Impact News!  The

January 17, 2008 This issue contains…

1)  Impact Announcements2)   Traveler’s Notes from Pastor Lon 3)   BONUS: EPIC Worship Gatherings

ANNOUNCEMENTS Hold on, we’ve got several important announcements this week…  TOMORROW NIGHT!!! JUSTICE JAM ’08 ROCKS MONTREAL (JAN 18)DO NOT MISS this opportunity to serve God, help the oppressed, and witness for Christ in

  PRE-VALENTINES COUPLES STRIKE (FEB Who: Any couple at all
What: Bowling Night!
Where: Rose Bowl in NDG (6510 St Jacques, 514-482-7200)
When: Friday, Feb 8th at 7:30pm
Please RSVP to matthew.harms@gmail.com if you’d like to come…
FULL IMMERSION EVENT (FEB 9)We will have a baptism celebration for a few members of Impact who are following the Lord in believer’s baptism.  It will be at 9am at the McGill pool on Feb. 9. If you are interested in being baptized, please contact Pastor Lon immediately at lon@impactchurch.ca.   JAMBO!  TANZANIA MISSION TRIP OPPORTUNITY APRIL 29-MAY 14 Pastor Lon has been invited to come back to Tanzania to conduct storying clinics with

 BAGGAGE & BONDAGE WINTER RETREATCarrying around any baggage from your past?  We all are.  But in Jesus Christ, we can find freedom from the baggage and be liberated from the bondage that it creates in our lives.  This exciting spiritual weekend will take place in February at a nearby retreat location.  Time and place and cost will be announced at church this Sunday night.   Get ready to throw out the Samsonite and break out of the manacles!    SMALL GROUPSIf you’re not involved with a small group, start your year out right and get plugged in right now!  Here you can be a part of a supportive faith “family,” grow spiritually together, and serve others. If you want help getting plugged in, our small groups coordinator Sacha Bailey will help you do just that.  Contact her at sacha@impactchurch.ca.  WELCOME! WELCOME! WELCOME! That’s how people should feel when they visit our Impact Worship Services.  Every one of us need to be more aware of welcoming new people every week.  And having people there to open the door, give them a word of welcome or help them find a seat helps newcomers break the ice the when they come. Heck, whether we’re new- or old-comers we all love a smiling face and a handshake or hug, right?  It’s a simple ministry to do, and we need YOU to do it.  If you are willing to fill one of these roles, will you contact Esther this Sunday at Worship Service, or email her at esther@impactchurch.ca.  TRAVELER’S NOTESfrom Pastor Lon “An EPIC discussion” Wow, as expected, Sunday’s Baptism talk created quite a vigorous discussion!  We had so much discussion I didn’t get to answer several of the questions that I posed at the beginning of my talk!  (In the future, I plan to lay all this out in a paper).  If you come from a church background, all that discussion in church may have made you a bit nervous!  You should’ve been in my shoes! But the overwhelmingly majority of you told me that you enjoyed it and think it is cool that our church setting includes a lot of discussion and participation.  It keeps you interested, it helps you learn, and it builds community.   

I believe that participation is a real key to learning. It certainly is for an ADD riddled soul like me.  I heard renowned post-modern church author Leonard Sweet speak a few years ago on the four keys to authentic ministry/worship gatherings for young adults and students, and he, too, named participation as one of the real keys to post-modern ministry.  Dr. Sweet uses the acronym EPIC to describe these four keys.  EPIC stands for Experiential, Participatory, Image-Rich and Connected.  I’d like to know what you think about this?  Below, in the “Bonus” section, I have included an article on Sweet’s “EPIC” paradigm.  Perhaps we should think about some of these things as we go about the business of being Christ’s church.  If you’d like to participate in that discussion, let me know what you think.  I am all ears.   In Him,Pastor Lon BONUSEPIC Worship GatheringsCreating Worship Gatherings for the Emerging Church
by Josh ReichOne of the advantages of doing student ministry in a postmodern world is in the arena of worship. Never before has there been such a profound desire among students to experience the presence of God. Our difficulty lies in creating environments for that encounter to most likely to occur.I’ve been leading worship for student ministries for five years, and I believe this is the easiest time ever for leading worship in the church. Students are excited and searching for something that nothing else in their lives has filled. I’ve been involved in leading two high school ministries and one college ministry. All three used the same program format. Instead of the seeker service model of the modern church, the program was simple. The gathering started with 30-60 minutes of worship, followed by 30-60 minutes of teaching, followed by another 20 minutes of worship. All three of those ministries experienced incredible growth—one grew from 20 high school students to over 300 in a little over a year. The college ministry grew from 10 students to close to 2000 in three years.Differences between Modern and Emerging Worship GatheringsTo understand what worship gatherings need to be, we must understand what they used to be. When I was in high school, our high school ministry was a typical seeker-targeted service. We used secular songs, lots of dramas, a short talk that didn’t use the Bible or mention God (because we wanted to appeal to seekers and not make them uncomfortable), and a slim portion of worship. We’d use loud music when students arrived; sometimes each element of the service was connected, and other times it was haphazardly thrown together.Our services focused on the here and now, emphasized the individual, and used objective reason for all of the teaching. If we could set a list of facts in front of somebody and convince them that we have the truth, we felt we’d done everything in our power to convince students that we were correct and they needed to believe what we did.Over the years something happened. The landscape of student ministry has changed. Students are now more open to spirituality than previous generations. Some of the values of the emerging church are an emphasis on emotions, global outlook, a rise in the use of arts, and a rise in mysticism and spirituality.EPIC Worship GatheringsThis past year I read a book called Postmodern Pilgrims by Leonard Sweet. In this book, he uses the acronym EPIC, to describe worship that is Experiential, Participatory, Image Rich, and Connected.Church Should Be Like a Dance Club
While writing this I am on vacation in

It was participatory, because of what we did. There were people dancing, and you could sing along with the music played by the DJ and cover band.It was image rich, because of the sights of the bay and pier and video screens around the room with images of the band and people surfing and dancing.It was connected, because there were opportunities to sit and talk with other people and build community. You also felt connected to the people shown dancing on the screen. There was even a feeling of connection when everyone was singing as loud as we could with the band and the DJ.EPIC in Worship GatheringsExperiential
Experiential says “We’ve talked enough. Stop talking and just do it.” Bill Carroll defines experiential worship as “interactive, bringing ideas to life, and taking people to a place they’ve never been.” People need to feel something different when they walk into our gatherings and when they walk out. Louie Giglio said, “God is moving in fresh ways throughout the world. It’s the ‘wind of the Spirit’ Jesus refers to in John 3. The student culture seems more primed to be blown by that spiritual wind because they are not tied to forms, but more open to full-on mind, body, and spirit connection with Christ. There’s a hunger and a driving thirst for an experiential faith—one based in truth yet experienced on all levels of life.”At our gatherings, we use candles to set an atmosphere, and we use music to our advantage. The music we play when students are coming in helps to set a mood for the rest of the evening. Worship is a big part of our gatherings, and it’s not limited to music and corporate singing. Scripture and spiritual practices play a major role in our gatherings.We’ll do Scripture meditations quite often. Once we did a reading of the entire chapter of Genesis 1. I had all the students close their eyes, and before I started reading, I told them, “Imagine that you’re at the dawning of creation and how it might smell, what it may feel like, what it looks like, what it sounds like, and what are some tastes that you may experience.” Then I proceed to read Genesis 1.Scripture meditation can be done by reading the same Scripture repeatedly. It’s an incredible experience to have Scripture read over and over for you. Another way to bring varied types of worship into your gathering is to pray through the Psalms. I’ll read a line from a Psalm and tell students to pray silently whatever comes to their minds. After a time of silence I’ll read the next line, and they repeat the same activity.Or in the middle of a worship set we’ll have students complete a sentence out loud, such as “I love God because…” or “I want to thank God because….”As we first started experimenting with different strands of worship, we learned that Christian and non-Christian students are open to trying these things. Henry Blackaby said, “The common factor among many unrelated contemporary movements is people’s hunger ‘not to know more about God, but to experience God. Not to know more information, but to have a transformational personal encounter with God.’”One thing to keep in mind as you bring different experiential aspects into your worship gatherings is that it must be guided. Too often in churches, we just expect that people will know what to do. Pastors and other worship leaders will say things like, “We’re going to take a minute to pray,” and then just let people try to figure out what to pray. I try to err on the side of guiding too much; people shouldn’t feel lost at our gatherings.Participatory
Participatory says, “Count me in. I want to do this.” Leonard Sweet said, “Unless post-moderns can complete the sentence for themselves, or at least have the opportunity to hold the microphone themselves, worship will insufficiently help them create new realities for their lives.”Spiritual practices are especially good. Students are participating in our gatherings when we lead them through these practices.Likewise, students can participate when we speak. We encourage interaction during our talks. I’ll ask questions and have students turn to the person next to them and talk through the answers. Then I’ll ask for some feedback or ask a question and let students call out what they think. This can become tricky as your ministry grows, but it’s still possible to do with several hundred or even several thousand students. Teens have a desire to feel like they’re part of something, that they’re making a difference by being at our gatherings. They want to be a part of the discovery that we’re trying to bring them to by the end of our gatherings.Image-Rich
Image-rich says “You have to draw the picture for me. Let me see it for myself.”I can still remember the face of the first girl I had a crush on when I was in 6th grade. I can remember the smell of the grass at the first soccer game I played as a freshman in college. I remember the

Josh Reich is the Pastor of Middle School Ministries at

Impact News!  The

January 10, 2008 This issue contains…

1)  Impact Announcements 2)   Traveler’s Notes from Pastor Lon

ANNOUNCEMENTS

“IMPACT RETRO” SERVICE THIS WEEK (JAN. 13)Impact is going to have a little fun and get back to our roots a bit this Sunday night as we do our first ever “Retro Impact” service.  Be prepared for a more “coffee house” feel as we gather around small tables, sing some worship songs from years past by candlelight, have some great coffee, and a few other surprises.  This weeks topic is part two of John’s Baptism of Jesus.   JUSTICE JAM ’08 - JAN 18^TH Under the leadership of Jeremy Jackson and in conjunction with McGill Christian Fellowship, Impact Church is putting on Justice Jam ’08 January 18 at Saints Showbar at 30 St-Catherine Ouest. Doors open 8:30pm.  The event is a hip-hop and creative music concert to fight against human sexual trafficking.  Headlining band is Nomadic Mastiff. Tickets are $17 ($20 at the door).  The event will help raise awareness of this human injustice and Christian’s advocacy to end it. Proceeds will go to the International Justice Mission (ijf.ca), an international organization dedicated to fighting for social justice in Jesus name. For more info or tickets, go to justicejam.ca.  

BAGGAGE & BONDAGE WINTER RETREATCarrying around any baggage from your past?  We all are.  But in Jesus Christ, we can find freedom from the baggage and be liberated from the bondage that it creates in our lives.  This exciting spiritual weekend will take place in February at a nearby retreat location.  Time and place and cost will be announced soon.  Get ready to throw out the Samsonite and break out of the manacles!  

PARKINGWe would like to ask our congregation to reserve the parking in the rear of St. James for visitors and our families with children.  Thanks for your help and understanding in this issue.  

TRAVELER’S NOTESfrom Pastor Lon  Last week one thing we talked about in our service was the tendency of modern preaching and witnessing to skip the issue of judgment, sin, and hell.  We noted that it was the hallmark of the prophets, the Apostles, of John the Baptist, and of Jesus.  I came across a quote in an email this week that I wanted to share with you all.  It reminds me that this is not so much an issue with “modern preaching,” because it was written over 100 years ago by Charles Spurgeon, who is considered the greatest preacher of our modern times.  He once wrote: 

“It is absolutely necessary to the preaching of the gospel of Christ
that men be warned as to what will happen if they continue in their sins…
You are too delicate to tell the man that he is ill!  You hope to heal
the sick without their knowing it.  You therefore flatter them;
and what happens?  They laugh at you; they dance upon their
own graves.  At last they die!  Your delicacy is cruelty; your flatteries
are poisons; you are a murderer.  Shall we keep men in a fool’s paradise?
Shall we lull them into soft slumbers from which they will awake in Hell?”
- C.H. Spurgeon, bold mineWhen the “gospel” is presented without a clear presentation of the law, sin, judgment, and hell, the requisite repentance necessary for true conversion is rarely present.  The result then, can be “false converts” who think they are saved, but are not. Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but [only]the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.”  I don’t want to be any part of someone facing Jesus and hearing these words! Sorry this is heavy, but I am reminded this week that as a follower of Christ, it is not mine to pick and choose which parts of the Gospel that I like or think I should talk about. As a Jesus-disciple, I do what my Master did, and must model what I say on what He said.  That being the case, mentioning sin, judgment, and their solution: repentance and faith in Christ, are my only option.  It’s an issue of obedience to Christ, and also an issue of ethics.  If the dam of judgment is about to burst, I must warn the people in the valley below it!  And, as I said Sunday, we must all do this truth-telling in love, never in a judgmental way, because all of us are saved only by His grace!In Him,Lon