Posts by Josh Fenska

Posts by Josh Fenska

Summer Sermon Series: 1 Thessalonians

Sometimes it helps to go back to the basics. In the New Testament book called 1 Thessalonians, we have a little letter—possibly Paul’s earliest letter—written from the mission field to teach a church plant about the basics of Christianity. This summer, as we follow this precious letter, we’ll learn about how the church can thrive in Christian mission,…

Indentifying Elders: What To Look For

Probably the simplest advice for identifying elders comes from Thabiti Anyabwile in his book, Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons: “Notice men who already appear to be shepherding members of the church even though they don’t have the title ‘elder’ or ‘pastor.’” That’s a great place to start thinking.  Beyond that, it may be helpful to keep in mind a few categories that we…

Qualifications for Elders and Deacons

Elders and deacons are important in God’s design for the church. We’ll address three important questions here: What are elders and deacons again? What’s the difference? What are the biblical qualifications for elders? What are the biblical qualifications for deacons? What are Elders and Deacons Again? What’s the Difference? According to the New…

A Goal: Identifying More Elders in 2021

“A church without godly leaders is an endangered church.” (Thabiti Ayabwile, Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons) As we seek to move forward in 2021, one of our priorities is to find a few more elders. Currently, our team of elders consists of me (Josh Fenska, since 2006), Tim Tatum (since 2012), Josh Anderson (since 2013), Matt Vent (since 2017), and Mike…

Sunday Worship: Two Choices, One Message

As we are adding the option of outdoor worship on Sunday afternoons, we want to remind you that will continue to offer a video for worship at home throughout 2020. Whichever option you choose for worship (online or in-person), beginning this Sunday, August 9, you will hear a message from the same passage of Scripture. In other words, you can participate in one or the…

Any Updates for Sunday Afternoon August 2?

1:45pm: Restroom update: We’ve received a question about the availability of restrooms. Good news: we are able to use the indoor restrooms at Advent. Our hosts request that we wear facemasks inside the building. We also recommend accompanying children and using the available sanitizing wipes to clean after each use. 9:30am: Quick update on Sunday morning about…

Guidelines for Outdoor Worship

The guidelines below are designed so we can worship our great Redeemer together, in a wise, safe, and unified way. Our approach to these guidelines will lean on personal responsibility, mutual respect, and gospel unity.  Personal responsibility—because we count on individuals to make wise decisions Mutual respect—because we commit to considering the interests of others…

Some Additional Resources Related to Race

In this unique cultural moment, every day we face questions regarding our nation’s history and experience of racial injustice. These issues are complex. These issues are grieving. These issues might leave you exhausted. But if we intend to be people who walk humbly with God, and do justice, and love kindness (Micah 6:8), then these are issues we cannot ignore. I…

Justice, Restoration, and Renewal

Our church-planting network, Acts 29, has published a “A Call to Justice, Restoration, and Renewal.” We believe these topics are important for Christians to think carefully—and “Christianly”—about. You can find the entire, longer statement online.  Here is an excerpt: George Floyd’s death-plea, “I can’t breathe,” has become the rallying cry for…

A Few First Steps Toward Re-Gathering

As we look forward to the process of re-gathering, I wanted to write out a few steps for us to consider. (We have sent around a couple of videos which have a little more information on a few of these points; you can find them here and here.) A Few Things to Consider While re-gathering is our goal, it’s very important to remember that this is going to be a process. There’s…

Question: Was Christ Forsaken?

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is what David cried about 3,000 years ago (Psalm 22:1). Famously, Jesus cried out these exact words of Psalm 22:1 while he was dying on the cross (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). The question arises: was Christ really forsaken? There is a profound sense in which the answer is “Yes.” There is also an important sense in which the answer…

Spreading Smiles to Seniors

In these unique days, families in our church have opportunities to spread smiles to seniors. Many of our senior neighbors and health-vulnerable neighbors have less contact with friends or loved ones than normal. Families in our church family can help spread smiles through delivering drawings, or Scripture verses, or handwritten notes to seniors around us. Perhaps there…