I think I'm still in shock  about what happened to Lou Giglio last week. . . . being invited to pray at President Obama's inauguration and then obviously being uninvited when it was discovered that he called homosexuality a sin in a message he preached some 20 years back.  

Al Mohler has suggested this represents the emergence of a "New McCarthyism" . . . 

The Presidential Inaugural Committee and the White House have now declared historic, biblical Christianity to be out of bounds, casting it off the inaugural program as an embarrassment. By its newly articulated standard, any preacher who holds to the faith of the church for the last 2,000 years is persona non grata.  

(Mohler's whole post is very much worth reading!  Will you take the time?) 

What does this mean and where does it leave Christians who believe the historic Christian faith?  How shall we now live as we are increasingly excluded from the public square and marginalized?   The winds are very rapidly shifting.  We would be naive to think otherwise.   

What does it feel like to be a minority?  I suspect we are on the verge of finding out.  How easy it is to get angry, defensive, fearful,  bitter and resentful.   

But how, instead, can we be a kind, winsome witness when we're marginalized and despised and riduled?  That is the question, it seems to me.  One thing is sure. . . we need the perspective of the ages. . . . a good primer on Christian history.  And we need to re-read our Bibles with fresh eyes.  For the great majority of Christian history, God's people have been a marginalized, despised, suffering bunch.   We ought not to expect any different.  Jesus Himself told us. . . 

This I command you, that you love one another.  If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world,because of this the world hates you.  --Matthew 15:17-19

We read this article as a staff this week and discussed the power of Gospel community in these dark days.  My great hope and prayer is that our Growth Groups are growing into bright lights of Gospel community in these dark days . . . 

The joy of friendship culminates in feasting. People who live in genuine community enjoy gathering to celebrate the things they hold dear together. They eat and drink and sing and tell wonderful tales with laughter. Marriage, the fount of community, begins with joyful, community feasting. The community of Christ gathers regularly around a feast, the Lord’s Supper, which looks forward to the great wedding feast in glory when God’s promised good life is fulfilled.

But there is no truly good life on earth apart from communion with God in heaven. You cannot truly love your neighbor while hating God. To hate God is to idolize self, which in turn corrodes every human relationship. Of course, Christ is both the bridge between heaven and earth and the bond between man and neighbor. Loving relationships are what make life good. People who are wealthy and powerful but have shattered families and have no friends are miserable. The quality of one’s life can be measured by the quality of one’s love for others. Narcissists cannot be happy.

It was fun to preach yesterday after a couple of weeks away.  We continued our LIfe of Joseph series with a look at the God of Jacob in Genesis 48.  (LISTEN HERE) 

In the second hour, Pastor Al prayed a prayer adapted from an earlier Puritan prayer contained in a great collection of Puritan prayers entitled "The Valley of Vision."   I really liked the prayer and asked him to send it to me this morning for posting here at Life Together.  The second and third lines are what grabbed me.  Its worth your contemplation on this Monday.  

Blessed Lord Jesus,

No human mind could conceive or invent the gospel,

Acting in eternal grace, you are both its messenger and its message,

Lived out on earth through infinite compassion,

Applying your life to insult, injury, death – we are reminded of that insult, injury, death as we prepare to come to the Table this morning, given the visual reminder that you were nailed to a cross and your blood spilled to pay for our sin –

That we might be redeemed, ransomed, forgiven, freed.

We give thanks to You, Father, for putting your plan into place before the world began,

Eternal thanks to you, Lord Jesus, Lamb of God, for opening the way,

Praise everlasting to you, Holy Spirit, for applying this to our hearts, that we might believe and trust you.

It is because of the Gospel that we can come into the presence of Holy God approach the throne of grace with boldness and confidence.  We worship this morning, but we also come with many needs.  You know our frailties, our weakness, our brokenness, and I pray that you would meet each of us at our point of need: encourage the brokenhearted, comfort those who have experienced loss, meet the physical needs of those experiencing financial hardship, bring healing to the sick, and draw all of us closer to you, that we may all present our bodies as living sacrifices to you, holy and acceptable to you. 

We pray for those who serve in different places around the world, and we especially pray for Mark Piester this morning and his work in reaching children in Russia with the Gospel.  We pray that the recent Christmas celebrations and winter camp that he conducted resulted in many hearing and responding to the Gospel, and we pray that you would continue to be at work in those children; bless Mark in his ongoing work that many might hear the Gospel, believe and be discipled, for your namesake.

We pray for our country and our leaders at every level of government.  We live in a difficult and dangerous time.  May we not depend on the wisdom of men, but the wisdom that only comes from You.  We pray for those who serve in government who know you as Savior and Lord, that you would protect them from sin and corruption and that you would use them to advance your will.  And use us, Lord, where we are to be salt and light in our own communities.

Now, as we give offering and gifts this morning as an act of worship, bless and use these offerings to advance the Gospel, that your name would be exalted and praised.

(Adapted about the first third of “The Gospel Way” from The Valley of Vision,” p. 35, and used it as a springboard for the rest of the prayer.)

Pastor Brandon left on Monday night for a 2 week trip to Israel for a bunch of other Student Minsitry guys and gals.   The trip was put together by Hume Lake and we all thought it would be a terrific "professional development" opportunity for Brandon.  We're committed to helping our Pastors and Ministry Staff keep growing through new and stretching educational and missional opportunities.    

You can follow a blog of a trip HERE, if you're interested.  

I'm excited and just a bit envious about Brandon's opportunity, since I've never had an opportunity to go to Israel myself.  I'm sure walking where Jesus walked will make the Bible come alive in unique ways for Brandon and hopefully through Brandon for the students he teaches.  

Pray for Pastor Brandon (and his wife, Jenna, and son, Micah)  as you think about it over these next couple of weeks.  

Just before Christmas on Sunday, December 16, we took a few minutes in our worship services to look ahead to 2013.  We think this is vital information for all who call GraceSLO home . . . and for those who are just exploring GraceSLO.   In case you missed it, here's the brief audio and a few slides. . . . 

Vision 2013 Audio 

This first slide represents a picture of what we believe God is doing at GraceSLO right now and directions we want to keep moving. . . 

Slide #2 shows ongoing ministries related to the "Serve & Welcome" direction, and, below the line, some new initiaitves.  

Slide #3 shows the "Give & Go" direction. . . ongoing ministires above the line and 2013 projects below the line. 

Slide#4 shows the "Connect & Grow" direction  . . . with current and new priorities.   

We hope you're as excited about the directions God is taking GraceSLO as we are.  Thanks for your faithful service and giving to the Lord here at GraceSLO.   God is using you to accomplish His work.  

I believe the Gospel really changes lives.  The Gospel doesn't just JUSTIFY, it SANCTIFIES.  Change happens as we increasingly internalize the finished work of Christ . . . as we more and more realize that our standing before God doesn't depend on what we do, but on what Jesus has done.   As that happens, our lives are slowly, but really changed from the inside out.   

One of the changes I believe the Gospel brings about in our lives is in the area of generosity.  The Gospel makes us generous people.  I think that's happening at GraceSLO.    The Gospel is making us a generous people.  

Here's what I shared just before last Sunday's Benevolent Fund offering . . . in case you missed it . . . and I've thrown in a few more stats . . . 

Through your generous giving, the people of GraceSLO have, in just the last month, provided . . . 

• $11,265 for Hurricane Sandy relief through Samaritan's Purse and Calvary Presbyterian church in Allenwood, NJ
   
• 100 Thanksgiving bags for needy familes in our community.  Here's a pic . . . 

• 110 Turkeys for hungry families in our community
   
• 300 coats for needy, cold people in our community
   
• 100 Christmas gifts for babies of teen moms in our community
   
• 28 Christmas gifts for children from the homeless shelter in our community
   
• hundreds of hours of time and energy to accomplish these mercy ministries

On top of all this "over and above" giving, our General Fund giving is now slightly above our budget year-to-date.  

Isn't it exciting?   Do you see what I mean?  The Gospel makes a generous people!   It's happening!  Focus on the Gospel . . . drink in the Gospel . . . meditate on the Gospel . . . fix your eyes on Jesus . . . and watch what happens!  Thank you for your generous giving to the work of the Gospel at GraceSLO.  Let's excel still more. . . joyfully! 

(By the way, Dori Iunker, our Children's Ministry Director, just shared that she's got 16 more children from the homeless shelter for whom gifts can be purchased.  Grab a name from the tree on Sunday in the courtyard.) 

I give thanks for our GraceSLO Elders.  These guys are laying their lives out for the Lord and His people . . . teaching Covenant Membership and other classes, leading Growth Groups, shepherding the church family, leading in worship services, sitting on leadership teams and coming together for long, grueling meetings after their own long work days.   Theirs is a commitment of time, energy, and emotion.  

Last Thursday night we met for 4 hours to discuss a quite full agenda that included time with Brian Lockhart, the new Director of Empart USA.  

(If you're new to GraceSLO, North India has the highest concentration of unreached peoples in the world.  Empart is a church planting movement in North India through whom we support a Church Planter's Transformation Center.  This Center trains 25 church planters at time in a live-in program and then sends them out to plant churches.  This is our second year of financial partnership with Empart.  I have had an opportunity to travel to India with others from GraceSLO on two occasions.)

Brian is a really neat guy, who just happened to attend Cal Poly.  He flew in from Colorado just to spend time with our team.  He had a friend Sam with him.  You can see Sam and Brian in the pic above with our Elder team.  Todd Talley couldn't make the meeting that night.   Pastor Al who oversees our missions area is also present in the pic.  

Because our partnership with Empart represents a significant investment for our church, our Elder Team feels a great stewardship responsibility.  Aware that organizations can and do sometimes change, we're committed to continuing to do our "due diligence" through ongoing evaluation of Empart, its leadership and its finances.  Our meeting with Brian was a part of this ongoing process.   In other words, we want to avoid writing checks with our eyes closed.  We want to be active and involved partners.   Our continued and future investment depends on this ongoing evaluation.  

Our elders are encouraged by the growth in the Empart USA organization, their record keeping and financial accountability. For now, we're excited about our ongoing partnership with Empart in North India.

I'm looking forward to taking another team from GraceSLO hopefully in November 2013.  Want to be a part of the team?  

Our family has been singing this song this week and has had fun figuring out this video. . . 

Every day you wake, every breath you take. . . He's given.  Enjoy today!  

In case you didn't notice, 890AM, our local Christian talk station, quietly went off the air November 1, 2012.  Logos Broadcasting Corporation, which also airs K-Life, has posted a letter explaining their decision at their website HERE. 

What this means for GraceSLO is that our weekly radio program which aired Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings is now no more, as well.   We're disappointed because the broadcast was both a service to ongoing and occasional shut-ins and an outreach to the local Central Coast Community.  We are open to other broadcast opportunities.  

In the meantime, all GraceSLO messages are still available here in our ever-growing website Resource Library and via our iTunes podcast.  

And speaking of the podcast, how about a few people CLICK over there and leave some current reviews.  The last reviews were left in 2006!  

Stumbled on to this fantastic prayer written by Scotty Smith and thought it was so applicable to the themes we're learning in "The Life of Joseph"  . . . . 

(CLICK HERE for messages you've missed!) 

A Prayer about God Working in Hard Providences and Pain

Posted By Scotty Smith On October 17, 2012 @ 5:48 am In Prayer | No Comments

Article printed from Heavenward by Scotty Smith: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith

URL to article: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith/2012/10/17/a-prayer-about-god-working-in-hard-providences-and-pain/