Merritt Anderson

One of the most striking aspects of Luke’s account of the birth of Christ is who was first chosen to receive news of His birth. In our human wisdom it would be plausible for the King of Kings, God in the flesh, the second person of Trinity, and the Word of God in the flesh to arrive with much pomp and circumstance. World leaders at that time should have been notified. Kings, Caesars, generals of large armies, and the like would certainly be on the list of people we’d likely want to notify. Not God the Father. His birth announcement went first to some of most normal people in first century society … shepherds.

The Father didn’t skimp on His announcement either. He sent a brilliant and dazzling angel to announce this most important news. Shocking! God the Father signaled that His Son, our Lord & Savior, was making a statement with this announcement. Shepherds, some of the world’s most common people in those days, were important enough in the eyes of the Father to hear the world’s greatest news.

For all of the years since Jesus Christ’s birth, perfect life, willing sacrificial death, and resurrection, God the Father is still very much pleased to come to similarly everyday people with the greatest news this world will ever hear. A Savior has been born … a King who reigns over all the earth and has made reconciliation with God possible for those who would have had no hope prior to His arrival.

Many of us wonder what the future holds for us and often we may have questions about the future rolling through our minds. Will there be prosperity? Will there ever be peace in our extended family? Will I experience a significant trial or trouble? What is my bank account going to look like in 10 years? There are obviously many more questions that could be added.

Living life without a clear view of the future is a challenge to most, if not all, of us. When we think about the future from a purely human perspective, we are left with tremendous uncertainty and very few guarantees as we try to peer into the haze ahead of us. For the believer, however, the future has certainties in this life and the life beyond because of God’s promises through His word. Those who have turned from their sins and placed their faith in Christ can now live life knowing that the God who spoke the universe into existence is sovereignly ruling over every big and small aspect of our lives. The Bible speaks often of the benefits we receive living as God’s children under His perfect and never-failing reign. Psalm 121 is a song meant to remind God’s people of one of the great realities that is always true of us as we live life here without a perfectly clear view of the future—that God is our constant help and protection.

Please read Psalm 121 and join us this Sunday so we can benefit from this passage together.

Missiology is a real word, I promise. It's a word we don't hear very often in the church but it's an important word because it is the study of mission in the Bible. This has tremendous import for how we think about global missions, the role of the local church, and our own lives. Whether or not we were aware of this, a lot is being written these days about mission. Believers are being told to live "missional" lives and to be "on mission" wherever they are. This can be a good thing when the Bible is given the chance to define "mission" and what "missional" living is to look like.

This Sunday we're going to have the privilege to let the Bible define mission on three levels. We're going to hear from Scripture that the center of any true mission from God's perspective is the Gospel and its advance to those who have not yet heard and believed. Sunday's message will define global missions as we hear about the Gospel's advance to the ends of the earth. We will hear about the critical role the local church is to play since it is the centerpiece of God's mission here on earth in this era of redemptive history. Finally, we will also learn to think biblically about our individual role in God's plan to seek and save a people for Himself. Since the Gospel's advance is in view it would be difficult to overstate the importance of this Sunday's topic!

After a two month break we're re-convening Saturday, September 8 [8-10a] for our first Men's Ministry Large Group meeting of the new church year. These meetings occur every first Saturday of the month. Our topic throughout the better part of the upcoming year is critical for every man who considers himself a believer in Christ - Biblical Manhood.

The world has a lot to say about the role of men. TV sitcoms more often than not paint men as weak dummies who rarely get off the couch to do anything. Beer commercials, exercise advertisements, and the abundance of sports channels often tell us we should be hip, free, in great physical shape, and that real men must be into or gifted in sports. So what is a real man supposed to do? How are we supposed to act? What are our highest priorities?

Thankfully, the Bible has much to say to men about their role in their homes, the lives of their children, the local church, and their work. Throughout the Bible, God has left us a very clear definition of our roles, His goals for us, & the promise of help to live these things out. The great news for us is that we live in a season of the church age where God has called some gifted men to help us think through these biblical truths so we can begin to make some progress.

While our primary source will be God's Word to define these things, we also want to benefit from resources that highly exalt, lean heavily on, and helpfully explain God's Word. With that in mind, please plan to purchase The Masculine Mandate: God's Calling to Men by Richard D. Phillips and start reading through it. I will have a few copies on hand for people to purchase for $10 at the first meeting. You will not need to read before our first meeting September 8.

Doctrine. What comes to your mind when you hear that word? Does your mind run to thick, heavy, and old dusty books in the pastor's office? Maybe you've heard that doctrine is one of the "hard-to-understand" aspects of the Christian faith. Or, maybe you've heard that studying doctrine is something best left to the "professionals."

One of the great revivals in churches today is the renewed interest in the study and application of doctrine. Doctrine (or what the whole Bible teaches about some particular topic) is nothing new since these key truths appear right in the storyline of the Bible! When we're looking for it we find that we constantly run into various doctrines while studying Scripture. Words like justification, reconciliation, adoption, redemption, and many more were purposely sprinkled throughout our Bibles as the Holy Spirit superintended the writing of Scripture. What we don't know about the Christian life can hurt us and it's our desire that each of us be more equipped to engage in the fight of faith in our Christian life.

Here at Grace we want to emphasize what Scriptures emphasize so we can enjoy the grace of God to the fullest. In the coming weeks we are going to take four Sunday mornings to teach through a few critical doctrines every Christian needs to know.

We're also recommending a few books that you might find helpful as part of your regular quiet times in the coming weeks or months.