Wednesday, August 03, 2005

Vacation Reading, part 4

Fall is such a time of new begnnings and a chance for us to take stock of who we are as a church and where we're going. I am committed to preaching some sort of vision series each Fall. As I was thinking about this Fall's vision series, I have been reflecting some more on the nature of Christian community. Jim Kallman's "A Risking Church" helped in the process. If you're looking for some August reading and want to prepare for the Fall with me, grab it and read it before we get there together.

Fall 2005 is going to be an exciting time at Grace as we, by faith, leap toward three services on September 25. This Sunday will be your first Sunday to register for our 2nd Annual Outdoor Fall Kick-Off on Sunday, September 18. This will be another great chance to jump in and serve our broader community together as we celebrate, proclaim and the live the Gospel of Jesus on the Central Coast and beyond. Be praying now about who you might invite to join us for that fun and exciting day!

Do you see Grace as a "Risking Church?" What kind of risks are we taking with one another and in our ministry together?

2 comments:

Suzette said...

I haven't read the book so I'm not sure I know what "risking" means.

Right now our daughter is in Sri Lanka. Things are tense there and at any minute civil war could break out. Especially after the recent bombing in Columbo the capital city.

My husband and I used great self-control and restraint. We really want to support her and not be anxious. We are praying for Anna and trusting God with her future. It is a huge risk. But we got an e-mail from her today and it sounds like an amazing trip so far. I am looking forward to the slide show when she returns.

Suzette said...

Is it poor etiquit to make two posts on the same topic?

I was so curious about your book and I don't have time to read it right now as we are moving, so I looked it up. These are the reviews I found.

I will buy it and after we move I will read it. What an awsome vision for Grace Church. I will be praying for all of us to move in this direction.


From the Publisher:
“Risking Church is a bold book at a critical moment. Jim invites us to a Church that we may have never seen before. It’s a place where we are safe to expose our sin to one another while looking ahead to each other’s glory, where more than programs and rhetoric are used to draw us from our hiding, and where there is power sufficient to cause lasting change. And all of this not only in theory but also in practice from a pastor whose own story demonstrates even his need for this type of true community. This is required reading for any churchgoer.”
–Derek Webb, singer and songwriter

“Jim Kallam has a passion and a plan to help us stop playing church and start experiencing the real thing. As he points out, the risks are real–but they’re also well worth it. Risking Church shows what a genuine community of grace and personal growth (rather than just numerical growth) looks, smells, and feels like. And what it takes to get there. May his tribe increase.”
–Larry Osborne, author of The Unity Factor
and pastor of North Coast Church in Vista, California

“For many, church has been one of the best places to hide–from our real selves, from others, even from God. But it doesn’t have to be so. In this graciously written, honestly told book, my friend Jim Kallam shows how one pastor and one church learned to live truth in community, to be set free to enjoy ‘the glorious liberty of the children of God.’ Risking Church will help you to take the risks that could change your life–and your church!”
–Leighton Ford, president of Leighton Ford Ministries in Charlotte, North Carolina

“Jim Kallam, with great skill, authenticity, and biblical insight, has given a gift to the church, reminding us who we are and they way we were–and are supposed to be. This book is also a gift to old, cynical preachers like me and to you...