In the opening sentence to our church constitution, it reads this: “Jesus Christ, as King, has given to His Church officers, oracles, and ordinances; and has ordained His system of doctrine, government, discipline, and worship, all of which are either expressly set down in Scripture, or by good and necessary inference may be deduced from it; and to which things He commands that nothing be added nor subtracted.”[i]  What this first sentence means is that we at Tapestry Community Church seek to be as biblical as possible.  That means that when the elders discuss possible new ministries for the church or when we meet with the deacons to discuss new ideas or possible new ministries, the question that is always first and foremost on our minds is—Is this biblical?  ​

​In the United States, the third Sunday of every January is known as National Sanctity of Life Sunday.  It was designated as such by the late President Ronald Reagan on January 22, 1984, to remember the 1973 Supreme Court decision known as Roe v. Wade.  In that decision the Court ruled that selective abortion was the right of women protected by the fourteenth amendment to the Constitution.  Thus, beginning in 1984, President Reagan designated each Sunday that fell the closest to January 22 to be Sanctity of Life Sunday.  However, this article is not about the evil of selective abortion, nor is it about the evidence that life begins at conception.  Rather, this article is about the value churches should place on children and what that should look like within the context of the local church and within the covenant community.  Since life begins at conception and since children are a blessing from the Lord, children should be welcomed into the corporate worship service at as young of an age as possible.  (At Tapestry Community Church we welcome children into the corporate worship service at age four.)  

​Joshua Harris first became a household name within the Evangelical community when he published his first book in 1997, I Kissed Dating Goodbye, at the tender age of twenty-three.  The book instantly became a #1 bestseller, launching Harris into the stratosphere of success.  Three years later he published another mega bestseller, Boy Meets Girl: Say Hello to Courtship.  These two books started what became known as the purity movement within Evangelicalism, particularly among homeschoolers.  Then, four short years later he became the lead pastor of his Maryland mega-church, Covenant Life Church, replacing the popular and charismatic C.J. Mahaney.  By all accounts, Joshua Harris by the age of thirty had accomplished what most only dream about—two successful bestselling books, a successful and lucrative career, a beautiful young wife, speaking tours and speaking engagements.  But how did all this happen?  

A friend recently brought to my attention an article written by my former New Testament professor, Thomas Schreiner, whom I greatly respect, titled “Why I am a Cessationist.”[i]  As I read the article it became clear that Schreiner wants to hold to a classic cessationist view, but recognizes that he does not have enough scriptural evidence to defend that position, so he wants to remain open to the “open but cautious” view as defined in the book, Are Miraculous Gifts for Today?: Four Views—Cessationist, Open But Cautious, Third Wave, Pentecostal/Charismatic.[ii] 

What is preaching?  What does it mean to preach a sermon and is there a difference between preaching and teaching?  We all recognize there must be some difference because when a Sunday school teacher or Bible study leader opens the Bible and delivers a message, we say that he or she “taught a Bible lesson.”  When a politician delivers a message, we say he or she “gave a speech.”  But when a minister stands behind the pulpit and exposits God’s Word, we understand him to be doing something different.  Why is that?  And what exactly is so different? ​

What is church?  Not what is the Church?  But what is church?  What is it that we do on Sunday mornings?  When believers come together on Sunday mornings to sing, pray, fellowship, read God’s Word, listen to a sermon preached, and take the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper, what is all that?  What are we doing?  I ask these questions because it seems there is confusion within our current generation.  Consequently, there is a dumbing down of church.  There is a low view of church.  There is an undervaluing and under-appreciation of what is happening on Sunday morning during the corporate gathering of the saints.  So what is church?  Is the Sunday morning service nothing more than a snazzier Bible study?  Is it simply an extension of the Sunday school class?  Or, is it something more? ​

          During the Protestant Reformation in Europe of the 16th century, the Dutch Reformed churches in the Netherlands were attended by about 10% of the population.  At the turn of the century nearly 50% of the population of the Netherlands began attending Dutch Reformed churches.  Although one would think this is a good thing that the Dutch Reformed churches grew so rapidly, “it became easy to confuse being anti-Catholic with being Reformed.  Nominal church membership and loose living became fashionably acceptable.  Spiritual and ethical sterility grew rampantly, particularly when combined with newfound prosperity.”[i]  Thus, while the Dutch Reformers stood squarely on the shoulders of the Reformers who had come a century before them, they sought zealously to apply Reformation doctrine to the lives of their parishioners.  Hence, the Second Dutch Reformation was “a movement in the 17th century which was a reaction against dead orthodoxy and [the] secularization of Christianity in the Church of the Reformation and which insisted on the practise of faith” [sic].[ii]  In essence, the Dutch Reformers sought to show that right theology that is not lived out, that is not seen as being relative to every day life, is pointless.  Right theology should lead to a life of doxology. ​

         Anselm of Canterbury, an 11th century theologian, published a landmark book titled Cur Deus Homo (literally: Why God Became Man).  In it he presents his view for the necessity of the substitutionary atonement of Christ.  He argues that God had to become man in the person of Christ and had to die on the cross in order to atone for man’s sin.  The weight of his argument rest on the seriousness of sin and the justice of God’s character.  The book is presented as a conversation between Anselm and his friend, Boso.  At first Boso seems unclear as to why Jesus had to die on the cross to pay for sins.  Thus, at the beginning of chapter 21, Anselm asks this very important question: “Have you not yet considered of what a grievous weight sin is?”  Anselm’s point is essentially this--if we fail to understand the magnitude of Christ’s death on the cross, it is because we fail to understand the magnitude of sin in the eyes of God. ​

According to the most recent National Health Statistics Report (NHSR) published by the Centers for Disease Control “about half of first marriages end in divorce.”[i]  Unfortunately, this most recent report was published in 2012, which means that very likely the percentage is higher today.  While it is true that the overall divorce rate in the United States has been trending downward (8.2% in 2000 compared to 6.9% in 2016)[ii], this is largely due to the fact that fewer people are getting married.  ​

As we prepare to celebrate the 240th anniversary of the birth of the United States of America, we are given cause to reflect on what makes America the greatest nation on earth.  Despite America’s imperfections and moral decline, America is still a nation where its citizens are governed by elected representatives—not a monarch, not a dictator, not a despot.  American citizens have a voice in government and the ability to hold those in office accountable, so long as the desire to do so is present.  Christians in America have the freedom to carry Bibles in public, to gather in public places of worship, to peaceably assemble in public protest, to publically share their faith, to practice their beliefs in the privacy of their homes, and to instill those beliefs into their own children without fear of government reprisal. ​

Recently I have had quite a few discussions regarding the relationship between the Lord’s Supper and church membership.  Historically churches have practiced the administering of the Lord’s Supper in one of three ways—open, closed, and semi-open.  All three stem from a church’s interpretation of 1 Cor 11:27-30.  There the apostle Paul, after reminding the church they should partake of the Lord’s Supper regularly, warns them to “examine” themselves lest they partake of the elements in “an unworthy manner” and become “guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.”  When this happens, he warns, “many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.”  Hence, taking the Lord’s Supper is a serious matter with life and death consequences. ​

In celebrating their twentieth anniversary of publishing their “Best-Seller” list, in October 2013 USA Today published the findings of which book genres have been the best-selling over the past twenty years.  They discovered that the third best-selling book genre was adult erotica books (sadly), number two was children’s literature books (parents are trying to figure out how to keep their kids happy), and number one was self-help books.  Americans are desperate to solve their marriage problems, their parenting problems, their own psycho-emotional problems, their financial problems, and a whole host of other problems.  Additionally, I dare say this is probably true of many inside the church.  Too often believers look to Laura Schlessinger and Oprah Winfrey for solutions.  Too often churches look to corporate America to figure out the best way to attract ‘consumers’ and grow their church.  The result is that the divorce rate among those who regularly attend church is nearly identical to those outside the church.  Nearly 70% of children raised in Christian homes walk away from the faith during their first year of college.  And the term “mainline denominations” is a well-known reference to liberal churches who deny the inerrancy of scripture. ​

The Bible makes clear that Christians are to verbally share the gospel with all who are willing to listen.  Two reasons can be ascertained from scripture as to why this is so.  The first is that it is commanded by Christ.  Just before his ascension into heaven he gave to the disciples what has come to be known as the Great Commission.  In Matthew 28:19-20 Jesus ushers this command: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (ESV).  Notice the active language.  Jesus does not say ‘stay and wait for people to come to you to be made disciples’, but “Go…and make disciples…”  Additionally, when these disciples have been made we are to teach ‘them to observe all that Jesus has commanded them.’  Thus the Great Commission is not simply about bringing people to Christ through the proclamation of the gospel, but is also about growing people in Christ--it’s about discipleship. ​

The Sequoia National Forest in central California is home to some of the most amazing and oldest trees in the world.  Sequoias are the world’s largest single standing trees by volume.  They grow to a height of 164-279 feet and a diameter of 20-26 feet.  The oldest known Sequoia is 3,500 years old.  They have clearly been around for a long time and do not buckle easily to the harsh conditions of nature.  What makes all this so amazing is that despite their incredible height, Sequoias have a shallow root system and only goes down 12-14 feet deep and they have no tap root.  Yet how have they been able to stand for so long and not be toppled by the strong winds that often come across the Sierra Nevada Mountains?  They have a matting root system that can occupy as much as one acre of ground and interlock with the roots of dozens of nearby Sequoias.  In other words, they hang on to each other and support each other and thus have been able to remain standing for thousands of years.  Christians could learn a lot from Sequoias. ​