Crossroads tomorrow is at 7:30pm in the Basement Auditorium. Come early for coffee at 7pm.

The picture above should tell you what the message will be about...Vince will be teaching us on relationships from the book of Ruth and how Christians should think about pursuing a guy-girl relationship. I hope you can make it!

Crossroads meeting is tomorrow night at 7:30pm in the Basement Auditorium. We will sing together, hear God's Word preached, and eat great food and enjoy fellowship afterwards...

My dear friend Stuart McCray will be preaching from Matthew 6:25-34 on the Father's care for His children (as a part of our current series, "I'm Adopted").

We will also be welcoming the graduating high school seniors for the first time.

I hope you can make it!

Just a friendly reminder: We have our monthly Crossroads meeting tomorrow night at 7:30pm in the Basement Auditorium.

We began a new series last month called "I'm Adopted" on the topic of adoption. We are continuing the series with a message from Romans 8:12-17 titled "Living as God's Children." What does it look like for us to live as those who have God as our Father? How does our Father in heaven want us to live? These are the questions that I will seek to address in the message.

 Come early for coffee & fellowship starting at 7!

Crossroads this Thursday night will start at 7:30pm with a time of singing, then we are starting a new teaching series on God's adoption called "I'm Adopted." I will be preaching from Eph. 1:5-6.

Come early for coffee and hang out! I hope to see many of you there...

The Crossroads meeting scheduled for tomorrow night is CANCELED due to weather.

Since we had to cancel the last Sunday's meeting as well, we've gone a while without hearing God's Word preached. I want to encourage you to find time to listen to preaching today or tomorrow. Here's a message by John Piper that I've benefited from tremendously.

Enjoy the snow!

We are having a worship & prayer night, where we'll have the opportunity to spend an extended period of time singing & praying to God and for one another.

Please be praying and expecting God to meet us in a significant way. Come early for coffee starting at 7pm!

Here's a review of Avatar by Russell Moore.

The Most Newsworthy Events of 2009 by Dr. Al Mohler.

I will be preaching a message titled "Knowing God through Afflictions" from Ps. 119:65-72. Come early for coffee starting at 7!

I want to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving! At our dinner table this past week, my family and I have recounted things that we are grateful to God for. It was a very edifying exercise stimulating our hearts to give thanks to God for all His blessings. Here's a thoughtful reflection on Thanksgiving by Dr. Mohler. Enjoy your day tomorrow!

We have our monthly Crossroads meeting tomorrow night. We have a guest speaker named Albert Turner, who is currently attending the Sovereign Grace Ministries' Pastors College. The meeting starts at 7:30pm. Come early for coffee at 7, and invite your friends! I hope to see many of you there...

It is becoming increasingly important for Christians to understand Islam in order to know how best to engage with our Muslim friends about the Gospel.

Dr. Berty Abdelmasih, the head researcher at Barnabas Aid, a McLean based organization dedicated to helping the persecuted Church, is currently presenting a series on Islam designed to equip Christians to lovingly and effectively present the gospel to Muslims in a way that they can relate.

The four remaining classes and their topics are:

Oct 20: How to Introduce the Bible to Muslims

Oct 27: God's Plan of Salvation

Nov  3: Islam and Jesus Christ

Nov 10: Islam and the Trinity

The classes are held on Tuesday evenings at the church building, from 7:30-9:00pm in Room 102.

Os Guiness is coming to do a lecture and Q&A at GMU on Thursday, 10/29 at 12:00pm & 7:30pm as a part of the Veritas Forum. This looks really interesting. Several of your pastors (myself included) are planning on going to this (probably the 12pm session). If you want to find out more information about this, you can click on the Veritas Forum link above. I hope to see many of you there!

We have our monthly Crossroads meeting this Thursday at 7:30pm in the Basement Auditorium. We're continuing the series we started last month called "Knowing God". Vince Hinders will preach from Ps. 19 on knowing God through His Word.

Please pray that God will meet us and that Jesus Christ will be exalted in our midst as the Spirit does His work! Come early for coffee at 7pm.

We're starting a 4-part series on "Knowing God" and I'll be preaching from 2 Cor. 4:6.

Looking forward to experiencing God's grace together! Come early for coffee/fellowship starting at 7pm.

We have some serving opportunities at the upcoming Car Wash & Yard Sale on Saturday, September 12 from 8am-12pm. We're looking for people for set up, washing cars, parking cars, working in the kitchen, etc. This will be a great chance for us to meet the people in our community and serve and bless them in practical ways. Also, it's always a lot of fun to serve together with others in the church!

If you are available to serve, please contact Mary Echegoyen at the church office SOON!

The Desiring God Blog has a helpful list of questions to consider and discuss before popping the question.

The best part about this list?  You don't need a significant other to start asking yourself many of these questions in preparation.  If your goal in dating or courting is marriage, these questions can serve you in your current season.

What questions / topics on this list caught your attention?  Were there any you hadn't really thought that much about previously?

Luke

There will be an opportunity to fill out a survey to express your interest in serving in different areas at Crossroads (we did it last month, but we're doing it again in case some of you missed the meeting last month), so please be thinking about where you want to serve!

Instead of the 4th Thursday meeting, we have a care group meeting this week. If you do not know what your care group is doing this week, please contact your care group leader. Thanks!

At Crossroads last Thursday,  Steve preached from Philippians 4:8 a message titled "Think". God's call on our thoughts in Philippians 4:8 is worth being reminded of in any and all situations, even before we embark on any of life's seemingly routine activities.  As Steve reminded us, we're never not thinking about something.  Our minds truly are a 24/7 battlefield. This quote from Abraham Kuyper can be fully applied to what we think:

There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, “Mine!”

Here are a few questions for application as you move forward:

• As you've examined your thoughts in light of this verse, what have you found?  What words would describe your thoughts?

• How do your thoughts impact the state of your soul?  What examples of this impact (good or bad) can you think of from your life?

• How important is it to examine the things we take in (e.g., music, tv, movies, gossip, even social time, etc.) as we seek to think about things that are "commendable" and "worthy of praise"?

• Steve encouraged us to confess sin in this area to God and also to confess it to others.  If God has granted you conviction in the area of your thoughts, what's your next step in regards to confessing?  How can you pull others in for accountability?

• What does it look like to think on things that are true, pure, and excellent?  How does this verse call us toward Christ?

If you haven't already, let me encourage you to consider taking some time to examine your heart in light of this verse.  Seek the gracious help of the Holy Spirit in this process.  Remember, change in this area is possible because of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. That, friends, is worth thinking about.

Luke

This is the last message in our series on the book of Philippians called "Worth Everything". Steve Whitacre will be preaching a message on Philippians 4:8 titled "Think". Looking forward to seeing you all there!

We will not have the 4th Thursday Meeting this week. But instead, each Care Group will be doing something as a group (relational activity, evangelistic activity, etc.). If you have not already, you will be getting an email from your care group leader shortly.

Yesterday, Sovereign Grace released their second kids album To Be Like Jesus. You can check out the CD here. You can also get sheet music for the songs here.

Last Thursday, Seita preached a message from Philippians 3:17:

Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.

I hope each of you was stirred to consider the benefits of keeping our eyes on those we can imitate as we seek to grow in godliness and in counting all things as loss compared to knowing Christ.  While this verse requires something of us, it is also a reminder of yet another way God has provided for our needs through the local church.

As you examine your own heart and life in light of this verse, here are a few questions you can ask yourself:

1. Who in your life (past or present) have you benefited from imitating?  What evidence of God's grace in there life was especially desirable to you?
2. What is one way you could pursue a relationship with someone whose example and experience you could benefit from?
3. What are some questions you could ask a person like that?  What areas of your life could benefit from receiving wisdom from outside yourself?  Career?  Relationships?  Theology?  Spiritual disciplines?

Luke

Still continuing the series "Worth Everything", I will be preaching from Philippians 3:17 a message titled "Imitate" about the importance of the example of mature Christians in our lives.

Come early for coffee starting at 7pm!

Curtis Allen, aka "Voice", has a new album called "A Theist" out on Amazon and iTunes for download.

You can listen to a few of his songs from this album on his myspace page.

"The church has reached a basic moral consensus on issues of violence and governmental obedience, and this consensus requires that Christian citizens work within legal, judicial, and political means to persuade governing authorities concerning what is good, right, just, and honoring to God.  Those who operate outside of this consensus and perform acts of violence are rightly understood to arrogate authority to themselves in a way that violates not only the laws of men but the law of God.  Civil disobedience may be justified so long as the Christian is willing to suffer at the hands of the governing authorities, but is not justified if the citizen employs violence against the state or against other citizens."

Read the whole thing here.

We have received outstanding teaching at Next. Having heard the teaching from God's Word, we now have the responsibility to be "doers of the Word" (James 1:22). Here is a document designed to help you apply what you heard at the conference and discuss it with your friends. Don't waste your Next conference!

Because we (many of us) just came back from Next, there will be no 4th Thursday meeting tomorrow night. Have a great night off!

I'll be preaching from Philippians 3:8 and continuing our series Worth Everything. Please pray for the Spirit's illumination as I prepare to preach God's Word!

I know many of you students are having finals and papers right now. I am praying for you from Eph. 3:14-21. May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith in the coming days!

Due to previously unforeseeable circumstance, we need to CANCEL our 4th Thursday Meeting tomorrow night. We will postpone our discussion on relationship until a later date. Thanks for your understanding!

Just a friendly reminder: We have the 4th Thursday Meeting this Thursday at 7:30pm in the Basement Auditorium. Vince will be with us to lead us in a discussion on the topic of guy/girl relationship. Looking forward to seeing you all tomorrow night!

Seita preached a message at Crossroads last week from Philippians 1:6 -- a single-sentence verse that contains a lifetime's worth of encouragement, hope, joy, and fuel for perseverance.

And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Here is a couple of questions for application:

• Are you currently discouraged with sin in your life? If so, what are you tempted to believe about God and your sin?  How is that different than what this passage tells us about God?
• When facing sin in the life of a friend or family member, are you more aware of his/her actions or what God is doing and will do?

And one question for reflection (see Psalm 9:1-2):

• Look back over the last two years.  What is one area in your life that you can see evidence of God having continued His work in you?

I hope you were encouraged by the truth found in Philippians 1:6.  There is no doubt that we will need to be grounded in this truth over and over until the day of Jesus Christ. God Himself began a work in you and He will complete it.

Luke

As I mentioned at the Crossroads Meeting last Thursday, Vince Hinders will be with us for the 4th Thursday Meeting on 4/30. The topic will be relationships. In preparing for this meeting, we would like to hear any questions you may have about guy/girl relationship (Is there a "Sovereign Grace way" to do relationships? Does the guy need to talk to the girl's dad before he can ask her out? etc. etc.) Please send any questions to Vince or me via email. Thanks!

We are continuing our series titled "Worth Everything" from the book of Philippians. I will be preaching from Philippians 1:6. Please be praying that God will meet us through His Spirit and speak to us through the preaching of His Word.

If you have reserved a hotel room for the Next conference through the church, the deadline for the payment and finding roommates is tomorrow, 3/31. If you have not paid online, you can go to our church website and make a payment there under "Church Life" and "Event Registration". If you have any questions, please contact Katherine Sawyer at the church office.

Who is the Holy Spirit and what does He do? What are the spiritual gifts? What does it look like for us to "earnestly desire the spiritual gifts" (1 Cor. 14:1)? These are some of the questions we'll address together.

If it has been a while since you thought deeply about the Holy Spirit and what He does in your life, I hope out time together will help you gain a fresh appreciation and deeper desire for the ongoing presence and activity of the Holy Spirit. Hope to see you all there!

A great article titled "The Cross and Criticism" is available online. Some of you may have read it before, but it's definitely worth reading, re-reading, etc. It is a great resource for  understanding how to receive and give biblical correction.

Last Thursday at Crossroads, Vince preached from Philippians 2:1-4 on "Living for Others".   Here are a few questions you can use as  you seek to apply this passage of Scripture to your heart and life:

   1. What motivates us to live for others and not ourselves?
   2. In what areas do you see yourself motivated by rivalry, conceit, and your own interests?  What does that look like?
   3. How would you go about battling sin in order to count others more significant and to look out for their interests?
   4. What might it look like practically for you to count others as more significant?
   5. How are you currently looking out for the interests of others in the church?

Please beware the temptation to skip too quickly over Question #1.  Vince reminded us that living for others is a response on our part to the Gospel.  Verse 1 of this passage starts with "If there is any encouragement in Christ..."  Let your soul dive deep into Question #1 and grab all the joy, encouragement, and love it can in order to fulfill the commands of verse 2-4.

 Luke

We have our monthly Crossroads meeting this Thursday at 7:30pm in the Basement Auditorium. We're continuing our series titled "Worth Everything" from the book of Philippians. Vince Hinders will be preaching from Philippians 2:1-4. Please pray that God will send His Spirit to encourage His people. Come early to hang out and for coffee at 7pm!

Check this out.

We have our 4th Thursday Meeting this Thursday at 7:30pm in the Main Auditorium. I will be interviewing Merritt Anderson on the topic of relational evangelism. When you hear the "e" word, what comes to your mind? Guilt? Fear? Or excitement? How should we think about this? God has called every Christian to partner with others in the work of proclaiming Christ and Him crucified. And I trust our time with Merritt will be tremendously helpful as we seek to grow in this area. I hope to see you all there!

Reilly will be playing a couple of shows this weekend in DC/MD area. For more information, you can go here.

We have our monthly Crossroads meeting tomorrow night at 7:30pm in the Basement Auditorium. We're back in our series on Philippians called "Worth Everything". Vince Hinders will be preaching from Philippians 2:5-11. Come early for coffee at 7pm.

We have a Worship & Ministry Night this Sunday, February 15th, from 6:30-8:00 p.m. in the Main Auditorium.  This is always a great opportunity to worship God together as a church family in an unhurried way, and God has always been faithful to meet up. I want to encourage everyone to come!

Coffee and refreshments will be served after the meeting in the Basement Auditorium.  Also, five15 will have a separate table set up in the Basement Auditorium for their Youth Mexico Trip Bake Sale Fundraiser. So buy some goodies and help our teens go to Mexico!

Facebook turned 5 yesterday. It seems that the majority of people in our singles ministry have a facebook account and use it on a regular basis. As with every other technology, facebook comes with opportunities to use it in a way that glorifies God, and with dangers of using it to sin against God and others. How should we think about facebook? (or any other social networking sites?) Dr. Al Mohler offers some helpful thoughts on his blog. Here's an excerpt:

"Never allow social networking to replace or rival personal contact and communication.  God made us to be social creatures that crave community. We cannot permit ourselves to substitute social networking for the harder work of building and maintaining personal relationships that are face to face."

 

"Set clear parameters for the time devoted to social networking.  These services can be seductive and time consuming.  Social networking (and the Internet in general) can become obsessive and destructive of other relationships and higher priorities for the Christian."

 

"Do all things to the glory of God, and do not allow social networking to become an idol or a display of narcissism."

 

You can read the whole thing HERE.

The registration for Next 2009 Conference (formerly New Attitude) just opened up. They unveiled the new name and launched a new website yesterday. More information regarding how to reserve a hotel room through our church (if you want to stay close with your friends from our church) will be posted later. But for now, I'd encourage you to check out the new website and find out more about the conference yourself. It looks great!

As Steve mentioned yesterday, the pastoral team will be on a retreat for the next couple of days. We would greatly appreciate your prayers. Please pray that God would give us wisdom and discernment as we seek to lead the church, and that He would refresh each of us as we seek Him and have fellowship with one another. Thanks!

I'm sure many of you saw the historic inauguration of Barak Obama on Tuesday on TV. Maybe some of you even went to the Mall in the bitter cold? As Christians, we are commanded to pray for our leaders (1 Tim. 2:1-2). Here's a helpful example of how we can pray for the new President from Al Mohler.

If you're interested, here's a fascinating story of what's been going on behind every speech that Obama has given, including his inaugural address.

We have our monthly Crossraods meeting this Thursday at 7:30pm. We're continuing our series in the book of Philippians called "Worth Everything". Vince Hinders will be preaching from Philippians 2:5-11. I look forward to experiencing God's grace together with you! Come early at 7 for coffee.

Just a friendly reminder, there is NO CAREGROUP tomorrow night. I wish you a very happy New Year! May the Lord bring you greater joy in Jesus Christ this coming year...

It's not too late to invite your neighbors, friends, etc. I hope to see many of you there!

Here's a great article on time management by R.C. Sproul. I often allow mundane moments in my life to pass without using that time productively. This short excerpt got me thinking about how I spend time that God gives me. I hope it will stimulate your thinking as well.

1. Are You Busy?
2. Confessions of a Busy Procrastinator
3. The Procrastinator Within
4. Just Do It

As Mark mentioned this past Sunday morning, our experiences in corporate worship on earth can be gracious foretastes of worship in heaven.  How encouraging it is to hear men raise their voices to proclaim and savor truths about Jesus Christ in lyrics like these:

He breaks the power of canceled sin;
He sets the prisoner free.
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood avails for me.

[I thank Stuart for the pointer.]

For those Christians who are more overjoyed than concerned about the prospects of an Obama presidency, there should be a remembrance of our ultimate allegiance: Jesus is Lord (and thus, He, not we, decides what is right and wrong), we serve God not man, and the Lord himself has promised to establish "the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him" (Malachi 3:18). Thus, where our new president opposes or undermines biblical moral standards in our society, fails to uphold justice for the unborn, undermines religious liberties or condones an ethos that is hostile to the Gospel, we will pray for God’s purposes to triumph over our President’s plans and policies.

Eric Redmond, an African-American pastor, shares his thoughts on what this election means for people like him who are both African-American and a pro-life Christian. 

Randy Alcorn, the Director of Eternal Perspective Ministries, shares his perspective on the outcome of this election and its implications for the cause of protecting the unborn. He also offers some helpful resources that you can get online to educate yourself about the issue of abortion.

Finally, Al Mohler, the President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, offers his counsel on how we as Christians should respond to this important election in the history of this country.