missio

Oct 19

Stream of Consciousness

Posted in: Church Planting, Harmony Church, Greenville, Music

Here’s a few thoughts from my head. Beware.

The first Harmony wedding is on the books! It went pretty smoothly yesterday…. Except I made everyone stand the whole time. I never let them sit down. Whoops!

Had a bit of spiritual warfare this morning. Not sure if it was me alone, or within the body, but it was definitely there. Started with worship and continued through the service. God still did His work and pierced hearts and minds. It was awesome having Chris and Trish in service. Can’t wait till they come back to Greenville for good

. Dan and Jen are married! Hope they’re having a great time in Myrtle Beach! Looking forward to Echo Group tonight. Stoked that the Cowboys lost today. The NFC East is anyone’s game still, even with the 5-1 Giants. Looking forward to a couple of meetings this week. What’s your role in rebuilding Greenville? I am feeling People in Planes. Really feeling them. They’re coming to Carrboro soon for a concert. I will be there.

Oct 14

ServeGreenville.Com Relaunch

Posted in: Teaching, Harmony Church, Greenville

We’ve relaunched ServeGreenville.com with a new look, a new vibe, and more importantly a new purpose. Before, the purpose was very vague and not clearly stated, but it was basically helping people get connected to Greenville non-profits, and serving them that way. We’ve now rebranded ServeGreenville.com as a equipping tool for Christians to fulfill the command to seek the welfare of the city, as Jeremiah 29:7 states. Check it out, let me know what you think!

Sep 09

When I Think About My Jesus….

Posted in: Church Planting, Harmony Church, Greenville, Music

This page contained an embedded video. Click here to view it.

Sep 02

Shalom in the Home: Gospel-Centered Marriages

Posted in: Teaching, Harmony Church, Culture, Greenville

This is the second part in the Shalom in the Home blog series (intro here). So what does a marriage that is centered on the Gospel look like?

Since a marriage is comprised of a man and a woman, I think it would benefit us greatly to define what a Gospel-centered man and Gospel-centered woman are. Let’s turn to Scripture first, then we’ll turn to some practical examples. Here we go:

Gospel-Centered Men

Gospel-centered men lead the home in providing for his family [’keeping the garden’] (Genesis 2:15) Gospel-centered men lead the home in worship [’walking with God’] (Genesis 2) Gospel-centered men lead the home in protection. (Genesis 2:24) Gospel-centered men lead the home in romance. (Genesis 2:25) Gospel-centered men lead the home in self-sacrifice (Ephesians 5:25) Gospel-centered men repent of their constant pride. (Proverbs 5:21-23) Gospel-centered men persevere in their marriages, jobs, and ministries. (2 Timothy 2:2-7) Gospel-centered men are to care for their wives sexually (Proverbs 5:18-20) Gospel-centered men should create culture that they are willing to die for (Genesis 1:28) Gospel-centered men should be strong and let all we do be out of love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14) Gospel-centered men should love their wives graciously, sacrificially, and redemptively. (Ephesians 5:25-33)

Practical Advice for Men

That last point I want to focus on for a bit. What does it really mean to love your wife as Christ loved the church? It means that we love her graciously, that is, regardless of her performance and what she does for us. It means that we love her sacrificially, which means that we constantly lay down our desires and ourselves for her good. It means that we love her redemptively, which means that we love her in a way that cause her to transform into a more Christ-like woman.

A quote from Gary Ricucci:

The more we learn about the grace and love of God displayed in the gospel, the better we can demonstrate such grace and love to our wives. Husbands, we are called to sacrifice for the sake of our wives, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is our example and motivation. And when we sin or fall short of what we are called to, we appeal for forgiveness to a God who loved us and gave Himself for us. The role of a husband doesn’t begin at the altar-it begins with the atonement….at the cross.

Gospel-Centered Women

Gospel-centered women are equal helpmates to men. (Genesis 2:18) Gospel-centered women are to be of ‘noble character’. (Proverbs 12:4) Gospel-centered women are to be submissive. (Ephesians 5:22) Gospel-centered women are to be kindhearted (Proverbs 11:16) Gospel-centered women are homemakers (Proverbs 31:27-28) Gospel-centered women are to fear the Lord (Proverbs 31:30)

Practical Advice for Women

Maintain a great relationship with Jesus. Encourage your man. He feels defeated more often than you think. Pray for your man. He needs it. Take care of your man sexually. He wants it. Keep your man priority above ministry and family. Lovingly submit to him as long as he submits to Christ.

What does this mean in marriage?

It means that a marriage between a man and a woman should be a shadow of the relationship between Christ and the church. Just as Christ has loved us, His Bride, transformationally, sacrificially, and regardless of our works, Gospel-centered men are to love their wives the same. And just as we, the Church, submit to Christ out of love for Him, seeking to do His will to work towards His glory and our joy, wives are to lovingly submit to their loving husbands, in order for joint joy to be obtained.

Not-yet-Christ followers should be able to look at our marriages and see something greater. They should look at the man and see a leader who imitates Jesus, and they should look at the woman and see someone who has been lovingly wooed by Jesus, who treats men who look like Him in the same way she treats Jesus, and who loves such men…particularly and especially her husband.

What do you think? Where do you line up?

Aug 29

Shalom in the Home: An Introduction

Posted in: Teaching, Harmony Church, Culture, Greenville

I’m going to start a 5-part blog series on Gospel-centered families, aptly titled Shalom in the Home. Forget the rabbi. Shalom in the New Testament (usually translated as ‘peace’) is the, ahem, harmony, that comes from being submissive to Jesus, His Gospel, and His Kingdom. It is holistic in nature, and all-encompassing in reach. This means that our marriages, children, and legacies are to be harmonic as well. So what does that look like? To be honest, I’m still trying to find out. I have very little life experience. All I know is what Scripture teaches, and what the Spirit has given me in the vision for Greenville and Harmony Church. It’s all I got. It’s going to have to be enough. So starting very soon, I will try to address the following:

Part 2: Shalom in the Home: Gospel-Centered Marriages Part 3: Shalom in the Home: Gospel-Centered Children Part 4: Shalom in the Home: Gospel-Centered Legacy Part 5: A Wrap-Up

They won’t be all-encompassing. They won’t bring up if-then statements like “If your children don’t listen, then do this…” It won’t be a very specific series. But it will provide us with a foundation to work towards. In this post, I do want to address the “why” question: why do we at Harmony focus so hard on the family?

Because it is the foundational unit of the Kingdom of God. It is the cell of the body of Christ. For those of you who haven’t been through our partnership material, you should know that at Harmony we don’t think you can be a Christian alone. God exists in community. He calls to Himself a people. He redeems individuals, only so that they may be a part of a community. And I vaguely remember something about Him saying that it is not good for man to be alone.

This is a passion of mine, and I hope it shows. I dearly want to see marriages, families, and legacies that erupt and emerge from people loving and pursuing Jesus.

Harmony, we are a young church. We can, as Barney Fife says, nip it in the bud, for the most part. If we get it set in our minds and hearts what God would have us do with our families, we can turn this city upside down.

I’m looking forward to it.

How about you?

Comments?

Stream of Consciousness

ServeGreenville.Com Relaunch

When I Think About My Jesus….

Shalom in the Home: Gospel-Centered Marriages

Shalom in the Home: An Introduction

Derek Brown

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