Men of MHC join us for our monthly Leadership Training from 6-7:30pm (dinner provided).

Our Fall Midweek Prayer Services meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month at 6:30pm.

Join us Saturday, October 24th at 10:00 AM as we work together to care for our church building and property!

Bring your work gloves and come help out!

Sunday, October 25th at 6pm join us for the sixth annual Reformation Celebration!

As Protestants churches we are grateful to God for the Reformation. Celebrate with us that work of God in history that still impacts us today. The 2026 Reformation Celebration evening of worship will focus on the doctrine of Irresistible Grace and the good news of the gospel.

Location: Harvest Presbyterian Church1095 E Reagan Pkwy, Medina, OH 44256, USA

Why Chasing the Next Church Event May Be Teaching Our Children
the Wrong Lesson

There is a sacred cow in many evangelical homes that may need to be challenged.
The issue is not the most important question facing the church. Nor should it become another rule by which Christians measure one another’s faithfulness. Vacation Bible schools are not inherently bad. Youth groups are not inherently bad. Choir programs, summer camps, and children’s events are not inherently bad. Many
of these ministries have accomplished genuine good.

But there is a common practice surrounding them that deserves more careful thought: constantly chauffeuring our children from church to church in search of the next program, activity, or event.

Why should this concern us? Because without realizing it, we may be cultivating in our children one of the most dangerous habits in modern Christianity: consumerism. 
And if one of our great responsibilities is to raise up the next generation for the glory of Christ, then we must take seriously anything that trains our children to think that local church life is simply about what they can get rather than what they can give.

Christianity Is Not About Me

The message of consumerism is simple: Everything revolves around me. What do I like? What do I prefer? What makes me comfortable? What interests me? What can this church offer me? 

But this mentality runs directly against the pattern of the New Testament.
Paul writes: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” (Philippians 2:3)

Again: “Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.” (1 Corinthians 10:24)

And: “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” (Romans 15:2)
The Christian life is fundamentally outward-facing. Christians are called to give, sacrifice, serve, build up, and pour themselves out for others. Near the end of his life, Paul could say: “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:6–7)

Isn't that what Christian parents ultimately want for their children? We do not merely want children who remain vaguely interested in Christianity. We want sons and daughters who can reach the end of their lives and say, I poured myself out for Christ. I fought the good fight. I finished the race. I kept the faith.

That kind of person must be formed. And consumerism forms exactly the opposite.

When Discipleship Becomes an Event

Many Christians grew up with an event-oriented model of discipleship. How do you keep young people interested in church? Give them activities. Plan exciting events.
Build a great youth program. Make church entertaining enough that they will want to come back.

For a while, this can give the appearance of success. Events can create friendships, strengthen relationships, and provide opportunities for teaching and fellowship. There is nothing wrong with events.

The problem comes when events move from being a supplement to discipleship to becoming its center. Scripture gives parents a much more ordinary picture of how children are formed. Moses tells Israel to teach God's words diligently to their children: “You shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.” (Deuteronomy 6:7)

That is remarkably unimpressive by modern standards. Sit in your house. Walk along the road. Lie down. Get up. In other words, biblical discipleship happens primarily through the ordinary rhythms of faithful Christian life. Parents teach their children the Word of God. Families worship with the church. Christians live alongside one another. Older believers invest in younger believers. Children watch their parents serve, sacrifice, forgive, give, pray, and persevere. Events can help that work. They cannot replace it.

Someone Will Always Out-Event You

There is another weakness in event-centered discipleship: someone will always have a better event. One church has a youth activity. Another church has a bigger one.
One has games. Another has inflatables. One has a good youth room. Another has lights, fog machines, a stage, and hundreds of teenagers.

If children are trained to evaluate church according to the quality of its events, we should not be surprised when they eventually choose churches according to the same standard. 

The problem is not the fog machine. The problem is the heart we may inadvertently be training them to have. We teach them to ask: What does this church have for me?
Is there something more exciting somewhere else? Where are my friends going?
Which church has the better program? And eventually the same child becomes an adult who asks: Does this church have the music I like? Does it have enough programs for my family? Does the preaching fit my preferences? Are there enough people my age? Is there another church nearby that can offer me more?

We should not be surprised when consumer children become consumer adults.

“But We Should Support Other Churches”

One objection is that Christians should have relationships with other faithful churches. Absolutely. No local church is the kingdom of God by itself. Faithful churches should pray for one another, cooperate when appropriate, encourage one another, and rejoice when Christ's kingdom advances through another congregation.

But we should be careful not to baptize consumerism with the language of Christian unity. Are we actually supporting this other church? Do we know its pastors?
Do we pray for its ministry? Is there a meaningful partnership between our churches?
Are we serving them in some way? Or does this church simply happen to provide a convenient activity for our children? 

There is an enormous difference between partnership and consumption.
Christian unity asks, How can we serve alongside these brothers and sisters?
Consumerism asks, What can their church provide for us? We should be honest enough to recognize the difference.

“But I Checked Their Statement of Faith”

Another response is, “I checked the church's statement of faith, and it is sound.”
Good. Parents absolutely should know what a church believes before entrusting their children to its ministry. Sending children into a ministry without knowing what that ministry teaches is dangerous.

But checking a doctrinal statement does not resolve the larger concern. First, doctrinal statements do not always reveal a church's philosophy of ministry, culture, or practical priorities. Two churches may have nearly identical statements of faith while possessing significantly different visions for discipleship, worship, family, and church life.

More importantly, even if every church involved is doctrinally sound, constantly moving our children from ministry to ministry can still teach them to approach church as consumers. The question is not merely, Is this event orthodox? The deeper question is, What habits and loves are we cultivating in our children through the pattern of our family life?

“But Our Church Doesn't Offer That”

This may be the most revealing objection: “But our church doesn't offer that.”
Perhaps it doesn’t. And perhaps that is okay. No church can offer everything. A church does not need to provide every activity its members might enjoy. In fact, there may be wisdom in deliberately refusing to build church life around a never-ending calendar of programs.

Imagine a mother who has spent the afternoon preparing dinner for her family. She planned the meal, bought the groceries, worked in the kitchen, set the table, and called everyone together to eat. Just as everyone is sitting down, her son announces, “I'm going next door for dinner.” His mother asks why. “Because they're having pizza.”

Most parents would immediately recognize something wrong with that scene.
The problem is not pizza. There is nothing wrong with pizza. There is nothing wrong with the neighbors. There may even be occasions when the neighbors invite the child over and the parents gladly send him. The problem is the attitude: I looked at what my family was offering, looked at what someone else was offering, and decided I preferred theirs. It would be rude. It would be ungrateful. And if it became a pattern, a wise parent would become concerned about what was happening in the child's heart.

Yet Christians can sometimes treat the local church in much the same way.
Brothers and sisters in their own congregation are investing their time, energy, money, and love into the life of the church. Someone prepared the lesson. Someone organized the activity. Someone cleaned the room. Someone prayed for our children. Someone gave up an evening to serve them. And then we look down the street and say, in effect, “Yes, but they're having pizza.” Their VBS is bigger. Their youth group has more kids. Their children's program has better games. Their summer event looks more exciting.

Again, the problem is not that another church is doing something good. Praise God for faithful churches doing faithful ministry. The question is what we are teaching our children about belonging. A family does not cease to be your family because the neighbors are having a better dinner. And your church does not cease to be your church because the congregation down the road is offering a more exciting event.

There is something formative about learning to love what is ours, to appreciate the sacrifices of the people God has placed around us, and even to contribute when what we have is not as impressive as what someone else has.

The church's inability to satisfy every preference may therefore provide parents with an opportunity to teach their children something precious: You do not exist to be served by the church. You are part of the church so that together we may worship Christ and serve one another.

That changes the question entirely. Instead of asking, “Why doesn't our church have something for my children?” perhaps we should occasionally ask, “What can our family contribute to the life of our church?”

What If We Created Community Instead?

Suppose your children need something to do this summer. They want to see friends. You want them around other Christian children. Those are perfectly reasonable
desires. 

So invite some families over. Let the children play in the backyard. Make lunch. Read them a Bible story. Invite a lonely child who might otherwise be overlooked. Organize a simple afternoon at the park. Ask another family what would encourage them.

Yes, that is more difficult than dropping your children off at someone else's professionally organized program. But perhaps that is precisely the point. Church life is not fundamentally about convenience. We are raising children whom we hope will one day say, “I have been poured out as a drink offering.” They will learn that life partly by watching their parents pour themselves out.

Teach Children to Love Their Church

This becomes especially important when people within your own church are making an effort to serve your children. Maybe the event is smaller. Maybe it isn't as polished. Maybe another church has better facilities, better advertising, more activities, and more children.

But someone in your congregation prepared a lesson. Someone bought supplies.
Someone cleaned a room. Someone prayed for your children. Someone sacrificed an evening because he or she loves the families of the church.

There is something valuable about teaching children to appreciate that sacrifice rather than teaching them to look over the fence for something bigger.

The local church is not a religious vendor. It is a body. And members of a body belong to one another. Sometimes loving your church means enjoying what it provides. Sometimes it means serving when there is nothing particularly exciting for you. Sometimes it means helping build the community you wish existed rather than leaving to consume one somebody else has built.

Raise Children Who Pour Themselves Out

The danger of consumer Christianity is greater than any particular children's event.
It is the assumption beneath it: My desires should be satisfied. My preferences should be accommodated. My children should be entertained. Someone should provide something for us.

Christian parents should desire something radically different. Raise children who notice the lonely. Raise children who stay and help clean up. Raise children who can enjoy something simple. Raise children who do not need to be constantly entertained. Raise children who love their congregation even when another church has something bigger. Raise children who ask not merely, “What does the church have for me?” but, “What can I do for the church?”

Most importantly, model that life before them. Let them see parents who inconvenience themselves for other Christians. Let them see hospitality that
costs something. Let them see faithfulness when something more exciting is available elsewhere. Let them see Mom and Dad serving instead of consuming.

Events are not the enemy. Other churches are not the enemy. Christian fellowship outside one's congregation is not the problem. Consumerism is.

So the goal is not to create another legalistic rule: Thou shalt never attend another church's VBS. The goal is to examine the habits we are cultivating in our homes.
We should be far less concerned with whether our children are sufficiently entertained and far more concerned with whether they are becoming the kinds of Christians who gladly spend themselves for Christ and His people.

One day, we hope they will reach the end of their lives with something much greater to say than, “I found churches that met my needs.” May they instead be able to say with Paul: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”

A new core class "Trusting God" begins September 6th. Register to receive a free copy of Trusting God by Jerry Bridges

Core Class is a discipleship class that meets Sundays at MHC for 30 minutes (10:50-11:20am) between the Ukrainian and English worship services.

Men of MHC join us for our monthly Leadership Training from 6-7:30pm (dinner provided).

Our Fall Midweek Prayer Services meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month at 6:30pm.

MHC Members, our members meeting is on the last Sunday of the month at 4:30pm.

Father in heaven,

We pray for the students returning to or beginning school this year.
Be with them and bless them in this endeavor.
When they feel excited, let that excitement become diligence and gratitude.
When they feel anxious, fearful, or discouraged, meet them with your peace.
Remind them that they do not enter this year alone.
You go before them, you are with them, and you will help them.

Give them motivation for the work you place before them.
Teach them to receive learning as both a gift and responsibility.
Form in them habits of attention, honesty, perseverance, and care.
When assignments are difficult, help them not to give up quickly.
When success comes, keep them humble.
Grow in them a love for what is true, good, and beautiful.
Awaken curiosity in their minds and integrity in their hearts.
Help them to wonder at the world you created,
to recognize your wisdom in what they study,
and to pursue truth rather than merely grades or approval.

We ask you to bless their friendships.  
Give them companions who encourage their growing faith.
Protect them from relationships that pull them toward foolishness, pride, cruelty, or compromise.

Teach them respect and humility.
Help them to honor teachers, administrators, and authorities.
Give them teachable spirits, able to receive correction without bitterness and instruction without pride.
Let their conduct adorn the gospel they are learning to love.

Above all, draw their hearts to Christ.
Let this school year not only be one of academic growth, but also of spiritual growth.
Give them love for your Word, your Name, and your Glory!

Father, be with them and bless them this year.
Amen.

Men of MHC join us for our monthly Leadership Training from 6-7:30pm (dinner provided).

A new core class "Trusting God" begins September 6th. Register to receive a free copy of Trusting God by Jerry Bridges

Core Class is a discipleship class that meets Sundays at MHC for 30 minutes (10:50-11:20am) between the Ukrainian and English worship services.

This fall, Mercy Hill Chapel hopes to launch a 12-week English as a Second Language (ESL) class that will meet one evening each week.

Our community is home to many people who are eager to improve their English, build relationships, and become more connected to those around them. We see this as a wonderful opportunity to serve our neighbors with the love of Christ.

To make this ministry possible, we're looking for volunteers to help teach and facilitate the class. You don't need to be a professional teacher—just someone who is patient, encouraging, and willing to serve. We'll provide guidance and work together as a team to make the classes effective and welcoming.

If you're interested in helping or would like to learn more, please email us at life@mercyhillchapel.com. We'd love to have you be part of this new outreach.

All students who finished 3rd grade up to those who finished 8th grade are invited to join us for our Summer Bonfires at 7pm, on three Fridays in July! Bring your camp chair, blanket, and bug spray and enjoy time outdoors with friends.

We will sing, play a lot of Nuke'em Ball, and eat S'mores. What could be better?

Men of MHC join us for our monthly Leadership Training from 6-7:30pm (dinner provided).

MHC Members our members meeting is on the last Sunday of the month at 4:30pm.

A church is more than the Sunday worship gathering but it is not less. The corporate gathering of the church is essential to being a church. In fact, our English word “church” translates the Greek word – ekklēsia – which means “assembly” or gathered people. So how do we prepare for this essential characteristic of church life?

Begin Saturday Night
Many times how we spend Saturday nights may determine how we engage on Sunday morning. Before an important job interview we are sure to plan what we are to wear, prep for a hassle free breakfast, and go to bed at reasonable hour. Why? To be at our best the next day. It’s not hard to imagine how a late night, a frustrating morning getting the kids dressed, and a hectic breakfast or drive in can work against us as we try to engage with God together as a church. Preparing for Sunday worship begins on Saturday night.

Set Expectations
Sunday gatherings are not like going to a conference or a class to merely get the information. They are family gatherings and so relationships, engagement, and consistency matter.

Hebrews 10:24–25 reads, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Not making it a habit to miss gathering together would mean at the very least to make it a habit to meet together. So, whatever it means for Sunday worship to be a habit, it has to mean that you come more often then you don’t. If coming twice a month is considered a habit, then missing twice a month is a habit as well – and that’s what the text says not to do. Don’t make it a habit to neglect meeting together. So at the very least our attendance ought to be over 50%.

Being regularly present for Sunday worship is important to the life and ministry of the local church. So set the expectation, if at all possible, to be at church on Sundays.

Pray For the Gathering
It would take a lot of words to describe what happens during Sunday worship. Here is a short list – worship of the Triune God, interaction with his Word, renewing of the mind, encouragement, building up of our faith, lamenting over sin, receiving assurance, discipleship, evangelism, spiritual counseling, fellowship, training in righteousness, and the list goes on. But none of this happens without Jesus. There is no spiritual growth, no spiritual fruit without Jesus – apart from him we can do nothing (John 15:5). That truth should leave us with a feeling of dependence, it should drive us to prayer. Pray for our Sunday gatherings, pray for God to sanctify his people, pray for God to draw unbelievers to himself, pray for the corporate singing, pray for the preaching of the Word, pray for the fellowship. Prepare for Sunday worship by praying for the Sunday gathering.

Being a local church member is more than engaging on Sunday morning but not less. So prepare to engage.

Join us for a 9-week Bible study through the book of Ecclesiastes. Wednesdays at 6:30 PM.

MHC Family Camp

Join us as we celebrate a baptism this Sunday during the 11:30am worship service!

Men of MHC join us for our monthly Leadership Training from 6-7:30pm (dinner provided).

The Worth A Look feature in the blog is meant to bring helpful resources to your attention. Here are three that are worth a look:

Gambling by Ihor Zhakunets (video)
Excerpt: "Most, many, and maybe all forms of gambling develop unwise and unbiblical instincts in the soul."

Gambling: Thinking Biblically About Risk, Money, and the Heart by Costi Hinn (article)
Excerpt: "Gambling addiction is not rare. It devastates families, finances, and consciences. Even where addiction has not yet taken root, wisdom asks honest questions: Does this activity strengthen self-control or erode it? Proverbs 25:28 speaks wisdom into our hearts saying, 'Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.'"

When the Accounts Are Called: A Christian Understanding of Gambling by Albert Mohler (article)
Excerpt: "The Bible presents the stewardship of material possessions as a crucial issue of discipleship. The Christian understands that his possessions and money are not his own, but God’s. We are trustees who will be judged for the quality of our stewardship. Those lottery tickets and trips to Atlantic City are going to be hard to explain when God calls stewards to account."

Men of MHC join us for our monthly Leadership Training from 6-7:30pm (dinner provided).

Our final Spring Midweek Prayer Service will meet on Wednesday, May 13th at 6:30pm.

Members Meeting is coming up; Sunday, May 31st at 4:30pm. Members, we hope to see you there!

We commit, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk together in Christian love; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together; exercising an affectionate care and watchfulness over each other; and being slow to take offense but purposefully seeking reconciliation.
 
These words form the second part of our church covenant. At Mercy Hill Chapel, we acknowledge that being a part of the church is so much more than simply coming to church on Sunday mornings. And yet, it cannot be less than coming to church on Sunday mornings.

The aim of this blog post is to encourage us to make plans for Sunday worship, fight against the temptation to skip gathering together, and to maintain the spirit of our covenant commitment to not forsake assembling together (Hebrews 10:25). What follows is a short list of things we — the assembled saints of Mercy Hill Chapel — miss when you miss church.

Our eyes miss the physical testimony of your presence. The believers of MHC run the race of faith all week long. Think of a ship out to sea that is being tossed to and fro by rough waves and storms. Our boats are out there separated from each other and on Sunday mornings we gather in a harbor with still waters and see our brothers and sisters and their boats. Some boats barely make it into harbor. They’re late. They’re scratched up. They’ve sprung leaks. But when your tired and beat up boat takes its place in the harbor, I see the physical evidence that the King of the storms has sustained you through the rough week at sea. What we miss when you miss church is the opportunity for our faith to be encouraged just by the sight of you.
 
Our ears miss the testimony of your voice. We love to sing as a church. We love to sing loud. We love to hear each other sing. When Ivan’s guitar drops out, our voices rise together to fill the gap in praise to our God. The chorus of Mercy Hill Chapel is incomplete without you. What we miss when you miss church is the sound of your voice harmonizing with ours and joining in loudest praise to God.
 
Our hearts miss your affectionate care and watchfulness. There have been weeks where we haven’t had a ten minute conversation with anyone outside our immediate family. In all the hustle of the week, many of us hardly have time to touch the ground between Sunday and Sunday and have admittedly run a weak race of faith. Then we arrive at church on Sunday morning and God uses other believers to minister to our souls. How many of us have been engaged by a brother or sister who was watching over us? How many conversations have exercised an affectionate care over our souls? What we miss when you miss church is the care and watchfulness we need to run and not slow down.
 
Mercy Hill is also forsaken in another way. When you miss church, you aren’t among us to serve the body and care for the children, greet the visitors, collect the offering, pick up loose trash, hold the door for someone, make a fresh pot of coffee, thank our pastor for laboring over the sermon, turn off the sound system, lock up the church, read the passage to the congregation, play in the band, or run sound. What we miss when you miss church is your hands and feet caring for and serving the church during worship.
 
My aim in this post is not to guilt you into better church attendance. However, when we covenant together and commit to not forsake one another in our assembly, let’s not be unclear about what counts as “forsaking.” Every Sunday we miss church, we miss out and cause others to miss out as well. This is why the author to the Hebrews (10:25) warns us not to make this a habit.

The saints of Mercy Hill Chapel are forsaken without your physical presence, without the testimony of your voice singing among us. The saints of Mercy Hill Chapel are forsaken when you are not there to exercise care and watchfulness over their souls. The saints of Mercy Hill Chapel are forsaken when your gifts and abilities are absent during worship.

What often passes for science is merely philosophical presuppositions clung to with religious fervor. Science is a method for investigating reality. Materialistic Darwinism is another false religion.

A stunning admission from Harvard genetics professor Richard Lewontin:

“Our willingness to accept scientific claims that are against common sense is the key to an understanding of the real struggle between science and the supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity of some of its constructs . . . in spite of the tolerance of the scientific community for unsubstantiated just-so stories, because we have a prior commitment, a commitment to materialism. It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us to accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counterintuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door.” [1]

[1] Richard Lewontin, quoted in Gregory Koukl, Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Game Plan for Discussing Your Christian Convictions (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2019), 207–208.

Join us for a Good Friday Worship Service at 6:30pm.

Our Spring Midweek Prayer Services meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month at 6:30pm.

Men of MHC join us for our monthly Leadership Training from 6-7:30pm (dinner provided).

The Worth A Look feature in the blog is meant to bring helpful resources to your attention. Here are three that are worth a look:

Considering Our Gatherings: Why Sunday Worship Is “Required” by Ihor Zhakunets (podcast w/audio)
Excerpt -- "This does not mean there won’t be emergencies, illnesses, or unexpected events that disrupt our schedule. But because this gathering is “required,” we joyfully treat it as such. As Nate Pickowicz wrote, “Church should be your excuse for missing everything else.” A helpful (though not perfect) rule of thumb is this: if I wouldn’t skip a day of work for it, I probably shouldn’t skip the Sunday morning church gathering for it."

Freedom From Porn by Matt Timmons (a new book Lucerna Press)
Though lust has been a problem since the fall of man in Eden, the current availability of pornography has made the external temptation to lust ubiquitous—with snares waiting at every turn. The majority of men and an ever-rising contingent of women have been ensnared by pornography. But for the Christian, freedom from porn is possible and available in Jesus Christ. This short book is a biblical guide to such freedom. Matt Timmons, a pastor and biblical counselor, outlines the key elements God uses to set his people free from sin.

Easter Isn't Pagan by Wes Huff (video)
"It's commonly asserted that many of our modern Easter traditions — including the name of the celebration itself — have pagan origins. This idea, although popular on the internet and in popular shows, when actually dug into (much like the accusation around the pagan origins of Christmas) really start to fall apart."

Our Spring Midweek Prayer Services meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month at 6:30pm.

Men of MHC join us for a special Leadership Training meeting (with guests Sean Demars and Samuel Sey) from 6-8:00pm (dinner provided) at 10720 Memphis Ave, Cleveland, OH 44144.

Join us for this one day conference on ethics. Our speakers include Sean DeMars (pastor, Glory Community Church & Room For Nuance Podcast) and Samuel Sey (author, https://slowtowrite.com/).

The conference will also include micro sessions on: Abortion, IVF, Gambling, Euthanasia, Therapy Culture, Homosexuality, Transgenderism, Pornography, Politics, Immigration, and Education.

Join us Saturday, March 21st from 9am-4pm as we think, learn, pray, and fellowship. A boxed lunch and snacks are included in the registration price. We will also be giving away over 100 books throughout the day that have been provided by some generous partners.

Read this short story from Greg Koukl's book Tactics. Then, consider signing up for the Core Class based on the book beginning March 1st.

THE WITCH IN WISCONSIN

"Several years ago, while on vacation at our family retreat in northern Wisconsin, my wife and I stopped at a store in town to get some photos digitized. I noticed that the woman helping us had a large pentagram—a five-pointed star often associated with the occult—dangling from her neck.

“Does that star have religious significance,” I asked, pointing to the pendant, “or is it just jewelry?”

“Yes, it has religious significance,” she answered. “The five points stand for earth, wind, fire, water, and spirit.” Then she added, “I’m a pagan.”

My wife, caught off guard by the woman’s candor, couldn’t suppress a laugh, then quickly apologized. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just that I’ve never heard anyone actually admit right out that they are pagan,” she explained. She knew the term only as a negative one used by her friends yelling at their kids: “Get in here, you bunch of pagans!”

“So you’re Wiccan?” I continued.

She nodded. Yes, she was a witch. “It’s an earth religion,” the woman explained, “like the Native Americans. We respect all life.”

“If you respect all life,” I ventured, “then I suppose you’re pro-life on the abortion issue.”

She shook her head. “No, actually I’m not. I’m pro-choice.”

I was surprised. “Isn’t that an unusual position for someone in Wicca to take—I mean, since you’re committed to respecting all life?”

“You’re right. It is odd,” she admitted. Then she qualified herself. “I know I could never do that,” she said, referring to abortion. “I could never kill a baby. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt someone else, because it might come back on me.”

Now, this was a remarkable turn in the conversation, for two reasons. First, notice the words she used to describe abortion. By her own admission, abortion was baby killing. The phrase wasn’t a rhetorical flourish of mine; this was her own description.2 I did not have to persuade her that abortion takes the life of an innocent human being. She already knew it.

What she didn’t realize, though, was that her candid admission had given me a leg up in the discussion, and I was not going to waste that opportunity. For the rest of the conversation, I abandoned the word abortion. It would be baby killing instead...

Second, I thought it surprising that her first reason for not hurting a defenseless child was self-interest—something bad might befall her. Is that the best she can do? I thought. This comment was worth pursuing, but I ignored it and took a different tack.

“Well, maybe you wouldn’t do anything to hurt a baby, but other people would,” I countered calmly. “Shouldn’t we do something to stop them from killing babies?”

“I think women should have a choice,” she responded quickly, without thinking.

Now, generally statements like, “Women should have a choice” are meaningless as they stand. Like the statement, “I have a right to take . . .” the claim requires an object. Choose what? Take what? No one has an open-ended right to choose. People only have the right to choose particular things. Whether anyone has a right to choose depends on what choice they have in mind.

In this case, though, there was no ambiguity. The woman had already identified what the choice amounted to: baby killing, to use her words. Even though she personally respected all life, including human life, this was not a belief she was comfortable forcing on others. Women still should have the choice to kill their own babies.

That was her view. She did not state her conviction in those words, of course, but that was clearly what she believed.

When bizarre ideas like these are implied, do not let them lurk in the shadows. Drag them into the light with a request for clarification. Make the implicit idea explicitly obvious. That is what I did next.

“Do you mean women should have the choice to kill their own babies?”

“Well . . .” She thought for a moment. “I think all things should be taken into consideration on this question.”

“Okay, tell me: what kind of considerations would make it alright to kill a baby?”

“Incest,” she answered.

I was not surprised by her response, since the line is part of the pro-choice playbook, but I don’t want you to miss something significant here.

This dear young woman was advancing her view by trotting out standard slogans in favor of abortion: women have a right to choose, all things should be taken into consideration, incest justifies abortions. Yet in this case, her slogans did not defend abortion in the abstract but explicitly promoted baby killing.

The fact hadn’t registered with her, though, because her slogans were getting in the way. She was simply reciting her lines without thinking. However, you can see that from where I stood, the conversation was starting to sound a little weird.

This happens all the time, of course, on both sides of the aisle. We trot out our pet slogans—whether secular ones or Christian ones—letting our catchphrases do the work that careful, thoughtful conversation should be doing instead. The habit often obscures the full significance (or ramifications, in this case) of our words.

I decided to take the conversation one step farther, hoping to break the slogan spell.

“Hmm. Let me see if I understand your view,” I said. “Let’s just say I had a two-year-old child standing next to me who had been conceived as a result of incest. On your view, it seems, I should have the liberty to kill her. Is that right?”

This last question stopped her in her tracks. Though the notion was clearly absurd, it was also clear that she was deeply committed to her pro-choice convictions. She had no snappy slogan to respond with and had to pause for a moment to think about the corner she had backed herself into. Finally, she said, “I’d have mixed feelings about that.” It was the best she could do.

Of course, she meant this as a concession, but it was a desperately weak response. (“Killing a two-year-old? Gee, you got me on that one. I’ll have to think about it.”)

“I hope so,” was all I had the heart to say. At this point, I noticed a line of customers forming behind me. I realized our conversation was interfering with her work, and my brief opportunity had come to a close.

True, I hadn’t gotten to the gospel, but that was not the direction this conversation was going. This wasn’t a gospel moment but a gardening moment that involved a vital moral issue. It was time to abandon the pursuit, entrust her to the Lord, and move on. My wife and I finished our transaction, wished her well, and departed."

Join us beginning March 1st, 10:50-11:20am for an 8-week Core Class where we will aim to sharpen our conversation skills as ambassadors for Christ. Register and receive a free copy of Tactics!

Men of MHC join us for our monthly Leadership Training from 6-7:30pm (dinner provided).

Our Spring Midweek Prayer Services meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month at 6:30pm.

All MHC members are invited to join us from 10am-12pm for a mini-conference discussing how Family Ministry partners with parents to prepare children for baptism and church membership. We will split the morning into three twenty-minute talks:

Preparing Your Children for Baptism - Chuck Bokisa
The Process of Baptism and Church Membership - Ihor Zhakunets
Post-Baptism Discipleship - Oleh Zhakunets

Ever feel stuck or unsure in gospel conversations?

Join us for the spring Core Class called Tactics beginning March 1st, based on the book Tactics by Gregory Koukl. Learn how to ask better questions, think clearly, and keep gospel conversations moving forward—with grace and confidence.

If you want to talk about Jesus more naturally and thoughtfully in today’s culture, this class is for you.

Register to receive a free copy of "Tactics"
 
Core Class is a discipleship class that meets Sundays at MHC for 30 minutes (10:50-11:20am) between the Ukrainian and English worship services.

Sunday morning worship is primarily about the people of God gathering for the worship of God. But it also presents evangelistic opportunities of which we ought to be mindful. (1 Cor. 14:23) The following are three evangelistic opportunities most Christians have every Sunday morning.

Invite Someone to Church
Use the Sunday morning worship gathering to expose people to the gospel. Technically this opportunity needs to be taken advantage of before Sunday morning, but it fits this list because the bulk of the engagement with the gospel will take place on Sunday morning.

It is possible for every Christian to make this a regular routine. During the week, call or text a friend and ask them to join you for breakfast and church or church and lunch afterwards. At a basic level, all you are doing is asking a friend, family member, or co-worker to spend time around an activity that is important to you.

On an evangelistic level you are inviting your friend to see God’s people worship, to hear the Bible explained, and to see you engage with Christ and his church. Not only will they observe all of this, but this shared time can also open the door to evangelistic conversations. “So, you do this every week?”, “What did the lyrics of that song mean?”, “The pastor seemed very worked up about the Bible…” So, invite someone to church this Sunday.

Talk to New People in Church
Another evangelistic opportunity that presents itself most Sunday mornings is that you can meet new people at church. This Sunday take time to look around for someone you don’t know. Maybe it’s someone you haven’t seen before or just someone you’ve never talked with.

God in his wisdom has brought that person into the doors of our local church. Let’s not squander that opportunity. To be clear, this won’t necessarily be an opening to share the gospel right then and there – though that may happen on occasion. But it will be an opportunity to represent Christ and his church, to show hospitality by our engagement, to get to know names, to find out how people are doing, to invite folks to a discussion group or answer questions about the church, and to begin building a relationship in case the person is there again next Sunday. So this Sunday talk to someone new in church.

Pray During the Sermon
Rather regularly at Mercy Hill Chapel the sermon takes an evangelistic turn. What I mean is that not only is the preacher talking about gospel content but he is addressing unbelievers directly.

Some of us may be tempted to tune out at this point, but let me encourage you not to. You can use this time to celebrate the gospel as it is rehearsed again. And, you can use this time to pray for the unbelievers in the room who may be engaged in an intense spiritual battle at that moment.

Pray. Pray for the preacher as he heralds the gospel message. Pray for the unbelievers listening. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be working the miracle of new birth. And, pray for God to give you opportunities to follow up with people after the sermon. This Sunday pray for the preacher as the gospel is proclaimed.

Most Sundays there are more opportunities than we realize. More work than workers. More ministry than ministers. “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…” (Matthew 9:37) Let’s get to laboring.

Men of MHC join us for our monthly Leadership Training from 6-7:30pm (dinner provided).

Our Spring Midweek Prayer Services meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month at 6:30pm.

MHC Members join us for the first member's meeting of the year at the new time: 4:30pm on Sunday, January 25th.

The Worth A Look feature in the blog is meant to bring helpful resources to your attention. Here are two that are worth a look:

Christmas Isn't Pagan and Here's Why by Wes Huff (video)
Wes Huff dispels some common myths about Christmas traditions.

Keeping the Heart in Our Christmas Traditions by Kristin Tabb (article)
Excerpt -- "When our traditions help our hearts to draw near to the living God, they are a tool functioning rightly. But when our traditions distract our hearts from the true purpose of Christmas — adoring Christ the Lord — then it is time to reevaluate and perhaps to repent."

Why Does It Matter that Jesus Was Born of a Virgin? by Kevin DeYoung (article)
Excerpt -- "The virgin birth is part of what Christians have believed in all times and in all places, and it is a key element in what it means for the incarnation to be “for us and for salvation.” We ignore the doctrine at our peril; we celebrate it to our benefit and to God’s glory."

Join us for the Christmas Carol-Sing! We will spend the evening singing and worshiping both in English and Ukrainian. Come sing with us!         

Join us for a Christmas Eve Worship Service at 6:30pm!

In three short blog posts, I hope to introduce three words that help set vision and define norms for our gatherings at MHC. I first heard Mark Dever and Jonathan Leeman use these words in the context of their churches and found them helpful—and I pray they will be useful for ours as well.

Required
This is how we should view Sunday morning corporate worship: it is a required meeting. There are both biblical and practical reasons we elevate this gathering to “required” status.

Biblically speaking:

1. The Lord’s Day gathering has been the church’s ongoing celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ since the earliest days of the church (Rev. 1:10).
2. This kind of regular, habitual gathering is explicitly commanded in Scripture (Heb. 10:25).
3. Gathering for worship and mutual encouragement is part of what it means to be a church. The word we translate as “church” in the New Testament is the Greek word ekklēsia, meaning “the gathering” or “the assembly.” Yes, there is more to a church than gathering, but it is certainly not less than gathering.

Practically speaking:
This is an agreed-upon meeting that our church can plan around and that members can guard on their calendars. This gathering is an essential and explicit part of membership. For this reason, it is included in the church covenant that every member affirms: “not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.” This line primarily refers to the Sunday morning worship gathering.

Brothers and sisters, the “required” status for Sunday morning worship means that, whenever possible, we should join the gathering. It means we plan vacations, trips, work schedules, and family events around the Lord’s Day gathering of the church.

This does not mean there won’t be emergencies, illnesses, or unexpected events that disrupt our schedule. But because this gathering is “required,” we joyfully treat it as such. As Nate Pickowicz wrote, “Church should be your excuse for missing everything else.” A helpful (though not perfect) rule of thumb is this: if I wouldn’t skip a day of work for it, I probably shouldn’t skip the Sunday morning church gathering for it.

The next two posts will cover two other types of church meetings: members meetings and group meetings. For the sake of both summary and preview, here are the words that correspond to each:

Sunday Morning Worship = Required
Members Meeting = Expected
Group Meetings = Encouraged

See you Sunday!

Men of MHC join us for our monthly Leadership Training from 6-7:30pm (dinner provided).

Our fall Midweek Prayer Services meet on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of each month at 6:30pm.

MHC members please plan to attend the Members Meeting on Sunday, November 30th at 6:30pm.

The Worth A Look feature in the blog is meant to bring helpful resources to your attention. Here are three that are worth a look:

21 Biblical Truths Your Children Need to Hear Regularly by Ihor Zhakunets (article w/audio)
Excerpt - "How much of this list would be new to your kids? Would anything on this list surprise your children?"

The Five Solas (a new book from Lucerna Press)
This short book unpacks the five historic phrases that marked the Reformation.

What is the difference between Catholics and Protestants? (video)
Happy Reformation Day!