Answering Some Common Questions About CFBC, Part 5

Answering Some Common Questions About CFBC, Part 5
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church  (St Louis, MO) 

1. Do you believe divorce is permissible?   —   We uphold and affirm a high view of marriage as the permanent union between one man and one woman. God designed marriage to be for life. But because of men’s hardness of heart and because of sin, and though it’s never God’s intended design, God provided occasions for a marriage to end. Never does God command a divorce but he permits divorce in only two instances. The Bible speaks of only two occasions when a believer may legitimately get a divorce. It must be said, however, that the believer does not have to pursue a divorce if these instances occur, but if he does find himself in such a position, divorce may be a legitimate last-resort option. The primary goal is always the preservation of the marriage union and to pursue any and all means to remain married, as God designed it. But if this is not feasible, then God has provided two, and only two, legitimate grounds for divorce. First, when one’s spouse is guilty of persistent, unrepentant sexual sin. When a spouse is guilty of unrepentant and ongoing sexual sin outside of the marriage with one’s spouse, that consists in legitimate grounds for divorce. Second, when the nonbeliever abandons the marriage and forsakes the relationship. These are the only two grounds for a believer to pursue a divorce. Of course, the preservation of the marriage is the first goal because marriage is a picture of Christ and the Church.

2. Can someone get remarried who has been divorced?  —  It is our understanding of the Bible that when a divorce occurred on biblical terms (that is, if a believer divorced a spouse on one of the two biblical grounds), then that believer is free to remarry, but only in the Lord. The person who has gotten a divorce for unbiblical reasons, however, that the Lord does not permit in the Bible (anything other than the two grounds that are provided in the New Testament: ongoing sexual sin and the unbeliever’s desertion of the marriage), then that person must remain unmarried for if that person were to remarry another person he would be committing adultery.  If divorce occurred prior to one’s conversion, and then the Lord mercifully saves someone, it is our conviction that the regenerated person is a “new creation” and the “old things have passed away and new things have come.” And thus, we would allow that person to be free to remarry someone, but again, only a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.  For other instances and questions, we advise individuals to seek out their elders for biblical counsel, wise guidance, and diligent shepherding through these life decisions.

3. Who pastors your pastor and cares for him spiritually?  —  Our shepherd-elders meet twice a month for elder meetings. From time to time, in the Bible reading and particular articles that they read together, they are able to shepherd one another and care for each other’s souls through accountability, prayer, exhortation, and confession together.  Our pastor has an older man who speaks openly, honestly, and candidly into his life to ensure that he is encouraged, sexually pure, devoted and faithful to his wife, caring for and shepherding his children, and deeply and devotionally in love with Christ.  These relationships are vital for the spiritual well-being of the pastor/elders. Sadly and tragically, elders advise church members to seek guidance and care for their souls while church leaders neglect their own counsel. Because this is the case, we praise the Lord that our pastor has men who faithfully, honestly, frequently, and diligently probe his heart in pastoral care.

4. Why do you encourage the young people to sit through the entire Sunday worship service?  — When CFBC gathers, children sit through the worship service with their parents. We do not offer children’s church, kids programs, or other occasions for our young people to be away from the service. The simple reason for this is because of our strong conviction in the sovereign power of the Word of God read, preached, and applied. We want our young people to be under the powerful Word and to hear it read, exposited, applied, and cherished. We understand that a 4 year old will not glean as much as a 15 year old. And a 15 year old will not receive as much as a 25 year old. Nevertheless, we believe the Holy Spirit takes His Word and accomplishes great things when the Bible is read, sung, prayed, expounded, and applied. We want our young ones to habitually be under the Word rightly divided. We want them to see the church family prioritizing and receiving the Word. We want them to be able to dialogue with their families about the sermons after church and throughout the following week. Much of the specific application and implementation discussions can and should occur as parents take the preached Word and speak in specific ways with their children following the sermon. Quite simply: our philosophy concerning this is tethered to our conviction regarding the power of God’s Word on all people — both young and old.

5. Why do you not have a youth group?  —  Our great passion and burden for our young people is to see them regenerated by the power of the Spirit, to help them grow in the knowledge of Christ and to equip them for a lifetime of ministry and service to the Lord wherever He may use and call them. We seek to provide resources for fathers so that they can be the primary ‘pastor’ and discipler of their youth. It is our ambition to see older men disciple the younger men and the older women disciple the younger women (Titus 2). We do not provide a youth group because we do not have someone at this time who can take such a load upon their plate. And with this, we have endeavored to include the young men and young women in various meetings, studies, and get togethers in the church. Rather than create a venue for people to hang out primarily with people their own age, we have diligently sought to teach and live out the older saints investing in the young people in the church. With that said, however, we do have a youth Bible study on Sundays at 4:00PM and we do offer a catechism class for our young children during the 4:00PM Family Bible Hour time. But the primary shepherding of our youth should come from the parents and we seek to assist our parents, encourage them to be faithful, and to equip them with resources necessary to shepherd their children toward Christ and in Christ.

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Answering Some Common Questions About CFBC, Part 4

Answering Some Common Questions About Christ Fellowship Bible Church, Part 4 
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church (St Louis, Missouri)

 
1. Why do you not own your own building?  — When CFBC began in 2011 with only a few people, purchasing a building was not, of course, a feasible option. Part of the philosophy of CFBC that began early on was the desire to refrain from purchasing a building but rather to rent from another place so as to utilize the funds that God brings in for the advance of the gospel locally and globally. In other words, our personal church’s philosophy has been to not to go in debt in buying a building but to try to be wise in using the maximum amount of funds that God gives for gospel advance in global ministry opportunities. We recognize that this is not a philosophy that every church must have. Of course not! But for us, at this time, we have made it our ambition to be faithful in renting from another place and being faithful where we are and, with that, to be faithful in sending money far and wide to see God’s kingdom advance!

2. What is your primary aim in serving in global missions?  —  The primary place where CFBC has chosen to focus in global missions is in the training of indigenous men in expository preaching and biblical church ministry. We recognize, of course, that many good missions opportunities exist, including bible translation work, orphanage work, church-planting work, and many more. And from time to time we may assist ministries as the Lord provides and as the shepherds see fit, but the primary focus for the missionaries that CFBC supports has been the training and equipping of men around the world to be expositors of the Word of God. The burning desire of CFBC is to see men equipped in hermeneutics, theology, biblical languages, biblical counseling, and church history so as to have the tools for a life of God-glorifying work in expounding the written Word of God to ministry contexts where God has placed them.

3. Why do you preach the gospel & call sinners to repentance in every sermon you preach at CFBC?  —  Every gathering of the church is a time for equipping and instructing of the saints. But we also recognize that many nonbelievers may sit in the pews as well. Such may include the children that are present, visitors that may have entered, regular attenders who may be outside of Christ, and perhaps even church members that may be unconverted. The passionate desire of CFBC is to see men and women love Christ, embrace the gospel, pursue holiness, and long for heaven. Every text of Scripture, when rightly preached, can lead to the cross and show us the need for God’s grace in Christ’s gospel. So our ambition is to rightly preach the meaning of the text, as the author intended it, and then to rightly and appropriately proclaim the gospel in every exposition with a two-fold aim to (1) summon the believers to remember and enjoy this gospel truth and to (2) exhort nonbelievers to repent of their sin, forsake it, and flee to Jesus Christ by faith alone for the forgiveness of their sins and eternal rest for their souls. We preach the gospel in every exposition because this is our hope and we want saints to savor this hope and sinners to surrender to this message!

4. What is family worship & why do you encourage all men to lead in this?   —   Family worship consists of the regular habit of families gathering together to worship Christ because He deserves to praised, in our homes, in our families, every single day. Family worship consists of three basic elements.  First, there must be the reading and instruction from the Bible.  Second, the family must pray together.  And third, the family should sing together. Why family worship? First, we must worship God who deserves to be worshiped every single day. Also, parents must instruct the children in the Word of God and impress biblical truths upon their hearts from the youngest of ages with all diligence. Next, parents must themselves remember biblical truth and allow their own hearts to be transformed by the truth from God’s Word. Furthermore, family worship provides an opportunity to evangelize the children with the prayer that God the Spirit will use the written Word to regenerate the souls of the young ones at a young age and drive them to Christ. Additionally, family worship prepares the children for and models for them how to have family worship when they are grown up with families of their own. Finally, family worship helps to maintain a Word-centered home so that the Bible rests as the centerpoint, the focus, the authority, and the sweet satisfaction.
 
5. Do you allow a woman to preach or serve as an elder at CFBC?  —  The Bible clearly forbids a woman to teach or have authority over a man in the public gathering of the saints. The Bible also clearly presents the church leadership office of elder as being a role that is only for a man. We do not, therefore, allow a woman to occupy the office of elder, pastor, overseer, or leader. Also, we do not permit a woman to teach or lead or have authority over men in the public gathering of the saints. Women can, however, teach other women, disciple other women, instruct other women, and serve in many other ways in the church family. But we resolve to stand upon the clear, timeless, and authoritative Word of God on this important matter. Regardless of what culture may say or recommend, we humbly and courageously bow to God’s truth as our only and ultimate and clear authority.

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Why Is It Important to Have Consistency In Family Worship?

Why is it important to have regular family worship?
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

I believe it’s critical. Family worship, I’m convinced, should have a central place in the regular life of every Christian household. It’s essential. Not because of who I am or who we are as parents, but because of who God is and how powerful His Word is. Family Worship is fairly simple. It involves the reading and teaching of the Bible, prayer, and singing together. It is a solid foundation for the family. It is an anchor to guard from the winds and waves of life’s storms. It proves to be the rock upon which the theological foundation of the children is built. Quite simply: our view of God (Theology proper) and our view of His Word (bibliology) will manifest itself in our frequent (or, our lack of commitment to) gatherings of family worship.

But, why is it important to have regular family worship in the home?  Here are some reasons.

1)  To prioritize the Word
The regular practice of family worship underscores the priority of the Word of God for the home. It reminds the parents and the children (and others who may be present) that this particular family centers on, revolves around, submits to, and strives to obey the Bible. Reading the Word, discussing the Word, instructing from the Word, praying the Word, and even singing songs that teach truth from the Word all reinforce the supreme authority of God’s Word.

2)  To refocus our hearts
After busy days of work, sports, school, entertainments, social media and cultural happenings, we need to be refocused daily upon the Word of God & the gospel of grace. Family worship provides the wonderful means of refocusing the hearts of the parents and the children upon the divine Truth which is unchanging, permanent, eternal, and worthy of meditation.

3)  To expose our sins
Interestingly enough, family worship provides ample opportunities for the Word of God to do the soul-searching, sin-exposing surgical work. From the youngest of days, children need to be taught that the Bible has the answers to man’s greatest problem of sin. And, with that, the Bible honestly addresses and exposes our sin, for it calls it what it is, and it provides the only solution in Christ. The Scriptures will expose sins of pride, selfishness, anger, control, impatience and disobedience. These will provide many shepherding opportunities and evangelistic conversations.

4)  To evangelize the children
Our precious children must be saved! Christian parents know this and they affirm, with God’s Word, that no one can save them but God alone. They must be born of God to be saved. They need new hearts. And God’s Spirit works in and through His Word as it goes forth. Parents, however young the children may be, must be reminded to read and teach and evangelize their children constantly, patiently, persistently, prayerfully, and specifically trusting God to work.

5)  To obey the Lord
God instructs fathers to teach His Word diligently to their children in the home and as life events happen. Training, instructing, shepherding, reproving and teaching should be regular in the Christian family. God calls His people to pray at all times. All people -- even young children -- are called upon to praise God! And, like Joshua, parents should resolve that as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. We must prioritize the worship of God in our homes!

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Answering Some Common Questions About CFBC, Part 3

The Christ Fellowship Bible Church leadership has provided questions and answers to some of the common questions that folks have asked.  www.CFBCSTL.org

This is part 3 of the ongoing series.

11. Do you believe the Bible speaks to real-life struggles and problems?  —   The Bible is the very Word of the living God who knows human beings and can relate to their struggles. Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses for He was tempted in all ways just as we are. The Bible provides the all-sufficient help, as the all-sufficient guide, for believers to put off sinful ways and habits of life and to replace those bad habits with godly patterns and lifestyles. With the power of prayer, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the fellowship and accountability of the local church, a Christian can walk in a way that is pleasing to Christ. The Bible does not promise that Christians will live without pain and hardship. But the Bible does promise that when those times of pain and seasons of hardship do come, God remains faithful, good, sovereign, and near to His people. Even if the Bible does not address a particular issue in our day directly, it will provide principles and guardrails so that the child of God can honor God, walk in holiness, and keep in step with the Spirit.

 12. Why do you practice biblical counseling?  —  Biblical counseling, simply defined, is the belief in and application of the all-sufficient Word of God to every-day issues. This is distinct from secular psychology or Christian, integrative counseling. Secular and worldly philosophies cannot be mixed with biblical truth to help believers navigate through the struggles of life. Rather, the Bible teaches that every believer is filled with all goodness and knowledge and is able to admonish one another (Rom 15.14). We are called to counsel one another so that every man may be complete in Christ (Col 1:28-29). Biblical counseling can happen within the context of the local church as believers encourage others believers in the Word and minister truth to each other (Heb 3:13). This is not an overly simplistic way of viewing real-life issues and very complex sin cases; rather, this affirms and upholds the divine nature of and the infinite wisdom found in the written revelation that God has given in His Word. Thus, we practice biblical counseling because the power to change comes from the Spirit working in and through His Word as our hearts are transformed and as we are conformed more into the image of Jesus Christ. The focus of biblical counseling is not, ultimately, for life to get better or for a problem to go away. The preeminent goal is to be pleasing to God and to walk in a manner that is obedient, Christlike, humble, and biblical. The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit that guides us with everything we need for life and godliness (2 Pet 1.3-4).

13. Why do you hand out gospel tracts?   —  We love to hand out gospel tracts — or, as we call them “paper missionaries — because tracts can go places that we can’t. Sometimes we pass someone quickly at a gas station, a restaurant, on a park bench, or at a crosswalk in the city. Placing a gospel tract in someone’s hand is one way of presenting the biblical gospel and calling that person to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ as they read the tract.  It also provides an opportunity for that person to go back to the tract and read and re-read it at a later point. Perhaps, the Lord may, in His kind and infinite providence, allow someone else to find or read that gospel tract. Handing out a gospel tract can also provide helpful follow-up information if a church address and website is on the back if the person has any questions. Tracts are helpful because good ones are simple, well-worded and faithful to present the biblical gospel and summon a response from the reader to turn away from sin and submit to Jesus Christ as Lord. So, handing out gospel tracts is a way to proclaim the gospel to many people even if they’re isn’t time at that particular moment to engage in lengthy dialogue about eternal matters.

14. Why do you offer a 4PM Family Bible Hour class?  —  We have a “Family Bible Hour” class because we want to equip our church family with solid doctrine, biblical truth, and helpful instruction to cultivate biblical discernment and deepen their knowledge of Christ and of His gospel. In fact, for our Bible hour class, we have gone through our entire 14-page What We Teach doctrine statement (on two occasions we’ve taught through it entirely paragraph by paragraph). We have gone through biblical counseling, the attributes of God, Bible survey (both Old and New Testaments) and biblical home-life topics.

15. How do you expect the church to prepare before coming to Church on Sunday?  —  It is the earnest desire of the elders of CFBC for every member to diligently prepare and expectantly come to corporate worship with the mindset of coming to meet with God and coming to serve one another. Often we hear people say: “I didn’t get anything out of that sermon” or “that place isn’t very friendly” or “no one reached out to me.” We long for the church family to take the weekly preparation for worship email that goes out (on Thursday/Friday) and utilize it in (1) reading the text that will be preached, (2) familiarizing themselves with the songs/hymns, (3) praying for visitors, the members, the leadership, and the preacher. We get out of worship what we put into it. If we come cold of heart, distracted in our minds, and rushing through the door just as service is beginning, it’s no wonder that someone may not ‘get much out of worship’; their heart is not engaged nor was it prepared. But if the person were to take the preparation email and diligently pray and read, study and plan ahead, the oven of the heart would be warmed when the Christian arrives on Sunday. Our goal is to view Sunday’s gathering as a meeting with the living God of the universe! He calls us to worship Him! He invites us to worship Him! We get to worship Him with other believers! Come and let’s rejoice and bow low before the King who is altogether deserving of all worship!

More questions and answers will come in the future.

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Answering Some Common Questions About CFBC, Part 2

The Christ Fellowship Bible Church leadership seeks to answer some of the common questions that folks have asked us.  (www.CFBCSTL.org)

This is part 2. It is continued from part 1. 

6. What ministries do you have?   —  When people often ask what ministries we offer, it can often refer to what we as a church have to cater to their desires and age groups? At CFBC, we believe that the greatest ministries that we must have, biblically, are the regular preaching of the Word of God, the diligent praying with the saints of God, and the faithful shepherding by Godly leaders. We seek to define ministries not in terms of ‘programs we offer’ but in terms of ‘people to serve.’ In other words, rather than offering a ministry for the divorced, a senior-saints’ ministry, a youth ministry, a children’s ministry, a women’s ministry and the like, we endeavor to reframe the conversation around people within the flock that we can actively and intentionally serve. We are called to minister to “one another” (Gal 5:13). With all that said, we do have men’s and women’s Bible studies during the week. We do have occasions where the older women disciple and teach the younger women in biblical womanhood. On Sundays, we have Bible studies for our youth and a catechism class for our children. When someone thinks about a ministry to plug into, we encourage them to actively think about who they can serve in the church family. And in doing this, ministry happens and the flock is edified.

7. Why do you most-often pick hymns to sing and not Christian radio favorites?  —  We view the singing portion of the worship service as a very important occasion to worship God and reflect on who God is, remind each other of what we believe, praise Christ for what He’s done, call the saints to worship God, and affirm with the believers that we will strive to walk in holiness.  We choose songs because of their content not because of their style or when they were written. Most often, we do choose the hymns of the faith because of their rich and theological content. Some hymns are quite old and some have been more recently written. We also choose songs to sing because of the lofty and majestic nature of the music that aids the congregation in singing together. The hymns that are chosen often will specifically connect with the theme of the text that will be preached that day. Or, at other times, the songs will be selected to work to progressively work through a theme (for instance, the character of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the glory and beauty of Christ). We encourage our congregation to sing loudly, to sing together, to sing heartfully, and to sing joyfully. Singing praise to God, after all, will comprise one of the blessed activities that we’ll do in heaven. So we endeavor to choose God-glorifying and gospel-saturated songs here to wet our appetite for eternal glory with the Lamb!

8. Why do you usually only have one musician and one vocalist leading as they stand off to the side?  —  We often have a very simple setup in terms of musicians aiding in the music portion of our worship services. Often we will have a musician, or two, and then a vocalist, or two. And at that, they are situated up front and off to the side (on the opposite side of the screen where the words are displayed). The reason for this is because we want the music to serve and support the theology and we want the musicians to be fade in the background so the focus rests more on the content of what is being sung rather than the skillfulness of those up front. We do encourage our singers and musicians to play and sing with excellence and to lead in a way that does not draw attention to themselves. But we strive to have the music played in such a way so as to serve the words of the songs so that the focus centers on the theology and doctrine that is being sung and not on the talent of those playing those songs. And for us, this is one way that we’ve found helpful in serving the church family during the music time.

9. Why do you have a mid-week prayer meeting and encourage the body to attend?   —  The powerhouse of the local church is the prayer life of the local church family. We firmly believe that we could employ all kinds of ministry tactics and clever outreaches but if the Spirit of God does not attend His Word with Almighty power, it is all useless.  We preach the Word powerfully and we strive to pray the Word fervently. The mid-week prayer meeting revolves around two important elements. First, we gather and sit under the preaching of the Word of God (though it’s a shorter exposition). And second, we respond to God’s Word that has just been preached in corporate prayer.  Often our corporate prayer times include a few ’seasons’ of prayer. We will pray out loud, corporately, together, and praise God and reflect on His gospel. We will confess our sins.  We will pray specifically for the church congregation (members, ministries, outreaches, events). We pray for the missionaries and other local churches in the area. We also pray for our families and various needs in the congregation. This teaches the congregation how to pray. It serves to model for the children how to pray and why prayer is important. It shows the congregation that communing with God is a two-way conversation. We hear from God (through His written Word) and then we respond to God (in prayer). 

10. Why do you encourage and support street preaching?   —   We believe the Bible is true when it says that the “gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes — to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Rom 1:16). Rather than expecting lost sinners to all funnel into our church on a Sunday, out of great love for God, and out of great love for our neighbor, we seek to go out to the lost and seek to proclaim the saving gospel of Jesus Christ to them and call them to turn from their sinful ways and trust in Jesus Christ alone to be saved from God’s eternal wrath. Street preaching is simply one way of getting the gospel to the masses. Preaching on the streets, in the open air, requires a confident and an unwavering conviction in the sovereignty of God to save His elect. So we go because God has His people! This gives us confidence and joy in our zealous pursuit of the lost! Far from driving sinners away from God, they are already dead in their sins and enemies of God and headed for wrath, we can’t drive them further away by bold proclamation of the gospel; rather, we summon them to obey God’s call that “He is summoning all men to repent” (Acts 17:30). The Old Testament prophets were street preachers.  John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, Peter, and the early Apostles were street preachers. It’s one way to take the gospel to the public ‘highways and hedges’ and compel sinners to come in (Luke 14:23). All of this flows from a deep love for God and for His glory, and out of a great love for our neighbors and for their undying souls. So we go, we go out, we go fervently, we go boldly and proclaim the biblical gospel and summon all sinners to repent and believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15).

More questions and answers to come in the future.

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Answering Some Common Questions About CFBC, Part 1

In this blog, the Christ Fellowship Bible Church (www.CFBCSTL.org) leadership seeks to answer some questions that folks have asked:

Part 1


1. Why do you prefer & use the NASB translation?  —  We prefer to use the New American Standard Bible (NASB) as our preferred English translation because of the philosophy of the team of translators to present an English translation that’s true to the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, to be grammatically correct, to be understandable, and to render the terminology, concepts, word order, phrases as faithfully as possible in contemporary English. The NASB is the English translation, in contemporary English, that’s the closest and the most literal to the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Thus, we can say to our congregation: even though you may not know the original languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic), the Bible you have faithfully presents a translation that is the closest to the original language in word order, terminology, grammatical concepts, and verbal tenses.
 
2. Why do you have a corporate scripture reading & pastoral prayer in the Sunday service? —   Every Sunday when we gather together for corporate worship, we have a particular time during our worship service where a man will read God’s Word out loud and then we will have a lengthy prayer of adoration, confession, supplication, and intercession. When the Word of God is read, the congregation stands in honor of our Majestic King and in honor of the all-sufficient and divinely authoritative Word. The reason we read the Word in this way on Sundays is to hear from the Lord, through His Word, by the Spirit, as a church family. Often we read through books of the Bible (one chapter each week) or perhaps we will read a portion of Scripture (Old or New Testaments; sometimes a reading from both) that supplement the text that will be preached. Then the prayer is a lengthy adoration to God in response to His Word. God has spoken through His Word and then the prayer is the people’s response of praise and worship to God.

3. Why do you preach for one hour?   —  The important feature is not how long one preaches but does the sermon provide enough time to exposit faithfully the text of Scripture that will be preached.  To preach requires that the man of God introduce the text, provide a bit of background to the text and historical details, he outlines the text and exposits the meaning of the text verse-by-verse, he must illustrate his points and support what he says with other Scriptures (the analogy of faith/cross-referencing), he must faithfully apply the text to the hearers’ lives and provide the implications of the text, and then he must present the gospel of Jesus Christ and a call for the lost to repent and believe the gospel. Faithful gospel expositions cannot be done in 15 minute sermonettes. We preach so as to faithfully exposit the truth of God revealed in the Word of God so that the people of God will be blessed, instructed, protected, and nourished on the sound doctrine of Holy Scripture. We do not cave into the cultural mantra of shortening sermons because people’s attention spans can’t handle long expositions. Rather, we seek to faithfully preach God’s Word and we rejoice when God’s people hunger for the Word and cherish the privilege of hearing from the Lord as His Word is faithfully heralded with boldness, faithfulness, clarity, urgency, relevance, and Spirit-given power.

4. How does someone ‘serve’ at CFBC?   —   Frequently someone will ask the question: “How can I serve around here?” What needs to be done? It can be the case that people who ask this question may be looking for a particular ministry, or niche, or volunteer position to fill to accomplish a task or duty or role (a greeter, making coffee, unlocking the doors, Sunday school teacher, etc). One of the ways that we have joyfully responded to this question of how people can serve is to simply state that we have a church family comprised of so-and-so number of members. Pick one, or two, and make it your ministry to serve them faithfully. In other words, our intentional desire is to equip our flock to be serving “one another” as we build solid vines rather than busily drain ourselves in fashioning ornate trellises. We desire to exert our energy and manpower in people ministry and not so much in programs. We’re not anti-programs! But we seek to encourage folks to creatively think of ways to live out the “one another’s” in the Church family with the members. This, then, presents many opportunities for all people to serve so that no one is left out, no one is overlooked, no one is not needed, but rather everyone is invited to come onto the playing field and actively, intentionally, faithfully, proactively, and regularly serve for one another in the church family until every man is ‘complete in Christ.'

5. Do you try to create a casual environment to worship God on Sundays?   —   When you come to the Scriptures, worshiping Almighty God is never a casual encounter. There’s nothing relaxed or easy-going when God meets with His people. In fact, worshiping God in Scripture is often associated with His holiness, His majesty, His power, and the worshiper falling down in prostrate worship before God, the Sovereign King. We do not intend to ‘create’ any environment with the purpose of impressing or catering to people who come to church. Rather, our goal is to be faithful to honor God rightly, revere Him humbly, exalt His Word supremely, and expound His Word clearly. Rather than creating an environment that makes people comfortable, our ultimate ambition is to present the glory of God in such a heavenly and other-worldly way that the corporate worship of the saints is a heaven-like, transcendent, reverent, and awesome occasion where God is magnified, Christ is preached, the gospel is loved, the Spirit is unifying, fellowship is sweet, and worldliness is absent.

More parts will follow in coming days.

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