BEREAN YOUNG ADULTS

retreat?

Some of you who check this know that we held a fall and spring retreat last year - it was a good time of connecting with one another and seeking a deeper connection with God.  We aiming at having another retreat in a couple of weeks - the weekend of Dec. 10-12.  I'm going to include some details below for those of you interested, let me know if you would like to join us!

• What - Young Adult Retreat
• Where - Camp Rivercrest in Fremont, NE
• Cost - $60, includes four meals and lodging
• When - Friday Dec. 10 @ 6 p.m. until Sunday Dec. 12 @ noon
• Purpose - Pursuing God and deeper community

If you would like more information or if you are interested in joining us please email me at rharmon@lincolnberean.org

the astonishing thing about jesus.

Have you ever really stopped to think about how amazing Jesus is? Even if someone were not a follower of Jesus I think there would have to be a recognition of the astounding scope of his impact. Does anyone else on the world scene come even close in terms of their impact on world history? I think we'd have to admit that the list is pretty small.  I'm not even sure how you would measure such a thing but, for your consideration, what do you think you'd have to do to get your name on the back window of a car 2000 years from now?

Sometimes I think we need to stop and think about what we're saying when we say things like "Jesus reigns" or we quote Colossians 1:6 (as we did in this weekend's service): "The same good news that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your life from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God's wonderful grace." (NLT)

The Gospel is going out all over the world.  Can you imagine the awe that Paul or those first apostles would have felt if they knew that 2000 years from now there would be millions of people worshiping Jesus thousands of miles away from where they began the work? Jesus said to them in Acts 1:8 that they were to be his witnesses to Jerusalem, Judea, and to the ends of the earth...well, in their minds I'm sure that it doesn't get much more "ends of the earth" than Lincoln, NE.  It really is astounding - Jesus impact is incredible, to say the least.

So where does that leave us today?  What does that mean for us, his followers, in Lincoln?

{one} I think the first step is to cultivate a deeper sense of awe for Jesus in my own life.  I know that there have been multiple times where I have listened to someone more awed by Jesus than myself and I leave with a longing to love and admire Jesus the way that they do.  Consider this quote by Dallas Willard:

Paying careful attention to how Jesus made use of logical thinking can strengthen our confidence in Jesus as master of the centers of intellect and creativity, and can encourage us to accept him as master in all of the areas of intellectual life in which we may participate.

Have you ever thought about Jesus as a "master of the centers of intellect and creativity?" John Piper routinely says that missions doesn't happen because worship doesn't happen.  The point he's making is that if we really admired Jesus, if we really worshiped him, then there would be constant inclination to tell others about him.

{two}  Refer back to point #1. Because...is there anything else? 

One of my mentors in college used to say to me that "the only thing I have to offer anyone is the fruit of my own discipleship."  I think it's a great thought and it has application in terms of missions - whether it be across an ocean or across an apartment hallway, or across the street - what I have to offer others is directly related to my relationship with Jesus.  And, likewise, my inclination to tell others will be directly related to my own admiration of Jesus. 

football and spiritual formation.

We talk a lot about spiritual formation around here - about how what Jesus wants to do is transform you to the point that you actually become the type of person who wouldn't sin, rather than just managing sinful behaviors.  Our hope is that we will, slowly and surely, become inwardly like Jesus, by his grace and through his Spirit.

As everyone around here knows, the Kansas Jayhawks and their coach, one of NU's favorite sons, will march into Memorial Stadium tonight and try to take down the Huskers.  Turner Gill is a man who wears his faith on his sleeve and what is especially interesting is that he has taken over for a coach in Kansas who did just the opposite - he wore his anger on his sleeve (case in point).  

I don't link sports articles often but this article at the Nebraska State Paper by Sam McKewon looks at the obvious differences between these two coaches and also at how Gill's faith guides the way he coaches.  Check it out here.

an astounding fulfillment.

This past weekend we walked around the globe together as Jeff Peterson shared story after story with us about God's work in India, Mongolia, Africa, and various other places.  Who would have thought that we would enter a period in time when Communist China could teach us Americans a thing or two about planting churches - no, about unleashing church planting movements. Here's a snapshot from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer: 

"And according to China Aid Association, a Texas-based lobby group, the director of the government body that supervises all religions in China, said privately that the figure was indeed as much as 130 million in early 2008.  If so, it would mean China contains more Christians than Communists (party membership is 74 million) and there may be more active Christians in China than in any other country."

Meanwhile, Christianity in Europe and most of the West is on the decline.  One incredible development is that countries like South Korea have begun sending missionaries to the U.S. The fact is, while the face of Christianity may have been Europe or the United States at one point in time - this is clearly no longer the case.  In fact, Mark Noll, in his book The New Shape of Global Christianity, makes this statement: 

"But today - when active Christian adherence has become stronger in Africa than in Europe, when the number of practicing Christians in China may be approaching the number in the United States, when live bodies in church are far more numerous in Kenya than in Canada, when more believers worship together in church Sunday by Sunday in Nagaland than in Norway, when India is now home to the world's largest chapter of the Roman Catholic Jesuit order, and when Catholic mass is being said in more languages each Sunday in the United States than ever before in American history - with such realities defining the present situation, there is a pressing need for new historical perspectives that explore the new world situation."

The Church is not in Kansas anymore - is it? If you need any real life evidence, just jump in your car and drive to Lexington, Nebraska where the population is quickly shifting to the point that Latino immigrants are becoming a majority.  The world is undergoing swift change and God is on the move in the Third World where resources are few but commitment and passion are found in abundance.  

To some, these realities might be considered frightening, but if that is our response we are missing the point. For instance, these statements stand as the astounding fulfillment of Jesus' words to his disciples (who, no doubt, would be amazed by what has unfolded in the millennia since their death) in Acts 1:8, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 

The Gospel has spread to England, Canada, and the United States...and Nagaland, Kenya, Mongolia, China, and on and on we go.

Maybe you're like me, when you hit books like Leviticus and 1-2 Chronicles you get a little bogged down in the laws and in the genealogies - your eyes glaze over and you skip ahead to the next chapter.  Maybe you're like me and a similar feeling sets in when stories of the Gospel's movement are told.  The only person who suffers from this type of shallow thinking is myself - I miss on the opportunity to realize that these aren't just lists of names in Chronicles, they are statements of the reality that God loves people.  In the same way, stories of the Gospel reaching the U.S. should remind me of the astounding power of the Gospel.  

 

service opportunity.

Below this post you'll find an advertisement promoting The College Of Hair Design's Fashion Fund Raiser. I don't know how many of you are into high fashion or how many of you watch Project Runway (I really hope Mondo wins tonight), but it will be a unique evening that anyone would enjoy - and it raises money for two really good causes: The Hope Venture & Tiny Hands International. 

Before the event, the organizers need some help with setup, it'd be a great opportunity to contribute to the cause.  I was told they especially could use some guys with some pipes (muscle) to help move around their hair cutting stations before and after the event.  Here's the details:

Volunteers Needed on Saturday and Monday!

Saturday, November 6th at 3:45 p.m. we need 6-10 people to:

• Roll salon styling units and salon chairs off the salon floor
• Sweep the floors after the salon areas has been cleared off
• Setup 400 chairs from AAA Rentals

 Monday, November 8th from 9am to noon we need 6-10 people to:

• Pick up 400 chairs and stack them in crates from AAA Rents
• Roll salon styling units and salon chairs back to the salon floor

You should be done by 5:30 or 6pm on Saturday. 

Pizza will be included. 

IF YOU WANT TO HELP OUT:

The organizers will have someone at the Unleashing the Church Booth on LBC's 200 level the next 2 Sundays for ticket  and to answer questions.

 

check it out.

hello, again.

What up peeps? I am just throwing a post out here because sometimes you need something to jump start things, right? Sometimes doing something at all is better than continuing to intend to do something.  So, a lot is happening these days among young adults at Lincoln Berean and in the coming days we will be talking about it.  

Now - for those of you looking for a good tune...here you go:

2-11 Hello Again

young adult classes.

One of the things we've been pretty intentional about is that we don't want to ever develop a big young adult ministry - by that what we mean is a stand-alone ministry that essentially creates a small church of only young adults (I wrote about our reasons for this here). Our goal is not to create a young adult ministry but to get young adults engaged in ministry and in the overall scope of church life.  With that in mind, we wanted to point out a couple of classes that would be great options for young adults - and while this list won't be exhaustive it might be a good place to start.  And, of course, yesterday's post about the Renovation Of The Heart class led by young adults is the most logical place to start in terms of plans for the fall.

Here's some options:

APOLOGETICS with Dr. Mark Matthewson
(Sundays, September 19 - November 7 @ 9:00 a.m.)

"The primary goal is to equip believers to be able to dialogue with non-Christians and give credible reasons for their beliefs."

If there is one thing that marks the religious habits of our generation it is relativity - the attitude that what works for you, works for you and what works for me, works for me. A class like this will challenge that type of thinking by emphasizing the rationality of belief - a point of view that is rarely emphasized.  This class will help provide you with confidence in the midst of difficult conversations with non-believing friends.

GLOBAL CHRISTIANITY with Theresa Dolezal
(Sundays, November 14 - December 19 @ 9:00 a.m.)

What is God doing around the world and what is his desire for his people? What is the purpose of the Church on the world-scene?

We go to a church that is moving in the direction of being a "sending church" - one that doesn't just support missions but actually mobilizes its people and sends them out to minimally reached parts of the world. This class will help broaden your perspective on the movement of the Gospel on a global scale.

MY LIFE...ON PURPOSE with Mark Kremer
(Sundays, September 26 - October 31 @ 9:00 a.m.)

"This course will take you on a journey of discovery and answer life's most fundamental questions: 'What on earth am I called to do and what is God's purpose for my life?'"

If there is anything that all of us need to be doing it is living life on purpose rather than meandering here and there along with every whim. The trend of our generation is to remain unestablished, unconnected, and unfettered - but the unintended consequence of this type of living is a life of low impact.  One of the most counter-cultural things we can do is live with intentionality, this class will help.

DISCOVER GROWTH with Ken Roeloffs
(Sundays, October 3 - 24 @ 9:00 a.m.)

"What does it mean to grow in your faith? Am I growing? What am I missing?"

This class' aims are similar to those of the Renovation Of The Heart class but will be more practical in application. One thing that can certainly prevent us from growing is misunderstanding that there is a purpose and good Biblical support for the idea of self-examination and measurement. Biblical phrases like "applying all diligence" and "run as if to win the prize" imply that growth is an active process - this class will help provide some great tools to help along the way.

Okay, I was tempted to write a lot more because there are tons of great classes.  Pick up The Atlas and check it all out, make sure this fall is a fruitful one.

starting the fall off right.

Although few of us are in school anymore, it seems that our world still operates on a school-year schedule - as does our church.  It makes sense that it works this way, summers are usually filled with vacations and chaotic traveling schedules and things settle down come September.  This is the reason that at LBC we launch our classes in earnest in the fall, as you know, since you probably received The Atlas at some point over the past two weekends at church.

Now that you have The Atlas in hand, my encouragement to you in this post is to look at it, intentionally, thoughtfully, prayerfully.  The fact is, no one is in charge of your personal growth other than you.  The church can provide opportunities, the Christian publishing industry can produce loads and loads of devotional material, you can own seventeen Bibles, and you can tell people that you need to grow all you want...but the x-factor in growth is your intentionality.

Some people might read that and think that it is too person-centric, that we have removed God from the equation because, clearly, he is the one who produces growth.  My response to this is to say that this is absolutely right - the Biblical support for this is undeniable.  However, what this often translates into on a practical level is an apathetic, passive, approach to growth that seems to suggest that we expect God to just zap us into mature beings - without our participation playing a part.  The reality is, we don't need to wait on God in this matter, he's waiting on us.

So, the question is for each of us individually - where or how do I need to grow and what am I doing in order to see that I'm in the most advantageous position for growth? The Holy Spirit produces the growth, but I'm confident that he'll show up - so let's quit using him as an excuse.

Getting back to The Atlas - there is stuff in there for everyone.  You might find that there is no sub-heading titled "Young Adults."  Don't let this lead you to believe that the church isn't offering anything for us - we need to grow in ways that are common across the board, right? Growing in my prayer life is not an age specific or life situation specific desire.  So approach The Atlas as a disciple of Jesus who is trying to become like Jesus rather than as a Young Adult - that is the intention of The Atlas, it is a map for disciples.

So - with that in mind I want to encourage you to look at one particular class: RENOVATION OF THE HEART.  The great thing about this class is that it is being led by some of our very own - Young Adults who are passionate about growth into Christlikeness and want to walk with others through a conversation about how that happens - how God uses things like memorization of Scripture, prayer, etc. to transform us into the image of his son.  

My prayer for all of us is that this fall would mark the beginning of remarkable growth - let The Atlas and the classes offered this fall be a useful tool towards that end.

the brokering watch party.

For those of you who still check this rarely written on blog, you know that in the fall Josh Brokering is the king of Husker watch parties.  That being the case, he will be hosting one this weekend for the kickoff of the Huskers' final season in the Big XII.  If you're not excited about that, watch this video: