Pastor's Points July 2016
Dear Church Family,
I am very excited to share with you this month the end result of months of prayer and seeking God’s face as it relates to our future as a church family. Last November I shared two messages with you that God impressed upon me. I knew at that time that we needed to grow believers spiritually that could stand in their faith in the middle of an unbelieving culture, and that we needed to provide biblical counseling resources that would help prepare us to engage the ever changing issues and culture around us. We believe that God has given us a tool to help our church family grow in their faith and equip us to make more disciples as we minister together. The tool is called the “faith cycle”. I asked Pastor Nick to write an explanation of it that I want to share with you all in my article.
The “faith cycle’s” purpose is to see people grow in spiritual maturity for the purpose of edifying and replicating disciples. In this way, it is a catalyst that will hopefully lead our church to be people who are more reliant and dependent on the Word of God, who are able to defend why they believe what they believe, and who are able to take this truth and give it away to others through intentional evangelism and discipleship. This process is built on the assumption that it is essential for one to invest in himself spiritually so that he is more equipped to in turn invest in others.
Truth
We believe Scripture is the only consistent source of truth for all of humanity. The Christian worldview is established in faith and supported by further examination and meditation on the contents of God’s Word. Because of this, it is necessary that the Christian be continually growing in his understanding and application of the Bible’s contents. The Bible itself is clear, necessary, and sufficient for the purposes of living a life glorifying to God.
Story
As we progress in our understanding of Truth, we begin to see the thread of redemption that runs through the length of the Bible’s pages – The Story. From Genesis to Revelation, the Bible is about God establishing a kingdom for himself in which Christ redeems, returns for, and reigns over. The New Testament informs the Old Testament and makes clear in the New what was hidden or “mysterious” in the Old. The concept of the Messiah is one that was promised in Gen. 3, inaugurated at the crucifixion and resurrection, and will be consummated at the return of Christ. Understanding concepts like these help make sense of the content of Scripture and provide encouragement and motivation for the believer to share the Good News and make disciples for the purpose of God’s glory.
Beliefs
Our understanding of Truth also informs the Beliefs that we have about who God is and how he interacts within his Creation. Everyone’s worldview will lead them to provide answers to questions like: “Who is God?”, “How did we get here?”, “What’s wrong with the world?”, “What’s the solution?”, “What happens after death?”. The Bible serves as the foundation by which we can stand firmly and boldly and declare and know the Truth. These beliefs are essentially summaries of the conglomerated knowledge gained from Scripture. It is important that Scripture always inform theology first, rather than theology informing our understanding of Scripture.
Action
The purpose behind the Truth, the Story, and the Beliefs of Christianity is the Action. Christianity is a practical faith in the sense that we are called to do something in response to the Truth. The Story and Beliefs are not the end goal, but they are a means by which Action can be taken to evangelize and disciple. God is absolutely glorified in our understanding of the Story and Beliefs, but his task for believers is not merely an intellectually ascent. It is a practical outworking of this knowledge for the purpose of seeing people begin the faith cycle for themselves.
Please be in our worship services in July as I unpack each of these areas separately. I am so excited for our future together!! I love you and love being your pastor!!!