CCC Gainesville | Blog
Phil Ryken on this famous 1517 Renaissance painting by Quentin Massys:
The Moneylender and His Wife confronts us with the choice that everyone must make between God and money. The moneylender is sitting at home, with a measuring scale and a pile of money in front of him on the table, carefully assessing the value of a single coin. Yet our eye is also drawn to the woman sitting next to him, the moneylender’s wife. She is leafing through a Bible or a book of spiritual exercises, which presumably was bought by her wealthy husband. She is having her devotions, except she is distracted by all the money being counted. As she turns the page, her gaze is captivated by the coin in her husband’s hand.
Moneylender
Massys saw how easily money can pull our souls away from the worship of God.
All of us feel this tension. We know that God demands our highest allegiance. We believe that nothing is more precious than the message of his gospel — the forgiveness of our sins and the free gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Yet we are easily distracted. Sometimes we would rather thumb through a mail-order catalog (or Pinterest) than listen to what God has said in his Word.
(There is) a striking detail in The Moneylender and His Wife. Remember that in this masterpiece both husband and wife turn away from God to focus on their money. On the table between them, Massys cleverly painted a small round mirror—-
_-_The_Moneylender_and_his_Wife_(detail)_-_WGA14283.jpg)
striking detail
—which reflects a little scene that is taking place just outside the frame of the painting. If we look at the image in the mirror closely, we see the dark lines of a window frame intersecting to make the form of a cross. We also see a small figure reaching out for the frame, as if to hold on to the cross. His face is familiar to art historians: it is Massys himself.
The artist is reminding us not to look for money to give us any satisfaction in life. Instead we invited to reach out for the cross where Jesus gave his life for all our greedy sins, to hold on to Jesus and to find our full satisfaction in him.
This month the Financial Team* has been putting before you 5 minute presentations on various aspects of stewardship. Entitled “The Costs of Ministry; The Rewards of Generosity”, the topics have been:
Week 1: CCC 2013 Financial Presentation Pt 1 (through the lens of creation/fall/redemption)–Rob Pendley
Week 1: CCC 2013 Financial Presentation Pt 1 (through the lens of creation/fall/redemption)–Rob Pendley
Week 2: Where we (Christ Community) are financially; a basic financial update—Adam Means, deacon and church treasurer
Week 3: CCC 2013 Financial Presentation Pt 3—Nate Henkel, elder
Week 4: Personal Testimony, Awareness of ways to give and classes to help– Jen & Tony Hernandez
Anytime money and stewardship is discussed there are chords struck. If you find yourself in a spot to make some changes in the way you steward your resources–great! We’re all growing and learning. One thing we’ve learned is that as church leadership we haven’t been keeping God’s teaching on money before you very well. Though we mail quarterly giving statements, I wondered what we’d done elsewhere. I looked back at what we’d blogged in 2013 and they were either in February or the last 3 weeks. We’re committed to being more regular in our communication in 2014.
2013 financial posts–so far
What is Stewardship? (February 6)
How should I steward my wealth? (February 7)
The Costs of Ministry, the rewards of generosity (November 7)
Financial presentation from Adam Means (November 14)
*Your financial team is: Adam Means, Tony & Jen Hernandez, Debbie Staples, Ron Thaler, James Schrader
We would like to give some information about events going on with the youth group for the rest of the year.
There is NO youth group Sunday, November 24th. This past Sunday, November 17th was our final youth group of the 2013 calendar year.
While the weekly Sunday night youth group meetings have ended, there still is one final event for the 2013 calendar year. There will be a Christmas progressive dinner that will take place on Sunday December 8th from 5 pm – 8:30 pm.
The youth will enjoy a three-course meal as we travel to 3 different houses! There will be games and contests that will take place at each house. All of the details for this event are currently being planned by the Youth Team, but we will send out an email with further information by Wednesday, December 4th at the latest. We hope that many of your youth (and their friends!) will be able to enjoy a night of food, fun, fellowship, and festivities on December 8th!
In Christ,
The Youth Team
(Anthony DeAugustino, Joey Roberts, Angela White, Steven Eicholtz, Bethany Norman, & Tori Jacob)
Three Great Men Died That Day:
C.S. Lewis, Aldous Huxley, and JFK
Fifty years ago, three great men died within a few hours of each other: C. S. Lewis, John F. Kennedy and Aldous Huxley. In 1982, philosophy professor Peter Kreeft imagined the three of them in conversation after their deaths.
Positioning Lewis as a proponent of ancient Western theism, Kennedy as a modern Western humanist, and Huxley as an ancient Eastern pantheist, Kreeft wrote a conversational book entitled Between Heaven and Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C. S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley.
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One of the Reasons C.S. Lewis Remains So Widely Read 50 Years after His Death, ByJohn Piper:
Lewis’s unwavering commitment to what is True and Real and Valuable, as opposed to what is trendy or fashionable or current, has been another kind of liberation for me, namely, from “chronological snobbery.” He loved the wisdom of the ages, not the whimsy of the passing present. He called himself a Neanderthaler and a dinosaur.
He didn’t read newspapers.
He never wore a watch.
He never learned to type.
He did not own or drive a car.
He cared nothing about cutting a good appearance and wore the same old clothes until they were threadbare.
He was incredibly free from the addicting powers of the present moment.
The effect of this on me has been to make me wary of what he called “chronological snobbery.” That is, he has shown me that “newness” is no virtue, and “oldness” is no fault. He considered the present time to be provincial with its own blind spots. He said once: every third book you read should be from outside your own (provincial) century. Truth and beauty and goodness are not determined by when they exist. Nothing is inferior for being old, and nothing is valuable for being modern. This has freed me from the tyranny of novelty and opened for me the wisdom of the centuries.
Join Nathan and Penny in celebrating the birth of their daughter. Lydia Marie Lewis was born at 11:13 pm on 11/17/13, weighing 7 lbs 13 oz. Mom and baby are doing great, and big brothers Isaac and Asher couldn’t be prouder.
Holli Best coordinates meals for new families! 352.246.1590 hollibestATgmailDOTcom
