For the Church

He Gives To His Beloved Sleep

It was two o’clock in the morning and my newborn was asleep in the bassinet next to me. Most of the time, a newborn sleeping is cause for celebration and slumber but on this particular night, fears about my son’s life plagued my mind. You see, a few days prior, my sweet baby was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. He had stopped breathing and passed out, seemingly inexplicably. It turns out that he had a breath holding spell. Basically, he was startled by something and his body’s fight or flight response kicked in and he held his breath. By God’s grace, he is okay and there are no long term issues because of this temporary loss of oxygen, but the picture of my three-week-old, sheet-white, in the back of an ambulance is forever burned in my brain. So at two o’clock, I could feel the trauma from the experience that was wreaking havoc on my mental and physical health. On this particular night, I was up, yet again, worried about what would happen if I went to sleep.

In God’s divine providence, I stumbled across Psalm 127. The Psalm is short so reading it just a few times was enough to commit it to memory. The first two verses are what I needed in that panicked moment and what I’ve needed in every moment of late-night anxiety since. The Psalmist says:

“Unless the LORD builds the house,

those who build it labor in vain.

Unless the LORD watches over the city,

the watchman stays awake in vain.

It is in vain that you rise up early

and go late to rest,

eating the bread of anxious toil;

for he gives to his beloved sleep.” (ESV)

These two verses provide us with practical hope for trusting in God. Just as the Lord is the one who builds the house and watches over the city, the Lord is the one who sustains the life of my child and yours. I remember wrestling with this reality when I brought my first baby home. I wondered “If I go to sleep, who will make sure my daughter is still breathing?” I only had two options: never sleep again, or trust the Lord to give or take her breath. In other words, trust God or pine in futility for control I don’t have. My trust in him was not rooted in whether or not he would keep her breathing, but whether I believed he was good no matter what happened while I slept.

The difference I found with my son was that although I thought I had already relinquished my need for control, when my tiny baby actually had no breath in his lungs, the reality of my inability to sustain his life hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized with tears in my eyes the truth of verse one:

Unless the Lord keeps my child alive, I labor in vain. Unless the Lord heals the illness, changes your circumstances, provides for your finances… then you labor in vain.

At first, this reality is scary. If I could control everything, then nothing would go wrong, right? It is easy to think we know better than God, but if we contemplate for a moment our own finitude, I am sure our response will be different. The control we desire is not what we really want. We don’t want the oceans to bow at our command, we don’t want to have to make the world spin. We don’t even want to solve the problem in front of us because God’s reason for that problem is truly better than the solution we would provide. [1] Even if we think we want that power in the moment, if we believe in God’s perfection, we would never trade our faulty abilities for his holy ones. Truthfully, I have the small task of making our house run smoothly and somehow I am still overwhelmed. Imagine all that would go wrong if I were in charge of everything else! God is God for a reason. He builds the house, he watches over the city. Because God does these things, the result is what we so desperately need:

“For he gives to his beloved sleep.”

So as I looked at my sweet baby and wondered about his health, obsessively Googling his breathing patterns, and working myself into an all out panic, I was reminded of Psalm 127, he gives to his beloved sleep. Rest is contingent upon trust in the Lord. I am that beloved, I am the one who eats the bread of anxious toil. But I don’t have to. We have been given the precious gift of rest as we trust in an abundantly worthy God. If you are desperate for sleep, if anxiety has kept you up, if you are eating that anxious bread day and night, come to the Lord. He is worthy of our trust. He is the Author and Sustainer and the very best news is that he cares about you. He keeps the world spinning and he gives you rest. Lean on him, for he gives to his beloved sleep.

[1] Isaiah 55:8-9, Psalm 139:6, Jeremiah 10:12

Multiplying and Planting New Small Groups

By Lucas Hahn / Jun 22

The first community group I ever led was a struggle.

We had multiplied out from another group that was not entirely healthy. The multiplication process was a bit rushed and our members didn’t feel like the previous leaders had cared well for them. As brand-new leaders, only 23 years old, we over-corrected to the previous error by over-promising our group longevity without multiplication.

I remember telling the group at our first gathering, “You don’t have to worry about multiplying. We’ll build and maintain strong relationships here.” Everyone smiled and nodded in approval. However, after about nine months, our group had grown to the capacity of our little living room, and I knew it was time to bring up the topic of multiplication again.

When I told our group very gently that we should consider multiplying to create space for new people, they revolted. I hadn’t expected them to remember my early words about not multiplying. I said, “Well, of course, we need to multiply: There’s no space here!” But they responded, “Why do we need more space? We should just close the group to outsiders. They can go to other groups!”

I suddenly realized my mistakes: I had not started the group with an expectation of multiplication, nor had I regularly reminded the members of the need to stay open to outsiders.

These errors were not minor: We then faced an uphill battle trying to shepherd the group through the conversation, and it took close to a year to get the group ready to multiply. I figured that once it was time to multiply or send out members to start a new group, we could take a few weeks to talk through it, and everything would work out. I was wrong.

As the years have passed, I have been able to lead or oversee dozens of healthy multiplications. Some were easy and some were still slow and challenging, but I’ve discovered over the years a five-step process for healthy group multiplication.

I truly believe that growth and multiplication are the results of a healthy group, and multiplication itself can be a healthy, life-giving process. Multiplying a group or sending members out to start a new one still aren’t easy or simplistic endeavors. But this process has enabled dozens of fruitful multiplications and new groups.

The Language of Multiplication

When you’re talking with your community group or your leaders about multiplication, you’ll want to choose your words carefully. Here’s what I mean: Although multiplication is a straightforward concept, some will have negative preconceived notions about it.

I’ve often found that younger members and new churches—those who haven’t been in community groups for many years—find multiplication life-giving and exciting for the first few years. If they experience these five steps for healthy multiplication, they’re likely to have a positive experience.

But once a member has been in community groups that have multiplied several times, it’s common to feel an amount of “change fatigue.” In a few years, they could have been in three groups, adapted to the styles of three different leaders, and built dozens of new relationships. (Introverts like me will especially struggle with this.) As group leaders and pastors, we shouldn’t be quick to reject the need for stability in community.

In these cases, when your members are saying they’re weary from recent multiplications, you may want to change your plan and your language. For instance, maybe instead of directly multiplying a group of 16 adults into two groups of eight, consider that same group empowering a couple to lead and open the door to anyone who wants to form a new group. Perhaps only five or six adults will “plant” the new group, but you’ve still accomplished the formation of a new group to reach more people and you’ve allowed deep relationships to remain intact.

Please understand that multiplication will always need to be done on a case-by-case basis. There is no one-size-fits-all plan for starting new groups. My best advice is to use a handful of strategies—regular multiplication, “planting” new groups off a “sending” group, and starting new groups from all new members. Especially if your church is in a season of numerical growth, you’ll almost certainly need several paths to new groups.

Your community group must understand that the goal of community is the Christ-shaped spiritual maturity of its members, not mere fellowship, fun, and friendship. The New Testament does not allow us to define fruitfulness simply by fellowship; we are called to make disciples (Matt. 28:19). And yet, at the same time, fellowship is an essential component of community group, and we have spent months or years encouraging deep relationships with our members.

So for our community groups to be healthy, multiplication must be done in a way the promotes member health, not in a way that neglects it.

Here are five steps for healthy group multiplication:

Step 1: Develop a biblical vision of healthy multiplication
Step 2: Set expectations for healthy multiplication
Step 3: Prepare for healthy multiplication
Step 4: Practice healthy multiplication
Step 5: Maintain health after multiplication

There’s a firm foundation for all of this: Our groups will be life-giving places of spiritual formation when centered on Jesus’s way of discipleship and practicing the three rhythms of discipleship in community.

In the next article, we’ll discover a biblical vision of healthy multiplication.

*This article is Part 5 of an eight-part series on community groups and their importance that will run this summer. Read the full series here.

Episode 216: Ben Connelly on Reading the Bible, but Missing the Gospel

By Lucas Hahn / Jun 21

On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson visits with ministry leader and author Ben Connelly about the ways churches sometimes train believers to read their Bibles without Jesus at the center.

Getting On the Train: A Testimony of God’s Strength in Grief

By Lucas Hahn / Jun 20

On the morning of our 15-week appointment, I woke up weary. In my mind, this should have been the part of pregnancy when I could breathe a sigh of relief and think- Everything will be okay. Already in my first trimester I had confronted the possibility of a miscarriage only to embrace relief after our doctor found the flickering heartbeat a week later. At 11 weeks, we had seen our little one leap in the womb and heard the heartbeat whoosh through the stethoscope. We had been comforted by our doctor that a loss at this point would be rare. My husband and I began to share the news of our child with friends and family, and yet anxiousness nagged me. A small baby bump began to form, and yet I could not shake the feelings of worry and uncertainty.

On this morning, I felt exhausted by my own efforts to not let worry keep me from hoping. But what if…? What if something was wrong? What if our baby was unwell? As these worries built upon each other, a story I had learned about the missionary, Corrie Ten Boom, came to mind. After witnessing the death of a baby, young Corrie Ten Boom became distraught at the thought of her parents dying and leaving her. Corrie’s father knelt beside her gently and said,

“Corrie, when you and I go to Amsterdam, when do I give you the ticket?”
Sniffling, Corrie replied, “Why, just before we get on the train.”
“Exactly,” her father responded, “and our wise Father in heaven knows when we are going to need things too. Don’t run ahead of him, Corrie. When the time comes that some of us will have to die, you will look into your heart and find the strength you need, just in time.” ¹

After reflecting on this story, I wrote this prayer in my journal that morning:

I’ve been trying to walk this fine line of being excited without being vulnerable to hope, and it is exhausting. I want to embrace a greater margin for Your comfort. Should disappointment and suffering come, I trust that You will “hand me my ticket” when the time is right.

Later, as I lay on my back while the nurse searched for a heartbeat, my worries resurfaced. “I guess we will need an ultrasound after all!” she said cheerily as she wheeled over the machine.

I was relieved—I wanted to see the hidden form of our baby anyways. I remember the ultrasound screen coming into focus. I remember searching hungrily for our leaping little one. I remember seeing our child lying quietly in the shadows of my womb, not moving. I remember everyone in the room being very still.

“I’m going to go get your doctor,” said the nurse.

As she left, I looked at my husband and saw his red-rimmed eyes. I looked away and folded my arms over my abdomen in an effort to hold what I still had. And yet, as I stared at the ceiling, eyes burning, peace reigned in my heart.

Ah, I thought. There’s the ticket.

***

I’m not quite sure what Father Ten Boom meant by “looking into our hearts” and “finding strength”. As we have walked through our miscarriage, I can only assume that he is not referring to our own strength to carry on in grief. There have been nights when I’ve prepared for bed and thought to myself—I did good today. I didn’t cry. But instantly, tears would spill over at the thought of having to carry on the same way all over again tomorrow. I am dependent on the inner workings of the Holy Spirit to mobilize me out of bed and confront the normal parts of life while grieving. What I appreciate about Father Ten Boom’s wisdom is that he teaches a lesson about the unfruitful labor of anticipating suffering.

Earlier in my pregnancy, when I first thought I was going to miscarry, I tried to plan out my response. I wanted to respond to loss like a “good Christian” and embrace all the platitudes that people would share with me and then demonstrate them towards the watching world. I would show others that I was trusting of my Father and that I would be joyful no matter the circumstances. I would protect myself from grief. There would be no reason to mourn because somehow theology or reason would strengthen me and deliver me from the brokenness of this world. Yet, in the weeks prior to the actual loss of our child, I confessed this hardness of heart to God. He showed me Matthew 5:4—

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”

If we anticipate suffering, whether it be through stoicism or anxious ruminations, we refuse ourselves the margin for mourning. And if we do not mourn, how can we be comforted? The nearness and comfort of our Father is good, and it is what makes us blessed. It is the comforting closeness of our Shepherd that strengthens King David to continue walking through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4). And so it is for us. Our own strength will not meet us on the other side of being sad. Fear and worry will not protect us from needing to mourn. It is no good trying to keep ourselves from the comfort that our Father has promised us. Don’t run ahead of Him. When the time is right, He will give us the ticket.

He will give us Himself.

He is the ticket.

^{1. Ten Boom, Corrie. The Hiding Place. Chosen Books, 2006.}

How Small Groups Can Embrace Fellowship and Hospitality

By Lucas Hahn / Jun 15

As Christians, we should recognize that discipleship should happen in community.

Remember, we can only grow as Jesus shaped disciples in community. We can’t do this alone. We have been created in the image of a Trinitarian God—he has eternally existed in community. To be fully alive then, we must pursue Christ in the context of committed relationships. In the previous article, I described two rhythms of life-giving community groups: Word and prayer

If there is a fundamental need to have a place of belonging in our lives, then our community groups could be the primary place of Christian formation and maturation. But it’s not enough to just be in a community group, we have to do life together.

The Rhythm of Fellowship—Connecting with One Another

The rhythm of fellowship is the habit of gathering together, welcoming one another into our lives, and genuinely caring for each other. Before we even open the Scriptures or pray or evangelize, we should join ourselves to a likeminded, Christ centered community—if we want to follow Jesus’s pattern.

Fellowship is the context for the other practices—Word and prayer, and hospitality. In my experience, a group that struggles with this rhythm will always struggle with the other two. But if a community group truly embraces life together, they have a much better chance of seeing transformation through living the Word, meeting with God in prayer, and creating space for outsiders.

So what might this look like?

In my current community group, we gather every Wednesday evening and about one Saturday each month. But the group isn’t a meeting time or place, it is truly a family.

First Wednesday: Meet at our house for fellowship, Scripture discussion, and prayer
Second Wednesday: Meet at our house to spend time together as a group
Third Wednesday: Meet at our house for fellowship, Scripture discussion, and prayer
Saturday: Go to a local park for a hike and then lunch together
Fourth Wednesday: Ladies meet at a local ice cream store for fellowship and accountability, men stay at our house and talk while playing with the kids

This type of schedule fits our people well, and gives us the opportunities to build relationships and reach outsiders. For example, the second Wednesday would be the ideal time to invite a family from the neighborhood. At my middle son’s fifth birthday recently, we invited our next-door neighbors (who also have young children) to come celebrate with us. They had never accepted an invitation to visit our group previously, but our kid’s birthday party was an easy first step for them. They have since joined us on other evenings and attended a Sunday gathering with us as well!

These exact gatherings may not fit your people and context. You may not be able to meet weekly, or you might be able to do all three of the rhythms each week. Once you know your people and those you are trying to reach, adapt your gathering times to make the most of these three rhythms each month.

The Rhythm of Hospitality—Connecting with Outsiders

When we look at the gospels, we discover that Jesus is the model of hospitality. Jesus’ public ministry began with his miracle at Cana—turning barrels of water into wine at a wedding. He spent his time eating with “sinners and tax collectors,” receiving gifts from marginalized women, encouraging widows, playing with children, and attending all major cultural events and parties.

Even though he didn’t own a home, Jesus was the most hospitable man to ever live. How is this possible?

Meals with Jesus

In the gospel of Matthew, the author says, “The Son of Man came…” How would we finish that question? Would we say, “The Son of Man came preaching and teaching”? Or perhaps, “healing and casting out demons”? Or maybe, “establishing his kingdom”?

Matthew writes, “The Son of Man came eating and drinking” (Matthew 11:19).

Jesus seems to be eating throughout all four gospel narratives. Consider examples from Luke alone:

Jesus eats with tax collectors and sinners at Levi’s house (Luke 5).

Jesus is anointed at the home of a Pharisee during a meal (Luke 7).

Jesus feeds five thousand people (Luke 9).

Jesus eats in the home of Mary and Martha (Luke 10).

Jesus condemns the Pharisees and religious leaders over a meal (Luke 11).

Jesus urges people to invite the poor to their meals, not just their friends (Luke 14).

Jesus invites himself to dinner with Zacchaeus (Luke 19).

Jesus gathers his disciples in the upper room for the Last Supper (Luke 22).

Jesus, risen from the grave, asks for a plate of fish (Luke 24).

One commentator notes, “Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal, or coming from a meal.” Another scholar jokes Jesus “eats his way through the gospels.”¹

Jesus’s meals are full of significance. Few acts are more expressive of friendship and acceptance than a shared meal. In every culture, meals are a form of hospitality—regardless of whose house you’re at. In fact, our English word “companion” comes from two Latin words meaning “bread” and “together.”²

Why are Jesus’s meals, then, so significant? Jesus’s meals are physical demonstrations of the grace he offers to the outsider. Jesus creates space for outsiders and identifies with them by sharing a meal with them.

Creating Space for Outsiders

What is hospitality? It’s the distinctly Christian practice of creating space for outsiders. Hospitality, in a biblical sense, includes:

Creating space in our homes for our brothers and sisters in Christ

Creating space in our schedules and hearts for those who don’t know the Lord

Creating space in our groups for our neighbors and co-workers

Creating space in our lives for the poor and marginalized

Creating space in our city for people to be broken, vulnerable and genuine

Just as Christ came to us who were once outsiders, so the Church can open its heart and doors to those who don’t know him. As one Christian author put it:

Hospitality in Practice

Let’s pause now and consider our own stories. At one point, we were all visitors to a church and didn’t know more than a person or two. How might our lives be different at this point if no one had invited us in and given us a “place at the table”?

Every one of us has been the recipient of the hospitality of others, and now we extend that same hospitable spirit to the next generation of church visitors—and to our own neighbors, co-workers, and friends.

This vision of hospitality is more than mere entertainment of course. Entertaining—putting out our best food, showing off our home, and inviting our most attractive guests—puts the focus on us. Hospitality, on the other hand, puts the focus on another meal—the eternal feast.

When we invite our neighbors over for dinner, when we take time to join our coworkers for lunch or “happy hour,” or when we offer a cold drink to a stranger, we are demonstrating the grace of God to one another.

Meals serve us in several ways: They nourish us, slow us down, allow for conversation, and build bridges with others.

But to think of it another way: Jesus’s meals weren’t just for something else. Everything else—life, work, family, suffering, everything—was for a meal with Jesus. In other words, all of human history, from creation to the cross to the new creation, happened so that we might have eternal communion with Christ.

In the next article, we’ll begin looking at how these discipleship rhythms can naturally lead to healthy, sustainable group planting and multiplication.

^{1. See Tim Chester, A Meal with Jesus: Discovering Grace, Community and Mission Around the Table.}
^{2. Chester, A Meal with Jesus.}
^{3. Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out.}

*This article is Part 4 of an eight-part series on community groups and their importance that will run this summer. Read the full series here.

What is Realism?

By Brett Fredenberg / Jun 14

Editor’s Note: The Theology in the Everyday series seeks to introduce and explain theological concepts in 500 words or less, with a 200-word section helping explain the doctrine to kids. At For The Church, we believe that theology should not be designated to the academy alone but lived out by faith in everyday life. We hope this series will present theology in such a way as to make it enjoyable, connecting theological ideas to everyday experience and encouraging believers to study theology for the glory of God and the good of the Church. This week, realism.

Broadly speaking, realism is the position that universals are real. What follows appears to be a change of subject but, be assured, it is not! It is conceivable that these words are being read on a smartphone. It could also be assumed that this smartphone belongs to the reader and is not their neighbor’s or their great aunt’s. The three smartphones are different. These are what philosophers call particulars. They are not the same smartphone. However, all these particulars share a certain abstract pattern such that they are all referred to as “smartphones” rather than gerbils or cupcakes. These smartphones all have screens, apps, cameras, and such. They also share in patterns with things that are not smartphones. In this example there are three smartphones. “Threeness” is a pattern shared by a trilogy of books or the number of divine persons in the Godhead. Smartphones are, roughly, rectangular. They share this “rectangularity” with most books, postcards, and photographs. These abstract patterns are what philosophers call universals or forms or essences.

These universals can be mentally isolated from particulars. “Rectangularity” can be abstracted from the particular smartphone or book which is ignored. “Threeness” can be abstracted from the particular trilogy. These abstractions can only be interacted with mentally. Three itself cannot be perceived except in three particular books, say, or a particular numeral like “3” or “III” which denotes “three”. Destroy those symbols or take away the books and the universal of “three” still exists in some way just without those tangible examples.

The big question is in what sense, if at all, do these universals exist? Realism is an answer to this question which says that they exist independently of, yet are discoverable by, human minds. Realism itself is a relatively recent term but it emerges from a tradition that extends back to Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, and endures through the Reformation. The details as to where and how these universals exist is a distinct, and by no means uncomplicated, question. However, within this realist group there is a strong and unifying motif of transcendence.

Nominalism, by contrast, is the belief that universals are nothing but names attributed to resemblances by human minds. So-called “universals”, says the nominalist, are words devised as placeholders or useful contrivances. There is no such objective thing as “red” but rather only a resemblance between this red card and that red flag that is designated “red” by contingent linguistic convention. Speaking of red flags, in this view there is little room for objective “goodness”, “truth” or “beauty”. Nor is there an objective “human nature” for the second person of the trinity to assume at the incarnation.

The obvious question is why the term “red” has been applied to red appearing things other than that the color red is what they have in common and the inquirer is back to the existence of a universal. The nominalist may seek to avoid this issue by suggesting that it is some other resemblance being perceived rather than a universal color. In this case “resemblance” itself has become a universal and there seems to be no way to escape an infinite regress.

Propositions are also universals. “The sky is blue” and “el cielo es azul” both describe the same propositional truth but in different languages. Likewise, “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures” and, “Que Cristo fué muerto por nuestros pecados conforme á las Escrituras.” The phrases deploy different vocabulary but the distinct proposition to which those languages point is one. Without some overlap in meaning tethered to external referents translation between languages would be impossible. Likewise, when English and Spanish speakers reflect on the blueness of the sky or the death of Christ for sins they are, it seems, considering the same things. There little sense in suggesting, in lieu of propositions, that there is one blueness of the sky and one death of Christ for sins for English speakers and another for Spanish speakers and yet another for Japanese speakers and so on.

For the Kids

My own children are of an age that they can enjoy the book Are you my mother? It’s about a bird who hatches while his mother is away collecting food. The baby, alarmed at being alone, goes off looking for her. The problem is, having just hatched, he doesn’t know what she looks like! The readers know better of course but the bird approaches, among other things, a cow, a kitten and a tractor and asks, “are you my mother?”

Sometimes looking for God can be like that. You might have in mind a bearded fellow in the sky. Maybe he’s behind Jupiter. Perhaps he’s so vast that we are within his body in some way. A man from North Africa, called Augustine, made a discovery that God is not like that. He made this discovery after reading that he ought to look for ultimate truth, or God, in non-physical places beyond creation. In his Confessions, a book he wrote later in life, Augustine tells the story about the time he realized God was not somewhere in the same way that you and I are somewhere. I am in my home. Perhaps you are in yours. Augustine realized that the things that are somewhere, the created things around us, point to the uncreated God who is the unchanging source of all the changeable things he creates and sustains.[1]

[1] Augustine, Confessions 7.20.

Episode 215: Top 10 Christian Musicians

By jredd / Jun 14

On this episode of the FTC Podcast, Jared Wilson and Ross Ferguson share their favorite Christian musical acts, plus a few honorable mentions.

Nine Ways I’ve Seen Mark Dever Disciple Men and Raise Up Leaders

By Lucas Hahn / Jun 9

When Mark Dever applied for the pastorate of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, one quality stood out among others in his references: he made disciples everywhere he went. “If I had to emphasize one gift above others,” D.A. Carson wrote to the church, “it is his continuing ability to challenge others, in the context of genuine friendship.”

What does Mark Dever do to disciple men and raise up pastors in the context of the local church? Here are nine points that Mark has publicly shared are his practices, with some of my own reflections as someone who has benefitted Mark’s discipling and observed its effects on others.

1. Discern Qualifications.
The job of the pastor, in part, is to discern in others the qualities that the Bible says should characterize leaders. In Exodus 18:21, Jethro tells Moses to look out for men who are not in it for themselves, which sounds remarkably similar to the qualifications Paul lays out in 1 Timothy 3:1-13 and Titus 1:5-9. These are not extraordinarily high standards; they’re a floor, not a ceiling for what pastors should look for in terms of character qualities. In discipling men Mark does value natural giftedness (the ability to influence others) but also seeks to discern godly character.

2. Look.
In order to discern qualifications, pastors need to look at who God is raising up around them. If elders are gifts of Christ to the church (Eph. 4:11) then our assumption should be that God is already at work. But this requires pastors to be present with their people, not just to preach and disappear. Instead, stick around. Give people the opportunity to talk with you. Create spaces where people can take initiative to spend time with you.

To do this, Mark makes it a habit of praying through a few pages of our church directory every morning, partly as his responsibility as a pastor, but also to notice people he may be overlooking. Furthermore, at any public service of the church (Sunday morning, evening, Wednesday night), Mark typically stands around by the door until most people have left, simply to make himself available to the church.

3. Trust.
Some pastors are unwilling to take risks on other people. They will not trust someone until they prove themselves. Mark takes a very different approach. He believes in advancing trust like credit: letting other people spend it and see how they do. In part, this means taking risks by giving others opportunities to teach and lead publicly who might not be super polished. It also means investing personal time in people that others may not think are worth spending time with, which leads into the next point…

4. Personal time.
There is no substitute for personal time. In Mark 3:13-14 Jesus called his disciples “so that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach.” This is how Jesus ministered and this is how pastors should minister: by being available to people.

For Mark this includes formal and informal time. More formal times would be pre-planned lunches throughout the week. Far more common, however, is spontaneous, informal time. Not everyone is an extrovert, and everyone needs a healthy dose of time alone. But the point isn’t the size of the ‘emotional wallet’ God has given you. The point is stewarding what he has given you.

5. Delegate.
As far as Senior Pastors go, Mark is extraordinarily willing to give young men leadership and teaching opportunities. This would include leading public services, leading in public prayer, teaching, and preaching. As I’ve heard Mark say, “Creating contexts for other people to teach God’s Word may be more important for strengthening your church and other congregations than your own Sunday morning sermons.” That means sharing the pulpit and delegating opportunities to others.

For Mark, delegating also means being willing to lose votes on the elder board. We don’t require unanimity in most elder votes at CHBC which fosters healthy disagreement. After all, a domineering pastor will never be a disciple-making pastor. That’s because if you feel threatened by other people’s strengths, you will drive away people with leadership abilities.

So delegate and don’t be afraid of disagreement.

6. Feedback.
Feedback goes hand in hand with delegating. When you give people the opportunity to lead, you also need to create spaces for giving encouragement and offering criticism. Mark creates a culture of encouragement and criticism by hosting a Sunday night service review meeting for the pastoral staff and those participating in the service to give and receive feedback. At that meeting, he models receiving encouragement and feedback by taking and accepting feedback on his own preaching, and he gives feedback to those testing out their gifts in the church. In offering feedback, Mark is critical, but he majors on encouragement. As he likes to say, “In an atmosphere of suspicion men shrivel up and die; in an atmosphere of love they grow up and flourish.”

7. Authority.
Another aspect of leadership that Mark commends is his example of godly use of authority. The passage Mark always points to is David’s last words in 2 Sam. 23:1-4 where David teaches that leadership is a good gift, blessing everyone under it. Of course, authority can be abused, but that’s where points 5 (delegate) and 6 (feedback) are critical. Being willing to delegate, lose votes, and creating spaces for critical feedback are all ways Mark tries to model a godly use of authority.

8. Clarity.
Pastors need to be clear in understanding and being able to teach doctrine. They should be the kind of person who can give an explanation when asked “why.” You have to be clear in teaching. “What are you saying?”

Since our culture is rife with anti-authority sentiments, an elder or pastor needs to be comfortable teaching with clarity and authority in matters of biblical conviction, whether that means teaching 1 Timothy 2:12 without feeling skittish about complementarianism or Romans 1 without being shy about what the Bible says about homosexuality.

9. Humility.
To humble is to be free from envy and fear of man. Pastors should rejoice in the leadership of others rather than feeling threatened by it. This goes hand in hand with trust and delegating, but I love watching how much Mark delights in sitting under the preaching of other men at CHBC who—in his words—preach better sermons than him. That kind of humility and joy in others’ success can take a lifetime to cultivate but is a crucial component in discipling others.

Not everyone is going to be a Mark Dever when it comes to discipling. That’s not the point. But all of us can follow Mark’s example of giving thought to the people God has providentially placed around us and do what we can to help them follow Jesus.

The feature image of this article was originally published on 9marks.org.

How Small Groups Can Embrace Word and Prayer

By Lucas Hahn / Jun 8

When Jesus spoke, people listened. He didn’t come to put an end to the Old Testament law but instead to “fulfill” it—to bring it to completion and fullness by rooting God’s ways in the hearts of God’s people.

In our community groups, we can encourage one another in a number of spiritual rhythms—Bible study, confession, prayer, and so on. But how might our small groups actually learn together how to meditate on God’s Word?

The Rhythm of Scripture

Our community groups can go beyond increasing knowledge to actually cultivate and practice devotional Scripture reading together. Devotional Scripture reading, or biblical meditation, has often been described as a middle road between reading and prayer: Our minds are engaged in God’s Word, yet our words come directly from our heart and are expressed to our Father in prayer. This is a reading for the purpose of increased fellowship with God together.

Learning to Meditate Together

For centuries biblical meditation has been practiced both individually and communally—and we can restore this practice in our small groups today. The church fathers spoke of “descending with the mind into the heart”—a helpful phrase describing biblical meditation. Meditation engages the mind by focusing it on God’s Word. In the midst of a thousand concerns and thoughts, it directs our minds to stillness on God’s Word in his presence. Like a centripetal force, meditating on Scripture slowly pulls us inward toward the center of communion with God.

The best place to begin Scripture meditation—whether individually or in a group—is with the Book of Psalms. We must remember the Psalms were written for congregational use; they were penned to be read aloud, sung aloud, and prayed aloud with others. As Eugene Peterson once noted, just as a farmer uses tools to cultivate the ground and produce crops, so we can use our prayers to stir up our hearts and become more like Christ. In other words, if our prayers are tools, the Psalms are our toolbox.¹ God has given us 150 rich, impassioned songs and prayers for our devotional life. Unlike any other genre of the Scriptures, the psalms enable us to express ourselves, understand our own hearts, find perspective for our circumstances, give language to our emotions, and pray God’s Word back to him.

In our group prayer, we can pray the psalms to our Father in a powerful way—together, we can descend with our minds into our hearts.

Here are three recommendations for making the most of these prayers.

First Reading: Content and Meaning

Gather your group and introduce the topic of biblical meditation. Before beginning your reading and prayer time, ask the Lord to bless your time of reflection together.

In this first reading, read the psalm aloud. Since it was written to be read (or sung) aloud, there’s likely a natural rhythm and flow to it. The first time through, get a feel for the psalm’s content, and pause for a moment whenever you see the word Selah. After the first reading, take about five minutes to ask basic questions about the psalm’s content and meaning. What was the psalm’s original context? Was the psalmist primarily writing a private prayer or a congregational song? How would you put the message of the psalm into your own words?

Second Reading: Application and Meditation

Remind one another that the goal of devotional reading is increased fellowship with God, not merely understanding the psalm. With a basic understanding of the psalm’s content and meaning, now read the psalm aloud again, this time more slowly and with longer pauses. As one person reads the psalm, the rest of the group can follow along in their Bibles or simply close their eyes and listen. The goal is to personally absorb the psalmist’s prayer as much as possible. When you reach a Selah, pause for a few moments and reflect silently on the previous stanza.

After this second reading, take 20 to 30 minutes to discuss the psalm’s movements in a more personal way. How do you resonate with the psalmist’s cries for help? Where do you see yourself similarly in need of God? What aspects of your life are driving you to seek refuge in the Father?

The Rhythm of Prayer

Descending Into the Heart

After your discussion time, close with prayer together. A great exercise for our prayer lives is to learn to reword and then pray the psalm aloud. Take turns doing this, putting the most significant or applicable part of the psalm into your own words and praying it to our Father. Use the language of the psalm and add your own requests, praise, and prayer for others. (This exercise will be awkward the first time or two, but don’t get discouraged.)

In our groups, we have found new life in this historic pattern. Slow, meditative reading of Scripture, heart-level discussion and application, and deep personal prayer has drawn us closer to God and to one another. Groups can practice this kind of Bible-based prayer with visitors and non-Christians present, so long as it’s explained well. We’ve found that outsiders expect us to be doing spiritual things, and are refreshed by a group of people who long to be more deeply connected to God’s presence.²

Prayer Together

Of course, prayer in community group doesn’t always feel this majestic. In most community groups I’ve been a part of or led, prayer has become just a way of listing others’ needs out loud to God. We try hard to summarize Frank’s work situation, try not to be condescending as we pray for Jim and Amy’s struggling marriage, and make sure we “lift up” Sue’s second cousin’s knee soreness. My goodness, this doesn’t feel significant at all.

So, why is praying together important as a community group?

Think back to Jesus’s life and ministry again. In his famous teaching on prayer in Matthew 6:5-15, it’s important to note that the Lord’s Prayer seems to be instructing us in a prayer that we could offer together: “Our Father… Give us… Forgive us.. Lead us…” Prayer certainly can and should be practiced in private, but it’s instructive that the pattern our Lord gives us in his most famous prayer is a shared prayer.

In the same way, our heavenly Father wants us to come to him together with our needs and problems. Following the pattern of the Lord’s Prayer, we have the opportunity to pray for each other’s needs and so intercede on their behalf. As we pray for others in their presence, they feel God’s love and presence. Similarly, we can pray boldly together for God to advance his kingdom and then live that prayer by faith together.

Think about it: Where did you learn how to pray? Probably from watching another person praying for you or around you. I learned prayer from my father around the dinner table, from my earliest community group leader when we blessed dinner, from my wife when our sons have been sick, from my pastors when we have gathered to plead with God for renewal in our midst.

Praying together is an essential aspect of community life and, along with the other rhythms and practices, it enables a life of growth in Christ.

In the next article, we’ll look at the rhythms of fellowship (connecting with one another) and hospitality (connecting with outsiders).

^{1. See Eugene Peterson, Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer.}
^{2. This section originally appeared as “Three Steps for Meditating on Scripture in Small Groups” at The Gospel Coalition. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/3-steps-for-meditating-on-scripture-in-small-groups}

*This article is Part 3 of an eight-part series on community groups and their importance that will run this summer. Read the full series here.

What are Angels?

By Brett Fredenberg / Jun 7

Christianity is a supernatural religion. That may sound obvious, but Christians in the modern world often seem overly skeptical about things that defy material explanation—things like miracles, the soul, the afterlife, and the topic of this post: angelic beings. Our world has become (as many philosophers and theologians have noted) disenchanted, demystified, and despiritualized. But against this materialist mindset, biblical Christianity is irreducibly and unavoidably and gloriously supernatural.

So just what are angels? Angels are immaterial beings created by God to worship him, to communicate his word, to protect his people, and to otherwise serve his purposes in the world. God, who is immaterial by nature, made some things unlike him (material creatures like birds, planets, and amoebae), some things both unlike him and like him (human beings, composed of body and soul), and some things that are more purely like him (immaterial angels). Angels can appear in physical form but are by nature immaterial and incorporeal (that is, they don’t have bodies). They are invisible creatures with power beyond our imagination. So, from one perspective, angels represent the highest order of creatures that God has made; they round out, so to speak, the manifold wisdom of God.

The Greek work for angel (angelos) simply means “messenger” and may mark out one particular type of spiritual being. But the English word “angel” also serves as a general description for all such beings. Other words used in the Bible for celestial beings include cherubim (e.g., Gen. 3:14; Ex. 25:18), seraphim (Isa. 6:2, 6), spirits (Heb. 1:7), archangels (1 Thess. 4:16; Jude 9), and (perhaps) Paul’s listing of thrones, dominions, rulers, and authorities (Col. 1:16).

The Bible doesn’t give a detailed account of the angels’ creation. Presumably they were made at some point before the creation of the earth in Genesis 1 (see Job 38:7). In any event, we know that they were in fact created by God (see Col. 1:16); they are not eternal beings. The fall of a certain number of the angels is also not explicitly recorded in Scripture but rather assumed (Gen. 3:1; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Isa. 14 and Ezek. 28 may also have the fall of Satan in the background as an analogy for downfall of certain human kings). Fallen angels are referred to as demons or evil spirits. The powerful and personal being called Satan or Beelzebul serves as their prince (Matt. 9:34; Eph. 2:2). They are permitted a certain degree of power to tempt humanity, but they operate under the ultimate authority of God (Job 1) and their doom is certain (Matt. 25:41). The “elect” angels (1 Tim. 5:21) who did not rebel were confirmed in their original righteousness and always live to do God’s will. The risen Lord Jesus Christ serves as the supreme head over all angelic powers (Col. 2:10; cf. Col. 1:16; Eph. 1:21-22; 1 Cor. 15:24).

Angels and demons appear in every phase of the biblical story. In the Old Testament, angelic beings appear to the Patriarchs, to Moses, to the judges and kings, and to the prophets. In the New Testament, angelic (and demonic) activity is especially clustered around the incarnation and ministry of Jesus Christ: at the annunciation, the nativity, the temptations, the miracles, the passion, and the resurrection. In Acts and the Epistles, we read of angels supporting the church and demons waging war against it. In Revelation, we read of the ultimate end of both angels and demons, in everlasting glory or everlasting destruction, respectively.

So, why should Christians be concerned about the angels? What use is the doctrine of angels and demons? There are many, but I list three: our prayers, our worship, and our wonder. First, we are instructed in the Lord’s Prayer to ask, “Deliver us from the evil one” (Matt. 6:13). The Greek word here, ponēros, is masculine, indicating a personal agent. Thus, Jesus teaches us to pray against the schemes of the devil. Further, knowing that the elect angels guard and protect God’s people, it is also fitting to pray to God for their aid and comfort. Christians are engaged in a spiritual battle, and prayer is one of our key defenses (Eph. 6:18). One historic nighttime prayer expresses well this use of the doctrine of angels:

Visit this place, O Lord, and drive far from it all snares of the enemy; let your holy angels dwell with us to preserve us in peace; and let your blessing be upon us always; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Second, our worship of the one true God is informed by an awareness of these spiritual beings. Indeed, the celestial realms join in worship. According to the writer of Hebrews, New Covenant life and worship bring us to the “heavenly Jerusalem,” where we take our place alongside the glorified saints in heaven and “innumerable angels in festal gathering” (Heb. 12:22-23). The city of God, as Saint Augustine would remind us, is not two cities—one angelic and one human—but one united kingdom under the headship of Christ.

Finally, the study of angels leads us to wonder. Philosopher Peter Kreeft suggests that the first reason we should study the angels is because it’s fun! Maybe “fun” isn’t the best word, but an awareness of the angelic realm can elicit in us a sense of wonder and intrigue at the power, wisdom, and goodness of God in making such magnificent creatures. So, in the end, studying this aspect of God’s creation is not just a means to some other end. In one sense, it is an end in itself: wonder at the glory of God, Maker of all things visible and invisible.

For the Kids:

As we learn in the very first verse of the Bible, God made everything (Gen. 1:1). He made some things that you can see, like your fingers and toes and the tree in your yard and your pet cat. But he also made some things that you cannot see, like the soul inside you, the part of you that can never die. Another thing that God made that you cannot see is a wondrous kind of creature called an angel. These invisible and powerful beings exist to worship God and to do his will in the world. They appear quite often throughout the story of the Bible and especially around the time of Jesus’ coming into the world. Sadly, some of these beings rebelled against God and try to lead us away from him. But in the end, they cannot defeat God’s power through his Son, Jesus Christ! The holy angels guard and protect God’s people. Jesus even says that “little ones” like you have angels in the presence of the Father who protect you even though you can’t see them (Matt. 18:10). What a wonderful thought!