One of the classic books in the Zondervan “Views” series that allows leaders from each of the four major interpretations of the Book of Revelation to present their best case. They spend a good portion of the book then interacting with each other’s views. This book can be used as a reference, it’s a bit academic, but for the motivated reader it’s the best overview out there.
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In the church today, a passion for the Bible and a passion for the Holy Spirit can seem at odds with one another. Churches typically can fall into one of these two camps. You have your “Word” churches and your “Spirit” churches. But when we look at the Bible, we see that we should be a Word and Spirit church.
WHAT WE BELIEVE ABOUT THE BIBLE
We believe that the Bible is the revelation of God. We cannot come to know God apart from the Bible. In the Scriptures, God has revealed himself to us. We see who he is and what he has done. Therefore, the Bible is all about Jesus. From beginning to end, the Bible is revealing the person and work of Jesus to us.
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me.” – John 5:39
The Bible is inspired by God. This means that Scriptures are the Word of God. They are God-breathed and are God’s very word to us. Therefore, the Scriptures are infallible and without error since they are first and foremost written by God.
“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” – 2 Timothy 3:16
The Bible is the “Supreme Court” of authority for all matters of faith and practice.
As the Word of God, it has the highest authority for us as a church. Therefore, the Bible is the foundation of all our doctrinal convictions as a church.
“The authority of the Scripture means that all the words in Scripture are God’s words in such a way that to disbelieve or disobey any word of Scripture is to disbelieve or disobey God.” – Dr. Wayne Grudem
Because God has given us the Bible, doctrine matters. It helps us see and know God as he really is, instead of a god of our own making. It empowers us to live in a way that honors God. We believe that good theology will lead to good doxology, which in turn will lead to good praxis.
HOW DO WE READ THE BIBLE?
When we read the Bible, we are not just learning information about God. Rather, reading our Bible is a way we draw near to God and hear his voice. We should come to the Bible with prayer and humility, ready to meet with God the Trinity.
It’s easy to think that the Bible is a compilation of God’s 66 greatest hits. The truth is so much more beautiful. Though the Bible contains 66 books written by over 40 divinely inspired authors over the course of almost 2000 years, God is the author and he is telling the overarching story of creation, fall, redemption, and restoration.
The whole Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is about the person and work of Jesus. We cannot read Scripture rightly without seeing Jesus in the passage. When we read the Bible, it always points us to him.
“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” – Luke 24:27
“Don’t you know, young man, that from every town and every village and every hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London? So from every text of Scripture there is a road to Christ. And my dear brother, your business is, when you get to a text, to say, now, what is the road to Christ? I have never found a text that had not got a road to Christ in it, and if ever I do find one, I will go over hedge and ditch but I would get at my Master, for the sermon cannot do any good unless there is a savor of Christ in it.” – Charles Spurgeon
The Bible was written in a particular context for a particular reason. We can take passages and make them mean something the author never intended. We have to look at a whole passage and ask who wrote it and why they wrote it. Some Scriptures are poetry, while other parts are historical records, both of which should be interpreted differently.
EQUAL
When God created humans, he designed them to put on display and reflect his own image. In his brilliance, he designed two genders: male and female. Both men and women equally display the glory and image of God. There is something reflected in men and women that is good and points to God.
“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27
Men are not better or greater than women. Women are not second-class citizens. They should not be subjugated or diminished in their value. Rather, since both men and women are created in the image of God, they are both equal in their dignity, value, and worth.
Men and women believers are co-heirs, equal in redemption. In the Kingdom of God, women are not second-class citizens. God has given them important gift for the life and ministry of the church. Women are encouraged to lead and serve and benefit the church, such as in the office of Deaconess.
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” – Galatians 3:28
UNIQUE
Both men and women equally display the glory and image of God, but in very different ways. They show forth God’s character in unique and beautiful ways. The masculine traits found in men tell us something profound about God and ourselves. Likewise, the feminine traits found in women also tell us something profound about God and ourselves. The God of the Bible is wonderfully complex, so much so that it required two genders to properly paint the picture of who he is and what he is like.
“Then the LORD God said, ‘It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.’ …So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,’This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’” – Genesis 2:18, 21-23
MEN AND WOMEN HAVE BEEN GIVEN COMPLEMENTARY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES WITHIN CERTAIN CONTEXTS
There are certain contexts in which God has given specific and unique roles and responsibilities to men and women. These roles are not analogous to every context. God has given unique roles and responsibilities to men and women in marriage.
“‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.” – Ephesians 5:31-33
Married men have the difficult and beautiful job of leading their wives and children. A husband’s leadership should not be a dictatorship or oppressive in any way. Rather, he is called to lay his own life down for the good of his wife. This means that husband should spend their lives in service to their bride, putting her wellbeing and preferences above his own.
“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.” – Ephesians 5:25-30
A married woman likewise is to respond to her husband’s leadership as the church submits to Jesus. In this, she is also uniquely displaying Jesus, who willingly and beautifully submitted to his Father, though equal to him in dignity, value, and worth. The Bible never demands that all women should submit to all men. The Bible calls a woman to submit to a particular man within the context of marriage. Most importantly, this does not mean that a wife is to follower her husband no matter what. A wife should never follow her husband into sin.
“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.” – Ephesians 5:22-24
There are numerous ways to serve and minister in the church, and uniquely in the office of Elder has God restricted it to biblically-qualified men. This does not mean that women are less valuable in worth or in the mission. Nor does it mean that women cannot lead and influence in other ways, such as a Deaconess. Rather, it simply means that God has specifically designed this particular office for certain men.
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. – Titus 1:5-6
Jesus came preaching and demonstrating the Gospel of the kingdom. Jesus is using his church as the instrument in which he is expanding his kingdom. This means that we are not in this to build the Kingdom of Frontline. Jesus is the head of the church, and we carry the banner of his kingdom. And as such, this means that every member is participating in the ministry to see the kingdom of God spread.
GATHERED
The Church is THE instrument for expanding his kingdom into the darkness.
Therefore, what we do on a Sunday morning matters. As we gather, we proclaim the gospel in music, sermon, prayer, and the Sacraments.
Ministry is not reserved for the high and holy. Rather, every Christian is called to minister and build up each other. Pastors are given to equip the saints for the work of the ministry.
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:11-12
As a church focused on the kingdom of God, we want to see the kingdom spread by planting churches locally and globally. We want to give our money and resources to see gospel flourish to people we cannot reach.
SCATTERED
God cares about the practical needs of the people in our cities. So we should pray for the city and work for its good. We should reach out to our neighborhoods and communities.
“But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.” – Jeremiah 29:7
We pray that God’s kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. In heaven, there are no poor or hungry or homeless. Therefore, we should serve the poor and meet practical needs.
“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” – Matthew 6:10
We are after the kingdom of Christ, not the kingdom of Frontline. Frontline is not the right church for everyone, and that is ok. We want to love and partner with other churches for the good of the kingdom of Christ in our city.
WHY MULTIPLY?
God is the sole Creator, and yet he raises up Adam and Eve. He gives them power and influence over creation. Then he immediately commands them to “be fruitful and multiply.” Multiplication is in God’s very nature.
“And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” – Genesis 1:28
Jesus is the great Multiplier. He went from himself to 12 disciples. With these disciples, he gives them the Great Commission to go and make disciples who make more disciples. In other words, he multiplied the gospel truth in these 12 disciples, and told them to multiply it in others. Jesus’ movement of multiplication is continuing today where billions of people are still going out and making more disciples. As believers, we are called into this Great Commission of multiplying gospel communities.
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” – Matthew 28:18-20
“So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.” – Acts 9:31
The task of making disciples and taking the gospel to the world is too big for one man to do alone. Which is why the Bible calls every member of the church to the work of the ministry. As we all make disciples who make disciples, we are multiplying the gospel message to more and more people. Multiplication is not a task for pastors alone. It is a task for every member.
“Moses’ father-in-law said to him, ‘What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone.’” – Exodus 18:17-18
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:11-12
Our multiplication is not just mindless replication of whatever we want, but we are called to multiply gospel communities. Gospel communities are groups of people together:
BECAUSE OF JESUS
Not a cause or stage of life or affinity or race or culture. Gospel community transcends those things.
WITH JESUS
Not just singing or talking about him. Rather, we long to be with Jesus through the Holy Spirit We want the Spirit of Christ to empower us for ministry and mission
UNDER JESUS
We live under the authority of Jesus by his Word. The Bible stands over us as the Supreme Court of authority for all matters of faith and practice.
FOR JESUS
We live on mission in our city. We think about non-Christians, and we long for people to meet Jesus.
DISCIPLES MULTIPLYING DISCIPLES
As disciples of Jesus, we are called to go and make other disciples, teaching them to love, obey, and follow Jesus. This is the heart of the Great Commission that we are called to fulfill.
LEADERS MULTIPLYING LEADERS
Likewise, leaders create other leaders. They raise up and develop other leaders who can come alongside them to lead others.
GROUPS MULTIPLYING GROUPS
Whether a Community Group or a Hub Group, our groups multiply all over the city so more and more people can be brought into community.
CHURCHES MULTIPLYING CHURCHES
Churches should be church-planting churches. As a church, we have a desire to see churches planted all over our city and world to reach more people for Jesus.
