It is very difficult to be a Christ-centered church in a culture that is steeped in consumerism and individualism. It is much easier to fit in and go with the flow. It is much easier to be a “bless me” club that focuses its energy and resources on serving its members. To attract the maximum number of people churches offer attractive programs designed to help members to feel good about themselves and to be successful in life. They offer services such as coffee shops, book stores, sports teams, and others that appeal to member interests. The church that is successful in the market focuses on the customer and strives to keep the customers happy.

It is very difficult to be a Christ-centered church in a consumer culture because its mission is to transform, not fit into and accommodate, the world as it is. When the church becomes a distributor of religious goods and services its focus is in the wrong place. Such churches tend to adjust the gospel of Jesus Christ to match what ever the culture deems to be important. When people come to most North American churches they expect to be served, comforted and blessed. The church, therefore, responds by focusing its energy and resources upon the work needed to serve, comfort and bless more and more people. Leaders expend all their time and energy to find more and more creative ways to attract more and more people to the church. I say the focus in such a church is in the wrong place because it is upon the people in the church itself. God becomes little more than a marketing tool that attracts people to a “bless me club.” This is described by U2 in their song “If God Will Send His Angels”

Jesus never let me down
You know Jesus used to show me the score.
Then they put Jesus in show business
Now it’s hard to get in the door

The real mission of the church is doing all in its power to get more people to join and to give so that it can develop more programs to attract more people. In a culture that measures success by numbers and dollars, it is very difficult to be the church of Jesus Christ.

The Christ-centered church is not a “bless me” club. Certainly, the people who come to its worship services and participate in its programs and ministries are helped, comforted and blessed. The key, however, is that is not the focus of its programs and ministries. The church’s focus is on participating in God’s mission in the world. Christ-centered churches understand that they exist for the benefit of Christ and his mission.

“Bless me” club churches are shaped by the General Rule of Pastoral Prudence, “The absolute minimum in obligation in order to keep the maximum number of people.” Christ-centered congregations are shaped by the General Rule of Discipleship: “To witness to Jesus Christ in the world, and to follow his teachings through acts of compassion, justice, worship, and devotion under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.” The majority of energy and resources are directed outward, toward the world that God loves and not so much on the church. This is because Christ-centered congregations know that the church is a means to God’s end and not the other way around. The church is a living, breathing flesh and blood organism, Christ body in, with, and for the world. Its members are connected to one another in order to be sent into the world as Christ’s ambassadors who use their spiritual gifts in ways that contribute to the body’s mission in the world.

Christ-centered congregations understand “The church does not have a mission. The Mission has a church.” The mission of the church is to cooperate with, be a channel for, and be a participant in God’s mission in the world. This means the Christ-centered congregation is missional, just as Jesus Christ is missional. The life of a missional church is centered in the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Members are equipped to live lives that are good news to the poor, open the eyes of the blind, and proclaim liberty to prisoners and the oppressed. Christ-centered, missional congregations are sign communities of the reign of God that is among us and is coming. It doesn’t exist to point the world towards itself. Rather it lives to point the way to God and to welcome the world to life in God’s household.

Early followers of Jesus found their way to some of the darkest, most corrupt places in the Ancient World and lived as a counter-intuitive kingdom presence in those places. In what ways are you seeking out darkness in order to be light?

Join us this Sunday and next to discuss how the church brings salt to the earth and light into the darkness.

Worship Gathering 10:30 AM, Southside VA Family YMCA – More info

HELP US RESPOND TO THE RECENT CATASTROPHIC EARTHQUAKE IN HAITI.

A major earthquake measuring 7.0 magnitude on the Richter scale hit Haiti January 12. The initial quake lasted about a minute, followed by strong 5.9 and 5.5 aftershocks. The epicenter of Haiti’s earthquake was six miles west of Carrefour, just outside the capital city of Port-au-Prince.

The full extent of loss of life or property damage is not yet known, but Bill Dawson, French Field Strategy Coordinator, emailed to say that the situation “is grave and urgent.”

“There are many injured all over the city. Major buildings, three and four stories, are down. … Neighbors who work for the UN report many injured, people carrying wounded through the streets,” Dawson said.

The population in the capital area is about 2 million people, living in dense urban communities, and they continue to experience significant aftershocks. Catastrophic casualties and damage are expected, as Haiti’s weak infrastructure is not prepared for this kind of disaster.

Our Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Disaster Response Teams are already on location beginning to help those in need. Here are some of the things you can do today:

1. Pray. Prayer works. Prayer connects us to the heart of God.
2. Give of your resources. You can help Nazarene Compassionate Ministries in Haiti respond to the needs around them. Donate here: http://www.ncm.org/projects/acm1204
3. Prepare Crisis Care Kits. Use the following link to find the exact needs and all necessary instructions: Crisis Care Kits

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loves, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” Colossians 3:12

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The Caribbean’s “continent of islands” sits in the middle of the Atlantic Hurricane Belt, making storms an ongoing part of life for most people in the region. Your gift will allow countries in the Caribbean to be ready to respond when the winds and rain come.

Hurricanes and tropical storms are especially hard on areas prone to flooding and mudslides and those where housing structures are unstable. During times of crisis, community members often turn to churches in search of shelter from the storms.

Caribbean Disaster Response is set up to allow local churches to provide immediate relief assistance (clean water, food, hygiene supplies, etc.) when disasters such as hurricanes and floods hit their communities, destroying homes, schools, crops, and livelihood. As churches reach out to their communities to meet physical and spiritual needs, they are in a position to continue to response to longer-term needs of those in their communities.

We are a Holiness, Missional, Christian community. As a new faith community we are identifying with the missional movement and its focus on serving and loving others as God would love them. We are in the very beginning stages of forming our church and would love for you to be part of our dream and missional calling.

Generations Church does not exist as a program driven entity but as a group of Christfollowers who see the need for prayer without ceasing, uncompromising love and service, and healing for our land. We are a Christian people who want to realize a movement of missional churches across our state. Farmville is the seed, the beginning of what we believe will be a great outpouring of God and the birth of missional faith communities across Virginia.

We are currently gather Sunday mornings at 10:30 for Worship, meeting in Discipleship Groups weekly and at Open Table Gatherings monthly. Since we understand that the church is not a building, a place, or a program, the church is God’s people. Our focus is and always will be missional, or living as part of the missio dei (Mission of God). We are an outwardly focused church, welcoming all, serving, loving, praying and growing together; we are learning what it means to follow Jesus on a daily basis in the 21st century. We want to welcome and invite you.

• If you are seeking something more out of church than flashy lights, programs, and feel good messages, Generations Church may be perfect for you.
• If you are seeking a different kind of church, one that is not about building campaigns and weekly productions; we invite you.
• If you think church should be more about people serving people and learning to love as God loves; we invite you.
• There are no prerequisites; we accept everyone as Jesus did, wherever they are in life, so that you can become all that God intended.
• We are announcing, as Jesus did, that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
• We grow in Discipleship Group, Fellowship at Open Tables, and Worship together weekly.
• Some people say that we have more in common with the 1st century church than the 20th century church.
• We are about holiness of heart and life – loving as God would love.

So whether we meet you at our home, at the YMCA, or somewhere in Virginia, our prayer is that God will touch you right now, that you will find new and renewed relationship with Jesus, and that your life will be greatly enriched through the Generations Church community.

We hope to see you very soon. Feel free to call with any questions or just show up Wednesday night!

Click here to learn more about our gathering times.

Until we meet in person,

Pastor Paul

• What is holiness?
• Are we called to be holy?
• How can we be holy?

LOVE TREK: Adventures in Holiness
Love, a final frontier. Its life long mission to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life. To boldly go where we have never gone before

Contemplating the hard questions of faith. “Ask Anything” is where you can ask any question you wish. No matter how hard or controversial – no rules.

• Sex
• Marriage/Divorce
• Relationships
• Homosexuality
• Evil
• Jesus
• Religion
• Money
• Church
• Faith
• Anything on your heart and mind…

Join us Sunday September 20th, 10:45 am at the Southside YMCA in Farmville for the first Preview Service of Generations Church of VA! Worship led by Jason Ellis.

Pastor Paul will be preaching a message entitled: PIECES, Finding Wholeness in Christ.

This series is about training ourselves to make split second choices that honor God and reflect our commitment to Him. We can learn to let God’s Spirit control our actions as our minds are transformed and sanctified by the Spirit of Christ.

BLINK is about how to become a person who chooses in the moment to follow Christ and do the right thing. God wants to help us become people of sexual purity, holy living, and wise tongues. People who can decide in the moment what to do and not to do, how to think and not think when it comes to making decisions that honor God.

Three Part Message Series at GENERATIONS CHURCH:

Speaking at the Speed of Life
Deciding at the Speed of Life
Sexuality at the Speed of Life