VBS 2009 Summary Video

Investing in the Next Generation: Recounting His Faithfulness

Upon the Rock

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry blog,
and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.
Psalm 40:2

"Don't Look Back"

This coming Sunday, Wellspring Church will be moving to Pleasanton, CA where we will worship at Foothill High School in the multi-purpose room. Our church will be a "mobile church" which will require set-up and shut-down each Sunday. The very process of preparing for this move has already taken a colossal amount of preparation and effort - which explains why this blog has been quiet for the past few months. But I know that this is only the beginning as we move from a church building to a high school, and to the community where the majority of our church members live. I'm not sure what to anticipate, but already, the Lord has been teaching me that He alone is sovereign and in control. My job is to look to Him for help and wisdom, and to trust Him along the way so that many will see how great a God He is and that He alone is worthy of praise.

As I reflect upon this moment in the life of our church, I am grateful for the exhortation given last Sunday on the eve of our move by John Bruce, Senior Pastor of Creekside Community Church (where our church used to rent its facilities). And I wanted to share them here (as written up by Meg on the church forum), so that I may look back and remember, especially during those times when things do not go "according to plan" and I find myself longing for the "good ol' days":

1. Don't look back. Look forward to the purpose set forth in moving; don't keep looking back as the Israelites did in Exodus, foolishly longing to be back in Egypt. For sure things will be less convenient and you may go through difficulties, but don't lose sight of why you're moving. [Creekside also used to meet at a school. One time, their service was canceled because the school was flooded; another time because the janitor didn't show up to open the doors for their service. It was week to week at times, so it was important to not lose sight that they were moving to reach the community better from where they were.]

2. Protect Sam (Pastor Sam). Cover him with prayer, bless him, encourage him. He will have to deal with even more in coordinating and overseeing the church in this time. Make sure he cares for his family, for himself and his spiritual needs - this is important so that he can be a pastor.

3. Be a blessing to Foothill High School. Be the best tenants you can - and by this, you will start gaining a reputation with the community. Don't just see the school as a facility you are renting, but seek ways to be a blessing to the school. If there are opportunities to serve the school, that will be one of the best ways the community will hear about church, about the Gospel.

Through this process, I pray that God may be glorified and exalted in the Bay area!

Sister Act

 

Advent

In this Advent season, how easy to forget why we are even celebrating in the first place. This is why I ordered Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus (Nancy Guthrie, ed.), a collection of Advent readings from much-respected theologians, old and new, such as George Whitefield, Charles Spurgeon, Martin Luther, John Piper, John MacArthur, and Francis Schaeffer.

Here is an excerpt from George Whitefield in a reading entitled "Contemplating Christmas" (p.11):

It was love, mere love; it was free love that brought the Lord
Jesus Christ into our world. What, shall we not remember
the birth of our Jesus? Shall we yearly celebrate the birth
of our temporal king, and shall that of the King of kings be quite
forgotten? Shall that only, which ought to be had chiefly in remembrance,
be quite forgotten? God forbid! No, my dear brethren, let
us celebrate and keep this festival of our church with joy in our
hearts: let the birth of a Redeemer, which redeemed us from sin,
from wrath, from death, from hell, be always remembered; may
this Savior’s love never be forgotten!

At a time when this whole month can be a blur, I am praying that this will draw me to treasuring Christ above all else.

Piper's Challenge to Women

A good reminder from JP of what I need to be mindful of in living out my days here on earth.

A Challenge to Women

1. That all of your life—in whatever calling—be devoted to the glory of God.
2. That the promises of Christ be trusted so fully that peace and joy and strength fill your soul to overflowing.
3. That this fullness of God overflow in daily acts of love so that people might see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven.
4. That you be women of the Book, who love and study and obey the Bible in every area of its teaching. That meditation on Biblical truth be the source of hope and faith. And that you continue to grow in understanding through all the chapters of your life, never thinking that study and growth are only for others.
5. That you be women of prayer, so that the Word of God would open to you; and the power of faith and holiness would descend upon you; and your spiritual influence would increase at home and at church and in the world.
6. That you be women who have a deep grasp of the sovereign grace of God undergirding all these spiritual processes, that you be deep thinkers about the doctrines of grace, and even deeper lovers and believers of these things.
7. That you be totally committed to ministry, whatever your specific role, that you not fritter your time away on soaps or ladies magazines or aimless hobbies, any more than men should fritter theirs away on excessive sports or aimless diddling in the garage. That you redeem the time for Christ and his Kingdom.
8. That, if you are single, you exploit your singleness to the full in devotion to Christ and not be paralyzed by the desire to be married.
9. That, if you are married, you creatively and intelligently and sincerely support the leadership of your husband as deeply as obedience to Christ will allow; that you encourage him in his God-appointed role as head; that you influence him spiritually primarily through your fearless tranquility and holiness and prayer.
10. That, if you have children, you accept responsibility with your husband (or alone if necessary) to raise up children who hope in the triumph of God, sharing with him the teaching and discipline of the children, and giving to the children that special nurturing touch and care that you are uniquely fitted to give.
11. That you not assume that secular employment is a greater challenge or a better use of your life than the countless opportunities of service and witness in the home the neighborhood, the community, the church, and the world. That you not only pose the question: Career vs. full time mom? But that you ask as seriously: Full time career vs. freedom for ministry? That you ask: Which would be greater for the Kingdom— to be in the employ of someone telling you what to do to make his business prosper, or to be God's free agent dreaming your own dream about how your time and your home and your creativity could make God's business prosper? And that in all this you make your choices not on the basis of secular trends or yuppie lifestyle expectations, but on the basis of what will strengthen the family and advance the cause of Christ.
12. That you step back and (with your husband, if you are married) plan the various forms of your life's ministry in chapters. Chapters are divided by various things—age, strength, singleness, marriage, employment choices, children at home, children in college, grandchildren, retirement, etc. No chapter has all the joys. Finite life is a series of tradeoffs. Finding God's will, and living for the glory of Christ to the full in every chapter is what makes it a success, not whether it reads like somebody else's chapter or whether it has in it what chapter five will have.
13. That you develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle; that you never forget that life is short, that billions of people hang in the balance of heaven and hell every day, that the love of money is spiritual suicide, that the goals of upward mobility (nicer clothes, cars, houses, vacations, food, hobbies) are a poor and dangerous substitute for the goals of living for Christ with all your might, and maximizing your joy in ministry to people's needs.
14. That in all your relationships with men you seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit in applying the Biblical vision of manhood and womanhood; that you develop a style and demeanor that does justice to the unique role God has given to man to feel responsible for gracious leadership in relation to women—a leadership which involves elements of protection and care and initiative. That you think creatively and with cultural sensitivity (just as he must do) in shaping the style and setting the tone of your interaction with men.
15. That you see Biblical guidelines for what is appropriate and inappropriate for men and women in relation to each other not as arbitrary constraints on freedom but as wise and gracious prescriptions for how to discover the true freedom of God's ideal of complementarity. That you not measure your potential by the few roles withheld but by the countless roles offered. That you turn off the TV and Radio and think about...

The awesome significance of motherhood

Complementing a man's life as his wife

Ministries to the handicapped

• hearing impaired
• blind
• lame
• retarded

Ministries to the sick:

• nursing
• physician
• hospice care—cancer, AIDS, etc.
• community health

Ministries to the socially estranged:

• emotionally impaired
• recovering alcoholics
• recovering drug users
• escaping prostitutes
• abused children, women
• runaways, problem children
• orphans

Prison ministries:

• women's prisons!
• families of prisoners
• rehabilitation to society

Ministries to youth:

• teaching
• sponsoring
• open houses and recreation
• outings and trips
• counseling
• academic assistance

Sports ministries:

• neighborhood teams
• church teams

Therapeutic counseling:

• independent
• church based
• institutional

Audio visual ministries:

• composition
• design
• production
• distribution

Writing ministries:

• free lance
• curriculum development
• fiction
• non-fiction
• editing
• institutional communications
• journalistic skills for publications

Teaching ministries:

• Sunday school: children, youth, students, women
• grade school
• high school
• college

Music ministries:

• composition
• training
• performance
• voice
• choir
• instrumentalist

Evangelistic ministries:

• personal witnessing
• Inter Varsity
• Campus Crusade
• Navigators
• Home Bible Studies
• outreach to children
• Visitation teams
• Counseling at meetings
• Billy Graham phone bank

Radio and TV ministries:

• technical assistance
• writing
• announcing
• producing

Theater and drama ministries:

• acting
• directing
• writing
• scheduling

Social ministries:

• literacy
• pro-life
• pro-decency
• housing
• safety
• beautification

Pastoral care assistance:

• visitation
• newcomer welcoming and assistance
• hospitality
• food and clothing and transportation

Prayer ministries:

• praying!!!
• mobilizing for major Concerts of Prayer
• helping with small groups of prayer
• coordinating prayer chains
• promoting prayer days and weeks and vigils

Missions:

• all of the above across cultures

Support ministries:

• countless jobs that undergird major ministries

(HT: TC)