Happy October Church! This month is a very special month! It is special because this month is the month that the Protestant Church (meaning, separate and distinct from the Catholic church) celebrates its 500th anniversary! Do you know much about the protestant reformation? Do you know anything about guys like Hus, Wycliffe, Tyndale, Luther, Knox, Calvin, and many more? The apostles were turning the world upside down in the book of Acts and these previous people mentioned were turning the world upside down 500 years ago. I am not a historian, as much as I love history books and biography, so I don t want to even attempt to try and explain all that happened during the Protestant Reformation but I do want to spark your interest! I want you to know that it was a very important moment in the history of Christianity. Essentially, the Catholic church had twisted the precious Gospel of Christ so much that it was no longer even the Gospel. It wasn t good news, it was bad news. They began to say that church tradition was equal to the scriptures, they began to say that we were saved by faith and attending the mass. And for those who don t know, the Catholic mass essentially centers around communion because it is a kind of re-crucifying or re-sacrificing Christ. This is why it is so important for them that the bread and wine actually become the flesh and blood of Christ. We as protestants believe that the only thing that saves us is repentance and faith in the crucified and risen Christ. There were many other issues, like the fact that the Mass was in a language that no one understood, typically Latin, the Catholic church sees the Apocrypha as books in the Bible, which we don t, and they were obsessed with a waiting place called purgatory. Purgatory was essentially a kind of place were sinners were purged after they died before they went into heaven and this is where things begin to get heated. Most historians have said that the Pope at the time of Luther was wanting to build a new cathedral and to raise money to do it, he had a guy by the name of Tetzel go around and collect money for indulgences which were essentially get-out-of-purgatory-now cards. If one would pay enough money, they could by-pass purgatory all together! And even better, they could pay and have their already dead family members moved from purgatory! Tetzel even had a little saying that he used to manipulate people into paying for these blasphemous indulgences! He would say, When the coin in the coffer rings, a soul from purgatory springs! This kind of teaching and manipulation led Martin Luther to nail the 95 thesis to the door of the church in Germany. All of these essentially were a little spark that started a raging inferno. They questioned indulgences in relationship to simple repentance and much more. All of this ultimately led to a long, hard, brutal fight that resulted in shed blood. The Catholic church declared all out war against any who sided with Luther and the reformers, calling them heretics, and sentencing them to death. CONTINUED ON PAGE 2... 1
From the reformation, we get, what we often call the five solas: 1. Sola scriptura: Scripture alone 2. Sola fide: faith alone 3. Sola gratia: grace alone 4. Solo Christo: Christ alone 5. Soli Deo gloria: to the glory of God alone These were essentially in direct opposition to what the Catholic church was teaching. The Reformers did not believe that the Pope had any intrinsic authority. All authority comes from the Word of God. The Reformers denied the idea that we are saved by faith AND something else...like attending the mass. And the rest exist for similar reasons. But the fundamental issue was: are we justified by faith alone, or faith without works as Paul says, or are we saved by doing all that the Catholic church said we must do? If you are interested in some simple, yet exciting reading on the subject of the Reformation, I would suggest two books to you! The first book is Erwin Lutzer s book called Rescuing the Gospel: The Story and Significance of the Reformation and the second book is a book by Michael Reeves called The Unquenchable Flame: Recovering the Heart of the Reformation. I have both of these books in my study and, as always, you are welcome to borrow them as long as you promise to READ and return them. The Protestant Reformation is a great reminder to us that we must always be willing to contend for the Gospel. We must be willing to stand firm when the world is raging and warring against us. We build our lives upon the rock and say with Luther, Here I Stand. Church Directory Many in the church have already had a picture taken but if you have not been able to, please see Cassie Jackson, our Administrative Assistant, and she can help you find a date and time that work for you in New Castle. The people who are doing our directory will be in New Castle three times in October and once in November at different churches. Your make-up picture will be one of these churches. If you have just began attending are considering very strongly staying at New Castle Church of Christ, we don t want you to miss the opportunity to be in the directory! If you have been a visitor, and love the church, please see me! We might be able to get you in the directory! Please make it a priority to stop in and get a picture. It only takes ten minutes and we want as many people as possible to have their picture in the new directory! Let us know if you have any questions or problems! 2
Annual Member Meeting and Budget Proposal The budget committee, consisting of Nate Wright, Dennis Greene, Pam Stegner, and Pastor Tyler Jackson have met and finalized a 2018 budget proposal. It is now available and will be attached to the October newsletter! Please look carefully over the budget proposal and join us on the last Sunday of October (October 29th) for the annual member meeting. We will vote on this budget at that time. The budget team worked hard to create a budget that reflects our heart and values as a church. I hope and pray that we will affirm their heart and hard work. This year, we are going to have a short pitch-in lunch after church and then hold the member meeting directly after lunch that way no one needs to leave and come back. We are hoping for a good turnout. If you are a member we expect you to be at the meeting. It is a very important meeting in the life of our church and it is one of the responsibilities of every church member. Most likely this year we will not have any absentee ballots except for those who are home bound. We want every member, if possible, to join us and absentee ballots make it very easy for us to simply vote and not come. We should say that this is part of what it means to be a congregational church. A congregational church is a kind of church government that is Biblical and says, At the end of the day, after the Pastor has pleaded, and after the Elders have led and proposed and directed (or the leadership team right now), the church membership, collectively, has the final say. Now, there is much to say on this and large books have been written but coming and voting and being a member is a wonderful, Christ-honoring, task that we have the privilege of being part of. Furthermore, at this meeting I will be asking the members to consider something that hasn t happened since the church was planted. You do not want to miss this proposal. See you there. James: From Weak to Wise Kris Martin will be starting a new small group for the church starting on Tuesday, October 3rd. Kris will be leading the group through the book of James! On Tuesday, October 3rd, at 6 PM, the group will meet for the first time at the church. On the first night of the study, Kris will give all the details for the study and all who will be involved will work out the schedule for the study. If you are not currently involved in a consistent small group, please consider joining this short term small group! 3
Upcoming Sermon Series Starting in October we will be doing a series on the local church! It will be an 8 week series that will take up October and November. The sermons will deal with what the church is, Elders, Deacons, Membership Matters, Church Discipline is Love, and more. In a day where the American church looks more like a business or a social club, we need to see what the church is Biblically. I have began to notice that many people don t really want a church. They either want a club where there is a social atmosphere and fellowship or they simply want a kind of school where they come, are taught, and leave for the week. That s not a church. A Church is marked by specifically Christian relationships rooted in God s word and all that it is says. It has both vertical and horizontal elements. Being a church member means that we are opening ourselves up to exhortation, correction, encouragement, and more. It means that we are submitting ourselves under those who are called to lead us as Shepherds, under the authority and direction of the Chief Shepherd. It a wonderful gift and we need to rediscover the beauty of the local church in a day when it is either neglected or severely distorted. After this 8 week series we will do a short 4 week series for Advent and then, Lord willing, we will begin 2018 with our traditional emphasis on the word of God, prayer, sanctity of life on SOL Sunday, and then I hope we will set out on a series in Mark. We will begin in chapter 1 verse 1 and preach through the entire book until we are done. I have no time line, I just have a book of the Bible and a desire for us to go through it start to finish. Honestly, I am sure it will take no less than a year.. Praise & Worship Friday evenings at 6 PM Emmersyn Jackson October 7 Shane Dick October 21 Aaron Huffman October 30 Monthly Men s Association (MMA) - Friday, October 13 @ 5 PM TLC (Women s Ministry Thursday, October 19 @ 6 PM 4
October 2017 Serving Schedule October 1, 2017 Lead Server: Tyler Jackson Servers: Dennis G., Steve C., Shane D., Jordan J. October 8, 2017 Lead Server: Kirk Amman Servers: Bob G., Jordan J., Drew J., Duane M. October 15, 2017 Lead Server: Curt Jackson Servers: Kirk A., Dennis G., Bob H., Duane M. October 22, 2017 Lead Server: Kris Martin Servers: Shane D., Drew J., Bob H., Steve C. October 29, 2017 Lead Server: Shane Dick Servers: Curt J., Drew J., Bob H., Steve C. Communion Preparation: Jay & Rhonda Bumbalough Hospitality Greeter(s): Drew & Alexis Jackson October 2017 JR Church / Nursery October 1, 2017 K-2nd Grade: Rachel Fisher 3rd-5th Grade: Suzanne Clark Nursery: Shawn Hoelscher October 8, 2017 K-2nd Grade: Lynae Amman 3rd-5th Grade: Kirk Amman Nursery: Susanne Chriswell October 15, 2017 K-2nd Grade: Ada Greene 3rd-5th Grade: Kara Jackson Nursery: Drew & Alexis Jackson October 22, 2017 K-2nd Grade: Beverly Matthews 3rd-5th Grade: Shannon Wright Nursery: Stacy Dick October 29, 2017 K-2nd Grade: Jay Bumbalough 3rd-5th Grade: Rhonda Bumbalough Nursery: Volunteer Needed **If you re going to be out of town on a specific Sunday, please let us know ahead of time so we can arrange the schedule. ** Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 5