Hey friends and family! 

We continue to add more features to this new website, and want to make sure you can use it as easily as possible. 

One of our newest features is a "search" bar at the top of the website. It might be obvious, but here, you can search 

for something you read in another news article, specific sermons, events and so on. As an example, I typed in the 

word, "disciple" in the search bar, and here (click) is the result! 

More features are coming soon, including a discussion board where you will be able to discuss implications of recent 

sermons, submit prayer requests, post event ideas, if you own a business you can put up your services for all of us 

to utilize and more! 

We are also going to be launching a "Members" log-in page that will co-incide with our new photo directory 

(see announcement). Here, you'll be able to create a username and password and find an online version of the new

directory, and even more features! 

We are also revamping the sermon media files so you can sync them via Itunes and put them on your Ipod's (or other

mp3 players). If you ever have questions or concerns, please contact our website director, Chad Farrand. 

We are beginning the process of updating our photo directory. The times and dates will appear on the front page of 

our website. Based on availability of our photographers, we will have times for you to get your pictures taken before

and after worship services. If you'd like to sign up for a time slot, please click the link below. 

Blessings to you! 

Please click here to sign up.

Join the Fun!
Habitat for Humanity has created small renovation projects that will be completed in a week or less.  Volunteers will perform exterior repairs, painting or landscaping.  If swinging a hammer or digging in the dirt doesn’t appeal to you, there will be volunteer opportunities to provide snacks, sending out communication notices and other less messy tasks.  Come to an exploratory meeting on Sunday, April 22 after the service and learn more about this community service opportunity.   
The meeting will be held in the East Community Room (the room behind the kitchen).  Contact John Leegwater 452-2754 or Lori Kane 949-9700 with questions.

Marks of a Disciple:  Sacrificing

Disciples of Jesus follow Jesus in giving away their lives. (sermon audio)

Of all the marks of a disciple, this is the capstone – a willingness to sacrifice of oneself to follow Jesus.  By definition, a disciple is follower of Jesus, not just someone who is intrigued by Jesus or thinks highly of him.  Disciples of Jesus are followers of Jesus, so when we talk about Growing disciples who make disciples, we are talking about growing people who:  1) follow Jesus faithfully no matter the cost and 2) help others do the same.

The dictionary defines sacrifice as the “surrender of something for the sake of something else.”  And that is exactly what God has done for us in Jesus.  Jesus willingly gave his life for us, not simply as a model of selfless living for us to follow (though his example certainly is that) but as a sacrifice for our sin.

Think about that truth.  Pick up the Bible and read Hebrews 10:1-14.  Let your heart ponder this sweet center of the Gospel – “we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”  Theologians call it substitutionary atonement.  Simply put – Jesus died in our place, and that death reopened the possibility of a relationship with God.

Throughout the series, we have been looking at the stages of spiritual growth as defined by the REVEAL study:

The idea is that all of us are on a spiritual journey and called to keep moving spiritually, to be growing people.  The ultimate goal of following Jesus is to become more and more like Jesus, not simply to use Christianity to improve our lives.  A distinguishing characteristic of a Christ-Centered person is a mindset of surrender.  “Rather than expecting Jesus to be there for the sole purpose of helping them with their lives, they respond to his call to sacrifice and lay down their lives to serve Jesus and advance his mission in the world” (Move, Greg Hawkins & Cally Parkinson, p.93).  This is what it means to be a sacrificing person.

In Ephesians, the Apostle Paul tells us to follow the example Jesus when he offered up his life for us (Eph. 5:1-2).  In Romans, Paul writes this:  “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices.”  Basically, this means “live as if you’ve died to yourself.”  It is exactly what Rob Ellis was getting at in the March 16 devotional he contributed to our Lenten Devotional Guide.  Rob wrote this:  “This is the true meaning of discipleship—the suffering through the loss of our natural self by denying its sinful lusts.”

This death to self becomes visible to others through a willingness to sacrifice of self to follow Jesus.  A willingness to sacrifice for the sake of others is love.  And as the old song says, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”

Disciples of Jesus follow Jesus in giving away their lives.

Marks of a Disciple: Serving 

Disciples of Jesus follow Jesus by serving others.

(sermon audio) 

As tough as it may be to be a joyful giver, in some ways serving is even more difficult than giving.  Giving is about giving money and serving is about giving of our time. 

In Mark 10: 35-45, James and John request places of honor from Jesus. First of all, that decision isn’t Jesus’ to make. Also of importance is the reaction of the other disciples—they were upset! Upset that James and John requested something that should be freely given, and upset that they hadn’t thought of asking Jesus the same thing first.

“You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you” (Mark 10:42-43).

Jesus reminds the disciples that true power lies in caring and advocating for the powerless. Much like today, in the 

disciples’ time powerful people were hoarding resources because they could. Jesus tells them that some people in

 positions of power misuse their authority, but that is not to be the case for followers of Jesus.

“Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave

 of all.  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” 

(Mark 10:43-45).

God measures greatness in service and servant-heartedness. Jesus is our example in this. He didn’t come to be served;

 the passage above clearly states the action Jesus came to do: serve and give. If Jesus came to do these very things and

 Christians are called to be like Jesus, then clearly Christians should be marked by their giving and serving.

Giving and serving speak to releasing things of great value to us – our money and our time. Both are essential marks of a

disciple, and important because of why God instructs us to do them. His purpose is to work out full redemption in us:

to grow us, stretch us, make us more like Jesus. As we talked about last week, giving has the potential to lead our hearts closer 

to Christ. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The same is true of serving.

A study of over 1000 congregations in North America assessed how people experience spiritual growth. They found five

catalysts that moved people in subsequent growth areas:

1. Salvation by Grace: I believe nothing I do or have done can earn my salvation

2. The Trinity: I believe the only true God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

3. Serve the Church: I serve in a ministry once a month or more

4. Prayer to Seek Guidance: I pray to seek guidance for my life

5. Reflection on Scripture: I reflect on Scripture for meaning in my life

This shows the significance of serving. The survey found that serving is THE most catalytic experience offered by the

church. (The other catalysts rely more on personal growth and belief.) Here at Fifth, this responsibility rests with the

Pastoral Deacons, who lead the congregation in ministries of mercy, service and outreach. They don’t do all the serving

 themselves.  They lead us in serving.  

So we serve not just because we are commanded to in the Bible, but because we understand why the Bible commands

 us to serve:

• It’s the right thing to do as a gracious response to all God has done for us.

• When we serve, God works in us to make us more like Jesus.

Disciples of Jesus follow Jesus by serving others.

Biblical Principles for Giving

 

Biblically, the concept of giving was introduced in the Pentateuch – or the first 5 books of the Bible.  Baseline giving should be 10% of our gross productive output.  Our offering is to be our first act with our resources, not the one we do at the end of the month if there are enough resources left.  

Tithes and offerings are different things.  Tithes are the baseline expectation in giving, and offerings are over-and-above the tithe and can be directed in special ways: supporting the church, other Christian work, or good social work in the world. Tithes should go to the Temple (church in modern day) to support the witness and work of the covenant community in the world.

Some may argue that the New Testament nullifies the Old Testament teaching on giving.  Jesus said very clearly, “I have not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.” He fulfills it by adding crucial elements like: giving is to be voluntary, not under compulsion (2 Cor. 8:8) and giving is to be cheerful, not reluctant (2 Cor. 9:7).  Jesus was always concerned about the condition of our hearts – not our legalistic obedience to a code.  Jesus invites us to be a biblical giver because we want to not because we have to, because we want to acknowledge God’s goodness to us, to combat the impact of secular values in our hearts, because we are delighted to release things of worldly value understanding that we are connected with things of infinitely greater value!  Be a biblical giver and experience the joy, the cheer, the blessing of doing something active in life to take up your full identity in Jesus Christ.  

This is a 201 level conversation and not the place to begin in exploring the claims of Jesus.  You need to focus all of your attention on one question – Did the resurrection of Christ really happen?  Dig in.  Figure it out.  Read books on it.  Debate the issue with Christians.  Talk to a pastor.  Drill down on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Don’t worry about the money thing right now.

However, for those who have accepted the claims of Jesus, the link between giving and spiritual growth has been well documented by the recent REVEAL research study.  This study of over 1000 churches in North America found tithing a key spiritual catalyst to make the move from Growing in Christ to Close to Christ. Not quite as potent a catalyst as prayer and reflecting on scripture, but it’s next in line. The research simply proves what Jesus said:  Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

There was also an interesting finding among the Christ-centered group (most spiritually mature) in the study.  There was a wider “stewardship gap”, that is a disconnect between spiritual belief and actual behavior.  This gap reveals the true battle of values that we face as followers of Christ in this world.  We are surrounded by secular values that seek to define our personal identity and all that leads to happiness, security and success.  Many of the values Jesus espoused run 180 degrees to these secular values, and we’re caught in the crossfire.

Taking a look at the giving numbers at Fifth for 2011, it can be seen that with regard to financial giving, the secular values appear to be winning the battle. If what Jesus said is true and our hearts follow our treasure, these stats say that most of our hearts are not fully committed to Christ.  The numbers reveal an internal war going on inside of us.  It’s a struggle over who or what we will serve and in whom or what we will trust.  (see "Giving at Fifth in 2011")

The reason we are emphasizing 100 % participation in the current capital campaign is because it is not about dollars, it’s about growing as disciples of Jesus by making a decision to trust Christ, by giving as the Bible instructs.   To declare all-out war on the voice of the evil one who is constantly lying to us about what success, happiness and wealth really are.

People have devised all sorts of plans to ease into tithing.  They rarely work. This change happens best by decision. As your pastor, I call you to that decision. I challenge you to make a baseline commitment to giving by committing to give one tenth of your gross income to Fifth Reformed Church (or to your home church if you’re a guest and think of another church as home). I challenge you to use the current capital campaign as a way to get to the tithe.  Take what you’re giving now and calculate the difference between your current giving and a tithe.  Give that amount to the Foundation for the Future campaign this year and next. If you’re already tithing, I challenge to dig deep and to give generously through gifts over-and-above your tithe.  Take it another step forward and sacrifice self for the sake of others.

If we all did that, imagine what we might do! We would absolutely blow out our financial goal for the campaign. We would be able to plant a church every year for years to come. We would be able to build a Habitat house every year for years to come. We would be able to make a significant difference in our community through acts of generosity and selflessness that would make the evening news. And more than that… imagine what would happen spiritually in our little congregation here.  There would be a stark change in our life together.  That kind of generosity is spiritually contagious.  It catches and burns like wildfire.  I’m certain God would bless that decision we made together.

A recently article said it well:  “the paradox of discipleship is that the source of true fulfillment is found in giving our lives away.”  If money has a hold of your heart, the invitation to give away your treasure so as to redirect your heart stands open right now.  And it’s an invitation to deeper life.  Disciples of Jesus find life in giving.