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Dear Family and Friends,

Well, it is hard to believe that a year has passed. When we woke up on October 12th, 2020 we had no idea what the good Lord had in store for our family. As you know, we were wrapping up a wonderful family vacation and were eager to step back into “normal life.” Little did we know, there would no longer be normal life for the Kellsos as a family of 6. A year ago tomorrow I posted, “The deepest sorrow under God’s grace is sweeter than the greatest joys under His wrath. Great is His faithfulness!” As our wounds were so fresh at that point, we had no idea how deep our sorrows would go. Yet, a year later that statement has stood true. Indeed! GREAT is our God’s faithfulness.

God has and continues to sustain us in wonderful ways and I cannot help but continue to marvel at His goodness. Our prayers the night Caleb passed away were that God would use our circumstances to make us more like Christ and more useful instruments for His purposes. We believe God has and continues to answer both of those prayers. Amid a circumstance that honestly has the potential to destroy families, our relationships with each other have never been sweeter. Julie continues to be the most precious gift to me outside of salvation. Her unwavering support, love, and encouragement are nothing short of miraculous. The grace and maturity of our kids are astonishing. The support and care from our church (Grace Bible Church) have been unwavering, and the additional love and support of friends and family have been so meaningful. God has dealt bountifully with us. We continue to be showered with love and care. From texts, cards, gifts, flowers, donations, prayers, we are just so overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness of those around us. Thank you all! Each expression of love is so appreciated and is a significant means of God’s kindness to us.

The last year has been truly wonderful. Yet, as we reflect on God’s goodness and care for us, this last year has come with its challenges. We seem to be settling into what one of our kids referred to last night as, “our new normal.” There is a sweetness to this reality and a bitterness. I do believe the Lord has sustained our whole family in contentment, trust, joy, and peace. Yet, there is an ever-present temptation to grumble against the Lord, to think we know better, to wish things were not as they are. We are thankful for verses such as I Corinthians 10:13 as we can have a bold confidence that in every temptation God has provided a way of escape. I believe we have been faithful in taking that way of escape.

We are grateful for what we are convinced of regarding God’s wisdom and omnipotence. God chooses the best possible means to bring about the best possible outcome and has the supreme power to accomplish His purposes. What a wonderful reality! There is no better circumstance to be in than the one we find ourselves in. Yet for me, there is a daily battle as I bear the weight of being God’s providential means of Caleb’s passing. To be clear, I do not feel guilty. I know I did not neglect my duties as Caleb’s father or in this situation sin against Caleb or God. Although, there are times where I feel this way and have to fight what I feel with what I know. It was an earthly accident under the sovereignty of a good God’s providence. However, there is still a weight I feel daily. This is definitely something I would appreciate continued prayers for. If I think much about this weight beyond any given day it is quite frankly crushing. But I know God will give me all that I need to be faithful each day. And so that is where I direct my heart. To trust, take one step forward, determine what does faithfulness look like today, and press on, that is the direction I resolve to go.

While our daily sorrows are still deep, our joys have never been more intense and more worshipful. The reality that tomorrow is not promised has changed our perspective in many ways and the joys of this life are received with so much more thankfulness and worship. This is an unexpected blessing for which we are so grateful. God has been so kind to give us so many situations where we could see His divine providence and wisdom played out so practically in various circumstances. II Corinthians 1:3-4 have been verses we have experienced so vividly this last year. We have been comforted so so much and the Lord has given us many opportunities to testify of His trustworthy nature. We are overwhelmed by the many tangible circumstances where we have been able to come alongside others. We are also ecstatic at another development over the last year. Our church is planning to plant a church in Gilbert and I will be part of a team of elders and members going to this new work. I will be filling the role of preaching pastor/elder. Julie and I are both so excited about this opportunity. While there is a mixture of emotions leaving the only church we’ve known in our adult life, we are so excited to see how God will use this endeavor in this new season of our life. This is definitely another area where we would appreciate prayer.

As we reflect on this last year the words of Psalm 145:17-19 ring true:

The Lord is righteous in all His ways
And kind in all His deeds.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,
To all who call upon Him in truth.
He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He will also hear their cry and will save them.

We do not know what this next year holds for us. But we do know the one Who holds us. We know the One who bore our sins and took our punishment so that we might be reconciled to God. We know the one Who demonstrated unfathomable love in His unsearchable wisdom at the expense of His own Son’s death. We know the gift of the forgiveness of sins and the blessing of life under grace lived for the glory of our Creator. And we know without a doubt His unfailing goodness. And so we continue to TRUST! to YIELD! to BLESS His Name! And though we still navigate many tears, we fall on our faces and worship! Blessed is the name of our Lord!

With Much Love and Gratefulness,
Josh, Julie, and family

The post God is Still Good One Year Later! Kellso Family Update appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

Dear Family and Friends,

First of all, Julie and I want to express a resounding “THANK YOU!” for the care you all have shown to us. We have received countless cards, emails, texts, messages, gifts, and other acts of kindness. We have received numerous gifts anonymously of which we don’t even know to whom to express thanks. So if it was you….THANK YOU! It all is truly so meaningful and helpful to us. God’s provision for us through all of you has been humbling and tremendously encouraging. The love and support we have received and continue to receive have been overwhelming. We are bearing a burden, but we are not doing so alone. Your care for us has been astonishing. We are especially grateful for our church body and the way we have been spiritually tended to and supported in this time. We have been pastored so well by our church leadership and cared for in an exemplary manner by the entire church body. God’s grace is abundant, and His provision is beyond what we could ever hope or imagine. We praise and thank God for all of you!

We would like to fill you in on how we have been doing these last several weeks. In summary, we are well in the Lord. The Lord had only been faithful to us through October 11th. The Lord was abundantly faithful to us on October 12th. And the Lord has been exceedingly faithful to us every day since Caleb’s passing. We have not found it difficult to trust God in this trial. The gospel has been so near to our hearts. And in light of the sacrificial love of God giving His Son as the perfect atoning sacrifice for our sins, we cannot question His goodness, wisdom, and care for us as His children.

The hardest part of this trial is that we simply miss Caleb. He brought a youthful and playful energy to our family. He was such a joy to our lives. Yet, the joy of Caleb was never the source of our strength. The joy of the Lord has been and continues to be our strength. And so we press on with sorrow in our hearts, tears often in our eyes, and an unwavering joy and hope found in our precious Savior. The sorrow of these temporal days is overshadowed by the hope of eternity with our Lord and the reality of the eternal life we currently possess in Him.

God’s Word continues to be more precious to us than all else in this world. It has been a glorious light on this dark path the Lord has set before us. It has revived our souls often in moments of weakness. It has been a shield for us from sinful thinking. When temptations have arisen to want a worldly explanation as to why or how this accident took place, God’s Word has abundantly satisfied every curious impulse of our hearts. And it has been a means of drawing near to and resting in our good God. Psalm 145:18 says, “The LORD is near to all who call upon Him. To all who call upon Him in truth.” As much as we feel Caleb’s absence from our lives, we are assured of the Lord’s nearness to us. This has been a sweet blessing and comfort to us.

Since Caleb’s passing, there are several things to which we have committed ourselves. First of all, we will not question God’s goodness. God is good. We are not in a position to determine or judge if God is good. He simply is good. That doesn’t change because of our circumstances. Our circumstances rather are an expression of what is true about Him. God, in His wise goodness, has us in precisely these circumstances. Therefore, we have not and will not require Him to meet our expectations or desires. Rather, we plead with Him to conform our thinking to His own. We plead with Him to grant us the grace and faith to humbly entrust ourselves to Him when times are difficult. We pray for help, that He would sustain us as we yield, trust, and believe in His goodness. He has answered these prayers.

We also resolved to not let “hard” determine what we do or don’t do. In all honesty, pretty much everything is hard right now. Rather, we have committed ourselves to do what we believe is right before God. This thinking has been such a blessing as we have continued to engage in our church body, attending most services, small group gatherings, and other events as we have been able. We have also sought to not dictate how we are cared for by others. But rather we continue to trust God that His care for us through His people will be just as we need. We know His care for us through His people is also an expression of His sovereign goodness. He has not disappointed. Again, the care we have received from our pastors and church body has been an incredible means of grace in our lives. Also, the care of believers beyond our own church body has been such a sweet grace from the Lord to sustain us spiritually before Him. Again, THANK YOU!!!

We also have committed to mourn worshipfully. What does this mean? Well, we are sad a lot but not discontent. I can honestly say that the Lord has upheld us. However, we are sad frequently. We miss Caleb. We are sobered by the reality of sin and death. We are figuring out how to function as a family of 5 and not 6. Yet, we are committed to worshipping God amid our sadness. There is a great temptation to let our sadness over Caleb’s absence from our lives lead us to question God or to have discontentment in His plan. We refuse to entertain such thoughts. Rather we have resolved to let each moment of sadness be a catapult of worship for the gift Caleb was. This has been so helpful for us as it has aided us in proclaiming “blessed is the Name of the Lord” through our tears and has kept our hearts focused on the undeserved blessing of being Caleb’s parents.

Many have asked how we are doing as a family. By God’s grace, Julie and I have never been closer. This is a gift from the Lord, and the only explanation is His grace. Julie is and continues to be, the godliest, most loving, faithful, and precious gift from the Lord to me outside of salvation. Each one of our children’s responses has been soft, sweet, and an encouragement to Julie and me. For the first 4-5 weeks, we would spend time each night together, and each of us would open and read one of the many many cards we received. We were continually encouraged by the care for us. This led to many sweet discussions. We also would share favorite memories of Caleb from different events, activities, or simply favorite attributes about Caleb and give thanks to God for Caleb’s life. This was such a wonderful season where, through tears and laughter, we as a family have been able to remind each other of the gift Caleb was to our family. Over time we shifted to remembering things we loved about Caleb and also sharing things we were thankful for regarding each other. This usually was something we would do on birthdays but have incorporated into more of a regular practice.

Boasting only in the Lord I can say with full conviction that we are not merely “getting through” this season. Rather we are worshipfully and dependently embracing with thankfulness God’s good plan for our family. We are joyful. There is laughter in our home. And while the youthful energy isn’t the same, and we miss Caleb more than words can describe, God’s goodness is unchanging. We know this! And in our sadness, sorrow, and frequent tears, there is also joy and hope. Endurance is having its way in our lives. What more could we hope for? God is faithful! We are vessels created for God’s good pleasure to bring Him glory. We will not stipulate what that must look like. Rather we will embrace His perfect plan, entrusting ourselves to Him and seeking to live out His purpose for our lives to glorify Him. God’s mercy is sustaining us each day. And each night we pray anticipating the new mercies He will provide every morning for what we need that day. He is a benevolent Father.

I know some have wondered if they should ask about how we are doing because they don’t want to bring up a sensitive topic. This is such a sweet consideration of us. However, we want you all to know, WE LOVE talking about Caleb. Even if our response is often accompanied by tears. Those tears are not an expression of hardship but are an outward expression of our love and gratefulness for Caleb. At this point, we’re pretty used to crying in front of people. So I think it really only makes those around us uncomfortable. But if you want to know about Caleb, how we are doing, or have things you’d like to share, we welcome it. It is a blessing to us.

What are our current needs? Honestly, I can’t think of anything except continued prayers and encouragement. This is not because they have been lacking in any way, but rather, the abundant prayers and encouragement have been such a means of grace from God that He has used to sustain us. We simply covet them more. We know December will be filled with difficulties as we continue to experience many firsts without Caleb. His birthday was 12/23 and so we know the coming days will be emotional. Yet, as our dear friends the Hantlas have modeled so well, we don’t need to suffer tomorrow’s trials today. Rather we cling to our Savior today and know He will provide all we need for tomorrow.

Once again, thank you for your love and support. You all have been beyond faithful in your care for us, and so once again we thank you and worship God. Blessed is the Name of the Lord!

The post Continuing To Trust In Our Good God, Kellso Family Update appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

Dear family, friends, and many we have never even met,

We want to express our thanks to you all for the overwhelming love and care we have experienced these last few days. Thank you for praying. Thank you for encouraging us with Scripture. Thank you for your practical provisions. Thank you for mourning with us so well. And we especially thank God Who is our Rock and ultimate Comfort. He has used you all as a means of grace to us in our sorrow.

For those of you who do not know, on Monday 10/12 our benevolent Lord saw fit to take our precious youngest child Caleb (5) from this world. Our family was vacationing up at our family ranch as we often do. The Lord’s kindness to us was so abundant as we had a wonderful week together as a family. Caleb got to hunt with Asher, Elijah, and me. Caleb got to ride the quad by himself for the first time. He did AMAZING and LOVED it so much. Caleb was the first out of the house to congratulate Asher on his deer, and the whole family enjoyed time processing the deer together. He played many foosball games with everyone in the family. He enjoyed hunting for lizards, spiders, and moths with Kyla. Julie and Caleb got many sweet snuggle times together. There were many hugs, kisses, and “I love you’s” this last week. There were too many joys to mention them all and we continue to treasure each one with thankful hearts.

In the afternoon, as we were preparing to come home from our family vacation, we were loading up my truck. The kids were all helping. As usual, Caleb was jumping in to help as well. He was such a sweet servant! I (Josh) was going to move my truck closer to the home to continue loading up. While I had thought the kids dispersed behind me for another activity, our precious Caleb had actually moved in front of me. As I pulled the truck forward, I inadvertently ran over Caleb. The best we can tell, he had possibly dropped something in front of the truck and was attempting to get it. Realizing what might have happened, I quickly jumped from my truck and sought to care for Caleb. It is clear now that Caleb passed very quickly. We thank God for that grace. However, I, with Julie’s help, performed CPR until medical professionals arrived. As they took over, every attempt to revive Caleb was made with no success. We are grateful that the Lord protected Julie and the other children from having to see the tragic accident take place. That was a mercy from the Lord.

My cry while performing CPR is our cry today, “WE KNOW GOD IS GOOD!” We dare not ask God to bend His will to ours but rather ask that He bend our will to His, even if that means being broken and crushed. For the tender mending care of our loving Shepherd is precious to us. We will not reject the anguish for in the depths of our anguish are the mountains of His comfort. And we do not fight against our sorrows. For the intensity of each sorrow is a testimony of how precious our Caleb was to us and how intense our love was for him. Both of these are graces from God to us. We thank God for the undeserved blessing it was to be with Caleb for 5 years, 9 months, and 20 days. Each moment with him was an indescribable gift. He brought such joy to our lives and sweet energy to our home.

We do not need answers to why beyond what our sovereign God has given us in His Word. For in His Word is every answer we need and His Word is more precious to us than all the riches of the world. Even more than the riches of parenthood. What else would we need, and where else would we go than into the loving arms of our Savior! Our great God has provided for our biggest need in the forgiveness of our sins through the death of His own Son. With that precious truth in mind, we dare not question His love. How could we? Rather, we cling to Him. You all have been a means of God’s loving care for us. And for that, we thank you and worship Him. We know God is sovereign, and there is no better place for us than where He has us today. We TRUST! We YIELD! We mourn! We BLESS His Name! And though our tears fall almost constantly, we fall on our faces and worship! Blessed is the name of our Lord!

The post Mourning Caleb Kellso’s Death, Trusting In Our Good God appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

I am so excited that you are about to gather as a church body tomorrow after all these weeks apart. We have truly been blessed and grown through this time, but there is no replacement for being together. The church is meant to gather, to assemble whenever possible. I am so glad many of you will be.

And as we gather in various contexts–Sunday service, smallgroups, ministries, and the impromptu face-to-face one-another ministries of the body–be on the lookout for who isn’t there. For many, their absence likely doesn’t reflect a lack of desire to be with the church. When Paul was torn away from the church in Thessalonica, he wrote them that this caused him to “MORE EAGERLY desire to see you face to face” (1 Thes 1:17). So as you joyfully gather, be particularly aware of who isn’t there, be loving, thoughtful and creative, and don’t forget that–though absent in many ways for now–they are a part of our local church.

Even being back together, it isn’t the same. Social distancing, limited services, face masks, and more are hard. It isn’t the same. Getting a bear hug from Eric, enjoying an unobstructed view of Omri’s huge genuine smile, our children learning God’s Word alongside other children in Next Generation Ministries, and the countless other small joys that many didn’t even know to thank God for…this isn’t the same. But it’s still better than livestream.

And doing these hard things will enable many to come to church who otherwise would need to keep live streaming. All of these interventions are designed not primarily to protect the one doing them but others from you. That’s what’s so hard with COVID19; it tends to spread from asymptomatic individuals. And our Sunday gathering is probably the most “dangerous” or contagious time of the week for many. We experience this every winter when your kids come in contact with new germs on a Sunday and are sick by Tuesday. When we are together, germs get shared. When those germs might do serious harm to some, we do well to think soberly about if we can do anything to mitigate that risk.

So when we come to church, have others in mind. This shouldn’t be hard because I have witnessed over the last two decades that this is the mark of Grace Bible Church. You come to church with others on your mind. If there was ever a place where I have experienced people mimicking Jesus’ example in Phil 2:3-4 it IS this church:
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests but also to the interests of others.”

Rightly understood, masks, social distancing, handwashing, and not coming to church sick are in line with this. Just like you cover your cough or sneeze or wash your hands–you shouldn’t be doing those things primarily to protect yourself, but to protect others.

When I was in the hospital with lymphoma, many of you demonstrated this self-emptying love by washing your hands, donning a ridiculous-looking yellow gown, and wearing a mask. This wasn’t to protect you from me, but me from you. Thankfully we are not in a time where this is necessary for the general population. It’s sometimes very unclear what is actually necessary. What was true when you came to visit me was that you were willing to be uncomfortable to be with me.

This is similar to how you can care for the at-risk in our church body. The uncomfortable things that you do may make it possible for some to come who otherwise stay home. I’ve been so encouraged as I’ve interacted with many in the body who plan on doing things you otherwise wouldn’t do out of care for others. It isn’t obvious what the right amount of caution is, and this is undoubtedly a moving and hotly debated target. But more important than what we do is why we do it and how we do it.
1) Why: Christlike, self-emptying love counting others more significant than yourself (Phil 2:3-4)
2) How: “Without grumbling or disputing…as children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”

Some might come to church and do something with which you are uncomfortable. For some, mask use may present legitimate challenges; people forget. There are different levels of awareness. This is all ok. It’s an opportunity to, in love, be patient and kind, not rude or insisting on your own way, to avoid irritability or resentfulness, and bear all things, hope all things, and endure all things (1 Cor 13:3-7). We don’t need to show complete unity in what we do, but we need to show unity in how we do it: With Christlike love.

We live in the world but do not live like the world. These topics of social distancing and policy decision have led to incredible division and even hatred in the world. I’m not going to act for a second like our church is going to be smarter at figuring out the right balance on this. But we have a unique opportunity to shine as lights in this world.

Right now, We are in Seattle and will be live streaming for the next many months. Our son David will be, Lord willing, getting a bone marrow transplant in the upcoming weeks. Over the last 7.5 years of cancer in our home, live stream has been an incredible blessing, a lifeline back to the Sunday gathering of the church. We’ve been so blessed by Zoom meetings. I’m so glad that for many of you, your time for livestreaming and zoom meetings are coming to an end.

You care for us well, but the Hantla family’s absence is a bit more dramatic and noticeable. The one who has only been at the church a short time or who is a less conspicuous member of the body is no less important, but maybe not as obvious when away. I can’t put it any better than the apostle Paul. The implications of the following verses are many in this pandemic:1 Cor 12: 22-26: “The parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.”

So if you are home live streaming and zooming, rejoice for those who can be together. As you are coming together, remember those who aren’t with you and do what you can to allow them to be with us as appropriate and to care for them and love them even if they can’t.

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Below, I have embedded the playlist with an introduction and the first three of my videos. As more are added, they will appear in this playlist. It will start with my introduction and should automatically play the storytime videos that follow.

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What have your prayers looked like this last week? Your life has likely been drastically affected by the new SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 that it causes. There is rarely a minute in my day where I am not thinking about it. My son’s life (and my own) are particularly at risk; we have significant decisions to make about David’s bone marrow transplant; I’m making decisions about our church’s worship service and other gatherings; my wife and I are fielding a barrage of text messages and emails with questions about the disease; many food items and articles of daily living are sold out; flying for work is dangerous and always delayed; there are no sports; and if I almost forget for a second, seemingly every news story, tweet, and notification my devices put in front of my face are about COVID-19. I suspect that even if your particular challenges are different, you have been unable to go long this last week without thinking about this pandemic. 

How has this affected your prayers? You can anticipate that the next few weeks will be more of the same, but perhaps we will start having people we love sickened by the disease. Maybe you will be infected. It’s possible that somebody you know will die. You may believe with your mind that God is in control, but it may feel like your life is out of control. How will your prayers be affected?

James 1:2-6 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind

One thing is for sure. Like I wrote in my last post, no matter what happens around you, trust the Lord. This trustworthy Lord commands you (James 1:5) amid trials to pray to Him, asking for wisdom without doubting. You might feel like the wind-tossed wave of the sea described in James 1:5. God means for trials to sanctify you (James 1:2-4). As we face trials, we must pray; particularly, we must pray for wisdom. In the roughest of difficulties, we can be steadfastly anchored by faith through prayer in our generous and trustworthy God. 

First off, in your trial, is honoring God through growth in holiness your goal? It is God’s. Align your goals with His.

In your trial, are you praying? We must be. And we must pray for wisdom. There are countless decisions that you must make. How will you love your neighbor (staying away from them, shopping for them, providing for them)? How will you respond to your government’s direction? Will you go to work? Where will you get food? In all of this, you must first and most acknowledge the Lord. The first question must not be, “What should I do?” But it must be a statement of acknowledgment of the Lord’s good and trustworthy sovereignty at work, “God, You have placed this decision before me. I need your wisdom. What would you have me do, and how should I do it to most honor you?”

Proverbs 3:5-7 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord,  and turn away from evil.

The question consistently on the news and perhaps in your home is, “What should we do about the coronavirus?” Answer: In all your ways, acknowledge Him. So as you stay home to protect the vulnerable, acknowledge Him. As you plan for how to buy toilet paper or water or food, acknowledge Him. If you have symptoms, acknowledge Him. As you get tested, acknowledge Him. As you protect yourself and your neighbor by staying away from public gatherings, acknowledge Him. As you see your 401(k) evaporate, acknowledge Him. As you see your loved one fall ill, acknowledge Him. As you enjoy time off work or a good meal or a breath of fresh air, acknowledge Him. In all things, acknowledge Him. As you pray, acknowledge Him. One of the best ways to follow this plan to “acknowledge God” is to give Him thanks while you ask for His help.

Philippians 4:5b-7 The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We must pray. And our prayers must first be characterized by thanksgiving. When you acknowledge the Lord, your heart’s disposition will be set aright, moving from anxiety and dissatisfaction toward peace. God is no less in control during famine than the feast. My natural inclination–the natural inclination of all of mankind–is to grumble and be anxious when things get hard. The Christian, rather, is to seek comfort in the Lord’s nearness. And pray.

If you are like me, my natural tendency when praying is to tell God all the things I think I need. But what God directs us to first—before you ask for anything— is to say thanks. I used to treat this like a formality, acting a bit like I was supposed to be polite when talking to God. I likened it to interpersonal situations where often if you are going to try to ask somebody for something hard, you should first be really nice to them, buttering them up to get a better response. No, we are to ask with thanksgiving because when we are tempted to anxiety, we do not see things in their proper perspective. We are more tempted to be aware of what we think we need than to see what God has already provided and to trust Him to future provision.

The peace that we so desperately want cannot be found through preparing, reading the news, perfect infection control measures, ignoring the danger, or anything other than thanksgiving-filled prayer. Does this mean that we should not ask God for things? No. The opposite is true. You are commanded in Philippians 4:6 and elsewhere (Isa 55:6, Mat 6:8-13, Mat 7:7, Jam 5:13, cf. Ps 86:7) to pray to God in your time of need, asking Him for what you need. But ask with thanksgiving. Thankfulness-saturated requests made to God in prayer are the Holy Spirit’s means of bringing you the true peace your heart craves.

How thankful have you been this week? When you run out of toilet paper and the first ten stores you check don’t have any, and you begin to pray, is your request thanksgiving-filled? Or is it panic-stricken and frustrated?. Do you ask your loving Father who loves to give His children good gifts (Mat 7:11) in a way that remembers His past faithfulness? Consider how God has provided toilet paper for you day after day, year after year and how it has likely never been something for which you’ve given thanks.  And best of all, the greatest problem facing you and me is not lack of food, a plummeting stock market, paucity of toilet paper, or even sickness and death. Our sin, which separated us from God and earned us eternal death—all of it: past, present, and future—has been done away with. We have been reconciled to Him by His death (Col 1:21-22, 1 Pet 3:18). No matter what suffering we could undergo in this life—for the sake of the gospel or just as a result of living in this fallen world—isn’t worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed in us (Rom 8:18-21, 2 Cor 4:16-18).

We have so much for which to be thankful: The sun that rose this morning (Mat 5:45), the rain and food it provides (Mat 5:45, Mat 6:11, Act 14;17), sleep (Ps 127:2) and the fact that you awoke from it this morning (Ps 3:5), and countless other gifts (James 1:17). But best of all, God has given us Himself (1 Pet 3:18, Isa 7:14, Isa 9:6, etc.). You will never fully be able to enumerate the things we have to be thankful for. You will never overdo the thankfulness. So pray. Ask God for what you need. And do so with thankful hearts looking back to God’s provision for you in the past (best exemplified at the cross) and looking forward to how your God will use the situation you find yourself in for His glory. And trust that God truly does hear your prayer, that He does really care, and that He really can and will provide what is best, many-times precisely what you ask.

Let COVID-19 drive us all to pray, and pray with thanksgiving. And God will use those prayers, giving us what we need. God has not promised that He will provide you with a long life. He might use COVID-19 to end your life (and that should not make you anxious but rather make you excited, because then you would be with Christ, Phil 1:23). You or your loved one may get sick. But He knows what we need, and His purposes are good and right. And whether He brings you through this or brings you to Himself through this, we should run to Him in faith-filled prayer with thanksgiving. And then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

You might be very familiar with these passages and their content. But let me challenge you (and myself) now. There is a significant difference between knowing the truth and doing the truth. I may know that I should pray with thanksgiving and faith. But that is far different from actually doing it. I might know that God is trustworthy, but that is far different than actually trusting Him. COVID-19 maybe incredibly sanctifying for the church, especially in the area of prayer with thanksgiving and faith.

(For more on fighting the sin of anxiety and a fuller exposition of Phil 4:5-7, please listen to my sermon on that text which I preached in 2018, entitled “The Only Way to True Peace Free from Anxiety”. I taught with the perspective afforded by five and a half years of fighting my son’s leukemia in mind. Little did I know that I would promptly begin to daily put this into more daily use than I could have imagined, shortly after this falling ill with life-threatening Burkett lymphoma. I saw God keep His promise to guard my heart in peace in response to thanksgiving-filled prayer. I’m excited to grow still more with all of you as we walk together faithfully through this COVID-19 trial and whatever else may lay ahead until the Lord calls us home).

Lord willing, I hope to continue my blog series in the upcoming days and weeks, following this tentative outline:

1. Trust God
2. Pray with thanksgiving and faith
3. Don’t be foolish
4. Love your neighbor
5. Balance appropriately your thoughts (and reading/watching)
6. Submit to authorities 
7. Remember your finitude 
8. Think about heaven
9. Speak of your gospel confidence and hope
10. Don’t grow weary

The post Thanksgiving-Filled Prayer During the COVID-19 Storm appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

The Elders urge you to please read this email in its entirety. It contains important information about some changes at GBC related to the COVID-19 outbreak.

As we saw last Sunday from Hebrews 10:19-25, the appropriate and commanded response to a right understanding of the priestly ministry of Jesus is threefold; draw near to God, hold fast the confession of our hope, and intentionally consider each other. All of these are important practices of the Christian walk. Our current situation gives us great opportunity to practice these things. In a world that is driven primarily by reactive fear, the Elders believe it is our biblical mandate to respond in proactive love. We know God is trustworthy and all-powerful. We know that He works all situations for His glory and the good of His people. We also know that Scripture is clear regarding the love we are to have for one another. Thus, it is appropriate for us to take reasonable precautions to preserve our own lives and the lives of others while joyfully entrusting ourselves to our sovereign God. 

As you are all aware, each day brings new clarity and new questions related to The COVID-19 pandemic. The Elders have planned a few changes for this Sunday’s service. Expect regular changes as we gain more clarity and direction from our local infection control authorities. We will seek to communicate regularly and transparently regarding changes via email and other methods. Jacob will be blogging on the GBC Elder blog as well to help us seek to honor God individually and corporately in our responses: https://www.gbcaz.org/category/elder-blog/. These efforts attempt to make common-sense, practical modifications to our regular practices to decrease the likelihood of disease spread within our body. Again, our aim in this is love, particularly for those that are most at risk (elderly, diabetics, those with lung disease, and the immunocompromised) and to do our part to decrease the likelihood of exhausting our medical system’s capacity to care for the sick. 

In light of this, the following precautions and adjustments will be taking place immediately at GBC:

1. While we plan to hold our service at the usual time (9:00 am) with Equipping Hour to follow, we will NOT have any Next Generation Ministries. Children will stay with us in the service. Children appear to get mild symptoms when infected but can effectively transmit the disease to higher-risk individuals. 

2. We have changed the arrangement of the worship center to have more aisles, thus smaller rows. Please be thoughtful in your seating, keeping families sitting together with one chair or an aisle separation between households (social distancing) if possible. 

3. We will not be partaking in the physical elements of the bread and juice during our time of communion. We will still be having a communion mediation. We are actively investigating the best way to serve the body in this practice moving forward. 

4. We love to be together as a body, and our Sunday mornings are filled with the well-intentioned and genuine demonstration of affection, including hugs and handshakes. Until this pandemic has passed, please refrain from handshakes, hugs, or other close interpersonal contact as we meet together at church on Sunday, in your smallgroups, and other gatherings throughout the week. 

5. In loving our neighbors we should always make a practice of staying home if we are sick or likely contagious. This is especially important now. If, in the last 72 hours, you have had any potential symptoms of COVID-19 or have been in close contact with somebody who has, please stay home and livestream our service. These symptoms include:
 • Fever of 100.4 or higher
 • Sore or scratchy throat
 • Cough

6. If you are in a high-risk category (immunocompromised, elderly, diabetic, or heart/lung problems), please also consider staying home from church and taking advantage of our livestream.

7. No donuts will be served at Equipping Hour.

These should be time-limited restrictions until the pandemic risk has decreased and our societal preparedness and understanding of this novel disease have increased.

If you have any questions, please direct them to any of the Elders. Expect more communication and changes in the upcoming days and weeks. 

With love, 
-The Elders of GBC

The post Changes at GBC in light of the Coronavirus {COVID-19} appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

We were pulling into Washington as the news of the first COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) deaths in the US hit the news. They occurred just a few miles north of the hotel, where we plan to live for the next few months as our son undergoes a bone marrow transplant at Seattle Children’s Hospital to treat his high-risk leukemia. In many ways, this was our worst nightmare. We have spent the last seven years meticulously minimizing our family’s exposure to disease due to compromised immune systems. Yet, here we are at “ground zero” of the viral infection that is causing widespread panic, even hysteria across our country and the world. 

My heart’s first natural response was almost reflexive: Fear and anxiety. “What should I do?” was almost my first question, but before that thought finished forming in my head, I immediately but decisively uttered a statement, “Father, I trust you.” Quickly the heart shepherding began, as Kiki and I began to try to think Biblically about how, as Christians, we should think about and respond to this genuine threat to our safety and health. It is appropriate as Christians to learn, to plan, to think, and to react. But all of humanity– God’s children and those who are still at enmity with Him–can learn, plan, think, and react; only we have the privilege to trust the One Who created all things, sustains all things, and controls all things (Col 1:15-17; Rom 11:36). 

 As your pastor and brother in Christ, I want to give you a glimpse into how I am shepherding my own heart and my family. God has taught these lessons to us through the crucible of leukemia and lymphoma. They are, here, written in the context of COVID-19. Still, I am confident that these heart shepherding responses in trial will transcend either of these circumstances. I don’t write as an expert, having arrived, but as one joyfully being molded into maturity through trials (James 1:2-4) along with you all. 

This post is the first in what, Lord-willing, will be a series discussing how to handle trials. The following tentatively outlines my planned series.

1. Trust God
2. Pray with thanksgiving and faith
3. Don’t be foolish
4. Love your neighbor
5. Balance appropriately your thoughts (and reading/watching)
6. Submit to authorities 
7. Remember your finitude 
8. Think about heaven
9. Speak of your gospel confidence and hope
10. Don’t grow weary

Trust God

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus pointed out a self-evident truth through a simple rhetorical question (Mat 6:26), “Which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his lifespan?” Even the world recognizes the futility of anxiety. Jesus’ point, however, is not to show anxiety’s uselessness, but He contrasts it with the Father’s trustworthy care for His children. 

Fear and anxiety reveal where our trust lies. Trials, especially ones related to basic necessities & health (“life…eat…drink…body,” Mat 6:25) demonstrate where our trust has been placed. Have you been trusting in yourself, in your health, in medicine, in finances, in government? Or God?

Sickness (or even the possibility of it) and the threat of death clearly demonstrate just how little we can control tomorrow. It is when we feel that danger and the accompanied helplessness that anxiety (which the Bible calls sin, see Mat 6:25, 34; Php 4:5-7; 1 Pet 5:6-7) often appears. This anxiety is less than futile; it is miserable and can be debilitating. What is worse and patently obvious, as Jesus points out: Anxiety is powerless to add even an hour to your life. 

Many respond, therefore, in the face of impending danger: “It is what it is.” Or “Time will tell. Eventually, what will happen will happen anyway, so why stress?” “I might as well prepare the best I can and just see what happens. I can’t control it anyway.” Those responses are certainly better than anxiety. And a faithful Christian may probably include many of these as he or she seeks to respond to the trial with faith. However, something crucial is missing in these responses, something only those with the Holy Spirit can do: Trust in God.

Recognizing the powerless of anxiety is meant to not merely make us not anxious, but rather to push us to trust in the all-powerful One Who knows exactly what you need (Mat 6:32) and loves to give good things to His children who ask (Mat 7:11). Every gift and every threat—everything good and evil—is part of God’s good and perfect ordering of the universe, this world, and your life for His glory. If you are His child—if you have trusted in Jesus alone for forgiveness of your sins—then you should be confident that all these things are working together for your good too (Rom 8:28, Jas 1:2-4). 

So, as I drove my family toward Seattle where the first COVID-19 patients in the United States were dying—toward a threat whose risk nobody could accurately quantify and against whose inexorable expansion I am ultimately helpless to stop—I quieted my mind and prayed simply, “My good and sovereign Father, I trust you.” Then I began to learn about the disease and make practical plans to minimize my risk. We reached out to the oncologists to ask if it is prudent to move forward with the transplant. We wash our hands regularly, we don’t touch our faces, my son wears a mask in public, and we carefully read trustworthy literature to better understand this new-to-man threat. And as we do these things, I must never confuse diligence in these practical tasks with confidence in those tasks. The prayer, “Father, I trust you,” must be every present amidst these tasks.

 Christian, if there is one thing that you and I can learn from this threatened pandemic and the everpresent media coverage, may it be a quickness to reflex trust in the Lord instead of anxiety or apathy. 

God made all things, and He rules them perfectly and completely: 

• Kings, presidents, and governments (Pro 21:1, Act 17:26, Rom 9:17), 
• the sun and rain (Mat 5:45), 
• the stock market and your plans (Pro 19:21, Jas 4:13-15), 
• life and death (Deu 32:39, 1 Sam 12:6, Job 1:21), 
• good and evil (Gen 50:20, Act 4:26-28), 
• “random” chance (Pro 16:33), and yes 
• even viral diseases (Num 15:48-50, Mat 8:15) are “all like water in the hand of YHWH; He turns it wherever He wills.” (Pro 21:1). 

That same Might that rules all things cares for you with Fatherly love, Christian. If God in His wisdom determines that the best thing for you is that you are safe, you will be safe. And if His Wisdom determines that it is best that one gets sick or even dies, we can trust–we must trust–that it is right. Your greatest danger is not COVID-19, cancer, or even bodily death; it is sin. Jesus conquered sin and death (Col 2:13-15, Heb 2:14-15, Rev 1:18). Nothing can happen to you without going through your loving Father. God will provide just what you need (Ps 34:10, Ps 84:11, Mat 6:32-33, Rom 8:31-32).  

So when you face the possibility of COVID-19 coming into your life (even ending your life), don’t be anxious; don’t panic. Don’t resign yourself to helpfulness. Rather, trust in the Lord. “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God…casting all your anxieties on him, because He cares for you.”

The post COVID-19: Shepherding My Heart to Trust God appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

• Come Let Us Adore Him by Tripp – $8 – Written for adults. Good for daily reading on your own, with your spouse, or as a family. Each day’s reading has some biblical passages to read as well as a central theme to discuss with your children if you choose to do this one as a family.  My wife and I are reading this on our own.
• A Jesus Christmas by Barbara Reaoch – $5 – Designed especially for families with children. Each day’s study involves reading a biblical passage, an explanation, and a short response. The book has blanks and really seems to draw children in, with a simpler version for younger children. We have set aside time each morning for our children to begin reading. Then each evening we will read the passages aloud together and review their responses and sing together.

It is so easy to assume that we are thinking about God-come-flesh, to be thinking about the gospel because you are so familiar with the story of Christmas. But it is so important to stop and spend time in extended, worshipful meditation on these Christmas truths with which we are so familiar. Tripp writes in

Come Let Us Adore Him, “It is good to be familiar with the story of the gospel of Jesus Christ…But familiarity often does bad things to us…When we are familiar with things, we tend to quit examining them…When we are familiar with things we tend not to celebrate them as we once did. Familiarity tends to rob us of our wonder. And here’s what’s important about this: What has captured the wonder of our hearts will control the way we live.”

So commit to not allowing your heart to get sidetracked by distraction or comfortable with the everpresent truths of Christmas with which we may have become overly comfortable. You don’t have to do use a daily devotional, but you do need to pay special attention to shepherding your own heart and caring for your home this month. You won’t do it well by accident or without a plan. So make a plan, and please consider using one or both of these resources to assist you.

Lord willing, I will be by the booktable before and after service to help with your heart- and home-shepherding strategies for December and beyond.

The post Daily Christmas Devotional for December appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

When receiving correction, we should listen in the following 13 ways:

1. Fearfully (Pro. 1:7; Ecc. 12:13; II Cor. 7:1). Fear (revere, honor, worship) God as you receive correction. This requires that you do willingly receive it (Pro. 1:7) and change wherever appropriate for greater holiness of life (II Cor. 7:1). The fear of God ought to be our highest motivation for receiving correction. This is why we exist (Ecc. 12:13)!
2. Blamelessly (Phil. 2:14-15; Eph. 4:30-5:1). Even when being corrected, our primary concern should be to do so in a godly way, i.e. in a way that imitates and honors the Lord (Eph. 5:1). This requires that we do not complain about the content of the instruction or the manner in which it was given (Phil. 2:14-15).
3. Lovingly (I Cor 13:7; I Thess. 5:12-14). Love requires that we believe the best about the other person’s motives (I Cor 13:7). We should love and honor those who are brave enough to correct us for our good (I Thess. 5:12-14).
4. Fully  (Pro. 18:13). Listen to the entire correction before speaking. Do not interrupt or protest, but listen to the entirety of what is being said (Pro. 18:13).
5. Humbly (Pro. 18:12; Jas. 3:13-18). The “wisdom from above” is “peaceable, gentle, open to reason…” (Jas. 3:17). A humble attitude is necessary to practice these godly qualities in the face of correction. If you can do the hard work of humbling yourself, you most likely will be rewarded with honor (Pro. 18:12).
6. Prayerfully (I Thess. 5:17). Pray and ask God to show you your fault if you cannot see it. Also, pray that God would help you to change for His glory and the good of others.
7. Thoughtfully (Pro. 14:15; 21:29). Take time to reflect on the correction. Seriously consider what changes need to be made in your life.
8. Thankfully (Pro. 11:17; I Thess. 5:18). Express thankfulness for the care being exhibited toward you (Pro. 11:17). Thankfulness is required in all circumstances, and correction is no exception (I Thess. 5:18).
9. Eagerly (Pro. 18:15; Phil. 4:8). Look for anything that is true in the correction (Phil. 4:8). Although no one will correct us perfectly (just as we won’t ever correct others perfectly), if there is anything true in the correction, then we should eagerly desire it for the sake of change. Eagerly seeking correction is an extension of desiring to learn and increase in wisdom (Pro. 18:15). Correction is an opportunity to gain a greater understanding of yourself, God, Scripture, the human heart, and the gospel.
10. Discreetly (Pro. 16:28; 17:9). Do not listen intending to gossip about what was said or slander the person bringing the correction to you (Pro. 16:28; 17:9).
11. Accurately (Pro. 1:8; 15:31; Titus 2:2, 5, 6). It is interesting to note that the first command in the book of Proverbs is “Hear!” (Pro. 1:8). Avoid making a caricature of the correction being brought to you or jumping to outlandish conclusions about what is being implied because of what was said. For example, if a friend gently communicates, “What do you think about the way you responded to your roommate? It seemed that your speech was a bit harsh.” Do not respond by saying, “So, what, you just think I’m a rude person, now?!” Ensure that you have heard correctly. Try repeating the charge back to the other person before responding or protesting. Accurate listening often requires sensibleness, restraint in our thought-life, and sober-mindedness (Ti. 2:2, 5, 6).
12. Discerningly (Pro. 4:23; 14:8; 16:20; Eph. 5:15-16). Search what God’s word says about the charge being brought to you (Pro. 16:20). This demonstrates that you actually desire to discern right and wrong for the sake of putting off sin and growing in holiness. Until you begin the process of looking to God’s word for answers, there can be no assurance of a sincere desire to change by faith for God’s glory.
13. Honestly (Pro. 27:6; Heb. 12:11). It is okay to acknowledge the difficulty of the correction/discipline. All discipline involves personal pain (Heb. 12:11). Good friends will “wound” one another at times out of love (Pro. 27:6).

The post Practicing Receiving Correction appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

Remaining teachable and willing to receive instruction requires consistent humility. The following ten practices detail strategies for preparing your heart and ordering your life in such a way that you are best prepared to receive correction whenever it comes.

Preparing to Receive Correction

Remaining teachable and willing to receive instruction requires consistent humility. The following ten practices detail strategies for preparing your heart and ordering your life in such a way that you are best prepared to receive correction whenever it comes.

Ten practices that will prepare you to receive correction:

1. Read Proverbs regularly (Pro. 1:1-6; 16:20; 17:24). This book was written with specific benefit in mind for young people (Pro. 1:4). The breadth of topics covered in Proverbs is more expansive than any other book of the Bible. Therefore, the one who regularly reads Proverbs (not to the exclusion of the rest of Scripture) will regularly cover a multitude of topics and thereby avoid a multitude of sins.
2. Form convictions early (Pro. 1:4; 4:3-4; I Tim. 4:12). Begin forming convictions (truths we are committed to believing) at a young age, especially convictions concerning humility, listening, submission, and learning.

3. Select wise FRIENDS (Pro. 13:20; 14:7: 16:22). If you purposefully distance yourself from foolish people, then you will be less likely to encounter foolish counsel. If you surround yourself with wise friends, then you are more likely to be receiving wise counsel when correction comes from those who are close to your life.

4. Value WISDOM supremely (Pro. 3:13-15; 16:16). The person who values and desires wisdom more than anything else will eagerly receive correction when it comes because he will see it as another opportunity to grow in what he already loves — wisdom.

5. TALK less often (Job 40:3-5; Pro. 10:19; 18:2). Intentionally talking less is a good way to position yourself to learn. People who practice restraining their speech are prepared to hear others well when being instructed.

6. Sincerely love DISCIPLINE (Pro. 12:1; Heb. 12:5-11). Knowing the benefits of discipline will arouse your affection for it. Discipline is proof of God’s love and our true sonship (Pro. 3:11-12; Heb. 12:5-11). It also allows us to share in God’s holiness (Heb. 12:11).

7. Kill PRIDE continually (Pro. 18:12; II Tim. 3:1-2). Pride is one sin that can always be found at the root of not heeding counsel. Going after pride everywhere it rears its ugly head in your life will prepare you to humble yourself in moments of correction.

8. Know WISDOM thoroughly (Pro. 2:6-8; 3:5, 7; I Cor. 1:19-21; 2:6-7; Rom. 16:27). The more thoroughly we know the truth about the nature of wisdom (God’s and our own), the better equipped we are to reject our own wisdom and choose God’s wisdom instead. God’s wisdom (a) belongs to God alone (Rom. 16:27), (b) is graciously given to us by God (Pro. 2:6-8), and is communicated to us in His word (Pro. 2:6; Ps. 19:7b). By contrast, our wisdom (a) is opposite trusting God (Pro. 3:5), (b) is synonymous with choosing evil (Pro 3:7), (c) is being destroyed by God (I Cor. 1:19-21), and (d) cannot save (I Cor. 1:21; 2:6-7).

9. Refuse sinful ISOLATION (Pro. 18:1). Determine to never isolate yourself from wise counselors (Prov. 18:1). This highlights the importance of keeping a close watch on your own life and heart (Pro. 4:23). If we have wayward desires that go unchecked, we will separate ourselves from specific people in the church and eventually the entire body of Christ (Mat. 18:15-20) in order to keep pursuing those sinful, rogue desires. This is also an extension of principle #3. Once you surround yourself with wise friends, resolve that you will not avoid them when they have to say hard things to you.

10. DEFER to others (Pro. 18:2; Rom. 15:1-3). Practice yielding to the desires of others, especially of those in authority over you. Take the opportunity to do this in significant as well as minor decisions. For example, if you want to eat out at one place, but your spouse or a friend would prefer a different place, choose to serve them and accommodate their desire over your own. If your are given the freedom to make a decision with two good, God-honoring options, but a trusted advisor encourages one option over the other, take the opportunity to defer to that person’s desire for you. Although, in these instances, no decision would necessarily be sin, you are growing accustomed to not relying on your own wisdom and deferring to others for love’s sake.

The post Preparing To Receive Correction appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

The elders invite the church body to join together this week for two special services celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus: Good Friday & Easter.  Please do make the effort to prioritize these services as a family.

GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE
Friday, April 19, 2019 | 7:00pm-8:00pm

Come join us this Friday, April 19 for our Good Friday Service. Our children’s ministry (NGM) will not be available. The whole family is welcome in the service.

EASTER SUNDAY SERVICE
Sunday, April 21, 2019 | 10:00am-11:00am | Refreshments from 9:00am-9:45am

Come join us this Sunday, April 21 for our Easter Sunday Service. As usual, there will be no children’s ministry (NGM) for kids 3 years and older. Please plan to join us before the service for complimentary refreshments from 9:00am-9:45am. The CoffeeTable Ministry will also be serving complimentary hot and iced coffee.

The post Good Friday and Easter Services appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

Please also review our Biblical Conviction 8 regarding literal 6-day creation and our sermon series on the early chapters of Genesis.

Please join us for a special Sunday evening service this Sunday, June 3 at 6:00pm-8:00pm. Dr. Clarey and Dr. Guliuzza from the Institute for Creation Research will be speaking on issues related to creation and evolution.  No children’s ministry will be available.

• Worship and Introductions
• Dr. Tim Clarey “Do Dinosaurs Support Evolutionary Theory?”
• Break for snacks and BookTable sales
• Dr. Randy Guliuzza “Evolution vs. Design: 3 Key Questions”
• Q&A afterwards

This event will be live-streamed.

Sunday morning service will be as usual.  The evening service is in addition to Sunday morning.    

The post June 3: Institute for Creation Research at Grace Bible Church appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

The elders invite the church body to join together this week for two special services celebrating the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus: Good Friday & Easter.  Please do make the effort to prioritize these services as a family.

GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE
Friday, March 30, 2018 | 7:00pm-8:00pm

Come join us this Friday, March 30 for our Good Friday Service. Our children’s ministry (NGM) will not be available. The whole family is welcome in the service

EASTER SUNDAY SERVICE
Sunday, April 1, 2018 | 10:00am-11:00am | Refreshments from 9:00am-9:45am

Come join us this Sunday, April 1 for our Easter Sunday Service. As usual, there will be no children’s ministry (NGM) for kids 3 years and older. Please plan to join us before the service for complimentary refreshments from 9:00am-9:45am. The CoffeeTable Ministry will also be serving complimentary hot and iced coffee.

The post Good Friday and Easter Services appeared first on Grace Bible Church.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:15

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.
1 Corinthians 12:26

THE BENEFITS OF A[NOTHER] MISCARRIAGE
by Omri Miles

On Friday, December 15, 2017, my wife and I heard those all-too-familiar words yet again, “Yeah, I’m really sorry guys. I don’t see a heartbeat.” The doctor was very sincere as he stared at the ultrasound machine and seemed to regret the words as he spoke them. Our baby was supposed to be about 9 weeks developed at that point. This was our third miscarriage. I remember the first time that I heard of someone having three miscarriages. I couldn’t believe it was even possible. But I also didn’t know that miscarriages were so common. And I certainly didn’t think that Emily and I would ever find ourselves in the same situation. Yet, here we were. Again.

We live in a society that struggles to deal with tragedy. Professionals don’t know how to help people obtain unwavering peace or joy in the midst of hardship, a fact to which our over-crowded pharmacies bear witness. Self-help gurus don’t agree on the problem of grief, much less the solution to it. Even the church has embraced “positive thinking” as a means of coping with life’s difficulties. So it’s understandable that the title of this article will seem strange to many. Nevertheless, God has said that He sovereignly makes everything benefit His children for the best of ends (Rom 8:28-30). This truth gives the Christian reason to search out God’s goodness in the greatest of hardships. Even a third miscarriage.

New Temptations

Each of our miscarriages came with its own challenges. I have discovered new temptations in my heart with the passing of each child. This time, a couple temptations seemed to arise out of nowhere: God, am I not faithful to you? What did I do to deserve anther dead baby? You know we want more children. There are people who would rather kill their children than parent them. Why not take theirs?

You can hear the self-righteousness in each of these complaints. Are these thoughts normal knee-jerk reactions for those experiencing grief? Perhaps. Which is why I can sympathize with anyone who has them. But regardless how “normal” these thoughts might be, they are far from justifiable. In each case, these thoughts charge God with evil by asserting that He has done something wrong. They imply that the Creator has sinned against his creature. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our knee-jerk reaction was the same as Job’s – “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. Yahweh gave, and Yahweh has taken away; blessed be the name of Yahweh.’ In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:20-22).

The Proper Response

Worship is the only proper response to tragedy. And, as we see in Job’s example, it is possible to make this our first response to tragedy. Self-righteousness and wrong thoughts of our own worthiness prevent us from ascribing glory and power and wisdom and blessing to God (Rev 4:11; 5:12). Self-righteousness is always an impediment to worship because it blinds us with delusions of our own greatness rather than the unsearchable greatness of God the King (Ps 145:1-3).

Scripture gives us plenty truths to combat the delusion of self-righteousness in the midst of suffering. Here are some thoughts that have helped tether us in the midst of our recent trial:

• • • My current two children are evidence of God’s kindness, not the result of my righteousness (Ps 127:3-5).
    • My hope is not in the fruit of the womb, but in Christ and perfect conformity to his image (Ps 17:15)
    • Our works have merited us God’s wrath in hell, not more children than we currently have (Ps 49:7-9; Rom 6:23)
    • If God has given me anything, he has given me more than I deserve. As Thomas Watson said, “You who have the least bit from God will die in his debt.” (Job 41:11; Rom 11:35)
    • I am not as faithful to God as I think I am (Prov 20:6; 21:2).
    • All God’s blessings are in keeping with God’s righteousness, mercy, love, and faithfulness, not my righteousness. The Cross is proof of this (Ps 145:9; Rom 3:21-26; 5:6-8).
    • “Yahweh is good and does good,” therefore, I must seek to learn his person from his providence (Ps 119:68).
    • Bitterness towards God would accomplish nothing. To remain angry with God would not resurrect my dead children, nor would it produce joy or prosperity in the future (Job 35:5-8).
    • Will you only worship God when he fulfills your desires in your timing and on your terms (Job 2:10)?
    • To demand something other than what God has ordained for us is to distrust God’s wisdom and sovereignty (Pro 16:1, 9; Lam 3:37-39).
    • I do not know how to run my life better than God does (Rom 11:34).

The Benefit

Before our third miscarriage, I had not experienced these temptations to self-righteousness (or at least I wasn’t aware of them). I never recognized the proud thoughts of self-righteousness that lay dormant in my heart before now. And I never had to fight self-righteousness in these ways before. So, what’s the benefit of another miscarriage? In a word, worship. Greater Christ-likeness (i.e. becoming a better worshiper of God) will, Lord willing, be the long-lasting effect in Emily and in me. This is the God-honoring result of suffering that no amount of positive thinking or therapy could possibly produce. Improved worship is the result of turning to God when he wisely chooses suffering for us.

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Kymberly is with family in California and is waiting for Jon’s body to be released. Our body has done an incredible job in supporting so many through significant trials recently. I know Kymberly is hearing from many and is amazed at all the people praying and helping. Please continue to excel in this as we trust God together as a body through another unexpected season of trial. As I recently said in my communion meditation on Hebrews 12:1-3, “Trials aren’t a hindrance to the race of faith; they are the track on which we run this race.” Jon’s race is done, finished well; we continue to run the race He set before us with our gaze on our trustworthy and sovereign King.

You can give online at through our giving portal by selection the designation Benevolence -Kempiak (note that credit card fees are subtracted by the processor, see note on giving page. You can also give by sending a check or personally delivering it to the church office. Please be aware of our disclosure regarding tax-deductible charitable giving to Grace Bible Church, “Donors are able to indicate a designation indicating a preference for how contributed funds will be allocated (i.e. general fund, missions, building fund, benevolence, etc). However, Grace Bible Church (GBC) has exclusive control and discretion as to the use of all contributions and GBC is not bound to honor the recommendations of the donors nor will donors be able to recover a contribution because GBC failed to honor the donor’s designation. If you have any questions about this please speak with an elder.”

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Family Worship Reading Guide

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The podcast is a great way to hear the sermon if you missed the Sunday service or were serving in Next Generation Ministries and were unable to make the after-service re-preach. If you prefer to watch a video of the sermon you can access that from the Live Stream page. I put together a quick tutorial video of how to watch the Sunday archived video.

I highly recommend that you subscribe to our sermons podcast and make time each week to review the sermon. It amazes me how much I miss the first time around. Also, for me, hearing a sermon a second time in the middle of the week helps cement its contents into my memory and encourages real-life application. If you are like me, I often leave Sunday morning service invigorated and excited by the preaching of God’s Word, but if I’m not careful, by Monday morning (and definitely by Wednesday morning) the sermon’s contents and my corresponding resolutions have faded from memory. Making a practice of reviewing sermon notes, meditating on the Biblical text, and relistening to the sermon are valuable tools to increase the sermon’s effectiveness in your mind, heart, and life.

So if you haven’t subscribed to the sermon podcast (or if you need to update your subscription), do so now by following this link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/grace-bible-church-tempe-az./id472385360. If you don’t use iTunes you can find the podcast rss feed at https://www.gbcaz.org/all-sermons/feed/sermons-podcast/.

Then, consider scheduling a review of the sermon into your calendar. You can do this as part of your morning Bible study, perhaps as part of your commute, or even during a workout. Do whatever works best for your schedule, but do consider how you will work a regular sermon review into your life.

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Reasons We Believe Reading Guide

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