Connect E-Letter
July 9, 2010 - Edition Number 93 |
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From the Pastor |
 Dear Friends,We're away at the beach for our family's summer vacation. Second only to lazy, extended time with Patty and the children, my favorite activity here is the box of books I lug along. I always bring too many and never get to most of them, but long, lazy afternoons in a shaded hammock, enjoying a soft breeze and a good book, is about as relaxed as I can get. I wanted to share a couple of gems from this week's reading with you with the hope that they get your mental wheels turning like they did mine.First, from Kevin DeYoung, a young pastor in his early 30s from East Lansing, Michigan in a talk he gave earlier this year:
It is easy to blast the church for all her failures. It is harder to live in the church day after day, year after year, with all of the ho hum, hum drum, and to slowly and consistently make a difference.
What we need are fewer revolutionaries and a few more plodding visionaries. We need to ask the right questions, we need to have the right expectations, and we need to establish the right vision....
Here is my burden for our generation: along with all of the necessary pleas we have to be earnest and intense and radical and sold out. With all of that, I just also want to wave the banner from Zechariah 4:10, "Do not despise the days of small things." That is what I mean by being plodding visionaries.
If you are a visionary, you don't have your head in the sand. You are going somewhere. You are looking out. You are moving in a direction. But you are a plodder. One foot in front of the other.
Many of us are attracted to a Tasmanian Devil kind of Christianity ...splattering, spinning around. You get fired up-praise God for that-and you spin out like the Tasmanian Devil ready to conquer the world for Christ and you blow up into a tree somewhere.
We need plodding visionaries.
When I wrote the book on the church I read nine books that called for a revolution. Every other day it seems like I read of a new manifesto. We may need to just simplify a little: Get on the right road and keep going.
Our generation in particular is prone to radicalism without follow-through. We want to change the world and we have never changed a diaper. You want to make a difference for Christ? Here is where you can start: this Sunday, volunteer for the nursery. Say, "Here I am, pastor. What can I do to serve?
So many of you are like that and I am grateful for you. I see that mindset (and heart-set, if that is a word) in increasing ways at Christ Community and I know it is the Spirit's work in your hearts. I share that with you to confirm what you already know, but what the world and devil tell us is foolish.
Second, from John Stott:What is there about the cross of Christ which angers the world and stirs them up to persecute those who preach it? Just this: Christ died on the cross for us sinners, becoming a curse for us (Gal. 3:13). So the cross tells us some very unpalatable truths about ourselves, namely that we are sinners under the righteous curse of God's law and we cannot save ourselves. Christ bore our sin and curse precisely because we could gain release from them in no other way. If we could have been forgiven by our own good works, by being circumcised and keeping the law, we may be quite sure that there would have been no cross.
Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, "I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying." Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size like the cross. All of us have inflated views of ourselves, especially in self-righteousness, until we have visited a place called Calvary. It is there, at the foot of the cross, that we shrink to our true size. And of course men do not like it. They resent the humiliation of seeing themselves as God sees them and as they really are. They prefer their comfortable illusions. So they steer clear of the cross. They construct a Christianity without the cross, which relies for salvation on their works and not on Jesus Christ's. They do not object to Christianity so long as it is not the faith of Christ crucified. But Christ crucified they detest. And if preachers preach Christ crucified, they are opposed, ridiculed, persecuted. Why? Because of the wounds which they inflict on men's pride.
The Message of Galatians (The Bible Speaks Today series: London and Downers Grove: IVP, 1968), p. 179.
Let's be people, both individually and together as a congregation, who always stay in close range of the cross of Christ.
Finally, as you prepare to sing together this upcoming Lord's Day, this gem from C.S. Lewis:
When I first became a Christian, about fourteen years ago, I thought that I could do it on my own, by retiring to my rooms and reading theology, and I wouldn't go to the churches and Gospel Halls. . . . I disliked very much their hymns, which I considered to be fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music. But as I went on I saw the great merit in it. I came up against different people of quite different outlooks and different education, and then gradually my conceit just began peeling off. I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren't fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit.
C. S. Lewis, God In The Dock (Grand Rapids, 1970), pages 61-62.
The music we make and offer to the Lord in worship will never have the production values of a Nashville recording studio, but, then again, that is not what makes it a sweet offering to the Lord. Instead, beauty is the voices of the redeemed to singing to their Redeemer of their redemption with the voices He gave them. Our joyful noises offered together by grace along through faith alone in Christ alone is the most beautiful sound on earth.
It is great to be away, but we look forward to being back among you when we get home.Your friend, |
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| We are being asked to Help | We will have a box in the back of the Fellowship Hall for you to bring and drop off the much needed supplies.
ARP Women's Ministry
The Women's Ministry will be putting welcome baskets in rooms at Bonclarken in August for about 80 families participating in the Joni Eareckson Tada-sponsored camps that minister to the disabled community and their families. Nancy Myers, president of the First Presbyterial Women's Ministry has shared the need for donations of either money and specific gift bag items. Let Mandy Crotts or Janet Hurd know if you would like to contribute. These items need to be turned in by Friday, July 23 in order to be delivered to Bonclarken on July 27 during the Family Bible Conference. Items needed:
Bottled water - one per family member or at least two per room Journals and pens/pencils Rolls of "Lifesaver" candies Fruit snacks (raisins) Kleenex Hand sanitizers Devotional thoughts Animal crackers NO LATEX OR PEANUT PRODUCTS The theme for the week is cruise-related and any ideas you have for items related to this theme would be welcome.
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Adult Bible Fellowship Classes |
Adult Bible Fellowship Class (in the D-Wing at 9:15am) Christianity Explored - Class Facilitators are Robert George and Ken Kunkel
Youth and Parents Bible Class (in the Attic, upstairs D-Wing at 9:15am)
First Principles of the Christian Faith, for Parents and Kids - Jim Van Eerden (July)
A Study of the Attributes of God - Mackay Smith (August)
We offer the following ministries for children during the worship hour:
- 0-2 Nursery (B Wing, first floor)
- 2-3 year old class (B Wing, first floor)
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Children's Church for ages 4, 5, and 6 (B wing, second floor)
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Children's Sermon for 2nd through 4th grades. (during sermon time)
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Opportunities for Ministry |
Summer-End Picnic - Save the Date Following the morning worship service on August 8th we will have a fun-filled lunch and afternoon. More information to follow next week.
High School Youth Wednesday night Summer "Oasis" - Goes SERVING!!! 5:30-8:30 pm. Meet at church and we'll head out to do a field day for refugee kids and then bring some money because we'll grab a bite together afterward. Hope you can come!
Interested in finding out more about CCC? The Inquirers' Class is our way of orienting prospective members to the history, doctrine, and ongoing ministries of Christ Community. Join us for a four-week one-hour class during the 9:15 Sunday School hour on July 11, July 18, July 25, and August 1. We will also be offering the same classes again on the four Sundays in August. If you miss one due to summer travel, you can attend a particular session the next time. If you have any questions, please contact Amy Munson, or call her at 288-2365 ext. 23.
Female Looking For Accommodations Elspeth Glasgow is a recent graduate of Grove City College, a member of the ARP church there, and will soon be moving to Greensboro to teach at Caldwell Academy. She arrives in August and wrote us to see if any of our members or visitors are looking for a boarder. This might be a good opportunity for families, older women, or young single women. (The Marshes met her a few weeks ago and promise that she is a delightful young woman.) If you are interested in learning more, you can contact her via glasgowec1@gmail.com.
Women's Precept Bible Study The Tuesday evening Women's Precept group plans to continue the Kings and Prophets series with Passing the Mantle (5 lessons referencing: 2 Kings 2-14 and 2 Chronicles 21-25) to begin in September. All Bible students are invited. Details should follow in August. For more information call Kathy Wilson @ 288-8331.
Weekly Prayer Meetings
The meetings are held each week on Tuesdays at noon and Wednesdays at 7pm. Join us in prayer for our people and His church in C-105 (located on the left hand side of the Fellowship Hall).
First Presbyterial Women's Ministries
On August 21st, 2010, CCC is hosting the 103rd meeting of the 1st Presbyterial Women's Ministries. All ladies are invited! Susan Hunt will be the guest speaker. She is the Women's Ministry Consultant for Christian Education and Publications, a graduate of the University of South Carolina and Columbia Theological Seminary. She has authored numerous books and travels extensively speaking to various women's groups. Her desire to help women have a heart for each other, for the church and for the Reformed faith is unparalleled. Registration begins at 9 o'clock and a light breakfast will be offered with the program beginning at 10. Lunch is offered at $5 a person. (Nursery is provided for infants and toddlers. Please indicate the age and number of children when you respond affirmatively.) R.S.V.P. by July 30th to Amy Munson or call (336) 288-2365.
Also, on Friday evening, August 20th, 2010, Mrs. Hunt will address Christ Community's teen girls and ladies (location TBA). Please R.S.V.P. by July 30th to Amy Munson or call (336) 288-2365 for this event as well. |
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Prayer Requests |
- Pray for Edith Bowden (Renee Harris' mother) while in hospital. Prayers for comfort, healing and wisdom of the doctors.
- Pray for Bryan Crotts' health, especially that doctors would be able to determine the source of recent headaches and dizziness.
- For the labors of our greeters & ushers, as they welcome & assist people coming to our church
- That we would have a deeper intimacy with Christ through continued consciousness of our sin before a Holy God, an acute awareness of our need for a Savior, and a desire to worship and serve Him to the best of our abilities. That we would glorify Him!
- Personal Missions: for the doors of opportunity to open that we may minister the Gospel to others
- Local Missions: that the Gospel would be evident to those who seek help through Greensboro Pregnancy Care Center
- Foreign Missions: that God would protect our missionaries in volatile political environments
- Persecuted Christians: for the perseverance of the saints who bear distress for the sake of Christ
- Governing Authorities: pray for our local police, fire and rescue personnel - especially those in our church
- Our friends, relatives, and A.R.P. Chaplains serving around the world in the U.S. Military
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To Prepare for the Lord's Day Worship |
Sunday's Sermon "Obedience: A Loaded Word" Rev. Bryan Crotts Mark 12:28-34
Confession of Faith Shorter Catchism Questions: 1,2, and 3
Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.
Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.
Q. 3. What do the Scriptures principally teach?
A. The Scriptures principally teach, what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.
Worship Songs
Ancient Words
God, All Nature Sings Thy Glory
Let the Praises Ring
Speak, O Lord
Psalm 1
'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
Nursery Workers for July 11, 2010
9:30 Hour: Betty Blakeman, Kelly McClure & Jenni Martin
10:30 Hour: Jenni Martin, Nicole Tate, Jane Lenfestey & Peter Gregory
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Food For Thought |
"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer."
- the Apostle Peter
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