Resources
Here you can find more information on a variety of topics relating to Christianity and New Day:
Learn Your Gifts and Get Connected!
Is Living Together Really A Big Deal?
Other Important Information:
Archive for Resources
Building Use Policy
We welcome the use of our Church building for activities that are a ministry or outreach of New Day. Church members may request to use the building for other activities such as a wedding reception if it does not conflict with a scheduled ministry activity. Please print, carefully read, and fill out the “Request for Building Use” form (link below) to apply for use of the building and to get your event on the New Day calendar.
Building Use form:
http://tinyurl.com/yeqsxl2
Is Living Together Really A Big Deal?
Is Living Together Really A Big Deal?
We Say Yes. Here’s Why.
Everyone wants to love and to be loved—they are the echoes that still reverberate in us from the Creator. But for whatever reason, it seems like it is getting more and more difficult
to find and keep love. Some think it’s because we hardly talk anymore. With the advent of texting, twittering and Facebooking, it seems we’ve lost the art of holding in-depth, substantive conversations essential for long-term, loving relationships. Instead we have become masters of the pithy, witty, short blurb—the communication of a throwaway world. We throw away everything in our culture—even the things that should never be thrown away, things that are designed to last for a lifetime—like marriages.
Most Christ-followers I know don’t want to buy into the friends-with-benefits casualness about sex. They still believe that the biblical prohibition for fornication (sex outside of marriage) is valid on some level. But they are also afraid of getting married.
And rightly so.
In a culture of disposable love, it seems perfectly natural to try to find ways to beat the odds and make sure you are picking the right person you plan to spend the rest of your life with. Is experimenting to see if you are compatible by living together for a couple of years really such a bad idea? When we buy new cars, we always test-drive them. It certainly seems reasonable to want to take a relationship on a “test-drive.” It’s called cohabitation.
The Test-Drive
Most of us know people who are in love, plan to marry and currently live together. It’s sort of the new premarital counseling program. I visited a church out West that had a “pre-marriage” ceremony for a couple living together. No license. No wedding dress. Just a prayer of blessing to hold them over until the couple walked down the aisle—a kind of marital “appetizer,” I guess. I asked the pastor why they did it. He said, “The couple believes they are married in the eyes of the Lord, and we just wanted them to feel affirmation in our community.”
What did I think about it? I was bummed about it. I actually believe that marriage needs to be public and people need to vow into it in front of those who matter to them—it’s not just a private matter in front of the Lord. Truth is, those who declare they are married “in God’s eyes” seem to reframe their claim when they break up with their live-in partner. Then they claim they were never “really married.” This makes me very dubious about the “married in the eyes of the Lord” doctrine.
The Reason We Don’t Want to Admit
And we have to be honest about the sex here. We live in a sex-crazed culture. And we live in a culture that has a difficult time with communication. This combo platter makes sex the Grand Central Station of most couples who claim to be in love. Sex is a power that seems to “weld” two souls together as one. When a couple engages in physical love, they go out of themselves in a trajectory of ecstasy—to a place where they are no longer in control of themselves. In this act, a couple becomes completely vulnerable, open and yielded to each other. In this act of ecstasy, they lose themselves in each other in a way they would never dare to do in any other setting. And it culminates in an experience that the Bible says is “as strong as death” (Song of Songs 8:6). Theologians have said the sexual act is a kind of little death—it is that powerful. So how could something that feels so right be wrong?
It is precisely the power inherent in sexuality that explains the why behind the many prohibitions given to us about sex in the Bible. Sex must to be kept in the context of marriage in order to be safe—in order for its power to be used to build and not destroy. Sex in the wrong context confuses our souls. God created sex to be a rich, holy, cleansing, love-enriching act that adds joy and fun to life, if it is corralled within the bonds of life-long matrimony. It will destroy when it is not. Paul wrote: “God wants you to be holy, so you should keep clear of all sexual sin. Then each of you will control your body and live in holiness and honor—not in lustful passion as the pagans do, in their ignorance of God and his ways” (1 Thessalonians 4:3-5).
If a Christian couple loves each other enough to jump in the hay, I think they should get married in the eyes of God and the rest of us. Marriage is not a private sacrament; it impacts the whole community of faith. It’s the right thing to do, and disciples do the right thing. They don’t just live on love—emotions, feelings and hormones—they live on principles, beliefs and disciplines that develop character. Pagans (and children) only live for themselves—they live for the “now” and feelings alone.
The best way to prepare for a lifelong commitment is not living together; it’s learning how to deal with relational conflict. But appropriately dealing with conflict and securing the wonderful intimacy that accompanies its resolve takes a huge amount of relational intelligence that is only developed through face-to-face communication. Leaning too heavily on technology (like texting or cell phones) to communicate and resolve conflict is like two people on separate mountaintops trying to use smoke signals to make their points—the modality itself is too limiting to be effective. I think this is one of the main reasons half of those getting married in America end in divorce—no one knows how to engage in the kind of face-to-face fair fighting that resolves conflict. If you want a chance at an intimate, lifelong relationship, get counseling together, not an apartment.
Soaking Prayer
What is Soaking Prayer?
Soaking Prayer is, in essence, resting in the presence of God. You can pray, but it is also a time to quiet yourself, wait on the Lord and let Him speak to you. This is primarily a time to receive, not give. We call it soaking because it is about submerging yourself in God and His love and soaking Him up like a sponge.
What is the Goal of Soaking Prayer?
The point is to spend time letting God love us and to let Him speak. At other times we give and pour out to Him, but soaking is about receiving from God. It is all about loving Him and allowing Him to love you and work in you. Sometimes He will fill you with His love, other times He will heal a deep wound or empower you with vision and strategy for ministry.
How Can I get Started?
- Find a comfortable place to sit, stand, walk or lie down.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and focus your thoughts on the love of the Father and upon Jesus Christ our Lord.
- Feel free to pray, but also try to quiet your thoughts and listen for what God may say to you.
- Sometimes when soaking in God’s presence and letting His love fill us you will experience a feeling, like peace, love, or a sense of calm, sometimes you may hear words or see pictures from God in your mind’s eye as He leads your imagination, and other times you won’t feel anything. That’s okay, because His presence is with you and His work in you is not dependent on how you feel.
- If a distraction enters your mind, ask God if the thoughts are actually from Him—if not, don’t worry, just let them pass.
- Instrumental music is often helpful—www.soaking.net is a good source. Reading Scripture is another helpful aspect of soaking.
Some Bible Verses Concerning Soaking Prayer:
Psalm 37:7 “Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him.”
Psalm 4:4 “Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.”
Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Hebrews 4:9-11 “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest.”
Psalm 23:1-3 “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the waters. He restores my soul…”
Isaiah 40:29-31 “He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord!”
Psalm 131:2 “Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul…”
This text modified from the brochure “Soaking Prayer” from New Day Community Church. To see the full text of the brochure, click here.
Learn Your Gifts and Get Connected!
God has blesssed each of us with different spiritual gifts, skills, or abilities. He has given these spiritual gifts to us so we can connect with others and serve those around us. When people hear of “spiritual gifts” they might think of 1st Corinthians 12, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. In addition to these gifts, there are many other skills that God blesses us with and this test can help you learn of gifts and skills you have or confirm what you already know about your abilities. This test is not the absolute authority, but we do reccommend it to get you thinking! As with anything, prayerfully consider the results you recieve and how to apply them in your life and at New Day so you can better connect with others by serving those around you!
Here is a link to the test:
http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/
Here is a link to the definitions and Biblical references supporting each of the 28 gifts found on this test:
http://www.kodachrome.org/spiritgift/refer.htm
The next step is finding a way to use your gift!
SERVE Sundays, which happen once a year, are a great time to find out what areas need help at New Day and to get plugged in to our community. If you missed the last SERVE Sunday, call the church at 343-2102 or contact Sarah Gerber at sarah[at]newdaycommunity.org to find out how to get invovled now!
Sacred Pathway Test
This Past January (2009) Pastor Cameron shared about “Sacred Pathways” on Sundays at New Day. Take this test to help you determine what type of spiritual pathway you might relate to best.
Spiritual pathways test (for sermon dated 1/25/09):
Book that delves deeper into this topic:
- Sacred Pathways: Discover Your Soul’s Path to God By: Gary L. Thomas Zondervan / 2002 / Paperback