We will get to hear and be encouraged by what God has been doing in the life of one of our members and you will also get a chance to hear about the great activities we have planned for the year ahead! We are in need of pies, so please contact the church office if you are interested in coming and if you are willing to bring a pie. (All pies need to be at the church by 5pm on the 13th.) We hope to see you there!

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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