Jeff Sorvik will be our guest speaker on October 18, 2015. Jeff presently serves as the Director of Church Multiplication for the Evangelical Free Church of America. He also planted Anchor Point Community Church in Duluth, and oversees the Creo Collective – a network for pastors within the EFCA who are multiplying disciples, leaders, and churches together.
Follow Jeff on Twitter @jsorvik.
This Sunday the runners in the Twin Cities Marathon will be going through our neighborhood via Summit Avenue. If you coming to the Sunday Gathering from south of Summit, then you'll have no problem getting to 1935 Princeton Ave. However, if you're coming from north of Summit, then the only way though is Ayd Mill Road. Here is what we recommend:
Here is the written version of the Prayers of the People from last Sunday. We used this song by The Brilliance to structure the prayer, and we prayed for our church, our campuses, and our community and world. Here are the prayers: Church
Father, thank you for your grace and for calling us to this church family. We give you praise for how you have used your church through the centuries to bring radical change through proclaiming and living out the truth of the gospel of Christ. We give you praise for the work you've entrusted to us and accomplished through us these past 5 years, and we look to the future with hope knowing you will continue to use us, by your grace, to make all things new again.
We now pray for unity in this local community at Trinity City Church. Father, forgive us when we've overlooked another brother or sister in our midst and help us understand more fully your true vision for family and unity in the name of Christ. For all of us, may we continue to be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit and filled with an ever growing joy and passion for the Gospel of Christ. We ask you would continue to reveal areas in our lives that are not yet being given to you as acts of worship. Give us grace to live with each other as family and may this be a welcome place for the sick, weak, hurt and abandoned to be healed and experience the love of Christ.
Finally, you have called us to be a light in a dark world. Give us wisdom for how to be a blessing to our friends, neighbors, coworkers and friends in this community. May we not keep the hope and joy we've found in Christ to ourselves, but with eagerness welcome others in. We know none of this is possible in our own strength, but only through our savior, Jesus Christ.
Campuses
We praise you for your wisdom and knowledge of all things. As we as a people, and the students in our midst pursue education and deeper understanding, we thank you that we worship and intimately know the Creator of all knowledge.
For new freshmen, transfer students, new graduate and professional students, that they would find community and belonging in their new land.
For the role of education in your grand plan of redemption and renewal, we praise you.
For students faced with difficult and complex questions regarding their worldview, from either the classroom or their own questioning, may their pursuit of truth be freeing and satisfying as they see your goodness and sovereignty of all things.
For faculty, staff, and community member of campuses and surrounding neighborhoods, that we would be an encouragement and support in our interactions and spheres of influence with students.
For Tommies, Katies, Scotts, Gophers, and all other students, that the gift of education would be savored and cherished. We as a community join with you in prayer for this season of your life. We know that the leaders of the coming decades are now in classrooms. Jesus walk with them as they grow in wisdom and humility to lead the generations to come.
Community/World
O Lord, open our eyes, that we may see the needs of others. Open our ears, that we may hear their cries. Open our hearts, that they need not be without help. Let us not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong, nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich. Show us where love and hope are needed, and use us to bring them to those places. Open our eyes and ears, that this day we may do some work of peace for you.*
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* This prayer for the community and world comes from The Worship Sourcebook, 221.
The fourth season in Minnesota is upon us. Some call the season "summer," but especially for our neighborhood this year, the season is more accurately called "road construction." Macalester College posted helpful information about relevant road construction surrounding the MacGrove neighborhood. Consider these areas of construction as you travel to our neighborhood in general, and to our Sunday Gatherings in particular:
The Snelling Avenue bridge spanning I-94 will be closed May 10 through August 22. For access to [MacGrove] use alternate north-south streets such as Fairview Avenue or Hamline Avenue. The eastbound ramps to and from I-94 will also be closed. Use Lexington Avenue or Cretin Avenue to enter I-94 East.
There are lane closures along Hwy. 5 coming from the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport through late September.
Find more information at MnDOT.gov.
Find original photo here.
We are in the midst of Holy Week, which is when Christians around the globe celebrate the last scenes of Christ's life – especially his death and resurrection. Holy Week is another way that Christians focus on the gospel of Jesus Christ. What does "holy" mean? How does "holiness" relate to the gospel story, and God's mission for the church? As a local church, here is how we articulate this mission:
To glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ who join in the renewal of our city and world through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Is holiness a part of us joining God in the renewal of our city and world?
In order to answer this questions, watch this video by The Bible Project titled, "Animated Explanation of God's Holiness."
God's mission is to make us and the world holy – just like him. The word holiness, to use the language of our mission statement, is another way to understand renewal. When we join God in the renewal of our city and world, we're joining him as he makes all things holy.
Therefore, as the video so vividly shows us, let's join God as he makes all things holy in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Last weekend, many of us enjoyed the 2015 Retreat by playing black light dodgeball, sliding down a hill on a snow tube, and sitting beside a warm fireplace. We also considered the topic of prayer. Here are the notes from our time together, which includes the various resources that I referenced in our discussion.
On Sunday morning, we considered how the Lord's prayer both teaches us how to pray, and gives us a format for every prayer. Here are some resources for the Lord's prayer:
The Lord's Prayer for Corporate Worship
Here is the wording for the prayer we say at our Sunday Gatherings (adapted from Common Worship):
Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as [it is] in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours now and for ever. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer for Study
Here is a great resources to study the Lord's prayer – the New City Catechism. Question 41 is specifically about the Lord's prayer, but also consider questions 38 to 40:
Q 38: What is prayer? Prayer is pouring out our hearts to God in praise, petition, confession of sin, and thanksgiving.
Q 39: With what attitude should we pray? With love, perseverance, and gratefulness; in humble submission to God’s will, knowing that, for the sake of Christ, he always hears our prayers.
Q 40: What should we pray? The whole Word of God directs and inspires us in what we should pray, including the prayer Jesus himself taught us.
Q 41: What is the Lord’s Prayer? Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
May you come to the Father confidently in the name of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit!
Yesterday I preached a sermon about our new mission statement. The new mission statement is:
To glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ who join in the renewal of our city and world through the power of the Holy Spirit.
A mission statement answers the question, "What is the purpose of our local church?" Our statement is intentionally structured around each person of the Trinity (cf. 2 Cor. 13:14) because we want this central Christian belief to be prominent in every aspect of our life and ministry. Let's consider each part of the mission statement.
God's glory is the chief end of the entire Bible. The ultimate purpose of creation (Num. 14:21), God's people (Isa. 49:3), the exodus (Psalm 106:6-8), the ministry of Jesus (Jn. 17:4-5), the death of Jesus (Jn. 12:27-28), the Christian life (1 Cor. 10:31), and the new heavens and new earth (Rev. 21:22-23) is God's glory.
There are two implications of having God's glory as the ultimate goal of our mission. One, we take God's glory seriously all the time. Just as looking down the edge of the Grand Canyon should give us a sense of gravity, so too should beholding the glory of God give us a heavy sense of importance in our mission. Second, we don't take ourselves seriously at all. Our local church is a place to mess up, to grow, and to laugh because it is all about God and not about us.
Being a disciple, or follower, of Jesus Christ is the greatest calling someone can have. Who is a disciple of Jesus? A disciple is a person who responds to the call of Jesus to join in the renewal of all things.
Jesus embodied this calling and mission by not only forgiving sins but also by setting the oppressed free, making the blind see, and giving the dead life. These miracles of Jesus were not a magic act, but rather the Son of God restoring and renewing our world.
Renewal, therefore, includes:
How do we make disciples who join in the renewal of Saint Paul/Minneapolis and the world? In the Great Commission, Jesus gave us three ways disciples are made – by going, baptizing, and teaching (Matt. 28:18-20).
The reason why we're Christians today is because God used at least one person who went and proclaimed the gospel to us. Thus, we need to be deeply integrated into the lives and places of people who don't follow Jesus. We need to share our faith with our neighbors, and love them as ourselves. Some may come to faith in Jesus and be baptized through these relationships.
In addition, teaching and learning about the way of Jesus is a life-long task. Thus, we need relationships in our lives where others are teaching us how to follow Jesus, and where we are teaching others how to follow him.
Jesus calls his disciples to an impossible task. Fortunately, our Lord has given us help through the Holy Spirit (Jn. 16:7-8). The Holy Spirit empowers the church to join God in the renewal of all things. We cannot accomplish the mission without this help because to be a part of this renewal is to be a part of miracles. It is a miracle when someone comes to faith in Jesus Christ. It is a miracle when someone's character changes to become more like Jesus. It is a miracle that we are a part of making our city and world "as it is in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). Yet through the Holy Spirit, God uses us to be a means through which he accomplishes this end.
God is at work on our campuses, in our neighborhoods, in our city, and throughout the world restoring and renewing all things. May our Lord give us eyes to see the many ways we can join him.
Let's glorify God by making disciples of Jesus Christ who join in the renewal of our city and world through the power of the Holy Spirit.
_________
* The audio for yesterday's sermon is unavailable due to a technical error. However, here are the sermon notes that include footnotes to important resources that influence this mission statement.
** Here is a link to the picture above from @History_Pics.
In addition to reading the Bible in a year, another tool to grow in our love of God and his gospel is a catechism. What is a catechism? In short, it is theological Q&A.
Here are two examples. The first is from the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1648) and the second is from the Heidelberg Catechism (1563).
Question 1: What is the chief end of man? Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
Question 1: What is your only comfort in life and death? Answer: That I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
Why would you want to memorize this Q&A? The "Introduction" to the New City Catechism explains:
Today many churches and Christian organizations publish "statements of faith" that outline their beliefs. But in the past it was expected that documents of this nature would be so biblically rich and carefully crafted that they would be memorized and used for Christian growth and training. They were written in the form of questions and answers, and were called catechisms (from the Greek katechein which means "to teach orally or to instruct by word of mouth"). The Heidelberg Catechism of 1563 and Westminster Shorter and Larger Catechisms of 1648 are among the best known, and they serve as the doctrinal standards of many churches in the world today.
Consider memorizing the New City Catechism this year. Here are some features to this catechism:
May the Lord use both the Bible reading, and this catechism, to bring us closer to himself!
_________
* If you want to even go deeper into these questions, then consider reading the book Evangelical Convictions, which is a exposition of our Statement of Faith. We have copies you can use at the church office. The breakdown of that reading plan would be:
** The image above (via Wikipedia) is the first page from the 9th edition of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (1785).
"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." - Psalm 119:105, ESV
It is common for us to make new commitments at the beginning of a new year. Why not commit to reading the Bible, from cover to cover, once this year?
There are many different Bible reading plans to consider. I decided to make a plan just for our local church for the next year. Here are some features to this plan:
Here are different ways you can follow the plan:
May our Lord bless us through reading the Scriptures together!
Matthew, Mark (Synoptic Gospels with the Gospel of Luke grouped with Acts)
Luke, Acts (books by Luke)
Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon (books by Paul)
Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, and Jude (General Letters with the letters by John grouped with his Gospel and Revelation)
1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Gospel of John, Revelation (books by John)
A variety of people have been submitting questions for the next sermon series through email, text messaging, and social media. I requested questions that are common among our neighbors, friends, and family who struggle with the Christian faith, or who find some beliefs odd and hard to explain. When choosing which questions to answer, I chose some questions because of popularity and others for their uniqueness. So for the next ten weeks, our community will begin a conversation around these ten questions:
Oct. 19 - How do you know that Christianity is not man-made? Oct. 26 - Why is the church so dysfunctional and fractured? Nov. 2 - Do I need to choose between faith and science? Nov. 9 - Why don't Christians get to have any fun? Nov. 16 - Why not keep the Christian faith to yourself? Nov. 23 - How can God be merciful and so full of wrath at the same time? Nov. 30 - How can I trust my life to a God who keeps disappointing me? Dec. 7 - How can a loving God allow so much suffering? Dec. 14 - Where are Christians in immigration reform? Dec. 21 - How do we know the Bible is valid and true?
May the name of Jesus be honored through this series.
In the last couple sermons, I mentioned the documentary For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles. The documentary asks the question, "What is your salvation for?" The answer is similar to the book of Ephesians. God saved us to "walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called" (Eph. 4:1). What is the calling? Joining God as he reconciles and restores all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10). Or as the book of Colossians puts it:
[15] He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. [16] For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. [17] And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. [18] And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. [19] For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Col. 1:15-20)
Here is a breakdown of each episode:
EP1 Exile: Clear perspective on being in the world but not of it.
EP2 Love: Exploring God's design for family.
EP3 Creative Service: Is there more to life than the daily grind?
EP4 Order: How do we seek justice for the oppressed?
EP5 Wisdom: What is knowledge really for?
EP6 Wonder: Beholding the wonder of our God and creation.
EP7 Church: What is the role of the church in the world?
Each episode is available as a rental or a download. In addition, you can order the documentary in Blu-ray along with a guide.
The vision presented in this documentary is the same as Trinity's ethos. Our local church wants to join God in a movement of the gospel in order to see our city, and even all things, renewed in Christ.
Consider watching this documentary either personally or in a Community Group. If your Community Group is interested in watching For the Life of the World, let me know and I can set you up with the resources.
May our Lord grant us strength to comprehend how big his calling for us is (Eph. 3:14-21).
This post is written by Rosanne Wood and Desiree Anderson. Both Rosanne and Desiree served as coordinators for Speed BUMP at Trinity City Church from August 3rd to 6th. Rosanne is also the Administrative Assistant of BUMP for the EFCA. Speed bumps are placed to slow traffic. Part of Bridging Urban Mission Partnerships (BUMP’s) mission is to invite students in, up close and personal, to see the city’s beauty and challenges in light of God’s redemptive work while serving a partner EFCA church. The recent Twin Cities “Speed BUMP” included an abundance of waiting and changes, plans stalled or rerouted, orchestrated by a God who sees all things, does all things well and teaches us in the process.
“Speed BUMP” Twin Cities was a brand new endeavor for BUMP’s ministry. The vision: a shortened version of a BUMP week designed to partner Trinity City Church, which is a teaching and leader-developing church, with students desiring to learn, experience and serve in an urban setting. Calvary EFC, Rochester, MN, answered the call as the first incoming church.
Most missions experiences require waiting and include frequent changes. The waiting and redirecting can be frustrating from both an organizing and serving perspective. Teams have come to work, to learn, to do, and the longer the wait the less of these things that happen—at least that can be our perception. It’s quite possible, from God’s perspective, the more important work is being done.
Speed BUMP coordinators planned the work day at Salvation Army Eastside earlier this year by switching from Monday to Tuesday so the team would be together at the same location while serving in different capacities. Half the group would be with Jeff Ansorge preparing and serving food while the other half assisted in the classrooms for the summer day camp. At 8:05am on the scheduled day, Jeff called to let us know that the group would be helping with a BBQ and field trip to Como Park, the trip originally planned for Monday. It seemed God had a distinct plan to split the group as he rearranged the schedule.
Almost everyone on the team wanted to go to the park with the kids for the day, but half the group needed to stay behind. The leaders divided everyone up. When checking in on the day camp large group chapel time, some of the Calvary EFC kids expressed that they were overwhelmed. After discussing their discomfort, two more of their leaders agreed to leave the kitchen and join them for support. Nearly everyone in the group had their plans changed.
What did God reveal in the change? His strength in weakness. God took them from “overwhelmed” to “awesome” in a few short hours. “That didn’t even feel like work," one of the students remarked when the team returned. The Salvation Army camp kids loved having them along for the day and quickly became attached.
The next day a scheduling mix-up caused a two-hour late start with John Hutton and his church building projects. This also changed the service work from painting and landscaping to demolition. The team was excited to be allowed to make a mess while serving! The team obliterated a wall and the debris was everywhere—literally.
After finishing lunch, the group had one hour left to serve. The room where the demolition occurred was a disaster, and there was NO apparent way it would be possible to leave the area ready to use by the renting church congregation. Checking in on them 30 minutes later, the mess is looking better for sure, but again, reality says there is no way it is getting done. It seems it is time for plan B—start to think about who could come back and help clean the place up the next day after the team has gone.
Finishing well is really hard for adults and these kids were tired, having done demanding manual labor most were not used to. Another half hour and time was up; the team really had to get on their way. Stepping back in to check on their progress and it is shocking—it looked like no one was ever there! How did all that get cleaned up? One student shares, “We were able to get so much done in so little time!” God’s strength was sufficient in their weakness and weariness.
What did God reveal in the wait? “I can make a difference.” “God can do anything.”
Armed with the knowledge of God’s character, it seems likely those speed bumps and detours were strategically placed for God’s glory and the benefit of each participant. BUMP 2014 dubbed these moments #joyfullyflexible.
It’s possible that would have been trending from the church of Acts. Maybe they would have recognized it as walking in the Spirit. Speed BUMP gave everyone a chance to do just that. Seems like a pretty good take home from a missions trip.
One value of urban residents is the walkability of the neighborhood they live in. They want to be able to walk to the grocery store, coffeehouse, and playground from their home. This desire for a walkable neighborhood is drawing many people back to the urban core of Minneapolis/Saint Paul. As a local church with the vision to start new churches, we want to make the presence of gospel-loving churches walkable. This desire empowers our vision to start neighborhood churches beginning in Prospect Park.
Today the Wall Street Journal posted an article by Naomi Riely that features a local church in New Orleans with an emphasis on this "theology of place." The pastor of Redeemer New Orleans, Rev. Ray Cannata, "wants people to put down religious roots where they live" and to take responsibility for the neighborhood they reside in.
This old school idea is appealing to a new generation. As the article explains:
Millennials have lower rates of car ownership than their parents and grandparents, and not only for environmental or economic reasons. Many like the idea of living "in walking distance" to bars, coffee shops and even church. That might describe Eileen McKenna, a 20-something Redeemer member and violinist who moved to New Orleans with her husband, a drummer, a few years ago. She trains horses during the day and plays music in the evenings. She notes that the "church scene" is not a separate part of her life. "I see people at my church in my daily life" and at her music gigs as well.
New Orleans is certainly a different city than Minneapolis/Saint Paul yet urban residents of both share a desire for the walkability of the city.
Let's make the gospel walkable by starting new neighborhood churches through our city!
I often make the point at our church that the gospel is rapidly growing in areas around the world. Consider this story, written by Tom Phillips, from the UK newspaper The Telegraph that makes the claim, "China on course to become 'world's most Christian nation' within 15 years." Here is a portion of that article:
Officially, the People's Republic of China is an atheist country but that is changing fast as many of its 1.3 billion citizens seek meaning and spiritual comfort that neither communism nor capitalism seem to have supplied.
Christian congregations in particular have skyrocketed since churches began reopening when Chairman Mao's death in 1976 signalled the end of the Cultural Revolution.
Less than four decades later, some believe China is now poised to become not just the world's number one economy but also its most numerous Christian nation.
"By my calculations China is destined to become the largest Christian country in the world very soon," said Fenggang Yang, a professor of sociology at Purdue University and author of Religion in China: Survival and Revival under Communist Rule.
"It is going to be less than a generation. Not many people are prepared for this dramatic change."
China's Protestant community, which had just one million members in 1949, has already overtaken those of countries more commonly associated with an evangelical boom. In 2010 there were more than 58 million Protestants in China compared to 40 million in Brazil and 36 million in South Africa, according to the Pew Research Centre's Forum on Religion and Public Life.
Prof Yang, a leading expert on religion in China, believes that number will swell to around 160 million by 2025. That would likely put China ahead even of the United States, which had around 159 million Protestants in 2010 but whose congregations are in decline.
By 2030, China's total Christian population, including Catholics, would exceed 247 million, placing it above Mexico, Brazil and the United States as the largest Christian congregation in the world, he predicted.
"Mao thought he could eliminate religion. He thought he had accomplished this," Prof Yang said. "It's ironic – they didn't. They actually failed completely."
__________________
The picture above is from the article, "Why Chinese Christians are camping out to save their church and cross from demolition," by Xu Yangjingjing.
Since the beginning, our local church has celebrated the season of Lent including Holy Week. Here is an overview of everything going on this week at Trinity.
Maundy Thursday Meals - Community Groups will be eating meals and taking Communion with one another throughout the city on April 17th. Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper when Jesus broke bread and drank wine with his disciples for Passover (Matt. 26:17-30; Mark 14:12-26; Luke 22:7-39; and John 13:1-17:26). The word "maundy" comes from the Latin word "mandatum," which means "commandment," and refers to the "new commandment" from Jesus to "love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another" (John 13:34). Log onto the Table or contact Dave Berglund for more information.
Good Friday Service - Good Friday celebrates the death of Jesus on the cross. This service will focus on how the death of Jesus crushes our idols. The service will be held at 1935 Princeton Ave. at 7pm. Childcare is provided.
Easter Sunday Gathering - Easter celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This gathering will be a time of singing (including a choir), preaching on the resurrection, taking communion, and witnessing new Christians being baptized. Easter Sunday is one of the biggest parties of the year at Trinity. The Easter Sunday Gathering will be at 1935 Princeton Ave.
Easter Meals - Are you looking for a place to celebrate Easter around a meal? Our Community Groups are organizing two Easter meals after the Easter Gathering. For times and locations, contact Dave Berglund.
Finally, don't think that Advent is the only time of year to listen to seasonal music. I recommend listening to Good Friday to Easter by Page CXVI, Songs for Lent by New York Hymns, or Resurrection Letters Volume II by Andrew Peterson throughout the week to focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus.
CityLife Church, a partner church of ours in the city, is putting on a conference called ZipCode Calling. Here is the description from the Facebook event:
This one-day conference is an opportunity for Christian pastors, leaders, and those interested in learning more to actively engage the community to gain some tools for understanding the built environment (the way city sidewalks, streets, parks, and neighborhoods are designed and inhabited) and the unique ways churches can answer the call to love their neighbors through nurturing good places for people to live together.
Join us for 3 great speakers who will share about principles of urban design, how it affects the local community (for good or for bad), ways pastors and leaders can be effective in reaching their local community through the built environment, and why this matters.
You’ll also have the opportunity to participate in small group discussions, take a guided walking tour of the local neighborhood, and meet and talk with others about how these ideas can be fleshed out in local congregations and neighborhoods.
To RSVP, you must register online at [this link].
$25 for the day - this includes lunch and a copy of Tim Soeren's new book, The New Parish!
To get a preview of the content, read this article in Christianity Today by Tim Soren titled, "Planting the New Parish." Consider going to the conference or spreading the word to others.
By Charlie DeZiel, a Community Group leader at Trinity and a graduate of Bethlehem Seminary in Minneapolis with a M.A. in Biblical and Pastoral Studies. End can mean purpose or stopping point, and I mean it both ways. Quite a few of us think of marriage and children as ends in themselves, rather than a means to something greater. And as we go on thinking this, we hope for a blissful marriage and family life that will never end. But on both counts, the worldview of the New Testament (NT) is utterly different.
For starters, marriage and the biological family unit aren’t the most important types of interpersonal relationships in the New Testament. Christian fellowship is. The centrality of the broader faith family in these “last days” marks a significant change from the mindset of the Old Testament (OT). Where the OT focused on teaching heads of households how to make their families look more like the Trinity, the NT focuses on teaching all believers to live as one, Trinity-like household of faith, even when our biological households are divided on Jesus’ account. Where the OT sees a nation of many families, the NT sees a family of many nations. We live in the last days in which “the children of the desolate woman are more than the children of the married woman” (Isa 54:1).
This change in status calls for a change in attitude and behavior. No OT author writes with the warmth of a grandpa like the apostle John does in his epistles or demands family-level treatment of other believers like Paul does in 1 Tim 5 when he discusses care for Christian widows. The OT command to let widows glean the corners of the field is nowhere near Paul’s command to give them a seat at the table.
We often hear about how people weren’t designed to be alone and how marriage is a pointer to God, which is all true. What we don’t hear about is that marriage is just a picture of what we’re designed for. It’s not the real thing because it won’t still be around in heaven, at least according to Jesus when they asked him about the woman who had been married seven times. Marriage is coming to an end, but the real thing is just beginning. This real thing is the Trinity-quality oneness between all believers and God, which we know because that’s what Jesus prays for in John 17. God loves us “just as” the Father loves Jesus, and we are to be one with each other and with God “just as” the Trinity is one.
I know, I know… It’s hard to believe that marriage is just a picture and fellowship is the real thing when marriage can be so much more satisfying. We get confused because marriage is a picture of fully realized relationship whereas fellowship is that actual relationship in nascent form. Marriage is a picture of the fully grown tree, but it’s only here for a little while. Fellowship is the real tree in sapling form, and the tree that grows from it will last forever. Both are good, we need both, but our hope is in the real thing, not the picture. The purpose of marriage—whether you’re viewing it from the inside or the outside—is to fix your hope on heaven by giving a foretaste of and longing for oneness with God.
But there’s a problem, isn’t there? All this talk of marriage ending can make it sound like in heaven we’ll all just be friends, as if it will be less intimate and pleasurable than marriage. But in reality, if marriage really is a pointer to the Trinity and to the relationship between Jesus and the church, then the pleasure and intimacy of marriage—including sex—are nothing compared to the pleasure and intimacy God experiences within the Trinity, which is what we will be pulled into at the wedding feast of the Lamb. Earthly marriage is coming to an end, but so is singleness. Somehow the union we experience will be more pleasurable and intimate than sex, without going below the belt. Even married couples will be closer to each other and to all other believers in the new heavens and new earth than they ever could be through marriage, and it won’t be because they were ever married, but because they are in Christ.
Since our church is named Trinity, we ought to make sure we get the doctrine of the Trinity right. Allow these Irish peasants to help you out.
Post by Brian Fergus, Pastoral Intern and student at Bethlehem College in Minneapolis.
The Ash Wednesday service is a traditional day on the historic church calendar. It marks the first day of lent which commemorate the 40 days that Jesus spent in the wilderness praying and fasting. Just as Hemmingway described Paris, the dates of Lent are a ‘movable feast’ that is placed on the calendar relative to Easter.
If you are from a less traditional background, Ash Wednesday might seem like something that only the Catholics celebrate. However, Christians celebrate Lent in many, more traditionally oriented churches. At Trinity we want you to consider how important it is to feel connected with the global church and historical church in the way that we worship. Many Christians around the world set aside this time for repentance and remembrance. Will you join them? If it is important to be united with believers in community, how often do we consider the importance of connecting with the global church in the way that we orient our prayers?
Take the opportunity to pray and potentially fast these next days leading up to Easter. We have the privilege of being part of the community of saints that God has drawn to himself. As a small expression of that larger body, let us hold together and be unified in our repentance. My prayer is that the Lord will humble us and help us see the magnificence of the Son’s sacrifice for sins.
Ah, the annual Trinity City Church retreat. Fellowship, food, unpredictable weather. This year we really had it all.
Despite a snowstorm on Thursday, the early-arrivers made it to their cabin safely. Everyone who attempted travel on Friday also made it to Covenant Pines camp - really, the weather had subsided by then and the roads weren’t as bad as MNDOT would have you think.
What was the best part of the retreat? Answers would vary. The most popular pastimes year to year are the basketball game, broomball, and the variety show (which this year included a “Parade of Beards”). The good folk at TCC certainly have a competitive streak, even within church family. All in good fun, though. The epic stories these activities bring about are remembered every year after.
Unique pastimes to experience at Covenant Pines, our current retreat location, are fireplace rock-wall climbing and carton stacking. What are those things? You probably have to go next year and see for yourself. If that doesn’t convince you, think of the joy of not cooking for a weekend, the bliss of having to do no dishes.
But the absolute best activity at the retreat, hands down? The giant fireplace. Add to that a heap of snacks, Trinity pot-luck style, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for fellowship and friend-making.