Grace Church Pastors Blog

Sermon Recap | Beauty in Every Season

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 14:00:00 +0000

This past weekend one of Grace’s elders, Mike Chibbaro, taught from several chapters about finding beauty in each stage of life.

Mike began his teaching by referencing Ecclesiastes 3:11a which states “God has made everything beautiful for its own time.” He then proceeded to break down the average life cycle into four stages, focusing on the characteristics, temptations, Biblical focus, and beauty of each.

Young adulthood occurs approximately between the ages of 16 and 26. This is a time in one’s life when difficulties, challenges, and failures are encountered for the first time. Even so, while in this stage, we are often under the delusion of indestructibility. Yet, the most formative decisions of our lives, such as our spouse and career path, are often made during this time, when we have the least amount of wisdom and experience to handle such responsibilities. Most often, the temptation faced during this time is an unwillingness to submit to God ordained authority, such as a parent, pastor, or teacher. With the surge of youthful vigor in one’s blood, there is a tendency to lean more on personal perceptions and knowledge rather than that of those around us. A clear example of such a downfall is expressed in the story of Samson (Judges 14:1-3) when he chose to satisfy his own desire before heeding the advice of those older and wiser, which inevitably lead to his downfall. A mentor is an invaluable resource in this season of life. To find a good mentor one must seek out someone who loves them, but is not overly impressed, someone who has something that they long for, and someone whose advice is rooted in God’s Word. When properly directed, this season of life can give way to incredible beauty, if one awakens and fans the flame of a true passion for God.

The second season of life occurs around the ages of 27-43. This is often a time dominated by children, parenting, work, and a never ending busy schedule. Therefore, the great temptation of this season is to hide behind one’s crammed calendar and excuse oneself from what God has in store for them. Most often, one wears the mask of career oriented go-getter or super parent as an excuse not to serve somewhere else. For singles, the temptation may be feelings of extreme self-focus, abandonment, or anger with God for not providing a spouse. Yet, this season paves the way for some of the “most formative years of spiritual faith” where you are faced with a choice of how committed you will be to Jesus. One portrait of this struggle is illustrated in Luke 9:59-60, where a man is called by Jesus to follow Him, but turns away because he is afraid to lose his inheritance and forfeit all security for the Lord. Just like this man, one will miss blessing in their life if they defer their faithfulness in anything but Jesus. The beauty of this season can bring an incredible commitment and fellowship with Jesus, but it will require something from you.

Midlife occurs from the mid 40s for mid 50s, and is an unusually hard season. God will “use the idols of one’s heart to expose them”. Transitions in career and family during this season can render one unnecessary; children have learned to live on their own and new, innovative peers have entered the workforce. It can also be a time of negative self reflection as one’s physique begins to dwindle and the outcome of one’s life is decided to be less than the early expectations. Therefore, the great temptation of this season is self-pity, often expressed in divorce, large purchases, or depression. Yet, this season should be the greatest. The beauty is that there is an opportunity to be used by God in a big way, because now this person has “the time and the wisdom” to move. God has a plan for each mid-lifer, one that was uniquely made if only there is willingness to be made holy and to follow God’s lead.

The final season, the Golden years, is vividly described in Ecclesiastes 12. This season can often be filled with ridden emotional perils, fear, anxiety, and bitterness. The temptation here is to “check out and wait to die, thinking God is done with you”. Yet, Psalm 92:12&14 tell us this simply is not true. There are needs and ministries that one in their golden years can serve in so sweetly and deliberately. Like Paul, one should be eager to have “fought the good fight” all the way to the end, because a good fight is a beautiful fight.

The most important season of our lives is the one we are in right now. “God can redeem you anywhere.” Even if this is a painful season, the Creator of the Universe knows you intimately, understands your pain deeply, and loves you completely. His love is righteous, patient, and true. So, not matter the wolves at your door or the dreams that have shattered, there is hope and beauty in your present season. As Mike so fittingly quoted Mercy Me, “you are treasured, you are sacred, you are His; you’re beautiful.”

-Katie Gural

The Single Ezer

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:29:00 +0000

Since we launched the Ezer study and began using a common language to discuss Biblical femininity, the question has been asked, “why do single women need to be concerned with being an ezer?” While it would be great if this was an uncommon concern and we all saw ourselves as ezers – created in God’s image to invite, nurture, and partner – this is not the case.

Continue reading here...

Sermon Recap | Forever - Living In Light of Eternity

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 21:50:00 +0000

This past weekend, Matt Williams finished the Forever series by discussing how we live in this world in light of eternity. Verses were taken from 2 Corinthians Chapter 4.

Throughout this series we have been given a new understanding of our existence on earth; we have come to see that what we call life is not really life. We were created to be forever people, living in the full glory of God’s creation free from death. Now, because of sin, we face physical and spiritual death in a world in which we were never designed to live. But Jesus has given us a chance to be redeemed, restored, and renewed even beyond our physical death here on earth, if only we choose to accept Him.

The actual weight far-off plans for coming years have in the present moment is more than we often give it credit for. “The future disciplines how we live right now.” Just as we have to make plans and sacrifices for our life goals to be met ten or thirty years down the road, we must have direction and be intentional in our journey towards eternity, though we are not promised complete fulfillment or happiness on this side.

We would all rather believe that suffering and blessing are mutually exclusive realities, but neither the Bible nor history tell us this is true. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:11-12 that suffering and trouble are a part of life and are even necessary for blessings to be had. If we are going to live in light of eternity, we must ask ourselves to what or whom we are giving life. What kind of mark are we leaving, will there be a hole when we are gone, and who is benefiting from the life we lead? Continually chasing after Christ requires us to be willing to suffer, to endure hardship, and to want to be remade in Christ’s image. Being filled with the love and grace of Jesus Christ moves us to speak about Him and to share His love with the world (vs. 13). This is not a personality trait or a spiritual gift – this is a reality of being a Christian.

As believers, we are set to be raised to new life with the rest of creation (vs. 14). The Creator will become the Re-Creator, destroying death, sin, and decay. Jesus is on mission now to save the world because He is not yet finished here, and as His followers we have to take His mission upon ourselves each and every day. This means that we are going to have to suffer in this life. God is not trying to make our lives happy and fulfilled all the time so that this world can become our home; He is doing something bigger and better than that. He is trying to get us “to engage the glory of God to reach other people”. “This is a redemptive moment, but this is not a moment of completion. This is a moment of preparation for something else”. Therefore, our trials are never in vain; they are given for His glory.

As He works in our hearts and our lives, our spirits are being renewed and empowered to be stronger. Despite our dying bodies, we are brought closer to the reality of forever through God’s redemptive works, painful though they may be (vs. 16). He has promised that the coming glory will outshine all of our trials and pain the way the sun outshines the flicker of a candle. In the midst of trial, this is a painfully difficult concept to wrap one’s mind around. Yet, trouble has a way of amputating idols from our hearts so that we can live a better life; it forces us to reevaluate what is good and reignite a dependency on God rather than our things (vs. 17). We need not look to the things we can see, such as our current pain, trouble or strife, because what is visible to us now will not last. Our eyes should be set on what we cannot see, because this will last forever (vs. 18). We need to look for the cross of Jesus Christ, to the way that God laid Himself open and bare on this Earth to pay the price of what destroys us so that we could spend eternity with Him. We need to look towards the future, because “everything in our souls shows we were created for another world.”

As a believer, there are two things we must do to live in light of eternity:

Determine what your cravings are in this life, as this illustrates what you desire in the next life. Your inner urge for something in this life, such as money, power, order, control, fame, or a whole host of other desires, can take hold of your heart and drive you away from God. The promise of forever, however, can allow you to give some of this up because you know righteous and complete fulfillment of this desire is coming to you in the new heavens and new earth.
Upgrade your perspective of suffering in this world. The Bible tells us that suffering is a good thing because it allows us to change and grow in Christ. All of the trials of this life are temporary, and each season of life has a sacrifice to make to share the Gospel.

Questions:

How do I spend my time? Am I doing things that are hard, am I being challenged, am I helping others?
How do I spend my money? Am I holding tightly to what God gave me, or am I being generous?

-Katie Gural

To watch, listen to, or download this sermon, visit the website here.

Sermon Recap | Forever - Homecoming

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:28:00 +0000

This past weekend Matt Williams continued our look at Eternity in the latest sermon in our series entitled “Forever”. What will heaven be like? Matt gave us a small glimpse of what “forever” will be like based on images in chapters 20-22 of Revelation. In those chapters we see Three Big Ideas about the “New Heavens and New Earth” or the final eternal destination for Christians.

The first big idea that Matt presented was the idea of Physicality. The concept here is that in the end there will be a physical dwelling place where God and men will dwell. Throughout chapters 20-22 we see all kinds of descriptions of physical things. God’s physical presence will be there in a way that he has never been present with us before. He will not dwell in a temple like he did in Old Testament times. Other images we are given are that we will have physical bodies; there will be a massive city, a restored heaven and earth, mountains, etc.

A second “big idea” that was presented was the idea of Awareness. Matt discussed some concepts of the kind of awareness that we will have, both in “paradise” (the temporary place with God before the end) and then the “New Heavens and New Earth.” While we are in heaven awaiting the restoration of all things we will be totally aware of what is happening on earth. The Bible gives pictures of saints in heaven praying for the restoration of all things. But even after all has been restored and the new heavens and earth come, we will still be aware of the pain and suffering we have experienced in the past. This will make the joy of heaven even greater as we move out of that pain, and death and sin are defeated.

The last “big idea” was the idea of Upgrade. According to Matt, this idea is an understatement. Our eternal destiny is by far greater than anything we have ever experienced. Everything there will be better than anything we can imagine. There were two illustrations that Matt shared that put this into perspective. When you get a new phone that has greater features you begin to see just what you have been missing. It makes you forget the old phone. Second, Matt shared CS Lewis’ illustration that a child thinks chocolate is the best thing in the world until he grows up and experiences sex. It pales in comparison. We cannot grasp how incredibly upgraded life will be for believers in eternity.

Matt ended by showing us the centrality of Jesus in these three chapters of Revelation. He is the key figure in eternity and it is only though Him that we can be connected to this glorious future. Revelation 21:27 says that “nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable and false..” All of us are unclean apart from Jesus. He is our only hope.

-Patrick Shealy, Community Groups Pastor

To watch, listen to, or download this sermon, visit the website here.

Debi's View on Eternity

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:25:00 +0000

Tragedy through her life has shaped how Debi views eternity and heaven.

Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
-2 Corinthians 5:8

When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
-John 14:3

I heard a loud shout from the throne saying, "Look, God's home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them."
-Revelation 21:3

FAQ Friday | How Can We be Holy if We are Sinful?

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 22:45:00 +0000

This week, David Allston, who is over our singles ministry, answered this week’s question from George in Greenville:

We see in a few places of the New Testament leaders ultimately kicking sinners out. Where is the line between the idea: We are all broken and can’t help to sin and living holy (With Hebrews 10:26-39 in mind)?

In order to answer this question, we must begin by talking about the tension we experience as men and women seeking to live for God’s glory in spite of the indwelling sin that affects us all. When God created the world, He made everything perfect. Adam and Eve were sinless and enjoyed uninhibited communion with the Creator. However, when they chose to disobey God and eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, sin entered the world and spiritual death came upon us all. Romans 5 tells us that through Adam, sin entered the world and that in him, we are all dead in sin. We are also called enemies of God (Ephesians 2). Our sin nature is opposed to God and as long as we live on this earth, this nature will war against God. This is why Paul can say in Romans 7, that he does not do the things he wants to do and that he does the things he does not want to do. There is a war going on inside of each one of us. Our “flesh” or sin nature means that until we are taken to be with God in Paradise, we will struggle.

This leads us to some tension when we see Paul calling believers in places like Corinth “saints,” which means “holy ones.” How can Paul call these people “holy” when they are filled with sin? Romans 6 tells us that we died with Christ and so we are no longer slaves to sin, but have been freed from its power. We now live in freedom under God’s grace. We know that we are saved by faith alone through grace alone, which means that our righteousness comes from Christ alone. We are called “holy” because when the Father looks at His children, all He sees is the perfect work of His Son, Christ Jesus. Every single one of our sins has been covered by Christ’s blood and we will never have to pay the penalty we deserve. Our standing as “saints” is not of our own doing, but is a free gift from God.

The holy life that we are called to live can only be lived out through the power of the Holy Spirit...

The Gospel tells us that we have moved from being God’s enemies to being His children. The holy life that we are called to live can only be lived out through the power of the Holy Spirit who regenerated us and opened our eyes to see the truth in the first place. It is the Holy Spirit who brings about the change in us. Holy living does not happen from the outside in, but from the inside out as we lay down our lives and submit to the Spirit’s working in our hearts. Our motivation for following God’s commandments to us comes from our love for Him. Love for our Savior and His glory is what drives us to live holy lives.

Church discipline is the process for removing an unrepentant believer that we see prescribed in Scripture. The examples we see in Hebrews 10, 1 Corinthians 5, and Matthew 18 deal with one who claims to be a believer and yet refuses to obey God and turn from their sin. This is not describing one who is struggling to turn from sin and who desires to submit to the will of God. Rather it is describing one who believes that they are free to go on sinning while remaining in right relationship with the Father. Despite the clear commands of Scripture, these people go right on sinning without any remorse or effort to turn from sin. They reveal that they have no love for the One who gave everything for them. The command to the church is to put these men and women out of the Body.

The motivation, the method, and desired result for expelling someone from the body are often misunderstood.

The motivation, the method, and desired result for expelling someone from the body are often misunderstood. The motivation is to protect the body and to preserve the body as well as to call the sinner to turn from his sin and come back to God. In Matthew 18 Jesus gives the method for correcting a wayward believer.

If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.

This process takes time and the clear desire is to restore the offending person. Galatians 6 tells us that we should humbly and gently help people back to the right path. We are to plead with them to repent and turn from their sin and come to God. Our desire must never be to hurt them or do them damage. We must remember that our sin against God is far greater than any sin they may have committed against us. This understanding will humble us allow us to patiently call sinners to repent. When we have come to the end of the process and the offending party resolutely refuses to repent, we are commanded to put them out. The sorrow over sin is clear in this process. When these people are put out, our hope remains that they will repent and come back. We see this in exemplified Scripture. Even the man who was expelled in 1 Corinthians 5 is restored to the body in 2 Corinthians 2. We see that love for the sinner is the motivation for correction and discipline.

Far too often we have seen this process carried out in hurtful and even wicked ways. As a result, when we think about expelling a sinner from the body, our connotations are primarily negative. A right understanding of our standing before God and our call to love others allows us to carry out God’s commands in a holy, loving way. At Grace Church, our desire is to go through the process of church discipline motivated by love and a desire to restore the sinner, rather than by a desire to punish and reject them. By the time someone is disciplined by the church, they have been through a lengthy process with community group leaders, pastors, and elders without any willingness to turn from sin and repent. While we have disciplined people and removed them from our body, our desire for those who have been put out remains that they would repent and come back to God and be restored.

Sermon Recap | Forever Series - Paradise

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 21:35:00 +0000

Bill White continued the Forever series this past weekend with a teaching on the Biblical depiction of Paradise, Heaven-in-waiting for the new heavens and new earth.

On this side of eternity we feel a hunger for justice, a need for reconciliation, a frustration against the disappointments and trials of life. There are desires that God has placed in our hearts for a bigger and better world, which this one cannot provide. This is why no one can accept the death of a loved one as something natural, why we cannot believe cancer or disabilities or illnesses should happen to us or our family, why our hearts break amidst suffering, anguish, or pain. God places forever in our hearts because we were intended for a world without illness, without pain, without death, and without end. We are not just unable to be satisfied; the world we live in has been ripped at the seams, and we are scrambling for it to be made right. But Jesus has promised to do that for us, and He has set out to do that from the beginning.

The day that Jesus was crucified, as He hung awaiting death in unimaginable torment, a criminal being crucified at His side expressed a simple plea. The criminal, acknowledging His own brokenness and Jesus’ innocence, begged Christ to remember him when He entered His kingdom. Jesus responded “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23) The criminal who hung beside Jesus displayed a “simple, basic faith” that came from a humble and repentant heart. He did not require a deep, theological understanding to enter into his relationship with Jesus, nor did he try to clean himself up to be presentable before the Lord. This criminal, in the midst of his own suffering and his own wrongdoings, simply entrusted His soul to Jesus, and gained paradise.

The Bible provides us with several realities of Paradise and what it will be like for believers when their earthly bodies pass away.

Paradise will be a real place to which one will go. Paradise is not a state of mind or kind of sleep we will experience after our death. Even modern science proposes there is a “mathematical necessity” for multiple dimensions we are not even aware of to exist. But more than that, we know it is a real place because Jesus promised that He was going away to prepare a place for those who follow Him, so that we can be with Him after our earthly death.
In Paradise, we will be ourselves. God will give us life so that we can be “more of who we are, magnified in a way that gives glory to God.” We will be exactly who God originally intended us to be, free from our sin, our struggles, and our bondage in this life. Down to our very personalities and memories of our stories, we will be ourselves. Yet, our trust in Jesus will grant us peace and freedom from the brokenness and all the hurt from our earthly existence.
In Paradise, we will be with the Lord. As Paul explains in Philippians 1:20, a believer will go to be with Jesus after their death. And therefore no existence on earth could be better than what awaits on the other side of death. We are called to live here until the Lord takes us home, not for our own sakes, but for the glory of the Lord. Once we are finished here, we will go to be with Jesus.
We will be with one another. Paradise is a place where people are freed from their sin, and therefore, are able to see and love one another for who God made them to be. Because Jesus has a resurrected body, we will not be in His physical presence at every moment, but we will be with the rest of the body. Every relationship will be fascinating and wonderful and exciting, and we will all reflect the glory of God to Him and to each other in harmony.
In paradise, we are going to know rest from suffering and labor. Even if we have a great life, this world has a way of wearing us down and making us ready for rest. The best kind of labor and responsibility can still bring strife into our lives and make us tired. The hope is that when we die there is rest for us.
In paradise, we will bear witness there to what God did, is doing, and will do in the world. Paradise will be a place of awareness. We will each be engaged in and praying for what God is doing in the world to save the lost and broken.

In truth, there is a part of all of us, believer and nonbeliever alike, that falters at the idea of leaving this world. The reality is that this longing is within us because, although sin has broken the earth, we still recognize that this world was originally intended to be our home. Yet, it will never be our true home until it is restored, and because our hearts recognize that something has gone awry, we are at odds with it now.

Paradise is not the end; it is a place where believers will worship a God who will restore the earth to what we always knew it should be. We were not intended to be eternally without something that death takes from us, our bodies. We were intended to live, completely and wholly in a way that only a redeemed, restored, and renewed world can sustain.

Because He loves us, Jesus will give that world back. But we must make a choice to be there with Him.

-Katie Gural

To view and/or listen to this sermon, entitled Paradise, visit our website here.

Baptism Videos | January 21 & 22

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:43:00 +0000

Thank you for taking a few moments to watch these testimonies as each individual shares how Christ has changed them and why they chose to be obedient to baptism.

Downtown/Powdersville Campuses

Pelham Road Campus | Saturday Night Service

Pelham Road Campus | Sunday, 9:15am

Pelham Road Campus | Sunday, 11:15am

FAQ Friday | What is the Growth Strategy at Grace?

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

Missional Living. One of the core elements of Grace Church is that we be culturally engaged. We equip everyone to be engaging people with the love of Christ wherever they are. For that reason, we limit how many events and activities we have on our campuses. Our desire is that the people of Grace Church speak about their faith in their neighborhoods, schools, work places, local restaurants, etc. By intentionally being involved in the community, more and more people should be able to hear about the way God is moving in people’s lives, meaningful relationships are developed. We have seen many people come to Grace because of the cultural engagement of existing members.

Discipleship. Another way we have seen church growth is in the basic principle of discipleship. We believe that all Christians should be pouring into others in the context of community. When the people of Grace Church take ownership in helping their brothers and sisters mature spiritually, there’s a ripple effect that results in new people being drawn to what God is doing within our body.

Life Change. One of the most common phrases uttered around our church, it is what happens when we have an encounter with the living God. As the people of our church grow in their faith, they become different. Their families, friends, co-workers, classmates, teammates, neighbors and community members take notice. Time and time again, we are told that new attendees decided to investigate Grace because of the inexplicable life change they have observed in one of our members.

If you are looking for a complex, detailed strategy of growth, we don’t really have one. However, we do encourage the entire body of Grace to speak about who Christ is and what he is currently doing in their lives. In the context of daily lives, and existing relationships, God is making himself known, which we believe is causing our church to grow. Our prayer is that we would be good shepherds to all the people that God brings into our midst and that we would continue to grow in a healthy manner for years to come.

Life Change | The Ezer Study

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 19:37:00 +0000

The Ezer Study for women at Grace has been a growing experience for me as I process the concepts presented in the thoughtfully prepared materials and discussions. I had heard of the term “ helpmate” a while back and was always a bit bothered by the connotation that Eve was a “helper”. It sounded like she should have been patted on the head and told “Good job” for the work she did.

But, “ezer kenegdo” has a much more robust meaning and gives strength and dignity to Eve as an “essential counterpart”. We, as daughters of Eve, are strong and have equal yet different weight as ones who are created in God’s image. The idea that God has wired us differently, but carefully, to be a partner with Adam is life affirming.

I began the study carrying much baggage such as isolation and some guilt from past sins. I listened and took lots of notes and worked through the study, which took me past those initial strongholds. I learned so much more about the Gospel-centered life which helped me drop my need for self focus. Getting rid of “self” has greatly impacted my ability to live my life as an ezer. Allowing Christ to fill me and change my heart and my thought processes has made me much more comfortable to love my husband, daughters, and people in my church and community.

The groups of women I have been with through the studies, as a member and as a co-facilitator, have blessed me. The women came with hearts ready for change and growth. We were able to share honestly about our struggles and offer encouragement. The community of women believers has been diverse. We have had women in all seasons such as singles, empty nesters and women who have just given up jobs to stay home for their children. We’ve shared tears, prayers and so much laughter as we’ve learned not to take ourselves too seriously.

I asked my youngest daughter if she has noticed anything different about me since I began the Ezer study. She thought about it and said that I now call she and her sister on things that they do that are not pleasing to God and she is actually receptive to it. I guess my parenting has stepped up a bit, as I tended to be more timid about touchy subjects. My oldest daughter who is now in college will be beginning the study this week. I am excited for her to work through this study and to grasp the importance of her identity in Christ.

As for my role as a wife, I have always thought of myself as Ken’s partner, but I have also taken control as I grew up to be independent and self-sufficient and prided myself in that ability. Understanding the capacities of inviting, nurturing and partnering has taken on much more meaning and I can respect the uniqueness of God’s wiring of my husband and allow him more freedom to lead. I admit I have a way to go in forgoing my self-protecting tendencies and expressing love much more unconditionally to him. It is a process!

-Carrie Brazell, Powdersville Campus

To learn more about Ezer and to register for the Winter/Spring 2012 study, click here.
Click here to visit the Women's Ministry Blog.

Sermon Recap | Forever Series - Choosing Judgement

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 19:51:00 +0000

This weekend, Matt Williams continued the teaching of the Forever series by discussing the light and dark side of eternity. Matt gave several ideas regarding our perception of the world now and the reality of the world that is coming.

Idea 1:

“What we call life is not really life.” The greater expectations that reside within us, which are perpetually left unmet, are strands of forever DNA woven into our hearts. They are markers which point to what our true destination will be like, a redeemed and restored Earth. In contrast, our reality now is chalk full of disappointments, failures, and let downs. This world is one where copiers break down 15 minutes before your report is due, where sleeping in the wrong position leaves you with a pounding headache, where cars collide, where people get cancer, where wars and starvation wipe out vast populations. Given our current experiences in life, it is not any surprise that the idea of eternity could fill us with anxiety. But the truth is that this world is just a shadow of what is to come. The forever that is coming with the new heavens and new earth will be more exciting, completely fulfilling, and eternally blissful.

Idea 2:

“We have a transition coming our way.” Death is the inescapable, ever present, looming reality of this world. It is something we have always known, yet death has never become natural to us. We constantly try to escape it, to defy it, to ignore it. We struggle to accept our own mortality because deep inside we cannot believe we were meant to die. This is because eternity is in our heart; God does not like death, and therefore, we do not like death. In Genesis 2, Adam and Eve ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, thus bringing two kinds of death into the world, spiritual and physical. But a world with death was not what God intended when He formed His creation. On some levels, we already know this to be true. It is why we are vulnerable, why we wear clothes, and why we keep our inner most thoughts to ourselves.

Yet, death is not simply a blight upon humanity brought about by the first sin. As it looms before us, we have an opportunity to think about it. Spiritual death is already upon us, and we know physical death is coming. Yet, on the other side of the curse, God provided a blessing. Death gives us an option “to leave the brokenness forever and transition to redemption and restoration”. There is mercy and grace offered in our ultimate end on this Earth if we choose to take it.

Idea 3:

“After death comes judgment.” We must face the dark side of forever to embrace all of it. “We know judgment is real because our consciousness tells us it is real.” We judge others each day. Every culture and every religion have some aspect of judgment at their core. We often think of a God who judges as frightening or unfair. But a God who loves evil and “turns a blind eye to what we brought to the world” is not truly the God we want. A God such as this could not love us fully and could not offer redemption for the brokenness we created. He has to love His creation enough to remove the evil and right all wrongs, but this cannot be done without atonement. Someone must sacrifice.

In the final judgment, we will all be judged for our time on Earth (Revelations 20:11), but to make peace with our Creator, we cannot simply do more good deeds than bad. The infection of sin has an infinite quality to it because it destroys God’s creation in a way that cannot be replaced, just as a family heirloom cannot be replaced by some old item from an antique store. “We have a tendency to think that as long as others are worse than us, we are good and God won’t care.” God does care. We cannot even uphold our own standards of perfection, let alone those of God. Either way, we fail. Salvation is about work that earns God’s favor to cover our transgressions, but it is not our work that can do this. Jesus is the only one who can stand before God on our behalf to pardon us. He has given us the freedom to chose His offering in this life, but we cannot have the freedom of choice without the consequences as well (Luke 16:19).

For Christians:

We must constantly ask ourselves how seriously we take the reality of judgment and forever. We all have friends and family members who do not know Jesus. This is not an accident. God has placed people in our lives for a reason. No matter how scary it seems, or how hopeless the cause, God believes you are ready to engage them, not just with actions but with words also. We must allow His passion for each person on this earth to seize us so that we can be passionate for them as well.

For non-Christians:

Conversion does not happen because one gathers all the information and proof necessary to trust Jesus can save them. We will never have all of the answers for everything that happens in this world, and we may never get any more information than we already have. Following Jesus actually requires forfeiting your own conditions and trusting Him to be who He says He is. What keeps non-Christians at Grace Church from God is an unwillingness to turn from sin and create a void in their own soul and then allowing God to fill that void with Himself. Allowing God to take over your life does not guarantee ease and rosy circumstances, but it does promise you that no matter what comes, He will face it with you, He will refine you, and He will give you the kind of forever you were meant to live. On this side of forever, what you do with that will always be your choice.

-Katie Gural

To view, listen to, or download this sermon, please visit our teaching resource page here.

The Response | A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:18:00 +0000

One of our core values at Grace Church is to be Anchored in Prayer, showing a humble dependence on God for all things. Tuesday evening, January 17, from 7-9pm, believers from all around the upstate will be gathering together at the TD Convention Center for a time of prayer and worship, in response to and recognition of the fact that our hope does not rest in anything but Jesus Christ. These gatherings are following the path of the presidential primaries, but rather than being a platform to support a candidate or discuss a political topic, the goal is solely to to call on Jesus on behalf of America, that He might hear our cry and that we would see a revolution of righteousness in this country.

For believers, prayer is an important and necessary aspect to our faith, but when it comes to the "what, when, where, how and why" of prayer, we often have different answers to those questions, and therefore view prayer differently than each other. It is always important to allow the bible to shape our understanding of anything related to our faith, so I want to share a few thoughts on prayer from our Core Values study:

Pray according to God's will. 1 John 5 tells us that God listens to us and gives us what we ask for when we pray in line with His will.
Seek God's will through scripture. John 15 says, "But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted." Often we pray generally that God's will be done when we know from His word what His will is. In those cases, we should boldly approach the throne of God in request for what we are praying for.
Come to God with pure motives. James 4 tells us that we are often lacking what we need because we do not ask God for it. Further, when we do ask God for something, if our motives are not to Glorify God and carry out His will, God does not say He will answer our prayers.
Sin hinders our communication with God. Psalm 66 states that "If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, my Lord would not have listened". It is clear in scripture that God wants our hearts. It is also clear that without repentance through the blood of Jesus, we are separated from God. As you seek God through prayer, always search your heart and humbly repent of sin He exposes.
God always responds with an eternal perspective. God's plan of redemption, and the work of Jesus Christ, have an eternal focus with implications in the present. Many of the men and women who followed Jesus when he was here assumed that His agenda was to liberate the nation of Israel from physical oppression, when His plan was to liberate man from the an eternal death and separation from God. We have to keep that in mind as we await God's movement in response to our prayers.

We hope you will consider being part of the prayer gathering on Tuesday. There is no question that it will be a different and stretching experience for you if your idea of prayer has been narrowly shaped. This will be a gathering of many denominations and cultures, but the focus will be dependence on God. For more information, please visit http://theresponseusa.com/south-carolina/

The Elephant Room | What and Why

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 13:00:00 +0000

“All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals, including the Lord’s Supper, and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.” – Acts 2:42-47 NLT

There is much about eternity that excites me. Just one among many things though would be perfect unity in the body of Christ - one family, one body of believers, one church, all united under one Lord. I remember the first time I read about the early church in Acts 2. The thought of all believers being together, holding everything in common, devoting themselves to one another, and sharing with all who had need is appealing. While we do see glimpses of this in the world today, the truth is that the church is riddled with division, strife, and conflict – sometimes so much so that it is hard to distinguish believers from unbelievers. And I count myself as chief of sinners in this area.

One way I see this play out in my own life is through my judgment toward other churches and believers. I love to learn about doctrine, about the gospel, and about the church. My love for these things is good, but because my flesh is weak, I corrupt that which would otherwise be good through sins like arrogance, snobbery, religious pride, and the like. I allow those things that unite me with others in the body of Christ to separate me from them instead.

Before I watched the first Elephant Room discussions, I had many preconceived ideas about a few of the pastors participating. In my ignorance and arrogance, I judged them and their ministries and the people that attended their churches. And yet, I had never stepped foot in one of their services, or read one of their books. I had based my opinion solely on the opinions of others that I read, or watched, or looked up to. While I watched the different discussions during the first Elephant Room, I was convicted about this sin within me. Most of what I had previously judged them on was structural, not doctrinal. And by the last round, as two of the pastors compared their stances on primary versus secondary issues, I found that we are much more alike than we are different.

I was driven to search for truth based on the Scriptures, rather than falling into a non-thinking, religious groupthink.

This does not mean that I agree with everything that was said, nor do I agree with the way some discussions were handled. I did, however, begin to learn how to engage in critical thinking and use of discernment about what is foundational and what is not. I was driven to search for truth based on the Scriptures, rather than falling into a non-thinking, religious groupthink. I was reminded that conflict, when done in love, is healthy. These pastors were willing to engage one another, to talk about truth, to confront one another with concerns, and to do so face to face in an earnest attempt to call one another to biblical shepherding of the church. They did not secretly or even publicly condemn one another, but moved toward one another instead.

As a result of watching the first Elephant Room, I was incredibly humbled and found myself repentant of the sin within my own heart and am now passionate about having an opportunity to bridge the gap on a local church level. This is not about entering into fellowship with other churches that are teaching a false gospel, but about entering fellowship with other churches who may look, talk, and worship differently than we do - but who all believe in the same gospel, the same Lord, the same Holy Spirit. We are one church under Christ. And my passion is to see us act as one church, one body - loving, encouraging, exhorting, and rebuking one another within the context of relationship through our commonality with Christ.

It is because of my experience with the first Elephant Room that I am so excited about the upcoming Elephant Room 2 simulcast at Grace Church’s Pelham Road Campus on January 25. The pastors will tackle issues such as race, missions, fundamentals of Christianity, shepherding those different from us, and what is necessary for salvation, just to name a few. While I know that I may or may not agree with all of the pastors’ stances on issues, I believe this will be another opportunity to learn and to grow even through disagreement.

If you would like more information on The Elephant Room, or if you would like to attend, please click here to register.

-Chrystie Cole, Research & Curriculum Development

Sermon Recap | Forever Series - Imprint of Eternity

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:47:00 +0000

This past weekend opened our study of the imprint of forever that is within believer and nonbeliever alike.

It does not take one long in this life to discover that the world is full of disappointments, trials, suffering, and pain. Though we perpetually work and hunger for more and we chase our dreams at a dead run to a point of exhaustion, there is always something else for which we long and hope. There are happenings we cannot make sense of and experiences that still leave us half empty. Try as we might to build a home, acquire wealth, search out adventure, and find unfailing love, we always come up short at one point or another. No matter how much we gather of earthly things, they never quiet our dreams. And yet, even as we well up with confusion and burn for some kind of fulfillment, we do not take a moment’s pause to realize the deep implications of our state of being. We have forgotten who we were intended to be; we have “eternity amnesia”.

C.S. Lewis once said “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in the world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

When our earth was created, it was picture perfect. But sin entered the frame and all of existence fell with it. And so, although we are not perfect, we were created to live in a perfect world. Our discontent with the present exposes that fact. The desire for this forever is imprinted on the core of each of us; eternity is part of the fabric of who we are.

(Romans 8:18-23)

As believers, we have been promised that the worst we could endure on this Earth will be nothing at all when the Lord pours His glory out on us. That promise can reshape our perception of the here and now. As we stand in the midst of the chaos with the rest of creation, we can know with certainty that our Lord is going to return, and He will make all things right in ways we could never comprehend in a million years. The earth is groaning as we are groaning, waiting for release. And when it comes, we will be given new bodies, restored souls, a new earth, and a new creation to worship, to work, to love, to learn, to move, to live forever in a “world more concrete than this one”. When it comes, the worst we now know will be nothing to us.

We know that “there is redemption underway right now.” A new heaven and new earth are coming. When we understand the bigger story and how we each fit into it, eternity makes sense. We live like this world is our destination, but it is not. This world is preparing us for the next. Our bodies now are simply tents to dwell in temporarily; new life will come to envelop us and bring with it a reality that is more real than ours now (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Every culture and every religion has some conception of life outside of their existence, but eternity could not even be a passing thought if God had not given it to us. “It is illogical to think you are going to get [to this conclusion] on your own.”

To those who are not Christians, it is obvious that our world is broken. The personal reality of that admission is that your heart is sinful and broken, “which explains why you have thoughts and feelings that are not great”. Jesus will stand in judgment of every person’s sin one day, unless there has been payment. The only payment for sin is blood and death; it can be our own blood and death, or it can be His.

To Christians, “it is hard to tell the difference between our life and everybody else’s lives.” We need a better understanding of forever so that we may live with an eternal perspective.

“We are forever people.” We were never meant to live in the world that we now call home. Within each of us lies a foundational desire for and dream of another world, one where no one we love dies, where adventure waits for us around every corner, where true love and joy exist in every one of our relationships. If you look back across the entire human race, you will see this desire spread across history. From the beginning, hearts begged for the happily ever after and souls craved freedom from brokenness. We know, because we have always wanted the fairytale.

Consequences of eternity amnesia:

Unrealistic expectations and disappointment
Too much focus on self
A controlling and fearful nature
Questioning the goodness of God
Lack of motivation or hope
Living like there are no consequences

-Katie Gural

To watch, listen, or download the sermon, Imprint of Eternity, visit our website here.

FAQ Friday | Why No Women Teachers at Grace?

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 13:30:00 +0000

In this FAQ series, we will try to answer questions that will hopefully help us become more biblically informed and better equipped to live out our faith in community. To submit and vote on questions you would like to see answered on the blog by our pastors, click here. To see other FAQ Friday posts, click here.
This week, Jeremy Keever, The Institute and Discipleship, answers a question from Wondering in Simpsonville.

Why aren’t women part of the weekend teaching rotation at Grace?

At Grace Church, we currently have six weekend services with a seventh coming soon. In order for us to adequately host these gatherings, it takes a broad range of people with various gifts, talents and abilities. In fact, the actual one hour and fifteen minute service is just a small piece of what takes place each week. For every sermon preached there are multiple meetings and tons of study. For every child taught there are strategies, leader training and materials created. In all that is done, we have and need men and women of all ages, abilities, gifts and passions.

With that said, you will notice that our teaching rotation at each service is always filled by a male. We have two elder/pastors that fulfill the majority of the teaching responsibility. From time to time, other pastors and leaders fill in as well, but they are also all men. Due to the diversity that is obvious in almost every other role at Grace, the question raised is a good one.

...from Genesis to Revelation, we find that part of man’s core calling is to lead... Part of being created as male in God’s image means that men are accountable to God to lead.

We believe that there are a few church responsibilities outlined in the New Testament that are limited to males, one of which is preaching and teaching in a gathered worship setting (see 1 Timothy 2:12). Throughout the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation, there are no examples of women teaching the Scriptures to men in a public forum. Additionally, and more importantly, from Genesis to Revelation, we find that part of man’s core calling is to lead (other men, women, children, the church, etc). Part of being created as male in God’s image means that men are accountable to God to lead. As Paul is giving specific direction to Timothy about the roles and responsibilities of elders/pastors, he is very clear that preaching in the gathered church setting should be reserved for males. Paul is giving Timothy a distinct application for the New Testament church of the overarching biblical theology of gender.

We believe that women, because they are created in God’s image, have infinite worth and value, equal to that of men.

One note of importance is that Paul, and the leadership of Grace, are not making value statements by implementing these applications and guidelines. Like any family, organization, sports team, etc. there are always capacities, roles, and responsibilities that are required to fulfill their purpose. The perfect example given in the Scriptures is the Trinity. All three persons (Father, Son, Spirit) are fully God and have equal value. However, throughout the Scriptures we find mutual submission and self-imposed limitations in order to fulfill divine purpose. We believe that women, because they are created in God’s image (Genesis 1:26-27), have infinite worth and value, equal to that of men. We believe that women have unique capacities and abilities that reflect God’s image that men do not. As a church, we believe it is our responsibility to not only find opportunities to allow women to lead and serve that maximize their uniqueness but value their role in the same way that we value the roles of men.

Your question is one that fits into a much larger conversation(s) about the leadership of the local church, gender, spiritual gifts, etc. Unfortunately, a blog entry cannot adequately answer or respond to all of the issues that are raised when dealing with this topic. For further study on the issue I would encourage you to take advantage of the following resources:

If you are a part of the Grace Church family, or in the upstate of SC, we regularly have studies on gender as part of our women’s and men’s ministry. More information on those is available at:

www.mensroundtable.org
www.gracewomensministry.org

If you are not in the area, or you would like to read more on this issue, I would recommend the following books:

Eden Derailed by Matt Williams
Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by John Piper and Wayne Grudem
On Church Leadership by Mark Driscoll

What We Are Reading

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:53:00 +0000

You may or may not have noticed before, but there is a lot going on in the sidebar to the right. And one thing that is changing on a regular basis is What We Are Reading. You'll see the name of the book and the name of the pastor who is reading the book in parentheses. Sometimes the books end up in a Books Worth Reading Wednesday post where you can find out just what our pastors thought of their latest read. But, if you click on the links, you'll be taken to Google Books where the book is summarized, rated and reviewed by other readers.

Our current What We Are Reading list...

Surprised by Joy (Bill White)

The Meaning of Marriage (Scott Freeman)

Simply Jesus (Ryan Donell)

Forever (Dan Dather)

Radical (Chris McGowan)

What Is the Mission of the Church? (Jeremy Keever)

Sermon Recap | New Year's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 22:08:00 +0000

To start off the New Year, Middle School Pastor Daniel Moore taught at the Pelham Road Campus from Colossians 3:1-17 on Biblical guidance for living between the first advent of Jesus’ birth and the coming advent of His return.

Paul wrote to the church in Colossi to refute false teachings which led believers to seek security in Christ through works, constant devotion, and emotion. As chapter 3 unfolds, Paul transitions from presenting the Gospel to all readers. Here, he begins preaching the Gospel specifically to believers to remind them of their need to live a life in anticipation of Christ’s return. It is important for nonbelievers to understand that this chapter does not pave a road to salvation. Grace through faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior is the only path to salvation.

Chapter 3 opens with Paul’s appeal to the church to remember the reality of Heaven and the work of Jesus Christ above all worldly things. He affirms that each believer’s real life has been “hidden with Christ in God”. As believers, when we died to our old lives and were raised up in new life with Christ, we underwent a transformation from the heart out. It was the power of God in our lives that changed us to reflect His glory, not our own. For this reason, God has called us to constant growth. He is at work each day on our behalf to “make us secure in Him”. Without direction, we are bound to swing on a prideful pendulum between self righteousness and indifference to the grace of God.

Verses 5-9 speak to the nature of sin in our lives. Even in our pursuit of Jesus, we sin each day. Though that sin has already been forgiven through Christ, we are in a restoration process, and it must be extricated from our lives. Removing sin requires utter, and often painful, honesty. Yet, our holiness should take precedence over our reputation because we are saved for God’s glory and not our own. “Holiness starts in our heart” and gives way to new desires, drivers, and behaviors. Therefore, trusting God is the essential for His true life transforming power to take over, and constant repentance is required in this. Thus, we must repent of both “bad works and good works done with the wrong motivations”.

In verses 10-11 Paul writes that who we were, our physical descriptions, and where we come from are insignificant matters in light of Jesus. We have been remade with a new nature which He has given to us. Jesus is all that matters. And so, as believers, we must seek our identity and affirmation in Christ. In doing so, we are anticipating His return and implementing what has already happened in our lives, our transformation. Hence, we must start with the work of Jesus Christ, remembering what has already been done for us. We “are not completely holy yet”. We must be “renewed to know the Creator and to be like Him.”

The third passage speaks to the heart we must have in representing Christ. Community is an essential component for developing this in our lives; we cannot do it on our own. As a church, “we are defined by God” and are called to grow in Him. This involves forgiving others as we have been forgiven and loving others as we have been loved.

“We are becoming now what we will one day be perfect in.” Here on Earth, the foundation is built on repentance, destroying sin in our lives, and loving God above all else, because “the grace that saved us sustains us. “ The Christian faith begins with transformation by grace through faith and repentance. Every day after that transformation, that faith is sustained still with grace through faith and repentance.

Applications

What are your motivations? Is holiness behavior or new affections which stem from the heart?
What are you anticipating? Are you living based on the Gospel or drifting to self justification?
Where are you stepping outside of grace? Are you running away from God to clean yourself, or are you running to Him for His cleansing?

-Katie Gural

To listen to or download Daniel's sermon, click here.

End of Year Message From Matt

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 20:10:00 +0000

As we bring 2011 to a close, on behalf of the Elders, staff and all the leadership of Grace Church, I want to say thank you for your generosity over this past year.

Every dollar you have given has been used to disciple children, students and adults. You have provided medical care, food and clothes for the poor in Greenville, Allendale County, Nicaragua, Eleuthera and Kenya. Through your efforts of compassion, the gospel has been made credible to a hurting and skeptical world. You have helped to train pastors and launch a new generation of entrepreneurs. As Grace has continued to grow in numbers, we have worked to make sure we have excellent pastoral staff who can provide for the diverse and ever-growing shepherding needs of our congregation. Your generosity has made all this possible.

As our church has grown over the last 16 years so have the opportunities God is bringing to us and so have our financial obligations. We have new leaders that need to be trained, materials, resources and curriculum to be developed, campuses to be launched, churches to be planted and, of course, ministry partners in other countries who depend on our support. Our financial need has never been greater and our need for everyone in our congregation to be involved has also never been greater.

Jesus talks about giving almost more than any other topic because He knows our money is close to hearts. The Apostle Paul challenges the Corinthians to follow Jesus in their giving, highlighting it as a discipleship issue in which we need to "excel".

7 But as you excel in everything-in faith, in speech, in knowledge, and in all eagerness and in the love from us that is in you-make sure that you excel in this act of kindness too. 8 I am not saying this as a command, but I am testing the genuineness of your love by comparison with the eagerness of others. 9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich. (2 Corinthians 8)

As Vicki and I think about our giving, we feel privileged to be able to give to Grace because we could never be able to be a part of so many different kinds of ministry in so many places on our own. This is the beauty of being even a small part of the body of Christ and having the gifts we bring be multiplied by Him.

There are only a few days left in 2011 so we are asking that you pray about how the Lord might lead you to give here at the end of the year. We have just come through a season where we are tempted to focus so much on ourselves, but as followers of Jesus we know that we are to use our resources to gain riches in heaven that can never be destroyed.

Thank you for your generosity,

Matt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are several ways to give...

Online:

http://gracechurchsc.org/contact/online-giving

At the office:

You can drop your check by the church office tomorrow (Thursday, December 29) between 9am and 5pm.
The church office will be closed after 5pm Thursday and will not reopen until 9am on Tuesday, January 2.

Dropbox:

If you come by the church office after 5pm on Thursday, you can drop a check in the locked drop box located next to the side office door at the Pelham Road Campus (2801 Pelham Rd, Greenville 29615).
Please write your specific campus on the memo line of your check.

Stock:

If you would like to transfer stock for your contribution, please give your broker the following information: USAA account number 15426398, Grace Church DTC #0367.
Also, please notify Caleigh Mayerlen at the church office so we can acknowledge your contribution (864-284-0122).

FAQ Friday: What Does Christmas Mean to You? (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

We asked several staff members what Christmas means to them so between yesterday's and today's posts we'll share our thoughts of Christmas with you. Please let us know what this season means to YOU by leaving a comment below.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas has always meant Christmas music, my favorite weather, the smell of a real tree, family traditions, Christmas Adam (December 23 - the day before Christmas Eve), kids being out of school, and peanut butter fudge (among hundreds of other snacks). But more and more, Christmas is becoming a season where I embrace the challenge of being purposeful and intentional in my worship. This Christmas, I am finding that the real beauty of this season is simply remembering that God not only came to be with us, but He continues to come again and again in my life and my heart.

-Ed Sweeny, Pastor of Children and Families

It's a time to contemplate the fact that Jesus became like me. He didn't just come and suffer for 33 years--he was changed eternally for me.

-Jim Taylor, Media/Baptism

For me Christmas is always a time of wonderment. It makes me full of “wonder” for two reasons: One because of the amazing story of how God became man and dwelt among us and two because at Christmas even the meanest people become kind for the season (most people that is). Isaiah 9:6 predicted that the Christ child would be the “Prince of Peace,” the one who would bring peace. He has affected even non-believers by his coming, even though they may not acknowledge his lordship. He came to bring peace between God and man, peace between men, and one day complete peace.

-Patrick Shealy, Community Groups Pastor

Spending time with family and creating new family traditions for our young family.

-Mia Huffman, Data Specialist

In the past few years, Christmas has brought with it a desire to understand the context of Jesus' birth, so this year's Arrival teaching series scratched that itch, and gave me a few more as well. My oldest son has gotten to an age now where he takes more interest in understanding the stories of the Bible, and my wife and I have loved the opportunity the Christmas season brings to establish new traditions as a family. One simple one we enjoy is reading Christmas books before the kids’ bedtime. Each night we gather together in the living room and read 1 or 2 books the kids choose, and always finish with a couple stories from the Jesus Storybook Bible. This has been a great way for us to engage in conversations regarding what the birth of Jesus means, and why we celebrate Christmas. It is my hope that, in addition to keeping the focus of Christmas in step with the story of Christ, we are building tradition together as a family that we will all look on fondly in the future. Christmas does come with memories for me, as it does most people. Some look with hope on the Christmas season for the deposits of joy it brings, and others enter the season with wounds from the past and present. I have done both, and I am so thankful that the story of Christ is one that intersects both. When we enjoy Christmas together with family, we get a small glimpse of the harmony and glory that we will be a part of for eternity. When we struggle, Christmas can remind us that Jesus entered the world, struggled with us, and will one day restore all things so that we will no longer struggle.

-Chris McGowan, Pastor to Guests

Christmas brings a warmth that no other time of year does. The songs, the chill in the air, the hot chocolate, the cider, the closeness of friends and family, and a couple of extra days to slow down all help remind me why and what we celebrate each year. Christ gave up heaven so that he could live in a broken world and die for me. I’m thankful for everything that surrounds Christmas because all of it together reminds me of what He’s done for all of us.

-Sabrina Fields, Communications Planner

Christmas is a time to reflect on the season of the year as well as your own season in life, a time to pause from the daily trappings of life and work, a time to enjoy with family and children (and grandchildren!), and a time to dwell on the impact of Christ's birth.

-Jeff Randolph, Culturally Engaged: Domestic Director

FAQ Friday: What Does Christmas Mean To You? (Part 1)

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

We asked several staff members what Christmas means to them so over the next two days we'll share our thoughts of Christmas with you. Please let us know what this season means to YOU by leaving a comment below.

Merry Christmas!

To me, Christmas means it's "His Birthday First." This phrase came from an old radio drama telling the story of a child born on Christmas day in the mid-1950's. The drama tells snippets of the boy's life through his teens. As he grows up, he realizes December 25 is not about his own birthday presents and parties. It's all about the greatest gift ever given: Jesus Christ - God's Son & our Savior. This story reminds me to focus on Jesus, not the holiday gatherings, gifts, and chaos the world tells me is most important.

-Sherry Taylor, Culturally Engaged Project Coordinator

Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year and I have many great memories of Christmas traditions with my family growing up. I have been known to break out the Christmas music in July, which annoys most of my family but holds me off until it comes on the radio in December. As a child/adolescent, I'm sure my focus was more on the presents, food, parties, etc. that accompanied Christmas. While I still enjoy those things, it is now definitely a season to remember how blessed I am by the arrival of Christ and all that He did for us on earth and on the cross.

-Scott Freeman, Community Groups Pastor

For me, Christmas is a time where the world finally slows down, leaving us with extra time to focus on the best things in life: our faith, our family, and our friends.

-Nate Emory, Cultor House

Christmas is a time to be with family and rejoice in the grace he has shown to our family. We love being together as a family, which highlights the fact that God sent His only Son to earth so that we might be His family rather than His enemies.

-David Allston, Ministry to Singles

Christmas to me means Reflection, Tradition, and Relaxation! From the words of my favorite carols to the unwrapping of gifts, the entire Christmas season causes me to remember all that Christ is and all that he has done for me. Like most, my Christmas is filled with seasonal rituals. Cutting down the perfect tree, attending a Christmas Eve Service, watching my kids come downstairs Christmas morning and eating my grandmother’s fried okra are all Christmas traditions that I look forward to each year. And finally, Christmas means spending crazy amounts of time hanging out with my family - playing silly games, watching old movies, and eating lots of leftovers.

-Jeremy Keever, The Institute and Discipleship

Christmas means something different to me every year. It depends on the state of my heart, where I am in my relationship with Jesus, what's going on in my life. The years I have been pregnant at Christmastime, I see the reality of Mary's experience with a heightened awareness and sensitivity. Some years it sneaks up on me, when I have found myself preoccupied with the holiday of an experience, not the celebration of Christ's coming, and I feel a disappointment for missing the moment. Every year is different, as my understanding grows of the sacrifice Christ made when He was born in flesh. The decorations, gifts, food, and growing family remain a constant every year; I think I am thankful for a Savior who continues to come very unexpectedly into my heart to change me for His glory.

-Molly Burns, Children's Ministry Saturday Night Coordinator

I would describe the Christmas Season as "Enjoyable Stress". There are the typical pressures of extended family time, company parties, Christmas cards, shopping, gift-giving and kids out of school but there is also a spiritual stress of keeping a correct perspective which is harder than it seems. Compared to typical "stress" throughout the year, this one is actually kind of warm, pleasant and familiar.

- Matt New, Web Development/Graphic Design

Special Christmas Eve Offering

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

Take a minute and think about how your life would be affected if you or your spouse lost a job. Ponder that for a moment……… What if you had been out of work for a year? What if you were a single mom with no idea how you are going to pay the mortgage next month? What would Christmas look like for you and your family? These are just a few of the situations and questions being faced by REAL people in our congregation. Although we as a church are doing what we can to help some of these people get though difficult seasons of their lives, we would like to be able to help others more when legitimate needs arise. So as a part of our Christmas Eve services we will be taking up a special Benevolence Offering that will go directly towards meeting needs in our church body and community. This offering will not only enable us to meet more immediate needs at Christmas time but also throughout the coming year. We as a church want to be more proactive and generous minded in reaching out to those who have real needs. This will enable us to more effectively minister to families going through some difficult times. Please start praying about a generous amount that you could give toward this special offering.

-Patrick Shealy, Community Groups Pastor

Sermon Recap | The Arrival - Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:04:00 +0000

This past weekend, Bill White spoke on the arrival of Jesus through the complexity of the incarnation and the extreme generosity of God.

It’s often hard to walk a mile in another’s shoes, as they say, let alone an entire lifetime. Without even thinking, each day we find ourselves pushing our opinions and judgments onto another person without truly understanding their circumstances or their heart. As believers, we recognize and admit our own sinfulness and the sinfulness of those around us, but we lack a true and deep understanding of the entire soul behind the brokenness. We recognize our need for an advocate, but our limited personal understanding cannot fully grasp the implications of that need. Divine intervention is our only hope. Yet a superhuman Jesus who never suffered or endured temptation could not be our sacrifice, and a fully human man could not live a perfect life in our place. We need Someone who is both fully God and fully man to ransom us. And that is Who God sent. For that reason, the incarnation was the greatest miracle the Earth has ever witnessed.

Hebrews 2:16-18 tells us that Jesus had to be exactly like us in every respect in order to plead for forgiveness on our behalf. These verses also clearly state that Jesus came to Earth incarnate for us, not for angels or anything else. He came to live the perfect life, free of sin, in our place. He endured suffering and temptation just as we do so that He could help us where we are.

The incarnation is critically important to the meaning of the Gospel; therefore, we must be careful to never deny it. Though we often find ourselves following our thoughts in many directions, even to truly good things, we must always be aware of our hopes and desires. “There is no deficit so great He cannot fill it. There is no delight so bountiful that He can’t make it pale in comparison.” Our imaginations need to be captivated by Jesus and His incarnation.

The reality of the incarnation rests on three main ideas.

2 Corinthians 8:9 touches on the extravagant generosity of God. Jesus forfeited all wealth and glory that was His by right to become poor for our sakes. From nothingness, God created all of the glory and wealth the world has ever known; He breathed it out as if it were nothing. Yet from His throne, God decided to confine Himself to a human experience of poverty and dependence. He surrendered His wealth so that we could become rich; He poured Himself out so that we could be filled.
John 1:1 and 1:14 describes Jesus’ humanity and confined state on Earth. The human mind cannot completely comprehend or capture the never-ending magnitude of God, let alone the implications of confining that existence to a human life. But we know that the Creator of the universe, the Alpha and Omega, stepped out of His eternal existence to be confined to time and space, to be limited in understanding with a need to learn and be cared for, and ‘became a few cells in a teenage girl’s womb’. That feeling of compression as ‘divine consciousness wedded human form’ is unfathomable for us.
Hebrews 5:8 exposes that Jesus, despite His divine position, had to learn obedience to His Father through suffering. He was a human, and therefore, in process just like us. Jesus came into a broken world and lived ‘under the weight’ of it to learn to trust the Father, walk by faith, and deny sin. Just as we do now, Jesus faced a constant enemy battling for His soul. He set the example for us when He turned to the scriptures, to His Father’s promise, to perform where we did not. He did what we were supposed to do so that we could be pardoned before God.

As we stand before those three vast realities, we see that the truth that stretches through the center of all of them is that the greatest gift we could ever imagine has already been given to us. Jesus laid down His rights as Creator of everything and confined Himself to human form to walk where we could not, to be obedient to His Father, and to demonstrate with striking wonder His love for us. We need to immerse our minds, hearts, bodies, and souls in that reality to see the way He loves us through the incarnation, because ‘if we are ever to be Christ like, it has to begin with being captivated by how He has already done that for us.”

-Katie Gural

Advent 2011 | Week 4

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Week 4 (December 18 – 24)
His Arrival and Beyond (The Visit of the Magi)
Songs: Joy to the World / Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

This is it. This is the week of Christmas. This is for what we have been waiting. The anticipation has been growing. I can’t wait to open my presents. Wait, I lost focus there for a little bit.

It is easy to get caught up in all of the fun “trappings”’ of the season and miss the whole reason for the anticipation. It is the anticipation of the Lord Jesus Himself. He is the whole reason we give gifts. It is all about the greatest gift that has ever been given. But as we think about his first Advent (coming), let us not forget that he is coming again. Live in anticipation.

We talk each year about not missing the reason for the season, but what do we do the rest of the year. We can have a great first advent celebration at Christmas but then think little about the Second Advent, his glorious return. Think about this for a moment. When Jesus came to earth, many did not recognize him as the Messiah because they were looking through the first advent to his second advent. They did not see two comings. They saw him as a conquering king and not as a suffering servant. They failed to see that he had to be the suffering servant before he would come back as conquering king. In some ways he conquered on the cross, but one day he will return to rule all.

The whole idea of “coming” which we celebrate in this advent season should make us think on the second coming of Jesus. Do you anticipate the Second Advent of Jesus? If not maybe the readings this week will help you anticipate him more.

The readings for this week are designed to lead us to worship Jesus. As you read these passages this week, be very intentional of not “missing the point” of it all.

Bible Readings:
The Visit of the Wise Men (Matthew 2:1-12)
The Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-20)
Presentation in the Temple (Luke 2:21-38)
The Preeminence of Jesus (Colossians 1:15-23)
Worthy is the Lamb (Revelation 5:1-14)
The Restoration of All Things (Revelation 21:1-7)
The Second Advent of Jesus (Revelation 22:6-21)

Questions for Discussion: As you reflect on this week’s Bible passages, here are some suggested questions that might help you reflect and talk about these things with your family and others.

1) What prevented Herod from recognizing Jesus as the true king? Why would others at that time have “missed the king?”
2) What makes this story of how Herod “missed the king” so tragic?
3) How do we try to remove the authority of Jesus from our lives today?
4) What do the circumstances of the birth of Jesus indicate about him?
5) How can you live in greater anticipation of the second coming of Christ?

Some of the questions and readings are adapted from Christ in Christmas: A Family Advent Celebration published by NavPress, © 1989

FAQ Friday | Will God Punish Cruelty Towards Animals?

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

This week, Shannan Wham, a member of our Pelham Road Campus, answered an anonymous question.

Will God exact justice and/or vengeance against those who are cruel and abusive to animals? Does God's jealous concern for His Creation extend to the animals as well?

When I sat down to respond to this question – once my eyes dried up from all the dust that had gotten into them mysteriously – I thought about the story an elderly preacher told of a boy about nine years old dying of cancer in the hospital. The child's parents, grandparents and other loved ones were still alive and he was afraid of being in Heaven alone without anyone familiar.

The preacher said,

Earlier in that year, the family's beloved and cherished bulldog had died and the young lad had helped his father bury that dear pet. Now, facing Eternity himself, the child looked at me and asked sincerely, "Preacher, when I get to Heaven, will Buster be there to meet me?" I knew this was no time for spouting any lofty theological suppositions, so I answered totally from my heart, "Son, Heaven wouldn't be Heaven if our furry friends aren't there to meet us. Don't worry, Buster will be waiting."

I believe as the preacher did that God does have a great concern for His animal creations and will not look lightly upon those who abuse them. That God is solicitous of the animals is well attested to by Scripture. In the first chapter of Genesis, God created the animals of the world on the fifth and sixth days and when He looked at the fruits of His labor, He “Saw that it was good.” Later on in Genesis as God prepares to punish the Earth with the Flood, He instructs Noah to build the Ark, not just to save Noah's family and not only to save animals meant for food, but to save representatives of ALL the animals God had created. If God did not care for the animals He created, why would He require such a mighty labor from Noah in order to save them?

The Law of Moses is also laden with provisions to prevent cruelty to animals. Men are not allowed to cover or muzzle the mouth of an ox used to turn the millstones to grind corn but must allow the animal to eat the grain that falls into the animal's path. The Law even permits “work” on the Sabbath day to rescue an animal that has fallen into a hole. In the Midrash, which is the rabbinic commentary on the Mosaic law, even the slaughter of animals for food is addressed with procedures meant to ensure as little distress and pain to the animal as possible. It says in part, “in Kosher slaughtering, the Sochet (Jewish slaughterman) must perform the slaughter in a single, swift, uninterrupted sweep.”

Perhaps the most famous incident of God's concern for an animal in the Old Testament is in the story of Balaam the prophet in Numbers 22. Balaam was hired by the King of Moab, one of Israel's enemies, to put a curse upon the Children of Israel as they journeyed towards the Promised Land. As Balaam was on his way to meet with the king, God sent an angel to oppose Balaam. His faithful donkey saw the angel though Balaam could not and refused to carry his master within range of the angel's sword. After Balaam had beaten the loyal animal three times, God gave the donkey power to speak and at the same time opened Balaam's eyes to the angel in the way. The donkey explained why he had stopped and would not go on and when that did not satisfy Balaam, the angel spoke to Balaam and said, “Why did you beat your donkey those three times? I have come to block your way because you are stubbornly resisting me. Three times the donkey saw me and shied away; otherwise, I would certainly have killed you by now and spared the donkey.”

The New Testament also has references to God's love and concern for His animal creations. In Matthew 10, Jesus is sending out His Twelve for their first missions and He warns them of the opposition and danger they will be facing. To ease their fears, however, He tells them how God His Father is so concerned with all His creatures that “not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.” Imagine, the One who created the universe is so in touch and shows such concern for His Creation that He personally acknowledges the passing of the least of His creatures!

Finally, we have to realize God despises cruelty in any form to any creature, man or animal. Mankind was given rule over the animal kingdom, but right of rulership does not give rights to treat a ruler's subjects cruelly. As rulers over the animals, we are tasked with tending God's literal flocks properly just as we must strive to reach His spiritual flocks as well. I feel the last word on how we should treat our animal charges – and everyone and everything everywhere – can be found in the little Old Testament book of Micah when the prophet tells the people

O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.

If we do what is right and we love mercy, it goes without saying that we will not be cruel to animals and if we are cruel to animals, we are breaking one of God's commands and God, though slow to anger, will not allow His commands to be broken without punishment.

Books Worth Reading Wednesday | Foreign to Familiar

noreply@blogger.com (Sabrina) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 14:00:00 +0000

I just returned from a short -term mission trip to Kenya. It was my fifteenth short-term international trip in the past 6 years. My trips over the past few years have taken me to three different continents where I have had the privilege of being exposed to many different cultures. Because each culture is different, it is always a major challenge to adapt to the norms of the local culture without being disruptive or offensive. While each culture is distinct and unique, I have found some similarities in a number of the places I have visited. It has truly been a learning experience for me as I have tried to minister the gospel in such diverse contexts.

In her book, Foreign to Familiar, Sarah Lanier paints some broad stoke cultural differences that can be helpful to anyone engaging a different culture. This very simple read is helpful in giving some basic guidelines for navigating on foreign soil.

Each chapter of the book explores some major differences between what she calls hot climate and cold climate cultures. Although she boldly admits that there are exceptions to the rules, Sarah shows how most cultures fit nicely into her categories. For example, hot climate cultures (Nicaragua, Mexico, Africa, etc.) tend to be more relationship based while cold climate cultures (North America, Northern Europe, Israel, etc.) are more task oriented. Knowing and understanding such a basic distinction can help us avoid some common cultural blunders as we are trying to connect in different environments. Other chapters describe the differences in terms of direct versus indirect communication, individualism versus group identity, inclusion versus privacy, etc. In each chapter she does a nice job of giving personal examples of misunderstandings that could easily be avoided by and better understanding of the cultural distinctives.

This short book (130 small pages) is a good first step to understanding some of the common cultural differences that exist in various countries around the world. And although the categories are wide sweeping generalizations, they do provide a framework to help understand some basic differences. I would recommend this book for anyone who plans on going on a short-term Culturally Engaged trip in the coming years.

- Jeremy Keever, The Institute and Discipleship