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“Thank You-Not a Problem”

By on May 4, 2012 in Reflections, Wayne Herring

I wonder if fast-paced technology has caused us to compromise parts of our character.   At first glance, no.  Think, however, how the demise of civility is running rampant.  There seem to be no genteel manners anymore.  Here is one example:

Common courtesy dictates that when someone does you a favor, the least you can do is acknowledge it with an appropriate response.  I realize that language, customs, and mores change and evolve, but consider the implications of just one of the changes:  How do you respond when you are, perhaps at long last, thanked for a kindness?  Traditionally we have said, “You are welcome,” or “My pleasure” –  replies that reflect a degree of humility on the part of the person being thanked, in the spirit of Philippians 2:3: Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.  In today’s vernacular, we more often hear “No problem” as a response to “Thank you.”  This seems far too casual.  Does the dignity of the recipient of your favor (as image-bearer of his and your Creator) merit your having gone to some trouble–overcoming a “problem,” if you will–and is the recipient indeed welcome to your effort on his or her behalf?  One of the first Scripture verses we learned as young children was Ephesians 4:32, And be ye kind one to another ….

If you practice kindness “as unto the Lord,” the answer to the question is obvious.

Again, the courtesy of writing a thank-you note is almost a lost art today.  (And it is an art.  Joyce still receives notes from former students who write to thank her for teaching them how to write a thank-you note.)  Employing e-mail to say thank you is not uncommon now, and we old-timers know we will not change that practice, no matter how impersonal it may seem.  If that is your method, it is certainly more gracious than failing to express thanks in writing at all, but do try to make it sound as if you really mean it.

I know — manners, like character, start in the family; but the church can help.  Think about it–how would you feel if when you are in Heaven someday, thanking and praising God for salvation, His response were, “Not a problem.”  It was a huge problem, which He solved at immeasurable expense to Himself.

I Corinthians 4:7 For who sees anything different in you?  What do you have that 

you did not receive?  

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to 

think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with 

sober judgment ….

Luke 6:31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.


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Where do I start with my new reading habit?

By on April 26, 2012 in Matthew Bradley, Pastor, Reflections

In previous posts I’ve written about how to choose a good book to read. We discussed reading everything on the front and back cover as well as the inside covers and the front matter. Really try to get a sense for who the author is and where he or she is coming from, as well as how they handle the material. It’s a learned habit, but one that will pay off in the long run. Reading is, after all, a diet.

If you aren’t used to reading Christian literature, though, or are accustomed to reading poor Christian literature, where do you start to improve your reading? Here are a couple of categories of Christian books that you might find helpful…

Biography

There are some great Christian biographies out there! Christian biography can be inspiring. It can remind you that other saints struggle with sin and difficult circumstances and find themselves oppressed. Among my favorites are those published by P&R in a series titled, American Reformed Biographies. They have volumes on Van Til, Dabney, Nevin, Hodge, and Boyce. You may or may not recognize these names, but as Presbyterians, you owe them a great debt. They are among those who have handed down the faith as it is being handed to you. You ought to get to know them.

P&R has also published several biographies outside this series, such as D.G. Hart’s book, Defending the Faith, a biography of J. Gresham Machen, and Stephen Nichols’ great little book, Jonathan Edwards: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought (Nichols has also done one in this series on Machen). Speaking of Edwards, two other wonderful biographies on him include A Shorter Life of Jonathan Edwards by George Marsden and Marriage to a Difficult Man by Elisabeth Dodds.

Although it’s not a biography, Seeking a Better Country tells the story of Presbyterianism in America and does so in a very easy to read narrative. And finally, I love the very short biography on John Calvin by Robert Reymond titled, John Calvin: His Life and Influence.

None of these are very long and all are deeply edifying.

Christian Living

Of course, this is the kind of reading many Christians do, but it is precisely this category that is the most filled with junk. I recommend you approach your pastors and ask for help in this category. I have a whole host of titles that I recommend often. On knowing God’s will I like Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung. On trying to come to terms with the Sabbath and how to observe it biblically I enjoy The Lord’s Day by Joseph Pipa. I think every Christian should read What is the Gospel? by Greg Gilbert – maybe even annually – along with a great book on the church by Gilbert and DeYoung titled, What is the Mission of the Church? For parenting I recommend Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp.

There’s a lot of bad stuff out there, but the good stuff is worth every minute spent reading it. Added to a regular diet of Scripture and even the Westminster Confession and Catechisms, you will find it encourages you and instructs you and brings light to the dark places.

In the next installment, we’ll consider books that will help you understand the Bible better as well as some basic theology books.

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Tithing

By on April 13, 2012 in Diaconate, Reflections

I still remember the first tithe check I ever wrote. It was 2005, and the year before I had started my first job out of college as a newspaper reporter.

I wasn’t raised in the church; I came to Christ in high school. Covenant was the first church I’d ever joined. It wasn’t long before I heard biblical teaching on tithing here, and I started to think about how this might play out in my life. I knew God has commanded his people concerning stewardship, but suddenly there were a lot of “what ifs”. Would I have enough every month? What if my car died and I needed to foot a big repair bill? What if I had a sudden huge medical expense?

I wish I could report that I diligently mapped out all my finances and came up with an admirably judicious plan. No, I pretty much just stepped out and did it. But I’ll tell you that I’ve never looked back. Giving regularly with a grateful heart has been more of a blessing than I ever imagined it could be.

Whether you’ve been giving faithfully for years or have yet to start, I want to thank you for your gifts to the church. Your presence in worship is precious, as are the time, talents and wealth you give to various ministries within the church.

Whatever your history of giving, I’d like to encourage you to re-examine how you think of wealth and what you do with it. Are you answering the call of Malachi 3:10, to bring the full tithe into the storehouse? Do you need encouragement to step out and give for the first time, or to give offerings above and beyond your tithe? Ask the King of Kings. Giving is something God asks us to test him on, so test away, and taste and see that He is good.

For Christ,

Will Ayers
Chairman, Diaconate Stewardship Committee

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Easter Lives

By on April 11, 2012 in Jim Bachmann, Pastor, Reflections

Easter is such an exciting time! Churches swell, choirs sing, musicians play, and even nature seems to join the celebration chorus. Christina Rosetti once wrote, “Spring burst to-day, for Christ is risen, and all the earth’s at play!”

But then comes the post-Easter letdown. How rapidly the excitement fades and things return to that “ho-hum normal.”

In the summer of 2008 Washington Times journalist Julia Duin wrote a book entitled Quitting Church. She points to a growing exodus from evangelical churches. Why? The reasons she cites are “shallow preaching, trivial worship, and a lack of any real sense that it makes any difference.”

We need Easter every Sunday!

I don’t know where Ms. Duin attends church. And I am sure there are some churches where the worship is shallow. But as we give Jesus Christ the preeminence, as we preach and teach the whole counsel of God, as we cherish the sacraments, and as we enjoy Christian fellowship, our experience is anything but trivial! Easter lives on and that makes all the difference!

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“Gospel” is a Noun

By on February 23, 2012 in Matthew Bradley, Pastor, Reflections

It is quite popular in American churches today to speak of the gospel as though it is something we do. All sorts of good works are treated as though they are a way to communicate the gospel to someone. You can “preach” the gospel by feeding someone who is hungry, or giving clothes or shelter to someone who is poor or homeless. Make no mistake: These are indeed good works. And for we who have embraced the gospel, they are an outworking of the gospel grace we have experienced. Maybe another way to say it is that we do good works because we have experienced God’s grace in the gospel. These good works are so important that the Apostle James tells us that without them faith is dead (Jam 2:26).

However, these good works are not the gospel, nor do they communicate the gospel to those who receive them. If someone who has never heard the gospel has their physical needs met by a Christian, but never hears that Christian declare the truth of the gospel, then that person will walk away as lost as they were when they arrived. They will be well fed, perhaps. They may be warmer and better rested than when they arrived. But they will not be any nearer to heaven.

The gospel is the good news that Jesus Christ died to save sinners from the righteous wrath of God. If that news is not declared with words, then there has been no gospel declared (Rom 10:14). “Gospel” is a noun, not a verb. And if we treat it as a verb, we will one day awake to find that we have lost the very gospel itself. And without the gospel, our good works lose their proper motivation. We become just another group of nice people doing nice things.

So let’s recommit ourselves to abandoning the language of gospel as verb. You cannot do the gospel. Only Christ could do it. And praise God, He has done it! It is our privilege and calling as Christians to declare this gospel that Christ has done it. This does not mean we abandon good works. It just means we must stop confusing our good works for the gospel. We do good works because of the gospel, not because they are the gospel.

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Sisters Serving Day

By on February 22, 2012 in Jen Stegmann, Ministry, Reflections

Our next Sisters Serving day will be Tuesday, March 6. Please look over the opportunities that are available to us and sign up to serve together, either at our church or with organizations in our community.  Sign up today!

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In the Community:

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The Next Door

A group will go to The Next Door to learn about this work and to help assemble Welcome Bags for women who come to this ministry in crisis.  We can also serve The Next Door by donating items for their Welcome Bags:

  • full-size shampoo* and conditioner*
  • full-size toothpaste, toothbrush, and dental floss
  • two full-size bars of soap
  • two razors
  • full-size lotion* and deodorant*

Please look in the parlor (outside the fellowship hall) for the box labeled “The Next Door donations.”  All donations must be collected by 9:00 am March 6th.

* Denotes items that are currently a great need.

The Next Door helps women in crisis by equipping them to develop lives of wholeness and hope through addressing their physical, mental, spiritual and life skills needs. Along with providing women and their children a safe place to live, the Next Door’s services include a workforce development program, recovery support services, professional counseling, a family enrichment program, health care and an aftercare program.  To learn more about The Next Door, please visit their web site at: www.thenextdoor.org.

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Preston Taylor Ministries

Volunteer to work shoulder-to-shoulder with your sisters in Christ as we learn about and serve Preston Taylor Ministries. We will organize the supply closet, clean the kitchen and bathrooms, and wipe down cubbies at PTM.  It will be helpful if volunteers bring cleaning supplies including sponges, toilet bowl cleaner, Lysol-type cleaning agents, etc. A PTM representative will also share with us regarding this ministry: who they are, whom they serve, what they do, and how we can join in their work.  Please note what type of cleaning materials you can bring, if any, when you sign up. Thank you!

Preston Taylor Ministries (PTM) glorifies Christ Jesus by empowering Preston Taylor children to discover and live their God-inspired dreams through Christian friendships and love for learning. Visit PTM at their web site to learn more about their organization:

http://www.ptmweb.ik.org/

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Friends Life

A group of Covenant women can minister to the staff of Friends Life by providing a brunch for them while we get to know their organization and meet the young adults who attend their program. Please sign up to bring muffins, fruit, or a light brunch food of your choice as we prayerfully seek to encourage our brothers and sisters in Christ at Friends Life.

Friends Life serves young adults with developmental disabilities and supports them in fulfilling their God-given potential as they explore, enjoy and contribute to our community. This ministry is providing and developing a program that is Christ-centered and intended to be a lifelong solution for individuals with developmental disabilities. Friends Life desires to build a planned community complete with residential housing, recreation and employment opportunities for people with developmental disabilities.  To learn more about Friends Life, please visit their web site at www.friendslife.org. 4414 Granny White Pike Nashville TN 37204

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At the Church

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Our missionaries around the world

Join together for food and fellowship as we pray for our missionaries and reach out to them them through letters.  Sign up to work with your sisters to encourage our missionaries, and please note if you would like to bring a nut-free goody to share.

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The Covenant School

We need about 4 women to volunteer to help Mrs. Ball, our TCS Librarian, and Mrs. Thompson, our TCS art teacher, with various projects in their rooms.  Please sign up to help members of our Covenant School family.

The Covenant School is a ministry of Covenant Presbyterian Church, created to assist Christian parents and the church by providing an education founded upon and informed by the Word of God. Our greatest desire is that our students will know God. We seek to equip our students to have a Biblical worldview, to embrace their calling in this world as image-bearers of God, to redeem culture and society for Christ, and to maximize their potential for the greater purpose of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.

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The Children’s Ministry

Join together to help our Children’s Ministry staff by filing, counting and sorting curriculum, organizing felt in new holders, reorganizing bulletin boards, and reorganizing toy shelves with bins … to name just a few of the tasks.  What a blessing to have the opportunity to serve and encourage the people who serve and encourage our Covenant families all week long!

The Children’s Ministry at Covenant Presbyterian Church believes that God has called us to glorify Him by

  • assisting parents in the Christian nurture of their children.
  • proclaiming the gospel in word and deed to children in our church and community.
  • equipping the saints for ministry to families and children.
  • communicating and implementing biblical principles for ministry.

Learn more about our Covenant Children’s Ministry online at  http://www.covenantpres.com/ministries/childrens/

Sign up today!

 

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Marriage Mentoring Coming

By on February 16, 2012 in Jack Foster, Pastor, Reflections

As a teenager in Dixon, Illinois, President Ronald Reagan had a summer job as a lifeguard on the treacherous Rock River. One day as he was watching from his elevated chair at Lowell Park, he noticed one of Dixon’s most popular girls waving at him from the water.

“At least I thought she was waving,” Reagan recalls. “My chest puffed out a little, and I waved back. Then I turned away for a moment. When I looked again, she was going down. She had tried to signal for help.”

Have you ever felt like the young Ronald Reagan in that moment? From the real life stories of experienced and reliable marriage mentors, it is highly likely that some of the marriages in our congregations may not look like they are needy or desperate for help, but some of them are. On Sundays countless couples attend worship services, looking for help while quietly keeping a marriage problem to themselves. The stigma of counseling may prevent them from seeking help. Or they may feel all alone and that no one else would understand. Or they may simply have no one to talk to. If truth be known, some of these couples are going down. Signals for help have been given, but no one has recognized the signal or feel that it’s their place to step in.

We as a church family have witnessed painful divorces where trouble was never suspected. You’ve certainly seen or heard of the newlywed couple, full of promise, whose marriage is short-lived because they didn’t get a sound start. And what about the numerous couples in our congregation that are stuck in a rut, not reaching further potential as intended.

Do you think it would make any difference if these couples in our congregation were linked with other couples that were more seasoned and experienced in what these couples are going through? The experts say that a difference can be made for good intimate and relational growth in marriage when there are marriage mentors.

What is a marriage mentor? A relatively happy, more experienced couple in our congregation that understands God’s purpose in marriage and desires to purposefully invest in another couple in navigating a journey that they have been on for a while. The purpose statement for marriage mentoring at Covenant Presbyterian Church is to lovingly invest, by God’s grace, in the preparation, maximization, and restoration of lifelong marriages by walking alongside couples who are less experienced than their mentors.

Martin Luther, a preacher and theologian of the 16th century, said of marriage, “There is no more lovely, friendly, or charming relationship, communion, or company, than a good marriage.” I agree. Good marriages are what we want.

In this quest to mentor marriages in our congregation we must recognize that God alone is the Agent of real change in a Christian marriage.  While we are responsible to obey God’s Word, He understood that we could not do so by sheer will power. Lasting change happens only by the grace of God through the enablement of the indwelling Holy Spirit. We are aware of our humble reliance on God to bless our marriages. Marriage mentoring is a calling that will require commitment. Please contact me if you are interested in participating.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Jack Foster

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