Each fall all across the west roundups take place. In the spring cattle are turned out on the range to fatten and grow on the grass. On many of these ranges cattle from various ranches will mingle as they graze away the lazy days of summer. As days shorten and shadows lengthen it eventually becomes time to gather the ranges and bring all the cattle to large sets of corrals where they are sorted by brands and taken back to their home ranches for fall work and winter feeding.

Roundup can be a long process. Most of the cattle are easy to find and anxious to return to their home ranch to graze on fall pastures after hay has been harvested and irrigation has been completed. However, some cattle scatter widely and hide in remote areas in little bunches. Range bulls hide in willow patches along rivers and creeks. Back riding to find all the strays can take days and usually isn’t completed until the first snows of winter finally drive the last cows out of the high country.

So too the church. Sometimes life scatters us widely and responsibilities take us far afield. Its good for us to be rounded back up as we slowly shift from the days of summer to the shadows of fall. It won’t be long and leaves will flitter in the breeze and the wind will have a bite. Jack frost will leave his artwork on our windshields when go to start our vehicles in the morning. As the pageantry of God’s artwork is displayed in the colors of autumn, let’s remember our Great Creator and redeemer and devote ourselves anew to the work He has called us each to do. Let us go into the fields white unto harvest and bring lives to the King and glory to our God.
Because of grace,
Tim

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In her seminal work, How the West Really lost God, Mary Eberstadt wrestles with the reasons for “trickle down secularism” that have eroded western civilization. She makes some interesting assertions in the book.
In one chapter she wrestles with Fredrick Nietzsche’s postulates about the death of God.

As she does so she develops one of the most important theses of the book: The privatization of religion always leads to its erosion.
Religion in and of itself demands community. The more individualistic we become, the less Christian we conversely are.

She likens this to how we learn language. Language itself demands community. We learn language from others and any meaningful interaction we have with others presupposes a vehicle of communication. Then she asks this question: “What if Christianity (like all other religions) is like language- something that can really only be practiced in groups?
What if, just as people enhance their language skills by exposure to other people, those who are most connected to other people are more likely to develop “religious skills” too?”

So what does this observation have to do with anything? I’m glad you asked: everything!
The constraints of the pandemic that we have been living through in the last year has heightened our individualistic, isolationist tendencies like never before and pushed people into islands of existence that are fragmenting and tearing people apart at the very core of their existence.
People have been cut off from others like never before- and this is not a healthy sociological experiment. Just ask yourself why solitary confinement is seen as such a horrible punishment.

Won’t streaming be a good enough substitute? Can’t social media make up the difference? Actually, no it won’t.
Virtual reality isn’t reality, it’s a cheap substitute that causes us to fool ourselves into thinking we are having meaningful interaction with people, all the while it insulates us from the messiness and joys of real living.
It may be a good tool in our arsenal of mass communication but it can never replace the essential elements of connectedness that defines the body of Christ.

Think about this. When God wanted to save his ruined world; He didn’t Zoom in to the rescue- He came in flesh and blood.

Because of grace,
Tim

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The first day of the week was hallowed for the Christian by the resurrection of Jesus. On Easter we celebrate the resurrection in a special way. However, we celebrate the triumph of the resurrection every Sunday when we gather as Christians to remember and proclaim His victory over death. The Sabbath (7th day) was set apart by God at creation as a day to remember what He had done in 6 days. After He worked, He rested. For the Christian, we remember before we go to work. We rest in Jesus’ finished work and that rest then translates into faithful service all through the week.

It is not with grudging necessity that Christians gather to worship. Rather it is with cheerful freedom that we come to partake of grace and fellowship. As we gather we present ourselves to Christ as living sacrifices. We exalt God in our joyful praise. We seek to edify one another in fellowship and we seek to extend the kingdom to outsiders by evangelism.

So as you meet with Jesus in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, do so intentionally. Intentionally sing and pray and study the Word. Intentionally encourage others in your conversation. Intentionally evangelize those who are being drawn by the Spirit of the Lord. Don’t just let life happen to you- happen to life- be intentional.

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…” Rev. 1:10
and that has made all the difference.

Because of grace,
Tim

The post On The Lord’s Day appeared first on EBCSV.

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.”
Romans 1:8

In the Lord, I could not be prouder of a church than I am of EBC. I know I’m a little bit partial, but seriously I thank my God through Jesus Christ for each of you and all of you. You all are my joy and crown!

To be sure we have our problems, sins and failings. There are things we need and can do better. There are areas of growth we need to be stretched into. But your faith is evident and you have been the source of blessing and much good to many people- not only in Star Valley but all over Wyoming, the U.S. and even the world. For the obscure place in which we are planted we have had tremendous fruit for the kingdom.

I don’t say this to blow up your pride and cater to your flesh- I say this to encourage you. Sometimes in the midst of pressing duties and responsibilities we lose track of the big picture. We get discouraged and wonder if the sacrifices we make are worth it. We get weary in doing good. But do not faint, for we shall reap.

Your love for each other is evident. O yeah, we sometimes have our family squabbles and tiffs, but by God’s grace not only have these been rare but they have also been a source of growth for all of us. As a pastor I have grown much through the years- learning what is truly important- what are hills to die on and what aren’t.

You’ve been gracious with me through much. For these things I am truly thankful to my God through Jesus Christ for all of you. I pray you will indulge more grace my direction in the years that lie ahead- and I in turn to you.

Because of grace,
Tim

Listen to the related message below.

The post A Pastor’s Heart appeared first on EBCSV.

“I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.” I Timothy 3:14-15

Bruce Shelley in his excellent work, Church history, begins by telling a story. At the Seminary where he taught he posted a comic strip of Peanuts on the door of his study for many years. It brought many an uncomfortable chuckle from those who passed by.

In it Charlie’s little sister Sally is writing a school paper called “Church History.” Her introduction reads: “When writing about church history we have to go back to the very beginning. Our pastor was born in 1930.” In the next frame Charlie is shown rolling his eyes to heaven.

Sadly that is the way we often view the church. We see the church in terms of the present and seldom think of the past or even the future. We think in narrow terms- American evangelicalism or even worse in terms of only our local congregation.

Although the local church is tremendously important as the context in which we worship and the structure in which we submit our spiritual care; we must always see it as a part of the whole- not just the present whole- but the eternal whole- the Body of Christ composed of believers from the past as well as the future.

Why do I stress this? Because when we view things through the narrow lens we become guilty of spiritual pride and intellectual amnesia. As we talk about “How to conduct oneself in the church of God” the discussion does not focus merely on current trends- it focuses on timeless truth. Principles and practice that adapt to every time and every culture, that transcend our petty American consumerism and embrace a Kingdom mentality and a global reach.
So many times current church growth seminars and conferences only deal with superficial trends. This causes weakness and compromise. We need the bigger picture.

I am excited to study I Timothy with you. I pray that we grow deeper and broader and more committed to Christ our Head.
Because of grace,
Tim

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The early church remained constant in prayer. These prayers were for many things: relief from persecution, boldness to testify, power from on high, the conversion of the lost and the return of the Lord. No doubt, some of these prayers were for their homeland- Israel. The early church saw God move in power because it was a praying church. God is a God who loves to answer prayer.

“And they continued steadfastly in the apostle’s doctrine, and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.” ~ Acts 2:42

This Thursday, May 3 is the 67th annual national day of Prayer. Our nation has a long history of setting aside days for national repentance and supplication. Going all the way back to the desperate days of the War for Independence, the Continental congress would call the colonies to prayer.

We have much to pray for. The storm clouds are brewing on the horizon of our nation. Not only are there many foreign enemies that would love to destroy us, but there are national movements that are rotting away our souls. Just this week I read and listened to things that are alarming that are coming against the church like a steam roller. Just consider:

This week the California house passed a bill making it against the law to seek to dissuade someone from homosexual behavior and do ‘reparative therapy’. This bill arguably makes all Biblical preaching against this sin a crime and even outlaws Bible’s and book’s with Biblical teaching on this subject. Also, Mike Pompeo, a Trump appointee for Secretary of State and a bold evangelical believer was attacked viciously for his position on homosexuality.

In addition, a Southern Baptist Chaplain was removed from his position because he would not lead a same-sex marriage retreat. Also, the military has indicated that they are going to look at rescinding southern Baptist credentials as a denomination for candidates for the chaplaincy as a result.

These are perilous days- we need to pray that the Lord sends a Spirit of renewal in our land before His long-suffering mercy runs out.
Because of grace,
Tim

The post The Praying Church appeared first on EBCSV.

Without a doubt, perhaps the most important creedal formula that emerged from the early Church is what we call the Nicene Creed.
With Constantine’s gradual acceptance of Christianity and eventual stamp of approval on it, the persecuted church slowly crept out of the shadows and emerged as a public front.
As it did so, and disparate groups from across the empire began to interact, it began to become increasingly clear that there was not unanimity of voice among the Bishops of the church as to the nature and person of Christ.

The most vocal opponent of the essential Deity of Jesus Christ was a powerful teacher named Arius from the region of Alexandria. His belief was that only the Father was truly God and that the Son was essentially different from the Father in both essence and nature.
As the controversy heightened and the implications of this false teaching began to be clearly seen, the early church called a Council of all the Bishops to come to Nicaea to wrestle with the issue from Scripture in 325 A.D.
Building on the pattern laid down by the Apostles and Elders in the Book of Acts chapter 15, and the other New Testament commands to examine doctrine carefully, the Church then wrestled with ideas of Arius and his followers to measure them carefully by the lens of Revelation.

It is important to note, when the early church formulated and wrote the Nicaean Creed, they were not inventing the Doctrine of the Trinity nor the Deity of Christ, they were simply codifying what they found clearly taught in Scripture.
As a result of the council, the teachings of Arius were refuted and condemned and the Church was established on the clear teaching of the Word of God. Interestingly, Satan in his diabolical ways has often inserted the leaven of Arius’s teachings back into splinter groups of the church that lead people away from the true Jesus to a lesser one.
As we noted last week in the research done by both Lifeway and Ligonier Ministries, there is a growing lack of doctrinal discernment afoot in the church today that lends itself to leaving a vacuum for these errors to grow. So let us always be diligent to stand for the faith once delivered to the saints.
Next week we will reproduce the text of the creed so you can read it yourself.

Because of grace,
Tim

The post Why Creeds? appeared first on EBCSV.