Check out our new video

For a long time, we have thought about hiring some kind of a spokesmodel to do a really first-class video introduction to Bear Creek Church. Well, we finally took the plunge and went ahead and did it.  And we're real happy with the results.  Our budget was pretty small so we had to cut some corners, but all in all we think our new video is pretty slick.  Check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qU-4IGS1T8

About last Sunday...

First off, please forgive me for my coughing/snorting/wheezing fit yesterday morning.  That had to be pretty disgusting to listen to over the speakers.  Thanks to Mrs. Fite for coming to my rescue with the four year-old lozenge, and to Ron with the minty drink, and to Michelle and the slower Jake with the Kleenex.  Those seemed to do the trick!

Otherwise, it was a great day and so good to be together.  I was ‘specially blessed by Josh Mak’s sharing following the message. He is such a humble young man, and so earnest about being a great witness to his fellow airmen.

Ana Marcu introduced you to exchange student and fellow worship leader (weren’t the lyrics encouraging yesterday?) Eveling Garcia; today Eveling (from Nicaragua) is featured on the front page of the Mail Tribune (she is pictured with Susan Marcu, above).  You might be able to see the article here:

http://www.mailtribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20101115/NEWS/11150306

I hope you will continue to remember persecuted Christians in your prayers: find their stories here:

www.persecution.com

That’s the Voice of the Martyrs website, where you can subscribe to their monthly magazine for free. If you inadvertently go to www.persecution.org, I think is also a good site, founded by a guy from Campus Crusade.

I also mentioned the very exceedingly excellent Christian news magazine, World (www.worldmag.com).  I wish everyone in our church who takes in any news – whether from the web, tv, radio, wherever – would support these people and subscribe.  I think it’s $49 bucks a year, which is a smokin’ deal given what you get.  Will you agree with everything you read in it?  Not a chance.  But it will get you and your family thinking about things from an-all important Godly worldview.  That, to me, is one very practical application of Romans 12:2:

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. (The New Living Translation, obviously…)

Thanks for bringing in all those shoeboxes!  Let’s ask the Lord to turn them into gospel-delivery packages for the children who receive them.  And don’t forget to fill those coin boxes with money to support Sam and Millie’s work in Zimbabwe.  Two awesome opportunities to display the gospel in hands-on ways.

Miss yesterday’s bulletin?  Don’t forget you can always find a copy at www.bearcreekchurch.org.  Just click on “About our church” and then on “Recent bulletins.”

Remember that if anyone asks you about your church, you can share something with them and then if they want to know more you can point them to these resources: www.bearcreekchurch.org, www.bearcreekchurchpastors.blogspot.com, www.pastordale.com, and to “bearcreekchurchtv” at youtube.com. 

If you are a Facebooker, be sure to join “Bear Creek Church” to keep up with stuff posted there.

Well, that’s all for now, though I know I’m forgetting something.  Hope you have a blessed week, and don’t forget that – according to Romans 11 – we are the humbled recipients of God’s grace, so we have a lot to be thankful for.

-Pastor Dale

Thinking about communion as a sacrament

Do you view communion as a gift from our Lord? This is not just a church tradition where we share some bread and juice and remember Jesus. No, in addition to this, we actually come into His presence, by His invitation, to dine with Him for the strengthening of our faith. We come together to be blessed by this sacrament; that is, by this practice of the church that Jesus established.

You may wonder, “What separates some practices of the church into the category of a sacrament?” We recognize two – baptism and communion – because these were not just taught by our Lord, but He commands His church to do them. What also sets these apart from other practices is the use of material elements as visible signs of God’s blessing. Sacraments are also a means of grace to those who rightly partake of them; and a seal, or confirmation to us of the grace they signify.

When we eat the bread and drink from the cup we are pointed to the reality of Christ’s body and blood, and His sacrifice for our sins. In this sacrament we experience a unique presence of our Lord that strengthens and sustains us in our weakness, and gives us hope and expectation - not only for His coming, but also for the heavenly banquet that awaits us. This is a means of grace to those who eat and drink in faith. Not saving grace that is magically dispensed to us in these material elements, but a very real blessing that strengthens our faith as we acknowledge the grace of God given to us in and through His Son.

As a billboard point us to the reality it represents, so the signs of bread and juice point us to greater realities – namely: Christ’s past work on the cross; His current presence that strengthen our faith; and His certain promises that await us. These signs point to God’s grace and they seal, or confirm to us, the very grace they are meant to signify.

John Calvin wrote that a sacrament is “an outward sign by which the Lord seals on our consciences the promises of his good will toward us in order to sustain the weakness of our faith; and we in turn attest our piety (meaning, reverence or devotion) toward him in the presence of the Lord and of his angels and before men.”

So, the next time you participate in the sacrament of communion: receive the bread and juice as signs that point you to the reality of Christ in you, the hope of glory; recognize that He is with you; see that you are a part of His body that proclaims His atoning death; and repeat this sacrament often, with grateful obedience, as you look forward to His glorious return.

- Pastor Brian

The disciples, on the ark? What gives? Why don't kids know their Bibles?

A person in a position to know told me on Sunday that Christian kids today don’t know the stories of the Bible.   Part of the reason, this person said, was that these elementary schoolers aren’t raised in Sunday School.  Instead, they go to big Sunday morning programs called “Celebration Street” or “Wacky Worship” where they are entertained but where they are not schooled in the events of scripture. This person called these programs “holding tanks,” perhaps because they keep kids busy without actually challenging them.

I share this because I want to encourage our fantastic Sunday School teachers that their work in complimenting the critical mission of Moms and Dads to acquaint their children with the God of history is holy work.  Keep it up! How can children possibly be expected to know the God of history if they don’t know God’s history?

After her mother and both her grandmothers before her, our 17 year-old daughter Anne became a Sunday School teacher last Sunday, after years of being a Sunday School helper.  The first lesson: Sodom and Gomorrah, for very small children!  Talk about a challenge:  I told Anne to sum it up this way: “The people were very naughty, and one woman turned into salt.  Work that one out in your heads, kids. See you next week!”

Seriously, her first lesson also included God’s promise to Abraham, one of the seminal events in all redemptive history. Under BCC Children’s Ministry Director Kim Clark, our teachers use terrific curriculum from Desiring God Ministries (see it here: www.childrendesiringgod.org).  It is the very best we’ve seen, mainly because it actually recognizes the aim of holy writ (to show Christ, and our desperate need of the gospel), rather than turning every story in the Bible into a moralistic/”be nice”/Aesop’s-fable-like/puhleeze stop slugging your sister/behavior modification nag.  The top of Children Desiring God’s web home page describes the goal of the curriculum we use:

“The greatest need of the next generations is to know and cherish the infinite value of God. Therefore, we want them to become so saturated with the Word of God that they treasure Jesus alone as the one who saves and satisfies the heart. The goal of our curriculum is to fuel spiritual desire by exalting the greatness and worth of God and His glorious work through Christ.”

Whoa. Lofty aims, those.  And exactly right.  It worked for me: my Mom and Dad’s faithfulness was an important means of God’s claim on my life, and Sunday School was a big part of that.  I have really fond memories of Sunday School with my Mom as teacher.  The best part: the flannelgraphs. For those of you born in the last two and a half decades, these were paper cutouts stuck on grippy backing that clung to flannel –covered boards so you had something for the kids to look at as you told a Bible story: the high tech innovation of the day. Because my Mom was a teacher, we got to bring the flannelgraph HOME where I could play with it. My biggest thrill came from mixing up the stories of the Bible, for example putting the disciples in the hold of Noah’s Ark, where they crushed the head of the serpent and snacked on the loaves and fishes by the light on the Damascus Road.  This deviant tendency was a probably a predictor of my future as a preacher, but at the time it was just cool to be able to manipulate all these characters and scenes. To this day I remember the smell and feel of those cut-outs, which took my Mom forever to clip from the sheets on which they came. Her time was well-spent: who knows what other fruit the Lord brought from her heart and hours?

So, parents and teachers: keep teaching your children the stories of the Bible and bless you for your holy work in passing on the faith that dwells in you! May it also, according to God's purpose in election, dwell in our children as well (II Timothy 1:5).

Pastor Dale

Bear Creek Church Disability Respite Day 10/23/10

Thanks to our wonderful Disability Ministry Team, we hosted our third Respite Day today. Respite Days allow families with members with disabilities to enjoy a short break, as we are blessed to care for their children. Watch the fun here:

"Please don’t vote" - Pastor Dale

Don’t vote until you’ve done these ten things, since they are even more important

Go ahead and vote, by all means. But be sure to do these ten things first. Important as voting is, these are even more important.

1. Humble up. Elections are often described as “battles,” and war breeds pride among both victors and the vanquished. Don’t be a casualty of this war.

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ... Phil. 2:3-11

2. Love your wife or respect your husband. The best thing you married folk can do for the USA is to be a grand illustration of the love of God for His people as only married people can be, by His design. Ignore your wife, or disdain your husband, and your vote is unhelpful.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. Eph. 5:30-32

3. Pray for Barack Obama. Love him or not, we’re charged with this responsibility. Can that kind of power and glory not corrupt a man or woman?

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. I Timothy 2:1-2

4. Love your enemies (candidates, lobbies, lifestyles, etc.). Jesus demands it.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? ... Matthew 5:43-48

5. Remember that salvation comes from the Lord, not Uncle Sam, Nancy Pelosi or Mitch McConnell. Providence over politics. Evangelism over polling. Devotion before activism.

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

6. Be aware that under the political battles are spiritual ones. Give your heart and soul to spiritual battles, not only the political ones. Though they can overlap, they are different battles, fought differently, with different aims.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12

7. Spend more time in the Word, less with the talking heads. The radio and TV guys make their living by keeping you riled up. Prefer the “peace that surpasses understanding.”

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Colossians 3:16

8. Give your time and heart and money to things that will last forever, not just the next election cycle, or for four years.

Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

9. Pray for the candidates’ families. How can those spouses and kids survive that scrutiny? Some don’t. Is it right to sacrifice a childhood to public service? Pray that good intentions will translate into godly priorities, despite the close attention and pressure.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. I Timothy 2:1-2

10. Support the church. Through thick and thin, over thousands of years, it’s the people of God who prevail.

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. Ephesians 2:19-21

11. Did I say “ten things?” Here’s a freebie: seek wisdom. Wisdom for our candidates, for elected officials, in voting. Wisdom is better than knowledge. Don’t get me wrong: knowledge is good. But some smart people are fools, while some uneducated people are very wise. Wisdom is better than knowledge.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 2:15-17

Blown away

I’m wondering: did you catch that verse on Sunday?  The one from Exodus 33:19? 

And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.

It blows me away that, when the Lord uses just one sentence to explain the display of his glory that he is about to reveal to his servant Moses, he says “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.”   If that were to have been written by an image consultant or an ad man or a televangelist, I’m sure it would have sounded much different.  Instead, God gets right to the heart of his purpose in election: to demonstrate that there are no constraints – whatsoever – on Him.  We make real choices, to be sure, but they are only made possible by his.

Previously, I have avoided this clear picture of God’s sovereignty in salvation because I thought it made God seem unfair.   Paul anticipated that, and shows that’s a mistake!  Instead, I want to respond to this precious quality in God the way Paul does, as an undeserving but grateful “vessel of mercy” to whom he has made known “the riches of his glory.” 

God bless, vessel of his mercy!

-Pastor Dale