When the Apostle Paul thought about evangelism, I’m sure he never envisioned anything like Facebook ever existing.  One great reality is that outreach does not have to be conducted inside a church building…it can happen anywhere….even on facebook.  We have started a group on Facebook called “Turning Point Community Church”.  Through this we will be able to invite friends to join, advertise activities and have meaningful discussions.  I encourage you to join and invite your friends, both churched and unchurched, to join as well.  We are open to any ideas about how we can make the group page better.  Check it out and let us know what you think.

                                                          – Pastor Jeremy

Outreach

 

A few months ago we spent a Sunday morning talking about evangelism and the importance that it should have in our lives.  And if you remember, we spent the majority of that time talking about relational evangelism.  I thought it would be good if we were reminded about the truths that we talked about  that day.    The stats that we looked at are amazing and still stick in my head.  Let me share them with you again.

 14,000 people were surveyed—”What or who brought you to Christ/Church?”—Here was the response.

                .5%- A Special service

                1-2%- Visitation program

                2%- Special need

                2-3%- A church program

                3%- Walk-in

                4-5%- Sunday School teacher

                6%- Pastor

                75-85%- Friend or relative

The key to evangelism is relationships.  We each need to be involved in building relationships…letting people see Christ through our lives.    We talked about steps that we can take to help build these relationships with the people we have identified.  First, make initial contact with them and begin to pray for them daily.  Second, become better acquainted with them…get to know them.  Third, serve them.  Look for an opportunity to help them.  Fourth, over time you will naturally become friends with them. Continue to build common interests.  Fifth, let them know that you are a Christian.  Don’t beat them over the head with it,  just let the know.  Sixth, introduce them to other Christians.  Seventh, make a clear presentation of the Gospel. 

Remember, “Compassion, Relevance & Truth”- Love Them, Serve Them, Share With Them!      

- Pastor Jeremy

Christian Living

Augustine of Hippo is probably one of the most well known early church fathers and philosophers in Christian history. He was the bishop of Hippo Regius in the 4th century, and was probably one of the most influential theologians and philosophers of his time. He formulated doctrines such as original sin, the doctrines of grace, and many others that the church holds today.

Among his many other contributions to the Church, he also dabbled in apologetics. One such argument is now commonly called “gold from Egypt.” Augustine recounted the story of the children of Israel as they came out of Egypt. God commanded them to take with them the gold rings, earrings and bracelets of their masters as they departed. Augustine reasoned that while the gold came from a wicked source, their slave masters and captors, it was still gold. Likewise, he applied this same principle to knowledge and reason. Since God is the source of all truth, he then concluded, wherever we find truth it is God’s truth. Whether the source be pagan philosophers, science, or the Bible.

Before we go any further with this, allow me to clarify a few things. We live in a world today where truth is thought to be relative to the individual. This concept was foreign to Augustine, and should remain so to the Christian today, or any thinking person for that matter. Truth is absolute. It’s absurd to confuse two people believing opposites to be true with two opposites actually being true.  

A second pitfall we should avoid is thinking that we have it all figured out. Not everything we may commonly hold to be true, whether it be taught from science or the church is necessarily so. Both have developed and grown over the years and had to change positions on various subjects, whether it be that frogs spawn from mud or that the earth is flat. In short, when I say that “all truth is God’s truth,” I mean that anything that is genuinely true is only true because God has made it to be so.

Why the history lesson? Well, we are about to dive into some apologetics in our Wednesday night Bible studies. Lee Strobel does an excellent job in apologetics, and I trust you will all enjoy the study. I have noticed a trend in apologetics that I’m not particularly fond of however, that I think we should be all aware of in any study we do. We tend to compartmentalize different “evidences” into categories that I believe ultimately undermine the faith we seek to defend (i.e. this fossil is “Christian evidence” and this other one is “evolutionary evidence”, or whatever the subject may be).

I encourage you to instead look at it as Augustine might. There is no such thing as “Christian evidence” and “non-Christian evidence”. There is just “evidence”. Anything that is genuinely true is true only because God made it to be so. We aren’t fighting over who has the most evidence, but who has a better explanation of all the evidence God has given us. And we can trust that He will guide us in His truth.

-Pastor John

Christian Living, Theology

If you are anything like me, you try to automate as much as your life as possible. I hate paying bills, and end up putting them off or forgetting about them at times, so I’ve got as many as possible set up to just be withdrawn from my account automatically.

Until recently, one of the only checks I wrote every month was to the church. I am happy to say that is no more With the new system you can set it up to automatically withdraw your offering every week, month, or whatever frequency you like. Anyway, one less thing to try and remember every week for me.

- Pastor John

Church

As most of you know we make it a priority at Turning Point to be obedient to Scripture.  And I think our church does a good job of pattering our ministry after the New Testament model.  However, there is one thing that seems to have been forgotten by Christians; including myself…there is one thing that is neglected by churches, and I’m not quite sure why.  In the early church and really all throughout Scripture we see God’s people fasting.  This was a regular part of their lives.  It was a common practice for them to skip a meal, several meals, or even days of meals in order to give their attention to God. 

As I have read about fasting over the past few weeks, I have learned that fasting has nothing to do with food or with what you are giving up.  It is all about giving extra time to God.  It is about seeking His face about a problem that you may be going through.  Our physical hunger during that time is symbolic of our spiritual hunger that we have for God.  It serves as a reminder about how much we need God.

I am not proposing that we go extreme and do a 40 day fast of nothing but water, but what I am proposing is that we pick a day of the month and a meal on that day to skip in order to give extra time and attention to God.  Spend extra time in prayer for your family and for our church.  Ask God to do something special through our life. 

John Piper gives several Biblical aims for fasting:

1. For help in a new venture in ministry

Matthew 4:1-2

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

Acts 13:3

Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

3. To avert some danger or threat

Ezra 8:21

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.

2 Samuel 12:16

David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground.

4. To express sorrow and loss

2 Samuel 1:12

They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword

5. To express repentance and grief for sin

Joel 2:12-13

“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; 13 And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.

I encourage us all to put this Biblical principle into practice every month.  I think we will be surprised by its effectiveness. – Pastor Jeremy

Christian Living