Imago Dei Church

GS4O: Garage Sale for Orhpans

Imago Dei — Tue, 21 May 2013 11:00:26 +0000

In an effort to live out the PEACE plan, Imago Dei has partnered with the ministry Help One Now. One of their major sources of fund raising is Garage Sale for Orphans (GS4O). One June 1st we will be involved with the Raleigh GS4O at Hope Community Church in Cary. The goal is to have over 50 “booths” of sellers who have been encouraged to sell their excess, not just the items they no longer use.

Imago Dei will be accepting gently used items to sell during this event. The church building will be open for donations Thursday May 30th from 6 – 8 pm and Friday May 31st from 5 – 8 pm. We will need a few people on these days to help receive items and prepare them for the sale. Additionally we need about 10 people to travel with us to Hope Community Church Saturday morning for the sale. Please consider helping in one of these ways in addition to donating items to sell. For more information please contact Stacie or Nathan.

All proceeds will benefit Ferrier Village, a human trafficking prevention initiative of Help One Now in Ferrier, Haiti. To learn more about Garage Sale for Orphans, please visit http://www.helponenow.org/ or for this specific event & Ferrier Village visit https://www.facebook.com/events/191022724378806/

May 12, 2013 – The Wise Fool – 1 Kings 9:10-11:43

Imago Dei — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:21:11 +0000

1 Kings 9:10-11:43

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Solomon serves as both example and warning. Like Solomon, we must learn how to responsibly steward God’s gifts. We have a sinful tendency to take good things, and use them wrongly. Sex, money, food, and influence are wonderful blessings when used according for God’s glory, but they can be abused and destroy lives. We should study the nature of his life in order that we may avoid his sins, and to marvel at the One greater than Solomon.

Movie Night at Imago Dei Church: STUCK

Imago Dei — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:22:40 +0000

This Friday night, May 10th, at 7pm, Imago Dei will host a special showing of the feature film STUCK (www.stuckdocumentary.com) at the IDC building at 7041 Old Wake Forest Road in Raleigh. Admission will be free; however we will provide attendees with an opportunity to make a donation to the IDC Adoption Fund. The Adoption Fund, administered by Lifesong for Orphans, will be used to help Imago Dei members and others meet the financial strain of funding their adoption.
STUCK is an award‐winning documentary about the process and challenges facing those who adopt internationally, and the children caught in the middle. The film follows the stories of four children from Ethiopia, Vietnam and Haiti, and of the families who are attempting to adopt them.

The movie will start at 7pm and following the movie, we will have a short, general Q&A session with several families from IDC who have adopted both internationally and domestically. We will also have concessions and the books Orphanology and Adopted for Life for sale; the proceeds of which will also go to the IDC Adoption Fund.
Please consider joining us for this important event. You can watch the movie trailer here, and also read more about the movie and the Both Ends Burning campaign at www.bothendsburning.org.

May 05, 2013 – Solomon’s Temple – 1 Kings 6:1-9:9

Imago Dei — Mon, 06 May 2013 15:28:06 +0000

1 Kings 6:1-9:9

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In these chapters, the uniqueness of God, the faithfulness of God, and holiness of God, the grace of God, the mission of God, the warnings of God, a marvelous prayer, and much more soul-strengthening truths about God’s greatness are set before us. Everyone will worship something or someone. Who do you worship? Let us remember that someone greater than Solomon is here. Jesus has come to show us glory of God. Look to the Savior-King-Temple who outshines all the beauties of this world. Behold “the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Cor 4:6) with the eyes of faith, and be changed by the Spirit of God.

April 28, 2013 – Solomon’s Wisdom – 1 Kings 3:1-5:18

Imago Dei — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 13:39:19 +0000

1 Kings 3:1-5:18

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In the opening chapters of Kings, we saw how Solomon’s reign was established. The right king was appointed to the throne, even though some questionable actions were taken. In chapter 3, we see more about the leadership of Solomon, some positive and negative acts, and we are told of the reason of Solomon’s greatness: God gave him wisdom.

Easter Sunday Baptisms

Imago Dei — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:41:40 +0000

On Easter Sunday we had the privilege of baptizing eight people. It was wonderful to hear each individual’s story of how their life has been changed by the Gospel. Below is the video of their testimonies and baptisms.

April 21, 2013 – Kingship – 1 Kings 1-2:46

Imago Dei — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 15:19:09 +0000

1 Kings 1-2:46

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The story of Kings in a word is this: decline. Seeds of decline appear in the beginning part of the story, then that decline takes on different appearances throughout the book. The book opens like many books actually end, with the leading figure dying. This is fitting since Kings is about the decline of the kingdom. This decline ends in a judgment. We will make a number of applications throughout, but let me just introduce three broad applications in light of this story of decline. Kings is about worship, the Word, and weakness. So Kings is a story that involves the sinfulness of kings and the people they represent; their persistent idolatry and associated injustice. It is a story of a sad reversal, and the need for another King, the ultimate Son of David. In Genesis, a promise was made to Abraham saying, “Kings will come from you”. God kept his promise, and sent forth the king to end all kings, Jesus.

Life in Community – by Trevor King

Imago Dei — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 12:06:49 +0000

The following blogpost is written by Trevor King, one of our covenant members and growth group leaders at Imago Dei Church.

LIFE IN COMMUNITY: SHIFTING MY VIEW OF THE CHURCH

We’ve been called a cult.

It’s true, we have. But, first, let me back up…

I moved to North Carolina nearly two years ago. I came for school, to pursue theological education at seminary. I figured two or three years and then I’d move on. Get in and get out and get on with ministry in some position at a church (or with a church – I’ll get to this in a minute). I knew I needed to be a part of a church while I was here. I was committed to finding a body to plug into while being in school – a place (or people – again, I’ll get to this) that I would move on from in a couple of years. I needed a church, but school was the priority and everything would be used to serve that end.

So I moved and spent the first few months looking around. There are good churches. There are wonderful people who make up those churches. But I struggled to find the church that “fit.” I’ve grown to dislike this phrase when it comes to churches. Perhaps you will understand why in the end.

Then one day I reluctantly attended worship with a new church plant in the area. They had been meeting corporately for about two months when I went for the first time. Despite my reluctance, it felt like home – which was strange because it was a far cry from any kind of church I had been with before. And while I know this church isn’t entirely unique, it was unique to my experience.

So I went. I went every week they gathered. I attended a small group every week. I began to form relationships with people. I went through the process of becoming a member. And, most importantly of all, I began to listen.

I began to hear things about the church I had never heard before. I began to grasp Scriptures like Titus 2:14, “He gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to cleanse for Himself a special people, eager to do good works.” I realized that we are not saved in isolation, but we are saved from isolation into a people. I saw the picture of Acts 2 – of how the early church had no buildings or budgets. They were brought together in their devotion to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayers.

And I heard again and again a simple and profound truth: The church is not something we do or somewhere we go, the church is something we are. Christ has bought a people – a community – with his blood. The church is family. I don’t mean in a poetic or abstract sense; I mean in a literal sense. We are a people connected by blood. Even Matthew notes this at the end of his gospel: “But He [Jesus] replied to the one who told Him, ‘Who is my mother and who are My brothers?’ And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, ‘Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven, that person is My brother and sister and mother,’” (Matthew 12:48-50).

The church is a family that goes deeper than our earthly families. It is an eternal family connected through the blood of our Savior and King. And as family, we live our lives in community. But this isn’t a superficial community where just have many friends. This is deep community – marked by the very things the early church was marked by: belonging and accountability, unity, radical care for one another, worship of Jesus, and thankfulness for God’s grace. In this family, the common thing that binds us is deeper than biology. What binds us is spiritual, at the very core of who and what we are. What binds us together is genuine and life-changing love for Jesus.

And as part of His family, we live with accountability. We live in openness and transparency. We live in radical love and care for the family. And we live with a view of the church as more important than ourselves.

This is where my priorities began to shift. As God began to help me understand the church in this way, I realized that the church we commit to is more important than the job we have, the place we live, or how “fed” we feel we will may be. We commit to a people – to a family.

And so I stay in North Carolina – not only until I finish school and leave, but until God and the family he has put me in calls me elsewhere.

This church isn’t perfect. But no family is. And that’s the point: God’s grace saves people from sin and death and into community. We were outcasts and now we are brought in. We were orphans and now we are adopted. We were alone and now we will never be alone again. We have Christ, and we have His church.

This has been a giant shift in how I’ve previously viewed the church. And it’s different from how most people view the church. This is why we’ve jokingly been referred to as a cult (at least, I hope it’s all been in jest). But we see that the Scriptures point to this view of the church. We see a family redeemed by Christ, brought together to make much of His name to one another and to the world around us.

My prayer for you is a higher view of the church. That you see the church as the family that it is – not figuratively, but literally. And that you and I would give ourselves sacrificially to this people with deep thankfulness to the One who died and rose again to bring this family together.

April 14, 2013 – A Rising Rebellion – Acts 2:41-47

Imago Dei — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 19:41:31 +0000

Acts 2:41-47

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In Acts 1 you have a picture of a rising Kingdom,and just verses before the ones we are studying the Spirit has come in power and what we will see now is a rising kingdom, a kingdom that will advance through little outposts called the church. It is striking that although just verses before these amazing things are transpiring Luke immdiately turns to what seem to be very simple things that characterize the local church. These are signs of a coming rebellion and a rising kingdom that cannot be stopped! We are a church/people that signal the rebellion by devoting ourselves very simple things! So as we plant churches and do these churchly things mentioned. We are a part of something cosmic, a signal of a triumphant Kingdom, and we are an army in exile about to topple the cosmic powers over this present darkness and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

King of Kings: A Study of 1-2 Kings

Imago Dei — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 12:57:26 +0000

Beginning on April 21st, we will begin a new sermon series on the Old Testament books of 1 & 2 Kings, entitled “King of Kings.” These two books, 1-2 Kings, were originally one book and cover about four hundred years of history, moving through various kings of Israel and Judah. It may seem like historical overload, but it is actually pretty concise considering how many years are covered.

At the end of 1-2 Samuel, the Israelites were richly blessed. At the beginning of Solomon’s reign in 1 Kings 1, it appears that things are only getting better. However, by the end of 2 Kings, the people face a complete reversal: the people are in exile, a city is in ruins, and the temple is destroyed. All of these kings have limitations, including those viewed in a positive light (such as Solomon, who receives divine wisdom to rule; Hezekiah, who trusts God; and Josiah, who recovers the Word). Many kings fall repeatedly and shamefully, doing “evil in the sight of the Lord.” These concise, historical accounts whisper to the reader that another King is needed. The New Testament announces the fulfillment of this longing, as Jesus Christ, the descendant of David, emerges. His reign shall have no end.

Despite the title, these books are not just about particular kings. Prophets also play an important role (some classify Kings as “Former Prophets”). Peter Leithart counts ten named prophets or prophetesses: Nathan, Shemaiah, Ahijah, Jehu, Elijah, Micaiah, Elisha, Jonah, Isaiah, and Huldah. We will learn timeless truths from these important figures.

Our goal in this study is not to prepare you to beat others in Bible Trivia, but for you to become more like Jesus. I believe that as we repent of the sins described in Kings, such as idolatry, self-exaltation, and folly, and as we turn to worship the God who raises the dead, and humbly seek his divine wisdom, the Spirit who inspired these books will change us more into the image of Christ. May this series give us a deeper affection for our great King, and a deeper desire to live for his kingdom.

Below is a very tentative outline with date, subject (not titles), and texts.

April 21 – “Solomon’s Reign” (1 Kings 1:1-2:46)
April 28 – “Solomon’s Wisdom” (1 Kings 3:1-4:34)
May 5 – “Solomon’s Temple” (1 Kings 5:1-8:66)
May 12 – “Solomon’s Glory and Shame” (1 Kings 9:1-11:43)
May 19 – “Division” (1 Kings 12:1-14:20)
May 26 – “Two Nations & Eight Kings” (1 Kings 14:21-16:28)
June 2 – “Elijah and God’s Power” (1 Kings 16:29-19:21)
June 9 – “Ahab” (1 Kings 20:1-22:40)
June 16 – “Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah” (1 Kings 22:51-2 Kings 1:18)
June 23 – “Elijah and Elisha” (2 Kings 2:1-3:27)
June 30 – ” “Elisha’s Ministry” (2 Kings 4:1-6:7)
July 7 – “Elisha and the Syria” (2 Kings 6:8-8:15)
July 14 – “Revolution and Reform” (2 Kings 8:16-13:25)
July 21 – “Kings in Judah an Israel” (2 Kings 14:1-17:6)
July 28 – “The Fall of Israel and Hezekiah” (2 Kings 17:7-20:21)
August 4 – “Manassah and Amon” (2 Kings 21:1-26)
August 11 – “Josiah” (2 Kings 22:1-23:30)
August 18 – “The Fall of Judah” (2 Kings 24-1-25:30)