Well, it's taken awhile, but finally it seems we are getting to know and see familiar faces within our new church family. Crossway Church of Lancaster is a body of about 400 (about what we were used to in MD), that meets in a high school auditorium in the Millersville area. It's about a 25 minute drive for us. Not bad.
We didn't visit any other churches after our move because we knew that our last "Sovereign Grace" church's doctrine and practices were such a good fit. With emphases on teaching the Word and being rooted in sound doctrine, passionate worship, and gospel-centered EVERYTHING...we have found this sister church to be what we hoped it would be. A local body, like the one we left behind, that desires to live life together, sharpen one another as iron sharpens iron, and make much of Christ--and little of ourselves. We are confident that this is the place where God will most certainly grow us.
We've already completed the 10 wk. membership class, and though we had taken one similar when joining the church in MD in 2001, God brought much refreshment to us through it. (Now some of you may be thinking, 10 weeks!!! But we so appreciate the serious approach these leaders take towards membership. They want there to be no surprises years later when a person discovers, "You belief this about __________." They take seriously the fact that they will give an account to God one day as to how they cared for those under their authority. So, though it is a time-consuming process, we agree that it is a wise one.
About a month ago we were invited to start attending a care group that meets less than 10 minutes away. The groups are made up of members only and are regionally organized. We are excited to be developing new relationships. We love the small group dynamic, and have found it to be a means of God's grace in growing us over the last few years. How powerful it can be to belong to a group that is devoted to practicing true biblical fellowship--not getting together to merely socialize, but to freely confess our sin, hold one another accountable, to ask the hard questions, to point us back to the cross...
And then, at the beginning of April, we started another required class, devoted to what it means to be a part of a Care Group. (Because we had been members at a sister church previously, they made an exception that we didn't have to wait to go to Care Group until after completing it--which we were so thankful for.) The meal we share together, the teaching, the "practicing" each Tuesday night--all have been such a blessing.
Here are a few of my notes from last week's topic--SOUND DOCTRINE FUELS BIBLICAL FELLOWSHIP:
"Doctrine" and "theology" can be terms people tend to avoid because they find them intimidating, they are sometimes associated with condescending people, or they are thought to be the subject of irrelevant documents. However, in reality, we are all theologians. We all have a body of beliefs we hold to be true, a set of rules and principles. The important thing is that we have clarity as to what we believe and why.
Why does doctrine matter? We all are giving worship to something or someone at all times. Sound doctrine keeps us safe from the falsehoods that constantly surround us. The knowledge and adherance or the ignorance of sound doctrine has an enormous effect on us and is directly proportionate to our lives.
A robust doctrine of grace means that confession of sin is no big deal, because God has already given the harshest critique of me--"I am a sinner, that apart from grace, deserves hell!"
Two key doctrines that underpin biblical fellowship are justification and sanctification. Justification means: an instantaneous, legal, act of God, that forgives our sin, credits us with Christ's righteousness, and declares us as such! (We will never be more justified than we are right now!) Sanctification is a progressive work of God AND man, that makes us more and more like Christ, and more and more free from sin. This process will only be complete when we are glorified with Christ in heaven.
"The only thing we ever contributed to our justification was our sin!" ~C. J. Mahaney
Progressive sanctification is the fruit that gives evidence of our justification, not the means of it. AND, without a proper definition of justification, we can easily fall into thinking of our santification in self-righteous terms.
6 comments:
I am so excited, and a bit jealous, that you are involved with the Lancaster church. We absolutely LOVE the people. Have you met the Miranda's yet?! They are good friends of ours. We often visit during the summer, so look forward to seeing you then!
and I haven't read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" but want to. it's on my list!
Do you have a meal every week before care group? I would love to do that more often.
I mean does your cg have a meal together each time you meet?
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It is so refreshing to hear you talk about the importance of doctrine. That is not something I understood until adulthood. Our church in MD lays a strong foundation, teaching doctrine even to children. I am still amazed by how much the kids know who have grown up in that church. They leave (to go to college, get married, etc) with such a solid faith because they know WHY they believe what they believe. We will have to come visit your church when we are home again.
Zoanna,
The care groups of the church contribute to the ALPHA meal each week, but because the CG class meets at the same time & place, we get to enjoy it too!
The "real" CG that we've joined meets once corporately, men once,and women once in a month's time. If there is a 5th week they try to plan some family type thing on the last Sat. or Sun.
Lynn,
Would LOVE to have you come check out our church! I think you'd both enjoy it! BTW, I forget when your term in over in Korea. June?
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