All-Church Service March 11

Tomorrow, March 11, 10:00am PDT, all three congregations of New Life Church will gather together at the West Linn High School Auditorium for a combined worship service. It promises to be a great morning. Worship leaders from each congregation will make up the band. We'll have a special presentation. Annual Reports will be distributed after the service. We'll have some goodies and a time of fellowship across the street at the Riverfalls building. Hope to see you there!

Worship Services Cancelled 1/15/2012

We are cancelling worship services today, January 15, 2012, at all locations of New Life Church. Please be safe. Enjoy the slower day. And, treasure God today!

Why Do We Sing Hallelujah?

One of my favorite words to sing is "hallelujah." Often though, it's easy to sing words as tradition without knowing what they mean. John Piper recently wrote a brief blog post explaining the meaning of the word "hallelujah." I hope and trust this will come to your mind as we sing, and will help you fix your mind and affections on God.

"The English word “hallelujah” is a transliteration of two Hebrew words, hallelu and jah. The first word, hallelu, is the second person imperative of “praise.” The second word, “jah,” is the short form of Jahweh (or Yahweh).
So when we say, “Hallelujah!” we are exhorting others (people and angels) to join us in praising Yahweh.

What gives a punch to my singing, “Hallelujah,” is that Jah (=Yahweh) is not a generic word for God, but the personal name of the God of Israel.
To shout, “Hallelu Jah!” — “Praise Jah!” — is like standing in the council of the gods and boldly saying, “Not to you, Molech!” “Not to you, Baal!” “Not to you, Dagon!” “Not to you, Artemis!” “Not to you, Zeus!” But to Jah, and Jah alone, I give praise. And I call you to join me! Praise Jah!

And not only is Jah God’s personal name, but it is the one he gave himself to distinguish himself from all the gods. And it is thrilling in meaning.
When Moses asked God what name he should use to identify God in Egypt, God said, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14).

The name Yahweh is built on the words “I AM”. So God put his absolute, transcendent, self-sufficient being at the center of his identity. “All the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but Yahweh made the heavens” (Psalm 96:5).

So, the next time you sing “Hallelujah” pause for a split second between “hallelu” and “Jah” and say it like a name. We praise you . . . Jah! You are above all gods . . . Jah! Join me, all you heavenly hosts, and praise . . . Jah! He is! He simply, eternally, absolutely, independently, gloriously IS! Hallelu . . . Jah!

From Taylor Reavely

Make a LOUD Joyful Noise

The Gospel Coalition, one of the most trustworthy and conservative organizations in modern Christendom, recently tackled the topic of how loud a worship service should be. You can read the blog post here. I have several takeaways from their article:

• I'm comforted to know we are not the only church who is asking this question.
• "The goal of music in the gathering isn't great sound or even great music. It's a church gathered and united in song." A congregation lifting their voices in praise is the reason we have music in church. Is the church singing?
• Comfort is not merely a function of volume, but harshness.
• The Scripture endorses loudness (Psalm 47:1; Psalm 150:5).
  
• Loudness is not a function of style, though it is often perceived to be.
• Managing the sound is a pastoral concern...and one we are paying attention to.

We are working at creating congregations who sing out because they cannot contain their love for God. We want the music to serve that and we grieve when it doesn't happen and enjoy it like everyone else when it does. Thank you for bearing with our misses and for praying for our success. May God be treasured and worshiped exuberantly by New Life Church!

Rome & Moldova Report

Taylor and I returned from Moldova at 1:00 on Sunday morning after 22 1/2 hours of traveling! Thank you for your prayers; we had a rich and full couple weeks. We will give a full report Tuesday night, September 27th at 7:00 in the Fireside Room at New Life Church River Falls.

I apologize for not posting some pictures earlier, but had some technical difficulties and were extremely pressed for time. So, I couldn't figure out the technical problems.

We were privileged to see Dan & Alice Simmons and to be with their church three times. We heard of the impact of Dale & Cris Austen's visit there earlier this year. One of the reasons Dale & Cris had the impact they did was because Michele Gandolfo had such serious health problems while they were there that changed not only their trip, but the church as well.

As you may have heard, I lost my passport in Rome. That provided a little more excitement than we anticipated. Taylor left Rome by himself to start the class. He taught three days by himself before I got there.

Our students loved the Lord and loved the class. Our definition of worship was:

Worship is our God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered, Word-saturated, delightful response to the person and work of God which results in adoration and action.

We'll share more on Tuesday. I do want to thank you for your prayers. We needed them.

Outdoor Service Tomorrow

Tomorrow New Life Church will hold our annual outdoor service at the future home of New Life Church Wilsonville. The address is 27960 SW Canyon Creek Rd. Wilsonville, OR 97070. Hope to see you there.

Easter at New Life Church

Plan to come to Easter Services, April 24th, at New Life Church. We will have one service at New Life Church Robinwood at 10:00 preceded by a light brunch at 9:15. Our other service will be held at West Linn High School also at 10:00. Bring someone with you!

Good Friday Services will be held at 6:30 & 8:00pm at New Life Church Riverfalls on April 22nd.

Moldova Bible Seminary

In a month, Taylor and I will head to Chisinau, Moldova to teach for a week at Moldova Bible Seminary. We are team-teaching a class on Worship. We will stay in Europe and visit the Simmons the next week. The dates of the trip are March 11-March 27.

We were introduced to this ministry a few years ago by Rich and Cheri Strahm. Rich is teaching at this seminary this week. You can read about some of New Life Church's earlier interactions in Moldova here.

Please join us in prayer that:

• Churches throughout Moldova and that entire region would treasure God more passionately because of these students.
  
• Their worship would fuel mission.
• Taylor and I would effectively connect the glory of God and the worship of the local church.
• This trip would enhance our ministry and vision through New Life Church.
  
• God would take care of us and our family while we're away.
  
• We would refresh the hearts (Philemon 7) of the Simmons and Gandolfos.
  

Riverfalls and Robinwood congregations to meet together on January 23rd

To celebrate a new year together, a combined worship service is planned at the West Linn High School auditorium at 10 a.m. on Sunday, January 23rd. Worship services will not take place at either church location so that all can attend this combined service. Nursery and preschool classes will be provided at New Life Riverfalls.

Outdoor Service and Picnic

Our annual outdoor service and picnic will be next week, August 15th, beginning at 10:00. The picnic will follow.

We will hold it at the future home of New Life Church Wilsonville. You can find a map along with the address here (the link is fixed).


We are doing this for several reasons:

• It is a great opportunity to bring someone with you who might not come to a church building.
• We want to hang out together. It will be great to have our Robinwood and River Falls congregations together.
• We want to expose you to the church plant work that is going on in Wilsonville and solicit your prayers and help.
• And, it was always the most popular teachers in high school who took class outdoors -- it is just fun.

I hope you can make it. It will be a good day, as always, for New Life Church.

Worship Thoughts

Here are a couple additional thoughts that didn't fit into the message on Worship. They won't fit in a couple weeks when I share it at Robinwood either, so no spoiler alert necessary.

The Resurgence, a ministry I recommend you pay attention to, highlights the false gospel preached by rock & roll in this blog post. Their observation about the music we entertain ourselves with is similar to my concern for our worship. Your music preaches a gospel...is it the right one?

My message hardly qualified as a sermon on worship without this quote by William Temple, former archbishop of Canterbury, which everyone who writes on the topic of worship loves. Here it is in two different forms:

To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.

Both for perplexity and for dulled conscience the remedy is the same; sincere and spiritual worship. For worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose – and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin. Yes – worship in spirit and truth is the way to the solution of perplexity and to the liberation from sin. – William Temple, Readings in St. John’s Gospel, (1942-44).

Resurrection Sunday at New Life Church

New Life Church will be celebrating the Lord's Resurrection this Sunday, April 4th, 2010, at two different locations.

New Life Church Robinwood will be meeting at the Robinwood Campus at 10:00 a.m. for the Celebration Service following a 9:00 a.m. light breakfast.

New Life Church River Falls will meet at the West Linn High School Auditorium at 10:00. We will have a brunch following the service at the New Life Church building across the street from the auditorium. Please come and bring a friend!

Outdoor Service And Picnic

At 10:00 a.m., Sunday, August 2nd, New Life Church will be holding our Annual Outdoor Service and Picnic at the New Life Robinwood location. We will recognized the kids who participated in Sports Camp and have a potluck picnic after the service. We will provide chicken; If your name starts with A-L, please bring a hot dish and salad. If your name begins with M-Z, please bring a hot dish and dessert. Also, please bring a lawn chair if you have one.

New Life Oregon City will be joining us and will be leading the service. We are delighted to be sharing the day with them.

There will not be a service at New Life Church Riverfalls.

CCLITV

I just found a worship video site where you can watch and learn new worship songs. You don't have to wait for them to be sung at church. Check out CCLITV.

Sing-a-Long Tonight

Haven't sung your favorite song in while? Tonight is your night! Ronn Pricer has promised to play any song you request at the Sing-a-Long tonight (Wednesday) at 7:00 PM at New Life Robinwood. Come prepared to sing your favorite hymns and choruses as we worship our great God.

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:19-20 (NIV)

Wednesday Night Life Pics

Click here to access this and many more pictures from last nights Wednesday Night Life. Wednesday Night Life is a ministry of Ignite Youth Ministries where high school students can hang out together, worship together and engage Scripture together. If you're a high school student, come join us!

Having a Quiet Time

Every heard the term "Quiet Time"? Do you know what a Quiet Time is? Tim Keller describes it this way, "a time of direct contact between your mind and God's using the Bible and prayer." Is this kind of time a regular part of your life? Would you like it to be? Ignite Youth Ministries has been using a resource for almost a year now that has proved very helpful in guiding high school students and adults in daily devotions, and we want to offer it to you! It's called a Quiet Time Booklet.

Click on the link above to access a printable PDF version. You will need to print it doubles-sided, so a printer with duplex capabilities is really handy. Once printed you will want to add a piece of cardstock for a cover, so decorate it however you'd like! Then you can either cut it in half and bind the pages, or fold and staple them. Enjoy meeting with the God of the universe who did not spare His own Son to establish a relationship with you!

Combined Service Recap

The Lord blessed New Life Church on Sunday when we were together with New Life Oregon City at West Linn High School. The singing was inspiring and the response to God's word was sincere and heartfelt.

Some things happen when you put multiple congregations together that are unique. All of us realized that God is doing something bigger in our midst than we experience week-to-week.

One woman from Oregon City discovered that her boss went to church in West Linn. We had two different high school reunions, one from Canby and another from West Linn. Classmates saw each other for the first time in years.

Thanks to those who served behind the scenes with children and refreshments, ushering and parking.

I trust the Lord will continue to raise our sights for what He wants to do through us.

Time / Place Change Tomorrow

Don't forget that we are meeting at the West Linn High School Auditorium at 10:00 am. tomorrow, March 29. New Life Church Oregon City will be joining us, too. It should be a very fun service. Hope to see you there.

Combined Service March 29

We are looking forward to a service with both locations of New Life Church in West Linn and with New Life Church Oregon City at the West Linn High School Auditorium, March 29th, at 10:00am. We'll have childcare for children 4 years and under in the Riverfalls campus building. We'll have coffee there, too, in the new coffee bar. Hope you can join us.