In mid-January we are going to read the book The Trellis and the Vine together in our Community Groups. Copies will be available at the welcome table for the next several weeks. I would like for each household to have a copy and we will give you a reading schedule during the month of January, but I thought you might like an early start. Mike and I have been reading this book over the last few weeks and we think that at this time in the life of CCC it would be a great read.
A few thoughts I have had while reading this book:
The church is not a place, but it is a people (Jesus didn’t die for a place).
The church is not an organization, but it is the body of Christ.
The church does not hire pastors to do the work of ministry, but we desire our leaders to equip church members for ministry.
Often individual Christians think that they are not able to “prayerfully share the Word in the power of the Spirit”, but we believe that all believers are commissioned by Christ to make disciples.
This book is calling the church to radically rethink the patterns that lead us away from personal and intentional lifestyle ministry. The author states that the church always moves toward “institutionalization and secularization” and we know that this will be our tendency. It is our prayer that this book will help us fight these tendencies.
The following quote will give you an idea of what this book is all about:
“Most churches are a mixture of trellis and vine. The basic work of any Christian ministry is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the power of God’s Spirit, and to see people converted, changed and grow to maturity in that gospel. That’s the work of planting, watering, and fertilizing and tending the vine…All Christian churches, fellowships or ministries have some kind of trellis that gives shape and support to the work. As the ministry grows, the trellis also needs attention. Management, finances, infrastructure, organization, governance–these all become more important and more complex as the vine grows. In this sense, good trellis workers are invaluable, and all growing ministries need them…And that’s the thing about trellis work: it tends to take over from vine work. Perhaps it’s because trellis work is easier and less personally threatening. Vine work is personal and requires much prayer. It requires us to depend upon God, and to open our mouths and speak God’s word in some way to another person. What would you rather do: go to a church working bee and sweep up some leaves, or share the gospel with your neighbor over the back fence?
At CCC, we have people that are doing trellis and vine work. We all need to do both and both glorify God. A few Sunday’s ago, many who do various tasks like: setting out the sign, preparing Lord’s Supper, bringing coffee, putting up the welcome table information, tearing down sound equipment, etc… were out of town and I was reminded how important it is that people do these things. These take commitment but they usually do not require a deep dependence upon God. We know that Trellis work must be done, but we want CCC to be filled with Vine workers. When we engage in Vine type ministry it causes us to get on our knees, get into the word, and to seek the Lord’s power to accomplish the works that he has for us. We want CCC to be filled with people prayerfully sharing the word in the power of the Spirit to their neighbors, co-workers, friends and family. So I hope you read this book and seek to apply the biblical truths you discover.