Sun, Jan 25, 2021
Real short today. Just a number of quick announcements
Updated 2021 Bible Reading Plan on the App! – Last mention… The FCC Daily Bible Reading Plan is available on our app under the “Bible” tab, with daily readings from both the Old & New Testaments, in written and audio formats, and it takes you through the OT once and NT twice throughout the year. The default is the ESV, the English Standard Version, which we use for preaching at FCC, but there are now multiple translations available! (You may have to install the latest version of the app if your device doesn’t auto-update.)
7 Days of Prayer – Last mention… If you missed it or haven’t yet noticed, we have the whole week all available on the app, under “Watch”. It’s good stuff–our Residents did a great job putting together a great way to kick off the new year focused on “Him, Not Us”: His word, world, will, wealth, wounds, war, and work!
Podcasts Available – Did you know you can get weekly sermons, Brown Bags & Bibles, and Coffee Convos as audio podcasts on all the normal podcasting platforms/players, and that the app does the same thing, and you can change the speed, and listen with the device off, and also watch the video, and use picture-in-picture (on iOS), and do all the same by also subscribing on YouTube?! Boom.
This Week: Brown Bags & Bibles and Coffee Convos — This Tue, Jan 26, at noon on Facebook, (and afterward on the app and YouTube), Mark Liebert and I will begin a new series where we’ll begin to unpack the latest (as-yet unfinished) Elders Position Paper on “The Sanctity of Human Life”, which covers contraception, in vitro fertilization, reproductive cloning, biomedical research, stem cell research, genetic intervention, vaccines, sexual responsibility, abortion, personhood of the unborn, killing of innocent persons, and a few other related issues. Then, on this Wed’s Coffee Convo, at 7:30p on Facebook, we chat with our own Nathan Dickerson, Communications Director. So for both BB&B and CC, jump in on the comments, let us know you’re joining in, and interact, ask questions, help us ask Nathan questions, etc.
High-Quality Accredited Seminary (Low-Cost!) or Theological Training (Free!) for FCC Members — Info Session is Mon, Jan 25 & Feb 1, at FCC Gville, 7:30-8:30p – If you want details about all this, check out the last item in the Scott’s Thoughts from Jan 3, 2021. Long story short…
- We have become a “Church Partner” with Covenant Baptist Theological Seminary (cbtseminary.org).
- The curriculum is regular old classic theological and seminary training: Church History, Systematic Theology, Exegetical Theology (how to rightly read/interpret Scripture), Practical Theology (evangelism, missions, pastoral counseling, ministry), Greek/Hebrew, etc.
- You can take for credit (tuition-free, but you pay for semester fees and books, so really low cost) or “audit” a class for free, with no grades, no papers/tests, no requirement to buy/read the books, etc. (though auditing always works best when you do as much as possible/tenable, as if taking for credit.)
- You must be an FCC member. This is part of our agreement with CBTS (with which I heartily agree. The best theological training is done in the context of the local church, and not in the academy, off by itself, with little connection to the body.)
For more info, to ask questions, and to get a taste of how it works, come join us for one of the next couple weeks.
Misc Thoughts & Lessons Learned
- I’m just gonna throw this out there, all Rabbi Jesus style, without explaining it much: Go and learn what this means, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7; cf. 9:10; esp Job 28:28). Submitting to the foundational reality that God is Creator and that He has revealed the truth about Himself in His Word is how to understand the world rightly. This is a way, way, way bigger deal than even most self-proclaimed Christians think. Without this foundationally theological filter in place, you will misinterpret the world; you will not see the world around you clearly.
- For most, “if I can” is the only necessary moral filter for behavior. “If I should or shouldn’t” hardly matters.
- Many respond to life, make decisions, and assess the people and situations around them as if one data point from one source equals a straight line. That’s an irresponsible way to operate.
- Shaming or disenfranchising people is a terrible way to persuade people. While mass communications can be helpful, and we here at church use them frequently, they are merely ways to cement and further communicate this truth: all meaningful communication that changes minds and hearts is ultimately interpersonal.