Tag Archives: Simple Church

ACTING OUT! Lessons from the Book of Acts

Episodes One through Five

You may have noticed some short interruptions our podcast episodes that we call “Acting Out.” No, we are not misbehaving. Acting Out is the segment of our show when we look to the book of Acts in the Bible and find lessons from the early church. In this brief segment, we ask ourselves, If the 1st century church turned the world upside down then, what could the church today do equally well in the 21st century?

Since these episodes of Acting Out are very short, we have combined them into a series with five episodes in each download. We look forward to producing more episodes to include in our normal “Keep It Simple” podcast. Enjoy!

Acting Out Chapters 1-5

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121: Social Justice and the Simple Church

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A few months ago, a controversial document was created by certain evangelicals warning of the potential pitfalls of the modern social justice movement. These evangelicals warn that an increasing emphasis on social justice issues may be drawing our attention away from the heart of the gospel of the salvation of Jesus Christ and that we are putting too much emphasis on temporary issues at the expense of emphasizing the eternal aspects of the gospel. Opponents of this statement claim that social justice is a huge part of what it is to be a Christian in a fallen world. Listen as Gavin and Tom weigh in on the discussion.

 

To read the original statement, click here:

https://statementonsocialjustice.com/

To read some responses from the Christian Community about the Statement on Social Justice, click here:

https://churchleaders.com/news/333559-russell-moore-on-social-justice-statement-on-social-justice.html

https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2018/september-web-only/john-macarthur-statement-social-justice-gospel-thabiti.html

 


120: Chill!

Why do Christians worry? What are we anxious about? What are we trying so very hard to achieve? Is our effort in vain? Are we worried for nothing? Listen as Gavin and Tom discuss our anxieties.


119: Does God Really Love Us? How Can We Know For Sure?

As Gavin reviews the recent Simple Church Conference, he brings up one of the topics: How Do We Know That God Really Loves Us? Tom and Gavin weigh in on this topic. Does God love us only when we obey Him? Is His love really unconditional? How do we know and experience His love?

118: What Does The Church Value Pt 2

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You can tell a lot about a church by what it values or holds dear. Today, Gavin and Tom talk about what they consider to be the strongest values of any church. This is part two of a two part series.


117: What Does the Church Value? Pt. 1

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You can tell a lot about a church by what it values or holds dear. Today, Gavin and Tom talk about what they consider to be the strongest values of any church. This is part one of a two part series.


116: Apostles Prophets Evangelists Shepherds Teachers

Today, Gavin and Tom take a look at the list of God-given people from Ephesians chapter four: Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Shepherds and Teachers. Are these people still with us today? What do they do among us? Why are they important? How do we recognize them?

For more about the Gifts described in Ephesians Four click here:

https://5qcentral.com/

To see the image that started this conversation, see below:


115: The Origins of Skate Church

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Today, we talk to Jonathan Wilson, pastor of Lexington, Kentucky’s Skate Church. Jonathan describes the origins of Skate Church and how Simple Church principles helped establish this growing group of young Christians in Lexington.

 


114: Interview With Richard Jacobson

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This week Tom had the opportunity to meet with Richard Jacobson, of the Unchurching podcast and author of the book by the same name. While the name of the book may be provocative, Richard assures us that he is not anti-church. Through his writing, speaking and art, he articulates his love for the church. He advocates for a genuine expression of the ecclesia as described in the scriptures –where the church is not just a place that people gather, but IS the people who gather.

To see Richard’s website, click here:

http://www.unchurching.com/


113: Why We Podcast

Today, Gavin and Tom – The Simple Guys – take a few minutes to remind our listeners why we produce this podcast. Hint: it’s not to make money! Seriously, we do this podcast to promote healthy churches through simple, organic and family-like structures. Listen to hear what exactly that means.