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The City

At our all-church meeting last Sunday we introduced The City, the new, online version of Ethos. This is how people within our community will be communicating with one other during the week . . . so click here to sign up and participate in the new, high-tech version of Ethos!

“Do Not Work for God”—thoughts on last Sunday’s sermon

Last week, I asked Ethos to make a resolution for the New Year: “Do not work for God.”  Borrowing liberally from the thoughts of John Piper (“Desiring God” and “Brothers, We Are Not Professionals”) I endeavored to make the case that when it comes to talking about “serving God,” we have to be very careful with our understanding. You see, there is a sense where not only is it impossible to “serve God,” but to even attempt to do so would be to belittle and dishonor him and be nothing short of a deadly act of rebellion. We must beware of serving in a way that implies a deficiency on God’s part or exalts our indispensability (as if God needs us and, therefore, can be controlled by us). As Piper notes,

“The Gospel is not God’s Help Wanted Ad. Neither is the call to Christian service. God is not looking for people to work for him, so much as he is looking for people who will let him work for them.” (Piper) (See Isaiah 64:4)

But if this is the case, what are we to do? Is it not commanded: “Serve the Lord!” (Romans 12:11)? Aren’t those who do not serve Christ rebuked (Romans 16:18)? Yes, of course, we must serve him. But, if so, how? Again, borrowing directly from “Desiring God,” let me suggest the following is the best explanation I have ever heard or read.

How Do You Serve Money?

Matthew 6:24 gives a pointer toward good (acceptable, God honoring) service.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

Ever asked how somebody serves money? Do you bring it breakfast? Sweep its floors? Wash it? Do you take it for a walk?

How does a person serve money? He does not assist money. He does not enrich money. He is not the benefactor of money. How then do we serve money?

When Jesus is talking about “serving” (we know intuitively), he’s talking about control. He’s talking about letting something have power and sway over us. He is saying: If you let it, money will dictate the direction of you life. It will tell you what to do. It will have power and sway over the decisions and plans of our life.

Money exerts a certain control over us because it seems to hold out so much promise of happiness. It whispers with great force, “Think and act so as to get into a position to enjoy my benefits.” This may include stealing, borrowing, or working. Money promises happiness, and we serve it by believing the promise and walking by that faith.

Key: So we don’t serve money by putting our power at its disposal for its good. We serve money by doing what is necessary so that money’s power will be at our disposal for our good.

The same sort of service to God must be in view in Matthew 6:24, since Jesus puts the two side by side: “You cannot serve God and money.” So if we are going to serve God and not money, then we are going to have to open our eyes to the vastly superior promise of happiness which God offers. Then God will exert a greater control over us than money does.

And so we will serve God by believing his promise of fullest joy and walking by that faith. We will not serve by trying to put our power at his disposal for his good, but by doing what is necessary so that his power will be ever at our disposal for our good. And of course, God has appointed that his power be at our disposal through prayer. “Ask and you will receive!” So we serve by the power that comes through prayer, when we serve for the glory of God.

Without doubt this sort of serving also means obedience. A patient who trusts his doctor’s prescriptions obeys them. A convalescent sinner trusts the painful directions of his therapist, and follows. Only in this way do we keep ourselves in a position to benefit from what the divine Physician has to offer. In all this obedience it is we who are the beneficiaries. God is ever the Giver. For it is the Giver who gets the glory.

Have a Great New Year,

Ron

Christmas 2011

Ethos is not meeting at the Biograph on Christmas morning, Sunday, Dec. 25. Instead, please join us for these two services:

• Christmas Eve at Merit School of Music (38 S. Peoria), 6pm (click here to learn more)
• Christmas morning at Covenant Presbyterian Church (2012 W. Dickens), 10:45am

Christmas Eve

This Christmas Eve, come, join us in worship and celebration of the birth of Christ Jesus and God’s Love and Mercy

UNITY This Christmas Eve, three city churches will worship together: Cityview Presbyterian, a West Loop church that meets each Sunday at Merit; Ethos Chicago from Lincoln Park; and Living Hope Church from Hyde Park.

CHARITY The Christmas Eve service will include an offering to benefit The Women’s Treatment Center, a West Loop non-profit dedicated to equipping women with the skills and support they need to rebuild their lives after battling substance abuse.

WORSHIP Join us for an evening of song, Scripture and teaching related to the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem. We gather together on Christmas Eve to celebrate the coming of “Immanuel”—literally translated “God With Us.” Let us come together in worship to proclaim God’s love for us!

6pm-7pm, December 24
Merit School of Music, 38 South Peoria Street, Chicago
Childcare provided.

December sermons: Advent

We’ll be studying Advent in December.

Sermon series: The Unexpected King

THE UNEXPECTED KINGDOM

Have you ever wondered, “Why Jesus?” Not just, “Who is he?,” but also why he was born and what he came to to do?

Last fall we began a series from the Gospel of Mark entitled “The Unexpected King.” We looked at the first half of Mark’s Gospel, which is all about the question, “Who is this One who claims (and, by all appearances, seemed) to be such a different kind of King?” This spring, we are going to pick up our study of Mark, this time looking at the second half of the Gospel. In this part of the book, the questions changes dramatically to, “Why did Jesus come?” Or, put another way: What did this unexpected and unlikely King come to do, and why?

We invite you to join us as we explore together the purpose of Jesus.

Exodus welcome pack items

Here’s the list of items we’re collecting for a Exodus World Service welcome pack. They will be delivered to Bhim Bhuttarrii and his 5 family members from Nepal on Tuesday September 6th.  We are still a few items away from completing the list.   To help you can do one of the following…

1. Donate a used or new item listed below and contact me for drop off (josiah@ethoschicago.org)
2. Donate money and we will do the shopping for you, just email me with the amount you’d like to contribute.

If you would like to meet the Bhuttarrii family join us in setting up their apartment with them this Tuesday at 3pm in Rogers Park.  Thanks

Food Items

• 1 Bottle Cooking Oil
• 1 Box Salt
• 1 Can Black Pepper
• 1 Case Coke/Pepsi
• 1 Jar Instant Coffee
• 10 lb.. Flour
• 10 Lbs of potatoes
• 5 lb Onion
• 5 lb. Sugar
• 5 lbs rice
• 1 Box of Ice Tea

Kitchen

• 1 Set of frying Pans
• 1 Tall Kitchen Trashcan
• 3 Sets of Kitchen Towels

Miscellaneous

• 1 Book Stamps
• 1 Calendar
• 1 Fan
• 1 Small Tool Kit
• 2 Light Bulbs

Cries of the Heart: A Sermon Series on the Psalms

An introduction from Ron May on Ethos’ summer sermon series on the Psalms:

We all have issues; no one is immune from the difficulties of life. To live in our broken world is to experience heartache and fear and guilt and anger. These emotions and their underlying causes are part of life.

This summer, we’ll investigate how the Gospel allows us to deal honestly and authentically with the hard issues and heartaches of our lives. The Psalms give us a beautiful picture of people trying to do just that. The Psalmists hold nothing back: they are brutally honest, crying out to God for answers regarding the hardest issues that we, as human beings, face.

In the Psalms, we find people constantly crying out to God in the context of experiencing sorrow and anger and fear and guilt and injustice.

In the Psalms, we find amazing examples of putting the Gospel into action (or practice), particularly as it relates to being honest in prayer.

4/3/11 worship

Songs of Worship and Praise:

We Have Come to Join in Worship (Ken Bible; George Atkins, William Moore)

Mighty to Save (Ben Fielding, Reuben Morgan)

Thy Mercy, My God (John Stocker; Sandra McCracken)

How Deep the Father’s Love for Us (Stuart Townend)

Song of Response to the Message: Come Be Who You Are (Sara Groves)

Songs During Communion:

Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands (a mash-up of tunes and lyrics—the lyrics come from Charles Spurgeon and Isaac Watts; musically, Paul van der Bijl wrote the verse and I wrote the refrain)

Just As I Am (Charlotte Elliott; Bobby Guy and Craig Brown)

Offeratory: A Wonderful Savior is Jesus My Lord (Fanny Crosby; William Kirkpatrick)

Sending Song: Just a Closer Walk with Thee (traditional)

3/27/11 worship

Songs of worship and praise:

Glory and Honor to You (Paul van der Bijl)

Holy is the Lord (Chris Tomlin)

I Know That My Redeemer Lives (lyrics by Samuel Medley; Sacred Harp tune)

In the Cross of Christ I Glory (John Bowring)

Song of Confession: Song of Confession (Steve Hendershot)

Song of Response to the Message: All Things New (Andrew Peterson)

Sending Song: O Love That Will Not Let Me Go (lyrics by George Matheson; music by Christopher Miner)