Upcoming Preaching Schedule

May 26th
11AM: Godless (Part 1) Job 27:7-10
6  PM: Godless (Part 2) Job 27:7-10

June 2nd
11AM: Pastor Merle Preaching
6  PM: Pastor Merle Preaching

June 9th
11AM: The Spear (Lord's Supper Service) John 19:34
6  PM:  Godless (Part 3) Job 27:7-10

June 16th
11AM: Lessons on Shepherding from the Good Shepherd (Part 1) Psalm 23
6  PM:  Lessons on Shepherding from the Good Shepherd (Part 2) Psalm 23

June 23rd - THE GREAT EIGHT
Our verse by verse exposition of Romans 8 begins.

Order of Worship - May 5th, 2013

3 Hymns I've Been Loving Lately

There Is a Land of Pure Delight by Isaac Watts

There is a land of pure delight,
Where saints immortal reign,
Infinite day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain.

There everlasting spring abides,
And never withering flowers:
Death, like a narrow sea, divides
This heav’nly land from ours.

Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood
Stand dressed in living green:
So to the Jews old Canaan stood,
While Jordan rolled between.

But timorous mortals start and shrink
To cross this narrow sea;
And linger, shivering on the brink,
And fear to launch away.

O could we make our doubts remove,
Those gloomy thoughts that rise,
And see the Canaan that we love
With unbeclouded eyes!

Could we but climb where Moses stood,
And view the landscape o’er,
Not Jordan’s stream, nor death’s cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore.

There Is No Night in Heaven by Francis Knollis

There is no night in heaven;
in that blest world above
work never can bring weariness,
for work itself is love.

There is no grief in heaven;
for life is one glad day;
and tears are of those former things
which all have passed away.

There is no sin in heaven;
behold that blessèd throng:
all holy is their spotless robe,
all holy is their song!

There is no death in heaven;
for they who gain that shore
have won their immortality,
and they can die no more.

Lord Jesus, be our Guide;
O lead us safely on,
till night and grief and sin and death
are past, and heaven is won!

This last one is actually a combination of two hymns that I've been playing/singing as one.  The two hymns are Stand Up, My Soul by Isaac Watts and Oft in Danger, Oft in Woe by Henry Kirke White

Stand up, my soul; shake off thy fears,
And gird the gospel armor on.
March to the gates of endless joy,
Where your great Captain, Savior's gone.

Oft in danger, oft in woe,
Onward, Christian, onward go:
Fight the fight, maintain the strife,
Strengthened with the Bread of Life.

Stand up, my soul!  Stand up, my soul!

Hell and your sins resist your course,
But hell and sin are vanquished foes:
Your Jesus nailed them to His cross,
And sung the triumph when he rose.

Onward Christians, onward go.
Join the war and face the foe.
Faint not; much doth yet remain;
Dreary is the long campaign.

Stand up, my soul!  Stand up, my soul!

Then let my soul march boldly on,
Press forward to the heav'nly gate;
There peace and joy eternal reign,
And glitt'ring robes for conqu'rors wait.

Shrink not, Christians, will ye yield?
Will ye quit the painful field?
Will ye flee in danger's hour?
Know ye not your Captain's power?
Let your drooping hearts be glad:
March in heavenly armor clad:
Fight, nor think the battle long,
Victory soon shall tune your song.

Stand up, my soul!  Stand up, my soul!
Stand up, my soul!  Stand up, my soul!

Let not woe your course impede,
Great your strength if great your need.
Let not sorrow dim your eye,
Soon shall every tear be dry.

Order of Worship - April 28th, 2013

Order of Worship - April 21st, 2013

Order of Worship - April 14th, 2013

Reasons Young Adults Forsake the Church

Reasons Young Adults Forsake the Church

KEY TEXTS: Psalm 145:1-7; Proverbs 22:6

Statistics

40% of American teenagers attend church weekly (National Study of Youth and Religion)

20% of American young adults attend church weekly (NSYR)

Half of all teenagers who grow up attending church weekly stop when they become young adults.

3 out of 5 (59%) of Americans who identify themselves as “Christian” disconnect from church either permanently or for an extended period after age 15 (Barna)

A Summary of Reasons that Young Adults Offered for Why They No Longer Attend Church (Barna)

1. Their church was too overprotective.

2. Their church experience was shallow.

3. Their church was antagonistic to science.

4. Their church handled questions relating to sex in an over-simplistic, judgmental way.

5. Their church insisted on the exclusivity of Christ and yet seemed afraid of the beliefs of other religions.

6. Their church seemed unfriendly towards those struggling with doubts.

Interesting Statistics from the NSYR

- Only 11% of young adults who stopped attending church indicated that it was because of “disbelief”.

- 41% of young adults who stopped attending church said either “I don’t know” or “No reason”.

- 17% said that they just weren’t interested in church anymore.

What the NSYR researchers found is that the young adults who were most likely to stop attending church were those who, though they basically believed the “right” things, lacked a real understanding of those beliefs, appreciation of their importance, and ability to apply them to their everyday experiences.  According to Christian Smith, director of the NSYR project and author of two books on the subject of youth and religion, it was as if the teenagers and young adults were being asked to speak a “second language” that sounded confused and awkward, especially when it came to how their “faith” impacted their daily lives.  Smith coined the term “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism” to describe what he and his colleagues frequently heard in their interviews.  Most young people believe that God created the world and sent Jesus to die for their sins, but in terms of their everyday experiences, God seems to be little more than a cosmic therapist (to make them “feel loved, happy, secure,” etc.) and giver of moral advice (to teach them how to be “good” people and occasionally help them resolve their “problems”).

Is it any surprise, then, that so many young adults (about 80% of them)...make such little effort to nurture a “faith” that is so shallow, impersonal, bland, and inconsequential?  Why would young people, in the midst of their busy lives, go through the trouble of going to church when they can get the same “advice” or “inspiration” they’re looking for by reading Chicken Soup for the Soul or watching an episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show?  Such a “faith” hardly seems worth rearranging one’s life around.  Sure, these young adults were agreeable enough to attend church as teenagers without much kicking and screaming, but now that they have the freedom to make their own decisions, they are merely giving church the level of commitment that they have always felt it deserved (which isn’t very much). - John Rohrman

Some Lessons

-         The utter importance of the gospel and regeneration

-         The importance of giving our teenagers real depth in the things of God, and not watering things down for them.

-         The importance of a biblical worldview that rightly understands the role of the local church.

-         The importance of parents and churches lovingly and patiently walking alongside teenagers and helping them make sense of life, culture, sex, science, other religions, etc. in a way that reflects our confidence in God’s Word and doesn’t condemn them for having questions or doubts.