Throughout the year, GCN provides various articles, stories, and information that are intended to supplement our worship and Bible study times together. Information may be downloaded and copied for personal use, classroom use, and bible studies. However, information provided on this page may not be distributed for any fee or service or loaded on other websites without prior permission.
Give yourself a Check Up (pdf file).
Every facet of who we are affects the others. The link above provides a brief battery of questions that may help you to grow and increase your physical, emotional, relational and spiritual health. Answers the questions, see how you're doing, then pick at least one thing you can do in each category to work on with God's help--and perhaps the encouragement of others.
Why We Go To Church by Pastor Brian Schafer, October 17, 2011.
God was very specific when He set up His church. He chose His church to be His means for spreading the Good News of Christ to the world. The church is the One (and the only One) that announces to the world that the Kingdom of God is here (and then shows them what it looks like).
Now, the church is global/international/one catholic church. That is in her very nature. We are intrinsically bonded to our brothers and sisters (i.e., the church) in Kenya, Honduras, the Philippines, China, the UK, and every single other corner of this world. BUT, the church is also local. It has to be. It is physically impossible to gather with our brothers and sisters from around the globe all together at one time (and obviously we can’t do it each week). The church is local because only then can the global church be strong. Being a follower of Christ is synonymous with being an intimate part of a local church – particularly being an intimate part of one local church (can you be “intimate” with more than one anything?). This is, perhaps, most basically seen in the Early Church.* And being "intimately" a part of a local church requires being a part of the entire local church. This does not mean that one is to serve on each board or committee, or help lead each ministry (that would be suicidal J). Being a part of the entire local church means weekly being reminded of just what “God’s means for spreading the Good News of Christ to the world” looks like (see the first paragraph above…I’m talking about the church).
I know, it's circular logic. But here it is (up to this point): (1) God specifically set up the church as His only means for spreading the Good News to the world. (2) Being a follower of Christ is synonymous with being a part of this "Good News Spreader" (the church). You cannot be one without the other. (3) The church is both global and local. The local church exists because only then can the church global fully spread the good news ("divide and conquer"...only without the war-like imagery J) (4) A follower of Christ can only be an intimate part of the global Good News Spreader (i.e., global church) through being an intimate part of the local Good News Spreader (i.e., a specific local church). (5) #4 is important (and true) because when a follower of Christ is an intimate part of the entire local church -- entire; meaning: he/she is not just attending a Women's Sunday School class, or is not solely a part of youth group, or is not only involved in the Honduras Trip Planning (at the expense of everything else) – then he/she gets a glimpse of what Christ looks like in this world. Every age-group, every political stance, every race (or at least quite a few races) – the entire local church.
There is something special about what happens between 9:00-12:00 within the very room of that sanctuary on Sunday morning that cannot happen anywhere within the life of GCN, or within the life of each individual GCN-er. We spend so much time saying that the church is what takes place "outside of these walls" – and rightly so! We are ALWAYS called to go out. But, we have to come in before we can go out…and that’s not just a funny little saying.
Youth Group is not church. Women's SS class is not church. Children's Ministry is not church. Honduras Mission Trip is not church. Only ALL TOGETHER can we be called the church. You see, the church looks most like the church is supposed to look when it's full of people of every age, Republicans/Democrats/and disillusioned with politics, liberals and conservatives, those who think we just need to pray more, and those who think we just need to go on more mission trips.
And guess where that happens - every Sunday morning between 9:00-12:00 within the walls of the sanctuary. THIS is where you come to be reminded of what the church is supposed to look like. Now, don’t take that last sentence the wrong way. I'm not saying that GCN is the model church, or that we have no issues, or that we are an exact representation of what Jesus had in mind when He set this whole thing up 2,000 years ago. But what I am saying is that, if GCN is the place that you call "your church", then you can only get a full glimpse of who God’s church is by seeing it assembled together. All of it. Not just the 12-18 year-olds. Not just the women over 40. Not just those who are specifically interested in taking a mission trip to a specific part of the world. Not just Conservatives. Not just Liberals. But all of us. And that only happens between 9:00 – 12:00 on Sunday mornings.
Hebrews 10:25 says (with an emphasis from me), "And let us not neglect our meeting together – all of us – as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near." There is something very special and very significant about what takes place on Sunday mornings during the worship service within the walls of the sanctuary of 8921 Warfield Road, Gaithersburg, MD. Let us not neglect meeting together; it is the only way to be the "Good News Spreaders" we were called to be!
*The Letter to the Hebrews is a prime example. The writer is appealing to a group of people who, among other things, have neglected gathering together as one, local church body. (Hebrews 10:25)
We continued our discussion of the hope we have through Jesus. Read the sermon outline from August 14, 2011.
I hope you woke up in the hope you have in Jesus this morning! That was the theme of our service yesterday (August 7, 2011)--the music, the message was all about the real, living hope we have in Christ by faith! A strong faith results in a bright hope. Hebrews 2:1--"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." There are times we feel hopeless. There are times when the circumstances couldn't look any worse. But the reality is that God can save and is behind the scenes "working for the good of those who love Him" (Romans 8:28). For your encouragement, go back to Ezekiel 37:1-14 and check out the attached handout from Sunday. There is hope!
Download this trifold brochure on what Jesus' life and ministry may tell us about our own life together in the church. The Twofold Call of Christ - to Gather and to Go, to Community to the Great Commission. A summary of messages preached on successive Sundays January 30 and February 6, 2011.
On January 3, 2011 we began the new year with worship together. As part of the sermon, we provide A Tool for Growth (Part 1). Read this two-page flyer (pdf file) and give yourself a physical, emotional, relational, and spiritual check-up. In continuing our worship on January 23, we provided A Tool for Growth (Part 2), a two-page trifold flyer (pdf file) focused on "Praying."