Church Foundations
“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as it is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing. Therefore, we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.”
2 Thessalonians 1: 3-4
 

When I read these verses from Paul, I think of Redeemer Bible Church. It is such a privilege to play a part in leading this church. I give thanks daily for what God is doing in our midst, and I pray that the Lord will continue His beautiful work of salvation and sanctification in our hearts. Throughout 2023, I have seen powerful evidence of people growing abundantly in faithful obedience to Jesus and in loving service toward one another. As we move into our fifth year together, I love to tell the story to others about what God is doing in our midst! As the work increases, it is important that we all be reminded of our foundations – the distinctive traits that make us who we are as a church.
 
Expository Bible Preaching and Teaching: We understand who God is through the revelation of His word in the Bible. We are not ashamed of the Bible. The word of the Lord is eternal, while the words of people are quickly passing away. The best way to study and preach the Bible is to study and preach it as it is written – chapter by chapter and verse by verse. The Bible remains a mystery to many people because they have been taught by ministry leaders to bounce around the Bible from one “meaningful verse” to another.

Expository Bible teaching keeps Redeemer focused on the Bible, studying the Bible, talking about / discussing the Bible, and living according to what we find there. What we primarily find in the Bible is teaching about Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God and the revelation of His works teach us the gospel! As we learn about Jesus we learn about God’s sovereign and saving work in the world. Expository Bible teaching practically helps the congregation to understand what the Bible is teaching and how they can understand the Bible for themselves. It brings the balance God intended to doctrinal teaching. Expository Bible teaching always bears fruit in our hearts as we relish the word of God, instead of the insights of men.
 
Elder-Led / Congregationally-Ruled: We accept the clear teaching of Scripture that the church should be led by a plurality of spiritually qualified overseers (elders). However, we also take seriously the necessity of accountability against sin (Matthew 18:17), the wisdom of many Christians together, and the practical necessities of church governance through meaningful membership. For these reasons, our church is led by an eldership that is affirmed by the believing membership. The elders direct the daily aspects of the church, but decisions affecting the entire church in a significant way are hashed out with all the membership having a voice. This biblical church model has encouraged significant spiritual growth in the lives of leaders and brought the church a deep sense of real unity in an age of terrible societal division.
 
Congregational Singing: We believe the Bible teaches that Christians should sing in joyful musical worship when gathered together (Colossians 3:16). This should not translate this into a concert of professional musicians performing for an audience of Christians. The local church gathered together is not the same as a performance concert. When the church gathers, every voice should personally sing, and personally worship our Savior Jesus with a full and true heart. There are certain important elements that need to be present for this to effectively occur. The music selected needs to be biblically true and written to be sung by an average person. Most Christian music sung by professional singers does not translate well to congregational singing. The sound volume inside the church needs to be turned down low enough for people to be able to hear their voices as they sing. This low volume also creates an open and welcoming environment for all ages. The musicians on the stage become leaders not performers.
 
Emphasis on Discipleship and Personal Holiness: The focal point of the apostles after the ascension of Jesus was to make disciples – to raise up people that believe in Jesus and obey Him fully in their lives. Disciples of Jesus are known as Christians and live in a holy (separated) way. As people grow in understanding who Jesus is and grow in believing the words of Jesus, their character changes and their actions change. This is called salvation leading into sanctification. To be sanctified means to be set apart from worldliness and sin by living in a righteous way that obeys Jesus. This is not pride but godliness. The sanctification journey of the Christian is a journey of self-denial and self-sacrifice – dying to self and living in the new ways of Jesus. This is not a minor change, but a life-altering new direction of truth and joy.
 
In All Things Love: The master virtue of the Christian life is love. It is first fruit of the Holy Spirit and the hub virtue around which all other virtues turn. If we have no love in our lives, we are not living the Christian life. If we are void of love and our church does not display genuine Christian love, then others have a right to declare that we are apostate (fallen away from the faith / forsaken by God). However, when the love of God overflows in our care, our words, our prayers, our tenderness and mercy toward each other and strangers – all will know that we are Christians. The world cannot fake the genuine love of Jesus. As we draw near to God in His word, and prayer, and obedience, He will bear in us the fruit of His love. In this way the Christian life becomes a way of joy instead of a way of duty.
 
Spiritual Giftedness and Real Service in the Church: At Redeemer we believe every Christian is gifted by the Holy Spirit to play a real role of service in the church. When the membership of the church is sacrificially serving according to their spiritual gifts, the church will have no lack or gaps. This is the opposite of the common church model of a large paid professional staff providing services to a consuming church. That is an American business model, not a New Testament church model. Redeemer has zero full-time paid staff. The only way this church works is through its members sacrificially serving each other because of the love of Jesus. Those devoted to Christ giving of themselves to serve as an elder, serve as a deacon, teach small groups, host small groups, play an instrument, welcome visitors, watch a child in nursery, teach a children’s class, teach a youth class, host young adults, set up the baptismal, help keep the church clean and looking nice, run the sound, counsel a person in need, make a meal for a person in need, and on and on. This is what is means to live together as the body of Christ.
 
It is a true joy to serve as your pastor! May the Lord Jesus continue His work in our midst,
Pastor Vic

Jesus

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and called Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:30-33
 
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like the son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
Daniel 7:13-14
 
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forever more. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will do this.”
Isaiah 9:6-7

 
Merry Christmas to you all! This is a special year in that Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday morning! A special time to gather, worship Jesus our Lord, and see new Christians come for baptism. Let’s be reminded that Christmas is about the incarnation of Jesus Christ and the inauguration of the coming of the Kingdom of God. These are important Christian realities that we need to understand. Incarnation means “in flesh.” At Christmas we don’t celebrate the beginning of Jesus Christ, but Jesus Christ, the Son of God, humbling Himself and being born as a baby. The prophet Isaiah proclaims this coming of Jesus with the name Immanuel, meaning “God with us.” Jesus Christ is the eternally existing second person of the trinity. He does not begin with His divine conception in Mary. By His mercy, great love, and according to the determined will of God the Father, Jesus is born in flesh to live amongst us and begin His Kingdom that will never end.
             
The Christmas season is filled with wonderful family gatherings, feasting, lights, and gift-giving, but we must strive to keep our focus on Jesus. As Christians we must press to keep our focus on the glorious salvation by grace alone that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross. Jesus must never be reduced to one of the pantheon of Christmas season characters, but ever be exalted in our hearts as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We must see Immanuel – God with us – as the fulfillment of the promise of God to send His Son as the Savior of the world. It is Jesus who has begun a work that will never end.

People often struggle with the sin, death, brokenness, and corruption of this world. It is through the salvation of Jesus that people are being saved out of this world. It is through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit that new birth comes to our hearts, and we are made new passing from death to life. It is this salvation that began to be accomplished when Jesus was born into this world. This salvation was announced by angels at its beginning and at its completion. A salvation that proclaims Jesus as King. He who was born in complete humility is now exalted in heavenly glory! His name is great and the work He has begun with His first coming, He will certainly complete in His second coming.

This Christmas exalt Jesus to the first and highest place in your heart. He is a merciful Savior and a mighty King. He is a Wonderful Counselor, and He is coming on the clouds to call His people to Himself. Make this a practical reality through prayer and scripture reading at family gatherings. Pile the family in the car and join others to worship Jesus our Savior on this Christmas Eve!
 
May joy, peace, and hope overflow in your home this Christmas,
Pastor Vic

Suicide


“O God, from my youth you have taught me, and still I proclaim your wonderous deeds.
So even to old age and grey hairs, O God, do not forsake me until I proclaim your might to another generation, Your power to all those to come.”
Psalm 71: 17-18

 
This week the National Center for Health Statistics reported suicide numbers for 2022. Nearly 50,000 Americans killed themselves in 2022, marking the highest suicide count in one year ever recorded. This should be a grim and sobering reality to all of us. Within these statistics certain markers jumped out to me. Men are more likely to actually commit suicide, but women more often report suicidal thoughts. Of the various age brackets, the age category of over 75 reported the highest number of suicides in 2022. This is such a tragedy.

I want to spend some time asking and attempting to answer the question, “How can the most affluent and stable senior group in the world lead the way in record-breaking suicide numbers?” Though there is no clean or simple answer to this question, we must ask and strive to understand what has gone wrong. If all too often the heritage being passed down to younger generations is one of death and despair, in short order this malignancy will begin to multiply in younger generations.

I believe the right place to start is to focus on the general ungodliness of seniors in the US. The Bible tells us that for those truly in Christ, “Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18). This speaks to the reality we should see in truly Christian seniors. We should see people who are growing physically older through gradually failing health, but whose souls are growing more beautiful in godliness as they make progress in the faith and grow closer to heaven. When you are around this type of Christian senior, you know it! Though they still struggle with sin (as we all do!), there is a powerful sense of godliness that transcends their aging and broken body. Their hope in Christ and desire to convey the gospel to younger generations is overt and inspiring.

Sadly, there are far more seniors that were nominal Christians in their middle age, going through the motions and saying the right words, but never earnestly believing in Jesus as Lord. Who we really are is revealed when the fire of pressure is turned up in our lives. For millions of nominally Christian Americans, as the body grows old so does the care to keep up any pretense of false religion. As the body fades so does the soul of the unbelieving. Instead of “partaking in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) through holding fast to the promises of God, unbelieving seniors grow in all forms of ungodliness: selfishness, anger, pride, despair, jealousy, strife, drunkenness, and sexual immorality. (The last category may surprise you, but it’s for good reason the largest US retirement community – The Villages, FL -is infamously known as the STD capital of America.) Combining the factors I’ll mention below, this leads countless seniors to a place of despair, from which some act to end their lives.

Though the root of despair is a rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ, there are many contributing factors to the hopelessness of many American seniors. I would like to challenge our thinking as a church. First, the prevailing US fixation on retirement. What retirement means for many people is the ceasing of meaningful work. It’s a vision of endlessly, selfishly entertaining yourself with no obligations. It’s like a perverted version of heaven on earth. This is not a Christian ideal and will lead to all kinds of despair and dysfunction, rather than the happiness one expects. God created human beings to be involved in meaningful work six days a week and worship one day a week. This does not mean that seniors need to be working the same full days as in their youth, but it does mean that their lives should revolve around regular meaningful work instead of endless entertainment. This work may earn income, or it may not. It may be volunteer charitable work, work in the church, or work in the home actively helping the next generation. To this, relaxation is appropriately added for refreshment. This type of life brings meaning through Christ-centered service. A life of Christ-centered service builds relationships and treasured friendships. A life of Christ-centered service works to sanctify the soul and deepen our relationship with Jesus. All this, brings joy! American self-absorbed and self-entertaining retirement contributes to despair.

Second, family isolation. We are more spread out than ever before through transient job culture. As family members we need each other. What it looks like to be near each other is a difficult answer. However, we need to meaningfully live life together as family. Consider how to make necessary sacrifices to live closer together as parents and children. This is very common in other cultures but growing less common in America. Part of this involves bearing with one another in patience. This patience comes through Christian sanctification. The two play into each other as we work out our God-given obligations to care for family members.

Third, end of life medical decisions. Ever-advancing medical technology is widening the gap between what is possible and what ought to happen. Again, this relates to godliness and spiritual wisdom. The unbelieving are often terrified of death and will go to any length to put off the inevitable. The Christian seeks always to live a full life unto the Lord but is not afraid to die and enter into eternal life. Before extreme old age, senior Christians would be wise to have frank and prayerful conversations with their spouse and children concerning what extent of medical care they wish to receive. A type of tortured existence can be sustained by machines long after a person a few generations ago would have died a natural death. What can happen and what ought to happen, are not always the same thing concerning end of life medical decisions.

Fourth, we would be wise to learn contentment from joyful Christian seniors. Christian seniors from just a few generations ago did not live lavishly like we do now. Their houses were smaller, their cars and clothes were simpler, and their schedules were less crowded – and on the whole – they were happier. The “American Dream” of unending material gain and entertainment is not satisfying our souls. Let us go back to simpler times and take seriously the claims of Jesus Christ. Hear the words of JC Ryle, “To have a place and a title and a position in society is not nearly so important as people think. It is a great sin to be covetous and worldly and proud: but it is no sin to be poor. It matters not so much what money we have, and where we live, as what we are in the sight of God. Where are we going when we die? Shall we live forever in heaven? These are the main things to which we should attend.”
 
Let us grow old and die well in the hope of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,
Pastor Vic