Hoarding Grace

Grace is confusing, amazing, free but not without cost, life-changing, outward focused, messy, borderline illogical, _________ (fill in the blank), etc.

Webster defines grace (n.) as: a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification b : a virtue coming from God c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace. I would describe it as "unmerited favor." 


A small phrase from Jesus in Matthew 10 caught my attention, "Freely you have received; freely give." This sounds like grace becoming a verb.


Do we hoard grace for ourselves? It seems so easy for us to desire grace (what we don't deserve) for ourselves and justice (what they deserve) for others. If it were not for the grace we have freely received, the justice we deserve would destroy us.


Receive grace, receive life.
Give grace, give life.

Giving at a Distance

In my area there are a couple of Fall fund drives that are taking place right now on the radio and I started to wonder...

How often do we invest in our various charitable organizations so we don't have to invest ourselves into the lives of others? Even through our giving we can keep the sick, the lonely, the broken, the poor at a safe distance.

A Magic Bullet?

You don't have to look far before reading something about the need, desire, or drive to get more young adults in church. As a young pastor in the UMC, I recognize the need as obvious yet I began to wonder, do we view the young adult demographic as some sort of magic bullet that will kill this downward trend the church finds itself in?

Speaking as a young adult, I believe we need to target my demographic because many of "us" are looking for a faith community to call home. My fear is we end up going to another extreme focusing on one particular demographic at the expense of the others.

How are we being intentional about engaging the Boomers? More and more I see the gap widening between students/young adults and the grandmas and grandpas. Where are the 40-55 year olds? It seems that many of them are becoming disengaged as they struggle with either being too young or too old, and we have struggled to figure out how to bridge that gap.

It seems that focusing on a specific "magic bullet" may not be the best way to create disciples, but perhaps I'm wrong. What do you think?

Can You Hear Me Now?

I read this quote the other day

We listen foremost in order to hear the other into speech...

Lately I've been trying it, listening others into talking. Not only have individuals begun to talk but they open up to the point of truly sharing. It has been fascinating. Perhaps you and I could be a little quicker to listen and a lot slower to speak?

Well Hello There

I know, I know, it's been awhile since I've dropped a post. Sorry about that. "Blogger's Guilt" (not sure if that is a real term, if not, I got dibs) has certainly been gnawing at me. The past month has been jam-packed with lots of life, school, and ministry making it difficult to blog regularly. So, here's what I'm thinking...

1. Connect with me on Twitter if you haven't already. It's quick, easy and I'm on it just about all the time. You can find me at @mattlipan.

2. I'm going to blog more but for the next couple months I anticipate that my posts will be fairly short and sweet. Which could be pretty cool and possibly even encourage you to engage more often and even connect with each other. That could actually be pretty fun, so maybe it's worth a shot?

Having said all that, let me know if you're still out there and we'll connect soon!

Bottom of the 9th

Yesterday was my 9yr anniversary (which is sort of a long time) of being on staff at Castleton UMC here in Indianapolis so I thought I would take a quick look back.

In my 9yrs at the church, God has allowed me to:

-move my office at least 5x
-lead mission trips to: Dallas, TX; New York, NY (2x); Obion, TN; Frakes, KY (4x); Marion, VA; Hayesville, NC; Baldwin, LA; Grand Rapids, MI; Quito, Ecuador (5x); San Andres, Guatemala
-see at least 8 individuals pursue full-time ministry
-work under 1 senior pastor the entire time
-be a part of becoming a multi-site church and lead the Sunrise Campus (our 2nd site)
-hold 3 different positions on staff: Director of Student Ministries, Director of Young Adult Ministries, Pastor of Family Ministries & Sunrise Campus (associate pastor under appointment since Nov. '08)
-witness the building of a new sanctuary
-witness our church reach the community in countless ways
-go from being "undecided" about the UMC to being "in process"
-start and nearly complete my Master of Divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary (2012 graduation)
-launch a new Saturday evening contemporary service called "Renovate"
-say, "I'm sorry" and "my bad" plenty of times
-be blessed to be able to say "thanks" quite a bit as well
-change, and hopefully mature in my ministry and thank CUMC for putting up with me as I continue to grow

It's crazy to think how long 9yrs is and how fast they went by. I am excited to see what God has in store for this 10th year of ministry and beyond. Thanks for joining me as we journey together.

Looking In to Reach Out: Inside Looking Out

Part 4 of my "Looking In to Reach Out" sermon series.

*****************************************************
"Looking In to Reach Out: Inside Looking Out"

"Setting the Table" - Part 1
"1st Time Eyes" - Part 2
"Messengers" - Part 3

Recently Google released something called Google+, which some have called “Google’s version of Facebook." Inside Google+ individuals have the ability to place people in various circles depending on the nature of the relationship.

Think of the various relationship circles you have and how they were formed. Some are the result of time, expertise, blood (family), commitments, etc. and we do things to protect and maintain these circles don't we? Not unlike the religious leaders of Jesus’ day...

Sometimes when I read the Bible, I end up with more questions than answers and sometimes when I write a sermon, I find myself asking lots of questions. This is one of those times. Please feel free to join the conversation here or at www.Facebook.com/RenovateCUMC.

Luke 11:37-46

Do we get caught up in the "hoops?"
-The Pharisees created "hoops" people had to jump through to be considered religious. Is the Church guilty of the same thing?

What happens when people don’t know or follow the “rules?"
-The Pharisees made up rules people had to follow to be welcomed in the church. God's command to “keep the Sabbath holy” turned into: don’t walk more than a certain distance, don’t carry more than a certain weight, don’t tie a certain kind of knot...

Does our church only look welcoming/inviting from the outside?

Do we use our “perks” to invite in or keep out?

Do we create burdens or carry them?
-Are we making it easier or harder for others to connect with Jesus?

*Bring on the answers!

Looking In to Reach Out: Messengers

Part 3 of my "Looking In to Reach Out" sermon series.

****************************************************
"Looking In to Reach Out: Messengers"

“Setting the Table” – Part 1
“1st Time Eyes” – Part2

Think of all the ways you communicate...phone, text, Facebook, Twitter, instant message, email, face-to-face, etc. Now, think of all the messages you encounter on a daily basis and how many of them you simply ignore because they are not worth your time?

Acts 1:1-8

Know the message
-Luke clarifies the foundation of the message, Jesus is alive and believers are empowered by the Holy Spirit
-“many convincing proofs” = it was undeniable that Jesus was who he said he was and in fact had risen from the dead (vs. 3)
-The message is one of: victory over evil (Col. 2:15; 1 Peter 3:22), forgiveness and holiness for sinners (Rom. 3:21-26; Heb. 9:11-12; 10:10), participation in the Kingdom (Matt. 19:24-26; John 3:3), and salvation through repentance and trust in Christ (Matt. 4:17; John 14:6; Acts 8:12)
-Help people recognize the message you have to share is worth hearing

Be able to share the message
-1 Peter 3:15 tells us to “always be prepared" to explain our reason for hope
-People aren’t simply looking for answers, they are looking for authenticity
-Your story is your best bet

Find those who want/need to hear the message
-Matthew 28:16-20
-We can’t passively wait for people to come to us
-Start near, go far…like ripples in a pond (Jesus mentions Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria (hostile land), and then the ends of the earth). There are surely people you know who are just waiting to hear this message.

Looking In to Reach Out: 1st Time Eyes

Part 2 of my "Looking In to Reach Out" sermon series.

****************************************************
"Looking In to Reach Out: 1st Time Eyes"
John 9:1-12

Can you imagine what it would be like to see things for the very first time? My 7 month old is reminding me what that must have been like. Here we read a story of Jesus healing a man blind from birth, giving him the opportunity to see the world through "1st time eyes."

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see the Church for the very first time? Imagine walking into your church and seeing the space and the people for the very first time...

The Story (a few things we can pull from the biblical story)
-The cause of the man's blindness is not the main focus
-Jesus heals physical needs as well as spiritual needs
-The man was physically blind as well as spiritually blind
-Jesus, as the Light of the world, is able to heal both physical and spiritual blindness

For Us (what some of this means for us today)
-We consistently have new visitors choosing to worship with us
-This means people are consistently seeing us & our church as something they have never seen or experienced before with "1st time eyes."
-People have baggage. The baggage people bring with them to church doesn’t matter because people have baggage, which includes you and me.
-Christ invites us to “bring sight to the blind” along with him. Not because we're anything special but because he is.
-Some people are responding to the need to be in church, and can't really explain it, so don't make them. Whatever reason brings people to church is second to the fact they are there and must be welcomed.

Looking In to Reach Out: Setting the Table

This is the first sermon in a series I have been preaching over the past few weeks. The purpose of the series is to spend some time taking a look inward as the Church in order that we might make a concerted effort to reach out in the Fall.

*********************************************************
"Looking In to Reach Out: Setting the Table"

Most of us like being invited to parties, most of us like going to parties, and some of us even like hosting parties.

Think of the last time you entertained someone in your home…

And all of the things you did to prepare for your guests to come over…

Why did you do all of this?

We want to make sure people feel welcome, comfortable and at ease when they come over, right? If we don’t have things to accomplish this, we go and get it…food, drinks, furniture, etc.

Matthew 25:35-40

Preparation leads to hospitality
-Preparation provides us with something to give
-Preparation provides freedom

Inside and outside
-Hospitality on the street leads to hospitality in the home
-If I’m not nice to you ‘out in the world’ why would you want to come to my house for dinner?
-Christians must demonstrate hospitality outside the church if we hope to invite others in

We’ve all been there
-Don’t forget (Deut. 10:19)
-As disciples, hospitality happens without even recognizing it

The Theology of K-LOVE

I like music, sort of a lot. I especially like live music and going to shows. I also like to think I have a decent ear for good music and that is partly why I have never been a big fan of contemporary Christian music.

So, over the past few weeks I have been making a concerted effort to listen to more Christian music, which has meant a considerable amount of time with the nationally syndicated station known as K-LOVE (WKLU 101.9 FM in my area). Overall the music has been fine, at times I might even say good but my biggest struggle has been the seemingly shallow theological message that is being communicated.

I understand K-LOVE's message of being "positive and encouraging" but it seems as though this station, with its millions of listeners, has the potential (and arguably responsibility) to establish deeper theological roots. Of course individuals can find encouragement from the message of the Gospel but to fail to mention the call of discipleship to service, suffering, and sacrifice does not convey the whole message. Without a proper understanding of these components of a relationship with Christ, the message teeters on the 'prosperity gospel' cliff.

*If you or someone you know works for K-LOVE or has some connection with the station and believe I could help in any way or want to talk more, feel free to contact me.

Church Renewal

I was asked by my twitter friend Ben Simpson (@bsimpson) to share a guest post on his blog. Feel free to check it out and join the conversation. Hope to see you over there!

Thoughts from a Noob Dad

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there. This happens to be my 1st Father's Day as an actual father. Our son is now 6 1/2 months old, which makes me still very much a noob (newbie) but I thought I would share 3 perspectives I have gained since becoming a father.

Me as a father.
Becoming a dad has been, without a doubt, the most emotional thing that has ever happened to me. I use to look at other dads and think to myself, "I won't be like that, I'll be pretty chill as a dad." I think I'm still somewhat chill (though certainly not as much) but find myself having to "be chill" while wiping away tears looking at pictures or hearing a story about some child or dad on NPR.

My dad as a father.
I am beginning to see that parenting isn't easy. I am extremely grateful for my dad and the example he continues to be for me. Of course, he's not perfect but being a dad myself has given me a better appreciation of all the ways my dad has cared for me and made me realize there were plenty of times when I was punk. Thanks dad for putting up with me.

God as Father.
The amount of love I feel for my son is really sort of bizarre. One minute he wasn't here and the next he changed everything. There is absolutely nothing he has done in his short life to earn my love and yet... I am just now starting to catch a glimpse of the significance of God as Father. Unfortunately, I am not and will never be, a perfect father. Neither was or is my dad. One way or another we have or will fail to love our children perfectly but not God. God's ability and willingness to love us, His children, so perfectly leaves me humbled, grateful, and speechless.

Give thanks for your dad today. Know that if you can't count on your father, you can always count on the perfect Father.

I'm curious, what has your father or fatherhood taught you?

3 Proven Ways to Waste Your Time: Worry

A recent 3-part sermon series. This is part 1.

*************************************************
"3 Proven Ways to Waste Your Time: Worry"

How many of you would consider yourself to be a “worry wart”? How many of the things that cause you to worry are things you can’t actually do anything about?

Read Matthew 6:25-34. Notice that immediately preceding this passage Jesus tells us not to store up treasures on earth (6:19-24). There are a few things we can pull from Jesus' words teaching us not to worry...

Worrying is a waste (vs. 27)
-Worry does no good & changes nothing
“Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.” ~Glenn Turner
-Worry as anti-faith; worry is the opposite of trusting God, which creates a lack of faith
-vs. 30: unwillingness or inability to trust God; faithless
“I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.” ~Mark Twain
-Peter tells us to cast our anxieties on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7)

Life consists of “more” (vs. 25)
-Things like food & clothing are not the end in themselves, life consists of “much more”
-The assumption that God’s people are more important to Him than the rest of His creation provides the basis for a parent/child type of trust
-Worry about tomorrow and sensible planning for tomorrow are not the same
-God provides food for the birds but He doesn’t drop it in their mouths
-The promise is for survival, not affluence
-We are reminded the life of a disciple is not a picnic

Look expecting to find (vs. 33)
-vs. 26: “look” in order to learn, not simply see
-Make it your priority to find
-Philippians 4:6-7 says we can know a peace that doesn't make sense
-God’s people should be different when it comes to dealing with worry

#inumconf11

The 2011 Annual Conference of the Indiana Conference of the United Methodist Church took place from 6/8-6/11 on the campus of Ball State University in Muncie, IN. There were nearly 2,000 lay and clergy members representing the roughly 1,187 UMC churches in the state that participated in the 4 day conference of meetings, worship sessions, voting, etc.

I had the opportunity to attend as a clergy member and thought I would share some of my experience with you.

-#inumconf11 was the Twitter hashtag used for the conference. You can see a list of the #inconf11 tweets here. I am a big fan of Twitter and was excited when our conference publications talked about it being used a source of sharing information and connecting with others, though I was disappointed to see the small number of us who actually used it.

-I thought Marcia McFee did a very nice job of providing practical ways to create and practice passionate worship. She reminded us to expect that God will show up in our worship and allow His Spirit to lead. I would have enjoyed hearing more of her teaching on worship.

-I believe there should be more "teaching" and provided opportunity for workshops or breakout groups. If it weren't for the connection I made with others via Twitter, it would have been easy to get lost in the crowd.

-We talk a lot about being a "connectional" church but I'm not sure I saw much of that outside of a few conference reports. Imagine what we could do if we didn't care who, or which church, got the credit.

-This was the 3rd Annual Conference I have been to and my most enjoyable so far. Not sure if it was because I knew what to expect or knew more people or maybe both but I found it to be alright.

-The "dashboard" for Vital Congregations was previewed in our clergy session. Roughly 72% (803) of our churches in Indiana have an average weekly worship attendance of 99 or less. I pray the average weekly worship number doesn't carry too much weight in defining vitality.

-There are a lot of churches within our conference that have a ton of potential, this makes the idea of revitalization really exciting to me. How are we intentionally bringing up leaders and providing them opportunities to make this happen?

-God is big and God is present. This provides all the hope needed to be about the work of creating disciples of Christ for the transformation of the world. This is the first time in over 30yrs that our conference has seen growth in membership and average weekly attendance, let's make sure we maintain this momentum by staying out of our own way and keeping our eyes focused on the Author and Perfecter of our faith.

Those are just a few of my thoughts. If you attended, what did you think? If you didn't, what do you think?

Growing Pains: Part II

Growing Pains is a 2-part blog series dealing with church growth within a smaller congregational setting. This is part 2, sorry it has taken so long to get posted.

Come One, Come All?
Something happens when your small church family experiences growth, new people show up and want to get involved. When new people get involved, things begin to change. It's not so much that the new people are wanting or trying to change anything, it simply happens because they are new and aren't familiar with "the way things have been."

People react to change in different ways, so do small churches. I am going to suggest a couple ways smaller congregations can react to growth and change: die, survive, or thrive.

Die: When a small congregation fights to maintain the various levels of membership, the new person feels not only unwelcome but incapable of finding ways to engage in the life of the church. This inevitably leads to frustration and confusion on the part of the new person, causing him or her to search for another church family. The congregation is left without new people or ideas and minus these things, the life of the congregation quickly (sometimes painfully slowly) fades away. Change is feared and avoided in a dying congregation.

Survive: This tends to be a more passive approach to maintaining membership levels. New people are allowed in just enough to keep them involved but only a few end up sticking around. It's not so much that the church is growing, it is simply replacing those who have left or passed away so that it continues to survive. Change is viewed with skepticism and needs to be controlled in a surviving congregation.

Thrive: When a congregation is willing to fully welcome, accept, and include new people, significant growth can occur. This requires all levels of membership to have open access, so much so that membership levels practically cease to exist. This is a church family that desires to see their family grow by bringing new people into the life of the church. A congregation like this recognizes the energy and ideas new people can bring to their church but doesn't stop at welcoming those individuals, they intentionally seek them out and look for ways to get them involved. Change is embraced but not forced, it is seen as necessary for growth in order to engage the lives of new people in a thriving congregation.

Have you witnessed a dying, surviving, or thriving church? What do you believe made the difference? Are there other ways growth impacts a congregation?

Growing Pains: Part I

Church growth is exciting as well as challenging. How members of the congregation deal with the addition of new people can be just as varied, especially if the church was smaller to begin with. Growing Pains will be a 2-part blog post discussing some of things around church growth as it specifically relates to smaller churches.

Members Only
Right or wrong, good or bad, one of the things that happens in smaller churches is the creation of a membership level system. Think of it as different levels of membership such as platinum, gold, and silver members each with its own responsibilities and privileges. Your platinum members are the ones who have been a part of the congregation from the beginning, or near it. They have seen it through the "ups" and stayed with it during its more recent "downs." The level of ownership with platinum members is extremely high, mostly because if they didn't make it happen, it didn't happen. Along with this comes a sense of entitlement which includes privileges such as having a set of church keys, knowledge of "how things work," etc.

Gold and silver members are similar but with less time invested in the congregation and as a result, their responsibilities or privileges are not as large. Some work hard to achieve platinum level while others work just hard enough to maintain whichever level they have reached. These members recognize the different levels and respect those "above" them.

Church growth messes with this membership structure. New people are excited to find ways to get involved in the life of the church and grow in their faith but find themselves running into different levels of membership they didn't know were present. They ask to serve in a particular area without realizing one needs to be a gold member, at least, to volunteer there...to be continued.

Have you witnessed anything like these different levels of membership within the Church? Your church? What was that like?

The Disease of the UMC

In a recent blog post, Dr. Timothy Tennent, president of Asbury Theological Seminary, discussed the decline of "mainline," "evangelical" churches in the U.S. He writes:

Mainline churches are in decline because these movements reached a critical mass such that sufficient numbers of bishops, pastors, elders, deacons and laypeople lost, forsake or otherwise failed to remember the true marks of the church. The church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic. When the church becomes divided, unholy, parochial and forsakes historic orthodoxy, then it will decline.

As I was reading his post, I was especially struck by his words concerning the UMC:

The United Methodist Church has spent tens of thousands of dollars promoting the smart marketing byline: “Open hearts, open minds, open doors.” But all this “smart marketing” does is underscore the United Methodist disease. This marketing line says nothing about Jesus Christ or the apostolic faith. It actually communicates the very blandness which is the problem when a denomination loses its center.

Could it be that the decline of the UMC is related to the "blandness" of our message as Dr. Tennent suggests? That by saying "Open hearts, open minds, open doors" we aren't saying much of anything and the very message we thought would attract individuals, especially younger ones, is lacking the substance so many are desperately looking for.

Individuals want to know what the United Methodist Church stands for and stands on. I believe we will continue to struggle as a denomination if we lose our connection to the Gospel and fail to "market" that connection to the world around us.

What do you think? Does the UMC (or your church) have a disease? How would you label it?

A Little Bit Different

I have been given the opportunity to be a part of the Common English Bible's Lenten Blog Tour as 1 of 41 writers sharing thoughts on various passages throughout Lent. Checkout the blog tour site to follow other great posts happening during Lent.



Matthew 3:1-6
"In those days John the Baptist appeared in the desert of Judea announcing, "Change your hearts and lives! Here comes the kingdom of heaven!" He was the one of whom Isaiah the prophet spoke when he said:

The voice of one shouting in the wilderness,
"Prepare the way for the Lord;
make his paths straight."

John wore clothes made of camel's hair, with a leather belt around his waist. He ate locusts and wild honey. People from Jerusalem, throughout Judea, and all around the Jordan River came to him. As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River."

**************************************************
As we continue our journey through the Lenten wilderness we come across a figure that the passage from Matthew's gospel tells us is John the Baptist. His job was to announce (or herald) the coming salvation through the person of Jesus by urging the people to return to their true allegiance through confessing their sins and being baptized.

One of the things I find fascinating about John the Baptist is that he's just a little bit different. I mean think about it...a guy comes rolling on the scene from the desert, calling people out for their sins, and telling them the kingdom of heaven has come near all while wearing camel hair and eating grasshoppers. The other fascinating part to me...THE PEOPLE RESPONDED!

I can't help but think that perhaps, just maybe, those of us who call ourselves Christians should be just a little bit different. I'm not suggesting that we wear crazy clothes or yell at people about their sins. I am suggesting that there should be something different about the people called Christians that causes others to respond. I would argue there has to be. Something different about the words we use, the way we spend our time, and the way we treat people. If not, it seems as though we might be missing something.

Four Month Old Dad

I have only been a dad for 4 months but the emotions are starting to catch up with me. I did not expect or have any idea of how emotional becoming a dad would be. It is easily one of, if not the most emotional thing that has ever happened to me in my life.

I’m sure some of this has to do with the fact that I am currently leading a mission team in Guatemala and have to be away from my family. I think the other part of it comes with feeling a sense of inadequacy, unworthiness and failure mixed with feelings of joy, humility and excitement. It’s as if looking at my son pushes me to be a better disciple, better husband, and better dad while also reminding me of the times when I have failed as all 3.

I am not perfect. Actually, I’m pretty far from it and yet I want to be for my son’s sake. I want to be the perfect example for him and know while I write this I will fail on a regular basis. Not only do I feel those other things I mentioned earlier but looking at my son also always me to see God’s grace, His hope, and His love.