Archive for February, 2008

am-bas-sa-dor: an authorized messenger or representative

February 28, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized

Hello, all…

Wow! What a day…these are beautiful days in the valley, aren’t they? When we’re out sitting in our yards, walking the dogs, or lighting up our barbecues, let’s always remember our identity: “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us” (2 Cor. 5:20). Simple neighborhood activities can become wonderful forums for sharing with others about the God we’ve come to know and love.

And, we have some opportunities for you to invite your friends and neighbors to some great EVBC Area activities:

First-ever MESA MONTHLY MEN’S BREAKFAST

Saturday morning, March 1st @ 7:00a

Superstition Springs Golf Club

Our goal? 50 men. Our hope? 100 men! A great buffet breakfast for only $5, some time in the Word together, terrific fellowship, and info about some strategic ministry plans for us Area ambassadors in the weeks ahead. We’ll be giving some special prizes for the Home Group Shepherd who has the most men present, along with some other giveaways. We really want this to become a part of the regular rhythm of all the men of our Area (every first Saturday of the month), so get started right by attending the first one!

MESA MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE

Saturday morning, March 8th @ 8:30a

Usary Park

Mesa’s own Matt Long is an accomplished mountain biker – and he’s consented to lead a beginner’s mountain bike ride for those of us who have little or no experience. This is a great chance to get some exercise together, enjoy a beautiful park on a crisp Saturday morning, and bring along a friend who can join in the fun – and meet a few of Christ’s ambassadors in the process!

CONNECT TO MESA: All-Mesa reception for new people

Sunday morning, March 9th @ 8:30a

EVBC, Room 100

Not all of you have figured this out yet: Everyone (yes, everyone!) from Mesa, AJ and Gold Canyon is invited to attend these monthly receptions on the second Sunday morning of every month. This is our chance to “be Mesa” together, on campus, on Sunday! This is also a pivotal opportunity for us ambassadors to “make the large church small” for those new to EVBC. The only way this works is if we get a bunch of people to attend! So, come on out, enjoy a pastry, meet some new friends, and help advance our fellowship!

…and coming soon: THE M25 TRUCK RALLY

Friday night, April 4th, beginning at 5:00p

Starting parking lot TBD

Here’s how it works: We meet together to “tailgate” for dinner…then, we split up and climb into our trucks (other vehicles welcome, too), and head out as ambassadors of good will to visit the homes of Mesa residents who attend EVBC. After our collections, we’ll bring the bags of food back to our central location, see what God has provided through the body, and get it stored for the Sunday collection at EVBC. Our goals are 1) to collect food for M25, EVBC’s initiative to gather food for the needy, 2) meet lots of people, and find out how we can pray for them, and 3) have a great time together! April 4th…Rope off that date!

These activities share this in common – the more the merrier! We really do hope you will choose to attend all of these great events. If you do, we’ll do more effective ministry, and have an even better time together! If for some reason you are unable to come, please pray – our activity will be ineffective if not filled with the empowering Spirit of God!

A closing point of reflection: Our Home Group is in Romans 8. Verses 26-28 read: “The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” We have been called for the purpose of being His ambassadors. We love Him for this, and have confidence that God will support us by seeing that all things work together toward that end. He does, though, call us to pray fervently for this ministry – though we’re not quite sure how. That’s okay, because the Holy Spirit Himself intercedes and prays for exactly what the will of God intends!

We’ve been called…so we must pray, we must go. And the outcome can be nothing but good. If you’ve already getting after it, you know how wonderful this is! If you’ve been sitting on the bench, let’s get into the game, Mr. and Mrs. Ambassador – you have a kingdom to represent!

Your servant in Christ,

Bill

 

 

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Notes on a Bulletin *

February 20, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged

I woke up this morning, and God was still on the throne!…

Over 4,000 people attended EVBC on Sunday. Of those 40% attended in the afternoon and evening…

The largest worship venue at EVBC? Sunday Six, week after week…

The first ever Mesa Area Men’s Breakfast is set for March 1st, 7:00a, at the Superstition Springs Golf Club. Our goal? 50 men. Our hope? 100 men. I can hardly wait!…

The EVBC Missions Expo takes place this Sunday, February 24th. Leadership is praying hard that we will, collectively, have a bigger heart and greater passion for missions in the months ahead…

We now have 18 Home Groups in Mesa, but none yet in Apache Junction or Gold Canyon, which will increasingly be a real need for us…

I’ve spoken to many men who are convicted about their roles as husbands and fathers. It seems God is calling us to pursue excellence in this area…

Beth Hancock will be stepping down as Director of Women’s Ministries after ten years of service. She is a truly gifted leaders, and EVBC will sorely miss her…

We had a great meeting at Connect to Mesa Sunday, talking about evangelism in our city. Hopefully, more will join the discussion…and, when we actually get to the evangelizing, even more will join in…

San Tan Bible Church, the new church plant in East Gilbert being pioneered by men coming out of EVBC, had over 175 in attendance at their service this past Sunday…

Ellen Marrs, the new Administrator for the Mesa Area, is a fabulous God-send to us all…

Every Tuesday, the pastoral staff and Elders of EVBC meet for 2.5 hours to prayerfully consider the direction of the church. I wish all of you could be flies on the wall during one of these meetings…what a group of gifted men!…

Chris Amaro, an EVBCer who leads the West Mesa Young Life program, is doing wonderful work for the Kingdom of God – but lacks leaders and financial support. As a church, we should certainly do more to come by his side…

Mesa’s own Chris Allen, formerly a senior pastor at three different congregations, is offering a course through The Institute on the book of Genesis. Only five people chose to attend. People just don’t know what they’re missing…

In April, Mesa is going to get more involved in M25. If all goes as planned, the Truck Rally on April 4th will be a great service opportunity, and a great fellowship time, rolled into one!

Finally, a verse from the Mesa morning men’s study on Tuesday morning: “Mouth open and panting, I wanted your commands more than anything…I cry rivers of tears because nobody’s living by your book!” (Ps. 119: 131, 136). The Psalmist clearly has an emotionally charged relationship with his God and His word. Are we hungry for His truth? Are our hearts broken over disobedience?

Lord, let your name be praised…in our hearts, in our song, in our lives, and in our world. Amidst all of this activity, continue your work of sanctifying your church from the inside out.

God’s best to you all,

Bill

* I have always been a big sports fan…and, growing up in California, I used to be a regular reader of the L.A. Times, and particularly one my favorite sports writers, Alan Malamud. He had a column that ran four days a week in the Times called “Notes on a Scorecard”…a collection of insights we were to imagine he scribbled on his scorecard while he was watching a game. I always enjoyed it as sort of a “fly-over” of what was going on in the world of sports. In tribute to Mr. Malamud, I will begin today offering a regular feature on this blog which will be titled “Notes on a Bulletin” – some short observations about life in at East Valley Bible Church and the Mesa Area.

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What I love about my job…

February 11, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged

Good morning, everyone…I hope you had a wonderful Sunday yesterday.

I awoke this morning, eager to get to my coffee, and my blog time. Now, I’m not one of those who think that cyber-communication is in any way a fitting substitute for the real thing, face to face…but it still feels like, in a way, I’m sitting down with all of you to touch base before we scatter down the trails of our various weekly agendas.

The more I get to know you all, and the more our hearts are knit together (Col. 2:2) as a church family, the more I am fascinated with the lives you live Monday through Saturday. Too often we think of “the church” as the people gathered on a Sunday, or at a Home Group or Community Gathering. But the real force and power of the church is all of you extended throughout the community, with multiple moments each day interacting with people who need to know more of Christ. As Tom preached yesterday, you are on display for Him every moment (especially when you are experiencing suffering).

As for my days, I admit to enjoying the pleasure of spending much time reading the scriptures.  Whether it’s a study of Romans in our Home Group, the historical background of the New Testament Survey course through The Institute, taking in the preaching through Philippians in Sunday worship, or my personal reading (books by Os Guinness, Robert Webber, Eugene Peterson and Thomas Merton are currently on my nightstand), there is a richness to living in a context with so much spiritual input.

A favorite from this week? Difficult to choose…but I’ll share this devotional thought from Eugene Peterson on one of the beatitudes shared by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7).  The text says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (5:8). Peterson’s comment: “Dilettantes shop for God as they would for a new pair of shoes. Their purposes vacillate and they live distracted. But simple intention is the way to comprehension and fellowship. [As Soren Kierkegaard says,] ‘Purity of heart is to will one thing.’ What distracts you from God?”

“Purity of heart is to will one thing.” That’s hard to hear, because we will a lot of things. Our laundry lists of hopes and dreams are often quite long — though we  regularly present them before God with the tag line,”but whatever you will, Lord, is fine.”  Is that just theological propriety, or do we really mean it? Do we really crave nothing but the will of God? If we do, the words of Philippians 1, shared by Pastor Tom yesterday, should be ringing in our ears: “It has been granted to you…to suffer for him.” Is my heart pure enough to long for whatever will bring glory to God through my life — including hardship?

Peterson’s follow-up devotional prayer reads: “I have a difficult time, God, silencing the competing voices, shutting out the seductive images. I want you, but I want a lot of other things, too. ‘Unit my heart to fear thy name’ (Psalm 86:11). Amen.”

May you, and the entire body of EVBC, in Mesa, AJ and beyond, be united in our collective will to magnify the Lord this week!

God’s best to you all, Bill

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Spiritual Seasons

February 6, 2008 · Filed under Uncategorized · Tagged

(Thanks for coming to the EVBC Mesa blog … I hope you will make it a habit, and even offer some interactive thoughts along the way.)

As I type this, it’s early in the morning on Wednesday, February 6th. For most at EVBC, and for most in the Evangelical, Bible Church tradition, this is not an unusually significant or important day. But, if you have Catholic or main-line protestant roots — or, if you’re a resident of the city of New Orleans! — this is a day you know very well.

Ash Wednesday. What is it?

In New Orleans, Ash Wednesday is the day after “Fat Tuesday”, or “Mardi Gras” in French. Today, street-cleaning crews and coffee vendors throughout the city are scurrying to bring relief to the city-wide hangover from the wild, bead-tossing, hedonistic revelry of last night’s party. Mardi Gras is surely gets more headlines in New Orleans than Ash Wednesday…but, as many of you know, Ash Wednesday came first.

You see, the traditional church calendar marks Ash Wednesday as the first day of a season called Lent. The Lenten season is an annual observance of the temptations of Jesus in Wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11). From Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday (March 23), there are 46 days – minus Sundays, that leaves 40 days. The original hope is that Christians will, together, enter into a 40-day season of fasting and spiritual focus just like Jesus did for those 40 days in the desert (that’s right…you don’t fast on Sundays!).

Many people who are beginning this discipline today, and are set to commit themselves to some level of fasting (hence the prase “giving it up for Lent”). Realizing that Tuesday is the last chance to indulge before the fast, many binged last night while it was still okay to do so (hence, “Fat Tuesday” and all of its licentious behavior). Now, on Wednesday, they are [hopefully] committing themselves to not only the fast, but also to giving increased attention to their devotional lives with God (Unfortunately, the fatness of Tuesday is not matched with the gravity and focus of Wednesday…or else New Orleans would be the most spiritual city in the world!).

Many non-Catholic, non-liturgical people (which makes up the bulk of the EVBC population) find these kinds of exercises awkward, and even distasteful. Why should I fast? And why for these particular 40 days – because the church tells me to?

I confess: I’m an Evangelical Lent-observer. I have found over the years that the Lenten discipline, complete with hundreds of years of devotional writings as its accompaniment, has been great for my soul. There is nothing inherently sacred about the church calendar – fasting and focus can take place any time. But, when the church does it together, there is the added encouragement and insight that community brings to any pursuit. (Interesting…for the past several years, many churches have adopted the “40 Days of Purpose” program, produced by Rick Warren and Saddleback Church, by which the entire church reads, prays and gets instructed together – in many ways, a modern version of Lent for the contemporary church!).

I’m not asking any of you to “do Lent” with me. But I do want to encourage you to take this season between now and Easter to give focused attention to your spiritual life. Great things are happening at EVBC, and in the Mesa area in particular. We have some great activities on the calendar that will offer opportunities for us to, together, experience enriched worship, prayer, instruction, fellowship, service and outreach. I’m more convinced than ever that, through Area Ministry, we can have a strong, lasting impact on our city. So draw near to the Lord, see Him draw near to you…keep your brothers and sisters in prayer, and be quick to serve!

…and have a blessed Ash Wednesday,

God’s best to you all, Bill

Bill Hartley
Mesa Area Pastor
billhartley@evbc.org

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