{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"First Baptist Arlington Sermons","title":"First Baptist Arlington: In Partnership with Others! - October 15, 2023","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2443,"description":"Dennis R Wiles \nFBC Arlington \nOctober 15, 2023 \n2023 - Why Does It Matter? \nFALL 2023 \nThe Church: Why Does It Matter? \nSeptember 3 – November 4, 2023 \nFirst Baptist Arlington: In Partnership with Others! \nPhilippians 1:1-11 \nIn the United States, we are currently experiencing the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country, as tens of millions of formerly regular Christian worshipers nationwide have decided they no longer desire to attend church at all. These are what we now call the dechurched. About 40 million adults in America today used to go to church but no longer do, which accounts for around 16% of our adult population. For the first time in the eight decades that Gallup has tracked American religious membership, more adults in the United States do not attend church than attend church. This is not a gradual shift; it is a jolting one. \n-Jim Davis and Michael Graham, The Great Dechurching \nPartnership: To be in fellowship with – and to work together in sharing the Gospel. \nIMMEDIATE CONTEXT: Arlington – in the heart of the Metroplex! \nIMMEDIATE CONTEXT: Our closest ministry partners – we are in fellowship with and work together in sharing the Gospel. \nCOMPLEXITY OF OUR MISSION FIELD \nHISTORIC MODEL OF DISCIPLESHIP \nImagine if the local church simply began training its members to live as resident missionaries and make disciples in the places where they are already doing life. Imagine small bands of disciples living the missional-incarnational life of Jesus in the mission fields of their own neighborhoods, workplaces, and social spaces, such as cafés, gyms, art studios, and parks. Where you are now, wherever you spend the majority of your time—that’s your mission field. \n-Jon Ritner, Positively Irritating \nTHE CHURCH: Empowered and Equipped for every era of human history. \n \n \n2024: TOGETHER - Ephesians 4:11-16","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/UAbjbO_BQA3R5XEsQj1SCg2lWzYdffFGQbPeYIvJPQ8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzM0Mjg4LzE2NjM1/OTk5NzAtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}