Time: Thursday Sept 9, 2010 – 7pm-8:30pm
Location: Ellerslie Road Baptist Church, Edmonton

What can we learn from how Paul interpreted the “Bible” which he had?

An equipping event for …
• those seeking greater understanding of God’s Word
• those engaged in teaching the Bible
• those interested in the historic origins of the Christian faith, and how our Bible came to be
• those interested in seeing why we can be confident about the Bible we have

Full description (pdf)

Come, learn, enjoy!

Roundtable Discussion responses

BGCA Gathering 2010
June 5, 2010 at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Wetaskiwin AB

1. What are three top challenges you face in being a missionary in our 21st century culture?
- inconsistent living of Christians
- too busy “doing church” (inward-focused)
- lack of willingness/availability to share; busyness
- fear of rejection
- indifferent / apathetic
- too results-oriented, not focussed on relationships
- lack of faith; will God really do anything?
- isolationism; no deep relationships
- don’t understand other cultures/ages
- hostile culture; pluralistic and inclusive

2. What are the three top practices you can adopt to address the challenge?
- be willing to follow Jesus and “go do it”; obedience, integrity, humility
- take people with you and go follow Jesus
- simplify schedules, give permission not to participate for mission reasons
- choose to connect/relate to people, make space in your life for them; practice hospitality, invite people into your home
- deep relationships give a voice to speak into culture
- don’t give up loving people in practical ways
- talk about the uniqueness of Jesus
- PRAY!!!

3. What are three top ways you can lessen the gap between challenges and opportunities for you to be a missionary in our 21st century culture
- consistent, daily Christ-like example
- spiritual disciplines form the foundation of our spiritual lives
- seek out opportunities to make connections
- love others, love love love people
- celebrate the “wins”
- take the opportunities that you encounter

Read the articles as they appear and then join the discussion about how to apply this to your local church context.

Cost is $99 ($89 in advance), register at www.acop.ca

Colossians brochure
Syllabus link
Public forum information

What does it look like to live a faithful and fruitful life as a Christian in today’s postmodern culture? How can Christians deal with the challenges of syncretism and legalism in the church as well as a culture that largely values pluralism and popular philosophy and spirituality? Come explore these questions as we probe its ancient- future message, section-by-section, and do Christian theology in context for mission, spiritual formation, and cultural engagement with practical applications.

Section 1: Intro to Colossians: Context Then, Christians Now.
Section 2: Colossians 1: Christ is Supreme! (Mission and Theology)
Section 3: Colossians 2: Complete in Christ: (Syncretism and Legalism)
Section 4: Colossians 3: Centered in Christ: (Spiritual Formation and Family)
Section 5: Colossians 4: Case Studies: Witness and Community

June 9 – 10 (6:30 – 9:45pm) June 11-12 (8:30am – 4:00pm)
This course will be offered on Wed. & Thurs. night (6:30 – 9:45pm) and all day Friday and Saturday (8:30am – 4:00pm).
You may enroll for graduate credit or for audit.

Roger Helland, D.Min.
Roger serves as the District Executive Coach of the Baptist General Conference in Alberta. He has over 20 years experience as a pastor, Bible college teacher & seminary adjunct instructor, author of 3 books & numerous articles, mentor & missional leader. He holds degrees from Dallas Seminary (Th.M.) & Trinity Western Univ. (D.Min. Leadership & Spiritual Formation). His passion is to empower church leaders.

For Information & Syllabus contact:
Dr. Ed Stuckey
780-463-2161
estuckey@journeycentre.ca
www.journeycentre.ca

Now, the block parties are where it’s at. Completely youth run, we served food, had water slides, music, dramas, a teen would share their testimony, and then a pastor from one of the churches would speak, and give the gospel. Faithfully, each evening, God showed His power as people finally heard His voice, and came to know Him. My youth group, of twenty kids at its most, would join with nearly ten other churches to unify almost a hundred kids. So that gives you about one hundred plus teens. Our pastors didn’t think small, because we were a small group. Instead, they used us in every way possible, and as a result a ton of our neighbors and friends came to know the Lord! It was an incredible thing to be a part of.

I moved here, to Ellerslie Road Baptist Church and I was simply overwhelmed by the youth group alone, not to mention the whole church. Almost two hundred students attend ERBC’s youth group-that’s way more than our Mission Jerusalem crew. Do you see it? Each of us has our own little army and when we all join together, our army is not so small.

The youth that participate in today’s church are a powerful people. In our young age we see past the different obstacles that may block our dreams, rather we have many visions of things to come. From visions come ideas, and from ideas come actions. And since we don’t see all those obstacles, we are willing to take more risks. If you say risks are irresponsible, I must say that I disagree with you. In the ministry, risks are all you can take, but by then, I don’t call them risks, I call them “God’s impulse.” Simply because any “risk” that you take which brings even just one person one step closer to the Lord is an act of God, and is well worth your while.

Behind our actions there is drive and passion, and with our passion you find a seemingly endless source of energy. So now, you have a small army; one fueled with ideas, with passion and energy, and with Jesus standing within, alongside, and in front of your troops. My challenge to you is: are you letting us fight? Are you letting us lead?

In a recent study I read about, there are statistics that tell us: eighty percent of teens that graduate from high school stop attending church after graduation. Studies also show that by the time I’m an adult only five percent of my generation will remain Bible believing Christians. When this particular study went public, people scoffed at the possibility, so the professor tested it again and proved it (the study) wrong, as our society had predicted. Only he didn’t prove himself wrong in a positive way; instead, he proved that only four percent – not five – of my generation would remain in the church. Something is wrong with this picture. Four percent!? What can we say for ourselves? What efforts are we making towards my generation, to the generations before and after mine, especially after?

Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you pray daily for your own youth group? Do you concern yourselves with their activities and/or spiritual health? I’m saying this as a simple fourteen year old begging you to understand that we are more than just the rowdy kids down the hall who play their music too loud. We aren’t just the teens who will someday grow up, and perhaps be called into ministry to work together with you. We are not the church of tomorrow; we are the church of today. We are a church full of possibilities; we are awaiting your command.

God has gifted teens with gifts I’m sure you’re all familiar with. The gift of leadership, the ability to inspire others with words, the gift of servant hood, of song and of music, of dance and drama, the gift of laughter, the ability to make others laugh, the gift of creativity, the gift to sit and listen… All of this in addition to the spiritual gifts that are given to every believer. I happen to believe that God has equipped your youth group with the perfect combination of all these gifts and many others; there is not a single teen in your youth group who is there by chance. Just because we are youth, does not mean Romans 12 does not apply… specifically vss. 5- 8: “We are many, but we form one body, and we belong to each other… and verse 11 charges us: “Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor serving the Lord.”

So you have your numbers, your small army. There is a need, and your army is perfectly fit to fill it. My generation needs God, and you and I both know it. The church is not doing anything wrong, I simply wonder if we’re doing enough. Now, if the goal of your church is to entertain your youth, than you’re probably accomplishing your goal. But secular teenagers don’t need to find ways to be entertained better. Oh believe me; they can handle that by themselves. However, your youth know best how to reach their friends. They understand technology, they know what’s “in,” what’s “cool.” They are best equipped to help you reach out to a generation that needs our help, not our entertainment.
The thing is, your teens supply you with a bottomless well of talent, but those gifts that God has given them need to mature. So, as I challenge you to let your teens lead, the obvious hindrance is that we don’t know how. Maybe we’ve never been taught, in fact, most of us haven’t even identified our own spiritual gifts. We’re not mature enough to take on that responsibility. We’re not mature because we haven’t been discipled in that area of our faith. So before we can lead among our peers, you will have to sign on to a major contract of patience, time, planning, and commitment. If you’re willing to let us lead, you will have to help us. 1 Peter 2:2 tells us to “crave spiritual milk so we can grow up in our faith,” some of us may have received our “spiritual milk” but most of us can’t eat solid food in big bites. We’re still just nibbling.

I’m not sure I am doing an adequate job of communicating my thoughts to you… I certainly don’t profess to be able to lay out a plan for the perfect solution. I simply came here to remind you that while you were asking, “What’s Next?” you need to remember, “Who Next?” as well. I became so convicted this fall, about many things, and one of them was that maybe today’s teen is misunderstood… and therefore under- challenged… and under-used. Several things at the ERBC Harvest Banquet motivated me to come forward and speak up, nothing bad, just the things I’ve presented to you today. I want you to realize that for every youth that might be lamely attending your program because their parents force them, or they have nothing better to do, there is another that is dying to do more, learn more, be challenged, and be taught the Bible in applicable ways that will inspire us to step up and serve our generation, to make a difference, to lead, and change the looming statistics that predict our spiritual future. You have an army… and even if it is small… God is big

Yours truly, Maggie Green
(Used by permission, January 2010)

A good resource for keeping abreast of youth and culture, regularly consult: “Center for Parent\Youth Understanding: Understanding Culture to Impact Culture” Available at: http://www.cpyu.org/Default.aspx
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