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On paper, Church of the Cross does two things: Sunday morning and Community Groups. This has been a conscious decision, but don’t let it fool you. Though we don’t have much on your schedule, we actually expect quite a bit from our members. In fact, we are striving to re-orient our entire lives around God’s mission. In John 20:21, Jesus said that just as the Father sent Him, Jesus is sending His people. God is a sending God and the Church is a sent people.

In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus says that His people are to be about the business of making disciples and in Philippians 2, Paul makes the audacious claim that we are to consider others as more significant than ourselves because that is what Jesus has done for us. Jesus goes so far as to say that whoever follows Him must take up their own cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24). Jesus says that he wants and demands and deserves our entire lives.

And yet, the way that we often approach church does not require our lives, it just takes up our time. Instead of equipping us, it leaves many of us drained. Instead of making disciples, it focuses much time and energy inward. I don’t by no means pretend that we have it all figured out or that we are somehow better than other churches, just that we’re trying another way. A harder way. It means that we seek out ways to serve rather than be served (Mark 10:45). It means that we don’t expect the church to do the work of ministry for us (Ephesians 4:11-16) but instead equip us to do the work of ministry.

Re-orienting your whole life around God’s mission is much more difficult than keeping some programs running. It means understanding yourself to be a missionary and all of life as the mission field. And this is best accomplished when we our time is freed up to connect with our family, friends and neighbors, serving them as ambassadors of the risen King. Though our calendar may not be all that full, it’s not because we don’t have lots to do, it’s because we want to be able to do it.

On January 12, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake hit Haiti, the worst earthquake to hit the poverty-enslaved country in hundreds of years. Estimates of those killed range from 50,000-200,000 but only time will tell. The devastation is so severe that, as of now, there’s really no way to know the exact details. Travel into the country is severely limited, which means that much-needed supplies are coming in slowly at best. People are still being rescued from the wreckage. Our friend Mark Driscoll has flown to Haiti to help spearhead relief work on the part of churches in the U.S. Driscoll’s first reaction: “Landed in hell.”

The churches in the United States are left wanting to help but without clear direction. Sending people may not be the best immediate solution and there are so many charities that it’s difficult to know who to trust.

We have decided to partner with Churches Helping Churches, an effort led by Mark Driscoll and James MacDonald. This organization will allow our resources to aid those who can most quickly put them to immediate use: the churches on the ground in Haiti. It frees us from wondering how our money will be spent and assures us that the name of Christ will go forth, even in the midst of great tragedy.

We ask that you prayerfully consider how God is leading you to help those suffering in Haiti. If you wish to partner with us in this effort, check can be made out to Church of the Cross and must be designated “Haiti” and we will direct the resources accordingly.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Wade Myers and Brent Thomas

• Visit the Churches Helping Churches website

Our small groups will no longer be called Missional Communities. Instead, they will be called Community Groups. We originally used the term “Missional” to reinforce the idea of continually living on God’s mission of restoring all things to Himself through the Person and Work of Jesus Christ. We have spent a lot of time understanding that the Bible presents all of God’s people as missionaries. Your current context is a mission-field. Our Missional Communities were designed to ad us in living this way, but somewhere along the way, our groups lost the practice of mission as a core.

Wade and I have spent a lot of prayer and time trying to best encourage and equip the Church of the Cross family to first understand all of life this way and then actually live that way. In the pursuit of this, there are currently no more groups. Please know that we did not make this decision lightly. We have seen some truly Gospel-centered relationships develop and we know that many of you are sad to see your current groups dissolve. But that doesn’t mean your relationships dissolve. Instead, it provides opportunity for you to continue them in a number of ways.

Beginning the week of January 10, we will re-launch with three Community Groups. Please understand that very little changes. We will go from 2 groups to 3, each group will still meet weekly for a meal, to encourage and equip each other for mission. What will change is that each new group will be centered around a tangible mission. Many of us simply stand like deer in the headlights when we consider that Church of the Cross’ mission is to see the West Valley transformed by the Gospel. Where do we even begin?! However, when we live together on a specific mission, things are much more manageable.

Community Groups are the heart of Church of the Cross. This is where we seek to build Gospel-centered relationships, where we learn to bear one another’s burdens, where we are accountable, where we are equipped and where we live on mission together. Each group will focus around a specific and tangible mission with the end-goal of making disciples of Jesus.

In addition to the weekly gatherings for equipping, at least once/month, each group will have some activity that seeks to further this mission. Instead of looking for a group that meets your needs, we encourage you to prayerfully consider which group might best give you opportunities to serve. With that in mind, our new groups will be (leader and mission):

Robert and Oksana Gilliland will be targeting local college students. Robert will be enrolling in at least one class at Glendale Community College and if possible, we would love to see others follow his lead. However, you don’t need to be a student to be part of this group. Other ways to help are by opening your home for meals to local college students as others build those relationships. There are many other ways we are considering this opportunity. Please be a part of this exciting chance to see the Gospel flourish on our local college campuses.

Wade and Tanya Myers will be targeting their neighborhood. Again, you don’t need to live there to help. Wade and Tanya have done a great job building relationships with many of their neighbors and finding opportunities to tangibly show God’s love. Their group will help them further the Gospel through these relationships by helping them serve their neighborhood in a variety of ways.

Brent and Kristi Thomas will be ministering to the many families involved Adams Traditional Academy, where Miles and Owen attend school (as well as the Ruwald children). We will seek ways to help the school and build relationships with the families of faculty, staff and students.

There will sign-up sheets tomorrow at Gathered Worship. We encourage you to prayerfully consider which opportunity provides the best way for you to grow and serve. We are so excited about where God has led us so far and where He continues to lead. We are excited to see these groups live on mission and multiply. We are excited to see these groups become Jesus, hands and feet to a hurting world, transforming culture for His glory. Please contact Wade or me with any questions.

— Brent Thomas
Church of the Cross
623.203.6509
www.churchofthecrossaz.com

As a new church, we have spent much time and put forth much prayer striving for the most biblical, most effective way to “do ministry.” Every church wants to see people grow closer to God and deeper in love for others. But churches often vary wildly on how they think these goals are best reached.

As we have searched the Scriptures and sought to learn from the many churches who have gone before us, we at Church of the Cross have become persuaded that the best approach is not necessarily the most popular. For many, the belief has been that the more we can get people involved in “church things,” the more spiritually mature they will become. But, to the shock of many, Willow Creek Community Church, one of the pioneers of the “program-driven ministry” model, recently conducted internal research that might lead us to believe otherwise. Skye Jethani discusses Willow Creek’s research and findings (please forgive me for quoting at-lenght):

“Earth shaking.” Ground breaking.” “Mind blowing.” That is how Bill Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek Community Church, described the data that had been laid in front of him. In 2004, the flagship of American megachurches undertook a study of their ministry to determine its effectiveness. Quantitatively, everyone considered Willow Creek a success. One of the largest churches in the country, it had effectively drawn thousands of “unchurched” suburbanites back to the institutional church. But was it really helping people grow spiritually? Was it accomplishing its stated mission of transforming people into fully devoted followers of Christ?

 

Willow’s executive pastor, Greg Hawkins, summarizes the church’s program-driven approach this way: “We create a variety of programs and services for people to participate in … This is our strategy. We try to get folks who are far from God involved in these activities. We believe the more people are participating in these sets of activities with high levels of frequency it will produce disciples of Christ - people characterized by increasing love for God and other people. I know that might sound crazy, but that’s how we do it in churches. We measure levels of participation.”

 

Willow Creek’s qualitative study was launched to determine whether this assumption is accurate. Do people love God and love others more after regularly participating in the programs of the church? Do institutions produce disciples? Can programs ignite love? The conclusion reached after surveying 15,000 people at Willow Creek and twenty-five other churches was no. Hawkins says: “Increasing levels of participation in these sets of activities does NOT predict whether someone’s becoming more of a disciple of Christ. It does NOT predict whether they love God more or they love people more.”

 

This may have been the most illuminating conclusion of the study. It showed that most people didn’t need elaborate programs or pre-engineered activities to grow in their love for God and others. Following Christ did not require the institutions. “This was difficult to learn,” Hawkins says, “because we had viewed ourselves as helping people all along their spiritual journey.” But the data showed that the more spiritually mature people became, the more dissatisfied they were with the church. In fact, those recognized to be the most Christ-centered were the least enthusiastic about engaging church programs.

 

The research found that what impacted a person’s spiritual growth most were personal Bible reading, prayer and meditation, a meaningful relationship with a friend or mentor, and serving others.

Church of the Cross has set out to make Missional Communities the center of our ministry because we believe that it is the most effective and biblical way to make and grow disciples. Rather than offer a program for this and a class for that, we are trying to make community on mission the center of our approach. This means that, though our calendar may look a bit sparse compared to others, the expectation of you may in fact be higher. It means that we are trying to commit to ministering to each other and becoming equipped to understand and apply the Gospel to all of life.

We recognize that this approach may seem a bit unusual. But we’d like to invite you to join us in the process of learning to love God, love others and follow Jesus together. Let’s find out together if less on the church calendar can actually produce more fruit in our lives. Let’s find out together if fewer programs can actually result in more mature disciples.

Every church wants you to know what to expect when you come. But perhaps it might be a bit more helpful sometimes if churches communicated what not to expect. After all, despite many of our attempts to “be different,” let’s be honest: many churches appear the same on the surface. How do we pull back the curtain a bit and get a real understanding for how each local church approaches being the church? To that end, we are beginning a series here at the Church of the Cross blog letting you know what not to expect from us. This isn’t meant to be off-putting (unless you’re looking for the things we don’t offer I guess), simply honest. We want you to know the church we believe God is calling us to be.

For example, don’t expect “top-down” ministry from Church of the Cross. In other words, “ministry” doesn’t come from only from the leaders in the form of programs. This conviction comes largely from Ephesians 4:11-16:

11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Notice particularly, in verses 11 and 12 that God have pastors “to equip the saints for the work of ministry.” Who does the work of ministry? The saints! This is a very different approach from what we have come to find in many churches. In many churches, the paid-staff is responsible for solving every problem and bearing every burden, but as Paul says in Galatians 6:1-2, we are to bear “one another’s” burdens.

What this means practically for Church of the Cross is that we stress living in community rather than a programmatic approach to discipleship. Gospel-growth happens in the context of relationship, not in a classroom. Our leaders are here to equip you to do the work of ministry, not to do ministry for you.

This means that we will look to meet needs through you rather than for you. We will urge you to try to live in Gospel-centered community with other believers, letting them know you, see your struggles and find opportunities to bear one another’s burdens, to speak the Gospel into one another’s lives. This means that, though we might have less on our official calendar than some other churches, the expectation may actually be higher. This means infinitely more than simply providing academic opportunities for you to learn more about the Bible. It means providing opportunities for God’s truth to lead to worship that fuels obedience.

None of this is simply in the pursuit of being different for the sake of difference. But if the biblical model is actually what Paul says in Ephesians 4, then maybe, just maybe we should stop expecting other people to do the work of ministry for us. Come join us at Church of the Cross in exploring just what this means for our church family.

As a new church, we get asked a lot to explain ourselves, to pick a label, as it were. We are convicted of Credobaptism (baptism of believers), but we’re not Southern Baptist (“Baptist” with a big “B” as I refer to it). We’re Reformed but not antogonistic. We’re loving but stress doctrine. We practice church discipline but know that we’re all sinners striving for holiness. We believe in cultural engagement rather than retreat. We believe that missions begins where our contact with unbelievers begins and then extends to the nations.

It may or may not surprise you that, when I began the process of planting Church of the Cross, I often felt a bit alone. We did not have a “sending” church in the traditional sense and I was not part of a denomination. But, as the lead planter of Church of the Cross, I also knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I did not want to be a lone ranger, I had no aspirations of “going it alone.” I knew that I needed advice and accountability and I wanted Church of the Cross to be a part of something larger than itself.

Enter the Acts 29 Network. Acts 29 Network Director Scott Thomas introduces the network this way:

Acts 29 Network exists to start churches that plant churches. God is using our network to influence and shape the church planting culture through both solid theology and contextualizing the gospel. We will not waver on either of these commitments. We won’t water down our theology to reach more people and we won’t attack the culture in the name of Christianity. We are planting churches that are missionaries in their respective communities sent by Christ with the gospel (John 20:21). It is our desire to plant 1,000 new churches in the next 10 years. We desire to make your dream of planting a gospel-driven church come true. We count it an honor to partner with you and to serve you.

I get the “Why Acts 29” question quite a bit, so, I want to offer a few quick thoughts. Though there are certainly more reasons than these why we decided that Acts 29 was the best fit for us, these are some that I want to share with you:

Jesus-centered missionality

I realize that “missional” is a bit of a junk-drawer word (surely you have a drawer somewhere in your house where everyone puts everything?!), but at it’s base, it communicates the idea of living like missionaries in our immediate context. Living on and in God’s mission. Missions involves cultural engagement and lays the groundwork for evangelism.

Acts 29 not only understands and encourages this but does so from a Christ-centered framework, putting Jesus at the center of everything. This is key and must not be overlooked. Indeed, as Mars Hill Church says: “It’s All About Jesus.” To claim to be “on mission” without Jesus is simply a fool’s errand at best, and suicide at worst. Acts 29 understands that, not only is Jesus the embodiment of God on Mission, He is our hope and strength as He sends us in His footsteps (Matthew 28:18-20).

Vocal doctrinal commitment

It is a sometimes-tempting trap for many church planters to water down doctrine in the hopes of attracting more people. Acts 29 rejects such shallow options, understanding that, to open up your Bible at all and teach is to involve doctrine and we’d better strive to get it right. We only do disservice when we treat the things of God as though they’re merely self-help tools to get us our best lives. Acts 29 unapologeticaly encourages and empowers pastors to lead their people deep into the glories of Calvary.

The centrality of the Church

While the doctrine (and practice) of the Church is under attack from nearly every direction (including many who profess faith in Christ), Acts 29 stands on the principle that the Church is at the center of God’s redeeming Work. It is for the Church that Christ laid down His life (Ephesians 5:25).

The importance of family

It’s often been said: “As goes the home, so goes the church.” And yet, it’s quite common for many ministers to pour themselves out so much in ministry that they have nothing left for their families, which should be their primary ministry. Acts 29 not only understands this, they call their pastors/planters to first be family men before pastors. This is often sorely overlooked to the detriment of everyone involved. I am humbled to be part of a network that takes family so seriously.

Calling Men to Be Men

I was never a jock and I cringe a bit when I see masculinity defined primarily in athletic/competitive terms. But, it doesn’t take long in most churches to realize that more women participate in church life than do men. Acts 29 is intentionally calling men to be men, to be sacrificial leaders, to be humbly bold, to lead their families and the church. This is much needed in our culture.

Kingdom over Denomination

Acts 29 has members across the denominational landscape. I see this as a tremendous strength. Acts 29 strives to put the Kingdom over our differences (as important as they may be). It’s much more difficult to strive to work across those boundaries than it is to hide behind them. What’s even more difficult is to firmly hold certain doctrines in a closed hand while holding others in an open hand. I am honored to be part of a network that puts the unity of the Kingdom above the differences of denomination.

Our friends at Lifeway Research have found that, among their research, “82% of the unchurched are somewhat likely to attend church if invited … yet only 2% of church members invite.” In response, Sunday, September 13, 2009 has been declared “Back To Church Sunday.”

Back to Church Sunday is a national campaign specifically designed to increase church attendance by empowering church members with the tools they need to welcome neighbors, friends, and loved ones back to church.

Call it a gimmick. I’m not sure I would disagree. Though I applaud Lifeway’s efforts, the fact that we have to have a “back to church” day to remind/prod us to invite people to church simply means that we’re not doing it on our own. Though we might rightly discuss whether or not inviting someone to a Sunday morning service is the most appropriate means of connecting people to Gospel-community, it is, nonetheless an important piece of the puzzle.

I’d like to challenge our Church of the Cross family to make this more than a gimmick. Let’s make it a lifestyle to continually think of ways of including our unbelieving friends, family and neighbors. Let’s make our homes launching pads for the Gospel, let’s outstretch the arms of our Missional Communities, and let’s invite people to worship with us.

Let’s consider “Back to Church” Sunday a great starting point but let’s not stop there!

For more information about Back to Church Sunday, read here.

The other day I didn’t feel very well and I missed our Missional Community. I’ll admit that I was a bit surprised at how disappointed I felt. But as I became more and more disappointed, I also became more and more pleased. let me explain: It is my humble prayer that Church of the Cross not simply be another place you go or another thing you do, but, in a very real, very tangible sense, family.

It’s often said that blood is thicker than water. How much more should this be true of those bound together by the blood of infinite worth? I wonder, do you think of your church as family? Do you miss the people, the experience, the fellowship when you miss or do “events” simply feel like an obligation to keep?

We have a unique opportunity as a young church to lay a foundation where church is not where we go but who we are, not an obligation but a joyful opportunity, but it cannot be forced. We must love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19), we must fulfill the law of Christ, bearing one anothers’ burden (Galatians 6:2). After all, it’s by our love for one another that the world will know that we belong to Christ (John 13:35).

This cannot be forced. It must flow from a convinced and conviction of the overwhelming value of Christ poured out for His people. So, as a pastor, if I want a community knit together as family, I must continually hold forth Christ. It’s often said around here that “It’s all about Jesus,” whatever it is we might be talking about. This is more than a cliché, it’s our desire; that we, like Paul, can say that we know nothing but Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2).

I have become convinced that there is a direct correlation between how close we feel to our church family and how high Christ is lifted up. When we make much of Him, we are drawn closer together, sealed with the blood that binds us closer than even physical family, overcoming every barrier.

I wonder, how did you feel the last time you missed church? Did you feel anything at all?

There's a common sentiment among many "missional" churches that often presents itself in the form of a question: "if our local church were to disappear overnight, would the surrounding community even notice, much less miss us?" The notion, of course, is that as we seek to love our neighbors, in some sense, we will also be seeking the betterment of our neighborhoods. It's not an overstatement to say that our local communities should be better places because we're there. In Jeremiah 29, God goes so far as to tell the Israelites to better the community of their exile.

While this is certainly a biblical idea, I was reminded the other day during a conversation with a friend, that, like many biblical concepts, this one requires a bit of balance. In John 15:18, Jesus tells His disciples that they should not be surprised when the world hates them because it hated Him. In Matthew 5:10, Jesus says: "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." James makes the seemingly audacious admonition that we are to consider it joy when we encounter trials (James 1:2). It is the testimony of Scripture and the saints that the world will hate us because of our message and Savior.

So, should we really be trying to have our communities value us so much that they would miss us if we disappeared, and would they even really miss us if we did? The very question reminds us of just how prone to people-pleasing we really are. We are to love our neighbors, not so that they will love us in return (Luke 14:12) but because God has loved us (1 John 4:8). The missional question is really helping us focus on if we are living the Gospel; if we are helping widows and orphans (James 1:27), and helping the "least of these" (Matthew 25). Christians are to love their neighbors; not so that we can be valued but because God commands we do so. So, in a sense, it is the betterment we bring to a community that would be missed, not us per se.

In fact, when we are faithfully furthering the Gospel in demonstration and in proclamation, many will in fact hate us for the message we proclaim while at the same time holding us in high esteem. This is exactly what we find in the early church. Acts 5:13 says that no one dared join the Christians, though they held them in high esteem.

We must carefully understand that it is not enough for us to simply do good deeds without the Gospel. This is nothing more than rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. We can tidy up a sinking ship all we want, but it's still sinking. On the other hand, far too many of us forget to demonstrate the power of the Gospel. We think that because the message is so important (and it is), that it is enough to simply point out to someone that they're going to hell, as if that's enough. Or we treat people like a project rather than a person. A whispered message while serving someone speaks louder than a megaphone ever will.

The missional question we began with is an attempt to get back at a full-orbed Gospel lifestyle, loving people because God first loved us, explaining why we love those around us, always pointing to Jesus. Would it be enough for us if they appreciated our deeds and despised us if they heard about Jesus and saw His love in action? The Gospel is Word and Deed.

We at Church of the Cross certainly don't get this balance right, but we invite you join us in finding that sweet spot of a fully-blossoming Gospel understanding and practice.

Most likely, you have a drawer somewhere in your house that catches everything without a designated place. In other words, a junk drawer. Interestingly enough, some words take on this quality as well. Nearly everyone throws a bit of uncategorized definition into the word, until it comes to resemble a junk drawer. Different people mean different things by the same word. If you’ve followed popular “Christian” culture over the years, the terms Evangelical and Emergent fell into this category.

The latest word to fall into this camp seems to be “missional.” In March, Christianity Today wrote an article asking ” What Makes a Church Missional?” More recently, my friend Jonathan Leeman wrote a piece for 9Marks Ministries asking “What in the World is the Missional Church?” It seems that “missional” has become a junk-drawer word.

The word has become mired in a good bit of both confusion and controversy which leaves us with some choices: we can abandon the word altogether, we can join the fray in fighting for a clear and broadly accepted definition or we can use the term being as clear as possible about what we mean by the word. We at Church of the Cross call our small groups “Missional Communities,” so we have obviously decided to use the word. We are not interested in trying to define the term for everyone, so we must be as clear as possible about what we mean with the word and why we have chosen to use the term.

We chose to use it quite simply because, when (we believe) properly defined, it gets right to the heart of what we want to be about. There are few, if any, other concise terms that can carry so much weight. But perhaps there is the necessity for a bit of clarification. I have seen many churches that are “mission-minded” that are not necessarily “missional.” Ed Stetzer, noted Southern Baptist missiologist helps us understand the difference in his book Planting Missional Churches (italics in the original):

“don’t confuse the terms mission-minded and missional. The first refers more to an attitude of caring about missions, particularly overseas. Missional means actually doing mission right where you are. Missional means adopting the posture of a missionary, learning and adapting to the culture around you while remaining biblically sound. Think of it this way: missional means being a missionary without ever leaving your zip code. You can see how a particular congregation or denomination can be mission-minded without being missional.

In other words, being missional means understanding and living like the mission-field begins at your doorstep. It means adopting missionary strategies (studying and interacting with the surrounding culture in biblically appropriate ways to penetrate it with and transform it from the inside out with the Gospel) and it means understanding that missions lays the foundation for effective evangelism. It means encouraging people to be conscious of every opportunity to live the Gospel out in their surrounding community. It means understanding that God has already called you to and placed you in a mission-field.

This does not discount foreign missions. Far from it. It means being convicted of the fact that it is hypocritical to think that we will go across the ocean to share the Gospel when we don’t go across the street. It means understanding that foreign-missions can be used as a band-aid for a lack of local involvement.

Until there is a better term for all of these concepts and practices, we will continue to use the term missional. We certainly don’t succeed at these things the way we’d like to but for now, we’ll strive to be missional.