We want to feed you, talk with you, and let you know who we are as a church, what we believe, and how you can get more deeply into the community of City Church as we serve one another and the city of Murfreesboro.

You’ll also have a chance to ask questions and get to know our pastors and some of our covenant members.

Here are the details.

When: Directly following the worship gathering on Sunday May 20th. (6:45-8 pm)

Where: The Walnut House

What you need to do: RSVP here.

First, let me answer my own questions.

1) Can you really be a Christian if you don’t know the gospel?

No. I think Romans 10:13-17 is pretty clear. The good news, the word of Christ, is absolutely necessary to be a Christian, for salvation. In fact Paul uses the phrase “Obey the Gospel”. I find that phrase odd. The gospel is news, good news.

How can someone obey it? Its not a command.

I understand this as reasonable response to the gospel, as Paul references in Romans 12:1. The only reasonable response to a God who died in your place to give you life, is to live empty of yourself and full of him, for his glory and fame. While I completely agree that not every new Christian can articulate every theological nuance, that is not the quesion I am asking. If I truly don’t know what I am being saved from and what God did to save me in Jesus, can I actually “Obey the Gospel”? How can I respond in a way where I don’t simply affirm an idea, but transfer trust from myself onto Christ. I certainly believe children can put their trust in Christ, and even that they may be unable to articulate all the theological and practical significance of the gospel. Some adults may be this way too. I think you can really believe something without being able to articulate it completely accurately. But I’m not sure if you can really believe something without being able to articulate it AT ALL.

Simply put, you can know the gospel and not beleive it, but you cannot believe the gospel  without  knowing it.(By knowing, I mean understanding the objective claim it makes at a basic level)

2) Has the evangelical church gotten too clever for ourselves…or too “practical” or “relevant”? Have we sleepily and passively rejected the gospel by assuming it? 

Sometimes.

Someone once said, “The first generation has the Gospel, the second generation assumes the Gospel, the third generation loses the Gospel.”

For the most part, that what is what seems to have happened in the “Bible Belt”. One generation knew the gospel, and vigourously tried to apply it to life. Somewhere along the way, that generation stopped really reminding each other (and their children) of it because, after all, “We all know it, right? Let’s just emphasize the implications.” So we emphasized the reaction to the news instead of the news that fuels the reaction. We relied on our broken and self-centered memories to retain the gospel. It didn’t work. Now, in all of the church’s efforts to become relevant to a generation that has lost the gospel almost completely, we have nearly  abandoned the one hope any of us have…the good news that in Christ we no longer have to do the impossible. We don’t have to save ourselves. He has done it in his death and resurrection in our place.

3) Is being able to explain the gospel objectively necessary?

Yes. See #1. By objectively I don’t mean with theological or doctrinal precision, but I do mean WHAT CHRIST DID and not necessarily just HOW IT IS AFFECTING YOU. Again, Romans 10:13-17 seems clear. If people are going to be brought from death to life, they need to hear the news. Your response to the news can certainly help people see a proper response to the gospel, but that alone will not rescue someone from condemnation for their sin.

4) Has a church culture that for years has emphasized one’s personal testimony as the way to “share the gospel” affected the church’s ability to simply offer the gospel that is certainly more than propositional and objective, but definitely not less?

See #3. I would describe one’s personal experience as adding color to the black and white of the gospel message. It’s like this: I can look in a coloring book at the pictures before they are colored and tell you what each of pictures are. It helps tremendously to add the color. I understand a lot more about the picture and see its beauty more deeply, but even without the color, I recognize the picture.

However, If I just have the color without the lines to define it and give it shape, I’m just looking at blobs of color. The colors lose their significane because they aren’t in the context of the lines on the page.

This is the tragedy of over-emphasizing one’s personal change while one de-emphasizes the work of Christ by simply not talking about it much.

I would describe this condition that many of us find ourselves in as “Spiritual Anorexia”. We believe the way to be accepted, healthy, good peoople (spiritually speaking) is to get past the gospel. To intake it as little as possible. In fact, we act as if we should only let people feed on the gospel just enough to get spiritual life.

To be converted. To say a prayer.

After that, we’ll grow and be strong, more spiritual Christians by applying the gospel that we only intake in small amounts congruent with a tiny communion wafer in both nourishment and frequency.

Just like physical anorexia, one with spiritual anorexia looks in the mirror but doesn’t see a sick, under-nourished person, but someone who needs to do more: Anything other than feed on the simple and profound richness of gospel food.

So what should we do about Spiritual Anorexia?

Stay tuned. I’ll offer my suggestions in the next post.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor, nor am I well-versed with the nuances of the terrible disorder of physical anorexia. My apologies if some of my analogy doesn’t quite fit with the physical/mental disorder. This post is not intended to affirm or deny anything about the physical disorder, rather to comment on what I view as a spiriutally deprived condition. Does that go without saying? Apparently not.

In the south, I have expected to find a level of nominal Christianity: People that claim to be Christians simply based on a cultural affiliation or the fact that they go to church, or because they know they are neither Jewish nor Muslim…so it seems like the only other option for a theist.

But I’ve been relatively surprised at the number of “practicing Christians” that confess Jesus as their Lord, have been deeply involved in church activities for a long time, even people that regularly read “Christian” books and absolutely get stumped at my questions.

The conversation typically goes like this

Me: Who is Jesus and why do you care?

Person: Oh Jesus? He’s everything to me.

Me: Awesome. What does that mean?

Person: Well, Jesus is the reason why I’m here today. (Cue personal story of change or deliverance that almost seems to conincidentally coincide with when I prayed a prayer, walked an aisle, or joined a church)

Me: Great. What does that mean?

Person: Umm…er….Jesus saved me???

Me: Is that a question?

Person: I don’t know…nobody has ever asked me that before.

Now, let me acknowledge a few things.

First, I have been told I intimidate people. I realize sometimes people feel “put on the spot” and clam up.

Second, I am not fishing for a comprehensive theological answer to these questions, just “mere Christianity”. A simple phrase like “Jesus died on the cross for the sin that I deserved to die for…He traded places with me…Without Jesus, I’m on my way to hell.” You know…the Sunday School answer.

Since I have run into so many people who can’t answer the question that is fundamental to who they claim to be, I have begun to wonder a few things.

1) Can you really be a Christian if you don’t know the gospel?

2) Has the evangelical church gotten too clever for ourselves…or too “practical” or “relevant”? Have we sleepily and passively rejected the gospel by assuming it?

3) Is being able to simply explain the gospel objectively necessary?

4) Has a church culture that for years has emphasized one’s personal testimony as the way to “share the gospel” affected the church’s ability to simply offer the gospel that is certainly more than propositional and objective, but definitely not less?

I’ll post some of my thoughts on these questions in the next few days, but I’d love to hear from you first? Whoever you are, let me know what you think. Go.

Good Friday Service- Friday, April 6th at 7 pm. This will be an abbreviated service whose aim is to focus us on Christ and his work on our behalf on the cross. YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS. (No childcare, but children are welcome). We will meet at our regular location- the Walnut House.

Egg Hunt and Cookout (Blackman Farm Community)- Saturday, April 7th at Noon. Eggs, face-painting, hamburgers, hot dogs and your neighbors! If you live in the Blackman Farm subdivision (or know someone who does), join us! Here are the details.

Easter Sunday Morning- Sunday, April 8th at 10 am. Instead of our usual time of 5 pm, we will gather on Sunday morning on Easter to worship together. Same location- the Walnut House. Bring a friend.

Baptism- Following the worship gathering, we’ll baptize in the street. If you are interested in being baptized or just have a question..email us here.

Happy Easter! We’ll see you this weekend.

The point?

We want to be a blessing to our city, not a curse.

We want to be known in Murfreesboro as a church that is for the people, not against them.

Whether you want to help or just come out and meet some people in your community, we’d love to see you at one of these two community hunts.

South Church Street – Innsbrooke Shopping Center

When? This Saturday March 24th, 11 am- 2pm. Hunts will occur every 20 minutes.

What? Bounce houses, fire truck, face painting, games, prizes, pizza

Where? Kroger parking lot on S. Church St. and Innsbrooke.  Map

Who? Children 10 and under can hunt, but everyone is welcome.

How much? ALL FREE

Want to help? Email torikyoung1@gmail.com

Blackman Farm Community Egg Hunt & Cookout

When? Saturday, April 7th, Noon-2 pm.

What? Hamburgers and hot dogs, face-painting, and all the neighbors you don’t know yet.

Where? Green space in the middle of the neighborhood. Map

Who? Anybody who lives in Blackman Farm subdivision (and their friends/family)

How much? ALL FREE

Want to help? Email keval.atwood@gmail.com

I get that question from Christians a lot. I understand the thought behind it. People want to know if we are focusing our efforts to share the gospel a particular way with a particular people.

I also understand that (statistically speaking) churches will generally reach people within 7-10 years of the leadership. For us, that means 23-40 year olds.

I get that people are going to be attracted to particular kinds of music, lifestyles, culture, etc.

So, I am not surprised that, up to this point, City Church has mainly connected with white college students, singles, and young married people between 18-30 years old. In fact, when we came to Murfreesboro, we recognized 18-30 yr olds as a particular demographic that was largely disconnected with church. I thank God for those people that we are connecting with and I’m asking God for more stories of life change among them.

But should I be satisfied with homogenous numerical (or even spiritual) growth?

I won’t try to answer that question for you, but I’ll tell you where I am.

In Matt 28:19, Jesus’ command is to make disciples of all nations (ethnos). We often immediately think of sending people around the world to plant churches. That is an implication of this verse. But perhaps that command could mean something different about how we approach church right where we are.

The idea of the word “ethnos” is differing cultures, ethnicities, people groups. Certainly, those are represented worldwide, but they are also represented right here in Murfreesboro.

Black, white, Hispanic, internationals from the Middle East, Japan, Laos, and beyond.

Outside of that, there are cultures within the culture.

Hipsters, preppies, country, urban, hip-hop, conservatives, liberals…I could go on for hours. (I am not intending any of these categories in a pejorative way)

There are so many realms of ethnos that the church is called to penetrate and affect that we could spend a lifetime just in one city doing just that. Which is precisely why God has our church exactly where we are and why he has your church exactly where you are.

Additionally, The church is called to be a holy, or set-apart, ethnos (1 Peter 2:9). We should be a backwards culture inside of culture that is made up of varying cultures.

That is what Jesus prays for us in John 17:15, 18. Jesus prays for the church to be deeply engaged in all the cultures within our context at the same time we are utterly unattracted to what those cultures have to offer that are contrary to his character.

Here’s where I am challenged. While I realize it is not City Church’s responsibility to “reach everybody”, I want our church to reach deeply into as many cultures as the Lord will allow.

Regardless of our preferences.

Regardless or our ages.

Regardless of our race.

What’s the first step? The one I often overlook.

Prayer.

This is what I am asking God. To make our church be representative of multiple cultures in our city, but to be so distinct from those cultures that the only explanation is the gospel.

Why would a black kid from the hood develop a friendship with a white guy from the suburbs? Jesus saved them both.

Why would an 18-year-old college student meet weekly with a 60 year old? Jesus saved them both.

Why would a left-leaning hipster serve the poor alongside the president of our university’s Republican club? Jesus saved them both.

The more relationships God can establish on the gospel, the more backwards culture we produce.

And that necessarily produces mission- John 17:21

As we pray for that, it means getting uncomfortable.

It means being rejected from time to time.

But isn’t that the kind of life Jesus said we would have?

So, “Who are we trying to reach?”

At least one person from every identifiable culture in our city. An impossible task for the God of the impossible.

Time to start asking.

To summarize our identity, we call ourselves a gospel-centered, missional community. This past Sunday (1/1/2012) we began with the foundation of our church…gospel-centrality. I have often encountered people that have asked, “Why would you call yourselves a gospel-centered church instead of a God-centered church?”

That’s a fair question. And one worth answering.

Here is a brief summary from this Sunday’s message that attempted to answer this question. Since we had technical difficulties with the microphone, I’ll also provide the mauscript at the end of this post for your reading enjoyment. (BTW, did you know that batteries have to go in a certain way into a microphone? Who woulda figured?)

1. The point of everyone and everything is to worship and glorify God.

The Bible is very clear. God IS at the center of everything. He created everything and everything is intended to give him glory. (Romans 11:36, Colossians 1:15-20, 1 Cor 10:31). Without him, none of us has purpose or fulfillment. Our well-being and our joy is wrapped up in giving glory to God. It is why we exist

2. By focusing on the gospel, we know and love God more deeply, understand the gospel’s implications, and live its applications.

While God is the center of everything, we need to be sure we are specific about EXACTLY who that God is. This is where the gospel comes in.

There are 5 things we need to see and understand to make this statement (#2) clear.

PERSON- We worship a PERSON (God). A perfect, good, holy, righteous, loving, graceful, merciful God.

EVENT- He became a man, lived a perfect life, died a sinner’s death, and resurrected. That was an EVENT. It happened in history.

NEWS- The gospel is the news of that event. None of us were there to see it. Even for the ones that were there, they did not understand its cosmic and spiritual implications. That news had to be delivered by God. He had to reveal himself, his character, and his ways. The gospel is the pinnacle of God’s revelation of himself.

IMPLICATIONS- All news has implications. Some implications of the gospel are joy, love, self-sacrifice, hope, among many others.

APPLICATIONS- All implications have applcations. This is the way we live our joy, love, hope, etc. It may look like helping a sick neighbor or telling a friend the good news. The applications are infinite and specific.

If we don’t understand God through the gospel, we become just like the irreligious who define God however they like. They might say “I think God wants me to be happy, so there is no reason for me to stay in a marriage where I’m not happy.” Whatever suits their liking is who God becomes. They make him into their image.

Additionally, if we don’t understand the implications and applications through the gospel, we become like the religious. The religious use the gospel as a mere doorway into heaven, leaving it behind and struggling to live good, moral lives not based on God’s lovingkindnes toward them, but based on their own ability to try hard and persevere. They lose the news that makes sense of the implications and gives the power to carry out the applications with joy.

So when we center on the gospel, it helps us to know and love God more deeply by constantly meditating on the news that allows us to know him. At the same time, it makes sense of the commands of Scripture and empowers us to do them. (Romans 1:16, Colossians 1:5-6, 1 Cor 15:1-11).

The bottom line is that to be “Gospel-Centered” is to be “God-Centered”. It just makes the God we worship more explicit.

This Sunday, we’ll flesh out what gospel-centrality looks like for City Church. Hope to see you there.

Here is the manuscript from Sunday:

Sermon- Identity- Gospel-Centrality 1

But instead of people putting money in, they took money out. Some people got $10, others $20, and some pulled out $50.

Over the next two weeks, we have challenged the people of City Church to take the money they were given and use it generously in our city to bless someone else and point them to Jesus.

So, here’s how this will go. If you received some money, comment on this post ANONYMOUSLY and let us know 3 things.

1) How much money you received

2) How much money you added to what you received

3) What you did with the money

While we want you to decide what you do with the money, in case you get stuck, here are a few helpful suggestions to get your generous juices flowing.

• The Murfreesboro Housing Authority has a number of teenagers (13-17 y/o) that will not receive anything for Christmas. Their project manager has asked if someone can provide giftcards. Gift cards need to be dropped off with Sheena Kingat 415 N. Maple St. by 4 pm on Tuesday 12/20
• Buy coffee for the person behind you in the drive-thru at Starbucks for the next two weeks. Leave a City Church inviter card with the drive thru attendant and ask them to pass it on to the person behind you with their coffee and a “Merry Christmas” wish.
• Find a hungry or homeless person and have dinner with them while you listen to their story.

I’ve found in these last four months since I moved to Murfreesboro to plant City Church that there are four ways that God has really grown me.

Joy- There are so many opportunities to experience joy in our lives that we miss daily. This happens when we get so caught up in our own personal agendas that we miss the work of God happening all around us, in our own lives and in the lives of people we know.Leading a church has allowed me to watch the lives of the church and see people respond to and act on the vision. It has been a source of such joy for me to watch our people share their lives and the gospel with others, then watch the chain reaction begin. Co-worker to neighbor to friend to husband to wife. When people begin to see the beauty of God in the gospel, it spreads like a benevolent disease. It is so beautiful to watch. Can’t wait until this whole city is infected with it.

Humility- I have certainly asked my share of “Why me?” in response to difficult circumstances in my life. Some of those have even been in the last four months. But, overwhelmingly, I have asked “Why me?” this time around because it is hard for me to believe sometimes that I get to do this. I love leading this church, and love our people. I love every broken life that has come into our Community Groups and walked through the doors of the Nuthouse. I am so humbled that God has put me in this position. Certainly glad to be here, and honored as well, but more than anything, I find my self asking God “Why do I get to do this?” The beautiful answer comes back from 2 Corinithians 4:7 “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

Prayer- The second part of the “Why me?” question is the “Help me!” cry. God began to teach me that kind of desperation 2 years ago, but he has added fuel to that desperate spirit. More days than I care to admit, I’m not sure exactly what decision to make or exactly how to counsel people or what to preach. Prayer has extended out of a daily set time into theflow of my life. In the car, in the middle of a discussion, in a meeting, wherever I am, I see the need of God to work. I never run out of people or things to pray for. I suppose I am more aware now than I ever have been about the lives and spiritual conditions of people I lead and people I meet. I’m thankful God listens and responds to the prayers of his people

Commitment to My Family- I used to be on a church staff of more than 50, maybe 100 people. That meant when I needed to meet about “church” things, we did it at 10 am on a Wednesday morning.Now, all of our “staff” have full time jobs. Meetings happen around the clock. Then there are counseling opportunities and community service and more that simply can’t happen during a regular work week. Where I thought that I would never have trouble taking a day of rest, it has become increasingly more difficult. BUT, I am so thankful for a wife and sons that don’t give me a pass. They hold me accountable to being with them and enjoying our life together. My boys tell me when I haven’t played with them in a couple of days. My wife lets me know when she feels disconnected because of our busy schedule. When those things happen, I have learned to trust God enough to put the breaks on. A huge part of that goes back  to the first three things I learned. When I do that, I get the joy of seeing God use other people. I am further humbled (this time from self-centered pride) by watching God use other people instead of me to lead and do ministry (like its supposed to be anyway). Additionally, I am driven to pray more for God to work when I have to take my hands off. I am so thankful for my wife and sons and church planting has certainly made me appreciate them more.

Here are the 3 people that God uses the most to remind me of his love for me.

The idea behind that statement is that church planters shouldn’t expend all their energy in a few short months looking for immediate results, but to get into a steady pace moving toward a single goal, a mission, and expect results to come after several months/years, not days.

In many ways, I have learned that to be true. But I have also learned to expect great things from the God of the impossible. This has been tough for a natural-born pessimist like me (to whom the glass is nearly always half-empty and though there is a silver lining, its still a cloud.) In fact, it was my pessimism, or rather unbelief, that kept me from really considering church planting for so long.

I doubted my ability to lead.

I doubted my ability to raise money.

Sure, sometimes that comes off as humble, but for me it was a cover for my unbelief. It was my way of clinging to what I thought was safe and comfortable. I really wasn’t doubting my abilities, but God’s provision.

Thank God he kicked me out of the nest. See, when God knew he had sufficiently prepared me to lead a church (mostly through the rearranging of my affections and crushing of my idols), he formed my circumstances in such a way that I could no longer ignore the call to plant a church, and eventually, to plant a church in Murfreesboro, TN.

All that said, when this bird began the descent out of the nest, I had nothing left to do except flap my wings like crazy.

Those wings were prayers to the God of the impossible.

And that God trained me to pray desperate prayers through the crushing of my idols and the rearranging of my affections.

Through suffering.

Now, here we are- three and a half months into this crazy journey of opening up our lives and sharing the gospel with people in hopes that the God of the impossible will plant another church here.

And though I have known all along that this a marathon, God is certainly passing out cups of refreshing living water along the way. He is answering our prayers…and hopefully yours…of utter desperation.

To save.

To renew.

To bring light out of darkness and life out of death.

You know…impossible stuff.

Here is a video of the God of the impossble answering our desperate prayers 3 months in. Rejoice with us.