06.30.09
Posted in Transition Planning at 7:43 pm by Bryan Dunn
The Constitution and Bylaws committee has prepared a draft Constitution and Bylaws for review and comment by the Church body. The Committee has worked hard to make these consensus documents and they have already been reviewed by the Pastors, Church Council, all Church Committees, and the Deacons. Their suggestions and changes have been incorporated into the documents that we are now presenting to the Church for review.
Copies of these documents are available for review on the Church website (right here). Hard copies will also be available in the Atrium after the morning services on July 5th and July 12th or from the Church office. There are 3 documents presented, an Executive Summary (PDF) (Microsoft Word), Constitution (PDF), and Bylaws (PDF).
The Executive Summary (PDF) (Microsoft Word) provides an overview of the documents and we suggest that you read this first. There is also a comment form that we are asking everyone to use if you have comments or questions.
These forms can be filled out and emailed to constitution@sbc-va.org or sent to the church office. Response forms must be received by July 19th to allow our committee to make changes and revisions to the documents. We will then present the final documents to the Church at the August 12th Business meeting and make a motion that the Church vote on these documents at the October Business meeting. We encourage everyone to review and provide comments for these important documents.
If you do not have the free Adobe Reader, you can obtain this here.
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Posted in Bible Study, Bryan Dunn at 7:23 pm by Bryan Dunn
In this passage the disciples have four bullet items on the PowerPoint presentation Jesus is giving to them.
- I will go to Jerusalem (this was the appointed place of sacrifice)
- I will suffer many things from those appointed as religious leaders
- I must be killed (He is our substitutionary sacrifice since we can’t save ourselves from sin)
- I will be resurrected on the third day (divine authentication of His person and work)
Let’s look at the verse 21, specifically bullet item 2. Jesus will have an audience! What an opportunity here to (again) show those that have influence over the nation that Jesus is Messiah. I truly loved the commentary found in the Life Application Bible at this point.
“Triumphalism” is a word that describes the kind of Christianity that seeks political prestige, social recognition, and temporal power. It forces itself on populations and begins to dictate on matters far removed from Jesus’ word. It says, “God will not let us lose because God cannot tolerate loss.” It presses toward victory by any means. It likes success. It is modern Christianity mimicking Peter’s advice to Jesus when he tried to talk him out of his mission.
But Jesus describes the path of faith in much humbler terms: injustice, misunderstanding, suffering, and death. These terms typify true faith for Jesus more than black-tie banquets celebrating multimillion-dollar fund-raising campaigns. When you think of what faith means, focus on Jesus, not on brochures, media presentations, or hyped-up public relations press releases. (from The Life Application Commentary Series Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 by the Livingstone Corporation. Produced with permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.)
Jesus would not face these accusers in the hopes of swaying them to adopt His agenda (truly His mission and calling). The decision had been made by these groups of people – the die was cast. But Peter had more alarming revelations with what Jesus was saying. I mean, after all, Jesus just told him he would be important in the spread of the church (he might not have understood exactly what the ‘church’ thing was all about, but he knew Jesus had given him some authority in that area). It was time to use some of this ‘authority’ – umm, Jesus, could I have a word with you for a moment?
Look, this is crazy talk. I’ve got your back. Oh, and I have your right side, your left side, and your front. I’m in your corner and no one will get to you unless they come through me. Put the PowerPoint presentation away because that will not be the reality as long as I’m there with you!
Peter rebuked Jesus. That’s a pretty strong term.
[NT:2008 epitimao (ep-ee-tee-mah'-o); from NT:1909 and NT:5091; to tax upon, i.e. censure or admonish; by implication, forbid: KJV - (straitly) charge, rebuke.
(Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.)]
Peter, stepping on out there! He felt responsible to make sure this tragedy would be prevented. Evidently he was willing to use physical restraint if necessary on Jesus to stop this from happening. While Peter rebuked Jesus, Christ had a response that was stronger. Look at it in the Amplified Bible.
Matt 16:23 But Jesus turned away from Peter and said to him, Get behind Me, Satan! You are in My way [an offense and a hindrance and a snare to Me]; for you are minding what partakes not of the nature and quality of God, but of men. (AMP)
What’s this? The Lord calling the pebble that the church would be constructed with Satan? Many discussions have taken place over the years on this – was Jesus inferring that Peter was not saved? I’d say no, for on many other occasions Peter had confessed faith in the person and work of Christ. What Peter did do here is expressed Satan’s purpose – keep Christ from going to the cross as the ultimate sacrifice for the sins of the world.
Satan was working through one close to the Lord. Let’s see, when Satan tempted Christ he had offered a throne without a cross (if you will only bow down and worship me) – an offer Christ rejected. Now Peter, with the authority Christ has conferred on him, wants to flex those muscles and let Jesus mount the Messianic throne right now. No need for a cross!
And us? Give us an easy path too – all the rewards with none of the sweat equity. Being a Christian should be rewarding with no ‘buyers remorse’. Jesus would have none of that. He knew the Father’s plan and looked towards the redemption of men. If it was us…may be a different story.
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06.28.09
Posted in Bible Study, Gene Cornett at 5:37 am by Gene Cornett
An interesting article regarding the issue of popular entertainment. John Piper reflects back on an interview where he was questioned about such things.
Click Here to read the article.
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06.26.09
Posted in Bible Study, Bryan Dunn at 4:00 pm by Bryan Dunn
After months of teachings, miracles and traveling from town to town, Christ had offered convincing evidence of the truth of His teaching about His Person – He claimed to be Messiah. Now He questions the disciples on what others are saying – specifically what they are saying about who He is. John the Baptist – they were contemporaries and both proclaimed and lived their messages. Elijah – in the days of apostasy stood before the nation as the voice of God to condemn their unrighteousness and call them to repentance (his message was rejected). Jeremiah – on the eve of captivity announced the coming judgment and denounced the sins of the people (his message was rejected). Consensus seemed to be that Christ was a prophet, and for many that would be high praise – but not for Christ. So the question now became personalized for those that had traveled with Him for so long – who do you say I am?
This is where Peter’s confession comes in. It encompassed the work and person of Christ in his statement. And while Peter voiced the conviction of the group, this was not Peter’s confession alone (keep in mind, Peter had a big mouth). And after the confession, Christ reveals His intent to build a church. Not another church – His church! It would be His body and He would be the head. This church, existing between Pentecost and the Rapture, is comprised of everyone throughout the age who receives Christ by faith as personal Savior and trusts Him for salvation.
It would be built on the rock – what is the identity of the rock? It should be recognized that there is a play on words by Christ when using ‘Peter’ and ‘this rock’. ‘Thou art Peter (Petros – a stone or rock) and upon this rock (Petra – the rock, the Petrine) will I found My Church’. So let the interpretations and discussions begin! Some feel this refers to Peter himself (he is worthy of this first mention because he was the first to make the bold confession). Others feel that the rock is Peter’s confession concerning the deity of Christ or his faith (just as Christ’s contemporaries may have regarded the world as reared on the rock of faithful Abraham, so Christ promised that He would build His Church on the Petrine in Peter – on his faith). Still others relate this rock to Christ Himself (keeps with the distinction of the language found in this passage, the masculine and feminine forms of the word ‘rock’) where Christ is the Rock from which Peter (a stone) was cut so that he could become the foundation in the church.
It’s possible to combine all these views, each has some validity, so that Christ was saying that the church would be build through the ministries of men who had demonstrated faith in His person as the Son of God. It’s here that I would say that Christ would build the church, not Peter. And faith in the person of Christ is what brings one into the church. But make no mistake, Peter had been deputized. Authority was conferred on Peter and the rest of the Twelve to administer in His name, to proclaim His truth, to declare salvation to people, and to assure those who believe that they are recipients of eternal life.
As the Church age moves forward in the book of Acts we see this authority exercised. God would move in a previously unrevealed form (in the church) to administer the new form of the kingdom that would stretch from the time of Israel’s rejection to Israel’s future reception of Messiah. This was the first time Jesus revealed His purpose to establish a church that was to be made up people that put their faith and trust in Christ. Is that something you belong to today?
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06.15.09
Posted in Bible Study, Bryan Dunn at 5:47 am by Bryan Dunn
A simple phrase mistaken for a mild rebuke. Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees. What is He talking about? It must be that we forgot to bring bread. Hey, wasn’t that Matthew’s job? Or was it Judas’s? Guys – don’t you get it? Weren’t you paying attention? Did you miss the mass feedings, those miracles? Why are you talking about bread?
This explanation by Christ is wonderful. Jesus was surprised that they wondered about bread when He had proven over and over again that He could meet their needs. This was more than a warning about the provisions they did or didn’t bring on the boat. Watch out for the yeast – not the active agent in the bread (especially if it is odd yeast used by the religious folks or by the king’s folks). Swete explains the symbolism of yeast:
The word represents a tendency working invisibly … in the present case the yeast was the teaching of the Pharisees, or the spirit of hypocrisy which their teaching encouraged. Once admitted into the heart or into a society, this principle would spread until it rendered the spiritual service of God impossible.
Keep in mind that Herod had rejected John’s message and ultimately put him to death. The Pharisees were rejecting the message of Jesus and were plotting His death. So here, the warning to the disciples was one against the attitude that produced the rejection.
YEAST TODAY
Pharisees were the conservatives of their era, and Sadducees were the liberals. Rigidly sure of the proper way to go about religion, Pharisees suffocated true faith in their systems and legalism. Empirically sure of the silliness of most religion, Sadducees trimmed true faith to a skeleton, elevating skepticism to a virtue. Beware of both parties today.
Legalism will bind you. Slowly but surely, your faith will shift from serving and loving Jesus to serving and embracing rules. Your reward will be self-righteousness.
Empiricism will starve you. If everything you believe must be measured, you’ll have no place for faith, hope, or love. You will be spiritually gaunt, and with so little room for growth, you’ll probably give it up.
Walk with Jesus. Accept no religious substitutes.
(from The Life Application Commentary Series Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 by the Livingstone Corporation. Produced with permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.)
In Mark’s passage, we also get a glimpse of a healing. The people brought a blind man to Jesus and begged Him to touch (heal) him. Note what Jesus did not do – He did not heal this man right there. Instead, He led the man out of the town or away from the village. When they were much more secluded, He applied spit to the man’s eyes and asked if he could see. The man could see, but not as a mature person would, he could see more like a child – seeing shapes but not being able to focus on details. Touching the man’s eyes a second time gave mature vision so the ability to see clearly was given. Then Jesus commanded the man to return home without going into the village.
At this point, Christ had already said no more signs and wonders to the nation. There was no need to give a public demonstration of His person. However, notice that Christ was still responsive to the needs of the individuals – especially when they expressed faith in His person.
What of us? Do we anticipate a miracle on a grand scale, in front of many in the hopes of them turning to God? Would we be accepting of a miracle if it was pulled to the side, out of the main stream of life, or would that take some of the shine off of it? Be careful of treating God’s works as a genie granting wishes – God is much more that that!
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06.10.09
Posted in Bible Study, Bryan Dunn at 4:10 am by Bryan Dunn
Jesus makes the trip from the region of Decapolis to Magadan / Dalmanutha. Magadan was the name of a town, while Dalmanutha in Aramaic means ‘the harbor’ – so read this Jesus went by boat to the harbor of the town of Magadan. It was here that the Scribes and Pharisees confront Him again. This time there is a test request – give us a sign from heaven. Shepard writes:
There had been signs enough in the miracles of Jesus to convince an open mind, but these they had attributed to the prince of demons. Beelzebub. A sign from heaven would be different. If He would make a rainbow span the world, or like Joshua make the sun stand still; call down thunder or hail like Samuel, or fire and rain like Elijah; or if He would make the sun turn back like Isaiah, they would believe that the King-Messiah had come.
Umm, yeah. Right. So these religious leaders wanted something more than a healing, raising people from the dead, controlling nature, casting out demons, and feeding the masses so that they would know (and He would prove) that He was sent from God. Christ refused to give them another sign.
The reason for rejection of the person of Christ had nothing to do with miraculous signs – it had everything to do with their inability to interpret the signs they had been seeing. Jesus condemned them, for they had learned to interpret the signs of the weather but couldn’t interpret the signs from the One sent from heaven. They had swallowed the Kool-Aid and were blinded by their unbelief.
As Jesus had done before (when challenged to provide incontrovertible proof that would convince them) He told them the only proof that they would receive would the sign of Jonah.
By using the sign of the prophet Jonah, who was inside a great fish for three days, Jesus was predicting his death and resurrection (see also Matt 12:38-42). The Resurrection, of course, was the most spectacular sign of all. That sign would come, not in Jesus’ timing or in answer to the Pharisees’ demands, but in God’s plan. And when it occurred, even that sign would be dismissed by the religious leaders. Mark’s Gospel, however, says that no sign (at all) would be given because of their unbelief. Jesus was rejecting these leaders.
PROVE IT
Many people, like these Jewish leaders, say they want to see a miracle so that they can believe. But Jesus knew that miracles usually won’t convince hard-hearted people. Jesus had been healing the sick, raising people from the dead, and feeding thousands, and still people wanted him to prove himself. Do you doubt Christ because you haven’t seen a miracle? Do you expect God to prove himself to you personally before you believe? Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29 NKJV). We have all the miracles recorded in the Old and New Testaments, two thousand years of church history, and the witness of thousands. With all this evidence, those who won’t believe may be too proud or too stubborn. Don’t harden your heart.
(from The Life Application Commentary Series Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 by the Livingstone Corporation. Produced with permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.)
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06.08.09
Posted in Audio & Podcasts (Sermons) 2009, Media at 6:52 pm by Bryan Dunn
June 28, 2009 – Sermon: Gene Cornett
June 21, 2009 – Sermon: Gene Cornett
June 14, 2009 – Sermon: Gene Cornett
June 7, 2009 – Sermon: Gene Cornett
21
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06.03.09
Posted in Bible Study, Bryan Dunn at 4:59 am by Bryan Dunn
Jesus traveled from the region of Tyre / Sidon and went towards the Decapolis. This was an area of 10 cities that the Jews lost during the period of Babylonian captivity, and area that they had never recovered – that was full of non-Jews (those rascally Gentiles!). Looking at the turn out in this area, it appears that Jesus’ reception was favorable. Why did Jesus travel here? It may be due to His avoiding the territory that Herod Antipas ruled because the Jews were seeking Herod’s help in order to destroy Him.
Make no mistake, the fame of Christ had spread in the area. A deaf and nearly mute man was brought to Jesus (Mark 7:32) for healing. What Jesus did was a miracle, but it was not the ‘normal’ miracle at all. He put His fingers in the man’s ears, then spit and touched the man’s tongue (apparently with the expectoration). This was not something Christ did while among the Jews. Why here? Perhaps the faith of this man needed all the support that visible signs could afford. And those around may have needed some visual clues as to where this power came from – so the touch of the Savior afforded that opportunity to the crowd of gathered Gentiles. The power came from this man, He touched the afflicted areas and a miracle healing took place.
Of interest was a command given to this man. It was a command that he could not hear. Was that a barrier to God? No – the response was immediate. This man heard and spoke! And Jesus commands them not to tell anyone. Think about it, in a Gentile crowd a miracle takes place. If Gentiles publicly start putting their faith in Jesus as Messiah, the Jews would have more reason to reject Jesus as the Messiah and could then say He may have been the Gentile’s Savior, but not their own.
The opportunity to minister was before Jesus. He took advantage of it. No doubt He took the opportunity to teach and instruct the disciples as well. A crowd gathered over the course of these days to where it was 4,000 men (not counting women and children). These folks were intent to listen to the words of Life. So intense that they didn’t worry about a lunch break, dinner time or a second breakfast (and if they did bring provisions, they were not enough for an extended stay). What may be surprising is while this situation is happening, the disciples acted as if it was something new. Feed the masses. ‘Umm, with what Lord?’ Well, what do you (disciples) have left over from your provisions? ‘Oh yeah, we still have seven loaves…’
God used what was there to feed the masses. The meeting of a physical need for those in the crowd again afforded the opportunity to instruct the Twelve (a reinforcement of an earlier lesson). When they saw a need that they could not fulfill, Christ could work through what they made available to Him. Christ could use them as instruments to meet the need. The ministry would not depend on their ability, but on their availability.
And this may be a lesson we need over and over again. What is it that Christ has put before us? Something we may not be able to do in our own power, or even in our collective power. So – what have we made available to Him so the need can be met?
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05.26.09
Posted in Bible Study, Bryan Dunn at 4:52 am by Bryan Dunn
Jesus now withdrew from Capernaum to the region of Tyre and Sidon. At this point, the hostility from the religious leaders was fierce. So the withdrawal to Gentile region was a good move to keep the religious folks at bay, we wouldn’t want them to be unclean! But while He was there a Gentile woman has no problem approaching Him and the disciples.
She cries out Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! This Gentile woman addresses Christ by a double messianic title, for both Lord and Son of David were messianic names (Ps. 110:1; 2 Sam. 7:16). She acknowledged what the nation of Israel rejected.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Jesus ignores her request. And it is not an accident, He does it on purpose. Mind you, this did not make the woman stop requesting! She was so persistent, that the disciples asked Christ to send this woman away and to make her stop following them. In verse 24 Jesus turns to her and explains the reason He had ignored her request. Shepard says:
In Galilee he had freely ministered to the Gentiles who attended His preaching; but now the case is different. He had come to this Gentile country. If He should engage in extended ministries here He would forever close the door to all further effort on behalf of the ‘lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ This would be to defeat His wider ministry to the world later through the Jews, who were to be His emissaries when enlightened. For the same reason no other incident is recorded of any work done in Phoenicia except this one significant cure.
The woman still maintained her plea, kneeling before God Himself and pouring out her plea. Christ again rejected her petition. Don’t take the expression wrong. Those within the kingdom were like the children, and those outside of the kingdom were like the dogs. But the woman recognized that the Master was Master of both the children and what they did. And it is not uncommon for children to make sure they leave crumbs behind so their pets get something to eat. What wisdom in this woman’s answer! She would not be denied. She asked for what the children of Israel cast aside. And her daughter was healed immediately. This turning of a woman, in faith, to the King of Kings…well, the disciples needed to see this because Jesus was getting closer and closer to giving His life for all people.
For the question of the day, reflect on the behavior / attitude of the disciples.
GETTING PAST “CHURCH PEOPLE”
One of the obstacles the Canaanite woman had to overcome was the dismissive attitude of the disciples. Likewise, seekers today are advised not to judge the gospel on their first impression of most church folk.
If you are seeking help from Jesus, don’t be put off by the airs and attitudes of some people who claim to know him. Christians are not perfect. “Get rid of her,” said the disciples. And so today in many different ways people in need of Jesus are put off by the “righteous.”
If you’re looking for Jesus, don’t stop until you find him. And when you find him, try your best to be as generous and loving to others as he is.
(from The Life Application Commentary Series Copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 by the Livingstone Corporation. Produced with permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.)
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05.23.09
Posted in Bible Study, Bryan Dunn at 5:14 am by Bryan Dunn
Some of the things in Scripture are – admittedly – hard to understand. This is one of those areas for me, not because of the content, but the context. I have a hard time putting myself in a society where many of my movements are tracked to the minutia of what I do. Here is a prime example, and to truly understand what Jesus was getting at one must step back and review the context of the setting – the social environment and society that they all were part of. So let’s explore before we start to examine the text in detail.
Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of, Jerusalem. Mark says they “came from” it; a deputation probably sent from the capital expressly to watch Him. Since He had not come to them at the last Passover, which they had reckoned on, they now come to Him. “And,” says Mark, “when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen, hands” – hands not ceremonially cleansed by washing – “they found fault. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft” – literally, ‘in’ or ‘with the fist;’ that is, probably, washing the one hand by the use of the other-though some understand it, with our version, in the sense of ‘diligently,’ ’sedulously’ – “eat not, holding the tradition of the elders;” acting religiously according to the custom handed down to them. “And when they come from the market” – ‘And after market;’ after any common business, or attending a court of justice, where the Jews, as Webster and Wilkinson remark, after their subjection to the Romans, were especially exposed to conversation and contact with pagans – “except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups and pots, brazen vessels and tables” – rather ‘couches,’ such as were used at meals, which probably were merely sprinkled for ceremonial purposes.
(from Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown Commentary, Electronic Database. Copyright © 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by Biblesoft, Inc. All rights reserved.)
So we have Jesus, with interest still high in all that He said and did, being followed by religious leaders from Jerusalem. The questions came because the disciples didn’t wash their hands. Not because they were filthy dirty, but the ritual of washing their hands. This was due to the demands of the law to maintain separation from Gentiles and the Jewish sense of the uncleanness of Gentiles. In fact, the more commentators I read on this, the demands of the law were interesting in that they prescribed the way hands would be washed, the way that water must flow, and how far the water needed to flow (the water from the fingertips on the first washing must run down to the wrist, think of the way a surgeon holds his hands in the tilted upright position so water would run down from the tip of the fingers to the wrist).
So Jesus was approached by these religious leaders. They did not question the disciples conformity to the law of Moses, instead they questioned their conformity to the traditions of the elders. Jesus responds to their question with a question of His own and quotes scripture. And not just any scripture, but Isaiah 29:13 pointing out that God would not accept the worship of the nation because they were concerned with external observances (traditions) and were not worshipers from the heart.
You see, that question back from Jesus to these religious leaders went to the heart of the matter. The Pharisees had cleverly used their traditions to find ways of circumventing the stringent requirements of the law. The law of Moses required a son to support an indigent parent. That put the financial responsibility on the son. The Pharisees used their traditions to circumvent the law and absolve themselves of this responsibility. They ceremonially dedicated all they had to God by pronouncing the word Corban over it (see Mark 7:11). Then this was given or set aside for God’s use and the temple’s benefit. The leaders had no qualms with this as it brought them a profit! The parents, however, now were left to fend for themselves. The traditions of the elders absolved the son from responsibility to the father and eased the conscience of the son from the guilt of failure to fulfill the law.
Jesus then turns to speak to the crowd. He used this opportunity to teach them what God saw as unclean. You see, the religious leaders considered themselves clean within and wholly acceptable to God. The way they saw it, only that which came into contact with them from the outside could make them unclean and defiled in the sight of God. Jesus refused this teaching and turned it on its head – it was what was inside, that was what made one unclean.
The religious leaders concept continued to lead them to reject Jesus, the one who offered the a righteousness from God. The sensed no need of such a righteousness and insisted that ceremonial cleansings were sufficient, thinking they were essentially clean within.
And us? Are we like the disciples and just don’t quite get it? We go to church, we pray, we give of our money, we do the ‘right things’ and think that we’re OK with God. Are we? Look inside – are you just window dressing your outside and thinking that is all that matters?
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