Church Family,

This past Sunday, as we continued our series in Acts, we examined Paul’s rather extensive stay in Corinth. While the year-and-a-half he spent there seems to have been riddled with rejection by the locals the whole time, the conflict escalated greatly as a proconsul named Gallio came to power. Many of the Jews of Corinth dragged Paul before Gallio and accused Paul of promoting forms of worship that were contrary to the law. However, Gallio seems to have seen through the claims that were made and recognized that this was not an issue of Roman law but rather of Jewish custom. The conflict comes down to right understanding of the Old Testament, which Gallio rightly recognizes is well outside his own or any other government authority. The responsibility for matters of the faith, brothers and sisters, falls entirely on us. As those who have heard and received the Gospel, it is our responsibility alone to ensure that the good news goes out to all people. Let us bear that responsibility well.

Parenting Conference

With the Phoenix area being such a major population center, we get a lot of great conferences near by and we like to highlight some that may be especially worth your attention. This April, The Gospel Coalition’s Arizona chapter will be hosting a parenting conference at Trinity Bible Church in Phoenix. This conference aims to give parents a biblical approach to cutting through competing world-views and distractions to effectively reach the hearts of their children. If you are interested in attending this conference and would like more information click the link here. There is a discounted early bird rate for the conference but only until February 28th, so sign up soon if you plan on attending.

Grace be with you,

Logan Murphy

Pastoral Intern

Church Family,

This past Sunday, as we continued our series in Acts, we came to Paul’s famous apologetic speech before the Areopagus in Acts 17. While this passage surely has much to teach us about engaging with a culture that, much like the Athenians of Paul’s day, thinks it can reason its way through the most essential questions of life, it seems worth spending just a short while in this blog considering how we ourselves ought to be convicted by Paul’s words. How often do we get caught up in worldly wisdom and neglect the teachings of Scripture? How often do we try to shape God into something convenient for our sinful priorities or even just something we find easy to understand, rather than seeing Him as He has revealed Himself to us in His Word? How often do we lose ourselves in the pursuit of pleasure, forgetting the clear command to seek God? God has made himself known to us so we have no excuse to do anything besides pursue Him wholeheartedly.

Parenting Conference

With the Phoenix area being such a major population center, we get a lot of great conferences near by and we like to highlight some that may be especially worth your attention. This April, The Gospel Coalition’s Arizona chapter will be hosting a parenting conference at Trinity Bible Church in Phoenix. This conference aims to give parents a biblical approach to cutting through competing world-views and distractions to effectively reach the hearts of their children. If you are interested in attending this conference and would like more information click the link here. There is a discounted early bird rate for the conference but only until February 28th, so sign up soon if you plan on attending.

Grace be with you,

Logan Murphy

Pastoral Intern

Church Family,

This past Sunday, as we continued our series in Acts, we witnessed the missionary efforts of Paul and Silas in two cities – Thessalonica and Berea. While Paul and Silas shared the Gospel by the same means in both cities, namely reasoning, explaining, and proving from Scripture, their reception in the two cities could not have been more different. They were ran out of Thessalonica and one of their associates was arrested, but the Bereans received them, and more importantly their teaching, with all eagerness. The difference was the willingness of the Bereans to submit themselves to the authority of Scripture. They did not respond out of a jealous impulse as the Thessalonians had but spent days pouring over Scripture to verify what Paul and Silas were teaching them. Church, let us never be so arrogant to think that our human impulses are always correct. The simple reality is that our judgement is often clouded by misconceptions and prejudices, but God’s word is sure and true and we will always be much better served by leaning on it for understanding.

Parenting Conference

With the Phoenix area being such a major population center, we get a lot of great conferences near by and we like to highlight some that may be especially worth your attention. This April, The Gospel Coalition’s Arizona chapter will be hosting a parenting conference at Trinity Bible Church in Phoenix. This conference aims to give parents a biblical approach to cutting through competing world-views and distractions to effectively reach the hearts of their children. If you are interested in attending this conference and would like more information click the link here.

Grace be with you,

Logan Murphy

Pastoral Intern

Church Family,

This past Sunday, as we continued in Acts, we walked through three little vignettes regarding the mission work of Paul and Silas. As we reflect on these passages I want to take a second to draw attention to an interesting detail in the story of Paul and Silas’s imprisonment. The earthquake is reported to have opened all the doors of the prison such that any prisoner could have escaped. But when Paul and Silas cried out to the jailer it was not merely to report that the two of them had remained, or even that some number of the prisoners had remained; Paul’s report to the jailer was that “we are all here” (Acts 16:28). This surprising detail may well be explained back in verse 25 where we are told that as Paul and Silas are praying and singing hymns, the other prisoners are listening to them. The transformative work of the Holy Spirit bringing the Gospel to bear on our lives is so powerful that it not only shows up as a clear focus in the stories of Acts 16, it saturates the little background details. Church, this is the very Spirit that is doing a good work in us and will see that work to its completion. May we be encouraged and respond in resounding praise.

Church Game Night

We are having a church game night on the evening of Friday, January 31st, from 6:00 to 8:00. Feel free to bring your favorite board games or just show up to play everyone else brings. We have done a few of these game nights now and they are always a fantastic time. Thanks to these game nights, I have personally had the opportunity to throw a plush burrito at Pastor Bryan, and I think that’s an opportunity that everyone at Light in the Desert ought to have. Even if you don’t normally think of yourself as a board game kind of person, you may be surprised to learn a new game you really like and at the very least it’s an invaluable opportunity to spend time together as a church family.

Grace be with you,

Logan Murphy

Pastoral Intern

Church Family,

This past Sunday, as we continued our series in Acts, we came across a moment in the early church where it looked like the wheels might be starting to fall off. Paul and Barnabas were preparing to return to the cities where they had previously preached the Gospel to encourage the young churches that had sprouted up. However, the two of them ran into a sharp disagreement over whether or not to bring along Mark, who had traveled with them before but left part way through the journey. It’s not clear if either person was in the right; Paul likely had good reasons for wanting to leave Mark behind and Barnabas just as likely had good reasons for wanting to bring him. What is clear is that neither Paul nor Barnabas was willing to let this disagreement get in the way of their Gospel efforts. Instead, their efforts were doubled as Paul headed out one way and Barnabas took Mark and headed out another way. It’s even possible that this is why Paul recruited Timothy to come with him shortly after. Church family, we are certain to run into disagreements with our Christian brothers and sisters as we live in service to the Lord, but it is vital that we take after the example of Paul and Barnabas. Let us never get caught up in prideful efforts to prove ourselves right but rather focus our efforts on the sending forth of the Gospel.

Church Game Night

We are having a church game night on the evening of Friday, January 31st, from 6:00 to 8:00. Feel free to bring your favorite board games or just show up to play everyone else brings. We have done a few of these game nights now and they are always a fantastic time. Thanks to these game nights, I have personally had the opportunity to throw a plush burrito at Pastor Bryan, and I think that’s an opportunity that everyone at Light in the Desert ought to have. Even if you don’t normally think of yourself as a board game kind of person, you may be surprised to learn a new game you really like and at the very least it’s an invaluable opportunity to spend time together as a church family.

Prospective Members Class

We are having a prospective members class this upcoming Saturday afternoon from 1:00 to 4:00. Attending this class is not any sort of a commitment, it is just an opportunity to learn the core convictions of Light in the Desert Church, including a particular belief in the biblical model of church membership. If you have any interest in learning more about LitD, we would strongly encourage you to come to this class. Even if you have not signed up, feel free to just show up on Saturday.

Grace be with you,

Logan Murphy

Pastoral Intern

Church Family,

This past Sunday, as we continued our series in Acts, we tackled a huge portion of narrative in chapter 15 spanning verses 1-35. Here we read about one of the most famous (or infamous) controversies of the early church: whether or not Gentile believers needed to be circumcised to be saved. This story is amazing because its value is not just in the answer to the question at hand, but also in how the answer was determined and how everyone responded to the answer. The only right way to answer such an important question is to lean on scripture. Paul, Barnabas, and James did just this and showed from the narratives of Genesis through Deuteronomy and the from the prophecy in Amos that salvation did not come through adherence to ceremonial law but though faith in the one true God. The response to this revelation was not to bicker over who had been right and who had been wrong but to rejoice in the goodness of God for his saving grace and to providing loving guidance and encouragement to those who needed this answer. While this passage surely ought to teach us of the good news of salvation for all, my it also teach us to humbly lean on God’s perfect Word and to respond to that word with an outpouring of praise to God and love for others.

Wednesday Nights

After a brief winter break, our Wednesday night activities start back up tonight, January 15th. Just like last semester, we are offering a women’s bible reading, a men’s bible reading, and our disciple makers class. If you have never joined us on Wednesday nights before, now is as good a time as any. These classes are a great opportunity to have fruitful in-depth conversations so we hope you will make time to be with us at 6:00 on Wednesday evenings.

Church Game Night

We are having a church game night on the evening of Friday, January 31st, from 6:00 to 8:00. Feel free to bring your favorite board games or just show up to play everyone else brings. We have done a few of these game nights now and they are always a fantastic time. Thanks to these game nights, I have personally had the opportunity to throw a plush burrito at Pastor Bryan, and I think that’s an opportunity that everyone at Light in the Desert ought to have. Even if you don’t normally think of yourself as a board game kind of person, you may be surprised to learn a new game you really like and at the very least it’s an invaluable opportunity to spend time together as a church family.

Parking Overflow

As a quick reminder, the apartment complex just west of our campus is using our parking lot for overflow parking while they work on some resurfacing over the next few weeks. We have specifically reserved room for Wednesday evenings and Sundays, so we shouldn’t have issues with parking during our regular church activities. Just know that if you drive by the church during the week and the parking lot is bustling, there isn’t some event that we specifically kept secret from you, it’s just our friends in the complex next door.

Grace be with you,

Logan Murphy

Pastoral Intern

Church Family,

As we continued our advent series this past Sunday, we landed on a passage that may not be at the forefront of everyone’s minds around Christmas, though it undoubtedly speaks to the importance of what Christmas celebrates. 1 John 4:1-6 tells us that the incarnation is the center of God’s revelation to us. It is so central to God’s word that we can confidently say that any teaching that contradicts the biblical teaching of the incarnation cannot be true and must be rejected. And not only does the incarnation give us certainty about the message of the Gospel, it gives us certainty about the victory of the Gospel over all the false gospels that come from the world around us, for “he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” Church, as we continue to think about all the claims and implications of the Christmas story, let us remember the confidence we have thanks to the incarnation.

Winter Schedule

We just wanted to give you a few quick reminders about a few upcoming schedule items that are out of the ordinary. First, we will have a short service on Christmas Eve at 4:00 in the afternoon. Note that this is different than the time you may have initially read in the blog post last week. That was a miscommunication that has since been corrected; the actual time is 4:00. Second, we will not have our usual Sunday Studies at 9:00 on the morning of the 29th. Instead, you are welcome to join us at that same time for a fellowship hour and enjoy treats and hot drinks with us.

Grace be with you,

Logan Murphy

Pastoral Intern

Church Family,

This past Sunday, in our anticipation of Christmas, we spent our time in the first eighteen verses of the Gospel of John. While this book does eventually get into the ground-level narrative details of Jesus’ life on earth, these first eighteen verses give us a sort of 30,00 foot view of the theology of the incarnation. John steps back and tells us what it means that Jesus became a human and why we should be amazed and overjoyed by that fact. At one point during the sermon, Pastor Bryan drew our attention to verse five and encouraged us to linger on it for a minute, to let it sink in, so I figured it was worth doing exactly that here in the blog post. Verse five tells us “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” This statement is so powerful because it is irrefutable based on the very natures of light and darkness. We can’t turn on a dark switch to take the light out of a room. We don’t worry that darkness is going to spill out of a cave and overtake the daylight. Light always wins. If Jesus is the light, how could we ever fear that he might not be victorious?

This verse also does something striking with its use of tenses. Given everything we just thought about, the verse certainly could have said “and the darkness will not overcome it.” This is objectively true; there is no sensible future in which darkness overtakes light. This would also fit with the lofty nature of the surrounding passage since it would speak to eternity instead of just to a moment. But I think John very intentionally writes “and the darkness has not overcome it” to speak to the hearts of his readers. He is saying that even in this moment the light is winning. We might not always feel like this is true. We might feel like the darkness of a fallen creation is winning, that disease and natural disaster cannot be overcome. We might feel that the darkness of human corruption is winning, that the powers-that-be have seized such influence that they can ensure their own position forever. Certainly we may sometimes feel that the darkness of our own sin is winning, that despite hours of reading, prayer, and repentance, we cannot help but fall short in the same ways over and over again. Still, Christian, we can rest assured that even in this very moment, the darkness has not overcome the light. While it is absolutely true that Jesus will be victorious, it is just as true that Jesus presently is victorious, and that ought to bring us immeasurable hope and joy.

Winter Schedule

With the Christmas season in full swing, Light in the Desert’s regular schedule is looking a little irregular, so we wanted to keep you in the loop on everything going on around here. First of all, we have finished our Wednesday night activities for the year. Hopefully you’re not reading this blog post while standing outside the locked church doors. All our Wednesday night activities will resume on January 15th. Second, we will be having a short service on Christmas Eve at 4:00 p.m.Third and finally, on December 29th, our usual 9:00 Sunday Studies time will be replaced with a fellowship hour. I don’t have direct confirmation on this, but I suspect there will be various pastries and large amounts of coffee available, perhaps with other goodies as well. And if that’s not enough reason to get you out the door that Sunday morning, quality time with church family certainly ought to be.

Grace be with you,

Logan Murphy

Pastoral Intern

Church Family,

This past Sunday we stepped away from Acts for just a few weeks to start our series on advent –  looking forward to the celebration of Christ’s coming on Christmas. Turning to Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth we find a recurring theme: God blesses and works through the humble and lowly. Elizabeth, a woman who has every expectation of remaining childless, is blessed with carrying John who will go out and prepare the way for Jesus. Mary, a woman of no particular influence or esteem, is blessed with carrying Jesus himself. Nameless shepherds serve as the first witnesses to the coming of the newborn king. And in all of these occurrences the overwhelming response is joy. Even John in Elizabeth’s womb leaps with excitement in the presence of the yet unborn Jesus. God has come to save the lowly; what could anyone do but rejoice? Church, as we consider the Christmas story this season, let us remember that Jesus came for us. In our desperation, He came for us. In our wandering, He came for us. In the depths of our sin, He came for us. Let us remember the birth of Jesus and let us rejoice.

Members’ Meeting

Just a quick reminder that we have a members’ meeting this upcoming Sunday, December 8th, immediately following the Sunday service. These quarterly meetings are not just essential to the function of the church, they are joyous and encouraging in a way that few things with the word “meeting” in the title tend to be. If you are a member of Light in the Desert, please be sure to set aside a little time that afternoon to participate in that meeting.

Grace be with you,

Logan Murphy

Pastoral Intern

Church Family,

This past Sunday we tackled a rather large portion of the narrative of Acts in which we saw Paul’s powerful sermon in Antioch and the response of the locals who heard him. Paul’s sermon laid out the history of Israel, how that whole history points to Jesus as the savior of God’s people, and how the only right response is belief in Jesus. While many heard this sermon and believed, others responded only with jealousy. Many Jewish authorities who envied Paul’s influence spoke out against him, yet their rejection only served to give the Gospel a greater hearing among the Gentiles who received it and rejoiced. Church, let us not be like these authorities, caught up in our pride and in the twisted salvation narratives we have written for ourselves. Rather, let us humbly submit to the word of God and rejoice as it transforms our lives.

Thanksgiving Potluck

We will be having our annual Thanksgiving potluck this upcoming Sunday, November 24th at 4:00 p.m. This meal has been a regular source of encouragement at Light in the Desert for years now as we are able to share a wonderful meal and share the ways we have seen God’s faithful providence at work in our lives. If you are bringing food and need a headcount to figure out how much to make, we are currently expecting about 50 people based on the sign-up sheet.

Women’s Christmas Dinner

We will be hosting a women’s Christmas dinner on Saturday, December 7th. If you are planning on attending please make sure to let Terri know by this upcoming Sunday so she can make sure there is enough food for everybody.

Grace be with you,

Logan Murphy

Pastoral Intern