Lift Him Up

This Sunday

I’m looking forward to seeing you all this Sunday.  

Get ready because we are going to be singing a ton.  We have four hymns up to bat, two of which are by Martin Luther.  We’ll open with the classic A Mighty Fortress is Our God.  We’ll confess our need for Jesus using From the Depths of Woe—a Luther paraphrase of Psalm 130.  Then we’ll sing a new song to us, O Love of God How Strong and True.  Though new to us, it’s an oldie but goodie from Horatius Bonar (19th Century).  After the sermon we’ll bring back one we were learning last month as we sing, Jesus Cast a Look on Me.  

In the sermon we’ll continue to work our way through Luke—this week coming to a passage where Jesus helps us understand more of who he is and why he came.  

Are you Interested in Getting Involved?

If you are interested in getting involved in Christ Covenant make sure you talk to me.  We have two places where we are looking for more volunteers.  

Our nursery is one.  We are looking for at least 3 more teams of nursery workers so that we can open up a toddler nursery.  If you’d like to volunteer for the nursery, talk to Misha Brown.  

Also, if you are musically gifted and would like to help out with our music team, talk to Rob Bridges. 

Exciting News

When we were in MS we had a massive garden.  I still remember David as young child toddling his way down our two rows of green beans and eating raw beans off the bush.  We have a little bit less acreage now than we did in MS but still have a garden.  Hallie has put a ton of work into our lettuce, squash, melons, and tomatoes.  Joseph is growing strawberries and raspberries.  Time will tell what this year's harvest will yield.

Jesus frequently used agrarian imagery to describe individual and church growth.  It fit so well because both our own souls and our church as a whole have more in common with living flora than business models, machines, and programs.  I've been thinking on these analogies recently and wanted to encourage you with them. 

We're making a significant change in what kind of fruit we're looking for. 

Leading up to launch we were looking for low hanging, ripe fruit.  Fruit like that is easy to pick and ready to eat.  And as far as the analogy goes, we are that fruit.  We all had a vision to see a church planted in Culpeper to the glory of God.  Most of us have a firm rooting in a healthy church background.  Most of us have understood the gospel for years and have sought to incorporate it into our lives.  And here we are—harvested. 

Now we transition to looking for flowers and buds.  The next wave of people who join our church are the people that I address every morning in the greeting.

The first group are people who are confessing Christians but for a variety of reasons have stopped attending a local church.  The second group are people who are not confessing Christians and for a variety of reasons have no desire to attend a local church.  These are buds and flowers.  They may be low, ripe fruit one day but aren't now.  They need tending, care, befriending and love. 

How do you do this kind of ministry?  Simply put, its a two part process.  First, preach to yourself about what God has done for you.  You were lost, lonely, and condemned.  God sought you, loved you, and redeemed you.  Second, understanding what God has done for you, show others that same kind of love.  Very practically it looks like inviting people who aren't Christians into your home for meals and friendship.  It looks like having intentional conversations on the youth sport sideline.  It looks like serving in community and civic groups.  It looks like attending festivals and "fests" to meet people and learn more about Culpeper.  It looks like offering a simple invitation to church on Sunday.

And be patient.  Folks like I'm talking about aren't going to be comfortable coming to church for a good long while and we shouldn't exepct them to be.  Churches as institutions can be scary, uninviting, and cold places to someone who hasn't been in a long time or hasn't been...ever.  We have to earn their attendance.  And that takes time.  Our next big wave of visitors won't start coming for 8 to 10 months. 

It's time to go after buds and flowers, not just low, ripe fruit. 

Great Cookout

I wanted to thank the Lezcano's for hosting our cookout this past Sunday afternoon.  I know my family thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  That afternoon was a large scale of what I hope will happen often on a smaller scale in our church family.  Invite your brothers and sisters in Christ into your homes and lives.  Email one another and encourage one another.  We are a family, lets act like one. 

Communication

Communication is starting to get a little unwieldy.  Between email, Facebook, and Twitter our congregation is spread out in terms of how we communicate to one another.  I know many of you have desired a church directory with names and numbers of our Sunday crew.  I'm also beginning to struggle with how best to communicate internal/private messages (like prayer requests) and stuff I don't mind going on the website. 

Through talking to some other fast growing church plants we've found a solution.  We're going to implement it very soon.  So hold tight.  We are going to keep working to make sure that we are effectively communicating with one another personally about our lives and broadly about the direction of the  church. 

Parting Quote

This quote is by Clement of Alexandria writing in the late first century.  He personally knew some of the apostles.  He reflects here on how humility works itself into the life of a Christian.  I thought it fit well with our sermon last week.

Let a man be faithful: let him be powerful in utterance of knowledge; let him be wise in judging of words; let him be pure in all his deeds; yet the more he seems to be superior to others, the more humble-minded ought he to be, and to seek the common good of all, and not merely his own advantage.

Getting Involved

I frequently wish I had a venue to thank all of you that help with Christ Covenant.  The perennial difficulty of giving thanks is always the fear of leaving someone out.  So I wanted to take a second to thank you all for what you do for our church plant.  You know who you are.  Whether you do big public tasks or small things that no one will ever know about, thank you from this church planter's heart. 

Part of my job as a pastor is to equip you to do the work of the ministry (Eph 4:12).  The main way I do that is through my teaching and preaching ministry.  As we study the Bible together each week I hope our God is revealing to you the ways he has made you to serve our church and community.  As he does, know what an encouragement it is to me to see your grace motivated, Jesus exalting, God glorifying acts of service.

Away Next Week

Hallie and I will be away next week at a church planting conference in Durham, NC.  Pray for our safe travel and time at the conference.  Because I won't have time for sermon prep next week, I've asked Rev Shawn Slate to come and preach on Sunday, May 2nd.  Shaw is the RUF minister at UVA.  If you're unfamiliar with RUF or RUF at UVA you can check out their websites to find out more:

• Reformed University Fellowship
• RUF at the University of Virginia

Don't forget to check out our website to find out how you can move forward with the membership process. 

I can't wait to see you all this Sunday.  Keep lifting him up!

We saw this past week how Jesus' ministry of "eating and drinking" with sinners was offensive to the Pharisees.  Following Jesus' practice helps guard us from two common errors of how Christians interact with their unbelieving friends. 

First, we have no excuse to avoid spending quality time with unbelieving folks.  Jesus could have spent all of his time with the Pharisees, with people who thought they had their lives together.  But he intentionally didn't.  He chose to spend time with sinners.  And not only did he spend time with them, he "ate and drank" with them, showing his active enjoyment of their company.  This is an extremely challenging text.  In what ways do you actively enjoy the company of unbelievers in Culpeper?

Second, he spent time with them in order to call them to repentance.  In no way did Jesus condone sin by hanging out with sinners.  And it wasn't just that he was hanging out with sinners that were already penitent.  He spent time with sinners, invested in their lives in order to call them to repentance—the one thing they really needed.  Every sinner has a life and death need to bend the knee to God, confess their sins, and believe in his power to save.  And that was how Jesus showed up in your life when you were saved. 

I want you to take some time to think about how you might better approximate a ministry of "eating and drinking" in your life. 

Saying Goodbye to Ben

Ben Bailey has been a huge help to our congregation over the past months.  I know many of you have enjoyed getting to know him.  In God's providence, Ben has gotten a job that is going to take him to Newport News to work for Northrop Grumman as an engineer.  Make sure you show Ben your appreciation for his contributions to our church plant. 

Keep Inviting

I know many of you wore yourself out inviting folks to our launch.  Don't stop!  The same reasons you invited people then should be the same reasons you invite people now.  Because of what Christ has done, he has made a way for all types of people to come to salvation through his atoning blood.  But they won't know to come unless you invite them. 

Maybe you know someone who needs to hear the gospel.  We craft our whole service each week so that you can't miss the substitutionary sacrifice Jesus made of himself for all who trust in him.  If you can get someone in the door, they will hear the gospel. 

Membership

Don't forget that you can find out more about becoming a member of Christ Covenant by looking at our Becoming a Member Page.

This Week

I look forward to seeing each of you this Sunday as we continue to work through the gospel of Luke.  Jesus is going to go toe to toe with the Pharisees again and show us how his gospel in the antidote to entrenched legalism. 

Lift him up!

I hope you're excited after last week's launch.  As I've told you from the beginning, we have front row seats to see what God is doing in Culpeper.  We are spectators and passive participants in God's monergistic work of growing his church, perfecting his people, and bringing the lost to salvation. 

I am so thankful that God has brought us to this place.  We've worked so hard.  We've planned, practiced, and prayed.  But at the end of the day we have to confess that we're only unprofitable servants.  God is the one who is at work in Christ Covenant.  He gets the glory.

Over Abundance

I didn't tell many of you this but I had been praying that God would bring 80 folks to our launch.  We had 50 at our last preview service.  After talking to other church planters we figured that 80 was a good number to shoot for.  God provided over and above my prayers and brought 85!

When it comes to numbers, we can't be overly occupied with them or unconcerned with them.  Just because people are coming to a church doesn't mean that they are preaching the gospel or are a healthy church.  At the same time we are joining God in his mission to gather the lost.  If numbers weren't important at all we wouldn't have known that 5,000 were miraculously fed by Jesus or that 3,000 were added to the church after Peter's Pentecost sermon. 

Keep praying to the Lord of the harvest that he would bring people in.

A Little More Analysis

I noticed three things about our group on Sunday.  First, our visiting family members about balanced out those of our usual attenders who were traveling.  Secondly, we had some new folks come to our service on Sunday.  If you invited them, make sure you follow up with them and invite them back.  Thirdly, the mostly notably absent group of people were professing unbelievers. 

I wanted to focus in on that last group.  To be truthful, I expected it.  One of the things I've talked to you about is the difference between attractional and missional ministry.  Attractional ministry seeks to attract people to a single event at a single location most commonly through advertising.  Missional ministry seeks to go out as missionaries into our culture, invest in the lives of unbelievers, present the gospel to them, and then bring them to church with us. 

As a church we do both.  But what will bring lasting fruit and reach unbelievers is missional ministry. 

We simply haven't been doing it long enough to expect people who are not professing Christians to step through the CCS doors because of a newspaper article. 

All that to say, keep after it.  God has made you missionaries to Culpeper.  Pursue the lost like Jesus pursued you.  Enter into their world, love them, and invite them to receive the grace of God revealed in the gospel.

I will not be content with our ministry to our community until we have a steady stream of unbelievers coming to hear, "what this Jesus is all about."

Keep it up

We're done with the sprint and now we enter the marathon.

Thank you to all of you who are sacrificially serving Jesus through your work in our church plant.  You're work is noticed and appreciated by our God in heaven. 

Lift him up!

This is a big week in the life of our church plant.  This Sunday, as we celebrate our risen savior, Jesus, we'll also be inviting Culpeper to come worship with us.  In church plant lingo, we are launching!

Set-up - Andrew Cutright

Music - Ben Bailey

Greeting - DeJuan Brown

Nursery - Misha Brown

Break-down - Tom Hailstone

Morning has broken

Well, we now move to morning worship.  This Sunday is our last Preview Service before our Easter launch.  Check out our church calendar at our website for exact times, especially if you serve on one of our teams. 

What is the difference between a Preview Sunday and a Launch?  To be honest, not a lot.  Our preview service is our last chance to make sure everything is in order for our launch.  But if someone wants to visit, we'd love to have them.  Our launch marks our open invitation to Culpeper to come worship the risen Christ with us.  It marks the end of our intentional preparation to serve any and all visitors who might walk through those gymnasium doors. 

What is the bottom line?  Show up for worship and invite everyone you know. 

Fellowship Meal

This coming Sunday, immediately following our morning worship we will share a meal together.  You had an opportunity this past Sunday to RSVP to Aimee and sign up for something to bring.  If you didn't get a chance to tell Aimee you're coming, make sure you do so at your earliest convenience. 

Becoming a member

Remember that if you're interested in becoming a member of Christ Covenant, you can find out more on our Becoming a Member page at our website. 

A Privilege

On a final note, I count it a distinct privilege to work with you to see a church begun in Culpeper.  As a congregation, you're hard working, gracious, and friendly.  I can see your tangible love for our risen savior, Jesus.  We have some of the cutest kids any church could ask for.  This is a very stressful time in the life of our church's growth.  And I wouldn't want to be a church planter anywhere else.

What an opportunity we have in the coming weeks, months, and years to have front row seats to what God is going to do in Culpeper. 

...so don't forget to lift Him up.

Pre-Launch

As a church we're setting our sights on our Easter launch.  We have two Sundays left before Easter.  This Sunday will be our last evening service at 5:00 PM.  The next Sunday (March 28) will be our last Preview Service in the morning at 10:30 AM.  I want to encourage you over these next two weeks to think like a visitor.  Imagine you're visiting our service for the first time.  What do you see?  Who greets you?  Do you know where things like the nursery and the restrooms are?  As you answer these questions you'll be better prepared to serve our visitors on Easter.

Get the Word Out

We've begun running newspaper ads that will be in the paper on Wednesdays and Sundays (today it's on A4).  There is also going to be an article about our church in the newspaper in the coming weeks.  People visit our website frequently.  But out of all the forms of communication we can marshal you are our biggest chance at reaching new visitors.  You have to invite your neighbors, friends, and acquaintances.  If they say no or are already attending another church then that's fine.  But make sure you ask.  To be without the gospel or a church family is a horrible place to be.  Help people find what you've found at Christ Covenant...by inviting them to church. 

We still need help

We still have more things to do than we have people to do them.  There are a number of people who are sharing a disproportionate share of the work that it takes to make our Sunday service happen.  We still need help in the following areas:

• Setup and Breakdown
• Nursery
• We need more musicians
  
• Hospitality - I need someone to be in charge of coffee and refreshments in the morning
• Lord's Supper - I need a few people who will be willing to take a Sunday for setting up and cleaning up our Lord's Supper
• Greeters - inside and outside
  

Pray

Our session meets tomorrow in Charlottesville.  Pray for our elders as they meet to discuss and pray for our church plant.

Looking Forward

I can't wait to see you all this Sunday.

Implementing an Organic Ministry

I wanted to follow up on my comments from last week on pursuing an organic model of ministry as opposed to a programmatic model of ministry.  If you haven't read last week's email, then take a chance to do so. 

What will happen as we implement an organic model of ministry?  Here are three fruits we should look for.

Hospitality vs. Church Schedule

An organic ministry is driven by Biblical hospitality.  And by biblical hospitality I don't mean flower arranging.  The Greek word for hospitality literally means welcoming love toward strangers.  Whether it is to members of our congregation or our neighbors, we are biblically called to show hospitality.  This happens organically when you invite people into your home and into your life. 

Some churches fall into the trap of scheduling all of their meetings.  In that model strangers are expected to enter into relationship with the folks in our church by appointment rather than by being invited.  I want our church to be a place that welcomes strangers through personal invitation because Jesus met us as strangers and invited us to salvation through a personal invitation. 

Discussion and Coaching vs. Formal Study

An organic ministry seeks to take the truth of the preached gospel and work it into hearts through discussion and coaching.  There are the three major components of learning.  First information is gathered through lecture.  Second, you make that information your own through discussion with others.  Third, through coaching one another, we seek to help one another put into practice what you've learned.  This is biblical discipleship and it is intended to happen in the context of the local church family.

Christians get their major does of information through the preaching of the gospel each Sunday.  What they most need after that is to get together with their brothers and sisters in Christ to discuss and coach one another on the implications of the preached Word of God.  This is what we call life-on-life work. 

Some churches however think that growth happens by multiplying formal studies and heaping on information.  This usually leaves people with heads full of knowledge and a nagging guilt over never putting orthodox doctrine to use in real life.  I want our church to be a place where we can all gather around the passage we are studying together as a congregation to learn it, discuss it, and put it into practice.  To do this we have to fight the tendency to propagate more and more study groups that revolve around lecture rather than the sharing of life. 

Welcoming vs. Exclusionary

An organic ministry is fundamentally welcoming because it expects each Christian to engage other people with the truth they've experience.  Christ took us when we were outsiders and made us insiders through his own death.  So we—on a personal level—seek to help outsiders become insiders.  Christ has dealt with the particular mess and sin that we've made in our own lives.  So we—on a personal level—seek to invite others into the mess of our lives and are willing to enter into the mess of their lives with grace. 

This is very different than simply saying that our church has an "offering of study groups for you to join."  As soon as we expect visitors and strangers to engage our congregation through a syllabus-style invitation we've excluded the weak and the care-worn who need more than a course offering.  We want to welcome and pursue outsiders who are scared to be welcomed and pursued.  This is what Christ did for us in the gospel.  We didn't attend Salvation 101.  Jesus came after us and extended the most amazing good news we've ever heard. 

These are just a few implications of an organic ministry that seeks to keep programs to a minimum.   This isn't intended to be communicated negatively, "We don't do programs", but positively, "We are after people in a personal (organic) way." 

Feel free to respond to this email if this concept is confusing at all.  I count it a privilege to welcome the stranger along with you.  May Jesus find us hard at this kind of work when he returns or calls home. 

A Reminder to be Preparing for our Launch on April 4

We'll launch our little church plant on April 4th in the morning.  I've told you this before and I'll tell you again—people will come because you invite them.  If you're wondering who I mean by "you", I mean you—the one reading this email right now.  Begin inviting everyone you know to come to this service. 

And if you haven't already gotten busy in some area of our church life, let me know.  I'd be overjoyed to put you to work!

For the Nursery

We are looking for a few items for the nursery.  If you have any of these things in good working order please let Misha know:

• Excer-saucers (we need 2)
• A Pack-and-Play
• A Bumbo Baby Sitter
• A Baby Swing

This Sunday we'll meet at 5:00 PM as usual.  In addition to the normal components of worship, we'll be recognizing some new members and observe the sacrament of baptism.  I'm looking forward to seeing you all.

A Parting Quote

"The one essential condition of human existence is that man should always be able to bow down before something infinitely great. If men are deprived of the infinitely great, they will not go on living and will die of despair. The Infinite and the Eternal are as essential for man as the little planet on which he dwells.”