| Update
January 27th, 2006
Dear
Good Shepherd,
Good Morning! Here's the weekly article and
below that you’ll find the news:
WEEKLY
ARTICLE
I've
received an unusually large number of questions recently regarding
the phenomenon known as “backsliding”. I've summarized these
into the two questions below:
1. What is backsliding?
2. How to help the backslidden?
1. What is backsliding? “Backsliding” is
a rather new term that refers to a believer, someone who has
committed his or her life to Jesus Christ, who subsequently
falls into a lifestyle of willful, rebellious, sin.
I once heard a story (not sure how true) about a man who left
his wife, family, and home and, on top of it all, presumed
to come to church the following Sunday with the other man's
wife on his arm. Apparently he even sat with her in the pew
where his family used to sit together. When his own wife and
kids arrived and saw him, they left in tears.
The pastor and the elders of the church confronted him and
told him to repent or leave.
The man hurled curses at the pastor and elders. They were
“judging him“ They should “take the planks out of their own
eyes“. They were “hypocrites”. Then he left the building.
That is an extreme example of a backsliding but backsliding
is not necessarily so public or so bold. Any believer who
consistently, willfully, and unrepentantly chooses to reject
Christ and his commands is in the process of becoming a backslidden
Christian.
Before going on, we should make the crucial distinction between
a backslidden believer and a non-believing church member who
lives sinfully. Only believers can fall into the category
of a “backslider“.
A backslider is not just someone who goes to church and then
falls into sin. A backslider is someone who has committed
himself or herself to Christ personally, and then rejects
or falls away from that commitment. Someone who, though maybe
a life-long church member, never actually enters into a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ cannot be a backslider. There
is nothing to backslide from.
2. How to help the backslidden?
The good news is that if the person in question has truly
given himself or herself to Jesus Christ, then God has promised
to save and preserve them. God will not let them go.
“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should
lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at
the last day…” (John 6:39)
When you commit to Christ, he also commits to you. You may
break your promises. God never does. That means that if you
fall away, you can bet that the Good Shepherd will find you
and bring you home.
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them and they follow
me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never parish
and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” (John 10:28)
God
inevitably brings backsliders to repentence.
How?
When you backslide, generally speaking, God makes your life
miserable. The misery comes from two sources.
First, it comes from within. Once you become a child of God
through faith in Jesus Christ, your heart is changed. You
become a new creation, with new desires, new loves, and a
new hope (Romans 6-8). Backsliding is a return to the old
you. You may think you want to go back, but once you get there
you realize you hate it. You've changed. You're no longer
happy living like you used to live. No matter what you do,
no matter where you go or what you try, soon you find that
your life is miserable.
This experience is precisely the one Jesus described in his
parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-24). Like the prodigal,
the backslider has taken his inheritance and rejected his
Father's house. But sooner or later he finds himself eating
pig food in the muck (Luke 15:16). He wakes up and remembers
the peace, security, and joy of his Father's house (Luke 15:17-18).
From that point, it's only a matter of time before he begins
to make his way back to his Father's waiting open arms (Luke
15:20).
Second , the misery comes from outside. God disciplines believers
like a good father disciplines his children (Hebrews 12:5-11).
Not only does the backslider's heart begin to ache for home,
his external situation, generally speaking, begins to fall
apart. God makes sure that the consequences of his or her
sin are felt. Poverty, illness, job loss; the bible identifies
all of these as ways that God sometimes chooses to discipline
believers.
This may seem harsh, but it is in fact the epitome of mercy.
What would happen if God did not intervene and the backslidden
believer simply met with increased success, prosperity, and
pleasure? There would be little cause to repent. The backslider
would do more damage to his soul; more damage to those around
him; more damage to his relationship with the Lord.
In fact, the Psalms often describe the material prosperity
of the wicked as the manifestation of God's wrath (see especially
Psalm 73). God releases them to follow their own desires all
the way to eternal judgment.
No, though discipline is painful the pain is temporary and
the result is eternal. It is a good thing that God disciplines
(Hebrews 12:11)
In the end, as we've said, Christ always brings his wayward
sheep back home.
So, what can we do to help?
1. Pray. Remember God has determined to use
the prayers of his people as vehicles for his divine activity
on earth. He could, of course, act without our prayers, but
instead he has decided to act directly through them. Pray
for your fallen brother or sister, that God will bring them
home soon.
2. Don't chase a backslider down. As in any
relationship, when someone is running away the last thing
you want to do is keep up the hot pursuit. That only makes
the person run faster and further. Let runners run. If they
leave the church, put their Christian relationships on hold,
burn bridges, let go and let God do his work. If you happen
to see them around, it's perfectly okay (and a good thing)
to let them know how much you love and miss them and how welcome
they are to come back, but leave it there. Let God handle
the backsliding heart.
3. Keep your arms open : While Jesus tells
us (Matthew 18:15-17) that it's sometimes necessary to ask
divisive and unrepentant backsliders to leave the fellowship
in order to maintain peace and godly discipline (as in the
case above. See another example in 1st Corinthians 5), the
church's attitude and posture toward those who fall away must
always reflect that of the Father in the parable of the prodigal
son. When the father saw his son returning, he rushed toward
him, embraced him, and welcomed him home as a long lost son
(Luke 15:20-24). Likewise, there should be no recriminations
or paybacks when a backslider repents. He or she is to be
welcomed with eager and open arms and restored warmly to the
fellowship. Our sibling is home and safe. It is a time for
rejoicing!
How do you avoid backsliding yourself? Well, as much as I
would like to address that here, that is a question fit for
an entire article all by itself.
Until
then m ay God bless you all.
End.
Here's the News
UPDATE CONTENTS:
HEALING
FAMILY AND FRIENDS SUNDAY
I HOPE YOU…
WHY IS THERE A CHURCH? ADULT CHRISTIAN EDUCATION
THE BIBLE STUDIES
NEW BEGINNER'S BIBLE STUDY
SERMON SERIES
CATECHESIS PROJECTS
BIRTHDAY'S
EM's
NEWS
HEALING:
This
Sunday is not only Superbowl Sunday, it's also, being the
first Sunday of the month, Healing Sunday. If you need to
be heale in body, mind, or spirit come this Sunday and let
us pray for you at the side altar.
FAMILY AND FRIENDS SUNDAY: The first “Bring
a Friend to Church Sunday” is February 19th. Last week
I said that one thing you can do to help is to be there. We
have great Sunday attendance at Good Shepherd as our attendance
figures from last year show. But attendance on this day is
especially important. Even if you don't bring a friend or
food for the pot-luck being there yourself is VERY important
. Why? Church growth studies show that when someone looking
for a church finds a sanctuary full of empty pews, they usually
don't stay. They think, “Why should I go to this church
when even the parishioners don't bother.”
Two other things that will be important that day :
1. Be sure to participate in every aspect of the service.
Again, you are great when it comes to this kind of thing,
so I’m not telling you anything you don’t already
know and do, but I do want to remind you and encourage you
in this because it is especially important that day to sing
with gusto, to pray the prayers earnestly, to respond with
a full voice where appropriate (ie: when I say: “The
Lord be with you.” be sure to speak up boldly with “And
also with you!”).
2. During brunch, don’t immediately sit with your friends.
Look for visitors sitting alone and ask to sit with them.
Most visitors, I am sure will be with their hosts, but it
never hurts to keep an eye out. I have, by the way, noticed
that sometimes on a regular Sunday guests will be left to
fend for themselves and sometimes even go home ungreeted by
any but the clergy. In fact, one of the primary factors that
keep guests from returning to a church is just that. The pastor
greets them, but everyone else shies away.
I encourage you and everyone to invite a friend and to bring
a dish to pass, but even if you don't do any of those things,
your presence on that day is very important so come and support
evangelism at Good Shepherd.
I HOPE YOU shared your faith with someone
last month? You have four more weeks ahead of you to pray
and work up the courage to do it again.
As I said last week sharing your faith can be a very intimidating.
After praying for God to provide you with an opportunity (see
last week‘s update), the next thing you might want to
do, is think about your own process of coming to faith. What
was it that drew you to Jesus Christ. Were you a questioning
skeptic won over by reason or were you a seeker, looking for
peace and fulfillment.
Not everyone comes in the same way. It’s a good idea
to try and figure out what sort of person you’re speaking
to.
If you tend to be more of a heart person than a head person
while sharing your own faith experience is great., when you
run into someone who has a lot of questions (a head person),
it might not be all that effective. It’s be a good idea
to either be ready with answers or at least to know where
the answers can be found.
And vice versa. If you happen to be a head person sharing
your faith with a heart person, filling your friend with facts
and reasons won’t be as effective as communicating your
own experiences of Jesus and the fellowship of the church.
In short, know your audience and share your faith in a manner
that will meet them where they are.
Finally, as always: Remember, sharing your faith is relational,
not aggressive. Be gentle, but don't be afraid, Jesus promises
to make his disciples fishers of men.
WHY IS THERE A CHURCH? ADULT
CHRISTIAN EDUCATION: This Sunday we'll continue the
new series on the meaning and the purpose of the Church. Last
week we continued discussing Acts chapter 2 and found four
more principles or missions for the Church. The Church must
be devoted to the apostles teaching, the fellowship, the breaking
of bread and the prayers. These four are in addition to the
Great Commission and the Great Commandment.
This week we’ll talk more about these six missions and
begin to talk more specifically about the work of the Holy
Spirit and the gifts he gives to believers.
The vestry encourages all members to attend this series. It
is very much like the series the vestry worked though during
the first vestry retreat. It set our course and defined our
core values and missions. Now we want to go through this process
with you, as a church body, leaders and people together. So
please join us.
ALL THE BIBLE STUDIES: Are up and running
this week as usual.
NEW BEGINNER'S BIBLE STUDY: As I mentioned last week,
the New Beginner's Webpage is experiencing some technical
difficulties so I have not been able to post all of the notes.
Also because of weather cancellations in the past and the
need to go slower through some of the material, the curriculum
schedule on the page is not up to date. I will change and
correct when I figure out what is wrong.
If you are interested in a bible study that will take you
from the ground up, this is it. The class is taught with the
assumption that you have never cracked your bible. We learn
the order of the books, how to look up passages, how to use
cross references, maps and concordances; everything you need
to know to read the bible for all it's worth you will learn
in this class. The hope and goal is to help everyone to make
God's Word a daily part of their lives. The study meets every
Thursday night at 6:30pm.
Remember the:
Fourfold Path to Hermeneutical Greatness
1. Find the problem or circumstance the passage addresses
2. Ask yourself: How is the circumstance addressed or the
problem resolved?
3. Think of a related problem or circimstance in your own
life or in the world around you.
4. Apply the biblical resolution to your contemporary problem
SERMON SERIES: This week we come to the fourth
sermon in the Epiphany series on hearting God's voice. This
Sunday: “How to hear God’s voice in the bible?“
What methods can help you listen to God as you read his Word?
Be there Sunday and find out.
URGENT (Anne is going
to start calling around about this...) CATECHESIS PROJECTS:
If you've taken on a project for Catechesis of the
Good Shepherd, please let Anne know how far along you've come.
She's planning presentations and she needs to know when she
can do them. Thank you all for all of your help.
BIRTHDAY'S : If you are new to Good Shepherd and
have not yet given us your birthday, please let Anne know.
We'll put it on the church calendar and pray for you the Sunday
before.
EM's WANTED: We are in need of another Eucharistic
Minister for the 8:00am service. If you feel God calling you
to serve on the altar in this way, please let me know. There
is a training and discernment process involved so please prayerfully
consider the gifts God has given you and the ministry to which
he is calling you before you volunteer.
Good
News for the Week
In
fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from
bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you,
continue in what you have learned and have become convinced
of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how
from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are
able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching,
rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that
the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
(2nd Timothy 3:12-17)
Don't
forget to....BRING A FRIEND TO CHURCH!
Daily Schedule for the week of Sunday February 5th, 2006
Monday:
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
Tuesday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
9:00 a.m. Tuesday Morning Bible Study
6:00 p.m. First Light Bible Study: Q and A
6:30
p.m. First Light Bible Study: Discussion (Matthew 7)
Wednesday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
Thursday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
5:30 p.m. Shepherd's Bowl
6:30 p.m. New Beginners Bible Study
7:30 p.m. Choir Practice
Friday
6:30 a.m. Men's Breakfast/Bible Study
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
Saturday:
10:00 a.m. Women's Bible Study
Sunday
February 5th, 2006: Epiphany VI
8:00am Holy Communion II and Sermon
9:15-10:15 a.m. Christian Education for all Ages
10:30 am Holy Communion II, Music and Sermon
God bless you all
Matt+
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