Are We There Yet?

I received a great little book in the mail today that we may have to begin using with inquirers and new members of HLPC. The book was written by Dale Ralph Davis and is entitled The House that Jesus Built (published by Christian Focus). It speaks plainly and succinctly about what it means to be a part of a church, particularly one that is Reformed and Presbyterian. Read this excerpt that is especially good that I believe describes HLPC:

What can you expect to find in a church? You will probably find…

1. Persons who will disappoint you and sometimes infuriate you. No rosy or even peachy perfection here. It’s like being on a quest for the perfect cup of coffee. Not many are on that quest, but some are looking for the perfect church and always coming up disappointed. You must remember that the church is a hospital for sinners. The church is precisely where sinners need to be, but it can make life pretty trying at times.

2. People who still struggle against sin and are enduring severe trials. Any number of our people have been through a lot of heavy weather- and the winds are still blowing. That means we may not always be smiling, upbeat people with that “victorious” air about us (though we trust there is deep gospel joy in us).

3. A church that seeks to worship God carefully and thoughtfully. We try to place a high priority on public worship. Hence we try to plan it carefully. We don’t want people simply attending church- we want them adoring God; we don’t want them merely coming to a service- we want them entering God’s presence. Sometimes worship may seem a bit formal to some, but formal is not the same as dead. If it seems dead, it’s probably because you’re not worshiping. In any case, we seek to lead people into thinking, joyful, solemn worship that is worthy of God.

4. A diligent effort to provide preaching and teaching that both informs the mind and stirs the feelings. This is to a large degree the task of the teaching elder. Note that the pastor’s proper title is “teaching elder,” for teaching is his primary task. A good bit of pastoring is to be done by all believers as they care for one another.

That is what you can expect- perhaps. Sometimes we’ll fail to care for each other as we ought. Sometimes we’ll ignore people, so that they feel they don’t matter. You think that this is not a great sales pitch. You’re right. It’s even worse. We are not even salesmen at all. We are an imperfect body of believers convinced that Jesus loves us in spite of ourselves and seeking to become more faithful to Him by becoming more faithful to His people. And you are welcome to become a part of us.

The quote below is from David Wells’ recently published book The Courage to be Protestant. This fits with the discussion we had this morning at the men’s Thursday morning group looking at Hebrews 12:28, Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, (ESV).

Don’t worry- I have no immediate plans for doing an Elvis impersonation.

“[T]his transformation of Christianity into entertainment, is rapidly becoming the norm today, not the exception. Pastors are straining to outdo each other in becoming as chic and slick as any show in Las Vegas” (p. 24).

(HT: Keith Mathison)

Having a statement of faith like we do at Houston Lake Presbyterian can be unnerving to some people. Some may think we hold it above the Bible. We don’t, we merely believe that all churches have a theology be it a good or bad one. Our theological views are written down, other churches have theological views too but are not in written form. After all, every church believes something about who God is, what is the nature of Bible, what it means to be a Christian, and how and who should be baptized.

R.C. Sproul writes on the need and benefit of having a doctrinal statement such as the Westminster Confession of Faith, the statement of faith of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) of which Houston Lake Presbyterian is a member. I think it’s helpful to appreciate why we’re “confessional” and what strengths that brings. Sproul says, “Without such confessions, theological anarchy reigns in the church and in the world.”

You can read the entire article here.

Last night our church youth had a “Bigger and Better” scavenger hunt. Two teams were given a penny each and had to go door to door asking, “Do you have anything bigger and better than this?” Items continually get traded up. It’s always entertaining to see what groups bring back. Back in the 90’s when we were in campus ministry at Tennessee-Martin we had a group bring back a satellite dish- the big as six golf umbrellas sized dish. It helped that many of our students, largely from west Tennessee, all had pick-ups.

The winning team last night brought back a working, color, 27 inch TV (and an oar). The second place team (remember, only two teams total) brought back a lawnmower and a powered scooter- both items need a touch of repair but look great.

The good news is that these items left with the youth director and are not adding to my collection of junk in the garage.

I’ve been whining to Connie this week that I wished I could have attended the “Together for the Gospel” conference (that goes by the cool abbreviation “T4G”) being held in Louisville, KY. Speakers include Ligon Duncan, Mark Dever, Al Mohler, R.C. Sproul, John Macarthur, John Piper, Thabiti Anyabwile, and C.J. Mahaney. This conference includes some great book giveaways and is geared toward those in ministry.

I was thrilled to discover that you can download free mp3’s of the conference messages here. Looks like some really good stuff.

(HT: Justin Taylor)

Chris Larson posted this helpful and convicting article (originally published in Tabletalk magazine) by Rick Phillips over at the Ligonier Ministries blog:

“What the Needy Need”

You see “proclaiming and living the gospel” on our church sign, on our worship folders, and on our letterhead. This, hopefully, captures what we hope is the emphasis of Houston Lake Presbyterian Church.

Recently I heard the comment made that the gospel is not what you do, because it is the proclamation of good news to be believed. When a herald came and announced the good news of victory in the ancient world (the origin of the word for “gospel”) it was a message to be believed and celebrated, you didn’t “do” anything. I wholeheartedly agree with that. We don’t “do” the gospel in that sense. It is a declaration that through Christ reconciliation with the Father has been accomplished and that by faith we are credited with the perfect record of God’s Son and so are declared righteous in God’s sight and are thus adopted as God’s sons and daughters.

Ok, then why do we have “living the gospel” in our motto? We live the gospel when we live out the implications of it. We live out the gospel when we respond to God’s mercy in Christ and live different lives (Rom. 12:1). We live out the gospel when we forsake our idols in favor of the well that never runs dry provided in Christ. We live out the gospel when we recognize our desperate need for God’s mercy and so treat others with mercy, kindness, and patience. We live out the gospel when we use this “gospel logic”.

I hope this helps. I believe that anyone who attends HLPC with any frequency will quickly see that we are committed to the gospel of God’s grace. Grace is what motivates and changes. We don’t earn God’s favor or else the term “grace” is robbed of meaning.

When we say live the gospel we mean live according to its truth and that truth changes everything. We don’t do the gospel but we do live in light of it and that’s what we’re after.