Dear Berean Family,
I want to encourage all of you to look forward to this summer with a great deal of expectation that if we all walk with God, live in the Spirit, and die to self daily that we will experience a great time of blessing and revival from the Lord. Over the years I have stressed to all of you who have sat under my ministry to put on the Lord Jesus Christ and to put off the flesh. The sign of a spiritual Christian is one who is filled with the Spirit and who lives a life of humility, godliness, kindness, patience, and meekness. I am apalled when I see professing Christians living careless lives, gossiping, complaining, backbiting, and displaying the attitudes that are unbecoming of a child of God. This is not what we have stressed at Berean over the years. I exhort our congregation to seek the Lord in holy worship and humble prayer so that we might enjoy precious times of fellowship and blessing from the Lord. God bless you all as you seek the Lord daily. My prayers are with you all. Yours in Christ, Pastor Dickie

"Pray For Us" Hebrews 13:18

Prayer is a part of the Christian life and the walk of faith. We pray as a natural response to grace in our soul. Just as a child born begins to breathe a person who is born again from on high will instinctively begin to commune and pray to God. It is a fact of our spiritual life. But many Christians have gone through times of doubt, despair, and cynicism. When a father told Ravi Zacharias that he was sinking into despair because he had prayed that his parents would live long enough to see their grandchildren, that his marriage would be successful, that his children would come to know the Lord, and when none of these things came to pass he sunk into despair and wondered if it was worth it at all to pray. He said he was turning away from God. But Ravi Zacharias said, “Turning away from God to what?” What do people turn to if they abandon the Lord? God does not always answer our prayers as we want. And we must not forget that we live in a fallen world that contains much heart ache and pain. Knowing that God is on the throne should be a comfort to us no matter what we face or experience in life.


Evangelist D.L. Moody recalled his visit to Scotland and asking some little school children what it meant to pray. Here is his story: “D. L. Moody making a visit to Scotland in the 1800's and opening one of his talks at a local grade school with the rhetorical question, What is prayer? To his amazement, hundreds of children's hands went up. So he decided to call on a lad near the front, who promptly stood up and said, "Prayer is an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of his Spirit, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies." This is the answer to question #78 in the Westminster Catechism. To this Moody responded by saying, "Be thankful, son, that you were born in Scotland."

What should you pray for in your pastors, elders, and deacons today?

1. That they might be filled with the Holy Spirit.
2. That they might be kept from the evil one.
3. That they might know God and the power of His indwelling.
4. That they might walk with God.
5. That they might be faithful in His Word.
6. That they might be broken and humble before the Lord.
7. That they might know the will of God for their lives and that they would know that all things work together for good to them that love God and who are called according to His purpose.

Special Announcement!!

Dear Berean Family,

I am writing this letter as your Pastor to inform you of the change that will be taking place during our PM Service. I really feel the Lord has laid this upon my heart, and I am extremely excited about the implementation of it. We decided to move forward with this change after much prayer and discussion with the leadership of our church.

The change I am referring to will begin on Sunday, March 13th. On this day, instead of coming together for worship in the sanctuary for the second service, we will be breaking into smaller groups for Bible study. My prayer is this will create more participation and cultivate more fellowship within our body. I will be selecting topics and materials to coordinate the discipleship and education of our flock. With each group sharing in the same discussions, this will add to the spiritual development of our church.

The Discipleship Group will be meeting in the chapel during the second service. This group consists of those who are between the ages of 19-35. Pastor Eric Stewart will be heading up this group along with deacons Dave Purdy, Neal Ruffner and Rick Wagner. For anyone that falls into this group, if you have any questions, please contact one of these men.

The Ambassadors will be meeting in the sanctuary for their Bible study. There is quite a broad age range for this group; 36-59. Deacon Matt Zimmerman will be leading this group along with Chris Pittenturf and Paul Britz.

The Senior Saints will be meeting in the fellowship hall for their time together. Elder Norm Walworth and Elder Mark Paul will be leading this group.

Please be very prayerful about this change. I think this is a much needed change in our efforts to help knit us together as the body of Christ. All three groups will begin by going through the study “What is Reformed Theology?” by R.C. Sproul. This is a very in- depth look into the great reformed faith that we love and cherish.

The class will begin at noon and end at 1 pm each Sunday. There will be a welcome, prayer, a half hour video, discussion and question period. I am very excited about this and invite all of you to join me in prayer and that the Lord will encourage many who now leave after the first service to stay and grow in the Lord together.

Please keep me in your prayers as I minister in Brazil. I will hold all of you before the throne of grace daily. God bless you and I will see you in a week.

Sincerely, In Christ,

Pastor Robert L. Dickie

Saving Faith Leads To Holy Living!

Here is a quote from one of the old saints on holy living. Few people today practice walking with God and trusting Christ to deliver them from sin.

"Saving faith, always has a sanctifying and comforting influence. The true believer does not divide righteousness from sanctification, nor pardon from purity. The believer comes to Christ for the forgiveness of sins for the right purpose; and that is, that being freed from the guilt of sin; he may be freed from the dominion of it. Knowing that there is forgiveness with God that He might be feared, he does not believe in remission of sin so that he may indulge himself in the continuance of sin. No, no; the blood of Christ, that purges the conscience from the guilt of sin, also purges the conscience from dead works, to serve the living God. They that come to Christ in a scriptural way come to Him for righteousness, that they may have him also for sanctification; otherwise, the man does not really desire the favor and enjoyment of God, or to be in friendship with Him who is a holy God. The true believer trusts Christ to make him holy as well as happy, and hence draws virtue from Him for killing sin, and quickening him in the way of duty. The faith that can never keep you from sin will never keep you out of Hell; and the faith that cannot carry you to your duty will not carry you to heaven. Justifying faith is a sanctifying grace. It is true, as it sanctifies it does not justify; but that faith that justifies does also sanctify. The sun that enlightens has heat with it; but is is not the heat of the sun that enlightens, but the light thereof; so the faith that justifies has love and sanctification with it; but it is not the love and sanctification that justify, but faith as it trusts Christ."

Here are some warnings for all of us to consider:

1. It is the devil's trick to fool us with a sense of security because we can talk theologically and know the language of the saints. This is no true sign of grace.
2. Some professing believers can fool themselves and others with pious speech while living scandalously in secret.
3. The fruit of the Spirit is the evidence of the Spirit's presence.
4. Where there is a deep love for Christ there will also be a deep love for the brethren and a sincere desire to humbly walk with God.
5. C. H. Spurgeon once said, "The prayerless soul is a Christless soul." Beware of having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof.

The End Does Not Justify The Means

As we move into the New Year we need to remind ourselves in all of our dealings with others that the end does not justify the means. This is a pragmatic view of life. Christians must always be controlled by the Holy Spirit and be committed to keeping the laws of God and the teachings of Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans that we should never do evil in order that good may come of it (Romans 3:8). It is flawed thinking to conclude that we can do something that is either dishonest or unbiblical and then try to justify it on the basis that something good might come from our questionable actions.

As we live out the principles of our faith we must be sure that whatever we are doing we can do it with a clear conscience and that in the day of judgment we will not be ashamed. I urge all of my Berean family and friends to remember that we seek not the approval of man but the approval and favor of God. The peace of God is the result of faithful obedience to His Word. Here are several exhortations to follow:

1. Always tell the truth!

2. Do not tell half truths as if they are the whole truth. (This is a form of deception and lying)

3. Be committed to obedient and holy living.

4. Make sure that you are not being deceptive with others and then explaining your actions away by using he end justifies the means argument.

5. Live your life with the Judgment Seat of Christ always before you. (We are going to answer to God!)

6. Allow the Holy Spirit to search your lives. Be tender before the Lord and allow His eye to search every corner of your hearts.

7. Remember that every hidden and secret sin will come to light one day.

Happy New Year!

May the Lord bless you all with a wonderful and a Christ centered New Year. As this last day of 2010 was drawing to a close I was meditating on the reasons why so many Americans turn every year to gods and religions that are empty of truth and meaning. I think the curse of our times has been what A. W. Tozer once said, "The curse of everything today is that it has to be funny. If it is not funny, it is not popular."

In much of our Christian world in the West we have lost the sense of God's majesty and God's mystery. We have so trivialized our faith that we have removed the awe and wonder from it. Hence, many have sought for mystery, majesty and fulfillment in the false gods of the age. It was St. Augustine the bishop of Hippo who said, "Thou hast created us for Thyself and we are restless until we rest fully in Thee." Many Christian pastors and leaders have so trivialized the faith of our fathers and misrepresented it that they have been part of the problem of gutting the faith that they were sworn by a holy oath to defend and to proclaim.

Let us return to the worship of the Most High with humble hearts filled with praise and adoration for the finished wonders of His sovereign grace. May we find joy and peace in Christ. May we find our hearts filled with happiness and joy from the only fountain that can satisfy the spiritual thirst of our souls--the fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins!

"Change from glory into glory,

Till in heaven we take our place,

Till we cast our crowns before thee,

Lost in wonder, love, and praise."

Charles Wesley

Christian humility

I have been delivering a series of messages on Wednesday night on Spiritual leadership. One of the most important aspects of a true spiritual leader is Christ-like humility. I trust that the comments that follow on humility will be a blessing to all of you. May the Lord use all of us in His service.

Humility in the life of a leader

Another spiritual quality that a leader needs is humility. Those who are involved in serving and leading in the Kingdom of God must be people filled with meekness and true humility. As far as the world is concerned humility is a quality that is neither appreciated nor sought after. Most people, who have not been touched by God’s grace, have little respect for humility in a leader.

A true spiritual leader is known, not by self-advertisement, but by self-abasement. Jesus prepared His disciples for leadership by giving them a lesson on the importance of humility, “But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant.” John the Baptist also taught us that a spiritual leader has his focus on Christ and not on himself. John wrote, “He must increase but I must decrease.” John 3:30. The spiritual leader must point people to Christ and willingly attribute all the praise for his labors to Him and not draw attention to himself. Jeremiah the prophet said, “And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not…” Jeremiah 45:5. Someone once said, “Great men never think they are great and small men never think they are small.” One sign of pride in a leader is when he parades his achievements around so others will know what he has accomplished. A spiritual leader does not forget what Proverbs 27:2 teaches, “Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger and not thine own lips.”

How important is humility? James the apostle wrote, “But he giveth more grace, Wherefore he saith, GOD RESISTETH THE PROUD, BUT GIVETH GRACE UNTO THE HUMBLE.” James 4:6. The opposite of humility is pride. James tells us that God resists the proud but pours out His grace on those who are humble. This should illustrate how important humility is for the spiritual leader. John Stott from England said,

“At every stage of our Christian development and in every sphere of our Christian discipleship, pride is the greatest enemy and humility our greatest friend.” John Stott, “Pride, Humility & God,” Sovereign Grace Online, September/October 2000, http://www.sovereigngraceministries.org/sgo/v18no5/prt_pride.html.

Solomon also reminds us of the dangers of pride, “Pride goeth before destruction and an haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18.

Just what is humility? How can we define or explain humility? Here is a definition,

“Humility is honestly assessing ourselves in light of God’s holiness and our sinfulness. That’s the twin reality that all genuine humility is rooted in: God’s holiness and our sinfulness. Without an honest awareness of both these realities all self-evaluation will be skewed and we’ll fail to either understand or practice true humility.” C.J. Mahaney, Humility, (Multnomah Press, 2005), p. 22.

The most effective way for a spiritual leader to demonstrate humility is to devote himself to serving others for the glory of God. Cyprian, the bishop of Carthage, one of the early church fathers who was martyred for the faith, wrote this prayer prior to his martyrdom:

“Almighty God, who resists the proud and gives grace to the humble: send thy Holy Spirit and let that mind be in us, which was also in Christ Jesus, that we may be meek and lowly of heart and never by our foolish pride provoke thine indignation… Teach us not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think; to be modest in speech, just and merciful in action and benevolent to all. Let us prefer nothing to him, who preferred nothing to our salvation; but grant us that adhering inseparably to his kingdom and standing bravely by his cross, we may be found faithful to death, and at the end may be admitted into the joy of his most blessed presence. Amen.”