News / Event Information
- · Get Your Picture Taken: Gina Thompson will be taking pictures in the left-hand side Sunday School room, near the sanctuary, for a new photo directory. This will take place Sundays before or after church during the month of May — except Mother’s Day (May 9th). Please sign up on the Google form.
If an alternate time is needed please e-mail Gina Thompson.—ginarx1227@verizon.net. - · Morning Prayer (online) with Jonathan. This will take place Thursday at 8:30 a.m. on our Facebook Page. A link to our live streams can be found here. Leave a comment with any prayer requests, and join for (virtual) fellowship.
The meeting will last no longer than ~45 minutes.
Pastor Balmer’s Bulletin
Pastor Balmer’s Bulletin
In our series on the “New Way To Be Human,” we’ve been talking about the church as the community which lives in Jesus’ resurrection power. In order, we have discussed:
01| Boldness – As defined by the church’s mutual love, care, and giving, so there would be “no need among them” (Acts 4:34).
02| Repentance – The church’s life is a life of repentance (turning again, and again, toward God), and a place of refuge for sinners.
And now,
03| Authority– This week we’re hearing the story of Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin. What’s amazing is how the conflicts in the book of Acts mirror Jesus’ conflict. There will be conflict we face. But we face it uniquely: not as those who hate their enemies or fear the world, but those who meet conflict with confidence in God, and faith in Jesus who is our true foundation and center of worship.
Theologian N.T. Wright was once asked about Christ, Scripture, and Authority. He encouraged us not to just see the books of the Bible as a list of rules, but as something which involved us in its very life. His writing can be a little heady. So I’ll summarize in three points.
☐ Conflict is inevitable: the same conflicts Jesus had, we’ll have as we follow him.
☐ This conflict involves judgment and mercy. Christians shouldn’t engage in the world’s power games of domination. We have a different sort of power.
☐ Instead, Christ’s power comes to us as the story we see in Scripture is written on our hearts and lived out in our lives, through the Power of Christ’s Spirit. In this “new way to be human”* we see the Resurrection power of Christ become part of our lives. (*my words, not N.T. Wright’s).
Here is how N.T. Wright puts “ authority of scripture” in context.
“ The phrase ‘authority of scripture’, therefore, is a sort of shorthand for the fact that the creator and covenant God uses this book as his means of equipping and calling the church for these tasks. I believe this is the true biblical context of the biblical doctrine of authority . . . . so that, in other words, we may be able to stand humbly in the councils of God, in order then to stand boldly in the councils of men. How may we do that? By soaking ourselves in scripture, in the power and strength and leading of the Spirit, in order that we may then speak freshly and with authority to the world of this same creator God.”
May the Richness of the Word of Christ dwell within you always,
(Col. 3:16)
— Pastor Jonathan
Links of Interest
| 1] Sign Up Form For 2021 Church Directory Photos. 2] “The Splintering of the Evangelical Soul: Why We’re Coming Apart, And How We Might Come Together Again” by Timothy Dalrymple (Christianity Today) 3] Common Prayer Daily (15-minute guided prayer, podcast) 4] “Surprised by Grief” (A Christian series on loss, podcast) |
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Last Week | April 18th, 2021
Attendance & Giving
Attendance: 56
Contributions: $5,570.00
Average Weekly Need: $4,420.00
Average Needs To Date: $59,445.00
Given To Date: $63,057.00