Pastor Peter Wang

It hit 80 degrees outside yesterday, and summer is in the air! Whether or not you have big plans, or modest plans, whether your outdoorsy, or like to curl up on the couch with a book, I’d like to share with you my Top Ten reasons you should go on the All-Church Retreat in only 5 weeks!!

10. It’s much more affordable than last year, and really not that bad of a drive! We have financial assistance available upon request, so please don’t let money get in the way! And the drive is well worth it, to get away from NYC and Bergen County for a weekend. Driving to the Jersey shore on a summer Friday is far worse, believe me! Ideally, you could leave work a bit early and hit the road, arriving by late dinnertime. And on Sunday, we break camp after lunch, and you’re home by late afternoon! 5 meals, lodging, a guest speaker, kids’ programs, and all the activities are included!

9. S’mores by a campfire, kayaks and canoes, tennis courts, hiking trails, mini-golf, a zip-line, rock-climbing, horseshoes, playground, volleyball, and a sandy beach next to a gorgeous lake!

8. An indoor activities center with ping pong tables (there’ll be a GRC tournament!), basketball, volleyball, rock-climbing, video games, etc.

7. The gorgeous surroundings of the Adirondack Mountains. This is a true get-away!

6. There will be a good mix of 20-somethings, families with young children, youth, and empty-nesters. You won’t be alone, whatever your demographic is!

5. The food is really pretty good for a retreat center, and GRC will be eating together in the cafeteria so that we can spend extra time with each other. There’s always a salad bar and a deli bar for lunch/dinner, and the options will satisfy young and old. And the accommodations are top notch! Beach-side cottages really impressed last year, and GRC will have the entire beach front.

4. There’s childcare for the babies, and a kids’ program through 5th grade. Yes, we need volunteers to help with the kids, but if you have little ones, you’ll be able to focus on the worship and messages during 3 main sessions, with the little ones taken care of! There will be some organized recreational activities for the youth during the weekend too.

3. Many of you would say you aren’t well-connected relationally with other GRC people. You can change that in one weekend! There will be lots of time in the schedule to get to know each other, whether during games/sports, or over meals in the cafeteria. Each night, along the row of cottages, several GRC members will be ‘hosting’ campfires that you can join, right outside your cottage.

2. The Rev. David Kim from Redeemer’s Center for Faith and Work will be speaking on Faith Beyond Sunday: How Your Work Matters to God. Whether you commute into the city, or your work is raising young children; whether you’re beginning a career, or winding it down, we’ll have some rich interaction with David, all based on God’s Word. I spent some time with David in the city this week, and I am very excited for this topic! Each Session will include time for Q&A/discussion.

[drumroll please....]

1. A picture is worth a thousand words:

Click here to register today!

Hope to see you there!

Peter

Held at Grace Redeemer Church, 125 Galway Place Teaneck NJ

When:  Tuesday, June 12th from 8:30am – 12:30pm

Topic:  How Story Can Change Your Ministry, Dr. Adrian Trygve Smith

Click here to register.

Pastor Peter Wang

I’m not one to be regularly provocative in my preaching, but this past Sunday I intentionally pushed a bit. When I do that, there’s often benefit in following up with some mid-week thoughts. (If you weren’t here, as always, you can catch up on the latest sermon by going to our website www.graceredeemer.com under Media, and downloading/streaming the latest sermon or by subscribing to the sermon podcast via the website and iTunes).

The sermon text from 2 Samuel 11 describes David’s grievous sin – a combination of lust, adultery, deceit, and murder – against Bathsheba and her husband Uriah. My third point was labeled Leaders and Sin. I rattled off a handful of examples of sexual offenses which various people in positions of leadership have been accused of, all reported in the Bergen Record in the last several days. A shockingly diverse list involving a US Senator, policeman, school administrator, high school coach, and local pastor. Crazy stuff! But sadly, a part of the world in which we live.

The breach of trust committed by a leader is especially serious. Jesus said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:48). James echoes this principle when he writes this, within a spiritual context: “We who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1).

I pointed the focus on myself as a pastor, and set up this hypothetical scenario (Note: there really is no scandal here!): If I, or another pastor, ever cheated on his wife, I’m giving you instruction as to how to handle it. You should pray for reconciliation in his marriage and for repentance to lead to restored fellowship with God. And then you should immediately remove him from the pastorate, and not let him back into the pulpit ever again.

But what about Christian love and forgiveness and mercy? Ahh, that’s where I wish I could preach for a 75 minutes straight and cover 2 Samuel 11 AND 12 at the same time. That 2nd chapter will come this Sunday and give us with a picture of forgiveness and restoration, to balance the stark picture of sin in chapter 11.

But my point/goal (some of which I briefly mentioned) was to address the specific context of 2 Samuel 11: the sexual sin of a leader. AND, to recognize that our world is rife with such sexual immorality among leaders. AND, to speak to the understandable cynicism about hypocrisy among Christians, especially leaders, when the “Do as I say, not as I do” reality so often follows prominent spiritual leaders. My message? That is NOT okay. That should NOT be tolerated, and if such a thing were to ever happen here, our response should be firm. Wise, firm consequences AND deep Gospel-driven love/forgiveness are not mutually exclusive.

Yes, you should care for the pastor and his family. No, you shouldn’t ostracize him/them. Yes, you should ensure that there is genuine repentance and restoration pursued. No, you should not ‘judge’ him as a worthless scumbag. Yes, you should work towards forgiving him yourself, and if you can’t, the reason is likely rooted in your self-righteousness, and in your lack of understanding of how deeply sinful you are. He is a sinner, like all others. But his failure is unique: the congregation (and perhaps to some extent the community) looks to him as a spiritual leader/mentor/model. And he has let them down. Often a pastor’s immorality causes the flock to scatter – “If I can’t trust my pastor, who can I trust? Can I ever trust a spiritual leader ever again?” Simply put, a leader’s sin causes far wider devastation than a non-leader’s sin.

Come back Sunday to hear what Scripture has to say about David’s sin. That’s far more important than any thoughts I could share…

Grace to you,
Peter

Pastor Peter Wang

At my ordination exam back in 2002 in Delaware, I was asked by a pastor whether I had truly suffered in life.  I said “To be honest, no.”  But I had been away from my NJ/NY roots for 12 years, and had forgotten that deep down, I am both a Knicks and a Jets fan.  “Yes, brother, I really do know what it means to suffer.”

Some of you who keep track of these things remember that I gave up Jeremy Lin for Lent, in addition to joining the fasting effort.  And, that he got hurt during Lent, and I didn’t have much to miss.  On Monday after a Game 2 loss to the Miami Heat, Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire punched the glass case of a fire extinguisher, severely lacerating his hand, and probably putting him on the sidelines for the rest of the series, and therefore (realist as I am) for the rest of the season.  And the web is aflame with criticisms of a professional athlete for costing his team a better chance at victory.

I don’t share this to pile on more criticism of Stoudemire.  But it occurred to me – as a sinner, and as a sin-physician/pastor – that his example of rash action in the heat of passion/emotion/frustration, is very relevant to all of us.  Some of us burst out audibly and physically;  some of us seethe inside, a slow simmer that barely registers outwardly.

Often, after people do or say rash things they’ll say “That wasn’t me.  I don’t know what I was thinking.  It’s really out of character.”  The point?  What you just saw or heard isn’t really me!

The only problem with that is, it’s usually not true.

When Jesus said, “Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45) he was making a connection between the external behavior (speech or action) and the root-cause (the orientation of the heart, values, priorities, beliefs, etc.).   Author and Counselor Ed Welch makes this observation from his extensive professional experience:  when a hung-over person explains away their bad behavior as “It was the alcohol” the reality is that usually, the alcohol revealed their true self, rather than creating a fictional person.  Normally, you behave yourself and you watch your words because you don’t want people to think you’re a lunatic.  What’s really happening is that your true, sinful self is kept under wraps.  Then when the alcohol loosens the lips, the real self comes right out, uninhibited!

What’s the lesson?  In your horror at bad behavior, rash/mean/vindictive words, or even a hateful/envious/condescending attitude, don’t hide behind “That wasn’t me.”  Look right in the spiritual mirror and say “I’m a worse sinner than I’ve ever realized.”   Face the music!  Confess/admit it/agree with the person that you have sinned!  Ask their forgiveness without condition.

“But that’s too scary!  They may not talk to me ever again.”   Well, here’s the rest of what you should tell yourself while looking in the mirror:  “But self, you are more loved and accepted than you ever dared to believe.”   By whom?  The Lord himself, our perfect Father, the One who gave himself for you.

So be honest.  God himself knows it all, and yet, if you trust in Christ for your salvation, you are loved!  What others think?  Less important.  But let’s demolish the pretenses right now to clear the air:  every one of us is pretty mean, selfish, prideful, envious, greedy, and lustful.  Let’s all raise our hands and move beyond pretense to Gospel reality!

Grace to you,
Peter

Pastor Peter Wang

Between services this Sunday, we’ll hold our Spring Congregational Meeting.  I know, I know – that sounds like a snoozer to many of you.  But I’d like to explain the significance of this twice-annual meeting, whether you’re a long-time member or an occasional attendee.  There are spiritual and strategic issues underneath what sounds like a simple business meeting.

The meeting has a lot of relevance to the question of how GRC is governed.  In an independent church, the Senior Pastor often has most of the power.  The main drawbacks to that model include the potential for abuse of power, inability to see one’s weaknesses, tunnel-vision, etc.  In our Presbyterian form of government, we have a Session comprised of Teaching Elders (Dave and I) and Ruling Elders (lay men who are ordained – John Baker, Steve Hoogerhyde, Dennis Passante).  The shared authority helps to ensure that there is no concentration of power in one man, for we recognize that we are sinners who remain dependent on God’s saving grace!

John Chung

How is this relevant to you, and to this Sunday’s meeting?  If you’re a member of GRC, you have the privilege of and responsibility to participate in the selection of your spiritual leaders.  The process will be explained again on Sunday, but the final step is the ability of the membership to elect or reject a candidate for the position of elder.  John Chung is the sole elder candidate presented to the membership for election this year.  Should he join the Session as one in spiritual authority over you and the rest of the congregation?  That is your voice in the leadership of the church, similar to your right and responsibility in electing people to represent you in Congress and make decisions on your behalf.  In this case, the significance is even greater, because the Church is no mere organization.  It is the body of Christ, with Christ as the Head, but he commissions under-shepherds such as elders to lead the particular church.

Robert Parmelee

We also have a candidate for the office of Deacon – Rob Parmelee.  Deacons lead in the ministry of service, care and support.  Acts 6 describes the motivation for raising up Deacons:  to attend to the physical matters of ministry so that the elders can focus on the spiritual (Word and prayer).  Deacon ministry is not one of authority, but members are asked to elect candidates for this critical role of leading the church in our attention to needs inside and outside our congregation.  Short bios were mailed to all members last month.  Click here to see see this info again.

We’re also closing out a fiscal year (April 30th) and presenting the new budget for 2012-13.  This too has spiritual relevance beyond the organizational.  We’re investing God’s Kingdom funds, provided through each contributor, and we must be stewards to represent His interests!  We see his faithfulness and goodness to us in enabling us to pay the bills, and we look with faith to God to supply what we’ve projected as our needs/desires/strategies for this next year.

We’ll review many reasons to celebrate and to praise the Lord… and I’ll share some thoughts about what GRC’s greatest weaknesses are.  It’s the end of the year for the church – time to reflect and give thanks.  And time to look ahead with expectation, with resolve to change, and with determination to break down the gates of Hades, as God supplies grace through His Holy Spirit!

Join us, at 9:45am, would you?  Even for non-members, there’s lots to focus on for the health of the church!  Nursery and Children’s Sunday Schools will meet as normal.

Grace to you,
Peter

Join Dr. Stan Tyvoll and the men of GRC for bagels, brew and Bible, as we discuss the Biblical perspective on homosexuality on May 12th @ 8:15a in the GRC Overflow Room.

Andrew went to find his brother, Simon, and told him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means “Christ”). Then Andrew brought Simon to meet Jesus.” Jn. 1:41-2 In Acts 7, Stephen paraphrases vast portions of the Old Testament to preach Christ. Then later, in Acts 17 Paul paraphrases the poets of Athens to preach Christ. But for those who feel spiritually inadequate, simply bringing a friend to church is all it takes for that person to experience salvation-to meet Jesus and become His disciple. This past Easter Sunday the same thing happened. Two members of Grace Redeemer invited a friend to the Easter Sunday service. The Lord used genuine friendship, modeling of the Christian life, and a simple invitation to the Easter service to draw this person to Christ. Please pray for this brand new Christian to grow strong in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Just as importantly, ask yourself, “Who could you simply ‘bring’ to church to meet Jesus?”-just as Andrew and many others have. A simple invitation–can be catapulted into a destiny-making moment for a neighbor in spiritual need.

Pastor Peter Wang

This season on the church calendar is always a highlight for me. It’s more spiritually rich than Advent, maybe because Advent is always so BUSY. With Easter, there isn’t as much fluff around the season, and in fact, there’s a deeper, richer reflection of the season through the Lenten preparation. Under Kerry Reekie’s initiative, we recruited a bunch of GRCers for a 40-day fast during which some of us fasted 1 day a week, AND many more of us gave something up for the entire 40 days. Mondays (usually – sometimes I had to shift!) took on a whole new dimension for me this Lent. Through the discipline, I was ‘forced’ to focus more fully on my idolatry of comfort and pleasure through food/drink. And ‘forced’ (really enabled!) to see more clearly my need of God’s grace poured out through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You may be tired of hearing me say this, but Good Friday is truly my favorite service of the year because of its laser-focus and depth and reflection-inspiring mood (By the way, what did you think of the candles and lighting this year?). And Easter Sunday is an awesome celebration of Praise and Worship of the Risen King!

But Easter, and perhaps a week of vacation for you, have come and gone. What now? Back to ‘normal’ life? The drudgery of the rest of life? Ironically, in liturgical traditions, the Church calendar labels the weeks between Christmas and Ash Wednesday, and then the weeks after Pentecost (May 27th this year) and Advent, as “Ordinary Time.” But… I want to argue, living in light of Easter-Resurrection, and living WITH Easter-Resurrection Power, are far from ordinary! The whole point of Easter and the empty tomb and the Risen Savior is that nothing is the same! Everything has changed! Resurrection Power – thy same power that raised Jesus from the dead (Ephesians 1:18-20 – see the sermon from January 29th here) is at work in all who believe in this Jesus!

How? Where? Let me share with you some real examples from within our GRC community:

Over the past several months, I’ve been involved in two of the most difficult and trying marital counseling situations in my pastoral career. But praise God! In one marriage, the husband testifies that for the first time in many years of marriage, he and his wife are reading the Bible together; praying together; repenting of sin and asking forgiveness of the Lord and of one another. Sin patterns that were never admitted, are now being openly addressed. And a marriage is being healed miraculously, before our very eyes, after being on the brink of divorce. THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS NOTHING LESS THAN RESURRECTION POWER AT WORK!!!!

In another marriage, there is still difficulty and pain. There have been frustrated and upset emails shared with me (and directed at me in response to Gospel-truth aimed at their hearts). But there has been softness of heart in direct response to the prayers of the saints, no doubt in my mind. There has been an admission of sin patterns, of wrong against the other. THAT, AS WELL, IS NOTHING LESS THAN RESURRECTION POWER! Make no mistake: there is much work, and much prayer, and much repentance yet to be done. But when hearts are changed, we rejoice and praise the God of resurrection.

If that were not enough, on Easter Sunday, two members of our church invited/hosted a mutual friend who was not a follower of Jesus (see below also). After attending the first service, he stuck around with his friends who discerned that he was ready to profess faith, grabbed a pastor to help out, and together led him to fresh faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. New Life on Resurrection Day!!! The giving of spiritual life is EXACTLY what Easter is all about. And we were privileged to have it manifested in our very sanctuary, through the caring invitation and attention of church members, through the witness of the believing community. AMEN!!!

So how do you pursue or access Resurrection Power?

1) You pray. No dead person can raise him or herself. Only the sovereign God can do it. So we appeal to him to pour out His Spirit, to apply Resurrection Power in & through us.

2) You trust. The Father raised Jesus as the firstfruits. That sets the pattern; that reveals His heart; that guarantees the harvest of ALL His people.

3) You invite/love/care. The way the world sees Christ is through His people and by His Word. Our new brother in Christ SAW Jesus because two friends simply took the step of inviting him to Easter services. In Mark 2:1-12, a paralytic is healed by Jesus. But it took the action of four of his friends to BRING him to Jesus. All of us can do that.

4) You read/believe. All of the promises of this Resurrection-God are found in the Scriptures. Read, meditate, memorize and claim these promises that God has revealed to us, mercifully and generously!

Basking in Resurrection Power,
Peter

Pastor Dave Anderson

Sneezing, bloodshot eyes, drippy noses, along with flowers, sunshine and cookouts are all signs of spring-our world in bloom as plant life grows. Jesus often reasoned from the physical world to spiritual realities. God wants to grow us spiritually-and gives to us so we will grow in each season of life. But how do we grow spiritually? Who is responsible for growth? Are we responsible i.e. “If it is to be it’s up to me?” Is it God’s job to zap me i.e. “easy does it; or let go and let God?” How does spiritual growth really work? Some have attempted spiritual disciplines in the past, but have slowly let them go. Others see demanding jobs and busy schedules and simply give up, “I work 65 hours per week with long commutes, so I simply can’t add anything to my life; I guess you could say I’m stuck where I am for the foreseeable future.”

Author Stephen Covey tells the story of a class gathered in front of a glass jar which is brimming with big rocks. One big rock lay on the table beside the big jar. The teacher asks, “Is the jar full?” The class replies, “Yes”. The teacher then shakes the jar and fits a big rock in, then asks once again. Again the class replies, “Yes”. Then, the teacher reaches under the desk for a container of gravel. Pouring it between the rocks in the jar, she asks again if it’s full. The class catches on. Some tentatively reply, “No.” She then adds a jar of sand. Next, she adds a glass of water to the jar. Finally, she asks what the point of the illustration is. Students think of time management: “There’s always space to squeeze something into your schedule”. She says it’s not a time management but a priority management lesson: “You must put the big rocks in first, or they won’t fit”. One of the “big rocks” for any Christian is holy habits or spiritual disciplines, which promote spiritual maturity.

What are Spiritual Disciplines? Spiritual disciplines are “Biblically-based, historically rooted, personal and corporate practices essential to spiritual growth.” The Bible confirms that God, circumstances (trials and others), as well as spiritual disciplines all grow us. Disciplines such as reading Scripture, prayer, fellowship, fasting-some even include silence, solitude and friendship-are spiritual disciplines God uses to grow us.

The Bible reminds us of God’s Role in growing us to Spiritual Maturity
Romans 8:29- [God] predestined us to be conformed; 1 Jn. 3:2- …we will be made [passive] like Christ when he appears; Phil. 1:6- …he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.Phil. 2:12-13-Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed–not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence– continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose

The Bible reminds us of Other’s Role in growing us to Spiritual Maturity
Other People-Pr. 27:17; Trials-1 Pet. 1:7 These [trials] have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Christ is revealed; Circumstances- Romans 8:28-God causes all things mature us.

The Bible reminds us of Our Role in growing into Spiritual Maturity
1 Tim 4:7- train (discipline) yourself for the purpose of godliness; 1 Pt. 1:15-16- …”be holy as I am holy”!; Mt. 11:29- Take my yoke and learn from me…; 2 Tim. 1:6-7- For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline; .1 Pt. 2:2-3- Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted…the Lord is good.

Theologian, pastor, and founder of L’abri, Francis Schaeffer, helpfully describes the super-natural way in which God uses ordinary things to grow us-both physically and spiritually. Schaeffer writes, “Well, I think it is something like this in our spiritual life. Because it is the “spiritual area,” so many people seem to think it should grow in quite a different way from the normal procedures of life. But this is not true at all, because it is the same God who made the growing of the trees and the growth of our spiritual life. It is intriguing how often Jesus used words from the natural world to speak of spiritual things. And as the plant grows, so our spiritual life must grow. The storms may bend the branches; at times parts are even torn off with the beating of the winds, the snow, and the hail. But growth, as the stem of the plant pushes upward, does follow an orderly procedure. So it is with our Christian life. It we need to eat regularly, we need to read the Bible regularly. [This is the first element.] It should not become mechanical, but there is no reason why it cannot be done so much every day. It does not have to become sheer “law,” but nevertheless there is [a proper balance between] something being just a blind duty and something being done in a totally haphazard manner. The second element is prayer – learning to have communication with our Father in Heaven. He speaks to us through the Bible most of all; but also, and surely, in other ways. But there must be the communication from our side or the [relationship] is no longer what it was created to be; that is [in terms of our being] moral, rational beings. So regular prayer is very important and would fall into two areas: prayer as I am walking in the street and working with the materials that I work with; and then longer periods of prayer talking to our Father in Heaven. The third thing is finding a Bible-believing church or Bible-believing group of people and having fellowship with them. This is important too. However, it is better to have fellowship with no one than with someone that calls himself a Christian but in reality pulls us in the other direction. Then, the final thing is speaking to others about the Lord. This is important if others are to know of Christ’s saving work; but it is also important for us in our own spiritual life to be willing to commit ourselves anew by speaking to those who do not know about the Lord and all He is, to those who do not know Him. Thus, of course, we are most interested that your spiritual life does go on…”

As you see the sunshine, flowers blooming (or find yourself inhaling more than your fair share of pollen), let me encourage you to go from the physical world to spiritual reality. What is your plan to grow in Christ this spring? Yes. God grows you. Yes. Circumstances and other people grow you. And God uses our spiritual disciplines to grow us. I have personally found certain resources helpful in cultivating my relationship with Christ. Although I typically read and meditate through books of the Bible, I have also used memory verses, prayer walks in the AM, devotional books, and sermon MP3s by (Alistair Begg, Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller and John Piper). Lately I have found helpful apps for my iPhone and will listen to Bible.is, Truth For Life, Redeemer, Grace to You, and Mars Hill sermons as I do a home project. Whether on a bus, train or car, you may find these resources helpful to listen on your commute. My encouragement to us all is to fully embrace this spring by embracing the God of all growth-and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Blessings,

Dave