Event, News | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

We are calling this coming Sunday (06.09.13) “Church Planting Sunday”

We hoped to get this information out earlier, but were awaiting final details to come through. Though we will be continuing our series in 1 Timothy, this Sunday we will also focus on the following:

• Awareness: Raising greater awareness of church planting and the Acts 29 Network that we are a part of. We are part of something much bigger than our individual church.
• Mission: Feature several clips to highlight how God is spreading the gospel through Acts 29 around the world.
• Sermon: Devote a portion of the sermon to the priority and necessity of church planting.
• Giving: Take a special offering to raise additional funding for local and central funding in order, by God’s grace, to see the gospel spread through the planting of more churches, everywhere.

“What is the Acts 29 Network?”

The Acts 29 Network is a network of churches that plant churches that plant churches that plant churches all around the world. Acts 29 specializes in assessing, equipping, coaching and networking church planters. The goal of the Network is to continue the good work that began in the first 28 chapters of Acts, pushing back what is dark in the world, and heralding the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ by establishing more Bible-believing, Jesus-loving, gospel-proclaiming churches everywhere. You can learn more about the Acts 29 Network by visiting their website here.

“How can I help plant churches?”

There are two primary ways that you can help: pray and partner.

• Pray: (1) Please be praying for our church and the other Acts 29 churches in the Northwest region. You can get a full list on the Acts 29 website. (2) Be praying that God would raise up an army of gifted, called and qualified men to plant more churches in our city and the cities of the world.
• Partner: One of the biggest hurdles to church planting is often financial. It takes resources to plant churches, therefore a key component of Church Planting Sunday is the special offering.

“What is the special church planting offering?”

This special offering will help plant churches here and throughout the world. Of the total raised, 60% will be donated to Acts 29 and 40% will assist Downtown Cornerstone in its own church-planting efforts. There are two basic ways to give:

Give on Sunday: Write “Spread the Gospel” on the check memo line and place it in an offering basket. Or, you can give by cash. All cash contributions this Sunday will go towards church planting.

Give online: Or, you can give here through our online giving portal. To give towards church planting select the “Spread the Gospel” fund and follow the directions. Everything given over the next two weeks, starting today, will count towards this year’s Church Planting Sunday efforts.

For Jesus’ fame and the joy of all people,

Pastor Adam

City Life, News

Join us at South Lake Union Park on June 4th for picnic and games as we welcome in the summer!

This will occur in lieu of our normal community rhythm and is an opportunity to enjoy the sunshine with our neighbors and friends.

WHERE

South Lake Union Park, 860 Terry Ave N. We’ll gather just north of the model boat pond, and west of the MOHI.

WHEN

Tuesday, June 4th, 6pm-dusk

WHAT

Picnic & Games. Bring your own dinner (non-grillable) & yard games. Some drinks, snacks & sporting equipment will be provided.

PARKING

There is ample street parking on either side of the park that is free after 6 pm. The Lake Union Trolley leaves from 5th & Olive and runs right in front of the park.

Teaching | by Pastor Adam Sinnett

This was a question I intended to hit during the sermon on Pastors, Elders & Overseers, but ran out of time. Therefore, I thought I’d hit it here briefly. While I have vocational ministry in view, as that is what the text addresses, clearly this could apply to any form of leadership at home and/or at the office. Not every follower of Jesus is called to lead within the local church, but every follower is called by Jesus to be a missionary wherever he has sent you.

For those that feel called to local church leadership, yet know they are not yet ready, I have the following eight suggestions:

First, there is not a magic formula to become a pastor or enter vocational ministry. Bible college and seminary are helpful, and often recommended, but those alone don’t guarantee future church leadership or fruitful ministry. Jesus tends to have a customized plan for every individual leader and often the only commonality among those plans is the local church.

Second, spend this season of life getting to know Jesus really well through the Word and in prayer. Saturate this season in prayer, growing in sensitivity to the Lord’s leading. Grow accustomed to recognizing the Spirit’s voice and, then, obeying. The best time to hone this particular aspect of your relationship with Jesus is prior to taking a leadership role.

Third, start serving and be patiently faithful with whatever is before you. He/she who is faithful with little, will be faithful with much. Don’t begrudge the small things; be faithful with them. The best measure of whether a future leader will be faithful with larger responsibilities is determined by whether he’s being faithful with his current responsibilities.

Fourth, if you’re in college, pursue a vocational direction. While I understand the joy of desiring to major in Biblical Studies or Ministry, you will be better served by picking up a vocational skill of some kind. That could be anything, including teaching, business, engineering, design, programming, etc. It will make future employment easier and it will help you understand others – the majority of whom will spend their lives working a distinct vocation.

Fifth, share your desires with others and seek their counsel and evaluation. Invite others who know you, love you and have observed you leading to speak into your life. Do they affirm your desire? Do they see in you what you see in yourself? They’ll also be able to help you discern the difference between godly ambition and selfish ambition.

Sixth, begin a plan of study. Study what? Anything. You could begin with our church’s recommended reading list. You could talk to me. You could audit classes from Covenant or Reformed Theological Seminary for free online. The saying, “Leaders are readers” is true. Personally, I currently break my reading into 5 categories: theological, historical, sociological, biographical and classical. I try to be reading something in every category. That’s just me. Figure out what works for you. One helpful place to start is Lit: A Christian Guide to Reading Books, by Tony Reinke.

Seventh, consider what aspects of your character need grace-filled, spirit-led addressing. You probably don’t need long to determine what areas those are. Take some time to consider those areas and what it would look like for God to transform them. When/where will you start? What are the gospel-disconnects revealed by this particular area of life? What can you implement today? What does repentance look like? How will you walk that repentance out? Who do you need to talk to?

Eighth, get your house in order. Paul asks Timothy a haunting rhetorical question, “If someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” The answer is obviously, “he can’t”. The time to get your household in order is well before you take a leadership role. Assess your “house”. Pay off debt. Create a budget. Do you have a regular date night with your wife? Do you get regular time with each of your kids? Are you leading yourself? What are some practical next steps? Re-evaluate every season.

For further study and reflection, I also recommend reading Dave Harvey’s, Am I Called? The Summons to Pastoral Ministry.

For Jesus’ Fame,
Pastor Adam