We’re excited to have the EBC 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament as a fundraiser for our summer missions trip again. Huge thanks to Keith McRell for putting this together. Spread the word, and sign up your team ASAP.
If you would like to sign up your team, please use this link to signup:
The Team! (mostly…)
Download the Group WorkCamps packet below.
Inside you’ll find basic information about our accommodations while in Spencer as well as directions on how to download the “Code of Conduct” and you’ll need to sign it and turn that in to me, and I’ll submit them when I have everyone’s turned in. (yes, I know the Code of Conduct & Participation and Release Agreements are in the pdf below, but you need to sign the one you get online by following the instructions, thanks!)
Team Verse & Covenant:
We discussed how we want the team to treat each other based off Galatians 5:13, which says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” This verse makes it clear that we are made free through faith in Jesus, but we aren’t to use our freedom in order to do whatever we want… instead, we must use our freed to make us servants. The next two verses clarify that if we “bite and devour” others, it’s only to our own destruction. With that in mind, we agreed on the the following Team Covenant:
Team Expectations:
Two Fundraisers:
Each team member is responsible for $600, $100 of which was paid as your deposit. That leaves $500 per person to fundraise. We agreed on two team fundraisers to coordinate in addition to writing individual support letters. The team was split into two groups to coordinate and oversee each fundraiser, although everyone is expected to participate in both. If you weren’t at the meeting, please contact one of the adult leaders for the fundraiser you would like to get involved in coordinating.
PARENTS’ NIGHT OUT: Parents drop off their kids at EBC while the team babysits, parents make a contribution towards the team in exchange for babysitting. Team: Alyson, Caitlin, Hannah, Stephanie, Gretta.
COFFEE HAUS & CRAFT SALE: Put together a coffee house at EBC where people can come ‘chill’ and also enjoy some hand-made goodies and crafts to buy. Team: Josh, Trisha, Wayne, Ben A., Ben L., Kelli, Elizabeth, Emma, Emily, Amy, Lucy, Sarah, Lydia.
Writing Your Support Letter
It’s time to get those support letters written and sent out. Please have your letter in the mail by the end of the month (please send at least 12, but sending it to 20 would be even better). The pdf below will help guide you as you write your letter (taken from my friend Karl Dahlfred’s website, thanks Karl!).
Here are some other things to keep in mind about your support letter:
As always, if you have any questions unanswered by these posts or the documents included, please contact Pastor Mike or one of the adult leaders. Please remember that since Pastor Mike is on Sabbatical from June 17-Aug. 31 he will NOT be participating in this trip and will not be leading the team meetings after June 17th.
Sermon Summary: Remember Who You Are
Galatians 4:21-31
WHO ARE YOU?
What we believe about who we are (identity) drives how we see the world (worldview) and how we live (lifestyle/morality). Paul is address this identity-issue in today’s passage: he’s reminding the Galatians church that as believers in Jesus Christ they are “Children of Promise.”
He compares the children of Hagar with the children of Sarah, making it clear that those who put themselves “Under the Law” are children of Hagar the slave. Instead, we who believe in Christ are born of the Spirit and are children of Sarah, we are children of promise.
WHY WOULD ANYONE DESIRE TO BE UNDER THE LAW?
It’s worth considering why anyone would desire to put himself under the law. There are three main reasons to consider.
As Children of Promise, we look forward to the coming of the New Jerusalem. We are people of faith, who live with God’s promises in mind. Although Jerusalem represents the holiest place on this earth, Paul is emphasizing that in comparison to the New Jerusalem (read Revelation 21) it looks like a landfill. In light of the great promise that lays ahead, the Old Jerusalem becomes like Hagar… a substitute that relies on the effort of man instead of the miraculous work of God.
ONLY GOD CAN CHANGE YOUR HEART
This couldn’t be more practical. We all know people who keep making a mess of their lives; really, who isn’t guilty of doing that to some degree or another! Bad decision after bad decision. Beer after beer. Needle after needle. Partner after partner. Website after website. Lie after lie. We command ourselves to stop, to be less addicted or proud or selfish or judgmental. We keep saying it’s going to be our last time… but it’s not.
Surely counselors and doctors and medicine are wonderful blessings that God has provided, so I’m not saying to avoid those, but we must recognize that they cannot change our hearts… only God can do that, and He does that through faith.
IDENTITY: CHILDREN OF PROMISE
Christian: Remember who you are… a child of promise… a person who walks by faith. Embrace grace – the grace the God has given you, and the grace He is calling you to give to others.
If you are not a Christian, please do this: Look deep within your heart and confess to yourself what you see, then ask yourself what you will do with your sin. How will you stand before a Holy God? How “good” is good enough?
The Great News of the Gospel is this: God loves sinners! He loves sinners so much He died for them, for you and for me, so that we could be forgiven, redeemed, and made innocent so we can stand before a Holy God.
How Should Churches Respond to Mental Illness
Because of recent events in the news, discussions of mental illness (depression, in particular) are beginning to take place. CNN ran an article by Ed Stetzer entitled “How Churches Can Respond to Mental Illness.” It’s a great read and very important. His advice in the article should be obvious, but I know that I’ve overlooked his counsel more often than I should.
Stetzer says churches need to:
Don’t Ignore Teen Depression
I wrote a post a few years ago about Teen Depression: how to spot it and how it’s different from depression in adults. It’s a post I really think would be worth rereading, I know I’ve needed to refer back to it quite a number of times since writing it!
How Do Faith & Mental Illness Connect?
I don’t usually read comments on CNN’s Belief articles, it’s just too frustrating. But I read some of the comments the other day and a few people seemed genuinely confused about how Christians understand mental illness (like depression and anxiety). Here’s my short explanation:
Understanding mental illness comes back to understanding Creation and the Fall. God made us, and He made us whole and perfect. In God’s sovereignty, He allowed us to sin (this is often referred to as “the Fall“), and because sin has now entered God’s perfect Creation there is brokenness and corruption. This is how Christian theology understands natural disasters, handicaps of all kinds, diseases, mental illness, and all other kinds of corruptions in our world and in human nature (this is also also where Christian theology could account for the “born this way” argument for homosexuality, but I’d rather not get into that today).
We still bear the Image of God, but it’s broken and corrupted. Some people are born with a disposition to fits of anger and violence, some with a propensity to sexual sin, others are naturally proud and arrogant… others are born prone to depression and anxiety. Because someone is “born this way” (in the broad sense, not in the way this phrase has been used as a justification for homosexuality), that doesn’t mean it’s right or good or whole. We all want to be whole people… but we’re all broken in our own different ways.
Faith Doesn’t Remove All Struggle
God is faithful. He is making us new. That doesn’t mean if you pray enough you won’t struggle with depression anymore. I hope that’s obvious. It’s not always a matter of “having too little faith.” Depression isn’t something I personally struggle with, so when I feel depressed it might be because I haven’t been seeking God enough. But for someone who really struggles with depression or anxiety or any number of other mental illnesses, prayerfulness and spiritual discipline WILL help, but it will not remove the struggle completely.
Faith simply doesn’t remove all our struggles. Through faith, God gives us strength in the midst of our struggles. Battles are serious and dangerous, and it’s both unhelpful and unfaithful to simply say “Let go and let God.” The effects of sin and the Fall are greater and more complicated than that. God gives us strength, but that doesn’t mean
Helping Struggling Christians
There are no easy answers. I hope I’ve made that clear by now. Here are a few suggestions for Christians who struggle with mental illness (and for the people who care about them):
“From the Guardian to Adoption”
Galatians 3:15-29
The big question of Galatians is this: Do Gentiles need to become Jewish before they can become Christians? In Gal. 3:13-14 Paul answers this with a resounding “NO WAY!” He explains that Christ bore our judgment for being Lawbreakers, and He did this in order that the blessing of Abraham could be given to the Gentiles. The main text for today (v.15-29) is an explanation of v.13-14.
The Example: Covenant Promises (v.15-18)
Paul gives the example of the covenant: If we keep our covenants, how much more will God keep his?! One thing that’s helpful for us today is to understand the difference between a covenant and a contract. Today, if we signed a contract and then wanted to change the terms of our contract, we could change those terms if we both agree to it and have a lawyer write up a new contract to replace the old one. You couldn’t do that with a covenant – the covenant was a permanent and unchangeable oath that was absolutely binding.
Since Paul hinges his argument on Abraham’s covenant, it’s important for us to understand why that particular covenant is so important. In a covenant, both parties make oaths to each other and seal those oaths by walking between a sacrifice (they would kill the animal and split it in two) in order to say, “If I break this covenant, may I be cut in pieces like this animal.” Now that’s a commitment! Abraham’s covenant was one-sided… only one party walked through the sacrifice: GOD!
Jesus Christ fulfilled this one-sided covenant by being split open for us on the cross; not because God didn’t keep his vows to Abraham, but because we became sinners and broke the Law, and the Law must be upheld. Because of Jesus the blessing of Abraham has been made available to all by faith.
The Law Was Never Life-Giving, (v.19-22)
Paul continues by asking two questions: “Why did God send the Law?” & “Are the Law and Promise are contrary to each other?” In order to answer these questions, we first need to make sure we’re using the same dictionary for “Law” and “Gospel/Promise.” When we’re talking about “Law” we’re not simply talking about the Ten Commandments, but we more broadly talking about the commands (think: Imperative verbs) in Scripture: Keep the Ten Commandments, Love your neighbor as yourself, etc. “Gospel/Promise” represents the promises of God towards his people (think: Indicative verbs): “I will be your God and you will be my people and I will dwell in your midst,” as Christians this especially points to the promised Holy Spirit, who lives within us and sanctifies us.
Paul answers these questions by pointing to the purpose of the Law. It was never meant to give life. It was meant to show us our sin and our need for the life-giver! As Tim Keller has written, “The purpose of the Law is not tell us about salvation, but to tell us about sin (v. 19). It’s main purpose is to show us our problem, that we are law-breakers; and to prove to us that we cannot be the solution, since we are unable to be perfect law-keepers. ” The Law is not contrary to the Gospel, because it always shows us our need for the Gospel. When the Law tells you to fly, the Gospel gives you wings.
In the midst of this, it’s important to remember that you cannot simply fill yourself up with sin and then try to claim God’s promise. One of the first signs of a child of God is a heart-felt desire to submit yourself to God and to His Law. If you’re trying to sin and sin and sin and then claim that Jesus will just forgive you anyway, then you’re deceiving yourself – you have not understood and received the Gospel. Repent of your sins, and prayerfully receive Christ as your greatest treasure.
From the Guardian to Adoption v.23-29
We used to be held captive under the law as a guardian. The Law restrained us from falling so deeply into sin that we would fully destroy ourselves, and now that the Promise has come, we have been adopted as children of Abraham and children of God. Now that we have been adopted, the Law can guard us from taking credit for receiving the adoption: It guards our hearts from taking credit for our salvation. I cannot think, “I’ve earned God’s promise. I’m better than others, I don’t sin as often or as seriously as others do. I mean, there’s no way that guy deserves God’s grace, but I do.”
The glorious promise of v.28-29 is that we are all equally adopted. This passage has often been misinterpreted as destroying any significance to gender and ethnicity – but if that was true then why would Paul have specific instructions for parents and children elsewhere and elsewhere throughout the New Testament ethnicity is continually affirmed. The wonderful truth here is that we are all adopted by faith, not by genetics! Your genes matter, they matter in a way that enriches the family of God… not in a way that keeps you out or gets you in!
Conclusion:
Discussion Questions:
So… there’s been a change in plans! I went to register our group for Burlington, NJ last week and discovered that project/location has been cancelled for this Summer! The good news is Group WorkCamps has so many locations around the country there’s another option for us!
The project in Spencer, NY remains open with plenty of space for our group. Spencer, NY is at the foot of the “Finger Lakes” in NY and we would be doing house projects for the Elderly in town (fixing/painting walls inside, building wheelchair ramps, and other projects that would be a great blessing to these seniors).
Since this is still a project from Group WorkCamps, the details/costs remain the same (see the link above for all those details). Each team member will be paired with members of other teams and we’ll gather together as a group at the end of the day to share our stories about what we did and who we met and how we witnessed God at work.
Please let Pastor Mike know ASAP whether or not you are still IN for this summer’s trip or if you would like to withdraw from the team. The team’s reservations will be made next Wed (4/10).
We are taking part in Norfolk’s “Clean & Green Campaign” by working to clean up along the roads in town. Our location is still TBD, I’ll update this post as soon as I know, but this is a great opportunity to give back to our community.
We’ll meet up together at EBC at 9:00 and will work until Noon.
Here’s what you need to bring with you:
Why should you participate?
