Side by Side – Part 3 (of 3)

The first two posts in this series have offered two observations coming out of 1 Timothy 5:1-16 which may help a church family to further consider what it means to honour and care for those who are most vulnerable.

In the first post, we observed that the widow of 1 Tim 5 was akin to the ‘vulnerable’ today.

In the second post, we observed that when caring for a person in need – everyone is different and everyone can play a part. Five pointers were offered in how to do that.

In this last post, I would like to recommend a good book that works hard to offer principled and practical suggestions for getting alongside a person whom we are trying to love.

Side by Side – Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love by Edward T. Welch (Wheaton: Crossway, 2015).

Side by Side by Edward Welch is a quick and helpful read, written by a Christian counselor who has practiced and written in the fields of depression, fear and addiction for decades.

The aim of the book is to identify skills that Christians can learn and then use in caring for others. His basic idea is that those who help best are the ones who both need help and give help.

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Lessons Learned

Friends it has been a while since the last 5pm Update (a good indication that things have been a bit full on!) – in fact there has not been an update since I returned from Study Leave for Easter. Thanks for allowing me time to get away.

Study Leave meant that I could attend a series of Conferences, visit a series of Churches and check-out some theological colleges. Refreshing? – Yes! Challenging? – At times! Educational? – Mostly! Beneficial? – I hope so, but you will need to be the judge of that.

There were so many times that I just felt immensely thankful to God for Trinity City and for 5pm Church and for the leaders we have and for the ministry that we do – and thankful because I could see other examples in the States of similar ministries or conversely I could see examples of things that were not done half as well as how Trinity does it (under God of course).

Here are 5 reflections with 5 corresponding challenges which may be of benefit for us.

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Imagine a World Without Justice…

Imagine a world without justice. Our first reaction when we see injustice is ‘Someone should fix that!’; ‘Where’s a policeman when you need one?’; or ‘There should be a law against that!’. Most of us don’t like injustice when we see it against others, and particularly when we experience against ourselves.

The event that took place on ‘Good Friday’ amounts to injustice on a grand scale.

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Why leave a ‘church’?

The question ‘Why leave a ‘church?’ may be a dangerous question to ask, especially on a church blog!

The reality is that all churches have people leave them – for both wise and unwise reasons. It is worth spending some time thinking about why one would take the step of leaving a ‘church’ and then further considering how to do that well. That said, I am hoping that no one reading this will in fact leave 5pm Church as a result!

In the previous two articles we have considered ‘What is ‘Church’?’ and then ‘What t o expect of ‘Church’?‘ which as background should help establish that leaving a church should be thought about carefully – that is not a decision that should be made hastily or prayerlessly. If ‘church’ is about God’s people gathering as a family in Christ around his Word, it should give some pause for thought to a person when deciding to stay or to go. Leaving means leaving a family and a place where God’s word should be key to their fellowship.

Changing churches or leaving church altogether is no small thing.

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What to expect of ‘Church’?

The beginning of the year is often the time when people check out church (‘It is a new year, thought I would give it a go’), join church (‘I have moved and want to make this my church’) or leave church (‘I am making a life change’).

As such, it is reasonable that one consider ‘What should I expect of ‘Church’?’.

In the last update we considered ‘What is Church?’ and suggested that church was a place for believers (whilst still open to not-yet believers) and a place where God’s people gathered as a family in Christ. Expectations of church then are important because they help a person decide whether this church is doing what it should be or not.

There are a couple of ways to arrive at an answer.

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Testimony

James

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Why was James labelled by his school classmates as a ‘square’, ‘goody-goody-two-shoes’ and ‘teacher’s pet’?

‘I was the good kid—the one who obeyed the rules and did what the teachers asked. Why did I behave like that? Was it because I thought my efforts would earn me rewards? Was I seeking accolades and recognition? Was I trying to make up for something bad I’d done in the past?

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A Wrong Form of Devotion

Another horror week.

Suicide bombings in Beirut have killed 43 people and left 238 wounded. A suicide bombing at a funeral in Baghdad killed 19 people and left 31 wounded. And coordinated attacks in Paris have killed 129 people and left 352 wounded.

We are appalled, grieved and saddened.

There is something desperately wrong with an ideology which by direction or by implication can lead to the killing of one for the sake of another’s personal devotion.

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Then they will know that I am LORD

‘Then they will know that I am their Lord’ (Ezekiel 28:26)

One of the clearest ways that we know that God is Lord is when we feel the consequence of his judgement. We are in common company here. Time and time again throughout the Old Testament, both Israel (God’s people) and the foreign nations felt the wrath of God as a consequence of his judgment – and in it realized that the God of Israel was in indeed Lord.

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Death of the Wicked

You may not know this. I was born in the USA. I still hold my US passport and defend my heritage although I have lived in Australia since I was 10.

This week I have felt very conflicted and it would not be hard to work out why. The news of the killing of Osama Bin Laden has been greeted with relief, praise and joy. He has been the figurehead of evil in the minds of many for the past decade. For those who have been connected in any way to the terrorist attacks in Nairobi (1998), Yemen (2000), New York (2001), Washington (2001), United Flight 93 (2001), Bali (2002 to 2005), Iraq (2003), Madrid (2004), London (2005) and elsewhere, his death in many ways will allow another stage of healing in the cycle of grief.

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Anzac Day & Easter

There is a strange tension in the way that our world relates to both Easter and Anzac Day

Anzac Day quite rightly asks us to pause and remember the sacrifice of our forefathers who went to battle and in many cases never returned. They fought for the freedoms that we now enjoy and willingly laid down their lives to keep the enemy at bay. It is a good thing that our society protects and honours our Anzacs.

Easter asks us to pause and remember the life, death and resurrection of Jesus who went into battle to deal with our rebellion and returned to confirm that he had achieved what he promised. He died for the forgiveness of our sin, but not just our sin, that of all people – family, friend, neighbour, and even foe.

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