Godliness + Contentment = Great Gain
Church Family,
There is so much joy we gain from being in Christ. One of those joys is contentment. God, through Christ, brings satisfaction to our lives because our greatest need is met on the cross of Christ. This deep satisfaction changes the way we see our money, view our circumstances, and treat others. Sunday, we explored contentment applied to money. We began to understand that godliness breeds contentment because godliness is respect for God, belief in His Word, and obedience to His truth. So we in godliness with contentment experience great gain, greater gain than any material possession! This all works together to bring about a deep satisfaction that is not self-brought but only realized in dependence upon Christ.
Thanksgiving Meal
Join us on November 21st at 4 pm to celebrate the work of God in our lives and at Light in the Desert Church. We will have a sign-up sheet in the foyer at the welcome desk for you to indicate how many in your family are attending and what you will bring. So stop by the welcome desk and sign up! We are excited to share this potluck meal giving thanks to God for his tremendous grace.
Jefferson Elementary
Jefferson has asked us to collect a few things they need for their students. They need spiral notebooks and dry erase markers. We will collect these items for a few weeks in the foyer. We are working with them to hopefully be able to adopt a couple of families for Christmas. We should be able to update you all soon.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Church Life
Church Family,
It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve posted. Many great things are happening here at Light in the Desert Church, and we could not be more excited. This past Sunday, we explored together more of what it means to be a local gathering in a specific community. We saw how to appoint leaders, deal with sin, and exist in the community not to hinder the name of God. We, as a church, have tremendous responsibilities, and we are learning that it’s worth the fight to be what God has called us to be. This is why we are so excited about the changes we are pursuing. We are serious about being a church that honors God and remains faithful to Him. We ask you to continue to pray as we, in joy, move towards a greater biblical vision for the church.
Disciple-Makers
Join us each Wednesday at 6 pm as we dive into the deep theological goodness of God’s Word! We will be taking the next couple of months to explore essential doctrines we need to know to be good disciple-makers. See you then!
Get the Vision
Like I mentioned above, we are excited to move towards a plurality of Elders to become an Elder-led, Deacon-served, and Congregationally-ruled church. I encourage you to grab the documents we have published over the last couple of months. These papers help explain the ins and outs of where we are headed. Also, don’t hesitate to reach out to me to talk further about these changes.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Legalism and License
Church Family,
Disregard the email you received yesterday. We are working on a registration form for ESOL, and I did not account for the email blast that goes out!
Sunday was joyous as always, and I hope we find strength and comfort from God’s Word directed towards the church. We are more than just a gathering of people on random Sundays. We are God’s children coming together to worship Him and encourage one another. With last week’s text, we were reminded that we are to protect the gospel. We cannot undermine its work in our lives by the way we pursue holiness. Holiness, both positionally and practically, is obtained in the person and work of Christ Jesus. If we do anything to undermine Christ, it will draw people away from the faith. All of holiness is found in Christ Jesus, and we use all God has created to grow into mature followers of Christ.
Disciple Makers
One last reminder that we have started back our Disciple Makers class on Wednesday nights at 6 pm. We are discussing the gospel and will begin discussing essential doctrines that will help us read our bibles. See you this evening!
Get The Vision
We will have another Get the Vision meeting on October 10 at 4 pm. We will take any questions about the previous documents (Biblical Explanation of Elders and Common Questions about Elders) we handed out and then propose Bylaws that reflect our convictions about church polity.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Household of God
Church Family,
We had another wonderful Sunday celebrating the person and work of Jesus in our lives. As we saw Sunday, when we gather, we are putting on display what it looks like when the gospel takes root in a people. As we become a godly people, God is honored, and it shows how effective the gospel is in changing people (1 Tim 3:14-15). It’s also mysterious that sinful people can become holy. The mystery of that godliness (1 Tim 3:16) is that it is accomplished through the person and work of Christ Jesus! The local church is significant because it is a display of Jesus to the world.
Disciple-Makers
Join us this week as we discuss “What is the Gospel?” to better understand it, articulate it, and most importantly, depend on it! We don’t graduate from the gospel at conversion. It is what sustains us as we mature in our faith. See you at 6 pm this Wednesday!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Deacon-served
Church Family,
What a great Sunday! Baptism is a wonderful reminder of God’s grace in redemption. For the believer, it is a public declaration that one has, through faith and repentance in Jesus Christ, been saved from the eternal effects of sin. For the church, it’s a joyous moment of celebration to come around that believer in support, affirmation, and commitment to look after them—what a significant moment for us as a church. Now to put on the dad hat, thank you, church family, for your outpouring of love to my daughter. She was overwhelmed with the encouragement you all gave her and could not stop talking about it all afternoon. It is a deep joy to watch you all care for one another as you do! Because of your servant’s hearts, it was a joy for me to be preaching through 1 Timothy 3:8-13, which is about deacons, this past Sunday. Light in the Desert Church already has many serving in this capacity well, so I long to officially put in place a robust deacon-served structure to continue and to do even more. As verse 13 reminded us, when one serves this way, others are encouraged, and their joy increases as they grow in confidence of what the Lord can do through His people!
Disciple-Makers
This Wednesday, we will begin our disciple-makers class at 6 pm. Join us this evening as we lay a foundation for why it’s important to make disciples and set a course for the fall of what we will be covering.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Elder-led
Church Family,
Church structure is often viewed as boring and irrelevant to the life and well-being of a church. This could not be farther from the truth laid out in 1 Timothy 3:1-7. Paul has left Timothy in Ephesus to charge the false teachers to stop teaching things contrary to sound doctrine. In that work, he is also to find godly men to serve as Elders/Overseers/Pastors to ensure the church in Ephesus does not return to false teaching. One clue we have to the significance (rather than boring and irrelevant) of this work is the phrase, “The saying is trustworthy,” that introduces the office. This phrase serves as a citation-emphasis formula.[1] Meaning that by this time in the early church, a saying of importance had developed about the work an Elder/Overseer/Pastors does at a church, indicating how vital it was for the life and well-being of a church. At Light in the Desert Church, we love the bible and desire it to guide all our practices. Therefore, this fall, we are making significant strides to move to a plurality of Elders as our church structure. We announced this move at our recent Get the Vision meeting and will keep everyone updated as we make progress. Continue to pray that God would raise up godly men to serve in this capacity.
Disciple-Makers
Disciple-makers is designed to help equip and encourage a follower of Christ to fulfill their responsibility of making disciples. It is a two-semester course that covers various foundational beliefs, extremely practical ways to read scripture with believers and non-believers, and the ins and outs of how we change. On average, it will require about 30-45 minutes of reading each week before the class. Then, each Wednesday from 6:00 pm- 7:30 pm there will be discussion and practice reading scripture with others. We will begin this class on September 15th.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
[1] See George W. Knight III, The Faithful Sayings in the Pastoral Letters. Kampen, 1968; reprinted Grand Rapids, 1979, for an excellent treatment on the use of the saying within the PE.
Men and Women
Church Family,
Reading God’s Word is one of the most fruitful things we can do as Christians. So, it makes sense that during the Sunday Gathering, we would read God’s word, sing God’s word, pray God’s word, and preach God’s word. As we faithfully dive into various books of the bible on Sunday mornings to unearth timeless truths, we will inevitably arrive at tough passages. I say tough, but let’s understand, it’s only tough for us, not God, and often it’s because of our own sinful tendencies that blind us from the wisdom of God. This past Sunday brought us to a passage of scripture that has gained lots of attention over the years. This is because it discusses distinctions between males and females in the life of the church. These distinctions, roles, do not diminish the worth and value of a female or a male, it highlights the uniqueness and celebrates the glory seen in the differences. It also clarifies that when we go against God’s design, it will become a major distraction in our lives together and keep us from human flourishing (to borrow a popular term in recent discussions). We only flourish when we live according to God’s good design. His wisdom is always greater than ours, so our attitude towards the opposite sex should not be an “anything you can do I can do better” attitude, but rather an “anything God says is better” attitude.
Get the Vision
This past Sunday, we gathered at our first Get the Vision meeting for the fall to discuss upcoming changes we will pursue in the coming months. It was an exciting time to celebrate God’s faithfulness in sustaining us and helping us grow in spiritual maturity. We shared that we will take significant steps this fall to move towards a plurality of Elders. If you missed that meeting and would like to hear the portion discussing those steps, let me know. We recorded what was shared and would be happy to send a link for you to watch. Would you join us in prayer as we become more obedient to scripture in biblically structuring our leadership?
ESOL
One of our convictions here at Light in the Desert Church is outward-focused. As the gospel increasingly changes us, we strive to impact the world around us and share the hope of Jesus that we so desperately depend on to all peoples. We yearn to engage people in spiritual conversations, demonstrate the love of Christ through acts of mercy, and live in such a way that God will draw people to salvation through our words and deeds. We will leverage all we have to accomplish our mission, and ESOL is a way we will try this fall. Contact Kris Barber or Priscilla Holcomb for more details on how to get involved.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Pray for ALL
Church Family,
I do hope your week is off to a great start and that you are finding God’s presence to be joyous. We’ve been in 1 Timothy for four weeks, and already it has provided great insight into our life together as a church, and our life lived within a society. This past Sunday particularly dealt with the reality that we exist in a society that has civil authorities. How relevant this section of 1 Timothy is for us today. During 2020 and now in 2021, questions about how the church should respond to civil authorities as they try to navigate pandemic issues are still here. In a world of polemic responses, 1 Timothy 2:1-7 grounds us. Our best response and responsibility is to PRAY and pray all sorts of prayer for those in high positions. If we give ourselves to prayer, we might find greater peace in our own hearts and a greater willingness of civil authorities not to hinder the church’s work. The point of those prayers is gospel-centered. In our prayers, we must be more concerned with gospel work than being right. We must be more concerned with gospel work than our own comfort. We must be more concerned with living holy lives than passing policies!
Get the Vision
We are just a few days away from our Get the Vision meeting. We will share a meal at this meeting and where the Lord is taking us as a church. We could not be more excited about the fall and anticipate great days ahead. Would you please plan on joining us this Sunday, August 29, at 5:30 pm? We will provide food and childcare. If you did not get a chance to sign up this past Sunday, please let me know you will be attending.
Prospective Members Class
One last reminder, our next Prospective Members Class will be Saturday, September 11 at 9 am. This class is designed to discuss the ins and outs of Light in the Desert Church. We will cover, what we believe, what the church is and why join, and lastly, all the nuts and bolts of LITDC. Many of you have already confirmed your attendance, but it’s not too late if you want to attend. All you have to do is let me know! It’s that easy!
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
An Unlikely Conversion
Church Family,
When you consider your conversion, do you see God’s grace? Paul certainly did, and it spilled over into thankfulness (1 Tim 1:12). For Paul, God’s grace did not stop in his conversion but continued in calling him to ministry and filling him full of faith and love–two things he definitely lacked pre-conversion (1 Tim 1:12-14). At every turn in Paul’s life, he sees God’s grace so clearly; there is no other explanation. He simply cannot phantom that the Lord would save him, a former blasphemer, persecutor, and violent opponent (1 Tim 1:13). Paul is one of the most unlikely converts there ever was, and in his older age, he is overwhelmed with gratitude. As Paul reflects on his unlikely conversion, he gains tremendous clarity wrapped up in this statement, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (1 Tim 1:15). That’s it! That’s what is most true about himself and the world around him. Christ Jesus saving sinners, will, or least should, never grow stale or outdated but should generate thankfulness, an urgency to share and provide rock-solid clarity of what is most important.
Desert Kids
Parents, we are short-staffed in the Desert Kids area for our 10:15 am Sunday Gathering. So, instead of overworking our current volunteers, we will not offer Desert Kids during the 10:15 gathering this coming Sunday. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. On a side note, if anyone who is not currently serving is interested in volunteering, let me know!
Get the Vision
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been announcing our Get the Vision/Members Meeting on August 29. This meeting will cover a few housekeeping items and will also introduce our plans for the fall. God’s grace is so clearly seen in the history of Light in the Desert Church, and we don’t want that to be in vain (2 Cor 6:1). We want it to push us towards greater obedience, deeper faith, and more intimacy with God. In light of that, we’ve been praying and seeking the Lord regarding the next steps for us as a church, and we’re happy to share what we perceive those steps are for us. So, please mark your calendars for August 29 at 5:30 pm and plan on joining us (all are welcome). We will provide some food and childcare. There will be a sign-up sheet this coming Sunday so we can plan accordingly for food.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan
Warning
Church Family,
What an instructive time together as we dove into the next section of 1 Timothy this past Sunday. The aim of Timothy’s difficult work in Ephesus is love (1 Tim 1:5). Love is the aim of the charge he must give to the false teachers. This does not mean avoiding the truth in the correction or watering down their wrong teachings, but rather stating the wrong plainly out of love for them, not for the love of conflict. How does one aim at love in confrontation? Well, Paul instructs Timothy to evaluate his own heart before he gives himself to the tough task of confrontation. This is because love, according to Paul, issues from a pure heart, good conscience, and a sincere faith. The greater work, it seems, is self-evaluation through the lens of the gospel. This will ensure that love for them and God’s truth will guide the confrontation. If there is ever a hope that others will heed the charge, it must be done in love, and love comes from the radical work of the gospel in a person’s heart.
COVID
The past year and a half were difficult, and the constant unsurety was unsettling. But just when we began to think it was all behind us, another surge creeps up, creating greater controversy and exciting more “theories.” These things have the potential to derail all that we have gained throughout the difficult days of 2020 and draw us into useless speculations. I’ve been so encouraged and grateful for a church family that navigated all the madness with grace, mercy, and peace, so let’s not stop now. There will continue to be many views and thoughts about what is and what is not appropriate in response to COVID. Let’s bring them all to God’s authoritative word and let it guide our thoughts of the world, of each other, and our circumstances. We cannot let speculation guide us. It will lead to vain discussion and unhealthy views of each other and render us useless.
Desert Kids
Parents, here is the Family Packet for August. I hope you have been able to enjoy good conversations with your children and reflected together on the truths of God’s Word more frequently.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Bryan