"There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer." - A. T. Pierson

"Every mighty move of the Spirit of God has had its source in the prayer chamber." - E.M. Bounds

Revivals are interesting phenomena.  In one sense, they depend solely on the sovereign grace of God to bestow a sense of spiritual awakening to the people of God (and to those coming to faith in the revival).  Yet studying revivals throughout church history, we can also identify some common threads: (1) robust expository preaching of the Bible as the Word of God, (2) an openness to the Holy Spirit, especially to bring deep conviction of sin, and (3) a vibrant sense of private and corporate prayer issuing to the throne of God from the people of God. 

Most movements of God throughout church history have come as the church gathers together on its knees. There is no substitute for spiritual renewal and revitalization – let alone revival – without the church gathering together for prayer.

We cannot control or manipulate God in prayer.  We can no more bring forth a revival or movement of God than we can control the weather! Yet, God often delights and smiles upon His children as we come together – shoulder to shoulder – to pray and seek His face. 

On August 13th, we want come together to knit our hearts closer to God’s heart.  As a church family, we come “empty handed” simply to offer prayer and praise to the Living God.  We come in prayer as we send our children and grandchildren off to another school year; we come to ask for God’s favor and blessing as we crank up the Fall programs in the life of our church; we come together to seek God’s wisdom, direction, and blessing for our church family. 

Thankful to be with you on this journey of discipleship,

Pastor Jason Carter

*** “Refresh: A Night of Prayer and Praise” will take place in the sanctuary from 6:15 to 7:00 followed by “Renew: Vision and Training” from 7:15-8:00.  Hope to see you there! 

“A growing Christian is often a reading Christian.” I generally stand by this axiom even though I understand that God gloriously and distinctly wires us all in radically different ways.  My cup of tea may not be yours, so to speak. Nevertheless, I have seen over the years that disciples who engage with Christian writers of the past and present are often afforded a depth of perspective in matters of faith, wisdom, prayer, and suffering as well as a sharpness of mind and a softness of heart to apply the Scripture to their daily lives. We always live out the Christian life in community, yet there is something healthy and happy – yes, even exciting – that happens when a disciple of Jesus Christ begins to include authors as part of their pilgrimage of faith. Good Christian books launch us into the deep waters of faith in a few hours that even the best of sermons – typically consisting of a few minutes – can never achieve.

As you came into worship today, you may have noticed the “TWC Bookstore” lined with rows of books in various categories. These books are marked with a “suggested donation amount”.  Hopefully, you will find a person manning the Resource Center that will take cash or make change between worship services on Sunday.  Let me highlight a few books at our TWC Bookstore:

Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home (Richard Foster) is a modern-day classic book on prayer. I highly recommend it for an entry into discussing prayer.

Marriage: The Meaning of Marriage (Tim Keller) and What did you Expect? (Paul Tripp). We can all use a “marriage check-up” whether our marriage is “smooth sailing” or whether we in the midst of “experiencing turbulence”.

Families with young children will find three books particularly helpful in reading the Bible with young hearts: The Jesus Storybook Bible and The Biggest Story. My boys who love all things pertaining to Superheroes have loved reading through The Action Bible which have unbelievable drawings accompanied by a great storyline of the Bible. 

Overwhelmed by the busyness of life? Consider reading Crazy Busy (Kevin DeYoung). This is a great follow-up from our worship services today.

Grateful to be with you on the road to discipleship,

Pastor Jason

What does it mean for us – individually and corporately – to become creatures of the Word of God?  How can the Word of God reverberate into lives, into our songs in worship, into conversations around the dinner table, into our friendships, and into our community like those small silver balls in an old-school pinball machine? How do we stand today solely upon the Word of God (sola scriptura) like Martin Luther five hundred years ago when he posted his 95 theses to the door of the Castle Church at Wittenberg on October 31, 1517?

Historically, the Protestant tradition has underscored four essential attributes of Scripture which can be helpfully remembered by the acronym SCAN: Sufficiency, Clarity, Authority, and Necessity. In Taking God at His Word, my friend Kevin DeYoung expounds upon these four chief characteristics. Let me directly quote and loosely paraphrase him thus:

Sufficiency: The Scriptures contain everything we need for knowledge of salvation and godly living. Scripture needs no additional words to make the revelation of God more personal or more direct. God’s word is enough.

Clarity: The saving message of Jesus Christ is plainly taught in the Scriptures and can be understood by all who have ears to hear it.  We don’t need an official magisterium to tell us what the Bible means.  God’s word is understandable.

Authority: The last word always goes to the word of God. We must never allow the teachings of science, of human experience, or of church councils to take precedence over Scripture. God’s word is final.

Necessity: General revelation is not enough to save us. We cannot know God savingly by means of personal experience and human reason. We need God’s word to tell us how to live, who Christ is, and how to be saved. God’s word is necessary.  (See Taking God at His Word, p. 44-5.)

My suspicion is that many Christians struggle with one (or more) of these characteristics as they seek to live out and apply the Word of God to their daily lives. Part of becoming a “creature of the Word of God” is returning to and delighting in these practical attributes of God’s Word!

A couple weeks ago in our “Pillars of Ministry” teaching series, I indicated that discipleship is a three-legged stool comprised of the WORD OF GOD, RELATIONSHIP, and MINISTRY.

I even asked a few poignant questions to help us consider the comprehensive nature of the task:

1. Are you a self-feeder of the Word of God? Are you increasing in your knowledge and ability to read, interpret, and apply the Word of God to your everyday life? Are you a self-feeder of the Word of God or do you outsource that task to others?

2. Is the ethic of Jesus permeating your relationships? Is Christ increasingly making a difference in the quality, authenticity, and manner that you relate to others, especially those closest to you?

3. What is the new calling that sends you forth into the world? Are we growing in our recognition that ministry is not for “graduate level Christians” but that we are all called to serve and to minister in ways that exercise our spiritual gifts and passions which in turn release Christ’s life and love and joy to others?

Discipleship is costly.  Discipleship is a life-long process.  Yet notice the words “growing” and “increasing” in the above questions. We are all works in progress, and none of us have arrived!  Part of the beauty of discipleship is that God uses the community of faith to teach us, sharpen us, and encourage us in our walk of faith.  Part of the joy of discipleship is that it overflows into mission as we take the gospel to our hurting world.

Grateful to be with you on this journey of discipleship,
Pastor Jason Carter

“My calling is to be and to make disciples of Jesus Christ through preaching, teaching, and living the Word of God. No one can make disciples without being a disciple.” I adopted this motto years ago. My heart is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ which overflows to disciple others and leads our church to effectively make disciples who are transformed from the inside out.

Discipleship lies at the heart of the local church. Discipleship lies at the heart of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus started his mission by calling ordinary people to follow him. Discipleship was Jesus’ plan to launch a movement that would change the world. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”

My heart for discipleship largely stems from three men who all poured their life into mine. Before I had graduated from college, Bodie (my youth pastor), David (the missions pastor), and David (an elder who led a college bible study) in my home (Presbyterian) church in Wichita, Kansas all played important roles in my discipleship – sometimes at my request, but often through their intentional living. They not only talked about the faith – they lived it. And they let me peer into their lives and how they followed Jesus from close range.

I feel that I have received an embarrassment of riches from Godly men that I can never repay. I can only pay it forward.

The beauty of being and making disciples is that this life-long process is never done in isolation but in the context of relationships. If we are to be formed into the image of Christ – to become “little Christs” as C.S. Lewis once said – we need one another. We need the community that Paul called the ecclesia – the local church. How gloriously strange that God would entrust our discipleship to other believers in this quirky place we call the church!  Yet, I – for one – am glad He did!

Grateful to be with you on the journey of discipleship,

Pastor Jason

Lead Pastor

One of my heroes of the Christian faith, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Christian theologian who died in a Nazi concentration camp in World War II for attempting to jam a spoke in the wheel of Hitler’s regime, once observed: “Absolute seriousness is never without a dash of humor.”  Despite living through very serious times, Bonhoeffer never lost his faith in God or, apparently, his sense of humor.  Though Bonhoeffer was not especially known for his humor, I can imagine that both elements – faith and humor – were necessary to persevere under the extreme duress of Nazi Germany.

In life, I believe that we often take ourselves too seriously and God not serious enough. That is, we are often serious about the wrong things! The same goes for leadership in the church: we often take ourselves too seriously and God not serious enough.  We often make church more complicated than it needs to be. That’s why I’ve been preaching through the “Pillars of Ministry” to remind us of the beautiful simplicity of being a church family: Gospel, Prayer, Servant Leadership, Discipleship, Community, Mission, and God’s Word.

In the end, being the church is fairly straightforward and simple.  Sure, TWC has a Finance Team, a Personnel Team, and a Staff Team. Yet, let us not forget that every time we step into “the church” (building), we are called to connect with God and connect with people – for the health of our church and for the joy of all of our lives.

It’s such a privilege to be your pastor.

Grateful to be with you on this journey of discipleship,
Pastor Jason

P.S. And, hopefully, we all find a dash of humor in following Jesus together from time to time!