Harvest Dinner

The Harvest Dinner after worship last Sunday celebrated our Community Garden and God's gifts of food, fun, fellowship. The fellowship area was beautifully decorated with lots of fresh flowers. The tables were laden with locally grown food lovingly prepared to share. Kari Keever was honored for her service as manager of the Community Garden. The beauty of the room was enhanced with the enjoyment of good food, talk, and laughter. The children and youth helped gather the flowers after the dinner, and we received the additional gift of being able to take flowers home.

Engaging Disciples

Sermon by John Turner

September 20, 2009

Building a Community of Hope

We are halfway through the small group meetings introducing the working draft of our Mission and Vision Statements for your consideration. For those of you who have not yet heard the presentation, we are using the heading, “Building a Community of Hope through Jesus Christ.” We identified “hope for a better life” as the single most-needed factor in our community.

Component 1

We believe that there are three components of how we deliver this hope. Component 1 is evangelism. As Christians, our hope for a better life is in Jesus Christ. To paraphrase the Apostle Paul, how can people hope in one abut whom they have no accurate information? Paul quotes Isaiah, “How beautiful are the feet of those who proclaim good news.” I might add that the good news is proclaimed not in words only, but also in deeds, and the good news is that a God of compassion and righteousness reigns and prevails over human sin and evil, and we may experience his reign if we will put our trust in him. So Component 1 to delivering hope is sharing the good news of God’s reign, which we are commissioned by Jesus Christ to do.

Components 2 and 3 Bring Credibility

But our message will have substance, integrity, and credibility only if we add Components 2 and 3.

Component 2: Spiritual growth, meaning that we ourselves are being changed into the likeness of Jesus, and

Component 3: hands-on mission, meaning that our faith is leading us into tangible efforts to make life better for people here in our area and for people around the world.

In the past two weeks, we have talked about the first two components, evangelism and spiritual growth.

Emphasis on Component 3: What This Congregation Does Best

Today, our emphasis is on Component 3, hands-on mission to make life better for others.

Actually, that is what this congregation does best. Let a need be known, and this congregation will respond with time, material goods, money, prayers, encouragement, meals, and more. We will respond not just when some big need comes along, but on a regular basis through our work at the Loaves and Fishes food pantry. We respond not just here at home, but around the world. Dan Krotz left for Africa Friday and Dave Buttgen will be leaving Monday where they will be making life better for fish farmers, grain farmers, and their families and communities.

The top 6 spiritual gifts in this congregation are assisting, showing mercy, believing, administering, contributing, and encouraging. Those are the gifts that show up in our helping other people toward better lives.

Let’s look at the scriptural foundation for this.

Isaiah 58

Isaiah 58 tells us that spiritual life is worse than pointless if it does not result in our seeking peace, justice, and opportunity for the poor and oppressed, for those who need new beginnings in life, or who need some help just to make it from one day to the next with food, clothing, and shelter. Our faith in a loving God is empty if we are not working as we are able to show and to share that love. We get that message and show it in our actions.

Isaiah 61 and Luke 4

Jesus took Isaiah’s message to the next level. Jesus quoted the opening verses of Isaiah 61, which concern the Spirit-Anointed Conqueror who comes to set our world right and to declare that the Year of Jubilee, the time of new opportunity for the poor and oppressed, is not just every fiftieth year, but every day of every year, that the opportunity for new beginnings is constantly present in and through this Spirit-Anointed Agent. Jesus said that he was that Agent, and, later he said that, after his death, resurrection, and ascension, he would send the same Spirit anointing upon those who believe in him, upon his church that would follow him. If we are believers in Jesus, we are Spirit-anointed to offer new opportunities for better living to people around us day-by-day.

Acts and 1 Peter

That is precisely what the early church did, not only in Jerusalem, but also wherever they spread throughout the ancient world. There were times and places where persecution of the early Christians meant that they lost some of the opportunities that the world offered to practice their trades. The church had to step forward to offer opportunities for their members to replace the ones that were lost because they were faithful to Christ. But the church did not just serve its own members. It also offered opportunities for new beginnings to people who were not yet Christian.

Peter wrote to the early Christians in what is now Northern and Central Turkey. I agree with scholar Karen Jobes that Peter’s audience consisted of refugees who had been exiled from Rome by the Emperor Claudius. If Jobes is right, Peter had known them in Rome before their exile, and he was writing to urge them to make a positive difference in their difficult circumstances in a new environment that was not of their choice.

In the passage we are reading today, Peter reminds his reading audience of their distinctive Christian identity. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Peter is saying that Christians are people chosen by God, called out of darkness and into light, claimed by the mercy revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ, and commissioned to represent God’s character and purposes to the world. They are obligated to live out that identity. Peter emphasizes that Christians must live out their distinctive morality so that those who criticize them will be confounded by their good and honorable lives, and so that the foolishly ignorant will be silenced by their good deeds.

In verses 11,12, 15, 16 and most of 17, Peter says: “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation….For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God.”

I suggest that the good deeds Peter had in mind were things that made life better, not just refraining from doing wrong, not just helping their fellow believers, but actually improving life for their neighbors. They were to honor everyone even as they loved one another and revered God. Honoring everyone means everyone, including people whose lives are despicable. I believe that Christians everywhere are to live so that life around them is better. This is how we make our faith attractive.

The Point for Today

The point for today is that the Apostles, and specifically here, Peter, want Christians to be perceived as good, productive, and reputable citizens, who can be admired even by their unbelieving neighbors.

When the way the social order is working is not for the advantage of most people, Christians are not to defy the law, except in extreme circumstances, but are to create legal ways to benefit the people of their neighborhoods, to bring such benefits that the neighborhood will have to respect and value them.

What Is God Calling Us to Do?

Right here in Carroll County, things are not working for a lot of people, and realistic hope for a better life is hard to come by. We need to be asking God what we can do that will make a difference and that will earn respect for our faith, what we can do that will build hope for our neighbors. There are dozens of possibilities. We cannot set out to do all of them simultaneously. We can give prayerful attention to Berryville and Carroll County circumstances and ask God to show us what he would, out of all the possibilities, specifically call us to do to make things better, to renew the hope of new beginnings for our neighbors.

Ideas that are circulating here and there in our congregation include:

1. Local Food Production and Local Food Marketing. We are celebrating the near completion of stage one of this concern today with our Harvest Dinner. I hear a lot of ideas circulating among us about how we might improve the impact of what we are doing with the gardening and marketing local food. We have to determine which few of these many ideas are God’s will for us to implement, to which ones God is calling enough of us that we can be effective in doing something.

2. Families, Children, and Youth. We have opened our new Youth and Children’s facilities. We are ready to move ahead to new steps. I am so proud of our youth group. Yesterday our youth moved to the forefront in planning the second annual community youth outreach concert sponsored by the Berryville Alliance of Churches. This is a concern in which evangelism, spiritual growth, and hands-on mission overlap. There is a great need in this county for Christian-based family counseling. There is a great need for helping families develop organized financial plans with a chance of success at digging them out of deep holes. We need more Christian foster homes and Christian Big Brother, Big Sister type programs. The list goes on and on.

3. Chemical Abuse and Addiction. There is a great need for more to be done in the area of helping people of all ages break free from alcohol and drug abuse, whether it is more widely distributed A.A., Al-Anon, and N.A. groups, or for more widely available Celebrate Recovery groups, generic, Christian-based, Twelve Step programs, or for more Spirit-filled healing prayer ministries where many get a jump start on their recovery path.

More: We could go on to list other matters of concern: community-based economic development, job creation, and income enhancement, high quality, Christian-friendly education, health care, creation care, and so forth.

Scary? God Will Supply Us as We Grow

It may seem scary to think of tackling such a wide array of issues, but we will not tackle all of them at once, and we will tackle only those for which God supplies us with the people to carry them out. As the congregation grows in numbers, and I believe that we will grow in numbers as we focus on and follow our mission statement, the human energy and material resources to do more and more will be supplied.

Our present fifty people cannot think of doing much more than we are doing; we would have to stop doing something we are presently doing in order to take up some new thing.

But one hundred people can accomplish more than twice as much as fifty. I believe that we can be to that point within three years.

Three hundred people who come with the expectation of becoming part of a mission-focused church, just six times our present numbers, might accomplish ten or twelve times as much.

Why can more people accomplish proportionately more? Because as we grow, although we will have to have some increased numbers of members devoted to basic congregational survival and maintenance, the percentage of members devoted to such tasks will drop. A higher percentage of members will be free to focus on missions and ministries. I can imagine that we could reach those kinds of numbers within ten years.

Why I Am Confident

The reason for my confidence is this. There are a lot of people out there who are looking for two things: (1) spiritual growth, and (2) hands-on mission. A church that reaches out with the gospel and focuses tightly on these two additional things will reach a lot of people. I do not know that there are any churches around us articulating such a clear focus on the things most needed.
Our vision for growth is not a cynical plan to grow a church institution, for at its heart it is about obeying the most basic commands of the New Testament. Ultimately, it is about becoming compassionate, Christlike people who seek to build a community of hope in Jesus Christ.

Compassion Hymn

We have learned two Getty-Townend hymns “In Christ Alone” and “Speak, O Lord.” I would like to refer you to another new Getty and Townend hymn, one we have not yet learned. It is simply called “Compassion Hymn.” The first three verses describe Jesus’ compassion.
And the fourth verse extends the compassion through our present day efforts. The refrain reflects on God’s “boundless love” and “fathomless grace” which we are now called to show to the world as an offering of our praise.

Experience the hymn on this video from a Getty concert tour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmRjBnuaH-U

To see the words, click the title “Compassion Hymn” from the list of hymns on this webpage:
http://gettymusic.com/hymns.aspx

Forming Disciples

Sermon by John Turner

September 13, 2009

Discipleship Is Bursting Out All Over

This fall, this congregation is bursting with new developments in its discipleship ministries. We have new facilities, programs, and leaders for youth and for elementary-age children on both Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings. We can now begin working on new or improved facilities, programs, and leaders for middle school and pre-school. We are resuming our adult education programs on Sunday mornings and evenings. We are adding a new adult spiritual growth curriculum on Wednesday evenings and attempting to offer a small group aimed at men. In all this, we are stretching ourselves and trusting that God will provide the human and material resources needed to accomplish our purposes. In all of this, we are furthering our goals to grow spiritually in the 9 ways that are displayed on our walls.

Fundamental to Christian spiritual growth is teaching about Jesus and strengthening our ability to live in a more Christlike manner. This is a major theme in the Letters of the Apostles. I want to show this in the Letters of the Apostle Paul.

Growing in Christlikeness: A Major Theme in All Paul's Letters

Our New Testament includes 13 Letters written or co-written by Paul. I will run through quotations from each of them in approximate chronological order to show Paul’s consistent interest in forming our lives to show our likeness to Christ. I assure you that I could list many more and much longer passages from Paul’s Letters to prove my case. I am doing just enough to make the point.

Letter Number 1. In Galatians 4:19 Paul addresses his readers as “my little children for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.”

Letter Number 2. In 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13. Paul prays for his readers, “and may the Lord (Jesus) make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all…so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.”

Letter Number 3. In 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12, he prays for his readers, “that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power, so that the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified in you and you in him, according to the grace of God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Letter Number 4. In 1 Corinthians Paul addresses a wide variety of problems in which the new Christians are conforming to the world’s values rather than to the redeeming, self-giving love of Jesus Christ. His bottom line in 10:31 and 11:1 is, “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God….Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.”

Letter Number 5. In 2 Corinthians 3:18, Paul writes, “And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord (Jesus), are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Letter Number 6. In Romans 12:2, Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Letter Number 7. Abridged from Philippians 3:7-14, Paul writes, “But whatever gain I had…I count as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him…that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that …I may attain the resurrection from the dead….Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Letter Number 8. In Ephesians 4:13, Paul states the goal of our life in Christ and in his church, that we may “all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

Letter Number 9. In Colossians 1:27-28, Paul celebrates the greatness of the riches of the mystery which God has now made known to his saints, “which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” We proclaim Christ, warning and teaching everyone, that “we may present everyone mature in Christ.”

Letter Number 10. In Philemon, Paul instructs Philemon to receive his returning runaway slave Onesimus, now a committed believer, no longer as a slave, but as a beloved brother in the Lord. Paul’s prayer for Philemon is, “that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ.”

Letter Number 11. I abridge Titus 2:11-14, “The grace of God has… brought salvation, training us to renounce ungodliness… and to live… godly lives…, waiting for … the appearing of the glory of Jesus Christ, who gave himself to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”

Letter Number 12. In 1 Timothy 4:6-11, Paul urges Timothy for the benefit of people who read over Timothy’s shoulder, “…train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”

Letter Number 13. Finally, in 2 Timothy 1:13, “Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.”

The Point

From beginning to end, all thirteen of Paul’s letters are designed to encourage his readers to live their lives with ever-increasing Christlikeness. There is no doubt that Paul believes that salvation is by grace through faith, and not by works: we do not earn salvation by good deeds. But the point of grace is to produce good deeds. Paul’s most persistent theme is that saved believers are to live their lives in Christ, being ever more fully transformed into his likeness, and letting their Christlike deeds show to the world who Christ is.

My point today is that we are to live and teach in such a way that we convey the Holy Spirit-inspired truths set forth by the Apostle Paul, that salvation is by grace through faith and that salvation expresses itself in an ongoing process of our being transformed into Christlike people.

Our Opportunities to Grow Spiritually

Christian spiritual growth can be largely defined by the degree to which we are becoming more like Jesus. The purpose of The 9 Ways emphasis of this congregation is to help us grow toward the stature of the fullness of Christ. The purpose of The Apprentice Series curriculum we are beginning to use on Wednesday evenings is that we might learn to think more and more with the mind of Christ.

Congregational Mission and Vision

The current version of our congregational mission and vision that we are previewing with the congregation has three components: Evangelism, Spiritual Growth, and Hands-on Mission to Make Life Better. We may find more attractive ways to express those components, but, if we have done our job right to this point, they are likely to remain the key components. In any case, Christian spiritual growth is basic to what we are about. If we are not growing spiritually, we will not be effective or enduring in our evangelism and hands-on mission.

The Costs of Failing to Grow Spiritually

and the Benefits of Growing

Failure to grow spiritually shows up in so many places: at home, at work, at school, in our friendships and recreational activities, and in our church life. If we are not growing spiritually, we are paying a heavy cost, whether we know it or not. Conversely, if things are not working right in any part of our lives, it may be an indication that we need to pay more attention to our spiritual growth.

I am not saying that spiritually mature people have no problems. Jesus, the model of spiritual maturity, had problems, lots of them. I am saying that spiritual immaturity adds a lot of unnecessary problems.

When we are not spiritually mature: We stress out. We over-react. We lose focus. We fail to endure. Either we are too easily blown this way or that, or we get stuck in unproductive ruts. Either we are filled with rage, or we are depressed, or we are obsessive with activity. Either we are autocrats, or we are people-pleasers. Either we are isolated, or we cannot stand to be alone. A life of spiritual growth in Christ helps us to find ways out of those traps. Spiritual growth helps us live more creatively, more productively, more satisfactorily, more contagiously.

I have seen people grow spiritually and then suddenly several of the people who know them want to grow spiritually too. “If God can change old so-and-so, then maybe God can help me, too. After all, I’m not quite as bad as he was.”

Two True Things About Spiritual Growth

I want to say two true things about spiritual growth that may seem contradictory, but I am convinced that they fit together.

1. Spiritual growth is the work of the Holy Spirit. We cannot make ourselves like Jesus by our will power. Only the Spirit of God at work within us through our faith in Jesus Christ can get the job done. So, when we are transformed, we cannot claim the credit.

2. If we want spiritual growth, we must make ourselves consistently available for the Spirit’s disciplined training. Jesus says that, if we abide in him through the Spirit, we will be fruitful. But he also tells us to present ourselves for a good pruning! And he will not prune us unless we offer ourselves for the job to be done. The spiritual disciplines we learn in our Wednesday evening program are simply the ways in which we present ourselves for the Spirit’s work in our lives.

Spiritual Disciplines

Most of the spiritual disciplines that James Bryan Smith presents in The Good and Beautiful God are remarkably pleasant and seemingly easy: get more sleep, silence, solitude; create more margin in your life. It turns out that it is not so easy. We have to battle to free ourselves from our addictions and compulsions, from the demands of the rapid pace of life that our culture expects of us in order to find the time to present ourselves to God for his transforming work.

The Discipline of Sleep

I have been working with some diligence and discipline at getting more sleep for about two months now. I am making a bit of progress. This past week, I made my highest weekly sleep score for the two month period. But I find that I still let too many sleep stealers dominate my evenings and consequently I don’t get enough sleep. My goal has been to add about an hour of sleep per night and I appear to have added about half that. That’s progress, but there is more to come. Why is sleep important? James Bryan Smith suggests that exhaustion is the number one enemy of Christian spiritual growth today.

Once we can stay awake in the presence of God, what changes can we expect? We can expect to hear more of God's guidance.

Speak, O Lord

We are learning this month the new hymn, “Speak, O Lord.” I have been using it each day this past week to guide my devotions. What power it has to shape the aspirations of my heart!

You can see videos of the hymn at these sites:

The writers/composers talk about the hymn, playing and singing the first verse:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckhjcIOfV88

Full song performed by Keith and Kristyn Getty with the words on the screen: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGg40zKRvAg&feature=related

College choir: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iKPa45GVOg

What I heard as I meditated on that hymn is that, as we open ourselves to the Word and Spirit of God, God will renew our minds and shape our hearts so that our acts of love and deeds of faith will show forth the light of Christ, so that the church will be built up, and so that our lives will add up to the glory of God. O may it be so! For that is the goal of our spiritual growth toward the maturity of Christ. I want that aspiration to be at the heart of our church!

Rally Days! This Sunday and Wednesday

It’s now and it’s here!

Sunday, September 13, and Wednesaday, September 16,

are Rally Days.

Get back in the swing of things at First Christian Church.


Sunday Morning Classes 9:30 A.M.

Now is the time to get your elementary school students to Sunday school in the former daycare center north of the main church building where Dave and Jill Stice, who have been cleaning, painting, and getting ready, will lead the class in wonderful adventures with the Bible. The Bible lessons, memory verses, games, and snacks will be organized to work together to enhance learning. Don’t miss the fun!

Middle school and high school students should be begging to be awakened in time to get to Sunday School in their remodeled center west of the main church building where Eddie Keever will be ready to interact on tough questions about the Bible and faith. No holds barred.

Adults are studying Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians and just getting to the controversial section on household relationships. John Turner will be filling in for Loretta Tanner and is planning to guide you through a careful and balanced treatment of the passage.

Please pray for Loretta’s speedy recovery.

Sunday Evening Bible Study Resumes 6:00 PM

Sunday Evening Bible Study resumes with the study of the Gospel of Mark. For those who missed some of our sessions in may or are just now joining us or who maybe are a little foggy on what we studied in May, we will spend September 13 and 20 doing a speed review of Mark 1—8:21 before tackling new territory. This is a great time to get on board.

Wednesday Evening Children and Youth

Everything starts with supper in the fellowship hall at 5:30 PM.

Scott and Amanda Frame, joined by Eddie Keever, will be leading the youth Wednesday evenings. Usually, they will be in the Youth Center, but once a month, starting this week, they will be in the sanctuary for a worship service. J. R. Poulson will lead the Praise and Worship, and Scott Frame will preach.

Robert West is leading the children in the north building. The recreational activities will be tied to the Sunday lessons.

It’s Not Too Late to Start the Wednesday Evening Apprentice Groups, 6:00 PM

Judy Turner is leading the women in the choir room while John Turner leads the men in the pastor’s study. You too can become more like Jesus this fall! Make your family and friends wonder what happened! Special seating is being reserved for the next five men to join us.

Making Disciples

Sermon by John Turner

September 6, 2009

2 Kings 6:8—7:20

It Is Not Right to Stay Silent

Here is an abridged and summarized version of the sermon text from 2 Kings:

When Syria and Israel were at war, the Prophet Elisha would often warn the king of Israel where the king of Syria was going to set up camp, thus giving the king of Israel an advantage and probably saving his life. The king of Syria assumed that he had a leak coming out from his close circle, but his staff assured him that the Prophet Elisha’s prophetic powers were the cause of the problem.

The king of Syria sent a great army during the night to surround the town where Elisha was staying. Early the next morning Elisha’s servant saw and reported with alarm and despair the presence of the enemy army. Elisha responded calmly, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.

And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha. Elisha went out and said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria, Israel’s capital city. Elisha asked the Lord to open their eyes, and they saw that they were in the midst of the capital city. The king of Israel wanted to strike them down, but Elisha told him to give them a feast and send them home to report the supernatural events. For some time, Syria did not attack Israel again.

Much later, Ben-hadad, king of Syria, besieged Samaria. There was a great famine in Samaria, food and all edible substances skyrocketed in price until even a donkey's head was sold for eighty shekels of silver, and a half pint of dove's dung for five shekels of silver. Things were so bad that the citizens were killing and eating their children. The king of Israel blamed Elisha and sent an army captain as messenger to capture Elisha in order to execute him, but Elisha barricaded himself and prophesied, “Tomorrow about this time seven quarts of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and fourteen quarts of barley for a shekel, at the gate of Samaria.” In other words, food would be plentiful again. The captain could not believe it. But Elisha said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, but you shall not eat of it.”

Now there were four men who were lepers at the entrance to the gate. And they said to one another, “Why are we sitting here until we die? Let us go over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare our lives we shall live, and if they kill us we shall but die.” So they arose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians. But when they came to the edge of the camp, there was no one there. For the Lord had made the army of the Syrians hear the sound of chariots and of horses, the sound of a great army, so that they abandoned their tents, their horses, and their donkeys, and fled for their lives. And when these lepers came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent and ate and drank, and they carried off two loads of silver and gold and clothing and hid them.

Then they said to one another, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until the morning light, punishment will overtake us. Now therefore come; let us go and tell the king's household.” So they came and called to the gatekeepers of the city and told them, “We came to the camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no one to be seen or heard there, nothing but horses, donkeys, and tents.” Then the gatekeepers called out, and it was told within the king's household. The king suspected that the Syrians were setting up an ambush. But one of his servants said, “Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see.” So they took two horsemen, and the king sent them after the army of the Syrians, saying, “Go and see.” So they went after them as far as the Jordan, and behold, all the way was littered with garments and equipment that the Syrians had thrown away in their haste. And the messengers returned and told the king. Then the people went out and plundered the camp of the Syrians.

So seven quarts of fine flour were sold for a shekel, and fourteen quarts of barley for a shekel. As Elisha had prophesied, the captain saw it, but he did not eat of it, for he was trampled by crowds rushing out of the city gate to collect food and wealth from the Syrian camp.

A Broken World and News of a Repairing God

We live in a world in which terrible things are happening. There is no end to the destructive patterns into which the lives of despairing people and even of complacent people are falling even right here in Berryville.

But there is good news of a God who, unseen, behind the scene, reigns, a God who can and will set things right if we will trust his gospel and entrust ourselves in obedience to his controlling hand, the hand of the God who has made himself known through his Perfect Son Jesus, who died for our sins and has been raised to give us a glimpse of what we could not see on our own, a perfect future eternity which is open to those who trust and obey Jesus. We can be saved from our sins; we can be transformed degree by degree into Christlikeness, we can lead meaningful lives in which our efforts will make life better for others, and we can be assured of perfect eternity in the future.

Once we have received this good news that can change everything, once it has begun to change our lives, even just begun, it is not right for us to remain silent about it. Like the four lepers who discovered the good news that the siege was over, we are obligated to share the good news.

We Have Been Commissioned

The Risen Jesus commissioned us: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

We Have a Ministry

The Apostle Paul also set our mission before us: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” In short, we have been entrusted as ambassadors of Christ to carry the message of how every human being who will believe the gospel can be brought back to God.

The Command Is Unmistakable

The command that is laid upon us to go and make disciples, to be ambassadors for Christ and ministers of reconciliation, is unmistakable. Our mission of sharing the good news, of evangelism, is set forth in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament teachings of Jesus and the Apostles.

The E-Word: Deal with It, One Way or Another

I do not care if evangelism has become a dirty word to us, the E-word. The commission stands whether we like the word or not. We do not have to call it evangelism, but we are commanded to do it. We are being asked to share the good news of Jesus Christ and of his reign, both now and eternally. We are being asked to help people understand that the good news applies to them, that the gap that has separated them from God has been bridged by Jesus Christ and, through their faith, can be bridged in their daily experience.

You have heave people say, “I really do not care what people call me, as long as they call me to dinner.”

I don’t care what you call our great commission: Call it “Telling the Good News.” Call it, “Making Disciples.” Call it, “Sharing Faith.” Call it, “Winning Friends for Jesus.” Call it what you will. Just be sure that people are invited to dine with our Lord.

Like the lepers who knew that the siege was over, it is not right for us to sit silently when there is a world so in need of knowing the good news.

Methods May Vary

Not all of us will have the same method of sharing the good news. We will have to ask the Holy Spirit how he is calling each one of us to go about it. Not every one of us is called to go out knocking on doors asking, “Are you saved?” A few of us may be. But others will have other methods; some of the other methods may be better in the long run. By my instincts, that is an understatement. The point is that each one of us is under the command to find some way or several ways to obey this commission!

What is your style of evangelism? I have provided a sheet for you in your bulletins. Take it out and follow along with me.

Ten Styles of Evangelism

(The first six are taken from the book, Becoming a Contagious Christian, by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg; the rest are taken from my observations as a pastor).

Confrontational—Personal qualities: direct, bold, right to the point, inclined to act now and to apologize as needed later. Description: This person is willing to talk with complete strangers, to ask personal questions, and to challenge anything not in line with revealed truth.

Intellectual/Apologetic—Personal qualities: studious, rational, deep thinker, able to find answers to hard questions and to explain the answers clearly. Description: This person may work one-on-one, in small groups, ministering to large groups, or even via communications media (print, recordings, broadcast, Internet, etc.), recognizing and answering the questions that are blocking people from faith commitments.

Testimonial—Personal qualities: an eye for God-sightings in daily life and a gift for relating personal experiences of God’s grace. Description: This person can hold attention by telling spiritually significant true stories which may be either dramatic or very ordinary.

Interpersonal—Personal qualities: warm, gregarious, caring, communicative. Description: This person makes friends, demonstrates concern for the well-being of friends, and then is in a position to help people decide for Christ.

Invitational—Personal qualities: willingness to be open and welcoming, to recognize events which have the potential to connect people to Christ and then invite them to the events. Description: This person is constantly looking for opportunities to invite acquaintances to come and experience something about Jesus Christ.

Service/Mercy--Personal qualities: loving to do whatever can be helpful to people in need; willingness to give time in sacrificial service. Description: This person sees human need and tries to help the people see the love of God in action. To be effective evangelistically, this person needs to have ready an explanation for their good deeds that credits Christ’s love.

Making Life Better--Personal qualities: desiring to fix human institutions or to create new patterns of life so that things are better for people who need more hope and opportunity. Description: Rather than doing direct help, this person tries to make life work better. Nonbelievers who are interested in making life work better may be ready to hear what motivates and stimulates the creative efforts of this person, and this person needs to be ready to explain how Christ is the source.

Spiritual Maturation and Insight--Personal qualities: growing in Christian wisdom and character, gently sharing helpful life insights and being prepared to show that the insights derive from Christ. Description: This person develops a reputation as someone who has maturity and insight, and others are drawn to seek the source of what they have.

Intercessional--Personal qualities: recognizing needs of acquaintances and asking them if they would welcome prayer; then praying right on the spot. Description: This person understands that prayer makes a difference and wants to help others discover that God is real, powerful, and relevant to life’s problems.

Prophecy and Miracles--Personal qualities: a calling to work with spiritual gifts of prophecy, healing, and miracles. Description: This person listens to God and shares what God says and then dares to ask for the supernatural works God is willing to do. This is sometimes called “power evangelism.” In some ways, this is just a special development of intercessional evangelism. This gift needs to be accountable to a spiritually mature discernment team.

(Probably: Sometime in October, we will give you an opportunity to identify and report which styles are your styles. In the meantime, be praying about it and, if you have a style of evangelism that we have not described, let us know so that we can include it on the list. We may well have more styles of evangelism the next time we use this list. I woke up this morning thinking of two or three more. I’ll be interested to see if any of you think of the same ones or some that haven’t occurred to me yet. Email John@Christviewmin.org ).

And About Time, Too!

I remember a Doonesbury comic strip from many years back with a preacher in the pulpit of a large, formal sanctuary explaining why the time for the mainline church has finally returned. A voice from the sanctuary says, “And about time, too!” The comic strip pans out to show that the voice comes from the lone person in the otherwise empty pews.

I recently skimmed through the best-selling book being published by our denominational publishing house, best-selling for Chalice Press, not on the New York Times list. It is called Unbinding the Gospel, and it is aimed at seven once mainline denominations of which the Disciples, the Presbyterians, and the Methodists are represented in Berryville. These denominations once represented a large proportion of the American population. I don’t happen to have the statistics. By 1960, only 14.4 % of the American people were members of these seven denominations. By the year 2000, only 7.4 % of the American people belonged to these seven denominations. You can see that trend right here in Berryville.

What happened to turn the mainline churches into the sideline churches? Several things, but, most fundamentally, these churches lost their confidence to do evangelism.

The book to which I am referring studied congregations within these denominations that bucked the trend and actually grew through the years of steep decline. The book identified the beginning factor in turning declining churches into growing churches as prayer.

Churches that consistently, persistently, and insistently pray for opportunities to share the gospel are led by God to find those opportunities, and consequently they grow. More importantly, they bring unbelievers to saving and transforming faith in Jesus Christ. I believe that the message for us is that we should pray, pray, and then pray for opportunities to share the good news of God’s reign in Jesus Christ.

And about time, too!

(The Doonesbury comic strip reference was added for this blog version of the sermon)

The End of the Gardening Year

One of our Community Gardeners, Dan Krotz, has begun putting his garden to bed for the year. It is a little early, but he'll be out of town for a while and wanted to get a jump on year end tasks before it got too late. You'll probably see our other Church gardeners doing their fall clean-up fairly soon. Stop by and admire the last of this year's bounty. And, if you notice lots of green sprouts popping up in the beds, don't be alarmed: it isn't crabgrass; it's a small crop of oats which has been planted to add nitrogen to the soil for next year.

You have probably seen the flowers above, which I think are called Hyacinth Bean. They were grown by Jennifer Hudspeth. This spectacular plant has given us, by turns, richly profuse foliage, darkly lovely flowers, and literally hundreds of maroon bean pods that are about the size and shape of snow pea pods. Perhaps we can convince (and help) Jennifer to produce this spectacular garden sideshow again--but along the entire street-sides perimeter of the garden.

Let us also now, in the closing days of the growing season, say "thank you" to Kari Keever, the remarkable young woman who, along with mother and sister, has so faithfully managed our little garden and represented our Church Community to Loaves and Fishes. Kari has been an inspiration to her gardening colleagues, and to many people in the larger community. Kari, thank you very much.

We also thank everyone in our church for the provision of land for the garden, for the water that has kept it green, and for the intentions and prayers that have been felt by all of the gardeners. Our church garden has been a good thing done for good reasons and for the glory of God. Thank you, thank you.

Jesus: Our All in All

Sermon by John Turner, August 30, 2009

COLOSSIANS (1:3-20) 2:6-15 (3:9-17)

A note about the links:

[I am putting a lot of youtube video links to recordings of hymns and choruses on this blog version of the sermon. I did not take time to listen to all the links, and not many of you will have time to listen to all the links either, although more power to you if you do! Choose the ones that interest you. If you can only listen to a few, choose Twila Paris’ “How Beautiful,” which we will be learning during September and the Getty and Townend songs near the end of the sermon. You already know their, “In Christ Alone.” We will be learning their, “Speak, O Lord,” during September. Yes, we will be back to a mix of old and new now that we have finished the hymns series].

Jesus Christ: Our All in All

In the letter to the Colossians, Paul says that we must live holy, Christlike lives because Christ is all and Christ is in all. Everything holds together in him, for in him all the fullness of God is pleased to dwell, reconciling all things to himself on the cross. As we are renewed in Christ, we must put on Christlike, self-giving love and let the word of Christ dwell in us richly and to express itself in our spoken and sung worship. We must do everything in the name of Jesus—that is, in the character and purpose of Jesus—giving thanks to God the Father through him.

The Last Two Dozen Years

We are down to roughly the last two dozen years (about 1986 to present) of our summer hymn survey. The story of Christian worship in this era is about a big pendulum swing, and in the end about finding fullness in Jesus Christ.

The “Me-Generation”

By the mid-1980’s, the “me-generation” had taken over in our culture. They were focused on personal satisfaction. Confronted with scriptural promises, abstract theology, theories of blood atonement, or great missions challenges, many of them asked, “What do those have to do with my personal satisfaction?” They found both the traditional hymns of the church and the simple Scripture choruses of the previous generation B-O-R-I-N-G. They wanted songs focused on their sensed needs. From the mid-1980’s through the early 1990’s there were a whole slew of “I Jus’ Wanna” songs, focused on personal spiritual experiences. That is where we had to start to reach that generation. We called it seeker-sensitive worship. There is nothing wrong with personal spiritual aspiration, and we need a few worship songs that express our desires for spiritual experience, but we do not need a steady diet of shallow, frothy, self-focused songs crowding out substantial God-focused songs.Now, I am not saying that the whole generation was that way. Within that generation, there were objectors to the self-centered focus. My niece Shari, overexposed, could hardly stand seeker-sensitive worship. The trend of Shari’s objections grew in the next generation. Our daughter Carissa, her husband Stephen, and their friends in Indiana, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina have shared Shari’s aversion to me-generation values. For them, it was time for the pendulum to swing back to hymns with real theological content and literary quality, hymns that aid our spiritual maturation as servants of Christ.

Bradford Pear Trees and Redwood Trees

Songwriter Lynn DeShazo, who wrote the chorus “More Precious Than Silver” in the era we considered last week, and whose recent, “Ancient Words (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkNqxcz3E3M ),” we are singing today, says that we should think of new Christian songs as being either Bradford pear trees or redwood trees. Bradford pears begin spectacularly, but last only about twenty years. Redwoods last for hundreds of years. Most of the songs that are designed to speak to the desires of a particular generation, drawing them into relationship with Jesus Christ, are Bradford pears, spectacular and then gone. But among them, a few will be found that are redwoods, and those will join the ranks of the Watts and Wesley hymns as enduring classics of the church’s worship. The Bradford pears, spectacularly appealing in their time, are for outreach efforts, and the redwoods are for spiritual maturation.

Looking for the Redwoods

Let’s find the redwoods among the Bradford pears from the songs of spiritual quest that were popular in the “me-generation.” I cannot cover that ground in this sermon; I will just give examples of why I think some may be redwoods.

Definite redwood: Rick Founds’ “Lord, I Lift Your Name on High ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COQ6cni_TG8 ).” The focus is on what Jesus did for us: his incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection/ascension. Despite its “I” language, it is more about Jesus than about us.

Definite redwood: Paul Baloche’s very popular “Open the Eyes of My Heart ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wutmEjdbedE ).” With the goal of personally seeing God, it has a clear spiritual experience focus, but with its grounding in Scripture, specifically Ephesians 1:18, Isaiah 6, and Revelation 4, it stands out from the “I jus’ wanna” songs.

Definite redwood: Brian Doerksen’s “Refiner’s Fire ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idA6fCAHVzs ).” It is personal spiritual aspiration for a painful purification in which our sin is burned away, hardly the stuff of an “I jus’ wanna” song.

Possible redwoods: Marie Barnett’s “Breathe ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjmym-PMVIM ) ,” and Kathryn Scott’s, “Hungry ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYlpIdEyzX4&feature=related ).” These two songs achieve an intensity of spiritual desire that is nearly unparalleled in this generation of songs, an intensity with a deep awareness of human brokenness that somehow transcends the shallow, comfortable “I jus’ wanna” songs. The emphasis on “I” is strong in both songs, but, in both, the solution rests with God’s sovereign response to prayer. I think that, if these songs can be used to heighten our sense of need for a solution that can then be presented in a following hymn with more substantial scriptural content about what Jesus does that actually satisfies our deepest needs, then “Breathe “ and “Hungry” become redwoods. That’s enough about redwoods and Bradford pears.

Who Jesus Is and What He Means for Us

Let’s focus on songs that represent who Jesus is and what he means for us.

Twila Paris

Arkansan Twila Paris’ 1991 “How Beautiful ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJfSp_rceFs )” is often used for the Lord’s Supper, but can also be an invitation or a commissioning hymn. The theme is the beauty of Christ’s sacrifice which is to be replicated in our service to him. The first verse begins with Jesus’ past tense hands, “How beautiful the hands that served the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.” The third verse ends with our present tense hands, “How beautiful the hands that serve the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.” The refrain asserts, “How beautiful is the body of Christ,” with body having its double meaning as Christ’s physical body and as the church, his continuing body on earth. A bridge before the last refrain drives home the point: “And as He laid down His life, we offer this sacrifice, that we might live just as He died, willing to pay the price.” What a potent song about what Christ does and how it changes us.

Hillsong

A group that made a huge splash in the early 1990’s was the worship team from Hillsong Church in Australia, with congregations now scattered around the world. We might not agree with all their theology, but their best known songs clearly avoid the “I jus’ wanna” trap. We are singing two of their songs today.

Darlene Zschech’s “Shout to the Lord ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzNsEBPB-Z8&feature=PlayList&p=F4AD6CAC5DFA9509&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=17 ) ” calls all the earth to join us in shouting praise to Jesus as our Comfort, Shelter, and Tower of Refuge and Strength; it was the dominant hymn worldwide in the late 1990’s, and is still sung by many millions each week.

Reuben Morgan’s “What the Lord Has Done in Me ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4H6Uv7BI7I ),” celebrates that Jesus offers relevant help for the weak, the poor, the blind, and sinners. We cry out, “Hosanna, Savior,” because he is the Lamb of God who died and rose again. Zschech, Morgan, and other members of the Hillsong music ministry have contributed a large body of Christ-centered music to the church universal.

Graham Kendrick

Graham Kendrick of Great Britain has been called “the greatest living composer of hymns and worship songs,” a “father of modern worship music” whose songs are “crammed full of poetic, divine, biblical truth” that have “sculpted a view of God that has impacted generations.” Kendrick did not pander to the “me” generation. His work is nothing if not personally challenging. We are singing today the two Kendrick hymns that are best known in the United States.

“Shine, Jesus, Shine ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr5Y63bDNNg ),” which became the theme song of the “March for Jesus” movement of which Kendrick was the founder, is at once a prayer for revival, a challenge to personal holiness, a call to missions, and a hymn of praise to Jesus. It is a bold proclamation and commissioning hymn designed to bolster the church’s confidence in sharing its faith, and it represents a larger body of similar hymns that he wrote.

“Knowing You (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGbuz8QuhmE ),” based on Philippians 3, much quieter, is so rich that it has many uses: invitation, spiritual life, the Lord’s Supper, even weddings and funerals. I consider this one of the great hymns of our time. Kendrick has many others of a similar nature.

Two of his early hymns, “The Servant King,” 1983 (http://new.music.yahoo.com/graham-kendrick scroll down to videos and click “The Servant King”) , and “Meekness and Majesty,” 1986 ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tK1hQpacs8 ), focus on the mystery of Jesus Christ’s dual roles as Suffering Servant and Royal Son of God. I’d encourage you to read them and/or listen to them. If you are intrigued with Kendrick, I call your attention to his website (http://www.grahamkendrick.co.uk/songs/songs_index.php ) where you can examine hundreds of his songs.

Kendrick’s songs call us not only into evangelism, but also into service to the poor and forgotten. Kendrick is still writing songs, but he has also become a teacher about worship, an editor of hymnals, and a father figure to younger hymnwriters who value what he has accomplished and look to him as both model and mentor.

Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, and the Passion Group

One younger British hymnwriter who has looked up to Kendrick is Matt Redman. Early in his career, Redman turned out a mix of enduring and transient worship songs. A turning point came with his immensely popular “The Heart of Worship.” I think that one may not endure for several reasons, none of which is my point at the moment. Redman has offered more substantial material as he has matured, most notably, “Blessed Be Your Name ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du0il6d-DAk ).” Matt and Beth Redman have four children, but Beth suffered several miscarriages along the way, and they have learned to deal with alternating pain and wonder. They believe that we must make a place for lament in our worship. They were in this country during the 9-11 event, and, seeing so much innocent suffering, they were led to meditate on the Book of Job. The verses of “Blessed Be the Name” speak of blessing the name of God in times of plenty and want, in sunshine or in suffering. The most poignant line of the song is, “You give and take away; my heart will choose to say, ‘Lord, blessed be Your name.’”


Following in Kendrick’s steps, Redman, his good friend Chris Tomlin, of Texas roots, and the whole Passion team of which they are a part, also are attempting to make a way for contemporary youth to enjoy singing the old hymns with fresh sounds. One notable effort is “The Wonderful Cross,” adding a refrain to “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sKcw9_PQYA ).


My daughter’s response to the attempts of the Passion group and others to update hymns is, “Carefully update a few archaic words: fine. Give it contemporary instrumentation: fine. Add a contemporary refrain; fine. Write a whole new tune for the old words; fine. But to use most of the old tune while changing the tune for a phrase or two; not fine! That may work for a performance recording, but for congregational singing, it leads to a train wreck.” After experiencing such a train wreck in their church as they sang the Passion group’s update of Frances Havergal’s “Take My Life and Let It Be,” my son-in-law Stephen remarked, “Poor Frances Havergal.” Still, even with some goofs, we need to rejoice that the effort is being made and that some of it really works! For instance, Graham Kendrick, Robin Mark, and Matt Redman have all attempted to reclaim the wonderful Welsh revival hymn, “Here Is Love (Robin Mark: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdYAPBLQMWA Matt Redman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhYxJdz4Ut8 )


Another way of updating old hymns, is represented by Chris Tomlin’s “How Great Is Our God” often being used to lead into “How Great Thou Art uniting the generations in common praise, which is one of Tomlin’s goals (It seems that every Christian singer, choir, and praise team must have recorded a unique version of this medley and posted it on YouTube. Search to your heart’s content. Here is just one local church praise team http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cGQDUIqtCg ).” By the way, the Redman’s and Tomlin have both moved to Atlanta to help plant “Passion City Church” there.

Stuart Townend, Keith and Kristyn Getty

Another team that has been influenced by Graham Kendrick consists of the writers Stuart Townend of England and Keith and Kristyn Getty of Ireland (currently living in Ohio), who often work together. Most of their writing these days is of substantive new hymns.

Townend’s best known hymns that he wrote on his own are “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (sung by Fernando Ortega: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24spuXYeFKY )” and “Beautiful Savior (sung by Casting Crowns: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8sQ29G9FKOY ).”

But his fame has multiplied as he has worked with Keith Getty on “In Christ Alone (sung by Kristyn Getty with Keith Getty on piano: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLy8ksqGf9w; Stuart Townend demonstrates it on guitar: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvV6oUajxAY )” and “The Power of the Cross (The Getty’s with choral and orchestral background: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ms-gxEOtLA )” have won wide recognition.

Kristyn Getty joined them in writing “The Communion Hymn,” also known as “Behold the Lamb (sung by Stuart Townend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alvX9Fa53-o&feature=PlayList&p=28B43A14BC8F38DB&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=8 ).”
The list goes on.


“Speak, O Lord (Writers explain the writing and playing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckhjcIOfV88&feature=relatedRecording of whole song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsQ-gMkOSok ),” “My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSrAhzVD6Lw ),” and Jesus, Draw Me Ever Nearer, (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fodnd3fE4mQ&feature=related )” also deserve places in our repertoire.

More are coming. For instance, as I was collecting the links for the above, I found Townend’s “Spirit of Heaven (Christ In Me) [ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNy3NKSFLwA ]”

One can see the flexibility of these songs by comparing/contrasting the Townend and Getty performances of “O Church, Arise” (Townend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQsX8tl9W5Q Getty: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppcOA_HSs9U&feature=PlayList&p=F1700516E425F076&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=25 )

Allow me to pull together what Townend and the Getty’s say about their hymnwriting; I have edited these together out of published interviews with each one:

We have three things in mind as we write:

(1) to get people of every generation all across the world to sing. We are investigating the question, “Is there a way to bring everyone together musically?" We often use Irish tunes for that purpose because they have simple melodies that work well for group singing. We want melodies that can be played by a praise band, a solo guitar, a piano, an organ, or an orchestra.

(2) to focus on the revealed truth in Scripture and in Christ and to help teach the faith. What we sing affects how we think, how we feel and ultimately how we live, so it's important that we sing the whole scope of truth the Bible has given us. It is also important that our lives are built not on our feelings or circumstances, but on the word of God, and songs can really help us to meditate on and retain truth. Our hope is not in ourselves, but in Christ. We want music for the Church to be able to lift us beyond our circumstances and become a plumb line for bringing all of our life experiences to the Truth…, and in doing so, to … build up the Church and enable people to express more about who God is.

(3) to prepare music that is useful for the various parts of a worship service whether the service is contemporary, traditional, or liturgical.

Our New Hymnwriters

Indeed, when we look back, I believe that Graham Kendrick and the Townend and Getty team may turn out to be the Watts and Wesley equivalent of our day. They are that good!

Series Summary

We are today completing our thirteen week summer hymn series. Let me review the titles and mention a hymn or two and author or two each:
Jesus: Lord of Our Hearts; “Be Thou My Vision,” author unknown
Jesus: Lord of Angelic Armies; “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” Martin Luther
Jesus: Lord of All the Earth; “Joy to the World,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” Isaac Watts
Jesus: Liberator of Our Hearts; “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” and “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” Charles Wesley
Jesus: Power to Save; “Amazing Grace,” John Newton
Jesus: Lamb and Shepherd; “Holy, Holy, Holy,” Reginald Heber and “Just As I Am,” Charlotte Elliott
Jesus: Our One Foundation; “The Church’s One Foundation,” Samuel Stone, and “What a Friend We have In Jesus” Joseph Scriven
Jesus: Our Assurance; “Blessed Assurance,” Fanny Crosby, and “Take My Life and Let It Be,” Frances Havergal
Jesus: Our Commander; “I Love to Tell the Story,” Katherine Hankey, and “I Will Sing of My Redeemer,” Philip Bliss
Jesus: His Steadfast Love; “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” Thomas Chisholm
Jesus: Our Victory; “How Great Thou Art,” Stuart Hine
Jesus: the King and His Kingdom; “Seek Ye First” Karen Lafferty,
Jesus: Our All in All; “Knowing You,” Graham Kendrick“ and In Christ Alone,” Stuart Townend and Keith Getty

The Main Thing

Do you detect a theme running through the whole series? It’s all about Jesus, his redeeming love, and the fullness of what he does for us. As the hymn “In Christ Alone,” says, Jesus is our “All in All.” In him we receive all that we truly need; in Him we ultimately become all that we truly are, children and heirs of God. He is the All in All for all who have trusted him served him worshiped him, and proclaimed him in all times and places. And he is the All in All for us right here and right now.

That is the main thing about our faith, and the focus of what we sing ought always to express or to complement that truth. Let’s always keep the main thing the main thing. The main thing is Jesus!

A Name for Our New Children's Ministry

Imagine the newly painted Children's Ministry Center of First Christian Church (formerly the Cornerstone Day Care"). See children acting out Bible stories, making a snack related to the theme of the story, laughing and talking. See children making a gift to take to people in a nursing home. See them smiling and bringing a smile to the face of an elderly person.
Now you have a picture of what will be going on with our new children's ministry. Kids will be learning about God while having fun and doing good. But what do we call this ministry which is offered on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings?
Please share your ideas by making a "Comment".