Willamette Christian Church » Adult Education

Preparing to BECOME

Jeff — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 18:50:08 +0000

On Sunday we considered our place as a whole church in the whole renewal God is doing in the world. Missional Renewal — the capstone message of the RENEW series — in many ways gives rise to our next series, BECOME.

For the next two months we will focus on God’s work and our response in becoming the people and church He created us to be. I cannot tell you how excited your church leaders are to join your on this journey, a revolution of our souls.

Here’s how you can join the revolution:

Re-connect with your Community Group or join one!
Get the book Uprising (a helpful resource for growing deeper). Follow the link for more about the book and the best online price for paperback or Kindle versions. Get a copy ASAP! A limited quantity of paperback copies will also be available for $15 in the WCC Lobby after each service the next Sunday (9/18). Any way you buy it, be sure to grab a series bookmark in the Lobby, a guide for our weekly readings.
Worship together each Sunday as we explore six key themes asking God to grow our character and make us like Him. Fall is a great time to invite a neighbor, co-worker, family, or friend.

The themes of BECOME:

9/18 » GRATITUDE {then read ch. 6 in Uprising}
9/25 » HUMILITY {read ch. 3}
10/2 » INTEGRITY {read ch. 4}
10/9 » global mission focus {we welcome Charles Buregeya of Africa New Life}
10/16 » WHOLENESS {read ch. 7}
10/23 » GENEROSITY {read ch. 8}
10/30 » COURAGE {read ch. 5}

Uprising is suggested reading for following the teaching themes and intentionally responded to God’s work for us and in us. While not required reading, those taking up the challenge will ‘cross-train’ through the book, reading some of the chapters in a non-sequential order.

Be sure to grab a series bookmark, and over the next two months follow along with the readings and reflection questions posted weekly at willamettegroups.com.

Learn: How to Study the Bible, a January seminar

Jeff — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 01:25:05 +0000

[UPDATE: class meeting dates are 1/18, 1/25 and 2/8]

This January join us for a three-week seminar on reading and enjoying God’s Word.

When: Tuesdays 7:00-8:40pm // ~~January 11th, 18th & 25th~~ January 18th, 25th, and February 8th

Why: our goal is that we would each grow in our desire and gain confidence in understanding God’s words. The purpose is to enjoy Him and live out His will. We want the Bible to make sense, and for each of us to see the endless connections between text and everyday life.

Come join Pastor Jeff as we walk through the Story of God, emphasize tools over rules for developing a pattern of Bible reading, and see how curiosity and asking good questions can aid you in enjoying God’s words and Him more than you ever have before. (Cost is $5 for materials.)

Resources for Doubt

Jeff — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 18:15:22 +0000

As we kickoff the Road Blocks series with “Faith Doubts,” there is opportunity to point out some helpful resources for research and investigating the truth of Jesus and His message. We will continue to highlight specific books throughout the series; here are two for strengthening faith and helping us to “doubt our doubts.”

As we recognized graduates this weekend, the transition from student life towards adult life is on our minds. While many from Christian homes walk away from the church and reject Christ during the college years, this doesn’t have to be the norm. Our goal is to develop students into life-long followers of Jesus.

That’s why Jonathan Morrow’s new book, Welcome to College: A Christ’s Followers Guide for the Journey, is a helpful resource for college students (and parents too). In 42 bite-sized chapters — with remarkable depth — Morrow explores essential intellectual arenas. More than giving pat conclusions, this book wisely walks through questions such as the veracity of the Bible (can we trust it?), thinking Christianly (worldview), dealing with doubt, and highly practical issues like managing money, God’s will, sex and dating, navigating media, and alcohol. Morrow offers clear-thinking yet gracious apologetics for the contemporary challenges college students face from peers and professors (metaphysics and epistemology anyone?). All of it is written in the context of a life lived in apprenticeship to Jesus.

The author is adept in both academic arguments and knowing the pressures facing students in the college stage. There’s a refusal to separate head and heart, for we know Christ is both intellectually pleasing and emotionally satisfying.

Welcome to College is a must-have resource for that student headed off to school this Fall.

A Resource for All

Tim Keller, a pastor in Manhattan, has written a stellar book for our day. The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism is an imminently helpful and accessible book, meant to help believers and skeptics alike as they investigate competing truth claims. This New York Times bestseller begins with a section on the leap of doubt (“doubting our

doubts”), unmasking the seven primary arguments against Christianity, the voiced doubts skeptics bring to his church. The second half of the book deals with the most important reasons for faith.

Some of the doubts and reasons considered include:

How do doubt and faith relate?
Why does God allow suffering in the world?
How could a loving God send people to Hell?
Why isn’t Christianity more inclusive?
How can one religion be “right” and the others “wrong”?
Why have so many wars been fought in the name of God?
Religion and the Gospel

Keller uses literature, philosophy, real-life conversations, and reasoning to explain how faith in a Christian God is a soundly rational belief, held by thoughtful people of intellectual integrity with a deep compassion for those who truly want to know the truth. We highly recommend The Reason for God (see also book website with readers guide and discussion questions).

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Also see the apologetics resources page.

Financial Peace University

aaron — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:12:27 +0000

Schedule TBA
Mondays or Tuesdays from 7 – 9 pm

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University is a life-changing program that teaches you how to make the right decisions with your money. You’ll be empowered with the practical skills and confidence needed to achieve your financial goals and experience true financial peace! Sessions will be at the WCC building on Monday and Tuesday evenings, from 7 -9 p.m. Free childcare will be provided.

To learn more or to register, go to www.daveramsey.com/fpu, or contact the church office at 503.656.2328.

Even if you’ve never heard of Financial Peace University, you’re most likely familiar with its founder, Dave Ramsey. As host of the nationally syndicated radio program, “The Dave Ramsey Show,” he is heard by nearly 3 million listeners each week on more than 350 radio stations throughout the United States. His Financial Peace University is a life-changing program that teaches you how to make the right decisions with your money. You’ll be empowered with the practical skills and confidence needed to achieve your financial goals and experience true financial peace! Each of the 13 lessons deals with a different topic that will change the way you think about personal finance. Dave teaches about how to save money, live on a budget, communicate about money, eliminate debt, find bargains, and experience the joy of giving.

The Financial Peace University website shows that over 500,000 families have completed FPU with amazing success. On average, they pay off $5,300 in debt and save $2,700 in just 13 weeks. That’s an $8,000 change in position in just 91 days!

FPU has something to offer everyone, whether you’re a young adult just out of college with a new job and student loans, parents saving for your children’s college education, baby boomers trying to figure out how to retire comfortably in this sluggish economy, or just someone struggling to get by when there’s still too much month left at the end of the money.