 Today we will discuss Kidology. Kids are an important part of our church. As a church we want to focus on our kids and create an environment where they can grow to become fully devoted followers of Christ in a fun and interactive way. We want to come alongside of parents and equip them to disciple their children. JESUS LOVES KIDS One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could lay his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.
I love this picture of Jesus. It seems like the children were seen as a nuisance. The disciples are “shooing” the kids away. But instead of being bothered by the kids, he welcomes them. He makes time to bless and pray for them. I think we live in a day and age where children are viewed more as a nuisance than anything. People would rather have a dog or a cat than have a child. And the truth is that children are a huge responsibility. The truth is that they can be noisy, disruptive, and uncontrollable at times. But Jesus’ response, I think, is something to admire. He makes time for the children. And I think this is a good place to start for us as a church. Look at the attitude of Jesus in this passage. As a church, how will we respond in a Christlike manner to the children God would entrust in our care? LEAVING A LEGACY Something that is so wonderful about what we are doing as we go about planting a new life giving, gospel centered church in Bushwick, is that we are able to show our children something great. We are able to show them that God can use ordinary people like you and me to have an impact in our community. Our children will be able to see that God loves Bushwick. God has a heart for the people in Brooklyn. God wants to do something in and through us.
Can you imagine the faith we will spark in our children’s lives? These are the future pastors, leaders, church planters, missionaries, singers, life group leaders, etc. We invest in our children because we want to leave a legacy that will go way beyond our lifetime. SWERVE KIDS CURRICULUM
As a Network Church, we will be using some phenomenal kids curriculum for our Swerve kids. Life.Church has material for kids ages Pre-K to Middle School. The material they have for kids is really top notch! Churches all around the US and around the world use their curriculum. LC is super generous providing all their material absolutely free. As a Network Church, we are especially blessed having access to different resources and trainings to help us use the material well. Some of you will be interested in serving as kids leaders and teachers. We will be able to equip you to use the curriculum and to serve on a Sunday with our kids. You can have a hands on opportunity to lead our children to become fully devoted followers of Christ. EQUIPPING PARENTS Part of what we want to do as well is to be able to equip parents to be able to lead their children to become fully devoted followers of Christ.
In this passage, the big idea is that parent are to pass on the commandments from God to their children. Parents are to love God with heart, soul, and strength and pass on that very same passion to their children.
As the church, our job is to put resources into the hands of the parents in order to equip them to do just that. This would include a summary of what was taught that Sunday at Swerve Kids. On there, parents will find activities they can do with their children such as practice the memory verse, rehearse the big idea, along with other helpful activities and prayers, etc. In the future, as we become more established as a church, we would also love to equip parents through a regular email, blog, or other online resource. All so that as a church we can lead our children to become fully devoted followers of Christ. CONCLUSION Our kids are everything! Can you imagine how many children there are in Bushwick? Can you imagine the massive opportunity to lead children to become fully devoted followers of Christ? Can you imagine the number of families we can impact and influence towards becoming fully devoted followers of Christ? Let me paint you a picture. All throughout Bushwick there are single moms with several children and no father in the picture. All throughout Bushwick there are dads that are physically present with their families but are emotionally distant. All over Bushwick there are families that have no connection to a church, no connection to the gospel, no sense of community and purpose. There are parents addicted to drugs and alcohol. There are children that are confused, lost, and lacking purpose. As the church we can come in with the powerful and life transforming message of the gospel and change our community one family at a time.
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 Today we will discuss Worshipology. What is worship? How do we worship? As a church, what will be our posture of worship? WHAT IS WORSHIP? One of the definitions of “worship” from Merriam-Webster is “extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem”. I think this is an appropriate way to define “worship”. As Christians, we obviously view worship in light of someone we worship, God. But the truth is that in life there are many things fighting for our affections. I think a good passage that really embodies this dilemma was written by Paul to the church of Rome. He expresses how people choose to reject the worship of God and instead worship other things.
So ultimately worship is the posture of our heart and is the result of our affections stirred towards God. He is worthy of our worship, devotion, and adoration. HOW DO WE WORSHIP? Let me start off by saying that this in no way will be an extensive study on worship. The truth is that we can look all throughout the Bible and pull out many references all of which would prove to be extremely helpful in understanding and having a well rounded Biblical view of worship. Instead, I would like to use this time to give us a better understanding and to apply what I feel would be most beneficial to us a church. Throughout the Bible there are many instances where we can see various forms of worship. I would like to point us to two. Now let me, once again, reiterate how important it is for us to have our heart in the right place. Otherwise, worship simply becomes routine, traditional, and simply noise. Look at what God says through the prophet Isaiah:
We want our worship to be genuine, birthed from an overflow of joy given to us through the redemption experienced by the grace of Jesus. That being said, here are some ways we worship: WITH SONG & MUSIC In general, whenever we talk about worship, the first person that usually comes to mind is David. He was an Old Testament character who was known for being a musician and songwriter. Much of the book of Psalms was written by him.
Throughout the book of Psalms, this is a common theme. We see the psalmists encouraging the praise and worship of God through music and song. Along with prayer and the reading of God’s word, it has become an important part liturgy throughout church history. We see the encouragement of song and music as worship even throughout the New Testament.
As a church. we want to sing with all we have. We want the music to lift the hearts of the people and point them to Jesus. WITH HANDS RAISED So what’s with the whole hand raising thing? Ever been to a church and everyone had their hands lifted up to the music? How do you react to that sight? There’s actually a strong biblical precedent for the act of lifting hands in worship. Ultimately it is a sign of surrender. But let’s be honest. The church isn’t the only place you’ve seen the act of lifting hands. Think about the last basketball, football, or baseball game you saw or attended. What was everyone doing? What about concerts? Ever notice that everyone has their hands lifted high in a concert? I think this is because it is an act of worship. Consciously or unconsciously we lift our hands in praise to whatever team or artist as an act of adoration.
Some men might have a problem lifting up hands in worship to God. Perhaps because they view it as something weak or “girly” to do. But allow these words from Paul to encourage you in this area:
Men, see you hands lifted high in prayer and worship as a complete surrender and desperate cry for the strength of Christ. WITH BENDED KNEES The last thing we will look at is the worshipful and prayerful posture of being on our knees. This is something that is hard to describe, but there is something wonderfully humbling of falling prostrate on our knees. In this position, we are saying that we are low and God is highly exalted. Look at what the Psalmist says,
WE KNEEL IN PURSUIT As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to [Jesus] and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” {Mark 10:17} WE KNEEL IN REPENTANCE When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me — I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” {Luke 5:8 NLT} WE KNEEL IN SUBMISSION [Jesus] withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond [his disciples], knelt down and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” {Luke 22:41-42} Swerve Church is a new church plant forming in the community of Bushwick in Brooklyn in NYC.
 Today we will discuss the importance of evangelism. What exactly is it? How do we go about sharing our faith? Is it necessary to whip out the megaphone and soapbox? WHAT IS EVANGELISM? What do you think of when you hear the word evangelism? I used to cringe at the word. Growing up for me, evangelism meant an awkward confrontation with the world. It meant standing on a street corner and shouting for the world to hear. As a result, there weren’t many conversions. Instead there were a lot of awkward stares, fingers in ears, and calls to the cops. So, then, what is evangelism? How do we go about doing it? To begin, let’s read the words of Paul in 1 Corinthians:
I think this passage is a great place to start. Paul here is telling us that evangelism involves “good news”. What is this good news? Well, it’s what we discussed in Gospelology. That is that God, in his great love and mercy sent us Jesus to pay for the price of our sins. Jesus resurrected on the third day conquering Satan, sin, and death granting us reconciliation with the Father. And so evangelism revolves around getting this great message out. Why is this important? Well, it ties into the mission Jesus left with his disciples:
BUT HOW? So we understand why it is so important but how do we exactly go about sharing our faith? Have you ever heard the quote, “preach the gospel and when necessary use words”? What do you think is implied by that phrase? It seems that in our day and age, words hold little value and what’s being implied here is that “actions speak louder than words.” And while I can truly appreciate the call to authentic Christian living, it’s not exactly biblical. Look at the following passage:
According to this passage, it is clearly communicated that there must be words, speech and conversation involved in order to share the gospel. It is not simply about living a life impacted by the implications of the gospel, but a clear presentation of it. So this is a good apologetic to the communication of the gospel. But still, how do we do it? Do we get the soapbox and megaphone? Should we approach the precinct and get sound permits so that we can set up shop on a busy street corner to preach to the passersby? Should we randomly approach people in the park? Let me say that I am sure there are many gifted people to do the above. I’m also very sure that many have come to meet Jesus through someone who used the above methods. I think ultimately the best question to ask is, what is most effective? What is the most effective way to be able to share our faith with someone? There are many ways to do this. One thing is clear. It is all of our jobs to share our faith and make disciples. IN RELATIONSHIP Everyday we find ourselves with many people who are far from God. Many who have no relationship with Jesus. Many who have a misunderstanding of the gospel or who have been hurt by the church. These are people who we are connected to some way. For example, they are siblings, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends, coworkers, neighbors, acquaintances, etc. Take a moment to think about how many people you are somehow relationally connected to. I think that one of the best ways to share the gospel with someone is to be relationally invested in them. In relationship, people are able to know you and you know them. There is a certain level of comfortability. As you go about sharing your life with them, you can begin to open up and share your story of finding faith in Jesus.
This verse wrestles with the tension of living an explerary, God-honoring life and being able to handle the word of truth, in other words, the Bible and the gospel. I think it paints a great picture of how we can share our lives with others and share the gospel. Be intentional about building these relationships. Pray for them. Pray for opportunities to be able to share the gospel with them. Look at what Paul says about those who were far from Jesus:
Pray and watch how God answers those prayers giving you opportunities to share your faith with those around you. COME AND SEE Now, again let me reiterize that there are many ways to go about sharing your faith. There are even many different tools and resources that will teach you how to go about sharing the gospel. The purpose of this study is not to give you a comprehensive list. Rather it is to give you some simple ways you can begin applying this today. Another way we can take part in the life change of an individual is using the church as a resource. What a great place for someone who is far from God to come and hear the gospel preached. From your perspective, all you are doing is inviting them in to share and partake in your regular rhythm of life. As a church, we are passionate about leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. We will do anything short of sin to reach people far from God. So when we get together as a group we definitely want to grow as believers. We want to encourage each other and fellowship. But we also want to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus. We want to tell people about Jesus. Our desire is to really experience God’s saving power and see life change.
Notice Philip’s response to Nathanael. Nathanael is obviously quite reluctant to quickly jump on the messiah train and begin following Jesus. Philip’s response is simply,”come and see”. It echoes what the Psalmist said:
I’m not sure if Philip read Nathanael well and realized there would be no amount of convincing that would work. Instead he said, you gotta see it to believe it! He invited him to experience Jesus for himself.
What a good word for us. As we go about getting ready to launch out this new life giving, gospel centered church in Bushwick, we want to create an environment where people can come and encounter Jesus and see for themselves. We want them to taste and see that he is good! CONCLUSION How can you begin to look at your network of relationships as opportunities to intentionally invest in with the hopes of being able to share the gospel? As a church, how can we prepare to have an awesome “encounter Jesus” experience for people who are far from God?  We know that we have been uniquely gifted to serve each other for the glory of Jesus. With this knowledge, how can we have a Biblical perspective on how we are to serve? What is the posture we are to have in our service? Why is this important to us as a church? JESUS THE SERVANT The first few places I want us to look in Scripture as we try to frame this topic help to show us Jesus as a servant. Ultimately, our best example for service comes from Jesus himself. {Read Mark 10:35-45 NLT} Here in this passage, John and James are having a discussion on who can sit next to Jesus in heaven. The other disciples are hearing this conversation and are becoming jealous. So Jesus uses this opportunity to teach them a valuable lesson in serving. I think it’s important to note here that this similar type of attitude seems to fill a lot of our churches even until today. Many want that “seat of honor”. You see, James, John, and the other disciples hadn’t fully understood what Jesus was calling them to. In their day, the religious leaders, the Scribes, the Pharisees had a lot of weight in their culture. Today, within our church culture, there is a similar feeling. The persons in “leadership” are viewed as greater. He even makes the reference, the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. In other words, what is popular in culture is to flex your authoritative muscles over those under you. Instead, Jesus here shows them that the life he is calling them to is one of servanthood. Jesus himself would model this. Reread verse 45: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” How counter cultural! Even for today! And of course, Jesus here making a reference to the ultimate sacrifice that he would make on the cross {Gospelology} This is the same message echoed in Jesus’ warning to the Pharisees in Matthew 23. He calls them out and teaches on servanthood. {Read Matthew 23:1-12} Jesus has some harsh but truthful words for the religious leaders of his day. But ultimately the message is the same. The greatest is the one who serves. WE ARE TO SERVE In the passage we’re about to read, Jesus not only leads by example again, but also gives a mandate to serve others. This is where we come into the picture. As followers of Jesus, we too have the opportunity to serve others. {Read John 13:3-17} Jesus draws out these parallels. He says, slaves are not greater than their master...the messenger is not more important than the sender of the message. In other words, we are likewise to do what he modeled for us to do. POSTURE OF SERVICE This should help to center our hearts to an attitude of service. We should not only want to serve but be grateful that we have an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. We have an opportunity to obey his commands. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality. {Romans 12:9-13} Look at the language and the picture being painted by Paul,
Our posture of service should be one of gratitude, enthusiasm, genuineness, authenticity, readiness, and love. Is this your posture of service? Is this how you view service? How will this impact how you serve? IMPORTANCE OF SERVICE As a church, this has huge implications. First of all because our mission is to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Have you ever been to a church where you didn’t feel welcomed? Where you weren’t served? Where the focus was inward instead of outward? How did that make you feel? We want to be a church that follows the example of Jesus. We want people to feel welcomed. We don’t want to cause any type of obstacle preventing people from hearing and responding to the life changing and saving message of the gospel. Secondly, we are a church that will love God, love people, and serve our community. We are in a very needy community. We want to do what we can to love and serve our neighbors. Likewise globally we want to lead the way with irrational generosity and give to ministries and organizations that are serving some of the poorest places in the world. That’s why we give to and serve alongside of organizations like:
CONCLUSION In light of how God has uniquely gifted you, how can you best utilize your gifts to serve the church and our community thereby bringing glory to Jesus? We serve primarily in three ways.
Next week we will continue our discussion with Givology. How can we honor God with our giving? Swerve church is a new church plant forming in the community of Bushwick in Brooklyn  The following is a summary of what we spoke about this Sunday. Last week we ended with a reading of Ephesians 4:15-16 which says
It gives us this picture of a body at which the head is Jesus. We all together form part of this body. The body is held together by “every supporting ligament” and it grows and is built up “in love”. It also paints this picture of each member of this body having a job to do and fulfilling work. THE BODY This will be our primary analogy. You especially see Paul use this example as he describes the church. It’s a good picture because as you can see we have many different appendages, limbs, and parts but they all contribute to being one body. Before we begin specifically talking about these gifts, what they are, etc., let’s talk about what exactly are these gifts for? WHAT ARE THE GIFTS FOR?
As we look at this passage, I want you to see the language that Peter uses here. Let’s try to highlight these attitudes:
What observation can you make from this passage and from the language used? Who are the gifts for? What do we do with these gifts? I think that the language here is pretty clear that one of the primary reasons we are gifted is for the service of one another. But Peter gives us an even greater purpose and use of our gifts. ...in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Ultimately, we are gifted to bring glory to Jesus. And when we use our gifts to show hospitality, love one another, and serve one another it all brings glory to Jesus. Before we get into specifics, let’s discuss why you are important to the church. We return to the body analogy. YOU ARE IMPORTANT For this next part I need us to take out our Bibles, or YouVersion Bible Apps to read along this passage since it’s pretty lengthy. {Read 1 Corinthians 12:12-31} Paul continues his analogy of the body representative of the church. In this passage in particular he uses a little sarcasm and humor to make his point. It seems like perhaps in the church of Corinth, and in anticipation of today, Paul writes to clarify more on spiritual gifts and the importance of each individual in the corporate body of Christ. I think that in this passage, Paul both elevates those who may see themselves as insignificant within the church while humbling those who think of themselves too highly. This thought, I believe, continues within many churches today. What do you think of yourself?
This Chapter is closed out with a set of rhetorical questions. “Are we all prophets, are we all teachers?” The answer is an unequivocal “no”. This means you are important! You have something to contribute! SOME GIFTS We’re going to continue to look at some gifts listed in this very chapter. This is by no means a comprehensive list. Let’s look at what it says, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11.
As you can see by this passage, there are many different types of gifts but the source of the gifts are all from the same place. It also confirms the fact that we use the gifts to help and serve each other. Being that the source of the gifts all come from the same person, I want you to also notice that He alone decides which gifts we each have. He personally assigns us gifts. This ought to come to the forefront of our minds when we look at someone else’s gifts and wish we had them ourselves. Would you like to learn what gifts you possess? Take this free test to help you discover your gifts. Visit giftstest.com. Now, in no way is this a super comprehensive or extensive test. But it does serve however to help us narrow down a few ways we may be uniquely gifted. Now that we know our gifts, next week we will discuss how we can use our gifts to serve the church. In many ways this is a continuation of what we spoke about today. In fact, much may even crossover. But this is what we have to look forward to in Servology. Swerve Church is a new church plant forming in the community of Bushwick in Brooklyn.
 Today we are going to focus on Churchology. As with the gospel, many times we have an unhealthy or false view of the church. What is the church and what is the mission of the church? Is the church limited to a building with a steeple and stained glass? Here are some common misconceptions of the church. The church is not…
So then what is the church? First we must begin at the top. JESUS IS CHIEF SHEPHERD Now may the God of peace-- who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, and ratified an eternal covenant with his blood-- may he equip you with all you need for doing his will. {Hebrews 13:20-21} In this passage, who is the Shepherd? Who are the sheep? Jesus is our chief Shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep (Gospelology). Many times we have these distinctions brought about mostly by tradition. But here we clearly see that the head of the church is not a pastor, bishop, pope, tele-evangelist, or prophet. Jesus is the head* and we are all part of the body (church). *Colossians 1:18 - He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. JESUS IS FOUNDING PASTOR When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. {Matthew 16:13-18} I love this passage! Jesus says that he is founding pastor and that no one, not even Satan and the gates of hell, can ever stop what he has founded! And hasn’t this stood the test of time? Look at all the persecution that has happened and continues to happen around the world. The church still continues strong. So ultimately Jesus is our chief shepherd, our lead pastor. Again, this speaks to what we spoke about last week, that we are a gospel-centered church. Our church is founded upon Jesus’ founding of the church. Without Jesus’ perfect life, his sacrifice, and resurrection, there is no church. JESUS SENDS OUT Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” {Matthew 28:18-20} After Jesus’ resurrection, he appears to his disciples and gives them this command. The command to make disciples of all nations. This passage is incredible because Jesus tells his disciples that he has all power and authority, and with that power and authority he commissions them to go. He also sends them to teach all his commands. What are some of these commands?
This is how we come into the picture. Because people took this command seriously, today we know the truth and have the hope of the gospel. WE ARE THE CHURCH And so because of this, we too are commissioned to do the same. We are commissioned to make disciples, to love God, love people, to baptize and teach. When we make that decision to follow Jesus, we are adopted into the family of God. We are new creations, purchased by the blood of Jesus. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. {Ephesians 4:15-16} This passage speaks to the fact that we each play an important role in the body as a church. This means that the church is not a building or place. Rather is a people redeemed by Jesus, sent out on mission to make disciples and make Jesus’ name great. This leads us to what we will be talking about next week, Giftology. If we are the church and we play such an important role collectively as the body of Christ, then where do I specifically fit and how do I function? Swerve Church is a new church plant forming in the community of Bushwick in Brooklyn.  The heart behind Ology is to root who we are as a church and what we do in Scripture. Our desire is to plant a life giving, gospel centered church in Bushwick, but can we ground that in Scripture? The answer is absolutely yes! So through Ology we are developing the Swerve DNA. We kicked off Ology with Bibleology. If we are going to base who we are and what we do on Scripture, we need to answer three questions to make sure that the Bible is a reliable place to get that info from. Here's the three questions we asked:
Is the Bible our ultimate authority?To answer this question we looked at 1 Thessalonians 2:13 which says, "And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers." The answer to this questions is yes because the Bible has the very words of God therefore it makes it our final authority. This means we can ground who we are and what we do as a church based on the Bible. Beyond that, personally we can base our lives on the Bible. But in order for this to be true, we must answer... Was the Bible divinely inspired by God?Again we look into Scripture to answer this question. We find the answer to this question at 2 Timothy 3:16, All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. In this passage, Paul describes the scriptures as "God-breathed". We see the picture of God exhaling on the words of Scripture. These are his very words. As a result, Paul says that it is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. But none of this truly makes sense if the Bible isn't trustworthy. In order to help us answer the last question, we looked at the historicity and accuracy of the Bibles that we have in our homes. Craig Groeschel helps us answer this question. Is the Bible trustworthy?Swerve Church is a new church plant forming in the community of Bushwick in Brooklyn. We'd love for you to be a part of what God is doing in Bushwick!
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