Month: December 2021

Bellefield family,

For many people, Lent is a time to give up something. There’s good reasoning behind that spiritual discipline: Lent is a season of repentance, a time to “lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely” (Hebrews 12:1), and an opportunity to journey with Jesus to the cross. 

Repentance, however, is about more than just turning away from sin. Turning away from one thing means that you are, at the same time, turning towards something else. The Heidelberg Catechism (one of the historic teaching documents in the Reformed tradition, written in question-and-answer format), puts it like this:

Q. 88. What is involved in genuine repentance or conversion?A. Two things: the dying away of the old self, and the coming-to-life of the new.
This two-fold movement echoes the language of Romans 6:11, which says, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” Lent, therefore, can be also be a season in which we embrace new things that help us turn more towards Jesus and experience life in him. 

Perhaps the simplest and easiest practices to adopt (if you don’t do them already) are times of daily Bible reading and prayer. Making a point to engage with Scripture and seek the Lord in prayer are incredibly formative means by which we nurture the “coming-to-life” of our new identity in Jesus Christ. 

Whether this is something you currently practice or not, a resource that can help you is DevoCast. There you will find customizable daily Bible reading plans and podcasts–all of which are read and produced by members of the Bellefield family. If you don’t already have a way that you engage the spiritual practices of Scripture reading and prayer then I encourage you to check out this resource.

As we move deeper into this Lenten season together, let’s be intentional about this two-fold movement in which we set aside the things that draw us away from Jesus and we embrace the things that bring us near to him. This is what repentance is all about, and I invite us to join together on that journey. 

I pray this finds you healthy and well. 

Grace and peace, 
Josh

Bellefield family,

“…for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” — Genesis 3:19

Few passages of Scripture humble us as much as this, when the LORD tells Adam and Eve that their sin has brought an inevitable consequence — the shadow of which darkens the lives of all their descendants.
Few things force us to confront our own mortality as much as a global pandemic, when an airborne virus brings that still inevitable consequence to the foreground.
Facing our own mortality may be uncomfortable, though it prepares us to fully celebrate the good news of the resurrection. This coming Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, marking the beginning of Lent and the start of a season that leads to Easter. Lent is more than a time to temporarily deprive yourself of things in which you probably overindulge. It’s a season in the life of the Church that calls us to face the things we try our hardest to avoid.
Lent culminates with the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Scripture tells us that the resurrection of Jesus is the promise and pledge of what will one day be true for all those who belong to him. In his death and resurrection, Jesus has taken away our sin and triumphed over the grave–and this indeed is good news of great joy. Before the celebration, however, comes confession; before the rejoicing comes repentance.
Ash Wednesday, in particular, is a time to acknowledge our need for a Savior who can cleanse us from our sin and raise us from the dead. The journey through Lent begins in a minor key, though this, too, is an important part of the Story. I invite you to join us for our Ash Wednesday service this year. In addition to an onsite and online option, we are also offering you a simple home liturgy that you can use. More information can be found below.
Lent begins with the reminder that we, like Adam, are sinners under the sentence of death–but ends with the announcement that we have a new promised identity in Christ. We are but dust, though our hope is in the Risen Lord Jesus, “who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). For “Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Corinthians 15:49).
I pray this finds you healthy and well.
Grace and peace,
Josh

Bellefield family, 

Book One of Victor Hugo’s classic novel, Les Miserables, is titled, “An Upright Man”, and it opens with a lengthy portrayal of Monsieur Myriel, the Bishop of Digne. Hugo presents a character who cares deeply for the people of his parish, often giving of himself and his own possessions in order to serve others. Although he was a leader of some prominence, “he behaved the same with the rich as with the poor”, and “he condemned nothing hastily or without taking account of circumstances”–characteristics displayed in his later interactions with the protagonist, Jean Valjean. 
After more than a dozen pages describing Myriel’s character and actions, Hugo writes, “Clearly, he had his own strange way of judging things. I suspect he acquired it from the Gospels.” 
His was a counterintuitive way of living in the world, a life that was different and distinct, a life that sought to live and love in ways that bore witness to Jesus Christ. It’s the kind of life that takes shape when we embrace and exhibit the things that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. 
However, it is not our outward actions but the state of our heart that matters most. This is a point Jesus makes all throughout the Sermon on the Mount, and one on which he particularly focuses at the mid-point of his message. This Sunday, Greg Burdette–our Director of Grad Student and Young Adult Ministry–will be preaching on Matthew 6:1-8, 16-18. 
This week, we’ll be back to having three options for worship (online, 11 am in the sanctuary, 5 pm in Fellowship Hall), and I invite you to join us as we continue to spend time with the words of our Savior and the “strange way of judging things” that we acquire from Sermon on the Mount. 
I pray this finds you healthy and well. 
Grace and peace,
Josh

Bellefield family, 

As I’ve often shared with you, our approach toward times of corporate worship has been to provide opportunities that are faithful to our biblical and theological convictions while also being responsible in the way that we go about gathering together during a time of pandemic. To facilitate this, we’ve had times of worship indoors, outdoors, and online over the past months.
In all of these, we have sought to come together with other believers to offer our songs and prayers to God, hear God’s Word given to us, and–when we are able–celebrate the sacramental signs and seals of God’s covenant (Baptism and Communion). 
We recognize that the online service remains the best option for many people, and we encourage you to participate in that–especially if you are ill in any way, belong to an at-risk group, or are not comfortable attending an in-person service. 
For those looking to attend an onsite worship service, we currently have an 11 am service in the sanctuary, and on February 7th we will resume our 5 pm service in Fellowship Hall. Like all onsite events, these will be masked and physically distanced times. The 5 pm service has always been ‘relaxed, reflective, and reverent’, and includes the same Scriptures, sermon, and prayers as the 11 am online and onsite services, just with a different musical style and setting. 
It has been hard to not be able to gather together in the ways to which we are accustomed, and I know it can be easy to disengage because of that. As different (and even awkward) as it may be, however, I encourage you to join us as we worship, in whatever way is best for you, because worship is at the very heart of who we are as Christians. Online or onsite; morning or evening; gathered or scattered–let’s join with the psalmist in saying, 
“I will bless the LORD at all times;his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD;let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!”(Psalm 34:1-3)
I pray this finds you healthy and well, and look forward to seeing you again. 
Grace and peace,
Josh