Another NEW Addition

The Sweeten clan is pleased to announce it's newest arrival! Baby boy #3 arrived early this week, is home, and both mommy and baby are doing great. (FYI, Daddy and the two big brothers are cool too.)

Thank you all for your prayers and support!

-jeremy

Help for Haiti

Forest Hills Community Church (our church plant in a Jewish neighborhood in Queens), has prayerfully decided to support the rebuilding efforts in Haiti through the ministry of: ChurchesHelpingChurches.com

This dynamic ministry understands what being a Christian is all about: we're called to be like Jesus to a lost and dying world. We are not to behave like the world in either our "good" deeds, or in our sin. Our job as Christians is not to be simply led by emotion and self-appeasement, but rather to be led by the Spirit in all manners and situations. ChurchesHelpingChurches.com get's it; and therefore, their response to Haiti is not to compete with the secular aid organizations, but rather excel at being "the church." Their goal is to preach the Gospel, build up the local church, and feed the hungry through miraculous supervision in that order. People's souls are the highest priority.

We highly encourage you to partner with this ministry for the sake of the Gospel in Haiti.

Helping Haiti

This Sunday our church plant will be taking a special offering to help the people of Haiti. I must admit that at the moment I am very excited to partner with the Spirit in rebuilding that country, but when I first learned of the tragedy this was not the case. It was not because I did not have compassion on the hurting, the orphan, the lonely, hungry and sick, but rather that I simply did not know WHAT to do.

Sure, I could part with a Christian "compassion" ministry and send medical teams and food distributors, but isn't that what the other, secular, organizations do? Why compete with an agency that is bigger and better equipped to reach those need? Why can't the church do what the church does best and PREACH the Gospel in times of tragedy? Why isn't there an organization that partners exclusively with churches for the ministry of Jesus' church? Why can't there be a way to see SOULS saved in Haiti, not simply physical lives?

For days, I laid silent to our church about how we could help in Haiti until the Lord revealed His plan of action. Then, a friend of mine told me about a new ministry that just launched, but was already on the ground in Haiti helping the souls of Haiti: ChurchesHelpingChurches.com

Led by pastor James MacDonald of Harvest Bible Church, this ministry is committed to reaching SOULS in the midst of tragedy. Yes, they will try effortlessly to reach the physical needs, but above all they are called to preach the Gospel and build up the local church. They are committed to not just seeing buildings rebuilt, but to seeing the Kingdom of God enlarged!

Please, please consider partnering with this awesome ministry, and ask the Spirit (not the heart or the world) how to respond to the sovereign work of God.

Sunday Recap

This month we have been spending all of our time examining the 24th chapter of Genesis. This chapter focuses on the acquisition of a bride for Isaac at the hand of a trusty servant by the commissioning of father Abraham. It is a fascinating study as we see a man who leaves all that he knows to go on a perilous journey to locate a woman no one has ever met and serve a God she has never known. Yet, while the mission seem impossible to the human mind, the plan works out flawlessly and romantically, as the couple falls in love at first site.

This passages is wonderful for several reasons, not the least of which is its emotional/romantic appeal, but also for its theological principals. It is not that Abraham and the servant just happened to concoct a scheme and hoped for the best. Instead, their plan and counsel was found in the the wisdom of God, and thus received the blessing of God. Abraham and the servant were prophetic in their qualifications for a wife. Each of their requirements were covenant characteristics that are necessities for both the marriage covenant and the covenant with God. It has been fantastic teaching our people about how faithful, good, and redeeming our God is and He calls us into covenant with Him.

But it is not just the spiritual that is highlighted inside of the text, their is an equally rich teaching on marriage and dating. It seems that our world just keeps continuing to destroy and denigrate marriage into a romantic whim, and dating into a primeval romp of emotions. There is no call for diligence in selecting a dating partner, and marriage is all but completely optional. This is not God's desire for His creation. Marriage is suppose to be a mirror of His relationship to us. When we corrupt marriage, we corrupt our understanding of God!

We thank God that chapter 24 has allowed us the opportunity to call people not only into a relationship with a sovereign God, but also into the lifelong blessing of marriage. Men are being called to be men, and women are being reminded to hold out for nothing but the best. All are being encouraged to demonstrate nothing less than "hesed" (covenantal loyalty) towards their spouse, and to mimic the actions of Jesus in every area of their lives. It has been such an encouraging series, and we look forward to sharing with you the personal testimonies of those who have been impacted in the upcoming weeks!

Listen to the Messages here.

Weekly Prayer Meeting

We were very blessed this past Monday during UNdone to share with several first time guests the power of the Holy Spirit being displayed through corporate prayer. The night began as always with giving Jesus Christ all glory and honor with thanks and praise. We then followed by praying together on the following topics/scriptures:

Evangelism (1Timothy 4:1-5): As Christians we are all called to evangelism. Our mission is to share the good news of Jesus Christ to a world that is lost and dying. Our prayer is that we would all do this boldly everyday of our lives with everyone we encounter with out fear of persecution, mockery or suffering.

Fear (Romans 8:15): Fear is the product of self-confidence and self-reliance. As Christians we have been set free from this minimalist thinking, and have come to find true, unending peace in complete dependence on the Holy Spirit. Our prayer is that we would live every moment of our lives with complete faith in our God and Savior, Jesus. It is His voice and approval we live for!

We then moved forward by taking prayer requests from different people inside the church. Though most of us inside have only known each other from anywhere between 2 years to 2 minutes we quickly became one family united in Christ praying for each others lost family members, friends with cancer, neighbors afflicted by drug use and so much more.

As the Spirit lead us into a time of personal prayer and worship the Holy Spirit’s presence and power was so evident that those walking in began to immediately worship the Lord, some falling to there knees in worship. It was a truly magnificent display of the Holy Spirit that lead one of our Facilitators to a reading of Psalm 139:1-19.

God’s presence did not end there. The Holy Spirit was evident through out our following service UNplugged and through out the remainder of the evening.

It was truly an amazing night and we pray that you would not only continue to pray for these things in your personal prayer life but that you would also join us next week for UNdone.

UNdone: Prayer Meeting

Monday Nights at 7pm

INSIDE the FHCC Campus (6708 Ingram St)

www.fhcchurch.com

Success found in Teaching - Part 2

As posted previously, so much of what God is accomplishing in Forest Hills, Queens, has been through classroom teaching. Special event outreaches are great for advertising, and Sunday morning sermons are perfect for consistency and corporate worship, but nothing seems to get to the heart like an intense & formal teaching. As a result, we have developed several means of teaching the bible.

Our primary means, "UNplugged," was discussed in the previous post, but it is not our only means. This past fall, our church of 60 attendees became a national Study Center with Global University, and began teaching from their Berean ministerial curriculum. Admittedly, their material is not as culturally relevant as we would like; but as a base, they are unparalleled. Berean has done a fantastic job addressing the fundamentals of the faith and ministry in a way that appeals to both believers and skeptics alike. Plus, when you factor in the cost and the network of advancement, there simply is no better way to teach.

Here at Forest Hills Community Church, we are using the Berean curriculum to launch our own ministry school entitled, "UNashamed." We taught our first course this past September based on the Fundamental Doctrines of the Bible. It was a 12-week program with classes taking place each Tuesday nights at 8pm. Sure enough, approximately 30 students would attend each week's class, and classes sometimes would last well into the wee hours of the night. People were not only hungry for solid, defensible teaching, but for real life application. Each week's class would build off the previous week's, because students were actually applying the teaching in their local environment. Students would consistently say such things as, "This past week I was sharing with my Buddhist friend about the doctrine of justification, and they said..." (Seriously!) As a pastor, teacher, and Christian, you could not ask for better results!!

During the winter months, we have scheduled three other classes, two of which will be taught as 1-day intensives. Our first one took place this past weekend, and brought in 30 individuals (some from other churches, others not even Christian...yet). People need to know the truths of the bible and the basics of Christian life. It is no easy task for myself as the professor, or even the church, to prepare and host these classes, but the results far outweigh the effort.

I would highly encourage all of you in a teaching or pastoral position at your church to consider adopting a ministry school at your church. The majority of those who attend will never go into full-time vocational ministry, but all who are Christians are called to preach the Gospel. I thank God that He has provided a way to not only train His church for ministry, but also bring the skeptic into relationship. Please, please, please consider if the Lord is calling you and your church to a greater "teaching" ministry.
For more information or examples on our classes, please email me.

Life at the Sweeten Home

Ever wonder how the Sweeten family does the AM? Dixie recently came in an filmed a typical day for us. Apparently, they didn't like my pay scale, so they hired extras and actors. But, it's still the Sweeten household, nevertheless...

Sunday Recap

As a church we are working our way through the book of Genesis. We began in Jan. of 2009 and have faithfully read and preached on every word since. It has been an incredibly rewarding way to preach and minister, and we have recently found ourselves in the 24th chapter (Isaac Marries Rebekah). While being the longest chapter in the book, it is also one of the most relevant to every person's life because it deals with dating and marriage.

The past two weeks, however, the weather here in NYC has been less than cooperative. It has been FREEZING, and in a city where everyone walks to church, weather like this typically threatens our Sunday morning attendance. But miraculously, God has faithfully provided the crowd. We have seen an increase of new guests, and those who had "fallen off the radar" are making a comeback. This is all great news, but is meaningless if the message does not connect with people's hearts.

I praise God that He has generously revealed to the people that marriage is but an analogy for our salvation (Eph. 5:22-33). Yes, people are hearing what it takes to be married and are learning the quality of person needed to make marriage possible and purposeful; above all, people are learning about a relationship with Jesus! God is our perfect mate, and He is calling us into eternal covenant with Him, if only we would be found ready. Praise God, He is changing people's hearts, saving them by His grace, and enabling them to walk in covenant with Him as His bride, the church.

Great things are happening at FHCC!

Download or Listen to the Message from FHCC.

Success found in Teaching - Part I

A great amount of the success the Lord has brought to the ministry here in Queens has come through teaching intensives, rather than through traditional "broadside" outreach. Yes, we do hand out invitations by the thousands in the subway, and we do see new people come to every single Sunday service that we conduct, but when it comes to "converts" and "connection," these two traditional means are shallow despite our best efforts. If we want to connect with our guests and see see sustained conversion in a person's life, teaching classes and intensives have been our most successful venture.

When it comes to Bible Studies and teaching classes, there are many different roads and avenues to take. Some prefer "small group," others "home groups," and still others prefer a traditional Sunday School approach. After much trial and error here in Queens, we have discovered that our demographic really open responds to assertive & formal lecturing in a formal classroom environment. "Why" this is, I do not know. Perhaps because this approach treats the material as no different than any other science, philosophy or accepted material. Perhaps, because it is the the 2000's and there is a longing for education and academics (you can't turn on the computer or TV without seeing a degree program of some kind). Or perhaps it is simply because people want to know that what we are offering as Christians is more than an experience or a religion, but rather a lifestyle built on defensible truth! Whatever the reason, however, people are coming in who are NOT Christian, they are bringing with their non-Christian friends, and they are coming with consistency.

As far as material go: we just hit them with the Bible. The more open and more honest /straightforward the topic and the Biblical text, the better. Lately, what we have been conducting is a Monday night bible study that uses the exact same text and message as the previous Sunday morning. We call these classes, "UNplugged," becuase we do not seek to"preach" the message like Sunday AM, but rather "teach" the message. It's a raw, interactive experience.

We do, however, take some steps to maintain order and guidance. On our website, and in person, we provide a two-page outline each week with question prompts, historical insight regarding the specific text, as well as the spiritual/doctrinal truth that the passage communicates. We also all the evening to take a less formal approach. We frequent stop to ask questions, or allow questions to be asked of us or the text itself. Sometimes a person may attempt to take us off track, but a gentle and firm word brings us right back. This corresponding teaching approach has proven beneficial not only to new guests who may or may not have come to our Sunday morning service, but also to our regular crowd. (Let's face it, sometimes we all hear things Sunday morning that we want more information on or simply want to hear again.) A corresponding Bible allows deeper and more sustained growth; and it's easy for any pastor to do! (Now, I only have to write one sermon a week, and I get more out of the work too!)

If you or your church is looking for a way to see new conversions and greater connection, then I highly recommend this compatible approach. We certainly are not the first to come up with this idea, nor have we perfected the means, but God is using it. If you would like to see samples of our outlines, messages, or anything else, then please visit our church website (www.fhcchurch.com). God is saving people in NYCity, and it's all because of and for Him.

Avatar and Missions

I see there is much discussion taking place as a result of the pop-culture flick, Avatar. A couple of us from FHCC took the opportunity this week to see the movie, and I would like to take a minute and clear up some common talking points...

First off, I liked the graphics...

Second of all, the movie was very "spiritual." The primary teaching regarding religion was that of a theistic/animistic perspective (there is "a" god, and all is a part of god). No wonder, since it is the primary teaching in our world today as made evident by the global environmental movement. (Remember, for a movie to be "successful" it needs to have GLOBAL appeal, not just American appeal.)

I believe the basic/core RELIGIOUS teaching from the movie was that each person's god is just as legitimate as another's god. There is no absolute god, much less a sovereign understanding of "god." Each person's experience, belief and lifestyle is just as valid, beautiful, and great as another's.

Thirdly, this was PRIMARILY a SOCIAL and POLITICAL movie, above all else. Do not miss this!

Regardless of the stupidity of movie, I am glad you all enjoyed hanging out together. It was a fun movie, and thank God there was no nudity, sex, or gore to make it unbearable. Let's just laugh it off and realize that we have a big messed up world outside our door to preach to.

Thank God we are saved!

Joy