Grounded and growing

by Sam Hilton | Posted on August 14th in Pastors thoughts  

The senior staff of Hunter Bible Church had the privilege of spending time away with staff workers from other like minded churches at the FIEC (Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches) Conference.  We got to hear talks from Phillip Jensen, had Mark Driscoll beamed in from his study in Seattle, thought about how GENEVA church planting organisation might fit in with FIEC (stay tuned for more details), and heard from a variety of churches across the country about what God has been doing.

All of this bolstered Andrew Heard’s (CCEC) insistence that what FIEC is on about is building a network of “grounded” and “growing” churches.

1. Grounded: in order for church planting organisations and for churches to have longevity in thier work they need to be grounded theologically.  This means a few things:

  • theological education is essential for church planters.  In our context, I think it means those who head up the 5 areas of ministry need to be theologically robust.
  • as a church we are committed to making disciples who grow to maturity in Christ.  It is not just enough to grow numerically as a church.  Our goal ought to be the same as Paul’s - to present all people perfect in Christ (Col 1:28).
2. Growing: in order for us to be effective in reaching the nation of Australia FIEC churches need to be growing numerically.  Now of course gospel growth (which we will not be able to see in full until we are taken to be with God) is what is most important.  As a result, we need to be committed to letting go of our best people and sending them to Bible College and beyond the walls of the Hunter Region.  But it also means that we need to be a growing church.  As new people come to join us we need to welcome them and make it possible for them to grow and serve at HBC.  But it also means we will be making connections inividually and as a church with unbelievers that will enable us to share the good news of Jesus.
I think we ought to be praying that Hunter Bible Church will be a “grounded” and “growing” church. This seems to not only be the heart of FIEC but also the heart of the apostle Paul who gives thanks that in Collose and all over the world the gospel has been bearing fruit (”growing”) and then goes on to pray for their maturity (”grounded”).  Have a read…
3We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints— 5the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel6that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth. 7You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our[c] behalf, 8and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.
9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 14th, 2009 at 10:41 am and is filed under Pastors thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

One Response to “Grounded and growing”

  1. Richard Sweatman Says:
    August 17th, 2009 at 10:01 am

    Thanks Sam,
    That phrase ‘grounded and growing churches’ caught my imagination too. That’s what we want to see!

    I was challenged at the conference to make sure our vision for gospel growth is not too small. As we heard from other churches and new church plants, my eyes were lifted from my daily concerns to see the work God is doing across Australia.

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