Kids Hope: One Child, One Hour, One Church, One School

Two weeks ago I preached a sermon on God’s provision in desperate situations. One of the application points was look for those around you who are dealing with despair and anxiety and look for ways to point them to the hope and peace we have in Christ. As the academic year is almost in full swing and many of us are beginning to establish schedules and routines, I would like to encourage all of you to get involved with Kids Hope, a ministry whose primary job is pointing desperate children to the hope and peace in Christ.

Kids Hope is a nationwide ministry that partners with churches and enables them to partner with local schools. For the past several years New Life has been sending volunteers to Pleasantview Elementary and Yorktown Elementary schools to meet with and mentor “at risk” students. These students are considered “at risk” if they are struggling academically or socially or if they come from broken or difficult home environments. A mentor is only required to give up one hour a week to spend with their child. During that time you can help them work on their school work or homework, sit and talk with them, or if you’re really lucky sometimes you get to go outside and play tag or four square. The commitment is very small, but the impact is tremendous. In past years, many families have been touched with the gospel through New Life and Kids Hope, and we have even seen some start attending New Life.

During the years that I have been involved in Kids Hope I have been richly blessed by seeing how God uses my meager efforts to encourage others. But every time I go to the elementary school, I always notice several more children that desperately want mentors and need people like you in their lives. To become a mentor, all you need to do is find the time in your schedule and go through the short training session with our Kids Hope coordinator. Kids Hope is beginning on Sept. 20. I urge all of you to prayerfully consider getting involved in this ministry that is making a tremendous impact on the students and families in Yorktown. There are many students that need the gospel and need to experience Jesus in the flesh; please help them see His hope and peace.

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” ~Matthew 9:36-38

In Him,
Adam

Membership Class on Sept. 24 & 25

If you are interested in becoming a member of New Life, or if you would simply like to learn more about our church or the PCA denomination, please sign up in the foyer for our next New Member class.

The first part of the class will be held on Friday, Sept. 24 from 6:30pm to 9pm, and the second part will be Saturday, Sept. 25 from 9:00am to noon at Bob and Mary’s home. Participation in the class does not obligate you to become a member. Please contact the church office to sign up or if you have any questions.

Bill Mallonee, Critically Acclaimed Musician, to Perform at New Life

In the mid ‘90s, I was introduced to a little-known Christian musician from Athens, Georgia, by my friend, Matt Smith. I had grown up in the ‘80s attending rock concerts of hair bands (I saw Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, and KISS, to name a few) until the grunge movement effectively put an end to all that. As a college student in the early ‘90s, I began to listen more and more to artists like U2 and Bob Dylan (I had always liked the folk-style of early Dylan, even as a kid, but it was “muted” by all the metal blasting from my stereo).

I became a Christian in 1992 and was exploring contemporary Christian music when Matt introduced me to the Vigilantes of Love and their front man, Bill Mallonee. It took me about two weeks, but I eventually got hooked. I have since purchased nearly all of the 25 records and eight EPs he has released since the early ‘90s, either as the Vigilantes of Love or as a solo artist for the last decade.

Good art moves people: emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually. Good art – whether in the form of painting, sculpture, theatre, cinema,  or music – picks you up and takes you to places you otherwise wouldn’t go; shows you things you otherwise wouldn’t see, at least not as clearly, and leaves you richer for the experience.

I am hard pressed to think of an artist whose work has enriched me personally to the degree that Bill Mallonee’s has. Mallonee’s lyrics are extremely personal, vividly transparent, and brutally honest about the realities of pain, depression, brokenness, fear of failure, and the hope for redemption through the work of Jesus. His words and thoughts have helped me give expression to my own and have worked their way into many of my sermons and lessons.

Though still not well-known, Mallonee’s music is highly regarded by many. The New York Press described him as “…the best folk-rock act nobody’s ever hear of… the intelligence and intensity of Mallonee’s writing has elicited comparisons to Dylan.” He has performed with Emmylou Harris, John Mayer, REM, Derek Webb, and Sufjan Stevens. He was recently listed as one of the Top 100 greatest living songwriters by Paste Magazine.  Mallonee was ranked at #65, ahead of such well-known acts as Lyle Lovett, Fleetwood Mac, and Pink Floyd, and just behind someone as successful and highly regarded as Sting, who was #62.

For this reason, I could not be more delighted to announce to you that Bill Mallonee will be performing here at New Life on Friday evening, Oct. 1. Stylistically, if you like Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Johnny Cash, you will likely appreciate Mallonee’s music. But even if his style is not overly appealing to your tastes, his lyrics are quite frankly the best I’ve ever heard. And having seen him perform over half a dozen times, his show promises to be compelling and intimate.

In addition to performing his music, Bill will stick around after the show to offer a Q&A session on “Faith, Art, Cultural Relevancy and the Christian Artist” where he will discuss issues related to the relationship between the church and the arts, and how Christians can and should be engaged in the arts in order to impact the culture around us. Look for more details about cost and time in coming issues of the Lifeline.

Blessings in Christ,
Pastor Brian

New Sermon Series: Core Values

At New Life we have five core values that make up the structure and foundation from which we seek to serve God and each other. These core values express who we are and how we seek to accomplish the vision and role God has given us to fulfill in our community and world. From August 29th through September 26th our sermon series will be covering our core values, their foundation and examples in scripture, and our calling in each of them.

The schedule for the series is as follows:

August 29th – Adoration our calling to worship

September 5th – Belonging our calling to pursue community and fellowship

September 12th – Compassion our calling to serve and minister to others

September 19th – Discipleship our calling to grow as Christians

September 26th – Evangelism our calling to share the gospel

Please join us for the messages on Sunday morning, and download them from our “sermons” tab if you happen to miss one.

Center for Advanced Biblical Studies offers class on scripture

How did we get our present-day Bible? Can we be sure that the Bible is a reliable and trustworthy document? Have inspired books been left out of the Bible? What about the apocrypha? What do we mean by “inspired” writings? How can the Bible be the Word of God if it was written by men? Does the Bible contain errors? Is Scripture still being written today? If not, why not?

If you are interested in exploring these questions, Pastor Brian is offering the first course for the Center for Advanced Biblical Studies (CABS) this fall on the Doctrine of Scripture. The class will meet every Thursday evening from 6:30 to 8:30pm beginning September 2 in the New Life sanctuary. The cost for the class is $50, with a discounted rate of $40 for members and regular attendees of New Life and $25 for pastors and students. If you’d like to pre-register for the class, you can sign up in the foyer. If you want more information about the course schedule, format, requirements, and topics that will be addressed, see the course syllabus in the foyer or talk with Pastor Brian.

AWANA Begins Sept. 15th

Parents and children, make sure to remember Wednesday, Sept. 15! This will be our first night of Awana for 2010-2011. Awana is a children’s ministry which incorporates Bible lessons, Bible memorization, and exciting games. We will again be offering three clubs this year: Cubbies for children 3 & 4 years old, Sparks for children in Kindergarten – 2nd grade, and TNT for children in grades 3rd – 6th.  Awana will run each Wednesday from 6:30 to 8pm and will be held at the church. Parents, please register your children online as soon as possible.

You can register online by following this link: REGISTRATION

All Awana volunteers, please plan to attend two staff meetings: Wednesday, Sept. 1 and 8 at 6:30pm at the church.

Please contact the church office with any questions you may have.

Fall Sunday School Classes

The adult Sunday school courses for the fall quarter will run from Aug. 22 to Nov. 14. There will be three classes offered during the second service (9:30am) and one class offered during the third worship service (11am). The courses being offered are:

Parenting to the Heart from the Heart

This course will be offered during the second service and will use a DVD series of 30-minute lectures by Paul Tripp and Tedd Tripp on issues related to parenting followed by discussion. Topics include defining a family, teaching toddlers to be under authority, parenting teens, correction and consequences, and setting godly goals.

In the Splendor of His Holiness: Principles of Biblical Worship
Pastor Brian will offer this course to college and young adults as well as to the congregation as a whole during both the second and third services. The course will consider the meaning of worship and the principles that direct corporate worship. Topics to be explored and discussed include the importance of Sunday worship, the elements of a worship service and their significance, the role of emotions in worship, and appropriate music for worship.

The Peacemakers
Jesus pronounces blessings on those who work for peace and says they shall be known as children of God. All of us recognize that seeking peace in our lives — that is, successfully handling personal conflict at home, at work or school, among friends, even in the church! — is indeed very hard work. This class will be a guided discussion about handling personal conflict. We will use Ken Sande’s The Peacemakers: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Personal Conflict and the Bible as guides for discussion. The Lord brings conflict into our lives so that we may grow in his image and that He may be glorified. My hope for this class is that we will help each other learn how to fulfill Jesus’ prayer (John 17:20–23): “I pray also for those who will believe in me through [the disciples’] message, that all of them may be one, Father, …. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” Copies of Sande’s  book will be available for purchase. I encourage you to read it as we move along in our discussion, but doing so isn’t necessary.

A Week at the Edge

A couple weeks ago I wrote to the congregation asking for prayer for our junior high youth who were heading off to summer camp. I wanted to take a moment now and let you know how God used your prayers and our week at camp to glorify Himself in the lives of our youth and leaders.

First of all, for those of you who may have missed the previous Lifeline article, let me give some of the details of the week we spent at camp. For the past four years we have attended “the Edge” a camp that meets on the campus of Covenant College in Chattanooga, TN. It is a PCA camp that is organized and run by several different youth pastors. The entire structure of the camp is meant to facilitate relationships between youth pastors/leaders and their youth. Each day we had morning and evening worship — both of which consisted of singing, skits, a lesson, and group devotions. The guys and girls split up in the morning for group devotions and in the evening we all met together to discuss what the kids had learned and anything God might have been teaching them throughout the day.

Though we had numerous fun activities, even a day at a water park in Atlanta, for me the best part of each day was the evening devotional. We were tremendously blessed to have such an attentive group of young adults who took in each lesson and used their personal time during the day to thoughtfully approach God in response. Not only that, but they were also willing to talk with the group about it! Each night our discussions deepened both in spiritual content and openness about life and faith.

On Wednesday we had “Commitment Night,” where the kids are asked to take a serious analysis of their relationship with God. I really (see “Camp” on page 3)appreciate the way this night is orchestrated. They plan it in the middle of the week so that there aren’t many influencing factors, such as realizing this is the last night of camp; and instead of keeping the kids inside and playing loud or emotional music to get them hyped up, they send them out into the campus to spend time alone with God. The kids are asked to write on a slip of paper a message to God and choose one of four words to describe their current relationship with Him: repenting, returning, remaining, or running. After about 15 minutes, the kids return to the chapel and place these slips of paper at the foot of a wooden cross to symbolize the openness we have to approach God through the shed blood of Christ. Two of our girls took this opportunity to dedicate their lives to living boldly for Christ.

2 Timothy 1:5-7 speaks of God’s covenant being passed down from generation to generation as it becomes alive in Timothy’s heart. What a humbling privilege it was for Jessie Jordan and Jessy and me to experience God working in the hearts and minds of the junior high youth and use our meager efforts for His glory. Thank you so much for your prayers and dedication to our children, without which the week at camp would not have been so fruitful!

In Him,
Adam

Breaking the Communication Barrier — Mexico 2010

Beeep! “In preparation for landing the pilot has illuminated the fasten seatbelt sign, at this moment please fasten your seatbelts and put your tray tables and seatbacks in their upright and locked position.” Having flown man other times, this message was so routine it practically seemed like white noise. This time, however, the message was not accompanied by the usual metallic clink of seatbelts fastening, instead I heard the sound of people walking through the aisle. Just then I saw Lynnette Alston, one of our teammates from Tennessee, walking up the aisle talking to people. As Lynnette reached my seat she hollered out in a booming Southern drawl “We can’t land before I get to say g’bye to y’all!” We had a very short layover in Georgia and we didn’t have time to say goodbye in the airport, so Lynnette was determined to get her goodbyes out even at the risk of being attacked by the flight attendant.

In many ways this scene embodied much of what the week in Mexico was about. This being the fourth year we have taken a team to Monterrey, our relationships are growing significantly in number and depth. Each year people seem to be fairly reserved at the beginning of the week and it takes a day or two for us to come out of our shells, but this year it was amazing to see how everyone seemed to pick up literally where they left off. It was a homecoming of sorts as we greeted our dear brothers and sisters from Mexico and Tennessee.

As I marveled at the community and family we have developed, I noticed for the first time the unique communication that occurs among the team and the Mexican people. I am not speaking of a verbal communication, because by many standards that is a significant barrier for many on our team; but there is a stronger purer communication that is seen and experienced through facial expressions and nonverbal cues. Perhaps the fact that we do not have the crutch of verbal communication focuses our entire self on the task of communicating what is on our hearts, and when you witness this firsthand it is an overwhelming experience.

I sat in my seat on the plane thinking about the past week. I thought of all the kids we reach out to through VBS and the basketball camp and the seeds that were planted in their hearts. I thought of all the women that were touched by the crafts, fellowship, and the testimonies they heard from the women on our team. I thought of our dear friends at Bethel and in Tennessee and how hard it is to say goodbye after spending such an intense week with them. It occurred to me then that perhaps one of our biggest crutches to truly communicating with each other is our ability to speak. We beat around the bush, we play games with our words, we bury our thoughts and desires in our expressions; yet when faced with the task of communicating love through a language barrier, we focus every fiber of our being on that task and experience intoxicating results. As I lamented the fact that we were now returning home most likely to regress to our old ways, I was suddenly jolted by Lynnette getting right in Nathan Bergman’s face and planting a big Southern g’bye kiss on his forehead. This was followed by the flight attendant saying, in a very exasperated tone, “Ma’am, please take your seat — we are about to land!” At this I smiled and thought maybe every year, as we see and experience God working through us in Mexico, we take a little bit of that openness and boldness back with us; and that’s what makes this trip such a challenge and a blessing each year.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. God has done so much Kingdom work and challenged and changed our hearts each year we go down!

In Him,
Adam

Three Service Schedule Begins August 22nd

On August 22nd we will be offering three services at 8:00 am, 9:30 am and 11:00 am. All children’s Sunday School classes will take place during the second service, and there will be adult Sunday School options during the second and third services.

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