I like this comment that Chris made on another blog, in response to the "12 Sins" post.
"Amen to that, sin is like bad breathe, it's easy to think your own doesn't stink, but you can sure notice it in others."
Chris
http://chris-kratzer.blogspot.com
With some editing help and advice from Abraham Piper, and also some very keen insights from my wife, the post "Playing the Blame Game" became "12 Sins We Blame On Others," which the DG blog posted a few days ago, and now I'm posting here.
It started in the Garden. Adam said to God,
The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate. (Genesis 3:12)
The first man, caught in the first sin, turns to blame his wife. And he extends the blame to God as well! He implies that he would have remained innocent if God hadn’t put Eve in the garden with him.
The blame-shifting in the Garden continues today. Our proud hearts send us desperately looking for someone else to point to every time we’re confronted with our own sin. There must be someone else—our spouse, sibling, parent, boss, co-worker, pastor, friend, or God, himself.
We are so desperate to justify ourselves that we become irrational. Here are 12 examples.
1) Anger
I wouldn’t lose my temper if my co-workers were easier to get along with, or if my kids behaved better, or if my spouse were more considerate.
2) Impatience
I would be a very patient person if it weren’t for traffic jams and long lines in the grocery store. If I didn’t have so many things to do, and if the people around me weren’t so slow, I would never become impatient!
3) Lust
I would have a pure mind if there weren’t so many sensual images in our culture.
4) Anxiety
I wouldn’t worry about the future if my life were just a little more secure—if I had more money, and no health problems.
5) Spiritual Apathy
My spiritual life would be so much more vibrant and I would struggle with sin less if my small group were more encouraging, or if Sunday school were more engaging, or if the music in the worship service were more lively, or if the sermons were better.
6) Insubordination
If my parents/bosses/elders were godly leaders, then I would joyfully follow them.
7) A Critical Spirit
It’s not my fault that the people around me are ignorant and inexperienced.
8) Bitterness
If you knew what that person did to me, you would understand my bitterness. How could I forgive something like that?
9) Gluttony
My wife/husband/roommate/friend is a wonderful cook! The things they make are impossible to resist.
10) Gossip
It’s the people around me who start the conversations. There’s no way to avoid hearing what others happen to say. And when others ask me questions, I can’t avoid sharing what I know.
11) Self-Pity
I’ll never be happy, because my marriage/family/job/ministry is so difficult.
12) Selfishness
I would be more generous if we had more money.
Making excuses like this is arrogant and foolish. It’s a proud way of trying to justify our actions and pacify our guilty consciences. And it keeps us from humbling ourselves before God to repent of our sins and seek his forgiveness.
Consider James 1:13-15, which leaves us with no way of escaping our own sin and guilt. We cannot blame God, for he “cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.”
Instead, we have to accept the humbling truth that “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” This will end the blame game, and it will send us pleading for Christ’s mercy and grace.
It started in the Garden. Adam said to God, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate” (Genesis 3:12). The first man, caught in the first sin, turns to blame his wife for the Fall. And he doesn’t stop there, but extends the blame to God as well! Adam implies that he would have remained innocent if God had not put Eve in the garden with him.
What started in the Garden continues today. Our prideful hearts send us desperately looking for someone to blame every time we’re confronted with our own sin. We play the victim. It couldn’t be my fault, we think. There must be someone else to blame, whether it’s a spouse, a sibling, a parent, a boss or co-worker, a pastor, a friend, or God, Himself. We are so desperate to justify ourselves that we will irrationally blame our sin on others.
Here are some examples:
Impatience
I wouldn’t lose my temper if my co-workers were easier to get along with, or if my kids were better-behaved, or if my spouse was more considerate. I would be a very patient person if it wasn’t for traffic jams and long lines in the grocery store. If I didn’t have so many things to do, and if the people around me weren’t so slow, I would never become impatient!
Lust
I would have a pure mind if there weren’t so many sensual images in our culture.
Anxiety
I wouldn’t worry about the future if my life was just a little more secure—if I had more money, and if I didn’t have any health problems.
Spiritual Apathy
My spiritual life would be so much more vibrant and I would struggle with sin less if my small group was more encouraging, or if Sunday School was more engaging, or if the music in the worship service was more lively, or if the sermons were better.
In various ways, we try to pass the buck, either to another person, or directly to God. This way of thinking is arrogant and foolish, and it is so deep-seated in our lives. It’s a prideful way of trying to justify our actions and pacify our guilty consciences. And it keeps us from humbling ourselves before God to repent of our sins and seek His forgiveness.
Consider James 1:13-15, which leaves us with no way of escaping our own sin and guilt. We cannot blame God, for He “cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” Instead, we have to accept the humbling truth that “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.” This will end the blame game, and it will send us pleading for Christ’s mercy and grace.
Last Thursday evening I went to the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland to hear Tim Keller. Dr. Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Church in New York City, and he has a new book out entitled The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism. He gave an excellent presentation that encouraged believers and also challenged skeptics. His book would be a great gift to give to friends who are skeptical of Christianity.
Here are some helpful questions to ask one another in your small groups, in accountability relationships, in your conversations before or after a worship service, etc. We should be intentional about cultivating true biblical fellowship in our congregation. These questions are from Donald Whitney.
• How is your [teaching, hospitality, outreach, deacon, or whatever] ministry going?
What do you enjoy most about it?
• Where have you seen the Lord at work lately?
• What's the Lord been teaching you recently?
• Have you had any evangelistic opportunities lately?
• Have you had any obvious answers to prayer recently?
• What you have been reading? How has it impressed you?
• Where in the Bible have you been reading lately? What impact has it had on you?
• How can I pray for you?
• What's the growth point in your life right now?
• What are you passionate about right now?
From Donald S. Whitney, Simplify Your Spiritual Life (Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress, 2003). Copyright © 2002, Donald S. Whitney. All rights reserved.
On Mother's Day I preached a sermon on Proverbs 31, "The Woman Who Fears the Lord." A point that applies to all of us is the truth that the fear of the Lord will drive out every other fear in our lives. If we truly fear the Lord, we will not need to fear sickness or death. The fear of the Lord will kill our fear of man and our tendency to be people-pleasers. We will not need to fear bad news or financial hardship. We must fear God, and we will fear Him alone. Our other fears will fade away. You can find this sermon on the church's sermon page.
Last week in Sunday School we discussed the doctrine of regeneration, and the biblical truth that God must regenerate a person's heart before that person will respond to the Gospel in repentance and faith.
Recently, John Piper has been preaching a series of sermons on regeneration. I encourage you especially to listen to (or read) this one on evangelism. I'm Sending You to Open Thier Eyes.
We have encouraged all of you to be in prayer about our proposed move. We have also welcomed any and all questions you may have about this vision and the details of implementing it. We’ve had the opportunity to speak with many of you, and have responded to various questions. In the interest of clear and open communication, I will list some of these questions and respond to them.
1) How do we know God is leading us to make this move?
The Lord has been leading the elders in this vision for some time, and He has been working in our hearts the same way He does in any major decision. I think about my decision to move my family to Pittsburgh (and the church’s decision to hire me). There was no writing in the sky or audible voice, but God made His will clear in various ways.
The same is true in this situation. Long before I came to Pittsburgh, Grace Church was involved in urban ministry and was seeking to have a growing impact for the kingdom. This was the vision I gladly inherited when I came here. Over the past 2 years the question has been, “How?” How can we fulfill this vision to a greater extent? What specific changes can we make to reach more people in this city?
Through much thought and prayer and many discussions, we decided to set our sights on downtown. This is the location that best fits our vision, because we desire to minister to the diverse population of Pittsburgh. We want to serve and witness to people from all the neighborhoods of the city, and what better place to begin than in downtown. Thousands of people from all over this area commute into downtown on a daily basis.
We feel confirmed in this vision because it is contrary to our natural desires and inclinations. If we were following conventional wisdom, this plan would sound absurd. But God is calling us toward radical ministry. He is calling us to a vision that is bigger than us, bigger than our abilities, bigger than our resources. In this way, He will be glorified through our weaknesses.
2) Have we failed to fulfill our church’s vision in Beechview?
I believe God has blessed our ministry in Beechview. We have ministered to the Beechview community through VBS, the resource center, the deacon’s benevolence ministry, SS classes, worship services, etc. God has been good to us in letting us be His light in this neighborhood.
Our move downtown does not mean we are abandoning Beechview. The vision is about addition, not subtraction. We will work to maintain our ministries in Beechview, and as the Lord leads us and grows us we will be able to do similar things in other areas of the city as well.
3) If our current building was in better shape, and the parking situation was better, would we stay?
No. The move is not primarily about the facility. It’s about the vision. We want to be in city center rather than in a neighborhood so that we can have an impact in more and more areas.
4) What about things like weddings, funerals, baptisms, men’s breakfasts, women’s teas, VBS, Grace Kids Club, special services (like Good Friday, Christmas Eve)?
For most of us, our assumption is that every church owns a building. We can even slip into the unbiblical mindset that the physical building is the church. But, as we all know, the church is the people. And wherever the people show up, whether it be at Methyl and Hampshire or in Chatham Center, that’s where the church is.
It is certainly convenient to have a building that is available to us 24 / 7, and that is our intention for the future. But at this point in time, God is leading us to do something different, something that resembles the first century church more than it does our contemporary Christian culture.
For non-Sunday morning events, we will need to be creative in finding alternative meeting places. For instance, other church buildings, schools, community centers, or homes. One of the exciting things about our small groups is that they make us less dependent on a building, and they give us opportunities for influence in more places.
5) What is the cost for facility rental and parking?
The cost will be $800 / Sunday morning for the facility rental. This includes the set up of all the chairs, platform, podium, piano, and tables and chairs for the SS rooms. It also includes our storage space during the week. The church will also pay the parking cost of $5 per car.
6) What about parking when there is an event at Mellon Arena?
This will not be a problem. There will always be ample parking available in the garage, and we are guaranteed our discounted rate of $5 / car.
7) Are there other churches that could partner with us in our vision to reach the city?
This is a great question, and something we would be very willing to explore. Certainly if there are like-minded churches who want to partner with us in various efforts, that would be great!
Other questions have already been addressed in the Vision Update document, which you can see on our website (scroll down on this blog, or go to the “Resources” page). Please read over these documents carefully, and as you think of additional questions contact Jeremy or me. Our hope is that as many questions as possible will be addressed before our congregational meeting, so that we’ll have more time for everyone to share.
Praying with you and for you,
Ben
We want to encourage all of us at Grace Church to dedicate ourselves to prayer and fasting on behalf of our church right now. These are exciting times! God is doing great things. Let’s find some time this coming week to forsake food and spend some extended time meditating on God's Word. I encourage you to pray for your own soul. Pray over our church covenant and the Scripture passages that are listed there. (This can be found on the website: see "About Us"). Pray over the vision documents that have been presented (see "Resources" page). Pray for your elders, and pray for all your brothers and sisters in this congregation.
In two weeks we will have a congregational meeting to discuss this move. We are an elder-led, congregational church, which means the elders pray and teach and lead and cast vision and say, “this is where God is leading,” and then we as a family of believers discuss these things together and make a final decision together. The elders have presented the plan, and we’re eager to talk to you individually if you have any questions or concerns.
And then in two weeks we will get the whole family together to share with each other how God has been moving in each of our hearts. Our hope in that meeting is to hear from everyone briefly. We want each person, or at least one person from each family, to take a minute or so to express whether you feel like this is how God is leading our congregation. And then, when everyone has shared, we’ll pray, and then we’ll have a congregational vote, to say either “Yes, this is God’s answer to our prayers,” or “No, we don’t think this is God’s plan for us.” And thus we will make this decision as a family.
Let's pray over these things and ask for God to pour out His blessings on our church!
Search History
- For over 2 years there has been talk of relocating the church’s meeting place.
- In January of 2007 we began searching seriously for a downtown venue, as part of our broader vision.
- CAPA, Miller School, Berger bld. (South Side), Reedsdale bld. (by Heinz Field), Convention Center, Theaters in cultural district, schools, YMCA, hotels (Sheraton at Station Square, Hilton, Westin, Doubletree, Omni, Renaissance, Wyndam).
The two problems we faced with these hotels were:
1) Low dependability: they were already booked many Sundays, and could not guarantee us consistent availability. For instance, at the Doubletree, they only offered month-to-month, and many Sundays were already booked.
2) Very high cost
CHATHAM CENTER (high dependability and relatively low cost)
Compare to “Considerations in choosing a location” on Vision Sheet:
1) City-Center: Located across the street from Mellon Arena, this building certainly fits the description, “City-Center.”
2) Accessibility: Just follow the signs to Mellon Arena. Look for the ~25 story building with the very large “Chatham Center” sign on top of it. A short walk from the Steel Plaza T station. One block from 5th and Forbes, where you can get a bus to and from Oakland (& beyond). 2,100 space parking garage is attached to Chatham Center (a big bonus, especially when the weather is bad). We’ve made arrangements with the garage; the church will cover the cost of parking so that no one has to pay to come to church.
3) Cost: For 2008, we estimate that it will cost us between $21,000 and $25,000. Parking will be an additional cost. We may also need to rent space on the few Sundays when Chatham Center is already booked. Ending the Beechview lease in August will free up additional funds in the “Facility Rental” section of the budget.
4) Logistics and labor: The hotel staff will set up all chairs and tables for our SS classes, and chairs, platform, podium, piano, and screen for our worship services. They will also provide us with a storage space for additional items we need (pac-n-plays, SS materials, sound board, drums, small folding chairs and tables for the young children, hymnals, church signs for lobby on Sunday mornings). Volunteers from the church (non-SS teachers) will set up and take down these few items each Sunday morning (many hands make light work!).
What about the weeks when Chatham is already booked?
At least initially, we will return to our Beechview building for a few services between now and October (there are 5-9 Sundays when Chatham is booked; 4 of them are still question marks). For occasional meeting space, there are many possibilities (CAPA, other hotels, schools, etc.).
Is this permanent?
No. This is a first step. It’s a step that gets us into a better facility, and more importantly, gets us downtown. The search for a building will continue, and we trust that at the right time God will provide us with something more permanent.
What about fellowship dinners? What about the resource center?
What about the small group that meets at the building, and Grace Kids Club?
Our Beechview lease continues through August. Therefore, we have some time to work out these details and find other suitable locations for these activities. For instance, other church buildings, or schools, or YMCA facilities. For various reasons, these places do not suit our needs on Sunday morning, but they would suit our needs very well for other purposes (e.g., our small group that met in the Homewood YMCA in the fall).
How do we let people know that Grace Church meets at Chatham Center?
This will require thinking outside the box. Ideally, we could replace the “Chatham Center” sign on the top of the building with “Three Rivers Grace Church.” Let’s pray for that to happen, but we can’t count on it. Therefore, we will explore a variety of ways to communicate that Three Rivers Grace Church meets in Chatham Center and all are encouraged to come. Radio ads (both Christian and secular radio), mailers, signs in bus shelters, and most important by far, personal invitations (on lunch breaks throughout the week, Saturdays, when there’s an event at Mellon Arena).
When Grace Church began in 2000, it met in this very venue for a short period of time. What’s different now?
When Grace Church first formed, it was thrust into the difficult position of needing a place to meet with little or no time to plan. Meeting in the Chatham Center, and then other venues downtown and in other parts of the city, was how the church got by until finding this building in Beechview.
Presently, we are very intentionally moving downtown with the desire to be a downtown church and establish a permanent presence in city center. The situation at the Chatham Center is also very different. Consistent availability, classroom space, parking, are all things that are more favorable now.
Why not stay where we are now?
Mainly because it doesn’t fit the vision of the church to be a city center church which is seeking to have a growing influence in Pittsburgh. Our current building is not in downtown. Rather, it is in a neighborhood and is difficult to find. The parking situation and the bathroom situation are also major limitations. The overall condition of our building is declining rapidly and shows no signs of long-term improvement. The landlord has been slow to make necessary repairs, and our deacons are overburdened by the task of maintenance.