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Hey everyone! Hope you're all having a great weekend! The slow internet connection has kept me from posting the last few days, but I promise to have more pictures and video uploaded shortly! In the meantime, here are a few pictures of a quick outing we took around downtown Kharkov - enjoy! Click here to view the album Add Comment Hey friends and family! It's the end of Saturday and we have just returned from an adventure out to Kachalovka, a small village about 1.5 hours outside of Kharkov. We left at 7:30am to get on the road, first heading to Good News Church to meet up with one of their kid's ministry outreach teams (which, of course, also meant fitting 13 people into our 9-passenger van), and then out of the city toward the village. Once there, we were met by the mayor of the village and surrounding communities who treated us to potatoes, salad, raspberries, and fresh compot before opening up the town hall and letting the setup and minstry team inside. I was on the setup crew and took care of video recording, while the Scherban girls were in charge of music and games and Becky led the teaching. Caelyn and Amelia were attached to Revecca and Victoria, taking part every way they could. Following the day's service, we headed over to Pastor Vitaly Falay's house outside the city and had dinner in his "kitchen in the yard." Here's a video of the days events, enjoy! Hey NewSong (and friends)! After 20+ hours of travel, we finally arrived in Kharkov a little after 1am on Friday morning. We arrived to find the Scherban girls were still awake and waiting for us with tea and fresh honey on the table. This morning, everyone was up about 8am, but we are taking the day to refresh after all the travelling. uday Saturday morning we are travelling an hour or so outside the city to hold a VBS for kids; Becky will be teaching and leading this along with Darina Scherban and our friend Ira. On Sunday, we're heading to Good News Church where I will be preaching at least a couple of services throughout the day. Everyone here sends their love - please continue to pray for us and the Scherban family over the next couple weeks. We'll be uploading pictures and video as we can! Below is a video of our first breakfast together this morning -- there's a lot of girls in this house! This summer, NewSong is going through the first letter from the Apostle John. John wrote his letter to all believers, in all places, for all times. His motivation was twofold: 1) he wrote to protect the early church against heresy, specifically the false teaching of Gnosticism; 2) he's writing to instruct the believers and the Church in the doctrines and practices of the Christian faith. Like his Gospel, John’s letter emphasizes one of the essential truths for all believers: that disciples of Jesus believe in and follow him as God. As we read this letter, we'll be seeking to identify and apply a Kingdom-mindset and a discipleship lifestyle in three key areas of our life: 1. Spiritual – how do I relate to God in my life? 2. Moral – how can I live in a way that demonstrates Jesus is my God? 3. Social – how do I live in community with God, His people, and others? "Not yet has thy life become perfectly light, as sins are still in thee, but yet thou hast already begun to be illuminated, because there is in thee confession of sins" [AUGUSTINE] Last Sunday, John began to deal with some of these areas of our lives, but before he examines our problems, he backs us up and introduces us to God. As he does this, John figuratively and literally connects the source of our life - spiritual and physical - to God. [1 John 1:5] This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. He uses the metaphor of light to begin the introduction and points out three things: 1. God is the source & starting point of all things light 2. This is the message & nature of Jesus, the Light of the world 3. There is no darkness found in the Light This is John’s correct understanding of God: that he is Light without darkness; that he is good and pure and undefiled; that he is different from us. And he proceeds from that correct understanding into the reality of our lives - in other words, before we can start examining ourselves and begin working on our problems, we need the correct standard and environment by which to proceed. John teaches that Jesus is the light against which our lives are examined, evaluated and weighed out. But John also knows that our human nature resists evaluation, that our pride resists judgment; no one really likes to be tested and examined, especially in areas we deem too personal, too private, too secret. John knows this, and so he lays out three responses to this Spirit-driven process and warns us against be fooled into claiming them: Claim #1 -- I can be a Christian who openly & intentionally sins. [1 John 1:6-7] If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Claim #2 -- As a Christian, I don’t have a problem with sin anymore [1 John 1:8-9] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Claim #3 -- I’ve never had a problem with sin – I’m a good person [1 John 1:10] If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Apostle John would tell us that these are the claims of those who fancy themselves gods, sinless and perfect; these are foolish boasts of the arrogant, of the ignorant, of those who walk in darkness; that to make these claims is to deny Christ, his Cross & his resurrection But there is hope. There is always hope. John offers a response to those caught in the arrogance of pride and the ignorance of deception: his response to Jesus' Light shining down on our lives is one of integrity and humility; his response is found in the confession of sin. That confession can come corporately in the fellowship of God’s people It can come privately in your prayers and conversations with God It acknowledges our sinful nature and our struggle with sinful action & thought. It leads us to the humility and the unity of being in fellowship with God's people. It allows the Holy Spirit to convict us, to work in us, to transform us. Confession leads us back to Jesus is God. Last week we started our teaching series through the letter from the Apostle John to all believers. Following our teaching series on discipleship, we're turning to John's first letter to discover how we live in a missional, Kingdom-mindset. John's letter hangs on his statement to all believers and disciples: "This is how love is made complete among us: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love." In this series, we are seeking to live more like Jesus in this world, so that we can - without fear - be loved and be loving in order to lead more people to Christ. "This is how love is made complete among us: In this world we are like Jesus. There is no fear in love." Missed last Sunday? Click here to listen to the message online or download it on the go | CONTRIBUTORSTravis Jarrett ArchivesNovember 2012 CategoriesAll |
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