God is at work
in and through us.
July sizzled but it didn’t slow down our Bible teaching church in Peoria AZ! Pastor Jones’ from Zimbabwe delivered a powerful message. Pastor Steve continued to bring a challenging message from the prophets Joel and Amos. Then, Dr. Vickie shared her story of brokenness to healing through the power of God’s Word. We have been really blessed with receiving strong, undiluted challenges from God’s Word as He continues to move us forward as vessels used in Kingdom work! In other news, WINGS Women’s Ministry kept their cool with their annual Christmas in July event, and John Basso’s hair was restyled at summer camp, not to mention wonderful moments of transformation for our youth and children at camp.
August is no exception! We are excited to welcome Pastor Wayne Singh from Capetown, South Africa, and Bishop Getahun from Ethiopia who oversees six hundred churches in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and underground churches in Somalia. He will be sharing about the mighty move of God taking place in these African nations that face so much hardship on multiple fronts.
And it wouldn’t be August at our Bible teaching church in Peoria AZ without our annual Fall Kickoff featuring guest speaker Ron Wolfley, former Pro Bowl player and voice of the Arizona Cardinals. Athletes, coaches, students, and teachers from around the Valley will gather with us for as Ron delivers a strong challenge and the students are prayed over for this upcoming school year. Joshua Ward, Director of Partners in Action, whom we originally met in Swaziland, will also be sharing on Kickoff Sunday about the mission of sustainable transformation around the world.
Both Children’s and Student Ministries have back to school kick-offs planned for our students as parents and children alike prepare for the new school year.
If you haven’t already, be sure to download the Reunion Church app, available on Apple and Android platforms. The church calendar is built into the app. Please also check out the August events below.
Let’s love God, teach His Truth, pray for one another, and move forward in fellowship, Communion, and prayer this August!
If you haven’t already, be sure to download the Reunion Church app, available on Apple and Android platforms. The church calendar is built into the app. Please also check out the August events below.
Let’s love God, teach His Truth, pray for one another, and move forward in fellowship, Communion, and prayer this August!
THE PASTOR'S CORNER
The Movement – A Righteous Revolution: Amos 5 Joel 2
Landmark Event Two – The Return to God and the Relevance of Repentance – Joel 2:12-17
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God? Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep and say, “Spare your people, O LORD, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, ‘Where is their God?’ ”
Even Now… (Verse 12)
Though consequences for sin and judgment are present, it is not too late to repent. The gracious invitation for godly contrition comes from the Lord himself. “Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart.” This bears the stamp of his authority. The repentance is called a turning, or returning to God (the meaning of the Hebrew term na-šûb-hah; the returning)
Hosea 3:5
“Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the LORD and to his goodness in the latter days.”
Hosea 6:1
“Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up.”
This turning or returning is not a token gesture or an act of empty ritual; it must be sincere and wholehearted, with the full understanding of moral conviction. Outward manifestations of the “returning/repentance” there will be—fasting, weeping, and mourning (defection/defiance from God is comparable to death). But the fast, the tears, and the mourning must be symbols of a broken and contrite heart, a will that is fully yielded to God’s precepts, principles, and ways.
Rend Your Hearts… (Verse 13)
The command to rend your hearts and not your garments is the Hebrew way of saying that inward contrition is more important than an outward show of grief, which by itself could be an act devoid of sincerity or integrity – done for show, for attention, or for pride and position. Biblically and historically, the rending of garments was most often a sign of overwhelming misfortune or lament. As the seat of moral and spiritual decisions, it is the heart and its attitude that must be confronted and reconciled or made right. It is in the heart and its attitude that evil thoughts and evil ideas are conceived and brought to birth. Rend your hearts (qiru kem l’bab) means ‘change your whole attitude,’ with a result that relates itself to the broken, contrite heart of Psalm 51.
Psalm 51:10-17
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
The precise nature of the change (torn heart) is evidenced by the return to God and the rejection of the ways, words, and weight of the world. But this return and this relationship are possible only because of the very character of God, marked as it is by His amazing grace. The description of grace follows a formula found frequently in the Old Testament.
Psalm 86:15-17
“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant, and save the son of your maidservant. Show me a sign of your favor, that those who hate me may see and be put to shame because you, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.”
It was probably used regularly in worship both in praise and petition. God’s compassion, His reluctance to judge, and His willingness to change his course of action are all tied to his ‘great kindness’, and His firm commitment (Hebrew; ḥesed) to His covenant with His people.
Who Knows… (Verse 14)
Joel moves from first to third person to show his unshakeable belief that he was God’s messenger, speaking to the people of Judah in his name. The question is when there has been a habitual pattern established for rebellious, defiant, and apathetic sin “Who knows” whether the sovereign God will pull back from His righteous judgment and restore His favor”? This is a humble way of holding out hope. When waiting on the mercy, restored favor, and renewed blessing of God it is not time to assume or presume, but it is a time for repentant hopefulness. The expectancy that is held in check by awe (fear of the Lord) of God’s sovereignty
Amos 5:15
“Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.”
Hear the Word of the Lord – we don’t do what is right only when in His presence or waiting for His mercy and blessing but we begin our worship and honor of God outside the temple gate, long before all hell breaks loose. In Jonah the hope is negative: averting judgment. Here in Joel, it is positive: receiving blessing in the form of a fresh fertility which allows the temple offerings to be resumed. Cereal and drink offerings indicate that the ravages and damage of the locusts are repaired (Joel 1:9, 13). The people’s turning to God (2:12) will be matched by his turning to them. His course has been set on judgment; now he will turn to them in grace and leave in his tracks the tangible blessing of his providence—the produce which will express the restored relationship as the daily sacrifices are renewed. The lesson in this verse must not be missed: the material provisions God gives his people are as much for His service as for their comfort.
Assemble, Gather… (Verses 15–16)
Heartened by this word of hope, the prophet sounds the command to assemble the leaders and the priests, and they will gather the congregation. The call to assemble for the fast and to prepare for the siege are both sounded on the shofar. Two horns is an alarm – one horn is to assemble (Numbers 10:1–3). Because the judgment had become more provoking and the possibility of rescue more promising, the call to assemble and gather is more urgent and detailed than in 1:14.
One – Sanctify (separate out) the congregation means to; ‘call for a sacred religious meeting’ on the terms specified by Levitical law and Covenant tradition. In the Hebrew theocracy, church, and state were not held separately. Political, economic, civil, and social problems were judged through a religious grid of moral and ethical Levitical laws, and then reasoned and reckoned through the principles and precepts of Israel’s covenant relationship. All in one context.
Two – The call to assemble the priests and ministers went out first, and then the call to gather the elders (which refers to age more than leadership or title), as the contrast with children and nursing babies suggests. The comprehensiveness of the call underscores the urgency of the need and the corporate nature of the guilt. Everyone had to be there – top to bottom – greatest to least. Nothing was more important, nothing took priority above the call to assemble and gather. Even the bridegroom and his bride; the nursing babies – leaky pipes, broken AC; I think you get the picture. Furthermore, the presence of the children would add power to the petition for mercy, as God’s attitude toward the innocence of children was known among them.
From the Lobby to the Altar… (Verse 17)
Joel’s instructions to the priests and ministers continue. The vestibule (entry/lobby), an area of 20 cubits (30 ft) by 10 cubits (15 ft), was on the east end of the temple. The altar is the great altar of burnt offering in front of the temple. Ezekiel refers to this area (which is near the entrance to the holy place in the inner court) in his description of the twenty-five who turned their backs on the temple to worship the sun (Ezekiel 8:16). The priests undoubtedly were to face the temple with the congregation gathered behind them in the court.
The call to weep as an act of repentance and worship for an assembled gathering is reminiscent of an episode of national weeping early in Israel’s history.
Judges 2:1-4
“Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.” As soon as the angel of the LORD spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. And they called the name of that place Bochim. And they sacrificed there to the LORD.”
God, whose grace has taken the entire initiative in restoration of Judah, now supplies the text for their prayer, which is in the form of a communal complaint similar to those in Psalms and Lamentations.
Psalms 44:21-26
For he knows the secrets of the heart. Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!
Lamentations 3:40-42
Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the LORD! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven: “We have transgressed and rebelled, and you have not forgiven.
Lamentations 5:16-22
“The crown has fallen from our head; woe to us, for we have sinned! For this our heart has become sick, for these things our eyes have grown dim, for Mount Zion which lies desolate; jackals prowl over it. But you, O LORD, reign forever; your throne endures to all generations. Why do you forget us forever, why do you forsake us for so many days? Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—unless you have utterly rejected us, and you remain exceedingly angry with us.”
The prayer and praise of Israel tended to take fixed literary form (repetition and consistency) depending on their use in the religious life of the people. The prayer for deliverance in the first person plural and the appeal to the dignity of God’s name are characteristic of communal petitions, which were used in times of national calamity like invasion, famine, or plague. Joel’s picture of the priests and congregation filling the temple courtyard and pleading with God gives us an invaluable guide to the role of certain psalms reflecting in real-time Israel’s common life.
The desperate tone of the petition (spare us we pray in pity and compassion) is clear and understood for where they were in relationship with God and the judgment they were facing: the name and destiny of the chosen people, their promised inheritance, and heritage, reflect directly on the glory and majesty of their God and not of themselves. In a religious context where each nation honored its own god and looked to it for benevolence, benefits, and favor, any reversal of the nation’s fortunes had to be interpreted as evidence of the national god’s impotence. Nations and neighbors – hostile and friendly could see Israel’s/Judah’s fall from favor. Yahweh’s refusal to intervene on behalf of his people would be seriously misinterpreted by those neighbors that Israel/Judah had run out of protection and blessing from their God. They were being observed and branded as failures. The very taunt these people would use to deride Israel is cited: ‘Where is their God?’
Psalm 42:9-10
“I say to God, my rock: “Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?” As with a deadly wound in my bones, my adversaries taunt me, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”
Micah 7:10
“I will bear the indignation of the LORD because I have sinned against him, until he pleads my cause and executes judgment for me. He will bring me out to the light; I shall look upon his vindication. Then my enemy will see, and shame will cover her who said to me, “Where is the LORD your God?”
Their shame becomes God’s shame. God’s failure to rescue Israel would be thrown in their faces by their foes with the same regularity and intensity with which King Saul’s ill-fated attempts at prophesying were thrown at would-be prophets.
With this impassioned plea the first half of the book, with its terrible scourge, comes to a close. Not with the threat of judgment but with an offer of hope. The whole section has moved to a climax in prayer, prayer based not only on the terror of the plague but on the glory of God’s name. No higher appeal, no grander motivation, can there be. That is where the return to God begins, and the relevance of repentance is found.
Use Your “R” Words
Remember (your God) – Return (to Him) – Repent (before Him) – Remorse (for our thoughts, words, and deeds) – Regret (For our sinful actions) – Rend (Our hearts) – Recite (His Word) – Re-Set (Our course) – Reform (Our behavior) – Re-Commit (to faithful obedience) – Resist (The devil) – Replace (our heart of stone) – Reconcile (completely to God) – Redeem (our life and most precious moments) – Renew (Our mind) – Restore (your joy) – Rejoice (In the Lord)
God’s Peace to You,
Dr. Stephen Isaac – The Reunion Church
What’s Cooking in August
at Our Bible Teaching Church in Peoria AZ?
NEW EQUIP COURSES
Our Bible teaching church in Peoria AZ is committed to helping people become serious students of God’s Word and committed disciples. A disciple in biblical times sat at the feet of their rabbi (teacher) to learn from God’s Word. The disciple lived at the rabbi’s home, so he learned how to live by following the rabbi around, patterning life after the rabbi’s lifestyle. As disciples of Jesus, we need to sit at the feet of Jesus, learn from His Word, and pattern our lives after His. The Equip Adult Discipleship courses equip believers to grow in faith and move forward, embracing the call to service in God’s Kingdom – becoming a disciple that makes disciples.
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THE GOSPELS
CLASS START DATE: Sun., Aug. 27, 2023
This 16-week course digs deep into the four Gospels to equip students with a more complete understanding of who Jesus is, the historical background of his earthly ministry, and the varied insights gained through the eyes of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. This course is an incredible opportunity for those hungering to know more about Jesus.
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PASTORAL THEOLOGY THE ESSENTIALS OF MINISTRY
This course equips Christian leaders in the practical aspects of ministering to people, including the sick, grieving, the dying, the poor… and addresses worship, baptism, teaching, preaching, the role of the Holy Spirit in ministry, and more. It is an awesome opportunity to be more fully equipped to serve.You don’t have to be a pastor to take this course – it is for all who want a better understanding of how to prayerfully and effectively serve God’s people and those beyond the doors of the Church who need Him. |
THERE IS ALWAYS A PLACE TO BELONG
AT OUR BIBLE TEACHING CHURCH IN PEORIA AZ
REGULARLY SCHEDULED EVENTS
AT OUR BIBLE TEACHING CHURCH IN PEORIA AZ
08/1, 8/15 7 PM – ROOTED COLLEGE GROUP, DM @reunionrooted ON INSTAGRAM FOR LOCATION
08/12, 8 AM – EVERYMAN MEN’S BIG BREAKFAST @ CHURCH, $5 EACH
08/17, 6:30 PM – WINGS WOMEN’S MINISTRY – ANNUAL POOL PARTY @ PRIVATE HOME – DETAILS TO COME ON FLYER
08/12, 8 AM – EVERYMAN MEN’S BIG BREAKFAST @ CHURCH, $5 EACH
08/17, 6:30 PM – WINGS WOMEN’S MINISTRY – ANNUAL POOL PARTY @ PRIVATE HOME – DETAILS TO COME ON FLYER
SUNDAYS
9 AM – 10 AM
EQUIP ADULT BIBLE CLASSES: PRACTICAL PRACTICES OF SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP TAUGHT BY CHRIS ELLINGTON, OLD TESTAMENT SURVEY TAUGHT BY BRIAN WOODARD
MOVEMENT YOUTH GROUP – JULY TEACHING SERIES: ME AND THE CHURCH
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY (NURSERY-6TH GRADE)
10 AM – 10:20 AM
GRACE’S CAFE – FRESH BAGELS, MUFFINS, PASTRIES, COFFEE
10:30 AM
COMMUNITY WORSHIP GATHERING
CHILDREN’S MINISTRY (NURSERY-6TH GRADE)
WEDNESDAYS – 6:30 PM
CAMPUS COMMUNITY CARE GROUP
MOVEMENT YOUTH GROUP
REUNION KIDS CLUB (NURSERY-6TH GRADE)
OFF-CAMPUS COMMUNITY CARE GROUPS
MEET IN VARIOUS HOMES ON DIFFERENT WEEK NIGHTS AROUND THE VALLEY. CONTACT COMMUNITY CARE FOR MORE INFORMATION.
OUR BIBLE TEACHING CHURCH IN PEORIA AZ IS HERE FOR YOU
OFFICE HOURS: MON. – FRI. 9 AM – 12 PM
PHONE: 623.979.5465
E-MAIL: info@thereunionchurch.life
www.thereunionchurch.life
PHONE: 623.979.5465
E-MAIL: info@thereunionchurch.life
www.thereunionchurch.life
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