Join us tomorrow at 10 a.m. for the weekly Karis Worship Gathering.  I’m really excited about the passage tomorrow– Luke 10:1-24.  Found in that text is a humbling, staggering calling.  But also Christ gives us amazing hope.  Jesus sends, and sends into a hostile world.  But He also rules.  He doesn’t leave us alone.  What a promise!

Join us this Friday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Boone County Chambers Room in downtown Columbia.  This month, we’ll be watching The Dark Knight, undoubtedly one of 2008’s best.  Visit our Movies and MindMaps site for more information.  Never just watch a movie.

Nightline, ABC’s late-night news program, visited Mars Hill and followed around Driscoll a couple of weekend ago.  Here is the spot.  I was really pleased with it.  I’m really honored to be a part of Acts 29.

Community Groups at Karis are back in full-swing.  What are C-Groups?  They’re ten groups of people just like you who gather across Columbia for food, Bible study, and prayer.  They meet Monday through Thursday nights in various parts of the city.  Currently, we’re doing a discussion based on Jerry Bridges’s great book, The Gospel for Real Life.  In the book, Bridges does a fantastic job of talking about every possible angle of the gospel of Jesus, showing how it applies not just to non-Christians, but to Christians, every minute of every day.  Email Jeremy for information about C-Groups.

Yesterday, we installed three new deacons at Karis.  I’m really excited to have Jeremy Linneman working with C-Groups, Ryan Worley working with Shalom, and Jaylyn Salmons working with our Arts Community.

Last night, we had all the deacons and their spouses over for some hang time and a bit of teaching.  Here is what I shared.  Forgive, as I said last night, the maniacal symmetry in the language!  Just as important as the task is the heart behind the one doing the task.

The Heart of a Deacon (Acts 6:1-7)

one who serves (v. 1-2)

modeling humility (v. 2)

fostering unity (v. 1)

displaying maturity (v. 3)

guarding ministry (v. 4)

encouraging vitality (v. 7)

From Mark Dever’s, A Display of God’s Glory
If you look at this passage in a more abstract way, you could ask, “In caring for these widows, what were they really doing?”  They were working to make the food distribution among the widows more equitable.  That’s true, but why was that important?  Because this physical neglect was causing a spiritual disunity in the body.  That’s how the passage begins in 6:1…  One group of Christians was beginning to complain against another group.  This seems to be what arrested the attention of the Apostles.  They were not merely trying to rectify a problem in the benevolence ministry of the church.  They were trying to stop the church’s unity from fracturing and being broken up, and that in a particularly dangerous way: among traditional cultural lines of division.  The deacons were appointed to head off disunity in the church.

Really, this is the goal for all the gifts that God’s Spirit gives to His church– to build one another up and encourage each other (e.g., Rom. 1:11-12).  Paul says to the Corinthians that God’s gifts are “for the common good,” (1 Cor. 12:4-7, 12).  He extorts these early Christians, “Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church” (1 Cor. 12:12).  So Paul says in 1 Cor. 14:26, “all must be done for strengthening.”  As John Calvin said, commenting on 1 Cor. 14:12, “The more anxious a person is to devote himself to upbuilding, the more highly Paul wishes him to be regarded.”  So Peter wrote, “Each should use whatever gift he has received to serve others administering God’s grace” (1 Pet. 4:10).

Edifying and uniting the church is especially the ministry of the deacons as we see it in Acts 6.  Therefore, we cannot have people serve us well as deacons who are unhappy with the church.  The deacons are not those in the church who are complaining the loudest or jarring the church with their actions or attitudes.  Quite the opposite!  The deacons are to be the mufflers, the shock-absorbers.

Therefore, among those who would serve a church as a deacon there must be no small-mindedness.  Such members must not be given to “turfiness”–caring about their area, their rights and prerogatives in that area, or even quietly resenting service by others who would interlope into their sphere!  Deacons are not set apart to advocate their cause, or argue for their corners like representatives or lobbyists.  Instead, they are to come on behalf of the whole–to serve particular needs, yes–but with a sense of the whole, a sense that their work contributes to the health of the whole.  Even more, they are to be able to help others come to understand this particular ministry as a part of the uniting and edifying of the church as a whole.  They are to be builders of the church by being servants who help to bind us together with cords of kindness and of loving service.

I’m seriously going to try to get back into the groove blogging.  I have slacked for awhile, mainly because I’ve gotten a bit into the mini-blog world (aka Twitter).  Today, we had an awesome Gathering.  It was snowy, so I know it kept a bunch of people home, but we still had a great group.  I was preaching with a cold, so I wasn’t at my best, but I thank God for really working through me regardless.  The band rocked, as usual.  We again did “Infinite Divine,” which I love.  What a blessing to have that group of musicians lead us each week.  Seriously, churches of thousands don’t have that kind of talent.  Can I also say Lynn’s prayer was outstanding?  Wow.

Here was my outline for this week.  May God turn us into people that are radical and self-sacrificing for the kingdom.  Also, note Jaylyn’s new graphic for the series!

Jesus Resolutely Headed Toward Jerusalem for Us (Luke 9:51-56)
1. Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem to die (v. 51)
2. Jesus journeyed through Samaria in love (vv. 52-56)

We must focus exclusively on the kingdom for Him (Luke 9:57-62)
1. We must follow Him over physical comforts (vv. 57-58)
2. We must follow Him over earthly relationships (vv. 59-62)

Tomorrow at Karis, we will transition out of our “Beautiful Collision” series and back to our study on the book of Luke entitled “Jesus in the Margins.”  Tomorrow we’ll look at Luke 9:51-62, seeing how Jesus is our Resolute Savior.  Join us at Karis as we ponder how Jesus reaches down to the margins of society and desires to penetrate to the margins of our hearts.

Acts 29 President Mark Driscoll will be on Nightline soon, the ABC News program.  It was slated for last night (I found out this morning), but thankfully, it got postponed until sometime this week.  For now, here is the article on the ABC News site.

Although the article isn’t good, our Acts 29 leader, Mark Driscoll, is featured in the New York Times.