From Westwood Message – April 29, 2010

Offering for Dennis Seman’s Mission Trip to China

During April, we collected our Easter offering to help Dennis Seman be part of a two-week mission trip to China with China Partner beginning in mid-May. The offering total came to $1,986.00. Thank you for your generous giving.

Is the National Day of Prayer Unconstitutional

As you have probably heard in the news recently, a federal judge here in Wisconsin has determined that the National Day of Prayer – which is next Thursday, May 6 – is unconstitutional. The decision came in a legal case filed by the Freedom From Religion Foundation which is based in Madison. The case is not over as the decision will be appealed and may very well reach the Supreme Court.

Wayne Shockley of Westwood wrote the following in reflecting on the decision:

The recent court decision declaring the National Day of Prayer unconstitutional left me with conflicting thoughts. On the one hand, I can kind of understand the reasoning behind the decision. Not that I agree with it, but I can see the judge's point. What the Constitution requires is that the government be neutral in all matters pertaining to religion. Certainly it can't provide money or facilities to any religion. That's the part that prohibits the "establishment" of a religion. At the same time, it can't limit the practice or exercise of any religion. The court said that encouraging prayer is providing support for particular religious practices; hence it steps over the line to establishing of religion.

On the other hand, that's a stretch. That's beyond nitpicking. There is no coercion of any kind in a Day of Prayer. There's no money or substantial support of any kind given to any religious organization. Even atheists are free to meditate - if they wish. One might suggest that they meditate on their freedom to complain about religion, but that would be uncharitable.

Yet there are two good things that can come from this decision. One is that it reminds us what kind of attitudes we face in our society today. The nitpicking nature of this decision betrays hostility to religion, not neutrality. Obviously, the Freedom From Religion Foundation is hostile to religion, and large segments of our society are joining in that hostility to some degree. Christians can no longer expect any kind of support from our culture in general. We are on our own, and we may as well get used to it.

The second good thing from this decision is that it will prompt Christians to remember that we don't need support from our culture. Throughout history and around the world, the Body of Christ has flourished quite well in cultures much more hostile than this one. In fact the survival and even success of the Church in the midst of hostility has prompted many people to investigate Christianity and then to follow Christ. We see that happening in China today. In short, we don't need the government at all, not even a one-day-a-year proclamation.

It is tragic that our society will deteriorate as it becomes more hostile to Christianity. Many people will be hurt, both in this life and eternally. But if we are going to make this a more Christian nation, it will have to be by the work of the Church among the people by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by proclamations of Presidents by the power of the government.

Christian Camp Offers Life Changing Experiences

The front page of this Caller emphasizes the ministry of Rock River Christian Camp (RRCC). We have included information about Zach Fulton, camp liaison for RRCC coming to Westwood on May 16 to preach for us and update us on RRCC’s ministry and summer camp program.

Westwood has a strong connection with RRCC. RRCC is one of the missions that Westwood supports, and we promote the camp program, encouraging parents to send their children to weeks of camp at RRCC and encouraging adults to attend retreats and other events. Mike Younglove serves on the RRCC board as a representative of Westwood.

Both Christine and I were influenced by Christian camp from an early age and have stayed connected with various Christian camps as adults and parents.

My camp experience began when my two sisters, brother, and I all attended church camp as children and continued to attend through high school. We had five or six area churches in northeastern Wisconsin who together rented various camp facilities for two weeks of summer camp, first at a state park in Michigan’s U.P. and then a church camp facility at Pembine, WI. Then, when I was in high school, I was asked to be a counselor at a camp for younger children and had the opportunity to attend a specialized high school camp in Indiana. We formed friendships that continue to influence our lives.

While in youth ministry during my years in college and first two years in seminary, I began working in Christian camps. In one capacity or other, I have worked in camps in at least five states. Christine and I forged and deepened friendships while working in Christian camps. One such experience over 30 years ago strengthened our friendship with Bob and Dawn Baird who were with us last Sunday to share about their mission work in the Congo.

The summer after our daughter was born, we had responsibilities in a week of church camp. Before she was one, Nancy went along. She continued attending church camp all through high school.

Our lives would not be the same without those camp experiences. Our early church camp experiences were foundational to the development of our faith in Christ, and our many experiences working in church camp as adults deepened our faith in more ways than I could ever describe to you.

So take advantage of the opportunities afforded you and your children at RRCC this summer. Westwood will even help with the cost for your children to attend camp, as we have funds in our budget to pay one-half tuition at RRCC for Westwood children. A week at RRCC just might be the thing that influences your children to a lifetime of faith and helps your faith grow beyond what you ever thought possible.

Worldviews and the Church

Chuck Colson, founder, and Mark Early, president of Prison Fellowship Ministries, broadcast a daily BreakPoint commentary on more than 1,200 radio outlets. BreakPoint is the worldview ministry of Prison Fellowship Ministries. Their mission is “to seek the transformation of believers as they apply biblical thinking to all of life, enabling them to transform their communities through the grace and truth of Jesus Christ.”

The BreakPoint website and the recently established Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview both help to carry out that mission. The BreakPoint website features Colson’s and Earley’s commentaries as well as feature articles by other established and up-and-coming writers to equip readers with a biblical perspective on a variety of issues and topics, and the Colson Center website provides a variety of resources to assist Christians and the church to understand contemporary issues from a Biblical worldview. If you are interested you can get an email subscription to the daily transcripts of BreakPoint commentaries by going to www.breakpoint.org.

The need for approaching issues in the church from a Biblical worldview has never been so poignant as it is today because of the direction in thinking that our culture has headed. Various surveys have brought matters such as the following to light:

• One survey asked people if they believe that there are moral absolutes that are unchanging or that moral truth is relative to the circumstances. By a 3-to-1 margin adults said truth is always relative to the person and their situation.
• Among teenagers, 83% said moral truth depends on the circumstances, and only 6% said moral truth is absolute.
• Another survey concluded that 44% of adults in America contend that, “the Bible, the Koran and the Book of Mormon are all different expressions of the same spiritual truths.” Just 38% of Americans reject that idea.
• Among Christian kids, 63% say that all religions pray to the same God.

How do such views show themselves in people’s behavior? People are left with philosophies such as “if it feels good, do it,” “everyone else is doing it” or “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, it’s permissible.” The decline of moral foundations among our young people has culminated in a one-word worldview: “whatever.”

These worldviews have begun to be combined with Biblical teaching today, even in the church. The Bible, however, can help us understand the kind of truth on which we need to stand, because this happened before. Paul wrote the letter of Colossians to a church that was letting ideas from the culture around them seep into their Christian teaching. In Colossians 1, Paul presented three foundational elements that can help hold us to a Biblical worldview:

(1) Faith. In Colossians 1:3-4 Paul says he thanks God for his readers because he has heard about their faith in Christ Jesus. Today you will hear people say something like, “Everybody needs faith” or “You gotta have faith.” It is like some kind of good luck charm, with no object to the faith. Having faith means you’re okay. Paul is not talking about such faith because faith has no intrinsic value in and of itself. Faith derives its value from the object of faith. Salvation does not come by believing in belief, or even in a set of doctrines or a creed. Salvation comes by believing in Christ. We need to help people in the church to put their complete faith for salvation and for life in Christ alone.

(2) Love. In Colossians 1:3,4, Paul also thanks God for his readers because of the love they have for all the saints. We need people in the church who are not only good people, but who genuinely love each other. Throughout history, the church has always been at its best when it demonstrated the love of Christ to each other and to the world.

(3) The Gospel. Then Paul recognizes that the Gospel brings us hope as nothing else can. Our hope is that heaven is out in front of us. We go to heaven only by believing in the Gospel, which is the message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. The Gospel must be at the heart of the life of the church and of individual believers.

How does your church measure up in having a Biblical worldview? Does the teaching in your congregation help people hold to the truth of Scripture without mixing in ideas from our culture? Perhaps these ideas can help your church present a Biblical worldview.

From Westwood Message – April 8, 2010

Al Lynk Baptized on Good Friday

At the end of our Good Friday service on April 2, Al Lynk was baptized into Christ. Al has been participating in several activities of the congregation already.

If you have not been in the church office recently, you may not know that Chardel’s office (which doubles as meeting space for one Bible study and quite a few meetings) has been repainted. Al did most of the painting. Thanks, Al.

Bob and Dawn Baird Coming to Westwood on April 25

Bob and Dawn Baird, veteran missionaries to the Congo in Africa, long-time friends of Christine and I, and the speaker at our Women’s Retreat in 2009 (Dawn, not Bob) will visit Westwood on April 25. Bob will be preaching, and they will share with the adult class about their ministry in the Congo.

After spending the last few years based in Central Illinois, the Baird’s are currently making plans to spend significant time in the Congo each year and be regularly involved in the mission work there. They will tell us about their plans. Shortly after their visit to Westwood, Bob will be traveling to the Congo, with plans for Dawn to follow in the summer.

Westwood Is on Facebook

If you are on Facebook, check out the Westwood Christian Church Facebook group and the Westwood page on Facebook. You can find either one by signing into Facebook and searching for Westwood Christian Church. We are beginning to post events and news about Westwood in both places, and you can post your own news and announce events through either the group or the organization page. Here is a link to each one.

Sermon Series in Colossians Begins April 11

Ken will begin a sermon series in Colossians on April 11. Each sermon will be followed with the adult class, “Going Deeper: A Discussion of Today’s Sermon,” at 11:00 am each week. Colossians does a wonderful job of describing how we are to make Christ supreme in our lives and in the church, first through a description of who Christ is and then through various descriptions of how we are to live with Christ in our lives.

EASTER OFFERING FOR DENNIS SEMAN MISSIONS TRIP

Dennis Seman will take a two-week missions trip to China beginning about May 16. We will assist Dennis with the approximately $3,000 cost of the trip through our Easter offering. Gifts may be given, designated for his trip, beginning Sunday, April 4, through the end of the month.

Dennis will be going with a group named China Partner, whose mission is to train current and future Chinese Christian leaders with needed ministry insights and methods.

On this trip, Dennis will primarily be learning firsthand about China Partner to see if they are a fit to work with each other in the future. Along with giving, be sure to pray for Dennis in this endeavor.

Living Under the Supremacy of Christ

What are you passionate about? The people and things you are passionate about make a difference in how you live, how you schedule your time, what kind of activities you will get involved in.

There are some people in our lives each of us should be passionate about. I would hope you are passionate about your spouse if you are married and about your children. When you are passionate about the people you love the most, you will talk about them and you will schedule time for them and for the activities they enjoy. I know that if you want to get me started talking all you have to do is ask about Christine or our daughter, Nancy, and our son-in-law, Dave.

Then there are the organizations that we get involved with or the sports teams we enjoy rooting for that we are often passionate about. People will put a lot of time and effort into an organization whose mission they care passionately about. We root feverishly for teams that have captured our hearts. Here it is the Packers or the Badgers in football or basketball or, for some, hockey. While I share those passions with people in this area, I part company when it comes to baseball — I am a Chicago Cubs fan. If you want to know why, just ask!

My greatest passion, though, exceeds even my family and certainly organizations or sports teams. You see, without a doubt, my greatest passion is Jesus Christ. I hope he is yours too. When I taught preaching students how to preach, I wanted them to learn to preach him with passion.

We will consider our passion for Christ in a series of sermons from Colossians beginning April 11 and extending through May. In a variety of ways, Colossians calls for we who are believers to make Christ the passion of our lives, not just in what we believe, but also in how we live.

There are three key verses in Colossians, each of which calls for us to make Jesus the passion, the center, of our lives.

(1) Paul begins Colossians by describing the nature of Christ. He says Christ is who he is “so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (Colossians 1:18). He is to be the passion of our lives.

(2) In chapter 2, Paul discusses the believer’s position in Christ: “So, then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him” (2:6).

(3) When he gets to chapter 3, Paul calls for us to live a Christ-like life: “set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God” (3:1).

My theme for my messages in Colossians will be “Living Under the Supremacy of Christ.” The book tells us why we should make Christ supreme and how we should then live. This calls for great passion, living for the one who has created and redeemed us. I hope you will develop your passion for Christ.