Songs we’ll sing together include:

Lead Us Back, from our Before The Throne album:

A City No Longer Forsaken, from our double-EP The Mercy Seat/The War:

We Are Changed, from our Over The Grave record:

See you Sunday.

We’ll learn from a Genesis sermon on Eve, and we’ll celebrate Mother’s Day by offering a free family portrait to everyone, across campuses and services. Bring your mom, your grandma, your children, and anyone who is like a mother or child to you.

Songs we’ll sing together include:

Beautiful, Scandalous Night. Hear a sample.

Awake My Soul. Hear a sample.

Only Your Blood Is Enough, from Over The Grave. Hear it in full below:

See you Sunday.

Me, introducing Matt Perman

I am incredibly thankful for Matt Perman’s ministry to the church at large, and specifically to Sojourn last month. Perman blessed our staff with an excellent overview and discussion of biblical productivity, the topic of his forthcoming book, What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done. And he blessed many of us Sojourners who are out in the marketplace wrestling each week to think with a gospel-shaped perspective on how we work and lead others in our workplaces.

Perman’s perspective illustrates well why we believe the ministry of Sojourn when it comes to our jobs is so important: “Being in the marketplace is one of the main ways the gospel penetrates the culture,” is the point he continually reiterated. And because of that, he challenged all of us to think about the opportunities to serve others that are right in front of us every single day. “Productive is unleashing your talents for the good of others,” said Perman. “Your work––the things you do every day––is a ministry.” I was greatly challenged and reinvigorated with fresh perspective on how meaningful the things I am doing every day at work really can be.

Speaker Matt Perman

But don’t take it from me. Hear what a few others said about the event:

“Of course, it’s easy to compartmentalize our Christian lives. We “do church” on Sundays, at community group and maybe even with some close friends and family. But ultimately being a Christian also has implications for how we work (among other things) and that includes how we manage and lead our people, how we respond to leadership in our companies and what our work ethic looks like. I don’t think I’d heard much about what being a Christian at work looks like or means beyond something along the lines of ‘be a light in your workplace; work hard; reach out to your co-workers; share the gospel, etc.”’Those are all good things but I think what this event really helped me to see was more of the practical side of it and the biblical basis for that.”

–Dominic, Sojourner

“I found it very helpful. Along with getting a better view of leadership in general with respect to leading the whole person, I got a better view of my strengths and weaknesses in leadership.  I discovered the areas I do and don’t excel in with a clearer understanding that will help with productivity.

I also have also found mission statements and the like to be hokey. I think this is due to a lot of companies just having it on the wall and not really living by it. This motivated me by allowing me to see the value in having one that your company really believes and revolves around.”

–Mark, Clifton Baptist

If you’d like to hear Matt’s teaching in full, visit our audio page and download all 3 sessions and the Q&A. Also, follow Matt at whatsbestnext.com for many great articles that unpack more of these issues. Finally, if you’d like to be included on SojournWork’s email list, or if you would like to get involved some way in this ministry, please email me at luke.daugherty@gmail.com and I would be happy to help.

Stay tuned for info about our next Engage@Work event!

Photos courtesy Sojourn communications intern Chelsey Scott

This week we continue the story of Joseph, as part of our Genesis sermon series. Our preacher will get into Genesis 40-41, the story of two dreams that Joseph interpreted with revelation from God, and a terrible famine. See how God’s hand moves in the life of an individual and in world-wide events, all to accomplish His purpose.

Songs we’ll sing together include:

Refuge, from our Over The Grave album. Listen in full below:

There Is A Peace, from our Before The Throne album. Listen in full below:

Let Your Blood Plead For Me, from our The Water And The Blood. Listen in full below:

Rock of Ages, from our double EP The War/The Mercy Seat. Listen in full below:

See you Sunday.

Last week we learned from one of the more  infamous stories in the first book of the Bible: the story of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar, in Genesis 38. This week the real life soap opera continues with a false claim of sexual harrassment — the story of Joseph and Potiphar’s wife. Read this story in Genesis 39 and come prepared to learn together.

Songs we’ll sing together include:

The Power Of The Cross. Hear a sample on Amazon.com

Your Great Name. Hear a sample on Amazon.com

Approach My Soul The Mercy Seat from The Mercy Seat/The War double EP. Hear it in full below:

See you Sunday.

Speaker Matt Perman

How can we lead others in such a way that our productivity is multiplied far beyond what we would be capable of with our own isolated to-do list?

Author Matt Perman addressed this recently in our Engage@Work mini-conference. Perman is the former director of strategy for Desiring God and author of the forthcoming book What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done.

If you missed it, or you want to hear Perman’s sessions again, you can download the audio files here:

• Why Should Christians Care About Leadership mp3
• What Is Biblical Leadership mp3
• How To Lead Well In The Marketplace mp3
• Fruitful Leadership Q&A mp3

Perman blogs regularly at whatsbestnext.com, about all matters relating to workplace theology, productivity and leadership. Read our Pastor Daniel’s thoughts on Perman here.

Songs we’ll sing together include:

Compel My Heart To Sing from our The Water And The Blood album. Listen in full below:

All I Have Is Yours from our Before The Throne album. Listen in full below:

Great and Mighty. Listen to a preview at Amazon.

See you Sunday.

This Sunday we’ll also learn from the famous story in Genesis 37, Joseph and his dreams. Read this story in your weekend devotions and come prepared to hear God speak to us from this ancient page.

Songs we’ll sing together include:

• In Feast or Fallow. Hear a preview at Amazon.com
• You Never Let Go. Listen to a preview at Amazon.
• Mourning Into Dancing from our These Things I Remember album. Listen to it in full below:


See you Sunday.

]]> http://blog.sojournchurch.com/getting-ready-for-sunday-how-to-prepare-for-sojourn-gathered-4-15-2012/feed/ 0 http://blog.sojournchurch.com/why-a-christian-understanding-of-work-matters-matt-perman-interview/ http://blog.sojournchurch.com/why-a-christian-understanding-of-work-matters-matt-perman-interview/#comments Tue, 10 Apr 2012 17:46:23 +0000 Luke Daugherty http://blog.sojournchurch.com/?p=7348 Continue reading →]]> SojournWork is excited to welcome Matt Perman for out first mini-conference this April 14, from 8am-noon at our New Albany campus. Perman is the former director of strategy for Desiring God and author of the forthcoming book What’s Best Next: How the Gospel Transforms the Way You Get Things Done. He is also starting an organization aimed at equipping Christians around the globe to think about issues of work, leadership, productivity and management biblically. You can find his reflections and teaching at whatsbestnext.com.

I recently interviewed Perman to get his thoughts on why the issues he’ll be teaching on at our conference are so crucial to building up the church. Here are some highlights from the interview to whet your appetite for Saturday.

On why the doctrine of vocation––or a Christian understanding of the meaning and purpose of work––has increasingly captured his attention:

After graduating from Southern Seminary, it didn’t take long for Perman to realize that a “non-theology” of work—that is, the notion that your life outside of direct ministry work is separated from a holistic biblical worldview—can only go so far. “When the church doesn’t have a robust theology of work, it alienates the 97% of Christians who are not ‘in the ministry’.

Do we have something to say to them that relates to this large chunk of their life? The silence of the church on a Christian view of work (by and large) has made it seem that the things that they’re doing with the bulk of their time are meaningless, or that they don’t relate to God or that he doesn’t care about them…..and I don’t think that.”

While Perman has always had a passion for theology, his passion has increasingly grown for cultivating a Christian perspective on the practical application of our theology in our work, something he sees as a major weaknesses in current Christian teaching. “It’s easy to think of a worldview only in terms of theology: doctrine of God, etc., but the practical application is the equally important other ‘wing’ of theology … I think the fact that some people couldn’t understand why I am doing my blog on the practical side of life only illustrates the dichotomy. We need to think theologically about the practical for the sake of love.”

On where Christians are especially thin on the doctrine of vocation right now:

“A lot of times our doctrine of work just boils down to ‘work hard and be honest’ which is good, but it’s not enough. And it’s not very exciting. What does that mean exactly? For example, a lot of secular authors are dealing a lot with the issue of employee engagement right now, and their thinking is often more relevant right now than what a lot of us are saying as Christians.” He cites this as an issue where Christians should be involved in the conversation, moving beyond merely “working hard” to helping people love their work.

“If you’re doing work you’re already intrinsically motivated to do, then you’re going to work hard. So ‘work hard’ implies that you should love your job. And if you don’t love your job, there are things that you can do to cultivate that … As Christians and managers we actually have a responsibility to lead others and craft their jobs in such a way that they love what they do. You need to design jobs in such a way that will make people want to work hard and which will unleash intrinsic motivation. That’s what really serves people.”

On the connection between productivity, management and leadership (a major theme for Saturday’s conference):

“They’re all about doing good. They’re all about making ourselves useful for the good of others. And that’s how they connect to theological instruction too: Paul says the aim of our instruction is love.”

For Perman, this means that we have to teach Christians how to move beyond the emotional component of love to the actual practice of it. In his mind, this happens as we learn to lead ourselves well in order to lead others well. So in this way, he says, personal productivity should always have the broader purpose of love in mind. “If you want your efforts for good to truly scale then you need to think about more than just personal productivity. You need to think about management and leadership.”

On why he encourages Christians to read much of secular business thinking on these issues today:

“Most of the best secular business thinking right now is really good stuff. It’s not seeking to be biblical, but it aligns with the biblical framework that we’re here to seek the good of others first … It’s ironic that in the secular arena, the model of servant leadership is becoming more and more prevalent while in the church we see more and more of an authoritarian model taking hold.”

For Perman, there is much for Christians to learn from the secular literature in this area if, as in anything else, we will take the time to know our Bibles well and to truly listen and discern the areas of common grace in it.

On what he hopes to contribute with his forthcoming book and organization:

“I want to see churches led better. And I also want to see Christians who are not working in the church but in the marketplace equipped better and finding meaning in their work. And I hope to equip all of us to do good where we are on a massive scale. I also hope to show that thinking about work and leadership is interesting. There are so many books on work that are just boring; they take the life out of this subject.”

On his basic thesis for the upcoming conference, Fruitful Leadership in the Marketplace:

“Leadership is about doing good for others and serving others. And that’s how fruitfulness is to be defined, even in the marketplace. Not simply in terms of making money and getting things done. Those things are important, and as Christians we shouldn’t demean them. But it is about more than that.  We need to think about being effective and getting results but including the building up of people in those results.

There are thee reasons this matters:

1)  “It’s right in itself

2)  “It creates a good testimony to the gospel. Christians who know how to lead others well are a good testimony to the gospel.

3)  “This is the way to transform our communities and our cities and the world. You don’t merely transform communities through extracurricular activities like an evangelism event, etc. Most of our time is spent in the place we work. If we lead and engage well with those people, then by that means we can transform society……So Christians in the marketplace are not just doing work, but they’re transforming society: spiritually, socially, economically. We need to care about all those dimensions as Christians.”

On what the greatest challenges are today for Christians in the marketplace:

1)  “Lack of affirmation from their church about the value of what they do. There is still this notion that those who are in the workplace are second rate and that loving what you do and being committed to it is somehow less significant than ‘being in the ministry.’

2)  “Lack of truly helpful and thought-through biblical instruction on leading in the marketplace. We don’t see how the Bible applies to our leadership in the marketplace. If we don’t know how the Bible affirms our leadership and teaches about leadership, then we don’t know how to do it. We don’t even know how to engage with the secular literature and think about how it relates to thinking biblically about leading in the workplace.

3)  “Pastors don’t know how to equip people in the marketplace, so people receive no daily instruction that enables them to go about their daily work as a follower of Christ, without being spiritually weird.”

For more of a preview for what Perman will be talking about Saturday, see his own post about the event here. The first 50 to register for Saturday’s conference will receive discount vouchers for 40% off Perman’s new book. See our event information page and link to registration here.

]]> http://blog.sojournchurch.com/why-a-christian-understanding-of-work-matters-matt-perman-interview/feed/ 2 http://blog.sojournchurch.com/sojourn-pastors-school-open-house-for-t4g-attendees/ http://blog.sojournchurch.com/sojourn-pastors-school-open-house-for-t4g-attendees/#comments Wed, 04 Apr 2012 13:55:34 +0000 Bobby Gilles http://blog.sojournchurch.com/?p=7339 Continue reading →]]> The Sojourn Pastor’s School is a partnership between Sojourn Community Church and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. It’s drawn a lot of attention lately, as an innovative way for a church to equip, mentor and train future pastors and church planters. And now, anyone coming into Louisville for the 2012 Together For The Gospel Conference can check out our Pastor’s School next week, and see what you can glean for your own church. We’ll even feed you.

From Leadership Network’s recent article about Pastor’s School:

Pastor’s School meets weekly, and the primary teacher is always a Sojourn pastor. The other training components focus on service in the local church. Each student must volunteer at least 5 hours a week in church ministry.

Southern Seminary will provide free breakfast to all T4G attendees who would like to audit our Pastor’s School next Thursday, April 12 at 6:30 a.m. If you need transportation, we’ll arrange that, too. Just let us know you’re coming by registering here. We’ll leave plenty of time for you to make the opening session of T4G.

We hold Pastor’s School at our Midtown Campus: 930 Mary Street, Louisville, 40204 (Just minutes from the T4G conference center).

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