Saturday, January 31, 2015

Touching Base - Part 263

Sunday, February 1st, 2015
Part 4 - Flying Solo: Singleness and the Church


This is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

Kick off the Conversation:

- Reflect & share whether singleness was part of the dialogue in your experience as you grew up. If it was…why was it? If it wasn’t, why not?
- Reflect on your ethnic background. Are there any cultural expectations around marriage or singleness?
- How have these things shaped your understanding today?


Before we start to talk about singleness and marriage, it is helpful to frame HOW we are going to talk about it. We need to create the space to be free of judgement of ourselves or each other or any bitterness from our experience as we talk about this. We all have assumptions that we operate from but we often don’t realize that we have them. It is my hope that this discussion will bring awareness to those assumptions, and change them where we feel convicted. So as we talk about this PRAY TOGETHER that you have the posture to listen to each other and understand one another’s experience.

There are many mixed messages in the church today around singleness. A few are mentioned below:
1. They want to be married and so they are discontent with being single.
2. They want to be married so they must idolize marriage.
3. They aren't married because they are too picky.
4. They aren't married because they have things they need to work on.
5. They aren't married because they are called to be single.

Are there any other assumptions that either you have made or you have experienced? Share these with the group.

Look at some examples of men and women who were single for different reasons and different seasons. We mentioned Adam. We have Joseph, who though pursued by the wife of Potiphar…fled temptation and ended up wrongfully in prison. And we have Moses, who the Lord drew to Himself in the years of tending sheep and eventually in the meeting at the Burning Bush. We also have two widows, Ruth & Naomi. Then we have John the Baptist – whose life and call was to prepare the way for the Lord! Then we have the prophetess Anna, who was married for seven years, and then spent the rest of her days waiting in the temple. Jesus, and of course, Paul. Are there individuals in this list that teach you something specific about what it means to be single well? Share this with your group.


Turn to Genesis 2:15-19 – read together.
Did you catch that? God states that it wasn’t good for the man to be alone – but he gives him the task of naming the animals while he was alone! In other words: there is a task that Adam has to do alone. A task that the Lord has specifically given him – a lofty task to name the animals. One other note: do you think that as those animals came to him, they weren’t male & female? Adam, engaging in the task that the Lord has for him as a single man, actually exposes his need for a companion! Isn’t that fascinating! There the Lord left Adam to “fly solo”, as it were, in the task that He had for him. There was a specific job, pursuit, or hobby that needed to be done as a single person.

Read Psalm 119: 9–16.
We are all called to pursue the LORD as first in our heart. We are not called to marriage, to marriage or singleness, we are called to Christ.

- What would a single-hearted pursuit of the LORD mean for your life today? Would something have to change? Be practical and real here.
- If you are married, share how this can be difficult when you have the “anxieties” that Paul talks about.


Read 1 Corinthians 7.
Look at verse 6 of chapter 7: “Now as a concession, not a command, I say this: I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.” There is no other way to interpret this: each state is a gift. Marriage is a gift and singleness is a gift. But I realize that a large portion of us who are single don’t feel that it is a gift…and there are those who are married who also don’t feel like it is a gift. But do not buy into this cultural assumption that our feelings establish our truth. No: the Bible is where we find our truth. And the truth is stated here: each state (marriage or singleness) is a gift... whether we feel it is or not.

- How would seeing your current state (married or single) as a gift change how you experience it?

We also need to guard and care for the gift God has given us. A large part of this involves purity.

- How does purity fit into your present state? Physical purity is a more obvious one. What about emotional or spiritual purity? How can we encourage each other and guard each other’s hearts in the area of purity?

NOW WHAT?

- Honest reflection: who are the singles (“never-been-marrieds”, divorced or widows) in your life? Picture the faces of those you know. Now…how integrated is your life when it comes to your community? Your campus groups? Your small group? Your work colleagues? Is there a mix of married and single people as part of those who you do life with?
- What are some practical, small ways that you could reach out to these individuals? An idea would be to send an encouraging card. Or invite them over for a meal. Brainstorm other ideas together. Commit to doing something DIFFERENT this week and follow up with your group next week.
- ASK!!!! We have learned that assumptions can really be hurtful. Ask those in your life how they can be supported and helped.


Amanda Van Halteren
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Touching Base - Part 262

SUNDAY, JANUARY 25th, 2015

CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS, PART 3
DYING WELL IS LIVING WELL

This is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

1. Living as mortals in the light of our mortality in a world that would deny it:

Psalm 49
Ecclesiastes 7

2. Living as Christians in the light of our DYING with a God that demands it:

Luke 9: 23-26
Micah 6:5-6

“But we all suffer. For we all prize and love; and in this present existence of ours, prizing and loving yield suffering. Love in our world is suffering love. Some do not suffer much, though, for they do not love much. Suffering is for the loving. This, said Jesus, is the command of the Holy One: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." In commanding us to love, God invites us to suffer.” ― Nicholas Wolterstorff, Lament for a Son


3. Living our mission by caring for the dying - the message of Resurrection Hope:

Isaiah 60:22
1 Peter 3:15-16
Psalm 49:15
Matthew 25:35-40


“Some want to live within the sound
Of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop,
Within a yard of hell.”
C.T. Studd


Dr. Ivan Stewart
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com

RESOURCES:

Christian Medical and Dental Society https://www.cmdscanada.org

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/143026-lament-for-a-son


Brock, Ira. Dying Well. Riverhead Trade: ISBN 978-1573226578

Kuhl, David. What Dying People Want. Anchor Canada: ISBN 978-0385658843

Lewis, C.S. A Grief Observed. Faber and Faber Ltd.: ISBN 978-0571290680

Moll, Rob. The Art of Dying. Pariyatti Publishing: 978-1928706359

Vanouken, Sheldon. A Severe Mercy. Harper one, ISBN 978-0060688240

Wolterstorff, Nicholas. Lament For a Son. Eerdman’s: ISBN 978-0802802941

Friday, January 16, 2015

Touching Base - Part 261

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18th, 2015
CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS, PART 2
BROKEN PEOPLE, BROKEN GOD?
Kent Bandy


This is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

Is God busted? If you look at His people, does it resound with “Wow, He must be really something!”

As Christ followers, we always need to come back to the word of God to be reminded of God’s changeless truth and we need to be willing to wrestle with the implications in the complex, pluralistic culture in which we live. When it comes to brokenness, most of us can see that our culture is full of it. But why is the church full of it if God is so amazing?

Let me outline my talk on Sunday, and then I encourage you to wrestle with the many implications of putting feet to God’s truth in 2015. Welcome to the second of a four-part series in Crucial Conversations.

Big Idea: This is not “as good as it gets”.

You don’t have to be a rocket-scientist to notice the brokenness in the church. Why is it there if God is so incredible? The reality for most of us is that our need for Jesus as Saviour is far deeper than we realize. If that’s true, then our need for restoration also goes far deeper that we know. The need is real, but do we not see it, or just not know how to go there?

In the Bible we read of God “saving us” in many places. In fact, as Mark pointed out last week, our Bible is laid out in terms of a covenant, the Old Testament/Covenant and the New Testament/Covenant. There are several examples of covenants being made that include friendship, national and international relationships. These could be called horizontal covenants. Then there are vertical covenants between God and man. This definitely involved the Greater coming into relationship with the lesser; the Creator versus His creation.

The root word in the Bible for salvation is the Greek “sozo”: (it appears over 100 times in the New Testament)
- to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction a one (from injury or peril),
to save a suffering one (from perishing), i.e. one suffering from disease, to make well, heal, restore to health, to preserve one who is in danger of destruction, to save or rescue.
(Thayer and Smith. "Sozo", in The NAS New Testament Greek Lexicon,1999)

The heart of salvation is to be saved (rescued) and healed (restored).

Ever since sin entered God’s people, His desire has been to rescue them and heal them. Throughout the Old Covenant he promised His forgiveness, rescue, healing, deliverance and restoration.

Check out the following texts:

Psalm 103:3-6
Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Note the promise of restoration.

Isaiah 53:5
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 61:1-4
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

Note the progression of this: first, the Saviour comes to bring God’s restoration to the broken. Then the broken, having been restored, become testimonies of God’s glory who then go and give to other people what the Saviour gave to them. The restoration they bring will renew places that have been dead for generations – that’s a long time!

So this suggests that what we give to others is something we have experienced firsthand from God himself. We duplicate or reproduce who we are. If we experience Gods restoration then we pass that on to others.

Luke 4:16-20
He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Notice that Jesus states Himself that He is fulfilling the words spoken through Isaiah the prophet. The promised restoration is not only becoming a reality, but all of the promises come with it.

Now what?

Here are some questions for further discussion:

- What do you think holds us back from experiencing the whole of what Jesus offers?
- What role does fear play in your estimation?
- What role (if any) do “simple answers” play in holding us back?
- What role does not facing the reality of our lives play?
- How serious is that reality?
- Do we see any chaos, messiness or complexity in taking disciple-making to a deeper level?
- What could be the implications if we were to see people demonstrate a greater level of change in Christ?
- If you were to believe that Jesus can heal our deepest brokenness, what would you want Him to rebuild in you first?

Take some time to pray into the issues raised. We need grace and truth as we have these crucial conversations.

Kent Bandy
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com

Thursday, January 8, 2015

Touching Base - Part 260

SUNDAY, JANUARY 11th, 2015
PART 1
MARRIAGE GLUE


This is a useful tool for small group discussion, personal reflection or in a one-on-one conversation. We believe that if the Sunday teaching is discussed outside the morning services, it will be an opportunity to go deeper and build community because God's Word needs to be discussed in community.

Talk about a crucial conversation. We have all kinds of views regarding what marriage actually is these days, even whether it’s important or necessary. Why not discard something that is so old? Isn’t it time to move on, move out and discover what is next to be revealed by our own human brilliance?

As Christ followers, we always need to come back to the word of God to be reminded of God’s changeless truth and we need to be willing to wrestle with the implications in the complex, pluralistic culture in which we live. When it comes to marriage, the carnage is great and the pain is immeasurable so we need to trod carefully (but biblically) as we ponder such an important topic.

Let me outline what I talked about on Sunday, and then I encourage you to wrestle with the many implications of living out God’s truth in 2015. Welcome to the first of a four-part series in Crucial Conversations.

Big Idea: The Glue of Marriage is Covenant.

Yes of course there is love and romance and wonder and heart palpitations but the glue is covenant.

In the Bible we read of “covenant making” in many places. In fact, our Bible is laid out in terms of a covenant, the Old Testament/Covenant and the New Testament/Covenant. There are several examples of covenants being made that include friendship, national and international relationships. These could be called horizontal covenants. Then there are vertical covenants between God and man. This definitely involved the Greater coming into relationship with the lesser; the Creator versus His creation.

The two key words in the Bible for covenant or alliance are the Heb. “berîṯ” and the Greek “diathēkē”:

- “Berîṯ” usually refers to the act or rite of the making of a covenant and also to the standing contract between two partners, like binding yourself together through a legal document

- “Diathēkē” – the root meaning of this Greek word is “to set something out in order”

The essence of covenant is to be found in a particular kind of relationship between persons.

You can see a covenant format in the books of Exodus (known as The Book of Covenant) and Deuteronomy where there are clear expectations laid out in terms of man’s relationship with God. One writer has said “There is no firmer guarantee of legal security, peace or personal loyalty than the covenant” (TDNT, II, p. 115; cf. Amos 1:9).

In the New Testament/Covenant you read of guidelines, and truths that outline the relationship between people and God.

Marriage is also a relationship that involves covenant.

Check out the following texts:

Genesis 2:22-25
The word “united” in v. 24 is a Hebrew word that literally means “to be glued to something”. Elsewhere in the bible, “unite” means to unite to someone through a covenant, a binding promise or an oath. The word elsewhere is used to describe a covenantal commitment to God (cf. Deut. 10:20). Vows, promises made before men and God were powerful. It wasn’t like saying you will show up for a 4pm meeting then forgetting. Read Deuteronomy 23:21-22; Psalm 15:4; 76:11. The covenant was foundational and binding.

Note that in our text, becoming one flesh took place within the context of covenant. In Jewish culture this text was the foundational understanding of marriage. Safe, healthy, happy sex took place within a marital covenant. To remove sexual union from the context of a covenant was to defile the marriage bed. See Hebrews 4:13
It was not sex that equaled a marriage but covenant that established the binding foundation of that marriage which was expressed through sexual union.

Malachi 2:13 14,15 (see also Proverbs 2:17)
Note again the idea of covenant and what the people were guilty of.
One writer has said, “The covenant made between a husband and a wife is done ‘before God’ and therefore with God as well as the spouse. To break faith with your spouse is to break faith with God at the same time.”

Matthew 19:3-9
Note what Jesus does in referencing marriage. He goes back to the beginning. Like in Malachi, the people were guilty of devaluing marriage. Jesus reminds them of covenant and its foundational and binding role in a marriage.

Ephesians 5:22-33
Notice that Paul also goes back to the beginning (Genesis) and, like Jesus and Malachi, is raising the bar on the value, foundation and permanence of marriage. But notice another way he elevates marriage - all throughout this text he is paralleling the relationship of a husband and wife to Christ and the church – v.32 and v.25 - What word characterizes Christ’s relationship to the church? Covenant. In other words the marriage covenant is a picture of the gospel.

“Paul saw that when God designed the original marriage, He already had Christ and the church in mind. This is one of God’s great purposes in marriage: to picture the relationship between Christ and this redeemed people forever!” (Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage, p.46)

Now what?
Here are some questions for further discussion:

- What would the sexual practices of our culture say about this order of affairs - covenant and then sexual union? What would the sexual practices of our church say about the order of affairs - covenant and then sexual union?
- Could a child be better off if her parents had thought about commitment/covenant first before sexual union?
- Do we see any chaos, messiness or complexity in our culture and church because of low regard for covenant?
- In light of this teaching on covenant, what do you say to someone who is a Christ follower and who is having sexual relations outside of a covenant?
- Does sexual union equal covenant?
- With this understanding of the power of a covenant what is the basis of annulling a marriage if there has not been sexual union?
- If you are married how does your marriage, being a picture of the Gospel, impact how you treat each other?

Take some time to pray into the issues raised. We need grace and truth as we have these crucial conversations.

Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com


Friday, January 2, 2015

Touching Base - Part 259

Bethel Update – 04 Jan 15

"Responding to the heart of God; transforming the city, the nation and the world."

Welcome to the New Year!

Here is a brief update from me (Mark Kotchapaw), from the way I see things at Bethel these days. Please always feel free to ask questions, pursue clarification and provide input. We listen to all input and are shaped by the many wise voices with which God has blessed Bethel. This update focuses solely on our city focus.

The Staff Team

I am grateful for teams at Bethel. One of those teams is the staff team. We meet weekly on Wednesdays from 8:30-10:30. Our agendas focus in on our own leadership development, administrative issues and prayer. This past fall we started taking the first meeting of each month and committing half of that meeting to prayer.
And while the staff plays a key role at Bethel, we would be nowhere (try finding that on a map) without the incredible volunteers that work with our staff to help flesh out the vision.

Elders’ Team

This team’s primary focus this year is discipleship. Specifically we are looking at the processes and systems that go in to supporting our vision at Bethel. When you show up at emergency at a hospital, processes and systems are extremely important. Without a well-thought-out P&S people can die. Likewise without a well-thought-out P&S in the context of the local church, people get neglected and vision gets shelved.

We are also deeply grateful for the Deacons’ team. Because they do their job well, this allows us to focus on areas that are in line with our Biblical mandate as elders.

Prayer

There are many facets to our prayer ministry at Bethel. Let me highlight two of them in this report:

• Restore

Two years ago we began a prayer focus, starting 6 weeks before Easter. The first year we called the prayer focus Move. The second year, we called it Breathe. This initiative, which involves praying each Sunday from 4-5pm, was designed with the intent of encouraging more people to get involved in prayer and to remove some of the stigma associated with prayer. The weekly attendance last year ranged from 40-60 people. This year we are calling the prayer focus Restore and building it on the book of Nehemiah. In addition, for the first time, this year we will tie in the morning message with the prayer time in the afternoon.

• Redemption Reel

This program has been developed by the Bethel prayer counseling ministry. This five-week course helps participants identify their story and then figure out where they need God to bring healing and how to experience that healing. This is a video- and workbook-based curriculum that we have produced. This past fall a hand-selected group of eight people walked through the curriculum. We are now in the process of editing the material, reshooting some video and then we will officially launch this small group as part of our core small group track in the spring of 2015.

• City Partnerships

We have a number of partnerships that enable us to have a stronger reach into the city.

• Bethel House Ministry (Salvation Army)

Sandy Sheahan, who has lead this ministry since its start-up (2007), will be stepping down in 2015. The two houses next door serve as excellent transitional housing for men seeking to overcome addictions. Please pray for Sandy’s replacement.

• Ellel

Our partnership with Ellel continues to develop. Bethel sponsored a city-wide breakfast on November 18th for city-wide pastors and leaders. This was to help launch the School of Discipleship starting this month. Twenty eight were in attendance. We are partnering with the Salvation Army and Ellel in this initiative.

• Ravi Zacharias

This past fall, Bethel was able to play a key role in the city wide Ravi Zacharias event. We had 2600 people show up on the Oct 2 event at the K-Rock Centre. The following we had 170 people from the business community attend the luncheon. This was a great example of churches and businesses coming together to do something for the Kingdom of God.

• Camp IAWAH

I have been privileged to serve on the board at IAWAH over the last five years. My participation on the board has strengthened our partnership with this camp. Furthermore, Ken Vissers, the General Director of Camp IAWAH, sits on the Bethel Elders’ board. I am looking forward to seeing how we can continue to develop this partnership.

Final thoughts

Here are some questions that I have been asking myself these days as we go forward with our city focus.
- With so many great resources in the Bethel Body, how can we use them to best bless the city?
- How can we initiate some new ministries for the city without burning out some of our greatest workers?
- What does the next step look like in drilling down deeper with some of our key partnerships in the city?
- How will we integrate all we do in the gathered and scattered church to facilitate the greater priority of making disciples?
- What are some of our next steps in taking Bethel to a deeper place in the area of our commitment to prayer?
- What does it look like to hold fast to orthodoxy yet do so in a posture of grace?
- How can I guard my time to be a reflective leader in the city when the pace of ministry feels so fast at times?
- What is the role which Bethel plays in bringing greater church health to the city of Kingston?

Thanks for being an extremely supportive Church. I seek to serve you in this leadership capacity with excellence in 2015. Thanks for your trust, words of wisdom, counsel and prayers.

Mark
If interested in joining or starting a small group contact bethelcommunitygroups@gmail.com


(FYI - Here is an outline of what I do)
Primary Responsibilities
• Oversees all ministry implementation through staff and key volunteer leadership
• Develops and guides the church wide teaching ministry
• Directs the staff in leadership and skill development.
• Leads in the development and implementation of the vision, mission, values, strategy and marks of a disciple
• Supervises the revamping of the missions program at Bethel
• Establishes teaching themes for the worship services
• Oversees all city, nation and world partnerships.
• Guides the process of developing the discipleship track
• Directs the leadership development strategies and initiatives
• Establishes a new pastoral care ministry at Bethel.
• Partners with other city leaders in developing a healthy culture of leadership
• Oversees the development of the church calendar
Other Responsibilities
• Pastoral care and visitation
• Counseling
• Administration