2nd Chance Community Church is a 'Brainerd Meta Churches, Inc' church.
You might ask, 'What is a meta-church?'
First we should explain that Jesus planted (started) what missiologists (expert missionaries) call a 'church militant' when He selected and trained the disciples. This means that they were students who learned to be on mission for God. What mission? To love God, to love people and to tell people about Jesus and His words.
Many passages show that this was to continue:
1. The Great Commission - Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV):
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of
the age.”
2. A school that a guy named Paul started - Acts 19:8-10 (NIV):
8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe
and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord
We are one of a number of local Churches and Christians from different churches that have partnered with Brainerd Free School of Ministry and Mission as they seek to follow this model.
Check out their website: www.BrainerdFreeSchoolofMission.org
Later on after Jesus died and rose again He promised to send His Holy Spirit after He returned to His Father in Heaven. On the day He kept that promise the 'Church nurture' (as those missiologist types call it) was born. These are churches where single people and families meet to worship together and to enjoy each others' company as they listen to God's Word. They did this by eating together, caring for one another, learning God's Word and praying:
Acts 2:42 (NIV):
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
So, we follow this model in our Sunday Evening House Church meeting - we eat and hang out together, hear God's Word preached, pray for one another and pray for God's work in the world and learn to love one another...
'Okay, that sounds great', you ask, 'But, what about this meta church idea?'
Well if people are meeting from day to day in non-believers' living rooms, and believers' living rooms, in public places and down by the river... but they also get together around the mission of God or for big worship gatherings... what would you call that?
Those missiologist types call that 'the meta church model' and here is one place we see that in Scripture (God's book that we call the Bible)... In the book of Acts we see that the people met daily in house churches and weekly at the Temple:
Acts 5:42 (NIV*):
Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
*that 'NIV' thing means 'New International Version' which is a modern English translation of the original ancient languages (Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic parts) of the Bible
So now you almost know what the logo is all about...
- the Cross is for Jesus and what He did for us when He died on a cross for our sins.
- The circles with broader crosses in them stand for disciple making -
4 parts: teaching them to study Bible,
teaching them to pray,
teaching them to worship God (alone and in groups) and
teaching them to love and spend time with other believers
The 542 stands for Acts 5:42 and
the whole thing is a picture of how believers in an area can meet day to day and also gather together around a mission or for a big worship gathering.
Any more questions?
Well, call or come and visit or email and we can talk some more...
Thanks for reading so far... really, that's cool and we hope it intrigued you in a positive way...
Why us?
Because everyone needs 2nd chances!
Our Church is an expression of how God gives second chances - really He gives grace not just second chances... But we are a group of people that know we are wacked...(everyone is - some just don't know it)... but Jesus loved us anyways... Jesus saved us through His completed work on His cross and we have received grace and forgiveness when we believed and repented of our sins.
We are people who have done all kinds of stupid things - but God has given us a new life!
Come learn and live with us!