Blog

• Why Did We Change Our Name?

  Our church relaunched on January 8th, 2012.  Leading up to this relaunch, we voted to change our church government from congregational to elder led, we moved our church structure to include a formal membership process that included the signing of a covenant, and we changed our name. This vote was in October of last year and was unanimously voted into place.

  What I want to do today is clarify why we changed our name because some of our members have been asked by other people why our church changed our name from Grace Baptist Church to Redemption Church. We have explained this several times from the pulpit, but I think it will benefit everyone much more to put it in writing.

  

  Let me just say a word or two before I get into the exact reasons why we changed our name. The name change was not my original idea. In fact, before I got here in 2006, they were already talking about the possibility of changing the name of the church. If you have been around our church over the last few years, you know that we have NOT changed the message of the Gospel that God has given us, but almost everything we do methodologically has changed. One of the changes happens to be the name change.

  That being said, the following are the main reasons we decided to change our name:

  1. Our former name was Grace Baptist Church. There are at least five churches in Odessa with "Grace" in their name (Grace Fellowship, Grace Christian Fellowship - yes #1 is different than #2, Grace Point, Life in Grace Lutheran, and ours). Our church was constantly confused with all of these churches.
  2. Our church is an independent, fundamental baptist church by affiliation. However, we do not function like an independent, fundamental baptist church. I am not saying we are right, and they are wrong. I am saying we are different. When people look up independent, fundamental churches they have a certain idea in mind. They are looking not just for beliefs, but for certain church methods as well. Many times this includes using the KJV only, wearing a suit and a tie, music being led by piano and organ alone, and church structure that includes Sunday school. None of these things are right or wrong, but we don't do any of them. In the past, we have had people find our church because it is independent, fundamental baptist who walk into the front door and see the drums on the stage, and kindly turn their entire family around to walk back out the door. Once again, I am not saying that they are wrong and we are right. I am saying we are different. We were actually falsely advertising who we were by the name of our church because our church sign said something that was completely different inside.

  Because of these problems, we changed our name to Redemption Church. We felt like the problems presented above were significant enough for us to change our name. We also believed that we were entering a new chapter in the life of this church with the relaunch in January.  

  The following is why we decided to change it to Redemption Church:

  1. There is no other church in Odessa or Midland that has the name "Redemption" in the title. There are a couple of "Redeemer" churches, but there is no "Redemption." Therefore, we can be much more unique and hopefully avoid confusion related to other church names.
  2. The idea of Redemption is a theme that runs throughout every page of the Word of God. The plan of the Gospel is that God would redeem those that are far from him. Not only that, but God also sends his church as his tools to be a force of redemption to people, communities, and to the world. That is who we want to be.
  3. Changing the name is an outward sign to the city that something different is happening in this church that has stood for decades. Many of our members can tell you stories about them inviting their friends to church and their friends responding by saying, "I have been to Grace before. I do not plan on going back." Their reasons are as different as the people themselves. Changing the name says, "This is not the same place it has always been."

  Hopefully that helps clarify for our people and those who are outside our church who are wondering. If you have any questions, feel free to email info@redemptiontx.org.

  Josh Green

  Lead Pastor

  Redemption Church

• Sermon Reflections: Sabbath

  THE TRUE MEANING OF SABBATH

  In the Old Testament, God commanded his people to take a day off.  Specifically, they were to take Saturdays off.  This was the fourth of the ten commandments (Exodus 20:8).  The Sabbath was a blessing from God to man to rest from their labor and to enjoy the Lord.  It was also a way that the nation of Israel lived differently than the other pagan nations that surrounded them.

  

  By the time of the New Testament, the Sabbath was not about rest and enjoyment of God.  The religious leaders over the centuries had set up more and more rules around the Old Testament commands.  Some examples of these “extra” rules around the Sabbath were things like how many steps you could take, harvesting grain, and the restriction that one could not untie a knot.  When Jesus comes on the scene in the New Testament, he constantly confuses the religious leaders because he does not conform to all of their extra man-made rules.

  Sunday, our church discussed two stories about the Sabbath in Mark 2:23-3:6.  The fullest sense of the passages we discussed in Mark and others (Matthew 11:28-30, Colossians 2:13-17, Hebrews 4:9-10) show us that true Sabbath rest is found in Jesus himself.  This means that our salvation is where we find our true rest and restoration.  This is why the command to Sabbath is no longer binding upon Christians.  We do not have to take Saturdays off and follow the command in Exodus 20:8.  Our souls truly rest in Christ and his finished work.

  That being said, that does not negate the fact that are bodies are gifts from God to be stewarded well for his honor and for his glory.  Part of living for God and displaying the Gospel is learning how to rest in God and enjoy God by taking time off.

  WORK, OVERWORK, AND REST

  In our culture, the traditional 40 hour work week is becoming obsolete.  With the invention of electricity, our work days are not dictated by the sun so people can literally work nonstop.  Because of our West Texas culture, it is very common for employers to expect 50-60 hours a week from their employees.  

  Even if you are not involved in a company that works you 50-60 hours a week, there are still dozens of responsibilities that everyone carries.  How many mothers are simply exhausted by trying to keep up with everyone and their schedules?  Almost every night of the week there is something else going on.  Even though the command to Sabbath on Saturdays is no longer binding on us as Christians, the call to rest and to be renewed, to Sabbath, is still a grace God has given us to live.  

  Our resting, our Sabbath, is not about following rules.  It is about enjoying God and his blessings on our lives.  We are not commanded to rest, we get to rest because Jesus has finished all the necessary work on our behalf.   

  Our culture has a tendency to have work that is beneath our work.  This is the idea that our culture believes their work, or their job, is what validates a person’s existence or worth.  The beauty of the Gospel is that Jesus has saved us not so we have to slave at work to prove that we matter, but we are saved to live life to the fullest and that even our work can be about worship and enjoyment of Him.

  So when we rest, it is a way for us to say we are satisfied, not by our work, but by Jesus’ finished work.  It is a way for us to acknowledge that Jesus is enough and that our jobs do not define who we are.  It is a way for us to enjoy the innumerable blessings God has bestowed on our lives.  

  PRACTICAL SABBATH

  It is easy for us to become legalistic here and get a set of rules of what we can and can not do when we rest.  If we do that, I think we are missing the entire purpose.  The best way to understand what it looks like for you to rest and be renewed is to understand yourself.  When you rest, you need to specifically do things that leave you feeling refreshed and renewed.  For all Christians, this does mean that rest should be done in the Lord.  Things like prayer and Scripture reading should be things that restore you spiritually.  But other than that, Christians will be renewed and refreshed by different things.  

  The big idea is for you to do things that fill you up.  For every person, there are activities that drain you and activities that refresh and renew you.  Each person needs to fill their days of rest with things that restore them.  For example, if I watch hours and hours of TV and simply sit on the couch, I actually feel more empty and tired.  I will have done no physical activity for hours, but I am not refreshed.  However, I can ride bikes with my boys, do some yard work, and have dinner with good friends and the result is that my soul is stirred toward God and I feel restored physically and spiritually.  

  So what are some things that drain you?  What are some things that excite you and fill you up?  What does it look like for you to focus your time of rest on the things that restore you?

• Elders

  This month our church is voting on new Bylaws that will take our church from being a church led by the congregation to an elder-led church government.  This is a really important decision for the church that we have been discussing for months now.

  When I was voted in as pastor, I was very honest in saying that I wanted to move the church to elder-led government.  We discussed it in the summer while we were going through Grace 101.  During Grace 101 we had public question and answer time not only about moving to elder government, but also for every other change we have been discussing since I was interviewed for the Lead Pastor position.  Since the summer, we have openly talked and explained what we were doing and why.  We have certainly not tried to hide our intentions.

  What I want to do with this blog is simply reiterate what has already been said to try to clarify what elders are, what they do, and why it is important for us to move the church in this direction.

  The major texts in the New Testament that explain the answers to these questions are Acts 20:17-35, 1 Timothy 3:1-7, Titus 1:5-9, and 1 Peter 5:1-5.

  1. What are elders?

  The word elder (Acts 20:17-35, Titus 1:5-9, 1 Peter 5:1-5) in the New Testament is synonymous with the words Overseer (Acts 20:28 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7.  In some translations this is translated Bishop) and Pastor (Pastor means Shepherd and this usage is found in Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Peter 5:2).

  According to these passages, elders are the qualified men (1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9) who are responsible for overseeing the church (Acts 20:17-35 and 1 Peter 5:1-5). Therefore, as we talk about “elders,” we are talking about a team of “pastors” that will lead the church, rather than one, single man.

  
  

  2. What do elders do?

   

  Simply put, elders do three main things.  They are responsible for the doctrine, direction, and discipline of the church.

  First, elders are the ones who guard the doctrine of the church.  Elders are the ones who are responsible for the spiritual oversight of the church.  In 1 Timothy 3:2, one of the qualifications for an elder is that they be able to teach.  This does not mean they have to be preachers, but they do have to understand what the church believes, why we believe it, and be able to communicate that with others.  This also means that part of being an elder is to be able to recognize false doctrine.  To do this an elder must be well versed in the word (Acts 20:29-30).

  Second, elders are tasked with overseeing the direction of the church (1 Peter 5:1-5).  Major decisions are made by the most qualified, godly men.  The idea is that God will raise men in His church to lead.  These men will be scripturally qualified and humble.  They will handle God’s business with the utmost respect and seriousness.  When decisions need to be made, these men will be the ones who are responsible to lead the church.

  I heard an illustration the other day about elders.  The illustration goes something like this.  If we were on a plane that started malfunctioning, no one on the plane would choose to take a vote on what to do.  Everyone in the plane expects the most qualified people to make decisions.  Every passenger wants the pilot to do what he is trained to do.  The church is similar.  The church, at any given time, is made up of new converts all the way to people who have been saved for decades.  The people responsible for leading and directing these people are not the people themselves.  Scripturally, it is a group of called, qualified, godly men who are tasked to lead in direction.

  Lastly, the elders are the one who deal with the discipline of the church (Acts 20:29-30 1 Peter 5:1-5).  We discussed church discipline in Grace 101. This audio can be found here. The idea is that discipline is not synonymous with excommunication, where you are permanently cast out of the church.  Discipline is about loving people and pursuing them back to repentance when they are straying.  It is the elders job to shepherd the flock well.  Sometimes sheep are going to struggle and fall.  The elders are the men tasked to pursue those lost sheep and to love them well in bringing them back to restoration with the rest of the flock.

  3. Why does our church need to move to elder government?

  Right now we are a congregational led church.  What this means is that I am a lone elder who can basically do anything I want with very little accountability.  If I want to make a big decision, I may take it to the congregation, but do not necessarily have to take a vote on the matter. And in the times when votes are necessary, I have never been in a church where the pastor desires to make a decision and the congregation voted “no.”  I am sure it happens but I have never seen it.  Most of the time in a congregational church government, the church really functions as a sole elder form of church government.  The New Testaments, however, always talks about a plurality of leadership in the church (go check all those verses I have been quoting).  In pursuing elder government, I am actually limiting my power and requiring the Lead Pastor position to have stronger accountability.

  There may be some objections to this.  The reality is that every type of church government can become corrupt.  Sinful people do sinful things.  Our goal is to pursue what the New Testament teaches.  We want to be patient in appointing elders.  We want to see God raise up godly men who have a desire for this position.  We want to see men who are on board with the church’s direction and teaching.  We want to see that these men possess solid character and integrity.  We want to see men who are engaging the lost.  We want to see men who have a thirst to know God deeply.  We want to see men who hunger for the word of God.  We want men who love their wives well and who raise their kids biblically.  Being an elder is no small matter.  We will not take this responsibility lightly.

  Remember, you can pick up a copy of the new bylaws at the connect desk. We will be reading them publicly following church this Sunday, and holding a business meeting for the church vote on Sunday, October 23rd at 4:30p.m. If you have any questions you can contact me at green_josh@hotmail.com.