The More Than 52 Churches Workbook E-Book

Peter DeHaan

• Herausgeber: Rock Rooster Books
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Serie: Visiting Churches Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 47

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

What does your church do well? What could it do better? Are you sure?

It’s time to put thoughts into action. This workbook will guide you—if you dare let it. Join church advocate Peter DeHaan, PhD, in a journey of self-discovery to pursue a meaningful spiritual community and help move faith from theory into conduct.

Consider 175 thought-provoking questions in The More Than 52 Churches Workbook to propel your practices forward. Discover how to reform your church community and inform your spiritual journey:

- Explore the diversity of Jesus’s church and your essential role in it.

- Expand your perspectives of worshiping God and serving Jesus.

- Extend your faith practices to embrace a more holistic perspective of what it means to truly follow Jesus.

- Move from spiritually passive to practical.

- Transform from self-satisfied to self-sacrificing.

Casual Christians need not apply.

More Than 52 Churches gave us more faith communities to consider and more faith practices to ponder. The More Than 52 Churches Workbook builds on that foundation to deliver gentle, but challenging, questions to turn stimulating ideas into life-altering change.

The More Than 52 Churches Workbook is the perfect companion for More Than 52 Churches, but it also works great as a standalone book for those who haven’t yet read More Than 52 Churches.

If you feel it’s time to move from the sidelines and get into the game, The More Than 52 Churches Workbook presents the game plan to get you there.

Get The More Than 52 Churches Workbook to guide you and your church into becoming a spiritual community that makes a difference.

Leseprobe

THE MORE THAN 52 CHURCHES WORKBOOK

PURSUE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY AND GROW IN OUR FAITH

VISITING CHURCHES SERIES

BOOK 4

PETER DEHAAN

TheMoreThan 52 ChurchesWorkbook: PursueChristianCommunity and Grow in OurFaith© 2020 by PeterDeHaan.

VisitingChurchesSeries, book 4.

All rights reserved: No part of this book may be reproduced, disseminated, or transmitted in any form, by any means, or for any purpose without the express written consent of the author or his legal representatives. The only exception is the cover image and short excerpts for reviews or academic research. For permissions: PeterDeHaan.com/contact.

Scriptures taken from the HolyBible, NewInternationalVersion®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “NewInternationalVersion” are trademarks registered in the UnitedStatesPatent and TrademarkOffice by Biblica, Inc.™

Published by RockRoosterBooks, GrandRapids, Michigan

ISBNs:

978-1-948082-41-9 (e-book)978-1-948082-42-6 (paperback)978-1-948082-43-3 (hardcover)

Credits:

Developmental editor: CathyRueterCopy editor: RobynMulderCover design: TarynNergaardAuthor photo: ChelsieJensenPhotography

To all who seek spiritual community and want to grow in their faith.

Series by PeterDeHaan

40-DayBibleStudySeriestakes a fresh and practical look into Scripture, book by book.

BibleCharacterSketchesSeriescelebrates people in Scripture, from the well-known to the obscure.

HolidayCelebrationDevotionalSeriesrejoices in the holidays with Jesus.

VisitingChurchesSeries takes an in-person look at church practices and traditions to inform and inspire today’s followers of Jesus.

Be the first to hear about Peter’s new books and receive updates at PeterDeHaan.com/updates.

CONTENTS

Wasn’t 52 Churches Enough?

Church #53: Home for Easter Sunday

Part 1

More Opportunities

Church #54: Emergent Maybe

Church #55: New and Small

Church #56: The Reboot

Church #57: Another New Church

Church #58: Not So Friendly

Church #59: Big, Yet Compelling

Church #60: A Missed Opportunity

Church #61: The Wrong Time to Visit

Church #62: Off to a Great Start

Church #63: We Don’t Need No Sermon

Church #64: Is Bigger Always Better?

Church #65: Short of Meeting Expectations

Church #66, Part 1: Gifts of the Spirit

Church #66, Part 2: A Normal Service

Church #67: Satellite Church

Church #68: Urban on a Mission

Part 2

Other Considerations

Church #69: Suffering from a Bad Rap

Church #70: Unplanned and Spontaneous

Church #71: A Messianic Jewish Congregation

Church #72: Respected and Esteemed

Church #73: A Debatable Destination

Church #74: An Intriguing Mystery

Church #75: Fatigue and Fear Set In

Our Home Church

Bonus Content: How to Be an Engaging Church

Bonus Content: How to Go to Church

The Next Steps

Visiting Churches Series

About Peter DeHaan

Books by Peter DeHaan

WASN’T 52 CHURCHES ENOUGH?

For52 Churches, my wife and I spent one year visiting a different Christian church every week. What we learned was amazing. Still, I knew the journey wasn’t over. We had more to do and visited more churches. I shared these new experiences in MoreThan 52 Churches.

Now let’s dig deeper with this workbook.

Visiting churches wore us down. Visitors to our churches may share a similar perspective. What can we do to help weary visitors experience God and enjoy community?

Each church’s worship practices varied, and their theology diverged, but the God behind them stands constant. How can we keep our focus on God and not on our church service and theology?

A slight majority of the population are introverts who may struggle more in visiting churches. Regardless of where we are on the introvert-extrovert scale, what can we do to personally embrace church visitors?

CHURCH #53: HOME FOR EASTER SUNDAY

As a reference, I share attending our home church on EasterSunday. This marks the end of 52 Churches and the start of MoreThan 52 Churches. ThoughI strive to remain objective in visiting churches, our home church forms the lens I look through.

I see value in worshiping God with family, and for Easter we go with our children and their spouses. What can we do to attend church and celebrate Jesus with our family?

The 150-year-old building, even with many improvements, still feels dated. What can we do to make our church facility as conducive to worship and community as possible?

Though the shortcomings of a worship space shouldn’t block us from God, they can. How can we minimize the cumbersome facility elements we can’t change so they don’t get in the way of us encountering God?

There’s no plan for the service, only a general intent. TheHolySpirit will guide the leaders in what to do and for how long. How much of a role do we let the HolySpirit play in our church services?

Though we were gone for a year, I listened to the messages online. In what ways can we extend the church worship experience and teaching to those who can’t attend in person?

Baptism at churches varies from a reserved rite, to a public declaration of faith, to an enthusiastic celebration. What can we do to better embrace baptism as the early church did in the Bible?

As we leave the building ninety minutes later, some are already arriving for the second service. Not looking at efficiency, but focusing on the human aspect, how can we foster a better transition between services?

PART 1