The Real Welcoming Church: Imitating God, Thinking Like Jesus

By Stewart Brown

This is an exciting and practical interactive book, full of Bible-based resources and principles to empower you in making lasting friends and transformative relationships in your church and community.  

• Language: English
• Publisher: Word Alive Press
• Release date: Mar 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781486615704

Book preview

Advance praise for The Real Welcoming Church

It was just as I expected. Excellent. I was drawn in immediately by this work. I love that it is anchored in theology but reflects a compassion and realness about it. Well done. As I read it, I got more and more excited about how this book can impact genuine growth in local churches!

—Deric Bartlett

Lead Pastor, City Centre Baptist Church

Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

The heart of this message is to create a healthy Christ-imitating Christian and a Christ-imitating church. It is fundamentally about why churches are not healthy (but could be healthy) and therefore are not growing and not attracting people to the church.

—Bill Fietje

President, Associated Gospel Churches of Canada

"The Real Welcoming Church: Imitating God, Thinking Like Jesus is a practical primer on how to attract and keep visitors in a local church setting. This book is not only an effective teaching tool; it is truly edifying! Dr. Brown’s instruction rests squarely on Scripture and on years of proven ministry experience. Apply these principles, and get ready to grow!"

—Dan Pearson

Pastor, United Covenant Church

Clear Lake, Wisconsin, USA

THE REAL WELCOMING CHURCH

Copyright © 2018 by Stewart Brown

All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

Unless otherwise marked, Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission. NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered trademarks of Biblica, Inc. Use of either trademark for the offering of goods or services requires the prior written consent of Biblica US, Inc. Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

EPUB Version: 978-1-4866-1570-4

Word Alive Press

119 De Baets Street, Winnipeg, MB R2J 3R9

www.wordalivepress.ca

Cataloguing in Publication may be obtained through Library and Archives Canada

To Our Seven Grandchildren:

Anna-Kate

Alberta

Margaret

Lewis

Iver

And Aelyn and Declan, who are now with the Lord

CONTENTS

Foreword

Acknowledgements

How to Get the Most Out of This Book

Introduction

Stage One:

The Struggling Church

Stage Two:

The Godly Church: God in Us, God Through Us

Stage Three:

The Welcoming Church: Creating a Welcoming Culture

Stage Four:

The Inspiring Church: Producing Passionate Participants

Appendix A:

A Daily Plan for Welcoming Christians

Appendix B:

Transforming Real Church Membership

Appendix C:

Action Points for Group Study of This Book

Appendix D:

Power Sundays—Doing Church Worship God’s Way

Appendix E:

Weekly Strategy for a 24/7 Welcoming Church

About the Author

Selected Bibliography

FOREWORD

By Deric Bartlett

People crave meaningful relationships, and Dr. Stewart Brown sees the church as uniquely positioned to offer true friendship that will make people want to join. Stewart’s newest book, The Real Welcoming Church, explodes with contagious passion to see our churches become caring communities where people are welcomed as true friends.

I read Stewart’s books because I know him personally. He models the kind of intentional friendship that leads to transformative disciple-making in the local church. Too many of us reluctantly admit that our desire to make disciples of all nations is falling short. Could it be that we’ve overlooked one of the easiest steps in making disciples? Stewart effectively teaches that making friends is the first step in making disciples.

I urge you to read Stewart’s book because he will coach you in the one simple strategy that will transform your church. But, I warn you, he doesn’t write from an ivory tower as an academician. His book will leave you feeling like you’ve just had a visit with a trusted friend. Stewart’s writing is user-friendly, and his insights are practical and biblical, offering encouraging steps that a church of any size can reproduce.

—Deric Bartlett

Lead Pastor

City Centre Baptist Church

Mississauga, ON

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I want to acknowledge the following people who contributed to making possible the publication of this book:

• Al Andrus—lead pastor of Heartland Alliance Church, Sherwood Park, Alberta. Al encouraged me to expand the material of my Welcoming Church seminar and publish it as a book. He provided the spark that I needed.

• Sylvia St.Cyr and Lori Mackay of Word Alive Press—Sylvia’s advice and Lori’s corrections have been really helpful and are deeply appreciated.

• Robert Thomas, Pastor Deric Bartlett, Pastor Dan Pearson, and Bill Fietje—for their willingness to read this material and offer their honest evaluations.

• My family—by God’s grace their love and support provided a welcoming strength and energy for me in the long haul of writing and preparing this book. They mean so much to me!

• Sandra—my wife encouraged me and once again spent much time and effort to read, correct, and modify many elements in the book. I thank God for the awesome helpmeet that she is to me.

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THIS BOOK

This book is based on years of study in God’s Word and on research in a selection of churches. The contents are prayerfully designed. Allow God to lead you in developing the mind or attitude of Christ within the context and culture of your church’s fellowship.

In order to get the maximum value out of this book,

• Be flexible: Be open to new ideas and the timeless truth of God’s infallible Word presented in new and creative ways.

• Be thoughtful: Take time to think about the various parts of this resource. Schedule time to meet as a group to plan for your church to truly welcome, enrich, and continually inspire visitors as potential fellow brothers and sisters in your shared church mission from God.

• Be prayerful: You can do nothing of lasting value without God. Since this is His church, seek Him sincerely and fervently about how He wants you, in dependence on the Holy Spirit, to use this material.

• Be careful: Change is difficult for many people. Plan wisely, sensitively, and prayerfully as God leads you in developing the mind of Christ. Don’t get stuck in neutral, but allow God to change and build you in His way and according to His time.

• Be available: The most important truth in this interactive book is God’s requirement for a welcoming heart and mindset in you. God’s work must be accomplished in God’s way, timing, and power. With this truth as your foundation, your attitude and availability to God are the keys.

It is my prayer that your study of this material will result in a stronger vision, a more effective evaluation, and a more fruitful strategy in successfully integrating existing members and newcomers into your church family.

INTRODUCTION

If we could sit down for one conversation about your deepest needs, where would the need to be welcomed, valued, and fully accepted rank on your list?

In the midst of the busyness and distractions in a world of superficial living, many of us feel a need to be more lovingly welcomed in our marriage, family, church, community, and workplace. It’s not about someone tolerating us and accepting everything we believe, say, and do. In the deepest sense, being welcomed means being loved and received by God through our faith in Jesus and on the basis of His crucifixion and resurrection on our behalf. Then God proceeds to reshape us into more godly and Christlike members of His forever family. God’s plan is to inspire and empower us to welcome others in His name and by His authority (Philippians 2:13; Romans 8:29).

In other words, it’s not God’s will that we as welcoming Christians, or our churches as welcoming churches, agree with visitors in all that they do and say. It’s essential to allow God to love and receive newcomers through us. However, love and acceptance must be balanced by holiness and full obedience to the teaching of the Word of God. This is not only possible but essential in our politically correct culture where even some churches are departing from the teaching and application of the Bible, God’s infallible Word. So let’s understand that we can love others without fully agreeing with them—just as parents can love and provide a nurturing, welcoming atmosphere in which their children can grow without agreeing with all their wants and desires.

A culture that makes a real welcoming church is initiated and sustained by a fresh, real, and life-giving faith relationship with God. This relationship provides the supportive, incubating culture in which newcomers can find God and receive the eternal life of Jesus. This happens not by mere following of religious rules but by walking intimately with God moment by moment and step by step (1 John 4:19–21). The authentic welcoming church consists of members who are intentionally imitating God and thinking like Jesus.

Imitating God is essential and only possible as we make ourselves available to the Holy Spirit, who works within true disciples of Jesus to develop the qualities of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

—Ephesians 5:1–2

In Ephesians, the apostle Paul was especially focused on explaining God’s pattern and purpose in building His church. Paul knew that any local church with members who live in their own strength and express the traits of the old sinful nature can’t really attract or welcome newcomers into God’s redeemed family. So he wrote of imitating God by looking to Jesus and thinking and acting as Jesus did while on the earth.

Ephesians 5:2 says, "Walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us." How can the welcoming church demonstrate God’s love? The answer is in trusting God to empower us in cultivating the qualities of Jesus.

For example, we are called to live worthy of our calling from God (Ephesians 4:1). Then we are urged to live this way by practicing humility, gentleness, and patience with one another in the church so that we can have the capacity and desire to live this way toward others outside the church. These qualities, along with others listed in Galatians 5:22–23, are all characteristics of the Lord Jesus. All of these qualities are to be expressed toward one another "in love (Ephesians 4:2). In addition to the ones in Galatians, Paul adds these qualities of Jesus: compassionate…forgiving" (Ephesians 4:32).

The culture of a real welcoming church in action is described by the apostle Paul in Philippians 2:1–4. A continuous practice of these actions and attitudes toward fellow church members is exactly the pattern of Spirit-filled Christians, of those who are "being united with Christ" (Philippians 2:1).

After describing this amazing picture of a church that makes its own members feel welcomed, Paul now presents the supreme example of Jesus. Jesus Himself welcomes newcomers into His church through His people when they are fully obedient to Him. Philippians 2:5–11 is about the sacrificial loving-others-first attitude that Jesus demonstrated for His church.

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). This is the church that attracts newcomers—the church whose loving, supportive culture communicates Christ and draws newcomers into a continuous enriching expression of His sacrificial love. This is reinforced by 1 John 3:16: