The Art of One-Anothering

We recently came across this brief article from Lifeway and though it was worth sharing!

The first thing you are probably asking right now is, “what does it mean to ‘one-another’ and how does one make an ‘art’ of it?” To that I would say, “Great question!”

The art of one-anothering is looking into Scripture and recognizing the importance that God places on our relationships. In this month’s HomeLife Magazine, Marie Aremenia shares a list of “One-Anothering” verses for you to go over with your family.

• Love one another—John 13:34-35; 15:12; Romans 13:8 
• Accept one another—Romans 15:7; Colossians 3:13 
• Love one another earnestly—1 Peter 1:22 
• Serve one another in love—Galatians 5:13 
• Honor one another above yourselves—Romans 12:10 
• Be completely humble, gentle, patient, and accepting of one another—Ephesians 4:2 
• Stop passing judgment on one another—Romans 14:13 
• Be kind and compassionate to one another—Ephesians 4:32 
• Forgive one another—Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13 
• Pray for one another—James 5:16 
• Encourage one another daily—Hebrews 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 5:11 
• Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another—1 Peter 5:5 
• Spur one another on toward love and good deeds—Hebrews 10:24 
• Build one another up—1 Thessalonians 5:11 
• Bear one another’s burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ—Galatians 6:2 
• Teach and admonish one another with all wisdom—Colossians 3:16 
• Offer hospitality to one another without complaining—1 Peter 4:9 
• Do not provoke or envy one another—Galatians 5:26

Racial Reconciliation in Apex: The New Humanity (Part 1)

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

This is the first of a series of posts on the issue of racial reconciliation and how that could take shape in Apex, NC. John Piper recently published a book entitled Bloodlines, which is worth your time to read. In fact, you can download the PDF for absolutely free by clicking here.

I wanted to begin this series by summarizing one of Piper's chapters on race. In his book, he has already established that the mission of Christ was closely tied with the end of ethnocentrism (defined as "feeling that one's own ethnic group should be treated as superior"). He continues by investigating the text of Ephesians 2:11-22 (read the full text here). Piper proposes that Jesus ends ethnocentrism and creates a new people of God who are defined not by race, but by faith in Christ through his death on the cross. A new humanity. He writes, "horizontal reconciliation between alienated peoples happens through vertical reconciliation with God through the blood of Christ."

An amazing idea with astounding implications!

A few thoughts from Bloodlines and Ephesians:

In verses 19-22 we read that the Gentiles are now fellow citizens with the saints and part of the same household of God.

1. In verse 14 Paul tells us that Christ came to die for sinners and by his death on the cross to give Jews and Gentiles one way to God through faith.
2. Then Paul adds in verse 15 that Christ's aim was that he might make one new man. "The church is a single person." Jesus is our common identity. By "our" I mean all believers regardless of ethnicity. We see this thought continued in verse 16.
3. The "mystery of Christ" we read about later in Ephesians 3:4-6 is that Gentiles and Jews are now one person in Christ. 

Paul writes in Ephesians 2:13 that we are "Brought near by the blood of Christ." Piper adds, "Brought near to God and therefore brought near to each other. By the blood. . . . if one design of the cross of Christ is to reconcile alienated ethnic groups to each other by reconciling them to God in Christ, then will we not display and magnify the cross of Christ better by more and deeper and sweeter ethnic diversity and harmony in our corporate and personal lives?"

We'll talk more next week about how these thoughts could be fleshed out practically in our lives. In the meantime, let's examine our hearts in the light of God's Word and strive to bring glory to Jesus in our attitudes and in the habits of our hearts!

2011 Festival of Marriage

Festivals of Marriage 2011 Promo from Apex Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Fall Festival of Marriage 2011: “COURAGEOUS: Building Biblical Marriages”

October 21-23 at Ridgecrest Conference Center

This three-day weekend event for couples will encourage, challenge, and build healthy marriages. Includes bold fatherhood and family principles based on the highly anticipated movie, COURAGEOUS; dynamic worship; and breakout sessions that promote courageous living. If you want your marriage to leave a lifelong impact, Festivals of Marriage's Courageous: Building Biblical Marriages is your 2011 must-attend event.

Festivals of Marriage will guide you to:

· Connect, assuming Courageous responsibilities
· Grow, setting Courageous priorities
· Serve, leaving a Courageous legacy
· Go, with a Courageous faith

For more information or to register, please contact Holly Ladner or call 567-2699.

Learning to Love

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."

As seen in this passage from Mark 12, love is multi-dimensional. It's also inherently risky.

Augustine wrote that in every new love there is contained, "the seeds of fresh sorrows."

C.S. Lewis famously stated, "Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket of coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; instead it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and disturbances of love is Hell."

It costs to love God and to love our neighbor. It involves suffering, and we like to be safe and comfortable. We have a case of risk aversion to the extreme.

Are you willing to learn to love? To love your God with everything you are? To love your neighbor as yourself? It will cost you something. Maybe everything. The seeds of fresh sorrows will be planted and who can know what what will grow in the watering of your heart?

But it's worth the uncertainty. It's what we're called to do as followers of Jesus. To love unreservedly. And we'll never be alone.

Love Ain't Easy!

Nathan Stam
Children/Communications Pastor

I thought I'd add a few thoughts to the earlier post on love. Lately, I've been re-reading Leif Enger's Peace Like A River. I really can't recommend it enough. It's one of those rare books that as the pages turn and you approach the end you can't help but feel a little bittersweet; you don't want the end to come!

Well, here's the passage that struck me when I was thinking about this call we've been given by Jesus to love. It's from the point of view of Reuben Land, the narrator and a young boy. He says:

"I hadn't any comment to this, but felt myself opposite to the Lord in some way, which was worrisome."

Dad asked, "You remember what the Lord said about enemies?"

In fact I did remember some passages about enemies. Once, sick of whiners, the Lord caused the earth to crack open like an old bun and a crowd of them fell right in. And how about the prophet Elijah, slaughtering four hundred priests of Baal in one afternoon? Then there were the twisted fellows of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the time before that when God killed pretty much everyone in the world except Noah's family. The Old Testament, boy, it suited me.

"Love your enemies," Dad said. "Pray for those who persecute you."

He would pick those verses.

Alright, let me be honest here for a minute. I really can't think of any enemies in my life. I did take a pencil once and stand it up under my friend as he sat down in his chair with great velocity. Blood flowed, war was declared, but we're still friends. I did have several "scuffles" with another friend growing up, but we still care about each other. Oh, and there was that one instance when I fired a spudzooka over the dunes and knocked my Mother clear across the deck. But I wasn't disowned even then.

There are those who, however, occasionally might get on my nerves (as I'm sure I get on theirs). You know the kind of person; you're never on the same page, you just don't click, and generally you have an opposite personality type. There are also those who cut in front of you on the highway, cut in front of you in the line at Bojangles, and cut in front of you at the Doctor's office. Uh-oh, I'm sensing a theme here. In college there were those who would ask incredibly in depth questions of the professor right before the clock would measure the ending of the class. I would sit and stew and think evil thoughts.

They're not even my enemies and I'm called to love those people? Take it a step further, if they're followers of Jesus, they're called to love an egotistical miscreant like me?

No wonder the disciples told Jesus some of his teachings were hard for them to accept.

To love those who annoy you, mistreat you, irritate you, hate you and persecute you. To be loved by those whom I annoy, mistreat, and irritate. This is our call. To forgive those who do you wrong. To let it go. It ain't easy, but it is the Way of Jesus! And if I'm going to follow hard after the heart of God it's something I had best get used to!