Missions Sunday 2011!

Dear friends,

According to our church Statement of Faith, we believe:

God provides . . . by command and providence, that proclamation of the full counsel of God be made to all men as sinners. This reality most forcefully implies that Christ’s Gospel be proclaimed to all fallen humanity. The decree of salvation for the elect of every tongue, tribe, and nation, involves of necessity the proclamation of both the Gospel and the accompanying duties of repentance from sin and faith in the Lord Jesus to all men everywhere (JIBC SOF, 20.2).

This Sunday at JIBC is intended to be a reminder of our duty to proclaim the message of salvation through faith in Christ “to all men everywhere.” One of the ways we fulfill that duty at JIBC is through the support of mission organizations and missionaries. Many of these special people will be joining us for worship this weekend!

Before and after our Sunday service, you will have an opportunity to meet these representatives of Jesus. Take the time to get to know them better, get their contact information, understand what they are doing for the kingdom, and then remember them as you pray and support their work throughout the next year.

Every Christian must serve in the cause of world missions. Some serve as senders and others as the sent. Whichever you are, be ready to obey Jesus with us and “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to all creation” (Mark 16:15).

Your friend,

Stephen

Pastor Stephen’s Leave of Absence

Dear friend,

“And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest awhile’” (Mark 6:31).

I met another pastor in the hospital one day when we were both visiting patients. He was an older brother who had many years of experience behind him. We chatted for a few moments and exchanged name cards. Just as we were about to head off on our different ways, he touched my arm, looked me in the eyes and said, “Young man be sure to take a break or you will break!” I lost this man’s contact information and have never seen him again, but I remember his exhortation to rest when it is needed.

Our family has enjoyed three years and eight months of continuous living here in Indonesia. It has been a joy to serve actively through most of that time. However, it has been a while since we were in the United States and we have let some family and personal issues go unattended for a little too long. Several weeks ago, I began discussing this with the JIBC elders and later the deacons. After considering different scenarios, they have offered us a three month leave of absence from the ministry at JIBC, which will begin on October 25.

During this time we will be tackling some health issues and taking care of some other business matters. I would like to make it perfectly clear that there is nothing “wrong” between our family and the church we love. In fact we are excited about the many great things going on at JIBC this season, which we will regretfully be missing. Serving at JIBC has been a joy for us. This is one of the reasons we put off a trip to the States for so long.

Among the many gifts the Lord has given to JIBC are our elders, deacons, office staff, ministry directors, and Pastor Dave. With all these good folks actively leading and serving I am confident the church will continue growing and thriving during our leave of absence. It is not our church after all, but it belongs to the King of Kings - and He never needs a rest! He will take care of every detail!

I would like to ask you to join us in prayer for JIBC over the next few months and for our family too. I hope you know you will be on our hearts and minds the whole time and we will be remembering you before the throne each day!

Meanwhile, there is a lot of work to do in October. The new RBI class starts on October 4, October 9 is World Missions Sunday, and Lord willing we will have a baptism service later in the month. May the Lord help us to glorify Him in every way!

Your friend,

Stephen

Pastor Stephen St. John
Jakarta International Baptist Church

Caring for the Family

Sermon Outline and Audio for 1 Timothy 5:3-16

1 Timothy 5:3-16 (ESV)

3Honor widows who are truly widows. 4But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. 5She who is truly a widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day, 6but she who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives. 7 Command these things as well, so that they may be without reproach. 8But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

9Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, 10and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. 11But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry 12and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. 13Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. 14So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. 15 For some have already strayed after Satan. 16If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.

If we are to live in a way that honors our Lord, then we must take care of the needy.

1. The Christian church must practice mercy ministry.
2. The Christian individual must take care of his or her family members.
3. The Christian widow must place her hope in God.

1 Timothy 5:3-16

Christianity is a Discipleship Movement

Sermon Outline and Audio from Matthew 28:18-20

Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)

18And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 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, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

In obedience to the great commission of Jesus, the Christian life must be a discipleship movement.

1. We must be disciples.
2. We must make disciples.
3. We must nurture disciples.

Click below for sermon audio:
Mt. 28-18-20

The JIBC Elders’ Discussion on Church Membership

On Sunday September 18, Elder Lars Nielsen made the following statement of explanation for the elders recommended changes to church membership at JIBC:

“Before I lead our pastoral prayer this morning, I want to offer a pastoral exhortation and continue the discussion on membership that our elders began earlier this year. As elders we take very seriously the biblical mandate for elders to look after our local church. Each of us feels the magnitude of providing spiritual care for you, since we will one day have to give an account for how we have cared for you. In light of Jesus’ instruction to make disciples, be assured that we are concerned about the preaching that comes from this pulpit, as well as the teaching in our Sunday classes and Care groups. We are also committed to counseling and to praying for you.

Since Scripture commands us to care for a specific group of people (the church), we asked a fairly obvious question during the first quarter of this year: who are the members that we have to care for? We brought out some old membership rolls and slowly began to assemble an up-to-date list of members, that is, people who identified with us as 1) confessing Christians, who 2) believed the Bible, 3) had been baptized and 4) agreed to be organized the way we organize ourselves as local body. During this process we also recognized that we have a number of associate members with us.

Then in the second quarter we asked the question: what does the Bible have to say about church membership? In the OT we read that God clearly makes a distinction between those who are His people and those who are not. In Eden there was a garden; in the beginning there were people inside and then they were outside. In Noah’s time, there were people inside the ark and there were people outside the ark. A few generations later, we see God making a covenant with Abraham and later with Isaac and then with Jacob. God’s people were identified as those who were inside the covenant, while pagans were outside the covenant.

When we get to the nation of Israel during Jesus’ day, we see the same thing. You were either a member of God’s family through covenant or you were outside the covenant. Jesus, of course, abolished the Old Covenant and established the New Covenant in his blood. Anyone who repented and believed in Jesus for salvation instantly became a member of God’s family through blood, that is, the blood of Jesus Christ himself. So, you became a member of the universal church simply by believing in Jesus for salvation.

In the New Testament we learn that we are to organize in local bodies of believers, that is, local churches. When Jesus taught on disciplining a brother, he instructed the believers to, “tell it to the church.” There was an identifiable body of believers called the church. In his letter to the Corinthian church, Paul refers to an identifiable group of people when he instructs the church on how to deal with certain matters related to church life. In fact, in 1 Cor. 12, Paul refers to the church as a “body” and its members as, well, “members.” “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.” So, church membership is very clear in Scripture. There is such a thing as a local body of believers and because they need to be identifiable, there is such a thing as church membership.

Since the Bible teaches that elders are to care for the flock, and it also teaches that the church is to submit and to obey and to pray for their elders, there has to be some way for the elders to know who their members are, and some way for the members to know who their elders are. We do that through membership. So, earlier this year, by asking those questions we learned that: 1) the flock or, the church, is made up of our members and, 2) that there is a Biblical pattern for membership. This quarter we determined to share those answers with you. Pastor Stephen shared this discussion in July. Elder Uran did the same in August. And I have the privilege to share “membership” with you today.

I also have the privilege to introduce our church to Ken and Clara Bixby. No doubt, some of you already know who the Bixby’s are. They began attending our church late last year. Actually, Ken joined us in November, while Clara joined us in January. They chose to love God with us through our worship services. After a short time, they chose to love people through joining our Pondok Indah Care Group. And, now, they have chosen to serve others, through a teaching ministry right here at JIBC. Ken and Clara come from the United States. They have ministered in several churches back home and in England. They have also planted a church that, by God’s grace, continues to grow.

Both Ken and Clara have spoken to our elders about membership. They believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They believe that the Bible is God’s word. They have been baptized following the biblical pattern of believer’s baptism. And they have agreed to the way we organize ourselves as a church. All that’s missing is a resounding Amen! from our members. If you are thankful that Ken and Clara have joined our church, please let them know with a loud Amen!

Friends, to become a member of JIBC is not a difficult thing. Once God saves you, it is not a difficult thing to follow Jesus’ simple instruction to be baptized. It is not a difficult thing to follow the biblical mandate to formally join a local church. Our church should be intent on making disciples and we do that through loving God, loving people and serving others in relationship or membership with other believers. Our desire is to have a church life that conforms as closely as possible to the New Testament pattern. So, we feel that it would be good to no longer have associate membership at JIBC, but recommend only membership. We also recommend re-adopting a membership covenant to indicate that every member understands the meaning and function of church membership. The membership covenant would be clear, it will be biblical and we believe it will help clear up any misunderstandings about membership.

Of course, we know there will be questions. There have been questions. What if I’m an associate member? Become a member. What if I’m a member of a church back home? We’re not concerned about your church back home. You can still serve as a member here at JIBC. What if I haven’t been baptized as a believer? Get baptized. Perhaps there are other questions. We encourage you to ask our elders about membership at JIBC. In a few months our church is going to vote on these recommendations: the recommendation to only have membership (no associate membership); and the recommendation to adopt a membership covenant that will give us clarity and understanding.

A question that we’ll all get to answer in December is: who gets to vote? Only the members. In fact, the New Testament is very clear that it’s the church that has the final say on the important matters. Not the elders. Not the deacons. It’s the church that decides. And who’s the church? The members. Who decided to bring our beloved pastors Stephen and Dave to Indonesia? The members. Who decided that we should worship here at DS instead of Jl. Tirtayasa? The members. Who decided that our budget should be $330,000 this year? The members. Those are some of the important decisions that the members have to make. It’s biblical that the members make those decisions.

We are so thankful for our members. You are representatives of Christ through JIBC. Nearly 100 of you are members who are faithfully serving here and I want to commend you for serving others through membership. I’m always encouraged when I see our members serving others here on Sunday morning. And I know many of you serve others outside Sunday mornings as well. I commend each of you.

If you’re not yet a member and have just started loving God through attending our worship services, keep loving God with us. We love having you with us. If you’re not a member and you’ve been attending our services for a while, we want to encourage you to love people through one of our care groups. If you’re not a member and you’ve been attending our services for a long while, then we encourage you to attend a care group and make the move to serve others through membership at JIBC. We should always see movement in our church. Making disciples through movement and membership.

So, members, I commend you for serving others through JIBC. For those of you who are not yet members, I’m so thankful for you. I want to include you and encourage you to serve others at JIBC through membership.”

Strengthen Yourself in the Lord!

Dear friend,

“And David inquired of the Lord, ‘Shall I pursue this band? Shall I overtake them?’ He answered him, ‘Pursue, for you shall surely overtake and surely rescue’” (1 Sam. 30:8).

David had just returned to his home only to discover that a group of Amalekite raiders had attacked the city and taken away his family. To make matters worse, the families of the men following David had also been taken. David’s normally faithful followers were so frustrated that they wanted to stone him to death! Now, that is a really low job approval rating!

Understandably, David wept bitterly and was “greatly distressed.” Yet, it was in the midst of this horrible trial that he remembered to open his heart and his mouth to God. When he was at one of the lowest points of his life, he “strengthened himself in the Lord” (1 Samuel 30:6). He prayed and God answered!

Thankfully, most of us will never find ourselves in a situation like David faced. However, we all have low moments. In every life there are times when a person is shaken, broken, and greatly distressed. What can you do at that time? Follow the example of the man after God’s own heart. Find strength in the Lord and go to Him in prayer!

Your friend,

Stephen

Typewriting for God

Sermon Outline and Audio - 1 Timothy 4:12

1 Timothy 4:12 (ESV)

Let no one despise you for your youth but set the believers and example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

If you believe in God as Savior, then you must set and example for others.

1. You must set an example by your speech.
2. You must set an example by your conduct.
3. You must set an example by your faith.
4. You must set an example by your love.
5. You must set an example by your purity.

Click the link below for Sermon Audio:
1 Timothy 4:12

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