Antioch Community Church Minneapolis

A huge piece of the survival story of the early church was a radical integration of property and resources. Without such, the church would have crumbled beneath the persecution and social alienation that came from being a religious minority in 1st-century Palestine.

While the threats to viability differ today in 21st-century America, the power that money has to fragment or integrate the church is just as profound.

Christian generosity is grounded in Jesus’ very real, very profound act of the unmerited giving of himself on the cross for a rebellious and broken humanity. This is true.

Nonetheless, in giving himself, he opened up his family to those who would put their faith in the risen Christ. Through Christ, we are adopted into this royal, missional family known as the Trinity.

Generosity is a familial trait

It is this familial bond which beckons the church to a radical integration of property and resources.

Consider the lengths to which you would go to provide for your brother, daughter, or mother in distress. For family, there are few things we would not gladly go into debt for. Because families are characterized by love (in a perfect world).

The Apostle John draws particular attention to this issue of need within the missional family of God, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 Jn 3:17).

For the sake of love for your brothers and sisters in the family of God, be generous towards them.

Generosity is also a missional achievement

It was a missional achievement of the Holy Spirit, “the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own” (Acts 4:32). Just as Christ prayed, “that they may be one, even as we [Father] are one” (Jn. 17:22), so the Holy Spirit brought it about.

It was also a missional achievement for the church. A shining moment in church history is recounted in Acts 2:45-47,

“they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.”

Who wouldn’t want to go to that church? This was a rarity, even in their context, to receive such generosity (let alone give it!). No group can easily say of itself, “there was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34).

Recently, this discussion came up in the community group my wife and I are a part of. One of the people there told us about a friend whose car had died and had no money to tow it, let alone get a replacement car. I was ecstatic to see that by the end of the night, our family (as we call ourselves) had forked up over $300 for this friend-of-a-friend. While meager by some standards, this is a perfect example of the role of money in the missional family of God.

by Jordan Mogck

—Andy O'Rourke

[Reposted from Jordan Mogck's blog, an ACC Community Group leader.]

1. Have storytime often

Tell the story of God. To help keep their attention, you could ask some of the kids to help act it out.

2. Sing a lot of songs

Don’t sing songs that have a lot of obscure words. If you don’t know what it means, neither will they.  Sing boisterously and make up motions!

3. Keep discussions brief

If including kids in discussion time, remember that their attention span is about as many minutes as their age (plus or minus 2).

4. Eat

Everyone needs it…might as well do it together!

5. Rotate time with the kids

Kids don’t always have to be part of every group activity. They may/should have time just playing together. Have a rotation of adults to play with them so that adults (other than the parents) get a chance to get to know the kids in the group and vice versa.

6. Serve in the neighborhood

Kids are great at breaking social norms and always eager to get dirty. Find creative ways for harnessing those traits outside your normal meeting place. Clean a nearby park, help an elderly neighbor garden, throw a barbeque or bonfire for families. Let them do their thing.

7. Learn

The tendency of ‘grown up’ groups is to think that doing kid-appropriate things is somehow less spiritual. If done regularly, many will leave feeling unsatisfied. Combat such a mentality by holding kids up as examples of what we need to be to enter the kingdom of God (Jesus did; cf Matthew 18:3).

—Coley Bloomquist

Every family has rhythms. The family of God — Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and Church – have rhythms no less. The family rhythms below are practices which flow out of who we are as members of the family of God.

In large measure, these are adaptations from the Gospel Rhythms of Soma Communities, that I have found to be great practices to put to life in our Community Group. Enjoy and be family!

Eat| part 1

Celebrate| part 2

Storying| part 3

Listen| part 4

Bless| part 5

Expand| part 6

[from the familia Dei blog by our own Jordan Mogck]

—Coley Bloomquist

Pillsbury Carnival + Antioch = <3 from Relive Films.

—Jon Waataja

This is eye opening. As we celebrate Holy Week, remember the sacrifice by Christ on our behalf.
http://www.marshillchurch.org/v/krb6h4evc3iz

—Andy O'Rourke

*re-post from the Resurgence…

Find your idols

Idols are sneaky. They tip toe past our brains, set up shop in a corner of our heart, and begin to grow. Most of the time we don’t even notice because we’ve fallen in love with the idol—it’s become part of what drives us and makes us (momentarily) happy.

11 diagnostic questions that David Powlison asks to find people’s idols.

Here are the questions:

1. What do I worry about most?
2. What, if I failed or lost it, would cause me to feel that I did not even want to live?
3. What do I use to comfort myself when things go bad or get difficult?
4. What do I do to cope? What are my release valves? What do I do to feel better?
5. What preoccupies me? What do I daydream about?
6. What makes me feel the most self-worth? Of what am I the proudest? For what do I want to be known?
7. What do I lead with in conversations?
8. Early on what do I want to make sure that people know about me?
9. What prayer, unanswered, would make me seriously think about turning away from God?
10. What do I really want and expect out of life? What would really make me happy?
11. What is my hope for the future?

—Andy O'Rourke

Fight Club 2011 is a one-day conference in Minneapolis on April 30, 2011 that exists to challenge men of all ages to fight for radical gospel transformation in their lives.

This year’s theme is “Men on Mission,” and our main speaker will be Pastor Eric Mason from Epiphany Fellowship, an Acts 29 church in Philadelphia, PA. Also speaking are local pastors Steve Treichler from Hope Community Church and Andy O’Rourke from Antioch Community Church.

Join other men for a day of solid teaching, worship, community, bonding, and more. Brought to you by the Acts 29 Network, Antioch Community Church, and Hope Community Church.

Check out www.fightclubmn.com  for more info and to register (Registration is $35 before April 15, $40 after). See you there!

—Andy O'Rourke

There are a lot of ideas out there today about what it means to live “a good life.”  The Old Testament book of Proverbs argues a truly “good life” is one lived with God at the center.  Proverbs 1:7 says it this way: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”  There are two basic paths one can travel in life: the way of wisdom or the way of foolishness.  Join us as we explore over the next weeks what it looks like to possess a life that is truly wise.  Some of the topics from Proverbs we’ll cover include: Wisdom, Money, Work, Sexual Purity, Friendship, Planning, Being a Godly Woman, Marriage, Parenting, The Heart, and Responding to Correction.

—Andy O'Rourke

Yesterday at Antioch we finished our series through Paul’s letter to the Galatians.  The book concludes (6:11-18) with a final appeal to adopt a life centered in the gospel of Jesus Christ rather than mere religious legalism.  Here’s some characteristics from each potential way of living…

What does a “Religion-centered Life” look like?

1)  A concern for external standards that is fueled by pride.

2)  A love for comfort and ease rather than hardship that comes from embracing the cross of Christ.

3)  A selfish passion to recruit other people to deadly legalism.

4)  A failure to abide by the religious rules which you yourself create.

What does a “Gospel-centered Life” look like?

1)   A desire to boast only in the cross of Jesus Christ.

2)  A death to the ways of the world through union with Jesus, the crucified one.

3)  A concern for internal gospel transformation rather than external regulations.

4)  An experience of true peace, mercy, and grace in all of life.

5)  A life marked by the signature of Jesus.

—Andy O'Rourke

Growing up in a little southern Baptist church in the foothills of the Appalachians, my sermon diet consisted of hell fire and brimstone and plenty of references to tithing with the right intentions. It wasn’t until college that I realized the opposite side of the giving pendulum was possible. As a sophomore in college I began to feel the money crunch begin. By that time my parents were far away and I was living the peanut butter sandwich days that make great stories of sacrifice and perseverance for your kids later on. As a junior in college I came out of the world of undeclared majors and excitedly began my studies in missions. Needless to say, this was my first time being on the requesting side of the offering plate. Class after class I began to see how scary, difficult, yet detrimental giving was to the body of believers and the kingdom. As a senior I was faced with the challenge of living what I declared as truth in my papers and exams when I joined a small committee of mission-minded people whose purpose was to convince other ramen-eating, entertainment-minded peers the worship and purpose of giving to the kingdom. Now as an adult with a grown-up job and bills to match, I have come to realize the importance of church-family supportive giving.

Those are life experiences. Now here’s my doctrine (please stay with me on this one). Deep down I don’t fully believe that God is sovereign in ownership, that my worship and heart are tied to and expressed by my money, and that increased wealth is an opportunity to increase my giving and not my standard of living. If I did, my spending would be different. As it stands, my life is a disconnect between my belief and my actions. I can tell I believe it a little because I have excels and graphs galore that show my financial Utopia of balance and savings. I’ve also been a model 10% giver from an early age (when you have a southern Baptist preacher staring down at you as the plate goes around you better believe I was a giver). It’s the actual acts of expenditures and choices that shows my true idea of Who I’m worshiping and what I am willing to worship with.

I’ll admit, when Pastor Andy began preaching on tithing I sat back and gave a pretty big sigh. Finally, something I’m doing right! I don’t have to worry about conviction on this point. I’ve given my allotted amount and can sit back and relax. A pretty hypocritical thought coming from the girl who used to stare down college students every Friday during chapel in an effort to convey the importance of giving more than you think you can.  Needless to say, after a few sermons from Pastor Andy and a couple more self-inflicted stewardship sermons from Pastor Mark Driscoll, I got over the idea that I was safe on this topic. So, here’s my thought based off of those sermons and the truth I find in scripture. If I truly believe that it’s not my money and that even the smallest action based on that thought is an act of ripping God off (Malachi 3:8-10), I would be living a lot differently. Now here’s the kicker; If I really wanted to lay down all my pretenses of viewing the church, my church, as a hotel rather than a home I would do everything I could to take care of it. I would invest in my home, take care of it, try to save in other areas so I could help maintain it. I would begin to view that 10% as a floor to work off of rather than a restricting ceiling.

It would change my lifestyle in ways that I can’t even imagine. You know what that means? Creativity! Do you realize how creative Christianity can be? I have limited myself far too long to the mundane weekly coffee drink rather than the opportunity to increase my giving.

All right, back to my college days.  Remember that group I mentioned before? The mission zealots who stare down broke college students? Well we had the epiphany that maybe we just needed to show by example how even ramen-eating, thrift store shopping college students can free up some cash to give to missions. Funny we didn’t pick up on the Jesus-like example before, but oh well. Then the fun began. Each of us thought through something we could give up for a month in order to give more to missions. One person gave up pop, someone else coffee, another person upped the ante and decided to hand-wash all her clothes in an effort to save on laundry-mats.

I’m an adult now with all the wisdom and privileges associated with that so why am I not as creative in my saving? I love this church. I’m not kidding when I tell you I absolutely love this church. That love inspires me to see it survive and grow and become all that it can be: all that God has planned for it to be. So, dear reader, here is what I am going to do about it. I’m going to start truly believing and truly living that I am a steward, that this church is my home, and that I can do more. I can create a budget that consists of more than a spreadsheet (FYI Mint.com is amazing by the way) and actually make it a lifestyle. I can stick to that budget, not in a legalistic sense, but with the knowledge that there is something better than one cup of coffee or those new boots I like (sorry guys, but the manly analogies are going to be lacking in this paragraph). I can brainstorm with other people, make sure those close to me keep me accountable. I can live as if I believe the scriptures!

God is so worth the effort and the sacrifice, and this church is not my Holiday Inn Express. I plan on sticking around for a while and that means investment. So, let the brainstorming begin. Thanks for reading to the end. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some budgeting to do.

–Lydia O’Brien

Lydia is a member of ACC and serves in a variety of behind the scenes capacities, and we greatly appreciate her. Thanks for sharing, Lydia!

—Coley Bloomquist

A couple weeks ago at Antioch we explored the topic of “fasting” from Matthew 6:16-18.  Fasting is a neglected spiritual discipline among many followers of Jesus, including myself. In his book Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Donald Whitney defines fasting as “…a Christian’s voluntary abstinence from food for spiritual purposes.” In the Bible, fasting is almost always connected with prayer.  Some potential occasions or purposes for fasting may include:

1) A weapon in the spiritual battle against sin

2) A regular health check-up for your soul

3) To pursue a greater hunger to know God and delight in him

4) To express repentance and return to God

5) For strength and perseverance in the midst of a trial, hardship, or crisis

6) To aid in the frequency and fervency of a specific prayer need

7) To advance God’s gospel and kingdom purposes

8) For guidance for a specific decision, task, or direction

This year as a church family we are setting aside the FIRST TUESDAY each month for a voluntary “Antioch Day of Prayer and Fasting.”  Among other areas one might pray for personally during those first Tuesdays, I challenged us to spend time in focused prayer concerning three specific areas:

1) Pray for significant gospel transformation in the lives of Antioch people.

2) Pray for tangible demonstrations of the gospel of Jesus in our city.

3) Pray for new people to become followers of Jesus and kingdom workers for the gospel.

I encourage you to join with us in crying out to the Lord through prayer and fasting this year!  Whether it is for one meal or the entire day, let’s fast and pray together, expecting God to answer in great ways for his glory and our joy.

—Andy O'Rourke

Yesterday at church, we had a great time of worship led by one of our fantastic worship leaders. The first song we sang was “Blessed” by Darlene Zschech and Reuben Morgan. It starts like this:

Blessed are those who dwell in your house
They are ever praising you
Blessed are those whose strength is in You
Whose hearts are set on our God

We will go from strength to strength
Until we see you face to face

That last line struck me when I realized I wasn’t sure what I was singing. What does “strength to strength” mean? I began searching my handy ESV study bible and found that the lyrics to this song are taken from Psalm 84, which is about the people of Israel going to the temple to worship the Lord. You should really read the whole thing for yourself, but the key verses are four through seven:

Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah
Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.

As the Israelites are on this journey to the temple, the Lord gives them more and more strength so they can come and worship him. I wanted to see where else this kind of language showed up in Scripture, so I followed the cross references to 2 Corinthians 3:18:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

I’ll be honest, at first I didn’t really see the connection, but both of these passages are about the process of coming to Christ. We don’t just get transformed once in our lives, but we are “being transformed” while we see the glory of the Lord. Through our lives, as we look to Jesus, we start to look more and more like him in increasing degrees of glory. Being a Christian is not just about saying a prayer once, but about becoming more like Jesus. Yes, we need to come to Christ and be forgiven of our sins once and for all, but the process of living out our new lives takes, well, a lifetime.

The Israelites couldn’t store up enough strength for the trip to Jerusalem before they left; they needed to keep getting renewed along the way. In the same way, we cannot try to live the Christian life on “stored strength”, but on the ever increasing strength that Christ provides along the way. So if you’re feeling weak or like the journey is just too hard, look to Jesus. Someday we will worship Him face to face, but until then let Him transform you and He will give you strength upon strength to keep going.

—Coley Bloomquist

We are currently going through Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount on Sunday mornings at Antioch.  A couple weeks ago I preached a sermon from Matthew 5:27-30 entitled “Fighting for Purity.”  In the message, I mentioned a list of verses that have been helpful to me personally on various aspects of purity.  Here you go!

Thought (Philippians 4:8; Titus 1:15; 2 Corinthians 10:5)

Heart (Proverbs 4:23; Luke 6:45; Matthew 9:4)

Body (2 Timothy 2:22; 1 Thessalonians 4:3,7; 1 Corinthians 6:13; 6:18-20; Galatians 5:24; Romans 13:14)

Actions (2 Corinthians 10:31; 1 Timothy 4:12; Colossians 3:17)

Speech (Ephesians 4:29; Ephesians 5:4; Matthew 12:36-37)

Sight (Matthew 5:27-28; Matthew 6:22; Job 31:1)

—Andy O'Rourke

In the 1999 cut-classic movie Fight Club, the first rule was “don’t talk about fight club?”  Antioch Community recently hosted a one-day men’s conference entitled “Fight Club 2010″ (www.fightclubmn.com).  This was an event designed to inspire and equip men to fight for gospel transformation in their lives.  The world needs strong men who love Jesus, hate sin, live out the gospel, love their families, love the church, and make an impact for the kingdom of God.  We want men to talk about Fight Club 2010!  Check out the messages here.  Here’s what some attendees had to say about the event on May 1st…

“…it really resonated with where I’m at right now in my life.”

“…a definite yes to coming next year.”

“I would definitely come again next year.  I could see this conference growing and becoming something that God will use in the lives of many men to spur them on to something greater than themselves.”

“This event has changed my life for Christ.  I am on fire to know him more and this event really got it going for me.”

“I thought all of the speakers did an amazing job, and I also really enjoyed the music parts of the program as well!”

“I needed to hear a straight forward message that did not sugar-coat anything.”

“The highlights for me were getting to know some of the guys from my church more… it really resonated with where I’m at right now in my life.”

“I enjoyed getting to know other men from my church that I otherwise wouldn’t have.  The worship was great and the speakers had awesome
messages.”

“Extremely relevant. I do not think the speakers could have done anything better. Each speaker presented their topic well, and each topic was right on target for the men in our culture.”

We’re looking forward to Fight Club 2011!!

—Andy O'Rourke

We’re beginning a new sermon series this Sunday (April 11th) on Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew 5-7.  The focus will be on what it looks like to live out the gospel of the kingdom as the community of God’s people. When the community of Jesus’ followers live out the gospel in the context of the world the kingdom of God is made tangible.  I’m reading through a great book that talks about these things.  I highly recommend Tangible Kingdom to anyone interested in living incarnationally as a disciple of Jesus in our messed up world.  Also check out the website: www.tangiblekingdom.com.

—Andy O'Rourke

In February Andy preached through the book of Jonah entitled “Jonah: God’s Heart for the Lost”. You can hear his sermons by downloading the podcast.

We had a fun chance to incorporate multiple forms of creative worship in this series. One of our attendees Brett is skilled with computer graphics and created a 30 second video to introduce each sermon. You can see the video below. One part humor, one part summary, the video got a great response from the congregation, and was a great expression of worship for him to create.

Jonah Series Intro Video from Antioch Community on Vimeo.

Another young woman Kristina has a wonderful ability to memorize and recite Scripture. During the four-week series, she recited one more chapter than the week before. The last week she recited all four chapters. It was an inspiring and humbling realization that the rest us need to put a higher priority on memorizing Scripture.  Our Community Groups are memorizing verses together, and we are excited to get other people involved in the memorization and proclamation of Scripture.

—Coley Bloomquist

Registration is now open!!  Go to www.fightclubmn.com to reserve your spot for this upcoming men’s event.  The cost for the day is only $25.

Fight Club 2010: Minneapolis is a one-day Acts 29 Network regional conference in Minneapolis, MN that exists to rally and challenge men of all ages to fight for radical gospel transformation in their lives. This event will feature both local and national speakers. We pray that God will use Fight Club 2010 to help raise up a generation of men who will make a massive impact in the world for Jesus and his kingdom.  Register now and join us from 9am – 5pm on May 1st!

—Andy O'Rourke

Here’s a short video about “wise stewardship” that a couple guys from Antioch put together.  Check it out!

—Andy O'Rourke

There are a couple excellent books by Randy Alcorn that I’m using during preparation for our current preaching series at Antioch entitled “God, Stewardship, & Giving.”  The first book is The Treasure Principle.  This is a great introduction to an eternal perspective on money and possessions.  It’s very practical and best of all, very short!  Our Community Groups are going through this book in conjunction with Sunday’s sermons.  The second resource from Alcorn that I would highly recommend is called Money, Possessions, and Eternity. This is a longer, more thorough treatment of the topic.  It goes into great detail regarding many of the questions one might have.  Also, Alcorn does a great job interacting with key biblical passages.

—Andy O'Rourke

By now everyone has seen the disaster left behind by the devastating earthquake in Haiti.  With hundreds of thousands of survivors in desperate need of help, many are asking “who will help the church?”  This tragedy is an opportunity for the church of Jesus Christ to shine and for the gospel to have a tremendous impact!

Mark Driscoll (Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church, Seattle) and James MacDonald (Senior Pastor of Harvest Bible Chapel, Chicago area) recently launched a non-profit organization named “Churches Helping Churches” to come to the aid of the Church in Haiti.  The global body of Christ has a responsibility to live out the Apostle Paul’s words from Galatians 6:10: “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

Visit www.churcheshelpingchurches.com for more information on this new organization and how you can give to the cause of Christ in Haiti.

—Andy O'Rourke

Tonight I’m sharing with the launch team of a nearby church plant.  They asked me to talk about pitfalls, things to avoid, and lessons learned in the last two churches that I’ve helped to start.  It’s been interesting to reflect upon this.  Even though I haven’t been in the game that long, 8 years of church planting has given me plenty of mistakes to learn from!  Surely the list could be longer, but here are some lessons I’ve learned from the church planting battle…

1) Work at raising up leaders from the start, especially Elders. Church planting is exhausting, back-breaking work.  You’re initial servants and leaders will grow tired eventually.  If you don’t have some sort of process to identify, develop, and deploy new leaders it will come back to bite you.  Four or five years into the church plant, you’ll realize that you have a leadership vacuum and you’ll be in big trouble.  Elders are the most important leaders to raise up.  These are the godly, qualified men that God has designed to spiritually shepherd his people (cf. 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1).

2) Plan to multiply or you won’t. This is true on the level of small groups or church planting.  Most churches that don’t plant in the first 5 years of their existence never will.  You must have a strategy for reproducing even before you think you’re ready to expand.

3) Deal with sin, conflict, and relational issues as soon as possible in a biblical and Christlike manner. Sweeping hard issues under the rug doesn’t work.  They tend to fester and grow there, and eventually emerge as ravenous beasts in the church.  As hard as it can be to tackle things head-on as a leader, this is far better than ignoring issues are putting them off.  The health of Christ’s church is at stake.  Unresolved issues can kill a young church.

4) “Success” in ministry is less from the right models, strategies, and tactics and more due to prayer, the power of God’s word, and the work of the Holy Spirit. Planning and forms are not bad, but there is just no substitute for the spiritual resources God has given his people.

5) When it comes to programs and ministries, less is more. Especially in the first years of a new church (if ever!), you cannot be all things to all people.  Too many programs will spread you thin, drain the energy of your people, and distract a church from the mission of reaching lost people with the gospel.  A young church should do a few things and do them well.  Leave the programmatic smorgasbord to the big box churches.  Your best commodity is relationships.

6) You must be both internally and externally focused. This balance must be tenaciously fought for.  Outreach to lost people must flow out of authentic community where the gospel is being lived out and proclaimed.  On the one hand, you must avoid becoming an ingrown Christian club.  On the other hand, you must avoid becoming so focused exclusively on outreach that the people already in the church shrivel up and die on the vine.

—Andy O'Rourke

This weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving with a Sunday evening service of worship and sharing what the Lord has done this year. Many people had stories of God’s faithfulness and provision, and it was a great time of worship together. Here are some of the things we as a church are thankful for in the past year:

1. A new attender at Antioch recently prayed to follow Jesus as her Lord and Savior!
2. Many new people have become committed and connected to ACC over the last few months
3. A successful 1st annual ACC Fall Retreat at Camp Shamineau
4. Recent growing and strengthening of our 6 Community Groups this fall
5. Celebrating our 1st year of public services
6. A great working relationship with our rental facility, the Ukrainian Event Center
7. Opportunities to show the love of Christ to the NE Mpls community

This is just a small taste of the amazing things that have happened this year. We look forward to another awesome year of serving the Lord in NE Minneapolis.

—Coley Bloomquist

In conjunction with our fall sermon series (”Transformed by the Cross”), I’m reading an excellent book by Mark Driscoll entitled, Death by Love: Letters from the Cross. In chapter 4, Driscoll unpacks the essence of “religion.”

1)     Religion says that God will not love me until I obey his rules enough to earn his love.

2)     Religion says that the world is filled with good people and bad people.

3)     Religion is about what you do.

4)     Religion is about getting from God.

5)     Religion sees hardship as unloving punishment rather than sanctifying discipline.

6)     Religion is about you.

7)     Religion focuses almost entirely on the external, visible life of a person and overlooks the internal, invisible life of the heart where motives lie. How one appears on the outside before people is far more important to the religious person than how one appears on the inside before God.

8)     Because religion is about what we do, the end result is that we lack assurance regarding our standing before God.

9)     Religion simply does not work, because it results in either pride or despair depending on if we think we have done well or poorly in earning our salvation through moral conduct and religious devotion.

10)   Religion pursues righteousness through self-righteous means.

Living a good religious life is very different from living a life that is empowered by the gospel.  Religion has never and will never save anyone, only Jesus does.  The gospel is about living in the reality of what Jesus DID, not what we DO.

—Andy O'Rourke

Summer is a short season in Minnesota!   It’s a season where our regular routines are disrupted a bit.  Schools are on break, vacations are in full swing, people are getting married, and my personal favorite…the fishing is great.  The detours in our routine provide an excellent opportunity to step back and evaluate our relationship with God.  How’s our heart?  Where are our priorities?  Are we growing in love for Jesus?  Are we following hard after God?  The book of Psalms is a great place to bring these vital questions.

We’re in a summer preaching series at Antioch entitled, “Psalms: Cultivating a Heart for God.”  I invite you to join with us as we climb to greater heights in knowing God.  We long to be a people after God’s heart.  With each step of the climb, the view becomes more and more incredible.

—Andy O'Rourke

“Strong.  Army Strong.”  That’s the latest tagline for the U.S. Army.  You’ve probably seen it in a recent advertisement.  At Antioch Community Church we’re also committed to raising up an army.  We envision an army of young men and women who are bold, courageous, trained, equipped, humble, and sold out to King Jesus.  These soldiers are “Jesus Strong.”  We want to raise up leaders that are armed for a spiritual war and will do serious damage in this world for the kingdom of God.

My personal passion involves raising up and developing young men for leadership.  If you want to win a war you need good men, and you need a lot of them.  One of the great leaders of the Old Testament is a man named Joshua.  In Joshua 1:1-9, the Lord gives instructions to Joshua (Moses’ successor) on how to be successful in Israel’s conquest of the land of Canaan.  These instructions involve Joshua’s character as a leader and his dependance upon God.

What sort of leader was Joshua to be?  God tells him to be a man of action.  He was to “arise” and “go.”  Joshua was also to be a man of strength.  Three times he is commanded to “be strong!”  Israel’s leader was to be a man of courage.  He was not to be “dismayed” or be “afraid.”  Joshua was to be a man of God’s word.  This involved speaking the truth, meditating on the truth, and living out the truth.  God made this clear in 1:8 where he says, “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.  For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”  Finally, Joshua was commanded to be a leader who is assured of God’s continued presence.  This was the bottom line.  The Lord’s mighty presence in the mission was the guarantee for success.

We need more men like Joshua today.  Young men who are “Jesus strong” and willing to attempt bold and courageous things for God.  Men who will take risks for the mission of spreading the gospel among lost people.  Men of character who are devoted to the advancement of God’s kingdom.  Men who are willing to go to war for the fame of Jesus’ name.

God, raise up an army of young men like that.

—Andy O'Rourke

Last weekend I had the chance to speak to a group of women in leadership at an E. Free Church here in the cities. We had everyone from the 79 year old woman who has been serving her entire life, and still has more fire in her than some of my own peers, to the 27 year old who recently took on a position of leadership for the first time. The only similarities among them were that they all loved Jesus and they all had a heart to serve the women around them.

I was invited to come and talk to them about mentoring. To be honest, I didn’t really know what I could tell these women that they didn’t already know. When I first arrived, I asked the leader of the event how old the youngest attender was. Come to find out, I was the youngest one there! I really was the odd one out when it came to life experience and history in ministry. But truth is truth regardless of how old the voice, right? Whatever else, I wanted these women to feel encouraged and leave with a renewed perspective of why they do what they do.

The biggest thing we discussed was what redefining our idea of mentoring. Most people have a top-down model in their heads. A person seeking mentoring has little experience and wants to become a better person, so they seek out a mentor who is older, wiser, and has time to focus on them and their issues. This idea is rather rigid and really self-centered, if you think about it. Visually, this looks like two people sitting across from one another at a coffee shop having a conversation about life. This is not a bad thing, but mentoring is about so much more than just coffee and conversation.

The alternative is a constellation of mentors (stealing vocabulary from Cadre Ministries…thanks guys!), where I am being poured into by mentors but I am also pouring into the lives of others around me (peers) and following me (disciples). In order to pour into someone’s life (or put more accurately, to overflow into someone’s life) we must be a part of their life. Not just sitting at coffee shops, but working, serving, playing together. This is so much more how Jesus did it–he took his disciples everywhere! They watched him lead, teach, care, and rebuke. Then he sent them out to try it themselves.

If every believer was overflowing what the Lord was doing in their life, truly sharing life, with those around them, the kingdom of hell would have a lot more to fear.

Whenever I hear “constellation” I think of Daniel 12:3 which, speaking of the last days when the dead will rise, says, “And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.” The light of millions of stars could shine Jesus into the darkest crevices of people’s hearts.

Mentoring is not for the purpose of making individual people stronger, smarter, or feel better about themselves. It is about building them up to build up the Kingdom of God. The Church is not a school, or a philosophical idea in which we help students iron out the rough spots in their thinking; it is a place where we ought to be equipping warriors with the weapons they need for the battle! This spiritual life is a battle, and not one of us can fight it alone. We need as many warriors as there are stars in the universe!

Whenever I start to wonder if this is all worth it–all the time put into an individual who walks away, all the energy put into developing a group that ends up turning on you–I remember that this is what Christ has called us for and has promised to be with us to the end. “Go and Make Disciples.” Until He returns I can do no less.

Coley Bloomquist
Women’s Mobilizer, ACC

—Coley Bloomquist

Finally, the countdown is over.  We’ve officially launched as a new church!  This past Sunday, October 19th, was our first public worship service as Antioch Community Church.  It was a great time of celebration together as we marveled at God’s faithfulness.  Our first worship service is the culmination of a two year personal journey, and it’s also the beginning of an exciting journey into the months and years ahead.  Thank you to everyone who has been praying for this new church in NE Minneapolis.  We are very grateful for your partnership in Jesus’ kingdom work.  Keep praying!  There is much work to be done for the gospel.

—Andy O'Rourke

I recently attended a lecture at Northwestern College given by Mark Driscoll on the topic, “Christ and the Media.”  Driscoll pastors Mars Hill Church (www.marshillchurch.org) in Seattle, Washington and is the co-founder of the Acts 29 church planting network (www.acts29network.org).  Mars Hill Church is currently blazing a path among evangelical, missional churches who desire to engage people with the gospel by utilizing technology in creative ways.  In his lecture, Driscoll ironically pointed out that every church today uses the media in some fashion.  He said it’s not a question of “will we use the media?,” but rather, “what year will we be implementing?”  Cultural relevancy is never an end in itself.  Media should always serve the purpose of creatively and effectively expanding the gospel to as many people as possible (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:19-23). 

One of our core values at Antioch Community is “creativity.”  By God’s grace, we work to creatively engage young adults in our ever-changing cultural context with the unchanging message of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  How can we at Antioch Community Church better utilize technology and media in order to have a greater impact for the kingdom?  I don’t exactly know the answer, but I’m excited to embark on a journey toward finding it.  In our tech-savy culture the massive God-shaped hole in the human heart remains the same as it ever has.  We’ve been created to worship our Creator, and in the words of the ancient church father Augustine, “our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”  If technological relevancy can lead to a great impact for the gospel, then bring it on.  If you resonate with this, then join us on the journey.

—Andy O'Rourke

Our mission at Antioch Community Church is to “ignite a movement of the gospel.”  Recently, our Core Team from ACC had the privilege to interact with a leader from one of the largest church planting movements in South Asia.  Since 1972, nearly 7,000 churches have been planted in one of the most unreached areas of the globe.  Here are some insights on the subject of church planting movements…

Common Elements of Church Planting Movements

1) Presence of committed and visionary leadership

2) Abundant and intelligent preaching of the gospel

3) Strong presence of prayer

4) High level of trust in God

5) Intense commitment to suffer for the gospel

6) Continuous and intentional training of leaders (apprentice model)

7) Focused on planting reproducing churches

8) Contextualization of the gospel

9) Utilizes indigenous people to reach their own people groups

10) Intense focus on Scripture

11) Presence of signs and wonders

Elements that KILL Church Planting Movements

1) Perception of foreign (non-native or outside) control

2) Extra-biblical requirements placed on followers of Christ

3) Loss of cultural identity

4) Loss of moral standards

5) Too much administration…or a lack of administration

6) Lack of resources

7) Lack of stabilizing elements

—Andy O'Rourke

We’ve finalized our “core values” for Antioch Community Church!  These are the things we are deeply passionate about and unswervingly committed to.  Check ‘em out!…

Truth

We believe Jesus Christ is the supreme embodiment of Truth.  He is the way, the truth, and the life.  All things find their ultimate meaning and purpose in Him.  We also believe the Bible is God’s written, authoritative, and completely true revelation to His creation.  We are passionate about being transformed by God as we grow in love, zeal, knowledge, and obedience to the truth He has revealed. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Hebrews 4:12; 1 Timothy 3:15; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

Pursuing God

God is the center of everything we do.  We seek to glorify Him as we live out our lives as an expression of worship.  We acknowledge our complete dependence upon God and strive to be people of faith and prayer.  We pursue an active, growing, obedient, and abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 10:31; Romans 12:1-2; Colossians 4:2; Ephesians 6:18-20; John 15:1-8)

Organic Community

God exists as a community of three in one, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God’s people are called to live as a relational community expressing diversity within unity.  We strive to cultivate loving, authentic relationships that are centered in Jesus Christ.  Our goal is to be an active, healthy, growing, and life-giving organic community that reflects the reality of who Jesus is to the world around us. (John 13:34-35; John 17:20-23; Acts 2:42-47; Ephesians 4:1-3)

Creativity

We have been created in the image of God.  As followers of Jesus, we are part of God’s cosmic work of redemption and new creation.  We desire that our community be an expression of the creative work of redemption God is doing within and among us.  Our goal is to utilize the diverse gifts and abilities God has given us to creatively engage people and culture with the gospel. (Genesis 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 12; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Acts 17:16-34; 1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

Holistic Mission

God is a missional, sending God.  As the Father sent the Son, we have been sent out into the world by Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Acknowledging we are hopeless apart from Christ, we desire to become “friends of sinners” as we guide lost and broken people to Jesus.  We believe in the power of the gospel to transform people, our city, and our world.  Therefore, we believe the gospel must be both tangibly demonstrated and courageously declared in our culture.(John 20:21; Luke 24:45-49; Acts 1:8; Matthew 9:9-13; Jeremiah 29:7; Matthew 5:13-16)

Intentional Multiplication

In obedience to Jesus’ mandate, we intentionally strive to make disciples of all people.   We are committed to developing and multiplying leaders.  We also desire to start new churches that start new churches.  Our goal is to help ignite a movement of the gospel in the Twin Cities and beyond that will contribute to the advancement of God’s Kingdom upon the earth. (Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Timothy 2:2; Ephesians 4:11-16; Acts 11:19-30; 13:1-3)

—Andy O'Rourke