- In the article you attached, Chaplain Mike poses the question, "Are we a 'dying' church?" Interestingly enough, he never provides a direct answer. Instead, I believe he infers, "[Yes, but at least] ...Christ is with us." Are we to sit, then, resigned to an inevitable sunset, comforting ourselves because at least we will die with Jesus, or should we, as the laborers in Matthew 20 work through the eleventh hour even as the sun fades? No, this article does not encourage me. It actually makes me a little mad.
- Manfred i am all in for working all the way through. I think his point was that we should not judge the health of a church by numbers alone and that Christ is as present in a micro church like ours as much as a larger context. I know i fail to recognize that often. Thank you for engaging with me
Wherever 2 or 3 are gathered
I read this today and it greatly encouraged me. I hope it does the same for you.
“This is the secret to understanding the persevering health of the church amid the narrative of decline. Churches are not healthy because they’re sufficiently growing, diverse, or making a profound impact on their communities. Some are doing these things and some are not. But all of them are healthy because when even two or three come together in the name of Jesus Christ, he is in their midst.”
“Maybe Jesus’ insistence that the kingdom is found in small, overlooked places really does mean something after all.”
https://internetmonk.com/archive/nothing-can-make-us-more-blind-to-the-holy-spirit-than-the-ordinary