Picking a New Church in a New City (part 3)

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word.” (2 Tim. 4:1-2)

Nearing the end of his life and ministry, the Apostle Paul passes his baton to his protege Timothy. The first thing he commands his disciple to do is “preach the word.” Why is preaching so important? Many people outside the church think of preaching as dry, boring, and out of date. Yet, Christians are people who have knowledge of God because God has first spoken and revealed Himself to us. Apart from the light of revelation, we would be blind men groping around in the dark, with no knowledge of God or His saving power.

Paul makes this very clear in Romans 10. There is no belief in Christ without hearing about Christ:

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Rom. 10:14)

Preaching is central to our faith. The preacher's role is to speak what God has already spoken, that God's people might feast on the bread of life. This quote from Donald Coggan is quite good:

“Here is the miracle of the divine economy, that between the forgiveness of God and the sin of man stands- the preacher!... That between the truth of God and the quest of man stands- the preacher! It is his task to link human sin to forgiveness, human need to divine omnipotence, human search to divine revelation” (Coggan)

CHRIST-CENTERED PREACHING

When Teresa and I were picking a new church in a new city, one non-negotiable criteria was the preaching. Specifically, we were looking for Christ-centered preaching that would turn our gaze away from our sin, ourselves, and our circumstances and onto Jesus Christ.

A common objection to Christ-centered preaching is that not all of the scriptures can be interpreted that way. How about the Old Testament? The Mosiac Law? The Prophets?

Yet, Jesus tells the Pharisees (who only had the Old Testament) how to interpret scripture correctly:

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (John 6:39).

So Jesus tells His opponents that all the scriptures clearly point to Him This means that whenever we pick up an Old Testament passage, God is revealing Christ in some fashion.

For example, the Old Testament priests foreshadowed the coming of Jesus Christ, the perfect and final High Priest. The earthly priests under the Mosiac law were “a copy and shadow of the heavenly things (Heb 8:5). A copy and a shadow implies the presence of the real deal who is from heaven, Jesus Christ.

Sermons on the Old Testament put this principle of Christ-centered preaching to the test. Too often we are called to follow some kind of example without being given the power or ability to do it. A preacher may call us to “go be a David (and slay the Goliaths in your life)” or “go be a Daniel (and be brave if you're thrown in the lion's den)”. There's some truth in that. However, the Bible was not written primarily as a “how-to” book for improving your morals or condition in life. The Bible was written to reveal our need for a Savior from sin and God's righteous anger. If this is the case, then the story of David and Goliath teaches us that we need a David in our life to rescue us (think Jesus Christ) rather than teaches us to be better (stronger, braver, etc...)

The difference is subtle, but important. Is Jesus primarily a good moral example to follow? Or is Jesus primarily a Savior we need and Lord we submit to? Of course, He is a good moral example, but before He is that, He is much more than that. A Christ-centered sermon shouldn't leave you inspired at your own potential. It should leave you inspired at the person and work of Christ.

CHRIST-CENTERED PREACHING AT COVENANT FELLOWSHIP

Our church Covenant Fellowship is currently doing a sermon series on Leviticus. The messages have enlarged and challenged my understanding of sin and the presence of sin in my life. A scary thought is that we may sin unintentionally and not even realize it:

“if anyone sins unintentionally in any of the LORD's commandments about things not to be done, and does any one of them....” (Leviticus 4:2).

If you read on, you'll see that even unintentional sins require a sacrifice before God. Innocence because of ignorance simply doesn't exist! Unintentionally breaking God's commands is serious sin before God. But sin isn't just avoiding evil. In the message, our pastor also reminded us that failing to do what God requires is also sin. For example, God commands us to give thanks, to love one another, to meditate upon His Word, etc... Failure to do what God requires (because of forgetfulness, laziness, or any other reason) is also sin. This means that not complaining may fall short of God's glory if I fail to give thanks!

An expanded view of sin can lead to despair or great zeal to fulfill the law by our own flesh (e.g. like the Pharisees). Or, we can come with a humble and contrite heart to a Savior who laid down His life for the forgiveness of all of our sins and for the filling of the Holy Spirit who enables us to put sin to death (Rom. 8:13, Gal. 5:16).

God has used the preaching at Covenant Fellowship to remind us of our weak and sinful state and the glories of Christ, who is more than enough for our pressing need.

PREACHING AND WORSHIP

The Spirit-Filled worship was one factor that led us to choose Covenant Fellowship (see this post for details). Teresa also wrote a blog entry which mentioned how God used the worship at Covenant to expand her vision of God's glory. Good preaching leads to good worship. The Christ-Centered preaching that has fed our souls has also driven the Spirit-Filled worship.

I'll end with this quote from John Stott that explains this quite well:

"Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the Word of God is expounded in its fullness, and the congregation begins to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before His throne. It is preaching which accomplishes this, the proclamation of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God. That is why preaching is unique and irreplaceable." (John Stott)

Sin and Grace

This is part II in my struggle with insomnia during the Fall semester of 2010. Our second major paper was to examine the role of our own sin and God's grace in our lives. Not all of us did the same topic as our suffering and refuge paper, but it happened to work out that way for me. Through His perfect timing, God used our Dynamics of Biblical Change class to show me that the original cause of my insomnia was my fear of man and pride. Below are some glimpses of my life during that time.

About the first week of November my insomnia began to happen during nights that I didn’t have a Greek test the next day. I became increasingly nervous about bedtime, and was very anxious about whether I would even fall asleep each night. At first, I was the one who tried to cure myself of my own insomnia. I tried to make my body tired so that my chances of sleeping would increase, but the insomnia continued. I even bought some sleeping pills but they wore off and were no match for my insomnia. :P

God had patience with me and was the one who ultimately delivered me by opening my eyes to my own sin and bringing me to repentance over it.

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Thursday night Dynamics class (11/4/10)

I had cried out to God for deliverance from the symptoms of anxiety and sleeplessness, but it wasn't until Dynamics class that week that God began to deliver me. Through that class, God showed me that I cried out not for His sake, but to bring comfort to myself. I wanted the pain to go away, but I didn't desire heart change. I wanted relief from my symptoms, but didn’t understand my heart.

The Lusts of the Flesh

When Dr. Powlison was describing the desires of the heart, he described the lusts of the flesh in Romans 13:

• Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

The lusts of the flesh, he explained, are more than just sexual sins and coveting. They overflow to good things in life as well. It wasn't bad that I wanted to do well or that I wanted sleep, but I wanted to do well too much. I was fighting for sleep because my desire had become my master. My performance became a monster that was infecting more and more parts of my life. I found myself constantly stressed and my insomnia was becoming more frequent. The worse it got, the more I tried to gain control, which made my anxiety even worse.

The Real Cause

Through that Dynamics lecture, the Holy Spirit showed me and convicted me that I was worshipping myself. It finally clicked that that I had lost the proper perspective of who God was. God had become very small and helpless to me. He was only a helper to me when I was in trouble, and he could only bring relief to my symptoms. I realized that I had stopped worshipping Him and that I had started worshipping my own abilities and talents. My pride had mastered me.

“Any fear or anxiety is ultimately a worship of ourselves”- This phrase really spoke a lot of me. It had never crossed my mind that I could become a slave to serving myself and my own self esteem. In trying to do so, I had become a wreck, and nothing was good enough. I had forgotten that all of this was for God’s glory, and to deepen my relationship with Him. Instead, God had become long forgotten and I had worshipped my feelings and my grades. Of course, I didn’t want to serve and worship myself. No one says to himself, “I have decided to worship myself today”. Sin creeps its way into our hearts unnoticed. I was completely blind to the fact that I was even doing so in the first place.

Real Deliverance

My response was sorrow and repentance over my idolatry. At the same time, God brought a sense of relief and joy because my eyes were finally opened to my sin. When God convicted me of my sin, it became an “a-ha!” moment, and was truly liberating. I experienced the joys that came with repentance; the process is not only a turning away from your sins, but a freeing from sin that comes when you begin to see your own actions through God’s eyes.

That class period was a turning point for me in my deliverance from insomnia. I wanted to cry for almost the whole three hours of class that night, but they weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of joy, finally knowing what my problem was, and gladness that God had helped me to see who I was worshipping. I was so grateful that God had provided this deliverance from bondage to my sin by opening my eyes, speaking to me by the Holy Spirit, and giving me a true repentant heart once I saw clearly. God brought me through that time, carried me and gave me strength during my suffering, and finally delivered me in His perfect timing through His power. He changed my perspective and where I put my trust. I could now truly relinquish control. I believed in this solution. When God provides deliverance it is really deliverance. It is not just a solution that I think I can will myself to believe, but genuine liberating heart change.

That night, I slept soundly. God had turned the switch from “blind” to “see” and my heart was truly changed.

Put to the test (11/7/10)

Three days after that, on Sunday morning, we were driving to church and the idea crept into my mind that we had a Greek test the next day (Monday). We had been studying for it all weekend, and I had had peace about it. Suddenly, though, it was again the day before the big test and the same situation was looking me in the face. I slowly felt my body tensing up. “Oh no! Is this happening again?” I thought. “What about all that I’ve learned?” I was strangely quiet in the car, and Alex asked me if I was sleepy. What I didn’t tell him at the time was that I was nervous about not being able to sleep. I knew the right answer, but in that moment, I didn’t know it as clearly anymore. I resolved that the only thing I could do was ask God to help me, and I prayed some in the car quietly to myself before we arrived at church.

Tears of Joy

We arrived at church 10 minutes late, and the worship band was starting a new song. As soon as I heard the song, I knew that it was for me. I wanted so much to worship God with all my heart but lacked the strength to do so. God gave me this song so that I would have words to worship Him in the midst of my struggle. The words of the song expressed perfectly the cry of my heart and I started crying, both physically and in my heart crying out to God to save me once again."Yes, Lord! This is exactly what I want to be saying to you right now!"

I will glory in my Redeemer

Whose priceless blood has ransomed me

Mine was the sin that drove the bitter nails

And hung Him on that judgment tree

I will glory in my Redeemer

Who crushed the power of sin and death

My only Savior before the Holy Judge

The Lamb Who is my righteousness

The Lamb Who is my righteousness

I will glory in my Redeemer

My life He bought, my love He owns

I have no longings for another

I’m satisfied in Him alone

I will glory in my Redeemer

His faithfulness my standing place

Though foes are mighty and rush upon me

My feet are firm, held by His grace

My feet are firm, held by His grace

Nothing in my own knowledge would save me, not even my remembrance of all of the lessons that He had taught me. Only God could deliver me from this. He knew that I needed to sing this song, and He brought us to church at just the right time so that I would worship Him with it. As soon as I began to worship Christ and sing the Gospel through this song, there was such joy because my soul was fed with the truth of who God was as my Savior. He turned my sights from looking at myself and my circumstances to looking at Him.

God reminded me that I am held firm by His grace, and though trials may seem to possess such power, He is mighty to save. He delivered me (from myself!) once again, not of my own knowledge or strength, but through His provision and grace. I received comfort from God that was real and lasting. I didn’t have to tell myself not to stress. God gave me peace which transcended all understanding.

Epilogue

I know that these trials will continue to come because there is still sin in my life that I have not dealt with. My life is certainly not anxiety-free, and I do still get nervous about tests and grades. However, my reaction to trials has been changed by this whole experience. I’ve learned that God goes through my trials with me. He is my ever-present help in times of need. He is mighty to save His children and will deliver me. He has a purpose to suffering, and He, as the creator of the universe, is the one true being in all the earth that is worthy of worship. He has patience with me in my sin and is my deliverer.

Even though this suffering is tough while it is happening, God always ordains it for a purpose. He will continue to be faithful, though I will still struggle to trust Him, but He will deliver me in His time. Paul says, in Philippians, that “He who began a good work will bring it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”. Our salvation and God’s work in our lives is His work, and He will finish it. Praise God that I got about six hours of sleep that Sunday after church.

However, although there are times where I do still get anxious, I know that progress will continue to be little steps of faith of crying out to Him and learning to trust Him. I am very much looking forward to that day where all these sufferings will end and there will be a day where we sin no more. All things will be made right. Praise be to God that that will indeed happen one day and in Christ there is true hope and deliverance!

Picking a New Church in a New City (part 2)

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism” (Eph. 4:4-5).

UNITED TO THE BODY

The church is the body of Christ. Thus, to be a Christian is to be united with other Christians under the Lordship of Christ.

So, when Teresa and I were choosing a new church in a new city, we were choosing to unite ourselves with a particular group of Christians. In America, we are currently blessed with the luxury of choices. Though not all churches are good, there are many good ones that preach and practice what the Bible gives us.

If you've been reading along, Teresa and I are describing our journey in becoming members of Covenant Fellowship Church. The previous entry was about our desire to commit ourselves to a single church for the entire duration of our time in seminary. This also meant doing our mentored ministry at this church.

SPIRIT-FILLED WORSHIP

One factor that led us to Covenant Fellowship was the Spirit-filled worship. One worship leader said that the goal of worship is to let the word of Christ fill our minds and hearts. We should be moved to praise, adoration, and thanksgiving by the reality of Christ and what He has done.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Col. 3:16)

Since worship should affect the entire person, we should worship with our emotions. However, some songs seem to appeal only to our emotions and say very little (or nothing) about God. For instance, if you can take a worship song and sing it to another human being, then it is probably missing some specific details about what makes our God so great and glorious. Though we can worship God with any song, our hearts long for deeper and more intimate knowledge of God.

Christ tells us that worship is done in "Spirit and truth" (John 4:24). Worship should be filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit and the truth of God. We don't serve a God who is unreachable or vague. He is near us, His Spirit dwells in every believer, and He has made His power and glory clear to us.

We have found the worship at Covenant Fellowship to be Spirit-filled. The music has helped Teresa and I set our sights upon the crucified and risen Savior, the only hope that we have in this life and the life to come. The worship team is intentional about linking the blessings and promises of God to Christ and His work on the cross.

God reminds us every week of the sacrifice of Christ, which makes it possible for us to approach a holy God. Just as the Israelites had to slaughter animals before they could present themselves before God at the tabernacle, we have access to God only because He provided a sacrifice in Christ. If you go to church every week, you know that it can be easy to start taking the sacrifice of Christ for granted. We begin to assume that we can approach God at anytime on any terms. We can begin to assume that God owes us certain things, like life, health, or financial security.

When we go to church, we ought to be reminded that we owe God praise and thanksgiving. He doesn't owe us anything. God reminded Job of this reality: “Who has first given to me, that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine” (Job. 41:10)

It has been humbling and refreshing to sing phrases like:

• "Till on that cross as Jesus died, The wrath of God was satisfied" (From “In Christ Alone”)
• "Because a sinless Savior died, My sinful soul is counted free" (From "Before the Throne of God Above")
  

There isn't much in lyrics like these that make me feel good, worthy, or confident. The worship music reminds me of my sin and God's wrath. And those things move me to praise God for Christ, who died to save sinners like me. I have come away renewed and awed by how good God is, how worthy Christ is, and what confidence I have in Christ to approach a holy God. I feel that my soul is fed and filled as I'm reminding myself of the gospel- the reality of God's grace, love, and forgiveness in Christ.

What a joy and privilege to be joined with other people who see their sinfulness and the great love of our Savior. What a privilege to celebrate the one hope we have because of the one faith in the one Lord and be united to His one body!

Picking a New Church in a New City (part 1)

When we moved to Philadelphia a year ago, Teresa and I had to pick a new church. Neither of us have had to do that in the last ten years, but it's probably not a bad thing.

When Christ died for the sins of God's people and rose on the 3rd day, He created the church of God. If we want to know the value of the church in God's eyes, we only need to look to the price He paid for it. Acts 20:28 says that the church of God was something Jesus “obtained with his own blood.” The infinite blood of Christ was used to secure the redemption of the church! Therefore, we ought to esteem the church as God esteems her. God doesn't take church membership lightly, and neither should we. At the get-go, we wanted to find a church where we could fully commit ourselves for the next few years while we're in seminary.

MENTORED MINISTRY

One factor that we had to consider was where we would be mentored. Westminster has a Mentored Ministry requirement. This means I have to do 400 hours of service (either paid or unpaid) under the supervision of a pastor. This could be done all at once (e.g. a summer internship or a mission trip) and it doesn't have to be done in your home church. For instance, we knew someone who attended one church Sunday morning but then served as a paid pastor at another church during the afternoon.

If possible, Teresa and I wanted to be members of a church where we could also do our Mentored Ministry. We felt the Lord leading us to go “all-in” with one church. This would be the church where we would worship God, hear God's Word preached, love our fellow brothers and sisters, serve others, and also be mentored.

FULL COMMITMENT

Spurgeon said, “The day we find the perfect church, it becomes imperfect the moment we join it.” Nobody claims to look for the perfect church, but when the rubber meets the road, things can be quite different. It's not uncommon to hear of seminary students who change churches every year or two and never become fully committed.

This can be all too common among churches in America. At our church back in Texas, we knew people who transferred to different churches for different reasons. Sometimes there are good reasons to leave a church. Yet in other cases, folks headed for the exits rather than staying committed to the body when things got tough.

If possible, Teresa and I wanted to commit ourselves to one church for the entire duration of our time in seminary. We wanted to pick a church for the long-haul. We didn't want to try out a church for a season and then switch to a different one. This required doing as much legwork up-front: researching options, reading about beliefs and ministries, talking to people, and listening to sermons on-line. Of course, despite all our advance in modern technology, we would still need to visit churches in person.

At the end of a 4-month process (which included a 10-week membership class), we committed ourselves as members of Covenant Fellowship Church located in a Philadelphia suburb. In the upcoming blog posts, I'll go into more detail on how God led us to Covenant Fellowship.