We’ll begin on September 17th at Brown’s Brewing Company at 6:30PM with an intro lecture on the life and times and works of Karl Barth. No reading is due for this first night and all are welcome, even if you don’t plan on sticking with the study. We’ll continue meeting on the third monday of each month. Reading assignments will average 85 pages per month.

PLEASE REGISTER HERE.

We will be reading two books in the study. First, we’ll read “Barth for Armchair Theologians” and then we’ll follow this up with a short book by Barth called “The Humanity Of God”. If you want us to order your books for you, it’s important that you register at the link above, and bring $27 cash on the first night. A reading schedule will be given out that night as well.

The intro lecture is limited to 60 people. Please register early to reserve your spot.

If you are interested in being a part of this study, the ONLY PLACE TO REGISTER IS BY CLICKING HERE.

For those who are new to Terra Nova, TATT is a place where we study classic works of Christian theology, written by giants of our faith. We do so by reading roughly 75 pages a month on our own, then meeting up on the third monday of each month from 6:30-8:30 PM at Brown’s Brewing Company, upstairs in the Trojan Room.

There is no reading due on the first night. Instead, we stage a college style lecture on the author’s life and times, and look at his collection of writing and why he/she is considered an important theologian.

If you would like to be at the intro lecture, but cannot attend the whole study, please complete the registration form found above and indicate that where appropriate.

We hope to see you Monday, January 17th.

Our next Acts 29 Network Northeast regional event will feature George Hunter, author of “The Celtic Way of Evangelism” and professor at Asbury Seminary. Hunter’s work has had a wide reaching impact on churches and has impacted the DNA of Terra Nova in a significant way. This event will be hosted by the New York State Acts 29 churches at Terra Nova’s facilities in Troy, NY.

This event is open to anyone in the northeast and may reach capacity so be sure to register as soon as possible (each attendee needs to register separately).

The only way to register is HERE.

Date: November 8, 2010
Location: 409 River Street Troy, NY 12180
Cost: $15 per person due at the registration table. Checks may be made out to ‘Terra Nova Church’
Questions: Please contact Daniel Williams with further questions.

Schedule:

11:00AM :: Registration opens.

11:30AM :: Lunch is served.

12:00PM :: Worship begins.

12:30PM :: Session 1: “A Celtic Approach to Evangelism” (George Hunter).

2:00PM :: Break

2:15PM :: Session 2: Break Out Sessions as follows:

“Leading a Missional Church Plant”—Panel Discussion: JR Vassar (Apostles NYC), Ed Marcelle (Terra Nova Church), Rob Burns (Real Life Church).
“Outsourcing Your Church: Building A Support Staff Utilizing Existing Services.”—Multiple Executive Pastors from the region will share outsourcing ideas.
“Worship Leaders Roundtable Discussion”—Led by A29 Worship Pastors.
“Leveraging Social Networking and Media to build Gospel-Centered Community” –George Suriya (Northeast Representative | The City)
“Perpetual Proclamation: the gospel work after conversion”–Brian Hope (Redemption Church | Kent, WA)

3:30PM :: Session 3: “A Celtic Approach to Formation” (George Hunter).

5:00PM :: The day ends.

Hotel: If you are in need of a hotel room, contact The Franklin Square Inn and tell them you are with Terra Nova Church.

http://www.franklinsquareinn.com/

Though God’s truth can be grasped by a child and you don’t need a seminary degree to read and understand the Scriptures, there are some basic methods of study that will make anyone’s time in the Bible less daunting and more profitable. The objective of this class will be to help the student ask the right questions of the text, explain what a passage means, and then describe practical ways to use what they’ve learned in everyday life.  We will be using the material in “Living By The Book,” by Howard Hendricks as the foundation for our study.

It’s important for anyone who’s considering taking this course to know that there will be a high level of involvement on the student’s part, both inside and outside of class. Becoming a better student of the Bible happens not merely by becoming aware of the methods of study, but by cultivating good habits through putting them into practice.

The class will begin on September 26th  from 6:30 – 8:30pm and will last for six weeks (through October 31st). You will need to purchase a copy of “Living By The Book” either in advance or at the first class. If you intend to purchase a copy at the first class, please email me, Dan Williams to let me know.

Here’s how it works. We gather on the third Monday of each month from 6:30PM-8:30PM. On the first night, you just show up and learn from the intro lecture. Each month thereafter, you read roughly 75 pages and come ready to discuss them. We meet in The Trojan Room at The Taproom at Brown’s Brewing Company.

This fall we are studying C.S. Lewis’ classic work The Weight of Glory. If you’d like to attend, sign up using THIS FORM. Space is capped at 50, so sign up soon!

As always, we will be meeting in the Trojan Room at BROWN’S BREWING COMPANY on the third mondays of September, October, November and December from 6:30PM-8:30PM. The first night of the study is an intro lecture about the life and times of Newbigin and no homework is needed before showing up. From there on out, you will need to come prepared to discuss the 75 or so pages that have been assigned ahead of time from the text.

If you want to participate in either the opening night lecture, or the entire study, you ABSOLUTELY NEED TO REGISTER HERE. The first night will fill to capacity. Come on out and enjoy a great writer and great microbrewed beer.

Anyway, I decided to do something I did a few years ago at another church called 10 questions to diagnose your spiritual health. It’s based on a book by Donald Whitney. I promised that I would post these questions here on the blog, so here you go. I’d encourage to spend some time with these questions and be honest with yourself about your answers.

 

#1 Do you thirst for God?

Psalm 42 

#2 Are you governed increasingly by God’s Word?

2 Timothy 3

#3 Are you more loving?

John 13:34-35; 1 Corinthians 13

#4 Are you more sensitive to God’s Presence?

Genesis 28:16

#5 Do you have a growing concern for the spiritual and temporal needs of others?

James 2:15-16

#6 Do you love being with other followers of Christ?

1 John 3:14

#7 Are the spiritual disciplines increasingly important to you?

Hebrews 12:14; 1 Timothy 4:7

#8 Do you still grieve over sin?

2 Corinthians 7:8-11

#9 Are you a quicker forgiver?

Mark 11:25

#10 Do you yearn for heaven and to be with Jesus?

Philippians 1:21-24; Colossians 3:2

 

Sex is one of those things that really makes me want to scream… (and I don’t mean it that way, so take that cheesy self satisfied grin off your face, ED). It’s supposed to be this wonderful, passionate expression of love, but the world, Satan, sinners like you and me, violent, evil men and women, capitalists, control freaks, religious extremists, peace lovers and war mongers, (sorry if I left anybody out – it’s an oversight) for generations all over the globe, have misused and abused sex.

God created men and women in His image, and He declared that all He created was good.  He told us to be fruitful and multiply – to have sex.  Sex is powerful and pervasive.  God made us sexual beings.  He designed sex to give us new life, intimacy, oneness, and pleasure, all within the exclusive relationship between husband and wife. 

So, how do we discover or regain purity in a world wrought with sexual sin?  Romans 12:1 –2 tells us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, which is spiritual worship.  It tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, to be able to test and discern what the will of God is, the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

We need help when it comes to giving ourselves as a living sacrifice to God, when it comes to changing how we think so we can understand God’s mind on sexuality, and how to have healthy relationships, We need to talk about sex, whether we are single, married, or divorced, and learn how to live in every stage of life in purity.  We need to bring to light our own painful pasts in order to experience God’s healing and wholeness.