redeemer arlington

Do You Really Believe It?

Chris Hemmelman — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:49:56 +0000

Have you ever had a conversation with a non-Christian (or even an outright atheist) that said, “I really can’t consider a Christian a good, moral person if he isn’t trying to convert me.”

Or how about this: “I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there’s a heaven and hell and people could be going to hell or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward…. How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that?”

The comments, from a college student who is a professing atheist and from the famed illusionist and atheist Penn Jillette, sort of turn our expectations on their head, do they not? I think it is safe to assume that, usually, we expect non-Christians and atheists to want Christians to downplay their evangelism. We can assume that non-Christians and atheists will respect Christians more if they minimize what they believe and largely keep it to themselves.

However, what if our expectations and assumptions are mostly wrong, and that it is largely authenticity that is attractive to non-Christians? This is what Larry Alex Taunton argues in an article for The Atlantic. Taunton and his non-profit, Fixed Point Foundation, began a nationwide project last year where they interviewed college students who identified themselves as atheists. His main question to these students: “What led you to become an atheist?”

The answers they gave are quite interesting. For instance, most of these students embraced atheism in high school, and their reasons for embracing “unbelief,” while they claimed were rational and scientific, were actually more emotional and relational.

Taunton also consistently found that these atheist students had more respect for and were more attracted to authentic Christian faith. Most of the students interviewed came from some sort of church background, and their atheism was largely in reaction against the church. But it is interesting to note what they were reacting against. They decried churches that were “shallow, harmless, and ultimately irrelevant;” churches with pastors who were ignorant of the Bible and could not provide answers to their questions. These students had heard plenty about being good and “social justice” but little about why Jesus matters and how he fits into their lives. They experienced churches that were more focused on being “friendly” and “attractive” than authentic, and, ironically, these churches became utterly unattractive.

Taunton wisely refrains from laying the blame of these students’ atheism at the feet of the church; it is always more complicated than one thing. However, he draws a very important conclusion as it relates to evangelism: authenticity is always more attractive than minimizing. People crave authenticity, and as disciples of Jesus Christ, we should be the most grace-filled, authentic people in our communities. If Christ really has transformed us, if we really do believe the gospel, if our fundamental identity is disciple of Christ, shouldn’t that be our most noticeable feature?

Taking it a step further, not only should it be but non-Christians also want it to be! You will always build a deeper, more meaningful relationship with a non-Christian if you are authentic rather than if you hold back. Of course, this does not mean that all non-Christians will be friendly, some will be outright hostile. Nor does it mean that the non-Christian friends you do have won’t get angry at you when you tell them things that challenge and upset their unbelief. However, it will mean that what you do say will carry more weight, because they will not only hear the message of a glorious Savior they will see someone who really believes it! There is something attractive about a person who is so convinced that Jesus Christ really is the resurrected and reigning King that he is willing to give his entire life to him.

I love the anecdote about George Whitefield and David Hume that Taunton ends his article with:

“There is something winsome, even irresistible, about a life lived with conviction. I am reminded of the Scottish philosopher and skeptic, David Hume, who was recognized among a crowd of those listening to the preaching of George Whitefield, the famed evangelist of the First Great Awakening:

‘I thought you didn’t believe in the Gospel,’ someone asked.

‘I do not,’ Hume replied. Then, with a nod toward Whitefield, he added, ‘But he does.’”

Redeemer Weekly – 6/13/13

Redeemer Arlington — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 14:18:09 +0000

Worship

Sunday Location Change

Until the end of August, our weekly 4:30 pm Sunday gathering is being held at the Arlington Temple in Rosslyn. Their address is 1835 N. Nash Street, Arlington, VA 22209. For more information visit the information page on the City.

Word

Guest Preacher this Sunday, 6/16

Mike McKinley, pastor of Guilford Baptist Church will be preaching this Sunday fromGalatians 2:11-14. You can find a summary and the audio for last week’s in our post sermon discussion thread.

Community

Core Seminar (formerly membership seminar), 7/19-720

For those interested in learning more about Redeemer or becoming a member at Redeemer, our next core seminar will be on Friday, July 19, from 7:00 to 9:30pm and Saturday, July 20, from 8:30am to 12:30pm. Our leaders will cover what our church believes and values and answer any questions you have. If you would like to attend, please sign-up at redeemerarlington.com/coreseminar.

Mission

Trellis – Intro to Christianity Course, starting 6/7

Jacques Villareal and Richard Yamada are hosting a six-week course for those interested in learning more about the basic truths of Christianity, over dinner and dessert. For more information, visit the information page on the City.

Deed

Homeless Hope Bagging and Distribution, 6/23

On Sunday morning June 23, we have the opportunity to provide 10-15 volunteers to assemble toiletry kits and food packages and distribute them to the homeless in DC. For more information visit the event page on the City.

Redeemer Weekly – 6/5/2013

Hannah — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 20:13:30 +0000

Worship

Sunday Location Change

Until the end of August, our weekly 4:30 pm Sunday gathering is being held at the Arlington Temple in Rosslyn while Calvary Gospel undergoes renovations. Their address is 1835 N. Nash Street, Arlington, VA 22209. For more information visit the information page on the City.

Word

Sermon Series: 1 John

Eric Simmons will continue teaching from 1 John this week, preaching on 1 John 3:19-24. You can find a summary and the audio for the previous sermon on 1 John 3:19-24 in our post sermon discussion thread.

Community

Core Seminar, 7/19-720

For those interested in learning more about Redeemer or becoming a member at Redeemer, our next core seminar (formerly called membership seminar) will be on Friday, July 19, from 7:00 to 9:30pm and Saturday, July 20, from 8:30am to12:30pm. Our leaders will cover what our church believes and values and answer any questions you have. If you would like to attend, please sign-up at redeemerarlington.com/coreseminar

Mission

Trellis – Intro to Christianity Course, starting 6/7

Deed

Gleaning of Fresh Produce for AFAC, 6/8

On Saturday morning June 8, The Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) plans to help glean and package produce for the homeless and others in need. Jonathan Lamb is putting together a group to help at the event. If you would like to participate, you can find more information on the event page on the City.

Faith and Work Seminar: Rest, 6/8

On Saturday, June 8, Keith Welton, a pastor at Covenant Life Church, will come to teach a seminar on the topic of Biblical rest, entitled Taking a Break: Finding Rest for the Weary Soul. To learn more and RSVP, visit the event page on the City.

Homeless Hope Bagging and Distribution, 6/23

New Summer Location

Redeemer Arlington — Thu, 30 May 2013 18:32:18 +0000

Starting Sunday, May 26, our weekly 4:30 PM gathering will be held at the Arlington Temple in Rosslyn. It is located at 1835 N Nash St., Arlington, VA 22209, one block from the metro and across the street from Gold’s Gym.

Parking is available 50 yards up the hill on Nash St. and will be marked with Redeemer Arlington signs.

We will be gathering at the Arlington Temple for all of summer until Sunday, August 25, while our current building undergoes renovations.

Community Blog Post – Community, Mission, and Commitment Part 3

Jordan Kauflin — Thu, 30 May 2013 14:03:14 +0000

In order to integrate mission and community in community groups, we need to be committed to one another, and we need to be committed to planting new community groups.

It sounds so easy, right? Well, at least it’s easy right up until you are the one involved.

A couple months ago the community group I lead planted a new group. The plant made sense, a Godly couple was ready to lead, people were excited about it, the details worked out pretty smoothly…but it was still hard. A lot of our friends ended up going to the other group. We had spent a lot of time with these people. We were close to them. And while we’re still friends, the realities are different. Maybe you’ve had the same experience. Maybe you’ve had really bad experiences. I think one of the biggest challenges to our vision to multiply and plant new groups is the tension of relationships and change.

What do you want when you think about relationships in the church? Oftentimes, my orientation for relationships in the church has been to try and find the perfect formula of relationships that makes my life easy, enjoyable, and fulfilling. I want to find people that are easy to be around, who are committed to staying in this area, who encourage me, who really know and care for me, who are fun, etc. Once I find these relationships, I want to keep them. Actually, if I’m honest, I really want to bring them into my house, lock the door, and put a “we are full” sign on the door so no one tries to separate us or change the perfect dynamic that I’ve created.

Relationships are wonderful gifts from God. We are saved to be apart of his family. But just like any other gift from God, we can twist it into something from which we derive our trust and security. My energies can easily turn to trying to ensure that nothing changes, instead of trusting that God will always and completely provide for me.

Here’s the thing. I don’t think the church should be a bunch of small closed groups. The church is the ever-expanding family of God with a Father who loves to bring more and more people into it. Does your view of relationships reflect this? Do you have a desire and excitement to see more and more non Christians and new Christians added to the church community? Or are you more inclined to try and find the relationships you need and then put on blinders? This does not mean that you can’t maintain or continue close relationships you have. I think it is helpful and good to have one or two close friends. But it is about an orientation. Does your love for others compel you to think through how they can experience what you have?

I think we can easily forget where we are in the redemptive story. In this story, we are in the “in between time”. Where God has renewed desires in our hearts for relationship and rest that will only be fulfilled when he returns. We taste it here, we occasionally see it, but we are not home yet. What we long for is heaven. So we rejoice when we experience close, intimate relationships, we should desire them, but this is not the end.

While we wait for heaven, our God is still working. He is still revealing his glorious gospel to people who have never heard it before and He is still maturing Christian’s understanding of himself. Our role is not to sit idly by, hoping our relationships and life don’t change. We get to participate in this exciting mission. And he’s given us a community to do it with.

As you think about community groups in Redeemer,

- Pray that God would give you an excitement and willingness to participate in multiplying our efforts as we plant new groups
- Pray that God would give us a commitment to one another
- Pray that many non-Christians and new Christians will come to our community groups
- Pray that God would raise up new leaders to plant new community groups
- Pray that the Gospel would continue to spread in Arlington and DC.

Redeemer Weekly – 5/29/2013

Hannah — Wed, 29 May 2013 20:42:29 +0000

Worship

Sunday Location Change

Word

Sermon Series: 1 John

Eric Simmons will continue teaching from 1 John this week, preaching on 1 John 3:19-24. You can find a summary and the audio for the previous sermon on 1 John 3:16-18 in our post sermon discussion thread.

Learning Group: God is a Warrior, started 5/22

David Fisher is leading a new group focusing on the Bible’s depiction of God as a divine warrior, and how a deepened understanding of this truth can bring peace and equip you to answer challenging questions about warfare and religion. To learn more, visit the information page on the City.

Mission

Trellis – Intro to Christianity Course, starting 6/7

Deed

Gleaning of Fresh Produce for AFAC, 6/8

Faith and Work Seminar, 6/8

Redeemer Weekly – 5/22/2013

Hannah — Wed, 22 May 2013 20:51:52 +0000

Worship

Sunday Location Change, starting this Sunday 5/26

Beginning this Sunday, our weekly 4:30 pm Sunday gathering will be held at the Arlington Temple in Rosslyn while Calvary Gospel undergoes renovations. Their address is 1835 N. Nash Street, Arlington, VA 22209. For more information visit the information page on the City.

Word

Sermon Series: 1 John

Eric Simmons will continue teaching from 1 John this week, preaching on 1 John 3:16-18. You can find a summary and the audio for the previous sermon on 1 John 3:11-15 in our post sermon discussion thread.

Learning Group: God is a Warrior, starting 5/22

Learning Group: Gospel Integration, 5/14-6/18

Eric is leading a learning group on Gospel integration, using the book Total Church. This group explores how we are seeking to practically follow Jesus and live life together at Redeemer. It meets at Northside Social on Tuesday mornings, 7:15-8:15am. To learn more, visit the information page on the City. Email Eric at eric@redeemerarlington.com if you would like to participate.

Mission

Trellis – Intro to Christianity Course, starting 6/7

Community

Community Blog Posts

Jordan has been writing a series of blog posts on community and mission. Check out the latest post here.

Deed

Gleaning of Fresh Produce for AFAC, 6/8

Faith and Work Seminar, 6/8

Community, Mission, and Commitment – Part 2

Jordan Kauflin — Wed, 22 May 2013 15:37:08 +0000

Two weeks ago, I wrote how integrating community and mission in community groups requires a commitment to one another.

It also requires a commitment to planting new community groups.

Our goal at Redeemer has never been to grow a meeting numerically. It’s pretty easy to draw a crowd if you find the right mix of music, marketing, and personnel. But it takes the power of the gospel to build a community of believers that are living their “ordinary lives with gospel intentionality”. This is the growth we want to see as a church. Where people integrate the gospel into all of their lives. Where they grow as disciples of Jesus on Sundays as well as day to day.

As a church, one of the questions we’ve had to work through is how we can get non-Christians and new Christians to observe the difference Jesus makes. How can we show that we don’t just gather on a Sunday but we believe the gospel truly transforms all of life? How can we help people see that a Christian’s life is one of repentance and growth? How can we multiply our Christian presence in Arlington and DC?

Our Sunday gathering is certainly a context for this. But we think one of the best ways to do this is by multiplying opportunities for people to both see and participate in this type of community.

In other words, we see planting new community groups as a main way that we are trying to reach the city with the gospel. In these groups, new people are able to observe authentic (notice I didn’t say perfect!) Christian community. And they get to see it done by people that live in their neighborhoods and go to the same gyms, restaurants, and parks. People who they see every day.

Our hope is that we will reach the neighborhoods of Arlington and DC as we create more and more community groups where people are living out the gospel.

There are over 60 neighborhoods in Arlington and over 70 in DC. Imagine the effect if each of those had a group of Christians committed to eating, learning to love another and grow in gospel integration?

Next week, I’ll talk about one of the biggest challenges to this vision.

Redeemer Weekly – 5/15/2013

Hannah — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:03:53 +0000

Word

Sermon Series: 1 John

Eric Simmons will continue teaching from 1 John this week, preaching on 1 John 3:11-15. You can find a summary and the audio for the previous sermon on 1 John 3:11-15 in our post sermon discussion thread.

Learning Group: God is a Warrior, starting 5/22

Learning Group: Gospel Integration, 5/14-6/18

Eric is leading a learning group on Gospel integration, using the book Total Church. This group explores how we are seeking to practically follow Jesus and live life together at Redeemer. It meets at Northside Social on Tuesday mornings, 7:15-8:15am. To learn more, visit the information page on the City. Email Eric at eric@redeemerarlington.com if you would like to participate.

Community

Church Picnic, this Saturday 5/18

We are celebrating Redeemer’s third anniversary as a church this Saturday, May 18, from 12-3pm. We will be having an all-church picnic at Barcroft Park. More details and RSVP here. It will be a great time!

Prayer for Young Children, this Sunday 5/19

This Sunday, as part of our Missional Prayer, we would like to pray for all of the children born within the past year. We also want to encourage and pray for you parents, as you give your lives to sharing the gospel with your children and raising them to love Jesus. If you would like to be a part of the group we pray for, please RSVP here by May 16.

Deed

Gleaning of Fresh Produce for AFAC, 6/8

Community, Mission and Commitment

Jordan Kauflin — Thu, 09 May 2013 19:05:57 +0000

When we started Redeemer three years ago, one of the phrases that we used to try and capture the goal we have for the church is reaching through building and building through reaching. We wanted to reach the city of Arlington/DC with the gospel by building a church that loves the gospel. In other words, our desire to see people saved is not separate from our desire to build a strong community where fellowship and care occur. Actually, these things are vitally linked. We are trying to integrate community and mission.

This idea shapes and informs all of what we do at Redeemer, including community groups. In many churches, community groups function as the place where real ‘care’ takes place. Due to this, they can often be the most exclusive and intimate ministry in the church, small groups of people who meet consistently in a closed environment. While this can be a good and effective way to do small groups, at Redeemer, we think that small groups are actually one of the best places for new people to observe and experience authentic community. We want them to function both as a place for relationships to deepen and growth to occur, as well as a place to invite guests and non-Christians to see what living together in a gospel community looks like.

In order for this to happen, we need to have a commitment to one another and a commitment to planting new groups.

Ever been in an uncommitted relationship? It’s the kind of relationship where you are basically friends until something better comes along or some difficulty presents itself. You are never really sure where you stand, what to expect, or how to relate to the other person. Living an authentic Christian life in the context of a local church involves commitment to one another. It is fueled by a conviction that God has called you to participate in his family, both to grow as a disciple and to help others grow as well. As we commit to eat together, learn to love one another, and grow in gospel integration in community groups, we present a compelling example of the difference the gospel makes. Our relationships will ebb and flow and change through time, but a Christian’s relationships should be marked by commitment. This commitment takes action. It takes work. It takes prioritizing these relationships.

Here are a few questions to consider:
• Does your participation in a community group affect the way you schedule your time?
• Are get-togethers and opportunities to hang out with your group the last thing to go into your schedule?
• Are you working to live ordinary life with them?
• Are you consciously seeking to love the people in your group?
• Are you aware of how others in your group are struggling, or what their burdens are?
• Is there a disposition to be with these people, even if situations might not enable it?

While certainly not the only context for relationships in the church (a topic for another post), community groups are a unique place to truly experience and display the reality of the gospel. In these groups, there are probably people that are not like you, who will probably sin against you, who are in different seasons of life. What better place to learn to love one another? What better situation to display authentic Christian relationships?

Let’s remember, we are committing to each other because Jesus has changed us. He is the one doing this work in our hearts and he is committed to building this community, having purchased it with his own blood.

Next week we will look at a commitment to planting new groups.