Pastor's Blog

Hope Churchers – I want to challenge each of you to invite at least 3 people to Hope Church on Easter weekend. People who don’t normally attend church will go to church on Easter. Our Easter Celebration at the Morrow Center (our new Sunday location!) is going to be incredible – and you don’t want your friends, family, and coworkers to miss any of it!

Register your children HERE!

On his blog, R.C. Sproul, president & founder of Ligonier Ministries writes…

I remember Mama standing in front of me, her hands poised on her hips, her eyes glaring with hot coals of fire and saying in stentorian tones, “Just what is the big idea, young man?”

Instinctively I knew my mother was not asking me an abstract question about theory. Her question was not a question at all–it was a thinly veiled accusation. Her words were easily translated to mean, “Why are you doing what you are doing?” She was challenging me to justify my behavior with a valid idea. I had none.

Recently a friend asked me in all earnestness the same question. He asked, “What’s the big idea of the Christian life?” He was interested in the overarching, ultimate goal of the Christian life.

To answer his question, I fell back on the theologian’s prerogative and gave him a Latin term. I said, “The big idea of the Christian life is coram Deo. Coram Deo captures the essence of the Christian life.”

This phrase literally refers to something that takes place in the presence of, or before the face of, God. To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.

To live in the presence of God is to understand that whatever we are doing and wherever we are doing it, we are acting under the gaze of God. God is omnipresent. There is no place so remote that we can escape His penetrating gaze.

To be aware of the presence of God is also to be acutely aware of His sovereignty. The uniform experience of the saints is to recognize that if God is God, then He is indeed sovereign. When Saul was confronted by the refulgent glory of the risen Christ on the road to Damascus, his immediate question was, “Who is it, Lord?” He wasn’t sure who was speaking to him, but he knew that whomever it was, was certainly sovereign over him.

Living under divine sovereignty involves more than a reluctant submission to sheer sovereignty that is motivated out of a fear of punishment. It involves recognizing that there is no higher goal than offering honor to God. Our lives are to be living sacrifices, oblations offered in a spirit of adoration and gratitude.

To live all of life coram Deo is to live a life of integrity. It is a life of wholeness that finds its unity and coherency in the majesty of God. A fragmented life is a life of disintegration. It is marked by inconsistency, disharmony, confusion, conflict, contradiction, and chaos.

The Christian who compartmentalizes his or her life into two sections of the religious and the nonreligious has failed to grasp the big idea. The big idea is that all of life is religious or none of life is religious. To divide life between the religious and the nonreligious is itself a sacrilege.

This means that if a person fulfills his or her vocation as a steelmaker, attorney, or homemaker coram Deo, then that person is acting every bit as religiously as a soul-winning evangelist who fulfills his vocation. It means that David was as religious when he obeyed God’s call to be a shepherd as he was when he was anointed with the special grace of kingship. It means that Jesus was every bit as religious when He worked in His father’s carpenter shop as He was in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Integrity is found where men and women live their lives in a pattern of consistency. It is a pattern that functions the same basic way in church and out of church. It is a life that is open before God. It is a life in which all that is done is done as to the Lord. It is a life lived by principle, not expediency; by humility before God, not defiance. It is a life lived under the tutelage of conscience that is held captive by the Word of God.

Coram Deo . . . before the face of God. That’s the big idea. Next to this idea our other goals and ambitions become mere trifles.

Join us at Hope Church on April 4, 2010 for our Easter Egg-stravaganza & BBQ Tailgate Party!

Our HUGE Easter egg hunt will take place on the massive grass lawn adjacent to the Morrow Center (at Old Towne Morrow). The BBQ grills will be smoking and there’ll be great food & fun for the whole family. This event is free and it’s open to the public. Many people who normally don’t attend church are open to attending on Easter, and we want use our Easter Celebration at Hope Church to connect with those people in our city who need to experience the love and grace of Jesus — so invite your friends, your neighbors, and your co-workers.

Click HERE to register your children for the Easter egg hunt (tiny – 5th grade). Remember, kids do not have to be regular attenders or members of Hope Church to participate, but the do need to be registered.

Register kids here!

It’s amazing to see what God has done in less than 2 months here at Hope Church. In January of this year, we were a “core team” of about 35-40 people, preparing to launch Hope Church. Now, less than 8 weeks later, there are about 200 people who are regular attenders or members of Hope Church.

Every single day I have friends, pastors, and people who follow our journey ask me how we’re doing as a new church plant. So I wanted to post a blog with a real & honest update which hopefully will not only encourage you by our journey, but will also show some of the challenges we’ve faced thus far.

Let me start by saying there are a number of things that we didn’t do well…I could list many things, but here’s the one thing that quickly comes to mind:

• As a core team preparing to launch, we didn’t do as good a job as I would have liked at engaging our culture missionally. We discussed it, we even had whiteboard planning sessions where we strategized about how we would connect with, engage, and serve our culture missionally; and although we did some things in this area well, I still feel that we just didn’t get out and engage our culture as much as we could have.

Here’s what we did do…We spent much of our time in the months leading up to our public launch focusing on a few simple things:

1. Leadership & staff development – for us, that started with Elder’s Candidate Training, developing a biblical model of church government and eldership for the care and shepherding of the flock, and also for developing a strong, broad base within our pastoral leadership. This has proven to be one of the main ingredients in the strength and health of our brand new church.
2. Growth Track & Systems – developing our process for discipleship, and developing our model for authentic biblical community (Grace Groups). Grace Groups will likely launch in May.
3. Sound Theology & Gospel Centralty – for us, that simply meant teaching and preaching the Gospel, exegetically, to our core, and shaping our community theologically around the historic tenants of the Christian faith. It also means practicing repentance and exercising church discipline when necessary.
4. Environments - casting the vision for what our adult worship, children’s, parking lot, and connections environments would look like.

I know that may not sound very deep or fancy, but that’s a big part of what we did. And on January 31, 2001, Hope Church launched at the Clayton County Schools Performing Arts Center with 253 people in attendance. Click HERE to see a video snippet of our launch service. The following 2 weeks after our launch, our Sunday attendance averaged around 165 people, and new people have continued to come every week since our launch.

One of the major keys that has contributed to the health of our new church is that we were very intentional about thinking and planning beyond the event of the launch. A mistake that I’ve seen many church planters make is that during the pre-launch phase, they spend almost all of their time planning for “Launch Sunday” and they end up giving very little thought to what happens “after” launch Sunday. For us, being intentional about thinking beyond the launch meant asking and answering tough questions like:

• How do we prepare to not only draw a large crowd at our launch, but more importantly, how will we retain and shepherd the people God brings us. For us, being “attractional” was important, but being “missional and incarnational” was just as important if not more important. This balanced emphasis has served the health and growth of our new church very well.
• How will we assimilate these new people into the life of our new church?
• What ”series of teachings” would I preach that would carry us deep into the Gospel weeks beyond launch Sunday?
• What series of teachings will follow our launch series (2-3 months beyond our launch)?
• How will we capture important information from our attenders?
• How will we follow-up on attenders?
• What will be our model for church membership?
• How will we exercise healthy, biblical church discipline?
• How can we be intentional about developing a congregation that’s cross-cultural and cross-generational while remaining gospel-focused?

Answering those questions served us well in not only fleshing out the feel & DNA for the type of church we would be, but also in preparing us to be a healthy, growing community of believers far beyond launch Sunday.

Here’s a few more random thoughts for you church planters…

1. Saturate yourself in the study of God’s word and in prayer, and give a clear, strong presentation of the Gospel each and every week. You’ll get pressure from a lot of people to be a lot of things (political voice of reason, fighter of world tyranny, community activist, international crusader against global injustice, etc.) And from time to time you’ll need to be those things as a pastor. But remember, your primary calling from Jesus is to feed His sheep. So don’t apologize for spending great time in God’s word, because when you don’t, the people will know it.
2. Develop a rhythm as soon as possible that as to how you will map out your work week. The fact is, once the new church is launched, the lead planter turns into the lead pastor, and his schedule goes from”very busy” to “borderline chaotic” and all of a sudden, not only are all your days filled must-do’s, but now there’s something going on every evening that could require all of your time — at the expense of your family.
3. Learn to delegate. Learn to say no. Develop a culture within your new church that says the lead pastor does not have to be present at every meeting, event, or gathering. The sooner you do this, the better it will be on your family.
4. Pick a day that will be your day off — and stick to it. On that day, rest, relax, and enjoy your family.
5. Don’t frustrate yourself by trying to do everything that you see every other church do. Just be who God called you to be within the cultural context that He planted you. What worked for me or some other guy in another city might not work the same way for you. So grapple to get God’s heart for your city and for the people He has entrusted to you.
6. Enjoy the journey.

After almost 2 months into our new church plant, I can honestly say that I’m so humbled and honored to be the lead pastor of this beautiful community of Christ worshipers called Hope Church. There’s nothing else I’d rather be doing.

To God Alone be the Glory…

Click the comments button above and post your thoughts.

Here are some answers to some common questions that I’m frequently asked as the lead pastor of Hope Church…

What Bible translation am I reading from and preaching from on Sunday mornings? The Bible translation that I teach and preach from is the ESV (English Standard Version). The ESV is my Bible of choice because it beautifully accomplishes the challenging task of combining accuracy to the text & an absolute faithfulnes to the words of Scripture with easy readability. If you don’t have an ESV Bible — go and get a copy, you’ll love it.

What are some of the things I’ve recently read or I’m reading right now?

• The Bible.
• I’ve been reading some of the writings and sermons of Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
• Reading “Biblical Theology” by Geerhardus Vos (1862-1949)
• Recently finished John Piper’s “A Sweet and Bitter Providence“
• About to start Francis Chan’s latest book, “Crazy Love“
• I also read Yahoo! Sports, CNN.com, and ajc.com pretty regularly.

Why do I choose not to wear a “suit” when you preach on Sunday mornings? First of all, let me say that I have absolutely no problem with pastors and/or ministers who wear suits when they’re preaching or teaching God’s word. For many years I wore suits every week as a pastor, and still do on certain ministry engagements (if I’m preaching in a church where the pastor customarily wears suits, then as a guest minister I always wear a suit in that context). And while I typically don’t wear suits each week at the church I now pastor, there are many men in our congregation who do wear suits each week, as well as many others who wear jeans. For me, as a pastor, not wearing a suit on Sunday mornings is a decision based more on personal preference and culture, not theology. Quite honestly, I don’t think God cares one way or the other whether I preach wearing a suit, or whether I’m wearing jeans and a shirt. It’s people who care. I could say a whole lot more, but I’ll stop there.

Where can someone go or look to find biblically sound resources to read and study from? Here’s a website that I often recommend: http://www.monergism.com

What denomination or groups are you and Hope Church affiliated with? Acts 29 Network, Association of Related Churches, The Assemblies of God, and WRC Network of Churches.

Click the comments button near the top to post your thoughts or questions!

Recently, I received a phone call from one of the producers of CNN’s Black In America with Soledad O’Brien. She called me because they’re working on a new installment in their Black In America series with this episode having a focus on “race and religion” and they had discovered through some of their research & contacts that our new church plant in Jonesboro, GA was an “integrated church“. It appears that being a multicultural church (or, in her terms, an “integrated” church) makes us somewhat of an anomaly. Here is some of Hope Church’s story that she found interesting during our 45 minute phone interview.

First of all, before we ever officially launched as a church, we knew that reflecting real cultural diversity was one of our core values, not just for the sake of saying we have an “integrated” church, but because racial reconciliation is a part of the Gospel.

In order to better understand the cultural context of our church, here are some of the demographics of our county – Clayton County, with respect to race and ethnicity, from the US Census Bureau:

• Black – 61%
• White – 28%
• Hispanic – 7%
• Asian – 2%
• (other ethnicities) – 2%

Here’s how my staff looks at Hope Church…

• Maurice Stargell (that’s me), Lead Pastor – Black
• Trey Sheneman, Worship Arts Pastor – White
• Norman Miller, Gospel Formation Pastor – Black
• Chris Brown, Family Pastor – White
• Mary Held, admin assistant to lead pastor – White

So what do people actually “see” with respect to race and cultural diversity when they come to worship at Hope Church?

• Well, when you drive into the parking lot of the Clayton Co. Performing Arts Center where Hope Church meets for our Sunday gatherings, the first thing you’ll notice is our parking crew is a mixed bag Jesus lovin’ dudes, from bald headed Black guys — to goatee sportin’, Harley Davidson bike ridin’ White dudes.
• And when you enter our facility doors you’re greeted by wonderful people whose ethnicities span the cultural spectrum.

Here’s how our worship band looks…

• Broddie Calhoun, bass guitarist – White
• Jason Johnson, keyboardist – Black
• Chris Grajko, electric guitarist – White
• Tony O’Neal, drummer – Black
• Joseph Calhoun, acoustic guitarist – White
• Danielle Tabor, vocalist – Black
• Trey Sheneman, worship arts pastor & vocalist – White
• Damita Stargell, vocalist – Black
• Adrienne Adams, vocalist – Black

You can also click here to see a video snippet from our launch service, it’ll give you a feel for the cultural diversity that exists not only within our leadership & service teams, but also of the beautiful diversity that’s reflected in our congregation.

Here’s the deal…racial reconciliation doesn’t just happen. It doesn’t just happen because we say we want it, or because we use the phrase as a cute buzz word in our slogans, on our websites or even by plugging it into a church’s core values. It doesn’t happen just because of song selection. And it doesn’t happen just by having multiple ethnicities represented on our staff or within our ministry service teams. All those things are good, but they don’t automatically produce racial reconciliation.

In fact, racial reconciliation isn’t simply defined by cultural diversity. In other words, it’s possible (and very likely) to have a very diverse team, staff, and congregation — but yet and still not experience true racial reconciliation.

Cultural diversity (which is what most people celebrate) could happen within a year, like it has for us.

But true racial reconciliation takes YEARS – and it requires the deep, consistent, painful application of the Gospel as well as doing life together in the context of authentic biblical community. And let me tell you, that’s not pretty at all…it’s messy, and it gets ugly, and it’s really painful — but it’s absolutely necessary in order to see real racial reconciliation.

Racial reconciliation deals with our subconscious prejudices and our preconceived notions about people of other races & ethnicities. Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have them…

…Deep thoughts within the hearts of true, God-fearing Christians who, if honest with themselves, might acknowledge that they like the “idea” of cultural diversity within the church, while at the same time wrestling with whether or not they’d pay the cost to see true racial reconciliation.

I’m honored that CNN may be using a part of our story in their upcoming piece on “race and religion” about how God has graced us to be a church of real cultural diversity, but the fact is – I’m not satisfied. I still long for the day when the question in the heart of a Black congregant of “why does the music here sound so White?” is resolved by his or her heart being radically transformed by the Gospel. And I still long for the day when a White member of Hope Church who has the heart issue of “can I really fully embrace and receive from a Black pastor” can sense those subconscious prejudices melt away by the life-changing power of God’s great Gospel.

I dare you to click the comments button above and post your thoughts!