The Reformation missed a vital church doctrine.

“The biblical pattern of congregational independence is clear.”

Kyle Pope

  During the last month, social media has been overflowing with posts, regarding the 500^th Anniversary of the Reformation. To be sure, every believer has a debt of gratitude to the Reformers who often risked their lives for the cause of Christ and changed both the Church and their world.

  Yet, Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses on Wittenberg’s Castle Church on October 31, 1517, wasn’t really the beginning. The seeds of the Reformation had been sown centuries earlier and were already growing. Luther watered them and saw them come to full bloom, but the teachings of John Wycliffe, Jan Hus, Peter Waldo and many others were already being proliferated across Europe. Movements such as the Anabaptists were among Luther’s strongest supporters in the early years of the Reformation. Contemporaries of Luther, Huldrych Zwingli, William Tyndale, fanned the flames of the Reformation, solidifying its impact.

  Yet, it seems that we forget that the Reformers were sinful men and women just like us. They lived in the light that they had. But we’re dishonest when we rationalize away some of their failures. For example, Luther said horrible things about Jews and turned on his early supporters because they believed in immersion after conversion, even declaring that they should be drowned. John Calvin oversaw the death sentences of dozens of teachers he disagreed with, not because they did anything wrong, but because they taught differently from him. Yes, times were different and medieval Europe was a bloody landscape. But culture does not give believers a free pass to ignore the teachings of Scripture, yet often the Reformers joined in some of the cultural depravity.

  One vital church doctrine the Reformers were oblivious of but one that we as a church hold precious is local church autonomy. The word “autonomy” is derived from Greek words auto meaning “self, or same” and nomos for “law.” The idea is a church is “a law unto themselves” or self-governing.  This term can give us the wrong impression and lead us to think that each congregation is left to govern themselves. Autonomy doesn’t mean that each congregation may decide for itself what it should teach or how it should function. That’s determined by the Head of the Church, Jesus Christ, who leads His church through what’s revealed in Scripture. Jesus described this as He talked about vital church procedures in Matthew 18 and in that context declared, “whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in Heaven” (Matthew 18:18). What it does mean though is that no diocese or denomination dictates to a local body of believers. There is no “federal ecclesiastical government” dictating to the local church on what they can or cannot do. They are both in control and responsible for their ministry. But while no human or group has the right to tell a local church what it should do, Jesus Christ does have that authority. Our efforts to seek truth must lead us to conform to His will.

  As we read through the pages of Scripture, we find that though local churches cooperated with one another, each was independent. There’s no reference to committees, boards, or denominations dictating to them. Even the Apostles did not dictate to local churches (1 Peter 5:1-3; Acts 14:23). There was a specific structure. Each church had its own leaders but they were not leaders of others churches or appointed over a city, district, or diocea, but in every local church. 

  Consequently, each local church is equal to the other. Church leaders in one church were not to rule over the affairs of other churches. Biblical leaders were to be appointed in “every church” and each was to oversee the affairs of those that are “among” them. Since each congregation should be under the oversight and rule of its own leaders, each is absolutely independent of other churches or organizations. And because a local church is autonomous, it has the authority and the ability to solve the problems of its own members. (Matt. 18:15-17; 1 Cor. 6:1-8). It has the authority and responsibility to appoint its own leaders, pastors and deacons (Acts 6:1-7). It has the authority and responsibility to commission missionaries, choosing who it desires to support (Acts 13:1-3). It has the authority and obligation to regulate its own membership (1 Cor. 5:1-5).

  Practically, this means that the local church collects and disperses its own funds and can choose to incur debt. It conducts its own business and business meetings. It buys and owns its own property and can also choose to sell that property. This is very important because many churches in a denomination do not own their own property, the denomination owns the property. If the church should determine that the denomination has veered from the teaching of Scripture and desires to leave it, though they’ve paid for the property and buildings, they’ll lose the property to the denomination, if they leave the denomination. 

  Independence though is not isolation. Being children of God is to mean something. Scripture teaches that those who are in fellowship with God the Father are in fellowship with others in fellowship with Him (I John 1:3).  In other words, in Christ we are family. It’s a big family. Congregational independence doesn’t mean we ignore the needs or spiritual well-being of our brothers and sisters in church or in other places. 
  Autonomy is biblical and vital. The local church is responsible only to God. All decisions and choices must be done in the light of the coming day when every believer and each local church will give an account to our loving Head, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Preaching: Sharing God's Truth

“One of the reasons for the disinterest in expository preaching is surely that so many attempts at it prove lifeless, dull, and even thoroughly boring. I never cease to be amazed by the ingenuity of those who are capable of taking the powerful, life-changing text of Scripture and communicating it with all the passion of someone reading aloud from the Yellow Pages!”  Alistair Begg

  Today we’re in the third week in our return to the study of Luke’s Gospel, Luke: Finding Jesus. Every now and then it’s important to share why we do what we do at Grace Church.

  At Grace, we’re committed to a systematic study of God’s Word. All of us have lots opinions and sometimes can speak with authority, but only God’s Word has ultimate authority. It’s what the Reformers called, Sola Scriptura. That term is from the Latin. Sola has the idea of “alone, ground and base.” Scriptura means “writings,” referring to the Scriptures. Sola Scriptura means that the Bible, God’s Word alone is authoritative for faith and practice. It’s complete, authoritative and true. “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

  Because the Bible is our only authority, we’re committed to expository preaching. That simply means that the sermon is designed to communicate what the biblical text says with its meaning and application for today’s audience. A recent example would be the last two sermons from Luke 12.

  Yet, those were very difficult passages. First, they were very convicting for all of us and secondly, Jesus says some “hard things.” To be candid, if we were not working our way through Luke, I doubt if I’d ever preach on those passages. But they’re part of the Bible and specifically, the words of Jesus. They’re very important. Expositional preaching means that just because something is uncomfortable or not PC, we can’t skip over it.

  Expository preaching then means to preach with the highest view of Scripture. It demands that the preacher take the Bible seriously and show the utmost respect to the original meaning. The preacher is not the interpreter of what God has written, rather he is responsible to honestly seek to understand what the passage means and then share that with the congregation. It’s not bringing one’s own interpretation or opinions to the biblical text, but instead submitting to God’s intended meaning and purpose. The preacher must let the text speak again through the sermon with the same message God intentionally had the original message declare.

  Expository preaching is not a commentary or seminary lecture. It’s a sin to take the living Word of God (Hebrews 4:12) and make it boring. Our aim in preaching is not to be some world class scholar. Nor is it to titillate and amuse. Our aim is not even to build a big church or be flooded with comments of “nice sermon” at the door at the end of the service. No, our aim is to take the sacred text, explain what it means, tie it to other scriptures so that people can see the whole a little better, and apply it to life so it corrects and heals, instructs and edifies. It’s our conviction that there is no better way to accomplish this end than through expository preaching.

  Dr. Don Carson, professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School has suggested a number of strong reasons why expository preaching deserves to be the primary method of preaching God’s Word.

  It’s the method least likely to stray from Scripture. If you are preaching on what the Bible says about self-esteem, for example, undoubtedly you can find some useful insights. But even when you say entirely true things, you will likely abstract them from the Bible's central story line. Expository preaching keeps you anchored to the main source.

  It teaches people how to read their Bibles. Especially if you're preaching a long passage, expository preaching teaches people how to think through a passage, how to understand and apply God's Word to their own lives.

  It gives confidence to the preacher and authorizes the sermon. If you’re faithful to the text, then you’re certain that your message is God's message. Regardless of what’s going on in the church—whether it’s growing or even whether people like you—you know that you’re proclaiming God’s truth. That is wonderfully freeing for a preacher.

  It meets the need for relevance without letting the clamor for relevance dictate the message. All true preaching is to be properly applied. That’s of extraordinary importance in our generation. Expository preaching keeps the eternal and the real world central to the discussion.

  It forces the preacher to handle the tough questions. You start working through text after text, and soon you hit passages about divorce, re-marriage, church conflict, lawsuits, etc., and you have to deal with the text.

  It enables the preacher to expound systematically the whole counsel of God.  If we’re going to preach the whole counsel of God, we must teach the whole Bible. Other sermonic structures have their merits, yet none offers our church family more, week after week, than careful, faithful exposition of the Word of God.

  Preaching and deep study of God’s Word is not just for older saints. Millennials long for truth and authenticity. Even in today's hyper-techno-driven conversational-wiki-culture, preaching is of supreme importance. Of the several church-related or pastor-related issues noted by church dropouts, preaching came up several times as a critical issue in retaining young adults. In a day of “fake news,” the world is starving for ultimate truth. God’s Word is that source of truth and we must honestly share it!

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

A Sliver of Encouragement

“We lost more than Belle yesterday. And one thing that gives me a sliver of encouragement is the fact that Belle was surrounded yesterday by her church family that she loved fiercely and vice versa. Our church was not comprised of members or parishioners, we were a very close family. We ate together, we laughed together, we cried together and we worshipped together…our sweet Belle would not have been able to deal with losing so much family…”  Sherri Pomeroy

  Like many of you, my heart was breaking and head reeling as I watched the tragedy unfold at First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. 26 people were murdered in last Sunday’s church shooting with another 20 wounded. Among the dead was the 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle or “Belle,” of Steve and Sherri Pomeroy, the church’s Pastor. Pastor Pomeroy, and his wife, Sherri, were traveling out of state when the massacre occurred.

  As I watched Sherri Pomeroy share the above statement to the media, tears flowed down my cheeks. Because even in the face of a senseless tragedy and horrible violence like this, a biblical church is first a family. Others may dialogue about guns and violence, or the lack of funding for mental illness. I agree though with Sherri Pomeroy, the church as a family is “a sliver of encouragement.” It’s something that church had. It’s something our Heavenly Father wants us and every church to have.

  We are not a club. We are not together because we have so much in common. A church is not monolithic. The Apostle Paul wonderfully unpacks this God-given reality in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” A true church is a place of great diversity, (ethnic, economic, age, gender, occupation, political ideology, tradition, etc.) What brings us together and keeps us together is not us, it’s the Gospel. It’s the fact that we’re so unworthy and yet so loved – that Jesus shed His blood and died for us and we are redeemed because we trust in His sacrifice alone for forgiveness and assurance of heaven. We’re literally blood brothers and sisters. The church is not for good people or even nice people. It’s for those who are so very needy, who know it and are trusting in a loving, gracious God to meet their greatest need, their sin and guilt.

  We are not a store. We do not come together so our shopping list is taken care of. Scripture has no understanding of coming together because of “felt needs.” We’re not consumers looking to be enthralled by the music, challenged by phenomenal teaching, entertained by a program or even to have our children cared for in an exceptional way. We’re here because we’re givers, not takers…because we, ourselves have been given so much.

  That means we love each other. We love each other, even when humanly speaking, we might be repulsed by each other. We love because we’ve received undeserved love. Families love each other and no one thinks it’s strange. In fact, it’s very strange when they don’t.

  It means that we pray for each other. Oftentimes, we don’t know what to say. Recently, we’ve had some of our families who’ve suffered great losses. We feel so inadequate in those situations but we can always pray. When we see a couple that’s obviously having marital issues or struggling with a wayward child, or having emotional or other issues – the right words may not be there. Our Heavenly Father knows what they need and we must always bring their needs before Him.

  It means that we give to and for each other. Sometimes we see a financial need and give money. More often we give of ourselves in the form of serving. It means we befriend young children or elderly saints. It means we serve the children of parents so they can have their souls fed in a worship service or small group. It means we give precious time up for each other.

  Can you imagine a Mom telling her family, “Do you know how much time it took me to make dinner and wash clothes today?” Or a Dad saying, “Do you know how much time it took me to pick you up from practice and to help you with your homework tonight?” No, they’re not clock watchers – they give out of love. And so we are to give to one another. It’s not a bother or inconvenient, it’s a privilege.

  It means that we sacrifice for each other. If you called your brother in the middle of the night and said, “My car broke down. Can you come get me?” He’d come because that’s what brothers do. In a local church it means we sacrifice our expectations and our heritage for the sake of the family. Many of us have a mental picture of what church is supposed to be, usually what we grew up with. But for the advance of the gospel and the glory of God, we willingly sacrifice our preferences, even what we feel comfortable with.

  It means that we problem-solve. One of the saddest indicators in the American church that we don’t understand the biblical model of a church family is that we bail without seeking to problem-solve. We’d be horrified if someone came to us and said, “I’m not going to my family’s Thanksgiving dinner because I’m mad at my sister.” The first question out of our mouths would be, “Have you talked to her? Have you tried to work things out?” How would we respond if they said, “No, I’m just looking for a new family”? No wonder a lost world mocks us. If the gospel can’t help us love and get along with one another, what do we really have to offer it? 

  Last Sunday a church family gathered to worship together in Texas and ended up worshiping together in heaven. A church family knows what it means to live with each other. And sometimes King Jesus even calls us, as He did last Sunday at First Baptist of Sutherland Springs, to die together.  

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address. 

Pray for the Persecuted Church!

“If I’m following Christ, why am I such a good insurance risk?”

Ernie Campbell

  According to a disturbing new report, police in China arrested a woman, Xu Shizhen, along with her daughter and 3-year-old grandson, for singing Christian songs in a public park. Recently, China passed even more restrictions of practicing faith that make it illegal to publicly minister if you’re not inside of a church that’s been registered with the government. Christianity Today reports that, according to Chinese advocates inside the country, since the arrest, the three have not been seen.

  “The new religion regulations are sweeping in scope and, if fully enforced, could mean major changes for China’s unregistered church, not only in its worship and meeting practices, but also engagement in areas such as Christian education, media, and interaction with the global church,” wrote ChinaSource president Brent Fulton. “Yet the nature of these activities and, indeed, of much religious practice throughout China, makes enforcement extremely problematic.”

  It appears enforcement, at least in Xu’s Xianan district of Xianning, is going to be very strict. The regulations which include prohibitions against publishing religious materials without approval, accepting donations without approval, or renting space to an unregistered church, don’t even officially go into effect until February 2018. Other provinces have been coming down especially hard on religious education for children. In Zhejiang province—where hundreds of crosses were ripped off of churches over the past several years—elementary and middle school children weren’t allowed to attend church or Sunday school this past summer. In Wenzhou, a coastal city in Zhejiang province nicknamed “China’s Jerusalem,” officials warned more than 100 churches to keep their teenagers home from summer camps or Sunday schools. North of Zhejiang, officials in Henan province also forbid church summer camps, claiming the “hot summer temperatures would be unhealthy for youth.”

  China’s young Christians drew international attention over the summer when two were killed by ISIS in Pakistan. Meng Li Si, 26, and Li Xinheng, 24. These two Chinese martyrs were teaching in a private school in Quetta when they were kidnapped and murdered. Their deaths prompted scrutiny from both China and Pakistan. Meng and Li were in Pakistan on business visas, two among thousands of Chinese sent West to help build infrastructure and trade routes as part of China’s “One Belt, One Road” trade push. Chinese believers are using their careers in China’s trade initiatives to send out thousands of lay missionaries to spread the Gospel. Only God could use an atheistic government to unknowingly finance bi-vocational missionaries to share the Gospel in anti-Christian Islamic ones. With the boldness of the early church, believers living under the iron heel of Communism are being imprisoned in their own country or martyred in another for their faith. Not only are Chinese believers sharing their faith in China – risking their lives, children, and property but they’re fanning out over the fields of the world to share the message of God’s grace. And because there are so many of them, and they must be covert, there are no accurate numbers of how many, but there are lots of them.

  At Grace today we are participating in the Annual International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. It’s tempting to act as if Christianity is American and wrap our faith in the Stars and Stripes. We too easily forget that we have more in common with Christians in China (and around the world) than we do with our unregenerate neighbors who live across the street. They worship the same God, have the same worldview, live life with the same blueprint (the Bible), and hold to the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the only means of salvation and restoration of a relationship with a loving, holy God. They have the same final destination in that we will spend eternity with them worshiping the One who died so that we might live.  

  My heart is often broken as I learn of the suffering of brothers and sisters around the world for the sake of the Gospel. Lately, I’ve been mulling over: When did we start to think that Christianity is supposed to be safe?”

  Christianity has never been safe. Jesus warned us in John 15:20, “If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.” We truly know so little of persecution in Western Civilization. Having a “friend” not invite you to the annual Super Bowl Party or making fun of you behind your back, or even losing your job for your faith – is hardly persecution.

  According to Open Doors USA, a Christian advocacy group focused on ministering to persecuted Christians, 1 in 12 Christians today experiences high, very high or extreme persecution for their faith. Nearly 215 million Christians face high persecution with 100 million of those living in Asia. It’s estimated that between the years 2005 and 2015, 900,000 Christians were martyred. That’s an average of 90,000 Christians each year. 
  How dare we play it safe? How can we rationalize not sharing the Gospel with a lost friend or co-worker because they might not like us anymore? How can we keep silent about our faith with our family because it might cause tension at the annual holiday get-together? Obviously, we should never be rude, insensitive or obnoxious (which sometimes Christians are), but isn’t it time for us, as Christians in America, to stop playing it safe? Jesus didn’t play it “safe” when He came to earth. The Gospel is risky and revolutionary. It should turn your life upside down. It’s also the only hope for a decaying world. True Christianity is anything but safe! 

Can we help you spiritually? Can we help you know Jesus better? Please check out more resources on our church's web page, Gracechurchwi.org. Or, call us at 262.763.3021. If you'd like to know more about how Jesus can change your life, I'd love to mail you a copy of how Jesus changed my life in "My Story." E-mail me at Carson@gracechurchwi.org to request a free copy. Please include your mailing address.