Let me encourage you, if you haven't done so already, to take four minutes to watch the short video that is on the front page of our website entitled "How to Build a God". The truth is that we all need to think carefully about the way we approach worship. In fact, we all need to think even more carefully about the way in which we approach worship at church on Sunday mornings.

In his book, The Deliberate Church, pastor Mark Dever offers the following thoughts about what authentic worship is supposed to look like at church:

It is public, not privatized.

- Many musical worship leaders encourage member (by either word or deed) to close their eyes in pursuit of private emotional intimacy with God in the context of the corporate gathering. Now, no one in their right mind would argue that closing one’s eyes in corporate worship is categorically wrong. And many close their eyes in the corporate gathering simply to take in the sound of the singing more fully. But we would be wrong to encourage people to think of corporate worship in terms of shutting out the rest of the congregation to have a privatized emotional experience with God.

- Congregational singing is an expression of the unity and harmony of the gathered congregation. Privatizing corporate worship, then, defeats the purpose of corporate worship and often confuses true worship with privatized emotion. The corporate worship gathering is a public meeting; we are intended to experience it aware of our togetherness. Much of the edifying power of congregational singing actually comes from experiencing the presence of our fellow worshipers. Why else would we come together in song if this weren’t the case? It is best, then, not to privatize what God has decreed should be public.

It should be theologically rich.

Ministry can be very challenging at times. Seeking to advance the gospel is sure to be met by opposition. In fact, as G. Campbell Morgan once said, "If you have no opposition in the place you serve, you’re serving in the wrong place." This is something we all need to reflect on from time to time. As such, here is what one of our church members had to say about his experience in ministry:

"It never ceases to amaze me over and over again; God takes the same words that we’ve read repeatedly and convicts, rebukes, refines, and encourages us. This week has been filled with hardship. I’ve experienced trials in ministry, challenges with family, and the remembrance of a lost one. Should I take comfort in the fact that the trials that I’m facing are nothing compared to those of the citizens of Haiti? That my hardships are empty in the light of a man imprisoned for proclaiming the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? Is my joy to come in the contrast to the pain and suffering of others?

In Philippians we read about Paul, a man who has been imprisoned a second time for proclaiming the gospel. First when he saved the young woman from an unclean spirit. Here he was mocked, beaten and imprisoned for his ministry; and yet he sang (Acts 16:6-23). He’s imprisoned a second time, this time in Rome. Faces death, hardship, and rivalry; and he rejoices. This clearly demonstrates the paradox in “what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel”. It clearly demonstrates the mind of Christ.

Vance Havner was known for his thought provoking and often times humorous quotes, here's a good example:

I heard of a man who said to the preacher, “I want to sing in your choir.”

The preacher replied, “But you don’t belong here. Where do you have your membership?”

He said, “I don’t belong to any local church. I belong to the invisible church.”

The pastor said, “Then I suggest that you join the invisible choir.”

We held our first church membership class of the year this past Sunday and I thought I'd share with you part of the curriculum we're using. This is an excerpt from Pastor Mark Dever's reasons to become a church member:

Join a church for the sake of non-Christians.
- Church membership helps make the gospel clear to non-Christians by providing a unified witness of what it means to be a Christian.

Join a church for the sake of weaker Christians.
- God is not merely concerned about our own private piety, but also about our care for the other sheep. This is a whole aspect of godliness that privatized Christians ignore. If we don't love God's people, John says, we have reason to question our love for God Himself (1 John 4:8).

Join a church to expose false gospels.
- The best defense is often a good offense. God wants us to band together in love so that we can model Christianity for the world. This is often how we best debunk messages that masquerade as Christianity but are different messages altogether.

Join a church to edify the church.
- Some people refuse to join a local church because they feel they would be slowed down in their spiritual growth if they joined. Perhaps. But maybe God wants such people to join a church to help speed other people up. Membership doesn't stop with M-E.

Join a church for your own spiritual protection.

I have had a couple of recent discussions with people who have read and enjoyed The Shack, a book I posted a review on a few months ago. This morning I came across what I believe to be a very helpful article on the book by Tim Keller, and I thought I'd share it with you here...

At the heart of the book is a noble effort — to help modern people understand why God allows suffering, using a narrative form. The argument Young makes at various parts of the book is this.

First, this world’s evil and suffering is the result of our abuse of free will.

Second, God has not prevented evil in order to accomplish some glorious, greater good that humans cannot now understand.

Third, when we stay bitter at God for a particular tragedy we put ourselves in the seat of the ‘Judge of the world and God’, and we are unqualified for such a job.

Fourth, we must get an ‘eternal perspective’ and see all God’s people in joy in his presence forever. (The father in the story is given a vision of his deceased daughter living in the joy of Christ’s presence, and it heals his grief.)

This is all rather standard, orthodox, pastoral theology (though it’s a bit too heavy on the ‘free-will defense’). It is so accessible to readers because of its narrative form. I have heard many reports of semi-believers and non-believers claiming that this book gave them an answer to their biggest objections to faith in God.

However, sprinkled throughout the book, Young’s story undermines a number of traditional Christian doctrines. Many have gotten involved in debates about Young’s theological beliefs, and I have my own strong concerns. But here is my main problem with the book...

This past Sunday we reflected on our need as followers of Christ to cultivate a healthy fear of the Lord with respect to what scripture teaches us about the coming judgment. (2 Cor. 5:10-11) As we do this, we also need to develop a clear understanding of the difference between God's providence and His judgment.

"Providence is the sovereign, divine superintendence of all things, guiding them toward their divinely predetermined end in a way that is consistent with their created nature, all to the glory and praise of God. This divine, sovereign, benevolent control of all things by God is the underlying premise of everything that is taught in the Scriptures." - Walter Elwell (Evangelical Dictionary of the Bible, Baker, 1996)

Now as you read that definition in light of the recent tragedy in Haiti, some difficult questions come to mind. For example, if this is true, if God does in fact divinely superintend all things, then what are we to make of this disaster? Why did it happen? Well, these kinds of questions demand carefully thought out and theologically informed answers, especially when certain "Christian leaders" imply that it may be part of God's judgment or curse on the past sins of a nation.

See here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8460520.stm

In response to these kinds of comments and in order to help us think about these types of questions from a biblical perspective, here is a quote from pastor and author Bob DeWaay:

Some very insightful comments by Dr. Al Mohler to help us think biblically about these kinds of questions...

Does God hate Haiti? That is the conclusion reached by many, who point to the earthquake as a sign of God's direct and observable judgment.

God does judge the nations -- all of them -- and God will judge the nations. His judgment is perfect and his justice is sure. He rules over all the nations and his sovereign will is demonstrated in the rising and falling of nations and empires and peoples. Every molecule of matter obeys his command, and the earthquakes reveal his reign -- as do the tides of relief and assistance flowing into Haiti right now.

A faithful Christian cannot accept the claim that God is a bystander in world events. The Bible clearly claims the sovereign rule of God over all his creation, all of the time. We have no right to claim that God was surprised by the earthquake in Haiti, or to allow that God could not have prevented it from happening.

God's rule over creation involves both direct and indirect acts, but his rule is constant. The universe, even after the consequences of the Fall, still demonstrates the character of God in all its dimensions, objects, and occurrences. And yet, we have no right to claim that we know why a disaster like the earthquake in Haiti happened at just that place and at just that moment.

The arrogance of human presumption is a real and present danger. We can trace the effects of a drunk driver to a car accident, but we cannot trace the effects of voodoo to an earthquake -- at least not so directly. Will God judge Haiti for its spiritual darkness? Of course. Is the judgment of God something we can claim to understand in this sense -- in the present? No, we are not given that knowledge. Jesus himself warned his disciples against this kind of presumption.

This past Sunday Dave Oulton, one of our elders, began teaching our adult Sunday school class on the subject of eschatology, the study of things like the return of Christ and the millennium, prophecy and the final events of history. And I think that at the outset, as we did in class, it is important for us to ask the question, why? Why study eschatology? I mean, do we really need to understand these things? They don't seem very practical or useful for my life right now. So why study them?

Well the first answer that comes to mind is that if you choose not to study these things, if you decide to ignore it, then you are going to end up missing out on a significant portion of scripture...

"More than a fourth of the Bible is predictive prophecy. Approximately one-third of it has yet to be fulfilled. Both the Old and New Testaments are full of promises about the return of Jesus Christ. Over 1,800 references appear in the Old Testament, and seventeen Old Testament books give prominence to this theme. Of the 260 chapters in the New Testament, there are more than 300 references to the Lord’s return – one out of every thirty verses. Twenty-three of the twenty-seven New Testament books refer to this great event. Three of the four other books are single-chapter letters written to individuals concerning a particular subject, and the fourth is Galatians, which does imply Christ’s coming again. For every prophecy on the first coming of Christ, there are eight on Christ’s second coming." - George Sweeting

The second answer is something Dave already mentioned in class and it is simply that God promises to bless those who read and study these things...

This is one of the most helpful articles on biblical counseling I've ever read by one of the most helpful authors I've ever read...

Garrett, 23, is a recent college grad. When some little thing frustrates him or he doesn't get his way, he explodes in anger. It goes way over the top. In college he was an episodic binge drinker, but he's started to drink regularly and heavily over the past year. The effects of alcohol in him are unpredictable. Sometimes booze mellows Garrett out, but most times it lowers his threshold for volatile hostility. In addition to his growing drinking problem, he routinely turns to online pornography for a "fix." His friends don't know about that, but they fear for his future, wondering if he will self-destruct with his drinking and violent temper.

Official diagnosis and current street wisdom? "Garrett suffers from intermittent explosive disorder (IED) and is an addictive personality — and Garrett is all about Garrett, and has control issues, big-time."

Sarah, a 29-year-old single woman, has become increasingly preoccupied with her looks, her calorie intake, and her exercise regime. She often "feels fat," at 5'9" tall and weighing only 103 pounds, She's relentless in her activities and self-care, competitive, always trying to prove herself. Her roommates and family have become more and more concerned. Sarah seems joyless, and has been detaching herself from normal social interactions. She seems nervously self-preoccupied most of the time, so she has little time, energy, or attention for anything or anyone besides herself.

Diagnosis and current wisdom? "Sarah has anorexia — and she's a perfectionist with low self-esteem."

As the celebration of Christmas fast approaches, our attention quickly goes to the familiar words of the infancy narratives found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. This is a healthy reflex. After all, the Gospel of Jesus Christ rests upon the historicity of the events that took place in Bethlehem as Christ was born. Our understanding of the identity of Jesus Christ is directly rooted in these narratives and our confidence is in the fact that Matthew and Luke give us historically credible and completely truthful accounts of the events surrounding the birth of Christ.

A closer look at the narratives in both Matthew and Luke reveals a richness that familiarity may hide from us. Matthew begins with the genealogy of Christ, demonstrating the sequence of generations as Israel anticipated the birth of David's Son -- the Messiah. Luke, intending to set forth "an orderly account" of the events concerning Jesus, begins with the anticipation of the birth of John the Baptist and then moves to tell of the virgin conception of Jesus.

A careful reading of Matthew and Luke reveals both the elegance of detail and the grand expanse of the story of Christ's birth. Matthew gives particular attention to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. The virgin birth, the birth of Christ in Bethlehem of Judea, the Herodian massacre of the innocents, the flight to Egypt, and the role of John the Baptist as forerunner are all presented as the fulfillment of specific Old Testament prophecies.

For those of you who may not have noticed or who may have been unable to make it out to church for the last three weeks, we have been spending time during the service recognizing advent as a few families share a reading and the lighting of the advent wreath. The question is why? Why recognize something that scripture doesn't seem to call for?

The following reflections come from Elliot Grudem, an Acts 29 pastor from Raleigh NC:

The celebration of Advent (which means “coming” or “arrival”) helps us focus our attention on Jesus Christ’s birth and ministry as well as his promised return. It starts the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ends on Christmas Eve.

The Scriptures don’t require us to do anything different during the Advent season. Recognizing Advent as individuals, families, or as a church doesn’t make you better or more spiritual than a church that doesn’t recognize Advent.

That said, there are some real advantages for a church to recognize and celebrate the Advent season.

1. It’s Expected

Individuals in your community expect the church to at least recognize something is different during the month of December. Traditions (individual and cultural) form people to observe this holiday season.

Observing Advent can be one of the more subversive acts that a congregation can do. Because our culture still observes the Christmas season, there are a lot of natural connection points between the church and culture during the holiday season. How a church embodies its participation in the time and events of Advent can communicate a lot to the community around them about the importance of the story of Jesus.

2. It Tells the Story about Jesus