The following is a critical review of the Netflix movie, "Mary." As a church, we want to encourage our members and attendees to be discerning of all forms of media and entertainment. This review is meant to serve as an aid as you consider if this is appropriate for your family.

The Netflix film, "Mary," presents a backstory of the Virgin Mary primarily drawn from the apocryphal Protoevangelium of James, a source rejected by the early church and lacking historical or scriptural validation. While the film loosely aligns with certain Catholic traditions, it departs from key Roman Catholic doctrines such as the perpetual virginity of Mary and the Immaculate Conception. Additionally, the film portrays elements that may be problematic for Catholic and evangelical audiences alike, including a romanticized portrayal of Mary and Joseph’s relationship and a secularized tone devoid of clear theological or spiritual depth.

Though visually stunning and entertaining, the film does not align with a biblically grounded view of Mary or the Gospel. Its diluted message risks misleading viewers by promoting narratives and themes that deviate from Scripture. Therefore, we encourage congregants to approach this film with discernment and to prioritize biblical accounts that emphasize God’s redemptive work through Mary as the mother of Jesus, rather than speculative or secularized storytelling.

Mark Bates
EFC Elder & OCS Administrator 

On April 19th (at OCS Junior High chapel) and 21st (in the morning service and Sunday school), EFC Oroville hosted Sharla Wiesner, who- along with her husband, Russell- are teaching and church-planting in Cambodia. Being new to our missions committee, I had never had the opportunity to be involved in hosting a missionary.

I had the honor and privilege of introducing her to the congregation and also to make sure she had what she needed in the way of comfort and facilitation. In that it was a new experience for me, I have to admit that I was a bit nervous. But, as I talked to her, I was put at ease by finding Sharla a very quiet and accommodating person… and passionate! One could tell she was “still waters running deep” and that she was continuing to fully embrace the passion that she and Russell have had in their ministry of 25+ years- and in three countries, Papua New Guinea, Thailand, and now, Cambodia… And with six kids!

One thing that struck me, and something to which I had never given much thought… Missionaries have lives stateside as well, and sometimes have difficult circumstances to deal with off of the field. In this case, Sharla had to leave Russell in Cambodia and come back to the US to support a daughter who had had a difficult pregnancy and help facilitate her mother. She would have to be gone from her husband and ministry for a significant time to do what she had to do for her family here.

This really got me thinking about how much missionaries have to, in a different way than us, draw on the grace of the Father. It’s something that I have always taken for granted. I knew that being in international ministry, oversees missionaries have to come back to the States periodically have a respite and to raise funds to continue in the field. In getting to know Sharla, I can now see how they have to juggle their lives in ministry abroad and with their families that are away from them elsewhere.

I found with Sharla- and am finding with other ministries- that most of the prayers they need are for their personal circumstances as much as for financial support. Please pray for the families of those we support in the mission field. They are people just like us and face a lot of the same challenges.

Rick Gentry
EFC Mission Committee

The Trap of “He Gets Us”

This past weekend, as millions of people were watching the Super Bowl (myself included), paying closer attention to commercials than during our normal television watching, one advertisement probably caught the attention of many of you. We’re used to advertisements for beer, movie trailers, and cars we can’t afford, but this one had the name “Jesus” in it. So, you might have stopped what you doing, paused your trip to the kitchen to get a snack, silenced your conversations as you anticipated a biblical message of love and gospel hope. What we were subjugated to was a 60 second lecture on dangers of hate and how we need to imitate Jesus’ love by washing the feet of others.

You may have seen this ad and agreed with its message. You might wonder why anyone would take issue with this sort of commercial. You might have thought, “shouldn’t we strive to be less hateful and more serving to others?” However, there are several things wrong with this message, and, as Christians, we must practice discernment and hold things up against scripture to see if they are true.

Yes, Jesus took the posture of a servant and washed, not only the feet of his friends and closest followers, but he also washed the feet of one enemy, Judas. So, in that sense, we could point to the ad as being an accurate portrayal of Jesus’ attitude. However, to only represent Jesus as someone who loves and serves people no matter what, is categorically false. Jesus did, and does, love people in their sin, but he always calls people to repent and turn from their sin. In no way does Jesus ever accept or condone sinful behavior. And this is the problem with the “He Gets Us” campaign.

It doesn’t take much research to find assertions of love, acceptance, and forgiveness of the “He Gets Us” website. They have numerous articles that include statements such as “Throughout our shared history, Jesus has represented the ultimate good that humankind is capable of aspiring to.” It does take a good bit of digging to discover that nowhere do the people behind #hegetsus ever acknowledge Jesus Christ as the perfect, sinless Son of God who came to earth to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin, dying for those who would believe in him and who was resurrected and now sitting at the right hand of God, pronouncing judgment upon the world. In short, nowhere does this movement ever preach the true gospel.

And this is the trap of “He Gets Us”, and the social gospel movement as a whole. On the surface it sounds good. It uses language that most Christians would not be opposed to. Christians should desire to help those in need. Christians should not promote hatred of any person. Christians should be known for their practices of love, grace, and forgiveness. But that is not the gospel. These are effects of the gospel, but they in and of themselves, are not the gospel. Serving someone is not sharing the gospel. Practicing benevolence and charity is not sharing the gospel. To share the gospel, is to tell people about their need for a Savior because of sin, and how Jesus Christ died on our behalf and was raised from the dead, and then call people to repent of their sin and follow Christ.

Without a true sharing of the gospel, people are not given hope of salvation. In fact, they are given something much more, a hope in themselves, a hope that if they would just promote love over hate then Jesus will accept them. This is why we must speak up when we hear false gospels being promoted. It’s why the Apostle Paul wrote so many of his letters to churches, to warn them of the dangers of embracing a false gospel. One of Satan’s strongest weapons is to present false gospels in the hopes that it will distract them from the truth. May we practice discernment and point people to the true Jesus that they may find salvation and eternal life.

Soli deo gloria,
Pastor Brian

P.S. If you want a better message of hope, check out this video here.

Happy New Year! Warm greetings to you all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Each year I take some time to think about what thoughts and ideas should be guiding me through my life and ministry. Usually that leads to a guiding verse that will help me in my decision-making, planning, prayer life, and leadership in the church. Upon further prayer and reflection, here are some of the major foci that I will have for this new year. I invite you to consider them for yourselves in 2024.

1.Passion for Christ. I want everything that I do this year to be motivated by a deep love for the Savior who first loved me. I want to see His power at work in my life. I desire to please Him in all that I do. In Philippians 3:10-11, Paul says: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” Paul’s deepest desire was love for and fellowship with the Christ who had saved him. That is my first and foremost desire for this year.

2.Purity of Heart. In Matthew 5:8, Jesus said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” It is my desire that the Lord continue to cleanse my heart, rooting out residual sin, and revealing to me those things I’m still holding back from Him. I want the sanctifying effects of salvation to take deeper root in me. Purity of heart results in purity of life and purity of mind. May the Lord work in my heart, and in the heart of each one who claims the Name of Christ, as we seek Him and serve Him in the new year.

3.Purpose in Action. We are each given only 24 hours in a day, and we do not know how many more days the Lord will give to us. Thus, we cry out with the Psalmist in 90:12: “So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.” Proverbs 9:10 says: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” May we seek His wisdom, in reverence and humility, as we think through what we do, say, plan, hope to achieve, and desire in 2024. May we examine all of those things in light of His Kingdom purposes, so that our lives truly matter and have an impact that lasts not only for today, but unto eternity.

4.Proclamation of Truth. We are surrounded by a cacophony of lying voices, deceiving thoughts, and false teachers. Thus, we need to hear clearly the Word of God, and then be a clarion voice to a confused and sin-filled culture. We are called to proclaim the Truth and to love the Truth, because it is the Truth alone that can save, sanctify, and set free a person from evil. Jesus prayed in John 17:17: “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” We are not called to tell people what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. It is only through hearing the Truth that they can know how to have a right standing before a Holy God, and know how to grow in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

5.Prayer as a Way of Life. It is true that God is Sovereign in all things. He knows all things and does all things well. Yet, in the mystery of His decree and plan, He is pleased to use us to accomplish His divine, eternal, and Kingdom purposes. Our God not only predestines the ends; He also predestines the means to those ends. One of the means to accomplishing His divine plan is the prayers of His people. Thus, Paul reminds us in Ephesians 6:18 of the need to be “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for the saints.” May this year be a year of growing prayer dependency on our great God and Savior. I hope that we see a renewed emphasis on prayer, not only in our private lives, but in our connection groups, in our Bible studies, and especially in our public Life as a believing community.

These five principles – Passion for Christ; Purity of Heart; Purpose in Action; Proclamation of Truth; Prayer as a way of life – are the marks of a growing and Spirit-led community. I ask you to join me in prayer so that we see these things more and more in our lives. I invite you to pray along with me that we become more and more a community that is marked by a love for the Truth, a love for Christ, and a love for one another. As I reflect on this next year, I have chosen 2 Corinthians 7:1 as the verse that I want to guide my life this year. I commend it to you as well in your walk with the Lord in 2024.

“Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.”

I wish you all a joyful, fruitful, faithful, Christ-centered, and Spirit-led 2024. To him be all the glory, both for now and forevermore. Amen.

Senior Pastor Gregg Hensel

I arrived in California  late on a Saturday night.

 I was very nervous, anxious, and scared.

That Sunday I was greeted with smiles, kind words, and a few hugs. After being blessed by meeting the people at EFC Oroville, all my worries disappeared.

The first few weeks of my internship were heavily focused on VBS, and youth camp, working alongside the Student Ministries Assistant, Jacob Lasagna. Every day Jacob and I would get all the items needed for camp, as well as preparing the materials for the children’s Sunday school teachers. At camp I had the privilege of teaching the junior high boys in our small groups. Out of everything I helped with at youth camp, my favorite part was getting to teach these boys, and getting to know them.  We all had a great time playing  games, hanging out, and eating great food. Watching these guys hanging out together and getting along with each other was a great encouragement to me.

Not long after camp had come and gone, VBS had snuck up on us, and it was time to start getting our hands dirty. There were so many volunteers helping with VBS in so many different ways. The few weeks before VBS were the most stressful for me because of the skit practices and putting up decorations while trying to get ready for Sunday. All of the work we did preparing for VBS was one hundred percent worth it, because over 150 children were able to hear the gospel during those 5 days, and if that doesn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will.

After camp and VBS had sadly passed, the student ministries planned some different breakfast Bible studies, which have been going great. The youth have learned about forgiveness and how to forgive, while eating a delicious breakfast provided by Brian. Jacob has been doing a great job teaching on the Holy Spirit and what the roles of the Holy Spirit are for Wednesday night Bible study.  I have been teaching on prayer and how to pray in Sunday school. We have gone through the Lord’s prayer and different prayers in the Bible, and studied to see how we can use those as an example to pray. We have learned much more, but if I was to include it all this article would go on forever.

This experience has helped me grow spiritually in many different ways. One way is learning to trust in God’s providence.  I have no need to worry because God, our Father, is in complete control, and I know everything works out for my good as Romans 8:28 says. I am thankful that I was able to have the opportunity to be EFC Oroville’s summer intern, and have greatly enjoyed my time here.

I would like to thank the elders of the church for considering me, and having me here. I’d like to thank my uncle Brian and aunt Allissa  and their  family for welcoming me into their household.  I would also like to thank Jacob Lasagna for  his help and patience with me as I learn what it means to be in ministry.  He has been a blessing to me in more ways than one this summer.

Lastly, I would like to thank you, the church. Thank you for being so kind  and generous to me.  Lord willing, I hope we can cross paths again in the future.

To God be the Glory,
Eli Clardy

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
Pastor Gregg Hensel

In Luke 6 we find Jesus teaching on the ethics of the Kingdom of God. After a night of prayer, he chooses the apostles, descends down the mountain to a level place, and preaches to those gathered there. The things he teaches about at that time are as diverse as they are challenging to understand and to live out.

In 6:45, after speaking about two types of trees and their fruit, he says that what a person utters with his lips is an accurate reflection of what is going on in his heart. With that sober warning still ringing in their ears, he then asks the question of 6:46: “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”

In Scripture, whenever we see a repetition of one’s name, it reveals a level of familiarity and intimacy. Think of some examples with me: “Abraham, Abraham” in Gen. 22:11. “Moses, Moses” in Exod. 3:14. “Samuel, Samuel” in 1 Kgs. 3. “Martha, Martha” in Lk. 10:41. “Simon, Simon” in Lk. 22:31. “My God, My God” in Matt. 27:46. While many more examples could be produced, in each case the repetition of the name shows that there is a deep, close, and personal relationship between God and the people mentioned. God knows them and they know Him. This relationship is expressed in love, intimacy, and obedience.

The word “Lord” can be translated as “Master”. A master, of course, is one who has authority over another and has the right to expect fealty and fidelity to his authority. If we confess Jesus as Lord, then He is the One to whom we owe allegiance with our lips and with our lives. Jesus has no room for mere lip service to Him and His Kingdom.

If we belong to him, Jesus says, then we do not get to pick and choose which of His words we will follow or obey. To claim to be a follower of Christ, and then to act contrarily to His word, shows that we do not belong to Him. Such a way of living forfeits the right to use terms of intimacy with the Lord. “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do what I tell you?” Perhaps, to test the level of our devotion to Him, He may ask questions like the following:

Do you spend more time listening to His voice than to the voices and opinions of others (TV, radio, internet, family, friends, etc.)?
Do you do what you want to do, even if you know it is not right?
Do you prioritize Bible reading and prayer, attending church, sharing the Gospel, serving others in Jesus’ name, etc. over all other activities and events?
Does your choice of how you utilize your time, spend your money, and use your talents square with God’s priorities of those things?
Do you treasure the LORD more than you treasure any other person or thing?

The answers you provide to these questions indicate whether Jesus is really the Lord of your life. As Jesus said in Matt. 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Today, can you really say, “Lord, Lord” to Him? Do you have that intimate relationship of love and obedience that the repetition of His name implies?

As Jesus sums up this sermon (Lk. 6:47-49), he tells of two types of people, with two types of outcomes. One builds his life on the foundation of Jesus Christ. The other builds on the “stuff” of this world. In both cases, there will be trials, challenges, difficulties, and struggles. The outcome of the “flood” of these trials reveals the true nature of the foundation. The one who is building upon Jesus and putting his hope in Jesus will be able to withstand the storms of life because the foundation is strong. By listening to Jesus, by living according to His ways and words, by doing things His way against the ways of the world, you are living on a firm foundation that will never give way, no matter what life may bring.

However, the one who builds on the surface is the one who build his life on the things of this world. This may include the latest trends of the culture, the thoughts and opinions of the world, or human strength and ingenuity instead of the strength of the Lord. If you think about it, building your trust on others instead of on God is foolish. Do not look for your friends, your family, your job, your activities, to provide for you what only Jesus can give.

The one building on the surface without a foundation will be swept away one day, suddenly and without remedy. In 35 years of ministry, I have seen this tragedy happen to many people. They claimed to be Christians and to believe in Christ, but there was little fruit in their lives because they pursued their own desires. And when trials came, they couldn’t endure them. They turned against God instead of turning to God.

The time to get ready for trials is now. Go to Christ. Put your trust in Him. Surrender your own thinking, your own desires, and your own rights to Jesus because He is the LORD. Otherwise do not waste your time, or His, by calling Him “Lord, Lord” and living the way you want to live. You’re not doing Jesus a favor by calling Him, “Lord.” He is the LORD! However, you are doing yourself a favor – an eternal favor – by living according to His Lordship, following His words, and walking in His ways.

So, dear one, what is the foundation of your life? Will that foundation hold when trials come? If I were to see you in 10 years, will you still be walking with the LORD, or will you be like so many who have left and have gone after the world? For those who are trusting in Christ, this message is a word of hope. You can have confidence, joy, and assurance, knowing that you are founded on Jesus whatever may come. For those still playing the game of Christianity, this comes as a warning. You want the benefits of Christianity without the cost of the cross. You want the fruit of blessing and righteousness, but you are not the right kind of tree. You are not willing to do the hard work of building your life on Jesus. I call upon you to repent and surrender to Jesus everything in your life. Build on the rock and you will live.

Side By Side
Carol Hensel
New house, new town, new job, … new church. It can feel rather overwhelming and lonely.
Imagine stepping foot in a brand-new church and, 2 hours later, having been greeted by eight individuals. Eight Christians took an interest in you, the newcomer. They welcomed you, asked for your name, and indicated a desire to get to know you. Phew!

To be seen, noticed, valued – how crucial. You will remember the biblical sermon you heard, the solid teaching at that church, and in addition, you will cherish the handshakes, the smiles, the ‘Welcome’!  

New burdens, old wounds, lingering fears, … never-ending needs. It can feel overwhelming and lonely.

Imagine stepping foot in a friend’s living room and, 2 hours later, leaving refreshed and encouraged.

A dear friend cared about you, you and your needs. She listened to you, cried with you, and prayed for you. Phew!

To be seen, noticed, valued – how crucial! You will remember the welcoming hospitality, the refreshing drink, most of all, you will cherish the love, the care, the prayer!
At times, we are the ones stepping foot in the new church, the needy ones who long to be welcomed.

Oftentimes, we are the ones who carry burdens and long for the care of a friend. We are the needy ones.

An uncomfortable reality, but a reality nonetheless. Who gladly embraces neediness, frailty, and weakness?
We are needy, but we are also needed.

We need to be one of the eight who welcomes, who befriends, who cares. We need to be the friend who welcomes, who listens, who prays.

Reflect with me. How am I at quickly reaching the newcomer who is about to get into his car? Potentially missing out on coffee and donuts, and time with a close friend.

Do I remember the names of the kids on the church playground? Or of the returning visitor?
Will my friend know that her burden will become mine if she opens up to me? Can she count on my compassion during trouble, and my desperate and truth-filled prayer on her behalf?
And, will she know that I am just as needy? I need to hear her pray for me; I need her reminders of God’s promises and character.

God designed for us to walk side by side because we are all needy and needed.

That is the idea that the women want to dive into and grow in over the summer. In small groups, we want to read the book by Edward Welch entitled ‘Side By Side – Walking in Wisdom and Love’. So much to learn, but how exciting to envision the impact of growing in this area!

Not convinced this is for you? Read the intro by Lydia Brownback to the study guide of Welch’s book. On page 4 of her notes (Crossway, 2015), she writes:

“’We all need help—that’s simply part of being human.’ 

So writes Edward T. Welch, author of Side by Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love. It’s relatively easy to ask for or offer help when it comes to action, to things like unloading a moving truck or cooking a meal. But when it comes to soul help, we struggle. It’s awkward to ask for help, and it’s hard to know how to move into the personal space of another. But God designed us for togetherness. We aren’t meant to go through life’s difficulties all alone.

The problem is, we want others to think we’ve got our act together. We don’t want to come off as needy. For most of us, it’s much easier to be the one helping than the one in need of help! That’s because being needy is a sign of weakness. What we fail to realize is that neediness is a valuable asset. In reality, anything that reminds us of our dependence on God and on other people is a good thing. We need help, and we need to help others, and God has made provision for both.
God has designed us to walk side by side as an interdependent body of weak people. God grows and changes us through the help of others he is growing and changing—those who, like us, have been re-created in Christ and empowered by the Spirit. That is how life in the church works.”
Ladies, join a group and choose to grow with us!

(Books will be available and groups will be formed at the June 16th women’s meeting.)
 
For the Women’s Ministry – Carol Hensel

It’s almost time to wave those palm branches!
By EFC Missions Committee

We have a few purposes here as your EFC Oroville Missions Committee. One purpose we bring to you every month is regular prayer and financial support of missionaries around the world. Did you know our missions policy also instructs us to develop career and short-term missionaries form the ranks of our congregation? Education regarding missions (also a specifically listed purpose) is one of the ways we are called to do that.

Now, you may be thinking, “Woah – I am not ready to go to Timbuktu.” But, unless God is specifically calling you to the foreign field, you have access to so many ways of honoring the calling that God has placed on each of us as followers. To quote Jesus, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matthew 28:19-20). That’s missions in a nutshell.

Wholistically, we have adopted the overall instructional theme of “Pray – Give – Send – Go”. Each of these actions assures that every believer can realize their role in what we know as The Great Commission. Each aspect builds on the other as a foundation in missions-oriented service.

Have you heard about our fall missions conference yet? Equipping our church family in these parts of the commission is exactly why it’s time for this conference. We have been able to send a few people out short term over the last few years. We certainly have significant and long-term relationships with our 12 regularly supported missionaries. But is there more we could do? Is there more you can do?

We are not talking about money specifically, but what about building a relationship with the missions field like you’ve never seen? How enriched would your prayer life be? How much more enriched would your Christian worldview be if you were emailing someone serving in Africa each month just to learn about their day-to-day life and how to better pray along with them?

This building up of your missions life is the purpose of our missions conferences. Our mini conference in Fall 2022 brought us time with Daniel Liberek and some amazing ways to support efforts with Ukrainian refugees in Belgium. For Fall 2023, we expand that reach to cover Spain, the Congo, India and the Japanese diaspora living in the USA. For good measure, we are also carving out time to learn about how crisis response efforts are really missions efforts both locally and globally. Our missionaries that work in these five areas will be joining us the entire weekend!

The theme of the conference is “Salvation… For EVERY Nation!” and the accompanying verse is Revelation 7:9-10:

"After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

One of our desired outcomes for you at this conference is to develop an answer to the following question: Who do you imagine standing next to you when we all gather in heaven to glorify the King of Kings as we stand in our white robes shouting praises and enthusiastically waving away with our palm branches? The plenary and breakout sessions over the weekend will help you clarify what this means in your life at this exact moment in time. You will walk away with better tools and a bigger vision of what God means for you to do specifically in His bigger and better plan of salvation for all those He calls to Himself.

We want everyone in our church family, whether you’ve been with us one Sunday or decades of Sundays, to be a part of this long weekend of learning and equipping. Please go ahead and block out your calendars from Thursday, September 7 through Sunday, September 10, 2023. A detailed information brochure will be released when conference registration opens on June 1st!

As committee chair, I did want to touch on a few things before I wrap up here. First, we received not one, but TWO thank you notes for our donation to Phase 1 of the One Million Bibles Initiative facilitated by Crossway. One church that the first round of Bibles has made it to is in Lusaka, Zambia, and they are already able to move into Phase 2 of the program.

Secondly, we will be hosting a free virtual event in the sanctuary on Friday, July 14th, called Hearts of Fire. This presentation from Voice of the Martyrs features stories from four courageous women whose faith in Christ caused them to experience imprisonment and the abduction and martyrdom of their husbands. Worship will be led by Michael W. Smith. Keep an eye out for more details.

We are excited for what God has planned for this fall and beyond!

Until all have heard,

Your EFC Oroville Missions Committee
Amy White (Chair)
Carol Hensel
Laura Angle

Children & Worship

It is likely that you will hear on any given Sunday at our church, “We love the sound of children in worship.”

 This isn’t just some platitude that is espoused to help parents not feel guilty if their little ones are being a little rambunctious, rowdy, or any other behavior that is typical of children.

It’s also not simply stated as a reminder to others in the congregation to be patient and understanding as the family behind them struggles with keeping their infant quiet or their toddler from kicking their seat.

While it might serve as a reminder in both of those situations, we say it because we mean it. We love hearing the sound of children in worship. We love it for several reasons. It means that there are families in attendance. It means that there are families in attendance who understand the importance of worship. It means there is growth. Children in a congregation are signs of organic growth within a church.

So, if you’re reading this, and you’re a parent who brings your child to church and encourages them to sit with us as we worship together, let me say thank you! Thank you for taking the time to get your family ready for church on Sunday. There are battles from the time everyone wakes up until you settle into your seat and row (and sometimes even after that). It may not seem like it’s worth it. It may be tempting to stay home, to just watch the livestream until the kids learn to behave in public. I want to offer some encouragement, both to the parents of little ones in the service and to the rest of the church who has the blessing of worshiping alongside these families, while also offering up some explanation as to why we do things the way we do at our church.

 An encouragement to parents

It is a noble and godly task to train up our children in the Lord. We are commanded throughout Scripture to instruct our children in holiness. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” Proverbs 22:6 tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” The apostle Paul gives this instruction in Ephesians 6:4, “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

You may be familiar with these verses, and you understand your calling as a parent, but you may be wondering what this has to do with having our children in worship. Can’t they receive all of this instruction at home, or at least in a separate children’s service or Sunday School class? Does the Bible actually teach the expectation that our children are supposed to be with us in corporate worship. In the book of Deuteronomy, the people of Israel are called together for the reading of the Law and we read in chapter 31, “Assemble the people, men, women, and little ones, and the sojourner within your towns, that they may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law,  and that their children, who have not known it, may hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess” (v. 12-13). When the prophet Joel called the people together for an assembly he said, “Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber.” It was expected that the children be with their families. So let me say again, we love having your children worship with us. We love it because the Lord loves it. In Psalm 148, the praise of the Lord goes up from “Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth! Young men and maidens together, old men and children!” (Psalm 148:11-12).

When you bring your children with you to worship, you are honoring the Lord, as well as teaching valuable lessons to your children. Even if it doesn’t seem like they are paying attention, by being in worship they have seen that the gathering of the saints for corporate worship is a valued and expected occurrence. You are also exposing your children to the means of grace which God uses to bring salvation. As one author put it, the more often they are in worship, “the more opportunities they have for their souls to encounter the God of grace.” (Jason Helopoulos, “Let the Children Worship in Church).

Yes, it can be difficult to focus when you’re supposed to be singing, or when someone is praying, or when communion is being served, if you’re having to tend to an unruly child, but that doesn’t mean that you’re missing out on worship. Training up our children is worship. Instructing them on why we sing/pray/take communion is worship. Modeling worship is worship. It is worship because obedience to God is worship. So, take heart, young dad. Be encouraged, weary mom. What you are doing by having your children in worship is a blessing to them, to you, and to those of us observing.

An encouragement to the church

Having children in the worship service is a blessing to the whole church, not only for the same reasons that it can be a blessing to that particular family, but also because the rest of the congregation is learning some valuable lessons. Seeing that young family gives you hope for the future of the church. Every one of us in the church ought to be serving in some capacity, and in whatever role that may be, we should hope that someone will desire to take our place when we’re no longer able. The sounds of children in the church should bring a smile to our face as we hear future Sunday School teachers, worship leaders, elders and pastors.

In his book, Let the Little Children Come, Scott Aniol writes, “Are human beings easily distracted? You bet, especially in an increasingly entertainment-minded, fast-food society. So maybe forcing myself to engage carefully with the sermon while across the aisle a toddler fusses as her mother sorts through her purse looking for the fishy crackers is sanctifying me as well. And maybe my encouraging and reassuring smile to the frantic mother is the body of Christ at work” (p. 49-50).

The church is a family, and as a family we love and support one another. We ought to encourage and praise those families with little ones for their perseverance as they continue to show up for worship and strive to teach and model these principles for their children.

Why we do things the way we do them

It might be tempting to ask, “Why can’t the children have their own time of worship? Wouldn’t they get more out of singing songs at their level?”  It has been the practice of many churches for several years to offer “age appropriate” activities for children, and for the most part the motives have been pure. In fact, I think it’s wonderful for children to have opportunities to sing with their friends, be engaged with bible stories they can understand, and have visuals such as crafts and coloring pages that help reinforce those bible stories.

Does this have to replace the time of corporate worship with the church body? To completely remove our children from the assembly is to deny them the blessings of seeing adults delighted in worship. It also disregards the precedents that have been set throughout Scripture (some of which have been pointed out) of the people God gathering as a family to worship.

It is my desire to see families worshipping together. I want to see father’s teaching their children to sing boisterously praises to our holy God. I want see mothers modeling the posture of prayer for their children, teaching them why bow our heads. I want to see parents taking communion while explaining what the elements mean and the purpose of remembering Christ’s death. And most importantly I desire to see the gospel being heralded to each and every generation. When our children are in worship, they are learning gospel principle from mom and dad.

As a church, we should encourage families to be in worship together and together with the whole congregation. It ought to be our desire that children learn practices at an early age, and form habits that will last into adulthood, of what it means to worship. Let us remember the words of Christ in Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Brian

The Way to Happiness
Pastor Brian Bell

A television advertisement caught my eye while I was at the gym the other day. It was promoting a website called “The Way to Happiness.” In the commercial, a young man was horrified at the damage being caused to the environment by his neighbors not recycling, or a tree being cut down, and one hyperbolic argument for good measure of literal toxic waste being poured into his front yard. While I would join the man in his horror if I witnessed toxic waste dumped in front of my house, to suggest that happiness is tied into our concern over the environment was over the top. I decided to take a look at the website and discovered that this organizations idea of a “way to happiness” was much more involved than environmental protection. In fact, they have 21 precepts that will help “reverse the moral decay of society by restoring trust and honesty the world over.” They make it clear that this is not a religious organization, and it certainly isn’t rooted in a Christian worldview, but some of their precepts have definitely been borrowed (either intentionally or unintentionally) from Christianity and biblical standards of morality.

Two of this organization’s precepts are stated as follows: “Try not to do things to others that you would not like them to do to you” and “Try to treat others as you would want them to treat you.” This is almost verbatim Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:12, “So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them.” A couple more of their precepts state, “honor and help your parents,” and “do not murder” or “do not steal.” Now they’re just quoting the Ten Commandments. If a Christian were handed a list of these 21 precepts, they might be tempted to think that this was rooted in biblical truth. It is clear, however, that their idea of happiness is far removed from what a Christian’s understanding of happiness should be. That should be clear when you read on the website that they suggest that their mission is the first moral code to be based upon common sense and was published in 1981. I believe that we can find that there is a moral code established much earlier. It is also clear that this view of happiness is removed from a Christian worldview because its entire foundation is built upon the understanding that our happiness is rooted in the ability to improve ourselves.

Of course, this isn’t a new phenomenon. The temptation to find happiness though our own self-improvement, apart from God, has been present since the Garden of Eden. I mentioned one website but there are countless others who preach the message of finding peace, joy, contentment and happiness through self-care, positive thinking, and emotional balance. Then there are other ambitions to find happiness that are just as empty such as wealth, popularity, and relationships. That is not to say that having wealth is wrong, or that to take care of your physical and mental well-being is worthless, but if our pursuit of happiness is rooted in anything other than God, it is a vain and hollow aspiration.

To understand this, we first must understand what happiness truly is. Our modern world has twisted the idea of happiness to make it synonymous with joy. Joy is something that all Christians should aspire to, as Paul commands in 1 Thessalonians 5:16, “Rejoice always.” We find no such command in scripture to “Be happy.” That command can only be found in the musical stylings of Bobby McFerrin. Happiness is best understood as an emotion, a feeling that can pass based on our circumstances. And we must understand that our emotions can be driven by sinful desires and passions. Joy, on the other hand, should be seen as a condition of our heart and soul. This means that we can have joy in the midst of unhappy circumstances. Those who have experienced grief over the loss of a loved one who was a believer in Christ can certainly recognize this distinction.

Just a few short months ago, in our study of the Gospel of Matthew, Pastor Gregg was leading us through the Sermon on the Mount, and within that sermon, Jesus taught what we refer to as the Beatitudes. Each of these beatitudes begins with the word “blessed.” There have been some translations of the bible that have substituted that word for “happy.” Unfortunately, this doesn’t convey the proper meaning to what Christ was teaching. R.C. Sproul, writing about the Sermon on the Mount, said, “the Greek word used in the Beatitudes is best translated as ‘blessed,’ as it communicates not only the idea of happiness but also profound peace, comfort, stability, and great joy. So, we have to be careful when we come to the text of the New Testament that we do not read it through the lens of the popular understanding of happiness and thus lose the biblical concept of joy.”

If our desire is for happiness, we may be tempted to find it through temporal, earthly pleasures, satisfying our emotions, which can shift with a change in the weather. Too often we look to physical attachments to bring us happiness, to help change our mood, but we cannot meet a spiritual need with a physical substance.  However, if our desire is for joy, and that joy finds its foundation in a vibrant and growing relationship with Christ, we will find that even in the darkest of days we can still say alongside Nehemiah, “The joy of the Lord is my strength” (Nehemiah 8:10).

“You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” – Psalm 16:11

May you find your joy in the presence of our beloved Savior!

Soli deo gloria,
Pastor Brian

“Think About Such Things!” by Pastor Gregg Hensel

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil. 4:8)

Paul’s letter to the Philippians is full of joy. Though imprisoned because of his faithful service in the Gospel, he does not allow his difficult circumstances to keep him from proclaiming the goodness of the Savior. He says that to live is Christ, that he is filled with joy, and that he is ready to meet the Lord if death should come; but there are some things he wants the Philippians to know: be united in Christ, love one another, keep on in holiness, boast only in the Lord, and be generous with all that you have.

After telling them to be anxious for nothing, but to pray about everything, he offers a practical way to apply the Gospel in all areas of life: watch carefully over what occupies your mind. In Phil. 4:8, Paul gives several descriptive words to help the believer focus his mind on the things of God. In this first posting of 2023, let us take a brief look at these things. I urge you to commit to understanding the elements of Phil. 4:8 and ask the Lord for help to put them into practice throughout this year. I have felt led to have Phil. 4:8 serve as my “verse of the year,” one that will guide my thinking and ministry all throughout 2023. Let’s look at this wonderful verse.

1.Whatever is true.
The word means genuine. That which is genuine is not artificial or counterfeit. God’s character is true and whatever He says is the truth. Our Lord Jesus is the truth of God in the flesh. Our faith is built on the truth. Therefore, as we read God’s Word, and as we spend time with the Lord, we develop the ability to discern what is true from what is not true. Let the truth of the Gospel override all that we think and do.

2.Whatever is honorable.
This words means, “noble, serious, dignified, and above reproach.” It refers to that which is of good character. We are to think about that which promotes honorable thinking, behavior, and attitudes. As one commentary says: Honorable things are: “Things that lift the mind from the cheap and tawdry to that which is noble and good and of moral worth” (Martin & Hawthorne, 251).

3.Whatever is just.
The Greek word here is used elsewhere for righteousness. There is a relationship between righteousness and justice. In Christ we are righteous, with His righteousness imputed to us by faith (Phil. 3:9). Therefore, our own thinking should be marked and moved by the righteousness of God. Before you act or even think about doing something, the question should come to your minds: Is what I am doing in harmony with God’s will and ways?

4.Whatever is pure.
Along with purity comes words like holy or chaste. Our minds will be full of something, thus let them be filled with things that are holy, pure, and morally blameless. Purity is an important Christian virtue, for Jesus said that it is the pure in heart who will see God (Matt 5:8). The only way to overcome our sinful backgrounds and the sinful influences of culture is to cultivate purity of heart, by reflecting on what God sees as pure and holy and chaste.

5.Whatever is lovely.
Whatever is lovely is that which causes pleasure or delight; it is pleasing to behold or ponder. The word describes Esther (5:2) in the story of God using her to save the Jews from destruction. This word was commonly found in the ancient world on epitaphs, where kind and lovely things are said about the departed. The word “winsome” is a good ally of that which is lovely and pleasing.

6.Whatever is commendable.
The word means that which is worthy of praise. Something commendable is that which is admirable, well-sounding, and leaves a good impression on others. How wonderful it would be if that were our reputation: that we leave a good report and are seen as admirable in our behavior, thinking, conduct, and interactions.

7.If there is any excellence.
Paul speaks here of that which is morally excellent. This pertains to anything that is of ethical and spiritual excellence. As we fill our minds throughout the day, let’s do it with things that are fitting to what is truly excellent.

8.If there is anything worthy of praise.
This is recognition of that which is good in the highest and purest sense of the word. We are to look for things that are worthy of praise to God and reflect on those things. Moreover, Paul calls the Philippians to turn their attention “to those people who embody the virtues in their character and conduct” (Hansen, 299). The Christian is to have God as his focus, Christ as his model, and recognize that which is good in God and in others.

“Think about these things.” Phil. 4:8 ends with a command that is in the present tense, meaning that to obey it requires continuous action and intentionality. Thinking is hard work. Your mind will wander and focus on many things; therefore, you need to direct your thinking so as to love the Lord Your God with your mind (Matt. 22:37). With work and practice, good thinking is to become a way of life for the Christian. Consider the thoughts of Charles Reade, an English novelist and dramatist, who said:

“Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.”

As we stand at the beginning of 2023, may God use Phil. 4:8 in our lives, for His glory, and for our good. Let us cry out with hymn writer Kate Wilkinson: “May the mind of Christ, my Savior, live in me from day to day. By His love and power controlling, all I do and say.”

Happy New Year greetings to you all!
Pastor Gregg Hensel

Christmas & The Gospel
Carol Hensel & Caroleah Johnson

What captivates us most during the Christmas season? The beautiful decorations and light displays? Gifts? Shopping? Baking? Visits from friends and family? The general sense of peace and goodwill toward all mankind? These are all a wonderful part of the season, and the mention of them often stirs fond memories and joyful expectations. Yet, for Christians, being ‘Christmas people’ is so much more; it is so much broader; it encompasses all of life and isn’t just reserved for one month in the year. When we, as believers, fully grasp the implications of what we celebrate – the unfolding of God’s great plan of redemption - we truly become ‘Christmas people’, captivated by the Gospel, 365 days of the year.  

This year, the focus of Women’s Ministry has been the Gospel - what it is, how it should affect each one of us, and how to share this most wonderful news. It is indeed the good news of God taking on human form by coming to earth as a baby in order to meet our deepest need, to reconcile us to Him, and to give us a hope and a future. And now, during the Christmas season, the coming of the Savior is on display more than ever.

What do others see when they look at us? Are we just like everyone else, scurrying around frantically in the chaos of the season, trying to take part in all the special festivities, wearing stress and busyness almost as a badge of honor? Or do they see us unruffled and calm, knowing that the true meaning of Christmas isn’t something that has to be crammed into a few short calendar days one time a year? Do they see the love we have for each other, for our neighbors, for those who we may not agree with culturally or politically? Do they see us valuing our families more than a career opportunity? Do they notice our hope in turbulent times? Are they struck by our fearless resolve when facing trials? Our unexplainable joy from day to day? Our loving embrace of ‘others’? Our generosity to the less fortunate? In other words, do they see us as different (in a good way) than those who have not personally grasped the Gospel?

Personally. Grasped. The Gospel. Have we? Have I? 

More than good advice on how to live an upright life, it is the amazing news that we can be reconciled to God, forgiven, redeemed, transformed, adopted. It starts with the realization of how sinful we each are - how rebellious I am -, how we have rejected God and are unable to save ourselves. We desperately need a Savior. Then, truly aware of our condition, the news that the baby Jesus born in Bethlehem didn’t remain a baby, but that He grew up and lived a perfect life, pleasing to God in every way, and that he gave his life as a sacrifice to pay for our sins, take our curse, this truth transforms us. This gift of salvation, of an entirely new and everlasting life leads us to place our trust in him. By faith we cry out for mercy and plead for forgiveness. In gratitude, we embrace the Savior and treasure this undeserved gift.

How then do we live Christmas all year long? We join in with this dear saint from our church who blurted out: “The Gospel is my life. Without it, I would be in the pit.” That cry will have us clinging to Christ, longing for His Word, faithfully mining it for truth, for hope. It will cause us to lay our burdens at His feet, seek His wisdom, and humble ourselves. It will lead us to worship Him, delight in Him, praise His goodness, both privately and with our family of redeemed sinners. Our schedules and bank statements will reveal the transforming work of God and the impact of the Gospel on our passions and desires.
 
This impact will overflow to others. Struck by the magnitude of God’s love for us, clearly manifested at Christmas, we will seek to display love to others in tangible ways. We look to invest in the lives of friends, family, neighbors, colleagues, believers and especially those who are not believers. Who can we invite to our house for coffee and conversation? Who can we take a meal to for no special reason? Who can we run errands for? Who can we help with raking leaves or other yard work?  The opportunities are endless.

Most importantly though, we cannot forget that the greatest gift is Christ Himself and sharing Him is the greatest way to express love. Fully grasping the Gospel will lead us to proclaim it. With love and clarity, passion and resolve, compassion and boldness, our goal will be to do so all throughout the year, for the pleasure and glory of God. The greatest gift one can ever receive is far too valuable not to share. Who are we sharing it with?

Living as true Christmas people, 365 days of the year – our goal.
Celebrating Christ’s birth at Christmas, year after year – our joy.
Longing for Christ’s return, not in weakness as a baby, but in power and glory as the reigning King – our hope.

Joni Erickson Tada says, “Every Christmas is still a ’turning of the page’ until Jesus returns. Every December 25 marks another year that draws us closer to the fulfillment of the ages, that draws us closer to him.”

Until then, may the Gospel captivate us above all else.

And let us take that indescribably great gift of salvation and make it the gift that keeps on giving, day after day, year after year.

Missions Mini-Conference Recap
By Amy White, Missions Committee Chair

Were you there?

Were you there when 40 or so of your fellow church family gathered to fellowship with a focus on missions? The date was September 24th and the place was our own church campus. There was the usual coffee to greet attendees along with bright international decorations, a delicious breakfast and goodie bags to grab as you entered. Our presenter for the day was Daniel Liberek, who has been on the mission field since 1980 and currently serves in Belgium with United World Missions. And there were so many helping hands to make the morning go smoothly!

Elena was there. As one of our youth participants, she felt like she learned a lot. She was impacted by the stories our Daniel shared about the people he and others work with in that area and how much the people they serve need help during this critical time. She enjoyed Daniel’s teaching, the food and fellowship. She is looking forward to having some sessions at the next conference geared toward youth and is encouraging everyone to come learn more about missionaries, their lifestyles and all the people they serve.

Jason was there. He had a seat in the front row that was conducive to an interactive experience with Daniel as he shared stories and lead a question-and-answer session. Rumor also has it that the Q & A portion was one of the best parts of the conference! Jason felt like the group was really learning together during the sessions and he was also impacted, like Elena, about the consequences of war in Ukraine in relation to the needs of ministry to those people. Jason really liked the statistical exercise that Daniel presented to help better define the bigger reality of what is takes place in various regions both geographically and culturally. He is looking forward to future conference sessions that focus on how we can be missionaries in our everyday lives and how we can have a more comprehensive connection to the 12 missionaries our church regularly supports.

Kristina, Michael and Clara were there. Kristina shared that they wanted to attend the conference even as they first heard about it. They have both done short term missions in the past and like being connected to the local ways we are supporting missions around the world. Like Jason, she was impressed by the amount of data Daniel had to share and encouraged that there are Christians really going for it in various areas of ministry to the people of Europe. Europeans have many religious traditions but have yet to convert that into a real relationship with Christ. She is looking forward to the next missions conference where even more “boots on the ground” details will be presented to help create a more specific portrait of those God has called to the work of missions around the world.

Were you there? If not, will you consider being there for our big mission conference in Sept 2023? And why should you come? Well, there will be big sessions, little sessions, worship sessions, childcare and youth programs, international food and a time of fun and fellowship with people working around the world for the Gospel of Christ. Come to learn, to be inspired to pray and support others and to find where God is calling you to impact that Gospel continuum.

Pray. Give. Send. Go. One of those applies to you. Follow God’s lead.

Here is a verse to ponder heading into next year as we are getting ready to learn more about sharing the Gospel of God’s good news and supporting others that do the same in the global arena.

Revelation 7:9-10 (ESV):

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Have You Prayed Today?
Mark Bates

Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. (Psalms 1:1-3)

Have you prayed today? Have you communed with the Lord? Have you received the provisions He has prepared for you? If you have not, I encourage you to pause right now, open your Bible, Bible app, or go to your favorite Scripture-hosting website, select a Psalm, and pray through it. This time with the Lord is more important than anything I will say in the following paragraphs. Once you have had that time with the Lord, then you can continue reading.

The great Reformer, Martin Luther, writing to his barber, said this when asked about prayer: “It is a good thing to let prayer be the first business of the morning and the last at night. Guard yourself carefully against those false, deluding ideas that tell you. ‘Wait a little while. I will pray in an hour; first I must attend to this or that.’ Such thoughts get you away from prayer into other affairs, which so hold your attention and involve you that nothing comes of prayer for that day.” (A Simple Way to Pray p. 36)

Martin Luther goes on to acknowledge that there are emergencies that do arise that demand our attention in the moment. However, what about the other times we have brushed off prayer for lesser things? The accumulation of “brush offs” are like passing several gas stations when you are “E” in hopes of getting to your destination. It is better to stop and fill up, rather than spend more time calling roadside service for help. The old maxim for discipline was this: “You either pay on the front end or you pay on the back end.” Translation: Either discipline yourself now or life will discipline you.

Believers will be forced to pray one way or another. Why? We all will be brought to our knees (at some point) to acknowledge our utter dependency on the Lord. This is a part of what it means to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom 8:29; Col 3:10). My question is this, why wait until something tragic happens or even when something good happens to meet the Lord in prayer? Commune with him daily. Draw from the table of sustenance he has prepared for you in God’s word, each day. Use those same words as you petition and praise the Lord.

Prayer according to Martin Luther was not simply spontaneous utterances about our present situations. His prayers were based on and rooted in God’s Word. He used the Psalms as his textbook and training ground for developing prayer muscle. This prayer muscle was then applied to his present circumstances. He believed that prayer was the chief spiritual discipline that breathes life into all the other spiritual disciplines. Lest we have forgotten, Luther was a Christian educator. He was a remarkably busy man translating the Bible into the German language, writing catechisms and books on prayer. But Luther’s approach was this: the bigger the task, the more he needed to pray.

Helmut Thieliche says this of Luther’s reported four hours of daily prayer, “[he] prayed this much, not despite his busy life, but because only so could he accomplish his gigantic labors … To work without praying and without listening means only to grow and spread oneself upward, without striking roots and without creating an equivalent in the earth. A person who works this way is living unnaturally.” (A Simple Way to Pray p. 15)

At Oroville Christian School, we are committed to praying for our students and their families. From teachers and who pray daily with and for their students, to board members who pray regularly for staff and students, to church members who meet semi-monthly to pray for the school, OCS is bathed in prayer…that God would work in our lives to accomplish his ends.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7) 

Raising Functional Atheists

Most Christian parents wouldn’t admit that they want their child to grow up not believing in God. Of course, there will be some who might say they don’t want to force their beliefs on their children and want them to find their path on their own (a completely faulty attitude for Christian parents to make, mind you), but they would still hope that the path they find is the one that leads them to a belief in the God of the Bible. However, if we line up our beliefs and desires with our actions, we might find that we are raising our children to become functional atheists.

To be a functional atheist is to believe that God exists, that he created the world and everything in it, that the Bible is accurate, and that heaven is real, but to live in such a way as if there is no God. Others have referred to this as practical atheism, where the lip-service may be given to God, but for all practical purposes, self is exalted above all else. As one pastor put it, “They may talk about prayer or God’s blessings or even the Bible, but they have no evidence of walking submissively under the kingship of Christ in their lives.”

What does this look like in our parenting? How can we recognize it and correct it? Let me paint a couple of scenarios. We have taught our children that God is sovereign, and he rules over every aspect of our life. We have used scripture to back up our teaching, telling our kids, “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom. 8:28) and “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matt. 10:29-30). We may have even used Job 42:2, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted,” hoping that they learn that God is in control over everything. But then they see us worry. They hear us complain when difficult situations arise. And more importantly, they don’t see us turn to God and ask for His help when things get tough. We’ve taught our kids that, while we say that God is in control, we stress over inconveniences and look to ourselves to fix our problems.

Here's another all-too-familiar situation. We teach our children that God’s will is always best, that we should trust His plan for our lives, but when it comes time to make a big decision, God isn’t factored into the equation. Perhaps your son or daughter wants to start dating and they mention the girl or boy that they’re interested in. What are the questions we ask? Are we more concerned with how nice they are or how  successful they are academically or even athletically, rather than what kind of person they are spiritually? Do we ask if they are a Christian or even attend church? What about when our child starts thinking about what they want to do with their life? I’m not talking about when they’re in first grade and they say they want to be a “dinosaur hunter” or a “space cowboy.” I’m talking about when they really start thinking about what a good career choice would be. Do we encourage them to pray about it and ask God to guide them? Do we ask them how they could use that career to glorify God?

One more scenario (you know, in case I missed anyone’s toes): Our kids have been taught the Ten Commandments. They’ve heard them in Sunday School, AWANA, VBS and maybe we’ve taught them ourselves. We have told them that we are commanded to only worship God, that there are to be no idols in our lives that take God’s place of worship. And then we consistently choose other things over God when it comes to attending the weekly gathering of God’s people for corporate worship. Our children learn that God comes first unless they have a baseball or soccer game. We’re going to worship God, unless family is in town, or someone has a birthday. Church is important but not as important as hunting season, football season, or vacation season.

These are some pretty obvious cases of how we might be raising our children as functional atheists, but we should also be aware of ways that we might subtly pass on a low view of God. Paul Tripp warns that “perhaps the God we remember is small, distant, disconnected, uncaring, and seemingly unwise.” If this is how we view God, then undoubtedly we are passing this on to our kids.  So, if we do recognize that this is a problem in our lives, what can we do to correct it. Thankfully, the first step is already complete, in that we have recognized that it is a problem. Secondly, as we ought to do with any sin, we should repent and ask for forgiveness. Then we ask God for help. Quoting Paul Tripp again, “Ask the Lord to give you spiritual eyes that see his infinite grandeur everywhere. You cannot correctly understand your life and make God-honoring choices unless you look at it through the lens of a God-centered worldview. God first, God all the time.”

May we all seek to obey the commands of Scripture, to “train up” our children in the Lord and that the words of God, “shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 6:6-7).

Soli deo gloria,
Pastor Brian

One of the best weeks of summer in the life of our church is VBS week. It’s always such a joy seeing so many kids having fun, learning about Jesus, and interacting with our volunteers. We always get to see God do some amazing things through VBS, and this year was no different.

Ok, it was a little different, as we were able to witness the theme of this year’s VBS line up perfectly with one of the more monumental events in recent history. Zoomerang, which transported our kids to the island of Australia, focused on teaching about the sanctity of all human life. This came within a couple of weeks of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. This providential act provided us a backdrop as our children learned that every human life, from the moment of conception, was made in the image of God. Our teachers were able to use scripture, along with true historical and scientific facts, to teach how every human being is designed by God and is of eternal value, which was highlighted by our theme verse Psalm 139:14, “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”

We had 170 kids registered and on our largest night we had 126 in attendance. Combined with our 74 volunteers that means we had almost 200 people on our campus each night! After opening with a song, our students would venture off to a rotation of crafts, games, snacks, and bible teaching. In spite of it being the hottest week of the summer, the kids had lots of energy and were excited as they closed each night with a performance by our drama team. Our volunteers were also treated to a delicious dinner before all the fun began.

We cannot thank our volunteers enough for their amazing help in making our VBS a success! Through their efforts, we were able to teach the truth of God’s word to the children, not only from our church, but from our community. Our prayer is that these truths would take root in these young hearts and that many of these children would come to know Christ as Savior. We can’t wait for next year!

EFC Children’s Ministries

“Three Words That Describe What Prayer Means to Me!”
Senior Pastor Gregg Hensel

A few years ago, I was looking through a newspaper one day, and I saw some pictures and plaques for sale. On one plaque there was a statement on prayer that caught my attention. It said, “God always answers prayer. Sometimes He says, ‘Yes’; sometimes He says, ‘No’; and sometimes He says, ‘You’ve got to be kidding.’”

We all have a lot of questions about prayer. We may want to talk about the theology of prayer. We may want to talk about the reasons why we should pray. Many times we talk about the mechanics of prayer. We talk about the methods of prayer; or the steps of prayer; or the keys to successful prayer. We talk about what we should do when we pray, what the position of our bodies should be, or the things that we should pray about when, in fact, we do actually pray. But all too often we spend more time talking about prayer than we do actually praying. In this blog post, I do not want to contribute to that trend. I have just a few words to share to encourage you – and all of us – to be people who actually and actively pray to our Great God. I can summarize what prayer means to me in three words.

1. Relationship

I have a living, vital, and eternal relationship with the God of the universe. Prayer is not a series of rituals that I perform; it is not simply one part of my daily routine; it is not something that I check off on my daily list of duties; it is not something I do just because it is expected of me as one who is a “professional” Christian. Prayer is a vital part of my relationship with my LORD, my Savior, my Redeemer, my heavenly Comforter.

Through prayer I can communicate with God the Father and lay everything at His feet. In prayerful study of His Word, He speaks to me through that Word and shows me the way I should live. The test of the quality of any relationship is how much time the two people involved spend together talking and sharing with one another. For example, a good marriage requires time. It is the same with our relationship with God.

The second word that describes the importance of prayer to me is:

2. Privilege

If any of us were to receive an invitation to spend time with an important figure, maybe the President of the United States, we would consider that one of the biggest blessings of our lives. How much more, then, the fact that we can spend time with the King of the Universe! From Him we have received an open and limitless invitation. And this King, our Heavenly Father, is never too busy to hear our requests, never too distracted to receive our pleas, and never too indifferent to listen to our desires and problems. If we were to drive around major cities, we would see signs that advertise places that are open 24 hours every day. Even if we find such a place, however, it is not always easy to find the service and help that we need when we visit at say, 2am. However, our God is available 24 hours a day to receive us and to commune with us. He is always available to spend time with us in prayer. We do not have to go looking for Him. He is always there.

Relationship. Privilege. The third word that describes the importance of prayer to me is:

3. Responsibility

As we look at the worries of the world and the problems that people face, we know that we need to do something to help with these problems. In doing so, we recognize our responsibility to take these concerns to the Lord of the universe and ask Him to intervene in the affairs of men, both for His glory and for the good of His people.

Where there is a need, where there is suffering, where there is injustice, where there is someone lost, we can go to the Father and ask for His hand to be active in these situations. In fact, we must go to Him in prayer. Prayer is one of the things that God has ordained to help accomplish His Will on earth. If we do not pray, we are taking away one of the tools that God has given us for building His Kingdom here on the earth among the kingdoms of men. What kind of carpenter would not use all of his tools in building furniture or a house? Not a very good one. In the same way, we, as Christians, need to use all of the tools that God has given us in the accomplishment of His Will. Prayer is one of those major tools. If we do not use it, then we are not very good Christians.

These are three simple words, yet they describe so wonderfully the importance of prayer and what it means to me. Relationship. Privilege. Responsibility.

Will you take these three words to heart as you pray today, tomorrow, and throughout the rest of your life? Pray in order to nurture your relationship with the Lord. Pray, because you have the privilege to spend time with the One who organizes all things in your life and who uses all things to transform you into the image of Jesus Christ. Pray, because God has ordained that the prayers of His people are to be part of how His will is accomplished on the earth.

In 1980, after the Lord saved me, I began to pray for my family that they too would come to a saving knowledge of God through Jesus Christ. For years I prayed, preached, and waited patiently for God to work. Finally in 2005, 25 years after I began praying, my youngest brother and his wife came to faith in Jesus Christ. I had the privilege of baptizing them in the summer of 2007. I prayed and waited for several more years before I saw my father confess faith in Jesus Christ months before he died. I’m still praying for the salvation of the other members of my family. I won’t give up on them because I want them to experience the same joy that I have today in Christ Jesus.

Relationship. Privilege. Responsibility. These three words are ones that make prayer meaningful to me. I hope they will make prayer meaningful for you as well. Perhaps there are things that you are still asking of God. Talk to Him regularly about these things. Go to Him often and learn about His heart on these matters. Get to know Him better and expect Him to act in your life for His glory and for your good.

The great E. Stanley Jones was a missionary to India in the first half of the 20th century. This is what he said about prayer: “Prayer is surrender – surrender to the will of God and cooperation with that will. If I throw out an anchor from the boat and catch hold of the shore and pull, do I pull the shore to me, or do I pull myself to the shore? Prayer is not pulling God to my will, but the aligning of my will to the will of God.” (E. Stanley Jones, Liberating Ministry From The Success Syndrome, K Hughes, Tyndale, 1988, p. 73.)

Sidlow Baxter was a Bible teacher in Australia during the 20th century. He said this about prayer: “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons – but they are helpless against our prayers.” May we cause even the gates of hell to tremble because we are those who pray and see God in action!

Prayer is a Relationship. It is Privilege. It is a Responsibility. How blessed we are to have such a relationship with the Living God. Therefore, brothers and sisters, let’s pray.

The start of a new year always signals new plans and goals. Whether it’s a resolution to lose weight and work out more, or to learn a new skill, or kick a bad habit, the turn of the calendar page beckons hopes for improvement. I would like to offer up a plan that would help any of accomplish such goals. When people ask me if I make any New Year’s resolutions, I usually respond that I want to be more like Jesus in the next year than I was in the previous year. Now that may sound vague, but it is meant to as there are many ways in which we can be more like Jesus, whether it’s being more forgiving, gracious, loving, etc. but there is only one way in which we can know how to be more like Jesus and that is by getting to know Jesus better through His word.

So, my challenge for us all this year is to become more familiar with God’s word in 2022. This won’t happen accidentally. We need a plan, and we need accountability. There are several ways this can be accomplished. Many of you may be familiar with Bible reading plans that take you through the Bible in a year. One of my favorites is the Robert Murray M’Cheyne One Year Reading Plan, which guides you through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice throughout the year. Pastor Gregg has recommended the Chronological Reading Plan, which takes you through the books of the Bible in the order in which they were written. There are a number of other plans that you can do online, through a mobile Bible app, or simply printing off a checklist that will help keep you accountable.

In addition to the “Through the Bible in a Year” plans, author Nate Pickowicz offers up a longer term plan to help the Scriptures sink in. Pickowicz came up with the idea for this plan after seeing the reading plan in his MacArthur Study Bible. This plan is centered around a focused study of a selection of books at a time which can lead to having “read each book of the New Testament thirty times over three years.” He provides an outline in the appendix of his book that can serve as a guide to this long-term approach.

Regardless of which type of plan you choose, the idea is to pick a plan and stick with it. Much like choosing a method for budgeting your finances, whether you prefer a traditional “line item budget” or the Dave Ramsey “envelope” approach, whatever method you choose only works if you stick to it.

But the point is not to be able to check off a box at the end of the day that says you did your daily Bible reading. It’s not an exercise in legalism, tangible proof that you are fulfilling your duties as a Christian. The point is to grow in our love for God’s word, knowing that the Bible changes us, from the moment of salvation and all throughout our journey in walking with the Lord. We must learn to love God’s word because it is through our time in Scripture that we learn to love God more deeply.

Let us commit to spending more time with God and His word in 2022 in order that we might grow closer to Him and begin to look more like Him.

Soli deo gloria,
Pastor Brian

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

As I pray and prepare for each new calendar year, I seek a verse or passage that will be a major theme in the new year. This past year, it has been Prov. 16:9, which reminds us that though we can plan, pray, and prepare, ultimately it is the Lord’s purposes that prevail. Thus, we walk in trusting humility that the Lord’s ways are best. For this next year, a guiding passage will be John 13:34-35, which is listed above in the introduction to this article. As I seek the LORD, study His Word, and work to serve Him and His people during 2022, this short passage will be one of the themes that percolates through my mind and heart each day. I invite you to join me in using this passage as a guiding light in your own life and ministry in the new year.
 
In this short article, let’s take a brief look at the words of Jesus in John 13, which are part of the “Upper Room Discourse” that He gave to the disciples before going to the cross. The first part says:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you are to love one another.” What is it that is new here? It’s not that love was not mentioned in the Old Testament. Deut. 6:5 and Lev. 19:18 teach that love of God and love of neighbor were already commanded under the Mosaic Law. It is a “new” commandment in that now that the New Testament has come, there is a new understanding of love. In His love, God sent His Son to save sinners, and in His love for the Father, the Son obeys and comes to earth to be the perfect and righteous sacrifice for sin. It is also new because of the next part of the verse.

 “As I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” This commandment is new because now we have a new dimension and understanding of what love is. God has sent us His Son to show us what love looks like. This Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, has come to earth out of loving obedience to the Father, and He shows us that true love is full, sacrificial, pure, and effective. “To love one another as I have loved you,” is to consider what is best for the other person. Is that not what Jesus did? All too often, our problems come because we wait to be loved instead of showing love to others. Jesus shows us a better way. In His example, Jesus displayed that love is outreaching, sacrificial, other-focused, and committed to the well-being of the other.
 
“As I have loved you.” How did Jesus love his own? We could give many things at this point. First, Jesus left the glories of Heaven to come and live among us. He humbled Himself for our good. Second, Jesus was authentic in his expression of love to His own. He was kind, forthright, gentle, truthful, and pure in His love. There was never anything manipulative or untoward in His love. It was freely given to those around Him. Third, He showed us that love is costly. If we are to love others as He has loved us, we too will find that love is costly. Love cost God His own Son. Love may cost us time, money, effort, emotions, or even energy. But we are commanded to love just as He loved us.

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples.” What do people see when they look at our worshiping community? Do they see that we care for each other and seek the common good in all of our activities? Do they see a group of believers who humbly love, serve, and defer to one another? Or do they see a disparate group of autonomous individuals, who seek their own needs first and, if they find the time, meet the needs of others? I know this is a provocative question, but Jesus makes a provocative claim. Jesus calls us to show others that we are truly His disciples, not those of any other personal or parochial interest. By showing the sacrificial and costly love of Jesus to one another, the unbelieving world will see and know that we are in fact followers of Jesus. However, if they see us acting a lot like they do: seeking first our own good, our own well-being, instead of seeking the good of others, they will conclude rightly that there really is nothing different about us or about our message. Jesus delivers a serious challenge here. If we do not feel the weight of that challenge, perhaps we have not truly contemplated what He is saying. Do we know what it is to love others as Jesus has loved us?

“If you have love for one another.” Of course, the power to love one another can only come from the LORD, but it is this type of love – true biblical love – that the world needs to see and know. The love that Jesus showed is love that transforms, that changes, that serves, and that helps. It is that type of love that makes a difference in the lives of others, just as it did in ours.
As I look at this new year, with this key verse guiding much of my thinking, I invite you to join me and consider what John 13:34-35 means. Ask yourself these questions: What does it mean to love one another? What does it mean to love like Jesus loved? What does it mean that others might know that we are Christians?

For me, the call to love like Jesus will affect the books that I read, the TV programs that I watch, the voices on the internet or from the larger culture that I will listen to, and how I plan my daily and weekly activities. I invite you to join me in asking the LORD to help you live out these powerful verses in 2022. Imagine what our church can become if we were to love one another. Imagine the impact we could have on our city if we were to love one another. Imagine unbelievers coming to faith in Christ, sin and addiction being overcome, marriages being strengthened, relationships being restored, people being healed emotionally, if we were to love one another as Jesus has loved us. What steps will His love move you to make in this new year?

Wishing you all the best in Christ for a blessed and fruitful 2022!

Pastor Gregg Hensel