2010 Lenten Study 5

The Apostle Paul gave us a great imagery of membership in the church, that of the human body. The image is found in his letters to the Romans and Corinthians.

The final section of Warren's book deals with Building up the Church. He deals with growing in faith to maturity and what it takes to get there.

At St. James we have members, and Warren tells us we need to move the gathered crowd of attenders from the various programs we offer and form them into a congregation of members.

While this whole section is important, on page 311 there are 12 questions asked of the members of Saddleback. Apply these questions to St. James. How are these 12 questions relevant to us?

This marks the end of the book study. I hope you have enjoyed reading and discussing the book as much as I have. There is much to learn on our journey of growth. As long as we are willing that growth that comes from God will happen. Please join us in the season of Easter when all of the study groups come together and share their thoughts as a part of a pot luck. Details to follow.

Father Murray Still

2010 Lenten Study 4

The Purpose Driven Church


Jesus attracted crowds to Him, those who were hungry for the spiritual words of life. Author Rick Warren in part four spells out the way to bring in a crowd. In a previous section, we learned the crowd is comprised of unchurched folks who would not understand the complexities of a worship service. How we approach these unchurched, those who are "seekers," will have a direct result on the numbers that attend.

In chapter 13, Warren lays out 12 convictions about worship. Consider St. James when you read these. At St. James, are we in agreement with Warren about the 12 convictions about worship? A secondary question. If so, how will be apply them?

2010 Lenten Study 3

The Purpose Driven Church

Section 3 of the book takes in chapters 9 to 11 and speaks of "Reaching out to your community." The chapters address the topics, "Who is your target?", Knowing whom you can best reach and Developing Your strategy.


QUESTION: Keeping in mind the metaphor of catching fish as it applies to reaching the unchurched, what is the perceived target audience for St. James and what do we need to do to reach them?