If I took our group to Mumbai, India for a 2 week mission trip what would be the first things you would ask questions about?  How should I dress?  What is the language?  What music do they listen to?  What do they value?  What do they hate?  How are families structured?  What about their culture is beautiful and God honoring?  What about their culture is fallen and broken?  How do we minister the gospel of Jesus there? 

I want you to ask all of those questions about Culpeper.  I want you to start thinking of yourself as a missionary to our own hometown.

This is what it means to be "on mission". 

If this is all new to you, don't worry.  We'll be talking about often over the coming months.  But in the meantime I want you to ask yourself the question:  "If I was a Christian from a different country being sent to Culpeper, VA as a missionary, what would my ministry look like?"

I'm looking forward to seeing you all this Sunday evening.  Remember to invite friends.  I intentionally think of ways to make our service visitor friendly.  If you think of any ways to make our meeting more inviting to visitors please let me know.

Also, T2M (Titus 2 Men's group) will meet this Thursday night.  Ted Smith will be telling us about his conversion and growth as a Christian.  I'll email you guys with the location. 

Lastly, thank you to all of you who said you could spare a few hours on Saturday afternoon to help us move.  We'll meet at our rental house (253 Whitworth Dr) at 1:00 PM to start driving boxes over to our new home. 

Lift him up!

But the good news is I'm willing to change.  After all, we are a church plant starting out.  We can turn on a dime.  So, to help ease the stress that Sunday night placed on our families and church I'm canceling the new members class following the Sunday evening service.  We'll go back to worshiping from 5:00 to 6:00ish with plenty of time to enjoy one another's company afterward.

"But what about becoming members?", you ask.

Well, we're still going to do that.  The current sermon series we're in will cover most of the material that I was planning on covering in the New Members Class.  I'm going to keep up with this vision series and ask that you listen to the sermons and think through the implications for our church plant.  Ask yourself whether or not you want to be a part of a church that sees Jesus, Worship, Community, and our Mission to Culpeper the way that I'm articulating each Sunday night.  If your answer is "yes, I'm a Christian and want to be a part of Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church," then we'll have a one time Saturday morning class in mid-November to discuss the specifics of church membership and give you a chance to have your questions answered.  I'll explain more about this on Sunday night. 

To put it more succinctly, our current sermon series will cover the bulk of the content required to become a member of our church. 

I hope this allows you to breathe a sigh of relief.  On another note, I was very pleased at how well all of you helped out Sunday night to make the service, potluck, and class a success.  Everyone pitched in where help was needed.  We were able to setup, serve up, and breakdown the gymnasium quickly and efficiently.  I also noticed how many of you were enjoying each other's company as you worked.  A church plant requires loads of work but at the same time you have some great people to work alongside. 

Men, don't forget that our Men's Meeting is at Forrest Coyle's house this Thursday night.  Forrest lives at 464 Kearns Dr, off of Virginia Ave.  If you need directions, give me a call (540-738-0738). 

I'm humbled by your commitment to see Christ exalted in Culpeper.  Your fellowship, encouragement, and hard work are a testimony to God's work in you. 

Don't forget to lift Him up. 

We are in constant need for nursery workers and children volunteers for both our worship service and these new members classes.  If you would be willing to serve in that capacity, please let me know. 

Also, men, don't forget that we're meeting at Bob McMichael's home at 7:00 PM this Thursday night, October 8.  This is the first meeting of our leadership group designed to equip our men to serve their wives, children, church, and community.  Let me know if you need directions or have any questions.

I wanted to let you know more about two events that are coming up.

The first is our New Members Class.  It will begin on October 11 immediately following our worship service.  My goal is to keep it to 45 minutes.  It is designed for anyone who is even slightly interested in learning more about Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church and is required for anyone seeking church membership.  There will be audio recordings if you have to miss one of the classes.  I'm working out some logistics on childcare and possibly a meal during the class.  I'll let you know more about that on Sunday. 

The second event is our Men's Leadership Class.  That will begin on October 8 at Bob McMichael's home.  At the request of many of you we are moving the time earlier to 7:00 PM.  This meeting is for any man in the church who is interested in attending.  It is a men's discipleship meeting and NOT elder training.  We will gradually begin other Bible studies in the church in the coming months.  We begin with a men's leadership group because we believe that our church and our families will be as strong as its men.  Ask Joe if you have any questions about this meeting.

On a final note we are going to take a break from our vision series this week and tackle John 7:37-39.  I'm preaching on that text for Don Ward at Grace Community Church in Charlottesville this Sunday.  The text has gripped me so much in preparation that I wanted to show you some of the treasure that is burried in those few verses.  

See you this Sunday! 

I'm thrilled at how God is growing our church.  To reach 44 folks—our attendance last Sunday—without any advertising is pretty amazing.  Number counting can be a two edged sword.  On one hand we aren't catering our service to see how many people we can get in the door.  Afterall, we're not McChurch.  But on the other hand we want as many people to hear the gospel and be plugged into genuine Christian community as possible.  To that end, we want to be bursting at the seams.  It's encouraging to see so many of want to participate in the life of our church plant as we "lift Him up."

As you've probably realized by now, our location and time will be pretty static over the coming months.  Invite your friends to come and try us out.  We'll be meeting at 5:00 PM at Culpeper Christian School.

See you then.

We'll be back at Culpeper Christian at 5:00 PM this Sunday and for every Sunday in the foreseeable future.  As you prepare for worship this Sunday let me encourage you with the first verse of When I Survey the Wondrous Cross—the song we closed with on Sunday night. 

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Does the cross and the Prince of glory that hung upon it challenge your love of stuff and deep seated arrogance?  That kind of challenge is a daily need of my soul.  My love of stuff and my desire for my own glory are twin gods that daily vie for my heart.  But when I survey the wondrous cross, God places my priorities where they need to be.  My gain become loss and my pride become contempt.  Christ becomes my riches and my boasting.

I'm looking forward to surveying the cross with you this Sunday. 

We'll beging worship at 5:00 PM.  If you are able, we will need volunteers to help set up at 4:30 PM.  We'll also need folks to stick around a little afterwards to help clean up. 

This is reason for us to give thanks for both our growth and the provision of a facility to accomadate our growth.  Praise be to our God, the giver of every good thing. 

This Sunday will be our last Sunday focusing expliciting on the person and work of Christ.  We'll be in the first chapter of Hebrews if you want to read ahead. 

I can't wait to see you all on Sunday.  Lift Christ up!

First, we are back at the Culpeper Public Library at 3:30 PM. 

Second, through Ted's diligent work we are able to take up an offering during our service now.  If you would like to give to Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church there will be an opportunity to do so this Sunday.  As you think about giving to the extension of God's kingdom through our church plant, remember Paul's encouragement from 2 Corinthians 9:5-8:

So I thought it necessary to urge the brothers to go on ahead to you and arrange in advance for the gift  you have promised, so that it may be ready  as a willing gift,  not as an exaction.  The point is this:  whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully  will also reap bountifully.  Each one must give as he has decided in his heart,  not reluctantly or under compulsion, for  God loves a cheerful giver.  And  God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency  in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.

O, that God would make us cheerful givers who recognize that God makes all grace abound in our lives.  To him be the glory!

"One must keep pointing out that Christianity is a statement which, if false, is of no importance, and, if true, of infinite importance.  The one thing it cannot be is moderately important."

One must keep pointing out.  What an interesting preface to a profound quote.  Yes, it is abundantly clear that Christianity cannot exist as a mediocre statement of religiousity.  It is either a matter of spiritual life and death or it is the philosophical equivalent of garbage dump scrapings.  It is either of "no importance" or of "infinite importance."  But Lewis is equally right by saying that we must keep pointing this out. 

It is easy for our culture and, well to be honest, Christians to relinquish Christianity to a ho-hum existence of Sunday morning drudgery.  This is like saying Christ is moderately important.  That is why we must keep pointing out the incredible import of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

This is our mission in Culpeper.  We have the privilege of pointing people to the cross and forcing them to choose—no importance or infinite importance.  We are the check out clerks of the gospel.  We man the bar-code scanner of the cross.  We show peole just how valuable and costly Jesus really is.

What a privilege.

Back at the Library this Week

Remember that we are back at the Culpeper Public Library this Sunday afternoon at 3:30 PM.  We'll be looking at Colossians 1:15-23 as we continue through our sermon series, The Way Forward.

"Western evangelicalism tends to run through cycles of fads.  At the moment, books are pouring off the presses telling us how to plan for success, how 'vision' consists in clearly articulated 'ministry goals,' how the knowledge of detailed profiles of our communities constitutes the key to successful outreach.  I am not for a moment suggesting that there is nothing to be learned from such studies.  But after a while one may perhaps be excused for marveling how many churches were planted by Paul and Whitfield and Wesley and Stanway and Judson without enjoying these advantages.  Of course all of us need to understand the people to whom we minister, and all of us can benefit from small doses of such literature.  But massive doses sooner or later dilute the gospel.  Ever so subtly, we start to think that success more critically depends on thoughtful sociological analysis than on the gospel; Barna becomes more important than the Bible.  We depend on plans, programs, vision statement—but somewhere along the way we have succumbed to the temptation to displace the foolishness of the cross with the wisdom of strategic planning.  Again, I insist, my position is not a thinly veiled plea for obscurantismm, for seat-of-the-pants ministry that plans nothing.  Rather, I fear that the cross, without ever being disowned, is constantly in danger of being dismissed from the central place it must enjoy, by relatively peripheral insights that take on far too much weight.  Whenever the periphery is in danger of displacing the center, we are not far removed from idolatry."

Carson's critique and exhortation are cutting and desperately needed.  I hope it encourages you as you think about our church plant.  Especially remember this as we talk about our vision statement over the coming months.  The vision is not central, Christ is central.  That is why the diagram we use to illustrate our vision places Christ at the center.  If we lose that then, as Carson says, "we are not far removed from idolatry."

On another note, we will not be meeting at the library this Sunday.  We will meet at the McMichael's home—19193 Belle Clair Rd.  I want to thank the McMichael's for opening their home to us whenever the library is unavailable.  I look forward to seeing you all this Sunday at 3:30.  If you want to read ahead for the sermon, we'll be looking at John 1:1-18.

Worshiping Christ in community on mission with you,

Joe

I started asking myself questions about each house.  Do these folks have any kids?  Does the couple in this house commute into DC or do they work here in Culpeper?  Does the lockbock on this house's door knob mean that they are in desperate financial circumcstances or just trying to sell their home?  And most importantly, does this family know anthing about the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

Let me encourage you to start thinking about the lives, families, and homes around you.  You may know some of the families who belong to the homes I run past.  Invite them to church.  Enter into their lives and tell them about Jesus.  You are missionaries to Culpeper.

And don't forget that we'll be meeting this Sunday afternoon at the library at 3:30.  I'll begin our sermon series on our vision.  The text I'll be preaching on is Luke 25:13-35.  It is a text I've preached on a number of times but each time it yields new treasures. 

I can't wait to see you all. 

Remember that we're launching into talking about our vision.  If you didn't get a handout then make sure you read the document on our website.  We'll begin with the centrality of Christ this Sunday.  If you have to miss it—barring technological difficulties—we'll have it recorded and posted on our website next Monday.

What a privilege we have to share the gospel of Jesus with the lost in Culpeper.  What a privilege!

So while Hallie unpacks boxes, I'm working from my home office on what the coming weeks and months will look like.

One of the things that the Blue Ridge Presbytery called me to do was to take leadership over the worship of our church plant.  But worship won't begin with my arrival.  It has been ongoing for three years now.  I want to publically thank everyone who has given of their time and efforts to make sure that our Sunday afternoon Bible study continued for the past three years.  There are many folks who are due thanks but I wanted to especially thank Bob Brown, Ted Smith, and Bob McMichael for scheduling, leading, and teaching our Bible studies.  I arrive to a core group that has sat under the teaching of God's word together for years now.  I arrive to a core group that loves one another and is invested in one another's lives.  What a gift that is to a church planter.

In two weeks I'll begin a series of sermons based on the vision document of our church.  Crucial to the health and longevity of our church plant is understanding how orthodox theology intersects with ministry in Culpeper, VA.  This sermon series will seek to explain that intersect of theology and ministry.

This Sunday (at 3:30 in the Public Library) I'll an introduction to that sermon series and to the process of church planting in general.  We'll sing and pray as usual.  Then I'll lead our teaching time on a kind of "state-of-the-church-plant address."

At the center of our vision is the centrality of Jesus Christ.  Growth never happens without growing pains.  Progress never happens without success and failure.  Relationships do not grow without conflicts.  As we approach this Sunday and every one after, it is important to remember our common standing as Christians before our loving Christ.  We are weak sinners at best.  But we have a sovereign Christ who demonstrated his love for us on the cross.  My prayer is that the awe of that simple statement would anchor us to that which is most important—the Christ of our salvation.

You can also check out our Facebook Page and Twitter Feed.  Both of which will also grow with content in the coming months and years.

I've called this weblog, Lift Him Up.  Here you'll find updates on the life of our church.  We are taking Jesus at his word that when we lift him up, he will draw all men to himself (John 12:32). 

Worshipping Christ in community on mission with you,

Joe