Why we have Family Worship Sundays

For the past couple of years, MERCYhouse has regularly held “Family Worship Sundays” on the third Sunday of each month. This is a time when our grade level children are invited upstairs to join us for worship and the teaching of God’s Word. 

The vision we’ve shared for these Family Worship Sundays is threefold:

1. To remind our children that they are part of a larger Church Body

2. To remind ourselves that we have a responsibility to care for our children

3. To remind our MH:Kids Volunteers to sit under God’s Word and Worship Him

This is what we communicate from the front each time we have a Family Worship Sunday. And while it isn’t a direct prescription from the Bible to have a Family Worship Sunday, there are many Biblical reasons for why we want to continue to do this.

I’d like to take this opportunity to remind us of how Family Worship Sundays fit into our theological framework of loving our children.

The Challenge of Loving Children Well

Children can sometimes be a significant distraction; they lack self control, volume control, and emotional control. They don’t always pick up on social queues, they struggle with focusing and they have to use the bathroom way more often than (most) adults. They whine, complain and cry when they don’t have their needs met. 

The reason why we have a dedicated Kids Ministry is not so that we can avoid dealing with these realities– our MH:Kids program is tailored specifically for these realities. Our teachers are trained to teach and disciple our children according to our children’s cognitive and developmental level, as a way to better love them and reach them where they’re at. 

But we need to be careful that having them in a separate space which alleviates many of the distractions that accompany them… does not become the comfortable norm for our church. It should not be a relief when they’re out of the room, nor a frustration when they enter it. 

There’s a moment from Jesus’ ministry that not only guides a lot of our understanding of why we have Family Worship Sundays, but how we should interact with our children as a church:

Mark 10:13–16

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

We should let our children come to Him.

Notice the misstep of the disciples in the passage above: people are trying to bring children to Jesus but the disciples cut them off. The disciples scold them, and prevent the children from accessing Jesus. Whether it was because of their distracting nature (listed above), or thinking that the Son of Man would be annoyed by their presence… the disciples deny access to Jesus. May it never be so at MERCYhouse! Our Church should make accessing God easy, not be a hindrance to it. God warmly welcomes children into His presence, and we as His church should as well.

We should bless our children.

Jesus doesn’t welcome the children into his presence, he embraces them and blesses them. They’re not just permitted to merely be in the same space as the grownups– they get the best seat in the house on the lap of the King of Kings! Family Worship Service can sometimes get a little wild, especially during the kid’s lesson. But there’s a reason why we have that teaching time, and why we put it up at the front of our service: our kids don’t get our scraps, but we want them to have the best portion. May our church not simply tolerate our children, but bless and treasure them as God does. 

We can be blessed by our children.

The children in Mark 10 aren’t in the way of Jesus’ teaching but become the lesson itself. Their “child-like faith” which whole-heartedly receives Christ and all that He brings is the model for genuine conversion! Yes, the older shall serve the younger and we have a responsibility to care for these children, but the road of blessing is not one-way. A child’s fresh perspective, their inclination toward honesty, their youthful zeal, their pure prayers and general joy for life and goofiness can all be used by God to encourage us and teach us profound lessons. May we be humble enough to be blessed by our children!

We should disciple our children.

Our hope for Family Worship Sundays is not just to have them in the room to bless them and be blessed by them. Ultimately, we want our children to be edified by God’s Word alongside God’s people and respond in worship and praise together as one voice with all the saints. 

God makes it clear: we have a responsibility to raise our children in His ways (Deuteronomy 6:6). We’re to teach them God’s Word to make them wise for salvation (2 Timothy 3:15). Sundays are not just a blessing to kids and their families momentarily… God says that if we, “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6) This is a heavenly calling with long lasting, eternal ramifications.

On Sunday mornings, this responsibility falls squarely on the shoulders of your elders. We are the ones who are tasked to preach the Word in ways that edify the believer and evangelize the non-believer. This is a challenge that we take on joyfully, and we make it our holy ambition to grow in our ability to teach God’s Word in ways that engage our children’s minds and hearts on that third Sunday of each month. Pray for us as we discern how to best adapt the content and format for the good of our children without sacrificing the Glory of God.

Practical Guidance for Families

All this being said, it is hard for some of our young ones to sit through a whole service! Discipleship is a process and sanctification takes time. We don’t expect our children to be perfectly behaved on Family Worship Sundays, but here is some guidance on how to lead them through a service and some healthy expectations we can place on them:

1. Children should sit with their parents, or parents of friends.
   We understand this will be hard for some and impossible for others but we want to train our children to eventually be able to sit and listen to God’s Word being taught for 30 minutes. This endurance will not only be helpful as young students and members of society, but Lord willing it will yield the spiritual fruit of Christ-like character and an eternal Hope in the Gospel.
   

2. Utilize the “Worship Bins” that we’ll provide.
   We’ve begun putting together activity bins for families with items that will bless our children and help them focus. These bins will be family-specific, so bear with us as we get to know your children better! Input and feedback is welcome here!
   

3. Challenge Older Kids to fill out Sermon Notes.
   In addition to coloring sheets and other activities, we encourage children who can write to try and fill out the “Sermon Notes” page to help foster active listening. These pages will be found inside your family’s Worship Bins.
   

4. Take time to have a family church recap after service.
   Discipleship continues in the home (Deuteronomy 6:6-9). We want to encourage families to take the time to “debrief” a Sunday worship service. What were the takeaway points? What was the central Bible verse? Was there a favorite song? This shouldn’t just be the kids answering— parents should take this opportunity to share what the Lord is teaching them as well!

What about our youth and teens?

Our Kid’s Ministry currently ends at fifth grade, after which we invite our middle schoolers to join us in service. We think that at this level, our youth will begin having the capacity to be blessed and edified alongside adults in our regular service. That being said, we would like our church to grow in how to intentionally love our youth and teens. MERCYhouse is prayerfully working on developing a Youth Fellowship and Teen Ministry to serve our growing kids. If you’d like to be a part of this, please contact Pastor Tommy (tommy@mercyhouse365.org)

What are we celebrating?

Our hope and prayer is that our church matures enough to be a place where children are welcomed, children are blessed, where we’re blessed by our children, and where we’re able to effectively make disciples of Christ out of them. 

But there’s one more thing: seeing our children walk in faith ought to be one of the most joyful experiences of our church, and something that we all celebrate with great zeal.

3 John 3–4

“For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”

John is speaking metaphorically, but how much more true must it be literally! Lord, bless our children with faith in you! Bless our church with the joy of having children who walk in Truth. Continue to build this household of faith by your mercy, from the oldest to the youngest, for generations to come.

Amen.

MH (Big Kids) Sermon Notes:

Thank you for your service.

I (Pastor Tommy) want to take a moment to acknowledge the tremendous service of Jake Blackwood and Garrett Postema who have served as Elders of MERCYhouse until their term ended last week on February 29th, 2024.

Both Garrett and Jake completed their eldership training and were commissioned in October of 2020. While our world was reeling from the devastating global pandemic, these men stepped into their calling and helped our church navigate the practical challenges of governmental mandates and the emotional and spiritual weight of sickness and death which loomed heavy on us all. The challenges were unprecedented, the outlook uncertain, but the course was stayed. Jake and Garrett helped lead our church in worshiping God, growing in our love and knowledge of Him through His Word, and following Him faithfully as a community.

In their second year of service, our founding pastor announced his resignation. While our church was reeling from this surprising news, these men stepped into their calling to help our church navigate a myriad of church hurt, significant growing pains, and a transition to a new lead pastor. And once again, the challenges were unprecedented, the outlook uncertain, but the course was stayed. Garrett and Jake helped lead our church in worshiping God, growing in our love and knowledge of Him through His Word, and following Him faithfully as a community. 

These men have not served perfectly, but they served faithfully. Their time as elders was birthed in adversity but beautifully refined through hardships by the love, grace and mercy of God. 

I’ve had a chance to reflect on how God has used them in these past few years. I am ever grateful for the countless hours they gave in meetings (which always ran late), the times they took on the mantle of preaching God’s Word, the many personal sacrifices that they and their wives Jamie and Michelle made, and their invaluable friendship which carried me through the darkest of times. But what I am most thankful for and inspired by is their genuine love for the Lord and His Church. They love Jesus! They love MERCYhouse. This was made clear by their repeated willingness to fulfill this calling which God had put on their lives to serve as elders / shepherds / pastors of this flock.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Galatians 6:9–10

Your church thanks you, Jake and Garrett, for your faithful service to our King and His Church and for not growing weary in doing good. Thank you Jamie and Michelle, for your many sacrifices which made it possible for your husbands to serve and for your own great contributions to our household of faith. 

“To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:21)

If you’d like to reach out to Jake, Garrett, Jamie or Michelle with a word of encouragement, please feel free to contact them (jake@mercyhouse365.org and garrett@mercyhouse365.org).

Shrinking Patches on Old Garments

On Sunday, December 17, 2023 I (Pastor Tommy) preached a sermon on Matthew 9:14-17 which you can listen to here. This week, one of our pastors lovingly confronted me regarding some peculiarities in how I approached teaching the passage. In particular, the verse in question was verse 16:

Matthew 9:16

No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch tears away from the garment, and a worse tear is made. (ESV)

In brief summary, this passage features a conversation between Jesus and the disciples of John who contend with Jesus and his disciples over their lack of fasting. Jesus responds with a correction to reveal that his ministry and the Gospel will not fit the religious expectations of that day.

In my sermon I argued that verse 16 above refers to the flexibility of Christ– that if he were not gracious enough to condescend and teach like He did with the disciples of John (and the Pharisees verses 10-13, and the scribes in verses 1-7) then He would have not been able to patch the rips and tears in people's misunderstandings about God and how to have a relationship with Him. Therefore, Jesus “shrunk” Himself to meet people where they were at, literally leaving Heaven and “shrinking” into the form of humanity to be with us in our sinfulness and deliver us the Good News. In the humble form of humanity, humans could look and see the face of Jesus when we would otherwise not be able to (Exodus 33:20).

I then argued that we, as His followers, ought to be willing to “shrink” and be flexible to meet people where they are at just like He did. To not maintain superiority even when we’re right or have a more firm grasp on truth or understand more fully our freedom in Christ… or else our lack of “shrinking” humility further tears our weaker brothers (Romans 14:13-23) or those who have no faith at all.

While the pastors agree that nothing I said was unbiblical, I failed to emphasize the main thrust of the passage as a whole in my interpretation of this verse. A more intuitive interpretation of verse 16 is simply pointing to the incompatibility between Jesus and His Gospel, and the “old” covenant under the law. The illustration then does not articulate what should be done (shrink the cloth first before patching), but that Jesus didn’t come to patch anything up at all– he came to bring something completely new: a new covenant, illustrated by new wine (verse 17).

We ought to hold this in tension with Matthew 5:17-20 and the fact that Christianity is not Judaism 2.0— it is the completed relationship of faith which God had originally intended for His people Israel, made possible by Christ. What I preached on Sunday was technically right. But as your shepherd who is responsible for your spiritual nourishment and who will have to give account to God for my preaching and teaching, I have no satisfaction in being “technically right.”

It is of utmost importance that MERCYhouse receives sound and accurate Biblical teaching– it’s what Elders are charged with ensuring (Titus 2:1)! This is because the Word of God is precious (Psalm 119:72), it is nourishing (Psalm 19:7) and it is a firm foundation for us to build our lives upon (Matthew 7:24-27). But God’s Word is most precious, most nourishing and the firmest foundation when we understand it as God intended.

I am thankful that MERCYhouse has elders who are not afraid to correct teaching, and who love our church enough to have hard conversations in order to sharpen iron with iron. Thank you all for your patience as I grow as a Bible teacher.

In Christ, the Word of God,

Pastor Tommy

Fall 2023 Pastor's Report

Closing Our Year with Celebration

It has been an incredible fall season at MERCYhouse which was made possible by many prayers, the selfless and faithful service of our church family and (most of all) God’s Grace and Mercy upon this house. Perhaps the biggest step that we have taken together as a church has been the discernment and installation of a permanent lead pastor 100 days ago, today.

I (Pastor Tommy) want to take this time to celebrate some victories, recognize areas of growth and identify some items on the horizon ahead of our Church summit on December 17, 2023. This list is not exhaustive! Forgive me if I missed anything, and let me know if I did.

MH:Kids Task Force

This group of dedicated members of our church have invested dozens of hours to rebuild our children's ministry from the ground up, overhauling our policies and procedures, implementing a new curriculum and developing a training program to equip new volunteers to minister to our next generation. Great strides are being made to create a safe, loving environment where our children can experience the Hope of the Gospel through the Word of God, by the loving the People of God. Thank you to Sarah Showalter, Laura Looman, Virginia Zenchenko, Angelique Cavagnet, Rachel Chaffin, David Landry, Kaitlyn Moore, Catherine Infante, Dana Kelly and Jamie Blackwood for their service on this Task Force!

MH SBC Abuse Reform Task Force

We have taken our decision to remain in the Southern Baptist Convention seriously by forming a Task Force of individuals who are passionate about critically monitoring the implementation of the SBC’s Abuse Reform for the fruit of genuine repentance. Beyond this, MERCYhouse is taking steps to understand how to better love and protect our community while also equipping ourselves to provide care for those who are victims of abuse in the Valley. Thank you to Vika Katko, Cory Telman, Julia Stubbs, Noreen Kelly, Kaitlyn Moore, Freke Ette and Matt May for their service on this Task Force!

Midweek– Faithful and Encouraging

Sunday mornings are an (important) aspect of our church, but the bulk of following Jesus happens after we gather under God’s Word each week at our worship service. Our weekly Midweek Bible Study has provided a space for members and attenders to dig deeper into God’s Word, lift one another up in prayer, and share meaningful fellowship on a regular basis. Thank you to Jake Blackwood and Alden Foelsche for their faithful service each week!

Sunday School– Accessible and Edifying

Paul says in Romans 10:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” Our weekly Sunday School class is equipping attenders with a robust Systematic Theology to better understand the wisdom and knowledge of God. This depth of understanding is leading to greater worship and awe of our great God. Thank you to Alden for his faithful service in teaching this class each week!

Prayer– Consistent and Powerful

We have prayed for our prayer ministry for years and have had the joy of seeing it take off! Our Prayer Team has been diligent about praying for each and every prayer request that is sent to us, and meeting regularly for early morning prayer walks and evening prayer times. Our Prayer Team has also led several Prayer and Worship nights to engage more of our members with the Godly duty of interceding on behalf of our friends, family and community. We are growing in experiencing prayer as a privilege and not a chore. Thank you to Vika Katko, Emelia Kusi, David Landry, and the other members of our Prayer Team for faithfully serving in this way!

Elders– Old and New

We have been incredibly blessed by the service of our elders during this time of transition. Both Jake and Garrett will be entering into some much needed rest in 2024. Thank you both for serving relentlessly through the fiercest storm that MERCYhouse has ever experienced.

After much prayer and deliberation, the Elders are pleased to present Jimi Oke and Cory Telman before our membership as candidates for eldership. Both Jimi and Cory come to us highly endorsed by our membership for this role and are confirmed as being Biblically qualified and exemplify Christ’s shepherding heart in their relationship with their immediate family and church family. We will begin a formal process where we will strongly exhort you (the members of MERCYhouse) to confirm the calling on these men’s lives to serve our church in the role of Elder. We hope to install both Jimi and Cory as your elders, pending your approval, in the beginning of February.

You will notice that our voting agenda includes a motion to enstate both Jake and Garrett as elders for a term of two months (January - February). This is to provide an overlap of service to ensure that the installation of our next elders is a smooth transition.

Alden

Many of you know Alden (or at least have heard his laugh). Alden has faithfully served MERCYhouse for years, particularly in this current season by fundraising his salary 100%. Alden doesn’t cost MERCYhouse a nickel but has blessed our community incalculably through his preaching, his teaching and his discipleship of our members. As Alden’s internship is coming to a conclusion at the end of April, we want to bless Alden by making sure that his salary is paid regardless of the result of his fundraising. For fiscal year 2024, Alden has already fundraised over 80% of his salary and the remaining amount is ~$8,800. We are proposing that any unraised monies be covered by MERCYhouse. Thank you, Alden, for serving our church!

Victories Upon Victories

There’s a lot more that can be said! Like how our church has been able to meet the practical needs of our community in ways that it has not since well before COVID. Or how our Women’s Ministry Team has been able to engage meaningfully with so many women in ways we haven’t seen in years. Or how we’ve seen 11 new members added and witnessed seven baptisms this fall! Or how our Worship team, led by Jimi, Julia and Avi continue to empower dozens of musicians to use their gifts to bless all of us with the opportunity to enter into worship together each Sunday. Or how our Missions and Benevolence giving, overseen by our Deacon Keith Benoit has been able to support those in our immediate community who have dire needs and those across the globe who are preaching the Gospel to the nations. Or how our Building Team, led by our Deacon Luke Showalter has continued to maintain our build and wisely steward the space that God has given us to bless everyone who comes inside of it.

There’s a lot that can be said about how amazing our God is, how wonderfully he provides, and how incredible his purposes are. The most beautiful thing I’ve seen during my time as your Pastor over these last 100 days is God’s Church simply being what it was made to be: a Body of Believers, with different gifts and passions, united by one Spirit, worshiping our God together and carrying out the mission we’ve been given. What a privilege and a joy!

I invite you to join us at our December 17 Voting Summit to exercise your authority and fulfill your responsibility as a member of our covenant community in determining the future of our church, and to celebrate the many victories God has given us in this season!

If this is what God can do in 100 days, I have great hope and expectation for His Work in this Valley in the many years to come. The Words of Jesus echo in my mind from Matthew 16:18: “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail.” Let’s press on, together, with great confidence in our Great King.

In the Powerful, House-Building Name of Jesus Christ,

Tommy Moore

Lead Pastor

An Answer to Prayer for Anna

Dear MERCYhouse,

It is with bittersweet joy for us to announce that Anna Plummer will be taking the full-time position of Program Coordinator at the Emily Dickinson Museum in Amherst. Congratulations Anna! This position is one that Anna has been working toward since 2015 and is an answer to many prayers. We’re excited for Anna and are in full support of her using her experience and gifts to glorify God right here in our community! She will be leaving her role as MERCYhouse’s Church Administrator at the end of May.

Anna has been such an encouragement to our staff and church body these past five months as she stepped into an incredibly challenging role during an incredibly difficult season of our church. She has been able to wrap her mind around the many responsibilities which our previous Church Administrator Lois held for over 20 years, and execute them with joy and excellence. In the words of JD, Anna has done a wonderful job making sure all the trains run on time. 

I (Tommy) am very thankful for her service and grateful for her friendship. While we are sad to see her leave this position, I want to encourage our church family that Anna’s time on staff at MERCYhouse has proved incredibly fruitful. Not only in helping to facilitate a space where worship of God and fellowship with one another can happen without distraction, but also in distilling and organizing the duties and responsibilities that are critical to those ends. In other words, she has been carefully constructing a manageable baton to hand off.

As MERCYhouse matures, we will continue striving toward being a body which utilizes all of its members in service to God and one another. We will be looking for someone to fill the role of Church Administrator (if you want to learn more, please click here) but are using this opportunity to involve more of our membership in some administrative and operational tasks. We hope that you’ll answer the call when it comes!

Please take some time to let Anna know if you’ve been blessed by her (you can reach her at anna@mercyhouse365.org)! Anna, we love you and are thankful for you. We look forward to hearing the testimony of your experience on staff, and how God has used this season in your life. We praise God that you’ll remain in this area and can’t wait to see how God will continue to use you as a member of our church family.

In Christ,

Tommy, Steve, Jake and Garrett

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to us at elders@mercyhouse365.org. Thank you!

A New Season for JD

Dear MERCYhouse,

We’re writing to let you know that our brother JD has accepted a position as Worship Director / Pastor in Hudson Massachusetts. This is a bittersweet moment for us to celebrate JD and all he has done over the past three years, and to send him, Ash and their baby off to an exciting new opportunity. JD and Ash’s last Sunday will be May 1, 2022.

JD has been an incredibly faithful and steadfast pillar for our church community, providing consistent, excellent and theologically sound worship week in and week out. We have been blessed by his leadership which has helped our family keep our hearts and eyes on Christ through the most challenging seasons of our church’s history. We are also thankful for his investment in our youth as he began developing a safe space for teens to engage in fellowship with one another and God. JD has served selflessly and admirably, and we are thankful for the sacrifices he and Ash have made for the building of God’s Kingdom here in Amherst. Praise God!

We at MERCYhouse are blessed with many gifted musicians who have helped lead our church in making a “joyful noise” and to “come into His presence with singing” (Psalm 100). We hope to gather our musicians who have been involved with worship in the past, and who would like to be involved in the future, to have a conversation to consider how to continue worshipping our Father through music and song.

The date and time of our Worship Ministry meeting is Tuesday, April 26 at 7:00pm at MERCYhouse.

We also would like to gather those who have a heart for our youth to have a conversation about the future of that ministry as well. Our last MH:Youth meeting for the spring semester will be May 1st which will coincide with a send-off party for JD. We will be in contact with parents, and a meeting with those interested will take place this summer.

In both these areas, we ask all of our family members to pray. We are not afraid or anxious, but we trust in Christ to continue leading our family. Our prayer is not immediately for a new worship leader, but for worship to continue in Spirit and in Truth at MERCYhouse. Our prayer is not immediately for a new youth leader, but for our youth to be loved and discipled as valuable members of our church family. 

Please join us in sending off JD and Ash well! We know that they will be an incredible blessing to Grace Church in Hudson, MA. We pray that God would care for them and their family, allow them to be fruitful in ministry, and that their faith in God would grow tremendously in this next season of life. We love you guys!

In Christ,

Tommy, Jake, Garrett, and Steve 

(Please feel free to reach out to us at elders@mercyhouse365.org)

Job Posting: Church Administrator

Hi MERCYhouse!

We want to thank you for participating in conversations, both at our previous summit meeting and in person, regarding the needs of the church. It’s been incredibly helpful for us as leaders to gather feedback from so many different perspectives.

These conversations are by no means over, and we will continue encouraging your feedback as we move forward as a church family. Your participation in our Summit Meetings is valuable because it is helping us make informed decisions on how to best meet the needs of our church and community. 

As many of you know, Lois Grandmaison will be moving on from MERCYhouse at the end of this year. She has been such a tremendous blessing to our family for over 20 years! What she has brought to our community simply cannot be replaced-- her spiritual gifts and consistent outpouring of loving service has blessed our church in unfathomable ways. We are incredibly, incredibly thankful for her faithfulness to Jesus and to our church family for so many seasons.

While there is no way to replace Lois, her position as Church Administrator is responsible for many practical needs that are critical to the ongoing operation of MERCYhouse. We have worked closely with her, and have taken your feedback regarding church needs, and have put together a job description for a position that we believe is necessary to fill in the coming months.

The job posting for a Church Administrator is linked below. We hope that you will pray for this process as we transition these responsibilities to a new person. We also hope that you will pass this onto anyone you feel would be a good candidate for this position.

We appreciate you all and are thankful for your prayers and support during this time!

Steve, Jake, and Garrett

elders@mercyhouse365.org

A New Season

Hello MERCYhouse,

I wanted to take some time to say thank you. I’m incredibly appreciative, humbled and honored to have this opportunity to serve as the Director of Teaching and Ministry at MERCYhouse. My wife Kaitlyn and I are both aware of the gravity of this moment, and could not be more excited to have this opportunity to invest our resources, time and energy to serve our church family. The vote passed on the evening of our seventh wedding anniversary-- a fitting occasion to mark this next chapter of our lives which will undoubtedly call upon the strength of nerve and heart of not just myself but of our marriage which God has spent these past years forging in the crucible of ministry. 

The Pain and Hurt

It has become increasingly evident that there are many members and attenders of our church who have experienced pain and hurt in recent years at MERCYhouse. While specific instances of hurt and offense are varied, it is apparent that this hurt has resulted in significant distrust-- both in those serving as leaders and those who are lay members. 

This reality deeply grieves me and it’s clear that we cannot move forward as a church with any semblance of health without these hurts and grievances addressed. It is my heart’s desire that this next season of church life will prioritize healing and reconciliation while remaining steadfast to the mission of MERCYhouse. 

Trust will have to be rebuilt. Our church as an organization must mature. I see my role in these coming years having a focus to facilitate and motivate these things to happen, with a sobering understanding that this will not be achieved overnight, nor will it be easy. 

The Church’s Role

What is your role in these next two years, MERCYhouse? My request is for you to take up two responsibilities.

One: continue to pray. There is no single person in this church (or outside of it, for that matter) who knows exactly how to navigate this season of healing and transition. We continue to rely on the wisdom and guidance of our wise God to lead us in the right direction. Pray with us and for us, for our only hope is in the One who hears and responds.

Two: be the church. Continue engaging as committed, active members of this local body of Christ in this next season despite the difficulty and challenges that lay ahead. Consider that the church does not exist just to serve you-- that we, as a community, look to one another to fulfill his or her calling as covenant community members to the benefit of the collective body (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). The areas of healing and growth which we hope, pray and long for in this next season depends on the willingness of our church members to be church members.

The Transition

And so we arrive at the first step of our transition to finding a new Lead Pastor for our church. My hope is to see our church reach a level of health and trust to be able to work together during this search process and exemplify unity in accomplishing this difficult task. I urge you to continue having patience and grace with one another as the process and details are laid out-- this is something that we’ve never done before! Assume good will in one another, hope and pray for the best outcome, and lovingly correct with grace and gentleness if it should come to that.

To be completely transparent: at this time, I do not see myself as the long term solution for MERCYhouse. While Kaitlyn and I feel incredibly called to this transitional season, God will have to further clarify His calling on our lives if and when the time comes to extend our time here. This is not to say that we have ruled it out, for who are we to stand in the way of God’s will? But we believe that it is critical for the church to spend these next two years focusing on repairing relationships and furthering the mission, and not on the vetting of me as the lead pastor. My focus then, for my time serving in the interim, is not to position myself for the long term role of lead pastor; it’s to help our church grow toward a healthy place where we can make decisions together as one body for the future of our church.  

Final Thoughts

Church will never be finished until Jesus returns. We will never be “done working on” or growing as a church family until Christ returns to complete His work in us. Additionally, there are no “problem people” or challenging individuals that must be “dealt with”-- as a leader and shepherd in the church, our job is to tend to and take care of the flock. We lay our lives down, like Christ, in service to the spiritual wellbeing of the members of this church. “Messiness” is the entirety of our ministry, and to be in a messy church is to be in The Church.

If you are hurt… please know that we (as leaders) want to hear from you. We want to acknowledge your pain, and to whatever degree is possible, take ownership as leaders in the church for ways that you’ve been hurt or wronged. While we understand that complete reconciliation is going to be between the offended and offender, we hope that in whatever part possible, we (as leaders) can contribute to the healing process for you.

Ultimately, I have great hope that God will show his incredible jealousy for His Bride, the Church which will result in fruitful sanctification and healing in this next season. Our greatest hope is that Christ is both the cornerstone and the builder of our church. May His grace and mercy continue to hold this household together. 

I may not know each of you but I look forward to meeting you, hearing from you, and doing life with you.

1 John 3:16

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

In the Gentleness and Humility of Christ,

Tommy Moore
Director of Teaching and Ministry
tommy@mercyhouse365.org

Raising Kids . . . and Disciples

How do I raise kids . . . and disciples?

by robert Krumrey

A question that many in the modern age are asking is, “How do I raise my kids?” There are a plethora of books, workshops, and podcasts on this topic. We are also bombarded with lots of opinions about the topic from family, friends, even strangers. Many of these ideas are nothing more than reactions against how things were done by a previous generation of parents. The truth is that there is no simple formula for raising healthy kids. Human beings are complicated and nurturing them is always going to take a tremendous amount of wisdom and effort. One place that people (including Christians) fail to look for help with parenting is the Bible. We go to the good book for truth on beliefs and practices in a myriad of different categories, but bring up what the Bible says about parenting and you may find yourself met with awkward silences or defensive rebuttals.

Last Sunday’s sermon was an effort to explain one of the most important parenting passages in the New Testament - Ephesians 6:1-4. According to this passage, bringing up baby requires one to instruct and discipline one’s child in a highly relational manner. This is an effective way to parent, in part, because it is a reflection of how God parents us. God speaks truth to us, God confronts us regarding our sin, and God does both of these in the context of relationship. This kind of parenting is designed by God to serve as a template for understanding the bad news of our sin and the good news of our salvation which should be the ultimate goal for any Christian parent.

This kind of framework also informs discipleship. Every church that is serious about the Bible is serious about discipleship. There are many different ways to accomplish this kind of ministry, but to be effective, there must be a culture of instruction, discipline, and relationship. American churches seem to swing toward instruction OR relationship. Those who lean on the instruction side offer lots of classes that are heavy on conveying truth. Disciples in these kinds of churches show their maturity by learning more stuff. In contrast, the churches who lean on the relationship side shy away from doctrine and spend time almost solely in fellowship and prayer. Disciples in these kinds of churches show that they are mature by being relationally close to others. Leaning too far on either side is out of balance and will not produce healthy disciples who make disciples.

Even if you do strike a good instruction/relationship balance, you still won’t be doing all you can to grow disciples in the local church. Just like children can be instructed and related with and still fail to obey, disciples can be instructed and related with and fail to obey. Raising healthy disciples is going to include discipline. Look at this description of life together in the local church by the Apostle Paul:

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”

— Colossians 3:16 (ESV)

In this passage there is both “teaching AND admonishing” going on in the church and it is being done among “one another”. Mere classes are not enough. There is a need for correction, warning, and discipline. Notice also that the ultimate authority is Christ himself who is expressing that authority through his word. His word that is “dwelling richly” in the membership of the church. This word that has been planted in each believer is being accessed in the ongoing relationships between believers who are not only close enough to admonish one another but are also intimately worshipping God together with psalms, hymns, and songs.

The Bible also speaks to the ministry of admonishment in the context of leadership. In Paul’s closing remarks to the Thessalonians he gives them this charge:

“We ask you, brothers, to respect those who labor among you and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.”

— 1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13 (ESV)

Paul is exhorting the Thessalonians to respect their leaders, but he is also letting us know that part of the job of church leadership is to “admonish” those in the congregation. This certainly applies to elders and other official leaders in the church, but he doesn’t state this explicitly. It is “those who labor among you and are over you”. The more mature believers being described here are expected to be admonishing younger believers. No one can just hear instruction and get it the first time. We all have blind spots and deficits and need disciple makers to help us see the ways we haven’t matured into God’s vision for walking with Jesus.

The ultimate authority of course is God which he expresses through his word. In Paul’s second letter to the young pastor Timothy he tells him this:

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

— 2 Timothy 3:16,17 (ESV)

Again, we see that the sacred writings (aka Scripture) that are inspired by God have been given to the church and to the church leader. This body of knowledge is not just for teaching but also for reproof, correction, and training. A culture of discipleship is going to have this highly relational expression of both instruction and discipline. The result is being truly equipped for the good works that God has called each believer to participate in both in the church and on mission in the world.

I remember one of the first times I had to add some discipline to instruction in a discipleship relationship. I was working with a college student who was about to go home for the summer to work. He was really growing and was voraciously reading his Bible. He made an offhand comment about how his summer job was paid with cash only and that there was a culture in this particular business of only reporting half of the income in order to save money on taxes. The income was paying for his school because his parents didn’t have any money to contribute to his education. I nervously brought up the fact that this kind of behavior lacked integrity and lacked a willingness to trust in God as one’s provider. He hedged a bit, saying that everyone else was doing it and that it was normal and . . . Then he stopped himself and with resolve in his voice declared that he planned to trust God and do the right thing no matter what kinds of hardships might come his way. It was a really important turning point in his walk with God.

Of course these kinds of conversations need to be handled with care and they don’t always go as well as the one mentioned above. Like child rearing, one does not want to exasperate people with correction. One must be prayerful and come from a heart of genuine care for those being made disciples. Like a parent, disciple makers sacrifice greatly when spending the time and energy to prayerfully figure these dynamics out, but the result is fully formed disciples who can disciple others. So let the word of Christ dwell in you richly today as you teach and admonish one another!

From Tiredness to Trust

Tiredness to Trust - God’s path to the good life

by Robert Krumrey

God’s vision for his children is that they would live lives that are filled to overflowing. Last Sunday’s sermon looked at a description of this reality in Psalm 128. What is described in this Psalm is a home where the husband and father is “blessed” and the wife and children are thriving like leafy green plants that are producing an abundance of fruit. It is profoundly beautiful and something that most human beings desire. Problem is that most of us don’t feel like we are living out such a reality.

Most of us are tired especially if we are parents of children. Life is hard and things never seem to go as planned. There is a constant barrage of fatigue, grumpiness, sickness, and overall lack of satisfaction. Most, if not all, are running on empty and any hint of being asked to do more is met with guilt, frustration, or even anger. As one book title suggests, we are “Dad Tired”. This is certainly true of moms too. So what is a person to do?

We have a few options, even if it doesn’t feel like we do, and we are most likely embracing one or a combination of the following in our daily living.

option 1: WORK MODE

Some of us respond to our fatigue and dissatisfaction by merely trying harder. We get up earlier. We stay up later. We take vitamin supplements and inhale essential oils. We listen to motivational self-help podcasts on our way to work. These things aren’t all bad. There are wise ways to manage time and diet and mental health that will lead to a more productive life, but if this is all we’re going for to deal with our challenges, we are building a life on quicksand.

option 2: SURVIVAL MODE

Instead of taking a proactive approach like those in the work mode group, many of us just take life as it comes. We don’t need an alarm clock because we wake up to the screams of our toddlers demanding breakfast. We spring into action and get the drink and the breakfast and then deal with whatever the next crisis is until we’ve made it to the end of the day and fall into bed exhausted only to repeat the next day in much the same way. The general feeling is that we are a victim of life and there is absolutely nothing we can do to change it.

option 3: ESCAPE MODE

Usually survival mode is accompanied by escape mode. Whenever there is a break in the action, we scroll on our phones, binge on Netflix, or eat comfort food. We tell ourselves that we deserve a break because life is so hard. Of course breaks are needed, but the result of these kinds of breaks is a greater feeling of malaise that makes survival that much harder. Our “rest” doesn’t contribute to a rhythm of work and then more rest, but instead one of escape, guilt, and more fatigue.

TRUST MODE

The above descriptions summarize life for a lot of humans on planet earth, Christians and non-Christians. All of us on a pretty consistent basis find ourselves falling into some version of these behaviors. That’s one thing if you are not a Christian, but if you are, you probably have an extra layer of guilt and shame that accompanies these realities because you know that you’re supposed to be experiencing a different sort of existence. For example, what about all that flourishing being described in Psalm 128?!?

As I shared in Sunday’s sermon, this blessed life of wholistic human flourishing is found by those who “fear God”. In the sermon, we looked at these bookends that surround the description of material and relational flourishing:

“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways!”

— Psalm 128:1

“Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.”

— Psalm 128:4

The good life or “the blessed life” is experienced by those who come under the authority of God. As one’s authority he commands us in “his ways” and we are to walk in them. The nature of this relationship is that we submit to God’s ways or commands no questions asked. We don’t do this for fear of punishment, but because of the good and right authority that is exercised by God who created and saved us. This “fearing” of God is also described as “trust” in the scripture. Here’s an example of the mixing of the two concepts of fearing and trusting from Proverbs 3:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”

— Proverbs 3:5-8

Trusting in, leaning on, even fearing God leads not only to straight paths, but also healing and refreshment down to the depths of our marrow. This scripture is giving us a glimmer of the mystery of a life of faith - living in obedience to God even when we, in and of ourselves, don’t have the money, time, energy to do what God is putting in front of us. It is in these moments when we are ripe for a moment of genuine trust in our gracious King. So how do we do this? Here are four practical ways to embrace this reality.

1. Ground yourself in the Gospel - We are never going to get life completely right which is why we need the good news about the work of Jesus on the cross. The gospel is no gimmicky self help program filled with empty promises. The gospel is honest about the nature of this world and the hope we have now and forever. Life on this side of heaven is always going to tend toward futility. Everything we encounter in this world is wasting away which is why life feels like an uphill battle. This is a result of sin and its effects which Christ has died to deal with in us and the entire universe. We must keep grounding ourselves in the gospel that gives us hope in the life to come and gives us strength to carve out supernatural abundance in this life as well.

2. Get up earlier - This makes no sense right? When you are tired, it seems like you should squeeze in every minute of sleep that you can. It’s also something that I mentioned that “work mode” people do to their own demise. The kind of getting up early that I’m talking about isn’t to get more work done and I’m also not negating the need for adequate sleep. What I am talking about is getting up to make time to pray, read, be quiet before the Lord and take stock of your inner life. Going from alarm clock to the chaos of your day is never a good way to start your day acknowledging him in all of your ways. If first thing in the morning doesn’t work for you, at least carve out a few minutes after dropping kids at school, during a baby’s nap time, or in between your morning classes. Taking time to be still before God and prayerfully meditate on Scripture is essential for moving from tiredness to trust.

3. Replace Screen Time with Scripture - While most of us are busy, many of us somehow find time to scroll on our phones literally for hours. I’ve become more aware of this since my iPhone started giving me a weekly report of my phone usage. While there is nothing wrong with using social media and enjoying forms of digital entertainment, doing so regularly without regular time in Scripture is a recipe for a very tired body and soul. Figure out the times when you scroll on your phone or watch movies and replace some of that time with Scripture study.

4. Serve Others - Again, this makes no sense! If I’m tired, how can I serve others? This is another place where faith kicks in. We know that no matter how busy we are, God is calling us to serve in the church and on mission in the world. When he wrote those commands in the Bible, he was certainly aware of our busy schedules in 2021. Alongside those commands are promises to give us strength to serve (see 1Peter 4:11). Serving and/or giving, out of what feels like deprivation, is a moment when God invigorates us body and soul for his glory and the good of others.

So take a few minutes today to put down your productivity podcast, your Insta feed, even the chaos of addressing the current crisis and “acknowledge him”, your King. He will be faithful to move you from tiredness to trust.

The Building of MERCYhouse

How did we (will we) build this house?

by Robert Krumrey

When I was in fifth grade my family built our own house. This might sound a bit crazy, but it made sense seeing as how my dad did construction most summers when he was off from coaching and teaching school. The foundation was poured and the framing was raised by a bunch of kids from the high school shop class (with supervision of course). A friend of the family did cabinetry and my uncle the electrical work. My elderly grandfather helped with the roofing even though the house was two story and he was already up in years. Fifth grade Robert helped out every day of that summer fetching tools and cleaning up behind those who had real skills. Most of the work was done by my dad who worked tirelessly, doing a lot of everything oftentimes until midnight. The thing I remember him doing most was the hanging, taping, floating, and painting of a lot of sheetrock. There were many jokes about hell being a place where people were condemned to do sheetrock for all of eternity.

It was hard work, but in the end a house was built. A house that became a home for our family. Because we knew all of what went into that house we knew all of the “extras” that were built in and all of the “mistakes” that we covered up with caulking and moulding. There was something special about living in a house that you had built with your own hands and I knew my hands had been at least a small part of that endeavor.

Planting MERCYhouse has been a lot like this. It’s been hard work and many have come alongside to help with the building and a lot of them were a bunch of kids. I know well what is so special about this church that most people don’t realize until they leave and try to find it somewhere else. I also know well the flaws that seem to always crop up year after year. While the work has been hard, there’s something really special about pastoring the church that you planted from scratch.

I said this on Sunday but it has been a high honor to plant and pastor this church. So many have come through this place who have seen fit to call me pastor. Many of them still see me as their pastor after they leave. I recently received a call from a friend of someone who had been a part of our church years ago. The former MHer was in the hospital and literally dying of COVID. The friend said to me over the phone, “He still considers you to be his pastor. Would you join us on a call to pray for his healing.” Of course I did and by God’s grace he recovered and is healthy again. Being a pastor to those here and beyond is holy ground.

I am very aware that all of this building that has gone on over the past 22 years was ultimately being done by THE Builder. In light of this, we shouldn’t be surprised that such endeavors, though seemingly impossible, are successfully accomplished. Jesus promised this was going to be the case in a statement he made to one of his first New Covenant co-laborers:

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. ”

— Matthew 16:18

Upon hearing Peter’s profession of faith in the previous verses, the humble servant teacher Jesus suddenly gets a fire in his eyes and he defiantly declares his long-term intentions. He is not confused about the obstacles that will be faced. There is an enemy and that enemy will be doing everything it can to thwart the good purposes of God in the world. Jesus is unfazed by this enemy. In fact, he plans for the church he is building to be the church militant. To take the fight to the enemy in such a way that hell will be hiding inside a citadel trying with all of its might to keep the gates secure.

And the result? The gates of hell will not prevail. The church will be built in spite of great opposition not because humans are such great builders but because Jesus will do the necessary work on the cross to make it all possible. We are more like 5th graders along for the ride. Nevertheless, he invites us to co-labor with him which he has done over these last 22 years and will continue to do so. He is still building here with or without the Krumrey’s and he is inviting you to be a part of this grand endeavor.

In last Sunday’s sermon, I shared five ways that you can participate in co-laboring with God in the building of his church:

1. Pray - One of the most important (and mysterious) ways that God invites us to co-labor with him is to pray. Jesus literally teaches us to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:7-15). God’s way of ushering his rule and reign onto planet earth is in part through our prayers. So please pray for our church, the leaders, and its mission.

2. Serve - When we serve in the church we co-labor with God. Peter describes word ministry as speaking “as one who speaks oracles of God” and deed ministry as serving as one who “serves with the strength that God supplies” (1 Peter 4:11). Acts of service in the church are ways to participate in the building of God’s house.

3. Give - Generous giving of resources is a key component of contributing to the building that God is accomplishing in both the Old and New Testaments. Paul explains to the Corinthians that their giving “is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God” (2 Corinthians 9:6-14)

4. Follow - Submission to leaders is so important when it comes to the ongoing building project that is the church. Leaders aren’t perfect, but they are given to the church by God to give direction to the army of builders that is a local congregation. Paul directs the church of Ephesus by explaining to them that he (God) “. . . gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,” (Ephesians 4:11-16)

5. Found - Fifth and foremost always make sure that the foundation you are building on is the gospel. Jesus proclaims to Peter in Matthew 16 that he (Jesus) is building the church and doing so on “this rock”. Peter later describes the building of a local church as coming “to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house.” (1 Peter 2:4-12). Jesus and Peter and every other New Testament writer are clear that the foundation of the church is the work of Christ at the cross.

Know beyond any doubt that this foundation is unshakable, even if it was installed by a bunch of kids.

NOT Fighting is Failing

Is it ever right to fight?

by Robert Krumrey

Most of us tend toward the path of least resistance. Constantly seeking a life that is conducive to that peaceful, easy feeling. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but this rarely ever works. There is always some kind of obstacle in our way which forces us to engage. Our goal is then to engage in a way that will restore our lives to tranquility. As soon as we succeed, something pops up again to stir the water and the cycle repeats.

This merry go round of a life is certainly not new but it has been uniquely programmed into us through our exposure to 1000’s of hours of ads promising that perfect peace that we all long for. Sandy beaches, blue waters, warm friendships, titillating experiences flashed on our flickering screens again and again. We slavishly get back onto the merry go round, but we never find the peace that’s promised with every price tag.

The Bible has a different vision for how life should be experienced. In last Sunday’s sermon, we looked at Romans chapter 7. This chapter doesn’t paint a picture of peace, but instead a picture of war. Paul writes this in a couple of verses that seem to summarize the chapter:

“So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. ”

— Romans 7:21-23

The Apostle Paul, who may be the most famous Christian of all time, reveals to the reader that his inward life feels like a battle. Even though he knows what is right and wants to do what is right, he finds that a life of obedience is war. The war being described in this chapter isn’t a war with the world or even with Satan, though these are two formidable foes for the Christian. The war being described here is with indwelling sin. It’s an evil that lies “close at hand” and it is waging war in Paul’s “members” or body parts. Paul’s exhortation to the Christian is not to take the path of least resistance, but to engage daily in a war against the sin that dwells within.

We are called to get up every day and fight sin. It’s a bit like a chronic disease that never goes away, but there is a right way and a wrong way to keep fighting against the sickness. The wrong way is to fight in our own strength (the old way of the written code, Romans 7:6). The other wrong way is to give up the fight. What this means is that struggling to overcome our sin is not failing, but NOT fighting is. In last Sunday’s sermon I mentioned that some of us treat our sin nature like a spoiled child, giving it everything it desires. When we do this there is no war, because we are not choosing to conflict with our sinful desires. When we give in to sin we think we are choosing the path of least resistance, and in a way we are, but the results are not peace. The results are apathy, joylessness, guilt, shame, distance with God and others. Like junk food addicts, we gorge our desires only to wind up feeling fatigued and sick to our stomach.

The war against indwelling sin is the only path to the abundant life that Jesus came to give us in the here and now. Paul describes sin as seizing opportunities to deceive and kill us, even using God’s law as a means of attack. Lying down and letting sin run all over us, is not going to lead to anything good including peaceful tranquility. We are in a war zone of sorts and our foe is so heinous that surrender will only lead to us becoming a prisoner of war or worse a torturous death.

So if you are in the fight against sin, keep fighting. Retreat really isn’t a viable option for the Christian and Jesus has given us everything we need to win. Paul has told us again and again in Romans 6 that we have been “set free from sin” (Romans 6:22). This doesn’t mean that sin has no influence in our lives, but it does mean that when we cry out to Jesus again and again for rescue, he will save us every time.

If you have given up on fighting, rise up and fight again. If you are a Christian, you are not condemned by sin (see Romans 8:1). As a saved person, you now have the opportunity to fight sin daily in your life. Not only this, but there is no other path to abundant life this side of heaven. Surrendering to the sin that dwells within will only lead to a devastating experience of sin’s effects, known collectively as “death”. Surrendering your members to Jesus your King leads to life and peace.

Serving by the Spirit

How do I serve in the new way of the Spirit?

by Robert Krumrey

Last Sunday we learned from Romans 7:1-6 that the genuine Christian has the opportunity to bear good fruit for God. Fruit that is described by the apostle Paul as “serving in the new way of the Spirit” (see Romans 7:6). I said this was an important clarification regarding the desired outcome of our union with Christ. We currently live in a very therapeutic culture that values inner well being as the ultimate goal of the good life. If we are not careful, we will co-opt Christianity for this same end.

The Inner and the Outer Life

This is not to say that the inner life doesn’t matter. Paul is spilling a lot of ink in the book of Romans to make sure that we have a healthy inner life. Romans 6 is all about thinking of yourself or “considering” yourself in certain ways that include being dead to sin and alive to God. When we get to Romans 8, we’ll hear him reminding us that we are no longer under condemnation, that we are the adopted children of God, and that we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us to assist us in both knowing and being who we are. The inner life matters and it matters a lot!

That said, if inner life stays inner only, then something has gone horribly wrong. Jesus didn’t save us just to have inner peace. He saved us to be a son or daughter who serves. The new identity that we’ve been given, that of a child of God, is to be lived out in the life of the church and on mission in the world. Romans 8 tells us that we are “sons of God” and that we are able to cry “Abba Father”. Romans 12 tells us to act like it.

Consider how all of the inner life talk in Romans 6,7,8 gives way to outer life talk in Romans 12:

“Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.”

— Romans 12:6-8

We are told that every Christian has been given gifts and are then commanded to “use them”. Some are verbal gifts and are more up front. Others are task oriented and more behind the scenes. Still others work to lead and organize the other gifts. When they are all being used, they work like a body that is functional and unified in all of its beautiful diversity.

The New Way of the Spirit

As if to keep us from forgetting our inner resources, Paul makes sure that all of this serving is being done in the power of the Spirit. He doesn’t want us to blindly stumble back into the “old way of the written code.” This serving in the church and on mission in the world is done through the infinite resources of the Holy Spirit that we now have through faith in Christ. Peter says something similar in his teaching on the use of spiritual gifts in the church:

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

— 1 Peter 4:10,11

In Peter’s description, we see speaking gifts being deployed with the awareness that God is supernaturally working through words to build up the church. More task oriented gifts are being deployed with the awareness that they are being supernaturally assisted with strength that God supplies. In other words, all of the acts of service that are happening in the church are to be carried out in the “new way of the Spirit”.

Where do I start?

Sometimes it may seem hard to figure out how to serve in the new way of the Spirit. Either we are unaware of the needs around us or we are overwhelmed with too many opportunities. With all that we have on our plates, where do we even start? Here are are few thoughts:

• Pray: Start praying about serving. If uniquely Christian service is supernatural, then it seems obvious that we would want to pray about how to engage in it. Pray that God would help guide you in serving and that he would give you strength to serve on top of all of the other responsibilities that you are juggling.

• Team: Seek to serve as part of a team (official or organic). You may notice that the lists of spiritual gifts in the Bible almost always include the image of the human body. Members of the church are supposed to work together as a unity of different kinds of gifts.

• Leadership: Respond to the initiation of your leaders. If you are a part of the MERCYhouse family and you hear an invitation to serve from your elders or staff, take the initiative to either meet the need yourself or help recruit someone else to employ their gifts in meeting the need. There are many “official” opportunities to serve in our church - everything from mowing the yard to leading discipleship groups. If you are unsure about these opportunities, please reach out to our church office and let us know about your desire to serve - contact@mercyhouse365.org.

Start and Stay Small

So much of healthy church life is made up of small/daily acts of service that everyone in the congregation is called to participate in. More than filling slots in official programs, the church is called to a culture of serving in the new way of the Spirit. Empowered by God, we faithfully engage with the opportunities that God places in our path, both from our leaders and through our own awareness of needs in the congregation. Here are just a few examples that Paul gives the churches in Rome to help them understand what this kind of ministry of service in the church might look like on a daily basis. Prayerfully pick one and seek to serve someone this week!

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all.”

— Romans 12:9-17

The Big Deal About Baptisms

What’s the Big Deal About Baptisms?

by Robert Krumrey

We just celebrated one of the most important milestones of our church year - Spring baptisms! If you missed them you can see the FB livestream HERE and pictures HERE. We at MH have had the privilege of seeing people pass through the waters of baptism at the end of every semester of our 21 year history. But why are we making such a big deal out of a bunch of people getting wet?

MANDATE

One reason is that we are commanded to do this by Jesus. Jesus makes this very explicit in his great commission to the original disciples and eventually handed over to us:

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ”

— Matthew 28:19

Sometimes we find it hard to know how to obey Jesus. Should I take a certain job which will move me away from my church? Do I save a sum of money for my kid’s college or give it to missionaries? We read our Bibles and pray and do our best to honor Christ in these somewhat unclear areas of life, but some things are not like that. Some things are very explicit and baptism is one of these kinds of commands. When people who are attending our church profess new found faith in Jesus and his work on the cross, we should baptize them. Part of what was happening at Puffer’s Pond last Sunday was our church obeying Jesus.

MEANING

This naturally leads to the question of, “Why would Jesus command such a thing?” When we look at New Testament teaching on baptism, we see at least three facets of meaning. The first is a declaration of the gospel itself. The person being baptized is proclaiming the core of the Christian faith with their body by being buried in the water and then raised out again in a much different state - all wet! This experience tells the story of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. It also tells the story of Christian conversion itself. Genuine Christians who have believed in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, are united to Jesus through that belief and the result is a dying to their old lives and a rising to a new life. Paul points to this reality and how baptism proclaims it in the book of Romans:

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

— Romans 6:4

In addition, there is also a communal meaning contained within baptism. It is an initiation rite for those who are entering the church. I often say that baptism expresses that the new Christian has both joined Jesus AND Jesus’ church. Paul appeals to this idea in the book of Ephesians chapter 4 verse 5 when he reminds the Ephesian church members that they have “one Lord, one faith, one baptism.” Baptism is not only an individual experience, but also has communal meaning.

Baptismal candidates from 4 of our 5 colleges and their testimony readers

MISSION

Baptisms are also one indicator that our church is on mission. We say that our mission is “to make disciples who make disciples”. If we are never baptizing anyone, then we are not making disciples who make disciples. Praise God we are baptizing people even in a pandemic! Since the pandemic started back in 2020, we have baptized 14 people. This is actually a few more than usual. This is cause for much celebration as we see the mission of the church being carried out. We also say that we want to make disciples “on campuses, in communities, and among the unreached people of the world”. Sunday’s baptisms included students from Umass, Amherst College, Smith College, and Mt. Holyoke College. It is really encouraging to see that our campus ministry reach is making an impact in at least four of our five local colleges. It is also a reminder of the fruitful ministry of our staff who spend intentional time making disciples on these campuses. While this is an encouragement in the area of campus ministry, it’s also a reminder that we didn’t see new converts from the community pass through these waters. Let this reality be cause for greater prayer and effort on our part to bring a gospel witness to our neighborhoods and work places.

ME

Baptisms are also a reminder to professing Christians who haven’t been baptized of the importance of following Jesus’ command to participate in this important rite. Genuine Christians have received Jesus as their Savior and their King. If he is their King and the King says get baptized, then this is a no brainer. If you are a Christian, and haven’t been baptized, please see our website for more details about how you can get baptized at MERCYhouse. If you are a baptized believer, allow these baptisms to excite you about one day helping to baptize some new Christians yourself. Disciples make disciples. Disciples also baptize disciples. Those that were helping with the baptizing last Sunday weren’t in the water because Pastor Rob can’t lift people out of the water by himself. They were in the water because they had been intimately involved in the spiritual journeys of those being baptized. As your pastor, I pray for a day when there will be many more church members in those chili waters helping to baptize students and community members because they have been used by God to make disciples of others.

Resurrection and the Road to Reality

What if I have doubts about the resurrection?

by Robert Krumrey

We’ve just celebrated the resurrection of Jesus which is a high water mark for the Christian faith. The entire weight of our faith rests on an empty tomb. It’s the mic drop answer that addresses so many questions. How do you know Jesus is God? Resurrection. How do you know Jesus’ death paid for sin? Resurrection. Why do you think faith in Jesus is the only way to God? Resurrection. The Bible itself tells us that if the resurrection isn’t real, we are to be pitied as fools (see1 Corinthians 15:12-18). But if it is, we have cause for confident faith.

What if I’m struggling to believe that the resurrection actually happened?

A Leap of Faith?

Sometimes religious people shy away from any sort of intellectual scrutiny. They say things like, “I just feel it” or “You just gotta have faith” or “I just know it in my heart”. They think that faith is a “leap” into a place that does not include reason, and somehow that’s acceptible if you add the word “just” to everything you say. Religion is seen as a domain that is not a place for intellect. There is faith and then there is reason. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

One of the unique things about Christianity is that it is founded upon events that happened in history. We know about these events from eyewitness testimony that is put forth in the 4 gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). These writings offer multiple attestations of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. The four reports were written and disseminated near the time and in the place that these events happened. This is an important detail, because it means that there was ample opportunity to falsify these claims and snuff out their distribution, which is not what happened. In addition to these documents, we also see the mentioning of Christ’s death by crucifixion and his resurrection in both Jewish and Roman historical documents. If you’d like to hear more about this, you can watch our latest MHU presentation on the Resurrection HERE. In this video, is a brief overview of evidences for the resurrection and several suggested books for looking deeper into its historicity.

From Unbelief to Belief

I’m not under the delusion that everyone who spends 25 minutes looking at evidence for the resurrection is going to become a Christian. I do think that honest inquiry should lead one to the conclusion that there is much evidence for Jesus’s dying and rising. I also know that the road to a genuine faith almost always includes some doubt. This was true even of Jesus’ earliest followers who saw the resurrected Lord.

In Luke 24, after the women report to the disciples that they have seen Jesus resurrected, Luke writes that “these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” This wasn’t a “let’s gather more evidence” or “it’s possible and we should consider it”. It was “this is nonsense and we refuse to believe you”. Later in that same chapter, Luke describes a resurrection appearance when Jesus is present to a group of disciples. Luke reports that Jesus can see their disbelief and asks them “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” Then a few verses later Luke comments that “they still disbelieved.”

Even for those early disciples who were able to see Jesus’ hands and feet and touch his resurrected body, they had to travel a road from disbelief to belief. Partly this is because they were not expecting a flesh and blood resurrection. Even though Jesus had told them it was going to happen multiple times (see Luke 9 for instance), they didn’t have a philosophy of life that included resurrection as a reality.

The Road to Reality

Just because one’s philosophy of life doesn’t currently include corpses rising from the dead never to die again, doesn’t mean it isn’t true. Just like those early followers, we may not have a category for this, but those who are serious about searching for the truth must always be open to the possibility that our understanding of what is real may need an update. There is a big universe out there, and it includes both the seen and the unseen. Every serious historian agrees that there was a Jesus and that his early followers believed that he died on a cross and rose from the dead. Many of those early followers, especially the ones who claimed to be eyewitnesses, went to their deaths professing that all of this was true. The result was a radical (and peaceful) religious takeover of the Roman empire within 200 years all while under persecution.

If Jesus’ resurrection is real, your disbelief has no affect on its historicity. That’s the strange thing about reality. It doesn’t bow to our feelings or our presuppositions or our biases or even to our ignorance. It simply is. I would encourage you to seriously consider this claim and all of its implications. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I’ll end with the words of John, the gospel writer, explaining why he wrote his gospel:

“ Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

— John 20:30,31

I pray that your honest inquiry into these matters will lead to a faith that will give you life in his name.

Holy Week: Celebrate & Share!

How can I make the most of Holy Week?

by Robert Krumrey

Next week Christians remember and celebrate the most important week for the Christian faith. It’s the week of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. This important observance is what we (along with many other Christian traditions) call Holy Week. The events being remembered make up the very foundation of what it means to be a Christ follower. In the Gospels of the New Testament, Jesus tells his disciples over and over that his primary reason for coming to earth is to die and rise. He says to them for the third time in Matthew’s gospel:

“See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

— Matthew 20:18,19

In just a few verses later Jesus says this:

“even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

— Matthew 20:28

Jesus is very clear that his primary mission was not to feed people and heal all of their diseases, but instead to die to save sinners and rise to rule and reign as their king forever. Even the gospel writers themselves report on the life and teaching of Jesus at a pretty fast clip and then go into super slow mo when they get to Jesus’ last week leading up to and including his death and resurrection. This is the “main thing” in the Christian faith and consequently Christians throughout the ages have made a big deal out of remembering and celebrating these events.

Celebrate

We at MERCYhouse hope you will join us in remembering and celebrating the significance of the events that make up this very important week. We’ll be meeting on Zoom every day at noon (M-Th) to read, reflect, and pray. We’ll walk through downtown Amherst (in person and on FB live) at noon on Good Friday (4/2/21) with a large wooden cross to further reflect on the events of that day. There will be a Good Friday Tenebrae service at 7pm with readings, songs, and a sermon that will help us further consider the significance of Jesus’ death on the cross. We’ll celebrate Easter Sunday with a sunrise service (6:30am) on top of Bare Mountain (everyone is welcome to hike up and participate) and in our regularly scheduled services (9:15am & 11:15am). All of these are opportunities to remember and celebrate these monumental events.

Share

We also hope you will use some of these events as opportunities to engage friends and family who are not yet Christians with the good news that is contained within this week. Easter is still a time when people are more open to attending a worship service or special event. Our prayer and reflection during Mission Week was geared toward this kind of thinking. We live in a mission field where the majority of people in our communities and on our campuses are not Christians. Lets prayerfully engage those in our spheres of influence this week and next with an invite to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

To help with this, we are also hosting a 7pm Zoom event on the Monday after Easter (4/5/21) about the resurrection of Jesus. Two PhD candidates in philosophy and an undergrad in philosophy, who are also members of our church, will be sharing both about the historicity of the resurrection of Jesus as reported in the New Testament Gospels and how this event has personally changed their lives. This will be especially helpful for those who are wrestling with intellectual questions regarding the Christian faith. The presentation will be followed by a time for question and answer and an opportunity to have a one on one conversation after the event.

So let’s have a life changing Holy Week that includes both celebrating and sharing!