Join a Life Group for 2012

If you are not part of a Life Group, the start of the New Year is a great time to join. Life Group’s meet at a variety of times and places (see a list of the groups on pg. 3 in the right hand margin) to discuss the sermon, pray, and spend time together. Life Group’s are designed to facilitate fellowship, support, and mutual accountability, along with a sense of belonging, which is one of New Life’s Core Values.

As the body of Christ, we are dependent upon the Holy Spirit working in and through each one of us to grow and mature. To use the imagery of Paul, the hand needs the foot and the eye needs the ear (see 1 Cor. 12:12-21). We need each other. We wither in isolation. The Westminster Confession of Faith, in the chapter on the communion of saints (something we frequently profess in the Apostles’ Creed as an article of our faith), speaks of sharing in each other’s gifts and graces and our obligation to perform the duties conducive to the good of our brothers and sisters. Being part of a Life Group is one way this finds expression. Prayerfully consider joining this year. You will be blessed and you will be a blessing.

For a list of the Life Group currently being offered click HERE.

Reading More than the Bible in 2012

I have been extremely encouraged by the number of people who have shared with me their intention to read through the entire Bible in 2012 and who have picked up a Bible Reading Plan. If you adopted my plan and are following my advice to begin reading on Christmas day to get a head start, you are already through Genesis and more than half of Matthew. I hope you have been blessed by your time in God’s Word and are encouraged to stay the course.

While reading through the Bible is a very important exercise in our growth as disciples, it bears emphasizing that the Bible is not simply a book to be read – it is a book to be studied and obeyed. At the risk of sounding overly idealistic to some, in addition to reading through the Bible this year, I would encourage you to commit to studying one book of the Bible in greater depth than the others. If you pick a shorter book, like Ruth, Malachi, or Colossians, you may be able to study two or more books in the course of a year. If you opt for a longer book, like Genesis, Exodus, Isaiah, one of the Gospels, or Romans, you might opt to devote the year to that one book.

An excellent way to study the Bible more in-depth is to pick up a good commentary. You might want to avoid the more technical commentaries and read those with a more devotional quality and an emphasis on application as well as on unpacking the text.  In selecting commentaries, stick with trusted authors (for example, John Stott, Phil Ryken, or James Boice) or one belonging to a series that holds to a high view of the authority and inspiration of the Bible as God’s Word. I have found commentaries in The Bible Speaks Today series, the NIV Application Commentary series, and the Tyndale commentaries to be generally solid, insightful, and valuable.  If you want help in picking out a commentary or advice before buying one, please don’t hesitate to speak with me, Pastor Bob, or others who read a good deal.

Along with studying a specific book of the Bible in greater in detail, another option to consider is to read a book on a particular topic.  I would encourage you to select a topic about which you have a lot of questions or in which you have a great deal of interest. For example, you might choose to read a book on a particular theological topic (like eschatology or the work of the Holy Spirit), or on family issues (like marriage or parenting), or on issues related to apologetics, or on missions and evangelism, or on psychological issues (like depression, self esteem, or addictions).

There are literally scores of good books to help you grow in your understanding of God’s truth and in your spiritual walk. Westminster Theological Seminary’s online bookstore (www.wtsbooks.com) and Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service (cvbbs.com) are both excellent and trustworthy sites if you are looking for good books to read.

Recommending so much reading might sound overly ambitious, but I urge you to resist the temptation of underestimating your ability to read through substantial amounts of material.  Consider that if you read just three pages of a book every day in 2012, you could finish a 1,095 page book (or two 500-page books, or five 200-page books, or … well, you can do the math)!  Just three pages – you can read three pages during a commercial break or a halftime! Prayerfully consider reading the Bible – and more – in your pursuit of growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus.

 

 

Class on Reformation Church History Starting Feb. 9

The impact that the Protestant Reformation has had on the course of world history, and particularly on the development of Western civilization, is beyond dispute.              The sweeping changes that took place in the 16^th century, and more broadly from 1450-1650, were pivotal in shaping the landscape of the church.

It would be difficult to overestimate the lingering impact that the Protestant Reformation has on present day Christians. For starters, the theological impact is enormous, influencing our understanding of the gospel and more particularly the doctrine of justification by faith alone. But the impact reaches beyond doctrine.  For example, the fact that I, as a minister of the gospel and servant of the church, am allowed to be married with two children can be traced back to Martin Luther’s rejection of clerical celibacy, a practice still mandatory for leaders in the Roman Catholic church today.

In addition, those who are reading through the Bible this year in English (I assume that’s all of us!) owe a great deal of gratitude to those who were committed to the supremacy of God’s Word and, thus, to translating it into the common languages of the day. Specifically, it was men like John Wycliffe (before the Reformation) and William Tyndale who devoted time and effort to translating the Bible into English.

Along these lines, the Protestants of the 16^th century also insisted on conducting worship services in the language of the people rather than in Latin, which was the language employed by the Catholic Church even though most common people didn’t understand it. So if you appreciate reading your Bibles and hearing sermons in English, praise God who worked in a mighty way at the time of the Reformation!

In an effort to promote an understanding of and appreciation for this time period in which the gospel of grace was rediscovered and powerfully proclaimed, the Center for Advanced Biblical Studies (CABS) will be offering “O God, Our Help in Ages Past: A Brief Survey of Church History, Part II” starting on Thursday, Feb. 9. The class will meet weekly from 6:30-8:30pm at New Life.  The cost of the course is $40 for adults and $25 for students.

This course will pick up where the first part of the course on ancient and medieval church history left off last December.  Please note that taking the first part of the course is NOT a prerequisite for taking the second part. While knowing ancient and medieval church history enhances one’s understanding of the issues raised at the time of the Reformation, we will spend a significant amount of time at the start of the course setting the medieval context of the Protestant Reformation.

If you are conscious of your link with historic Protestantism but are not sure what the “protest” was all about, or if you’d like to understand and assess your theological heritage more fully, consider signing up for the class. The course will hopefully prove more than merely informative for those who take it. Indeed, studying these events and figures in church history can serve to challenge, inspire, sharpen, humble, and correct us. We’ll not only be learning about church history, but also about ourselves and about how we can be faithful in standing for the gospel of God’s grace today.

Please contact the church office if you have any questions.

You can view the course description and syllabus HERE.

Reading through the Bible in 2012

You might find it hard to believe but there are less than three weeks left in 2011. That means many will soon be striving to stick to New Year’s resolutions to live better, healthier, and godlier lives.

One resolution I would encourage you to consider as the New Year begins is reading through the entire Bible in 2012. I realize this might seem like a rather daunting goal, but I can testify that by committing approximately 15 minutes a day you will be able to read through the entire Bible in a year.

I have found that one of the biggest obstacles to systematically reading though the Bible is simply not having a plan. I have adopted a one-year Bible reading plan for the last several years and am preparing to use it again in 2012. In this plan, an average of one New Testament chapter and three Old Testament chapters are assigned each day, moving through each book of the Bible in the order they appear. So one begins the year in Genesis and Matthew and ends in Malachi and Revelation. If you are interested in this plan, I have made some available in the magazine racks in the foyer.

There are other plans you can adopt as well.  There is a one-year plan that arranges the readings “chronologically,” meaning you read the Bible books in the order in which the events recorded occurred historically. For example, you would read Job fairly early and you would read Amos before Daniel though it is placed after Daniel in our Bibles. There are also two-year Bible reading plans available in the narthex if you wish to read at a slower pace.  The main thing is to commit to reading and to adopt a plan.

Why read through the Bible?  Reading through the Bible will give you a better understanding of its content, supply the words with which you can pray and evangelize, correct misperceptions, both answer questions and raise new ones, and lift your heart to worship our great God who graciously reveals himself and his salvation in its pages. It will provide information in your ignorance, inspiration in your weariness, and insight in your struggles.

Consider that Jesus prayed for us to be sanctified by the truth and states that God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). Paul instructs us that the Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation and that all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness that we might be equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:15-17). The author of Hebrews teaches us that the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword that exposes the secrets of our hearts and convicts us of our sin (Heb. 4:12-13). Jesus’ example demonstrates that the Word is our main weapon against temptation (Mat. 4:4-10), and Paul speaks of it as the “sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17). We have the assurance that reading through the Bible will surely not return void (Is. 55:10).

Two additional tips: first, if the Bible you use has introductions to the individual books, take time to read them. Good introductions will give you insight into the literary structure and historical background that will aid your understanding. Second, start your reading plan on Christmas Day. This gives you a head start and keeps you from getting discouraged if you fall behind.  For example, if you fall four days behind, you’re actually still three days ahead!

Sadly, many believers in the world today have little or limited access to printed Bibles or to Bibles that are translated into languages they can understand. Such is not the case with us. Don’t neglect the gift of God’s word. Adopt a plan to read through the Bible in 2012 or over the course of the next two years. Remember, a person whose Bible is falling apart is usually a person who isn’t.

 

 

Winter Quarter Adult & Young Adult Sunday School

The classes being offered for adults and college students during the winter quarter running from Nov. 27 through Feb. 12 are:

Pastor Brian will be continuing his class entitled “Navigating the Narrative: Tracing the Bible’s Story through the Bible Stories” that started in the fall. Recordings of past lessons and lesson outlines are available on the church website. This class will be offered during second and third service, 10 and 11:30am.

George Saunders will be leading a class covering Tim Keller’s “Counterfeit Gods”. The book will be available for purchase on the book shelf. This class will begin on Dec. 11. This class will be offered during second service at 10am.

Change in Monthly Prayer Services

Please note that the monthly Prayer Service has been moved to the last Sunday of the month. The next prayer service will be on Nov. 27 at 6pm. There will be no prayer service the month of December, but will resume on January 29. See Pastor Brian if you have any questions.

Reformation Day: A Call for Courageous Christians

When a 33-year old German monk named Martin Luther posted a series of “objections” on a door in Wittenberg on Oct. 31, 1517, it may not have seemed very momentous at the time. But there can be no argument that the church – and the whole world – was changed dramatically and forever as a result. In many ways, that date marks the starting point of the Protestant Reformation, which is why October 31 is celebrated annually by many Protestants not as Halloween but as Reformation Day.

Luther opposed abuses in practice and errors in doctrine within the Roman Catholic Church of his day, championing the gospel message that we are justified before God (declared righteous) by the imputed righteousness of Christ received by faith alone, entirely apart from our own works. According to Luther, it was this salvation by grace alone through faith alone that constituted the heart of the good news.

It is easy for believers today to underestimate the courage involved in Luther’s stand. In his day, to be cut off from the Roman Catholic Church was to be cut off from the grace the Church offered for salvation, and there was no other congregation down the street ready to receive him.

Additionally, to teach doctrines contrary to the Church was punishable by death, and such punishment was no idle threat. One-hundred years earlier the Church executed Jon Hus for teachings similar to Luther’s. In standing up for the gospel, Luther was not simply risking his reputation, his career, and his standing in the Church, but he was risking his life. Still, when asked to recant his teachings and writings before a council in 1521, Luther refused saying, “Here I stand. I can do no other.”

Luther’s stand serves to remind us that courage is a necessary virtue in the Christian life. Courage is frequently commanded in Scripture (see Deut. 31:6-7; Josh. 1:6-9, 18; Acts 4:13-20), and its opposite is condemned (Rev. 21:8). In addition, the Scriptures repeatedly charge us to “fear not.”

Courage is necessary because the means to obtain godly ends in a fallen and hostile world will most likely involve risk, danger, pain, and difficulty. We are called to stand for and live according to the
truth in the face of tremendous pressures and opposition in the world, even if we find ourselves standing alone. It takes courage to love as Jesus loved despite the risk of rejection. It takes courage to walk by faith and not by sight. Quite simply, it takes courage to live as a Christian.

But how are we to develop and exercise such courage in our lives?  How was Luther able to pen the words “Let goods and kindred go / this mortal life also”? In part, because Luther was ultimately committed to something other than and larger than himself: the truth of God in the gospel. It has been said that courage is not the absence of fear, but results from the judgment that something else is more important than fear. For Luther, the gospel was more important than life itself. His fear of God trumped all his other fears. So in cultivating courage, we must battle our cynicism that says nothing really matters, our materialism that says nothing matters more than our comfort and safety, and our fear of man that is greater than our fear of God.

Remember that as a Christian you have been given a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (see 2 Timothy 1:7). On this Reformation Day, ask God to help you identify areas where you can exercise more courage by the Holy Spirit. Perhaps it’s in the area of evangelism, talking with family members, friends, or classmates about the gospel. Perhaps it’s risking involvement with the needy and broken that live outside your circle of safety and comfort. Perhaps it’s raising your children to resist the cultural norms and worldly values of entertainment and consumerism. Sometimes, it’s just facing the day by faith. Mary Anne Radmacher writes, “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”

Whatever the case and whatever you’re facing, be strong and courageous. The God who supplied Luther with courage to stand for the truth can supply you with courage, too.

Practicing Our Righteousness: A Call to Fast on Oct. 15

In last Sunday’s sermon, I noted that the broader context of Matthew 6:1-21 is one in which Jesus is speaking of practicing our righteousness, and then identifies three examples of what that entails. He speaks of giving to the needy in verse 2, of praying in verse 5, and of fasting in verse 16. I also made the point that Jesus assumes his followers will do each of these things.  He doesn’t say “if” you do these things, but “when” you do these things.

You may also recall that I quoted the words of John Calvin recorded in the Institutes in which he says, “whenever … any matter of difficulty and great importance is under consideration … the sacred and salutary custom of all ages has been for pastors to exhort the people to public fasting and extraordinary prayer.”

In connection with the pledge campaign, the importance of praying has already been addressed and Pastor Bob is preaching on the importance of giving the next two weeks (though admittedly not centrally about our giving to the needy, which is what Jesus has in mind in Matthew 6:2-4). In light of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6, it would be improper to neglect the topic of fasting.

Fasting is not well understood nor frequently discussed in the church today. Because Jesus assumes that it will form a part of the disciple’s life, it is important to consider what it is and the value of practicing it. Donald Whitney, author of Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life, defines fasting simply as the voluntary abstaining from food (and perhaps other legitimate things) for the spiritual purpose of focusing on and seeking God. Therefore, with a spiritual purpose in mind, fasting in order to build a reputation of godliness in the eyes of others, or simply in order to lose weight, falls short of proper motives. Rather, biblical fasting should be motivated by a desire to fix the heart and mind on God (in place of other things) and to express complete and total reliance on Him.

Whitney identifies numerous purposes for fasting as set forth in Scripture, including to seek, along with prayer, God’s guidance (Ezra 8:23; Dan. 9:3; Neh. 1:4); to express grief and repentance (2 Sam. 1:11-12; 20:34; Joel 2:12; Jonah 3:5-8); to seek deliverance (2 Chr. 20:3-4); to minister to the needs of others (Isa. 58:3-7); to fight temptation, to express humility (Ps. 35:13) as well as love and devotion to God (Luke 2:37), and a concern for His work.

The disciplined practice of fasting can prove beneficial in a number of ways. Fasting can liberate us from the idol of our appetites (not just for food), can help us discover our limitless resources in God, endure seasons of deprivation with joy (Phil. 4:12-13), increase our trust in God to provide, and free us to spend time engaged in study and prayer.

In view of the important decisions facing New Life, as well as these benefits, the leaders of New Life are calling the congregation to a day of fasting on Saturday, Oct. 15. We will not be gathering together as a body, but please consider fasting for the day or for a portion of the day on your own and as a family as you are led. You are encouraged to spend the time you would typically be eating to engage in prayer.  Let your fasting be an expression of your reliance upon Him to supply your needs, an expression of your readiness to deny yourselves – even of necessary things – for the sake of His kingdom, and an expression of faith that we do not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord (Deut. 8:3).

 

 

Men’s Discipleship Group Resumes on Thursdays

After taking the summer months off, the Men’s Group will resume meeting on Thursday mornings from 6:30-7:30am. We will be continuing a study of the Ten Commandments, picking up where we left off at the 6^th Commandment. All men are welcome to join! If you have any questions, contact Pastor Brian.

Living in Community: The Importance of Life Groups

One of the last images we see in the Bible is that of the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven and merging with a renewed earth (Rev. 21:1-2). Isn’t it interesting that the Biblical portrait of everlasting glory is life in a city?

When trying to picture what the new creation will be like, I suspect that Christians are prone to imagine vast meadows with a wide array of flowers, pristine wooded areas, and crystal clear streams running through the countryside.  One of the last things many people think of as the eternal dwelling of the saints is a city!

Yet this is the vision that John receives and records. Granted, the New Jerusalem will not be like many modern cities infested with pollution and crime, so why the portrait of a city? A city conveys that the eternal state of the Christian is one enjoyed in community. We are made for and called to relationships with God and each other.

Though our individualistic culture drifts toward increasing privacy and isolation from others, this is not what God intends for the church. As a preview of coming glory, by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit, the church is to reflect a renewed community living in loving fellowship with God and each other in the present.

We must avoid thinking that having a personal relation with Jesus means having a private relationship with Jesus.  Our relationship with Jesus, while personal, is not private but corporate.  The body of Christ metaphor in the New Testament undoubtedly points to a real dependence on each other (see 1 Cor. 12:14-26). Being connected to other believers in the local church is one of the means God uses to conform us to the image of Jesus. Indeed, living in community is not an optional added benefit for those who have the time or for those who are more out-going and extroverted.  We really do need the gifts and graces of one another to grow in Christ. Discipleship is a shared journey.

One of the ways this community finds expression at New Life is through our Life Groups.  These groups are designed to facilitate a sense of belonging (one of New Life’s core values) as they meet to discuss sermons, pray, and share life together.  Rejecting the idea that fellowship consists of a 90 second chat over coffee before the start of worship, these groups aim to generate godly friendships that supply wise counsel, encouragement, support, and accountability for everyone involved.

It goes without saying that our schedules are very busy. But that is all the more reason to get involved in a Life Group. We need vital and constant support from one another for the demands and trials of everyday life.  Building deep relationships in the Lord strong enough to walk us through our joys and struggles requires that we invest time in one another. There is simply no short-cut.  We have Life Groups meeting on a variety of weekdays and at various times. I hope you’ll commit to sign up and attend one this year as we journey together toward the lasting city that is to come (Heb. 13:14)!

 

 

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