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.

 

 

Support Muncie Mission ‘Walk a Mile’ Feb. 11

“Walk A Mile In My Shoes” is a fundraising event to support Muncie Mission. The walk takes place on Feb. 11 at 9am. If you are interested in supporting this event, please check out www.munciemission.org or pick up a flyer at church.

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.

New Life Missions Conference: Feb. 3-6

Join New Life at our annual Missions Conference as we hear reports from missionaries heading across the globe. We have a number of events happening the weekend of Feb. 3-5.

Friday Night, 6:30pm at the church—Family Dinner. An international meal will be catered and we’ll hear reports from different missionaries. To help cover the cost of food we ask for a donation of $3 a person, max $10 for a family.

Saturday Morning, 10am at the church—Ladies Tea and Coffee. Ladies will hear from female missionaries and students.

Saturday Evening at Pastor Brian Allred’s home, 6pm—Men, Meat and Missions. Men will enjoy meat and hearing updates from male missionaries and students.

Saturday Evening, 6pm at the church—Kids  Secret Church. Children ages 4 years-old through 5th grade are invited to learn about the secret church. The evening includes worshipping in a secret church, smuggling Bibles and trying foods and crafts from countries that are hostile to the Gospel.

All these events include food and supplies, so please RSVP to the church office!

AWANA CANCELLED Tonight (1/25)

Due to the weather conditions AWANA will not meet tonight (1/25). We look forward to seeing all the kids next week, be safe and keep warm!

Kids Hope Still Needs 15 Mentors!

Kids Hope is still in need of 15 mentors. Kids Hope Ministry is an outreach to Yorktown schools to pair up one caring adult with a child. It only requires one hour a week normally around the lunch hour. Mentors don’t have to prepare lessons, just show up and play games, help with school work, listen and love on their child. If you have any interest in helping out with this ministry, please contact the church office.

Why Care About Missions? Annual Missions Conference 2/3-5

Why care about missions? Hasn’t the Gospel been proclaimed everywhere in this age of globalization and the internet?

Well, there are a lot of reasons to care about missions in general and foreign missions in particular. There is the fact that currently 6,950 unreached people groups (ethno-linguistic groups with less than 2 percent evangelicals) are living in the world, which is 41 percent of the world’s total people groups, amounting to 2.83 billion people. Over one-third of the world is considered unreached! That means that there are many, many people that have little or no chance of hearing the Gospel from anyone in their own culture. Their eternity hangs in the balance, and there is no one to tell them how to receive eternal life in Jesus.

There is also the fact that we are commanded to go “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8) and “make disciples of all nations” (Mat. 28:19).

There is also the response of gratitude for what God has done for you through Jesus in the Gospel. He died for your sins, not because you were worthy, but because He is worthy and loving and merciful. That means we are not wiser than unreached people, not more worthy, not more lovely, but we have been showered with grace, so that we may be a blessing to the world!

Understanding this, you can be motivated to care about missions by statistics, by the thought of billions facing hell, by obedience to God’s commands, and by gratitude in the Gospel. But I think there is something more that lies beneath each of these motivations- joy in the glory of God. We should care about missions ultimately because
of joy.

Missions is not about guilt or duty but about joy. It’s about the joy that God has in His glory being known over the whole earth. It’s about the joy that unreached people find in Jesus as they hear and respond to the Gospel. And it’s about our joy as we experience the character of our missional God in praying, sacrificing, sending, and going. “Let the nations be glad and sing for joy” (Psalm 67:4).

Join New Life at our annual Missions Conference as we hear reports from missionaries heading across the globe. We have a number of events happening the weekend of Feb. 3-5.

Friday Night, 6:30pm
—Family Dinner. An international meal will be catered and we’ll hear reports from different missionaries. To help cover the cost of food we ask for a donation of $3 a person, max $10 for a family.

Saturday Morning, 10am —Ladies Tea and Coffee. Ladies will hear from female missionaries and students.

Saturday Evening, 6pm—Men, Meat and Missions. Men will enjoy meat and hearing updates from male missionaries and students.

Saturday Evening, 6pm—Kids  Secret Church. Children ages 4 years-old through 5th grade are invited to learn about the secret church. The evening includes worshipping in a secret church, smuggling Bibles and trying foods and crafts from countries that are hostile to the Gospel.

All these events include food and supplies, so please RSVP to the church office, the sign up sheets in the breezeway or at my.newlife. Contact the church office for more details or with any questions.

 

 

How to Prepare for Officer Elections

On Jan. 23, the members of New Life will have the opportunity to participate in one of the most important responsibilities of church membership – the election of men to the offices of ruling elder and deacon.

The NLPC elders have approved Jim Moore to stand for election to the office of deacon, and Dave Isaacson and Josh Holowell to stand for election to the office of ruling elder. These men were nominated by the congregation last spring. All have faithfully completed an officer training class under Pastor Bob (the class covered the topics of leadership, basic reformed theology, and peacemaking), and have been interviewed extensively by the elders.

At our 7pm annual meeting on Jan. 23, we will administer a closed ballot vote where you will express your will regarding the suitability of these men for office. Keep in mind that these individuals are not competing against one another in this election. You are voting on each of them individually according to their qualifications and sense of calling.

What is the difference between elder and deacon? Very briefly, the ruling elders are responsible for spiritual oversight of the congregation (membership interviews, overseeing Sunday morning worship, exercising discipline, etc.), and join teaching elders Bob and Brian on what is called the “session,” a team of both teaching elders and ruling elders. The deacons are responsible primarily for mercy ministries and maintenance of the church property.

So, how can you be ready to cast a well-informed vote in this matter? Here is what I suggest to you:

1) Read the relevant passages in Scripture that give directions for the qualifications of church officers. Those would be I Tim. 3:8-13 and Acts 6:1-4 for the office of deacon, and I Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and I Peter 5:1-3 for the office of elder. You also can consult our denomination’s Book of Church Order, chapters 7-9, for more information (you can find this on-line).

2) Pray that God would grant you and the entire congregation wisdom to choose humble, godly, Gospel-loving men who will lead this church well.

3) Get to know these men. There are a couple of ways this can happen. First you can join us at 10 or 11:30am Jan. 15 for a Q&A session with the elder candidates. Secondly, you can reach out to these men yourself by email, phone call or by just taking them out for lunch or coffee.

Ruling elders and deacons are elected to three-year terms. A person may serve two consecutive terms, after which he is required to take a break of at least one year. This is the case for Randy Thompson, who has completed two terms as deacon. We will miss Randy’s service in 2012, and we are profoundly grateful for his constant and efficient service to this church. With Randy stepping down, that means Jim, if elected, will join Bob Darby, Larry Harting, Mark Parkison and Paul Nagelkirk on the deacon board.

Both Scott Jordan and Wendell Conner have completed their first terms as ruling elders, and have agreed to each serve a second term. That means that Dave and Josh, if elected, will join Scott, Wendell, Bob and Brian on the session.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact Pastor Bob.

For more information on the Annual Meeting, see the article about it HERE.

 

 

Membership Class Jan. 20 & 21

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, Jan. 20, from 6pm to 9pm, and the second part will be Saturday, Jan. 21, from 9am to noon. Participation in the class does not obligate you to become a member. Please contact the church office if you are interested.

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