YouChurch

Background

YouChurch initiated from a study on worship to more fully understand a new role I was invited to perform. With responsibilities in the worship area I felt I needed to better understand what it was to worship, and more importantly, what God wanted from worship. This study left me with a desire to inject more authentic worship into my church. So often worship is perceived as singing in church, or just a religious word with little real meaning. In the Hebrew of the Old Testament the word used is abad, meaning ‘to serve’. Worship is to serve, not just to sing or attend church, but to do something out of love and respect.

The Name

During a session of brain storming / lament about church programs, another elder mentioned 1 Chr 14:26. ‘…When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.’ This sounded a lot like YouTube, a basic framework into which people contribute for a common goal. In the case of YouChurch there were many goals, but as Paul suggests, strengthening the church.

Purpose

Christ said that the two most important commands were 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' The purpose of YouChurch is to foster this in our church. The framework is designed around it and everything done is test against this command. YouChurch seeks to encourage people to open their entire lives to God, not just church time, and see Him for Who He is and what He is doing. In knowing God better, people can’t help but be transformed into little models of Jesus, who in turn spark others to search for Him.

The Framework

Blessing

The Hebrew word barak meaning ‘to strengthen and encourage’. This is an invitation for anyone to share how God has been active in their life. The purpose and measure of all sharing is ‘how does what I share strengthen and encourage others?’ I often think we would be amazed if we know just how much God was doing among us and this is just a taste of it.

Our Commitment – We will seek God in everything, the good, the bad, our actions and our lives.

Learning

‘But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. John 14:26’ There are so many ways God teaches us, from the Word, prayer, good or bad experiences, friends, etc. All of this is of value and can be used to strengthen each other and serve God. Again we open the floor to anyone under the same purpose above to share what God has taught them.

Our Commitment – We will spend time each day with God, and be open and eager to learn as He sees fit.

Injustice

‘He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8’ And this is just the start. The number of times God tells us to serve, love, care for orphans, widows, etc. With such clear instructions, why do we feel that an hour of church is sufficient?

Injustice covers poverty, abuse of rights, religious persecution, amongst others. We address the issue in focus in 3 ways:
Pray – because only God has the power to change things
Offering
Practically – while this can be the hard one, action might be as easy as writing letters to governments or collecting blankets for the homeless in winter.

Our Commitment – We will see the world as Jesus did, with love and a desire to help those in need.

Mission

I have a goal for every Christian in the ‘West’ to see themselves as a missionary to their neighbourhood. We seem to have gotten caught up in this idea that only foreign countries need mission. Some quick math indicated that the Christians in China, many who risk imprisonment or worse, equal the number of Christians regularly attending church in Sydney at about 12% of population. This is a common trend suggesting we are not fulfilling our role Jesus placed on us when commanding us to ‘make disciples of all people’.

This is covered in various ways including discussion of what people ore doing, guests who are making a difference in their communities, teaching and brain storming.

Our Commitment – We will define ourselves are missionaries, living Jesus mandated to be His light to the world, for God’s glory.

When / Where

The Opal Room
Fox Valley Seventh-day Adventist Church
Rear 183 Fox Valley Road
Wahroonga, NSW 2159
Australia

2.30pm on the first Saturday of the month

Parting Thought

The greatest proof of Christianity for others is not how far a man can logically analyze his reasons for believing, but how far in practice he will stake his life on his beliefs.

T. S. Elliot