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Spiritual Development April 2018

Our first Growth Initiative of the year happened this last weekend and we had 62 people participate! I’m so happy that so many people from our church were able to come and be reminded of and refreshed by the encouragement and truth that God’s Word has for each one of us. Also, thank you to all of the volunteers that helped with the kids and made it possible for the parents to participate in this event.

Our next Growth Initiative is coming soon. We will be meeting on May 5th from 8:30 to 11:30 am to continue walking through the books of the Bible. This time we will be covering  1 Kings through the Song of Solomon.  My prayer for everyone that signs up is that we would all go away with a deeper love and desire for the Bible and that we would be inspired to read it, know it, and apply it like never before. Please sign up soon either at the welcome center at church or online at our website.

Lastly, we have some great opportunities for both the men and women to participate in.  The ladies are beginning a small group Bible study on Tuesday nights, which starts April 3rd at 6:30 pm. They will be using the book You are Free, Be Who You Already Are by Rebekah Lyons. It will be a great time of spiritual encouragement.  The men will be meeting April 7th for our first Men’s Breakfast at 7:30 am. Please be a part of this and enjoy fellowship with other men and some great food as well. You can sign up for both of these events at the welcome center. Don’t miss out!

Recommended Resource - Total Truth by Nancy Pearcy
Does God belong in the public arena of politics, business, law, and    education?  Or is religion a private matter only personally comforting but publicly irrelevant?  In today’s cultural etiquette, it is not considered polite to mix public and private, or sacred and secular.  This division  is the single most potent force keeping Christianity contained in the    private sphere-stripping it of its power to challenge and redeem the whole of culture.

In Total Truth, Nancy Pearcy offers a razor-sharp analysis of the public/private split, explaining how it hamstrings our efforts at both personal and cultural renewal.  Ultimately it reflects a division in the concept of truth itself, which functions as a gatekeeper, ruling Christian principles out of bounds in the public arena.

How can we unify our fragmented lives and recover spiritual power?  With examples from the lives of real people, past and present, Pearcy teaches readers how to liberate Christianity from its cultural captivity.  She walks readers through practical, hands-on steps for crafting a full-orbed Christian worldview.  Finally, she makes a passionate case that Christianity is not just religious truth but truth about total reality.  It is total truth.

Worship April 2018

Church Family,

This month, I want to leave you with an article encouraging family worship. As I was thinking through what worship would look like for our Church after Easter, as we move into a new season, I started asking the question, “What does worship look like outside of the Church walls?” This article encourages us all to see our time of worship as a time when we can also come together outside of Church, into our homes with our families. I hope this article encourages you to take time outside of our corporate worship gathering, to worship with your family.

10 Reasons To Worship With Your Family  by Jason Helopoulos
“Most evangelical Christians are aware of the importance of secret and corporate worship, but fewer have even heard of family worship. What is family worship? It is pretty simple. Tonight, sit down with your family on the couch or at the dinner table. And then . . . pray together, read the Bible   together, and sing a great hymn of the faith together. There are many reasons for doing family worship, but let us just mention a handful. Family worship: 1) Glorifies and Honors God — This is the primary and essential reason. 2) Centers the Home – Family worship has the wonderful effect of centering our homes upon Christ. 3) Encourages Christian Character – The home may be the hardest place to live out our Christian lives. There is a reason that Paul addresses each member of the  Christian family in the household passages of Ephesians 5-6 and Colossians 3. It is a sad reality that we often manifest the character of Christ more consistently at church, in the workplace, and in the community then we do in our own homes. If there is somewhere that I must especially be on guard against sin, the flesh, and our adversary, it is at home. Casualness and familiarity is a ready playing field for sin. 4) Encourages Peace in the Home – We are sinners living under the same roof in tight quarters. That is a recipe for disaster or at least pain! We know our family members, and we know them well. Family worship helps us confront our sin and understand its effect upon one another. For example, it is awfully hard for a father to lead his family in worship when he has just yelled at his wife. If he is going to lead his family before the throne of grace, he will first have to ask for forgiveness from his wife. And she will find that it is hard to worship unless she willingly forgives him. 5) Binds the Family Together – In our fast-moving society there are few things that a family does together daily. Even eating a meal together these days seems like a feat. What if your family gathered together daily? And what if that gathering was for worship? It would become the most important and central aspect of its life. Your entire family will come to the realization that no matter what else we do or don't do, the most important thing that marks us as a family is that we are a worshiping family submitted to Christ. And that bond is an eternal one that strengthens the family in all its other endeavors. 6) Provides Common Knowledge – As the Scriptures are read together in family   worship, the family grows in common knowledge. Conversations around the dinner table or in the car will change dramatically as you have a common knowledge from which to converse. 7) Trains Children for Corporate Worship – Family worship provides the added benefit of training our children for corporate worship. As they sit and listen to the Word of God, hear prayers, and sing hymns these elements in corporate worship will take on a new meaning. The value of this cannot be overestimated. 8) Encourages our Children in Christ – They will see that for mom and dad worship is not just something they do on Sunday mornings. It is something at the very core of their being, important enough that they center their home upon it. We are not raising children just to be moral and competent people, but worshipers of the triune God. 9) Reinforces Spiritual Headship – Family worship reinforces the biblical framework of the family as it looks to the father (or the mother if she is single) as the spiritual leader of the home. As a father leads his children and wife before God's throne nightly and disciples them in the things of Christ, they will    increasingly look to him for spiritual leadership. This has the added benefit of reinforcing with the father/husband the spiritual mantle that is upon his shoulders. 10) Provides Systematic Discipleship – As a pastor I often have individuals approach me with a question about how to minister to their children or spouse in a specific area. Usually they are concerned about a particular sin or struggle in their family member's life. In this way we serve as firefighters rushing to extinguish this issue or that. At times this is needed, but it should not be our regular course of action.  Systematic discipleship is a much better approach and is aided by family worship. Daily family worship will provide a strong foundation that is built upon hearing the Word daily, praying daily, and giving thanks daily. It takes time to build a strong house. It is an unsteady house that is the result of the carpenter running from shaky wall to shaky wall to hammer a nail in here or there.”