Scott's Thoughts – Sun, Oct 27, 2024

Click title to jump to a section and ^ TOP ^ to return. Or just scroll like a normal person. And apologies for links that make getting back here annoying. We’re annoyed, too, but it’s an app limitation. And yes, Scott once had hair that could be combed.

NOTE: In a few places, “WORDS…” are placeholders that will be replaced with actual meaningful words ASAP, prob ~1p today?!

A Few Miscellaneous Might’ve Missed ’Ems, Didya Knows, and Plan Fers

 Preaching Plans

Theological Loose Ends and Resources re Complementarianism

Yes, the title and categories are bordering on ridiculous. Did one small and simple idea of communicating some miscellaneous “In Case You Missed Its” devolve into the silliness of these 3 headings over the course of a solid 20+ minutes?! Of course. And do I have a problem? Is the Pope Catholic?

Nonetheless, in the vein of No See ’Ums and Ne’er Do Wells, and because I am on a lifelong journey of trying to embrace the normalcy of done occasionally being better than the impossible perfectionism of never done, here are a few things to know.

Might’ve Missed ‘Ems
Things we’ve published and posted that you may not know that you don’t know.

• Note re an H7 Story: As a way to communicate results of our 7th Habit of “Tell the story,” an H7 Story is about the work of God in the lives of our people.
• H7 Story: “Serving Our Neighbors” – All hands on deck to partner with Longview Ranch for flood relief!
• H7 Story: “The Hands and Feet of Jesus” – Responding to God’s provision for medical care in wake of flooding.
• H7 Story: “Pursuing Generosity Together” – Coming together to help raise funds for the Hope Center, our community’s pregnancy resource center.
• “The App Has it All” – No seriously, it’s all there. And if you don’t have it on your Home screen, how do you make it through the day?!
• “Pulpit Supply Team Preaching at New Hope Christian Church” – Our team is up to week 11 in our Gospel of John series, having used 8 different men, half of whom average 25 years old, we’ve been getting good feedback, and it’s been a great way to give some aspiring ministry folks some at-bats! Please pray for New Hope CC as they are looking for a Senior Minister and Michael Schubert as he is preaching there this morning!

Didya Knows
Things that may be interesting and/or helpful to know, some of which you may not yet know.

• H7 Stories Every Single Week – We are up to well over 100 H7 Stories now that we have a new one every week! You can now see them all in one place on the app in “Stay Informed” (Home tab/page) or under “Pulse”.
• Weekly Bible Study Podcast and Biweekly Brown Bags & Bibles Podcast – In case you didn’t know, (1) every Thursday we post the Weekly Bible Study Podcast, which corresponds to the coming Sunday’s sermon, as preparation for those leading/teaching in Kids, Students, and Life Groups, (or for anyone wanting to learn more about the Bible), and (2) every other Thursday we post the Biweekly Brown Bags & Bibles Podcast, where Mark Liebert and I cover some sort of theological topic of interest, like the 17 and counting episodes we’ve doing on World Religions and New Religious Movements. Boom, resources for learning to think and speak Christianly in a truth-starved world.
• Filter FCC News/Blog Stories by Category – On any of our stories/posts, scroll down to the categories and voila, all apropos posts.
• Sunday Bolting and Jilting – Not that hardly anyone noticed, or maybe even cared, but for the past 3 Sundays I have preached, I was sick for 2 and needed to bolt immediately after preaching to get to something. So if I seemed around but not around, or you felt jilted by my absence, it was totally intentional (but not personal!)
• Longview Ranch Church Planting Mission Trip to Colombia – Led by our Colombian friend Camila, who works with Longview Ranch, is already involved in planting churches, and has attended FCC a number of times when she’s here in Greeneville, our Longview friends (longviewranch.com) are taking a crew on a church planting mission trip at the end of November! Our own Travis Chapman is going along, and he and a few others could use a little financial support. You can find out more in this previous H7 Story, “Bringing the Hope of the Gospel to Colombia”, or talk to Travis or Matthew Nasekos, Executive Director at Longview, and give at fccgreene.org/colombia. When they return we’ll tell you all about it in a new H7 Story!
• Bags & Bibles Podcast Resources on Politics and Government – Apparently there’s an election soon or something?! Here’s some fodder for thinking theologically about the role of government and some related political issues, found at fccgreene.org/bbb or on the app under “Watch” > “Media”).
  • #2: “What are the proper roles of and relationships between civil government, the church, and the family?”#6: “SCOTUS Decision to Redefine Civil Rights Act to Include Non-biological ‘Orientation’”
  • #7: “Why We Should Gather”
  • #14: “Immigration”
  • #15: “Government Should Punish Evil and Encourage Good”
  • #16: “Do Old Testament Laws Apply to Government Today?”
  • #18: “Governments Should Safeguard Human Liberty”
  • #19: “When Should Christians Disobey the Government?”
  • #20: “Government Cannot Save People or Fundamentally Change Human Hearts”
  • #29: “Sanctity of Human Life, Pt 1”
  • #30: “Sanctity of Human Life, Pt 2”
  • #79: “Human Sexuality: 4 Definitional Distinctions From Genesis 1-2”
  • #80: “Elders’ Position Paper re Human Sexuality, Pt 1”
  • #81: “Elders’ Position Paper re Human Sexuality, Pt 2”
  • #82: “Answering Objections to Scripture's Censure of Homosexuality, Pt 1”
  • #83: “Answering Objections to Scripture's Censure of Homosexuality, Pt 2”
• Misc Metrics:
  • YTD Attendance: WORDS WILL GO HERE ASAP.
  • YTD Baptisms & Memberships: WORDS WILL GO HERE ASAP.
  • General Fund Giving (through MONTH GOES HERE): WORDS WILL GO HERE ASAP.
  • General Fund Expenses (through MONTH GOES HERE): WORDS WILL GO HERE ASAP.
  • Flood Relief Funds Raised: $22,000 > FYI, so far we have given $2,000 to Longview Ranch to help with some supplies used in mucking out at least 5-6 homes and housing and feeding helpers from 5+ states, $5,000 to an FCCer who lost everything, and $5,000 to an FCCer who is using his construction company and expertise to lead significant cleaning and rebuilding efforts.
  • Hope Center Baby Bottle Campaign Funds Raised: $4,650 > See “Pursuing Generosity Together” above for more.

Plan Fers
Just a few upcoming things you may wanna know.

• Fri-Sat, Nov 1-2, “In Awe of Your Words: The Power and Freedom of Teaching & Trusting the Text” at Longview Ranch – This one-day overnight workshop at Longview is as much about learning to study the Bible deeply as it is communicating it well. So it’s not just for those interested in preaching or teaching in front of others but for anybody who wants to grow in their study of the Scriptures—Sunday School teachers, small group leaders, professional or layperson, or regular old male or female human. There are only 5 spots left, so hurry up! Details at fccgreene.org/workshop.
• Sun, Nov 3, Next Steps, 9a at every campus – Next Steps is 1-hr(ish) intro class where you will meet some veteran FCCers and learn how things work around here—vision and strategy, ministry offerings, Confession of Faith, and time for Q & A. Catch a vision for how God's Kingdom advances through the local church and how you can be part of it!
• Sun, Nov 3, Afton Campus May Be Closed?! – Welp, after a rare 3 weeks of being unable to meet at our South Greene campus due to fire, flooding, and no water, we will soon have another “opportunity” (as my wife says) to learn the flexibility inherent in being an effective member of the body! ;o) Because the County Schools are doing some significant infrastructural upgrades at Chuckey-Doak High School next weekend that will require turning off all power, the Afton campus may be closed Sun, Nov 3 (or maybe the next Sun, Nov 10? Dunno exactly know yet.) We’ll letcha know something more definitive via the website, socials, email, and text message as soon as we know it. Good thing we’ve got 2 other campuses to choose from, eh?! ;o)
• Fri-Sun, Nov 8-10, 180 Student Ministry DNOW Weekend – DNow, which stands for “Disciple Now,” is a mini-conference that calls middle and high school students to follow Christ, but instead of going off somewhere else they stay here in our own peoples’ homes and do the programming at our Greeneville campus. There is preaching, singing, small groups, a little fun and games, and this year they’ll be serving at church on Sun, Nov 10, which is why our sermon that day will be a one-off called “How Do You Serve?” (Colossians 3.17, 23-24; James 5.16; Luke 19).
• Sun, Dec 22, All-Church Christmas Candlelight Service, 10a at Pioneer Arena at Tusculum University – Don’t miss out on this wonderful service where we gather as a body to celebrate the joy of incarnation! Make plans now to attend and invite family and friends who are unsaved or unchurched!
• Thu-Sat, Jan 2-4, 2025, CROSSCON Young Adults Trip – This yearly conference for young adults is calling this generation to make their lives count by making Jesus’ name known. Learn more about the conference at crosscon.com/about. CROSSCON seeks to dig into these three topics: The gospel as the only means of salvation, the church as central to the life of discipleship, and the Great Commission as part of every believer’s call to love your neighbor.

We’re a church that believes that “the Word does the work.” (See this preamble to our Confession of Faith and episodes ??-?? of Brown Bags & Bibles for a fuller treatment of what is meant by “the Word.”)

The coming months will look like this:
WORDS
WORDS
WORDS

At least a couple times during our recent series on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, I mentioned that I was putting some extra info in the footnotes of my manuscripts re some of the substantive issues we were touching on along the way so I figured I’d compile them here, along with some existing resources, for easy reference. This list reiterates some of the argumentation I made along the way, provides greater detail to a couple things I mentioned quickly or in passing, includes a couple things I put together and sent to a couple folks in conversations I had with folks during this series, and adds some existing FCC resources.

• Unique Roles ≠ Exclusive Roles – 3rd heading under “Misc Items”
• 4 Reasons Why “Mutual Submission” in Ephesians 5:21 is Not The Interpretive Frame For Ephesians 5:22 Onward – Footnote 4 in this sermon manuscript. (May need to change to “Print layout” to show footnotes.)
• 10 Reasons Why Male Headship was God’s Pre-Fall Design for Creation, at the bottom of p 23—according to the book’s numbering—of Biblical Foundations for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Wayne Grudem, ed. (Previous link is a free PDF of the entire ~300 page book.) Also, pt 2, we covered these 10 reasons at the beginning of Brown Bags & Bibles episode #93, from 19:00 to 47:30.
• Why 1 Corinthians 11:2-16 on Head Coverings Doesn’t Prove Complementarians Wrong – Still in rough form, as part of turning it into a GQA (fccgreene.org/gqa), but here’s a ton of high-quality resources on the issue that many see as the main defeater complementarianism.
• These 7 episodes from Brown Bags & Bibles that pretty comprehensively cover all the major issues, found at fccgreene.org/bbb or on the app under “Watch” > “Media”).
  • WORDS WILL GO HERE ASAP.
  • WORDS WILL GO HERE ASAP…
• These 7 episodes from Brown Bags & Bibles that pretty comprehensively cover all the major issues.
• If you’re truly interested in complementarian answers on pretty much every possible issue related to the subject of complementarian versus egalitarian interpretations of Scripture, this 700+ page book is a super helpful resource: Evangelical Feminism & Biblical Truth: An Analysis of More than One Hundred Disputed Questions.