Good point, although they write a great deal about hospitality, which is probably the most effective in our day and the most overlooked by baptists, many of whom like to stay “separated.”

Thanks for the recommendation – had already ordered the book before you recommended it though, since this was on my mind. Come to think of it, there’s no reason why you couldn’t still have a ‘seeker service’ on a Sunday – perhaps in the afternoon after the morning covenant renewal worship. I guess the issue is that many people would see it as their main Church service. But I like your adult Sunday school idea – we really need to get the church back onto the basics of biblical typology.

Steven,

I know what you mean, my fiancee became a christian this way – and so have others I have known. Although it wasn’t long before she wanted to go deeper into things (though maybe I was an influence in that regard). Your last sentence is intriguing and it has made me consider how, despite their general brilliance, I don’t often hear talks on practical evangelism from the FV crowd…

It seems that the preaching was done outside the church, and the teaching inside the church (with exhortations, of course).

Other than that, check out Jeff Meyers’ ‘The Lord’s Service.’

I reckon an adult Sunday School class is also a great idea, even if it’s during the week.

Do you know of any good New Testament passages which uphold the Lord’s day service as a time for covenant renewal and not primarily evangelism? Obviously it’s a pattern which is all over the scriptures, but I’d like to find a way of making it clear to those unfamiliar with typology and still stuck in a grammatical-historical rut.

I was probably a bit harsh in this post but we’ve got to the point where we don’t even know what Bible teaching looks like any more, and that includes the trained ministers. Best approach is to teach the Bible and all the people who don’t want the true God will leave, and people who love Him will turn up. One of the local youth ministers has now been taken on as a pastor, is preaching and teaching good stuff and the Church has started to grow quickly. Works every time. But our Church culture is still so far from where it could be.

I go to a baptist church and play in one of the bands – some of the songs they get me to play are atrocious! I find it shocking that the preachers there, who have all been to seminary, don’t know any better. The teaching isn’t great, but at least it’s better than at the pentecostal church I used to go to.

What’s your church like?