Establishing a New Church
UPDATE: 04.24.24
Recommended Resources on technology and the family:
Books
Tech-Wise Family by Andy Crouch
My Tech-Wise Life by Andy Crouch
12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
Documentaries
Social Dilemma (NetFlix)
Creepy Line
Online Article
Raising a Family in the Digital Age: A Technology Guide for Parents
Online Seminar
Family & Technology Seminar - Millwood Baptist Church (Austin, Texas)
A Guiding Document on Recreational Marijuana and Christian Discipleship
Recently, the ITC Elders talked about Marijuana in a 2 part episode of the In The Church podcast. If you would like to join in on the conversation, click here to listen to the episodes on Spotify.
To read the guiding document on recreational marijuana, please go here. If you have any questions or would like to talk with an elder, please contact the ITC office at office@indiantrailchurch.com.
Giving - A Vertical Expression of Worship
A practical encouragement from Pastor Bob on giving.
One of our commitments to one another as members of the local church is to faithfully give. Our membership covenant reads, “We will cheerfully give to support this local church, meet physical needs within the body, and advance the gospel”
(1 Corinthians 9:8-12; 1 Timothy 5:17; Acts 2:45; Acts 20:35; Ephesians 4:28; Philippians 4:15-20; 3 John 5-8). We should count it a joy to give towards advancing the gospel and towards the needs of the saints in the church. But, giving is not just horizontal in its expression. It is also a vertical expression of worship towards the Lord. Colossians 3:17 states, “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Everything we do in service to one another, including our giving, should be worship because we serve and give “in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Furthermore, the effect of giving multiplies worship to our great God because it causes an “overflowing in many thanksgivings to God” (2 Cor 9:12).
To help us recapture the vertical expression of worship in giving, we have decided to return to having an offertory during our Lord’s day gatherings, but just on the first Sunday of each month. By no means are we saying that this is the only time or way to give. The following are various options for giving at ITC, all of which are viable and good:
* Place your giving in the black box in the back of the auditorium on Sunday morning or any other day
* Mail your giving in to our church office
* Give online through website or church center app
* Give during our offertory on the first Sunday of the month
Whichever form of giving you choose is between you and the Lord. Regardless of which you choose, the offertory, where we take the time to pass around giving pouches on the first Sunday of the month, will be an opportunity for you to dedicate your giving to the Lord and express praise and thanksgiving to God with your giving. And as we continue to give, may we all, as his people, declare, “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Eph 3:21).
One Bread, One Body, and One in Christ
A practical encouragement from Pastor Bob on the Lord's table.
As we have recently heard, the ordinance of communion or the Lord’s table is a celebration of remembrance, or we could say a memorializing, of Christ’s death for us and how this was the price for our pardon from God to be reconciled to God and experience all the His rich blessings of salvation grace (Eph 1:3-14). But, when we take communion, we are not merely experiencing a personal remembrance. We take communion, keeping in mind the whole body, the church. Speaking of this, the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:17 said, "Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread." The one bread we take from, which represents Christ, also represents our oneness in Christ as one body. For this reason, at ITC, we have decided to bake our own bread for celebrating communion, so we eat pieces of bread that come from one loaf, that we might refer to the symbolism and celebrate our oneness in Christ with greater clarity of understanding. So, next time you take the bread, take a moment to remember Christ's death for "us" as one body and look around at your brothers and sisters with thanksgiving in your heart, knowing that we are one in Christ.
A Gospel Partnership with Three Crosses Church
Gospel Partnerships are a vital part of healthy, joy-filled Christianity. As churches and believers take advantage of the opportunities to support and serve one another, we see the gospel thrive and rejoice in its power and fruit together. The apostle Paul continually thanked God for his gospel partnership with the church of Philippi, something which gave him great joy (Phil 1:3-7). In the same way, through God's grace, we have been able to contribute to some incredible gospel partnerships here in the Inland Northwest through your support and service.
Recently, pastor Dave Hammond of Three Crosses Church reached out to ask if ITC could provide preaching and worship leading support for his church while he goes on a much-needed three-month sabbatical. By God's grace, Pastor Bob DeLateur will be coordinating this need for Three Crosses, through the sacrificial service of several men from ITC who have been trained here in the ITC pastoral internship program (Aaron Stromberger, Dan Absalonson, and Jackson Geiger) and through interns from three partner churches here in Spokane.
Please don't hesitate to ask Pastor Bob or any of these men how it is going. They relish the opportunity to share how God is working so we can continue to rejoice together in the work of the gospel. Thank you for joining us in prayer as we serve our brothers and sisters at Three Crosses Church.
Put on a New Lens
A practical encouragement from Pastor Kyle on reading the Word.
I’ve found it helpful when reading through the Bible to have categories of thinking. This especially holds true as I’m taking in larger portions of the Old Testament. Often it seems that we get our minds and hearts pigeon-holed into one category. We automatically look to the Biblical storyline as a blueprint for our own lives. Looking for life examples works well in many places, like the book of Proverbs or even the opening chapters of Daniel. But traveling through Judges or Ezekiel with only this reading strategy may cause you some sleepless nights. So let me give you a few more sets of lenses to put on as you read God’s Word.
The God Lens. As you read through the Bible, you should always ask, “What does this show me about God?” We all seem to have enough of a background in Christian thinking (even if only the residue of Christianity in American culture) that we come to the Bible somewhat “pre-loaded.” This pre-loading can prevent us from really looking for the attributes of God. Try to discipline yourself to think afresh about God and the traits you see in Him throughout the Bible. If we consistently ask this question, we may surprise ourselves with what we find. And we may even gain brand new reasons for praising God as a result!
The Man Lens. Don’t assume you know yourself--or humanity in general. Let the Scriptures speak. I think putting on this lens may be a very underdeveloped skill as we read the Scriptures. For instance, you will see practices in the Bible that are not exactly “exemplary” ways of living or acting. In many cases, God didn’t design them to be. Often, what you’re seeing is a testimony to the deep depravity of human beings and the cultures that they build. Let these scenes remind you of who we truly are in our fallenness.
The Grace Lens. Contrary to popular belief, the God of the Bible remains constant through the ages. God did not, as so many suppose, transform from a God of wrath and justice (in the Old Testament) to a God of love and mercy (in the New Testament). If you keep your eyes open, you will see a river of grace and faithfulness flowing to the people of God everywhere in the Bible. Yes, He is a God of holy justice. But also consider His deeds of kindness and redeeming grace throughout the story. And keep an ear open to the people of God in the Old Testament. They continually praise God for the grace He showers upon them.
The Lens of Christ / Fulfillment. Be aware that the New Testament writers reference, allude to, or even quote portions of the Old Testament--a lot. They do so because the Lord had shown them how many themes and promises from the Old Testament find their fulfillment in Christ. Watch for those verses that are vaguely familiar. They’re familiar for a reason. And they’ll often lead you right to the Lord Jesus and all that He came to accomplish.
So there you go. Change your reading glasses from time to time. Some new lenses may serve you greatly.
OF CORPORATE PRAYER
A practical encouragement from Pastor Kyle on praying in the gathering. This piece was originally published in the July 11th ITC bulletin.
One of the reasons we’ve been so eager to gather in a single service is so that we might all benefit, learn, and grow together as we pray together. Corporate prayer has been a big part of our evening services for the past couple of years. But now, we’ll have many opportunities on Sunday mornings to join our hearts together in prayer.
We will often pray together by inviting any member of our church to go to a microphone (located throughout the room) to offer a prayer. But in preparation for those times, we thought it might help to give some direction and encouragement. Many times I’ve talked with people who feel unsure about how to pray publicly. Although they have a deep desire to pray, they also want to do it in a way that’s helpful and edifying for the body.
So, I thought today would be a good day to give you a quick encouragement for praying in our services. It’s as easy as ABCC:
Audible. We pray publicly so all can join in and make another’s prayer their own. This practice allows us to “Amen” a prayer with our mouth (or, at least, our heart). For this to happen, we all need to be able to hear the prayers. So, although we use microphones to help, you can serve the body by speaking a little more loudly and clearly than you might otherwise. And we’ll try to say “Amen” clearly when you’re done!
Biblical. Certainly, we want to pray consistently with the truths of God’s word. But also, using scripture in corporate prayer can be one of the most edifying ways to pray with others, especially when you’re not quite sure what to pray. We have watched God grow this tremendously in our prayer times as elders. Believers never tire of hearing the promises and purposes of God’s word applied to their lives in prayer.
Concise. To benefit from the prayers of the body, we want to create as much space for others to offer prayers as we can. Typically, we will allot a portion of the service (say, the length of a song or two) to corporate prayer. If we all intentionally pray more brief prayers, it will allow us to hear from and be blessed by more of our members during this time.
Corporate. Okay, this is a bonus “C.” I include it because we can too easily fall into the patterns we use when we pray privately as Christians each day. In private prayers, we pray about our individual and personal concerns. We use the language of “me” and “my.” But in corporate prayer, we pray about the concerns of the whole body. So, it might be more helpful during these times to use the language of “us” and “our.”
We’re excited to join in prayer together during our worship gathering. And we’d love for you to pray. So, if you’re a little hesitant, remember the ABCC’s of corporate prayer.