Over the past year, the stock market has dropped about 40%. Economists, politicians, and business leaders continue to forecast gloom and doom. But as Christians, we have hope. The series is "Optimism Matters."
This week, we will look at the power of what many once considered to be "common." We'll look at "Uncommon Courtesy."
There are plenty of reasons for pessimism and depression these days. But through Christ, there is hope. This message describes the difference that optimism makes — not just a "positive attitude" — but a hope based upon a powerful and loving God.
For those who have broadband, you can download the message by clicking the link below. Or you can listen to the file in streaming audio by clicking the play button below. Streaming audio work for both broadband and dial-up connections.
We have a saying that goes, "You've got to look out for #1!" — and we all know to whom the #1 is referring in that statement! According to the Bible, when we become a Christian, we say to God, "You are the boss. You are #1 in my life. You are Lord."
This message is a Bible study that looks at different approaches people took concerning who was #1 in their lives. Some worked out well; others God called "a fool." Which most closely resembles your own life?
On Sunday, January 14, Pastor Rick McClain shared the message "Stewardship of Creation" as a part of our "Lordship Living" series. In that message, Pastor Rick mentioned that this article would be posted on our website providing links to several articles for further reading on this topic. You can download the message itself in mp3 format by clicking on the link below.
Download "Stewardship of Creation" by Dr. Rick McClain (10.5 MB; mp3 format)
To listen to the message by streaming audio, just press the "play button" above. You can pause the message by pressing it a second time. Once you've started, if you wish to start over from the beginning, press the minature "rewind button." The next time you press "play," it will start over from the beginning. Let us know how this new streaming tool works for you by posting a comment below. We are especially interested in hearing from those that use a dial-up connection.
Links
Recently, more than 85 evanglical leaders came together to form the Evangelical Climate Initiative. In January 2006, they signed a document entitled "Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action." Signatories include most key leading evangelical leaders including Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, and the presidents of many major Christian universities, including Asbury, Fuller, Warner Pacific, and Warner Southern.
Evangelical Climate Initiative
Sir John Houghton is the former chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading international panel of scientists studying climate change. Sir John recently retired from that position after more than 20 years of leadership, and he also retired from his post as professor of atmospheric physics at Oxford University. He is a very committed evangelical Christian. In March 2005, he addressed the National Association of Evangelicals. The text of that speech was the source of many of the statistics Pastor Rick cited in his message. The page to which the link below connects contains several excellent articles. The specific one to which we are referring is under the title, "Climate Change."
"Climate Change" by Sir John Houghton
Under the leadership of Dr. Doug Banister, pastor of Fellowship Church in Knoxville, TN, that church became convinced that creation stewardship is a major stewardship responsibility. As a result, they formed a 5-member "Creation Care Team." This team has put together an excellent document that contains a statement of theology, an approach that Fellowship Church will take in the future, and several recommended actions. This document can downloaded in pdf format by clicking this link.
Karla Hignite, in the process of writing a thesis for Bethany Theological Seminary on creation stewardship, was bothered by the resistance that she seemed to be getting from evangelical Christians on this topic. In a short, 2-page paper, she documents 4 major barriors she has run into in dealing with creation stewardship.
"What Keeps Us from Responding" by Karla Hignite
Finally, this last link is to an article that outlines many ways that "congregations can take action to become good stewards of God's creation."
