ACC - Leadership Online

It always amazes me the wide variety of ways people find their way through the doors of ACC.

Just tonight we had our Next Steps class – a class for new attenders to orient them to life at ACC and learn more about us. As we got started, I asked everyone to share how they ended up at our church. 6 people – 6 different routes:

• Their kids played in Upward basketball last year and they have been attending here ever since!
• Her polling place at nearby Tahoe Village in Wheeling burned down so her polling place became ACC for the last few years. Voting here eventually caused here to come check us out!
• Her grandchildren attended summer day camp here and she drove by here all the time!
• She downloaded sermons off our website and after a lot of listening decided to come listen in person!
• They were here for a MOPS (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers) garage sale and knew a faithful ACCer from their place of work.
• Having just relocated to this area and having two young children they were looking for a church that had a MOPS ministry.

I think it is so interesting how God uses so many different ways to assemble a local body of Christ.

I’m here because they needed a senior pastor back in fall of 2005!

How about you? How did you find your way to ACC???

Peace,
Dave

Today is the 4th Annual Oasis Winter Retreat (Oasis is our high school youth ministry). I'm excited! I love winter and I love retreats! We're heading up to Lake Geneva Youth Camp with a group of about 15 students and adults (Lisa and I are bringing Rach along too). We'll have lots of time to hangout, go snow tubing, tobogganing, play broomball (think ice hockey without skates and with broom-like sticks), and basically have a great time. Retreats can be a ton of fun. The thing I love the most about retreats are that they allow us to get students away from everyday life and help them focus in on their relationship with God. Our goal is to encourage and challenge students to take their faith to the next level this weekend. Our theme this year is Amplify. We want students to Amplify the message of the Gospel in their lives and to Amplify the message to their friends. I would love for you to pray for us this weekend!

Grace,
Chris

What a striking visual image of the big mistake far too many of us are making.

Father, deliver us from the insidious desire to "play it safe". Teach us what it means to step out in faith, be bold, take risks and leave fear behind. Amen.

May that prayer be answered for me personally and for us as a church.

Peace,
Dave

Question #5
As believers, what is our role when it comes to taking care of the planet, creation, in light of God renewing all of creation?

I'm so glad some one asked this question! I'm known as the "green guy" around the church office. I've been known to pull recyclables out of the garbage from time to time. I believe there are clear Biblical reasons to take care of the earth. Here are some of my reasons why.

1 - It's God's creation. Genesis introduces us to God as the creator. Viewing all the earth as God's creation is the starting point. Colossians 1:16 says this "For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him." The earth (and everything in it) is ultimately God's creation. As such, it has value in and of itself, not just as a means to an end. Nature has value because God created it. Humans are placed in a somewhat different category because we are the only part of God's creation that bears his image.

2 - We have a responsibility. Some argue that God has given mankind the right to rule over creation and as such it is our right to use it however we want no matter what the consequences. A quick read of Genesis 1:26-28 shows us that God did indeed entrust mankind with the power to rule over creation. BUT, I would argue that the example of authority that we see from God in scripture is one of service and love, not selfish exploitation (Jesus washing his disciples feet comes to mind).

3 - The principle of stewardship. Understanding the Biblical principle of stewardship is essential here. Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;" God has entrusted us with authority over his creation, but it's still his! The principle of stewardship teaches us that everything belongs to God (the earth, our lives, our finances) and we are just managing it temporarily. Because it's not ours, we need to be careful to manage it properly. In Leviticus 25:23 God says to the Israelites, "'The Land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you are but aliens and my tenants.'"

4 - It's about loving others. Our decisions affect others. When we choose to pollute the environment or not to recycle some one else pays the consequences...often those less fortunate than us. The clearest example that comes to mind is poor farming practices. Run off from farm fields pollute water sources. Not a huge deal for those who can afford water purification, but those who can't will suffer. Our decisions affect others. Philippians 2:4-8 talks about us not looking only to our interests, but also to the interests of others. We have a responsibility to view our decisions through the lens of loving others.

All this being said, we need to understand that creation care is important, but not our primary goal as a church. Ultimately the church of Jesus Christ is about bringing people into a relationship with God. I strongly believe that we can and should take care of the earth, but ultimately it's only temporary...it will perish when God creates a new heaven and a new earth, but souls will live forever.

Here is a link to an article with some simple suggestions on how we can better care for the earth. http://bible.org/article/create-me-green-heart I'd love to hear some of your suggestions in this area. Feel free to leave a comment ;)

Grace,
Chris

Question #4: What’s the importance of church traditions for the believer? How much should we know of where we, as the Church, have come from, our history?

I think church tradition and church history are both very important subjects for Christians to think about and learn from. It has been said that “Those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it”, and I think there is a lot of truth to that statement. When we delve into this subject, we find that there are many points in history where the church did not faithfully represent Christ, such as the history of racism in this country, or any instance of killing in the name of Christ. On the other hand, there is a lot from our history that we can cherish and learn from, such as the Apostle’s Creed, or men of God such as Martin Luther and John Calvin who have changed and shaped the church as we know it.

It is important to remember that we should not be governed by church tradition; instead, we need to be governed by Scripture alone. We use Scripture as our objective standard that we make decisions by and live by, not church tradition or history. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

With that said, it is nice to know that we do have church history to look back on when we face issues in the church today. In other words, we don’t need to start from scratch and “reinvent the wheel”, because most of the issues the church deals with today have been dealt with at one time or another in the history of the church.

Lastly, it is encouraging to look back through the history of the church and see how God has preserved it through the ages, just as He said He would in Matthew 16:18 when Jesus said to Peter, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

~Scott