Baptism Weekend - 72 Baptized in Jesus Name!

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

Actually some statements were bordering on the truth. he seems conflicted?

Especially when he read from the Bible.

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

He has the testimony of coming out of drugs and hanging out with rock bands.

Possibly CC1 can help us with the man's religious background?

Maybe his background was with Werner Erhard?

The pastor has a lot of UPC relatives but was not raised in church. His parents divorced when he was 10 and he was unchurched until about 12 years ago. He was in his 20's and into drugs and a member of a rock band. He had reached a really low point as he was diagnosed with MS or something like that and was having trouble even walking so had to use a wheelchair some.

He went to a UPC church because that was one he knew about from relatives. He came to the Lord and later became that churches Youth pastor until a falling out with the pastor. This was about five years ago and when he started the church he pastors now.

He is not trying to be anything but himself with the way he speaks. He has a college degree in English and speaks very well whether old time Pentecostals like his informal language or not.

Not only does he relate to younger folks but regarding the demographics of the church over the past three years as it has grown there has been a tremendous influx of 30ish folks (typically families with young children) and older folks. In addition there are quite a few folks in their 40's and 50's. I will admit I don't see many in the geriatric age group so a few in their 60's but I don't know of any in their 70's and beyond.

He doesn't want to be a traditional typical pastor nor does he want this church to be a typical traditional church. There are plenty of those around for people who want that type of enviroment.

The Experience Community is based on the word of God being infallible and preaching it all (hence going through the bible book by book and verse by verse) without avoiding any of the hard or offensive parts.

It is not based on continuing church traditions just for the sake of church traditions. We don't take an offering. We just point out during announcements where the offering / tithe containers are on the communion tables. We have communion every service at the end. Our emphasis is on the word so the service only consists of a pres-service video, praise and worship set, announcements, psa viddeo, sermon bumper video, and the sermon. 50 minutes of the service is the sermon, 30 minutes music.

The physical plant is intentionally not "churchy" in the traditional sense. We are in a 100+ year old warehouse so we have left the feel the same. Bare concrete floor except for carpet under the chairs in the sanctuary. A mix of modern and old. The decorations are paintings done by people in the church and art pieces from Praise & Worship Nights (some are three dimensional large signs hanging).

Without a doubt many old time Pentecostals would find themselves out of their element and uncomfortable. However that is not the demographic we are reaching for. We are reaching for the unchurched or those who do not like traditional church or won't even give it a chance because of preconceived notions.

Personally I am happy at this church and would be just as happy at a more traditional church in the sense of the physical plant and being more formal. Not a heaven or hell issue for me. I do think that different churches have different personalities and different ministries so our church, while reaching for all people, will naturally appeal to the demographic I already mentioned and traditional churches will appeal to older folks or those raised in them.

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by CC1

The pastor has a lot of UPC relatives but was not raised in church. His parents divorced when he was 10 and he was unchurched until about 12 years ago. He was in his 20's and into drugs and a member of a rock band. He had reached a really low point as he was diagnosed with MS or something like that and was having trouble even walking so had to use a wheelchair some.

He went to a UPC church because that was one he knew about from relatives. He came to the Lord and later became that churches Youth pastor until a falling out with the pastor. This was about five years ago and when he started the church he pastors now.

He is not trying to be anything but himself with the way he speaks. He has a college degree in English and speaks very well whether old time Pentecostals like his informal language or not.

Not only does he relate to younger folks but regarding the demographics of the church over the past three years as it has grown there has been a tremendous influx of 30ish folks (typically families with young children) and older folks. In addition there are quite a few folks in their 40's and 50's. I will admit I don't see many in the geriatric age group so a few in their 60's but I don't know of any in their 70's and beyond.

He doesn't want to be a traditional typical pastor nor does he want this church to be a typical traditional church. There are plenty of those around for people who want that type of enviroment.

The Experience Community is based on the word of God being infallible and preaching it all (hence going through the bible book by book and verse by verse) without avoiding any of the hard or offensive parts.

It is not based on continuing church traditions just for the sake of church traditions. We don't take an offering. We just point out during announcements where the offering / tithe containers are on the communion tables. We have communion every service at the end. Our emphasis is on the word so the service only consists of a pres-service video, praise and worship set, announcements, psa viddeo, sermon bumper video, and the sermon. 50 minutes of the service is the sermon, 30 minutes music.

The physical plant is intentionally not "churchy" in the traditional sense. We are in a 100+ year old warehouse so we have left the feel the same. Bare concrete floor except for carpet under the chairs in the sanctuary. A mix of modern and old. The decorations are paintings done by people in the church and art pieces from Praise & Worship Nights (some are three dimensional large signs hanging).

Without a doubt many old time Pentecostals would find themselves out of their element and uncomfortable. However that is not the demographic we are reaching for. We are reaching for the unchurched or those who do not like traditional church or won't even give it a chance because of preconceived notions.

Personally I am happy at this church and would be just as happy at a more traditional church in the sense of the physical plant and being more formal. Not a heaven or hell issue for me. I do think that different churches have different personalities and different ministries so our church, while reaching for all people, will naturally appeal to the demographic I already mentioned and traditional churches will appeal to older folks or those raised in them.

This all sounds like a mix of Chuck Smith Calvary Chapel, and Driscoll's Mars Hill Church.

Nothing new.

Hey, CC1 weren't you in another church hence the moniker CC1?

Is this church part of that one?

[Steve Epley]

Originally Posted by CC1

The pastor has a lot of UPC relatives but was not raised in church. His parents divorced when he was 10 and he was unchurched until about 12 years ago. He was in his 20's and into drugs and a member of a rock band. He had reached a really low point as he was diagnosed with MS or something like that and was having trouble even walking so had to use a wheelchair some.

He went to a UPC church because that was one he knew about from relatives. He came to the Lord and later became that churches Youth pastor until a falling out with the pastor. This was about five years ago and when he started the church he pastors now.

He is not trying to be anything but himself with the way he speaks. He has a college degree in English and speaks very well whether old time Pentecostals like his informal language or not.

Not only does he relate to younger folks but regarding the demographics of the church over the past three years as it has grown there has been a tremendous influx of 30ish folks (typically families with young children) and older folks. In addition there are quite a few folks in their 40's and 50's. I will admit I don't see many in the geriatric age group so a few in their 60's but I don't know of any in their 70's and beyond.

He doesn't want to be a traditional typical pastor nor does he want this church to be a typical traditional church. There are plenty of those around for people who want that type of enviroment.

The Experience Community is based on the word of God being infallible and preaching it all (hence going through the bible book by book and verse by verse) without avoiding any of the hard or offensive parts.

It is not based on continuing church traditions just for the sake of church traditions. We don't take an offering. We just point out during announcements where the offering / tithe containers are on the communion tables. We have communion every service at the end. Our emphasis is on the word so the service only consists of a pres-service video, praise and worship set, announcements, psa viddeo, sermon bumper video, and the sermon. 50 minutes of the service is the sermon, 30 minutes music.

The physical plant is intentionally not "churchy" in the traditional sense. We are in a 100+ year old warehouse so we have left the feel the same. Bare concrete floor except for carpet under the chairs in the sanctuary. A mix of modern and old. The decorations are paintings done by people in the church and art pieces from Praise & Worship Nights (some are three dimensional large signs hanging).

Without a doubt many old time Pentecostals would find themselves out of their element and uncomfortable. However that is not the demographic we are reaching for. We are reaching for the unchurched or those who do not like traditional church or won't even give it a chance because of preconceived notions.

Personally I am happy at this church and would be just as happy at a more traditional church in the sense of the physical plant and being more formal. Not a heaven or hell issue for me. I do think that different churches have different personalities and different ministries so our church, while reaching for all people, will naturally appeal to the demographic I already mentioned and traditional churches will appeal to older folks or those raised in them.

You the oldest guy there?

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

You the oldest guy there?

LOL!!! Three years ago the 50+ folks were pretty hard to find. The first couple of years the church was mostly college kids and homeless people. However we now have a broad deomographic including some 40-60 year olds. Biggest age group is probably 20-40.

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

This all sounds like a mix of Chuck Smith Calvary Chapel, and Driscoll's Mars Hill Church.

Nothing new.

Hey, CC1 weren't you in another church hence the moniker CC1?

Is this church part of that one?

A few years ago my wife had her second back surgery and we could no longer travel the 45 minutes each way it took us to go to our previous church.

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Steve Epley

Actually some statements were bordering on the truth. he seems conflicted?

LOL!!! I have sat under his ministry for three years now and he probably the least conflicted of any pastor I have sat under. Things that are black and white and we know for sure he has strong positions on. Things like prophecy, etc he has positions he believes are most likely but doesn't present his view as the only possible one. Regarding salvation and baptism he is not conflicted at all. He believes baptism is very important and a commandment we are to follow. He just isn't ready to condem somebody to hell who hasn't done it yet.

Did you listen to his message on fmily we were discussing here also? (I am assuming your comments were about his baptism sermon)

[Evang.Benincasa]

Originally Posted by CC1

LOL!!! I have sat under his ministry for three years now and he probably the least conflicted of any pastor I have sat under. Things that are black and white and we know for sure he has strong positions on. Things like prophecy, etc he has positions he believes are most likely but doesn't present his view as the only possible one. Regarding salvation and baptism he not conflicted at all. He believes baptism is very important and a commandment we are to follow. He just isn't ready to condem somebody to hell who hasn't done it yet.

Did you listen to his message on fmily we were discussing here also? (I am assuming your comments were about his baptism sermon)

What made you choose this church and this preacher? Or was it because the church was across the street from your home?

[CC1]

Originally Posted by Evang.Benincasa

What made you choose this church and this preacher? Or was it because the church was across the street from your home?

We had been a part of another local church for about a year before this became our church. We loved the church we were a part of and the only reason we moved to this one was that my daughter and her husband were members and she was a praise and worship singer there. We visited their second service a few times after ours to hear her sing and support her. We got to know the church and pastor and were very impressed with both. At that time attendance between the three services was probably about 150 people.

Eventually I started wondering if we should go help out this new small church that had almost no financial base (college kids and homeless people made up the bulk of the membership) but loved our church so much I never felt a clear answer either way. One day after church I talked to my pastor about the situation and he did something I never witnessed much in old time Pentecost. He knew this pastor and his work and said he was a good man and he knew this small church probably needed elder saints and help. That we should tell the pastor we were going to go there for a few months to help out and see where things lead. My pastor told me that after these few months if we felt that was the place we needed to be for us to stay but if not his church was our home and we were always welcome home.

Ironically the small church I went to help is now at least twice as big as the "bigger" church I left three years ago.

Although I don't believe one will miss heaven if not baptized I do believe it is an important thing and also while I don't believe a person will miss heaven over the words said over them at baptism I do believe that the correct, biblical way is in Jesus name so it was important to me that a church I am part of baptizes in Jesus name. I have been a part of just 4 churches over the last 31 years and all have baptized in Jesus name. One in the state we previously lived in for 16 years and then 3 at our present location in Middle Tennessee where we have lived the past 15 years. About 10 of these last fifteen years was spent at Christ Church Nashville before we had to find a church closer to home.

[Abiding Now]

Originally Posted by CC1

LOL!!! I have sat under his ministry for three years now and he probably the least conflicted of any pastor I have sat under. Things that are black and white and we know for sure he has strong positions on. Things like prophecy, etc he has positions he believes are most likely but doesn't present his view as the only possible one. Regarding salvation and baptism he is not conflicted at all. He believes baptism is very important and a commandment we are to follow. He just isn't ready to condem somebody to hell who hasn't done it yet.

Did you listen to his message on fmily we were discussing here also? (I am assuming your comments were about his baptism sermon)

Originally Posted by CC1

We had been a part of another local church for about a year before this became our church. We loved the church we were a part of and the only reason we moved to this one was that my daughter and her husband were members and she was a praise and worship singer there. We visited their second service a few times after ours to hear her sing and support her. We got to know the church and pastor and were very impressed with both. At that time attendance between the three services was probably about 150 people.

Eventually I started wondering if we should go help out this new small church that had almost no financial base (college kids and homeless people made up the bulk of the membership) but loved our church so much I never felt a clear answer either way. One day after church I talked to my pastor about the situation and he did something I never witnessed much in old time Pentecost. He knew this pastor and his work and said he was a good man and he knew this small church probably needed elder saints and help. That we should tell the pastor we were going to go there for a few months to help out and see where things lead. My pastor told me that after these few months if we felt that was the place we needed to be for us to stay but if not his church was our home and we were always welcome home.

Ironically the small church I went to help is now at least twice as big as the "bigger" church I left three years ago.

Although I don't believe one will miss heaven if not baptized I do believe it is an important thing and also while I don't believe a person will miss heaven over the words said over them at baptism I do believe that the correct, biblical way is in Jesus name so it was important to me that a church I am part of baptizes in Jesus name. I have been a part of just 4 churches over the last 31 years and all have baptized in Jesus name. One in the state we previously lived in for 16 years and then 3 at our present location in Middle Tennessee where we have lived the past 15 years. About 10 of these last fifteen years was spent at Christ Church Nashville before we had to find a church closer to home.

This is what I meant, when I posted "typical PCI doctrine".