Letter 4/22

April 22, 2010
Pastor Steve Mathewson
  

Parenting is not for cowards! It is a great adventure full of fun and exhaustion, laughter and tears, pain and pleasure, ups and downs, twists and turns. As Eugene Peterson says, “We think God gives parents to children to bring up the children; but he gives children to parents to bring up the parents!” Who is equal to such a task?

The goal of our current sermon series, Parenting Myths Exposed, is to help you think about how the gospel informs and shapes the way that we parent our children. The challenge is to parent our children the way God parents us! This Sunday, Dr. Craig Williford, President of Trinity International University, will take us to Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” in Matthew 5-7 to expose the myth that says: “Good parents give their children the freedom to form their own values.” Then, during our Bridge Group time, from 10:00 to 10:50 a.m., Dr. Williford and his wife, Carolyn, will present a seminar on “Lessons God Has Taught Us on our Journey as Parents and Grandparents.” Carolyn has authored several books, including Devotions for Families That Can’t Sit Still. I am looking forward to Sunday!

If you want to do some more reading on parenting, here are a few books you might find helpful. Chip Ingram has a new book on Effective Parenting in a Defective World. It is thoroughly biblical and offers a lot of practical advice. It may be the best all-around resource for Christian parents. Chip served as a pastor and as President of Walk Thru the Bible. One of my all-time favorites is Common Sense Parenting by Kent and Barbara Hughes. The book is biblical and delivers what its title promises. Kent served at College Church in Wheaton until his recent retirement. My friend, Dave Wyrtzen, wrote a book back in the 1990s that is still worth reading. Titled Raising Worldly-Wise But Innocent Kids, Dave’s volume is based on the book of Proverbs. Finally, as you prepare to move into the teenage years, get ahold of Like Dew, Your Youth: Understanding Your Teenager by Eugene Peterson. It contains the biblical insight and thoughtful wisdom you expect from Peterson. He is the author of The Message (the Bible in contemporary language). You can order any of these books on Amazon.com.

Last Monday, our staff had a good discussion over lunch about what it will take for our church to grow. I want you to know that I pray for, work for, and expect our church to grow! The mission Jesus gave the church is to make more disciples – that is, followers of Jesus. So how do we do it? Primarily, growth is going to happen as we build relationships and friendships with nonbelievers in our communities and share the gospel with them. That is not the best approach for building a crowd, but it is for making disciples! Obviously, we want to provide some entry points for nonbelievers. Our recent seminar on “Understanding Your Teenager” is an example. Some of our men’s events and women’s events can help connect nonbelievers to our church. Also, we want to talk in our worship services as if nonbelievers are present so that more of them will make their way into our times of worship. Though we do not view nonbelievers as our ‘target audience’ when we prepare our worship services, we realize that God-honoring, Christ-exalting worship can point people to God. But there is no substitute for living as salt and light (see Matthew 5:16) and then sharing the reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). In the near future, I intend to review with you how to present the gospel to nonbelievers.

Finally, several of you asked about my week in Montana. The fishing was good! My friend, Dave and I, caught several rainbow trout and had some great conversations together about Christian living and ministry. We fished on sunny days with temperatures in the high 50s and on one day with steady snow! We caught fish every day. A friend of mine who is a national leader in Trout Unlimited, a conservation organization to which I belong, even took us down an eight-mile stretch of the Yellowstone River in his drift boat one day. I have included a couple of pictures from a day we spent fishing the Madison River. Of course, it is good to be home. I’ll see you on Sunday!