Last week in Sunday School, Chad explained to everyone the struggle the church has had trying to find a teacher for EPIC, and he asked you to be praying that someone would become available for the Spring Quarter (that begins this week). Well, God has been gracious in answering our prayers, and Craig Branch--he's Mary's husband, Chip's father, and an elder at OMPC--became available and will begin teaching EPIC this Sunday! What a blessing that God has seen fit to answer our prayers so quickly and by giving us not only someone who's already committed to the Singles Ministry, but is also one of the leading experts on what he'll be teaching.
As a follow-up to the series we finished last week on Acts, Craig will be continuing our look at evangelism from the perspective of Apologetics. Where our study of Acts showed us the heart behind evangelism, and biblical examples of how the early church practiced engaging the lost around them, this series on Apologetics will help us look at practical ways to "make a defense" of the Gospel, not only generally, but to specific groups who believe things counter to the faith. Do you have co-workers who are Muslims? What about your neighbor who, when you invited her to church, told you she is an atheist? Over the course of the next 6 weeks, Craig will be equipping us with specific and practical ways to engage a wide variety of folks we come in contact with everyday.
So, thanks for praying that God would provide someone to teach our class, and we'll see you all Sunday morning at 9:05, in Room S-180. Have a great weekend!
Showing posts with label Singles Stuff. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Singles Stuff. Show all posts
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Sunday School Leftovers: A View from the Beach
So yesterday I had some of the most fun teaching I've had in a while! For the past week I haven't been able to shake two things from the passage in Acts we looked at:
One, is that ministry, real, normal Christian ministry is ministry of tears and trials. It is not ministry that's easy, clean, or neat. It is ministry that requires much of those who chose to enter into it, because it means entering into the lives of those around you.
The second thing is the image of Paul and the Ephesian elders kneeling on the beach, with the ship just over shoulder, ready to take Paul to Jerusalem. I've wondered all week what the Singles Ministry at OMPC would look like, how it might be different if we viewed our lives as racing the clock. If we kept the perspective that there is a ship just off-shore, waiting to take us to the next port (marriage, a different city).
It's hard for me to look at our group and say, "Well, here are the things we're doing that are 'wastes of time.'" That just seems to me to be a pretty cynical and unmotivating way to encourage ministry. What I can see clearly, though, is a picture of what it would look like if we really lived with these two mindsets at the forefront of everything we did. It's a pretty amazing and terrifying picture, and I pray that I get the chance to be around to see it happen.
Boy! What a view!
One, is that ministry, real, normal Christian ministry is ministry of tears and trials. It is not ministry that's easy, clean, or neat. It is ministry that requires much of those who chose to enter into it, because it means entering into the lives of those around you.
The second thing is the image of Paul and the Ephesian elders kneeling on the beach, with the ship just over shoulder, ready to take Paul to Jerusalem. I've wondered all week what the Singles Ministry at OMPC would look like, how it might be different if we viewed our lives as racing the clock. If we kept the perspective that there is a ship just off-shore, waiting to take us to the next port (marriage, a different city).
It's hard for me to look at our group and say, "Well, here are the things we're doing that are 'wastes of time.'" That just seems to me to be a pretty cynical and unmotivating way to encourage ministry. What I can see clearly, though, is a picture of what it would look like if we really lived with these two mindsets at the forefront of everything we did. It's a pretty amazing and terrifying picture, and I pray that I get the chance to be around to see it happen.
Boy! What a view!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock
One of the themes that I hit on occassionally with the Singles Group at Oak Mountain is the idea that singleness is a tremendous gift that, for the most part, has been given to folks for a short amount of time. I believe there is clear biblical teaching that once you're married, take vows, and covenant before God with your spouse, your priorities, focus, and primary ministry area change. You're time, body, and longings are no longer for yourself but for your husband or wife. This isn't true in the same way for singles. To be sure, when Paul writes in I Corinthians 6:19, "You are not your own," he's referring to believers both single and married, but clearly there are typically fewer restraints on singles than there are on married couples, and this ought to change our perspective on our lives in two ways.
The first is that we should be exceedingly grateful to the Lord for freeing us up to spend ourselves for the gospel, the chuch, and other people. And the second is that we should be a group of people who are constantly looking at the clock over our shoulders. . . no, not the biological clock, but the clock that says our singleness isn't a gift we're likely to have forever. This freedom, this lack of constraint to do ministry, this time that we have to devote to caring for others and serving may not be here tomorrow. I firmly believe that God has husbands and wives out there for most of the singles at Oak Mountain, and I pray regularly that those relationships will become known, develop, and end in glorious symbols of Christ's relationship to his bride, the Church. In the meantime, I pray regularly, that we will not use our singleness as an excuse or think of ourselves as somehow "second-class Christians" who have nothing to offer the body or the kingdom.
Here's the thing: singles are racing the clock. We don't typically feel that because we're so busy focused on ourselves and how poor and pitiful we are, but we are, the stakes are high, and the clock is ticking.
The first is that we should be exceedingly grateful to the Lord for freeing us up to spend ourselves for the gospel, the chuch, and other people. And the second is that we should be a group of people who are constantly looking at the clock over our shoulders. . . no, not the biological clock, but the clock that says our singleness isn't a gift we're likely to have forever. This freedom, this lack of constraint to do ministry, this time that we have to devote to caring for others and serving may not be here tomorrow. I firmly believe that God has husbands and wives out there for most of the singles at Oak Mountain, and I pray regularly that those relationships will become known, develop, and end in glorious symbols of Christ's relationship to his bride, the Church. In the meantime, I pray regularly, that we will not use our singleness as an excuse or think of ourselves as somehow "second-class Christians" who have nothing to offer the body or the kingdom.
Here's the thing: singles are racing the clock. We don't typically feel that because we're so busy focused on ourselves and how poor and pitiful we are, but we are, the stakes are high, and the clock is ticking.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Christ-centered Evangelism. . . What?!
Acts chapter two is a partial record of Peter's brilliant sermon to the devout Jews that were in Jerusalem at the time when the disciples received the gift of the Holy Spirit (2:5). There's a lot that can and has been said about this sermon, and many lessons in evangelism that can be taken from it, but one that has continued to stand out to me is the Christ-centeredness of what Peter says. Peter's sermon is all about Christ. He shows his audience how the prophescies about the coming Messiah (2:16-21, 25-30) were fulfilled in the man of Jesus Christ (2:22-24, 31-33). He paints a picture of Jesus of Nazareth that is big, that is compelling, that is God-sized, namely because Jesus of Nazareth was in fact, God.
Now, here's the thing that I find so interesting as I've thought about the differences between Peter's sermon and how evangelism tends to be done in today's context. See, we tend to focus most of our time on convincing the person we're talking to that they are a sinner who needs saving. We tend to try and paint a picture of God who is perfect and man who is sinful and show them that this is a bad problem that must be resolved. And, while I don't think that this is at all a bad way to do evangelism, it does seem to me to be pretty man-centered. It's all about showing the person's problem, the person's need, and sometimes I wonder if this leaves much room to do what Peter did, paint a really big picture of who Christ is and what he did on earth.
At the end of his sermon, Luke writes that "when they heard this they were cut to the heart" (2:37). It's as if you can almost hear what they were thinking, "What have we done?! We have rejected the Messiah!" The truth about Christ, seeing who he really was, cut them to the heart as they realized their own fault, and it led them to repentance. Could it be that if we spent our time showing and talking about Christ in these kinds of ways to the lost around us, they too might realize that they have rejected the Messiah and ask, "What do we need to do?"
Now, here's the thing that I find so interesting as I've thought about the differences between Peter's sermon and how evangelism tends to be done in today's context. See, we tend to focus most of our time on convincing the person we're talking to that they are a sinner who needs saving. We tend to try and paint a picture of God who is perfect and man who is sinful and show them that this is a bad problem that must be resolved. And, while I don't think that this is at all a bad way to do evangelism, it does seem to me to be pretty man-centered. It's all about showing the person's problem, the person's need, and sometimes I wonder if this leaves much room to do what Peter did, paint a really big picture of who Christ is and what he did on earth.
At the end of his sermon, Luke writes that "when they heard this they were cut to the heart" (2:37). It's as if you can almost hear what they were thinking, "What have we done?! We have rejected the Messiah!" The truth about Christ, seeing who he really was, cut them to the heart as they realized their own fault, and it led them to repentance. Could it be that if we spent our time showing and talking about Christ in these kinds of ways to the lost around us, they too might realize that they have rejected the Messiah and ask, "What do we need to do?"
Friday, January 9, 2009
"Simple" Truths
In Sunday School, we're doing a sprint through the book of Acts during January and February, specifically focusing on the nuances of how the early church did evangelism. This is the second time I've really "studied" the book, and I'm amazed once again at this book, specifically how the first eleven verses of the book are so integral to everything that happens. Those forty days that Christ spent with his disciples in between his resurrection and ascension become so crucial to everything they do after the Holy Spirit comes.
For example, in 1:3 Luke writes, "To them [the disciples] he [Christ] presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God." In other words, Christ spent a significant amount of time making sure his disciples knew that he was the real deal, he really was the Messiah that had been promised for so long. This is what he taught them.
Then, you flip over to chapter 2, and read verses 14-36 (Peter's sermon to the crowd), and you realize that what he's doing for the crowd is the same thing Christ did for the disciples, showing that the Jesus who was crucified is the Messiah, the real deal.
Here's the thing: I've been through a lot of different "evangelism training" courses, but I don't ever remember one that talked about presenting Christ as true, as the risen Messiah. In the midst of all the different tactics that are sometimes used to share Christ with those around us, I wonder if we've lost the profound wonder of talking about the risen Christ and showing non-Christians how the biblical promises of the Old Testament are fulfilled in this carpenter from Nazareth.
For example, in 1:3 Luke writes, "To them [the disciples] he [Christ] presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God." In other words, Christ spent a significant amount of time making sure his disciples knew that he was the real deal, he really was the Messiah that had been promised for so long. This is what he taught them.
Then, you flip over to chapter 2, and read verses 14-36 (Peter's sermon to the crowd), and you realize that what he's doing for the crowd is the same thing Christ did for the disciples, showing that the Jesus who was crucified is the Messiah, the real deal.
Here's the thing: I've been through a lot of different "evangelism training" courses, but I don't ever remember one that talked about presenting Christ as true, as the risen Messiah. In the midst of all the different tactics that are sometimes used to share Christ with those around us, I wonder if we've lost the profound wonder of talking about the risen Christ and showing non-Christians how the biblical promises of the Old Testament are fulfilled in this carpenter from Nazareth.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Like Cough Syrup
Here's the thing you should read today: http://ruf.org/help/singledout1.htm
If you're single you might find yourself there. If you're married, you might remember how it was for you and decide to pick up the phone and call one of your single friends and ask them about some of these issues.
If you're single you might find yourself there. If you're married, you might remember how it was for you and decide to pick up the phone and call one of your single friends and ask them about some of these issues.
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