Glory of Christ Fellowship

John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) was a fourth- and early fifth-century pastor and bishop who sought God with all of his heart for over forty years, and who exercised great influence over the church for many centuries. He was indeed a hero for whom we should be grateful to God, but he was a broken hero. From the time John was young, he was given to extremism which psychologically stems from insecurity, and theologically from a gross misunderstanding of the gospel. On the one hand, John lost his father as a small child and he spent much of his childhood seeking the approval of adults. When he decided to seriously seek after God, his instinct was to go to extremes to gain God’s approval. On the other hand, John’s extreme pursuit of God shows that, in his younger years, he didn’t understand the gospel. For two years he chose to live in a cave where he denied himself all but the sheer necessities of life. He refused even to lay down because he thought this was the only way to obey ...

Please take a moment to pray along with our friends at Operation World for Afghanistan. And after watching the video, you can learn more about the country here . 

Please consider this quote from Lesslie Newbigin, long-time missionary to India: “Of course, as contemporary history proves, Christians can live and bear witness under any regime, whatever its ideology. But Christians can never seek refuge in a ghetto where their faith is not proclaimed as public truth for all. They can never agree that there is one law for themselves and another for the world. They can never admit that there are areas of human life where the writ of Christ does not run. They can never accept that there are orders of creation of powers or dominions that exist otherwise than to serve Christ. Whatever the institutional relationship between the church and the state—and there are many possible relationships, no one of which is necessarily the right one for all times and places—the church can never cease to remind governments that they are under the rule of Christ and that he alone is the judge of all they do. The church can never accept the thesis that the central ...

Beyond the Veil - Say Hello conference for women, February 7th. This will be a one-day training to encourage Christian women to bring the hope of Christ to Muslim women through friendship. To learn more about the topics covered at the conference and register, go to the Crescent Project website at www.crescentproject.org. If you want more information from a live person, talk with Carmen Gunderson. "Be Filled" Women’s Retreat: all ladies 12 and older are invited to participate in our conference on March 20-21st at the beautiful Koinonia Retreat Center in South Haven near Annandale. We will explore together what it means to be filled with the knowledge of the will of God. Registration forms are available on the information table. Contact Cheryl Perry with questions. Lunch with the Handrens. Beginning in February, the Handrens will be hosting a lunch at their home on first and third Sundays. Please see the information table for more information and a sign-up sh...

John Chrysostom (ca. 347-407) was a fourth- and early fifth-century pastor and bishop who sought God with all of his heart for over forty years, and who exercised great influence over the church for many centuries. He was born in Syrian Antioch (modern-day Turkey) and raised by his mother, Anthusa, for his father, Secundus, had died when he was a small child. Anthusa loved the Lord and taught John to love him as well, but she longed for him to have a successful career of one sort or other, and thus saw that he obtained a classical education and formed connections with prominent people. For a time, John pursued a career in law, but at some point the Lord gripped his heart and he devoted himself instead to the monastic life. This was disappointing to his mother, but John felt that he had to obey the Lord, and obey he did! Not one to be half-hearted, John spent two years living in a cave where he denied himself all but the bare necessities of life. As Robert Payne notes, he “denie...

Basil of Caesarea (ca. 330-379) was a fourth-century scholar, bishop, and leader who, along with several other prominent figures, shaped the life and thinking of the church for many generations. His parents were genuine lovers of Jesus who taught him the ways of Jesus, and who also funded a world-class education that both shaped Basil and gave rise to his life-long nemesis: pride. But God was faithful to humble his pride and render Basil useful in his Kingdom, so as we look at his life, what lessons do we learn? Of the many that can be enumerated, I will offer three. First, building a godly heritage in our families matters. At least some of Basil’s grandparents were genuine lovers of Jesus who, in fact, suffered for the sake of his name. Additionally, both of Basil’s parents were genuine lovers of Jesus who sought, day by day, to invest this love into the lives of their children. And because they were faithful to do so, Basil’s sister, Macrina, was well prepared to discern the ...

“It is surely a fact of inexhaustible significance that what our Lord left behind Him was not a book, nor a creed, nor a system of thought, nor a rule of life, but a visible community [the church]. He committed the entire work of salvation to that community. It was not that a community gathered round an idea, so that the idea was primary and the community secondary. It was that a community called together by the deliberate choice of the Lord Himself, and re-created in Him, gradually sought - and is seeking - to make explicit who He is and what He has done. The actual community is primary; the understanding of what it is comes second.” Lesslie Newbigin, The Household of God (Great Britain: SCM Press), page 20.