Preaching

Today I preached for the first time.  It was a little nerve wracking.  You see, I'm good at public speaking, but it makes me really nervous.  I couldn't believe that I was actually going to preach when I stepped into the worship service.  I have sat and listened to many preachers in my day, but I never once imagined myself as one.

Thankfully, God spoke this morning.  In a public speaking situation there are a lot of things that I can control.  But in a preaching situation I can never control the action of God speaking through the preaching.  I say that very thankfully because when I preached, it seemed like my only goal was to sound eloquent and doctrinally sound.  I didn't care whether or not I engaged peoples' hearts with the gospel.  That is one reason Grace North Atlanta ends their service every week with the Lord's Supper.  The spiritual reality behind the Lord's supper is dependent upon God;s grace, it is something that man cannot manufacture.  No matter how poor the sermon, the congregation is always led to Christ and the gospel through the Supper.

My Grace is Sufficient for You

As I think about going into the ministry after college, I come up with endless objections.  I keep saying “God, I can’t do ministry because…”  Even though ministry is a passion of mine, I come up with plenty of objections.  The problem is, when I do this I am still sitting on the throne of my life.  My conversation with God is completely centered on myself and why I can’t do ministry.  I focus on my issues instead of on Christ.

This Sunday I am preaching on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10.  In this passage Paul discusses the thorn in his side that constantly reminds him of his weakness.  But in verse 9 the Lord tells him “my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”  Only when we are honest about our brokenness can we lead others to Christ and not ourselves.  As I think about pursuing ministry I need to remember that it is okay to be broken, it is okay to have problems.  There is not an elite standard which I have to meet in order to be in the ministry.  It is God who works in our weakness.

More Pictures

You can still see some affects of New York's past life as 'New Amsterdam'

The crew in Times Square

Wall Street

Freedom Tower under construction

Center Church on the Green, an important church in early America.

Theology Camp with Preston Graham

Our crew on East Rock

View of New Haven from East Rock.

Discussing the importance of living while gathered around BB Warfield's grave

We spent the night at Princeton Theological Seminary on the way back.  I thought Prof. Cioffi might appreciate this.  Sadly, I did not meet George Hunsinger.

The view from atop Stone Mountain

Respect the 'Stach

The Barbers

Attempting to play crab soccer

Playing Wiffle Ball

Leadership in Repentance

What makes a leader in the church a 'Christian' leader?  We can learn a lot about leadership from secular leaders and thinkers.  There are thousands of books on leadership, there are leadership seminars, there are even leadership retreats.  However, none of these sources can help us be a distinctively 'Christian' leader.

Leadership in repentance is one distinctive of a Christian leader.  A Christian leader must lead in obedience, however a Christian leader is not someone who is able to be a 'successful' Christian and then teach that life to others.  Anytime we try to obey we always fail end up failing.  This is true for leaders and non-leaders, everyone fails at obedience.  Christian leaders still sin.  So Christian leaders, must lead in repentance. Repentance is obedience.  This keeps Christian leaders humble, because we will continually realize our need of the gospel.  This is sort of Henri Nouwen's idea of the wounded healer.  Only when we are open about our brokenness can we try to lead other broken people.  May we lead them to Christ and not to ourselves.  See Matthew 18:1-4.

Unity

Two weeks ago the Grace North student ministry went on a mission trip to New Haven, Connecticut.  While in Connecticut we worked with Christ Presbyterian Church.  For that week we were effectively one church.  We spent all day working together and then at night we split up and stayed at host homes.

Sin is a relational problem.  Because of our brokenness we are now in a state of enmity and animosity with our neighbors.  Thankfully God is doing something about our broken relations.  Christ died so that all people may be one.  Unity is a gospel issue.  In Ephesians 4:4 Pauls claims that there is "There is one body and one Spirit... one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all"  Note the repetition of 'one'.  Paul is driving home the point that if we are indeed Christians, we are in fact already united.  However, we do not always live this out.

In New Haven a church full of people associated with Yale University and a church full of Southerners from suburban Atlanta were united in Christ.  At the end of the trip there was a sincere since of loss because we had to leave our family in Christ in New Haven.  It was a beautiful experience, praise be to God.

Familiar Faces

     On Thursday Dale Cooper came down from Calvin to pay me a visit.  Needless to say it was an awesome day.  On Saturday I had lunch with Micah Hoeksema (for those of you who don’t know Micah, he is a friend of mine who is also going to be a senior at Calvin next year).  Micah is in ATL for the summer organizing week long mission trips for youth groups.  Saturday night I met up with the John Parks clan for dinner and exploring downtown.  It was good to see some old friends during the past week.  I can’t help but think of Philippians 1:3-5.

John Hardie on the left, Dale Cooper on the right.

The John Parks crew.

     Between my time with Micah and with my family, I stumbled upon the Martin Luther King Historic Site near downtown ATL.  Now growing up in southwest Ohio I never really considered racial issues to be a big deal.  It wasn’t until arriving at Calvin that I encountered people who took racism as a serious issue.  Over time I have grown to see that it is still a much bigger problem than we tend to think it is.  However, I had never really thought about it until recently.  Since Grace North is a PCA (Presbyterian Church in America) congregation, I have been learning more about the denomination.  The PCA has history of racial segregation and other racial issues.  One church in the PCA actually started a seminary because they did not want any blacks to attend the seminary.  By God’s grace there has been much healing in the PCA, but the history of racism is still a weight that the denomination carries. 

     As old members of Ebenezer Baptist Church could probably tell you, racial hate and animosity is a divide that is only healed through the gospel.  One of the many reasons that Jesus came to die is so that there would be healing among the races.  In Acts 2 we hear that “the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God draws near.”  The covenant of God is for all people.  In Matthew 28:19 Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”  The mission of God is for all people.  In Ephesians 4:14-16 Paul asserts that Jesus “has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.”  So the promise is for all peoples and the mission is for all peoples, but God desires more than that.  He desires unity.  Ephesians 4:14-16 uses the same type of language that is used to describe marriage (two people becoming one).  Racism is a gospel issue and that is why all churches must push for the unity of the body of Christ.

Pictures

So I know that I mostly do theological reflection on this blog, but I would like to change it up today and provide you with some pictures.  On Sunday mornings, Grace North worships at the Alpharetta Community Center.  Worship is taken very seriously at Grace North, so the process of setting up for a 10am worship service begins at 8am when Gene Singleton rolls in with a trailer full of carpet, chairs, and other various supplies.  From there the gym is slowly converted into a sanctuary (kind of).

 The ACC.

The trailer.  Gene is standing in the doorway.  He is about 70 but he lifts the carpet rolls and climbs on the storage racks inside the trailer like he is 20.

The development of the gym over time.

 Unloading the trailer.

Almost done.

 One of the Singleton twins, doing his part to help set up...

Student Leadership

Every Thursday night there is a student leadership meeting.  The student leadership team is composed of the young adults and interns who help lead the student ministry.  During our meeting we discuss the past week of youth ministry and then we open up Scripture together.  This past Thursday the meeting was at my house (I live with the youth pastor).  After putting down some awesome lasagna, salad, and breadsticks, we transitioned to Ephesians 1.


Ephesians 2 is the oft-quoted chapter which details how God's election and the reconciliation work He completed in Christ.  What I never realized is that Ephesians 1 lays the groundwork for Ephesians 2.  I was going to quote from it, but it is much more beneficial for you to read the entire passage.


 ³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.


 ¹¹In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹²so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. ¹³In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, ¹⁴who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.


Note the beautiful unity of the Trinity in our salvation.  The Father elects, the Son redeems, the Spirit seals.  God is the one who does the work of salvation.  Praise God for his 'lavish' grace!  Also note that the phrase "to the praise of his glory" is repeated three times and the phrase "according to the riches of his grace" is also used.  God does not save us for any merit that we might have.  Rather, salvation is done for His glory and His glory alone.


As a leadership team we discussed the connection between this passage and our ministry.  As we labor to embody the gospel to the students we are comforted knowing that it is not our work to accomplish.  It is God's.  Any conversation we have, any devotional we lead, any activity we organize, all of it has an impact on the students only according to God's plan.  There is no greater comfort in ministry than to know that God saves.  There is also no greater discomfort.  I want to be in control.  As an American, I think that if I just work hard enough and do my job well enough, then I should see results and be 'successful'.  If God is in control, I am not in control, and that just doesn't sit well with me.  May God continue to impress upon me that He alone is sovereign and that my ministry is actually a gracious invitation from Him to join on His mission.  Hopefully one day I will be able to proclaim with Job "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted." (Job 42:2)

Church Plant

Today I sat in on a church planting network meeting for the metro Atlanta area.  I had never been in a room full of just pastors before.  I learned much just by sitting in on that meeting.  While I am not going to plant a church any time in the near future, it was a very powerful experience to learn that these men were human, just like me.  Pastors need training, pastoral care, and advice, just like the rest of us.  The problem is, where can a pastor turn to be ministered to?  I had never before heard pastors speak about their struggles and failures as pastors in such blunt speech.  It was encouraging to learn that pastors are really just normal people, but it was disheartening to see firsthand the toll that ministry takes on pastors.  Just read 1 Timothy 1:11-16 and it is quite clear that the work can become all-consuming if left unchecked.  Who can do such a task?  God.  God is the one doing the work.  At the end of the day, even those weary church planters find their solace knowing that their efforts do not advance God's kingdom one bit unless God is the one at work through their efforts (check out Philippians 2:13). I pray that God will strengthen those church planters and that He would continue redeeming His people here in Atlanta through their human efforts.

Wacky Wednesday

This past Wednesday was the first ever Wacky Wednesday!  My primary ministry 'initiative' for the summer was to plan and carry out 'Wacky Wednesdays' from start to finish.  You see I had no idea that I would be involved in children's ministry until I arrived here in Alpharetta.  So at first I was kind of surprised, but in a good way.  I knew that the project would stretch me to be a leader and to learn how to work with kids (believe it or not, I do get along great with little kids).

Wacky Wednesdays is every Wednesday from 1-4 at Wills Park in Alpharetta.  The typical afternoon consists of water baloons, relay games, sports, snacks, Bible story, acting out of Bible story, and pool time.  The student ministry runs Wacky Wednesdays so that parents can drop their kids off and then have some time to their selves.

Last weekend the student ministry went on a weekend retreat.  On this retreat theme of the teaching was 'poured out'.  In Isaiah 53 Christ is prophesied in every word.  Verse 12 discusses Christ pouring out His soul to death for us.  In the Christian life we are given a gracious invitation from God to pour out our lives into others just like Christ our model.  Ephesians 5:1-2 instructs us to "...be imitators of God, as beloved children.  And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."  This is not a legalistic call to works, rather, like I said, it is a gracious invitation from God in which we are to be compelled by his love to pour out our lives for Him.  "For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised."

It is with that in mind that the myself and the student ministry at Grace North began Wacky Wednesdays.  There are several families in our church community who have poured a lot in Grace North over the last few years (being a part of a church plant can be exhausting, especially for a young family).  Wacky Wednesdays was a great opportunity to not only love on the kids, but also to pour into the parents who love Grace North so much.  Hopefully Wacky Wednesdays is helping to build Grace North into the image of the church in Ephesians 4:15-16, "...we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love."

Kingdom Work

Christ's church has an incredibly varied set of tasks to accomplish.  At Grace North Atlanta these things include, mercy ministry, worship services, children's and student ministry, community groups, leadership training, evangelistic Bible studies, finance team meetings, worship setup team, and the list goes on.  And this is all for a church of 150 that doesn't even have a building!

God's work and plans will never be accomplished by one person trying to fly solo.  That just won't happen.  In order to function as the body of Christ, everyone must fulfill their own personal ministry.  I'm only the intern and I am starting to see my free time diminish rapidly.  I can't imagine what the weekly schedule looks like for John, Chris and Morgan (the three Grace North staff members).  Kingdom work can't be completed by the paid professionals.  No, it can only be completed by the whole body of Christ.  It can't even be completed by a directional team of eight people, no, the entire church needs to be involved.  Christ isn't calling people to fly solo in their efforts to love the world with the gospel.  By Christ's overwhelming grace and mercy, Grace North will continue to be a community that strives to be missional, spreading the gospel all over the north Atlanta suburbs.

Tonight I sat in on the monthly directional meeting where all of those ministries were discussed.  Since Grace North does not yet have elders, the directional team provides the leadership for the church (it does not provide the pastoral care that elders would typically administer).  As I sat through the meeting I couldn't help but feel really under prepared to take on church ministry.  The men that sat around that table have deep understandings of Christ and his gospel and his church and they have a deep love of Christ and his gospel and his church.  I definitely felt like a rookie stepping up for his first major league at bat.  Of course this was only a monthly meeting at a coffee shop.

Theology of Grace

The church I'm working for, Grace North Atlanta, takes that word "grace" very seriously.  One of the core values of the church is a "theology of grace", meaning, all of the teaching in the church is done with grace at its foundation.  Grace North strives to be a church that cannot get over God's grace.  In today's sermon John Hardie, the lead pastor, hammered away at how we are constantly looking for other paths to satisfaction.  All of us are wounded very deeply.  Sin, family, work, society.  All of these things wound us because everthing is broken.  In response to this we constantly try to fix ourselves.  In America one of our most popular ways of "fixing" ourselves is through Christianty.  How ironic that the religion of grace and unmerited favor is easily twisted into a Pharisaical system.  Any given Protestant has said to himself multiple times "I just need to try harder" or "I can do better than this".  The message at Grace Northa Atlanta is one of grace.  We don't have to try, we don't have to work.  Christ is our only prophet, priest, and king.  Nothing we do can fix our misery.  Only Christ can.

Sometimes we think the gospel is only for the non believer.  That's not the case though.  If someone is truly in love with God's gospel of grace, then how could he ever get over it so quickly?  Rather we need to learn it and then relearn it and then relearn it.  Because in the end, we will never truly "get it."  We can always go deeper.  We can always learn how much more deeply sinful and broken we are.  We can then always learn how much greater God's grace and love is than we ever thought possible.

I'm excited to be immersed in a church that focuses on a theology of grace.  The teaching always goes straight to the heart.  It is this teaching that is much needed in Alpharetta.  The culture here is one of performance.  Most people here think that they need to perform on the athletic field, or at work, or at home, or at school in order to heal themselves.  May God open my eyes and the eyes of the people in Alpharetta to understand and to marvel at the depths of his mercy and grace.

Check out John 5:1-18 and read what happens when a lame man tries to heal himself but ends up being healed by Jesus instead.

Meet and Greet

I hate meeting new people.  Chinese water torture would most likely be more enjoyable for me.  However, through the years, God has worked on me, showing me that the reason why I am afraid to meet people is because I am terrible prideful.  I don't have the best social interactions with new people, therefore I am self concious (ie. vainfully worried about my image) and because of this pride, I hate meeting new people.

Thankfully during my first three days in Georgia God has done two things.  One, He's shown me that as an adopted son of God, my only identity is found in Christ my Savior.  Because of this, I don't have to carefully prune my image.  Two, He's placed some great people in my life who I know are going to be great to live and work with.  I've met plenty of people who love Jesus here in Atlanta and I pray that many more would come to know Him.