At the 2018 G3 Conference I spoke on “Discipleship in Diversity.” I told of how we, at Grace Fellowship Church, have learned to be a church that is united in a context of great diversity. I concluded the message with a video of some of the people of Grace Fellowship Church reading Revelation 5 in…
Every now and again I like to share an order of worship from Grace Fellowship Church. This service’s cast of characters included Paul (our lead pastor) as the preacher and service leader, Josh as the lead worshipper, and Murray as the elder who led the pastoral prayer. Steve, our new associate pastor, also led a…
With my arms still ailing through nerve damage, I thought it an appropriate time to ask a couple of friends to help ease the load just a little with some guest articles. Thus, today’s article is from my friend Paul Martin (who, as you know, also co-hosts my podcast). From here on out, you’re reading…
There are some Sundays when the worship service simply unfolds around me. With the rest of the congregation, I am moved from element to element, from songs, to Scripture, to sermon, to shaking hands. But there are other Sundays when I am very mindful of our church’s order of worship. On these Sundays, I maintain…
Every now and again I like to share an order of worship from Grace Fellowship Church. This service’s cast of characters included Paul (our lead pastor) as the preacher and service leader, Josh as the lead worshipper, and Murray as the elder who led the pastoral prayer. Our band consisted of guitar, piano, and drums…
Every now and again I like to share an order of worship from Grace Fellowship Church. This service’s cast of characters included Paul (our lead pastor) as the preacher, Josh as the lead worshipper, Peter (one of our Assistant Ministers) as the service leader, Thushara (one of our deacons) as Scripture-reader, and Steve as the…
The Bible knows nothing of lone Christians, of believers who are willfully independent from a local church. Rather, Christians gather in communities to worship together and serve one another. And as God commands his people to gather in community, he also commands them to be led—led by men called and qualified as pastors or elders…
Whatever else we may know about Christians, we know this: Christians are supposed to go to church. Every Sunday, Christians gather together to worship God and spend time in fellowship. But do we actually know why we do this? Do we pause to consider the purpose of the local church? In this series of articles…
This week has been one of the most difficult in the history of Grace Fellowship Church. On Monday we learned that Beti Mubili, a young lady who had been long-time member of the church, had been killed in a recreational skydiving accident. We met spontaneously on Monday evening to just be together in our grief…
Beti loved adventure and loved to invite others to join in them. Her latest thrill was skydiving. “You should come with me,” she told Sam. “You’re crazy,” he replied,” “There is no way I’m jumping out of a plane. Why do you like stunts like that, anyway?” “Because they give me joy.” “And what if…
The New Testament clearly, repeatedly, and unapologetically lays out the qualifications of a pastor. What is so remarkable yet so often overlooked is this: Pastors are called and qualified to their ministry not first through their raw talent, their finely-honed skill, or their great accomplishments, but through their godly character. Of all the many qualifications…
Every few weeks I like to share an example of one of our services at Grace Fellowship Church. I do this because I believe we can benefit from seeing how other people worship in other congregations and other contexts. I hope you find it helpful! This service’s cast of characters included Paul (our lead pastor)…
We tend to associate the highest godliness with the humblest service. Jesus proved his holiness when he stooped to wash the filthy feet of his disciples. He proved his submission to God when he willingly faced the unjust suffering of the cross. In both cases, it is what Jesus did that displayed his godly character.…
Every few weeks I like to share an example of one of our services at Grace Fellowship Church. I hope that by doing this others will follow suit! I love to learn how other churches worship and often find myself both challenged and encouraged as I see how other congregations worship God in their unique…
Every Christian is a minister. According to the book of Romans, every Christian is called upon by God to minister the Word of God to other believers (see Romans 15:14 and the words “able to instruct one another”). But what does that actually look like? How can normal people like you and me fulfill this…
I’ve been surprised at how much people are enjoying these little summaries of our worship services at Grace Fellowship Church. I probably shouldn’t be, though, because I rather enjoy experiencing worship in other churches and learning how different communities of Christians worship the same God in different contexts. So here is another explanation of how…
I recently shared an example of how we worshipped one Sunday at Grace Fellowship Church. Quite a few people seemed to appreciate that example of a worship service and asked me to share more. I will be glad to do so from time to time. Here is how we worshipped one Sunday just a few…
A few years ago, Aileen and I walked into a gym for the very first time. We were unfit, we were determined to do something about it, and we had an inkling that a gym was the place to go. We spoke to the club’s manager, arranged an appointment, and groaned our way through an…
The Bible instructs us in how we must worship God and tells us what elements we must include in our worship services. Yet it still allows a lot of leeway for us to interpret those elements to our culture and context. I thought it might be fun to share from time to time the liturgy…
Christians are called to love. We know this. We’ve been loved by God so we can love in return. We display proof of our salvation when we stop living self-focused lives and begin living others-focused lives. We show our love and appreciation for God in the way we turn our love outward to become “zealous…