 34 percent of the time in contrast to 25 percent for the general population.

~Nondenominational churches would include large numbers of Bible churches and other conservative evangelicals.

~Baptists had the highest rate of the major denominations: 29 percent. Born-again Christians' rate was 27 percent.

~To make matters even more distressing for believers, atheists/agnostics had the lowest rate of divorce 21 percent. (2000)

MARRIAGE 2000

GET TOGETHER YOUNGBLOODS (1969)

Love is but a song we sing And fear's the way we die. You can make the mountains ring Or make the angels cry. Though the bird is on the wing And you may not know why.

C'mon people now Smile on your brother Ev'rybody get together Try to love one another right now

Some will come and some will go And we shall surely pass. When the one that left us here Returns for us at last. We are but a moment's sunlight Fading in the grass.

C'mon people now Smile on your brother Ev'rybody get together Try to love one another right now

If you hear the song we sing You will understand. You hold the key to love and fear In your trembling hand. Just one key unlocks them both It's there at your commandC'mon people now Smile on your brother Ev'rybody get together Try to love one another right nowRight now Right now

PETER, PAUL AND MARY (1962)ALBUM: AROUND THE CAMPFIRE

If I had a hammer,I'd hammer in the morning, I'd hammer in the evening,All over this land, I'd hammer out danger, I'd hammer out a warning,I'd hammer out love between, My brothers and my sisters, All over this land.

If I had a bell,I'd ring it in the morning, I'd ring it in the evening, All over this land, I'd ring out danger,I'd ring out a warning, I'd ring out love between, My brothers and my sisters, All over this land.

LET’S DIG IN

What is it about human nature that encourages experimentation and individual experience?

Do you remember the “first times” you experienced things in life?

Where was the church during the 60s and 70s? What does the Bible say about experimenting? What is the role of the believer in today’s

society? With family? Work? Relationships? What biblical roles should the evangelical

church adopt

ECCLESIASTES 7:8-14

“The end of a matter is better than its beginning; Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit. Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, for anger resides in the bosom of fools. Do not say, ‘Why is it that the former days were better than these?’ For it is not from wisdom that you ask about this. . . . Consider the work of God; For who is able to straighten what He has bent? In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity, consider—God has made the one as well as the other . . . “

Glory Days?

The Way We Were

GALATIANS 5:13-24

“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another . . . Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes dissensions, factions, envyings carousings . . .

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

Believers must make more than meager attempts to live and walk in the Spirit.

The message of how truth changed our lives can be viewed as more than hypocrisy when we show growth from flesh toward Spirit.

EPHESIANS 4:14—5:33

Living as pleasing to God . . . The Apostle Paul Stresses: We are no longer children tossed around by trickery Speak truth in love and grow up in Christ Whole Body is to work together Walk unlike the Gentiles, who exercise futility of the

mind Beware that callousness toward God brings about the

practice of impurity Be renewed in the spirit of our minds Do not give the devil an opportunity Be kind, forgiving to one another, let bitterness go

I wonder, to what extent God’s Spirit is quenched or grieved, by our apathy to get things right.

Could this be why people experiment today? They don’t see a viable and “truth-foundational” way of living and loving?

PROVERBS 14:12-16

“There is a way which seems right to a man; But its end is the way of death. Even in laughter the heart may be in pain; and the end of joy may be grief. The backslider in heart will have his fill of his own ways, but a good man will be satisfied with his. The naïve believes everything; But a prudent man considers his steps.”

It’s one thing for the church to be the hospital for the spiritually infirmed. It’s another thing for the infirmary to be packed beyond measure, so that the message of the gospel to the world is that “Those Christians seem sicker than we are. Why go THERE?”

We need balance! Heed the words of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, in his sermon titled” The Leafless Tree.”

SPURGEON

“It is a common error of young converts that they attempt to live by their experience, instead of tracing their life up to its precious source. I have know persons rejoicing in the fullest assurance one day, and sinking into the deepest despondency the next. The Lord will sometimes strip you of the leaves of evidence to teach you to live by faith . . .”

Romans 1:17 “ . . . As it is written, ‘The righteous

man shall live by faith.’” Hebrews 11:6

“And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

MAKING A DIFFERENCE

BOOK REVIEW: CHURCHES THAT MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Churches That Make A Difference has clearly been a popular Christian book, now having reached its third printing. The subtitle, "Reaching Your Community with Good News and Good Works", suggests the subject matter, namely - how to bring together Good News and Good Works in the Church. The book's great strength is that the content is based on fifteen "in-depth case studies" of Churches in the greater Philadelphia area. That is, it has its feet planted in reality. Among its weakness, in my view, are its "makeshift" theology - not because the authors espouse any theology in particular, but because the theology is not particularly well thought through, tending to fray especially in the details.

The authors point out that "evangelism rarely happens by osmosis". "Loving acts need the complement of the verbal presentation of Christ's life, death, and resurrection. If people don't ask, and Christians never tell, how will anyone ever know the gospel?" That is, the gospel should always be presented clearly. On the other hand, however, "proclamation alone may ring hollow". The authors refer a great deal to "holistic ministry". This is ministry where "evangelism and social action are distinguishable but inseparable". Holistic ministry is "based on the understanding that the physical, spiritual, moral, and relational dimensions of human nature are intertwined. Churches of this type encourage faith commitments in the context of social activism". The book describes five classic models of social ministry in evangelical Churches today, as well as the option of forming coalitions or partnerships in social ministry.

However, I sensed a void at the centre of the book, which has to do with the American "can do" attitude. In fact the concluding chapter is titled: "We Can Do It". The authors would seem to suggest that the solution to social ills is just a matter of "reaching your community with the whole gospel for the whole person". However, it needs to be borne in mind that, in some parts of the world, it is a case of "NO can do". In fact, in many parts of the world, the general situation is rapidly regressing, and there seems to be little hope of assistance from outside. What sustains people in such situations? What should sustain people over five years - even a year - of grievous want or oppression? It may not be enough to offer that "God's salvation includes [...] material prosperity, justice," or that He "promises to renew the earth".

Rev. Thomas Scarborough

HOMEWORK FOR NEXT WEEK OVERVIEW What is the purpose of the family? (Genesis

2:18—4:8) Describe the modern family. Contrast our

modern families with the biblical statements of Paul in Galatians 6:1-5 and Ephesians 5:1—6:4.

Where is the church getting it right in ministry to families? Where can we suggest some improvements, according to Scripture?