“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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

All of the ministries at Ashland Avenue Baptist Church are designed to help our church as a whole fulfill the Great Commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20. Such a vision for ministry begin in our pulpit and permeates every facet of service at AABC.   

Please use the links to the right to view information regarding these ministry opportunities.

The Prince family rang in the second day of the New Year with a lunch of vienna sausages, sliced cheese, and chips. While certainly not the most upscale lunch cuisine it was quite functional for a quick lunch amid a day of household labor.

Actually it was just a small fraction of the Prince’s who gathered to enjoy this quick feast. Some friends had taken our four youngest for an afternoon of play. This development left our 12 and 10 year old boys home to tackle some long delayed domestic projects.

The conversation at the lunch table bounced around and then drifted to the topic of work and the use of time. Some of the most important parental conversations occur over vienna sausages or PB&J’s and this was one of those moments. My wife and I were pointing out to our sons that work is given by God for our good and helps form our character (Gen 2:15).

We wanted them to understand that there is a reason they poke around and piddle at their work unless it is the only thing keeping them from some sort of play. The problem we explained was that they failed to see the inherent value of work and viewed it is a necessary evil that hopefully will at least lead to something far better.

We explained that this was why diligence in the use of time during work only became important to them if the carrot of play was dangled before them as sufficient motivation (TV, going outside, games, reading). There is a good, old-fashioned word for this-selfishness. The problem with this kind of selfishness is not just that we do not get the attic storage cleaned up before the little ones get back home it is that it is anti-Christ and satanic (Phil 2:3-8).

In explaining to my sons that Satan is pleased with them working as long as they see it as drudgery and despise it, something was happening to me and it is another good, old-fashioned word-conviction. I was reminding my sons that their problem had as its root the false assumption that time existed for them. They often act as though the only issue in the use of time and labor is personal benefit or convenience. I wanted to be clear to them that there is a grave danger in acting as though time was created simply for us and serves no greater purpose. I concluded that work and the use of time are not neutral issues they are spiritual ones that have to do with biblical theology, morality and wisdom (Prov 6:6-11; 26:13-16; 1 Cor 10:31; Col 3:23; 4:5; Phil 2:14).

As I was driving the truth home I was beginning to wonder whether or not I was instructing them or myself at this point. My thoughts began to race with how easily I slip into begrudging God’s gift of work and the fact that He ordained that work would chiefly characterize our lives. It is not just my boys who often think their lives would be better if they just could play more and work less. How can I fall prey to such foolishness when history is littered with the destructiveness of the lives of people who worked only to gain and not to give?

Play and rest are certainly God’s good gifts as well but they are not the enemy of work, or its competitor, they are works compliment. In fact, play and rest lose meaning and value and become the spiritual weapons of Satan apart from a life characterized by diligent work. Constant verbal complaints and computer status updates about how we begrudge work and the time it takes, are not cute, they are demonic.

People who recognize the hand of God in the created order realize that He does not do any of His work grudgingly or minimally. Those who have experienced the abundance of His gracious work in the gospel of Jesus Christ are to respond to everything in life with abundant effort “as for the Lord” (Col 3:23). 

I think that lunch of vienna sausages, sliced cheese, and chips may prove to be one of the most important that I enjoy all year. I will spend the majority of 2009 working and so will you. Therefore it is not hard to define one of your primary spiritual battlefields. Whether we are studying, washing dishes, changing diapers, teaching school, dusting furniture or digging ditches let’s battle the Evil One and our own selfishness with the blessing of diligent work in 2009. 

The gospel is about a person saving a people.  Yet, for many of us, the Christianity we know and experience consists only of statements, lists, concepts, and propositions.  At the same time, others, not appreciating the necessity of a word-driven Christianity, are tempted to run to some sort of mystical feelings-centered, version of the gospel.  

There is no denying that Christianity is word-centered. The Bible is made up of words, statements, lists, concepts, and propositions that define the story God is telling in the world.  Central to the Bible is a word, a message about a promise that all who believe in Jesus can be saved from their sins and rule with Him in His Kingdom forever.  However, we must  remember the Word, the message, the promise, became flesh and dwelt among us as a real-life person. Therefore, Christianity being word-centered is person-centered.

Furthermore, it’s centered on a person who lived in the real world and experienced real life.   Jesus ate meals, went to weddings, and wept at funerals.  He did not spend his days leaping tall buildings and zapping the enemies with some unique superhuman strength.  He chose to participate in the same sort of activities we are involved in on a daily basis.  He understood that Christianity takes place in homes, grocery stores, classrooms, and parks.  

Such an understanding is what we will be after each Wednesday evening at 6:30p.m. during our Equipped Wednesday Community Bible Study.  Join us as we examine the Word of God with Pastor Jeremy Haskins in a study called the Jesus-Centered Life.     

Those who encountered the man, message, and ministry of Jesus Christ had many reactions but apathy, complacency, and status qou were not generally among them. This biblical reality makes the contemporary American church so difficult to understand. How can there be so many professing followers of the Lord Jesus Christ in America and so little power and influence in our culture? One commentator on the anemic American church has recently written, “We’re busy downsizing, becoming culturally relevant, reaching out, drawing in, making disciples, managing the machinery, utilizing principles, celebrating recovery, user-friendly, techno savvy, finding the purposeful life, practicing peace with justice, utilizing spiritual disciplines, growing in self-esteem, reinventing ourselves, and, in general, feeling ever so much better about all of these achievements. Notice anything missing in this pretty picture? Jesus Christ!”

I fear his analysis is much closer to the mark than any of us would care to admit. Somehow we have managed to develop a brand of Christianity that is missing Christ. God and the gospel seem natural, manageable, safe and nice. Instead of calling ourselves and others to bow before King Jesus and to serve His Kingdom we have substituted a message of self-fulfillment and personal improvement. Even when we talk about God and His Kingdom we often find a way to talk more about ourselves than about God. We tend to take ourselves and our agenda more seriously than God and His Kingdom.

The result is a comfortable Christianity that makes perfect sense to the watching world and fits in, finding its niche in the world, rather than transforming it. Onlookers conclude that Christians have their place in society and can even serve a useful purpose. Sadly, American believers seem content with this arrangement as long as no one removes a Ten Commandments display or says “Happy Holidays” to us in the winter. Nevertheless, the question must be asked, “Is a non-threatening version of Christianity, Christianity at all?”

The Christian message is about a King and the invasion of His Kingdom to overthrow all powers, kingdoms, and agendas that are in opposition to His rule and reign. The message was so threatening to an earthly king that he ordered the slaughter of babies too try to end the threat (Matthew 2:16) and demons trembled at the realization of the mission of this King and His Kingdom (Mark 1:24). Invasions are always threatening. The earthly followers of Jesus were an unimpressive band of ordinary men but were described by onlookers as those “who have turned the world upside down” (Acts 17:6). According to the wisdom of the world these radical followers of Jesus lived upside down.

Rather than simply finding their niche in the world they followed the counter-cultural values and agenda of their King and His Kingdom (Matthew 5-7). Their message and ministry was weird, threatening, powerful and eternity transforming (1 Corinthians 1:22-31). Our call and mission have not changed.  In 2009 we are still called to live upside down in a fallen world. This will only happen if Christ, His gospel, and His Kingdom are at the heart of our Christianity. Join me for a journey in 2009 as we hold each other accountable to live upside down in every area of our lives so that we might be in our generation “those who turn the world upside down.”

Living Upside Down with You,

Pastor David    

We are now up to $14,185.00 toward our Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal of $29,000.00.  With two weeks remaining in December, we need $14,815.00 to reach our goal.  Remember this Sunday, December 21st, we will have a special time of giving to the Lottie Moon Offering in our worship service separate from our normal offering.  

As you and your family pray about what you may give consider the following quote:

“Why should we not … instead of the paltry offerings we make, do something that will prove that we are really in earnest in claiming to be followers of him who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor?” (Lottie Moon)        

This year, our Adult and Children’s Choirs will once again proclaim the gospel through powerful music coming up this Sunday December 14th.  The musical, called Yes and Amen! The Promise Fulfilled will pronounce the unfolding plan of God through the incarnation of His own Son-sent to fulfill all we lacked and to become the perfect Prophet, Priest, and King.  I want to personally invite you to attend not only the musical at 7:00, but also the ‘potluck’ meal we will share at 5:30 prior to the musical.  The evening will certainly be a blessing to you, but if that is the only purpose it serves, you have drastically missed the purpose of the evening!  This is a perfect opportunity for you to reach out to those around you with the purpose of sharing the gift of Christ.  It is our prayer that the whole church will embrace the opportunity before us and truly labor to bring those we talk with, work with, associate with, and even live with to attend this year’s musical.  Oh that we would compel them to join us as together we will feast on the Bread of Heaven!