The basic information needed by church staff to raise the spiritual passion of their church. This presentation made to Lakewood UMC (Houston area) on 1/15/2015.

1. Spiritual Passion
4
Church Staff
by Bill Kemp
from the book:
“Ezekiel’s Bones: Rekindling Your Congregation’s Spiritual Passion”

3. “One of our great allies
at present is the Church
itself. Do not
misunderstand me. I do
not mean the Church as
we [the demons] see
her, spread but through
all time and space and
rooted in eternity,
terrible as an army with
banners.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

4. “A moderated
religion is as good
for us as no religion
at all - and more
amusing.”
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

5. Spiritual Passion is the fuel that
keeps a congregation active and excited
about the faith it has to share with the
world. Just as the body is fueled by a
nutritious diet, congregational life is
fueled by a healthy, passionate,
spirituality.

6. 1) SPIRITUAL
PASSION IS A
MEASURABLE
QUANTITY

7. WESLEY’S SMALL GROUP
QUESTION
How does
your soul
fare?

8. 2) SPIRITUAL
PASSION IS NOT A
MATTER OF
THEOLOGY

9. SPIRITUAL PASSION IS
ABOUT RELEVANCE NOT
DOCTRINEScripture needs to be related to
daily life
Prayer must be related to results
Witness must be focused on
building real relationships with the
unchurched
Worship must be focused on our
relationship with God

10. 3) SPIRITUAL
PASSION IS AN
ATTRIBUTE OF
THE SYSTEM

11. CHURCHES
ARE SELF-
REGULATIN
G SYSTEMS

12. THREE RULES
OF ALL SYSTEMS
1. The system is designed for the
results you are receiving
2. The longer you participate in the
system the more normal it feels
3. To implement lasting change you
must use a distributed strategy

13. Spiritual Passion is the fuel that
keeps a congregation active and excited
about the faith it has to share with the
world.

14. SPIRITUAL PASSION’S FOUR
LIFT POINTS
Prayer with
Expectation
Scripture with
Relevance
Witness with Joy
Worship with
Passion

15. PRAYER WITH EXPECTATION

16. SCRIPTURE
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for
teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in
righteousness, so that the [people] of God
may be thoroughly equipped for every good
work.- II Timothy 3:16-17
WITH
RELEVANCE

17. WITNESS WITH JOY
Nothing
goes without
saying

18. PASSIONATE
WORSHIP
When the emotional
tone of each
act of worship
helps convey the
meaning of what
is being said.
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those
who mourn.” (Romans 12:15)

19. WORSHIP WITH
PASSION
The minister gave out his
text and droned along
monotonously through
an argument that was so
prosy that many a head
by and by began to
nod—and yet it was an
argument that dealt in
limitless fire and
brimstone and thinned
the predestined elect
down to a company so
small as to be hardly
worth the saving.
—Mark Twain,
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

20. PLOT: EVERY SCENE OF A NOVEL HAS BOTH
CONTENT AND INTENSITY

21. 3 QUESTIONS - ONE
ANSWER
What makes a church different
from a social club?
What guarantees diversity in the
church?
What determines the lifespan of a
congregation?

22. THE LIFE CYCLE OF THE AVERAGE
CONGREGATION CAN BE CHARTED AS THE
RISE AND FALL OF SPIRITUAL PASSION.
Spiritual
Passion
Time

23. THREE PLACES WHERE A CHURCH CAN STOP BEING
NORMAL
1. Young congregations can continue to be passionate
witnesses for Christ
2. Stable congregations can choose the present over
the past
3. Declining congregations can choose to be born again
1
3
2
Spiritual
passion

24. GETTING OFF THE BEATEN PATH
WILL REQUIRE SPIRITUAL PASSION

25. Books by
Bill Kemp

26. What does a bride wear?
•Something Old - what is
left behind
•Something New - what is
to be accepted & anticipated
•Something Borrowed -
remembering our
indebtedness to past
•Something Blue - naming
what is makes us sad