ekko can you hear it?media.virbcdn.com/files/08/fileitem-272559-ekkonewspaper.pdf · 2013. 1....

EKKO CAN YOU HEAR IT?

Issue | No.1

|

“COUNTLESS MULTITUDES FROM COUNTLESS CITIES COME, SOME OVER LAND, OTHERSOVER SEA, FROM EAST AND WEST AND NORTH AND SOUTH ATEVERY FEAST. THEY TAKE THE TEMPLE FOR THEIR PORTAS A GENERAL HAVEN AND SAFE REFUGE FROM THE BUSTLE AND TURMOIL OF LIFE, AND THERE THEY SEEK TO FIND CALM WEATHER, AND, RELEASED FROM THE CARES WHOSE YOKE HAS BEEN HEAVY UPON THEM FROM THEIR EARLIEST YEARS, TO ENJOY A BRIEF BREATHING-SPACE IN SCENES OF GENIAL CHEERFULNESS.”

THE DREAM

- PHILO OF ALEXANDRIA

LO VE.

THE MISSION

The

BELIEFS.

01 | We believe that our spiritual growth with God isintentional and conditioned by our interpersonal relationshipwith God and one another.

(Acts 2:42-46; Hebrews 10:24-25)

02 | We believe that the Bible is the primary source and criterion for authentic Christian witness. It is the sacred canon for Christian people and formally acknowledged as such by the historicecumenical councils of the church.

(Psalms 119:89; Proverbs 30:5; Matthew 4:4)

03 | We believe in one true God. This one true God has revealed himself as the eternally self-existent “I am,” the creator of heaven and earth and the redeemer of humankind. He has further revealed himself as embodying the principles of relationship and associationas Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

(Deut. 6:4; Is. 43:10-11; Mt. 28:19; Lk. 3:22; Mk. 12:28-29)

04 | We believe in the deity of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal son of God. The scriptures declare the following:

+ His Virgin Birth (Mt. 1:23; Lk. 1:31-35)

+ His Sinless Life (Heb. 7:26; I Pet. 2:22)

+ His Miracles (Acts 2:22; 10:38)

+ His Substitutionary Work on the Cross (I Cor. 15:3; II Cor.5:21)

+ His Bodily Resurrection from the Dead (Mt. 28:6; Lk. 24:39;I Cor.15:4)

+ His Exaltation (Acts 1:9,11; 2:33; Phil. 2:9-11; Heb. 1:1- 3)

05 | We believe that humankind was created good and upright, for God said, “Let us make humanity in our image, after our likeness.” (Genesis 1:26)

However, humanity by voluntary transgression fell and thereby endured not only physical death, but also spiritual death, which is separation from God.

(Genesis. 1:26-27; 2:17; 3:6; Romans 5:12-17)

06 | We believe that humankind’s only hope of redemption is through the covenant established through Jesus Christ.Since salvation is covenantal in nature, we believe that we can only enter into covenant with God through repentance, water baptism, and the direct witness of the Holy Spirit.

(Acts 2:38-39; Romans 6:4-13; Col. 2:11-12; Romans 8:16)

We believe that the outward evidence of our relationship with God is a life of righteousness, true holiness, and evidenced with the fruit of the Spirit.

(Eph. 4:24; Gal. 5:22-25; Titus 2:12)

07 | We believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ, upon the completion of the restoration of all things spoken by the mouth of God’s holy prophets.

(Psalms 102:16; 110:1; Acts 3:21; I Corinthians 15:23-28)

We believe His visible return will include the end of all injustice, inequalities and human suffering.

(Psalms 72:3-8; Isaiah 11:6-9; Micah 4:3-4; II Peter 3:13)

The Nicene Creed (325 C.E.)

“We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is, seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God,eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one Being with the Father; through him all things were made. For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became truly human. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrectionof the dead, and the life of the world to come.”

And Ekko says, “Amen”.

WHAT WE BELIEVE IN.

The

VALUES.

AUTHENTIC FRIENDSHIP

DEFINING MOMENTS

TRANSFORMATION

BRAVE EXPRESSIONS

SLOW SPACE

ORGANIC LEADERSHIP

THE SUPERNATURAL

TANGIBLE WORSHIP

“REFLECTIONSon the

CHURCH.”BY PASTOR BRYAN

If Love is the Head Coach of the Church, than Healing and Training are its Assis-tant Coaches. In order to execute the plays the Head Coach designs, the Church needs plenty of time with Healing (Transforma-tion) and Training (New Thinking & New Ways of Living). The church may consist of those claiming salvation which provides them access to relationship with God, but they also need to work out that salvation in “fear and in trembling”, or in all seriousness. The converted soul has spent many years under the rule and reign of a foreign coach (the World, the Devil, the Self) and culture that has effectively trained the person to naturally behave in ways contrary to how the New Team plays. The believer soon finds that even though he/she may be accepted into the team there is much training to be had and much debilitating elements in us that need to be uprooted and treated.

So, the church then becomes not only a center for inspiration but a space for training and practice in the New Way. Much healing is offered through effective uprooting of all previous influences that would continually undermine the Coach’s efforts (see, Ekko-system). Much of the healing comes through training. Learning new ideas, new ways to approach life, new world views, begin to creep into the old way of thinking. The new imagery and emotions attached to them offer the self a chance to replace the old way of living and thinking. This process of becom-ing a proficient member of the new family, the new team, is the process we call Repen-tance. We are called to humbly submit our old way of living and thinking, our preju-dices, our cultural allegiances and take up instead the compulsions of Christ and His Culture & Kingdom.

Much of the training and healing is of-fered directly through the local church. God desires to save, heal, transform, inform, and re-form each individual in the context of the local church community. But why use a frail human community? Because it is in this vis-ible sometimes annoying context that love can be practiced. And love is the main ingredient to all things Supernatural and it is the only path to intimate living with the Invisible God. It is people exercising God’s love and receiving God’s love via each other in this safe space where God’s love materializes and transforms. We can’t love the Invisible if we’re not willing to practice healing love with the visible Body, which is the local Church.

To talk and reflect on the Church requires some rummaging around an old story, more precisely the story of God described in the ancient narrative. The church is about God, it’s about God getting what he desired and deserved. God had initiated a relationship, provided freedom, and sovereignly parented a people group to desire and love himinternally and express it externally. The structure (religion) was there, the God of the Hebrews now known and recognizable, but the source, the power, the inspiration was constantly leaking due to infidelity (chasing other gods). Israel was a cistern that could not hold water (see, Jeremiah 2: 13). But the church is, through Jesus, the cistern that can hold water, the Living Water. The story and the life of Jesus can transform people’s hearts into one that is willingly responsive to thealluring love of God. Thus enabling us tofinally give what God had always wanted and deserved, people not just in “need” of God but people deeply desiring and wanting him. A people able to respond to Love.

TRAINING SEASON HAS BEGUN ABLE TO RESPOND TO LOVE

To understand and reflect on the Church,one must engage in reflections about the activity of the God who ordained such anin-stitution. What is his nature, what is he like? God is essentially Love and Love is found only in the terrain of Relationships. God is Love, Love Relating. Therefore, the Churchexists to relate, both to God and to each other. But not just relate, relate with and through the power of God’s love. This is what makes all the difference. This is the differen-tiation and the great claim it stands on; that it’s by and for the Love of God it exists. The church attempts to love God back with His love by loving those within the Church. The church is the space, the organization, the people that strives to relate to all things the way God relates to himself and his creation. So the foundation of church is God’s love and God’s ability to cooperate and relate, to give and take, to have Community. The Triune God is a Tribal God! God is in communion with Himself.

The church, much like a child, desires to im-itate the Father in all things. For the church to engage in activities such as providing care for the world, teaching great sound doctrine, offering space for sacred acts, but forego the conscious effort to build an environment and people adequate in loving one another, has then failed to be what it was designed by default to be and do. The church exists to be like God, to be Holy. He is holy because he relates differently. We are set apart (holy) from the way the world relates for the sake of relating the way God relates. Essentially, the Church is Love Relating.

LOVE IN RELATIONSHIP

REFLECTIONS ON THE CHURCH | PASTOR BRYAN

“AN

EN

VIR

ON

ME

NT,

RO

OT

ED

IN

CH

RIS

T, F

OR

TR

AN

S-FO

RM

ATIO

N &

GR

OW

TH

.”

The

Ekk

oSy

stem

.

“AN

EN

VIR

ON

ME

NT,

RO

OT

ED

IN

CH

RIS

T, F

OR

TR

AN

S-FO

RM

ATIO

N &

GR

OW

TH

.”

EK

KL

ESI

AK

AVVA

NA

HK

OIN

ON

IAO

RT

HO

PR

AX

IS

Jesu

s ate

all

the

time.

In e

atin

g an

d sh

arin

g a

mea

l with

peo

ple,

ofte

n pe

ople

no o

ne w

ould

wa

nt to

eat

with

, he

was i

nviti

ng th

em in

to a

re

latio

nshi

p. Y

ou e

at w

ith th

ose

you

love

, tho

se

you

want

to d

o lif

e w

ith, t

hose

you

acc

ept.

As

Jesu

s ate

, he

mus

t hav

e ta

ught

, lau

ghed

, crie

d,

and

shar

ed n

ot o

nly

brea

d bu

t his

life

with

th

em. S

o it

is w

ith E

kkles

ia, i

t is E

kko

setti

ng

a ta

ble,

eat

ing

toge

ther

, and

em

brac

ing

each

ot

her’s

live

s in

love

. It’l

l be

a tim

e to

lear

n fr

om

His

Spir

it, th

roug

h th

e W

ord,

and

tim

es o

f not

on

ly sh

arin

g a

mea

l but

shar

ing

our

lives

to

each

oth

er. L

et’s

eat.

The

para

digm

of K

avva

nah

pray

er c

omes

from

th

e bo

ok o

f 1 S

amue

l. Th

e bo

ok te

lls a

stor

y of

H

anna

h, a

bar

ren

wom

an w

ho lo

nged

for

aso

n. U

nabl

e to

hav

e a

child

, moc

ked

by h

er p

eer,

angu

ished

, and

hum

bled

, she

pra

yed

anim

mer

sive

pray

er, a

“ka

vvan

ah”

kind

of p

raye

r, fu

ll of

inte

nt a

nd d

evot

ion.

Her

lips

mov

ed y

et

she

mad

e no

soun

d be

caus

e he

r he

art c

ried

out

loud

ly e

noug

h. H

ave

you

ever

felt

like

this?

In sp

ite o

f her

pai

n an

d bi

ttern

ess,

she

gave

th

e gr

aves

t con

cern

s of h

er h

eart

to G

od, f

ully

tr

ustin

g, fu

lly e

xpos

ed. W

e as

pire

to p

ray

this

type

of p

raye

r. W

e ye

arn

for

it. T

hrou

gh K

avva

-na

h N

ight

, we

hope

to p

rovi

de a

n en

viro

nmen

t th

at fa

cilit

ates

this

type

of e

xpre

ssio

n. T

here

will

be

pra

ise, t

here

will

be

wor

ship

, the

re w

ill b

e m

ovem

ent,

and

ther

e w

ill b

e re

st. F

ull d

evot

ion,

fu

ll su

rren

der

- an

imm

ersiv

e ex

perie

nce

with

G

od. L

et’s

pray

.

Jesu

s wal

ked

all t

he ti

me.

We

find

him

taki

ng

mom

ents

to st

op a

nd to

teac

h hi

s disc

iples

alo

ng

the

way.

Follo

win

g Ch

rist i

s not

stat

ic b

ut h

as a

R

hyth

m a

nd M

otio

n to

it. T

he d

iscip

les tr

ailin

g be

hind

mus

t hav

e of

ten

talk

ed w

ith o

ne a

noth

er

abou

t wha

t the

y w

ere

just

taug

ht. T

he W

alk

gave

spac

e fo

r a

Talk

. And

as t

hey

Wal

ked,

and

Ta

lked

, the

ir lo

ve a

nd re

spec

t for

thei

r M

aste

r m

ust h

ave

grow

n. K

oino

nia

grou

ps o

ffers

us a

ch

ance

to st

op a

nd li

sten

duri

ng o

ur W

alk

with

Ch

rist.

It of

fers

us t

ruste

d co

mpa

nion

s to

Talk

to

as w

e ai

m to

follo

w c

lose

ly o

ur M

aste

r an

d Lo

rd.

The

Chris

tian

life

is no

t jus

t abo

ut a

men

tal

agre

emen

t with

the

maj

or te

nets

of th

e fa

ith.

It’s a

bout

a w

hole

new

life

style.

At E

kko

we

are

not s

atisfi

ed w

ith k

now

ledge

alo

ne, w

e wa

nt to

exp

erien

ce G

od v

ia o

bedi

ence

. In

the

Gos

pels,

we

find

Jesu

s as b

oth

Savi

or

of th

e W

orld

and

a R

abbi

nic

Teac

her

who

ai

med

to te

ach

us h

ow to

live

life

the

way

God

had

inte

nded

. Ort

hopr

axis

is Ek

ko’s

disc

iples

hip

cour

se o

ffere

d fo

r al

l tho

se w

ho

want

to k

now

God

mor

e, u

nder

stand

Ekk

o be

tter,

and

hope

fully

get

a b

ette

r gr

asp

at

Who

, Wha

t, W

here

, Whe

n, a

nd...

How

.

(Ort

hopr

axis

is a

prer

equi

site

for

Mem

ber-

ship

, Koi

noni

a, L

eade

rshi

p, a

nd se

rvin

g in

M

inist

ries i

n Ek

ko)

MOVEMENT.The

A SYMPHONY OF REFLECTION & WORSHIP IN FOUR MOVEMENTS

SIMPLE, CURIOUS, SKILLED, BRAVE,RISK TAKER, FRIENDLY, LEADER,SERVANT, DISCIPLE, HUMBLE, FUN,COMPASSIONATE, LOVING, RAW,ORGANIZED, CREATIVE, ORGANIC,ENTREUPEUNER, FAITHFUL, REAL, POSITIVE, LOYAL, RAW, HEALING,QUIRKY, HOME, FAMILY, AWESOME,BADASS, THE TEXTURE, REST, ONE,TRANSFORMATIONAL, KINETIC,INFECTIOUS, ECLECTIC, DELICIOUS,GRIPPING, ACCOUNTABILITY, COOL,GROUNDED, REFURBISHING, US,HIP, LOVE, FRESH, QUIET, PATIENT,CLASSY, REFRESHING, COMMUNITY,AUTHENTIC, RELATIONSHIPS, WOW,STORIES, PEOPLE, SLOW, COLLECT,TREASURES, NEW BEGINNINGS.

let’s talk?

Website

WWW.EKKOCHURCH.COM

Ekko Church

INFO (at) EKKOCHURCH.COM

Links

FACEBOOK.COM/EKKOCHURCHVIMEO.COM/EKKOTV

YOUTUBE.COM/EKKOTV

Pastor Bryan

BRYANSBREW.TUMBLR.COMBRYAN (at) EKKOCHURCH.COM

EKKOCHURCH.COM

ekko can you hear it?media.virbcdn.com/files/08/fileitem-272559-ekkonewspaper.pdf · 2013. 1....

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