Friends I want to try and put into words a tension I feel and that I know many Pastors experience as they ‘shepherd’ those in their care.
And in doing so I hope to correct what I think is a faulty expectation about the role of the Shepherd in caring for the flock.
Then I would like to ask for your prayers – both for me and our church family.
Sermon ‘He Commands All People Everywhere To Repent’ (Acts 17:16-34) by David Smith is now available to stream or download: http://bit.ly/1spCuyY
Sermon ‘From Prison To The Ends Of The Earth’ (Acts 12:1-24) by Ken Noakes is now available to stream or download: http://bit.ly/1Xva5TD
Sermon ‘The Believers: Christians’ (Acts 11:19-30) by Ken Noakes is now available to stream or download: http://bit.ly/1TWrXnz
Sermon ‘From Samaria To The Gentiles’ (Acts 9:32-10:48) by Ken Noakes is now available to stream or download: http://bit.ly/1YiEzqv
Full Text and Workings for this Sermon – Acts 10:1-48
Acts 10.1-48 English Support Handout
Sermon ‘The Persecutor: Saul’ (Acts 9:1-31) by Ken Noakes is now available to stream or download: http://bit.ly/1TcxOSS
Sermon ‘From Judea To Samaria’ (Acts 8:1b-40) by Ken Noakes is now available to stream or download: http://bit.ly/23HBJSM
Sermon ‘The Martyr: Stephen’ (Acts 6:8-8:1a) by Ken Noakes is now available to stream or download: http://bit.ly/1Yqwpw0
The question ‘Why leave a ‘church?’ may be a dangerous question to ask, especially on a church blog!
The reality is that all churches have people leave them – for both wise and unwise reasons. It is worth spending some time thinking about why one would take the step of leaving a ‘church’ and then further considering how to do that well. That said, I am hoping that no one reading this will in fact leave 5pm Church as a result!
In the previous two articles we have considered ‘What is ‘Church’?’ and then ‘What to expect of ‘Church’?‘ which as background should help establish that leaving a church should be thought about carefully – that is not a decision that should be made hastily or prayerlessly. If ‘church’ is about God’s people gathering as a family in Christ around his Word, it should give some pause for thought to a person when deciding to stay or to go. Leaving means leaving a family and a place where God’s word should be key to their fellowship.
Changing churches or leaving church altogether is no small thing.
The beginning of the year is often the time when people check out church (‘It is a new year, thought I would give it a go’), join church (‘I have moved and want to make this my church’) or leave church (‘I am making a life change’).
As such, it is reasonable that one consider ‘What should I expect of ‘Church’?’.
In the last update we considered ‘What is Church?’ and suggested that church was a place for believers (whilst still open to not-yet believers) and a place where God’s people gathered as a family in Christ. Expectations of church then are important because they help a person decide whether this church is doing what it should be or not.
There are a couple of ways to arrive at an answer.
