Are we Changing our Covenant Practices?

In our series, In Columbia as it is in Heaven, we want to be compelling people for Jesus - a people who follow his teachings and his practices. And if you’re a Missionary Member of our church, you may have noticed the wording of our covenant practices has changed since the start of the series. So why the change? Why now?

In short, our covenant practices shape us into the type of people we want to become. And when we looked at our original covenant practices, we noticed they didn’t include how they change us. So while our covenant practices are not changing, the recent rewrite provides a snapshot of how they shape us into becoming compelling people for Jesus.

Below you’ll find the updated covenant practices with the older practice below.

Abiding in Jesus connects us to Him as the source of life as He produces fruit in us. Therefore, I commit to the consistent disciplines of meditating on God’s Word and prayer.

Old version: I am committed to abiding with Christ by the consistent disciplines of meditation on God’s Word and prayer. 

Community offers us the invitation and challenge to be more like Jesus as we grow in faith together. Therefore, I commit to actively and intentionally be in a LifeGroup so that I am a part of a community that follows Jesus together.

Old version: I will actively and intentionally work to be deeply connected to others in the Midtown family. I will be part of a LifeGroup to ensure that I have people around me who love Jesus and love me. 

Confession of sin to God and others exposes areas of guilt, shame, and brokenness in our lives. Repentance turns us from sin to Jesus’ love so that we obey Him through the power of the Spirit. Therefore, I commit to confession and repentance, fully expecting and welcoming correction from church family.

Old version: Confession and repentance will noticeably mark my life. I fully expect to be confronted and corrected as God allows other members of the family and my LifeGroup to see sin in my life. 

Mission brings the Kingdom of Heaven here on Earth through communities of Jesus-centered followers marked by faith, hope, and love. Therefore, I commit to hospitality and sharing my faith through everything I do by the power of the Spirit.

Old version: I will live on mission with my LifeGroup, seeking to always point to Jesus with my lifestyle, generosity, relationships, and words by the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Generosity is giving to God's mission and learning to trust Him more than our wealth. Therefore, I commit to give 10% to the mission of Jesus through Midtown as a starting point for generosity.

Old version: I will practice and grow in generosity by giving financially to the mission of Jesus in Columbia and the world. I commit to giving 10% to the mission of Jesus through Midtown as a starting point for generosity. 

Serving is a way God works through us to love others. Therefore, I commit to using my Spirit-empowered giftedness to serve our church according to my season of life.

Old version: I will eagerly use my giftedness to serve our church according to my season of life.

Our Gatherings on Sunday shape us into a people marked by listening to God’s Word and responding in prayer, worship, generosity, and mission within our Spirit-filled community. Therefore, I commit to prioritizing Sunday Gathering participation.

Old version: I will prioritize regular Sunday Gathering participation as part of my ongoing spiritual formation. 

How to Study the Bible with Others

So much of becoming a compelling person for Jesus happens within the context of community. This means our spiritual disciplines are happening both on our own and with others, including meditating on God’s Word. 

The following is a variation of how to study the Bible on your own, (which you can find here). Next to each portion, you’ll find a recommended allotment of time. This totals up to one hour.

As you walk through this, pick a group leader to keep track of the time for each section. Have your group leader read each section out loud to guide the group.

Read the passage

5 minutes total

As you read through the passage, make a note of anything that pops out to you or raises a question. Try not to get fixated on one phrase or verse, just make a note of it. After reading through the passage once, read through the passage once or twice more, this time thinking about what stands out in this passage and what impression it leaves on you. Reading out loud can be helpful too, as it can help us understand what we’re reading and help us process each verse of the passage.

Reflect

20 minutes total

Now that you’ve read the passage through multiple times, take time to reflect on what you’ve just read, using either a journal or a note-taking app that you can read again in the future. 

Write out the passage in your own words and include any observations you have - 10 minutes

Such questions you can ask are:

• What does this passage reveal to us about God?

• What does this passage reveal to us about people?

Write any applications - 10 minutes

Such application questions you can ask are:

• What’s this passage calling me to do today?

• What’s this passage calling me to pray for today?

Respond

35 minutes total

After reflecting on the passage, it’s time to respond. Every part of Scripture is inspired by God Himself, and a message so perfect and powerful demands a response from us. 

What observations and applications did everyone write down? - 10 minutes

Spend some time praying out loud for our application. - 10 minutes

How else can we be praying for one another? Let’s spend some time praying out loud for each other now. - 7 minutes

Who are the people we’re building with and praying for? Let’s spend some time praying out loud for them now, asking the Spirit to work in us and through us - 8 minutes

3 Ways to be on Mission at the Gathering

We are called to live out the beautiful picture of living on mission with God. He designed us to find joy and contentment as we sacrifice to put others first. We envision a community built on lovingly using your spiritual gifts to engage with others on Sunday. Here are three ways you can be missional at the Gathering:

1. Place Missional Margin on your time 

Look around the Gathering next Sunday. How many people have you not seen before? It is always someone’s first time and new guests tend to arrive early. So when they do, we want to warmly welcome them in. So consider placing “missional margin” around your time by showing up 10-15 minutes early to the Gathering and staying 10-15 minutes after to engage with new guests. 

2. Pass the Peace

While this might be challenging for you, Pass the Peace can be crucial to a first-time guest at the Gathering. It is an opportunity to help new folks feel invited, expected, and welcomed into our family. My first time at Midtown, I was invited to a cookout that day by some people I had never met who are now friends. I felt cared for and sought out because these people opened up their lives and home to make a difference in a new person’s life. 

Here are some questions you can have ready so you aren’t caught off guard when you Pass the Peace:

“How long have you been coming to Midtown?”

If they are new, ask them if they know anyone who attends or if they’re in a LifeGroup.

“Do you know many people here already?”

If they don’t, invite them out to lunch and/or get their phone number!

“What brought you to Columbia?”

A lot of first-time guests are also new to our city. If so, ask what brought them Columbia and what they think about the city so far.

“Are you involved in a LifeGroup?”

If they aren’t, see if they are a good fit for yours or someone else’s you know. Help them get connected! 

“What are you doing after the Gathering today?”

Inviting first-time guests into your Sunday plans can make a huge impact on them. If they’ve already got plans, grab their number and invite them to hang out sometime.

3. Serve

Jesus makes it clear that following Him means we serve others (Mark 10:45, Philippians 2:1-10). And serving becomes another avenue to be missional - whether it’s welcoming first-time guests on Parking Team or Host Team, helping with technical logistics on Production Team, or greeting families and teaching kids at Kidtown.

To sign up to serve or learn more, visit the link that corresponds to the church you attend below:

Midtown - Downtown

Midtown - Two Notch

Midtown - Lexington

• What keeps you from being on mission at a Gathering?

• What next steps can you take to be on mission at a Gathering?

Midtown Glossary

Whenever you step into a new organization, workplace, or culture, there will be words and phrases thrown around that are unfamiliar to you. The same goes for our church. To help you, we compiled a list of frequently used terms. With each term you’ll find a simplified definition, some biblical context for each, and an explanation of why we use the language we do.

Building With

In regards to living on mission, as a LifeGroup we always want to initiate (or “build”) relationships with people in our lives who aren’t part of a church family. You can do this by inviting a coworker to a Sunday Gathering, giving some practical help to a neighbor who has a need, or planning a LifeGroup rhythm to get a friend around church family.

See also: Rhythms

Every Group Around the Pool

This is an initiative to encourage our LifeGroups to build with unbelievers around them, with the hope of seeing them come to faith in Christ and be baptized. Everything we do should be done with the purpose of showing Jesus to others around us. A natural result of doing that is welcoming new believers into our church family. 

Click here to listen to a sermon where we explain this goal in greater detail.

Family of Churches

Midtown Fellowship began in 2007 as one church in downtown Columbia. Since then we’ve planted churches in the Two Notch area and in Lexington. While each church has its own “personality,” and operates separately from the others, we all share the same vision of being a “Jesus-centered Family on Mission.”

Click here to read more about how and why we operate this way.

Gatherings

Every Sunday, our church family comes together to worship and hear teaching from God’s Word. Rather than “going to church,” we are gathering as the church. While there are many ways we do life as church family throughout the week, God calls us in Hebrews 10:24-25 to gather together on a regular basis. Click one of the links below to find out when and where you can come to a Gathering or to listen to any of our sermons if you’ve missed a week.

midtowndowntown.com/gatherings

midtownlexington.com/gatherings

midtowntwonotch.com/gatherings

Related term: LifeGroups, Family of Churches

Gospel Up

In LifeGroups we regularly confess sin as the Bible calls us to (James 5:16, 1 John 1:9), but we don’t just leave it there. We also want to remind ourselves of the power, forgiveness, and victory we have in Jesus to heal us in our sin and brokenness and how we can fight sin together. In confessing we want to offer the good news of the Gospel before we offer good advice. Good advice only says, “Have you tried doing this or stopping that?” Good news followed by good advice says, “Jesus loves you and has forgiven your sin, now what does repentance/fighting this sin look like?”

Related term: Idols

Related resource: Verses for Gospel Fluency

Idols

In LifeGroups we practice confessing sin to one another as prescribed in James 5:16 and 1 John 1:5-10. When we talk about “deep idols,” we are referring to the underlying sin beneath our external sinful actions. Those underlying deep idols can include a desire for power, control, approval, or comfort. For example, a burst of anger is the external sin, whereas the deep idol at work underneath was a desire for power. When we confess both the external sin and the deep idol at work, we see ourselves more clearly and allow for deeper healing to take place.

Related term: Gospel Up

Related resource: Idols Chart

LifeGroups

We believe church is a terrible hobby, but a great family. In Acts 2:42-47, we see examples of how the early church shared life together. We don’t want to think of church as one more routine thing we do every week; we want to be part of each other’s lives outside the walls of our building.

LifeGroups are the primary way we live as a community. Groups meet once a week in members’ homes to catch up on life, discuss the sermon, confess sin, and encourage and pray with one another. This is much more than just a weekly Bible study. Our goal is for LifeGroups to be small families within our larger church family who are living on mission together! Click the link below to sign up to join a group within your church family.

Downtown

Lexington

Two Notch

Related term: Rhythms

LifeGroup Covenant

Each LifeGroup is unique in who they want to reach with the gospel and how they aim to do that. Together LifeGroups write up a statement of what they’re wanting to accomplish so that they can be united in being on mission.

Related resource: What is a Covenant?

Milestones

Parenting is hard, and we want to help! Milestones is our 18-year discipleship program through which we offer biblical wisdom and practical advice to equip parents to walk their children through every stage of growing up.

Click here to learn more about each of the Milestones stages and transitions, and get resources for wherever your family is at in life.

Mission

Every Christian is a missionary. Life is no longer about us. It’s about experiencing the good life Jesus has for us and ultimately inviting others in on it. So we equip one another, we give financially to this end, and we orient our time so that friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers can hear the good news of Jesus and experience it in Jesus-centered community.

Related term: Every Group Around the Pool, Building With

Recovery

This ministry is for anyone who is going through anything that feels unbeatable. Whether someone is struggling with an addiction, going through a season of grief, suffering from depression or anxiety, or anything else that’s keeping one from finding hope, there is freedom and healing in Jesus. God calls us to confess our sins to one another (James 5:16) and to bear each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2). Recovery is a powerful way we are able to walk with church family through the most difficult parts of life.

Click here to learn more and see upcoming dates.

Rhythms

Outside of your regular meeting, we encourage LifeGroups to have a less structured time that can be more natural to invite friends into. This could be anything from a monthly game night to lunch after Sunday gatherings to playing in a softball league together.

Related resource: How to Choose a Mission & Rhythms

Serve the City

Because Jesus calls us to be on mission wherever we are, we partner with several organizations around Columbia who are doing great work in the community. Every Lifegroup is encouraged to serve throughout the year with one of these partners. Click here to learn more about each of them and how you can get involved in serving.

Why We Sing at Gatherings

During Gatherings, we devote a lot of time to singing together and worshipping God. Have you ever wondered why we invest so much time this way? Why spend a large portion of our time singing songs? The answer to this question can be found by looking at who God is. Once we understand who He is, we can understand why worshipping Him every week as a family is so vital.

1. Worship as rebellion

When we sing together, we are intentionally reminding ourselves of truths that say, “Jesus is King; all these other things in my life are not. My career, my family, my wallet, my sex life, and my passions can’t compare to who Jesus is.” The world constantly barrages us with what we should worship through music, TV, movies, and social media. But worship is a defiant act of rebellion against those forces. That’s why we sing these songs. Because we all are tempted to worship anything that is not God, we need reminders constantly. So every Sunday, we worship to remind ourselves that He alone is worthy of our worship. He alone is worthy of our praise. He alone is worthy of our adoration. He alone is worthy of our worship.

2. Worship as reorienting

Although we might intellectually know these truths about God, we don’t always feel that way. Our devotion often wavers based on our circumstances or emotions. Worshipping God through song is one way we fight back against our unbelief and reorient ourselves back to Him. When we sing we are saying, “My feelings may not be all there and I’m having a hard time singing this song but I don’t care. Jesus is Lord no matter how I feel.” This was the Psalmist plea in Psalms 42-43. He both acknowledges how he feels and then reorients himself back to God, “Why are you so downcast O my soul? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God.”

3. Worship as a reminder to others

Here’s part of what makes corporate singing set apart from just singing in your car: people need to hear you sing. They need to know Jesus is King over their feelings and their passions too. When you sing at the Gathering, even if it’s wildly out of tune, you’re telling others, “Join me in this.” It’s a way of encouraging others and being missional by inviting others into the goodness of God every time you sing. That’s why the Psalmist can say in Psalm 34:3, “Oh magnify the LORD with me, let us exalt his name together!”

So next time you walk into a Gathering, focus on the words we’re singing. These words are meant to remind you how great your Savior is; so invite and expect the Spirit to change your heart and the people around you. 

• What keeps you from worshipping whole-heartedly during a Gathering?

• How can you ready your heart for worship the next time you attend a Gathering?

This article is based on the sermon “He is Worthy Part I” by Tim Olson on June 23, 2019.

The Most Important Attribute of God

The following is from the sermon, He is Worthy Part 2.

Isaiah 6:1-3

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

In the Old Testament, the dominant way the authors emphasized something was through repetition, it was their way of saying,  “This is what's most important.” Repetition also served as a way of taking things to the superlative degree, (i.e. “This is better. This is the best.”) Repeating a word or phrase three times demonstrated it was the highest it could be.

God’s Holiness Defines Himself

In Isaiah 6 the seraphim are saying God is holy, holy, holy - in other words, He is the absolutely holiest. He’s categorically set apart from anything else. He stands alone, He stands above. If you look throughout Scripture, the holiness of God is the only attribute ever used three times in succession.

We never read God is love, love, love or grace, grace, grace or compassion, compassion, compassion.

God’s Holiness Defines Everything Else

Now is He love? Yes, absolutely. (1 John 4:16) But God's holiness is what defines His love. It's the basis on which His love stands. God's holiness defines all of His other attributes.

So God is love, but He's better than that. He is Holy, holy, holy love. His love is other. It's better. It's set apart. It's distinct. It's unique. It's more than we could ever imagine. That means that He is the author of true love. He's the one who defines love. 

This means God is not like you. The Bible tells us that humanity is created in God's image so we uniquely reflect God in ways that other creatures or creation doesn't. That's a unique part of being human but if we're not careful, we can begin to believe the lie that just because we are like God, that means God is like us, but He's not.

God’s Holiness Sets Him Apart from You

You are like God, but God is not like you. He doesn't think like you do. He doesn't dwell and exists in the world like you do. He doesn't reason like you do. He exists alone, separate, and apart. That's the God we worship. And He is worthy.

10 Steps to Handle Conflict Better and Avoid Drama

Two thousand years ago in Corinth, Christians in the church were struggling to manage their relationships well. They were letting their conflicts divide them rather than unite them, and they needed some instruction on how to manage their relational conflicts well. Today, we face many of the same challenges within our relationships, and if we don’t equip ourselves to handle conflict well, we will allow our relationships to suffer and our church family won’t be much of a family at all. Thankfully, God offers us hope in I Corinthians 6, where He instructs the Corinthian church in how to manage their relational conflict well. Because we know that God wants us to experience deep, rich relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we can glorify Him as we learn from His Word and apply it to our lives.

So, here’s ten steps for handling conflict well:

1 - See it coming. Having the right expectations will lessen your frustrations.

2 - Commit to forbearance. Understand that some sins can be forgiven without confrontation.

3 - Give the benefit of the doubt. Assuming others’ motives can increase your resentment.

4 - Go to the person. A hard conversation today can prevent an outburst tomorrow.

5 - Invite and welcome correction. Trust that others might have a better perspective than you.

6 - Do not cover disobedience with alternate language. Using modern counseling lingo to avoid repenting will only delay reconciliation.

7 - Avoid gossip and slander. “Venting” won’t benefit yourself, but processing the situation with a trusted friend will.

8 - Pour out your heart to God. God is our refuge, so pour out your heart in prayer.

9 - Forgive. Refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die.

10 - Keep forgiving. Let’s follow Jesus’ example and forgive each other no matter how many times we sin against each other.

Although God has reconciled us to Him and each other in so many ways, we still sin against Him and each other, so we’ll have to learn to confront and forgive each other in order to be a Jesus-centered family on mission. Our culture teaches us that conflict is unnatural and that you should disconnect from relationships when they’re hard, but we know that this idea places an unrealistic and unhealthy expectation of relationships. As we grow together as a family, conflicts are inevitable, but our conflicts can bring us closer together if we commit to working through our frustrations when they arise. Conflict is a part of being a family, and if we forgive each other and reconcile with each other as God intended for us to do, we can experience deeper relationships, less drama, and more joy as we pursue God together.

• If you’re in conflict with anyone, what next steps do you need to take?

• What’s keeping you from reconciling immediately?
  

This article is based on the sermon “Death by Drama” by Adam Gibson from October 7, 2018.

Reading Scripture

The Bible is a library written by God through men that tells a unified story that leads to Jesus. And as God’s people, we want to be guided by His Word and empowered by His Spirit to more fully experience the life and love of Jesus.

Here are three steps to help you more fully engage with the Scriptures. You can go deeper into each of these categories and questions.

Before you study, take a moment to stop, take a deep breath, and ask God to speak to you through His Word. This little moment of preparation reminds us that reading the Bible is a sacred act in which we invite God to speak to us.

1. Read

As you read through the passage, make a note of anything that pops out to you or raises a question in you. Try not to get fixated on one phrase or verse, just make a note of it. After reading through the passage once, read through the passage once or twice more, this time thinking about what stands out in this passage and what impression it leaves on you. Reading out loud can be helpful too, as it can help us understand what we’re reading and help us process each verse of the passage.

2. Reflect

Now that you’ve read the passage multiple times, take time to reflect on what you’ve just read, using a journal or a note-taking app that you can read again in the future. As you reflect on the passage, try thinking through these two questions:

• What does this passage reveal to us about God? 

• What does this passage reveal to us about people?

3. Respond

After reflecting on the passage, it’s time to respond. Every part of Scripture is inspired by God Himself; a message so perfect and powerful demands a response from us. So, in light of the truth you’ve just read, consider these two questions: 

• What’s this passage calling me to do today?

• What’s this passage calling me to pray for today?

As you’re exploring the Scriptures here are two encouragements:

It’s okay to be a rookie

As you’re starting out, going through those questions may be challenging at first. But keep with it. Remember, one of the biggest components of abiding in God’s Word is just showing up and being consistent. If you get confused or get stuck, that’s okay; invite your brothers and sisters in Jesus for help because we’re in this together.

Be faithful

We don’t expect our lives to be radically changed every time we read our Bible. It is a gradual, slow process. But we do know that every time we open up our Bibles - we are becoming more faithful. The more we simply show up, work through the process, pray, and apply the Scriptures into our lives, the more we cultivate the space in our lives for the Spirit to transform us and look more like Jesus.

Related Resource

How to Study the Bible: Old Testament Narratives