Journey Into The Unknown, part 15—Journey’s End

Since December 4, 2011 we have been on our Journey Into The Unknown. This week as I was talking with an old friend and mentor, he said “It sounds like your journey has led you to a new home.” Indeed.

Today we joined Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church, our new church home.

In the “Connect Luncheon” after the late service, I was talking with those at our table and shared a remarkable fact: I had expected that our journey would take us to several different churches from which we could eventually select the one that was most compatible; but CCPC was the only church we even visited.

We went there first because a friend whom I had known since college days in Boulder convinced me that I ought to try his church. Both of us came from Baptist backgrounds. We reconnected at University Hills Baptist Church almost 30 years after we last saw each other. When he left that church, he went to CCPC. I had left previously and joined Calvary Baptist Church in Denver.

Just as the Lord was leading us to leave Calvary Baptist on our journey, I had lunch with my friend Tom. One of the primary things the Lord used to lead us to CCPC was Tom’s enthusiasm for his church. Tom was excited, even evangelistic about inviting me to his church. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen that in any church where I’ve been a member.

We discovered why Tom was excited about CCPC. The music, warm atmosphere, and the excitement the members seemed to have about Jesus kept bringing us back. The fact that several people we already knew from our Baptist past were members there made it easier to consider making the move.

Our enjoyable hour and a half visit with the Pastor, the 5-week class for new members, and the multiple signs of a conservative, evangelical theology were some of the other factors the Lord wove together to let us know the journey was over. We had indeed found our new home.

So, this is the last post of this series. Our Journey into the Unknown is over. Our destination is known—at least for this part of the journey. No Christian journey of faith is over until we cross that final river into our ultimate destination. That’s when faith will become sight and we shall see Him face to face. Our life of faith continues—in our new church home.

Thank you Lord for your leadership and your presence along the journey to this point. We’re excited about what lies ahead. You know it, of course; and by now we know that you will let us know when the time is right. Lead on!

My Journey Into The Unknown, part 14

I mentioned that in order to join Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church we had to answer 5 questions in the affirmative. Those 5 questions are:

1. Do you acknowledge yourself to be a sinner in the sight of God and without hope for your salvation except in His sovereign mercy?
2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the savior of sinners, and do you receive and depend upon Him alone for your salvation as He is offered in the Gospel?
3. Do you now promise and resolve, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?
4. Do you promise to serve Christ in His Church by supporting and participating with this congregation in its service of God and its ministry to others to the best of your ability?
5. Do you submit yourself to the government and discipline of the Evangelical Presbyterian Church and to the spiritual oversight of this Church Session, and do you promise to promote the unity, purity and peace of this church?

The first three of these questions are a different way of presenting the gospel we read in the “Steps to Peace With God” booklet, as a part of the class. There are many ways to help someone know how to become a Christian, and many ways for the gospel to be presented. This booklet is only one. We are very pleased to be part of a church that takes special care to ensure that every member has at one time heard the gospel and responded to it.

Perhaps that’s one of the reasons the members seem more willing (and even eager) to share their love for Jesus with others. Note that the five questions didn’t ask whether we agree 100% with every doctrine the church promotes. Like any church, members fit within a range of acceptance of doctrinal beliefs. The main thing is not absolute conformity but one’s relationship with Jesus Christ.

The church’s emphasis on “The Essentials” (mentioned earlier) and its latitude concerning “non-essentials” is fine with me. I can agree with their Essentials and I can answer the five questions affirmatively. Beyond that, I’m willing to dialogue.

My Journey into the Unknown, part 13

It appears that the Lord has His reasons for leading us to our new church. I still don’t know what all those may entail, but I’ve found one—and it is more than sufficient: the Lord is drawing me closer to Himself by placing me in surroundings that nourish and refresh my soul.

One example of this is the way members talk about their love of Jesus and are thankful for His grace. In relative terms, it’s as if I’ve been led through the wilderness and now am made to lie down in green pastures and led beside the still waters. I’m encouraged to wait on the Lord and let Him restore my soul.

It’s probably just a “coincidence”, but Sunday as we went to get a cup of coffee before our last new member’s class, I picked up a book on an end rack of the church’s library shelves that spoke directly to me. It is “The Prodigal God”, by Timothy Keller.

It’s a short (133 pages) treatise on what we generally call the parable of “the Prodigal Son” from Luke 15. In the chapter on “Redefining Lostness” the Lord spoke to me in Keller’s descriptions of the two brothers, showing me how I need to focus on the Father’s lavish and extravagant grace instead of myself. I may write more about that later.

In all, it is encouraging to hear men and women sharing their own stories of how Jesus has lavished His grace on them. And, as part of becoming a member, we each had to personally share our testimony of accepting Jesus as Savior in a one-on-one session with an Elder.  New members can come to CCPC from any denomination and with whatever past experience of baptism they have had, but they aren’t automatically members just by asking to be one. They must have made a personal commitment to Jesus as Savior and Lord, and share that story with someone in authority in the church. I like that.

We made the commitment to join Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church last Sunday; and this coming Sunday we will be presented to the church as new members. In order to join, we had to both share our testimony and answer five questions in the affirmative. More about this in the next post.