Mother’s Day

Mothers Day is May 13th. Tell your mom you love her and bring her to church!

Church at the Park | Sunday May 20th!

We will not be at the City Hotel & Bistro on this date.  Rather, we will be meeting for community, food and fun at The Winterville Amphitheater (323 Sylvania Dr.) 11AM.

Click HERE to RSVP on Facebook | Click HERE to RSVP on the City

Elevate Summer Camp

A Summer Camp for middle and high school students focused on the preaching of the Gospel and establishing Gospel community.  The registration deadline is May 28th.

Register on the Integrity Students section of our website.

Life Groups

Life Groups are meeting this month. Life Groups are small communities that meet in homes during the week.  Find a Life Group by going here: http://bit.ly/zVjdYe

Why does he do that?

In 1 Cor.15:1-2 Paul tells us: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you recieved” – past tense – “in which you stand” – perfect tense – this tells us that the Corinthian Christians continued to stand in the Gospel they had already heard.

Two things happen, (1) They received the gospel, and (2) it was now holding them up and sustaining them.

So the gospel not only saves me, it sustains me.

Paul continues: “and by which you are being saved” – present tense.  The Gospel is good news for our past, it continues to be good news for the present, and will remain that way for all eternity.

What is the Gospel?

Paul describes the Gospel in the next two verses: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,”

By His perfect obedience to God’s Law, Jesus qualified as our substitute and perfect sacrifice. By His death on the cross he satisfied the justice of God and purchased for his people their complete salvation.  God saved his people even when they were spiritually dead in their trespasses and sins. This is good news for everyone who believes in Jesus and its good news we must continually preach to ourselves daily.

Proverbs 28:13 says, “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” And James 5:16 says, “Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”

But this is risky business. It’s much safer—in the short run—to keep quiet about your struggle with lust or homosexual feelings or alcohol or food or anger. And I don’t mean to say that every skirmish of the soul should go public. But on the other hand, James does mean something when he says, “Confess your sins to each other.”

There is a kind of privacy with sin that paralyzes. There is a kind of concealing that can kill faith.

About a year ago the editor of Partnership magazine called and asked if she and a photographer could come to our house to interview Noël and me for one of their feature articles. They always feature some smiling pastoral couple on the front of their magazine for pastors’ wives.

Noël said she would check with me and let her know. Well, it just so happened that things were not good on the home front at that time. We were upset with each other and there were unresolved tensions between us. And so my response was: No way! I could no more sit down like a model pastor’s couple and smile for pictures than I could feel happy about the way things were.

What are we going to do? She expected us to call back. What would you have done? What would the editor think if I called and said, “Things aren’t good here and I don’t think we should do the interview. It would be too inauthentic”? Would she think we were about to get divorced, and spread the word around the Christianity Today offices that John Piper’s marriage is on the rocks?

It may sound like a small thing, but that was one of the hardest phone calls I have had to make in years. But to me righteousness and integrity—the cause of God—were at stake. And so we took the risk. We called off the interview. And that is all I know to this day.

Some of you have taken significant risks in this whole area of relationships and are much the better for it today. Others of you are hurting yourselves and the cause of God by bottling up something that someone should know about—some grudge, some failure, some habit, some remorse. May the Lord give us the wisdom to know the difference between an unhealthy indulgence in self-exposure on the one hand and the biblical risk of authenticity and confession on the other.

So honestly, how are you doing? What are you “bottling up” that someone should know? Are you hiding secret sexual sin from your spouse? Do you have a secret addiction or failure no one knows about? Certainly, coming clean and confessing your sin is risky, but it is the path to healing (James 5:16).  If your a believer with a new heart from God, hiding sin should be very painful.  Believers hiding sin can probably say with David, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away (Ps. 32:5).”

Find yourself a trusted brother or sister in Christ who is radically focused on the gospel of grace and let it out.  Confessing sin is a part of living in the light.  Confessing sin honestly is not the only part of gospel-centered authentic community though.  We’re not to beat each other up. Rather, we are meant to encourage each other in grace (1 Thess. 5:11).  One of the keys to not being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin is daily walking in grace oriented community and reminding each other of the Gospel (Heb. 3:13).

None of us really has it together, but it’s nice to be apart of a community that focuses more on God’s grace in Christ than sinful failures. This is gospel-driven community that gives life.

As Paul wrote Romans, the infamous Emperor Nero had increased taxes to dramatically high levels.  The temptation for these young Christians was to disobey, complain and not pay these new taxes.  Following the tax hikes, Nero targeted Christians and persecuted them in awful ways.  To give an extreme example, Nero often covered Christians in tar and burned them to provide light for his garden parties.  Nero even blamed the Great Fire of Rome (a fire he might have began himself) on Christians.  Using the fire as justification, he proceeded to torture and execute thousands of believers, including the apostles, Paul and Peter.

This is what the future held for the Roman believers. It’s in this context that Paul writes Rom. 13:1-7, teaching Christians in Rome to submit to their government.  He probably had Nero in mind as he wrote this instruction,  “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

We, in modern America, have an unprecedented level of freedom these Roman Christians would not understand; we have no reason to complain.  Yet even though the Romans suffered greatly by the hands of an oppressive government, the Holy Spirit spoke through the Apostle Paul commanding them to respect, obey and be thankful for their government.

From this text (Rom. 13:1-7), we can gather 5 observations about our government leaders:

1. Government Leaders are Ordained by God

Verse 1 says, “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.” Government leaders are placed in their positions by our sovereign God.  He is in absolute control of all governments, including evil ones.  Every political leader is in power because God has placed them in power.  It is God’s will to govern the world of mankind through human governments.

2. Disobeying Government is Disobeying God

To rebel against the governing authorities is to rebel against God Himself. Verse 2  says, “Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed…”  We submit to government out of reverence for God (1 Peter 2:13).  As believers, we are bound to obey the government as long as we are not required to do something that contradicts the Scriptures, or are prohibited from doing something the Scriptures command (like preaching the Gospel, Acts 4:1-22).

3. It is Proper to Participate in Government

Civil government is ordained by God, it’s a good thing.  Therefore, it’s proper to participate in it as long as we don’t violate our consciences, as it is held captive to the Word of God.  As American Christians, we’ve been afforded the freedom to vote, voice opinions, and run for political office; however, we should do this with a reverence for God and honor towards those God has appointed.

4. Christians Must Pay Their Taxes

Verse 7 says “Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.”  We ought to pray for those in authority, treat them with respect, pay our taxes, and obey their commands.  Whether or not they are believers is irrelevant.  We ought to be thankful and pay our taxes even if we feel that the tax code is unfair.

5. Salvation is Found in Christ, Not Politicians

Be careful not to get caught up in the idolatry of relying too much on a government leader, or political candidate, or legislation.  If you’re a believer, your salvation is in Jesus not a human politician.  Governments are tools God uses to fulfill his purposes.  Rest in Christ and know that our loving God is in control.

Life Groups are Meeting

Life Groups are meeting throughout the week.  Life Groups are small groups that meet in homes during the week to do life together.  Learn more and find a Life Group by clicking here. Let us know if you are interested in joining a Life Group by emailing lifegroups@liveintegrity.org.

Life Groups are taking a short break

Life Groups are taking a short break from Sunday March 18th to Saturday March 31st.  Life Groups will relaunch on Sunday April 1st.

Integrity Students | March 4th

Integrity Students is our Middle and High school student ministry. They will meet on March 4th, 5-7pm at 3320a Mosely Dr. Greenville, NC. Click here for more information about Integrity Students.  Email Aaron Glover at amg346@gmail.com.

Baptism Sunday | March 18th & April 8th

Sunday March 18th is Baptism Sunday at Integrity Church.  Contact Pastor Ben at ben@liveintegrity.org if you would like more information about the possibility of getting baptized.  Click here for more info.

Date Night | Friday, March 23rd

Family Date night will be on Friday night 5:30-9:30pm.  This is a night of free childcare so you can go on a date with your spouse. Click here for more information.  Please RSVP so we can know.

Partnership and Prayer Night | Sunday, March 25th

Sunday night, March 25th is Partnership & Prayer Night.  6:30 – 8:00pm @ The City Hotel & Bistro.  Partnership and Prayer is one of our most important events at Integrity.  It’s where we gather together corporately to pray together, asking God to help us obey His Word as a church and grow closer to Jesus together.  RSVP here.

Next Steps Dinner | Friday, March 30th

The Next Steps Dinner will be held on Friday night March 30th, 6:30-8:30pm.  Click here for more info.  The Next Steps Dinner is for those who are newer to Integrity and would like to learn more about who we are as a church. Come for a chance to enjoy some good food and quality time with the leadership of Integrity and others who are starting at Integrity as well.

Here’s what it looks like:

Winter Quarter

Jan. 15th – March 11th

Spring Quarter Sign-ups

March 11th- March 31st

Spring Quarter

April 1st – June 3rd

Summer Break

June 10th – September 9th

Why do we take the Summers off?

Certainly, there are some disadvantages to taking the summer off. But it’s important to do in order to give our leaders a break to keep them involved through the years and not just a couple years. If we asked a year round commitment from everyone we run the risk of burning out our leaders. Weekly meetings and ministry eventually take their toll and we see the summer rest as necessary.The biggest downside of the summer break is the lack of community during the summer. We are not at our best during the summer. But for the purpose of longevity and healthy leaders the summer break is necessary. For the summer we will use other means to keep people connected such as special classes,events and etc…

Fall Quarter Sign-Ups

Aug. 5th – Aug. 26th

Fall Quarter Life Groups

Aug. 26th – Nov. 11th

Christmas Break

We take a break from Thanksgiving through the New Years holiday because life for everyone is a bit crazy and people are using this time usually to travel and connect with their families.

Email Lifegroups@liveintegrity.org if you have questions or would like help finding a Life Group.

This month, here’s what’s going on:

Life Groups are Re-Launching

Life Groups are launching the week of Jan. 15th. We’ll be sending out specific details soon about the 2012 schedule and some changes to Life Group structure. Let us know if you are interested in joining a Life Group by emailing lifegroups@liveintegrity.org.

New Sunday Night Life Group

Chris Wilson and Adam Melanchon will be co-leading a new Life Group that will meet Sunday nights at 6:30pm. If you’re new to Integrity and have not connected with a Life Group yet, this would be a great one to try out! Email lifegroups@liveintegrity.org if your interested.

Financial Peace University

FPU is a 13 week class designed to teach families (and single people) how to avoid debt and manage their money. Matt Bell will lead the class on Monday nights starting January 23rd at 7pm Find more information and sign up by clicking here.

Integrity Students

Integrity Students is our Middle and High school student ministry. They will meet on January 15th, 5-7pm at 4433 Norris Store Rd/Ayden, NC 28513.

Endure Conference

Integrity Church is hosting a free conference called Endure: Going the Distance in Ministry. Endure will take place Thursday Jan. 26th from 1-4pm at the City Hotel & Bistro.  Endure will help equip you with practical insights and wisdom from three leading pastors on going the distance in ministry. Click here to register.
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Also, PDF giving statements will be sent out this month electronically through email. We do this in order to save money. We will also be sharing with everyone our 2011 annual report.

Christmas Missions Offering

Every year during the Christmas season, Integrity comes together to bless our world. We can do more as a whole than we ever could do separately.

We’ll collect the Christmas Missions Offering Beginning December 4 through December 18th. Continue to pray about how you can be involved! There are several ways to participate:

In one of our worship services - You can give personal checks and/or cash gifts towards Christmas Missions during our general offering time. Make checks out to “Integrity Church” and be sure to specify “Christmas Missions” in the memo line. Place cash gifts in the envelope marked “Christmas Missions.”

Online - You can give towards our Christmas Missions Offering Online. Be sure to specify that your gift is for “Christmas Missions Fund.”

Mail - You can mail your gift to our church office: Integrity Church PO Box 31151, Greenville, NC 27858. Be sure to make your checks out to “Integrity Church” and specify “Christmas Missions” in the memo line.

Goal for 2011 – $4,000

100% of this years offering will go to serve HaitiLove. HaitiLove exists to glorify God by loving Haitians through service, education, proclamation, and prayer. It’s our mission to connect Haitian and American churches for mutual edification resulting in healthy churches who reproduce themselves. HaitiLove is currently focusing its efforts in Ouanaminthe, a city of over 100,000 people on the Haitian and Dominican border. Some estimate that half the population is under the age of 18. Unemployment hovers around 70%.

Haiti is currently partnered with a church that operates an orphanage in that serves over 40 children. They also run a school that helps 800 people. The vision is that no child in Ouanaminthe would go hungry, homeless, sick or uneducated.

HaitiLove sees Ouanaminthe as the launching pad for all its future ministry in Haiti. It is our desire to equip Haitians to restore Haiti one soul and one city at a time.

We are taking up offerings for HaitiLove throughout the month of December. You will be able to give on Sunday mornings and online.

Honor God by giving cheerfully.

In 2 Corinthians, Paul writes about the church in Macedonia that loves to give.  He gives some helpful principles from their example, “Each one must give as he has decided in His heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Money is a tool that God gives to help others and advance the Gospel. When we use it this way, more people meet Jesus, and enjoy the same grace that has been given to us.

Every Sunday, Integrity Church gathers at the City Hotel and Bistro to worship together and hear the Word of God preached. Every week the Gospel is proclaimed.  Its only made possible by the many people who give money, time and resources that allow us to pay the rent, support the staff, and pay the bills. Its exciting to see Jesus change lives and to play a part in it by giving.

Honor God by giving sacrificially.

Paul also applauds the Macedonian congregation for giving beyond their means to help a church that was suffering. Despite sacrifice and hardship, the Macedonians’ “abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity (2 Cor. 8:2).” There is a connection between this sacrifice and Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice. Jesus willingly sacrificed his life in order to save sinners.  Our giving will never equal Jesus’ giving, but it’s clear that, as his disciples, we are to contribute in a similar sacrificial way

Honor God by giving regularly.

The Bible does not mandate a specific frequency in our giving. We are free to establish a regular plan in our giving that matches the rhythm of our lives.  Regular giving requires discipline. It also serves as a constant reminder that what we have does not truly belong to us. Irregular giving is an indication of poor stewardship: a reluctance to give, poor/lack of planning, or laziness.  Regular giving habits are a helpful and important foundation upon which to build a more thoroughly generous life.

A Practical Way to Give Regularly.

Everyone is different but one practical way to give regularly and practice good stewardship is to make a monthly budget and determine how much you will give. Many people also set up a monthly recurring online gift in order to stay regular in giving.  To learn how to mange your finances better we recommend Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover.

To give to Integrity church online, go Here.

Adapted from Jamie Munson’s “Money: God or Gift“