From One Degree to Another

Recently, I quoted from Total Church on this blog, and reading through this book has been a continual joy. Speaking of Why Community?, they write (on p.41):

By becoming a Christian, I belong to God and I belong to my brothers and sisters. It is not that I belong to God and then make a decision to join a local church. My being in Christ means being in Christ with those others who are in Christ. This is my identity. This is our identity. To fail to live out our corporate identity in Christ is analogous to the act of adultery: we can be Christian and do it, but it is not what Christians should do. The loyalties of the new community supersede even the loyalties of biology (Matthew 10:34-37; Mark 3:31-35; Luke 11:27-28). If the church is the body of Christ, then we should not live as disembodied Christians.

And later in this chapter, they say (on p.50):

The church, then, is not something additional or optional. It is at the very heart of God’s purposes. Jesus came to create a people who would model what it means to live under His rule. It would be a glorious outpost of the kingdom of God, an embassy of heaven. This is where the world can see what it means to be truly human.

Our identity as human beings is found in community. Our identity as Christians is found in Christ’s new community. And our mission takes place through communities of light. Christianity is “total church.”

As we will see in further posts, the Gospel and Community aspects must work together in practice.

I was really encouraged in reviewing the Scriptural role of a husband this weekend. I am in premarital counseling with some people and this brought this issue front and center. I needed a reminder that loving leadership is my responsibility and role. I was struck again, though, with the way in which Paul goes to great lengths to emphasize love and not leadership. All the verses and exposition on the love of Christ for His bride, the Church. We have the Petrine literature telling us to live with our wives in an understanding way. We are to lead out in loving our wives. So, men, how goes it in loving your wife? In what ways are you sacrificing to show her how much you love her? Does she know security in that love? Is she being encouraged in her role as you model love to her? Love your wife!

I don’t think any of us would want to raise a Pharisee. Here’s a helpful article from Pulpit Magazine (think John MacArthur) with much practical wisdom.

It is coming. Look on the right side of my blog to see a countdown until it releases.

The ESV Study Bible comes out in a month. They just released a bunch of videos.

There’s a Full ESV Study Bible Video (15 minutes on its features, contributors, etc)

J.I. Packer weighs in:

Other videos are worth checking out as well.

At my small group Sunday PM, I mentioned a sermon series from Sovereign Grace Ministries on the local church.

This set, The Church: The Dearest Place on Earth, contains the following sermons:
1. A Testimony: C.J.’s Conversion and the Origins of Covenant Life Church (C.J. Mahaney)
2. The Sunday Meeting: The Best Time of the Week (Jeff Purswell)
3. Married to the Church: Commitment to the Dearest Place on Earth (Joshua Harris)
4. Understanding Life in the Church (Mark Mullery)
5. Love for the Local Church (Mike Bullmore)
6. The Church and the Sacraments (Robin Boisvert)
7. Discipline: God’s Gift and Blessing to the Church (Ken Sande)
8. The Church: A Place Built with Small Groups (Chris Silard)
9. Leadership in the Happiest Place on Earth (C.J. Mahaney)

As always, they offer this as a free MP3 download. These would be worth an investment of your time.

Mark Driscoll offers these 6 essentials for Bible Study:
1. Have a good Bible.
2. Have some good Christian books.
3. Have some good (free) online study resources.
4. Have some good Bible software.
5. Have some good websites.
6. Have some good community.

(This Sunday PM, we will conclude our series on the Bible with “How To Study The Bible”)

I just got it yesterday, but I am devouring Tim Chester and Steve Timmis’ book total Church: A Radical Reshaping around Gospel and Community. Here are a couple of nice quotes:

From pp. 15-16 on what the book’s about:

This book argues that two key principles should shape the way we “do church”: gospel and community. Christians are called to a dual fidelity: fidelity to the core content of the gospel and fidelity to the primary context of a believing community. Whether we are thinking about evangelism, social involvement, pastoral care, apologetics, discipleship, or teaching, the content is consistently the Christian gospel, and the context is consistently the Christian community. What we do is always defined by the gospel, and the context is always our belonging to the church. Our identity as Christians is defined by the gospel and community.

From p.35 quoting from Chris Wright’s book The Mission of God and how a God-centered missions perspective opens our eyes to the big picture, rather than the selfish confines of our own little worlds…

We ask, “Where does God fit into the story of my life?,” when the real question is “Where does my little life fit into this great story of God’s mission?”

We want to be driven by a purpose that has been tailored just right for our own individual lives, when we should be seeing the purpose of all life, including our own, wrapped up in the great mission of God for the whole of creation.

We talk about “applying the Bible to our lives.” What would it mean to apply our lives to the Bible instead, assuming the Bible to be the reality–the real story–to which we are called to conform ourselves?

We wrestle with “making the gospel relevant to the world.” But in this story, God is about the business of transforming the world to fit the shape of the gospel.

We argue about what can legitimately be included in the mission that God expects from the church, when we should ask what kind of church God wants for the whole range of his mission.

I may be wondering what kind of mission God has for me, when I should be asking what kind of me God wants for his mission.

And finally, I loved this quote from a report in the UK on reaching culture (p.36 in total Church):

The vast majority of Christians have not been helped to see that who they are and what they do every day in schools, workplaces or clubs is significant to God, nor that the people they spend time with in those everyday contexts are the people God is calling them to pray for, bless, and witness to. So we pray for our Sunday School teachers but not, for example, for schoolteachers working 40 hours a week in schools among children and adults who on the whole don’t know Jesus. We pray for overseas missionaries but not for Christian electricians, builders, shop assistants and managers in towns…We have simply not been envisioned, resourced and supported to share the Good News of Jesus in our everyday contexts.

These thoughts are some of the same things I’ve been thinking about prayerfully for a while, so coming across these things seems to be confirmation that the Lord is up to something. I’ll try and give further snippets as I continue reading.

Here is video from Mark Dever explaining the Gospel. (less than 2 minutes long)

Joshua Harris’ excellent book, Stop Dating the Church, urges us to be a part of the local church. Indeed, more than being a part, the church should be our passion. To have strong marriages, we need to involvement of others in our lives. Josh illustrates:

The opportunity to share life wtih otehr Christians and experience this kind of fellowship is one of the most exciting parts of being a committed member of a local church. But it requires effort and hard work. We have to pursue it diligently.

As you reach out to others, don’t limit yourself to people like you. The beauty of the local church is the opportunity you have to grow close to people from completely different backgrounds and cultures. So if you’re single, develop friendships wtih married couples adn families. If you’re older, look for the chance to befriend younger members. Don’t let age, race, or any other factor distance you from other brothers and sisters in Christ.

As married couples, let’s pursue this fellowship in the local church and honor God as a result.