You can find the proposed budget for 2021 here. The budget and election meeting will be on December 13th after the worship service.
This past Monday, a mask mandate issued by the York Board of Health went into effect. On Tuesday, the pastors met together to discuss this and how to move forward as a congregation over the next month and a half. I have linked the mask mandate issued by the York Board of Health HERE and we are encouraging every person to carefully read it for themselves in its entirety.
When we met together, the majority of our discussion centered around how we faithfully shepherd this body knowing that there are people in our congregation who feel strongly about this issue on both sides. One thing that became clear in our meeting is that we as pastors have different feelings and convictions about this issue which is probably representative of the body as a whole. As with many difficult issues, this requires careful consideration of many overlapping principles that span the whole Bible to settle in one’s conscience how to proceed, and even then, two believers might arrive at different convictions. The challenge moving forward for us is the same challenge we have faced and overcome in previous months, namely, how can we love one another and consider one another while holding differing views on a non-essential issue?
Over the past 9 months, we have seen the people of Arbor Drive consider one another and figure out how to hold different views and convictions while not binding the conscience of a brother or sister. More than that, we have seen the people of Arbor Drive actively consider those who hold differing views in their interactions and act in a manner that displays love. Our desire is to see this continue rather than seeing all of our labor together in this area undone by polarizing over this mandate. At the same time, we want to uphold a principle that the state constitution eloquently lays out which is “All persons have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences.” To that end, here is what you can expect of us and what we are asking of you.
What you can expect of us as your pastors:
We will comply with the mandate’s requirement to post a sign on the doors at entrances to our building.
We will respect your privacy, convictions, and ability to worship according to the dictates of your own conscience.
We will continue to encourage toward love and consideration of brothers and sisters and seek to model that.
We will continue to serve and welcome anyone who comes to Arbor Drive with the aim that they would know and enjoy God.
What we are asking of you:
Read the mandate carefully and consider for yourself what it says.
Carefully and prayerfully consider the Biblical issues of submission to governing authorities, freedom of worship, loving neighbors, care for brothers and sisters, civil disobedience, disagreement on non-essential issues, and other Biblical principles that have bearing on this issue. In light of careful, thoughtful, and prayerful consideration of God’s Word and the wording of the mandate, settle in your own conscience how you can proceed in a way that honors God and his word, loves your neighbor, and in which you can give an account before God for your actions.
Respect and honor one another and the decisions that each person makes on this issue. While you may have a deep conviction that your action is right, acknowledge that someone else might hold a differing conviction or arrive at a different conclusion and respect that. Honor, love, and respect one another. Don’t bind the conscience of another.
If you have an issue or disagree with what the York Board of Health has mandated, appeal to your city officials. Exercise your right to petition for a redress of grievances.
As you may know, the budget and election meeting is coming up. I would encourage every member of Arbor Drive to attend and participate in this. Not only will we be approving a budget for 2019, but we will be voting on pastor/elder and deacon candidates. This is an important annual part of the life of our church and we all have a significant and vital role to play. You can find the 2019 proposed budget here. Please review it prior to the meeting which will be on Dec 9th, directly following the worship service. I hope to see you all there.
In Christ,
Pastor Jon
Due to road and weather conditions, all church activities for this morning are cancelled. So while we cannot gather in the same place this morning to worship, we can gather together in different locations to worship. I would encourage families to gather together this morning to worship in song and the word. Here is a suggestion for what that might look like:
- Have someone start by praying for other members of our church family by name and then have someone pray for our church body in general.
- Sing a couple of songs together. Here are two suggestions from Pastor Joe: Come Thou Fount and Before the Throne. Talk together about the message of those songs and how the truth of those songs impact you.
- Read through Romans 8 together as a family. Take turns reading and especially include children that can read. Once you have read through it, take turns talking about one truth of that chapter that is especially precious to each person.
- Close in prayer, giving thanks for those truths that were mentioned and praying for each member of the family individually.
This is a great opportunity for husbands and dads to lead spiritually and show our children that what we do on Sunday morning is important and though we cannot gather together as a church family, we can still worship together and treasure our God who saved us.
I look forward to gathering with you all next Sunday and will miss seeing you this morning. Have a safe and fun day together as a family.
With love,
Pastor Jon
This evening, we will be wrapping up our Wednesday evening discussions on discipleship by focusing on gospel clarity, application, and transformation. Thankfully, we live in an age where we have tremendous access to resources to help us in this. To aid you in this, I’ve compiled a list of resources that I’d recommend on this topic.
Supernatural Power for Everyday People
Show Them Jesus: Teaching the Gospel to Kids
Scandalous: The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus
What Jesus Demands from the World
Basics for Believers: Putting the Gospel First
In my sermon on Sunday (September 9th, 2018) I listed off some statements that are true of everyone who is in Christ. I encouraged those listening to not write them down, but instead listen and rejoice in these truths and I would post them for people to access. Here is the list I gave.
I you are In Christ, every one of these statements are true of you.
- I am loved. 1 John 3:3
I am accepted. Ephesians 1:6
I am a child of God. John 1:12
I am Jesus' friend. John 15:14
I am a joint heir with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him (provided I suffer with him that I might also be glorified with him). Romans 8:17
I am united with Him and one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17
I am a member of Christ's body. 1 Corinthians 12:27
I am a Saint. Ephesians 1:1
I am redeemed and forgiven. Colossians 1:14
I am complete in Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:10
I am free from condemnation. Romans 8:1
I am a new creation because I am in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17
I am chosen of God, holy and dearly loved. Colossians 3:12
God makes me stand firm. He has set me apart and has sealed me and given me the Spirit as a promise. 2 Corinthians 1:21
I do not have a spirit of fear, but of love, power, and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7
I am God's co-worker. 2 Corinthians 6:1
I am seated in heavenly places with Christ. Eph 2:6
I have direct access to God Ephesians. 2:18
I am chosen to bear fruit John. 15:16
I am one of God's living stones, being built up in Christ as a spiritual house. 1 Peter 2:5
I have been given exceedingly great and precious promises by God by which I am a partaker of his nature and have escaped the corruption of this world. 2 Peter 1:4
I can always know the presence of God because He never leaves me Hebrews. 13:5
God works in me to give me new desires and ability to obey. Philippians 2:13
I can ask God for wisdom and He will give me what I need. James 1:5
In Christ,
PJ
As September begins, we start up Sunday School again (Sunday mornings at 9am). I wanted to quickly write and let you know about what the adults will be going through and give a few reasons why we are encouraging you to come to this Sunday School class.
As pastors, we believe that the church is to be convictional. In other words, there are certain truths of Scripture that we hold dear as a body of believers and that form the core convictions of our local body. Hence the name, Core Convictions. We have discussed these as leaders and have decided that every year, we will offer two classes (one in the spring and another in the fall) that goes over these core convictions. As a result of that, we have developed Core Convictions 1 and Core Convictions 2. This last spring, we did CC1 which covered 8 of these convictions and we will be beginning this fall by going through CC2 which covers the other 6 convictions. This fall we will be covering topics like giving, worship, community, ministry and others and in each class, we will let the Bible shape how we view these issues or topics. Those who regularly attend Sunday School will be going through this in classroom B and those who do not regularly attend or are new to Arbor Drive will go through this in the old chapel.
So, why should you come? I have a few short reasons to offer in order to encourage you to attend.
1. Connect with other believers. If you haven't attended Sunday School or are new to Arbor Drive and want to meet more people, this is an opportunity to do that. Sunday School ends at 10am and gives you 30 minutes to chat with and meet new people before the worship service starts.
2. Get to know Arbor Drive. Especially if you're new, this is a great opportunity to get to know Arbor Drive and what we believe. You will be able to ask questions and get to know the pastor who is teaching it.
3. Getting your kids involved. We have some fantastic children and youth Sunday School teachers at Arbor Drive. Your kids and students can attend Sunday School and get to know them as well as other youth and kids in the church. I also hear there are regularly donuts for the youth Sunday School class (if that sways you at all).
4. Encourage other believers. You have something to offer and bring to the table. By attending and participating, you are putting yourself in a place where God can use you to bless other believers through your questions or insights.
5. Growing together. The Christian life was not meant to live in isolation. By being a part of our Sunday morning Sunday School, you have the opportunity to grow WITH other believers and for God to use other believers to encourage and help you grow in your faith.
6. More interaction. Sunday School is an environment where questions can be asked and we can work through the answers together. It offers a unique opportunity to be able to interact with other believers and with the material in a way that allows for unique growth.
7. Finally, family discipleship. By attending Sunday School, you have the opportunity to talk with your spouse and/or children about the material covered and have Christ-centered things to talk about and help your family grow in their faith. You can also talk with your kids or students about what they covered and give them the opportunity to share that with you.
I hope you will consider joining us starting this first Sunday in September for our Core Convictions 2 class. If you haven't attended Sunday School before, this is a great time to give it a shot and see how God uses it in your life and the life of your family.
In Christ,
Pastor Jon
Our first Wednesday Evening Adult Discipleship Event is live! This is a brief post to help you find it and check it out.
1. If you haven't already, you can download the YouVersion Bible App. It is available on Apple and Android platforms. You can find the app here if you can't find it in your app store. It is also available on your computer if you wish to use that. If you already have the app, make sure your YouVersion Bible app is updated. Once it is installed on your phone and updated, move on to the following steps.
2. Open the app and go to your home page
Click on "more"
Lower right hand corner
3. Click on "events"
Click Events
Third option
4. Click on "Arbor Drive Community Church"
Click on the event
Arbor Drive Community Church
5. Interact with the content
Interact
Take prayer notes
See Scripture references
Add notes
Save event
Share event
It's that easy. Within the event you can add prayer notes, see the scriptures that are being referenced, write notes, see lesson notes, see announcements for upcoming events at Arbor Drive. You can also share this event with your friends or use it if you want to go through the content we are going over on Wednesday evenings with a friend who wasn't able to make it, you family throughout the week, review with your spouse, or go through the content with a group as your own tool for discipleship. The ways that this can be used are only limited to your imagination.
NOTE: The next day, the event will be taken down so be sure to access and "save" the event if you want to keep it in your YouVersion profile. Each event will be available 5 days before we gather (so on Friday evening).
Be sure to give us feedback and let us know if this is helpful to you. We hope this blesses you and is useful to you.
In Christ,
Pastor Jon
Over the last couple of weeks, I have been doing some research to find out how to maximize out Wednesday Evening Adult Discipleship time (you can read about that here). As I was working on this, I ran across an amazing fact. The YouVersion Bible app is the most popular Bible app in the world with over 86 million downloads. I decided to test this out and posted on our Facebook page asking who used it. Seems that a lot of us do, which is really good because YouVersion has some features that will help Wednesday evenings be even more beneficial.
So... Starting this next week, we will be integrating YouVersion into our Wednesday Night Adult Discipleship. Each week, there will be an "event" that is posted that will have space for you to write down prayer notes from our time in prayer together as well as notes during our time together and an outline/teacher notes. All of these can be saved right to your app for you to use later or go back through during the week.
To access this, open your YouVersion app and then click on "more" in the lower right hand corner. You will see an option called "events". Click on that and then click on the Arbor Drive Community Church event. You can then make notes and save the event to your app. The events will be available 4 days before each Wednesday and then for a day after before they disappear. Once you have saved your notes though, they stay on your app. It's that easy. Throughout the next few weeks as we get this going, please be sure to let us know how we can improve it and make it more useful to you.
At Arbor Drive Community Church we value authentic, gospel-driven community. With this in mind, we are committed now, more than ever, to reaching people from every walk of life. As part of our commitment to encourage, equip, and meet others with the gospel of Jesus Christ, our beloved Wednesday night ministries are only getting better this fall, with fresh options for everyone including singles, married couples, and families with school aged children.
Our aim as pastors here at Arbor Drive is to provide an enriching environment in order for you to grow in your faith, as well as to build meaningful relationships within the context of the local church. Here is what you can expect:
For Parents of Young Children
You can expect to find a well staffed nursery available, for ages 0 through 3 years, as well as Children’s programing starting at age 4. In the Blast, your kiddos will experience biblical instruction that will introduce them to God, as well as work towards awakening strong affections towards the Lord Jesus Christ. We are asking parents to volunteer twice per semester to help out with the programming, which makes this service to your family possible.
One of the major benefits of this approach is that it exposes children to other Christian families who similarly treasure Christ. Kids who participate in our Wednesday night community will experience the the Spirit of God at work in the lives of their peers and in older saints. They will understand what it looks like to have the love of Christ as a norm for a whole community of people.
Additionally, you will be exposed the new and exciting discipleship tools to use in your own home, as well as home discipleship ideas while you serve on the parent rotation. Not only will you be enriching the discipleship experience of our kiddos, you will be growing in your own practical application of biblical principles, to the glory of God.
For Parents of Teens
Our youth workers are dedicated to investing in your students and showing them the riches that are found in Christ Jesus. Your students will spend time in middle and high school small group settings discussing how God’s word relates to their everyday lives. Youth group is a safe place to be a Christian, as well as a resource for parents in the home discipleship process.
However, in this model traditional youth group has gotten even better! You’ll have the opportunity plan and organize the types of events and discipleship opportunities that your students experience, all while knowing that they are exposed to a variety of godly adults serving as sponsors who will positively impact their walk with Christ. You will find the community you need as you walk your kids through the difficult teenage years.
For Those Without Kids
Regardless of whether you have kids in your home or not, Wednesday nights have been expanded for you too! The primary purpose of this time is for followers of Christ of all ages, not just children, to come together and share in a common time of worship, prayer, learning, and fellowship. You will benefit immensely from the mutually edifying, intergenerational worship atmosphere. You will learn about the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ within the context of real relationships, and as you interact with believers from all walks of life your appreciation for God’s work in the midst of His people will only grow!
For those of you who have yet to start your family, you will get to meet experienced parents who take raising their kiddos to love and know God seriously. Older saints can invest in you, encourage you in your marriage, and share with you their own experiences of grace as they have walked with Christ.
For those of you more seasoned individuals, this is an opportunity for you to love and encourage the generations. As the Psalmist said of God, “One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.”(Ps. 145:4) Your presence, participation, and love all play an important role in God’s plan of glorifying Christ in the midst of His people.
I would encourage you to make Wednesday nights a priority and experience the benefits of living in vibrant Christian community, where the old and young alike can come together to celebrate their common bond in Jesus Christ, relationships can form, wisdom can be gleaned, and the work of Christ can be celebrated. Make the most of your time by immersing yourself and those who you love in the powerful truths of God’s word, doing your part to know, believe, and love the Lord Jesus Christ!
We are creeping (or you might feel rocketing would be a better term) toward the end of summer. With the end of summer comes a new school year and a time to refocus. As leaders, we have been looking forward to this next school year as a time to refocus as a church. As you have probably heard, we are seeking to maximize Wednesday evenings for everyone in the body. This includes opportunities for prayer, fellowship and discipleship for all ages. I am thankful that as a church, we have had a passion for ministering to our students and children. Wednesday evenings have seen many students and children come through the doors of Arbor Drive who were invited by a friend or were looking for a place to belong. We have been blessed by volunteers who have selflessly served those who have come. I've been blessed to see packs of children moving all throughout the church on scavenger hunts looking to find sheets of paper based on clues that share the gospel with them. With that said, we want to bless adults in the same way (but maybe without the scavenger hunts). To that end, Wednesday nights will be a church wide event for all ages at Arbor Drive. We really have three main aims in this that I want to briefly share with you.
1. Prayer
We have intentionally sought to incorporate more prayer into our Sunday morning service. There is a prayer meeting at 10:15am in Classroom A (which I would encourage for you to attend) that focused on praying for the service. We also have incorporated more prayer into the service itself. Prayer is essential for our health as Christians, the health of the church, and our success in carrying out the mission of Jesus Christ that he has entrusted to us. Prayer keeps us humble and dependent upon God to work through us and in our lives. We need to foster a greater culture of prayer at Arbor Drive, so Wednesday evenings will include a time of prayer together. You won't be asked to pray in front of everyone, but together as a church, we will go to God as his people and pray for our church, our community, and the lost in the world. Our prayer is that this will encourage a greater commitment to prayer in your life and in your family as you see God work through prayer in our church.
2. Fellowship
The second aim of Wednesday evenings is fellowship. It can be difficult for people to connect with others on Sunday morning. There is (rightly) a formality to our worship service and for some that cannot stay after, it can take a while for them to build relationships with other believers at Arbor Drive. One of our goals for Wednesday evenings is that all ages will be able to connect with others more easily. Because Wednesday evenings are less formal, it offers a chance for new people (or those who have been here for a while and want to connect better) to meet new people, fellowship, and get to know others better. There will be chances to see what is going on in one another's lives, pray with one another, and encourage one another. Wednesday evenings can be a great tool to help people build relationships with other believers within the body as well as introduce unbelieving friends you invite to other believers.
3. Discipleship/Shepherding
Our third goal for Wednesday evenings is discipleship/shepherding opportunities. It will be very interactive. Don't think of it as a class, but as a time to grow together as we talk and discuss the truth of God and how it applies to our lives together. The pastors will all be here and will be taking opportunities for more shepherding interactions with you, asking how we can pray for you, answering questions, and getting to know you better while you get to know us better. We have also asked parents of BLAST age kids to commit to leading a family style devotion for all the BLAST kids 2 times a semester with a pastor. We see this as an opportunity for you to grow in confidence in doing family devotions in your home, ask questions you might have as you do this with a pastor, and encourage you in discipling your children. We will be providing each family with all the resources you need to replicate this process in your homes.
I am excited about this expansion of Wednesday evenings and believe that God will use this in powerful ways to increase our joy in Christ, encourage one another, foster a dependence upon God through prayer, build new relationships/deepen existing ones, and provide a place for you to invite friends who don't know Christ or don't have a church family in a way that demonstrates what Christian fellowship and unity look like. I pray this helps you grow and connect better and helps us as a church unify around Christ and the gospel more. As we look to and treasure Christ together, we will find that our joy in Christ increases, our families become places where Christ is magnified, and we are equipped and mobilized to live on mission throughout the week. Please prayerfully consider making Wednesday evenings a priority in your home. I personally look forward to getting to know you better and ministering to you and your family through Wednesday evenings.
On July 1st, some of the parents of BLAST age kids came out to my home to talk about what Wednesday evenings would look like this next year. I have been contacted by some parents that were not able to attend and asked if they could get a run down of what was discussed, so I am writing this to provide some bullet points for what Wednesday evenings will look like for those who weren't able to make it.
- First important takeaway is that while we are adding adults into our Wednesday evening programming, we will still have age specific classes and activities. This came about from a desire to maximize Wednesday evenings toward two goals: 1) equipping to be able to grow in our faith and application of the gospel in our lives and 2) to promote unity and relationships within the body. This will be a great way for people who are new to get connected with others outside of Sunday morning as well as provide opportunities for us to grow together as a church.
- This is what a typical Wednesday evening will look like: Everyone (all ages) will gather together in the worship center at 6:30pm. We will spend about 10-15 minutes together as a church and sing a couple of songs as well as spend some time in prayer. After that, we will break up by ages. Adults will meet together, high school students will meet together, middle school students will meet together, and elementary school students will meet together. We will end at 7:30pm but feel free to hang out longer if you wish. Our aim is to have an hour commitment for families that need to get kids to bed.
- We have emphasized family discipleship here at Arbor Drive. We believe that parents have the primary responsibility for discipling their children. The church exists to help in that process. The BLAST kids will be following a family devotion model for the lesson time followed by an activity time. The resources we will be using are designed to be able to be used at home. We are viewing BLAST as a time to model family discipleship. This will be a great tool for you to build on in your homes as you disciple your children.
- As I have mentioned before, we have done a poor job as a church of caring for our volunteers. I am personally grateful for all those who volunteer but am also concerned that we care for them and not take advantage of them. We have designed this upcoming BLAST year with that in mind. To that end, we will be distributing the workload to make BLAST happen among parents who are willing to help. WE ARE NOT SAYING YOU HAVE TO HELP... WE ARE ASKING YOU TO HELP. This will give you the opportunity to invest in other's children, and for those who maybe struggle with family discipleship, give you a model and some confidence that might help you do it in you homes. If we all help, we will only need to take 2-4 Wednesday evenings a year to make it happen together. A pastor will be helping and leading with you for the first year so you won't be thrown in the deep end.
- We will be using The Gospel Story Bible for these devotions. Each story in it has a weeks worth of family devotion material that is excellent and usable. On the week you are teaching, you will get a packet with 5 devotions. You and the pastor will pick one and then will walk through that devotion with the children on Wednesday. We are working to try to provide these resources to each family and will be asking the body to use funds to purchase them for you at the semi-annual meeting. The total cost is about $50/family and that would allow you to work through the whole Bible and have about 2 years worth of material (if you were to do it 5 days/week). Carlee and I use these resources with our children and they are excellent.
- We will also have a number of games that are pre-planned so for the activity time, everything will be laid out for the volunteers. The way we envision it happening is the BLAST children will be divided up into two groups. One will start with the devotion while the other has snack and game time, then they will switch.
- Here is what we are asking of you... WE WOULD LIKE for all parents (and other adults at Arbor Drive) to prioritize Wednesday evenings. We are all busy. If we can prioritize Sunday morning gatherings and Wednesday evenings, we believe that it can simplify while helping us all grow together. Will you please prayerfully consider making Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings a priority for your family? Wednesday and Sundays are aimed at ministering to the body, but I believe this will open up opportunities for your family to invite other families in the future and be there with them and lead to greater opportunities for the church to help you in reaching your neighbors and friends.
- WE NEED for all parents to prayerfully commit to between 2-4 Wednesday evenings a year. I am not asking for an answer now. Pastor Jonathan will be reaching out to all families with BLAST age children in a couple of weeks and asking you to commit to just a few Wednesdays a year. Will you please be prayerfully considering committing to help make this successful over the next couple of weeks? If everyone commits to help, it will not become a burden on anyone.
- The bottom line is our aim is to simplify and maximize our Wednesday evenings. I believe God will use this in amazing ways to help us grow as individuals, as families, and as a church. We have made it so that those who live outside of York don't have to make multiple trips into town so your children and students can attend. We have also added time that we believe will be beneficial to you. This came at the suggestion of many of you who I have talked to. This will allow times for adults to be together, but also for men and women to spend time with other men and women. Our primary mid-week ministry (men's, women's, student's and children's) will all be happening at one time and place to allow for ease of planning and a set schedule to commit to. I am asking you to make this a priority for your family.
- If you have any questions about this, please don't hesitate to speak with a pastor. We would be happy to answer any questions you might have.
Pastor Jon
The King Is Coming VBS will be held on July 8-13th and registration is now open. Sign up online here.