“If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” Mark 3:24-25

We are all spending a lot more time at home than we normally do as a result of social distancing and business closures. Our kids are going to be home until the fall because of statewide school closures. I encourage you to be intentional in honoring the Lord over the next few months and accept this season as a blessing. 

Jesus is right to say that a house divided cannot stand. When we are around each other at home for long periods, familiarity can breed contempt. If we do not exert good spiritual leadership in our homes they will quickly become toxic, full of bitterness, anger, and isolation. I encourage you to focus on certain Christian virtues and wise patterns during this extended time together that our homes may be unified, filled with joy, and productive for the glory of the Lord.

First, let’s give greater focus in prayer and application to being the loving father, mother, or child that we can be in Christ. Each day, think of those in your household as empty vessels. As you spend time with the Lord in His word, pray that the Holy Spirit will fill you with His love. With your heart full of God’s love, be intentional throughout the day through words of blessing, physical affection, and acts of service to fill up each person in your home with Christian love. By the end of the day may their empty cup be overflowing! 

“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.” 1 Corinthians 13:4

“Above all keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8

Second, freely ask for and grant forgiveness. We will offend and sin against each other as we live together in close quarters. Be quick to ask for forgiveness when you feel conviction. Do not let pride keep you from taking that step of humility. Be quick to fully forgive – without holding a grudge – when forgiveness is necessary. 

“Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” Colossians 3:13

Third, establish healthy routines that will foster spiritual growth, education, exercise, and adequate sleep. As a part of these routines, I encourage you to make family devotions a high priority. This does not have to be complicated. I suggest choosing one meal a day. After eating, keep the entire family around the table. Choose a book of the Bible to work your way through – open to the family what book they would like to read. If an entire Old Testament book is too much, then just read about the events of one character’s life. Once per day, after your meal, pass the Bible around the table and have each person at the table read a portion of the chapter for that day. When you are finished discuss the chapter. Parents, have one or two questions prepared to spark conversation. After discussion pray for the day and needs that are on your prayer list. I suggest having different members of your family offer the opening and closing prayers. This is a good opportunity to coach them, and help them understand how they should pray in a non-threatening environment. 

May the Lord continue to watch over us, and unify our families at this difficult time.

The love of Christ to you,

Pastor Vic

“He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:15-16

We serve a holy God.

In his first epistle, Peter quotes from the Old Testament book of Leviticus (11:44), where repeatedly Moses writes about the holy, separated, and consecrated nature of the Lord our God (Leviticus 11:44, 19:2, 20:7, 20:26, 21:8). The Lord tells Moses that because He is holy, the people of Israel – His people – must also be holy. Holiness is similar to consecration, which means to set something apart for a sacred purpose. Something that is holy is separated from sinful and evil things, and unstained by them. 

The Lord God is holy in all His ways. He is seated upon His throne in heaven, in perfection and power (Isaiah 6). Because of His holiness, all sinful humanity is separated from God, and under condemnation because of our rebellion against His will. But by grace and according to His mercy, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to bear the punishment for our sins. By faith in Jesus Christ, the free pardon of guilt is open to all who believe. We are not saved by works, but by the grace of God alone.

However, once we are forgiven for our sins, we are called to follow in the ways of Jesus – to live for Him in a separated way motivated by our love for Jesus (1 John 5:3-5). This is the holiness of the Christian life. We must be holy because Jesus was holy. When we read of His life, it is clear that Jesus did not speak the same way as those around Him. Jesus treated all people with a respect and a love that was distinct. Jesus did not love or indulge in the corrupt pleasures of this world. Jesus was humble, not proud; patient, not angry; pure, not lustful; full of love, not selfishness. He was a peacemaker, not a gossip; He loved God His Father, not the passing things of this world. 

Jesus lived a holy and separated life, but he did this while still living amidst the world. In John 17:15-17, Jesus prays for you and me, that God the Father would guard us against evil and set us apart (sanctify us) by His truth. It is God’s will that we remain a part of this corrupt world after putting our faith in Jesus Christ so that we might go and bear witness to others about who Jesus is. God would have us live morally pure lives in the midst of the world so that we might shine like light in darkness. We must live amongst the world, as Jesus did so that we can daily speak to and affect those around us with the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

As we live for Jesus, we will daily fail and sin. Holiness will progressively increase as a work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but we must pray for and strive after it. The Bible calls this sanctification – becoming progressively set apart over time. Daily sin does not destroy our relationship with God, but does break our fellowship with Him. 

Keep short accounts with God this week. When conviction comes upon you, do not wait until the end of the day to confess your sins. Be immediate. Confess your sin to Jesus as soon as you know you have sinned. Jesus is faithful and just and will cleanse your heart of all shame and guilt (1 John 1:9). 

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” Proverbs 28:13

This week, let us strive by the strength and grace of our Savior Jesus Christ to be holy as He is holy.

“And when it was day, He departed and went into a desolate place.” Luke 4:42 

After a full day of teaching and ministering individually, person-to-person, laying His hands on the sick, Jesus rises early and seeks out a desolate place. In doing this, Jesus is intentionally getting away from other people to focus on prayer and being near to God the Father. If being alone with God was important for Jesus, to strengthen His soul and inner resolve to continue doing the Father’s will, it is infinitely more important for us. In His perfect strength and divinity, but full humanity, Jesus often went away to desolate places to quiet His mind before engaging the crowds again. 

We all need such disengagement in our lives, but this separation needs to be intentional. Even non-Christians know that people need quiet space in their lives, but the non-Christian does not know where to turn for the rejuvenation of soul that they seek. As Christians, we get alone and quiet so that we can set our hearts and minds again on things of Jesus Christ and His eternal perspective (Colossians 3:1-4). This is accomplished first through the careful reading of Scripture and next through prayer. 

I suggest a brief time of prayer asking for the Holy Spirit to quiet the noise of your heart, to open your heart to understand, believe, and receive what you read in the Bible that day. Next, spend what time you have reading a passage from the Bible. I suggest you keep a marker in your Bible and keep moving it. Section by section, at your own pace, read through entire books of the Bible – New and Old Testament. However, read small sections at a time that you can thoughtfully consider. Reading the Bible is not an accomplishment to check off, but a life-time discipline that will change your entire worldview. 

Once you have read a passage of Scripture, pray about the things that have come to mind as you read. Taking notes of any sort in a journal while you read can help to focus your thoughts. In prayer, worship Jesus for His perfect goodness, give thanks, confess sins, ask Jesus questions you have, pray about your anxieties, pray for others in need. Reading Scripture is a time of listening to Jesus as God. Prayer is a time to respond in faith. 

Like many, you may agree with the above, but still not practice getting alone with God, because life is just too busy. Let me encourage you that your “desolate place” need not be a remote mountainside. Millions and millions of Christians, both now and in the past, have lived in metropolitan cities where there is no quiet garden to find silence. This does not mean that a devotional life is impossible unless you live in the country. From busy moms to those of us that work two jobs, the daily need is to find someplace where you can shut out the noise and hear the quiet voice of Jesus through the Bible – and then be able to turn your heart to Him in prayer. This could take place in your car, a closet in your home, early morning or late at night at your kitchen table, but it must happen. If not, your soul will run empty and you’ll begin to do life in your way and by your own strength. 

Lastly, sometimes the desolate place really needs to be a desolate place. When you come to major crossroads in life (major job changes, moving, getting married) I suggest you take a vacation day, find some actual remote place, take your Bible and a journal (no phone, no music), fast (completely or to bread and water) and get alone with the Lord Jesus. Seeking the Lord in such a significant way demonstrates to the Lord that you really want to know and do His will. Try it and see how the Lord answers your prayer! 

Let’s get alone with our Savior this week.

May the Lord fill our hearts from His abundant goodness, 

Pastor Vic

Church Membership

“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:23-25 

Friday night, from 6 to 8 pm at the Encounter Building on main campus, we will have our second new member interest meeting. At Spotswood West, membership is understood as intentional commitment to the local church. Going to a local church is not supposed to be a consumer event, it’s supposed to be many Christians living together in community as the body of Christ. In this community we set aside time each week specifically for worship, preaching of Scripture, and prayer. We labor to love each other genuinely and live in harmony. We love each other sacrificially as Christ loves us. We serve each other. We lift each other up in encouragement and forgive each other as needed – for Jesus’ sake. 

At Spotswood West, we encourage intentional commitment (membership) because of the many competing priorities of our day. It is important that you and your family put the highest priority on things of eternal importance. Relationships are the most important part of life, and our most important relationship is with Christ Jesus our Lord. But by God’s design, our personal relationship with Jesus Christ is strengthened and grown through the constant encouragement, accountability, and prayer of other Christian friends in the church. 

The reality of friendships is that they take many years to develop deeply. When you plant a new fruit tree it does not bear fruit the following season. From the time you plant a new fruit tree, it can take three to five years before a harvest of fruit comes in. Human relationships are very similar. It takes years and years of cultivation before true trust and companionship are developed. At Spotswood West we strive for intentional, long-term Christian discipleship through intentional commitment to the local church. 

Coming to the interest meeting tomorrow night will give you an overview about how the church is governed, what our goals are, where we are going as a church, what is your place of service in the church, what is the SBC, and an open time to ask questions you may have about our new church plant. I hope to see you there! 

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Church Library 

I want to remind you of the tremendous resource we have in our church library. The library is set up each week in the lobby and is there for you to check out quality Christian resources. We have a great line-up of Children’s Illustrated Bible’s, children’s books, and even some audio theater (a favorite of our kids). If you need some fresh reading material for the kids, take a look! 

Other references and Bible study materials are there for adults to check out, consider, and then purchase to build up your own Christian library. If you have questions Karen can assist you in the checkout process. 

Thankful for you all, 

Pastor Vic