Agape Newsletter, March 20, 2009

Hello everybody! Have you been enjoying our incredible weather this week? I certainly have! The grass and weeds have as well, so I had to get on the tractor yesterday and do something about it. I always enjoy the first few grass cuts of the season, before it dissolves into monotony. But, hey, you aren’t here to read about the weather, or grass cutting, are you? No, I didn’t think so. Here’s what’s up at Agape this week: 

This Sunday, we will be continuing our series on the gifts of the Spirit. We will be focusing on how the Holy Spirit has distributed the gifts to us (like a body), how to know what gift God has given you, and what some of the spiritual gifts look like in operation. Hopefully this will be an interesting and encouraging message for you personally as we find out how to know how God has gifted you, as we dig in the scriptures for truth on the gifts, and as we watch/listen to demonstrations of the gifts in operation. I hope you can join us for worship, prayer and word Sunday! 

As I’ve mentioned before, we will have two new small groups beginning on the first week of April. David McConnell and Michael Fargarson will be leading a group for young couples as well as families with young children. Greg Cusimano and Monte Owen will be leading a small group for parents of teenagers and other couples. How do we define “young”? We don’t! If you want to be in the young class, go for it - if you want to be in Greg and Monte’s class, then you are welcome there. If you have some kids who are young, and some kids who are teens, then try out both classes and see where God has you fit in! If somebody would like to help me find a word for Greg and Monte’s class, that describes couples who are slightly, uhhm, more seasoned than “young”, I would appreciate it! Middle or medium just doesn’t seem to work, and we certainly don’t want to offend anybody!    :)   I’ve also been asked about a group for singles, and have been thinking about that. Are you interested in a singles small group? Reply to this email and let me know if so. 

Brian Perkins has recently given the pastoral team his list of new deacons, which were elected by you, the congregation. Brian and Chris Z. took your recommendations, tallied them up, and then went and talked with the men that were selected and Biblically eligible to serve. Three of the men agreed to serve, and they will be publicly presented to the congregation (and ordained, if necessary) at the beginning of April. Unfortunately, those names are top secret, and if I shared them with you right now, I would be putting myself at extreme risk. 

What? You say you want me to tell you and put myself at extreme risk?! Well, that’s not very neighborly of you, but I’ll tell you anyway. John Talley, Monte Owen, and Mark Trimm will be our new deacons, joining Chris Zavatchen and Brian Perkins. Feel free to welcome them on board Sunday, and go ahead and start praying for them! 

The NEST NEEDS YOUR HELP! We will be engaging in our monthly ministry to the homeless of Birmingham this Tuesday night. We need help cooking, loading chairs, setting up, and cleaning up dishes when all is said and done. I know that doesn’t sound glamorous, but the hungry and homeless aren’t fed and ministered to by well wishing, and greeting cards! Besides all of that, we always have fun together, and God often opens the door to some neat ministry with the people downtown. Come join us at 5:30 (or when you can make it) Tuesday night to get ready. The van leaves around 6:30. We also need your help with Wednesday night’s food pantry. Come join us to help make baskets and pray and share the good news with people Wednesday night beginning as early as you can arrive. 

Now here’s some links for you to enjoy: 

*****     ESV study Bible is the Christian book of the year. I agree - it is a fantastic study Bible, the best I’ve seen. CLICK HERE 

*****     Court rules that Christian group must allow members into leadership who disagree with the group’s statement of faith. CLICK HERE 

*****     Persecution in North Korea; ministries working underground. CLICK HERE 

*****     Men, are we truly thankful for our wives? CLICK HERE 

*****     Stuff Christians Like: The Secret Bathroom: CLICK HERE (I haven’t found one at Agape yet) 

See you Sunday! 
Chase

A Guy Called Annie. (This post is tagged “off topic” for good reason!)

Well, this is from out in left field, but I thought it funny enough to be worth posting here: 

Wednesday night fellowship meal and comedy tour!

Hi everybody,  

Just a quick note to let you know that we will be having our family fellowship meal beginning this Wednesday night at 5:45pm. Food is $5 per person, or $20.00 for a family of four and up, so if you have 20 people in your immediate family, you’d better come out and eat, because this is a great deal for you! 

After our meal together Wednesday night, we are going to enjoy another Christian comedy movie, much like we did a couple of months ago. I’m told that the video I got is very funny, so I’m looking forward to us watching it together. You might be thinking, “a comedy dvd…at church? That sounds kind of fishy!” Keep in mind, that the other Wednesday nights we are going deep into the word, doing some hardcore Bible study and discussion as we go chapter by chapter through the Gospel of Matthew. It’s okay, and kind of nice actually, to take a break and actually laugh and fellowship together. I hope you can come! 

In addition, I have a few more things to let you know about: 

1. Be praying for Christy and Mark Martin this week. Christy’s grandmother passed away Sunday, and it was somewhat sudden and unexpected. Christy and her grandmother are very, very close, and this has been a tough blow for their family. Lift them up this week, and pray for peace, joy and the encouragement of the Holy Spirit! 

2. Also be praying for Sue Sellers as she recovers from surgery this week. 

3. Finally, David has posted a new article on our blog. It is called “The World in our Backyard”, and it deals with the issue of immigration.: Check it out at:http://pinsonchurch.com/blog/2009/03/the-world-in-our-backyard/

Chase

The World in Our Backyard

If current trends prove true, over 2 million people from foreign countries will come to the shores of the United States this year. By those same trends, the vast majority of them will not leave but will make this country their permanent home. It is a statistical fact that immigration is at an all time high, counting for 37% of the population growth of our land in recent years. The topic has become a political hot button among so many Americans, and it brings out passionate feelings on all ends of the spectrum. Today the call for immigration reform has increased. Anti-immigration rhetoric, that used to be found only in obscure circles, has become much more prevalent. The New York Times recently ran an article reviewing an anti-immigration book in which the author asserted: “There is no precedent for a sovereign country undergoing such a rapid and radical transformation of its ethnic character in the entire history of the world.” The author goes on to assert that the possible result will be the ‘snuffing out of the American nation – like a candle in a gale.”

As we read this, we too will undoubtedly have our own opinion of the wave of immigrants into our country. But, for my purposes today I want to ask one question as a follower of Jesus Christ: Does God have an opinion on immigration?

Now immediately we may be inclined to think God doesn’t care where people live. But I would take exception to that thought based on Scripture. First, I believe that the word of God teaches us that God is Sovereign – the absolute ruler over all creation - and has total control and determination over all that happens. Daniel 4:34-35 is one of many passages of scripture that teaches us about God’s ‘everlasting dominion’ over the earth. But someone may point out that He does give us free will. This is also a true statement, however, the free will granted to the human race can never trump God’s sovereignty (Proverbs 19:21) or God would cease to be sovereign. Even still, would we really choose to believe that God controls where people live or choose to move? Look at this most interesting verse from Acts 17:26-27: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him…”

My response is Wow. The Word is teaching us that it is God who chooses the place where people should live. Does God have an opinion on immigration? It appears that indeed He does; and what is His purpose? His purpose would be that those people would seek Him and find Him. Perhaps this assertion is ringing true or perhaps it seems quite radical. In case of the latter, let’s take a look at one more picture from the biblical book of Acts. Actually if we go back to the end of Luke we find that Jesus tells His disciples that the ‘promise of my Father’ is coming to them, but they are not to leave the city ‘until they are clothed with power from on high’. Now Jesus was speaking of the Holy Spirit who arrived at the Jewish feast of Pentecost. Why did God choose Pentecost to be the day he poured His Spirit out onto the disciples? Why did He choose this time to give the ‘promised gift?’ Well, the answer appears in Acts 2:5, which speaks of this particular feast and says: “Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven”. God had gathered people from every nation in this one place and this one time, and He had done so for a Holy purpose. When He poured His spirit out on the disciples the result on that day was thousands of new believers in Christ. God, as one friend of mine has put it, is in the business of creating an audience for Himself that He might display His glory and bring people to His presence. And if He would choose to do this in the First Century AD, there is no reason to believe He is not still doing this today.

In His sovereignty, I believe God is bringing millions of people from all different backgrounds, cultures, and nations to the shores of the United States. Too many times our first response upon seeing immigrants of any nation may be questions like: ‘I wonder if they are legal or illegal, are they here to hurt us, or why can’t they stay home?’ We may react in anger based on economic concerns because after all, how fair is if for immigrants to take our jobs, right? I believe the Bible to be a book of justice and I am not in anyway promoting a disregard for our country’s laws or our patriotism. We must be careful, though, that our patriotism never trumps our dedication to Christ and His word. Let me say clearly, that our personal prejudices will put us at odds with our God. Why should our first thought not be: ‘I wonder if they know Jesus’? Do we not understand that God desires for people to worship Him and that He has chosen where everyone should live that they might seek him and find Him? Do we believe that He is bringing people of all cultures and countries to us, at least in part, to give us an opportunity to show them who Jesus really is and how they can be worshippers of the one and only living God? And if we do believe God is bringing immigrants here, are we willing to throw down the rags of politics and prejudice to take a hold of the riches of the call of God to bring Glory to His name and to make disciples of all people?

Let us not be blind to the reality that in this day, God is bringing the nations to our communities; the world to our neighborhoods. They are coming to live, work, and learn right beside of us. They may think they are motivated by a myriad of economic, social or circumstantial reasons, yet God purposes where people live so that they might seek Him and find Him. And we have an opening, should we decide to seize it, to help make disciples of all nations in our own backyard. I pray that on the day we stand before Him we will be found faithful not to our own ideals, politics, or patriotism, but to the call and to the opportunities that He so clearly gave us.

Grace and Peace

David 

Agape Newsletter, March 6, 2009: Set your clocks forward!

Hello all, 

This should be a shortish newsletter, because my dear wife is at Tres Dias this weekend, and I am at home with our four kids, who have somehow perfected the art of messing up our house, in addition to needing to eat 14 times a day. I have discovered the secret to why they are hungry so often - only a small percentage of their food makes it into their mouth - most gets on the floor and table. Well, perhaps I’m exaggerating, but…. Whew! 

Here’s the important things to know for this week: 

There’s always somebody who forgets about the time change. I remember in college arriving to church at my normal time, and wondering if the rapture had happened, because there were only a couple of cars there. So - don’t you be the one who forgets this weekend…be sure to set your clock ahead one hour Saturday night. Spring forward….Fall back. Yeah, I know we lose an hour of sleep, but we gain a lot of sunshine in the evening, so I think it’s a fair trade. 

This Sunday’s message will be called Light Your World, and is an introduction to a new series that we are launching this month on spiritual gifts. This should be a fun, interesting and exciting series for everybody - we are going to be looking in detail at every listed Spiritual gift in the New Testament, as well as discussing how to know what spiritual gift God has given you, and how He would have you use His gift. 

Also: The meeting that we had set up for last week involving parents and anybody who is interested in working with children has been rescheduled for this Sunday, promptly after church. This is a critically important meeting regarding the future of our ministry to children, and we really do need all parents and interested parties to come to the meeting, which will be in the sanctuary. This is mainly in regards to children from infancy to 6th grade.  As was the plan last week, the message will be slightly shortened this week to make room for the parent’s meeting. 

We will have 2 new small groups launching very soon - one for young couples and families with young kids, and one that will be for middle aged couples and couples with teenage/college age children. I’ll write more about these small groups in the next couple of weeks, but I can let you know now that the first group will be led by the McConnell’s and Fargarsons, and the second group will be led by the Cusimanos and Owens. More details to come soon! 

Finally, food pantry will be next Wednesday and next Saturday. Workers are needed both to help with the food, and to help evangelize and build relationships with those who come for food. Kids from around 10 and up can help (with supervision), so see Cindy or Dennis for more details. For Wednesday night, it would be helpful to arrive to help by 5:30, if not sooner. Food pantry on Saturday begins at 9, but arriving early is obviously a big help also. 

Though not a full list, here’s a couple of interesting links to tide you over until next week: 

*****     Absolutely brilliant (and funny), What if Paul’s letter to the Galatians was published on Christianity Today’s website today: CLICK HERE 

*****     Letter from pastor James Macdonald to a grieving friend: CLICK HERE 

*****     Also from Macdonald, The danger of using the gift of discernment in the flesh: CLICK HERE 

*****     Christian Audio is giving away a free audio book this month, the excellent Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney. I have read and used this book many times, and it is one of my favorites - easy to read, eye opening, challenging and interesting. Well worth your time to download and listen to. CLICK HERE 

See you Sunday! 
Chase

Agape Wednesday night plans (3-4-2009)

Sunday Services Cancelled - Snow

Good morning everybody! 

Wow - what a terrific snow event we have going on - the first measurable snow since January 2000, the first in my children’s lifetime. The weather people are warning us to stay off the roads and saying that much more snow is coming, so we are canceling our corporate gathering today at Agape. Allow me to encourage you to do what David challenged us to do last week - worship together with your family. Please help me spread the word to everybody that doesn’t have email. If you could call or check in with your friends/family without email that would be great (though if they aren’t up yet, you might want to give them a few minutes before you call - it’s 7am now) 

What great timing, God has,  - to challenge us with a message encouraging family worship the week before we have a terrific opportunity to do so. He knows more than us, doesn’t He? 

Right now, it is our plan to try and reschedule today’s worship gathering for this Wednesday evening - I will send more details via email very soon. For now - enjoy the snow, worship with your family, and try and let everybody know about service cancellation today. 

Glory to God alone!