Hey Guys,

This is Ben Porter. In Romans Paul asks us a disturbing question: “Everyone who calls on the Lord will be saved. (But) How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard.” This rhetorical proposition leaves us with little question regarding who Paul is asking to fulfill this “great commission”. It is us! In the consuming drudgery of our lives we tend to forget that there are sinners who are completely condemned to eternal death and separation from our glorious Father. We must realize our responsibility as “joint heirs with Christ” and live to communicate the Gospel to the world around us. It is in this responsibility that I would love to serve you guys by facilitating a place on campus where the Gospel is being put forth. I will be going through the book of Romans and pulling out key sections of the book which are saturated with the Gospel so we can discuss the glorious work of Jesus. Here you can invite your non Christian friends to hear the Gospel for the first time or you can come by yourself and sharpen your perception of Jesus throughout scripture.

How glorious our God would look if even one person was added to the kingdom this semester. Praise Jesus!

We will be meeting in Waller Hall in rm. 446 on Wednesdays. If you need to get in the building or have questions my phone number is (206) 518 0421 or you can E-mail me at bporter1989@gmail.com

or, “Caesar’s with Caesar” (Free Caesar’s Pizza with Pastor Caesar Paul)

A British video presentation of Christianity, addressing the following questions and more:

• Who is Jesus?
• Why did Jesus die?
• Why and how should I pray?
• What about the Church?

Whether you’re exploring Christianity, or you’re skeptic, or you just want to know its fundamentals better, we invite you to stop by for lunch and a laid-back video presentation. These videos last about 45 minutes–leaving enough time for you to head to class or to stay and chat with Pastor Caesar Paul. Pizza will be provided!

Wednesdays at 12:10, One Way Books & Espresso

One Way is located on campus on the corner of B Street and Colorado Street.

You can drop by any week, even if you haven’t made it to previous sessions. There is no cost or obligation of any kind.

We are a bunch of crazy college students who are passionate about God and knowing Him better.

“Soma” is Greek for the body — recognizing that God has designed us to be a body (see II Corinthians 12) with Jesus Christ as the head. We strive to connect with people as part of this body.  What does that look like?  Well, we pray together, sing together, read from God’s Word together and talk about it together… and love it.  By God’s grace we experience real friendship and fellowship.  It’s all centered around God’s relationship with us–what Jesus accomplished to save us.

Our main meetings are Tuesday evenings at 7:00 at the Evangelical Free Church.  There are tons of rides available — just send us a note if you need one.  We have a regular Thursday morning prayer hour and men’s and women’s small groups that meet every other week.  The Wednesday @ noon Alpha Series (with pizza!) is great for anyone exploring the foundations of Christianity.   As part of the E. Free church, many of us participate in various E. Free Bible Studies, especially Foundations for Marriage, which is an awesome class that you should take if you’re thinking about ever getting married.

You can explore this site, email us at soma.efree@gmail.com, or call 360-981-5134 for more information.  We would love to see you at Soma!

Free Friday Flicks
at the
Nuart Theater in Moscow
7:00 p.m.

Friday, December 12

The Case for Christ

Based on the best-selling book by the same name, Lee Strobel, a former atheist re-traces his own spiritual journey.

The Project: Determine if there’s credible evidence that Jesus of Nazareth really is the Son of God. The Reporter: Lee Strobel, educated at Yale Law School, award-winning former legal editor of the Chicago Tribune-with a background of atheism. The Experts: A dozen scholars, with doctorates from Cambridge, Princeton, Brandeis, and other top-flight institutions, who are recognized authorities on Jesus. The Story: Retracing his own spiritual journey, Lee Strobel cross-examines the experts with tough, point-blank questions: How reliable is the New Testament? Does evidence exist for Jesus outside the Bible? Is there any reason to believe the resurrection was an actual historical event?

This remarkable documentary is like reading a captivating, fast-paced novel. But it’s not fiction. It’s a riveting quest for the truth about history’s most compelling figure. What will your verdict be in The Case for Christ?

For more information, click on http://www.christiancinema.com. An excellent movie to bring a friend to!

We invite you to join us each Friday to enjoy a free movie and popcorn with a brief, thought-provoking discussion following the movie. Coffee beverages, Italian sodas, fruit smoothies and pop are also available at listed prices.  Next week: Prince Caspian.

Karl Hulbert
An Outreach & Evangelism Ministry of Evangelical Free Church of Pullman
& Community Christian Ministries in Moscow
509-334-7876
www.efreepullman.org
www.thenuart.org

This Friday – 6:30 PM – Lemons’ Home

Join us as we begin a season of celebrating our Savior’s birth!  This is the 2nd annual Soma Christmas Party at the Lemons’ home, complete with a reading “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” (read by our very own Neil Jeffers.)

There will be food provided, and if you can bring an appetizer of some kind, that would be wonderful.

As far as parking goes: There’s not a lot of parking in front of the house, but there is a walkway directly to their place from Fountain Street below.  If you can carpool, please do.  The address is 420 SW CityView (click for a map).

For more information about this Christian organization and new club on campus, contact John Maxwell.

“Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Psalm 100:3-5

We are his!  The Lord is good and his love endures forever!  Let us bask in his faithfulness and live in thankfulness for all He’s done.

Next Tuesday we’ll go over the first half of Philippians, including this powerful passage–where again the perspective of thanksgiving is central:

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 4:6-7

Last Tuesday, it was a blessing to hear from Pastor Jim Wilson of Community Christian Ministries on godly romantic relationships.  He spoke of seven signs, guiding lights, to discerning God’s will–”his good, perfect, and pleasing will” (Romans 12:2).

1. The witness of the Spirit. What’s been on my heart?  Do I have peace about it?
2. The Word of God. What does Scripture say?  If it’s not in line with Scripture, then it’s not God’s will.
3. Circumstances. There’s no such thing as random happenstance.  Do circumstances line up?
4. The counsel of parents. What do my folks have to say?
5. The counsel of other wise Christians. What do these brothers/sisters in Christ have to say about it?  (With romantic relationships, he said, close friends don’t count–they’ll tell you what you want to hear.)
6. Wanting the will of God. Do I desire it?  (Not my will but his will?)  Am I praying about it?
7. Get moving.  His analogy was to a ship navigating through a narrow passage.  It’s gotta be moving–although not at 60 miles an hour.

(I don’t think these are exactly the points he explained.  If you’ve got it differently, just let me know.  Thanks!  -Kyle)

For those who were there, what struck you about his talk?

From Pastor John Piper on his Blog:

A vague bad feeling that you are a crummy person is not the same as conviction for sin. Feeling rotten is not the same as repentance.

This morning I began to pray, and felt unworthy to be talking to the Creator of the universe. It was a vague sense of unworthiness. So I told him so. Now what?

Nothing changed until I began to get specific about my sins. Crummy feelings can be useful if they lead to conviction for sins. Vague feelings of being a bad person are not very helpful. The fog of unworthiness needs to take shape into clear dark pillars of disobedience. Then you can point to them and repent and ask for forgiveness and take aim to blow them up.

So I began to call to mind the commands I frequently break. These are the ones that came to mind.

• Love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Not 95%, 100%. (Matthew 22:37)
• Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Be as eager for things to go well for him as you are for things to go well for you. (Matthew 22:39)
• Do all things without grumbling. No grumbling—inside or outside. (Philippians 2:14)
• Cast all your anxieties on him—so you are not being weighed down by it anymore. (1 Peter 5:7)
• Only say things that give grace to others—especially those closest to you. (Ephesians 4:29)
• Redeem the time. Don’t fritter or dawdle. (Ephesians 5:16)
• Set your mind on things that are above. Connect all your thoughts to Christ. (Colossians 3:2)
• Do not return evil for evil—like when your wife or daughter says something you don’t like. (1 Thessalonians 5:15)
• Rejoice always, and again I say rejoice. Always. If sorrowful, keep rejoicing. (Philippians 4:4; 2 Corinthians 6:10)
• Give thanks in all circumstances. All. All. All. (1 Thessalonians 5:18)

So much for any pretensions to great holiness! I’m undone.

But now it is specific. I look it in the eye. I’m not whining about feeling crummy. I’m apologizing to Christ for not keeping all that he commanded. I’m broken and I’m angry at my sin. I want to kill it, not me. I’m not suicidal. I’m a sin hater and a sin murderer (“Put to death what is earthly in you” Colossians 3:5. “Put to death the deeds of the body” Romans 3:18.)

In this conflict, I hear the promise, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1John 1:9). Peace rises. Prayer feels possible and right and powerful again.

From Holiness by J.C. Ryle:

My answer to all who deny the existence of real, well-grounded assurance, is simply this–What saith the Scripture?  If assurance be not there, I have no other word to say.

But does not Job say, “I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the dearth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God”; (John 19:26)

Does not David say, “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me”? (Psalm 23:4)

Does not Isaiah say, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee”? (Isaiah 26:3)

And again, “The word of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of rightesousness quietness, and assurance for ever.”  (Isaiah 32:17)

Does not Paul say to the Romans, “I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”? (Rom 8:38-39)

Does he not say to the Corinthians, “We know that if our eathrly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens”? (2 Cor 5:1)

… Does he not say to Timothy, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him”? (2 Tim 1:12)

And does he not speak to the Colossians of “the full assurance of understanding” (Col 2:2) and to the Hebrews of the “full assurance of faith,” and the “full assurance of hope”? (Heb 6:2, 10:22)

Does not Peter say expressly, “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure“? (2 Peter 1:10)

Does not John say, “We know that we have passed from death unto life”? (1 John 3:14)

And again, “These things I have written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life.”  (1 John 5:13)

… What shall we say to these things?  I desire to speak with all humility on a controverted point.  I feel that I am only a poor fallible child of Adam myself.  But I must say that in the passages I have just quoted I see something far highter than the mere “hopes” and “trusts,” with which so many believers appear content in this day.  I see the language of persuasion, confidence, knowledge–nay, I may almost say, of certainty.  And I feel, for my own part, if I may take these Scriptures in their plain obvious meaning, the doctrine of assurance is true.

In other words, for those of us who believe, we can be assured that we are His!