Scott's Thoughts: Sun, May 29, 2022
Total Reading Time: 5 mins
Staff Update re our Financial Director – After 6.5 years of faithfully and fastidiously handling the administration of our finances, we are sad to "lose" Beth Anne Liebert as Financial Director. "Lose" is in quotes because, though she won't be around as much and has plans to help care for her family, she will be at some of our Tue morning Staff Meetings and Lunches and intends to continue leading our Marriage Ministry along with her husband, Mark, who is one of our Elders, and to continue meeting with, discipling, and mentoring other women. While we will miss having "BA" around as much, thankfully, the Lord has provided Crista Larsen, who has stepped up to the plate to become our new Financial Director. Not only that, but for the entire month of May, Beth Anne and Crista have been working closely to ensure a smooth transition. Crista is sharp, careful, thoughtful, and disciplined, just like Beth Anne. She, her husband Carl, and their three children, Audrey, Amelia, and Charlie, have been with us since late 2018—worshiping, serving, Life Grouping, and "re|engaging" with us, to name a few areas of involvement. One thing I've noticed and appreciated about the Larsens is how they intentionally serve alongside their children on Sundays in Kids Min and Tech! (More about Crista coming soon in her website bio, but I need to vet it through her first!) So... Bigtime thanks to "BA" for serving on the team. Her careful and thoughtful approach to helping keep us financially healthy has been an important part of our ongoing ministry of stewarding God's kingdom gifts with integrity! Please pray for the Lieberts and the Larsens during the transition. And make sure to thank Beth Anne for her faithful service. Thanks, BA, we love you and have loved having you on Paid Staff.
Sermon Guide (SG) Changes Implemented Today: Inductive Bible Study Questions – In addition to a few recent "For Further Study" resources we're trying to link in each Sermon Guide—both sermon-specific and general/ongoing—today marks the beginning of experimenting with a more standardized approach to our Study Questions that we provide each week. So today you'll find new Inductive Bible Study Questions—still in first-and-a-half draft form—that will help you review each week's sermon and passage. (And yes, "inductive" is succinctly defined in the SG and participants are led through a method of Observe–Interpret–Apply.) Briefly, a few bullet points explaining why these changes:
Thanks, Mowing Guys! – When I drove up to the Greeneville building this past Saturday in my not-exactly-burly minivan, there were three trucks hauling manly zero-turns and three sweaty FCCers who had just finished mowing. And while I suspect you wouldn't want an online shout-out in ST—you know who you are. Please know it doesn't go unnoticed. Thanks for the help! Now, while occasionally mowing a lawn doesn't by itself radically transform society, it's worth mentioning because it's representative of the "everyday boring faithfulness" that, over time, week after week, year after year, is exactly the kind of Christ-directed stewardship and worship of our gifts that builds and maintains marriages, families, communities, societal institutions, and yes, our church's grass!
I Promise, I'm Actually Working on the (Slow Revival) of Great Questions (Slowly) Answered (fccgreene.org/gqa) – I promised a new installment of GQA this week. (That was foolish, Scott.) While that didn't quite happen, I promise, I am actually working on it. So here's some of the first of at least 8-9 characteristics of a biblical church, as part of the (slowly emerging) answer to "What Should I Look for in a Church?":
(As a teaser, the rest of the characteristics of a biblical church: (2) Expositional Preaching, (3) Christ-Centered Worship, (4) Disciple-Making Strategy, (5) Regenerate Membership, (6) Sacrificial Community, (7) Gospel Proclamation, (8) Community Engagement, (9) Other Things Worth Noticing & Questions to Ask: education/life/family/marriage of the pastor/preacher, authority of scripture, penal substitutionary atonement, complementarianism/egalitarian, cessationist/continuationist, definition of marriage, views on sexuality and LGBT issues, approach to social justice, et al I haven’t yet thought of.)
In Case You Missed It – Just a link to last week's (and recent) STs (fccgreene.org/st) and what was covered:
3rd Campus/Multisite Campaign Update – We are making progress! For some additional info and context, see last week’s ST blurb. But, for today, here is The Latest Info (through Sat, May 28):
You can fill out a Multisite Response Card/Form on the "carousel" at the top of the Home page on the app (fccgreene.org/app). (You'll likely need to "swipe" the pics on the "carousel.") If you’ve got any questions, hunt down a Campus Pastor, an Elder, a Staff Member, me, or someone you know who you think might be in the know.
“Is It Just Me?!” – Here a couple related-yet-juxtaposed thoughts and questions I have lately that I need to get off my chest (because apparently I am a self-loathing and navel-gazing nutcase who thinks it wise to publicly proclaim and process my foibles?! How ‘bout we sanctify it by calling it “leading with vulnerability?”)
Is it just me, or is everyone suffering from a paralyzing case of busyness, infowhelm, and hyper-awareness of ones responsibilities? (No Scott, it's mostly you. I know. I know.) I swear if one more responsibility, problem, mail item, email, voicemail, txt msg, app notification, or algorithmically-sent advertisement dings me and makes demands on my time, I'm gonna... I dunno... hopefully pray and talk to God because, if I dont, I'm liable to roll up into a fetal mess underneath the desk and down half a gallon of milk and a package of Reese's Peanut Butter cups. (Milk has to be 2%, though. Not 1%. Not 4%. Because that's gross. Only 2%.) There's too much to do. And not enough margin or competence. There are too many people pining for things they call needs that have little to do with spiritual growth or the eternal state of their souls... and if you don't provide them, they will leave you. (Sounds like a re:gen issue, Scott. Yep, still in "Step 4: Inventory" over here. One of my things is performance-based acceptance. Can I get a witness?)
Is it just me—(Please. Tell me it's not just me!)—or does it seem like the things we are most positioned and gifted to do are the things about which we hesitate most?! It might not be nearly as true as I've made it sound, but I know that, in my life, the things that I flat-out know the Lord has positioned me for, called me to do, and asked me to steward for Kingdom fruit are the very things I struggle with most. Perhaps it is because we understand the stakes of proper stewardship as unto the Lord? Perhaps it is because we have little hope of their effectiveness and doubt He can use us mightily? Perhaps it is because I value avoiding failure before men more than I value faithfulness to God?
Staff Update re our Financial Director – After 6.5 years of faithfully and fastidiously handling the administration of our finances, we are sad to "lose" Beth Anne Liebert as Financial Director. "Lose" is in quotes because, though she won't be around as much and has plans to help care for her family, she will be at some of our Tue morning Staff Meetings and Lunches and intends to continue leading our Marriage Ministry along with her husband, Mark, who is one of our Elders, and to continue meeting with, discipling, and mentoring other women. While we will miss having "BA" around as much, thankfully, the Lord has provided Crista Larsen, who has stepped up to the plate to become our new Financial Director. Not only that, but for the entire month of May, Beth Anne and Crista have been working closely to ensure a smooth transition. Crista is sharp, careful, thoughtful, and disciplined, just like Beth Anne. She, her husband Carl, and their three children, Audrey, Amelia, and Charlie, have been with us since late 2018—worshiping, serving, Life Grouping, and "re|engaging" with us, to name a few areas of involvement. One thing I've noticed and appreciated about the Larsens is how they intentionally serve alongside their children on Sundays in Kids Min and Tech! (More about Crista coming soon in her website bio, but I need to vet it through her first!) So... Bigtime thanks to "BA" for serving on the team. Her careful and thoughtful approach to helping keep us financially healthy has been an important part of our ongoing ministry of stewarding God's kingdom gifts with integrity! Please pray for the Lieberts and the Larsens during the transition. And make sure to thank Beth Anne for her faithful service. Thanks, BA, we love you and have loved having you on Paid Staff.
Sermon Guide (SG) Changes Implemented Today: Inductive Bible Study Questions – In addition to a few recent "For Further Study" resources we're trying to link in each Sermon Guide—both sermon-specific and general/ongoing—today marks the beginning of experimenting with a more standardized approach to our Study Questions that we provide each week. So today you'll find new Inductive Bible Study Questions—still in first-and-a-half draft form—that will help you review each week's sermon and passage. (And yes, "inductive" is succinctly defined in the SG and participants are led through a method of Observe–Interpret–Apply.) Briefly, a few bullet points explaining why these changes:
- applies to various contexts for study—individual or communal—in weekly Life Groups that meet in homes, alone in the coffee shop with earbuds and our app, or Pillar breakout groups
- is "evergreen" because it scales to 3+ campuses, where we will soon have 3 different preachers on every 4th-5th Sunday (bc I will preach 3-4, then Campus Pastors will preach the 4th or 5th Sun, and then occasionally others preach)
- consistent approach becomes standardized rubric for how to listen to the sermon, take appropriate notes, and
- teaches us how to approach and interpret the text in a way that allows it to best interpret us
- helps avoid jumping to application too soon
- utilizes FCC language
- takes something off of a couple staffers' plates each week
- eventually, tweaking and/or adding/subtracting questions a smidge here and there, as needed, means refining for effectiveness and providing a well-known repository of questions from which Life Group Leaders can choose 5-6 or so that seem particularly germane
Thanks, Mowing Guys! – When I drove up to the Greeneville building this past Saturday in my not-exactly-burly minivan, there were three trucks hauling manly zero-turns and three sweaty FCCers who had just finished mowing. And while I suspect you wouldn't want an online shout-out in ST—you know who you are. Please know it doesn't go unnoticed. Thanks for the help! Now, while occasionally mowing a lawn doesn't by itself radically transform society, it's worth mentioning because it's representative of the "everyday boring faithfulness" that, over time, week after week, year after year, is exactly the kind of Christ-directed stewardship and worship of our gifts that builds and maintains marriages, families, communities, societal institutions, and yes, our church's grass!
I Promise, I'm Actually Working on the (Slow Revival) of Great Questions (Slowly) Answered (fccgreene.org/gqa) – I promised a new installment of GQA this week. (That was foolish, Scott.) While that didn't quite happen, I promise, I am actually working on it. So here's some of the first of at least 8-9 characteristics of a biblical church, as part of the (slowly emerging) answer to "What Should I Look for in a Church?":
(1) Grace-Based Gospel
Theoretically, every church that is remotely Christian believes that the gospel is based on grace that is a free, undeserved, and unearnable gift. But when you gather a bunch of sinners who are all struggling to find hope in a painful world of thorns and thistles (Genesis 3:17-19), it’s tempting—even for Christians—to abandon God’s promise of saving grace and to depend on self-founded systems of trust rooted in extrabiblical demands that create a culture of self-righteousness, manipulation, and idol worship. It’s sadly easy to operate with one another based on anything but grace, even among Christians. And when the gospel isn’t operative for a church’s people, in relational terms, it’s because their gospel is conditionally about here-and-now sociocultural feel-goods disguised as spiritual purity and not unconditionally about the power of God for salvation (Romans 1:16-17).
This is why it is so important to ensure that our faith in the gospel of Christ is exclusively founded upon the power of God’s grace that actually saves because it is rooted in the historical reality of the transfer of Christ’s perfect righteousness, earned under the law and imputed to undeserving sinners (Genesis 3:15; Romans 1:16-17; 4:4-17; 5:15-17; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 3:8-11). If a church you’re looking at doesn’t teach this kind of radical and costly grace-based gospel and therefore, operate with one another thusly, it is definitionally not a church.
(As a teaser, the rest of the characteristics of a biblical church: (2) Expositional Preaching, (3) Christ-Centered Worship, (4) Disciple-Making Strategy, (5) Regenerate Membership, (6) Sacrificial Community, (7) Gospel Proclamation, (8) Community Engagement, (9) Other Things Worth Noticing & Questions to Ask: education/life/family/marriage of the pastor/preacher, authority of scripture, penal substitutionary atonement, complementarianism/egalitarian, cessationist/continuationist, definition of marriage, views on sexuality and LGBT issues, approach to social justice, et al I haven’t yet thought of.)
In Case You Missed It – Just a link to last week's (and recent) STs (fccgreene.org/st) and what was covered:
- New Folks, First Steps, Next Steps, etc.
- Our "Featured" Feature on the App
- Re:generation as Discipleship Training (also Bryan Englehardt’s story about re:gen as training for disciplemaking)
- H7 Stories: Youngsters Serving, Adoption, Kids Camp, Hunting, etc.
- Be Wise About the Nature of the "Social Justice" For Which You're Fighting
- Thank You for Serving on the Team!
- (A Longer Than Below) 3rd Campus/Multisite Update
3rd Campus/Multisite Campaign Update – We are making progress! For some additional info and context, see last week’s ST blurb. But, for today, here is The Latest Info (through Sat, May 28):
Campus Commitments (Goal: 125 per campus)
- Afton: 90 (up from 79 last week, 59 two weeks ago)
- Greeneville: 79 (up from 61 last week, 47 two weeks ago)
- South Greene: 66 (up from 62 last week, 47 two weeks ago) > Come on, y'all! Step up and commit to South Greene!
Financial Commitments (Goal: $100,000)
- Today: $50,450 given
- Last Week: $36,625 given
- Two Weeks Ago: $34,500 given
You can fill out a Multisite Response Card/Form on the "carousel" at the top of the Home page on the app (fccgreene.org/app). (You'll likely need to "swipe" the pics on the "carousel.") If you’ve got any questions, hunt down a Campus Pastor, an Elder, a Staff Member, me, or someone you know who you think might be in the know.
“Is It Just Me?!” – Here a couple related-yet-juxtaposed thoughts and questions I have lately that I need to get off my chest (because apparently I am a self-loathing and navel-gazing nutcase who thinks it wise to publicly proclaim and process my foibles?! How ‘bout we sanctify it by calling it “leading with vulnerability?”)
Is it just me, or is everyone suffering from a paralyzing case of busyness, infowhelm, and hyper-awareness of ones responsibilities? (No Scott, it's mostly you. I know. I know.) I swear if one more responsibility, problem, mail item, email, voicemail, txt msg, app notification, or algorithmically-sent advertisement dings me and makes demands on my time, I'm gonna... I dunno... hopefully pray and talk to God because, if I dont, I'm liable to roll up into a fetal mess underneath the desk and down half a gallon of milk and a package of Reese's Peanut Butter cups. (Milk has to be 2%, though. Not 1%. Not 4%. Because that's gross. Only 2%.) There's too much to do. And not enough margin or competence. There are too many people pining for things they call needs that have little to do with spiritual growth or the eternal state of their souls... and if you don't provide them, they will leave you. (Sounds like a re:gen issue, Scott. Yep, still in "Step 4: Inventory" over here. One of my things is performance-based acceptance. Can I get a witness?)
Is it just me—(Please. Tell me it's not just me!)—or does it seem like the things we are most positioned and gifted to do are the things about which we hesitate most?! It might not be nearly as true as I've made it sound, but I know that, in my life, the things that I flat-out know the Lord has positioned me for, called me to do, and asked me to steward for Kingdom fruit are the very things I struggle with most. Perhaps it is because we understand the stakes of proper stewardship as unto the Lord? Perhaps it is because we have little hope of their effectiveness and doubt He can use us mightily? Perhaps it is because I value avoiding failure before men more than I value faithfulness to God?
Posted in Scotts Thoughts