Archive for February, 2011

This is the latest prayer letter we have received from the Contreras family, our missionaries to Spain.

Our teens have such a great spirit to serve the Lord already, and the last few Wednesday nights have been spent talking about service and working hard. Last night we introduced something we’ll be doing about once a month in order for our teens to be involved in simply doing… work! As you can see from the graphic, we’re calling them “Learn to Work Days.” I figure that the best way to learn how to work is to… you know… work!

Already we have been using a few teens to do labor around the church and hiring others for work outside of church, and every time we have any kind of a work day I’ll always try to evaluate how they did afterwards. If there’s some way that they could improve we’ll mention it, and any time my wife or I am working with a teen we always try to teach through example.

I challenged the Teens of Faith last night from Ephesians 6:5-9, and encouraged them in the following.

1. Have a heart to work. All work should spring from a heart that is dedicated to God… a heart that realizes that all work should be done unto God. It begins with the heart, and Paul targeted the core of a person’s work ethic. We can clean up the outside and get teens to obey certain lists of rules, but until a biblical principle truly becomes a part of them as a result of a changed heart, no temporary change or simple outward conformity will be lasting.
2. Work intensely. I hate to hear that people have a hard time finding a teen who will work hard. While some teens might excuse themselves by thinking they don’t have the skills necessary to work (“I’ve never done that before. I don’t know how to ____”), I believe it’s so much more than that. I would hire a teen based on his intensity over his skills any day. Frankly, if someone has a heart to work and is willing to pour himself/herself into a job, I’d say he/she can learn almost any skill necessary to complete the job. This intensity shows in the way they walk, how many breaks they take, how much they talk with the guy they’re next to, how much they attack at once, etc. Rather than considering it “showing off for the boss,” I always consider hard work like a contest… I will NOT be outdone by anyone I’m working with!
3. Take initiative. Some people need to be reigned in and slowed down when it comes to initiative, but those people are rare. Most people have good work ethics and can work intensely, but it’s a learned and practiced behavior to take initiative when working. If you know the general job that needs to be done, figure out the specifics that will get you there rather than waiting to be told every little step. Every time we have a church event I appreciate when our teens ask if they can help, but it’s even better when they see the need and take the lead. Without being asked, sweep the gym floor, fold up tables, take the trash out, do the dishes, replace the trash can bags, fold up chairs… take initiative.
4. Finish strong. Do one last pass over any work that you do and make sure nothing is left behind. Be sure there’s not just one person left doing all the final cleanup alone. If you’re done with a game or event, think from others’ perspective and bring in the cones, clean up the toys, put away the basketballs, roll up the cords, return the tools to the shed… finish the job (that was a Patch the Pirate song my mom would always sing to us when we didn’t clean up!)

Just think about your work ethic and grow in that area. I can’t wait to see how these Work Days turn out, and we’ll announce all the details for each one as they come up. Some thoughts behind the Work Days are:

1. giving teens another chance to serve
2. teaching teens to work hard
3. being a blessing to others (if we help out church members every now and then)
4. providing opportunities to work off sponsored trips (ie if a church member pays for a teen to go to camp we’ll require some Work Day time, some soul-winning time, etc. so the teen doesn’t get an expectant attitude)

Thank you, teens, for your great spirit to serve! If it’s done for God, He sees it and will bless it! (Eph. 5:8)

When I was in college I learned an acronym to help me remember some things that distinguish Baptists from other religions and church groups, and it has stuck with me ever since. While we gladly bear our Baptist label that was once a term of derision for those “Anabaptists” or “rebaptizers,” never do we ever want to convey a haughty or better-than-everyone-else attitude. That’s as sinful as anything, and it shouldn’t even be hinted at. I tell the Teens of Faith all the time that all we want to do is 1) figure out what the Bible says and 2) do it.

I’m thrilled about the upcoming series and have been thinking on it for weeks. Our interim series has been very fun, but I believe the Baptist Series will solidify answers to some questions that people might wonder when they hear about our church.

• Why is church important in the first place? Can’t I have church anywhere I want?
• And why a Baptist church? Doesn’t that turn people off these days?
• What is it about a Baptist church that’s different?
• What Bible version do we use, and why?
• Are we part of something more than our church? Do we answer to the pope or some convention?
• How do Christians talk to God? Do we have to be a preacher to know Him?
• What about elders? Bishops? Priests? Deacons? Trustees? Cardinals?
• What is church membership about?
• What is baptism about? Does it save me from my sins? Does the Lord’s Table or Communion save me?
• Do Baptists believe we should sever all relationships of church and state?

These answers and more will be discussed in the coming weeks, and I anticipate a several-month series on Wednesday nights at 7pm. While we often break for special events or anything else we feel we’d like to address, the majority of the upcoming lessons will be taught from the Bible on church authority and the reasons that we are a Baptist church. I am very excited to teach it, and if anyone has any questions I’d be glad to discuss them at any time! Take care,

RR

I always loved family vacations, but I was always so nervous when we’d attend a new church. You know the feeling… not knowing anyone, nobody talking to you, everyone hating you… that sort of thing! Now, we all know it’s ludicrous to think that a church full of nice people actually HATE the guests that attend, but what are WE as a group doing to make sure our GUESTS know we don’t hate them?

It’s a scary thing to talk to new people, but it’s even scarier for them to attend! We have our friends and we’re comfortable with the conversations we “need” to catch up on, and too often we get in our happy bubble and are scared to be stretched beyond that. Well, no one grows without work, and I hope to stretch our teens in this area.

I’ve used the term guest intentionally in that it conveys a more “homey” idea. When you have a guest in your home you try to do everything you can to make him or her comfortable, and they’re your primary object of service. You don’t have that mentality with people that just drop by to visit… salesmen, open house visitors, garage sale attendees… but you’ll really host a guest.

Lets do all we can to really be good hosts when people come into our group! By nature I’m an introverted person. So was Pastor Rench. So were many of you who have learned to push past that and see outside of yourself. When I was on the singing groups for Heartland Baptist Bible College, I was forced out of my comfort zones weekly, singing in a different church and staying in a different house every other day or so. That’ll stretch you! I learned simply how to be friendly to new people… certain questions to ask… certain topics to bring up… how to relate to people’s jobs, their families, their interests and hobbies. All I’m saying is that greeting guests is a learned and a practiced behavior. When you’re at church… practice!

1. Love them. It starts with loving them enough to want to see them grow in Christ at our church. You never know who comes or what the reasons are for coming until you talk with them.
2. Greet them. “Hi! It’s really good to see you here today! Thank you for coming… I know it’s always scary coming to a new place… My name is ___________. What’s your name? It’s really good to have you here today ___________.”
3. Relate with them. “So you’re homeschooled, huh? Me too! I love having the free time…” “Oh you go to________  school? Cool! I guess I’m your rival at __________ ” “Did you come with your family? Do you live here in town? Did you just move here? From where? Oh cool! I’ve only seen pictures of __________ but it seems like a cool state…”
4. Continue with them. Here’s the hard part, even for extroverted people. Learn to stretch yourself here and it will REALLY help people. Guests may only come once, but don’t leave them at just your first greeting… “Hey, you can sit up with us if you want. Have you met my friend ________?” Or, others will come back over the weeks, but you’ve already greeted them and told them your name, you’ve already asked them every question you can think of… don’t give up! If you go back to #1, love them, you’ll want to see them comfortable! CONTINUE with them. Have them sit with you. Talk with them like you do your other friends. Include them in activities! Joke with them. Encourage them to come to the next service… just think from their perspective and love others.

Being friendly and communicating it goes against our nature sometimes (or always!), but where else would it be more spiritually beneficial than at church? Love, greet, relate and continue with guests… there’s only good that comes from that!

After the exciting rush of our Feb. 26 Preaching Rally is over, our work for next year begins! After church on the Sunday night after the Rally (Feb. 27), we’ll hold a wrap-up meeting with the chiefs to talk through some of the things that could have gone better, what needs to be tightened up for next year, and some cool ideas for new things that can be introduced. While that meeting will only be for the chiefs since it’s pie fellowship night, anyone is invited who wants to have some input or who has some ideas for improvements. Also, if you want to sit in just to see some of the reasoning behind what we’re doing, that would be beneficial to you as well.

Any time we come away from some event or activity that will be repeated we try to ask, “How can we improve?” Mistakes happen, and that’s fine. But when repeat mistakes happen, that’s not as fine. Why not learn from mistakes and grow from them? I think God would be pleased if we used His resources and time the best way we knew how, and hard and honest evaluations will only help us be more effective for Him.

As we’re in the final stages of our planning, PLEASE take extensive notes on anything you’re a part of. When you think something could have been done better, jot it down and remember it for next year. It’s as simple as that, and it will help us all immensely. When it becomes a mindset for everyone, who knows where God will take this event in the future?! It’s sure exciting to think about!

Killing two birds with one stone last night, I thought I’d combine a couple sermons into one. Here’s what I mean…

Our teens have a great spirit to serve, as evidenced by their helping out so much at the banquet last week. Also, our teens are often challenged to read their Bibles more, and many of them have made commitments to God to spend 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 45 minutes reading, or 3 chapters a day, etc. Well, our Special Combo lesson (ONLY $3.95!… no, we didn’t charge them for the lesson) was on how to read your Bible, and we dissected a text on servanthood! Brilliant!

Bible reading should be more than mere reading. We read “God’s love letter to us” with the intent to find His mind and bend our wills to His. We should read to understand, and ultimately try to apply everything we study. So, last night we discussed the following steps, and looked at Luke 17:1-10 as we went through the list.

1. Read to understand. Simply read a passage. That’s level one. That might be a whole chapter and it might just be a couple verses. The Bible is broken into paragraphs, and a lot of Bibles will show those divisions with certain headings that the publisher has added. Often, the biblical author has a single thought going on in each paragraph, and only the first step is to read it.

2. Reread trouble spots. “Trouble spots” may mean the whole text again… that’s okay! You’re on a mission in your Bible reading, but the mission isn’t that check-box on the reading plan. The mission is application.

3. Flag question words. It might be good to read with a Strong’s Concordance or a Bible dictionary close by. In our passage, Jesus is teaching the disciples on offenses, on forgiveness, and on faith, but he uses words like millstone, offend, little ones, forgiveness, and repent. We’ve heard these words, but what do they mean in this passage? Other key words include thank, (V9) which does not mean simply having a thankful spirit. It means “bestowing extra grace upon,” or, basically, giving a cash bonus! For our example, Jesus was teaching his disciples all these different principles, but then he goes into this story about a relatable subject that they all understood: servants. A servant was expected to work for his wages and serve the master his meals. That’s what he’s paid to do! So, Jesus is saying that it seems a little crazy to think that we’d give all this praise and all these special cash bonuses to a guy who’s just doing his duty!

All this, so far, has only come through flagging and looking up question words. Sometimes you’ll discover a nugget of truth, like in the word thank.

4. Ask questions. Ask questions of the text. Who’s in it? Who’s in talking to? Where are they? What’s going on? Why is this written? When is this? How did God want this? Ultimately, you’re seeking two answers: 1) What’s going on in the text, and 2) What is the purpose? Basically, why did God make sure that this passage was carefully written down, preserved, translated, and passed on to me, today?! Why has God protected these 10 verses, and what’s its purpose for me right now? The cool thing about the Bible is that “ALL Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable…” We can know God wants us to hear it, because every page has a message for you!

When we ask questions of Luke 17:1-10 we find that Jesus has just been teaching and teaching and teaching! His disciples are soaking it in and receiving the instruction, but Jesus kind of takes a turn from his teaching and says, “Remember… if you do all these things I’m teaching you about, all you are is unprofitable.” Unprofitable. Wow! The disciples?! They did SO much! (Remember, ask questions…) So why would God teach about offenses, and forgiveness, and faith, and service, and then follow up by saying they’re unprofitable? WHY? That’s the question here.

5. Find the intent. Discover the Central Idea of the Text (CIT). Think about it. What’s all this boiling down to? God knows their hearts. He was tempted just like all humans with gluttony, lust, and greed, yet without sin. But he was also tempted with pride. He knew that when disciples of Christ start to grow and obey, it can bring a sense of pride in thinking, “I’m really doing something big for God.” We all can get that way, and Jesus brought this story to simply remind his disciples (and us!) that service to God and obedience to His ways is to be done humbly. What profit do you bring to God through your service? Do you make him richer through your talents? Absolutely not. We ought to have the spirit that Christ is teaching and say, “God, I’m an unprofitable servant. I’ve just done that which was my duty to do.” (From V10)

6. Apply. Apply. Apply. Here’s the destination. You can know all the Bible stories in the Bible, but they’ll do you NO good unless you apply the truths that God wants for your life. Point the text back at you and ask yourself some hard questions. Have I been serving? I learn a lot about the Bible, but how’s my attitude been about doing it? Am I a know-it-all? Do I have a true servant’s spirit? Would I be okay with not being noticed for my work? I set up more tables and chairs than anyone else… was I doing it just to be seen? Do I think that I’m something really special because I spent time scooping ice cream last week?

Your daily Bible reading CAN be like a revival service! Take some time each day to really dissect a passage and put it through these steps. Sometimes I think of my Bible reading as a Bible lesson. “If I were to teach someone from this text, what would I say?” But then I teach it to myself and it’s not so fun any more! When you read, God will work; and when God works, his conviction often leads automatically to a state of prayer. Let God’s Word do its work, and you’ll never regret it.