He was not interested in listening to a defense of the resurrection and I encouraged him to look into it.  “Christianity stands or falls on the bodily resurrection of Jesus from the grave.”  I said.  “If Jesus did not rise, then, as Paul admitted, our faith is in vain and we are, of all men, most to be pitied (1 Cor 15:12-19).”  “However”, I cautioned, looking him in the eye, “If Jesus did rise, then everything he said and claimed about Himself is true and you will answer to Him in judgment if you don’t repent and believe”.

I hope God moves in this man’s heart to investigate that which He so thoroughly hates.  Had he been willing to hear, these are the points I might have shared with him:

“The disciples stole the body” is a simplistic argument that does not bear up under scrutiny.  First, the Bible indicates that Jesus’ friends abandoned him during his arrest, trial, and crucifixion.  Their leader had suffered a horrific death and their hopes for His coming kingdom had been utterly dashed.  Why would they conspire to steal the body?  Their leader dead, their cause finished, what possible motive would drive them to do this? The Gospels paint a picture of men frightened, hiding, and demoralized.  It’s also inconceivable that the apostles would later go to their deaths as martyrs proclaiming a resurrection they knew to be a fraud.  Men may give their lives for something they think to be true, but no one will die (and we’re talking horrible deaths) for something they know to be false.  Yet, all of the Apostles, with the exception of John, died testifying to the resurrection of their Lord.

Then there’s the little problem of the squad of Roman soldiers guarding the tomb.  These were the conquerors of the known world.  The overpowering of well-armed, disciplined, professional soldiers by a motley band of fishermen, tax collectors, and the like is simply unthinkable.  Even if victorious, there would have been evidence of a battle and the resulting wounded or dead.  It has been argued and Scripture records the feeble excuse that the soldiers were sleeping (Matt 28:11-15).  This is highly unlikely, as the punishment for sleeping while at post was death.  Scripture records King Herod dealing in this way with soldiers who had supposedly failed him (Acts 12:18,19).  We might allow for one or two soldiers succumbing to Mr. Sandman, but the entire company?  Keep in mind, these soldiers had been posted in order to prevent such a scheme (Mt 27:62-66).  They most certainly would have had sufficient numbers, arms, and determination to fulfill their charge. The seal on the tomb represented the power of Rome and was to remain inviolate.  The soldier’s lives depended upon it.

The enemies of Christ have, for two thousand years, endeavored to explain away Jesus’ resurrection without success.  What most have done and continue to do is simply ignore it.  But, the Gospel is the power of God for those who believe and we can/should confidently proclaim, as the centerpiece of our faith, the resurrection of our Lord Jesus without fear of legitimate refutation.

Atonement can simply be defined as payment, specifically payment to God for the debt owed because of sins so that God’s eternal damning wrath against sin no longer remains on our heads. Romans 3:25 declares the God put Christ forward as payment for our sins. So praise God that these religious masochists recognize that their sins have earned pain. Their sins, and mine and yours, have earned death, eternal death and torment in hell. The debt is so large that even an eternity of suffering worse than hanging on a cross or being beaten by bamboo rods could not atone for it or pay it back.

But God put Christ forward in our place and poured His wrath out on Him. Christ who was God and man, perfect without any sin, who had experienced perfect unity and fellowship within the Trinity from eternity past, was beaten and nailed to a cross, was forsaken by God (Matthew 27:46), crushed by God for my sins (Isaiah 52:5), and made sin so that I might be made righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

The message of the cross is not that we must submit ourselves to similar tortures as Christ received. The message of the cross is that Jesus paid it all to rid of us our sins and bring us to God. If we even try to add to the work that Jesus already accomplished, then we are declaring that Jesus’ work was insufficient (c.f. Galatians 2:21).

So now that Christ has paid it all, what are we to do? Recognizing our sin, we trust Christ and Christ alone to atone for those sins and reconcile us to God. We eagerly await Christ’s return, proclaiming this message and living in obedience. Seeing that our sin has already been paid for and that our salvation is secure (Hebrews 9:27-28), we live by faith that we will be saved. But we do not, we must not, in any way attempt to pay our own debt…it has already been paid. That is why the Filipino flagellations are so tragic: On a day set aside to remember the cross, in a rite commemorating the cross, what was accomplished on the cross is forgotten and declared insufficient. Christ died in order to atone for sins so that we don’t have to.

Do you ever respond to the cross by thinking most of what you must do? The cross is ever to be a reminder to the Christian that our sins have been completed atoned for and sins power done away with.  May recalling the Jesus’ death on the cross this Easter drive us to cling to Jesus and him alone for our salvation, not trying to earn it, add to it, or make up for it!

 The Character of Genuine Saving Faith

2 Corinthians 13:5

1. Evidence that neither prove nor disprove one’s faith

A.Visible Morality   Matt 19:16-21, 23:27

B.Intellectual Knowledge Rom 1:21, 2:17ff

C.Religious Involvement Matt 25:1-10

D.Active Ministry Matt 7:21-24

E.Conviction of Sin Acts 24:25

F.Assurance  Matt 23:

G.Time of Decision Luke 8:13-14

2.The Fruit/Proofs of Authentic/True Christianity

A.Love for God PS 42:1ff, 73:25, Luke 10:27, Romans 8:7

B.Repentance of Sin PS 32:5, Prov 28:13, Romans 7:14ff, 2 Cor 7:10, 1John 1:8-10

C.Genuine Humility PS 51:17, Matt 5:1-12, James 4:6,9ff

D.Devotion to God’s Glory PS105:3, 115:1, Is 43:7, 48:10ff, Jer 9:23,24, 1Cor 10:31

E.Continual Prayer Luke 18:1, Eph 6:18ff, Phil 4:6, 1 Tim 2:1-4, James 5:16-18

F.Selfless Love ! John 2:9ff, 3:14, 4:7ff

G.Separation from the World 1Cor 2:12, James 4:4ff, 1John 2:15-17, 5:5

H.Spiritual Growth Luke 8:15, John 15:1-6, Eph 4:12-16

I.Obedient Living Matt 7:21, John 15:14ff, Romans 16:26, 1Peter 1:2,22, 1John 2:3-5

If list 1 is true of a person and list 2 is false, there is a cause to question the validity of one’s profession of faith.  Yet if list 2 is true then the the top list will be also

3.The Conduct of the Gospel

A.Proclaim it  Matt 4:23

B.Defend it    Jude 3

C.Demonstrate it Phil 1:27

D.Share it  Phil 1:27

E.Suffer for it  2 Tim 1:8

F.Don’t hinder it    1Cor 9:16

G.Be not ashamed  Romans 1:16

H.Preach it  1 Cor 9:16

I.Be empowered  1 Thess 1:5

J.Guard it  Gal 1:6-8

“Any of you who does not give up everything he has, cannot be My disciple.” Luke 14:33

What does it cost to be a Christian?

I grant freely that it costs little to be a mere outward Christian. A man has only got to attend a place of worship twice on Sunday, and to be tolerably moral during the week–and he has gone as far as thousands around him ever go in religion. All this is cheap and easy work–it entails no self-denial or self-sacrifice. If this is saving Christianity and will take us to Heaven when we die–we must alter the description of the way of life, and write, “Wide is the gate and broadis the way that leads to Heaven!”

But it does cost something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible. There are . . .
enemies to be overcome,
battles to be fought,
sacrifices to be made,
an Egypt to be forsaken,
a wilderness to be passed through,
a cross to be carried,
a race to be run.
Conversion is not putting a man in a soft armchair, and taking him pleasantly to Heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict, in which it costs much to win the victory. Hence arises the unspeakable importance of “counting the cost.”

True Christianity will cost a man . . .
his self-righteousness,
his sins,
his love of ease, and
the favor of the world.

A religion which costs nothing–is worth nothing! 

A cheap, easy Christianity, without a cross–will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown!

Christian duty begins with a pure love, and a hatred of evil, and a commitment to practice good.  So, if you sense a love for God’s people and want to reach out to those who are in need, that is an indication that you’re moving along the path of Christian duty.  And if you can identify with the struggle of the Apostle Paul and say, “Yes, I want to cling to what is good even though I don’t always do it.  I too hate what is evil,” then you’re moving in the right path.  All you need to do is keep on that path out of gratitude for what the Lord has done for you.  This is what Paul is saying in Romans 12:1” “On the basis of the mercies of God, present your body to God as a living sacrifice.  Start loving to your fullest capacity by the power of the Spirit, and start hating what is evil, while clinging tightly to what is good.”  Don’t ever let yourself be contaminated by what is evil.  Live your whole life with a sense of fear, lest you get too close to evil, which will leave its destructive mark on your life.

Let me try to draw a picture of Biblical holiness

(J.C. Ryle, “Holiness, Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties, and Roots“)

“Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord!” Hebrews 12:14

Are we holy? Shall we see the Lord?

In this hurrying, bustling world–let us stand still for a few minutes and consider the matter of holiness. It is a solemn thing to hear the Word of God saying, “Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord!”

A man may go great lengths in religion–and yet never reach true holiness.

What is true practical holiness?
It is not knowledge–Balaam had that.
It is not great profession–Judas Iscariot had that.
It is not doing many things–Herod had that.
It is not zeal for certain matters in religion–Jehu had that.
It is not morality and outward respectability of conduct–the rich young ruler had that.
It is not taking pleasure in hearing preachers–the Jews in Ezekiel’s time had that.
It is not keeping company with godly people–Joab and Gehazi and Demas had that.

Yet none of these were holy people! These things alone, are not holiness. A man may have any one of them–and yet never see the Lord!

Let me try to draw a picture of Biblical holiness, that we may see it clearly before the eyes of our minds.

1. Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture.

2. A holy man will endeavor to shun every known sin, and to keep every known commandment.

3. A holy man will strive to be like our Lord Jesus Christ.

4. A holy man will follow after meekness, patience, gentleness, patience, kind tempers, and government of his tongue.

5. A holy man will follow after temperance and self-denial.

6. A holy man will follow after love and brotherly kindness.

7. A holy man will follow after a spirit of mercy and benevolence towards others.

8. A holy man will follow after purity of heart.

9. A holy man will follow after the fear of God.

10. A holy man will follow after humility.

11. A holy man will follow after faithfulness in all the duties and relations in life.

12. Last–but not least, a holy man will follow after spiritual-mindedness.

The above is merely the “outline” of Ryle’s picture. If you desire to see the whole picture drawn out–you will have to read the first several pages from his outstanding chapter, “Holiness“.

I need to remember from Matthew 5:21-26 that Jesus condemned not just violent deeds but also violent temperaments.

I need to remember from Matthew 5: 3-11 who I am and what I am as a Christian!

“The poor in spirit are blessed, for the kingdom is theirs.

I must remember that I am poor. I am spiritually bankrupt and totally dependent on God.

“Those who mourn are blessed, for they will be comforted”.

I must remember that as a christian I should be grieved by my sinfulness.

^“The gentle are blessed, for they will inherit the earth”.

I must remember that to be gentle is to know that I am not the one in control but God is totally in control and I must stubbornly trust Him.

“Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are blessed, for they will be filled”.

I must remember my desire for righteousness in the midst of things that may disappoint me.

^“The merciful are blessed, for they will be shown mercy”.

I must remember what is pleasing to God is a forgiving and compassionate spirit.

“The pure in heart are blessed, for they will see God”.

I must remember righteousness can not be faked.  Anger comes from the overflow of the heart.

^“The peacemakers are blessed, for they will be called sons of God”.

I must remember a peacemaker is fast to apologize, seek forgiveness, offer restitution, not seek revenge and in humility serve others.

^“Those who are persecuted for righteousness are blessed, for the kingdom of heaven  is theirs”.

I must remember if I am persecuted for righteousness I am blessed.

“You are blessed when they insult and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of Me”.

I must remember if I should be either verbally or violently persecuted for the cause of Jesus Christ my reward that I will enjoy will be in heaven!

Prayer

Lord I desire to be a man that would always remember my dependence on you.  I can do nothing apart from you.  I desire to be a man with a growing hatred for my sin and that I would grow in my trust in you.  That I would be quick to confess my thoughts and deeds that lack righteousness.  Oh Lord that I would be fast at confessing sin, seeking forgiveness and being compassionate to others.  Lord I desire to care well for my heart and that I would be a peacemaker.  Lord if I should be persecuted for Your Name Sake may I consider it a joy.  Lord help me to remember my identity in you when things do not go as I thought they would or should.  Amen

How do you deal with your anger?  In your anger are you prone to give the devil a foot hold? The world has a very different way of dealing with anger than what God’s Word instructs us.

Let’s compare and contrast God’s way vs the world’s way of dealing with anger

The World’s way

-The world view would teach you to control or conquer the other person.

-The world would encourage you to vent your frustrations and “get it off you chest”.

God’s way

-Grab hold of the truth that God has ordained this situation and thank God for this difficulty.

(1 Corinthians10:13, 1 Thessalonians 5:18)

-Forgive the offender, not verbally, but in prayer.

(Mark 11:25)

-Ask: What is God trying to teach me?

-Ask: How can I obey God in this situation?

(John 14:15)

Prayer

Lord I am prone to forget your love for me.  Lord that you are working all things for my good Romans 8:28.  Lord I desire to be a man full of your Holy Spirit that I would be full of your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  Lord I desire to be a man that would be quick to confess my sin 1 John 1:9 when I respond in a manner lacking love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness or self control.

I love this gift! Your gift to me is the most valuable thing I have. I love/like and desire this gift you have given me more that I love/like or even desire a relationship with you.

What would you think of the person you have given this gift to?

Now let me ask the question?

Do you really love God? I know you love His forgiveness of sins, I know you love the salvation He gives. I know you love the fellowship you have in His Church. I know there are many gifts you receive from Him, but do you love God or do you love His gifts He has given to you?

Being in love with God is a call to action. Because of my love for God I will desire to know Him more by reading His Word, by obeying His commands, by being FAITHFUL to him!

Prayer

Lord I realize that I can be so focused on the gifts you lavish on me that I miss who you are. Lord I desire to know you better. Lord I am convinced that to know you intimately is even better than the gifts you give. Lord in my love for you I desire to be a faithful slave. Amen

This year Christmas falls on a Sunday. Rather than have a church service Christmas morning, we will instead be meeting at at 4:00 pm on Christmas Eve: Saturday, December 24th. We desire to be sensitive to our setup and teardown teams as well as those in our body who have family Christmas celebrations scheduled for either Christmas Eve or Christmas morning.

The service will last approximately an hour. Childcare will be provided for those children who are not normally in the service: Two-years-old and under.

We hope that this change from our normal schedule is a blessing to you and your families. Please feel free to contact any of the elders if you have any questions or concerns

Live while you live; while it is called today, work, for the night cometh wherein no man can work. And let us learn never to do anything which we would not wish to be found doing if we were to die.

We are sometimes asked by young people whether they may go to the theatre, whether they may dance, or whether they may do this or that. You may do anything which you would not be ashamed to be doing when Christ shall come. You may do anything which you would not blush to be found doing if the hand of death should smite you; but if you would dread to die in any spot, go not there; if you would not wish to enter the presence of your God with such-and-such a word upon your lip, utter not that word; or if there would be a thought that would be uncongenial to the judgment-day, seek not to think that thought. So act that you may feel you can take your shroud with you wherever you go.

How often do you live your life with a view on your death or Jesus’ return? Would the choices that we make in our use of time, interactions with others, use of money, choices in entertainment be affected if we did? This quote by Spurgeon reminds me of Scott Maxwell’s sermon “Stewardship and the Gospel (part 1)” where he reminds us that disciples/slaves of Jesus are marked by “Keeping our eyes on the door.” We know our master is to return or our time of service here on earth will come to an end; we must live our lives accordingly.

What is an imperative-“Indicating authority or command; urgent, necessary” (Webster’s). An imperative is a statement of what one must do, a command:

That happened to me this morning and it was of great benefit for me to Stop…..

As I was finishing 2 Corinthians, I came to 13:5.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

As I was reading I had to stop and think about my day, yesterday, past week and in stopping I was able to see some wrong thinking I had.  If I would not have stopped and thought about what Scripture was calling me to do I may have missed my wrong thinking.

Do you look for the imperatives in Scripture?

Prayer

Lord thank you for allowing your Spirit to get my attention.  Lord I praise you that you have given me clear instruction of how I must live.  Lord your Word is not deficient!  Your Word is perfect.  Lord when I have a wrong thought please may I be quick to confess 1 John 1:9 my wrong thinking to you.  

Lord I pray for our church that we would be a body that would be mindful of the imperatives in your Word when we read.  Lord I pray that we would be a body that would do what your Word says James 1:22.  Amen 

 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

 We may know and we may believe He is working all things together for good, but if you are like me sometimes we just don’t understand His goodness in the midst of trials, accidents or even life in general.

Think about this:

Romans 5:8 But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us!  

In God’s goodness He sent His Son while we were in utter rebellion.

Consider this:  Would you ever send your child into the world to be murdered for people that hated you?  I wouldn’t!

When I fail to see God’s goodness in trials, accidents or life, the problem is not God’s goodness; the problem is my head and my heart.  The problem is my small view of a wonderful awesome good God.

Isaiah 55:8-9 For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways. This is the Lord’s declaration. ⁹ For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

Prayer

Lord, I often see how I fail to understand your goodness.  Lord, I desire to always be fast to believe your goodness.  Lord, I desire to be full of your Spirit and be a man that is always full of your joy and full of your peace (Gal 5:22).  Lord, I am so prone to forget!  I desire to be fast in confessing my sin (1 John 1:9) of doubt and repent.

I was recently considering some of the mundane things in my life and wondered how could I do this (apply 1 Cor 10:31), whatever I do, do it all for the glory of God.

Perhaps it starts with understanding what glory is.  Some common uses of the word glory would be weighty or importance.  I would like to consider another meaning, worship.

How do I do the mundane things in my life as worship to God?

For example, how could I pay my bills as an act of worship?

-Pray 1 Thes 5:17

-Consider the person I owe more important than myself. Phil 2:3

-Be thankful that I have the means to pay my bills. 1 Thes 5:18

-Pray for the means to pay my bills.

-Pay in a timely manner. Rom 13:8

-Seek God’s wisdom in how I spend money. James 1:5

-Consider my faithfulness in how I view the money God has entrusted to me.  Gal 5:22.

Prayer

Lord I pray that I would consider others more important than myself, that I would always be thankful.  Lord I desire to make much of you by doing what I say I am going to do and do it in a timely manner.  Lord please allow me your wisdom as I live the remaining days on this earth.  Lord grow me in my faithfulness that I would be a good witness of Your hand on my life.  Lord, show me my folly so that I would confess my sins 1 John 1:9 and repent.

Any mundane things in your life you should be doing to the glory of God?

Page 44 in the The Gospel Primer says “ When looking at the sheer weight of unseen glories to come, my troubles seem light by comparison; and when looking at the staggering length of eternity, my troubles seem fleeting by comparison.  It is only against the backdrop of a glorious eternity that my circumstances can be seen in such a manner; and the promise of this glorious eternity is part and parcel of the gospel itself”.

My confession:  there are times I can think and say to myself “Come Lord Jesus” Rev 22:20 because I am tired of trials and the hardships of life.  I desire to always say to myself “Come Lord Jesus” because I love Jesus and desire to spend eternity with Him.

If you are like me and I am certain a few of you are, would you consider evaluating how you view these trials, these momentary light afflictions 2 Cor 4:17 and consider how you can keep our minds focused on what is unseen and eternal. 2 Cor 4:18.

Prayer

Lord I desire to be a man full of your Spirit.  That I would be a man full of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,faithfulness, gentleness, self-control Gal 5:22-23. Lord please allow your Spirit to convict me when I lack joy so that I may confess it as sin 1 John 1:9 and repent.

Let me clarify by an example

A few weeks ago while driving I had an expectation that traffic would be moving at a good pace, and I had an expectation of how long my drive would be. Well, I did not expect road construction and a 40 minute delay.

Are you getting my point about incorrect expectations?

This week I was reading Milton Vincent’s The Gospel Primer in the section titled “All Things Crucified, Part 1″ the author supplies the shortest sentence in the entire book on page 40:

“Crucifixion hurts”.

Here is what the shortest sentence in the excellent book caused me to think about.

Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I need to put on the correct expectation that as I live my life today I should expect that my obedience to Christ maybe hard, may be challenging, after all crucifixion hurts! If I have a proper expectation I cannot be discouraged or disappointed.

As we go about our lives we should not be surprised by trials, inconveniences, or any other thing that may cause us to sin. Crucifixion hurts! I desire to have a proper expectation that I may face things not going as I have wanted or expected. Crucifixion hurts!

Prayer
Lord, I desire that when I sin because things did not go as I had expected, that I would be quick to confess my sin (1 Jn 1:9) and repent.

We know from Gal 5:22-23 that the Spirit living in us will produce love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

I want to talk about peace.  Like an inheritance when someone dies, you are left something the dying person owned.  We know from Scripture that there is a inheritance for God’s children.

We know that Jesus had no place to lay his head (Matt 8:20); Jesus did not promise me a home to live in.

We know that Jesus had no clothes to pass to us (Matt 27:35);  Jesus did not promise me clothing.

So knowing what Jesus did not have to pass on to his children, I desire to remember what it was He did have.

John 14:27, I think, is Jesus’ last will and testament.  It is what Jesus did have and did choose to leave to His chosen ones:

 John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

 Jesus left–and I have already received–His peace!  If I am experiencing a lack of peace, the problem is not Jesus’ peace that He has left me.  I have to continue to remind myself Jesus left me His peace; Jesus has given me His peace.  His peace is perfect, and the problem is in my head and my heart.

Peace!

Tom

Your elders want to serve you well during this series on Genesis. Please, if you have any questions that this series raises, send us an email, drop a note in the offering boxes, or give one of us a call. We will try to address all questions either in the sermon series as the text addresses it or here on the elder blog.

The 11 who testified that God is powerful to save through the gospel had all of us praising God and wiping back tears of joy.

The 27 who formalized their commitment in membership to GBC are living proof of God’s grace toward our church.

ALL who stayed to fellowship and eat together truly enjoyed one another in the gospel. (BTW – it doesn’t matter how tender the chicken was or will be – steak is always better)

Thanks must go out to all the many, many servants who made such a service and meal for nearly 300 possible. What a joy and privilege to be a part of this church body!

With gratefulness to God,

Scott (for the elders – except for the steak vs. chicken thing)

We believe that the New Testament assumes that those who repented and put their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation automatically had an informal membership commitment to the local church they were a part of. Informal, by the way, does not necessarily convey shallowness of commitment. Believers for centuries were deeply committed to the gospel ministry of their local churches without ever going through some type of formal process that formally identified them as members of that church body. It is still possible today for churches to have an informal membership that expresses deep commitment to that church.

We also believe that the New Testament is silent when it comes to formal membership (no formalized process of identifying and expressing membership in a local body exists in the New Testament). The elders of GBC are not appealing to Scripture to justify a formal process that identifies the church’s membership. Rather, the elders simply believe a more formalized approach to church membership for this body is wise, allowing us to be faithful to New Testament principles regarding the church.

The church landscape today: Local churches are challenged significantly by transient, Christian attenders who have many church choices before them. It is not as easy today to identify a church’s membership as it was in Paul’s day. The elders o f GBC believe formal membership is a better tool to identify the membership of this church than an informal membership process.

Both approaches to membership (formal, informal) can be abused, run sloppily, or be implemented thoughtfully to the glory of God. It is simply our wisdom preference to have moved from an informal membership to a formal membership (in 2007). And the effectiveness of both approaches to membership is dependent on the character and wisdom of the elders wielding the membership tool in the body. Please pray for godliness and greater wisdom for the elders in this church as they seek to shepherd this body to the glory of God!

The elders of GBC view formal church membership this way:
“Formal church membership is a tool by which the elders intend to remove assumptions and reinforce unity on important biblical matters of church doctrine and life.”

The elders of GBC have the following convictions about formal church membership:

A more formalized membership process into membership in this church body (like these classes and elder interviews, etc.), can be an effective means for attenders to comprehensively learn about this church (and its commitment expectations) sooner than later.

A formal membership can prepare this smaller church for the possibility of a greater membership later. The smaller we are, commitment to Jesus Christ and one another is more readily seen and understood – perhaps it even occurs more naturally. But the larger a church body becomes, the less readily seen and understood is an individual’s commitment to Christ and others in the body. And, the larger a church becomes, the more work it takes to be unified on important biblical matters and ministry convictions. The elders of GBC believe that formal church membership, instituted now, can serve this body well to combat the challenges to unity it will face as it grows.

A formal membership can remove assumptions about and reinforce unity concerning the credibility of an individual’s profession of faith in Christ. Each member will have a greater degree of confidence that all the members of the church have had an open and honest discussion with the elder leadership concerning important biblical subjects like repentance toward, faith in, love for, and obedience to Jesus Christ, etc. as well as our biblical convictions and doctrinal statement. Without a formal process for membership, how do newer attenders come into unified agreement with the rest on these important subjects? A more formal process also helps assure members who have been at GBC longer that the doctrinal convictions are being preserved.

Formal members of a church can more readily be in agreement concerning how we deal with unrepentant sin in one of the members of the church. With an informal membership, members in this body might not have as great a degree of confidence that all its members have the same view of sin or view repentance in the same way, or that they are all in agreement with the elders view of sin and repentance. This church suffered greatly in its early years by not being in agreement concerning sin and repentance.

A formal membership can help protect the church body in matters of church discipline in our litigious society. The unfortunate reality today is this – the less formal a church’s membership is, the greater the church’s exposure to both financial loss and loss of reputation as it seeks to deal biblically with unrepentant sin.

Let’s summarize our discussion of formal church membership. The elders of GBC believe the church will benefit from this tool (formal membership) because it will help remove otherwise uninvestigated assumptions about one another’s views on important biblical matters. The elders believe a more formalized approach to membership will unify the expectations the church’s membership has with one another. The elders of GBC believe a formal approach to membership will help them more readily identify the membership of this body and thereby improve their protection of and shepherding of this body in sound doctrine.

Again, the “tool” for membership chosen is only as good as the character of the leadership wielding it. So please pray for each elder to supremely love Jesus and aggressively fight sin as they personally and corporately shepherd God’s people at Grace Bible Church.

“Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock,
among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,
to shepherd the church of God
which He purchased with His own blood.”
Acts 20:28

Church membership classes, a prerequisite to church membership, will be held on the following Sundays at 8:15-9:45 AM in the cheer room at Valley Christian:

• October 17
• October 24
• October 31
• November 7

If you are interested in baptism, the prerequisite two courses will be held in the same location on

• November 14
• November 21

You may want to know more about why Grace Bible Church views formal church membership (instead of informal church membership) as important. We can summarize the reason as follows, but I encourage you to check back to the elder blog in the days to come for a more in depth explanation:

The elders of GBC view formal church membership as a tool by which the elders intend to remove assumptions and reinforce unity on important biblical matters of church doctrine and life.

If you are interested in attending or learning more please contact the church office view email, phone (480-968-6085), or by dropping a card in the offering box. Feel free to contact any of the elders for more info as well.

As I am prepping for Sunday, I’m convicted that I have easily forgotten how dangerous this world is that I live in each day. Have I failed to feel the seriousness of the Christian life in the midst of evil days? Am I numb to the battle within against my own indwelling sin? Can we afford to walk without giving much thought to how and where we step each hour?

I hope you’ll be careful the rest of the week with the way you live for Christ. Meditate on Ephesians 5:15-21. Give some thought to 5:18-21 in particular – that is our passage for Sunday. We need to be filled by the Spirit if we are to walk carefully.

It is a great comfort and joy to walk carefully with you!

Their speaker for the weekend is our very own Smedly Yates. He’s going to be teaching the women on how to study the Bible well. Every time I’ve walked by his office this week he has been laboring to put together sessions that will intersect the women and equip them to dig deeply into the word of God so they can meet with the God of the word.

Will you please pray for the women? Pray they will grow in desire for God in His word. Pray they will become better equipped to discern God’s meaning through what He has said in His word. Pray for God to use Smed to help accomplish these things in their lives. Pray for the retreat to help those newer to the church to feel more “at home” at GBC. Pray for relationships to be strengthened around God’s word and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Give thanks in advance for all that He will do!

Thank you! It is a joy to shepherd this flock!

Question: When is your departure date and what kinds of things are you desperately trying to finish before you go?

Answer: We will be leaving early Thursday morning September 9. There are so many things that are entailed in an international move. Think of it as an endless “To-Do” list. By God’s grace, we’re nearing the end. I’ve spent a lot of time getting our newsletter distribution to run more efficiently so we can better communicate with our partners here in the USA once we’re overseas. We spent time trying to track down light weight luggage because of the weight constraints on baggage. Other things include, last minute doctor appointments, getting the next round of immunizations for our children, and selling off the belongings we didn’t ship, like printers, exercise equipment, and our cars. We got International Driving Permits. I’ve driven down to the Italian Consluate in Los Angeles a few times to get my wife’s Visa and to get an Italian “social security” number so I can import our belongings into Italy at minimal cost. We’ve been out almost every night with friends or family to say our good-byes and see friends one last time. We’ve been filling out last minute paper work for our mission agency. We’ve had to tie up lose ends on the financial end, like getting family members here authorization to do bank transactions on our behalf, cancelling cell phone plans, and other things like that. I think we’re finally down to just needing to do some last minute shopping.

Question: You’re going to be with us for your last Sunday in the U.S.! What are you looking forward to in your time with us?

Answer: We’re looking forward to the cool weather in Phoenix! Just kidding. We’re eager to get to know you, fellowship with you, and express our gratitude to you. Since I’ve watched GBC grow over the years, its always a pleasure to worship with you in person. We’re also eager to let you get to know us. Missions work is always a partnership. There are the goers and the senders. Senders can be better senders the more they know the missionary that’s going. Also, it is a blessing to spend time with Scott and Kim Maxwell our last weekend in the USA. I’ve also grown to love the other elders at GBC and look forward to fellowship with them. In all of this, I’m eager for you to meet my family since they are unknown by most of you, including the elders.

Question: Tell us about your ministry partner, Lucio Stanisci. How will you guys work together?

Answer: Lucio Stanisci is an Italian national, born and raised in Rome, whom I’ve know since 2005. We attended seminary together and our hearts beat for the same things. I respect Lucio because he is not only an expositor and evangelist, but also a man of integrity and discernment who wants to please Jesus in everyway. Lucio will be the first Italian pastor of Centro Evangelico Battista (Evangelical Baptist Center). Lucio will carry the main preaching load of the church which will permit me to focus on discipling men, training leaders, and starting a ministry to university students.

Question: Where will you be ministering in Italy? What are the benefits of being there?

Answer: We will be ministering in the city of Perugia which is in central Italy, in the region called Umbria. Its about 2.5 hours north of Rome (by car). The exciting part of ministering in Perugia is that we get to build on an excellent foundation. The Lord has been building the church there for over 35 years through the work of a faithful missionary. The people are hungry for the word of God, people are being saved, and the church is young. This all provides a great starting point to reach the region of Umbria and beyond. The city is well connected and is a gold mine of university students as nearly 1/3 of Perugia’s 165,000 attend the university.

Question: What will your first year look like in Perugia?

Answer: We’ll spend the first month or so getting set up to live. Our first year and beyond will primarily be spent on language learning. One of the reasons missionaries often don’t last on the field is because the wife or both the husband and wife do not get comfortable with the language and/or culture. So, it is critical that we invest in our future by being studious and faithful language learners. We will use a combination of private tutors and language school. Perugia has a university for foreigners which is one of the best places in Italy to learn Italian. While one of us is studying the other will be taking care of our children. Also, my wife is pregnant with twins, so come March time frame, Lord willing, we’ll have four kids under four.

REMINDER: Massimo will be with us this Sunday, September 5 for worship (along with his wife, Susanna and 2 children – Alessandro and Elianna). We haven’t asked him to spend much time during the service answering questions like these in the blog series. Over the years I’ve benefited greatly from his understanding of God’s heart to save sinners in Scripture and so we’ve asked Massimo to preach to us on exactly that.

Again – please make sure everyone in your smallgroup visits this blog so they can learn become familiar with Massimo before Sunday.

Question: What place has evangelism held in your personal life and ministry in LA?

Answer: Ever since I can remember, the Lord has given me a burden to share the gospel with people. God has simply worked in my life to have a heart of compassion upon those without Christ, a heart that is so unnatural to me if left to myself. God has faithfully opened doors for evangelism through all sorts of venues to this point in my life, relationship evangelism (especially in the workplace), drug rehab ministry, cold evangelism, hospital evangelism, campus evangelism, and simple opportunities with those unbelievers I come into contact. At the end of my life, I want to stand before the Lord, having been faithful to bring the gospel to those unbelievers around me, which means often I must get out of my comfort zone and be intentional about interacting with unbelievers.

Question: Why is your heart burdened specifically for the Italian people?

Answer: I initially began to consider serving among the Italian people in 2004 or 2005 when I was reading some statistics about the state of the gospel in Italy. Italy’s 60 million people are spread throughout more than 33,000 cities, towns, and villages. Less than 3,000 have an evangelical church or missionary. Less than 1% of the population professes to be evangelical. The Protestant Reformation never made an impact on Italy. Considering these statistics, I felt hopeless, but also knew first hand the need, having a father who was born and raised in Italy. It took my dad coming out of Italy to hear the gospel. Given some basic knowledge of Italian language and culture that I have and a growing heart for the nations of the world, I felt a responsibility to pursue the possibility of serving in Italy. In God’s providence, He has opened the door.

Question: How did God use The Master’s Seminary to equip you for gospel ministry?

Massimo: The Master’s Seminary reinforced everything I had grown up observing in ministry. Specifically, my time in seminary increased my love for the local church and kindled a desire in my heart to see new local churches established where they do not exist. Seminary also taught me the importance of a being equipped to handle the Word of God. It takes hard work to interpret the Scriptures according to their intended meaning. If our interpretation is off, then so will our application of Scripture. If a pastor is unable to rightly teach His people, then a whole church can be misled. The impact of my professors, being men of God and men of the Word, has shaped my heart to disciple and equip men to be leaders in the church. Seminary also showed me the importance of seeking God out in His Word. In seminary and in ministry, it is easy to neglect personal worship and growth. I have a long way to go in this area, but my professors both modeled and pointed me to the priority of knowing God and the gospel. Finally, seminary increased my confidence in Scripture and grew me in the discernment I will need to face multiple worldviews.

Outside of the formal classroom environment, seminary itself is a pressure cooker that forms another classroom. With the pressures of your own life, family, work, ministry, and seminary, God shapes your character and deals with your heart in special ways. He makes you trust Him and He shows Himself faithful to both sanctify and sustain you when the shear amount of responsibility upon you seems impossible.

Question: Why are you interested in missions?

Massimo: Interest in missions is a non-negotiable in the life of a Christian. Missions stems from and overflows from the nature and purposes of God in the world. So, any interest in missions I have should be attributed to the working of God in my life. Specifically, God has used His Word to reveal His missionary purposes in the world. As I have sought God in His Word, I observe that from the moment Adam and Eve sinned in the garden, God graciously pursued man when they hid themselves from Him. When the nations of the world were scattered in Genesis 10-11 as a result of the judgment of God at Babel, he initiated a plan of redemption with Abraham that encompassed a blessing to all the families of the earth. This plan would ultimately be carried out in Christ to all who would believe. The salvation of men and women from every nation, tribe, and tongue is the purpose God is pursuing in the world for His own glory. So, it is God’s work in my life to align my heart and interests with His purpose.

In addition to His word, God has used various practical things to increase my awareness of other people and nations outside of the USA. I’ve been to India twice on short-term trips. Prior to seminary, I worked as an engineer in companies that had many foreigners in them. Also, I am Italian-American, being the first generation on my dad’s side of the family to be raised in the USA. Thus, I grew up well aware of a culture outside of the one I grew up in. Furthermore, I have been raised in a church that is focused on strengthening the local church around the world.

More could be said about this interest in missions, but to conclude, I’ll say that missions is a work of compassion that pursues those out in darkness who have no or minimal access to the gospel. Missionaries seek to be used as God’s instrument to grant spiritual sight in the spiritually blind who are held captive by sin, Satan, and false religions. It is a work of compassion because we seek both the salvation from eternal punishment and the eternal joy that comes from being awakened to the glory of God in Christ.

Question: How did God save you by His grace, Massimo?

Massimo: Having grown up in the church, I do not know the exact time God opened my eyes to the truth of the gospel. I grew up with much doubt as to the reality of a childhood profession of faith, so my testimony is more of the story of how God brought me to a place of assurance of faith in Christ. I attended Grace Community Church (Sun Valley, CA) most of my life. I professed faith in Christ in kindergarten or first grade. In high school I began to struggle with a lack of assurance that stemmed from an awareness of my sin and a fear of God’s judgment. One thing I always understood, having grown up in the Church, was my utter failure to measure up to God’s righteousness. By God’s grace, sometime at the end of college, these struggles with assurance of salvation were put to rest as my faith and hope in the sacrifice and righteousness of Christ was strengthened. It was also at this time that I was baptized. The Holy Spirit opened my eyes through 1 John 2:1, “My little children, I write this to you so that you may not sin, and if anyone sins you have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” After years of going in and out of assurance, I found rest by trusting Christ who fully satisfied God’s wrath for all of my sin and, as My Advocate, imputed to me His righteousness, thus acquitting me before God’s justice which I had feared for many years. This battle for assurance brought many doubts, fears, and temptations that ultimately, instead of destroying my faith, strengthened it. God also used this season in life to humble me, to weaken my love of man’s approval, and to help me think biblically about my sin and His Son. He is willing to save sinners no matter how sinful they are. It is now my greatest desire to make Christ known, to honor him as my Maker, and to please him with my life. He continues to reveal more of Himself and His greatness to me by His Spirit through His Word and continues to transform my life in areas I thought I could not change.

Question: How did God save you, Susanna, by His grace?

Susanna: The Lord has been merciful and gracious to me beyond what I deserve and could have ever imagined. I was born and raised in a godly Christian family where I grew up being clearly and thoroughly taught about Christ and His Word. I was taught Bible verses and catechism from the time I started to talk. The Lord drew me to Himself at a very young age of 5 or 6. Even though my understanding of salvation was simple and the Lord has grown my understanding immensely since then, I do know that I understood the gospel and I repented of my sin and trusted in Christ. I understood and believed that I was a sinner, that I was wicked and deserved eternal punishment for my sin, that there was nothing I could do to pay for my sin and I needed a Savior, that God sent His only Son Jesus to become a man and die on the cross as punishment for my sin, and that when I trusted in Him to forgive my sins, He would. When one becomes a Christian so young and is “sheltered” growing up in a Christian home, the big test of faith seems to be what one does after graduating high school and begins living on his own. The Lord worked in my heart a lot my senior year of high school and the first couple years of college to really mature my faith in Him. I grappled with questions that most do at that age – Is the Bible really true? Am I a Christian just because my parents are and this is all I know? Is there something else out there that I’m missing? Do I believe this enough to give my life for it? After I graduated high school, my family moved from southern CA to Kentucky where we went to a solid reformed Bible teaching church. Through the teaching at the church in KY and my next few years at The Masters College, including a semester in Israel, God was gracious to help me study His Word and know it was true and know that my faith was real. I learned more deeply what I was created for and what life was really about. I wanted (and still do) to live for the Truth and glorify Christ in everything, realizing this is possible only by His grace.

Just a reminder – Massimo and his family will be with us over Labor Day weekend and Massimo will be preaching on that Sunday, 9/5. I can’t wait for you to hear him trace through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation the mission of God to glorify Himself through the salvation of sinners! That is what makes his heart beat for missions, I know.

Also – I first met Massimo when he was a rascally 9th grader at Los Angeles Baptist High School in California. He was in my discipleship group and I was his staff leader under Rick Holland’s pastoral leadership at Grace Community Church in LA where Dr. John MacArthur pastors. God’s grace in Massimo’s life has only ever been on full display as he has grown and become a godly, qualified shepherd and husband and father. I thought a good place to start with Massimo was to let him tell you what it’s like to grow up at GCC in LA.

Question: How has God used Grace Community Church in LA in your Christian life to prepare you for gospel ministry?

Massimo: When you spend your entire life in one church, it is difficult to answer a question like this. In many ways, I can say with the apostle Paul, “What do I have that I did not receive?” In my instance, Grace Community Church has been the instrument of God’s grace in my life for so much of who I am. I’ll try to keep it brief. Most people outside of Grace Community Church know the church by our pastor, John MacArthur. From Pastor MacArthur’s ministry, I’ve been impacted immeasurably. I think I can summarize his impact in three ways. First, much of my zeal as an evangelist stems from his constant exhortation to the task and his faithful example of the priority of evangelism in the life of a believer. Second, my own pursuit of holiness has been motivated and challenged by his model of integrity in the Christian life and ministry. Third, his faithfulness to the Scriptures spurs a desire in me to ensure that the growth experienced by the church is truly credited to the work of the Spirit of God and not some human gimmick. What most people outside of our church do not know is the sacrifice of service, the depth of discipleship, and richness of relationships that are fostered in the context of ministry there. God has used all of this in preparing our family for ministry.

Question: Tell us about your wife and family and the kind of “team” you will be in Italy.

Massimo: I met Susanna while working with High School students at Grace Church in 1999. We started dating in May, 2002 and were married in September, 2003. She is a great example to me of patience, selflessness, kindness, wisdom, and discernment. I’m eager for you to meet her. When we move to Italy, I’m anticipating us to grow even closer as we work to survive in a new country without the familiarity of home. In the opening months of our ministry we will need to help each other learn Italian. This means that I will have the privilege of spending more time than usual with our young children in order to protect her study time. May God be gracious to our kids without mom around as much as they are used to!

Tomorrow, we’ll back up a little further and hear about God’s saving grace in both Massimo and Susanna!

Welcome back to the missions blog series!

So far as a church, we’ve only ever known supporting those from within our body for missions. So why are we willing to look outside our body at this time (i.e. Massimo Mollica – see the first blog post for context)?

The answer is relatively simple: Our mission’s guidelines (spelled out in the first post) don’t restrict us to training and supporting only “homegrown” missionaries. Missionaries outside our church who hold a strong commitment to our 4 interdependent guidelines may be a wonderful complement to our missionary family at GBC.

A little history and some detail might help. Since adopting our current missions philosophy (the 4 guidelines), we have been very intentional in investing in those in our body who have expressed strong desire and gifting for serving on the mission field and/or church planting. Nothing is going to change on this! We currently have 2 missionaries on the field from GBC – J (and JY), and M.

We also have another “wave” of potentials rising up! We have moved these GBC men and women toward shepherding leadership roles in smallgroups at GBC (according to their biblical roles as men and women). This allows the elders to watch the kind of shepherding care they apply to the body with the word of God. In particular, the men in this group have made their way through BUILD and H3 (leadership development) and have regular meetings with elders to discuss a variety of topics that help them flesh out their ministry views. Some have participated in missions training offered by a missionary on the field. Short term trips to the potential mission field have even taken place to benefit a future GBC team.

The elders have also budgeted more missions dollars each year than our current missionaries need, in anticipation of broadening our missions support. That means that any support we give to a missionary outside of GBC will not take missions dollars away that we want to invest in our own GBC missionaries.

The bottom line is that the elders are excited to see our church missionary family grow! We believe the GBC family will both be a blessing for a missionary like Massimo and his family as well as benefit from the missions work in Italy that Massimo will be engaging in.

If you have any questions, an elder would love to talk with you. Contact any one of us!

What’s up next in the missions series? Getting to know Massimo and his family! Massimo has been answering questions that I’ve posed to him to help you all get to know him better. Watch for them in the coming days.

Would you please consider attending an after church meeting this Sunday, August 15 to hear from the elders about the needs that a member of our body has. We have a member who has many needs at a variety of levels, which leads the elders to employ the body in helping us meet those needs. The needs range from medical, physical, financial, to emotional. Would you please be in prayer for this member and plan on attending the meeting this Sunday? If you have questions, please contact one of the elders.

The meeting will begin before 12 and finish before 12:30. We will meet in the cheer room (nursing mother’s room) toward the back of the gym.

Grace,
GBC Elders

Warning: This post is long. Really long. But you’ve come to expect that by now. So, read on and read carefully until the very end.

A couple of years ago the elders of GBC went on a retreat for the purpose of forming the church’s missions philosophy. That retreat was one of the most fruitful retreats we’ve taken as elders! On the basis of our study of Scripture, we came to this conviction concerning our role in the gospel mission of Jesus Christ: “We long to work tirelessly to see the GLORY of God in the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ manifested in the CHURCH around the WORLD.”

You can see the four key words in that conviction statement: Glory, Gospel, Church, and World. The centrality of each of these in missions has led us to form four interdependent guidelines that will help us determine how we will engage in missions as a church.

First, missions must be about the GLORY of God if it is to be biblical missions (missions must be “doxological”). God is working out all things for the praise of His own glory. God’s purpose in gospel missions, like everything else, terminates in His own glory. That means that everything we want to do in the cause of missions must take aim at the glory of God as its purpose. See Romans 11:33-36; Ephesians 1:5-14; Isaiah 43:7, 25; Ezekiel 36:21-33. Missionaries and missions endeavors that thirst for God’s fame to be seen and savored are missionaries and missions endeavors which catch our eye.

Second, missions must be about the GOSPEL of Jesus Christ if it is to be biblical missions (missions must be “Christological”). The whole reason Jesus sent His disciples out into the world was so they could proclaim the good news that God is reconciling sinful man to Himself, forgiving and conquering the sin that separates Him from us, so that we can be with Him forever. This only takes place by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ at the cross and is available to every single person who repents and believes in Him. Missions must zero in on the proclamation of this exclusive message. See John 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 10:9-10. Missionaries and missions endeavors that demonstrate steadfast loyalty to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ make us sit up and take notice.

Thirdly, missions must be about the CHURCH if it is to be biblical missions (missions must be “ecclesiological”). One of the effects of the gospel of Jesus Christ on believers is the assembling of believers into a community known as the Body of Christ (the Church). This assembly of redeemed sinners is to be organized locally and is the primary place where the redeemed are being transformed together by the gospel. Jesus said, “I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18), and He has designed the gospel mission to go to the ends of the earth by the expansion and reproduction of local churches in concentric circles, from Jerusalem and Judea to Samaria, to the East Valley in Arizona, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. If followers of Jesus are to be obedient to all of His teachings (Matthew 28:20), they will inevitably be members of these local assemblies called churches. So many of the New Testament commands for believers depend on or require the existence and operation of local churches. We should never think of missions or attempt to “do missions” apart from a love for the local church and a desire to see biblical churches established, growing, and reproducing themselves. See 1 Timothy 3:14-15; Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:11-22; 3:8-10. Missionaries and missions endeavors that love the local church make us very curious to explore a potential relationship with them.

Finally, missions must be GLOBAL if it is to be biblical missions. That is, we must think of the task of the mission of the gospel in a way that goes beyond the walls of GBC. We want to see our own church be established and mature in the gospel, but that is not the end. We want to see our church mature in the gospel so that it can reproduce itself in concentric circles from the East Valley into the entire Phoenix metro area and beyond—to the ends of the earth, or until our Savior returns for us. We want to reach our neighborhood with the gospel, and we want to see the gospel proclaimed in places where it is not yet heard. See Revelation 5:9; 7:9; Matthew 24:14. Missionaries and missions endeavors that are passionate to see believers from every tongue, tribe, nation, and people around the throne someday pique our interest.

Since the adoption of these four interdependent guidelines, we have primarily been laboring within our own church family in hopes that God will raise up from among us faithful servants who will carry the Gospel down the street to their campus, cul-de-sac, and cubicles for the glory of God. And we have been pouring much time and resources into others among us who are eager to go anywhere between here and the ends of the earth so that God can be glorified, the gospel of Jesus Christ believed, the church be established and strengthened so that believers from every tongue, tribe, nation and people will one day gather around God’s throne in worship!

Over the last few months the elders have been dialoging with a missionary from outside our church family that we are eager to invest in. His heart beats passionately for the same four guidelines. His name is Massimo Mollica. In September of 2010 he will be moving with his wife Susanna and two children, Alessandro and Eliana, to Italy to see the glory of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ be manifested in the church to the ends of the world! The elders are very eager to introduce Massimo (pronounced just like the clothing brand) to you in the upcoming blogs so you can learn more about him, his family, and why Italy. We are eager to see this dimension (supporting a missionary outside our church family) complement our current “in-house” development of missionaries and church planters.

We hope you’ll pass the word about these blog posts around the body and throughout your smallgroup. You’ll have an opportunity to meet Massimo and his family personally when they are with us over Labor Day weekend. Massimo will be preaching in church on Sunday, September 5. We’ll provide you more details concerning their visit soon. Any of the elders would love to talk with you personally about our partnership with Massimo. Don’t hesitate to ask!

Moses had perhaps the most intimate relationship with God of any man besides Jesus in all of history. They would speak and God would work amazing signs through Moses; Moses knew God. But there was no familiarity in Moses’ response when God told Moses His Name, nor when God described Who He is to Moses.

Read these words, the Words of God, with slowly with me. This is God’s response to reveal His Glory to Moses; He gave him Words (Exodus 34:6-7):

Yahweh passed before him and proclaimed, “Yahweh, Yahweh, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”

Stop! Go back and read that again. This is who God is. This is God’s description of Himself. This is the One who said a few verses earlier that “man shall not see me and live” (Exodus 33:20). This is God! He was not obligated to reveal Himself to us, rebellious mankind. But He did. And He revealed Himself as a gracious God; ultimately revealing Himself in human form as Jesus in order to forgive sins and remain just. This is the God who created the world, died on the cross, and is coming again. I am in many ways so much less familiar with God than Moses was, but I am tempted when I read that statement to say, “Yes, I know that about God, and I could probably rattle off a few other attributes as well.” This must not be my response. When we read of who God is, our response must be the same as Moses’ response on that mountain (Exodus 34:8):

And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped.

When Moses asked to see God’s glory, God gave him Words: Word’s revealing God. That is what we have in the Bible. We must always remember this; we must always bow our heads and worship when we read these Words of God.

Before I pastored I was a junior high teacher in a tough school in Rialto California. Over time I tried to get away from teaching because it was so challenging to NOT be able to address their deepest needs in my Earth Science class or 8th Grade Math class. And I really didn’t have a strong burden to be the one to address their deepest needs with the gospel. Plus, at the time I believed God was leading me to go to seminary and be trained for pastoral-elder ministry in a local church. Adults were going to be my focus (so I thought). Teaching teenagers in a public school didn’t seem to be the right track for me and to me.

But God had a path for me that I didn’t see coming at all. In seminary he eventually led me out of adult ministry into junior high ministry in the local church. The pastor of that youth ministry (Rick Holland) had such a strong conviction to pursue teenagers with the gospel. That was when I stopped running from youth and started running toward them with the gospel.

I was in youth ministry for the next 10 years prior to coming to Grace Bible Church. It was an amazing decade! In my early days with GBC there was a precious group of servants going after the teenagers in GBC. The served faithfully and sacrificially (Thank you, Matt and Jenna and all the rest!). But that ministry eventually disbanded because, like many areas of our church at that time, it needed a strengthening we couldn’t provide. Many who considered our church after this did not stay at the church, because there was “nothing for teenagers.” That’s an interesting statement in itself. I know what they mean, but I wonder if they realize that statement probably says more than they want it to. . .

Anyway, God has been gracious to this church over the years. He loves it more than all of us put together. And now the church has the foundation to support another gospel-centered ministry – a ministry to students/teenagers!

On this Sunday, July 25, I’m going to preach on God’s heart for the next generation from Scripture and then describe student ministries at GBC as the elder’s envision it. It’s not going to be like any youth ministry I did in the past. Smed says the same thing about his experience with youth ministry, too. Both of us, however, LOVE what is in store for the parents and teenagers of our church.

After the service on Sunday there will be an open elder meeting in which you can ask the elders questions about the new ministry if you like. Can’t wait to see you then!

Have a great week!

Ephesians could not present a clearer case for the certain, saving work that God does when He unites a sinner to His Son. And our passage for tonight (Ephesians 5:5-6) simultaneously warns us about the certain doom of any person who lives in an unbroken pattern of sin. This warning is given to believers! To Grace Bible Church!

When was the last time you thought deeply about God’s warnings to believers? Please come tonight with a heart eager to receive what God has for us in His warnings.

However, I know that sometimes when reading such big passages in one sitting it is difficult to take it all in. I am often tempted read passively, check the box, and think that my job is done because I finished the assigned reading. But reading is a means to an end, not the end in itself. The Bible is revelation; the Bible reveals God. And if I read the Bible but don’t come away without having seen God, I have wasted my time. Each and every time I study the Bible I am looking for God and responding rightly to what I learn. The purpose of the Bible is to reveal God, and the goal of your reading should be to know that revealed God.

I cannot do this reading passively; I must be an active reader whenever I have the Bible open in front of me. That is why I encourage you to read with a pen and paper (or computer) with you. I have found that if I use the following questions to guide my reading of my Bible-in-a-year plan, I can engage my mind and my heart. These questions help me to read to understand and to look for God as I read. As we study, we must seek to understand the original author’s meaning for the original readers. We don’t look for some personal meaning (what the Bible means to me); we look for what the Bible meant by what it said when it said it. It is this timeless message set within a historical context that reveals God to us now. These questions are intended to help you see that revealed God everytime you study, understand & remember what you read, and be rightly affected what you read. I hope that you can integrate them into your Bible reading plan (or that these would inspire you to make your own questions):

One of my main new features of the new gbcaz.org is the elder blog. We look forward to using this blog as a way to communicate with you what’s going on in the church. But more than that, we look forward to using this blog to communicate to you what’s going on in the hearts of the elders as we shepherd our own hearts, home, and church through the word of God to know and love the God of the Word. So please keep checking back to the website regularly (or subscribe the blog feed). We will also attempt to push short announcements and updates through our new facebook page and twitter feed. If you do not have a facebook or twitter account, no worries, we will keep the website up-to-date and continue to make announcements at church. We simply want to make communication with the body as easy and seamless as possible.

We’d like to give a big public thank you to Matt Kellso for his hard work on this new website over the last months. If you have any requests or ability to help in web development, please contact him or Jacob Hantla.

Your elder and brother in Christ,

-Jacob