Monthly Archives: May 2012

Weekly Links (5/4/2012)

Application is answering two questions. So what? And now what? (David Veerman, as quoted in Murray, How Sermons Work)

by Stephen Rodgers

Welcome to another edition of the Weekly Links. As it’s a new month, there are some new resources available, and this gives me a chance to update you on some others that have been made available since the last time we got together.

That’s it for now!  See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

 

Lessons from Sparklers Ministry

by Caroline Shin

  • Obey the first time. 
  • Be kind to everyone. 
  • Do your best work. 
  • Have fun!

These are our four rules that the Sparklers and staffers go over every Sunday. We (staffers) remind the preschool children that it’s important that they follow these rules every week. It’s humbling when I have to talk to address a sparkler’s sin if he/she is not obeying for the 7th time or is shoving another child away from them. It reminds me that I am no better. I look at my own life and have to ask myself,

  • How long does it take me to obey one of God’s commands? [Usually a long time] 
  • Am I impartial in the way I love people, or am I showing favoritism and only showing kindness to those that are easy to love? [No. I definitely show favoritism] 
  • Am I doing things with excellence unto the Lord? [So many things are done without a heart that desires to honor God] 
  • Do I enjoy and praise God for the blessings and grace He showers me with? [No. I complain an awful lot]

The staffers and I teach these rules to the Sparklers because we want them to learn that everything that we do is to glorify God. God’s been using these rules to teach me to apply them to myself as well. As a fairly recent full time employee, I am tested everyday to follow through with obeying God the first time, show kindness to everyone, do my best work, and to have fun at work. I’m in the Sparklers ministry not because I need to tell the children about morality or what’s right from wrong. I’m challenged to faithfully teach them the Bible and to be there to lead by example. It’s definitely not an easy thing to do. I fail in my flesh daily, but it allows me to be fully depend on the Lord for strength and to show grace to the Sparklers.

The biggest thing God has taught me while serving in this ministry is to prioritize my relationship with Him. An ongoing struggle of mine is to be Martha-minded (Luke 10:38-42): focusing on the busyness of life and getting caught up with my acts of service. That’s not what pleases God. God says those who sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to His teaching have chosen the good portion. The best way I can prepare and minister to these preschool children is to make sure I am prioritizing my time with the Lord through prayer and the reading of His word.

Having served in the Sparklers ministry just shy of four months, I am privileged to be with this particular age group. God doesn’t need me or my service, but it’s a tremendous blessing to 1) be with a staff of men & women who truly desire to teach God’s word and present the gospel to children, and 2) witness 3-5 year olds’ growth in their understanding of who God is and why He is worthy to be praised.

FOF #1 – Introduction to the Bible

by Pastor Patrick Cho

The Bible is God’s inspired Word. In writing to his young disciple Timothy, Paul gives one of the most important passages to gain a right understanding of the Scriptures. He writes, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (2 Tim. 3:16-17). The word is theopneustos in the Greek, which is a compound word bringing together the terms “God” and “breath.” In other words, when the Bible speaks, God speaks.

To bring the Bible to completion, God employed about 40 different human authors over a period of about 1500 years. These writers came from different parts of the world and from entirely different cultures. They wrote in three different languages – Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. But still, through the entire process, God orchestrated and superintended the work so that each author wrote exactly what God intended him to write. The Apostle Peter explained that it was the Holy Spirit who moved in these men to cause them to write God’s truth (2 Pet. 1:21). The Bible is not a collection of works from wise and learned men. It is not just a book of helpful instructions and maxims for life. It is the very Word of God.

Unfortunately, many Christians don’t hold the Bible with as much esteem as it deserves. Too many Bibles are left on shelves or in the backseat of the car throughout the week. If the Bible is indeed God’s written revelation to men, certainly those who profess to know God should be in it as much as possible.

What would God desire to communicate to His people? Through the Bible, we are given knowledge of God. We can learn who He is, what He is like, and what He desires and demands of us. We can learn what offends God and what pleases Him. Most importantly, we learn through the Scriptures how to come to know Him and place our faith in Him.

The Bible also gives us knowledge of ourselves and the world around us. We learn that we aren’t as good and godly as we’d like to think. The Bible helps us understand the depth of the wickedness of our hearts. It helps us discern that we live in a cursed world because of sin. The beauty of nature is not as beautiful as it was created to be because our sin has tainted it. In fact, all of creation groans to be redeemed and restored to its perfection (Rom. 8:19-25). Man sins against man. Hate, wars, and evil exists because of man’s disobedience to God.

The Bible reveals God’s solution to the problem of sin. Though He would have been completely just to judge the world and condemn it, God demonstrates His love by providing a way of salvation for sinful men through His Son Jesus Christ. Knowing that men were completely incapable to doing anything to get back into good standing with Him, God provided the way of salvation Himself. This salvation is entirely by grace, and not by anything we could hope to accomplish on our own. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty of sin so that those who would believe in Him could have life.

The Bible even gives us a look at the future. It clearly teaches that this life is not the end. All men are destined to face an eternity in heaven or hell, and it all depends on their response to the person of Christ. The clock is ticking because Jesus promised He would return soon. There is a distinct urgency for men to respond to the truth of the Bible. Instead, sadly, most people choose instead to live for the temporal, fading, comparatively insignificant things of this life. It’s through the Bible that we learn that it profits a person nothing to gain the entire world while forfeiting his soul (Mark 8:36-37).

These are all truths that we could not know except that God revealed them to us in His Word. And there’s a ton more that God desires for us to know about Him, ourselves, the world around us, and the future that we can only come to know through the Bible. We need to be in it. Being in God’s Word is the only way that any believer will see growth in his or her life (1 Pet. 2:2-3). It is by receiving and abiding in the instruction of God’s Word that the church will grow together (Eph. 4:11-16).

Don’t be one of those Christians that is unfamiliar with his Bible. The first chapter of Fundamentals of the Faith gives a basic introduction of the Bible. Through the lesson, you come to know the sixty-six Books of the Bible. There are thirty-nine in the Old Testament and twenty-seven in the New Testament. Every page of Scripture centers on the one unified theme of the Bible – the glory of God in His redemption of man through His Son Jesus Christ.

Every Christian should have a basic working knowledge of the Bible. At the very least, you should know what are the Books of the Bible in order and with correct spelling (yes, it matters)! I certainly wouldn’t want to visit a doctor who couldn’t spell influenza. I’m sure it is difficult to take a Christian seriously who doesn’t even know the simplest things about the Bible (like its contents). Besides this, every member of Lighthouse Bible Church should know about and read the “Books of the Bible” series in the Beacon. This is a helpful series to get you better acquainted with God’s Word.