After agreeing that the basic problem of the local church was her undefined reasons for existence with a consequent malfunctioning, the original Circle Church group began to search for that purpose. What evolved in our thoughts was a statement which is included in the Circle Church Constitution.
ARTICLE II—PURPOSE AND FUNCTION
The purpose of this church is to develop spiritual maturity among
its people and to relate the gospel of Christ to its world.
The function of this church is to conduct corporate
services of worship and prayer, to afford opportunity
for interaction regarding our Faith, and to help its members
make use of the gifts of the Holy Spirit given by God.
This succinct paragraph does not even hint at the months of evaluation which gave it birth. Many similar declarations have been included in other formal constitutions, but the crux of their validity is determined by the extent to which they are executed in function. The philosophy of Circle Church—which I have previously shared with you, many blog posts ago—is the outworking of an intense evaluation which evolved both pragmatically and in response to spiritual struggle over the period of two years. During the embryonic phases of our experiment we prearranged that four requirements be present:
- There must be time within the church for honest interaction in our experiment about our faith. If superficial answers to questions are given, they have to be challenged.
- There must be valid worship. Our individual understanding of God and His majesty must improve through the development of creative forms of corporate praise.
- There should be a meaningful prayer life on the congregational level. Personal requests must not only be shared, but be specific enough for us to know if they have been answered or not.
- There must be an awareness of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the role(s) each member is to play in the body. Often it is said, “A very strong emphasis must be maintained in the local church on preaching and teaching the Word.” Unfortunately this kind of statement stresses certain gifts and devalues the rest. All gifts are essential. “We feel everyone in the church should be able to tell others about Christ.” Here again is an unbalanced emphasis which relegates as unimportant all the other spiritual ministrations. We strongly felt that God must be allowed to speak to and through the body by means of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit which includes teaching and preaching and verbally sharing the faith, but renders them no more important than hospitality or artistic expression.
———————————————
Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?
Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?
David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.
We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.
For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.
You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.
