Greetings,
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
- John 1:12-13
When I was a young child, my grandmother took on the responsibility of taking my sister and me to church. She would drive seven miles out of her way every Sunday morning for a long time to transport us from a dysfunctional home life to a place where the people were acting like a joyful family. The church we attended had a vibrant life and a feel about it that made me curious. Every Sunday before the sermon and to conclude the worship set, we would all sing one last song together. Every week, for years, I can remember singing “I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God--I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood! Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod, for I'm part of the family, the family of God.”
While writing the lyrics out, I realized that I never really knew a few of the words--I would just mumble them. I also didn’t know there were more verses or that it was written by the Gaithers (a famous Christian music group). I can tell you this, the faithfulness in singing those words, week in and week out, led me to truly believe that I was a part of this family of God. More than simply singing those words, the people of that church practiced it. To this day when I communicate with someone that influenced me from those days at that fellowship, I feel a familiarity like I am home.
God used that church family to shape who I am today. Much of what I learned about being a man of faith came from watching the men in that church. It was there, among that family of God, that God clearly called me into the work of His ministry. I have spent my life in ministry trying encourage, equip and bring people into the loving family of God.
All along this journey, I have made too many mistakes to count as a man of God and a pastor. Fortunate for all of us, Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever, and it is on Him that we rely. There is no such thing as a perfect family, and that includes the family of God. In every situation and through every change in the world, we remain the family of God.
Our desire at Way of Life is to be a joyful family that worships God together in Spirit and truth and in unity and love. We want to love people into the family of God and equip them to become mature disciples of Jesus that love more people into the family of God.
Usually, my church family letters are “stand alone” notes about a topic. If you have been reading them for a while, you know that they are usually a short note, meant to encourage us with scripture and to challenge us live out what we believe.
This letter is a little different in that it is the introduction to a longer discussion on the “Family of God.” Since there is a lot to unpack, I will break it up to keep it short. Each week, I will address a different component of being a part of this unique and amazing spiritual family. I will be approaching the concepts from a biblical perspective and hopefully, these notes will provide each of us with a clearer picture of what I believe each of us longs for in community and true fellowship.
Love ya,
Chris
Greetings,
I want to bring you some encouragement today. I think that each of you are doing a remarkable job of enduring and persevering in the midst of this odd time that we are in. I am truly blessed to call you my brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Bible uses many terms to describe positions of leadership in the church--elder, overseer, bishop, pastor, shepherd. In 1 Timothy 3:1, Paul calls such a position, "a noble task." Today I excited to announce that Matt Smith, along with his bride Kristina, has answered the call to this noble task and become an elder at Way of Life Fellowship. This was a decision that they prayed over deeply during the past year as they worked closely with our elder team to understand all that the position entails. Matt and Kristina do a fantastic job shepherding our youth already, and they have amazing hearts for the Lord and for the people in our fellowship. I am excited to serve along with them. Please join me in welcoming Matt and Kristina into this position of leadership.
Our church values elders as the highest level of human authority in the local church. We are a church that believes in the plurality of leadership. As the vocational pastor at Way of Life, I am accountable to the elders and I represent them. I am an elder just as Craig, Sergio, Steve, Tim and now Matt Smith are, and just as Paul Paquin and Matt Jones have been in the past. You will hear from these men often as they preach and teach and lead, sometimes from the front and often behind the scenes, making all of the significant decisions that move our church forward toward maturity. We have the great responsibility of shepherding Way of Life and we work to do that with godly wisdom directed by the Word of God, godly counsel and the great wisdom of the Holy Spirit. We also deeply value the “one flesh” relationship in marriage and we acknowledge the great wisdom of our wives. This is why our elders and wives gather together many times throughout the year to pray and discuss the shepherding of all of you. Each family in our fellowship has been thoughtfully placed under the care of an elder and his wife to ensure that we are paying close attention to the spiritual and felt needs of every soul in our congregation.
We have had some tremendous elders in our fellowship. Men that depend on the Lord, lead their families well and look out for the concerns of our body of believers. Please understand that although we do the “business of the church,” we are not businessmen. Although we take good care of the finances, we are not in the work of financial investments--we are stewards of God’s ministry work. Our basic calling as elders is to shepherd and lead in spiritual matters. We petition to the Lord along with you and for you, praying for the Lord to lead and guide us all toward maturity in Christ.
It is often a position over-looked, underappreciated, and can at times be very daunting. Having been an elder from the very conception of Way of Life, I can say it is a great honor and joy to serve along with such great men and their wives. It is a very special thing to become an elder of a local church. I am so thankful for the wise shepherds that the Lord has guided to lead at Way of Life. Our desire is that we will be a congregation that produces mature men and women of God and that they would shepherd well Christ’s Church, generation after generation.
Another bit of great news I want to share with you is that over the past couple of weeks, Matt Smith and I have been ministering to the administration at South Salem High School by shopping for their food pantry and giving them resources to help needy families. The principal of the school told us how being able to help people in need with these resources has been the thing that keeps her going right now. She loves seeing the faces as they bless them with gift cards or the meals that we have purchased. She told us of grown men with tears of appreciation in their eyes as they receive a gift from the school. One man said that his cupboards were bare and he had lost his job and was just wondering where help would come from. Another administrator wrote me to tell how much the school appreciates the generosity of our fellowship.
It is through obedience to the Lord and the leading of our elders and leaders that we can make a great difference in the lives of people around us. I want to encourage you to give regularly to the work of the Lord as an act of worship. Participate with us in blessing the community by giving regularly. It allows us the capacity to do the work of the Lord in many wonderful ways.
Love ya,
Chris
Greetings,
There have been a few events in the past 100 years that have brought about a different way of doing life. Remember when you had to find a pay phone to make a important call? I remember standing in line to rent not only a VHS tape (video home system) but the entire VCR (Videocassette Recorder) for a family movie night. Many of you could share stories of times when life looked vastly different than today. I am too young to remember waiting in line for gasoline because your license plate ended with an odd number. To someone who didn’t experience it, that might seem crazy. Daylight Savings Time was instituted during both world wars to conserve energy, and now that's just a part of normal life for us. I have friends and relatives that have told me of how it was a normal thing for them to ride a horse to school when they were children. Times have changed in many ways.
It is amazing to me to think of how traditions and cultural norms came to be and how the effects can linger for generations. It reminds me of a story that I heard many years ago: A husband and his wife were in their kitchen. The husband was sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper while his wife was preparing a ham for dinner. The husband watched the wife cut off about one inch from either end of the ham. He asked why she cut the end off, proclaiming “that’s a waste of good ham!” She said “that’s the way my mom prepared the ham.” The husband asked “why did your mom cut the ends off?” The wife didn’t know.
So, she called her mom to find out why she cut the ends of the ham off. Her mom said “because that was the way my mom prepared ham.” Although her grandma had passed away several years earlier, her grandpa was still living, so she called and asked “Grandpa, why did Grandma cut the ends off of the ham?” He was silent as he thought for a moment. Then he replied, “so the ham could fit in the baking pan.”
Times like this cause us to consider why we do what we do. We tighten our budgets, remove anything that is unnecessary, and we are left with only what we truly value. Maybe there is a good reason we keep traditions in place and maybe there become clear reasons to release those traditions and embrace something new. Maybe it will be necessary to go back to the ways and means that we operated before this quarantine or maybe we won’t. There are bound to be some long-lasting changes that will undoubtedly cause our children and grandchildren to ask why do we do that. We can’t predict and know with certainty what will change. For some people this can bring about anxiety and worry. We can, however, look at history and see what has happened and take comfort knowing that the Lord has proven to be faithful as He promises to work all things together for good for those that love Him. In the end, things that don’t make sense to us now will become clear.
As a church I feel extraordinarily blessed that we are a very simple church and that we value the basics of scripture. I am thankful that we do not own a building right now or have a lot of staff that we would have to lay off. The principles of loving the Lord and obeying Him by making disciples, proclaiming the good news in word and deed, owning the responsibility as the priesthood of all believers to do the work of reconciling people to God, and speaking the truth in love to one another through this time is vital.
We will have to continue to adapt to an ever-changing world. It should be of no surprise to any believer that there are going to be widespread changes that will probably last for decades after this strange time that we are experiencing, because of the virus mitigation efforts. That is okay.
The manner of how we worship in some capacities may change but who we worship will never change!
Love ya,
Chris