Summer Study on Keller’s Book Counterfeit Gods Starting June 13

Josh Holowell will be leading a small-group study this summer on Tim Keller’s book, Counterfeit Gods — The Empty Promises of Money, Sex and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters. The group will meet Sunday evenings at 6:00 at the church, starting on Sunday June 13, and will continue through the month of July. This is an excellent opportunity not only to build relationships with people at the church, but also to spend some time in an excellent, Gospel-centered book by Pastor Keller, who helps us identify and deal with the idols we set up in our lives.

Keller opens the book with this thought: “Most people spend their lives trying to make their heart’s fondest dreams come true. . .  We never imagine that getting our heart’s deepest desires might be the worst thing that can ever happen to us.” If you are interested in the study, please contact the church office. Also, you may want to go ahead and order the book online right away. It is available at Amazon for $13.57, and at wtsbooks.com for $13.37.

Church Planting — Where Do We Begin?

In a recent Sunday School class we spent some time watching and discussing “Every Church Plant a Church”, a video put out by the PCA about church planting.  The video gives attention to church planting efforts going on in different parts of the country. One of the more startling facts about church planting came from Tim Rice, pastor of Trinity PCA in Lakeland, Fla. Referring to his own church’s efforts to plant new congregations, he said if they planted 30 churches of 500 people, they wouldn’t even reach 10 percent of the unchurched population. This underscores the urgent need for healthy, Gospel-believing churches to reproduce themselves in the communities where God has put them.

In the video, there are five steps given to all churches interested in starting new congregations. That includes New Life, so here’s what we need to do right away:

1. Pray for a vision of the harvest and for a vision for church planting. We need to pray that our congregation gets excited about church planting, that God would make it clear where we are supposed to plant, that He would open doors in the community we target, that He would lead us to the right church planter, and that a sufficient amount of money could be raised for the effort to start strongly.

2. Build outreach and ongoing church planting into the culture of your church. This is primarily the job of yours truly, and the rest of the elders here at New Life. As it stands now, church planting is part of our Strategic Plan; it is listed as our long-term goal on our “Looking to the Future” insert; I emphasize it during all membership classes, and you will be hearing more about it from the pulpit in the future.

3. Focus on lay leadership and encourage them to take the lead in church planting. Everyone at New Life should prayerfully consider right now whether he or she might be called to leave with the new church plant one (See “Church Planting” on pg 3)      day. A successful church plant takes much more than a gifted church planter. It requires a group of faithful, hard-working people who are outwardly focused, who love their community, and who want to see the lost come to faith in Christ.

4. Recruit and mentor church planters. One of the most significant steps in starting a new church is choosing the person who will serve as the church planter. Church planters must have the gift of evangelism and leadership. They must be
self-starters who can gather people. To plant in the PCA, the person must be ordained and must be approved by our denomination’s Assessment Center in Atlanta. New Life elder Tony Guinn (and his wife Dorinda) will be heading to this center next month to discern whether the Lord might be calling them to plant churches.

5. Develop the ongoing vision for churches who plant churches who plant churches. Our job is not done when we plant one church! God willing, we want to continue to plant more churches ourselves, but we also want to make sure that the churches we plant are also committed to planting churches. Ultimately we are looking for a church planting movement to gain momentum here in central Indiana.

Let’s keep this discussion going. Please contact me with your questions and ideas. And make point #1 above a priority immediately — pray…

My love to you, in Christ,

Bob

Summer Bible Study for College & Young Adults

Pastor Brian will be leading a summer Bible study for any college students and young adults who will be in the area for the summer months. The study is entitled “Salvation Is a Many Splendored Thing: What It Means to Be Saved.” The study will consider the various aspects of salvation and what they mean, including regeneration, conversion, justification, sanctification, adoption, and glorification, and will reflect upon the “order”
in which God applies these blessings of salvation by His Spirit. The study meets at 7pm at the Allred home. Please contact the church office if you are interested in attending.

Into the Net Floated the 625

Five…four…three…two…ONE! A silence seemed to fall over the crowd huddled around Buck Creek. All eyes were on the stoic faces of the three young men waist deep in the frigid water; their eyes, bodies, and minds all fixed on one thing…sighting the first duck. Just then the silence was broken as a crowd of children came running down the creek bank shouting “the ducks are coming, the ducks are coming” in the same frantic tone one imagines adorned the call of that famous rider from the Revolutionary War.

As the first duck neared the finish line, our three heroes, Nathan Bergman, Chris Woolum, and Josh Osborne, remained resolute and unflinching. Placing complete confidence in their cat-like reflexes and the sturdy badminton net behind them, they stood poised like panthers ready to strike. They had but two goals before them: collect the first 21 ducks in the winners bucket and gather the rest in the net. Simple enough…or so they thought.

The crowd of onlookers seemed to hold their breath as they studied the lead ducks trying desperately to determine whether one of them was the bearer of their number. Just then as if recognizing the helplessness of the majestic yet lifeless rubber creatures, the creek ebbed and a small wave gathered a large group of the ducks and sent them reeling towards the finish line. Our heroes flew into action. Josh took the lead, collecting the winners while, Nathan and Chris backed him up in the classic duel of man versus nature. Just then another universal principle threw its hat into the ring and in the true fashion of Murphy’s infamous law, our heroes realized that not only was their net not long enough to catch all the ducks, but the weave was too wide to keep them from floating downstream. In tradition of those gone before them, willing to fall on their sword lest they concede defeat, our heroes let out an overly
dramatic falsetto cry for help.

As the pubescent crackle of the call echoed through the meadow, the crowd stood helpless as the ducks were thrown onto the bank. Chaos ensued as the panicked onlookers desperately sought cover from the seemingly endless number of rubber projectiles. At that moment, recognizing their 21st-century duty forged by the likes of Betsy Ross, Oprah Winfrey, and Wonder Woman, the girls flew into action. Jen Milks, Jenna Bergman, Michaela Mabee, and Jessie Jordan threw themselves into the creek to stop the aquatic fugitives while Jessy Delaplane joined our initial three heroes on the front lines. Fortunately for you, while the team fought a frigid downstream battle to save the duck race, your fearless reporter was racing up and down the bank taking mental notes of the entire situation to relay to you in the dramatic narrative style you have come to love and cherish. For this I desire no credit or accolades but seek to shine a light on the true heroes of the day, those that supported the Mexico mission’s trip by buying ducks and coming out to enjoy the race with us on a cool, overcast Sunday afternoon two weeks ago.

This was by far the most lucrative and entertaining fundraiser we have ever done. We sold 625 ducks and raised almost $3,000 for the Mexico Missions trip. It was really awesome to see how God used the actual event, as well as the preparation, to unite the team and generate interest and excitement for the trip. Not only was the duck race beneficial to the Mexico team, but several families from the community came out for the event and enjoyed the fellowship and familial hospitality of all of you.

A special thanks goes out to Mark and Brenda Bergman and the hospitality team for helping organize and set up for the pitch-in meal at Morrow’s Meadow and all of you who bought ducks and supported the team at the event. It was a lot of fun and a really encouraging day that God used to further His Kingdom here in Yorktown and in Monterrey, Mexico!

In Him,
adam

He Ascended Into Heaven

It is likely that unless you were celebrating your birthday, the birthday of a close family member or friend, or perhaps a wedding anniversary, this past Thursday came and went without deliberate commemoration or special recognition. Nevertheless, May 13, 2010 had a special significance for the church.

We know from the Bible that after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his disciples and others for a period of 40 days (Acts 1:3). At the end of that period, we are told that Jesus ascended into heaven (Acts 1:9–11; cf. Luke 24:51) where he sat down at the right hand of God the Father Almighty (Heb. 1:3). Because the Bible provides us with these details, the church is able to calculate Christ’s ascension. This year, Easter being April 4, the ascension of Jesus would be commemorated 40 days later on Thurs., May 13.

The annual recognition of Christ’s ascension by the church has fluctuated historically. In our contemporary circles, it receives little or no attention. This ought to be questioned given the fact that Luke records the event twice — once at the end of his Gospel and again at the beginning of Acts. Indeed, the disciples bore witness not only to the resurrection of Christ, but to his ascension as well. So it is not surprising that they testify to his ascension in their earliest sermons (Acts 2:32–33). In fact, the ascension is mentioned or alluded to 33 times in the New Testament (see Eph. 1:20–23; Phil. 2:9–10).

Moreover, when we confess our faith using the words of the Apostles’ Creed, we affirm his birth (incarnation), his suffering/death, his resurrection, his ascension, and his second coming. The church is deliberate in marking the past events with Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter. (Some segments of the church then spend the rest of the year speculating about the timing of Jesus’ return!) All the while, the ascension of Christ is practically ignored.

Should the ascension of Christ be considered an important article of our faith? Absolutely. The ascension means that Jesus has entered into glory. After the humiliation of his birth, his rejection and betrayal by his own people, his suffering, and the shame of the cross, he is now exalted — being seated at the right hand of God the Father.  The right hand is a figurative expression denoting the place of supreme privilege, honor, power, and authority.  We celebrate Christ’s ascension because we delight in his exaltation.

But the ascension has implications for us as his people, too. He has entered into glory to act on our behalf from his exalted position (see Westminster Larger Catechism Q. 53–55). What is he doing? He is interceding for us before the Father’s throne — we have the assurance that our prayers are heard because he pleads our case (Hebrews 4:14–16).

He is preparing a place for us so that we may be where he is (John 14:1–3). He is supplying Christians and the church with gifts to equip us for ministry (Eph. 4:11–13).  He is ruling and defending the church so that we cannot be defeated — the gates of hell cannot prevail against us (Mat. 16:18). The one who conquered the grave and the Evil One is the one who watches over us and defends us!

In summary, Christ’s ascension is to be celebrated because it declares his supremacy over all things and because this reality gives us comfort and hope. We can know that whatever troubles and trials we are experiencing come to us by the hand of our loving Savior who gave himself for us and who rules over the cosmos.

The ascension also gives us confidence that as the resurrected Christ has been received into glory, we who are united to him by faith will also be resurrected and received into glory to be where he is forever.  Like his birth, death, and resurrection, the ascension should occupy our thoughts far more than once a year.  Indeed, it should cause us to consistently “seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.” (Col. 3:1)

In His Abounding Grace,
Pastor Brian

Summer Adult Sunday School Offerings

Throughout the summer we are offering two Sunday school classes.

Pastor Brian will be leading a summer Sunday school series entitled “Rendering Unto Caesar: God’s Purpose for Government and the Christian’s Relationship to the State.” The lessons will focus on what the Bible says about government and how both the church and the individual Christian relate to the state.

Dr. Jim Spiegel will teach a 6-week Sunday school class on the subject of atheism. Among the issues to be addressed are these: Why is atheism a growing movement in our society? What is the biblical explanation of atheism? What arguments do atheists use to undermine belief in God? And how should Christians respond to atheists? The text for the class will be Jim’s new book, The Making of an Atheist: How Immorality Leads to Unbelief.

Please consider these options as you seek to grow in the grace and knowledge of our God and His Word.