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

Isn't there one person in Eugene who will help me with my orphans?"

“Isn’t there one person in Eugene who will help me with my orphans?”

The farmer and lumberman from Creswell listened to the speaker plead.  He had arrived late to the meeting and was forced to sit, with his large family, way in the front in the only seats left in the high school auditorium.  They watched as the guest speaker showed several films detailing the plight of persecuted Christians and thousands of illegitimate “GI babies,” turned out into the streets, in post-war Korea.  The farmer’s wife fought back tears as the movies depicted the slaughter of Korean pastors by a brutal regime.  The couple sat, tense and motionless, as they watched footage of desperate children.  The farmer’s wife knew that every scene had cut her husband “like a knife.”  Of that evening, she wrote years later:

There is so much we had never known. We had never thought of such suffering and heartbreak. We had never heard of such poverty and despair. We had never seen such emaciated arms and legs, such bloated starvation-stomachs and such wistful little faces searching for someone to care.

The farmer and his wife were Harry and Bertha Holt, from Oregon’s central valley.  They went on to found what would become Holt International, an organization that would be responsible for the care and adoption of thousands of poor children.  In her story, “The Seed From the East,” Bertha Holt recalls,

After we retired [from farming], Harry and I continued to talk of the shocking things we had seen..”You know, Bertha…when Dr. Pierce asked for someone to help, I felt like going up and saying ‘Here am I!’ I could hardly keep from doing it. But I knew he wouldn’t want an old wreck like me with a big scar on my heart. And… I have so many ties to keep me here…my family…my farm.  I know I can’t type, or so dome of those other things he mentioned, but I could carry out ashes.  I could help take care of those poor miserable babies.  Every picture I saw made me want to help.”  “I know,” I said.  “I had exactly the same feeling myself.

Who was that speaker?  Who was the Dr. Pierce whose speech, and whose movies, so motivated the Holts that the productive balance of the rest of their lives would be given to the care of “the least of these” (Matthew 25:40)?

It was the same Dr. Pierce who I described at the beginning of last week’s sermon.  The Bob Pierce who was used of God to found international relief organizations like World Vision and Samaritan’s Purse, even as his life – and that of his family – was destroyed.  Dr. Pierce’s vision for ministry clouded his priorities so that his marriage and children took a back seat to his work – never God’s plan – and the result was a dysfunctional family, a broken marriage, a daughter’s suicide, and more.

Nonetheless, God works.  That’s the way He is.  Graciously, patiently, He accomplishes what He wills, through people like us.  In spite of people like us!

This Sunday, as I continue the series on Endurance aimed at Dads and grads - but useful for everyone who walks by faith – we’ll look at what is perhaps the Bible’s second-best example of how God works in spite of our stumbling, and is always faithful.

Remember, it doesn’t matter what your start was like. It doesn’t matter how you’ve run thus far.

What matters is how you finish.  Let’s finish well. 

See you this Sunday, d.v.

Pastor Dale

Why we don't say we're "proud" of Bear Creek Church's grads

A NOTE OF CONGRATULATIONS TO BCC'S GRADS

We have quite a lot of graduates at Bear Creek Church this year.  Some of you are high school grads completing your “compulsory” education, while others are older scholars completing advanced degrees as you have juggled jobs and family in a way that leaves us weary just watching.  On behalf of BCC’s Elders, I am writing to say that we are very thankful to the Lord for you and for the hard work and discipline that you have displayed in completing your course work.  Your attention to deadlines, your study of fact, your scrutiny of theory, and your perseverance in your long academic program are all admirable displays of qualities that are essential in every thinking disciple of Jesus, and encouraging models to those of us not similarly taking a degree or diploma.  Looking ahead, our hope is that you “Commit your work to the Lord,” as it says in Proverbs 16:3, and then see “..your plans be established.”

We do not say that we are proud of you, because we believe that would be sinful, and reduce the goodness of your hard work to something vain and conceited or petty, when instead our aim is to honor the value of your work to the great glory of God and not a man.  And that is why we say, rather, that we are so very thankful to the Lord for outstanding students such as the crop with which our church has been blessed in 2011.

Here is our prayer for all of Bear Creek Church’s graduates:

Lord of heaven and earth, we thank you for the wonders of your creation, and for the minds with which you have blessed us for its examination, to the end that you be seen by all men and women to be as magnificent and fierce and gracious as you are.  We thank you for these graduates, who have applied themselves to a course of study to that great, life-redeeming end, and pray that the fruit of their labor will indeed result in the heightening of their delight in you for the application of their academic labor to your praise and honor. If this achievement is a stepping stone to the next credential, we ask that you would bless their future endeavor, and that as intensely as they humbly give themselves to new studies that these would serve always to elevate their understanding of you and trust in Christ Jesus, and never to relegate their relationship with you to a status subservient to any other discipline or field or pursuit or fancy or whim because of pride or arrogance.  Give great wisdom to the graduates of Bear Creek Church, that they prove to be capable and eager witnesses to you and the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ in the area of their endeavor, that you be honored above all people or things.  In the name of Jesus,  Amen.

Congratulations to all of you!

Pastor Dale, for Bear Creek Church’s Elders

The Glory of God in a Joyfully Serving Church

This last Sunday Pastor Dale encouraged us to use the gifts God has graciously given to meet a particular need at BCC. We might view this simply as a request for practical help, or thoughtful planning for our readiness to love family members with special needs, or even as a kindness to the current teachers and buddies who so often miss the preaching of God’s Word. All of these are worthy and good purposes for our greater involvement, but there is still an even better reason to serve.

When it comes to growing in the Christian faith, our tendency is to think individually. We have our personal devotions where we read the Bible and pray, and we can even come to church without joining in with the rest of the body as we passively listen, and then leave. Our culture gravitates to personal freedoms, privacy, and an appreciation for those who simply mind their own business. We have a problem. Though this may be our tendency, and even preference, it is not God’s will for us. We are not only saved as individuals; we are saved into a body with other members, and this salvation does not view our mutual love and unity as an add-on, a bonus, or icing on the cake. No, our actions as a corporate body are really a matter of our sanctification, and God’s glory. We are called to love one another. This is our glory as the body of Christ, even as Jesus prayer for us:

“[Father], as you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. [I ask] that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.” – John 17:18-22

It is God’s desire to show His glory to the world. The mutual love and unity that exists between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is communicated to the world through the love and unity of Christ’s body, the church. This glory has been given to us! We exist for His glory, and so as God is three-in-one, so we are many who make up one body. We are saved into a body for the purpose of displaying what exists within the Godhead, and so this is the greatest reason for our service within the church. In light of this, shouldn’t we think of Pastor Dale’s appeal last Sunday as a matter of our sanctification, our spiritual growth, and the glory given to us for the sake of God’s glory? His appeal is a lot bigger than any old organization asking for help at the concession stand. This is really a significant part of our Christian growth. This is the glory given to us by God, for the sake of His glory!

So, don’t miss the spiritual significance of last Sunday’s message, or the purpose in my writing. It was not family business lacking spiritual nourishment, and I don’t write to simply gather more volunteers. Pastor Dale’s message was ultimately a call to our sanctification and God’s glory, and I write this to help us think differently about church and service. Why do we serve? If it’s for the display of God’s glory then there’s no room for guilt, arrogance, pride, jealousy, resentment, offense, or a grumbling heart. Service alone is not what glorifies God. What glorifies God is service that displays His love and unity, and He intends for this to be encouraged and practiced and visible within the body of Christ. After all, it is possible for us to give everything we have to the poor and sacrifice our very lives, and still not serve in a way that glorifies God. This is what we read in the love chapter (1 Cor 13). Our acts of service are important, but they are not beneficial or glorifying to God if they do not originate from the fountainhead of His love. We can serve for many good reasons, and some bad, but we ought to always think of our serving within the church as God’s will for His glory and our good.

So if we find ourselves so busy with life that we’re disconnected from Christ’s body, we ought to reconsider our priorities; not as a matter of guilt, but as a matter of our joy in glorifying God. Let’s resist a contemporary Christianity that settles for a life of individual, disconnected peace that only awaits Heaven. And if we find ourselves grumbling and unable to serve with joy, the answer is not to back away, but to repent, pray for God’s work on our hearts, and serve with a renewed expectation for joy. Don’t be discouraged if the joy isn’t there. Instead, thank Him for revealing, and sanctifying, and working His glory in you as you work toward love and unity in His body, the church.

Before it is blotted out forever, a thank you

BCC Family:

Here is something encouraging that I wanted to share with you, shortly before it is blotted out forever.

I am in the middle of planning another conference for pastors in South Africa this coming August 31-September 1. By God’s grace, it will be my giant privilege to travel there once more for the sake of encouraging my brothers in gospel ministry (something I believe God has built me to do). 

This year, I had the idea of hosting the conference through the seminary, the Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa (ESSA).  That way the conference will both give me the opportunity to be of some small encouragement to my fellow Pastors, and also shine the light on ESSA and hopefully spur involvement/enrollment/support there. I have invited others to participate in leadership: Nkosi is a South African and an ESSA grad; Sam Machaka is a Zimbabwean and an ESSA grad; and Bud is an American pastor who has moved to South Africa and teaches at ESSA part-time. The Acting Principal, my dear friend Dr. Lubunga W’Ehusha from Congo, will also address the attendees.  And I am working with a fellow from Germany on the details of the conference.  So it is a real multi-national effort.

I was sent a trial version of the promotional brochure to review.  In it, the organizer included a paragraph that I thought would be a blessing to you, the givers of Bear Creek Church and its friends who make this possible:

“The Evangelical Seminary of Southern Africa wishes to express its deepest thanks and appreciation to Pastor Dale Meador and the Bear Creek Church who have made this conference possible. Bear Creek Church has been supporting ESSA for years in various ways, without any personal or financial benefits. This commitment is a shining example of Christian brotherhood (and sisterhood) reaching out across oceans and cultural, social and racial divides.”

I thanked the author profusely and told him I was very grateful for his kindness and that you would be blessed by the recognition.  I asked him to remove this paragraph, but I wanted you to hear it so that you would be thanked for giving money and sending me.  I asked him to remove the paragraph since I don’t want the spotlight on me or us, preferring instead to focus attention on ESSA, which is on the ground there and can be a help to these ministers year-round.  Further, I absolutely do not want to even hint at the need for us wealthy whites to get recognition for helping those “poor African people,” which I know is not on our minds or in our hearts but nonetheless a prideful pitfall and stereotype to be avoided at all costs.

Anyway, I think that the way you people of Bear Creek Church and its friends give is indeed a “shining example of Christian brotherhood (and sisterhood)” and am grateful to work with people who want to reach out “across oceans.”

Keep up the godly work!

Do this for me, will you?  Will you begin praying now that this trip, the Pastor’s Conference and all my other teaching opportunities will be productive in encouraging saints there?  All the work in organizing this will be for naught unless the Lord himself ordains the effort with Holy Spirit power.

God bless!

pd

Resurrection Life

Coming back from church I noticed our sidewalk covered with these and so I asked Jennifer if she’d do a little writing (much nicer than mine), add her touches of beauty, and take what turned out to be a very fun picture. Thinking of our regular time in Romans, and our wonderful Easter celebration, I settled on chapter 8, verse 11 – a perfect reminder of life after, and because of, the resurrection. And don’t you just love TULIP?

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

It was actually much harder to write these letters than I originally thought. We left our little sidewalk art, and I wondered if anyone would come across it and actually think that a combination of time, wind, and random chance created this simple message. Actual life is immeasurably more complex and yet men continue to suppress the truth; believing and teaching that the obvious beauty designed by God just happened. We have life, and the hope of resurrection, because the same God who spoke everything into existence indwells us by his Spirit.

Jesus' Triumphal Entry

Leading up to the celebration of Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Christ, we looked at Jesus’ triumphal entry from Mark, chapter 11.

Your conclusions about these events - and who Jesus is and what he was up to – are more important than any other decision you make, or ideology you adopt, or philosophy you embrace. One author wrote:

If there is only one God who is eternal, all-powerful, all-good, all-loving, all-knowing, and fully just; and He created us in His image, we would be completely fulfilled if we related to Him the way He wants us to, in harmony with His will. As the creator from concept to production line, he would know the most about the perfect purpose of his creations…

..No one else could compete with him regarding his creations' functions or destiny. If He were to say one's destiny is determined by how many hot peppers he can consume, no one could bring greater authority or knowledge to dispute him. If He were to say that one's destiny is determined by how he responds to His loving sacrifice of His Son on behalf of all who are separated by sin from God, He could not be disputed.

What was the background to Jesus’ triumphal entry? It was the week before Passover, Jerusalem was swollen with pilgrims, Jesus had recently raised Lazarus from the dead, the Pharisees planned to kill the both of them, and the Romans were on edge. So, the atmosphere as Jesus rode into Jerusalem was electric.

Concerning this, Zechariah 9:9 prophesied:

Rejoice greatly, daughter of Zion! Shout, daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your king is coming to you: he is legitimate and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey – on a young donkey, the foal of a female donkey.

And II Kings 9:13 (of Jehu)

Each of them quickly took off his cloak and they spread them out at Jehu’s feet on the steps. The trumpet was blown and they shouted, “Jehu is king!”

The anticipation of this day is expressed in Psalm 118:25, where we read:

“Please Lord, deliver! Please Lord, grant us success!”

In the triumphal entry we see that Jesus is no victim, but is in absolute control, even to the detail of sending his disciples to a place where they would find the donkey he would ride into Jerusalem. As we see from Scripture, this day was long anticipated, Jesus is Messiah and King, he receives their praise, yet nobody understood what was really happening – that Jesus came as a humble servant, ready to die, while the people praise him with wrong expectations.

What do we take away from this event? Jesus saves. He is the long-awaited Messiah; He is not what the people expect (even though Scripture was clear), and His purposeful entry was so that he might die and save us from our sins. Jesus is king. There are so many examples of kings in their history, our ours; ones that do not rule justly, ones that are corrupt, but Jesus is truly the king who deserves the applause, admiration, and praise of his people. Jesus loves the Father, and he loves you. As Jesus knowingly went to his death on the cross, he did so because of his love for the Father – “not my will, but Yours be done.” He was about doing the will of the Father, and his sacrificial death was out of love for His Father – to glorify His holiness and justice and mercy – and his death was to lovingly deliver us from the wrath we deserve. This willing sacrifice demands, and is deserving of our worship. This same Jesus who was in absolute control of the events surrounding this triumphal entry, and his eventual death on the cross, is the same Jesus who is in control of the events of your life. He has a plan and purpose for all who belong to him, and knowing that he is in control brings us great comfort and hope.

Jesus came as a humble servant, on his way to die, but his real triumphal entry is yet to come. He is coming again, and this time it will be on a war-horse instead of a donkey, and as a might king, instead of a humble servant.

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God.

And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, “King of kings and Lord of lords.” - Revelation 19:11-16

Bulletin - April 17, 2011

Click here to see the April 17, 2011 bulletin for BCC

Devote Yourselves to These Things

In the 2^nd chapter of Acts we read that the early church “devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

The early church devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. That is, they devoted themselves to the Word of God. God’s Word that reveals our eternal hope - the hope of salvation – of being made right with God and sanctified by His Spirit. They devoted themselves to God’s revelation that brings us hope in the promise of Christ’s second coming, when all things will be made right. They devoted themselves to the Word of God, which tells us to hope in the resurrection – that one day we will no longer bear the curse of death and decay because Jesus defeated sin at the cross and rose victorious over the grave. We rejoice in this hope because we devote ourselves to the Word of God.

The early church devoted themselves to the fellowship. That is, they devoted themselves to the church; to what Christ began as he challenged Peter to love Him by feeding His sheep. We are to devote ourselves to the church, as the writer of the book of Hebrews says we ought to “consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25). We are to devote ourselves to the church because Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

The early church also devoted themselves to the breaking of bread and prayer (Acts 2:42). This breaking of bread likely referred to both communion and their Christian fellowship as they ate a meal together. Devote yourselves to communion: to focusing on the gospel (what Christ has done), uniting, as the body of Christ, to our bread of life, and remembering that He is risen and coming again. And devote yourselves to Christian fellowship in a meal: to eating together, making new friends, and sharing and encouraging each other in the main thing we have in common … each of us joined together as a body, with Christ as our head.

And as the early church was devoted to prayer, so we ought to pray that God’s name be hallowed in the church; pray that He be glorified in our own hearts; that He be seen as holy and wonderful in our families, our community, our nation, and world. Pray for these, as we pray:

Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

- Pastor Brian

Win a cool shirt, just for praying

Here’s the dealio: I have a brand-spankin-new Oregon Ducks Tostitos BCS National Championship tee shirt (size: L) that I am just itchin’ to give away, both to have some fun and to give some kind of a reward to those of you diligent or lonely enough to check your email on Friday nights and Saturdays.  Next Tuesday morning, this shirt will be worth some money, or it will be $3.50 at Goodwill.

But like many good things and Social Security, you have to work for it: we’ll award this shirt to the person with the best conclusion to the sentence: “My best time of prayer is when…”    You don’t have to be flowery or eloquent in your answer.  In fact, just like with actual prayer, we’re looking for sincere, real, and concise.  And forget about my joke last Sunday: if your best time of prayer is when you’re doing the dishes, don’t be embarrassed to admit it.  We all have different prayer habits.

You must be present on Sunday morning, when we’ll award the shirt, to win.  Answers will be judged by an expert panel of judges that I will whip up moments before the service begins.  All my relatives are eligible to win.  New rule for this contest only: enter as many times as you like, since your best prayer times may occur during different circumstances.  But don’t start entering lame answers or you will be disqualified, and possibly even asked to attend a different church. 

The runner-up will win a lightly-worn non-BCS Ducks shirt (size: L) that I picked up at Buffalo Exchange in Eugene yesterday. 

To answer, just hit “reply” and give me your answer.  The judges won’t know which answer belongs to which entrant. 

Don’t forget that on Sunday we’ll host an Open House at the Skypark building after the slightly-shortened service at the St. Mary’s gym.  Wear your ear muffs, cause it may be chilly.  Also, you’re invited to come early to church, at 9 am, and pray with us.

Go Ducks.  Please win, or at least don’t please don’t get humiliated in the biggest game of the year.

-Pastor Dale

Come, See the One who Knows Everything You Ever Did

As Jesus was led by the Spirit to meet with a Samaritan woman by the well, so he mercifully comes to us. She did not yet know him. She did not know the gift of God standing before her. If she had, she would have recognized her thirst - her dissatisfaction, her attempts to quench her life’s thirst with multiple husbands. If she knew Jesus, she would have asked Him for a drink, and He would have given her living water.

This is what Jesus points out to her, saying, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

As those who do know Jesus, we come to eat and drink, with Him in mind. We come to communion recognizing our thirst and our need of a Savior; and He meets us here, and satisfies us with Himself. Though we take just a sip from the cup, Jesus gives us His Spirit that wells up within us, forever. I invite you to think on Christ as true refreshment. Think on Christ as real satisfaction. Think on Christ as the one who has given you living water.

When refreshed with Jesus, we should have a similar reaction to that of the woman at the well. She responds by going to her own people and saying, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did.” Is it good news that someone knows everything about you; all that you ever did? It is if it’s Jesus, because Jesus did not come to condemn you, He came to save those who were already condemned. As Jesus came to meet with the woman at the well, so He comes to meet with you, now. Do you know the gift of God? If you do, then ask Him for a drink. He knows everything about you. He came to sacrifice Himself – taking the condemnation of your sin upon Himself, so that you might have everlasting life. Jesus is with us now. Let’s meet with Him in prayer and thank Him that He knows everything about us, and loves us still.

Jesus, we hold this piece of bread in our hands, knowing that it points us to your body given for us. We confess that even a little knowledge of our lives is enough to condemn us; yet You know us perfectly, and gave Yourself in our place. We eat now with thankful hearts, remembering and receiving what You have given us.

Jesus, we confess that You alone quench the thirst of our souls. We hold a small cup of juice that points us to the necessity and significance of Your shed blood on the cross. It is necessary because our sin required death, and it is significant because Your death has brought us life and forgiveness. We drink now as a sign of the new covenant in Your blood.