You are the Body of Christ

Hello Church Family,

We can't tell you how incredibly blessed we are by all of the ways God has loved us through you. I say it this way intentionally because we are the body of Christ, and so Christ's loving presence has been communicated to us through the various ways you have loved us. We see you as God's gift to us, and so we thank God for blessing us with you, and we thank you for the various ways you have communicated God's love. First of all, to receive a financial gift from you has helped greatly with the burden of hotel and food - especially now that we've been told our stay is likely another 2-3 weeks instead of what we were originally told would be 5-7 days. We have had some of the body with us here, and so many more praying and communicating prayers and encouraging words and the precious Word of God. God is sustaining us through the gift of His body, and so we are grateful to God for you all. Pastor Jim and his wonderful wife, Pat, visited us yesterday. It was good to visit and read Scripture and pray with them, but then they unrolled all of you into the waiting room. We didn't realize they brought you with them. This is what it felt like reading the banner you made for Devynne. What a treasure! We can't contain the smiles and tears as we see your names and read your love to Devynne. Some of you (those who are following what's going on by facebook) may have already read my post, "All Things For Good," but I wanted to share it with this thank you as an example of how blessed we are through you. We can't thank you enough, and can hardly wait for Devynne to open her eyes and focus on this beautiful gift of love hanging above her bed. We love you and look forward to seeing you all some coming Sunday ... Lord willing.

In Christ,

The Phelps Family

"It may be said, How do afflictions make us happy? We reply that, being sanctified, they bring us nearer to God. The moon in the full is furthest off from the sun: so are many further off from God in the full-moon of prosperity; afflictions bring them nearer to God. The magnet of mercy does not draw us so near to God as the cords of affliction. When Absalom set Joab's corn on fire, then he came running to Absalom (2 Sam. 14:30). When God sets our worldly comforts on fire, then we run to Him, and make our peace with Him. When the prodigal was pinched with want, then he returned home to his father (Luke 15:13). When the dove could not find any rest for the sole of her foot, then she flew to the ark. When God brings a deluge of affliction upon us, then we fly to the ark of Christ. Thus affliction makes us happy, in bringing us nearer to God. Faith can make use of the waters of affliction, to swim faster to Christ." - Thomas Watson, All Things for Good

Jennifer came across this yesterday and wanted to post it but didn't get around to it. She appreciated it then, but last night experienced this all the more - feeling extreme anxiety with nowhere to land (not comforted by nurses and doctors, or my words) but flying to the ark of Christ. That ark was the Word of God, and my only help was to point her to it, and the many verses you supplied. As she read your posts and worked through each scripture to remind herself over and over again who God is, she finally made it through the night. It's amazing how alone you can feel in the night and when the day breaks you feel God's mercies anew. Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers and continuing to send places for us to land that bring us nearer to God.

We have such a long way to go. Devynne has come a long way and is looking more and more like herself, but she's still asleep, still on a ventilator, still trying to pull fluids off her body with the dialysis machine, still having some irregular heart rhythms, still needs her kidneys and liver to kick in, needs to avoid infection and pneumonia, and hopefully avoid damage to her brain. It's strange to both have her and not have her. She's alive, and those first 48 hours were filled with moments where we thought we were losing her. Before going in to close her, the anesthesiologist said those first two surgeries (the heart surgery and then the decision to place stents by cardiac catheter surgery, and the 5 cardiac arrests) were the most stressful moments he's ever had. So ... we have her, and we're grateful to be where we are, but it's so strange to also not have her as she remains unconscious. God is good and faithful and merciful, and He is pulling us to Himself, which is a very precious gift. And as He uses you in this process for our blessing I suspect He is also blessing many of you as well as you function as a part of Christ's body. Amazing. It's truly an amazing time here. We would never plan this or even want it, but this affliction is giving us joy that could not be gained any other way, and for this we are thankful.

Devynne's main thought going into this was 1 Thess 5:18, which says, "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." We don't know the outcome, but this affliction is God's will for us, and it is good, and for this we give thanks. We have seen this affliction work good in those who have been physically with us through this storm, and we pray God is blessing you who are with us in spirit as well. Thank you for being the body of Christ.

In Him,

It's Vital that We Fight

Check out this week's bulletin to learn how.

Happiness is Possible

Are you a fundamentally and consistently happy person, and if not, how come? This is the question Pastor Tim Keller challenges his listeners to ask themselves throughout this wonderful message from Psalm 1. If you're not a fundamentally and consistently happy person then your happiness is based on something other than God. It may sound overly simple to say that it's possible to be happy, but as you listen to this message it becomes clear that this is a staggering statement - one that everyone desires, assumes, and yet is surprisingly not true of most. As stated in this message, "If you pursue righteousness you'll gain both righteousness and happiness, but if you pursue happiness you'll gain neither." This is a thought-provoking and hopeful message in these challenging times. Listen at the BCC website, or by clicking here.

Bulletin for June 26, 2011

Want to Know What's Happening?

Find out what's going on, and how you can connect to the body of Christ in this week's bulletin.

Women and girls of BCC: thank you for dressing modestly

It’s finally beginning to look like summer, and temperatures are rising.  This is going to be good for the tomatoes and strawberries in my garden. But it is also going to present challenges as hot weather tempts females to wear less clothing. 

This is a problem for a number of reasons, but for the women and girls of Bear Creek Church, I’m mostly concerned about two things.  Let me share them with you here.  Before I do, let me say that I hope you will trust me when I say that this comes from a loving shepherd’s heart for the protection of the flock, and not from a frustrated spoilsport’s zeal to make sure no one has any fun.

First, I am thankful that you women dress modestly because it helps to preserve your real beauty, which comes from a godly, gentle and quiet spirit and not the exposure of much flesh (modesty starts in the heart, not with skirt length - I Peter 3:4).   As with the women of my own family, I want others to see and know and appreciate you for the very precious and feminine disciples that you are, and not to think something else because of the manner in which you are attired. Similarly, if you younger or single gals are wanting to marry (and I hope you are), remember that dressing immodestly will more likely attract a guy who will be interested in you for reasons that are not typically the foundation of a lasting, loving marriage.

Second, because I myself am a man and a sinner and because I have raised sons and because I have had the privilege of spending my entire professional life with other men who are also sinners though great guys, I know what a huge help it is to us when you dress modestly.  If you really love Jesus, you’ll love his people, and that includes us guys and so you’ll dress modestly so as not to present a stumbling block to your brothers who are trying mightily to think about whatsoever things are pure and not lustful (Philippians 4:8), and to other unsaved men who don’t need any more temptation either.  So I’ll keep exhorting us guys to mind our hearts, and we’ll be grateful if you’ll help us out.

If you need help defining modesty, there are a number of great Christian resources on the web.  I’ve noted a couple at the bottom of this page.   But here’s another tip: if you younger gals aren’t sure what qualifies as modest or immodest and your own Mom is not available or on another wavelength or just exceedingly naive, talk to a mature Christian mom of sons.  The more sons she has raised beyond 8 or 10 or 12 years of age, the better qualified she’ll be to help you discern what is helpful to others (Hebrews 10:24).  And since she’s a woman herself, she’ll be sympathetic to the challenge and able to gently encourage you along.

Again, thank you for dressing modestly.  I don’t write because I’ve noticed any particular problem at BCC; to the contrary you gals are quite conscientious. It just seems like the right time of year for a gentle and respectful reminder of what you can do to reflect a heart for the Lord in your manner of dress.

-Pastor Dale

http://www.reviveourhearts.com/topics/article.php?pid=10339

http://www.reviveourhearts.com/topics/past_articles.php?topic_name=Modesty/Sexual%20Purity

http://www.therebelution.com/modestysurvey/

http://www.therebelution.com/blog/

BCC Bulletin for Sunday June 12th