‘The End is Near, Therefore…’: St. Peter’s Instructions for Building Christian Community

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:11:30 +0000

“‘The end of all things has drawn near’ is, further, the reality that generates and sustains the life of the messianic community in its exile. Freed from the deadly power of Gentile normal (4.3), God’s people are graciously given time to shape a new form of social, political, and economic life conformed to the life of Jesus Christ. Therefore the core and chief characteristic of the community… is ‘constant love for one another’ (4.8).

“By contrast to the kind of consuming and exploiting love that we once knew and practiced among the Gentiles, this is a love that always honors and seeks the good of the other. In fact, this is a ‘love [that] covers a multitude of sins’. Going beyond the kind of love that sees the good in others, this love unflinchingly acknowledges the sins of others and yet, absorbing the cost, ‘covers’ those sins over and over again (‘seventy times seven’; Mt 18.21-22) with grace and forgiveness, the same grace and forgiveness with which one’s own sins are covered by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, who ‘bore our sins in his body on the cross’ (1 Pet 2.24).

“Such radical, sin-covering love must be the rule of the community of Christ… The end of all things draws near to the messianic community, indeed, comes among it, in the self-offering, sin-covering love of Christ for the church and of it its members for one another. In this the kingdom of the Father comes, and his will is done on earth as in heaven.” [1. Douglas Harink, 1 &2 Peter Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos, 2009), p. 113.]

Divine Life Univ Lectures Available

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:35:10 +0000

The first 4 of Ken Young’s 5 lectures on the Gospel of John are now available for download. You can find them here.

The Church as Covenant Fellowship

admin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 01:35:06 +0000

Christian community is not a voluntary association, not a support group, grounded in members’ compatibilities and sustained by their shared concerns and interests. Instead, Christian community is covenant fellowship, rooted in a shared calling, sustained by Spirit-empowered, cruciform devotion to Christ and his kingdom.

The goal of associations is mutual self-enhancement; covenant fellowship, conversely, requires us to die to our preferences and agendas, to lose sight of our own pasts and futures and to fix our eyes on the purposes God has for us and for the world.

This is not to say that we do not personally benefit from living in Christian community. Far from it. In fact, it is only in living such a sacrificial life that we gain entrance into the life-giving joy of the Spirit. Jesus does not call us to lose ourselves. He calls us to find ourselves, and then gracefully shows us the only way to do that – laying down our lives for others.

N.T. Wright on the Church as Mother

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:33:36 +0000

“If God is our father, the church is our mother.” The words are those of the Swiss Reformer John Calvin. Several biblical passages speak in this way (notably, Galatians 4:26-27, echoing Isaiah 54:1). They underline the fact that it is as impossible, unnecessary, and undesirable to be a Christian all by yourself as it is to be a newborn baby all by yourself. The church is first and foremost a community, a collection of people who belong to one another because they belong to God, the God we know in and through Jesus.

Bonhoeffer on Living in Community

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:06:26 +0000

Christian community means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. There is no Christian community that is more than this, and none that is less than this. Whether it be a brief, single encounter or the daily community of many years, Christian community is solely this. We belong to one another only through and in Jesus Christ. What does that mean? It means, first, that a Christian needs others for the sake of Jesus Christ. It means, second, that a Christian comes to others only through Jesus Christ. It means, third, that from eternity we have been chosen in Jesus Christ, accepted in time, and united for eternity.

The Gifts of the Powerless

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 18:06:09 +0000

Sometimes, those who have the least to offer prove to be God’s greatest allies. Henri Nouwen writes,

The poor have a treasure to offer precisely because they cannot return our favours. By not paying us for what we have done for them, they call us to inner freedom, selflessness, generosity, and true care. Jesus says: “When you have a party, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; then you will be blessed, for they have no means to repay you and so you will be repaid when the upright rise again” (Luke 14:13-14).

We should listen to this wisdom, for it can free us to see one another more truly, and to make room in our lives to receive God’s gifts, which always come suddenly, unanticipatedly. Those of us who think of ourselves as strong should recognize that we need the ‘weak’ more than they need us! Those who are least gifted may present us with the best, most enduring gifts. If only we have seeing eyes and hearing ears.

Resisting Busyness

admin — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 15:09:34 +0000

This is a link to an excellent article on the seductive power of busyness to inhibit and even abort our obedience and our flourishing into the fullness of Christ.

Summer Work Days

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:07:33 +0000

We will be having several work days/nights this summer, including Sat, July 24th and Sat, Aug 21st. Plan for them. We’ll be posting details for the projects in the next few days.

July/Aug Speaking Schedule

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 23:04:59 +0000

July 18th – Chris G
July 25th – Randy Whitlow
Aug 1 – Stephen H
Aug 8 – Jason McCary
Aug 15 – Stephen H
Aug 22 – Chris G

VBS

admin — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:16:14 +0000

Vacation bible school was something I loved as a child. I have fond memories of playing outside, singing my heart out, and getting saved every night for a week straight! My mom still has a picture of me from a VBS hanging on her refrigerator. I am so excited that we are doing our own VBS this year.

Instead of doing a full week program, we are doing a one-night-a-week/five-week program. Each Tuesday night in June from 6:30-8:30, we will be teaching the children of Divine Life the armor of God. We’ll start with a group lesson led by Pastor Jordan and then move to small group time where the kids will get to know their leaders and pray for their groups requests and needs. Then they’ll go out to burn some energy during their activity time and enjoy a snack before moving onto craft time. We’ll wrap up each night with a closing skit, praise and worship and a closing prayer.

If all goes according to plan, we look forward to opening VBS as an outreach for our local community next year. Keep the children and volunteers in your prayers during June. We want our children to know Jesus and VBS is just one more opportunity to share God’s love and affection with them.

Jill N.