jroelive

I was elated when I read this on the Acts 29 Network’s news wire!

Please welcome Jeremy and Jill Rose, & The Axis Church in Nashville, TN into full membership.
The Axis’s heart is to become a Christ-centered community which exists for the glory of God and the good of the city by extending hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ

Jeremy’s prayer is:
I need wisdom and grace to persevere. I must continue to preach the gospel to myself—pray this for me. Pray for my time with the Lord, my kids and my wife. We need more funding—pray for this. Pray also for the future elders of The Axis.

This is such a clear example of God’s grace. We are so privileged to be a part of this wonderful group of like-minded churches. Please pray for us as we make disciples of Christ.

Grace and Shalom,
Jeremy

admin church planting Acts29, church planting, Prayer, The Axis Church

Hey!

Today has been a very “weighty” day for me—a day that has been somewhat somber. I am not totally sure why it has been this way. Perhaps it’s that some of The Axis Church friends and family are struggling and I am feeling that weight. Maybe it’s because God really worked in my heart earlier today. I guess it could be a combination of several things.

Whatever the reason for my heaviness of spirit, I do appreciate it because it has drawn me close to the words of God.

Here are a few personal things I am thinking through and working on from today…

This is a quote shared from Scott Thomas (Acts29 Network President) regarding church planting:

Work on creating a united gospel community on mission and focus on making disciples not building a church. If you focus on building a church, people will feel used. If you make disciples of those God has gathered together, they will multiply the disciples. Be a united gospel community on mission first.

This quote has been ringing in my ears for the past several weeks. I believe that what we at The Axis Church must be about is simply understanding the gospel together as a community, being on mission with the same vision/goals and then making disciples of Christ. The church will be fine and will grow, as God wants it to as long as we focus on these three things.

Of course there are several things that we must be concerned with but none nearly as important as these three—gospel, mission, disciples.

I see The Axis Church being a missional community that is theological conservative and culturally liberal. Meaning that we effectively engage an increasingly secular culture with the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. We must learn how to better take the gospel (that we ourselves are being changed by—daily) to the city of Nashville—rendering it renewed, transformed thus ultimately satisfied.

We must pray for God’s agenda for The Axis Church to become our agenda for The Axis Church.

On that, I have several things that I would like to see happen one day with The Axis Church.

• Host conferences
• Plant several other churches (10+)
• See our facility gather our community like a magnet via after school tutoring, venue for shows & concerts, etc.
• Perhaps start a business in Germantown that is open for community from 7pm-midnight
• I would like to write a few books
• Change the city of Nashville for Jesus
• Train up other pastors

These are just a few of the things that I am praying for The Axis Church to be able to accomplish. These are some of the things that I have been thinking today.

Today I have also been praying through these different things…

• Praying for Christ’s agenda to be my agenda—thus our agenda
• Praying for deacons
• Praying for elders/pastors to help care for the future converts
• Praying for community group concepts/ dreams to become a reality
• Praying that I would spend more time in God’s Word and in prayer with Him
• Praying for God to allow me to become a missiologist of Nashville—investigating the city then leading The Axis Church to mission in reaching the city. Basically that I would listen and listen well to the city of Nashville.
• Praying for more families to join us on mission
• Praying for help with the PowerPoint on Sundays  (creating and running)
• Praying for children volunteers (both male & female)
• Praying for a projector, screen & sound system
• Pray for those far from Christ to be brought near only by the sheer grace of God

Anyhow, I just wanted you to have a glimpse into my life today. Let’s pray together regarding these things. Would you?

Grace to you,
Pastor Jeremy

admin Christian Life, Missions, The Gospel, church planting Acts29, church planting, Jesus, Missions, Prayer, The Gospel, vision

I received this from Acts29’s Scott Thomas. This is very helpful to me–hopefully you as well.

Taken from Paul David Tripp, A Quest for More: Living for Something Bigger than You (New Growth Press, 2007), pp. 161-62

Forgiveness and the Big Kingdom
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you get it right.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you step out of your little kingdom and into His.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you say that the Bible’s description of you and everyone around you is accurate.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you declare that your life does not belong to you, but has been created for the purpose of the Author.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you say that selfishness is your biggest sin and that grace is your only hope.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you are reminding yourself who you are and what you truly need.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you refuse to be comfortable with your rebellion.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you recognize that the biggest problems you face in life exist inside of you, not outside of you.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you are praying that God’s kingdom would come and his will would be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you make the kingdom of God visible for others to see.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you are worshiping the King of forgiveness and encouraging others to do the same.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, your sight is accurate, your head is clear, and your heart is in the right place.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you cry out for an eternity when forgiveness has finished its work once and for all.
Every time you ask for forgiveness, you tell yourself that for all the good you have experienced in God’s kingdom, there is still more that is needed and more to come.
A lifestyle of forgiveness expands everything you are touching to the size of God’s kingdom.

admin Christian Life Acts29, Forgiveness, Jesus

How to Read the Bible
written by Ray Ortlund
There are two ways to read the Bible. We can read it as law and threat, or we can read it as promise and assurance.

If we read the Bible as law, every page will feel like God glaring at us: “If you ever . . . .” And since we are all law-breakers at heart, the Bible will crush us. Even the promises will come across as law: “God will bless sinners—well, the ones who deserve it.”

If we read the Bible as promise, every page will be hope from God. It will breathe new life into us. Even the commands will be sweetened with grace: “God will bless sinners—yes, sinners who break these laws.”
Which way of reading of the Bible is correct?

The apostle Paul explains: “The law, which came 430 years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. . . . God gave it to Abraham by a promise” (Gal 3:17-18).

Here is Paul’s point. If we want to know whether we should read the Bible through the lens of law or promise, we can start reading on page one and see which comes first. And in fact, promise comes first—God’s covenant with Abraham in Genesis 12. The law is a later sidebar, in Exodus 20. The category “promise” is the larger, wraparound framework for everything else.

The deepest message of the Bible is the grace of God for sinners. The Bible presents itself this way. The laws and commands and examples and warnings are all there. Let’s revere them. But we can read them with this as our foremost thought: “Jesus obeyed it all. He died for all my failure. And now he is changing my heart. I can read this page of the Bible with hope in his grace.”

Taken from theResurgence.com

admin Christian Life, Study Tools, The Gospel Acts29, Bible study, Ray Ortlund, The Gospel, Theology

Here is a great perspective from NON-Acts29 Network church planters who attended an Acts29 regional event. Read, enjoy.
Taken from TheUpStream Blog

This by Caleb on 08/18/09 at 9:02 pm

Today we attended the Acts 29 Midwest quarterly meeting. It’s basically a get-together of Acts 29 church planters, leaders, and other interested parties. The meeting took place at the Journey in St. Louis. We enjoyed reconnecting with Journey pastor Steve Miller- the last time we saw him he had to leave the Upstream Jet Set trip to Marsaille early due to a stomach bug. He’s better now.

We work with a lot of Acts 29 guys. In fact, we’ve got on on our board of directors- Kevin Jamison, pastor of the Oaks Community Church in Middletown, Ohio. We’ve always appreciated Acts 29 and their contribution to the ongoing conversation among leaders about the need for culturally appropriate expressions of the church. They have provided a sense of movement and identity for hundreds (thousands?) of church planters who would otherwise be on their own.

That said, this was our first official Acts 29 function. The short meeting was a “mini-conference” of sorts- with a message by Bob Thune of Coram Deo in Omaha and a live interview with “Your Jesus is Too Safe” author Jared Wilson. We went into the meeting with certain expectations. We wanted to connect with some of the planters/pastors. We wanted to catch up with friends. We wanted to check in with the Acts 29 network to see how things were going, and how involved Acts 29 churches were in international missions.

Some things that surprised us about the meeting:

* Not everyone was white and middle class. Call us ignorant, but most of our interaction with the network was with 30 yr. old white guys who grew up in the suburbs but moved into the city to plant a church. But in a roomful of Acts 29 planters, there were a handful of black, Korean, Chinese, and Filipino church planting teams.
* Women were present. Sure the network is a boys club, but there were several ladies in the room- planter’s wives, no doubt, but it was nice to see. Some might have us believe that Acts 29 would block them at the door.
* Hair: As much gray and as gelled spikey. Who knew that Acts 29 had anyone younger than Darrin Patrick?
* Despite being made up of young and innovative guys, a lot of what we heard was surprisingly modern and, well, traditional. It’s a wonder these guys ever get lumped in with the emerging church. We heard a lot of proposition, a lot of linear discussion, and quite a bit of “how-to.” Maybe an Acts 29 meeting in California wouldn’t be as modern.
* Lots of those in attendance weren’t actually part of the Acts 29 network. There were students, denominational representatives, Darrin Patrick fanboys, and at least a couple Driscoll wannabes.

As much as we were surprised, we also saw lots of what we expected to see at an Acts 29 meeting:

* A relentless focus on the gospel. Seriously, we heard countless references to the gospel- being “gospel centered,” “gospel focused,” and “gospel literate.” Acts 29 leaves no doubt in our minds that the gospel is the single most important thing to them.
* Lots of sports analogies. Acts 29 is a bit of a boys club, and they like to talk about “wins” and “home runs” and “moving the ball down the field.” Thune’s curriculum, “The Gospel-Centered Life” was referred to as a “playbook.”
* Macbooks, iPhones, and horn-rimmed glasses. The stereotype isn’t totally unfounded.
* No-nonsense, honest, straightforward communication. I get the feeling that nobody at an Acts 29 meeting is going to tell you everything’s okay unless it really is okay. They seem to practice a kind of radical honesty that is both refreshing and unnerving at the same time.
* Fun. Everyone there wanted to be there. They genuinely enjoyed being together, and we felt welcome.

We’d like to thank Acts 29, the Journey, and Lifepoint Ozark for letting us tag along. We’re fans of Acts 29, and we look forward to serving network churches however we can. Be sure to check out the Acts 29 website for more information.

admin The Gospel, church planting Acts29, church planting, The Gospel