Blog | Midtown Fellowship: Downtown in Columbia, SC | Church in Columbia, South Carolina

Midtown Fellowship

Why We Take a Break at Christmas

As long as we've been a church, we haven't hosted Gatherings on the weeks around Christmas and New Years. Since this is different than what many churches do, we thought it might be helpful to explain why.

1. Church is more than what happens on Sundays.

The bible is clear that church is a group of people, not a service on Sunday. While meeting together is important, it is not the main way church is practiced. So when we don't have Gatherings for two weeks, it doesn't mean we're not "having church." It simply means that during those two weeks, our church will not all be meeting together in a building.

2. Rest and family time is important for our staff.

Not having Gatherings for two weeks helps enable our church staff and pastors to take time off to rest and be with family. This helps our staff and pastors be good leaders to their family, in addition to good leaders of our church. In addition, the bible tells us that resting is a good way of reminding ourselves that it is ultimately God who holds things together, not us. For our staff, resting is important so that we remember that God is ultimately the one who leads his Church.

3. Christmas is a great time for mission.

Christmas is arguably the time of year that boasts the most parties and get-togethers. Take the time you would have spent at a Gathering and/or serving with Midtown, and attend/throw a party instead. Show the love and hospitality of Jesus by enjoying time, company, and food with your family, friends, co-workers, neighbors.

None of our three churches will have Gatherings on December 25 and January 1. Gatherings will resume on January 8. 

Theology of Sex | Q & A Part 1

During the Q & A session at our Downtown church this past Sunday, we answered the following question:

“When Jesus came he kinda did away with our ties to legalism and the old law. How did that not include homosexuality? I'm not bound by the Old Testament dietary restrictions- how is homosexuality different?”

One of our pastors, Allen Tipping, did a great job quickly answering the question by discussing the different types of the law and how Christians interact with each of those types of the law in light of the gospel. The ceremonial or clean laws as well as the sacrificial laws have been so absolutely fulfilled in the sacrificial atonement that Jesus offers us as a free gift in the cross, that we don’t abide by these parts of the law anymore. We honor their essence by symbolically remembering Jesus’ sacrifice and expiation (washing that he gives to us) by taking communion.

The moral law is different in that, while it also has been fulfilled completely by Jesus, the moral law has other purposes than just foreshadowing how Jesus would die to cleanse us. It also helps to restrain sin, expose our sin, and leads us to our need for Jesus. And even when we know Jesus, the moral law continues to guide us in the paths of righteousness. When we know we are saved by grace, the moral law becomes a joy and a delight that leads us into the fullness of how God designed humans to live in order to maximize human flourishing.

We also told you that we wanted to make two sermons we’ve done in the past easily available. We think these sermons will help you think more deeply on these issues.

Curses and the Cross (from the Galatians: Religion Ruins Everything series). The specifically helpful portion of this sermon for this question starts around 34 minutes, but if you have time to listen to the whole thing it will give you more context.

Gospel and Homosexuality (Standalone sermon)

Bonus sermon if you’re extra motivated.

The Purpose of the Law (from the Galatians: Religion Ruins Everything series.)

You can view or listen to the entire Q & A session below. You can text any questions you may have about the series, sex, or gender to 91011 with the keyword DOWNTOWN. 

Theology of Sex | Q & A Part 1
Jon Ludovina, Allen Tipping, Tiffany Beaver


Theology of Sex

There’s no shortage of oversimplified narratives about gender, sexuality, and marriage. These days it seems that everyone’s opinion is the right one and if you don’t share that opinion, you’re the enemy. But what is actually true? What do we do when confronted with difficult questions and even more difficult situations? How do we love our neighbor without compromising what is true? For something as complex as gender and sexuality, we need something far bigger. Far richer. Far more nuanced. We need a theology of sex. 

This series spends seven weeks unpacking God’s design for gender and sexuality in an effort to understand ourselves, love our neighbor, and live out our mission.

Week-by-Week

Life, Liberty, & the Pursuit of Romance
January 17
As Americans we are convinced that the point of life is happiness. Through movies, advertising, and music our culture has told us that the primary avenue to happiness is romance. But what if happiness is too small of a goal? What do we do when both happiness and romance fail us? 

Gender, Bigfoot, & Leprechauns
January 24
The idea that gender is a made-up social construct is gaining widespread acceptance. But is that the most helpful conclusion? Does the idea of gender need be thrown out and left behind, or just seen with new lenses?

Do You Even Know How to Sports, Bro?
January 31
We all know the stereotype: the sports-loving, beer-drinking, thick-skinned man. But what about the rest of us? In a world where men are judged on whether or not they can throw a perfect spiral, what is masculinity actually about? What if being a man has little to do with how often you go hunting?

Sugar & Spice & Everything Nice?
February 7
Our culture puts an immense amount of pressure on women. So many women are crushed by the weight of having a perfect body, perfect kids, and perfect relationships. But is that really what it means to be a woman? What if femininity has nothing to do with wearing a dress?

American Marriage v. Covenant Marriage
February 14
Most people would say marriage is “an expression of love.” And for some people, it is. But it sure does feel like more than that. The emotional weight, the complexity, the permanence–is that proof that it stands for something more? 

Consumeristic Sexual Individualism
February 21
What is the purpose of sex? Should it be casual and convenient? Apocalyptic and ultimate? Or something different altogether? Is sex an appetite we satisfy, or a gift we enjoy?

Hate-Filled Bigots & Hospitality
February 28
The Church has gained a reputation over the years as being intolerant, closed-minded, and bigoted. And to be honest, some of it is probably deserved. But what if there was a way to believe faithfully while still loving extravagantly? What if Christians were better known for the openness of their homes than the slogans of their picket signs?

Join us on Sundays

Join us for this series at one of our Sunday Gatherings. Find out more:

Listen to Sermons

Listen to sermons from the series.                             

Text in Your Questions

If you have any questions you'd like answered during the series, we'd love for you to text them in. We'll do live Q&A a couple times during the series using questions you submitted.

how to do it:

Just text our church's name (Downtown), followed by your question to 91011.

Study Guide

To accompany this series, we've offered a weekly study guide to help facilitate discussion in your LifeGroup. 

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|giv| Church Planting 2015

Each year during our |giv| series, we rally together to give our time, money, or resources towards something that pushes back darkness and furthers the kingdom of God in our world.

This year, our goal is to raise $40,000 to help with our upcoming efforts to plant churches in Lexington, SC and Knoxville, TN.

Lexington, SC

Our Lexington church began informal Sunday Gatherings back in September of this year. So far things have gone well, with averaging 70-80 people in Gatherings and LifeGroups.

The next step for our Lexington church is to launch formal Gatherings. In order to do that, they'll need to cover sound equipment, Kidtown supplies, and various other start-up costs. 

Knoxville, TN

A team of around 30 people from our Downtown church will be moving over the next year to plant City Church in Knoxville, TN.

As they move to the city, they'll be meeting together in LifeGroups. Eventually, however, they hope to launch Sunday Gatherings. When they do, they'll need start-up costs similar to our Lexington church.

Our goal is to raise $40,000 by December 20, 2015 to help launch and support these new churches. Give easily online using the link below:

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An Update on our Facilities & Plans for this Sunday

We wanted to give you a quick update on our facilities in light of the recent flooding in Columbia.  Our auditorium and Kidtown areas were completely unaffected, but there was a good bit of flooding in the basement, ruining most everything in the Connect Hall, restrooms, and overflow room.

We've been working to have the basement drained and cleaned up, but since our restrooms are located down there, we will not be able to host Gatherings this Sunday.

Instead, we're encouraging everyone to gather in LifeGroups. In light of that, your LifeGroup is encouraged to choose one of the options below:

  1. Be family. Feel free to use Sunday as a day to get together as a LifeGroup, pray for our city and the victims of the flooding, and/or enjoy a meal together. While you're together, you may want to discuss adopting a family, or head to Walmart to purchase some gift cards for the victims.
  2. Serve someone affected by the flooding. If you know of family, church family, friends or neighbors affected by the disaster, give them a call in advance and let them know you've got folks in your LifeGroup ready to help. Do whatever it looks like to serve them well: cook them a meal, wash their clothes, move stuff out of their house–whatever it looks like.
  3. Help us with demolition and restoration. We have a limited amount of space available to help with demolition and restoration of affected homes. If you're interested in you and/or your LifeGroup helping, let us know you're coming here.

Thanks for being great missionaries in our city this Sunday.

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Gathering Recap | 7.5.15

Songs:

Rock of Ages by Page CXVII

How Deep the Father’s Love by The Dispatch

My Worth Is Not In What I Own by Keith and Krista Getty

I Will Exalt You by Hillsong

Father You Are All We Need by Citizens and Saints

Sermon Tweets:

Our worry reveals what we treasure.

Our anxiety is proportionate to how fragile our treasure is.

Jesus never says not to worry because there’s nothing to worry about. He says not to worry because we have a Father.

The only way to eliminate your worry is to transfer your treasure.

Our anxiety is proportionate to how much of our treasure is on earth.

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Gathering Recap | 6.28.15

Songs:

In Christ Alone by Mars Hill

Father You Are All We Need by Citizens and Saints

My Worth Is Not In What I Own by Keith and Krista Getty

Take The World by Ascend the Hill

Be Thou My Vision by Ascend the Hill

Sermon Tweets:

If you’re not actively fighting against greed, you’re probably guilty of it.

More stuff doesn’t equal more life.

Biblically, being rich isn’t sinful–it’s dangerous.

We’ve got to stop convincing ourselves that we’re not greedy just because we don’t feel greedy.

Money can’t keep its promises.

God controls the universe–money only claims to.

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1800 Blanding Street

Columbia, SC