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On my recent trip to Alaska with my wife Jayanne, we had our normal excursions, keeping things low key, streamlined and safe. Then one day she planned a mountain bike ride – in which you had to ride down the side of this mountain at speeds reaching 25 miles per hour or more. It definitely wasn’t the nice scenic ride that I had envisioned. At the top of the summit I have to admit I was somewhat fearful and apprehensive about this trip. I hate being afraid. Of all the emotions, fear is the worst. I don’t like being out of control and this excursion had that feeling. When the guide offered a ride in the van back down the mountain there was a part of me that thought it would be the right thing to do. However, there was the manly part of me saying “don’t be such a chicken” Do it! And so, despite the feelings of fear I took the risk and rode down that mountain for the next two hours holding the handlebars tightly and praying that God was riding with me.
When I returned home, I was asked “What was the best part of your vacation?” My answer was inevitably “the bike ride down that mountain!”
The thought I had after that was: How many things are there that we don’t do because of fear, or because it’s uncomfortable or different, or that we may not be equipped? To say for example, “I could never do a backyard club” or invite someone to church– I could never…. I realized that there are lots of things that cause us to feel fearful and unless we move beyond those fears we may miss some of the best opportunities and experiences that life has to offer.
From a spiritual standpoint we have seen this modeled in the different heroes of the Bible we’ve talked about this summer. Each of them was stretched in their faith to take great risk and trust God at His Word and obey what He wanted them to do. We as well need to have faith that will trust God when it seems risky, to believe that God’s Word is true even in those circumstances that move us beyond our comfort and sense.
Maybe Satan is making the offer to take a ride in the van, (just sit in the pew where you are safe), while the Holy Spirit (your guide) is inviting you to get on your bike for a wild ride down the mountain of faith. Risky indeed! But no doubt the best part of the journey on this earth.
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General Synod
I had hoped to blog sooner but the full synod schedule and lack of a convenient place to connect to the web have now brought me to a Pizza Hut with free Wi-Fi and ice tea. The days have been really full and I’m being honest when I tell you I have haven’t skipped anything. Being my first General Synod I have found the whole event interesting. It has given me a better picture of the RCA seeing church leaders from all over the country. For the most part the business aspects of the meetings have been as I anticipated rather boring. Lots of words and information. I have enjoyed the worship times and I also enjoyed the table discussions and meal conversations with colleagues. Hearing their stories and being encouraged by what God is doing in other Reformed churches. The two main issues of interest this general synod are the idea of being “Reformed and Missional” which Richard Mouw the President of Fuller Seminary has addressed; the other being “inclusivity” of all people with the main focus being on racism. We will be working more on these issues tomorrow. If you are interested in seeing some pictures and reading some of the reports from the president and general secretary go to rca.org.
I was praying for the community at Peace Church as I worshipped at a Reformed Church here in Holland. I pray you were encouraged and challenged by Pastor Jim’s message this morning. I will share more information about general synod when I get back later this week.
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WHO’S IN CHARGE?
We agree that Jesus is the Lord of His church and has called His people to join in His mission to reach lost people with the good news of salvation. Unfortunately, we don’t see Jesus sitting at the head of the conference table when we are making budget decisions or deciding what direction our mission will go.
Consistory – Called to Lead Our Mission and Vision
At Peace Church, we have been blessed with elders and deacons who are called to lead in forming and living out of our mission and vision. The deacons and elders along with the Pastor make up what’s known as Consistory. We follow a Presbyterian form of government. Authority is placed within the Consistory assembly of those elected and ordained to the offices of elder and deacon. The Reformed understanding of governance is fundamentally representative. A word of caution must be raised immediately, however, because this statement describes a theological rather than political understanding of representation.
We realize that Peace Church will only go as far as the leaders have gone themselves in living out God’s mission. Their key role is to GOVERN the mission that God has given Peace Church. They represent Christ to the people – they don’t represent the people. They provide oversight and care for members of our church. They have responsibilities in financial matters, mission oversight, and pastoral support.
A Word About Elders
The office of Elder is one of servant hood and service. The elders should live exemplary lives, have charitable spirits and wisdom grounded in God’s Word. They are to have supervision of the church entrusted to them. They are set apart for a ministry of watchful and responsible care for all matters relating to the welfare and good order of the church.
A Word About Deacons
The office of Deacon is chosen members of spiritual commitment, exemplary life, compassionate spirit, and sound judgment, who are set a part for a ministry of mercy, service, and outreach.
Reformed Doctrine of Church Governance
The Reformed doctrine of church governance is not democratic (the rule of the people through representatives), but might be termed “Christocratic” (the rule of Christ through representatives). The installed officers of the church minister as Christ’s representatives, each according to the provisions of the office held. When those in office come together on a regular basis as a consistory to oversee and enable the life of the congregation, it is Christ’s governance they seek to affect, not oversight born of their own wisdom. If we think of the congregation as “the people,” then we may say that in the Reformed view, the offices both represent Christ to the people, and also represent him through the people.
Your Elder/Deacon Team
You are encouraged to contact your elder and deacon team. You can email them: elders@peaceinfrankfort.org or deacons@peaceinfrankfort.org Visit the website to see pictures of who they are: www.peaceinfrankfort.org
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Last Names between |
Elder |
Deacon |
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A-B |
Jim Doorn |
Steve Saller |
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C-F |
Darrin Yount |
George Bender |
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G-K |
Craig Gervais |
Brian Anderson |
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L-M |
Vince Pattara |
Mark Vandervelde |
|
N-R |
Chris Burdeau |
Ron VanOost |
|
S-U |
Mike Judge |
Fred Vogelmann |
|
V-Z |
Bob Novak |
Kevin Kavanaugh |
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Mission: “Go and Make Disciples”
Posted By Pastor Eric Cook
PLAY CHURCH: My mom tells me that when I was little I loved to play church. I’d get my brothers and sister and friends and put the chairs into rows, lead the singing, responsive reading, light candles and have a fun time preaching, bath robe and all. We could play church for a while but eventually the kids would drift off to play something else… baseball or tag were much more attractive.
My fear is that sometimes we are still playing church. We sit in the pews and go through the motions of a “church-goer”; sing some songs, give some money, light a candle, say a prayer, (no argument over who gets to preach?) But then it’s so easy to drift away from Monday through Saturday and do the more important things or at least what we think are the more important things.
The marching orders of the Christian church were given by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
CHURCH IS NOT AN ORGANIZATION OR A GAME. Jesus didn’t offer any trial memberships. Instead He called us to a mission far greater than ourselves that would cost us everything.
“Come and die; take up your cross and follow me.”
Peace Church would never be the same if we would grasp that our real purpose is to follow hard after Jesus and to serve Him without reservation.
Lloyd Ogilvie (Former pastor Chaplain US Senate) in his book “Life As It Was Meant To Be, p.24) writes, “The great need today is for the conversion of religious people who, though they believe in God, are heading away from Him and not toward Him.” In essence; people who play church.
What is the difference between being a Disciple and a church goer?
I believe the difference is that true conversion comes in response to God’s call and always results in a radical transformation of your life. It is most evident in how we become a part of His mission, His purpose. It’s no longer what I want to do but rather what is God doing that I can join and be a part of.
At Peace Church we are working hard and being very intentional of communicating that we are on a mission that will make take us out of our church building as well as out of our comfort zones. As pastor Jim said, “God is in the extremes”. We must each consider how we will serve on the mission that God has called us to.
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Who owns Peace Community Church?
Posted by Pastor Eric Cook. We have a membership roll that has existed for over thirty years and today there are still a hand full of charter members. Do the members own the church? All churches by definition are composed of congregants, both members and nonmembers who attend, relate to each other, and talk about “our church.” Do the members who maintain the building and pay the bills and salaries of the staff own the church? In a legal sense, the answer is no (though we’ve seen plenty of people in churches act as if it were their personal property).
I recall a church I served a number of years ago who loved their building far more than they cared about reaching people for Jesus Christ. I organized an event with about 50 teenagers in the fellowship area of the church; it was a great evening and one of the girls accepted Christ. The leaders of the church unfortunately weren’t celebrating with the angels in heaven but rather giving the poor youth pastor an earfull about how badly the floors had been scuffed up from the event and how hard it was going to be to clean it up.
Who owns Peace Church? Who owned the church with the scuffed up floors? I realize it’s not a very hard question but one that needs to be answered boldly and frequently. PEACE CHURCH BELONGS TO JESUS CHRIST. He started it with the words, “and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Matthew 16:18 NIV
The Scripture also says, The Church is His bride, Ephesians 5:25; His body, 1 Corinthians 3:16; His temple, 1 Peter 2:9; etc…
If the whole Church belongs to Jesus Christ, it follows that every local congregation belongs to him as well. So Christ himself is the ultimate Owner of Peace Community Church. Anyone who has a problem with that has a bigger problem than our leadership making changes in our organizational structure.
I want you to know that the leaders of the church have a sacred trust to uphold and it is not to the membership. The first and ultimate allegiance of our leaders (elders, deacons, ministry heads, executive team, staff, and pastors) is to Jesus Christ. End of story! Others may vote, give money, or make request, but these influences must not confuse the leaders as to who they are serving and to whom they must ultimately give account for how they fulfilled the mission. I tell our consistory that they are not there to represent personal agendas, people groups, or ministry departments. The Owner of the church is the Lord of the Church; He alone defines the mission of the church.
So let’s agree together that Jesus Christ is the Owner of Peace Church. Next time we will look at the mission that Jesus calls us to.
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Play Your Position
Posted by Pastor Eric Cook. When I was in college basketball the coaches constantly yelled at us to “play your positions!” We worked on this all the time because when we saw action going on somewhere else on the court , we were tempted to run over and try to make a play but inevitably the ball would swing back around to where we were suppose to be and the other team would score and we would hear the coaches yell once again, “play your positions!”
Peace Church is similar to this by God’s design. God has put us on His team and given us both the resources and the obligation to “play” our positions in the church. He gives us spiritual gifts for accomplishing our assignments. In the basketball team’s locker room, the coach diagrams plays on a chalkboard. Everyone’s position is plain to see. The plays always work perfectly on the chalkboard, because the X’s and O’s that represent the players always make the right moves. On the field it’s a different story.
As a church we have a mission “Know, Grow, Go in Christ” and in order for us to accomplish this mission it is important that each of us find our position in the Body of Christ. I don’t believe we can be effective in our Christian walk until we learn our place. Once we really know our position, his resources, and his power, we can get into the game wholeheartedly, with confidence that we can do the job. So what position do you play at Peace Church?
Let me first give you the big picture and then I’ll break it down from there.
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Leadership Smack
Posted By Pastor Eric Cook. The Regional Synod of Mid-America hosted a leadership conference last weekend featuring Paul Borden who is a consultant to churches. Paul has a passion to see the church be healthy and effective in making disciples. Paul is one of those guys who when it comes to church has seen it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly. He had plenty of stories to share over the weekend.
As a pastor I listen to Paul’s stories and put it through my Peace Church grid. How do we compare to these other churches? Are we healthy? Are we effective in our mission? Are we all talk and no action?
As you know I am a big sports guy. I am drawn to the dynamics of competition. I love the emotions that go with the agony of defeat and the thrill of victory. The recent NCAA men’s basketball championship was a perfect example. I felt so bad for the Memphis players, they blew it! It was right there for them to win and it got away because of poor play and bad decisions. Kansas got to experience the thrill of the ticker tape falling on them and cutting down the nets in victory. A memory I’m sure that will always be near to each of them.
We as a Consistory spent a good part of last year working on a more effective/functional leadership structure that would allow our mission of making disciples actually happen. We wanted to experience the thrill of victory or as Jesus said those that are faithful will produce “fruit”. This past Sunday was pretty powerful for me as we received new members (five who came to Christ or re-dedicated their lives in this past year) and how cool was Steve Reed’s testimony and baptism. The ticker tape wasn’t falling from our ceiling in the sanctuary but I can tell you that all of heaven was cheering with us!
Peace family that is what healthy vibrant churches look like. I want more of that, don’t you? More disciples, more victories, more celebrations… God desires that for us as well.
Paul Borden even though he didn’t visit PCC last year was a key resource in formulating the language and the structure that we currently have. As I listened to him I heard much of what we have been talking about at PCC. He affirmed over and over again that healthy and effective churches leave the building and minister in the community. The churches that do this GROW. We have communicated the mission vision at Peace “Know, Grow, Go, in Christ”. We will continue to make this statement visible but I will also be communicating more about the structure that will help us accomplish this mission. Just like a championship sports team there is always more work to be done and things that can be improved. And like championship teams every one must know their role and fully embrace what they have to do in order for the whole team to succeed. What I want to do over the next few weeks is communicate the leadership structure to you so that you can better understand how we will fulfill our mission and more important what your role is at PCC.
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He is RISEN
Posted by Pastor Eric Cook. We had a great weekend at PCC. I hope you were able to experience our services as we remembered the death of Christ on Friday and celebrated the truth of resurrection on Easter Sunday. As we prepared for those services I realized how many men and women worked so hard to make sure that the gospel message was proclaimed and our guest welcomed. From the platform and the tech booth out into the hallways and classrooms the people of Peace were serving. I hope that you experienced the joy of being used by God as much as I did.
As I watched families coming forward and receiving communion from our elders Friday evening, I was moved by the beauty of the movement; men, women and children walking toward the cross and receiving the juice and bread as an elder reminded them that this was the body and blood of Christ shed for YOU. It was personal and powerful to remember that Christ died for “my sins”. The concept of the ATONEMENT is important for believers to understand. It is so simple in words to say that God made amends for our sin but it is disturbing when we fully understand His hatred for our sin that He would have His own son crucified on a cross. It is a harsh reality but a beautiful deliverance that Jesus took my place on the cross and died the death that I deserved in order that I may experience the joy of salvation.
The joy of salvation is what makes the Easter service so meaningful and powerful. It really is the single most defining moment in the Christian faith. “He is RISEN” is the message that we all need to live each day, not just one Sunday a year. There is hope for you no matter what you are experiencing or struggling with. “He is RISEN” is the truth and the words that we need to speak to each other regularly. In the midst of our doubts and pains and serving we need to constantly remind each other that “He is RISEN”. Every day is Easter and the truth of the resurrection should carry us through this life until we are raised up with Him one day.
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Self-Examination
This weekend we will be remembering the death of Christ and celebrating His resurrection. The foundational beliefs of the Christian church will be proclaimed. Friday evening I will be speaking about the “atonement” of Jesus as we come to the cross and fellowship with Christ. The concept of atonement reaches back to the Old Testament where God set up a system by which the people of Israel could make atonement for their sins. To atone is to make amends, to set things right.
Both the Old and New Testaments make it clear that all human beings are sinners. Atonement in a spiritual context refers to the reconciliation of God and humanity by means of the life, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ.” The heart of the Christian faith is the declaration that the Son of God died in our place.
The Apostle commanded preparation for receiving the Sacrament when he wrote, in 1 Corinthians 11:27-29, “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.” We must first examine ourselves to determine whether we have the right attitude to partake of this sacrament. We must put all else from our minds. We should make sure we have our minds centered on what Christ did for us. We are told we must clear our minds of all other thoughts and center our minds on the sacrifice of our Lord, or otherwise as 1 Corinthians 11:29 (NIV) says, “For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.”
As you prepare yourself for Good Friday Communion, ask yourself:
• Am I sorry for my sins?
• Do I trust Jesus Christ as my Savior from sin?
• Do I intend, with the help of God, to change my sinful life? (This is really another way of asking, “Am I repentant? Do I desire forgiveness from God and not just a free pass to sin more?”)
Take a moment and pray and look at these scriptures: Isaiah 55:1-7; Hebrews 10:19-31; Matthew 11:28-30
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In April of 2003 climber Aron Ralston entered Utah’s Bluejohn Canyon only to become trapped when an 800 pound boulder shifted, crushed his hand, and pinned him to the canyon wall. He tried to free himself for six days but came to the realization that it was hopeless. Trapped and facing certain death, Ralston chose a final option which was to cut off his arm.
I’m thinking that if I were in the same situation, it would be very difficult to cut off my arm. But consider the alternative; either lose an arm or keep it and die.
Jesus speaks these radical words in Mark 9:43-47 “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell,”
As Christians, Jesus has called us to make some very difficult decisions about the things we need to give up in order to follow him. Obviously, Jesus doesn’t want us to cut off our hands and feet, but He does want us to understand the seriousness of sin. Jesus’ point is that we should be willing to give up whatever is necessary, even the most cherished things we possess, if doing that will help protect us from evil. Nothing is so valuable as to be worth holding onto at the expense of righteousness. It’s a strong message no doubt.
The apostle Paul tells us “put to death” and “rid yourselves” of sin in Colossians 3:5,8. The key word here is an old word called mortification; it means “putting sin to death.” He explained that every Christian must be engarged in the duty (yes, it is a duty) of putting sin to death. Mortification is not a passive act for the believe but a day to day decision to fight the sin that desires to control and dominate our lives. It’s not a fight we can win in our own strength but only with the help and power of the Holy Spirit. Paul says, “Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation–but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but it by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” Romans 8:12-13
Moritification involves the development of new habits of godliness, combined with the elimination of old sinful habits from our behavior. It is a constant warfare that takes place with us.
Here are three questions that you can ask yourself as you evaluate your growth in this area of putting sin to death:
1. Do I really believe that I have been freed from the dominion of sin?
2. Am I experiencing victory/freedom over sinful habits in my daily life?
3. In what way(s) am I still living as a servant to sin?
If you are struggling with sin, be honest about it and ask for help and prayer. As you turn to God and His Word He will show you who can help you.
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