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.

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.

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.

One of the most important events to take place at the annual meeting is the presentation of the proposed 2012 budget. The budget team has already met and has submitted a proposal to the session. The session has reviewed and approved this budget, which will be presented at the meeting for your review.

The annual meeting is also the time when New Life members will elect men to the office of deacon and elder. Names of those candidates will be announced soon. On Jan. 15, we will take time during the Sunday School hours (10 and 11:30 am) to allow you to ask questions to the elder candidates so you can be informed about your vote.

Also, we will soon make available to you a packet of reports from New Life’s ministry teams for your perusal before the annual meeting. If you have any questions, feel free to ask Pastor Bob or Pastor Brian, or one of the elders, and please do all you can to join us on Jan. 23.

Over the Holiday season we will not have the first service on Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. There will be children, youth and adult Sunday School during 2nd service as usual. Our schedule on Dec. 25 and Jan 1 will be:

10:00-11:15am—Worship Service & Sunday School

11:30am-12:45pm—Worship Service and Children’s Church

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.

Girls bring your old t-shirts (colorful ones are best) because we are making headbands and other cool things out of them! The talented Miss Julia Buben will be teaching us how to re-purpose these old shirts into new creations! There will also be tarts and fizzy drinks. It promises to be a great time!

While the girls are having a craft party all the boys are invited to go laser tagging at the Play Station in Muncie. $15 covers the cost of three games AND free soft drinks in between games.

You can check out all the event details and RSVP at my.newlife, hope to see all the youth there!