Below is the link and blog from Thabiti Anyabwile. Many of our members may recognize his name from his book on our book table entitled “What is a Healthy Church Member” - it is outstanding! He summarizes a sermon that was preached and in it he lists 20 recommendations…these were outstanding (especially in light of our Church series we are going through right now). So, I thought I would link to it here and encourage our members to take a few moments to think through these 20 recommendations….
http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile/
THABITI ANYABWILE|1:54 PM CT
What to Do Now
I love reading or hearing from Kevin DeYoung on the local church. From C.J., recapping Kevin DeYoung’s message at Next 2010:
To close out his Next 2010 conference message, “The Church,” Kevin DeYoung gave a list of suggestions for how to be a difference maker in the local church. He said:
• Find a good local church.
• Get involved.
• Become a member.
• Stay there as long as you can.
• Put away thoughts of a revolution for a while.
• Join the plodding visionaries.
• Go to church this Sunday and worship in Spirit and truth.
• Be patient with your leaders.
• Rejoice when the gospel is faithfully proclaimed.
• Bear with those who hurt you.
• Give people the benefit of the doubt.
• Say “hi” to the teenager that no one notices.
• Welcome the old ladies with the blue hair and the young men with tattoos.
• Volunteer for the nursery.
• Attend the congregational meeting.
• Bring your fried chicken to the potluck like everybody else.
• Invite a friend.
• Take a new couple out for coffee.
• Give to the Christmas offering.
• Sing like you mean it.
• Be thankful someone vacuumed the carpet for you.
• Enjoy the Sundays that “click.”
• Pray extra hard on the Sundays that don’t.
• And in all of this, do not despise the days and weeks and years of small things (Zechariah 4:8–10).
I cannot recommend this message too highly. Please take time to download and listen to “The Church” by visiting the resource page at www.thisisnext.org.
