CDM Archive

Discipleship Ministries of the PCA

Teachers/Disciplers

A Member of the Family

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Baptism divides Christian people.

On the one side are those who are convinced it is reserved for those who believe in Jesus. A minority within that group says it is necessary for salvation and an even smaller number says it’s only effective when done by their church.

There are also those who see continuity in the Old Testament signs of faith. Passover gives way to the Lord’s Supper. Circumcision is replaced by baptism.

The familial nature of faith is part of the essence of the redemptive story. But it was blurred when the revivalists of the 18th and 19th centuries, capturing the spirit of American individualism, emphasized the individual’s relationship with God to the virtual exclusion of the family. We live with that legacy today.

In a discussion of marriage, the apostle Paul said, “the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife” and vice versa. That is strong language. The least we might conclude is that a believing spouse provides some sort of covering for the unbelieving spouse. Perhaps implicit in this is that the unbelieving partner might be more open to faith in Jesus.

Even more compelling is Paul’s virtually throwaway line “otherwise your children would be unclean but as it is, they are holy.” (1 Cor. 7:14)

When a baby is baptized in the Presbyterian Church in America, the child becomes a member of the church. That recognizes the covenantal umbrella. The child belongs by virtue of the faith of the parent(s).

Sometimes it has meant that we assume too much. The gospel is not clearly and compellingly presented as the child grows. I believe that happened to me. But we might also assume too little, urging the child to pray the “sinner’s prayer” at the earliest possible opportunity. There is no magic in such a prayer. It might or might not signal belief. And a commitment to Jesus can be made without ever uttering the words to such a prayer.

We can’t take this challenge lightly. Money spent to help build up families and disciple children and young people will bear significant dividends. Examine your church budget. Where does the money go? Look at your statistics. What’s happening to your young people? Are your households maturing in the faith?

There are occasions when an unbelieving parent has had to stand or sit silently by while the believing spouse takes the vows of their child’s baptism. That’s appropriate but it ought to stir a restlessness to see the family united in faith.

There are many stories of congregations that have gotten used to the involvement of one spouse such that the other is virtually forgotten because he/she seldom if ever attends.

Many years ago a woman came by herself to our church in Connecticut. On one occasion I heard her say that she wished some man in the church would reach out to her husband. I decided to try and God blessed. After months of getting together to talk about anything and everything, always coming back to the gospel, he decided he was ready to follow Jesus. I wish I could say I’ve done that regularly. I wish that were a common practice in our churches.

Some of the most effective evangelism I know involves a believer inviting an unbelieving brother or mother or grandchild or adult child to services where the gospel is able to take root. The process might be more complicated in blended families but that’s where we are. So believing stepparents are presented with a great opportunity and challenge.

A synergism becomes possible when the church as the extended family builds up its households. And those households in turn build up the churches, which then impacts the community, enfolding others in the family of God.

Story, Doctrine, Life

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By Tom Patete. A toddler learns the language of faith as she memorizes the timeless truths about God in First Catechism. A first-time Sunday school teacher tells of his growth in the doctrines of grace through teaching the primary class. A sixth grader professes faith in Christ after lessons about Stephen in Acts 7. Parents report that their young teen began personal devotions as a result of being consistently taught God’s word in Sunday school. A recently divorced mother is comforted by her daughter’s reminder that God is sovereign.

These testimonies provide a small glimpse into the impact diligent Christian education can have. Not just any Christian education carries such weight, but only that which is doctrinally driven. Above all, it must be rooted in our Reformed heritage, biblically straightforward, and warmly personal. The fruit tells the story.

In his Great Commission, Christ defines and orders the church’s work. He calls us to be disciple makers ? to perpetually pass on the faith once delivered and to be instruments in God’s hands to see others and ourselves grow in grace. Everything we do in terms of internal nurture and external proclamation radiates from that central purpose.

The broad category we call Christian education is sometimes shuffled to the back burnerat least in our thinking and planning. Dr. Allen Curry, an OPC minister, professor at Reformed Theological Seminary, and one of CEP’s regional teacher trainers, states, “All too many people look at Christian education from the maintenance point of view.” (Equip for Ministry, March/April 2004.) By contrast, the solution is for us to be intensely intentional about nurturing God’s people and carry out that crucial function with every bit of fervor we can muster – that is, if we expect to be faithful to God’s calling and indeed be disciple makers.

R. B. Kuiper challenges us with this perspective: “The church must maintain a proper balance between its task to the inside and its task to the outside. But this does not mean that it should do a little of each. It means that it must do much of both.” (The Glorious Body of Christ, chapter 25)

From its beginning, the PCA has demonstrated a commitment to the priority of Christian education. Even before the first general assembly, plans were being discussed to encourage and facilitate leadership development, Christian day schools and catechetical training. Also, talks with the Orthodox Presbyterian Church had begun toward a partnership to adopt their Sunday school curriculum and other publications (see inset). Here is an excerpt from one of the CEP Committee’s earliest reports:

The church teaches because God has commanded her to do so … [and] he has decreed that the objective, propositional truth of his revelation is the primary means by which men are to be identified and sanctified.

GCP’s primary contribution always has been graded Sunday school curriculumcalled Show Me Jesusfor age two through high school. Building on the original curriculum inherited from the OPC, additional courses and components have been added plus multiple revisions over these 29 years to keep the materials fresh and up to date. Starting with fall quarter 2005, the elementary departments will be restructured into two-year groupings, grades one and two together, etc. Next, the youth-level courses will be redesigned for application in a variety of settings.

Sunday school stands as a central means by which churches nurture the flock, but what is the future of this venerable staple of the American church? Changing needs and patterns have put it under the microscope by church leaders todaywith many wondering if it should be recast or perhaps even replaced. If this is a “wasted hour,” as some have judged, it is a product, at least in part, of neglect and loss of focus. Future alternatives and new paradigms notwithstanding, we must set our sights on the purpose to which God has called us: go and make disciples. Sunday school or any other form Christian education takes has to be done with biblical clarity and life-changing consequence, or indeed it is a waste of time!

Psalm 78, sometimes called the Christian education Psalm, speaks of generational succession of the faith. In seeking to be obedient to every aspect of the Bible’s instructions for Kingdom building, we dare not overlook our responsibility to covenant children. In fact, this is where we begin. Susan Hunt reminds us that the strategy for church growth commences with the “Jerusalem” of our own homes, parents and children (chapter 5 of her Heirs of the Covenant explicates this further).

GCP’s resources are uniquely suited for our churches, both in form and content. First, Scripture is approached as a complete whole that embodies the unfolding story of salvation through Jesus Christ. Every passage ultimately points to and helps unwrap the entirety of God’s revelation to us, and the materials are covenantally focused. That translates into teaching that is moving toward the goal of bodybuilding- the body of Christ, that is. As students are confronted with their individual relationship to God via his faithful covenant promises and the ensuing spiritual connection to others, the covenant family becomes a dynamic reality to them and helps identify them with the corporate church.

Why do we in the PCA and OPC need our own curriculum when other options abound? The answer is rooted in our theology and our experience. Both denominations were formed around the issue of doctrinal integrity, and we pay close attention to staying in sync with our convictionsespecially as it affects our teaching ministry. Content is crucial to churches fulfilling this mandate with faithfulness and excellence.

GCP, unlike most curriculums on the market, is solidly Reformed in its theology. It does not present the Bible as a collection of unrelated stories that teach moral lessons. Instead, GCP recognizes that the message of Scripture, from Genesis through Revelation, is about redemption in Jesus Christ. It is a unified message. GCP helps our kids see the big picture and not just the individual stories.

The vision of GCP’s founders was to reach beyond our denominations’ boundaries with sound CE resources, and the outreach opportunities have increased significantly in recent years. Almost 40% of sales are now among other churches such as the ARP, RPCNA, Reformed Baptists, EPC, CRC and the conservative movement within the PCUSA. The impact of that expansion has been additional growth in our ability to develop new avenues of service within the OPC and PCA.

Dr. Kuiper makes the case that the church is to “give foremost attention to its covenant children” as we carry out the glorious task of teaching God’s Word. He further challenges us, “How necessary that the church teach its youth Christianity as a story, as a doctrine and as a life! Few if any tasks will bear such rich fruit … [and] insure the future of the church.” (The Glorious Body of Christ, chapter 34). His simple three-fold design: story, doctrine, and lifesupplies the grid for teaching that will be obedient and eternally worthwhile.

At GCP we design our work around the following objective: To be a catalyst for discipling God’s people at all ages … so they will be knowledgeable of Scripture in its entirety, committed to the tenets of Reformed doctrine as taught in the Westminster Standards, faithful in embracing a biblical worldview and equipped to live, worship and serve in the Kingdom with a God-centered focus. This articulates the Great Commissionspecifically the aspect we call Christian educationand the mission to which Christ summons us. Stay the course!

Teammates, Not Competitors

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By Dean Conkle. Consider these great teammates, past and present, in sports:

In football past- Jim Marshall and Carl Ellers, part of the famous Minnesota Vikings defense.

In football present- Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison connecting with touchdown after touchdown.

In baseball past- Dominic DiMaggio, Johnny Pesky, Bobby Doerr and Ted Williams as referred to in the book Teammates Once, Friends Forever.

In baseball and basketball present- time will tell whether Alex Rodriguez and Derrick Jeter end up as great teammates for the Yankees.

Strong companies and products can be teammates:

Did you know that A&W, Black Fire, Barq’s, Crush, Dr. Pepper, Evian and Fanta are teammates under the Coca-Cola banner?

How about the fact that Mountain Dew, Code Red, Mug, Sierra Mist, Frappacino and Pepsi One are all on the same team under Pepsi-Cola?

Would it surprise you that Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, KFC and Long John Silvers all call themselves teammates under the corporate name Yum Brands?

Teammates can be seen in many other areas of life. Teammates can and should be seen even in the church of Jesus Christ, among various ministries of His church. The purpose of this article is to help every reader see children’s ministries, youth ministries and other ministries as teammates with each other, not competitors. There’s an alternative to having hurt feelings about which ministry has the biggest budget or fighting over who can use the fellowship hall on Wednesday nights. There’s no contest over which ministry is held in higher regard with the Session; there is no need for competition between ministries over volunteers. The desire is to see how these ministries can work together not against each other, for the glory of God and the good of everyone involved.

We will prayerfully seek to answer the question, “What can children’s ministries, youth ministries and other ministries within the church do as teammates in God’s kingdom?” I believe that we have at least four answers to that question.

1. Have Complementary Purposes for the Various Ministries

I love to listen to a symphony orchestra playing a piece that emphasizes diversity yet harmony of that particular movement. The popular “Canon in D Major for Strings” by Pachelbel wonderfully illustrates this. Different instruments play different roles through different parts. Combined, it is beautiful and harmonious music. Each instrument contributes to the overall excellence of the piece. Each instrument is complementary to the other instruments. Together, they are breathtaking.

This is an incredible illustration because this is how it should be in the Lord’s church. Church ministries should be complementary to each other not in conflict with each other. Having clear purposes for our ministries is biblical. Christ had a purpose for coming down to His people (See Matt 20:28, John 10:10 and John 12:46). Paul had purpose in his life (See Phil 1:21, 2 Cor 5:9 and 1 Cor. 10:31). Paul’s words clearly imply that we should also have purpose as well. The church should also have an overall biblical purpose. Each of its ministries should have its particular purpose that falls under the umbrella of the church’s overall mission.

Three questions on discerning purpose:

Does your church have a biblically based purpose for the overall good of the church?

Do the children’s ministries, youth ministries and other ministries of the church have purposes that harmonize with each other and with the church overall?

Does the children’s ministry purpose flow beautifully and powerfully into the purpose of the middle school ministry, which in turn flows wonderfully and effectively into the high school ministry, which continues the strong flow of purposeful growth into the college/career group ministry, whose goal is also in line with the overall church’s mission? An important question to simply ask is how complementary are your church’s ministries?

2. Allow the Older Students and Adults To Be a Blessing to the Children

Is there a law that says you have to pay to breathe the air that is around you? Is there a rule against going outside on a beautiful day after being in a house for five days due to snow or rain? How about a law that every American must stay awake for twenty-four continuous hours once a week? The answer to all these ridiculous questions is no.

Is there a place in Scripture that states you can’t be a blessing to someone because you are older than they are? Absolutely not! Just how exactly can middle school and high school students, along with the adults of the church, be a blessing to the children within that flock? I can think of two general ways.

Youth can joyfully use their God-given spiritual gifts on behalf of the children. 1 Peter 4:10-11 states boldly that:

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.”

Do we see any age restrictions in this passage, especially of older and more mature saints blessing children through using their God-given spiritual gifts?

Youth can also joyfully and prayerfully live out some of the “one another” passages of Scripture with them. In the Lord’s sweet strength we can, “greet one another” (Romans 16:16), “live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:16), “encourage one another” (1 Thess. 5:11), “pray for one another” (Eph 6:18), “love one another” (John 13:34-45) as well as live out many of the other “one another” commands peppered throughout the Bible.

A couple of questions to consider:

Are middle school and high school Christians able to begin to prayerfully discover, develop, and use their God-given spiritual gifts on behalf of others? Based on Scripture as well as personal observations of over twenty-one years in youth ministry, I think they are indeed able to do this.

Are students and adults aware of the wonderful by-product of serving others that Christ mentions in Acts 20:35, “It is more blessed to given than to receive.”?

I think it is true to say, that when we are a blessing to others, even to little children, we are indeed blessed ourselves.

3. Allow the Children to be a Blessing to the Older Students and Adults

Children really do say the darnest things:

Defining H20 and C02, a child said, “H20 is hot water and C02 is cold water.”

“The general direction of the Alps is straight up.”

“The people who followed the Lord were call the twelve opossums.”

“The four seasons are salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar”

And, “The word trousers is an uncommon noun because it is singular at the top and plural at the bottom!”

Children often say humorous things. They can do humorous things as well, even within the Kingdom of God. They can do good things, helpful things, things that can be a blessing to other people, even middle school and high school students.

While children might not yet know what their spiritual gifts are, they can be encouraged to prayerfully learn and live out the “one another passages” in the Bible. They can live out these commands towards their parents, their brothers and sisters, their classmates at church and school, to students in their church and neighborhood, and even towards adults who are part of the body of Christ.

The “one another passages,” apply to the children here. The only limit I see is in the “formal” teaching of one another. We can learn a lot from children around us. They can teach us or remind us of some wonderful truths. But Scripture is clear that God calls specific people to teach and give oversight to the flock (1 Tim 3:1-2 and Titus 2:1-5).

Here is an idea or two of how to help children be a blessing to the rest of the church, even middle school and high school students. Perhaps do a “One Another” study on Sunday night and encourage the children to prayerfully put into practice the “one another attribute” that they learned that week. When the study is done, have the children continue a class-wide emphasis on living out a “one another action of the week.”

4. Provide Frequent Whole Family and/or Church Wide Gatherings

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, many teammates have worked well together down through the decades, and it is the prayer of our hearts here at CE&P that children’s ministries, youth ministries and other ministries within the local church across the denomination would find themselves being excellent teammates with each other as well.

Various ministries of the church are different from each other but that doesn’t mean they can’t work well together for a common cause or event.

In at least five different letters, the Lord led Paul to use the phrase” fellow-worker” or “co-worker” concerning people that were helping him in the kingdom. In Philemon, Paul uses the phrase with Mark, Aristech’s, Dumas and Luke; while in 1 Thess. 3, Phil. 2, 2 Cor. 8 and Romans 16 Paul uses this term regarding Timothy, Epaphroditus, Titus, and Urbanus respectively. I believe it is biblical to view various ministries and those involved as co-workers or fellow-workers.

What can each of these church ministries intentionally doto demonstrate their connectedness? And how can doing this really be a blessing to all the families as well as to the church as a whole?

Some applications to consider:

Have different ministries work together to host a church-wide picnic.

Have various ministries work together to sponsor a family or church-wide skating night (with games everyone can play in the evening).

Have a Valentine’s Day party or dinner.

Have several ministries host a Reformation Party.

Have different ministries come together to sponsor one night of the church missions conference, utilizing those involved in each of the sponsoring ministries.

Have a few ministries collaborate on a church-wide BBQ/Pool Party or a church-wide “Lake Day.”

Have different ministries within the church team up to provide leadership for a church-wide service project (either on the church grounds or away from it).

It is our prayer that various ministries within the local church would work well together and bring out the best in each other. Great teammates are not limited to ball fields and corporate businesses. Great teammates can be seen also in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The goal is that our various ministries would work together as an intentionally orchestrated whole in a way that Jesus would be glorified. Viewing each other as teammates within the same overall mission will be a blessing to the whole of the church.

May God’s Kingdom be filled with ministries within the church where the participants view themselves as teammates not competitors with one another.

Discouragement

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“Most people are walking around with a low-grade depression,” said my mentor, Richard W. Gray. That’s like walking around with a low-grade fever. I tend to run in cycles – up and down. Thankfully, as the years have gone by the lows are not as low and the highs not as high.

Palm Sunday I looked around in church. Attendance was down. The time had changed. An hour was lost. Spring break had begun. Yet I was expecting a whole lot more. We had been encouraging the congregation to try to bring someone on Palm Sunday and/or Easter. It appeared that we had accomplished little or nothing and I got discouraged.

Like a disease, disappointment can quickly make us negative about a lot of things. That began to happen to me. I started asking questions about the commitment of others, and my own commitment. What difference does the gospel make?

But it didn’t end there. I went from worship to a Sunday school class I’ve been teaching. We’ve had some great sessions. But on that morning attendance was down, and I found myself struggling through the material. It felt like the whole group was laboring to get with the program.

Note this: I didn’t say to the class, “I’m kind of down today.” In fact, I tried to mask it. But that’s virtually impossible.

Some years ago I had extensive conversation with a pastor who was deeply discouraged, seriously considering abandoning the ministry. One of the things he said was, “I’m careful not to let anyone in the congregation know how I feel.” My response: “You’re fooling yourself.”

That has played out in my own experience. I was still down when I led a Bible study group on Tuesday evening. We struggled through that session. However, I doubt that anyone would have put his or her finger on what I believe to have been the big problem.

It may sound like I’m suggesting that we ought to wear our feelings like a shirt, on display for anyone to see. But that isn’t always helpful. So where does that leave us?

1) It will help immensely if we are self conscious about what is going on in us. That is often difficult because we tend to be masters of denial and deception. I’ve heard people, red in the face, angrily contend that they were not angry. John Calvin understood that to know ourselves we must know God. To face what we know about ourselves in the presence of the Father will help us to see more what we are like, causing us to seek his mercy in fresh ways.

2) There will be occasions when it is appropriate to talk about our struggles, and times when it is not. But we must always be real. To cover ourselves with superficial expressions of piety or in other ways pretend that we are something that we are not is never appropriate. I have a vivid recollection of the minister who in one forum gave a distressing report about his personal situation, and in a matter of a few minutes, responded to another group’s greeting with a hearty “rejoicing in the mercy of the Lord.” He didn’t have to lay out his troubles with these people. I doubt it would have been appropriate. But one thing seemed clear. He was not rejoicing in the mercies of the Lord at that point in his experience. Most of the time we Christians don’t give others enough of a sense of what churns inside us. Perhaps that’s why opening ourselves to others may at times cause us to feel like we are jumping into an abyss of the unknown. We don’t want to face God or ourselves.

3) We must commit ourselves and our responsibilities to the Lord. There are times when the Spirit has taken me beyond my circumstances and abilities to use me in a particular setting. It can happen with you. Maybe it has. These are small indications of God’s grace and power.

4) Healing is often preceded by an open admission of our wound. That may be the heart of our reluctance to let ourselves be known to others or to God. To allow God, often more than others, to pick at the scabs of hurt and rebellion is too much to contemplate. Underneath it all we don’t really want to change. We may not like where or what we are, but we’ve been that way long enough that we are comfortable.

We urge change in those we teach. But do we really want to change? Do we really want to know God?

Sunday School and Small Groups

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What’s the difference between an adult Sunday school class and a small group? Why is it important for a church to offer both? Such questions would not have been raised a couple of generations ago. Every opportunity to continue the disciple-making process would be welcome – at least in theory. But I hear these questions a lot today.

Also, most congregations would not have been as intentional as many are today. Purpose statements accompanied by strategies to accomplish specific goals were relatively rare in the Christian community twenty-five years ago.

Both Sunday school and small groups are programs. Consequently, they should be viewed as means to an end – nothing more. If they serve a given purpose, presumably one better than a possible alternative, they are worthwhile. If not, do something else. Time and resources are too important. The task is too big. And the resources, by comparison, often seem meager. My observation suggests that it is difficult for a congregation to put an equal emphasis on both small groups and Sunday school. Invariably one will do better than the other. Let’s look at some specifics.

For the vast majority of churches, the biggest group of people gathers on Sunday morning. That alone makes Sunday morning an ideal discipling opportunity. The traditions surrounding Sunday school can be a significant inhibitor to using the time effectively. But instead of just letting things ride let’s do something about it.

Over the years I’ve had conversations with those who either had or were contemplating abandoning Sunday school in favor of small groups. My first question has been: What will you do to disciple your children? As often as not, that question was overlooked.

In some places a structure has evolved in which children attend Sunday school while the parents are in the worship service. I find that troublesome. Increasingly, we have situations where middle school and even high school students do not attend worship with any regularity. If we expect young people to continue in the church they must be integrated into the full-orbed life of the congregation.

It is possible to have a small group format on Sunday morning that could deal with two problems at once –

1. Childcare is almost always an issue with small groups. To hold them on Sunday morning in conjunction with a children’s Sunday school solves that problem.

2. Both children and adults would have opportunities for study and worship in a two-hour-plus block on Sunday.

But what is the difference between an adult Sunday school class and a small group?

In some churches the small group is primarily for fellowship — an opportunity for people to gather and tell their stories. Other elements such as Bible study are secondary. In such a setting, the difference might be striking because traditionally Sunday school has been a place to study the Bible. Yet it’s also true that the social fabric of some churches is knitted in adult Sunday school classes. In my experience, however, the level of sharing in the small group is almost always more personal – more intense.

That gives us the biggest indication of the difference between Sunday school and the small group. Some in the larger Sunday school class, which is quasi-academic in its setting, would never feel comfortable in a small group.

In small groups that I work with, Bible study is a significant component. So is prayer. It’s also important to have a task – to work together to make a contribution to others. The elements are similar in many Sunday school classes but the setting and the atmosphere make them distinct.

In the Sunday school class, ethics can be approached from a philosophical perspective. In the small group its more personal. Issues such as child rearing and marriage can be discussed more generally and systematically in the Sunday school. In the small group issues confronting members become the backdrop for discussion.

Bible study in the Sunday school can be a bit more academic without forsaking application and in the small group there can be application without neglecting the text. Thus at times the differences may seem subtle, at other points distinct.

In a world that is so ignorant of the Bible and a Christian community so lacking in its understanding of basic tenants of the faith, there is plenty validation for helping people understand the Scripture, the culture and the ways the Christian message applies personally and collectively.

The Truth About Islam

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Since the evil attack on our nation on September 11, 2001, we have noticed a great confusion in the Church of Christ and in the country concerning the true nature ofIslam. We believe that it is our responsibilityto accurately, fairly, and honestly inform you concerning the truth about Islam. The best way to do so is to ask two importantquestions: what is NOT Islam, and what IS Islam.

From a historical point of view, two ofthe most influential Reformers had much to say about Islam. Martin Luther (1483-1546) said that Islam is God’s judgment upon Roman corruption; a rod of correc