BRANCHES September 2015

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SOUTHWOOD overview CONTENTS 3 pastor's note BRANCHES DESIGNER Phillip Lackey CONTRIBUTORS Will Spink Sarah Niemitz Niña Banta Winnie Winford PHOTOS Phillip Lackey Southwood Members FEEDBACK! We want to hear from you! Please send your suggestions and comments to branches@southwood.org 1000 CARL T. JONES DRIVE | HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA 35802 (256) 882-3085 | WWW.SOUTHWOOD.ORG COVER PHOTO Dog doorstop at the Lodge's entrance CHURCH STAFF NIÑA BANTA Director of Children ELIZABETH BUTZ Receptionist JANICE CROWSON Director of Facilities/Finance KIM DELCHAMPS Administrative Assistant TERRI GOOD Accountant/Bookkeeper PHILLIP LACKEY Graphic Designer NANCY McCREIGHT Assistant Director /Children/Nursery SARAH NIEMITZ Director of Community Development/Assimilation JAMES PARKER Chief Musician MELISSA PATTERSON Interim Administrative Director WILL SPINK Associate Pastor/Shepherding WINNIE WINFORD Assistant Director/High-Life 4 when you're here, you're home Youth Ministry at the Lodge 6 session update Keeping you informed 6 search committee update God's good timing 7 new faces, new fun Highlighting Children's Ministry leaders UPCOMING EVENTS Pastors on the Patio September 1 Office Closed for Labor Day September 7 Jr. High-Life Returns September 9 Southwood Men's Retreat September 11 & 12 Sr. High-Life Returns September 13 community development opportunities this fall: Family Friendly • Donate gently used books to Lincoln Academy. • Prepare a meal for an upcoming Jobs For Life class. • Bake cookies for the staff at your school. • Pick a school, a class, or a ministry and pray for them regularly as a family. Young adult & older • Lead early morning Bible studies for students at Montview Elementary. • Tutor after School with the Village of Promise on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:30-4:30pm. 2 SEPTEMBER 2015 | SOUTHWOOD.ORG for more opportunities... Go to www.southwood.org/serve for more ideas and how to sign-up!
PASTOR’S NOTE I’ve really enjoyed spending a few weeks thinking together about marriage from the book of Ephesians. And I’ve really appreciated the feedback and questions many of you have given me—questions about gender roles in marriage, biblical grounds for divorce, samesex attraction, and others. Many of these are answered best in conversation (one reason why we’re intentionally having a dialogue at Pastors on the Patio Tuesday, Sept. 1), but others can reasonably be answered in writing. I’m going to address some in the upcoming issues of Branches and try to provide some answers. But before answering any of the specific questions, I want to remind us to consider the source. What is the basis for answers to these (or any other) questions, and how do we evaluate the answers we hear? This is vital to answer because we are all prone to seeking truth in man-centered ways rather than being directed by God himself through his Word. Many of us develop opinions on truth based on trends in our culture. The positive aspect of this is that we are sensitive to how truth will be received in different cultures at different times, and we want to be intentional to communicate the good news of Jesus in language people can understand. The danger, though, is that we sometimes allow public opinion to loosen our own grip on God’s truth. God’s truth is not subject to the opinion of mankind—no matter how many people see things differently. Consider the Source do this with the gospel itself because when a popular preacher is caught in moral failure, we hear many who follow his message “leave the faith,” revealing that they believed because of the man rather than because of God’s truth. If I preach a sermon on the call for husbands to love their wives sacrificially and then go home and am instead self-serving in my marriage, that is certainly hypocritical, but it does not disprove the truth of the message preached. Likewise, my “good” behavior in that regard would not establish the truth of my message. I ought to live consistently with what I preach— and this lends legitimacy to my message—but my life itself cannot be the basis for establishing the truthfulness of what I preach. Even the Apostle Paul commended people for considering the source. He praised the Bereans for believing his message not merely because he preached it but because it was consistent with the Scriptures (Acts 17:11). This is what we really need—answers from God to our questions, perspectives shaped by his Word. We should expect that at times the truth of God’s Word will contradict our sensibilities or challenge our cultural wisdom. “Sola Scriptura”—the principle that the Bible alone is our final authority—means we put ourselves, our culture, our church, and our favorite teachers under the Bible and establish what we believe based on God’s Word. God, then, is the final and firm source for truth. If you would like to contact Will, use the following: will.spink@southwood.org @WillSpink Others of us are tightly tied to the teachings of a denomination or church tradition. This can be helpful for giving us direction on particular issues because it moves us beyond our cultural moment to the way believers have for centuries understood God’s Word. But if the traditions of our church are our final authority, they too become dangerous. Church history shows that even a large number of well-intentioned men can make errors on issues of great significance. Perhaps the area we are most susceptible these days, however, is believing things to be true because some teacher we trust or respect or really like says it. We know people One final factor is important to keep in mind as we answer these questions about marriage: The Bible answers them in the context of the one great story it tells; thus, the answers will often make sense only in light of the primacy of that story. This is the story we talked about every Sunday: The Bible tells of a Prince leaving his throne to rescue a lost and abandoned princess to restore her to her intended beauty and live in relationship with her forever. It’s a true story and the one God has designed marriage in particular to tell over and over again. As you wrestle with the tough questions of marriage, the primacy of God’s Word and God’s story must undergird every answer. Will Spink Associate Pastor SEPTEMBER 2015 | SOUTHWOOD.ORG 3
Page 1: BRANCHES WHEN YOU'RE HERE, YOU'RE H
Page 5 and 6: mark your calendars! Sunday School
Page 7 and 8: NEW FACES, New FunB Y NIÑA BANTA T

BRANCHES September 2015

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