Three Challenges for the New Year

I have three challenges to offer to The Church of the Holy Trinity, North Augusta:

1.      That all our activities and programs as a church family this year be intentional about bringing others into a life-changing relationship with Jesus and growing us all in Christ-like character.

2.      That this church family continue to be a place where we (and others yet outside this fellowship) learn to fully submit to the good and perfect will of God for our lives.  Until we lay before God the brokenness in our lives that has come upon us simply by living in this world, until we confess the weakness of our own flesh to cling to our brokenness and dysfunction, until we renounce the things in our lives that are clearly under the influence of the Evil One, our transformation into Christ-likeness and appropriation of the Christian virtues are going to be hindered. 

3.      That we live ever more fully into the blessings that are to be found in our communion with God and with each other.

Father Rob

Epiphany

        The church celebrates seven principle ‘feasts’ throughout the year.  One of them occurs this month known as The Feast of the Epiphany (Jan. 6).  Being part of a Church that is 2000 years old, we have inherited a lot of older language, such as the word ‘feast.’  Today we would perhaps use a word like ‘celebration,’ to designate these special and meaningful observances.  The word ‘Epiphany’ means ‘manifestation’ or ‘appearance.’  Epiphany is celebrated at the close of the 12 days of Christmas and celebrates the arrival of the Magi (The Three Wise Men) at Bethlehem.  Since it is a feast that normally does not occur on a Sunday, we tend to include the coming of the Magi in with our Christmas celebration.
         The Feast of the Epiphany also ushers in The Season of Epiphany.  This season provides us a bridge from the Advent-Christmas Season to the Lent-Easter Season.  During Epiphany, we explore scripturally and liturgically the theme of Christ being made ‘manifest’ to the world.

Annual Parish Meeting

Great meeting! May to God be the glory!

Being, Knowing, Doing

At Holy Trinity, transformation of our lives into the likeness of Christ is a priority for the community. We could hardly call ourselves Christians (little Christ) without this being so.
The Christian pilgrimage (corporately and individually) is one of moving ever more deeply into

    Being like Christ…    Knowing the Mind of Christ...     Doing the work of the followers of Christ.

“Being” like Christ

(Christian virtues that define a mature Christian community)

·         Joy                                                                                         John 5:11

·         Peace                                                                                    Philippians 4:6-7

·         Faithfulness to God                                                            Proverbs 3:3-4

·         Self Control                                                                          1 Thess 5:6

·         Love                                                                                       1 John 4:10-12

·         Patience                                                                                Proverbs 14:29

·         Kindness/Goodness                                                            1 Thess 5:15

·         Gentleness                                                                           Philippians 4:5

·         Compassion                                                                          Psalm 82:3-4

·         Generosity                                                                            1 Tim 6:18

·         Humility                                                                                 Philippians 2:3-4

·         Hope                                                                                       Hebrews 6:17-20 

“Knowing” the Mind of Christ

(Christian beliefs that shape the community)

·         The Trinity                                                                         2 Cor 13:14

·         Salvation by Grace                                                           Eph 2:8-9

·         Authority of Scripture                                                     2 Tim 3:16-17

·         A Personal, relational God                                              Psalm 121

·         Our “Identity” in Christ                                                    John 1:12-13

·         The Church                                                                         Eph 4:15-16

·         Humanity and “The Fall”                                                  John3:16

·         Eternity                                                                                John 14:1-4

·         Stewardship of All God Has Given Us                           1 Tim 6:17-19 

“Doing” the Work of the Followers of Christ

(Christian practices that are the mission and calling of the community)

·         Worshipping                                                                      Psalm 95:1-7

·         Praying                                                                                Psalm 66: 16-20

·         Studying / Growing                                                           Heb 4:12

·         Focusing on God’s Priorities for your Life                     Matt 6:33

·         Fellowshipping                                                                  Acts 2:42-47

·         Using Spiritual Gifts                                                          1 Cor 12:1-31

·         Giving Your Time                                                              Col 3:17

·         Giving Your Resources                                                     2 Cor 8:7

·         Sharing Your Faith                                                            Eph 6:19-20

·         Giving Yourself to God’s Plan and Purposes                Rom 12:1-2 

                                     Primary source: The Connecting Church: Beyond Small Groups to Authentic Community, Randy Frazee

The Season of Advent

The Season of Pentecost is coming to an end the Season of Advent is about to begin. There are six liturgical seasons reflected on the Church calendar: Advent-Christmas; Epiphany,;Lent-Easter; and Pentecost.

The seasons of the church year have a long and rich history and have developed around themes emphasizing aspects of the Christian journey and experience.  The Advent-Christmas cycle focuses on the Incarnation, God coming and dwelling among us.  The Lent-Easter cycle is about The Lord’s Resurrection and God raising us to new life in the Risen Christ.  Incarnation and Resurrection are the two anchors of the Christian year.  These two great seasons of celebration are each preceded by a season of preparation (Lent, Advent). The Sunday readings assigned to these seasons reflect these themes.

There is also what is called Ordinary Time between these two great seasonal celebrations of Lent-Easter and Advent-Christmas.  Ordinary Time are the Season of Epiphany and the Season of Pentecost. 

With the arrival of Advent we begin a new church year.  The word Advent means coming or arrival.  Since it is the season before Christmas, it is logically about getting ready for Jesus’ First Coming, but if we listen to the readings that are assigned from the lectionary during Advent, we quickly realize that it is also about getting ready for Jesus’ Second Coming, which is the long-waited completion of Christ’s redemptive work in the world. 

It might seem strange to us that Advent, the first season of the Church year, is also about the very end of things.  It makes the strong theological point, however, that the flow of history, including Salvation History, has purpose direction and destination.  History is not a randomly stitched together series of events; rather, it is headed somewhere and God is in the driver’s seat.   There is a divine destination for all of us, and the Season of Advent is about discovering the Way to that destination.  The Way is, of course, Jesus.  Therefore, whether we are talking about Jesus’ first coming as a baby lying in a feeding trough in a stable at Bethlehem 2000 years ago, or about Jesus coming in power and glory at the End Times, Advent is about God coming to us; thus we have the great cry of Advent, “Come, O Come, Emmanuel!”

Father Rob

Healing Ministry-Beauty from Ashes: A Personal Reflection by Laura Coppernoll

What a pleasure it is to share with everyone some of the things God has done for me through the healing ministry.  My experience has been none other than wonderful.  So many times in our lives we have ups and downs.  We say things like, “Oh this is too small for God to bother with, I can handle it,” I don’t want to burden Him with this, there are others who need help more than I do.”  Or “ I could never tell anyone about that, it’s too bad and they wouldn’t understand.”   Although these are thoughts and feelings that are normal to each of us, they are simply not true.  They are lies the enemy tells us to keep us away from God’s great healing He has in store for us.  The truth is, God  DOES want us to come to Him about every little or big thing in our lives.  He already knows about it anyway.  He just wants us to talk to Him about it and open that door for Him to come in and do His wonderful work. 
 

The thorns we carry are often so painful that the thought of speaking about them or touching them are almost unbearable to think.  Some things may have been carried so long we think they are too old to even bother with.  Fortunately for us we have a Father that never gives up on us and loves us way too much to leave us where we are.  Matthew 11:28 says it very clearly, “Come to me ALL who labor and are heavy laden and I WILL give you rest.”  He didn’t say only the ones who feel like it should come, He said all should come. 

Isn’t that exciting to know we can come to Him with anything no matter how big or small.  In my personal experience with inner healing, I bought into all the lies the enemy told me at first until I realized God did care about the things that had been buried for 20 years, or the things I thought were too embarrassing or painful to share with Him or anyone else.   I had myself talked into failure before I ever gave God the chance to work.  My first few times meeting with people from the healing team were pretty painful.  It was hard with so much emotion and pain to see where God was working in the beginning, and pouring out my feelings to practical strangers was by far not fun.   A friend once told me, “The battle is the hardest at the gate.”  That statement is very true.  I wanted to give up and go back to the place I thought was safe, where I had blocked all the memories from the past.  That was another great lie from the enemy.  He doesn’t want us to be healed and exchange our sorrows, pain and misery for forgiveness, acceptance and healing from our Father.  Our secret safe places where we hide all these things are not safe at all.  In fact, it is the opposite.  The only safe place for all our burdens is with Jesus.

Meeting with the healing team to lay out all the mess I had buried away for so many years was a blessing that has changed my life forever.  The Holy Spirit led these meetings and was very gentle as we revisited old memories.  He transformed old, hidden, scary memories into beautiful treasures.  Things that were so unbearable to think about are now something that I can talk to anyone about with joy.  That is amazing!  Only our loving Father could take something in which we see no hope or restoration and turn it into something beautiful,

So my brothers and sisters in Christ, I encourage you to embrace the healing ministry at Holy Trinity and use it.  It is a gift God has given us to use.  And always remember nothing is impossible with God.

Only God can turn… a mess into a message... a test into a testimony...a trial into a triumph... a victim into a victor

Waiting on the Lord

The Rev. Rick Barbare

Isaiah 40:29-31- [God] gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. [NKJV]

Why the wait? We often think a thing is denied if we ask God to intervene in our lives and nothing happens right away.  We think, “I prayed, but God has denied my request!”  The wife of a famous pastor in the early Twentieth Century was fond of saying to those who were impatient, “God’s delays are not necessarily God’s denials.”

We often expect God to act immediately when we pray.  We say the right things, don’t we?  We love everyone as we ought? Why then do we not have ___________. (Fill in the blank of that sentence with what you are asking of God and yet have not seen happen.)  He has not said “no,” nor has he rejected the one praying.

We are not waiting because God wants us to merit his blessing through harder labors or more ardent sacrifices.  I hope we are certain Christ has paid the full price for our forgiveness and blessing!  The wait cannot be because we are not good enough yet, because we are already “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).

Still there is waiting. Why?  Bill Hybels in his book on prayer gives a memorable aphorism for us to use to examine ourselves to see why God may be delaying his answer to our prayers.  Hybels suggests there are four possible answers to prayer when we are waiting for long periods for God to act.

·         When the request is not right, God says, “No!”  We are grateful later when we see his wisdom in not giving us what we ask for.

·         The request may be right, but we may not be right with God concerning some other matter. At that point God says, “Grow!”

·         At other times, the request may be right and we may be right with God on all other matters.  However, the timing may not be right. Then, God says, “Slow!”

·         But, when the request is right, we are right with God, and the timing is right; God says, “Go!”

Waiting, while praying for God to act, is not a futile action.  It is meaningful if we are seeking God while we are seeking his blessing.  William Jay, early nineteenth century preacher used to tell this story.

A sailing vessel sank in the Atlantic Ocean, but the crew was able to safely enter the lifeboat and escape. As the small lifeboat drew near a large ship, a crew member threw them a rope. Looking at the rescue no one would think the small boat is drawing the large ship closer to it. No. It is the other way around. The ship’s crew is pulling the small lifeboat to the large ship—to safety.

Jay would then make the application to prayer—

In prayer, Christians are not pulling God down to them to compel him to act on their behalf. In prayer, believers are drawing themselves and their needs closer to God so he can act in his way, for their best interest, and in his own time.

Prayer—waiting on God—is a relational matter.  God draws us closer to himself as he prepares to act on our behalf.  We see him at work in us and for us.  We then go to others and speak first-handedly of the great things God has done for us.  We were close to him when he acted, so we can speak with personal experience about it.  Through our testimony, they are encouraged to trust him too!  We ought not to despair of God’s ability and willingness to act for us if we are waiting long in prayer. Our wait is never wasted. God is at work through it all.

If we are at present going through a painful wait, C. H. Spurgeon’s words will be of great comfort—

Father, prepare us for the height of blessing to which you have called us. Help us to receive gratefully the painful preliminaries necessary to fully receive your highest good to us.

To his prayer, let us always add in faith, “Amen!”