Good Shepherd Update Friday August 20th, 2010

Dear Good Shepherd,

The update is a little late this week, but still important. The new announcements are at the front and then the information about Mission Groups and Outreach come after. Enjoy!

THANK YOU to everyone who helped with the Chicken BBQ, School Give Away and Flee Market. The whole day went well day was a success and we appreciate everyone who turned up to work.

School Supply Giveaway (from Carmen):  Last Saturday 65 children were given backpacks, folders, crayons, pencils, notebooks, and pens from Church of the Good Shepherd.  Many of the children and parents expressed their gratitude and their surprise.  Thanks to all who helped with this important outreach to our neighbors.  Thanks also to those who served free root beer floats. 

Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (from Anne): Good Shepherd’s Sunday School program for children aged 3 to 9 is called Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS). CGS is a hand’s on tactile way of introducing young children to Jesus, the Bible and some of elements of worship. This past Sunday SO Many of you stayed to help me make many of the materials we need for the program. THANK YOU! I’m so delighted with how much progress was made and the beautiful work that you all did. Next Sunday, August 29, I will have everything set out again after the 10:30 service for those of you who wanted to finish your project. Later in the year, after I’ve been able to organize and set up the rooms for the start of the Sunday School year, I will probably have another work day. In the meantime, Thank You so much to everyone who stayed. I hope many of you will take the time to stop and see what beautiful things the children will be working with this year.

Creation/Intelligent Design: Before men’s bible study this Friday I listened to this interview between RC Sproul and Stephen Meyer on the theory of Intelligent Design. It is entirely worth it to make time to listen to both parts this weekend.

Here’s the link: http://www.ligonier.org/blog/listen-rc-sproul-stephen-meyer-discuss-intelligent-design/

Grace and Free Will: We had a great conversation last Sunday during Adult Ed. about the human will and about the way God’s grace works in the human heart. I wanted to pass along some extra-biblical resources, both Arminian and Calvinist, to help you get a good grasp for the question. This is an “in house” debate. We have the freedom to debate this vigorously but because those on both sides of the question recognize the authority and truthfulness of scripture and seek to conform to it, there is no need to divide. Remember the saying, “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things charity”. Of course you should check all of the resources below by the ultimate measure of scripture.

First : the classics:

Augustine of Hippo‘s “On the Predestination of the Saints”: This is perhaps the classic work from a western (meaning non-Eastern Orthodox) perspective. Calvin believed that he stood within the Augustinian tradition and you will find many similarities between Augustine’s writing and Calvin’s. Fortunately the entire book has been put online and you can read it for free here:
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf105.toc.html#P6652_2533356

Here is St. Thomas Aquinas’ discussion of Predestination in his “Summa Theologica:”
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/1023.htm

Here is Martin Luther‘s take on the matter: “The Bondage of the Will”:
http://www.truecovenanter.com/truelutheran/luther_bow.html

Here is John Calvin‘s “The Eternal Predestination of the Will”
http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html?mainframe=http://www.reformed.org/documents/calvin/calvin_predestination.html

Here is James Arminius: “On the Free Will of Man and it’s Powers”
http://wesley.nnu.edu/arminianism/arminius/j.htm#DISPUTATION 11

Here’s Jonathan Edwards’ “Freedom of the Will” (possibly the best theological work ever published in the Americas…this is the work that persuaded me)
http://www.reformedreader.org/rbb/edwards/fowindex.htm

John Wesley‘s sermon “Free Grace”
http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/128/

Contemporary Works:

Dr. RC Sproul‘s defense of the Calvinist position: “Chosen by God”
http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-God-R-C-Sproul/dp/0842313354

And the Arminian response from Dr. Norman Geisler: “Chosen But Free”
http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-But-Free-Norman-Geisler/dp/0764225219/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281895987&sr=1-11

And RC. Sproul‘s rebuttal:
http://www.amazon.com/Willing-Believe-Controversy-over-Free/dp/0801064120/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1281896084&sr=1-1

Acolytes: The next practice is on Sunday September 26th

Prayer List Clearing: Hi, this is Kellie. We did a little bit of parishioner-prayer-list tidying last summer and this fall I’d like to clear the whole list and start from scratch. Don’t worry, anyone whom you want put back on the list can be put back on, but you’ll need to contact the church (723-8032) or me and tell me that you want him/her/them on. This will happen effective next week. Thank you!

Church telephone number: Just a reminder that at the end of the year, the 773-4810 number will no longer be in service. The primary church number is 723-8032 and will be the exclusive number after December of this year.

Kenyan Liturgy: A number of people have expressed interest in the Kenyan liturgy we used last week. We’re using for the whole month and we’ll keep it in the liturgy rotation permanently which means we’ll use it one out of every three months.

Mission Groups: I’ve spoken two Sundays in a row and written in past Updates about the mission groups that will be starting up this Fall. This note is to put in writing some of the things I have already said about mission groups and some of what I have written before but perhaps less concisely.

God very often chooses to do very big things through small groups of people. Noah and his wife and his three sons and their wives, were chosen by God to repopulate the earth after the Great Flood. God chose Jacob’s 12 sons to become the fathers of the twelve tribes of Israel. God chose Moses and Aaron to lead his people out of bondage in Egypt to his Promised Land. Gideon was chosen by God to rescue Israel from a vast army of Midianites with a small group of 300 men. God took David and his 600 men, outcasts all, from the wilderness where they lived in hiding to Jerusalem where God established the line of kings that ended with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. The Lord Jesus himself, one man, chose only 12 men to be his disciples. After his Ascension, 11 of them turned the entire world upside down through the proclamation of the gospel. God obviously works through small groups
Imagine what God might do through small committed groups of believers planted in homes all across the city devoted to worship, studying God’s Word, sharing their lives together, loving and serving the people in their neighborhoods and seeking ways to share the gospel of Jesus Christ—each group, in other words, acting as a missionary outpost of the kingdom of God.

Not only would we grow deeper in our own relationships with each other and with Jesus Christ, lives and entire neighborhoods could be transformed.

Below is a very brief outline of the mission purpose and vision for mission groups. Keep in mind that this is a vision. It takes time and lots of small steps before visions become realities. We’ll necessarily start small but that’s okay. I believe this is the direction God would have us go and so I see what is small today becoming big in the coming years.

Please take the time to read the very brief outline below and please feel free to contact me with any questions, suggestions, or comments:

What is the Purpose of Mission Groups? To extend the kingdom of God by planting small mission groups in neighborhoods throughout Binghamton committed to deepening their own faith
and to neighborhood transformation.

What About the Vision Thing? Each mission group will operate like a small church plant, a missionary outpost in neighborhoods throughout the city by:

1. Being disciples (studying the bible, enjoying fellowship, praying and worshiping together)
2. Making disciples: looking and working for opportunities to invite neighbors to the group where they will encounter the gospel
3. Discovering and then serving the needs of
each neighborhood
4. Building relationships with each other
5. Offering a welcome entry point to the wider church fellowship

What does a mission group do?
1. Worship/prayer
2. Bible study
3. Fellowship
4. Plan and engage in regular periodic neighborhood Outreach/Service projects
5. Seek the lost and present the gospel.

News from the Outreach Committee The Outreach Committee met last Saturday and agreed upon following mission statement and objectives:
The Mission: To demonstrate Jesus’ love to our community by building relationships and by addressing needs.  In so doing, we hope to lead people to Christ/to a closer walk with Him.
Our immediate objectives are the following:

1. To build a relationship with the neighborhood by initiating new outreach efforts and assisting in already established church and community efforts
2. Improve, evaluate and promote various outreach efforts already established at Good Shepherd   (Health Fair and Ice Cream Social, VBS, School Supply Giveaway, Christmas Outreach, Red Cross Drive, etc)
3.  Experiment with new ways of outreach
4.  Monthly meetings to assess tried and ongoing efforts, initiate new efforts, maintain regular outreach efforts

Here is a list of already existing outreach ministries at Good Shepherd:
Outreach of Church of the Good Shepherd
Prayer Shawl Ministry:  Women of Good Shepherd meet regularly to knit prayer shawls for those within the parish and beyond who are going through difficult times.
Shepherd’s Bowl:  Free hot dinner every Thursday 5:30-6:30
Health Fair and Ice Cream Social
Red Cross Blood Drive
AGW Socks and T-Shirts -  We contribute socks and t-shirts to Ben Franklin School
School Supply Give-Away (in conjunction w/flea market & chicken barbecue)
Food Pantry -  Food available for the needy of our parish firstly, but also available to others
Blessing of the Beasts (Humane Society)
Christmas Outreach (Salvation Army/Family Enrichment)
Halloween Outreach (planned for October 31)
International aid:  Kwenda + Haiti
Basketball: We’ve invested in a mobile basketball hoop that we will set up in the parking lot encourage relationship building between church and neighborhood
Ideas for the future:
Community/Church Garden
Outdoor movie
Job fair
Mentoring Ministry
Neighborhood Church Picnic
Bottled water giveaway
All Fund raisers should have an outreach component (complimentary tickets provided, funds raised for a cause not our own)
. Women’s Bible Study: (from Carmen) There will be women’s bible study on Saturday at 10am in the Parish Hall.

Tuesday Morning Bible Study. This is Good Shepherd’s first Bible study. It began 8 years ago and all the other Bible studies grew out of it. This study is led by Chris Vail. It meets every Tuesday morning at 9:00am in the parish hall. Currently this group is working through Acts in an effort to piece together Paul’s missionary journeys before turning to his Letter to the Romans. Ultimately, this group will work through all of the New Testament epistles and letters. All are welcome!

First Light Bible Study: This group meets every Tuesday evening at 6:30pm and is designed for intermediate and advanced students of Scripture. The group takes the time necessary to delve as deeply as possible into the text, learning the art and science of biblical exegesis. Ife Ojetayo leads the group which is currently working its through Acts. All are welcome.

Last Sunday’s sermon

, Last week I preached a sermon entitled: “Does God have time for your prayers? ”It was the second part of an ongoing series on prayer based on Luke 11:1-13. You can read it here and watch it below:

This Sunday we’ll start talking about how the Lord’s prayer, will change us and change the world. Here’s the text we’ll cover:
“When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. [3] Give us each day our daily bread, [4] and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.  And lead us not into temptation.”  (Luke 11:2-4 ESV)

Christian Education: The Thirty Nine Articles: Last week we discussed the question of free will and had a great conversation. I sent out an email with lots of resources to research this debate on Sunday afternoon. If you did not receive this email, let me know and I’ll re-send it. This Sunday we’ll move to a less controversial but just as interesting topic, “Justification”. How is it possible for sinners to be reconciled to a holy and just God? Here’s the Article:

Of the Justification of Man

We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort; as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.

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