By Greg Yee, Superintendent, PacNWC
We enter the last quarter of the year. To review, we’ve been concentrating on an area of our faith and life together this past year. For a quarter each, we focused on evangelism, prayer, and community. To close out the year, we turn our focus to God’s holy and perfect Word.
As followers of Christ and in our particular Covenant tribe, we state as the first of our six Affirmations:
We affirm the centrality of the Word of God
And within this leading Affirmation we state the Holy Scripture, the Old and the New Testament, is the Word of God and the only perfect rule for faith, doctrine, and conduct.
Our denominational family was deeply influenced and formed by different historical movements connected to our immigrant roots. One significant stream was Pietism. I want to remind us of some of this history and our core identity by liberally quoting from our affirmation materials found here.
Our Affirmation describes Pietism as a renewal movement that originated in seventeenth-century Europe and emphasized the need for a personal life in Jesus Christ, sanctification through the Holy Spirit, and call to service in the world. Pietism, in seeking a balance between the head and the heart, affirmed that correct doctrine is a necessary though not sufficient condition for vital and growing faith.
One notable leader in this movement was Philipp Jakob Spener (1635- 1705), who concentrated on challenging the church toward a deeper life in Christ. His wide call to the church was that this depth would only come from a few basics that included widespread reading and study of the Bible.
When Spener presented his proposals for the renewal of the church, his first concern was with the centrality of the Word of God in the life of the congregation and of individual believers. He wrote: Thought should be given to a more extensive use of the Word of God among us. We know that by nature we have no good in us. If there is to be any good in us, it must be brought about by God. To this end the Word of God is the powerful means, since faith must be enkindled through the Gospel….The more at home the word of God is among us, the more we shall bring about faith and its fruits.
These are the root from which we were born as a mission movement – a denomination.
For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.
Heb 4:12 (NLT)
Every morning my 16-year old and I read passage of Scripture on our 18 mile drive to school. We start it immediately before we get lost in our mobiles or turn on the radio. We’ve been reading the same passage each week as we pull out of the neighborhood and make our way to the 405, I love hearing my son read God’s word and for us to share what stood out to us afterward. I also love seeing my 26-year old’s Bible (see photo). I love his love for the Word and how this well-worn cover tells me what’s important to him. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my kids in love with the Word of God.
I love hearing about so many of you throughout our churches that have been walking through Immerse together, setting scheduled daily scripture readings, using Bible reading plans like those found on the YouVersion app, using a Bible-in-a-year Bible, practicing lectio divina,…, and hearing about how you too are orienting your families around the living and active Word of God.
We look forward to providing testimonies and resources to you this quarter to spur you on. We want to encourage you to up your game and raise the priority of Scripture in your life: reading, meditating, memorizing, centering, devoting,…
Spener challenges us again, The more at home the word of God is among us, the more we shall bring about faith and its fruits.