This week there were people of all ages learning and teaching at Trinity Baptist Church! Our VBS week was a huge success and for that we are grateful for God’s grace, but we are also thankful for the faithfulness of the saints of God in our fellowship. On Monday we had a visiting family that, while they waited in line to register their child, they told one our ladies that their children had attended our VBS for several years in a row, but there seemed to be a change in the workers this year. When asked to explain, the visiting lady said, “there seems to just be a sweeter spirit among you than ever before.” To that I say “TO GOD BE THE GLORY”. When someone just comes in off the street and can watch our people work together in a stressful situation (and yes, that first day is VERY stressful), and Trinity exemplifies grace, love, patience and unity among one another, that is a wonderful way to glorify our Lord. We want to make sure that in all we do, in every area of ministry and service, our foremost desire is to honor God! We can do this when things run smoothly but when things are chaotic or they don’t run as we think they should, that is the test. I want to thank our workers for exemplifying Christ this week. This year we did not divide the children by ages, and they went around on teams allowing children of different ages to interact with one another… so, to put it mildly, this was an incredible hit with everyone involved but in many cases, it made it a little more trying for our workers. I want to thank each leader who sacrificed their time and energy, each parent who entrusted us with their child, and each member of Trinity who, through their giving, allowed us to have such a wonderful VBS.
Last but not least, there was a very consistent statement mentioned throughout our VBS, and it went something like this… “God blessed Trinity when He sent us Bro. Jeff.” To that statement I say “Amen!” I have said it before, but I do not know of anyone that I trust leading the families of our children more than Bro. Jeff Summers. I thank the Lord not only for his friendship, but also for the deep passion that he has for the gospel and articulating that correctly to our children. Thank you Bro. Jeff, and “thank you” to all of you for an outstanding VBS! Be sure to be there Sunday morning to let the children show us what they have learned!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Monday, June 14, 2010
Commitment To A Local Body:
Below is a question that taken by Dr. John MacArthur during a Q&A time during one of his services. As we have been studying the Church, I thought it to be a very clear, Biblical explanation of commitment to a local church.
Question
What does it mean for a Christian to be committed to the local body of believers?
Answer
Well, I don't think there is any other way to be a Christian, than to be committed to a local body of believers. I am talking about church membership or identifying...we have a problem with that in our society. Today, we have people who just float, you know. They look at the church page like they look at the movie page, and figure who is playing where, we will go here, or this guy or whatever. But, the church knows no identity of a Christian without a local assembly. I mean, in the NT there is no such thing, there is no conception of such an individual. If you are a Christian, you are a member of the body, right? of the community, of the assembly--to commune with God’s people. It says in Hebrews 10, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some and much more as you see the day approaching." So, Christians are called together in a wonderful unity. I believe, every Christian ought to identify with a local assembly. The reason some don't is because they just like to be loose. They don't want accountability or they can't find some place that is 100 percent according to their little list of standards. But, those are excuses, not reasons.
Every Christian should be committed to a local assembly. It means two things,
1) I submit to the authority of those elders.
2) I want to minister here.
And, the reason we have church membership here is so that people can say, ‘I want to bring my life in under the shepherding of these men, and I want to minister here. And, we want to bring them into the membership because that is the only way we can screen people, the only way we can know people, so that we can approve of them to send them out in ministry. But, I think, it is very important to identify with a local church, to come under the authority of the elders, for accountability, and, to come into the ministry for the sake of serving Jesus Christ in that assembly. And, your Christianity is tested when you identify with one group of people, isn’t it? There is no accountability, there is no testing of your faith when you can float. So, it is a very important thing.
Question
What does it mean for a Christian to be committed to the local body of believers?
Answer
Well, I don't think there is any other way to be a Christian, than to be committed to a local body of believers. I am talking about church membership or identifying...we have a problem with that in our society. Today, we have people who just float, you know. They look at the church page like they look at the movie page, and figure who is playing where, we will go here, or this guy or whatever. But, the church knows no identity of a Christian without a local assembly. I mean, in the NT there is no such thing, there is no conception of such an individual. If you are a Christian, you are a member of the body, right? of the community, of the assembly--to commune with God’s people. It says in Hebrews 10, "Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some and much more as you see the day approaching." So, Christians are called together in a wonderful unity. I believe, every Christian ought to identify with a local assembly. The reason some don't is because they just like to be loose. They don't want accountability or they can't find some place that is 100 percent according to their little list of standards. But, those are excuses, not reasons.
Every Christian should be committed to a local assembly. It means two things,
1) I submit to the authority of those elders.
2) I want to minister here.
And, the reason we have church membership here is so that people can say, ‘I want to bring my life in under the shepherding of these men, and I want to minister here. And, we want to bring them into the membership because that is the only way we can screen people, the only way we can know people, so that we can approve of them to send them out in ministry. But, I think, it is very important to identify with a local church, to come under the authority of the elders, for accountability, and, to come into the ministry for the sake of serving Jesus Christ in that assembly. And, your Christianity is tested when you identify with one group of people, isn’t it? There is no accountability, there is no testing of your faith when you can float. So, it is a very important thing.
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