Will Vaus

In chapter seven of The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren talks about The Five Circles of Commitment. Personally, I think this provides a great way of thinking about ministry in one's church and community. Warren suggests that churches and pastors need to focus first on their community and drawing members of their community into the church. In other words, we need to focus on outreach and I think this is true. It is the one area of ministry mentioned in Acts 2:42-47 that most churches struggle with. In the community surrounding Stowe Community Church (Lamoille County), 81.1% of the residents have no religious affiliation whatsoever. The census calls them the "Nones", not to be confused with Catholic Nuns.  In 2010, that percentage represented 19, 847 people. What might we be doing as a church to draw the Nones one step closer to Jesus and into the community of our church? The next Circle of Commitment after the Community, Rick Warren calls the Crowd.  I have aligne

In chapter six of The Purpose Driven Church , Rick Warren says, Great leaders have always understood and harnessed the tremendous power of symbols. People often need visual representations of concepts in order to grasp them. Symbols can be powerful communication tools because they elicit strong passions and emotions. I agree. One symbol I am using to communicate the Fivefold Purpose of the Church we find in Acts 2:42-47 is the Cross. Here is what we read in that passage.... They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having

Chapter 5 of The Purpose Driven Church  by Rick Warren is, perhaps, the most important chapter in the entire book. In this chapter, Warren provides some guidelines for, in the case of a new church, defining a church's purpose, or in the case of plateaued or declining churches, redefining that purpose. The first step in that process is, I think, the most critical: Study what the Bible says.  At Stowe Community Church we spent one small group session discussing the Scriptures that Warren suggests looking at. Here are the references for those Scriptures:  Matthew 5:13-16;  9:35;  11:28-30; 16:15-19;  18:19-20;  22:36-40;  24:14;  25:34-40;  28:18-20; Mark 10:43-45;  Luke 4:18-19;  4:43-45;  John 4:23; 10:14-18; 13:34-35;  20:21;  Acts 1:8;  2:41-47;  4:32-35;  5:42;  6:1-7;  Romans 12:1-8;  15:1-7;  1 Corinthians 12:12-31;  2 Corinthians 5:17-6:1;  Galatians 5:13-15;  6:1-2; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:19-22;  3:6;  3:14-21;  4:11-16;  5:23-24;  Colossians 1:24-28;  3:15-16; 1 Thessalon