Pray For Your Family!

Some of you know my family or are my family so you'll understand how powerful these words are.  This was written in a Wednesday email by my Aunt Pat who lives in Texas.  Please pray great prayers for your families today!

Good morning! "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it"! Easy to say, very hard to do most of the time. We take on so much stuff of this world that we tend to forget that God is the Creator and Designer. He made all things and He is in control of all things. We hit rough spots and hard times and we try to take over because we don't like the way He is doing things, but we just have to step back and trust HIM. He knew you before you were even formed! He knows the number of hairs on your head! How awesome is that! He changes not! You must open your hands and empty yourself to Him! Give Him every detail of your life. As a parent, I know that is hard to do, but I can tell you that when I turned my children over to God and said "they are Yours, and I can not carry the burden any more", He took over and although there have been some rough spots from where I sit, I think my children have become pretty good adults. I know that Granny gave us to God on a daily basis. Both she and Daddy prayed for their family daily. I will never forget some of the sweetest things I ever heard from my sweet Daddy. Toward the end of his life, when I would call home, I would be talking to Mother and could hear Daddy in the background talking and saying names of family members. I asked her what he was talking about and she said, "oh, he's just praying." What a comfort. So, parents, pray for your children. Give them to God and trust Him!

Resurrection Implications

Does the resurrection of Jesus from the dead have any implications other than to verify the story of Jesus?  Yes!  It has implications for all of creation and it has special immediate implications for those who believe in it.

For All Creation


Romans 8 makes it very clear that all of creation is eagerly awaiting the day when God will make everything right at the revealing of His children (Romans 8:19-22).  All of the world - fish, animals, birds, plants, people, and on and on - are fully aware that we live in a world of futility.  That no matter how much we accumulate, no matter how good we are, no matter how long we live, we all end the same way, in death.  Death is the unmistakable sign of destruction for all of us.  It points to the fact that something in this life is seriously off, that it all must either be a sad, twisted joke or that it's all very broken and needs fixing.

And this is the power of the resurrection for all creation!  For Jesus to actually raise from the dead means that death no longer carries with it the same power.  It shows that death is defeatable, that it is all in fact broken but someone is fixing it.  And that someone is Jesus.  His victory over death signals to all the world that in fact something is being done and it gives power to His promise that He will return to finalize the change.  So for now, the implications for all creation of Jesus' resurrection is that He will make all things new (Revelation 21:5).

For Those Who Believe In It


But Romans 8 has something in particular to say to those who believe and trust in the power of the resurrection.  Paul states in Romans 8 that based on the resurrection of Jesus (Romans 8:11) we no longer should trust in the things of our flesh but in the gift of the Holy Spirit.  But what does that mean?  It means that we have been saved to something much bigger than just existing as people that go to work, watch sports, eat food, and raise families.  It means that we have been saved to begin a new life of joining God on His mission of reconciliation.  Look at Paul unpack this in II Corinthians 5:14-21

For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

The implications for those of us that believe is that we are new creations!  We have a mission to live.  We don't just exist in this world, we live with a purpose.  We join God in making all things new.  By the death and resurrection of Jesus we are declared to be the righteousness of God.  This gives us hope that we can actually see victory over futility in the world around us and that we have a message of hope to proclaim to the oppressed.

So if we claim to believe in the resurrection of Jesus, are we living like it?  Or are we content to say that we know that Jesus died for me and that's good enough?  Because if we end with the death of Jesus for our sins, we are not preaching the full Gospel.  Jesus also conquered death which tells us that death has no hold on those who have faith.  Trust in the power of His resurrection and get on board with God's mission of reconciliation in the world!

Celebrations, Cathedrals, and Cells

I am so thankful to those who have gone before us in the faith.  Men like Peter, Paul, John, Augustine, Justin Martyr, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, and on and on.  Throughout every generation God has raised up men to call His people to follow after Him.  Even more amazing is the continuity of the message, that Jesus died for our sin and was resurrected so that we might move from death to life.  Glory to God for His unchanging nature and sovereign will!

But there is a great need in our day for repentance and reformation as well.  We have certainly not arrived at the final coming of the New Jerusalem and eagerly await our Bridegroom's arrival.  But until He comes, we continue to be purified as His bride.  And in that purification is the need for a reformation of church structure.

All around the world the reformation has already begun.  Churches in Asia, eastern Europe, Africa, and South America have already discovered the power of being gathered together by God's Holy Spirit.  My prayer is that God will continue to bring about this reformation of church structure to His Church in America.

One author, Wolfgang Simson, has referred to what I am talking about as "Cathedral style meetings".  I do not agree with all that Mr. Simson has to say, but on this point I find his analysis intriguing.  What we see in the New Testament and early church history are two distinct meetings in the church family.  There was an organic movement happening in the homes of the people.  This was the natural start of the church in Acts 2 and continuing on.  But also the church was gathered together in large groups for worship and teaching on a regular basis.  They often found themselves in synagogues, schools, amphitheaters, and the temple courts.  But each gathering had separate purposes, with the home based movement being the foundational gathering of the church.

With the rising of the Roman Catholic Church a new phenomena was begun, Cathedrals.  Cathedrals sought to bring together the large "Celebrations" and the small "Cells" into one meeting.  This structure has persisted to this day creating churches that are building, clergy, and program centered or as I say "centralized."  But the church is a movement of God scattered by the power of the Holy Spirit to advance the good news of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection!  The church is a messy, decentralized movement of believers witnessing about the Glory of God to the world in which we live.

I am not advocating the abandonment of all our buildings, structures, and responsibilities.  I AM advocating the rediscovering of a balance between celebration and cell.  Not a cathedral with a good small group program, but a true rediscovery of the necessary balance between the church gathered and scattered.  Many churches have already identified this necessary reform and have acted accordingly.  My prayer for us at Round Lake is that we will as well.  And in all things, may God be glorified through His people in whatever form He gathers them together!

The Gospel

When someone says Gospel, what comes to your mind?  Like gospel music or Billy Graham?  Maybe good news or Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John?  Well one of our tasks over the last few months at Round Lake Christian Church has been to define the gospel for our community of believers.

Why do we feel the need to define the gospel?  Hasn't it been pretty well defined for over 2000 years?  Yes and no.  We feel that every church in every culture should seek to find a way of describing the gospel that is Biblically accurate and culturally relevant.  And by culture I don't mean what media tells us that culture is.  I mean, what makes sense in the world around us.  So here is how we have defined the gospel.

THE GOSPEL IS THE GOOD NEWS THAT, FOR GOD'S GLORY, JESUS DIED FOR OUR SINS AND WAS RESURRECTED SO WE MIGHT MOVE FROM DEATH TO LIFE.

Notice that we connected the Biblical historical truths of the death and resurrection with a statement about what Jesus accomplished in that.  He died so that we might live.  We believe the gospel is all about people moving from just existing in this world as the "walking dead" to becoming truly alive in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.  We want a church family that believes and lives like they have tasted life!

Please note as well that we believe the gospel exists for God's glory.  We have come to understand glory as the power, presence, and praise of God.  As John Piper has stated, "God is the gospel."  In Jesus, God displayed the fullness of His power and presence.  And only Jesus is worthy of all our praise.  Therefore, the gospel is for God's glory or you could say it IS God's glory.

Finally, take heed of the crucial little word "might".  Mark Twain said that words are the difference between a harmless lightning bug and lightning.  So words do matter.  And this word matters eternally.  The word might shows us that the promise of moving from death to life does not occur universally.  The Bible is clear that faith in Jesus Christ is the condition of the gift given called life.  Faith breaks down into a belief that Jesus is who He says He is and a trust that He is our Savior, King, and God.  Only this kind of faith allows one access into the promised "abundant" life that is offered through Jesus' death and resurrection.

So how would you define the gospel?  Check out I Corinthians 15:1-8 and John 5:24 to see more about how we define the gospel.