Sunday Service
- Adult 1st Service: 9AM
- Adult 2nd Service: 11AM
- Youth Service: 10:45AM
Feeling Bad About Not Being Able To Help
On Sundays I come to church early in the morning to pray. While driving, I rehearse that day's sermon. I am often so focused on my rehearsal that I forget that I am driving.
On one such Sunday morning a while back, I was rehearsing on the way to church. A traffic light turned red and I stopped without thinking, continuing to rehearse. Then I heard a tap on the window. I had been so absorbed in my rehearsal that it startled me. I saw a Hispanic man motioning for me to roll down the window. I cracked it open and asked what he wanted. It was difficult for me to fully ...
The Kingdom of God Is Growing!
I just prayed for the Kosovo Team and saw them go off to the airport on Thursday afternoon. This is the second to our last short-term missions team this year. When Cambodia Team gets sent off on Saturday, 7/23 and comes back in August, we will have completed all of our short-term missions trips for this year: Djibouti, Camp Barnabas, Mexico, China, Kosovo and Cambodia.
I still vividly remember taking six brothers and sisters from New Life in my minivan and going to Camp Barnabas for the first time in the summer of 1998. That was our first mission trip as a church. ...
Reporting House Church Attendance
A few years ago, a well-known elderly pastor visited our church. He wanted to understand the difference between small groups in traditional churches and our house churches. To him, the difference was slight; house church meetings just emphasized sharing more. After several minutes of deep thought he slapped his knee and exclaimed, "Traditional churches attract people through preaching and various programs and assign them to small groups, but house churches reach out to non-believers and send them to Sunday services. The roles are reversed, right?"
Right! Small groups are ...
Get Help From Your Missionaries
When Missionary Kim (whom the Thailand house church supports) visited our church, I joked to him, "I hope you are praying for us at least once a month."
"Once a month?" he said. "No. Every day." As if afraid to sound like he was exaggerating, he explained further: "When sending us mission funds, most churches just send us a check. But the Seoul Baptist house church sends us not only money, but also personal letters including members' prayer requests. I have come to know the house church members intimately, and I cannot help but pray for them every day."
I think one ...
Switching House Churches
As you know, my wife and I visit a different house church each week. On occasion I find people who used to belong to a different house church. This might be a good time to remind everyone of our church's policy on switching house churches.
It is our church's policy that you cannot leave a house church once you become a member. The reason for this is that the house church is the training ground for Jesus' disciples. Becoming His disciples means that you are becoming more like Him. One way in which this is accomplished is through human conflict. As you work to love people ...
Some Clarifications on One-to-One Discipleship
Christian life is a great adventure that is filled with excitement and thrills. Yet, it is also marked with pain and suffering. That's why God is telling us to live this life not alone, but together with one another. Hebrews 10: 23-25 says,
"Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another?and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
We need ...
Active Worship
There is a close relationship between spiritual growth and worship. People who are spiritually vibrant are also really into worship. Conversely, people who seem to be backsliding spiritually do not enjoy worship. If you consider your own life, you may see that periods of spiritual growth were times when you worshiped wholeheartedly, and that periods of spiritual stagnancy were times when you worshiped half-heartedly.
It is hard to tell whether you grow spiritually because you engage in meaningful worship, or whether you have meaningful worship experiences because you are ...