“Help!  I want to read my Bible but I don’t know where to start!”  If that’s where you’re at, this article is for you!  Let me quickly give you four suggestions that might get things moving in the right direction . . .

For this, I’d recommend in particular that you check out the ESV Study Bible. The Bible is an intimidating read, no doubt. It’s not a book you’d think to take along on your summer vacation for perusing while you lounge at the beach. It’s long; it’s complex; it’s confusing; it’s a few thousand years removed from our context. We need help. For goodness sake, I went to seminary full-time for four years, I’ve devoted my life to studying this book . . . and I still, like you, need help.

A good study Bible like the ESV Study Bible can be a tremendous asset in all of this. As you’re reading through and come to places were you’re just scratching your head, of course you pray, of course you ask God for help and the gift of illumination in the Spirit, but you also humbly receive help from those who are a few steps ahead of you. You can look at the cross-references and maybe make connections that grant you a bit more understanding. You can read the included commentary on the verses and find your bearings once more in matters of interpretation.
 
For me to simply hand you a Bible and tell you to read it from cover to cover would be like me trying to teach you how to swim by taking you out on a boat to the middle of the ocean and just dropping you in. Even if you somehow learned to swim in all of this, I think we can agree this isn’t the right approach. You need floaties. You need lessons. You need help. And it’s no different with our Bible reading. The ESV Study Bible is a great resource for this. I commend it to you.

Before I put forward a suggestion on this, let me just give you a few quick stats to help you see what we’re dealing with when it comes to reading the Bible:

• First, I wonder if you know that it takes about seventy-five hours to read the Bible cover to cover.[1] Now, at first that may sound like an awful lot. But do you realize that if you divide seventy-five hours by the 365 days that are in a year we are talking about reading for somewhere around fifteen minutes a day to get through the entire Bible in a year. That puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?
• Second, to help you see this from another angle, I wonder if you realize that there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible. Again, this may sound at first like an overwhelming number. But when you divide 1,189 chapters by the 365 days that are in a year, we come to find that we would only need to read about three chapters a day to read it all the way through in twelve months. Not so hard, right?

So let’s imagine you want to try to read through the Bible in something like a year. Now you know we’re talking about reading around three chapters for fifteen minutes or so each day. But how exactly are you going to go about this? What’s going to be your plan? Do you just attempt to read from start to finish, from Genesis on to Revelation? Some may find that works well for them. Personally, I have heard of too many starting this way only to die out by Leviticus (just a few books in!). The book of Leviticus, admittedly, is hard to understand. The content doesn’t seem immediately edifying. And, in the back of your mind, you’re a bit concerned about the fact that Jesus isn’t going to show up for almost another eight months of reading! This is why so many people tap out early. It seems too daunting of a task.

But here’s where the various Bible reading plans can really come in and help us. Because it’s understood that just reading the Bible through can be a lot for people to attempt, these plans will often divide up the material so that we are reading in various places of Scripture all at the same time.
 
Now, there are many helpful plans at this point,[2] but the one I like best is quite simple. I call it the 3x3 Plan (three books and three chapters). You begin reading simultaneously in three books—Genesis, Job, and Matthew—and then you progress reading a chapter or so a day from each starting point. This essentially divides the Bible into thirds and, assuming a relatively even pace, you will finish each section at approximately the same time.[3]

The two major benefits to this that I’ve experienced are: first, it’s balanced—you get to read from various places in Scripture; and, second, it teaches you to read Scripture towards Jesus. The tensions and struggles and promises and shadows you see in your Old Testament reading take on new meaning and find their fulfillment in Jesus as you come to your New Testament reading. It’s amazing. And it’s really the way Jesus would have us come to understand things (cf. Luke 24:27, 44-45).[4]

So you’ve got a good Bible. And you’ve got a good plan to keep you going. Now you need a good method. What I mean here is you need to know what to do with the Bible as you read it.

For this I commend to you what I’ve come to call the DNA Method of Bible study. We must not read the Word of God and let it run in one ear and out the other as water runs through a pipe. We must instead draw God’s Word down into our hearts as rain percolates into soil. Take it into the deepest parts of you and let God satisfy you there and bring transformation out from it. The DNA Method has been designed to aid you in this process.

Now, since this method is described in great detail elsewhere (e.g. here and here and here) I won’t reiterate it again now. Instead, let me give you one other piece to consider. While the DNA Method helps you go deeper with the particular chapters and verses read, we must also remember the value of getting up and above the trees, as it were, where we can catch a glimpse of the whole forest itself. What I mean is, as you come in your reading to a new book in the Bible, before you launch right into it, you might consider first orienting yourself by seeking out some introduction to the book as whole.

If you’ve ever hiked in the backcountry, you know that before you haul off into the woods, you first spend time poring over topography maps in effort to get a sense of the “lay of the land.” Such work may seem at first less exciting and unfulfilling, but when once you get in and amongst the trees, you’re always glad you did it. Now you have a better idea of what you’re looking for and where you’re headed. The journey is less stressful and more enjoyable.

Engaging Bible book introductions is somewhat like this.

So when you come to a new book in the Bible, here are a few of my suggestions you might consider:

• In your ESV Study Bible, read the introduction they provide for that book. This may seem a bit academic and boring at first, but it will pay dividends later.
• Watch the Bible Project’s overview video for that book. These are always masterfully compact, stimulating, and insightful.
• Listen to Mark Dever’s “book-level overview sermon” for that book.[5] He manages to preach a single sermon on each book of the Bible. You can listen to it during your commute or while doing your daily chores. 

If you take me up on even just one of these suggestions, I trust you will find it immensely helpful.

This cannot go unsaid. A good friend is a great help in the journey. What if we were a church that read the Scriptures together?! We need accountability, prayer, and support if we are to make it through in this.
 

• Perhaps you tap someone to simply check in with you occasionally to ask how your times with God are going.
• Maybe you commit to getting together with the person on a regular basis to discuss what you’ve each been getting out of your own devotions.
• Maybe you even decide to read one of the books in the 3x3 Plan together, chapter by chapter, and you engage the DNA Method questions over a cup of coffee.

Whatever you do, the bottom line is this: God wants to meet with us in his Word. We cannot, we must not, excuse ourselves saying that the matter is too complicated for us. There’s much we can still do to press in towards him. We can get a good Bible. We can get a good plan. We can get a good method. And we can get a good friend. May God bless you as you go!

[1] For example, ESV audio Bibles online run for about seventy-five hours in total.
[2] Ligonier Ministries has put out an extensive list of plans for you to consider
(https://www.ligonier.org/blog/bible-reading-plans/). One other plan I’d recommend would be the one put out by The Bible Project (https://bibleproject.com/reading-plans/). The fact that this plan coincides with their profoundly helpful videos makes it an especially attractive option.
[3] The astute observer will notice that the New Testament section of the 3x3 Plan does not have quite as many chapters as the other two sections. Therefore, if you’re not all that concerned with reading the whole Bible within a year, you might consider reading a little less from the New Testament books each day, giving yourself instead more time to meditate on the contents therein.
[4] Full disclosure: I personally don’t even attempt to read the Bible in a year. Often, I make my way at the pace of about a chapter a day, reading from one of the three sections for a few days and then moving on to another. Sometimes, I’ll read a chapter from two of the sections. Other times, I’ll do the whole 3x3. It just depends. Remember, we don’t read our Bibles so we can check off some box as if it were a mere task on a list. No! We read our Bibles to meet with God. So find what works best for you in all of this and press in towards him. That’s the point!
[5] You can find them online at https://www.capitolhillbaptist.org/resources/sermons/.

How do you imagine God feels about you when you've blown it?  You might be surprised . . .

The church, it would seem from the Scriptures, is given two perpetual offices by her Savior: namely, that of the elder and the deacon. Together elders and deacons represent Christ's ongoing and comprehensive care for the church and world. There are many ways we could come at this, but it might be interesting to: first, trace the origin of these two offices; second, identify their general function in the church; and then finally make our way towards a working definition.

Any discussion of authority in the church has to start with Jesus. He is the Head (Col. 1:18), the Cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4). All authority we are given in the church is derived from him. So we can learn what leadership in the church ought to look like by looking at how Jesus led. And as we look at him we recognize that he came to his people as a servant-leader. And he came as a servant-leader concerned primarily with the ministry of two things: word and deed.

That’s why, Matthew describes our Lord’s entrance into public ministry in this way: “He went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people” (Matt. 4:23, emphasis added). Word and deed. Truth and love. When Christ walked the earth, he did not merely proclaim the kingdom, he presented and produced it. His preaching was confirmed with power. God is not just all talk. His checks don’t bounce. When he says he’s coming to love, to heal, to free, to save, that’s what he does. And Jesus seals this once and for all in his death and resurrection.

The implication of Luke’s statement is twofold for our discussion here:

• First, if Luke’s gospel only records what Jesus began to do and teach, then the book of Acts must record what Jesus continues to do and teach. 
• But, second, this doing and teaching, this word and deed ministry, would now be by Christ’s Spirit in and through the church, particularly in and through “the apostles whom he had chosen.” Here is the first form of official leadership established by Christ in the New Testament church.

But something happens in Acts 6.  The church has grown. It’s grown so big in fact that the apostles cannot possibly head up both the word and deed ministries in the church. The gospel they were preaching was being contradicted in the community as Greek widows were not being cared for like those of the Hebrews. When gospel word is not accompanied by gospel deed, the very gospel itself is at stake. So, we read that “the twelve summoned the full number of the disciples and said, ‘It is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word’” (vv. 2–4).
 
“We need another office to take up the deed ministry, because we can’t neglect the word ministry.” And because of this new appointment of some to official leadership, we go on to read: “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem” (v. 7). 

Now, this vignette has critical implications for official leadership as it comes to be developed in the church.

The apostles, commissioned here to minister the word in particular, are seen in Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5 handing off this ministry to elders. This accounts for the one qualification that particularly distinguishes an elder from a deacon: he must be “able to teach” (1 Tim. 3:2); and “[h]e must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine” (Titus 1:9). He must be able to take the apostolic word and proclaim it to the church.

The office of deacon, on the other hand, is understood by many as having its roots in this original group of seven appointed to serve the church in gospel deed.  Deacon (Gk. diakonos), after all, means servant. They are appointed both to liberate the elders to focus on the broader ministry of the word and to legitimize that ministry of the word by serving and loving those under the elders’ care. They exist to help the church make sure she isn’t just all talk, that the church’s checks don’t bounce, that the gospel has hands and feet, that we don’t say, “Be warm and filled in the name of Jesus” while we send them away cold and empty (James 2:16).

To put definitions on these two offices at this point:

• Elders are under-shepherds of Christ, appointed by the Holy Spirit, through the church, to serve by leading, especially in the ministry of gospel word.  
• Deacons are assistants to the Elders, appointed by the Holy Spirit, through the church, to lead by serving, especially in the ministry of gospel deed.

It is a devastating thing that when so many think of church leadership the first thing that comes to mind is hypocrisy. God actually designed and established church leadership for precisely the opposite reason! They are to keep the church from hypocrisy. Gospel word without gospel deed is unloving. Gospel deed without gospel word is untrue.  But Gospel word plus gospel deed is Christ. And so God establishes elders and deacons to help the church more effectively represent Christ to the world!

In all of this, we are not taking away from our passion for "every-member ministry." The church as a whole is commissioned by God to participate in this ministry of word and deed (1 Pet. 4:10-11). But God gives official leadership to help organize, equip, and stimulate such ministry in all the members.

Philippians 1:1 puts a nice cap on this discussion. Paul begins his letter to the church this way: “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons . . . .” In the church you have the saints (members), who are under care of overseers (synonymous elsewhere with elders) and deacons, who were given their authority from apostles like Paul, who is himself a servant of, under the authority of, Christ Jesus.

Having just spent almost a month or so reflecting on the wonders of Advent, Christmas, the incarnation, and the arrival of God in human flesh and history, it seems to me that, in some respects at least, prayer is naturally the next topic for discussion. Prayer is the logical next step, if you will—the dovetailed item of agenda, following on the heels of Christmas grace. For, after all, it is particularly because Jesus is Immanuel, God with us, that we can now even begin to entertain the idea of talking with him.

If God were not here, if God had remained aloof, if God had not shown any interest in our plight, if God had not been pricked in heart with compassion, if he had not come down and drawn near to us in our muck and mess—then prayer would understandably be the last thing on our minds. It would be rightly understood along the lines of a child writing a letter to Santa Claus. The communication may be well intended and innocent enough, but it’s utter folly at the end of the day. For no such Santa Claus exists and, whatever you may wish for from him, he is not there to answer or provide.  

So if Jesus is not Immanuel, if Christmas is not an historical fact, then prayer is just wishful thinking at best, and utter foolishness at the bottom. But if Jesus has come, if God really has torn the roof from the universe and stepped inside, then prayer is the only rational and appropriate thing we should now be concerning ourselves with.

Think of it. Consider whoever your favorite movie star or musician or public figure may be—it doesn't matter if they’re dead or alive. Now imagine we're together in the church building and suddenly, without any fanfare or trumpet blast, they just open the door and walk in. John Lennon is here. Steph Curry is in the building. Queen Elizabeth snuck in the back. John Piper strolled in to make sure we’re not preaching heresy and that we’re all desiring God in appropriate form and fashion.  

What would you do? Well, of course, you might just pass out from the sheer excitement of it all. But, if you managed to keep your bearings, I know what you’d do: you’d run straight over there to talk with them, right? Who in their right mind would just go on with their day and pay the person no attention whatsoever? You’d want to engage with them. You’d want to give them a hug or get an autograph or something. Again, you’d want to talk to them.  

And that’s what prayer is. It’s talking with the God who, in Jesus, is here.

Joey taught last week on Philippians 2 and how Jesus set aside his lofty status and came down after us. Well, this then connects quite well with what Paul will say later in Philippians 4, and he draws the same sort of line I’m drawing here for us now. Paul says there in verses 5b-6: “The Lord is at hand [or ‘near’]; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.”
 
Did you catch the logic there? Because the Lord is at hand—because he “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant . . .” (Phil. 2:6–7) and came down to be with us—therefore, pray! Talk to him. Engage. You don’t need to be worried about your life, going on as if you’re left alone in your struggles and hardships. No! God is right here. Pour out your heart in prayer!

The weeks of Advent lead quite naturally to the Week of Prayer. Do you see?

If we believe in Christmas. We should be busy in prayer!

At Mercy Hill we define the office of elder as follows: elders are under-shepherds of Christ, appointed by the Holy Spirit, through the church, to serve by leading, especially in the ministry of gospel word.

We take the process of installing new elders very seriously. If you are curious about what this process entails, it is laid out for you in the diagram below.

It is important to note at the start that the church does not get her language of “membership” from secular culture but from 1 Corinthians 12. Listen to Paul, as he writes to the local church in Corinth:

• “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body . . .” (v. 12-13a).
• “If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body” (vv. 19-20).
• “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it” (v. 27).

Paul here moves our discussion of membership away from the more familiar arenas of membership in a club or voluntary society and directs us, rather, towards membership in a body: namely, Christ’s body. Membership in the church, then, is not like membership with the YMCA, or the library, or a political party. It is membership in the body of Christ.[1]

As we consider this “body image” that Paul gives us, two important implications follow:

In a body, each member, however big or small, strong or weak, visible or hidden, presentable or unpresentable, is critical to the proper functioning of the whole. Every member matters. This image, then, guards the church and her members from two debilitating errors:

(1)  Spiritual Despair—There are some members who might feel they have no role to play at all in the church. They have not the maturity, the cleverness, the skill of the others. They are base, low, and weak. But listen to how Paul uses the church’s body image to move against the struggle of spiritual despair:


Here the church’s body image encourages the despairing member to take heart. The same Spirit that energizes the hand energizes the foot. The same Spirit that energizes the eye energizes the ear. As Paul would say elsewhere: “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:4–6).[2]

In light of this unity, every member has dignity.

(2)  Spiritual Pride—But Paul continues his use of the church’s body image in 1 Corinthians 12 to combat a second error: spiritual pride. While some members might be prone to think they are less important to Christ’s church, other members might be tempted to think they are more important. Listen to Paul address this:


Here those of particular maturity and gifting are reminded that they are no better than the others and, indeed, even have need of the others. Wherever we find ourselves in the church—whether elders or new believers, teachers or chair-stackers—we all have need of each other.[3] Indeed, “we are members of one another” (Eph. 4:25).

In light of this unity, every member has dignity. But even more, in light of this unity, every member is critical for the church’s vitality. If you decide you are either not good enough or too good for us, we don’t merely lose a member of our “club,” we lose a limb, an eye, an organ. We lose vitality.

A second most important implication that emerges from the church’s body image is this: the church’s unity is Christ’s visibility. Calling the church Christ’s body makes us his physical, visible representation on earth. While his physical body is in heaven at the right hand of the Father, his Spirit is poured out upon and animates the church. If we want to know what Christ looks like, all we should have to do is look at his church, his body. When we are united, with each member dignified and vitally connected to the others, Christ is seen in all his glory—by us, by the world, and even by the spiritual beings![4]

Unity, dignity, vitality…visibility!

Sadly, the church’s disunity does not reduce Christ’s visibility, it only distorts and disfigures it. Those who bear Christ’s name but walk not by his Spirit give everyone looking in wrong ideas about him.[5] If I live apart from the body, whether from spiritual despair or spiritual pride, I can’t possibly get for myself or give to the world the full picture of who Christ is. Such a vision of Christ is only seen when every member of the body is united. Again, our unity is his visibility!

If the church, as the body of Christ, is his visible representation on earth, it makes sense to ask: what of him are we actually making visible? Christ’s visibility in and through the church, it seems to me, can be traced along three lines: his personality, his ministry, and his authority.

Every member is indwelt by Christ’s Spirit and therein is given some sense of his personality (the fruits of the Spirit), ministry (the gifts of the spirit), and authority (the keys of the kingdom). But no individual member represents the fullness of this. It is only as we come together in one body that the fullness of Christ’s personality, ministry, and authority are seen. Again, our unity is his visibility!

Christ’s Spirit in us is like sap flowing from the vine to the extremity of its branches. As Christ told his disciples: “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). While this “fruit” can be summed up in a single word—“love” (John 15:12[6]—its many varietals are itemized by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23a: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” What do these various fruits remind us of but the very heart and personality of our Lord?! He is their essential expression, and by his Spirit, he causes them to blossom in the garden of his church.

Most of these fruits are relational in their expression: I love you, I am patient with you, I am kind towards you, I am faithful towards you, I am gentle with you, etc. You are required for these fruits to be seen in me. Hence, again, it is especially in light of our unity as his body that his personality becomes visible.

Christ’s Spirit in us does not only conform us to his personality, it also empowers us to continue his ministry. When Luke refers to his gospel as “all that Jesus began to do and teach” (Acts 1:1), he therein implies that the book of Acts would be all that Jesus was continuing to do and teach, only now by his Spirit in and through the church. Christ’s ministry and mission continues by his Spirit through the church!  Each believer receives some measure or portion of Christ’s power as a gift to be used in ministry for the sake of his glory being seen in the church and world.[7]

While there are many texts that deal with this,[8] perhaps the most comprehensive statement is found in 1 Peter 4:10-11: “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” In all our stewarding of God’s varied grace, whether in word or deed, it is not us but Christ who is seen!

Given the nature of these gifts of his Spirit, that we each only have a given measure or portion, it is yet again important to point out that it is only in the context of the united church that Christ’s full-orbed ministry can be seen functioning in its fullest expression. We need one another for his mission to advance!

Amazingly, the church is not only given by Christ a sense of his personality and ministry, it is also given his authority. This is most clearly seen in the scriptural image of the keys of the kingdom. These keys represent the authority to open and close the door to the kingdom of God. Before the keys of the kingdom are ever anyone else’s, they are first Christ’s.[9] But, in his grace and by his Spirit,[10] he entrusts them to his church. They are to be stewarded under the authority of his heavenly kingship as we serve as his vicegerents on the earth.[11] They are first given with reference to Peter,[12] but are then clearly mentioned with reference to the rest of the disciples,[13] and even the church at large![14]

Again, it is important to emphasize that this authority is not wielded by a single member but to be exercised as the church comes together. Consider the last stage in church discipline as described in Matthew 18: “Tell it to the church” (v. 17). Here the case has risen to the highest court, and who’s involved? Not one leader, but all members. As Jesus would go on to say: “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (v. 19). It is only as we unite together that the authority of Christ functions properly in the church.

Now, an extra word is in order here lest there be misunderstanding. While the church at large holds the keys (and, with them, the broader delegated authority of Christ), she appoints by the Spirit some[15] to lead in a more official capacity.[16] But in this appointment, she never loses her inherent dignity and authority in Christ. Therefore, though she puts certain officers at the helm of the church, it is important that these officers continue to recognize the role the church at large has to play in the ongoing mission and ministry.

Indeed, we see the church in the New Testament exercising her authority in this more corporate manner (where, not just leaders, but every member is to be involved) with regard to certain critical decisions:

• Installing/uninstalling church officers.[17]
• Welcoming/excommunicating church members.[18]
• Discretionals—Other decisions of critical importance brought to the church at the discretion of the elders.[19]
• Appeals—The congregation may at times appeal decisions made by the officers if enough members are concerned.[20]

If we are to be a church that truly stewards the keys and authority of Christ responsibly we must hold together both the church’s officerial and congregational authority with great care and concern. Only then will we display for the world, not the mere baseness of man’s authority, but the sublimity of Christ’s!

May we all join together, then, as vital members of Christ’s body so that, in our unity, we might give him even more glorious visibility!

[1] Cf. 1 Cor. 6:15; Eph. 5:30
[2] Cf. Rom. 12:4-5
[3] Cf. Rom. 12:3; 1 Cor. 4:7
[4] Eph. 3:10; 1 Cor. 4:9
[5] Cf. Rom. 2:24
[6] Cf. 1 Cor. 13
[7] Rom. 12:3; 1 Cor. 12:11; Eph. 4:7
[8] Rom. 12:6-8; 1 Cor. 12:4-11; 28; Eph. 4:11-12
[9] Rev. 1:18; 3:7; cf. Isa. 22:22
[10] John 20:22; 1 Cor. 5:4
[11] 1 Pet. 2:9; cf. Rev. 22:5
[12] Matt. 16:19
[13] John 20:23
[14] Matt. 18:18; 1 Cor. 5:3-5; 6:2-3 (where the saints, not just the apostles or elders, will judge the world and even angels!); 2 Cor. 2:10
[15] The two offices mentioned along these lines in the New Testament are those of elder and deacon.
[16] Acts 6:3; 14:23; 15:2-3, 22; 2 Cor. 8:19; Titus 1:5
[17] For installing see footnote 16.  Uninstalling can be inferred from Gal. 1:8, 1 Tim. 5:19; 2 Tim. 4:3; Jude 3-4.
[18] 2 Cor. 2:5-11; Matt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 5.  Consider also that welcoming/excommunicating is inferred by the church’s use of the keys of the kingdom.
[19] Acts 15:1-29
[20] The ability for the church to bring accusation against and even uninstall church officers implies the need for an appeals process of some sort.

There are two mistakes that are commonly made with regard to children’s and youth ministries:

• From the side of the church, we must admit that a church’s children’s ministry can often be so focused on ministering to the kids that come through their doors each Sunday that they miss the strategic importance of partnering with the parents who are with these same kids all week long.
• From the side of the parents, on the other hand, it seems there is often a tendency to overplay the importance of their church’s children’s ministry in the spiritual life of their kids—as if that’s where the real discipleship and growth will take place for them.

In both cases, it’s the role of the parent that is being neglected.
 
God, on the other hand, speaks eloquently of the high calling He has placed on parents to be the leading influence for Him in the lives of their children. Consider Deuteronomy 6:4-9 as a prime example:


Before any pastor or leader is called to evangelize and disciple a child, God calls the parents of that child to the task! Because this same emphasis is found again and again throughout the Scriptures,[1] it is our conviction that any ministry seeking to reach children should emphasize it in their own mission as well.

Do we want to do our best to reach your kids with the gospel during our Sunday classes and special events throughout the year? Absolutely! But we also want to equip you to do the same every day of the week and all the year long—“when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.”

Therefore, Mercy Hill Kids and Youth ministries exist “to partner with parents . . . .”

When we think of the mission field we often think of someplace on the other side of the world with a sea or two in between. We talk about the 10/40 window and unreached people groups. But do we realize that with the birth of every child it’s as if God brings that 10/40 window to us?! We take an unreached person home with us from the hospital wrapped warmly in a blanket and strapped tightly in a car seat. The boundary line of the mission field lay not out there somewhere across oceans, but right here across from us in the living room, sitting next to us in high chairs around our dinner tables. To be sure, we desire to bring the gospel to the ends of the earth. But we begin by bringing the gospel to our children.

At Mercy Hill Kids and Youth, we believe that our volunteers are not mere "babysitters"—they are missionaries, sent ones of God! When they enter the classroom on a Sunday morning, they enter the mission field.

Therefore, Mercy Hill Kids and Youth ministries exist to partner with parents “to reach and raise the next generation . . . .”[2]

More than anything our kids need Jesus. Too often a church’s children’s and youth ministries can become about something less than this. It can become about providing kids with a solid friend group, or entertaining kids with fun activities, or instructing kids with biblical principles and commands, or mobilizing kids towards some sort of service or social action. All of these are fine and well in their place, but they are not the central, the fundamental, need of our children. They need Jesus! They need to meet Him, to see Him, to hear Him, to connect the dots between His work on the cross and the deep longings of their little hearts. Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory,[3] the climax of His plan,[4] the Savior of the world,[5] the Fountain of living water,[6] the Hope of eternal life,[7] and so much more. And He is all of this, not just for adults, but also, and especially, for kids![8]

Therefore, Mercy Hill Kids and Youth ministries exist to partner with parents to reach and raise the next generation “for Christ.”

[1] Cf. Gen. 18:19; Deut. 4:9-10; 6:20-25; 11:19; 32:46; Ps. 78:4-7; Prov. 22:6; Eph. 6:4; 2 Tim. 3:14-15
[2] For a humorous take on this point see: "Father of Three Wonders When He’ll Get a Chance to Influence Others for Christ".
[3] Heb. 1:3
[4] Luke 24:27, 44
[5] John 4:42; 1 John 4:14
[6] John 4:10; 7:38; Rev. 7:17
[7] Titus 3:7
[8] Matt. 21:16; Luke 10:21; 18:16-17

Meaningful community is hard to find in Silicon Valley, even in the church. The pace of life around us is frenetic; the jobs we hold are demanding, if not domineering; the grid we travel is congested; the neighborhoods are often lonely with people living parallel lives that rarely intersect. This is the cultural context of Mercy Hill. In an effort to counter such pressures and cultivate more of what we call the Christian “cross-culture” (a culture that looks like the cross), we will be starting a simple yet important initiative entitled All Church Hangouts.

Our congregation is spread out all over the valley. But there is one day of every week when we all commit to gather together and worship our God: Sunday. It seems strategic to take this pre-existing momentum and work with it in an attempt to develop deeper community within our body. Therefore, on occasional Sundays throughout the year we will invite the church to enjoy picnic-style afternoons together immediately following the service.

Bring your lunch or buy it (at one of the nearby restaurants) and join us at the picnic tables behind the school. We anticipate people trickling in and out. That is fine! This is less like a formal event and more like a family hangout. With the playgrounds, basketball courts, and fields nearby, people can linger after lunch and play together. We will have kickballs, basketballs, frisbees, etc. but feel free to bring whatever else you might enjoy (i.e. card games, a good book, water balloon launchers, etc.).

All Church Hangouts, while intended to be fun, are aiming at something much more profound and weighty. When the church gathers together to eat, talk, laugh, cry, pray, and play it is displaying and declaring in a powerful way that Christ is risen. Because Christ is risen, we can let Sunday linger in our hearts and our schedules. Because Christ is risen, we can rest! And we rest best together, as the family of God. Our hope is that members of our church will be strengthened in love for God and one another as they share more of their lives with each other.

There is also a missional component to this initiative that should not go unmentioned. As already noted, meaningful community is hard to find in our city. Yet every human being made in God’s image desperately needs it. When the church is truly being the church it is a compelling community. The unbelieving see in us something they know they were created for. They are intrigued by our community and just might be attracted to our God.

We have chosen a location for All Church Hangouts that might expose our church’s presence to the neighborhoods around. As we gather outside in this public place, it is our hope that we will rub shoulders with those from the houses nearby. We hope to talk with that single mom at the playground while our children play together. We hope to cheer and share with those families that are gathered at the fields to watch their son’s tournament. We hope to invite in those around to eat, laugh, cry, and play, and even pray with us. Again, we hope that they might be compelled by our community and come to worship our God.

We would also encourage you to see these Sundays as a good time to invite your friends to our church service. Many unbelievers might feel out of their element in a service, but they might really enjoy an afternoon picnic!

So would you consider joining with us in this? Let’s picnic and play for the glory of Christ and the good of our city!

How’s your vision? Are you farsighted? Nearsighted? Are things always a bit blurry? Or is everything in focus? If we want to function at full capacity in this world, if we want to experience the manifold richness that this life has to offer, our vision is essential. So is yours 20/20?

Mercy Hill’s 20/20 Vision is taken from Acts 20:20, where Paul is describing the ministry he had while with the church in Ephesus. Reading from verse 18 to verse 21 for context, let’s listen in to his conversation:


Paul’s gospel ministry fired on two critical cylinders: “in public” and “from house to house”; or, in terms we might be more familiar with, in large gatherings and in small groups. Any ministry or member that doesn’t incorporate both contexts is at risk of vision loss. Both are essential for seeing and showing Christ as he really is.

But, before we go any further, it’s important to point out that Paul didn’t invent this large-small dynamic. He inherited it. In fact, it’s been an essential part of the church from her inception. When three thousand were first added to the church after Peter’s Pentecost sermon, we are given window into this new community’s life and practice:


The 2/46 Vision doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as the 20/20 Vision, but the same reality is present here. The church was meeting together in “the temple” and “in their homes”—in large gatherings and in small groups.

But why? Why large and small? And what? What was the church doing in these contexts? It is quite refreshing to see that the values of our church today match the values of the church back then: Faith, Community, Mission.

• Faith: i.e. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…” (v. 42a).
• Community: i.e. “and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread…” (v. 42b).
• Mission: i.e. “And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved” (v. 47b).

These values become the vital signs of a healthy church. And these vital signs become, then, our battle guides. We are fighting to grow in Faith (the upper front), Community (the inner front), and Mission (the outer front). And the 20/20 Vision says this battle, if we are to be most effective, must be waging at both a large gathering and small group level. When our ministries and members are taking both contexts into account faith increases, community deepens, and mission expands. Again, both are essential for seeing and showing Christ as he really is.

So then, if we are only pursuing Faith, Community, and Mission at a large gathering level, then many children of God might fall between the cracks, faltering and failing to grow. Anonymity would become the new norm as people are allowed to slip in and out without ever knowing others or being known themselves. We would miss the richness of the Scripture’s “one-another”s. Our faith, community, and mission would be big and loud but lack the depth required to sustain such magnitude. Consider our physical bodies. However big and strong they appear, they are only as healthy as their smallest cells.

On the other hand, if we are only pursuing our values at a small group level, the church and her members can become ingrown, cliquish, self-centered. Myopia would become the new norm as people grow closer to their small groups but further from the church’s membership and mission at large. We would miss the grand theater of God’s glory that is the gathered church—the fully functioning body of Christ that puts the myriad facets of his personality, ministry, and authority on display.

So how’s your vision? Are you farsighted? Nearsighted? Anonymous? Myopic? Are you pursuing our values—the vital signs of a healthy church and battle guides for our spiritual mission—at both a large gathering and small group level? You won’t see and show Christ clearly if you aren’t. But oh how you will if you are! Here’s to pursuing 20/20 vision together!