Hearing the Music

Missional Task

As the snow flies and we begin to head into the Advent and Christmas holiday season, we ask ourselves again, "Why did Christ exchange the comforts of heaven for a wallow in the mud of fallen humanity?" Answer: to bring reconciliation, to offer to the lost a way of redemption, to effect rescue for those who could not save themselves. It is our prayer that over these next six weeks or so, this story would grip us afresh with all the attendant emotions and motivations.

One such motivation might be toward extending the good news of this rescue to those who remain wandering. Last week I attended a gathering of PCA folks representing what they call the Midwest. It includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, North/South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky and Michigan (I guess the people in Atlanta came up with the "midwest" for that group?). It is 13 States totaling 72,439,000 which is 21% of the U.S. population. As a region it is the world's 15th largest mission field, having in excess of 60 million people who are not connected to a church, and many of whom are not in relationship with the Lord. It is the mission of our churches to reach these lost or dechurched people with the good news of the gospel.  To put that in perspective, the midwest region is right behind Turkey and Germany for unreached.  

Our goal as a denomination, as a midwest alliance, as presbyteries, and as individual churches is to proliferate the light of the gospel in the darkness of peoples' wanderings. At a regional level, we would love to see over 500 churches where we currently have 244. Closer to home, our desire is to see our West MI PCA double from our current 9 churches to 18 by 2035. Our recent Muskegon church plant and our enfolding of New City Fellowship are the first two of the 9. But we are still praying for cities like Benton Harbor, Allegan, Grand Haven/Spring Lake, and seeking for wisdom as to our own Grand Rapids daughter plant.

While it can be easy to get lost in goals and numbers of churches, all of these endeavors have people in mind.  If we were to plant or enfold 250 new churches across the region and each new church reached only 20 people who were either lost or dechurched, that would be over 5,000 souls connected to the gospel, in addition to all the other good work being done through the churches.

Planting churches and seeing people won to the gospel is the same mission that Paul so earnestly pursued until the very end of his life. This week we will take up the very last words that we have recorded from this ordinary man who God used to do extraordinary things in 2 Tim 4:9-22.  May our hearts be as galvanized as Paul's was to see the gospel go forth!

Serving the Lord with Gladness

As Deacons at Christ Church, one of the many delights we experience are our interactions and conversations with people inside and outside our congregation. From week to week, we are provided many opportunities to hear stories of how folks among us are running the race set before them and keeping the faith - even when it is seemingly overwhelming and perhaps paralyzing. The context of these places and situations makes much of our work unseen and unknown to many of those in the congregation. Other times, it is the smile and good morning of a Sunday morning as you walk into the sanctuary for worship. All of these conversations invigorate us as a group, as we seek to run our own race and keep the faith in our service to the church.

Practically speaking, our roles as deacons are focused around ministering to those in need, developing the grace and liberality of the church, and caring for the property of the congregation. In recent years, as our Diaconate has grown, we have benefited from being able to engage more needs, support our Facilities team better, help evaluate and think long-term about needs in front of us, and help with more financial hardship than we historically have done. However, our work does not happen in a silo of 13 guys in a room, engaged in committee work. Our service is empowered by you, the congregation: in your prayers of support for various situations and for your fellow congregants, and through your financial support of our Deacon’s Fund. So when we encounter people fighting the good fight and keeping the faith amidst hardship (in many cases, with heavy hearts), we do so with great delight because of your support and ultimately the Lord’s sustaining grace. 

We thank you for your support, trust, and encouragement – now we’d like to take a moment and encourage you! How can you become engaged in acts of service and be a part of our work in serving the congregation? Let us give you a few practical ways! First, handing out bulletins and ushering on Sunday mornings with a bright smile contributes to a welcoming worship experience, especially for those who may feel a bit of stress in finding a seat or meeting people. Second, volunteering at Spring or Fall cleanup days allows you to partner with us in taking care of the wonderful creation that surrounds our building. Third, giving above and beyond your normal giving helps to grow the Deacons Fund, which enables us to meet many and varied financial needs. These needs are both internal among the congregation, and externally through our Community Care team, which works diligently to serve those in need in our local community. Finally, and most of all, being in prayer for us as a group as we seek God’s wisdom in our calling to bring comfort to those in hardship, serve the church with mercy and grace, and run the race alongside you as your Deacons.  

Duty and Grace Post Election

How are you doing? It is the first Friday post election after all. Like the pre-election, the post election editorializing has ranged from Nirvana to Netherworld, from ecstasy to agony. As we have said in various ways throughout this cycle, and would say again here, it is not that politics are unimportant, but they are not the most important. And whoever sits in the white house, senate, congress or city hall, their hearts are all in the hands of THE KING. So humility for the winners. Grace for those who feel they have lost. And confidence for all in the King of Kings.

Even as we start with the election, we move quickly to our lives. After all, the day to day hasn't changed. As we woke up Wednesday and head into this weekend, there are still leaves to be cleaned up, laundry to be done, work left unfinished and relationships to attend to. How do we do this as God's people in ways that bring honor to our Lord?  

This is the heart of what we have been talking about in our Adult Institute class on sanctification. How do we live lives of holiness that reflect the new nature that we have been given by grace? Sometimes we stumble a bit when we think about the call to holiness in a community of grace. Isn't the pursuit of holiness antithetical to a reception of grace? Do we try or do we trust? And the answer is.... Yes! John Owen puts it this way:

Let us consider what regard we ought to have to our own duty and to the grace of God. Some would separate these things as inconsistent, If holiness be our duty, they would say, there is no room for grace; and if it be the result of grace there is no place for duty. But our duty and God’s grace are nowhere opposed in the matter of sanctification; for one absolutely supposes the other. We cannot perform our duty without the grace of God; nor does God give his grace for any other purpose than that we may perform our duty.               

You have been made new to live as a new creation in the midst of a world that desperately needs beacons of light. People, both inside the church and without, are constantly finding that the cisterns they are trusting in are broken. They are thirsty, longing to know where to find living water. This is why Paul charges Timothy to "preach the word". In the midst of culture that doesn't flock to Biblical truth, we are to live as to point to Christ.