Christ Church

Getting Counseling Into Our DNA

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Introduction to the Side By Side, by Ed Welch

Our recent church survey confirmed what the elders have thought for some time, that our church is healthy and growing in the Lord. Over the past 20 years or so we have grown numerically such that we have had to hive off Trinity Reformed Church, our second service Christ Church Downtown, and are discussing what to do with all the people who are coming to the Logos service, Christ Church Uptown. We are doing really well.

That said, we don’t want to assume or presume anything. We know that pride goes before destruction (Pro. 16:18), the devil is prowling around looking for someone to devour (2 Pet. 5:8) and the moment we rest on our laurels, we are likely to get smoked.

As we explained in our HOH meeting in January, the elders voted to excuse Doug from most of his counseling ministry starting in June. The way we are going to compensate that part of his ministry is to increase the counseling ministry of the whole church. The elders will be participating in more counseling, the PDG leaders will be the next level, and we’re officially appointing everyone else in the church to be a kind of counselor. As it says in Romans 15, we are confident that we are all competent to counsel one another (15:14).

According to the Bible, what counseling is is actually discipleship. We all know that we have been called to make disciples (Mt. 28:18-20), but what that text actually says is something more like, “go into all the world discipling the nations.” This would mean that it is not only an evangelism text—get them into the kingdom, not only a dominion passage—disciple the nations, but also a teaching message—help everyone become like Jesus. These things accord with the rest of Scripture. We are not just creating people who will go to heaven when they die, not only conquering the world for Jesus, but we’re also striving to present every man mature in Christ (Col 1:28).

Paul told us in Ephesians 4 that God has given the church apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastors/teachers to train the people to do the works of ministry so that the body of Christ might be built up (4:11-12). Biblical counseling is part of the teaching ministry of the church. It is bringing the word of God to people who are having a difficult time trying to live their lives, with all the distractions, in a way that pleases God (2 Cor. 6:9). Biblical counseling brings the Word of God to one or a few people in order to brings God glory and blesses the people; resulting in joy and peace.

As we said at the HOH meeting, when you think about it, we are all doing discipleship all the time. When you help your children learn to tie their shoes to the glory of God, you’re doing discipleship. When you love your wife by laying down your wife and thus sanctifying her, you are doing discipleship. When you cheer for your husband in front of the neighbors, you are doing discipleship. When you go to coffee with friends and talk about how glorious God is in the light of your recent choir practice, you’re doing discipleship.

Sometimes, topics and situations come up when we feel ill equipped to apply the good news of the Bible to people’s situations. We want to help, but don’t know where to begin or how to proceed. Sometimes, we don’t think we know our Bibles in a way that will help.

As a way to begin enhancing our discipleship/counseling ministry we need to know that Paul was right about our ability to help one another walk with God in the midst of our struggles with living. As a way to encourage one another and to spur one another on to love and good works, our PDG’s will be studying Ed Welch’s book, Side By Side.

The first part of Side By Side talks about the need for helpers to have people to help and how to go about acknowledging and then asking for help.

Part 2 takes us back to remembering that because life is hard, others need our help. The goal for some is to them walk with God better than they are right now, for some the need is to come to Jesus for the first time, and some simply need help in becoming more mature in Christ than they are right now.

Our church motto is All of Christ, for all of life, for all of Moscow. Biblical counseling/discipleship is all about sharing Christ with people in the midst of their life situations, for evangelism, counsel, and simply befriending one another. Side By Side will help us think about doing this better, and will give us a method for doing so.

Memory Verses for Counseling

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16–17).

“His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Peter 1:3).

“So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him” (2 Cor. 5:9).

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13).

“Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted” (Galatians 6:1).

“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

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Bible Reading Challenge Survey

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Tell us how it’s going! We’d love to get your feedback.

The Bible Reading Challenge has been phenomenal success. We have been totally surprised by how enthusiastic the involvement has been, and by how many women from around the world have participated. We want to keep it going next year. So, if you don’t mind taking this short survey to help us do an even better job, that’d be very helpful!

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Grace & Peace: Revelation 84

Douglas Wilson on

“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16:11).

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father’s name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers haring with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song before the the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth. These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, being the first fruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God” (Rev. 14:1-5).

As we come to the fourteenth chapter of Revelation, we do so having been introduced to an evil travesty of the Trinity: the great dragon, Satan, the sea beast, which was Rome, and the land beast, which represented the priestly leadership in Jerusalem. As this chapter opens, the contrast couldn’t be sharper than it is. Those enslaved to the beast in the previous chapter had the mark of the beast on their right hand, or on their forehead. Here the 144,000 have the name of the Father on *their* foreheads. Everyone has the name of someone on their forehead.

The scene here appears to be in the heavens, and not on earth. We saw in chapter 7 that the 144,000 likely represented the total number of the elect, which means they were not assembled on the *earthly* Mt. Zion in Jerusalem. Rather, the scene is the heavenly Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem that descends from Heaven at the conclusion of Revelation. In Hebrews 12:22, it teaches us that in worship, the saints of God assemble in a heavenly Jerusalem, and it mentions Mt. Zion expressly. The harpers here are described as being before the throne, and the 144,000 are said to have been redeemed from the earth. All this places the scene in Heaven.

So we have here a wonderful image of the perseverance and preservation of the saints. In chapter 7, the 144,000 were still on earth, and they were all sealed to protect them there. Here in Heaven their number is undiminished, not one was lost. The reason is plain. These were the only ones who could learn the new song that the harpers were playing. These men were virgins, undefiled with woman. This is talking about spiritual fornication, or idolatry. It is not talking about lawful marital relations, which are not defiling at all (Heb. 13:4). These are called virgins because together they all constitute the Virgin who descends out of Heaven like an undefiled bride at the end of this book (Rev. 19:7). They are called virgins because they have nothing to do with the great harlot, who is to be introduced shortly. In 2 Cor. 11:2, Paul uses virginity as a symbol of spiritual integrity. Moreover, these are those who follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. They are described as being without fault before the throne of God.

A close examination of this passage and the description of heavenly worship in Hebrews 12:18-23 is likely to be rewarding. Both scenes take place on Mt. Zion. In Revelation the worshipers are the firstfruits and in Hebrews they are described as being the church of the first born. And the 144,000 represent the entire number of the elect, as do the worshipers in Hebrews, whose names are written in heaven.

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Bible Challenge #22

Becky Pliego on

¡Hola, hola! Welcome to week 21 of our Bible Reading Challenge! Woohoo! How abundant are His mercies to those who believe, right? Think of these mercies, for example:  The gift of hunger. The gift of thirst. The gift of God Himself drawing us to Himself. The gift of being willing to come. The gift of knowing that we can’t persevere on our own. The gift of undeserved grace.  The gift of being able to read. The gift of the Bible -printed in our own language, in our favorite format (large print, with wide margins, light weight, with notes, without notes, etc.). Yes, all is gift flowing from His Grace. And so with hearts overflowing with gratitude we come and take the book of God and read it. One more verse, one more chapter, one more book, one more day and we drink and drink and we find out that our soul is starting to learn to be satisfied in Him and in Him alone.

“But wait,” some of you may say, ”yes to what you said in that first paragraph, Becky, I get it. It sounds beautiful and great. But …. it is just hard to consistently make the time, to actually make it happen every single day. Finding the time, you know? I guess you just don’t understand because you don’t see me running around every day.” So to you I write now, Friend. Yes, the season in my life might be very different than yours today, but our Father is the same. And our Mediator, Jesus Christ, is the same. He knows our frame and our specific circumstances. He is the God who sees, who hears, but He is also the God who comes and meets us where we are to give us the strength we need to do what He has commanded us to do. We cannot choose the terms of our coming to Him. Have we forgotten that He is God and we are not? He bids us to come to His throne by faith and in Jesus’ name and we must then come in prayer and in His Word to meet Him. Friends, our obedience is never dependent on our circumstances. The devil and our flesh are clever and when you put together those plus feminine hormones and two pinches of self-pity you have the perfect recipe to bake the most understanding excuse for not getting up earlier to meet with your Creator and Redeemer.  So what now? Repent and believe. Repent of your indifference. Repent from thinking that God can be accommodated into your busy schedule some days… and that if it doesn’t happen, “He will surely understand.” Repent from living as if you were God, the sole owner of your days and times.  And believe that in Christ there is forgiveness from all our self-pity, our poor management of time, our complaining. Believe that His Word is powerful and it can indeed change you and bring you joy when you are downcast, that it can bring you strength when you have none, that it will strengthen your hope in the long days of waiting for answered prayers. Believe that He was not yet finished His work in you, but that He will indeed complete it. Believe that His love for you is so immense that nothing can separate you from it. He wants you to come, so why would you not come?

This week we will finish reading 2 Kings and on Tuesday we will have a happy catch-up day (I can see you are already smiling). For those who are current in their reading and want a suggestion, I say read the book of James and Romans 10, I believe it will be a wonderful way to wrap-up the book of Kings and continue reading the book of Proverbs. We will start reading the Minor Prophets on Wednesday and I cannot begin to tell you how much I love these books in the Bible. They have been living water to me many times. I have learned so much from the character of God in these books, so much from my own nature too, and so much about living the Christian life that I pray you will enjoy swimming deep in those waters next week. On Wednesday we will read Joel along with Acts 2 and psalm 138, and you really don’t want to miss it! I will be sharing more about these Minor Prophets and some of the lessons we don’t want to miss on our weekly webinar on Monday, January 29 at 10:00am PST. I hope you can join us.

May our prayer this week, “Lord, I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what you will say to me.” (Heb. 2:1a)

Under His Sun and by His grace,

Becky Pliego and the team of Christ Church Ladies Fellowship

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