As things come back from pandemic many churches will be tempted to do this one huge mistake...this video addresses what that mistake it, talks about new ways of looking ahead, and ends with a message to church leaders. You can make a big mistake or you can see a big opportunity! Let's do the second.

Signup for all Wineskins articles, videos and podcasts in one email per week - http://eepurl.com/g9I2k9

There are a number of things parents do that can later undermine the faith of their kids. It isn't about messing up on this a few times...but on these things being a pattern that forms a culture where faith doesn't grow well.

The three things are:

We all know we are in decline but there is more to the numbers than meets the eye. How does our change in attendance in Churches of Christ compare with other groups: Baptists, Methodists, etc.? Are they growing or declining faster than we are? What about the people out there who see themselves as Church of Christ but don't attend? How many people are out there like that and what does that tell us?

Find out more from Pew - https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2015/05/Religious-Composition-of-U.S.-Adults.pdf

Find out more from IMP - https://interimministrypartners.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Losing-our-Hope-Finding-Our-future.pdf

Signup for all Wineskins content: Each Saturday we send one email with links to all our content from that week. You may not be aware but Wineskins produces articles, podcasts, and videos each week. We promise to not send you more than one email per week. Sign up here - http://eepurl.com/g9I2k9

If you just want the audio, please subscribe to our podcast and join the community! Find more from us here:

Podcast - https://wineskins.podbean.com

Editor of http://wineskins.org

Writer at http://mattdabbs.com

https://twitter.com/mattdabbs

https://www.instagram.com/dabbs.matt/

The Pharisees developed rules and traditions to keep Israel pure. The problem was they eventually confused violating their rules with violating the scriptures. We can do the same thing today. Let's take care to understand which parts of our belief are directly from the Bible and which things are tradition and made up rules. And let us be gracious to one another.

What is legalism? This is an important followup video to the previous video on why I left legalism. It isn't just trying to be obedient. It isn't about trying to believe the right thing. Legalism is about what you believe the effect of your obedience is all about. But that is really the symptom of something far deeper - how you see yourself in relation to God.

Signup for all Wineskins content:

Each Saturday we send one email with links to all our content from that week. You may not be aware but Wineskins produces articles, podcasts, and videos each week. We promise to not send you more than one email per week. Sign up here - http://eepurl.com/g9I2k9

This is part of my story - a story from legalism to grace. It is a story of how God brought me through maturity to see the Bible, God and others through the lens of grace rather than through the pseudo-security of legalism. You may have a similar story. I would love to hear that in the comments!

There is a lot of hurt out there. As a Christian we have hope but it can be difficult to continue to trust a God who allows you to suffer? I don't have a magical answer to this problem but there are a few things we can consider that can help us cope and deal with our pain. This video shares a few of those and I hope and pray it is beneficial to you.

Signup for all Wineskins content:

Each Saturday we send one email with links to all our content from that week. You may not be aware but Wineskins produces articles, podcasts, and videos each week. We promise to not send you more than one email per week. Sign up here - http://eepurl.com/g9I2k9

If you just want the videos, please subscribe to our YouTube channel and join the community! www.youtube.com/wineskins

There are two different conversations happening that need to come together. On one side of the wall is a conversation among established churches. They know they have issues and don't always know solutions. On the other side of the wall is the church planting/discipling conversation.

If we are going to experience renewal we need each side to listen through the wall and hear each other. Then we need to realize we are better together so that we can break down the wall and help each other.

Many people in our churches sense something is amiss but don't know how to fix it. People in the church planting/discipling movements and cultures know solutions - BUT - the two rarely talk.

Let's make this conversation happen. Let's break down the wall, peak our heads through and sing a song that takes collaboration to bring about something beautiful.

New Day - https://northboulevard.com/events/new-day-conference

Stan Granberg's article "A Case Study of Growth and Decline: The Churches of Christ, 2006-2016" in The Great Commission Research Journal, Vol 10, No 1 Fall 2018, 90-113

Please subscribe. It helps this ministry and is completely free. If you click the subscribe button, please also click the little bell so you get notification of all new videos in your inbox!

We also have an email list you can sign up for to get all our articles, videos and podcasts each week (1 email/week) - http://eepurl.com/g9I2k9

By Matt Dabbs

There are some things we can learn and do that will help us reverse our decline but I am not so sure that we are open to the options that can help the most. We have been taught against them, ensuring a difficult future.

We could look to other groups of Christians for answers - but many don't believe they are even Christians.

We could read books by godly people who have had success in growing churches - but we don't consider them brothers or experts.

We could cooperate with other congregations to pool resources to start new churches - but we don't do that well.

Many of the things that can help us reverse our decline are things we have been taught against or our culture is highly resistant to.

The future is going to be quite challenging.

Here are some resources that can help:

Signup for all Wineskins content: Each Saturday we send one email with links to all our content from that week. You may not be aware but Wineskins produces articles, podcasts, and videos each week. We promise to not send you more than one email per week. Sign up here - http://eepurl.com/g9I2k9

If you just want the videos, please subscribe to our channel and join the community!

Find more from us here:

Tim Woodroof and Stan Granberg collected and analyzed data on nearly 10000 members of the Church of Christ. What they found is that we are in a decline since the early 1990s that is accelerating. They collected and ran the numbers pre-COIVD so I am concerned things are accelerating faster than they projected. What can we do about this? They have four main concerns. I walk through their findings and concerns in this week's podcast.