Looking ahead, we’ve planned a church retreat at Willow Valley in Lancaster, PA on Sept. 24 Friday-25th (Saturday). This is for everyone in the church (kids too!). We will worship God through song, enjoy teaching, and have a lot of fun! The cost for one room is $119. For your own budgeting purposes the final deadline for reservations is Aug.24.
You can reserve your room(s) by clicking here.
From CJ Mahaney over at CJ Mahaney’s View From the Cheap Seats:
As the pastor of a local church for 27 years, I am deeply grateful for every person who, when they came to Covenant Life Church, remained for many years. Those who persevered through the years and were patient with me personally and patient with my deficiencies in preaching—it was these people who ultimately made the difference in the church and helped build the church. They demonstrated their love for the Savior through their enduring service.
That’s how local churches are built. Local churches are built when humble servants commit, and remain, and serve, and do so over a period of years. Local churches are built by those Kevin DeYoung identified as “plodding visionaries.” In his message at our Next conference in May, Kevin DeYoung made this compelling point.
He said:
It is easy to blast the church for all her failures. It is harder to live in the church day after day, year after year, with all of the ho hum, hum drum, and to slowly and consistently make a difference.
What we need are fewer revolutionaries and a few more plodding visionaries. We need to ask the right questions, we need to have the right expectations, and we need to establish the right vision.…
Here is my burden for our generation: along with all of the necessary pleas we have to be earnest and intense and radical and sold out. With all of that, I just also want to wave the banner from Zechariah 4:10, “Do not despise the days of small things.” That is what I mean by being plodding visionaries.
If you are a visionary, you don’t have your head in the sand. You are going somewhere. You are looking out. You are moving in a direction. But you are a plodder. One foot in front of the other.
Many of us are attracted to a Tasmanian Devil kind of Christianity…splattering, spinning around. You get fired up—praise God for that—and you spin out like the Tasmanian Devil ready to conquer the world for Christ and you blow up into a tree somewhere.
We need plodding visionaries.
When I wrote the book on the church I read nine books that called for a revolution. Every other day it seems like I read of a new manifesto. We may need to just simplify a little: Get on the right road and keep going.
Our generation in particular is prone to radicalism without follow-through. We want to change the world and we have never changed a diaper. You want to make a difference for Christ? Here is where you can start: this Sunday, volunteer for the nursery. Say, “Here I am, pastor. What can I do to serve?”
Without folks like this, Covenant Life Church would have never been built. No church can be built without plodding visionaries.
Kevin’s entire message, “The Church,” can be downloaded from the resource page at thisisnext.org.
On CJ Mahaney’s blog, he reflects on a recent Kevin DeYoung sermon on the topic of loving the local church. In his sermon, DeYoung addressed the subject of disappointment with the local church. His insights, drawn from Scripture, are extremely helpful.
Read the entire post here.
Not long ago in the course or reading through Jonathan Edwards’ classic, Charity And Its Fruits, I arrived at chapter 6 which addresses envy. I don’t typically think of myself as an envious person, yet as I read, I realized that envy percolates in my heart more than I thought.
“Envy,” Edwards writes, “may be defined to be a spirit of dissatisfaction with, and opposition to, the prosperity and happiness of others as compared with our own.”
He goes on to say, “Instead of rejoicing in the prosperity of others, the envious man will be troubled with it.”
The opposite of envy is “A Christian spirit” which, Edwards writes, “disposes us to feel content with our own condition, and with the estate which God has given us among men, and to a quietness and satisfaction of spirit with regard to the allotments and distributions of stations and possessions which God, in his wise and kind providence, has made to ourselves and others.”
Do you feel content with your own condition? Does “quietness and satisfaction of spirit” characterize your soul?
If so, then, like me, envy may be more of a problem for you than you thought .
Have you ever wondered why some Christians grow and some don’t? Have you ever been discouraged or confused in your own relationship with God? Have you ever wondered if other people go through the things you go through as a Christian? Have you ever longed for someone who you could share your personal struggles and questions of faith with? If someone asked you what the key to personal growth and change was what would you say it is? Could it be that you’re a Christian but you’re missing an essential piece of the life God called you to. Real satisfaction of heart, real growth and change, real effectiveness and purpose is possible! When most Christians think about growing in their faith, they sometimes leave out one of the most important means that God has provided; our friendships! God unites us to Christ but also places us within a community of faith where we influence one another in profound ways. This conference addresses the most fundamental issues that will help you and others grow in grace: wisdom forgiveness, servant-hood, communication, and conflict. These lifestyle character qualities are essential if marriages, friendships, and churches are going to thrive. Community is counter-intuitive to Western culture, but mandatory to a life of faith. Learn how God has designed for us to growth and change when we are living in biblical community.
Seminar Details
__Who: Everyone ages 13 and up!
__What: Paul Tripp Seminar-5 sessions about growing in your relationship with God through community
__Where: Covenant Fellowship Church (Glen Mills, PA) – the church that planted us five years ago.
__When: July 16-17, 2010
Other Important Details
__Check-in opens at 6:00 p.m.
__Doors open at 6:30 p.m.
__Childcare is not provided
Seminar Schedule
Friday, July 16
6:00 p.m. Check-in Opens
7:00 p.m. Session 1
8:00 p.m. Break
8:30 p.m. Session 2
Saturday, July 17
8:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
9:00 a.m. Session 3
10:00 a.m. Break
10:20 a.m. Session 4
11:15 a.m. Break
11:35 a.m. Session 5
12:30 p.m. Seminar Ends
Registration
$10 per person
Register now!
GENEROSITY MATTERS
And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. “ Acts 2:45
Now that’s generosity: Selling what you already own to meet the needs of others! The first Christians went out of their way to show kindness and generosity to one another. They inconvenienced themselves. They sacrificed without a hidden personal agenda. This demonstrates and adorns the gospel. And it goes against the world’s selfish ways.
In our world there is a stingy “tit for tat” “quid pro quo” “nickel and dime”” you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” mentality. But that has no place in the church of Jesus Christ. We seek follow Jesus and his ways. We seek to live consistent with the gospel of grace.
When we hear of a need, we should pray and ask God if he would have us to meet that need in some way, expecting nothing in return. We should budget to be generous, and then actually be generous because the gospel, freely given, meets our need.
I remember when growing up, our family of five didn’t have a big enough vehicle to comfortably travel from Pennsylvania to Vermont on vacation. We would have been crammed for a 9 hour trip both ways – me, my brother and my sister essentially sitting in each others’ laps in the back seat. Let me tell you, as teenage kids we weren’t looking forward to that.
Well, one Sunday after church, my Dad was talking to his friend Bill Isabell. I was there, standing next to my Dad. During the conversion Dad happened to mention we were going on vacation. And Bill, perceptive to our situation, insisted that we borrow their relatively new 12 passenger luxury van. The thing, back in the day, had a TV in it.
My Dad, not wanting to take advantage of his friend’s generosity, tried to decline. But Bill wouldn’t have it. He insisted, in a masculine way saying that it’d hurt his feelings if we refused. As Dad and I left church he said, “Now that’s how you offer something to someone”. It made a real impression on me. And we enjoyed a great trip.
They were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need.
It’s no wonder then that day by day, unbelievers were drawn to what they saw. There was a generous love, a gospel-like love, evident in their midst.
HOSPITALITY MATTERS
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts. Acts 2:46
People in the early church enjoyed meals in each other’s homes. “Having people over” played a vital role in the life of the early church community. Luke is intentional in pointing this out. Getting together in their homes was a significant part of the fellowship the believers enjoyed. And it is to be a significant part of our fellowship as well.
One of the qualifications for an elder, or a pastor, is that he must be hospitable. Why? Well the elder must be hospitable so that the church is reminded and inspired to be hospitable as well. That’s how important this virtue is to God. It’s included in the list of pastoral qualifications.
So a good question for us to ask ourselves is –
“Is hospitality a way of life for me and my family?”
Becoming hospitable doesn’t happen automatically – or necessarily easily. Having people over requires some measure of preparation. And if you have small children, it can be more challenging. As a father of four small children let me say – it’s not impossible. Hospitality, as an aspect of fellowship, is a discipline.
I want to honor my wife today and commend her example in this area. Without question, the significant sacrifices Fibia has made the last five years to host people in our home has played a vital role in establishing this church.
The scriptures intentionally point to the home as an important context for fellowship. Spending time together in each other’s homes was one of the many ways these first Christians showed the love of Christ to others. When we open our homes to each other, we open our lives as well.
So when it comes to showing hospitality, here’s my counsel: Have people over. Host a meeting. Plan for it, budget for it, and go for it.
SPENDING TIME WITH OTHER CHRISTIANS MATTERS
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts (Acts 2:46).
It says day by day, right? If you’re thinking I am about to tell you that you need to hang out with people in your church every single day you can relax. Luke’s point is not to give an exact prescription for fellowship. His point is summarized in his statement that “all who believed were together.” It’s that simple. They were together! Spending time with other Christians matters.
Consistent fellowship can be difficult for us. We value self-sufficiency. We don’t want others to interfere with our personal lives. We prefer to be left alone. And when we do spend time with others the objectives tend to be fundamentally self-oriented. “I will spend time with you as long as you contribute to my overall well-being and my happiness.”
So when a spouse no longer fulfills or gratifies, the marriage crumbles. When the focus is to get personal satisfaction from others…marriage disappoints, spouses disappoint, children disappoint, friends disappoint, co-workers disappoint, and even God disappoints! Those who use others to achieve personal happiness, lose the very happiness they seek.
Now contrast that with what the early church models. Bock explains…
“In our culture, individual needs and rights come before the needs of the group. But the portrait of the early church in Acts is of a community where the welfare of the group was the priority.”
The focus of the early believers was beyond the individual. The sooner we learn that church life is about the glory of Christ, and not “me”, the better. Church life is not about who we click with or don’t click with. It’s not about how much or how little we get out of the Care Group meeting. And ultimately it’s not even about individual edification, though that matters too.
The Church is about reflecting the glory and love of the Savior. The church is meant to be a community of genuine affection. Its a community of outgoing gospel love. We need to remember that the power is not in money or programs or facilities. The power is not in how many people we get to walk through the doors on a Sunday. The power is the gospel message proclaimed and lived-out in community.
So, we have a choice to make. Either we ride the cultural tide and drift away from biblical community life or we swim against the tide and become a powerful counter-cultural outpost for Jesus. Which will it be?
How are you intentionally living the Christian life together with other believers in your local church? It matters.
Back in March I posted Zac Smith’s story of battling cancer. On Sunday, Zac went home to be with the Lord.
If you haven’t already, consider taking five minutes to watch Zac’s story as told by him several months ago. He modeled what it means to suffer well and there is much we can learn from his example. Why is this important?
Consider these wise words:
“The truth of the matter is that all we have to do is live long enough and we will suffer.” – D.A. Carson
“We need to be trained prior to suffering, so that we may be fully sustained in suffering” – C.J. Mahaney
“I am persuaded that suffering is normal and not exceptional. We all will suffer; we all must suffer; and most American Christians are not prepared in mind or heart to believe or experience this.” – John Piper
Folks – suffering is inevitable. By grace may we not be caught unprepared when suffering comes our way. Instead may we suffer well, like Zac, for the glory of God.
