What is That? Using the Lord’s Supper to Teach Our Children

“Daddy what is that? Why are you holding that? What are you going to do with it? Why are people walking up there? Can I have a snack too?”

Henry Tokar was filled with questions as he watched his father holding the bread and the juice, and the wide eyes of his brother Sam showed an equal amount of curiosity. Nick, Henry and Sam’s father, was calm and gentle as he told his eager boys “I’ll tell you all about it when we get home.”

Observing this scene reminded me of the first time I asked my father about communion. Though, as may also have been true with Henry and Sam, I was more interested in a snack than anything else I saw going on. The Lord’s Supper is as perplexing an event for a small boy now as it was several years ago, and what a glorious opportunity for us to share the gospel with our children.

The scriptures tell us that just as Passover was a sign of the old covenant, so the Lord’s Supper is a sign of the new covenant in Christ (Luke 22:20). In Exodus 12:26-27 the Lord commands His people to use the Passover as a means for telling their children of the goodness, mercy, and deliverance of their Heavenly Father:

“And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’”

Observing the practice and administration of the sacraments, the signs and seals of the covenants of our Father, fulfilled by His Son and    empowered by the Spirit, is one of the great blessings afforded to our covenant children. As they observe the Spirit’s work in those around them they are given opportunities for the Spirit to work in their own hearts and minds.  And that work will continue as their parents, teachers, and elders are empowered by that same Spirit to share the good news of the gospel with them.

Raising children in the fear and admonition of the Lord is a daunting task. But there is great joy and encouragement to be found in the sacraments. As we practice the sacraments we are reminded of the fact that we are not alone in the tasks the Lord has called us to. We partake of the Lord’s Supper together in community and that same community is there to help and encourage us in our spiritual growth and calling. When we partake of the elements we are encouraged and strengthened by the Spirit to fulfill His calling in our lives. The Lord’s Supper reminds us that God is with us, and has provided a community for us and our children.

As we observe the Lord’s Supper today, and in the coming months, let us not forget the faith and strength we receive as we partake the elements, and our calling to pass them to our children.

Reading through the Bible in 2012

You might find it hard to believe but there are less than three weeks left in 2011. That means many will soon be striving to stick to New Year’s resolutions to live better, healthier, and godlier lives.

One resolution I would encourage you to consider as the New Year begins is reading through the entire Bible in 2012. I realize this might seem like a rather daunting goal, but I can testify that by committing approximately 15 minutes a day you will be able to read through the entire Bible in a year.

I have found that one of the biggest obstacles to systematically reading though the Bible is simply not having a plan. I have adopted a one-year Bible reading plan for the last several years and am preparing to use it again in 2012. In this plan, an average of one New Testament chapter and three Old Testament chapters are assigned each day, moving through each book of the Bible in the order they appear. So one begins the year in Genesis and Matthew and ends in Malachi and Revelation. If you are interested in this plan, I have made some available in the magazine racks in the foyer.

There are other plans you can adopt as well.  There is a one-year plan that arranges the readings “chronologically,” meaning you read the Bible books in the order in which the events recorded occurred historically. For example, you would read Job fairly early and you would read Amos before Daniel though it is placed after Daniel in our Bibles. There are also two-year Bible reading plans available in the narthex if you wish to read at a slower pace.  The main thing is to commit to reading and to adopt a plan.

Why read through the Bible?  Reading through the Bible will give you a better understanding of its content, supply the words with which you can pray and evangelize, correct misperceptions, both answer questions and raise new ones, and lift your heart to worship our great God who graciously reveals himself and his salvation in its pages. It will provide information in your ignorance, inspiration in your weariness, and insight in your struggles.

Consider that Jesus prayed for us to be sanctified by the truth and states that God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). Paul instructs us that the Scriptures are able to make us wise for salvation and that all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness that we might be equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:15-17). The author of Hebrews teaches us that the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword that exposes the secrets of our hearts and convicts us of our sin (Heb. 4:12-13). Jesus’ example demonstrates that the Word is our main weapon against temptation (Mat. 4:4-10), and Paul speaks of it as the “sword of the Spirit” (Eph. 6:17). We have the assurance that reading through the Bible will surely not return void (Is. 55:10).

Two additional tips: first, if the Bible you use has introductions to the individual books, take time to read them. Good introductions will give you insight into the literary structure and historical background that will aid your understanding. Second, start your reading plan on Christmas Day. This gives you a head start and keeps you from getting discouraged if you fall behind.  For example, if you fall four days behind, you’re actually still three days ahead!

Sadly, many believers in the world today have little or limited access to printed Bibles or to Bibles that are translated into languages they can understand. Such is not the case with us. Don’t neglect the gift of God’s word. Adopt a plan to read through the Bible in 2012 or over the course of the next two years. Remember, a person whose Bible is falling apart is usually a person who isn’t.

 

 

New Sermon Series: God’s People for God’s World

Pastor Bob will begin a new sermon series on God’s call to His church to be an outreach-minded, missions-oriented body. The series will be called “God’s People for God’s World” and will begin on New Year’s Day. We realize many people will probably be gone that day, but what better time to begin a new sermon series than on the day that celebrates the beginning of a new year?

Here is the schedule for the series:

Jan. 1 – The mission of the church

Jan. 8 – Service to our community

Jan. 15 – Church planting (guest preacher Dan Herron, Central Indiana Presbytery church planter in Bloomington)

Jan. 22 – Evangelism

Jan. 29 – Hospitality

Feb. 5 – Foreign missions

Feb. 12 – Mercy to the poor

You can listen to the previous sermons in the series HERE.

New Life T-shirts For Christmas Gifts

New Life T-shirts are available for purchase in the church office. The shirts cost $10 and all proceeds go toward sending the youth to camp and on mission trips. If you would like a T-shirt, you can stop by the church office and leave your money in the envelope provided. Checks may be made out to New Life. Get them quick before your size is gone! See Jessy or Adam if you have any questions.

Third Annual New Life Caroling

Come one, come all to bring good cheer to some Yorktown families. We will meet at the church at 6:30pm on Dec. 22. We will sing carols to Kids Hope families and end up back at church to share some hot chocolate and cookies. It is a fun time for all and so rewarding to see the families’ smiling faces as we sing to them.

Holiday Service Schedule

Please join us for our special candlelight Christmas Eve Service on Dec. 24 at 6:30pm.

Over the Holiday season we will not have the first service on Dec. 25 and Jan. 1. There will be children, youth and adult Sunday School during 2nd service as usual. Our schedule on Dec. 25 and Jan 1 will be:

10:00-11:15am—Worship Service & Sunday School

11:30am-12:45pm—Worship Service and Children’s Church

Winter Quarter Adult & Young Adult Sunday School

The classes being offered for adults and college students during the winter quarter running from Nov. 27 through Feb. 12 are:

Pastor Brian will be continuing his class entitled “Navigating the Narrative: Tracing the Bible’s Story through the Bible Stories” that started in the fall. Recordings of past lessons and lesson outlines are available on the church website. This class will be offered during second and third service, 10 and 11:30am.

George Saunders will be leading a class covering Tim Keller’s “Counterfeit Gods”. The book will be available for purchase on the book shelf. This class will begin on Dec. 11. This class will be offered during second service at 10am.

‘Growing Together’ Campaign: Now What?

It was a great joy a few Sundays ago to be able to baptize Luke Bryan. It was also a privilege several weeks ago to welcome into membership George and Nancy Saunders, as well as Steve and Mary Ann Stroeh. And it will be a delight in the coming weeks to welcome Courtney Brobst and Abbie Gonzalez into membership, to baptize Caroline Schumacher (daughter of Corey and Stephanie), and to welcome Maggie Spiegel to the Lord’s Table.

There’s only one problem – so many of you who are part of this congregation will not be able to witness these happy events, because they are likely to take place during a service you don’t attend. This highlights once again the importance of expanding our sanctuary space here at New Life.

On Sept. 18, we started the “Growing Together” building campaign to raise money for this project. Our goal is to raise $320,000 in pledges, and, as of Nov. 23, we have received $253,258.37, which is 79 percent of our goal. This falls short of what we had hoped for, but I can’t help but feel greatly encouraged and thankful for the amount that has been raised. Given the state of our economy, the large number of people in our congregation who do not have much expendable income, and the relatively short duration of the campaign (just about two months so far), I’d say it’s pretty impressive to have raised more than $250,000.

So, on behalf of the elders, deacons and members of the building and finance teams, I extend a sincere “thank you” to all of you who have responded so generously to this campaign. And of course we ultimately give God all the glory, who has responded to our prayers and shown himself kind and gracious to His people.

At the same time, we are clearly not finished yet. More money needs to be raised. In fact, we need exactly $66,741. And we cannot move ahead with our plans for construction until that amount is raised. And once we reach that goal, we will have to wait probably an additional six months before construction can begin, because of time required to process local and state permits.

So, there are two things that need to be said. First, even though we are yet to reach our goal, we are asking those who have already pledged to begin fulfilling your pledges right away (the campaign officially lasts from November 2011 through November 2014). Your pledges will go directly into a building fund until we are ready to move ahead.

Secondly, we also ask those of you who have not turned in a pledge card to  consider how you might help. Perhaps you have been busy and haven’t really considered yet what you can give. Or maybe you think that the amount you can give is too small and not worth pledging. Be assured that everything counts, and that no contribution is too small. And be assured that late pledges are better than no pledges at all. We need your help, so please consider what you can give. Be reminded that you can give by pledge card (which are available in the foyer and breezeway), or on-line at www.newlifepca.org/wordpress/growingtogether.

If you have decided that you are unable to pledge right now, we want you to know that we understand that finances are tight and that not everyone is able to contribute. That’s OK. It would help us, however, if you would nonetheless submit a pledge card indicating that your pledge is zero. Be assured that no one will know about this except the treasurer who is tracking the pledges. We are not trying to single out those who can’t give; we just want to know who has decided not to give and who might still be deliberating.

If you have chosen not to give because you object to our plans, we would love the opportunity to address your questions or concerns. Please don’t hesitate to talk to a pastor, elder or member of the building teams.

Thank you again for your support and for your prayers.

For more information on the Pledge Campaign click HERE

 

 

What’s Your Perspective? A Report from BSU’s Cru Leader

Article by Corey Schumacher

Corey is the Missional Team Leader of Cru on Ball State’s campus. Cru, formally known as Campus Crusade for Christ, is a Christian organization that seeks to share the gospel with college students and train other Christian students to do the same.

What’s your perspective?

This is a question that the Cru movement has been asking Ball State students over the past three weeks as a part of our fall outreach.  While the final week was the actual outreach, weeks one and two were spent in intercessory prayer on behalf of the campus, and training the movement to engage in outreach using a Cru-published evangelism tool called “perspective” cards (not unlike a deck of playing cards). The movement boldly initiated spiritual conversations with non-Christians in order to get their perspective on the nature of God, the meaning and purpose of life, and other related questions.  Then, after listening to their perspective, we kindly ask for an opportunity to share ours, which gives us the opportunity to share the gospel with them. Over the course of one week, hundreds of students were invited into a spiritual conversation, talking about life’s most important questions.

Sadly, most students give little to no thoughtful reflection on these questions. One student named Scott told me “I don’t really have a perspective.” Despite this reality, the Lord uses outreaches like these on a number of levels.  Consider how many students are thinking about spiritual realties this week as a direct result of those conversations.  Consider that more than 160 students received training to use this tool in order to initiate spiritual conversations with strangers, many of whom have never taken such bold steps to publicly identify themselves with the name of Jesus through this outreach.  What about all those people who in the future will come to know Christ as their savior as Cru students graduate from BSU with training and power to initiate gospel conversations around the world? And we can’t forget about Nicki, a Chinese international student who placed her trust in Christ after going through the “perspectives” cards with some of our students.

What’s even more amazing is that while weeks one and two were meant to be preparatory for our final stage of the outreach, the Lord decided to use those two weeks to do more in our midst than we could have ever imagined! Having just arrived home from our annual Fall Retreat, and beginning our prayer week, nearly half a dozen students placed their trust in Christ, all because of prayer! One of those freshman who placed his faith in Christ at Fall Retreat, attended a seminar on evangelism that same day and during prayer week already shared his new-found faith with two students on campus, all the while calling our men to step up to the plate and do the same! That same week, while a group of Cru students were praying fervently for our campus, a Japanese international student interrupted the prayer meeting saying, “I want to know who this Jesus is.”

This is just the tip of the iceberg! Though 300 staff and students attended our fall retreat, more than a dozen students have received Christ, many others have altered their future career plans in order to serve the Lord in ministry, we simply cannot put a number on all that the Lord has done this fall. But one thing we do know, the Lord is working, and in surprising ways.

For more information on the ministry of Cru at Ball State click HERE.

Recommended Books on Eschatology

When I decided to go to seminary back in the late 90s, I left with high expectations that I was going to get lots of answers. Then I got into a discussion with a friend of mine who had already graduated from seminary, and he gave me a new perspective. He said, “You don’t go to seminary to learn the right answers; you go to seminary to learn the right questions.”

This is not to say that seminary doesn’t provide answers. But it is true that you’re not going to get good answers unless you know what the proper questions are. As a result of our sermon series on eschatology, it could be that you are finding yourself with more questions than answers, and I want to encourage you to realize that this can be a good thing. If this sermon series is used by God to at least teach us the right questions to ask about “the end of the world as we know it,” then I will be content with that.

Once we learn the right questions, however, we should be ready to push ahead for answers, and one way we can engage in this task is through further personal study. There are three new books on the New Life book table (located in the foyer right before the breezeway) that I would like to recommend to you if you are interested in learning more about eschatology:

These Last Days – A Christian View of History (various authors). This is the book I would recommend as a primer on the topic of eschatology. Authors such as Alistair Begg, D.A. Carson, Sinclair Ferguson and Paul Tripp write brief essays on various topics related to the end times. This book avoids excessive detail to give the reader a broad overview of this important subject.

The Meaning of the Millennium – Four Views (various authors). In this book, esteemed proponents of each of the four major millennial views write a defense of their positions, all of which are followed by brief rebuttals from each of the other contributors. This is an excellent way to observe the way these four positions stand up to scrutiny. The contributors are George Eldon Ladd (historic premillennialism ), Herman Hoyt (dispensational premillennialism), Loraine Boettner (postmillennialism), and Anthony Hoekema (amillenialism).

A Case for Amillennialism (Kim Riddlebarger). This is an exhaustive treatment of just one millennial view – that which is held by the majority of reformed theologians, including Pastor Bob and Pastor Brian. This might be a difficult read for someone who is new to eschatology, but will be helpful to anyone looking for a more in-depth treatment of this topic.

The first two books are $10 each; the Riddlebarger book is $15. New Life makes no profit on these books, but offers them to you at a discounted rate to encourage further study on Biblical and theological topics. May they be used by God’s Spirit to encourage and bless you in your pursuit of answers.

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