3 Ways to Live: Gospel Message

This is a way that we have found helpful to explain the gospel.

We as a community of believers must differentiate the gospel from religion just as Jesus did.

Jesus did not come for the dead religious but the sinners, whom he would redeem and send out on mission.

Many other churches with our acts29 network have benefited from Tim Keller's work.

Celebrating Believer's Baptism

The community of Imago Dei will be gathering for a special service to celebrate new believer's baptism. This is a time to celebrate the salvation of God's people.

We will meet at 6pm at Kineo Church an Acts29 church plant, who is meeting at Living Water Fellowship. There will be plenty of room so you can invite your friends to hear the gospel and witness testimonies of those being baptized.


Map of Location:

View Larger Map

1.            The Meaning of Baptism

• The word from the Greek word, “Baptizo,” meaning “to dip,” and/or “to immerse”

• Water baptism - for a believer to identify with the death and resurrection of Christ and publicly declare that they are His disciple.

2.            The Message of Baptism

The very moment we trust Christ as Savior, we are identified with Him, and that identification is related specifically to three events in our Lord’s experience:  We are identified with Him in . . .

• WE ARE IDENTIFIED WITH JESUS IN HIS DEATH (Romans 6:3, 5)

   When you stand in the water, it symbolizes that the old, “sinful man”  has died, having been crucified with Christ (II Corinthians 5:17).

• WE ARE IDENTIFIED WITH JESUS IN HIS BURIAL  (Romans 6:4)

  

When you are led under the water, it symbolizes that the “old man” has been laid to rest, having been buried with Christ (Romans 6:4). “The old self is gone”

• WE ARE IDENTIFIED W/ JESUS IN HIS RESURRECTION  (Romans 6:4-5, 8)

  

When you are raised up out of the water, it symbolizes that the “new man” is now alive in you, and that you now live for and with Christ  (Galatians 2:20).

3.            The Method of Baptism

We believe that immersion visually captures the message of baptism.

•             It accurately depicts the meaning of "baptizo."

•             It follows the practice of both Jewish baptism and John's baptism.

•             It pictures the symbolism of death, resurrection, and cleansing.

•             It was the method of the early church.

4.            The Motive for Baptism

•To confess our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord (Acts 18:8). 

It is a public acknowledgment and declaration that you personally believe and have trusted in God for your life and salvation.  Thus, the only requirement for baptism is that you have knowingly and of your own free will surrendered your heart and life to Jesus Christ.  That is, through prayer, you have invited Him to “save” you from your sins, to take full control of your life, and to one day receive you into His kingdom, into eternal life.

•To comply with the commandment of Jesus.  (Matthew 28:19; Acts 2:38) 

In Jesus’ last instructions to His disciples, He commanded them to go into all the world, and make disciples of all men, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  In this way, true believers would be unmistakably identified, both with Christ and with the family of God, by their obeying this command.

Since baptism is a personal and public expression of one’s own faith, we believe that the decision to be baptized must be made by each individual in accordance with their faith. (Parents should teach their children soon after their child has professed Jesus as Lord).

Family Worship: advent.incarnation.celebration

Each December my wife and I bring out an old advent calender and rehearse the story of Christ's coming by reviewing particular prophetic passages pointing to Christ's birth. We start on the first evening of December.

The kids gather anxiously after dinner on the couch to hear the scriptures and see the pictures that tell the true meaning of Christmas! After the second night, Leslie makes review questions each evening. She writes them on a piece of paper and cuts them into strips and quizzes the kids on the details of each nights' lesson.

It becomes a fun family Christmas celebration and learning opportunity to teach about Christ's coming, His advent and incarnation. It's the best time to worship as a family in our home. We read scriptures, answer the kids questions and sing old Christmas hymns. 

The word "Advent" in Latin means "Coming". In many Christian churches throughout the world this is a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of Christ's 1st coming. Churches throughout history celebrate the incarnation, that is... Jesus, the son of God taking on human flesh and becoming man (Phil 2: 6b- 11).

He in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

To aid in the instruction for these christian truths of the incarnation I have continually found the Westminster Confession of Faith extremely helpful:

Q. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? 

A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body, and a reasonable soul,(Phil 2:7) (Heb 2:14,17) being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, and born of her,(Lk 1:27,31,35) yet  without sin. (2 Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15, 7:26, 1 Jn 3:5).

Christmas is about Christ. His birth and His coming. Let us celebrate the incarnation of our Lord. Let us  prepare our hearts and rejoice that a savior has been born, Christ the Lord.

Resources:
Desiring God, John Piper Blog: Advent and Incarnation
Westminster Confession 
Bible Gateway

What is the Missional Church?

Operation CARES 4 KIDS: Service Project

Every Christmas hundreds of families in our community struggle to have the financial means to provide gifts for their children.


At Imago Dei we want to make a difference in our community and in the lives of children. This December we are partnering with Sahuaro Elementary to help add a little hope to the Holiday season.

You can play a vital role in our community this Christmas by participating in OPERATION CARES 4 KIDS!


Our goal is to provide the kids at Sahuaro Elementary School with shoeboxes full of gifts for kids ages 5-9 years old. Here is what to do…

#1 GET SHOE BOX Use an empty shoebox (standard size, please) or a small plastic container. Please wrap the box (lid separately).

#2 LABEL BOY OR GIRL Gifts will be for kids ages 5-9. Determine whether your gift will be for a boy or a girl, and mark the box with a “B” for boy or “G” for girl.

#3 FILL WITH GIFTS: Fill the box with a variety of gifts that kids would enjoy. Here are some ideas…

•TOYS small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, harmonicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, small Etch A Sketch®, toys that light up or make noise (with extra batteries), Slinky®, etc.

•SCHOOL SUPPLIES pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers, stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper, solar calculators, coloring and picture books, etc.

•HYGIENE ITEMS toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap (in a plastic bag), comb, washcloth.

•OTHER Hard candy and lollipops (please double bag all candy), mints, gum, T-shirts, socks, ball caps; sunglasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights (with extra batteries)

•A PERSONAL NOTE In a separate envelope, you may enclose a note to the child and a photo of yourself or your family. (If you include your name and address, the child may write back.)

Do Not Include: Used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food; liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers or aerosol cans.

#4 TURN IN GIFTS: Please have gifts to our contact person (Leslie) by Sunday December 14th so they can be turned into the school by the 15th.

For Questions: Contact School: Sahuaro Elementary School Social Worker, Laurel Fiore, (MSW, LCSW) At laurel.fiore@wesdschools.org . To reach the church project coordinator contact Leslie Rice at leslieraerice@gmail.com .

For the gospel and the glory of God in our city,
Pastor Ryan Rice
Imago Dei Community Church

Missional Community: Leaders Lunch on 11/28

Part of our training involves attending other churches in our community. Being part of the Acts29 Network here in Phoenix has been real a blessing. With about 10 church plants in the city our team has been able to visit most of these church plants and gain a greater insight into what church planting looks like. This also has been a great opportunity to network as well.

We don't want to be strangers to the larger body of Christ in our city therefore we often visit churches outside of our networks. We are learners. We want to learn from the leaders that have gone before us.

This Sunday we are going to be meeting at a local church to discuss the challenges and thrills of being part of a church plant from Pastor Sandy Mason. I want to invite all emerging leaders that aspire to be part of a new church plant. Imago Dei is a growing group of leaders on mission to establish a gospel centered, missionally focused church in the North Valley. If you would like to come, please bring/pack your own lunch. Lunch will start at 12:30.

My fam and a few others will be there for the service at 10:45 and then hang around for a lunch with Pastor Sandy. There will not be child care available but there will be other children present and the moms can take turns with the kids on the playground.


This Sunday Details:

This Sunday we are going to visit Desert View Bible Church. A church plant of Scottsdale Bible Church.

Time 10:45- Service Starts, Leaders Lunch - 12:30 (following worship service)
Location: North Phoenix
Website: www.desertviewbible.org

View Larger Map

the Story: Gospel

Please take a few minutes to read and look through this compelling and colorful online book about the gospel. We use this tool along with others for our leaders at imago dei. Most people don't understand the gospel nor it's centrality in the scripture. This tool helps us understand what the gospel is all about and how to share it with others.


Web page
www.spreadtruth.com

The Gospel, Moralism, and Irreligion

The Gospel- Tim Keller

The Gospel- Mark Driscoll

The Gospel by John Piper: 6 minutes

Christ The Only Way-R.C. Sproul

Missional Community: 11/14/10

Hey guys, we are going to be gathering this Sunday. We have a few new families that just arrived from MT to help start the church!(You are gonna love em) As usual we will have a time of sharing and connecting with each and some good outdoor fun. Read the Blog about missional community for more info on this Sunday's discussion.

In addition I would like to invite any and all to join us for a good hike, after our sharing time. There are great trails that are conducive for all ages and skill level. In fact, Leslie and I hiked the full trail the other day with our 5-yr. old twins! It took about 2 hours, so be sure to bring your hiking shoes, sun screen and some water. We will have some light snacks. This park also has a great play ground for kids as well. Hope to see you there.

Direction from the 101 & I-17 you will want to take

I-17 NORTH
Left on Happy Valley
Right on 51st Ave
Right on Deems Hill Parkway
Deem Hills Park will be on your right.

Time and Day:
3-5pm
Sunday, November 14th

P.S.
If you got my text message with a different location, that's not the correct address. For questions please email me or call me.

See you there,

Ryan

Missional Community: vision.mission.values

I want to remind you why we call this group of people a “Missional community.” First, we must remember that God has called many of the people in this community to a specific mission. That is to establish a Gospel Centered, Missional church in our community that will reproduce other churches. I want to take a few minutes and rehears our vision /mission/values,identities.

Our Vision “Love One. Love All” reflects our commitment to live out Jesus’ Commands. Therefore we are a community with a mission to collectively live out the vision that Jesus gave his disciples to obey the Greatest Commandments in all the scripture. (Mt 22:38, Lk 10:25-27). Love One. Love All.- Our Vision. This is first and foremost importance for Imago Dei. It’s a matter of the heart, that every believer must grow in a vital relationship with Jesus and a deep love for all the people in our city. We can’t live out the Great Commission with out first living out the Great Commandments.

Our Mission “Equip & Establish” reflects our commitment to live out Jesus’ Commission, to make disciples of every nation. We must therefore work now as a community to equip a team of like minded leaders that will work to establish a church that will in turn plant other churches in our city and other cities around the world. (Mt 28:19, Eph 4:12).

Our Values/Identities We will consistently work to explore the vision/mission and values/ identities of the imago dei. This Sunday I want to discuss how we are currently growing in our identities/values (Worship/Worshiper, Fellowship/Family, Mission/Missionary) and have a time to discuss some next steps as well.


This Sundays Discussion:
How are we growing in worship or as worshippers of Jesus?
How are we growing in mission or as a missionaries?
How are we growing in fellowship or as a family?

Lastly I want to open it up for discussion as to how we might grow in each of these areas.

Look forward to seeing you there,

Darrin Patrick | Re:Lit Book | Church Planter Intro

Men, join us November 8th for a night with Darrin Patrick: Redeeming Masculinity

Food & Football @ Paseo Highlands Park

Every few weeks imago dei friends and families are starting to gather to connect, have fun, build relationships and learn more about the vision of this emerging church in the north valley.

The weather should be great and this park rocks! (I just visited it). Bring the kids, bring the football and come on out this Sunday from 12-3ish. Leslie and I are providing some lunch. Check below for details.

This a relational time, not a small group, or a set Bible Study (for now). Leslie and I are new to the city and are in a season of cultivating lots of new relationships.

These gatherings are a time to foster friendships. It's a time to connect, have fun and learn more about this community that is coming together.

It's a time to have fun. Leslie and I, Ryan (the founding church planters) want to build relationships with all of you. Before we ever start a church, we want to demonstrate the church's love. We want to be the church and teach others to do the same, long before we ever start asking people to come to church. The church is not a building, but a people on mission.

Details:
Location: North Valley Paseo Park (Behind the Community Center)
Time: 12-3ish
Lunch will be provided: Sandwiches or something...
Items to Bring: Soccer Ball, Food etc. Contact Leslie via facebook or phone. The facebook link is on the side. You may get a call directly from Leslie about what to bring.


View Larger Map

Coffee House Concert

Come join some the friends and families that are part of Imago Dei for evening of coffee and live music. Our friends, Samantha and Brad Byrd will be taking the stage around 8pm. This is a great event to relax and connect with friends. Hope to see you there.



View Larger Map

Farmers' Market in Norterra Cancelled Today :(

Imago Dei has been invited to be part of our local Farmers Market. Due to bad weather we wont be there today. But look for us on the First and Third Wednesday's of the month. I (Pastor Ryan) plan on being there, giving out water bottles meeting a greeting our community.

Come and enjoy wonderful live music by Ree Boado and browse a bounty of colorful booths full of fresh produce, tamales, Alaskan salmon, beef jerky, salsas, gifts and much more.

The Norterra Farmers' Market takes place on the first and third Wednesdays of every month through May. The market is located between Paradise Bakery and P.F. Changs. See you there!

Details
1st & 3rd Wednesdays through May
3:30-7:30pm
Website: http://www.norterrashopping.com/calendar.asp


View Larger Map

Visiting Church Plant in North Phoenix

Imago Dei is not yet a church. We are a community of people on mission. (Candidates with Acts29) Our goal is to reach out to those in need and recruit other missionary minded leaders. (40 adults primarily stud dudes).

Part of our training involves attending other churches in our community. Being part of the Acts29 Network here in Phoenix has been real a blessing. With about 10 church plants in the city our team has been able to visit most of these church plants and gain a greater insight into what church planting looks like. This also has been a great opportunity to network as well.

We don't want to be strangers to the larger body of Christ in our city therefore we often visit churches outside of our networks. We are learners. We want to learn from the leaders that have gone before us. This Sunday we are visiting a prayer partner and friend at Hope Church. Pastor Paul is the Lead Pastor and will be preaching tomorrow. Usually after the service, we go out to eat and share what we learned and discovered. Each Sunday is an adventure. We invite you to join us any time. Keep posted on the blog to see where we will be next. See you soon.

Church Location: North Phoenix (Norterra High school)
Name: Hope Church
Service Time: 10:30 AM
Picture: The pic is not the church we are visiting


View Larger Map

Serving Single Moms in Need: Car Wash 10/09/10

You're invited to join a small group of community and church leaders for a special car wash fund-raising event to help single moms in Need.

As a Pastor who cares for the needs of my community, I can't say enough how huge this need is in our city and even more so in our apartment community! After living in our apartment community for only a short time, my wife and I have been burdened to see the great numbers of single moms with little support. These strong willed women work long hours often holding two jobs trying to make ends meet; many even go to night school in hopes of a brighter future! We together can give some grace and give our time!

We as a church want to help. We want to give to those in need in our community by serving! This fundraiser is one of many in our local community that will go to help single moms in need. Umom is local organization in our city committed to the moms in our city! All the proceeds from this car wash will go to Umom. All Checks should be made out to Umom!

Details: This Saturday 10/09 at 9am-12pm you are invited to gather with us for a great cause to wash cars for single moms in need! $5 donation minimum. Bring some towels for drying cars and I would wear some flip flops! Bring a car and I will give you the best wash it's ever had!


View Larger Map

Does God Really Exisit?

Within a post-Christian America, many more are asking the question "Does God really exist at all?" In this short video you will get a snap shot that will help give 4 explanations of God's existence.

Bobby Conway, a good friend and fellow church planter part of our network Fellowship Associates interviews Alex McFarland, the President of Southern Evangelical Seminary on the topic.

I encourage you to look into some of these videos for answers that will lead to further study, questions and investigation.

Suggested Resources:

Books:

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller

Ten Most Common Objections to Christianity: By Alex McFarland

Tools for Evangelism

Explore A 3 week study exploring, some of life's most profound questions. By Robert Lewis

Gospel Intentionality

God wants to use more ordinary people to do more of His extraordinary work in our world. In the video we find inspiration and perfect picture of what success should look like for Imago Dei Community Church. People living on mission, people incarnating the gospel. People joining God in the good for the city. When we- people of God bring the gospel message of hope and love to the people of our city we win! That's success. When we as a church empower a movement of people to bring gospel intentionality to their home, their work, their communities and their city. That's living on mission! That's the picture of success.

Recently I was a guest preacher and taught on the subject of living with Gospel Intentionality. I preached from Acts 1:1-11. My outline was basically Acts 1-5 tells us that Jesus is Lord. Luke (the author) develops a conclusive argument to his friend that Jesus is in fact Lord,the risen God in the human flesh, having showed himself after his death to people for more than 40 days, sharing meals building his relationships, teaching truth and preparing them for mission!

Luke continues in verses 6-11 to explain how Jesus gave his followers a basic command...Go, "Be my witnesses to all Judea all Samaria and to the ends of the earth."They were to take all that they had learned and put it to action! Jesus was leaving them to carry on his mission. Little did they know that this little seedling Christian community would later become the most influential force in the Roman Empire By 310 AD this Christ community had grown to more than 20 million followers strong!- Which is before Constantine, I might add! You can learn more about how to live with gospel intentionality by listening to my recent sermon titled Jesus is Lord and Jesus says Go. You will need to look around on the website to find it but it's there!

So where does God have you right now? Where are you working?

Imagine what could happen if you saw your work as a ministry to serve others, seeking the benefit of others?

What would happen if you lived in your neighborhood with gospel intentionality living like Jesus in a continual pattern of truth, relationship and mission?

What about your city? What's God doing in your city? What could you imagine God wanting to do through His people- the Church there?

Education & City Transformation

Waiting for Superman is an exciting new movie that's coming out telling the story of America's struggle within education. America is #1 in producing confident kids, but #25 in Math! Many of our schools across our country have turned into drop out factories and once a student drops out they are 8 times more likely to go to prison.

As a Pastor who cares for the city, I encourage all to consider how they can invest into public schools in their own cities. I have personally witnessed the power and transformation of good families and churches working to bring about change in bad schools.

In my own high school back in Little Rock, AR several churches and families came together to invest their time and resources into a poorly performing, gang infested, drug hub high school. The result was nothing less than total transformation over 5 years. It soon became a highly performing educational opportunity for our students of our community.

I dream of Imago Dei being a church that seeks the good of the city, partnering with others to invest in schools for future generations. Not simply being a church that declares the gospel on Sunday morning's from the pulpit but a church that demonstrates the gospel from the pews - people actively engaged in their communities, serving the needs of the city for the good of the city.

Being Missional

Characteristics of a Missional Church- Keller

Adoption: A Picture of the Gospel

This video is from Aaron Ivey a friend of mine who has helped the church engage the need to be the church and adopt! He is a Worship Leader from The Austin Stone Church.

Personally, as I have looked at scriptures I have been more and more compelled to seek to do what God did for us. Adopt! I want my life to exude the gospel and I want to extend that love to as many as possible! I think when we look at the scriptures we see adoption as one of the best ways we could demonstrate our love for God and do what he has done for us. God took us in. He invited us into his fellowship, making us part of the family (Eph. 1:4-5, Rom 8:15, 9:4).

I want to encourage you to join me and pray about adoption. Consider with ours this possibility. Why? Because children matter to God and church is to enage the needs of our cities. Today there are thousands of young men and women who will go through life in foster care but never have a father or mother unless we the church takes action and does what the Father did for us. Pray with me and ask Jesus if he would have you adopt or foster. ---Ryan

Community Pastor: David Rice

David and Micah Rice moved down from Missoula, Montana in early November and are excited to be serving with Imago Dei. After meeting close to ten years ago serving in a ministry together they have loved working side by side in various ministries all over the country and on a short-term overseas missions trip. Married in 2007 they have spent the last 2 years in Montana where David worked into full-time staff with Outdoorsmen Church. In that time he had the privilege to be licensed as a minister of the gospel. Micah an RN, is taking a career break to settle and prepare for their first child due in early February.  Read more about them at http://www.ricejourneys.com/

The Gospel: Jesus Forgives Story

I had a powerful vision one time. It was 1999. I was living in Waco, TX at the time. I was a new Christian and had moved down there to be with my crazy new Christian friends. We all had traded in our Guns n Roses and Nirvanna CD's for Keith Green and Jars of Clay.

We were x-druggies and thugs that had all come to know Jesus in a powerful way that changed our lives. We all had a mission. #1 Know Jesus More and #2 Help others know him too. Why Waco? It had nothing to do with the nut job David Keresh that started the cult.

I was there for adventure. My buddies were going to Baylor, and attending an happening college ministry where students were trained and sent all around the world to plant churches. It was this time that I learned the necessity to rehears the gospel to myself.

I was struggling with the sins of my pasts, feeling the guilt and the shame of all the girls I had done wrong, the people I mistreated, the hateful and hurtful things I had done.

At that time I was attending a community college near by, working at Italian restaurant (which was a joke b/c I was a pathetic waiter and couldn't keep peoples orders straight) and I was very involved in our local church. The point is...I was busy. In the midst of all this I was struggling with my past and wondering what God was doing in me for the future.

During an afternoon of prayer and study time in Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology I asked the Lord if there was anything holding me back from growing spiritually and he told that there was! He showed me that I was holding back Christ's work on the cross for me. I was failing to trust and believe that Jesus payment for my sin was sufficient and effective (Rom 5:8, I Pet 3:18).

I had bought into a false Gospel. I believed that I had committed too many sins to be completely accepted and secure. I had not trusted the scriptures at the core of my being that Christ's work on the cross really did serve as a payment for my sins and made me right with God. (Romans 5)

The Gospel says that Jesus work on the cross satisfied the wrath of God, serving as a propitiation for our sins and because of this God has nothing but love for his children. It's Christ's sacrifice that makes us right and keeps us right! The Father loves you and me so much that he sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins I John 4:10. and make peace between God and man (Romans 5)

What's ironic is that we Christians forget that the gospel should be everyday. It should be part of our ongoing sanctification process not just a one time event at Salvation. The Gospel has got to penetrate the heart an ongoing basis or else we fall to dead religious practitioners. It's the message of grace. It's by grace we are saved and grace that keeps us saved. (Ephesians 2:8-9 and Titus 3:5)

-Pastor Ryan Rice
Facebook

Season of Service: Arizona CityFest

We at imago dei believe that loving our neighbor is critically important. We are partnering with hundreds of churches and organizations to serve the city this year. We specifically are praying as to how we as a church will serve our city as a community of Christ followers at Imago dei. We want to see more people love Jesus and love their neighbor. We want to see the gospel both declared and demonstrated. That's why we at Imago Dei are very excited to partner with the many other churches in this season of service.

Simplified Missional Living by Jon Dodson

Eat with Non-Christians
We all eat three meals a day. Why not make a habit of sharing one of those meals with a non-Christian or with a family of non-Christians?

Go to lunch with a co-worker
not by yourself. Invite the neighbors over for family dinner. If it’s too much work to cook a big dinner, just order pizza and put the focus on conversation. When you go out for a meal, invite a non-Christian friend. Or take your family to family-style restaurants where you can sit at the table with strangers and strike up conversations. Have cookouts and invite Christians and non-Christians. Flee the Christian subculture.

Walk, Don’t Drive
If you live in a walkable area, make a practice of getting out and walking around your neighborhood, apartment complex, or campus. Instead of driving to the mailbox or convenience store, walk to get mail or groceries. Be deliberate in your walk. Say hello to people you don’t know. Strike up conversations. Attract attention by walking the dog, carrying along a 6-pack to share, bringing the kids. Make friends. Get out of your house! Last night I spent an hour outside gardening with my family. We had good conversations with about four of our neighbors. Take interest in your neighbors. Ask questions. Engage. Pray as you go. Save some gas, the planet, and some people.

Be a Regular
Instead of hopping all over the city for gas, groceries, haircuts, eating out, and coffee, go to the same places at the same times. Get to know the staff. Smile. Ask questions. Be a regular. I have friends at coffee shops all over the city. My friends at Starbucks donate a ton of leftover pastries to our church 2-3 times a week. We use them for church gatherings and occasionally give them to the homeless. Build relationships. Be a regular.

Hobby with Non-Christians
Pick a hobby that you can share. Get out and do something you enjoy with others. Try city league sports or local rowing and cycling teams. Share your hobby by teaching lessons, such as sewing, piano, knitting, or tennis lessons. Be prayerful. Be intentional. Be winsome. Have fun. Be yourself.

Talk to Your Co-workers.
How hard is that? Take your breaks with intentionality. Go out with your team or task force after work. Show interest in your co-workers. Pick four and pray for them. Form moms’ groups in your neighborhood and don’t make them exclusively non-Christian. Schedule play dates with the neighbors’ kids. Work on mission.

Volunteer with Non-Profits.
Find a non-profit in your part of the city and take a Saturday a month to serve your city. Bring your neighbors, your friends, or your small group. Spend time with your church serving your city. Once a month. You can do it!

Participate in City Events
Instead of playing XBox, watching TV, or surfing the net, participate in city events. Go to fundraisers, festivals, cleanups, summer shows, and concerts. Participate missionally. Strike up conversation. Study the culture. Reflect on what you see and hear. Pray for the city. Love the city. Participate with the city.

Serve Your Neighbors.
Help a neighbor by weeding, mowing, building a cabinet, or fixing a car. Stop by the neighborhood association or apartment office and ask if there is anything you can do to help improve things. Ask your local Police and Fire Stations if there is anything you can do to help them. Get creative. Just serve!

Grassroots Gospel Movement: Cells Groups

Our vision is to catalyze a grassroots gospel movement in our city. We are working to develop a culture where every believer is a leader! We are reminding others that the command to make disciples is for everyone (Mt 28:19) not just the professional pastors!

We will be fostering a missional DNA in the life of our leaders and church. Worship, mission and fellowship are Imago Dei's basic DNA building blocks.

We want this DNA to exist in the life of every leader and at every level of church's structure. For example, our smallest structure of the church is a “Cell Group.” These groups consist of 2-3 people and meet weekly for an hour for the primary purpose of fellowship.

Cells groups foster
• Fellowship- will be fostered in through our accountability with one another.
• Mission- we will gather to pray for those in need.
• Worship- we will gather to discuss the scriptural insights we have gained.


Our prayer is to see these Cells grow and multiply meeting throughout our city: in coffee shops, play grounds, parks, lunch rooms, offices, college campuses, high-schools etc.

Cell Groups
• Meet weekly wherever they want for 1 hour
• Composed of 2-3 people
• Multiply when the group grow to 4-5 people
• Not Co-Ed
• Review scriptural insights from weekly readings
• Ask accountability questions, sin is confessed
• Prays for salvation for those whom don't know Christ.
• Require members to be desperate for Jesus
• Requires members to be faithful to process

As you can see christian fellowship with one another is the primary DNA building block of these Cell Groups. Still these groups have elements of worship and mission as well! The reading God's word and the praying for Salvation for the lost completes the missional DNA that we believe is important for a gospel movement. Our prayer is to see these Cells grow and multiply meeting throughout our city: in coffee shops, play grounds, parks, lunch rooms, offices, college campuses, high-schools etc.

Yes, we will begin to gather in communities as the Lord grows our number, and yes in time, I believe we will come together in for a larger Celebration Service.

But the health of our church will come when ordinary people begin to rely more of the extraordinary power of God's word. When they use their gifts for ministry. We have got to raise the need to make disciples if this is going to happen, equipping and establishing cells throughout our city is our first step!

share your story: my gospel testimony

This video was recorded years ago. It's a personal testimony of my life and how Jesus pursued me in the midst of my rebellion. I share it #1 to give glory to God and #2 to encourage our people to share their testimony as a means to communicate the gospel. Testimonies are often the most powerful and personal ways to share the gospel.

Often times I share my story in 2-3 minutes with strangers I meet. I never find someone who doesn't want to hear a good story! Last time I checked, the gospel is a great story about a good guy kicking some evil butt and raising up and army of people to join in the battle with a promise that we all will one day will win!

I believe stories are a universal common connection. The important things to hit in sharing your story isn't dramatic points (such as my story) rather real life pain and recognition of sin and rebellion against God and how he pursued you and redeems and restores you. Don't give people religion self help stories. They can get that at Barnes and Noble. They need to know Jesus is the Savior who died and rose again!

You might need to re-learn the gospel or learn it for the first time. For those of you that don't have the dramatic testimony, there had to come a point in your life when your faith became real and you better understood the need for the gospel in your life and your deep need for Jesus. Remember we all have sinned (Rom 3:23).

I encourage you to explore your story with God and learn to communicate it with the people you meet. Let your story share the Good news about Jesus. Don't ignore sin, Jesus payment for sin and salvation through faith! People respond to people's story and experiences, your testimony should reflect the gospel. Go for it! Share your story!

good news/bad news gospel

In the south, the old Romans Road is the main message for the gospel proclamation. I used it for years. Today I find that the gospel narrative approach has much more big picture of the gospel than these bullet pointed facts!

Regardless of the way we share or understand the gospel, it's important that we get the fundamental's of the gospel down. Sin. Substitutionary Atonement (Christ dying in our place for our sins) and salvation by faith!

A Gospel Narrative

The gospel has to include sin, Christ's sacrifice and salvation by faith if it's really going to be good news! Good news means that hell bound sinners like me and you can be set free by placing our faith in Christ the who died and rose again!

Literally that's what Gospel means, Good news! Watch a short video on this presentation of the Big Story of God and the Gospel. There are many ways in which the gospel can be communicated.



Key texts
Rom 3:23 All have sinned
Rom 6:23 Sin penalty is death

Rom 5:8 Christ died for sin
Eph 2:8-9 You are saved by Faith

Gospel vs. Religion

In a city like Phoenix, it's obvious that there are lots of good religious people in the valley! Take for example the Mormons in this city. If you know one, you know they are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. I have actually worked with several and truly can testify, that though I disagree with them theologically, I have always been impressed with their ethics.

They are known for their hardworking values and their strong commitment to those strange doctrines (which I will save for later). You can't go a week in this city without seeing those young men in their white shirts peddling their Huffy mountain bikes just to knock on one more door to get one step closer to secure their salvation!

Although I find their doctrines antithetical to the gospel entirely, I am not writing right now to compare and contrast Mormonism to main stream evangelical theology. Rather I am writing to remind and inform those interested in our church how the gospel differs greatly from religion and good works.

As we look at scripture we see that good people are not good enough! Being good, simply doesn't cut it. Salvation is by grace not by works, (so this messes things up for the Mormons) (Eph 2:8-10). The Bible teaches that you can have great intentions and lots of good works but miss the gospel and get the one way ticket for a hell bound train! Ouch!

Jesus ripped and railed on the religious people of his day! The Pharisee's were the guys who did all the good works but rejected Jesus as the messiah and missed his gospel message!(Matthew 23)

Our church is not interested in creating good people, rather gospel-centered people. A people who readily confess their weakness and accept the fact that they are totally depraved by sin, being born into sin and standing in total need of redemption (Psalms 51:4-5, I Peter 3:18)

Religion actually makes my job harder. In essence religion says, If I do good, I get God! The gospel says, I am bad and yet (b/c of Jesus) I still get God!(Romans 5:1 Romans 5:8)

Here are a few ways to differentiate the gospel from religion.

Concerning Salvation.
•The Religious say, “Because I am a good person I am saved and will go to heaven right?”
•Gospel centered people say,“ I could never be good enough, but b/c Jesus’ payment for my sin, I am saved by grace and will go to heaven!”

Concerning Spirituality
•The Religious say, “B/c I pray and go to church and read the Bible or do good, I am accepted and will grow! I help myself and make myself into a better person.”
•Gospel-centered people say, “I’m accepted by God b/c of Jesus death! I’m a sinner saved by grace and b/c I am so grateful I obey. I pursue holy living, my spirituality is evidence of God's grace working in me! It's not about me.

Concerning Security
•The Religious say. “When I screw up I feel God is angry with me and I am afraid he hates me.” I live in fear!
•Gospel centered people say. “When I screw up I realize I grieve God but know His love for me is unconditional b/c of Jesus payment of sin! I stand in awe and amazement that I have acceptance and security in God’s love for me. I live in freedom not fear!”

Concerning Suffering:
•The Religious say, “I am angry at God, b/c life isn’t working and not fair! I obeyed and why am I still suffering? I deserve more!”
•Gospel centered people “ I am in pain and this world is broken but I trust your promises God. You God work all things for my good even when it's hard.”

Even believers need to rehearse the gospel. We Christians must avoid falling into a dead legalistic, religious exercise that renders us impotent, hollow and numb! We need to sit and savor in the sweetness of the gospel. rehearsing the crazy love of God by saying "I am loved by God not matter what I do." Why? Because Jesus was the substitute and was sufficient payment for my sins and satisfied the righteous demands of God, therefore you should live in freedom. The Father loves you!(I Peter 2:24 ,I John 2:2 Romans 3:23-25)

Our prayer is at imago dei is that sinners would see the savior and start living a life of freedom not of fear, a life that would reflect a picture of the gospel.

Resources: Books: A Gospel Primer Article by Tim Keller and Acts29

Purpose & Philosophy Part 3. more words to describe us...

Attractional Church. We are also a “Come and See” church; inviting people to experience corporate worship on Sunday. We believe that the church in the New Testament was clearly organized for the sake of ministry and should hold to a centralized structure enough to maintain a high quality of ministry to her members. So in this sense we see ourselves as church that is attractional, gathering for the proclamation of God’s word and the worship of God’s people. The church’s contemporary worship style and relevant preaching messages will hopefully not only attract people from all backgrounds but equip them so that they can be sent out to establish other communities of faith!

Pursuing Diversity: We are a church that is seeking to be ethnically diverse not only in our congregation but in our leadership as well. We believe in order to reach a broader people group in our city and world we will need a diverse team. Predominately, the diversity in Phoenix is the Hispanic population. But there is also a great need for the gospel to penetrate tribal groups of Native Americans, and Refugees in the Phoenix area as well. Although our initial leadership team is all Caucasian and likely will be for sometime we hope to build a more diverse team to best bring the gospel to our increasingly diverse city.

Equipping/Sending: We are a church that if focused on equipping the church to be the church in our city. The church will function much like church in Antioch we read about in the book of Acts chapter 11 in the New Testament of our Bible. We will strive to reach various cultural tribes within our city by equipping and sending Christians within cultures to declare and demonstrate the gospel. We will equip and send out missional leaders to establish gospel centered communities. We will in time gather for Sunday morning for worship as we develop a leadership team and are ready to assimilate people into works of service etc.

Purpose & Philosophy Part 2: High on Culture & High in Biblical Content

We hold to missional practice for cultural relevancy. We, as a church seek to be the church that is extremely relevant to our culture, so that the lost may find salvation. In Acts 17, the Apostle Paul engages a pagan people at Mars Hill. Paul took the task of making the timeless truths of the gospel message relevant for his hearers. This is called “contextualization.”

The Apostle Paul serves as our example. He made the gospel culturally relevant for the people of Athens. He understood their position on reality, the spiritual interests,he looked for common ground in their worldview, and challenged them to understand Christ!

The goal than is to make the gospel as relevant as possible while at the same time keeping high biblical content as as the source of truth. Note the Hughes Scale above, one would want to be in Quad B, if they are committed to being a church that is strongly committed to missional practices, high on culture and high on biblical content.

Practically this means
- We preach through books of the Bible as well as topics that relate to culture
- We dig theology and believe theological education should be taught more in the churches
- The people in our church look like and dress like everyday people, church will not be place where we polish up and come in our Sunday Best, we come to worship as sinful people in need of worship.
- We value culture, arts, music, business, economics, etc.
- We don't look at culture as the enemy rather the context in which we declare and demonstrate the gospel.

Church Purpose & Philosophy -Part 1

We are a church that holds to missionary posture not only for the world, but also for our city!

We function as missionaries to our communities and city, creating and cultivating faith communities in various sub cultures and people groups throughout the city. We are a missional church and people committed to the proclamation and incarnation of the gospel to and through culture.

We are a church that is re-positioning herself as the sent people of God, taking up apostolic-missionary roles within the body Christ, to equip believers and establish faith communities and churches.

•We hold to a missional identity: We see the church as the sent people of God to declare and demonstrate God’s righteousness for all peoples of the earth. We find continuity between the church and Israel, in their election and calling to serve as a light to the nations. We are the people continuing in the redemptive narrative of God’s people on earth.

• We apply missiological principles to our local community: We are not content in fulfilling the great commission in Mt. 28, by sending money to Africa, rather we will want to help start a church in an African Refugee community right in our own city. We commit to using similar terms, principles, and practices that are common to theology of missions, which is known as missiology.

• We embrace a missional theology: We believe that missional theology should be rooted to the Trinity. Mission is woven into the character and nature of God himself. Within the trinity, we see that God sent his son, (cf John 3:16). The Father and the son send the spirit, (cf. John 14, and Acts 2). Finally, we see that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit send us, his people, to proclaim the message of the kingdom.

Culture.Theology.Gospel: learn & live in culture

Many churches can be seen as a vendor, dispensing spiritual goods and services. Offering A better life, a better future, a better career path, and some really cool WWJD bracelets. For those of you who don't know our dorky jargon, WWJD means "What Would Jesus Do!"

A clearer picture of the church should be seen as a people not just a place where we dispense goods and services. This produces consumers not strong Christians. We are the sent people of God, people living on mission in our city within our culture, not above it or against it, but in it. With this paradigm, culture becomes critically important if Christians will have a lasting influence in our society.

This may surprise some of you, especially if you come from a fundamentalist church background. Culture is not evil. In fact, culture is made by God. By definition, Culture is a way of life of a group of people--the behaviors, beliefs, values, and symbols that they accept, generally without thinking about them, and that are passed along by communication and imitation from one generation to the next.

Through out the scriptures we see Jesus himself authenticating his deity with his words and works within the culture he lived in. Remember Jesus himself left heaven and came down to earth. He embraced the culture without comprising his character. In the incarnation, He was born of the virgin Mary, 100% God and 100% man. He lived in our world and walked among us! He preached in public places. He went to weddings, parties and peoples homes. He was to say the least culturally connected.

For Christians to gain influence we must pursue cultural relevance w/o compromising character nor to the gospel message. We need to be a people who learn and live in our culture. Expressing the gospel in and through it, so that the gospel is better understood by our hearers.

Here is an exercise to test your abilities in understanding culture. More importantly this may serve as exercise that you can repeat on other songs, movies etc.

Brett Dennen, singer song writer recorded the hit song "Ain't no reason: on his album,"So Much More" which has been ranked the number-one folk download on iTunes.

Watch the video and take notes. Answer the following questions. According to the song...

1. What is the condition of man?
2. What is the state of our world?
3. Who or what sets us free?

Culture & Theology Series: Green Day Video:

A few years ago when I was working in the Dallas area as youth pastor my ministry partner and I discovered that most of the teenagers we were working with got their values, opinions and even theology from the music they listened to. It wasn't mom or dad it was MTV.

I am curious how many adults do the same thing? Maybe MTV isn't your deal. But I bet If you are like myself you might find yourself repeating phrases or regurgitating ideas from a popular song or movie. Right? We love it when a song or movie captures a feeling we have and puts into a musical masterpiece. It connects with us.

Music is powerful. What's sad but true is that many times people will allow music to form their worldview or theological framework without even knowing it. Check out the hit song "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" from Green Day which was ranked as one of best singles of the decade according to Rolling Stone Magazine and was by far their most popular and successful song.



Here is what is true about this song. Our world has many broken dreams and life experiences. It is full of pain but not without promise. There is Hope. What's missing in the song, is hope and help that God offers. While there is pain Christians are promised by God that they will not escape it but be empowered to endure it. The Bible teaches that God is near to his children. God is present. God is active. He is intimately involved with his people in the person of the Holy Spirit, whom is said to be a counselor and constant helper.

While we constantly see the pain in our world we must remember that we are not alone. God is present. He is not dead. No matter the trial we face we must remember that GOD WALKS WITH US…IN THE MIDDLE OF PAIN.Rom. 8:38-39 Hebrews 2:18

Here are some principles for believers all over the world. There is assurance. We do not have to walk in this world alone.

• He is Present but doesn’t Pry - Psalms 139:7-12
• He is Available and He is Aware - Luke 12:7
• He is the Helper when we are Hurt - John 14

Recommended Resource: Inside Out by Larry Crabb

Life Series: Forgotten Picture of Marriage

Have you ever stopped to think of the purpose of Marriage? Or better yet do you know what the most powerful analogy/picture of marriage is? Or in other words do you know what your marriage was designed to reflect and look like?

It’s generally agreed among Christians today that marriage is designed for three purposes.

1.Procreation: In Genesis 1:28 the Lord tells Adam and Eve to fill the earth. This is a common theme and command to populate the earth, producing a Godly offspring throughout the scriptures.(Gn 9:1, Lv 26:9, Ps 127:5)

2.Pleasure: Although this more uncommon in ancient literature with exception of Songs of Songs, it is evident in the New Testament that marriage is designed to bring pleasure and comfort to one another both emotionally and spiritually. (I Cor 7:5).

3.Picture: We find a consistent analogy of marriage between a husband and wife in the Old Testament to reflect God’s relationship to Israel. In the New Testament we see that Marriages are to mirror, Christ’s love for the church. (Eph 5:25)

What’s amazing here is that our marriages are picture of God’s covenant love for his people! Just as God has love for the church (His Bride), So we husbands are to love our wives (our brides). Our marriages are then, powerful pictures to the world around us of God’s love and covenant commitment.

This is a life changing truth that should motivate us then

1.Avoid divorce at all costs, seeing that it would hinder and hurt the picture of God’s covenant love and damage our witness.

2.Embrace our duty in our marital relationship. Understanding that in marriage we are to reflect his image and represent a picture of God's faithful love to his church.

3.View marriage as a sacred pathway in growing closer to God. As married couples love each other they grow in their relationship with God and gain more influence in the world, serving God together and growing together.

Lean into your marriage! Cultivate it. It's a gift that is to be treasured and cherished. It's very design was to reflect God's love to a hurting world. It's your duty to strive towards reflecting a picture of God's love.

Recommended Resource: Sacred Marriage

Life Series: Two Kinds of Marriages

One night my wife and I were invited over to dinner by some friends. We had only been married a year or so. I will never forget the young married couple we met that night. They spoke all night long about how they never argued, never hurt each others feelings and always served each other above themselves.

They didn't have to say it, but they supposedly had the "Perfect Marriage!" "How could this be?" I thought to myself. "I am a Pastor and my wife and I fight like cats and dogs." I started getting sick to my stomach. It sounded like the Brady Bunch marriage on steroids! I wanted out!

What was going on? Leslie and were both committed to Christ but we had, what I thought a normal amount of conflict in our marriage. Didn't all marriages? We were and still are passionate people, with lots of opinions and both a decent amount of personal horse power!

We work hard to keep peace in our home, to love each other well and seek reconciliation when offenses are made. We did NOT and do NOT have the "Picture Perfect Marriage" to say the least. Our Marriage was and still is hard work. It is though, with out a shadow of doubt, the most rich and rewarding relationship I have on earth!

My father (A christian psychiatrist) always told me. "Son, there are only two kinds of marriages in this world. Hard marriages and bad marriages. The bad marriages are those that don't work at it. Anything of value takes hard work. The hard marriages are the good marriages! They work hard at loving God and each other and you can bank on it that these are the couples that will get a good reward in their relationship"

Wow, how true is that? Leslie and I have been married close to eight years. We do everything we can to work on our marriage, we are committed to each other, no matter what, in sickness and in health till death do we part. I meant what I said! Today, I am learning more and more to find joy in the hard work of marriage. I am seeing that the more I strive to love my wife, the more I grow in my relationship with God. He is for the permanency of marriage you know (Malachi 2:16)? He likes it when we obey and will reward us!(Hebrews 11:6).

I encourage any married couples to realize this simple truth, "Anything of value takes hard work." You don't find exceptional leaders that haven't paid the price for their excellence. Just ask anyone you know who is an exceptional leader, and you will discover they put in the hard work!

One day we all will stand before God and give account for our everything we did.(2 Cor 5:10) Yes, this includes your marriage! Did you work at it when things got tough? Or did you disobey God and quit? Let me encourage you friends, when it gets tough, dig in and remember anything of value take hard work!

oh yeah, the Brady Bunch couple later had to face their issues of denial, avoidance, and all other sorts of dysfunction in counseling. LoL.

Recommended Resource: Sacred Marriage