The Hillsboro Christian

In This Issue of The Hillsboro Christian

By Brad Clouse

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18)

In Matthew 16, Jesus makes the announcement to His disciples that He would build His church. The word “church” is ekklesia, which is a compound word whose roots literally mean “called out.” The word ekklesia has been defined as “the called out ones to assemble with a purpose.” Those who belong to the Lord – who are followers of Jesus Christ – are called out to carry out the very mission of Jesus: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). Jesus’ mission was to seek and to save the lost. As the ekklesia, our mission is to share the Gospel. We are called out to evangelize. This is the very commission that Jesus gives to all of us: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

We don’t just go to church. We are the church. Yet if you ask the average churchgoer, “What is the church?” the majority will define the church as a building, a program, or an event. The ekklesia is not where we go; rather, it is who we are: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (I Peter 2:9). We are the called out ones, so let us carry out what we have been called to do.

Our sermon series for the month of February is entitled CALLED OUT, which corresponds with the focus of our newsletter. Each message will highlight the truth that we are ekklesia (the church). Please take a moment to read and pray over these passages as we enter this series. May His Word win over all of our hearts.

“On This Rock” – Matthew 16:13-20

“Marching Orders” – The Great Commission (all 4 Gospels & Acts)

“Christ’s Ambassadors” – II Corinthians 5:11-22

“Declaring His Praises” – I Peter 2:9-10

In this edition of The Hillsboro Christian, we find encouragement from Micah to spread the good news of the peace of Heaven. We are also encouraged by Adam to answer the call that God has placed on our lives to live faithfully for Him.

Our guest contributor for this month is Alex Eddy, Executive Director of Person-to-Person Ministries. Alex takes the time to remind us as believers that we have been called out by grace and for holiness.

“We have lost sight of our great objective and let go of our first love. When Jesus gave the Great Commission he ‘put the church in boots.’ She has kicked them off and replaced them with bedroom slippers.” (Dr. Raymond Alber)

“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’ But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed our message?’ Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”

(Romans 10:14-17)

In Christian love, Brad

Brad Clouse, a Louisville, Kentucky native, graduated from Louisville Bible College in 2010 with a Master's Degree in Sacred Literature after earning his former degrees at the same university. Brad served at smaller churches in Adair County Kentucky while in college before being called to Ohio in 2009. Brad ministered to the New Vienna Church of Christ congregation for 12 years before being called to the Hillsboro Church of Christ as the Senior Minister.

He is pictured here with his wife, Julie, and his children, Will, Annaleigh, and Samantha.

Several years ago, one of my sons and I met with a Marine recruiter. My son wanted to enlist, so we set a meeting at the recruiting office. During the conversation, I asked a question. “What is the purpose of the United States Marine Corps?” Without missing a beat, the Marine recruiter looked me squarely in the eyes and said, “the purpose of the United States Marine Corps is to fight our nation’s battles and make more Marines.” His conviction and clarity of purpose had me ready to enlist as well.

One of the greatest, if not the greatest, need for every congregation today is conviction and clarity of purpose. There is often confusion and disagreement over the nature and purpose of the church. I believe this is often due to the lack of consensus on the meaning of the term “church.” In his book The New Testament Church, Robert Shannon lists several different ways the term “church” is used, including reference to a building, a worship service, a particular congregation, a specific denomination, and occasionally, the whole body of those who are Christians. I believe this confusion can be clarified if we look at the Biblical term most frequently translated as “church.” The term most frequently used in scripture to depict the body of believers in the New Testament is “ekklesia.” Its literal meaning is “called out ones.”

Called out by grace

The church consists of believers who have been “called out” by grace. In our society, we are required to qualify for many, if not most, rights and privileges. We must qualify for loans, mortgages, licenses, employment, promotions, etc. There is an application process, often a test, and specific qualifications must be met. Clubs and organizations often have a vetting process with a particular criterion for admission or acceptance. Even citizenship, one of the most basic components of a society, comes with a set of requirements.

In contrast, the church is unique. Someone once said,

“The church is the only institution or organization where the qualification to join is to be unqualified.” The beginning of our journey with Christ must come with the

recognition that we are unqualified. Romans 3:23 states, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” It is the recognition of our sins that compels us to seek God’s mercy and grace. The Apostle Paul stressed this in his letter to the church at Ephesus. Ephesians 2:4,5, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions it is by grace you have been saved.” We are not qualified by anything we have done but by what Christ did for us on the cross. We are “called out” by grace.

Called out for holiness

We have also been “called out” for a specific purpose: to be unique and distinct unto God through holiness. God’s intent has always been to have people who follow Him exclusively and stand out as different and distinctive. In the Old Testament, we witness God’s desire in instructions given to Moses concerning the Israelites found in Exodus 19:5,6, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. ’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites ” There are several places in the New Testament where the expectation for holy living is expressed. I Peter 1:14-16, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am

holy.” In I Peter 2:9, Peter described the believers in this manner, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Paul highlights our unique calling in I Thessalonians 4:7, “For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life.” Ephesians 4:1, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

We have been called. The “ekklesia” is those who have been called out of sin by God’s grace to pursue personal holiness by God’s power. There is not a higher or better calling in all the world. It is unique and distinct, just as we are called to be unique and distinct. It should also give us a very clear and convicting purpose. The church exists to call others to God’s saving grace and join in the pursuit of holiness.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alex began serving as Co-Executive Director in April 2020 then became the Executive Director in August 2020. Before coming to Person To Person he was the Minister of the Little Miami Christian Church in Morrow, OH. Alex has ministered full-time for churches in Cincinnati, OH and Conyers, GA. For fifteen years he worked in Admissions for Cincinnati Christian University, taught as an adjunct professor, and conducted interim ministries in the greater Cincinnati area. Alex and his wife, Missy, have six children and one grandchild.

P r a y e r

requests

Health and Other:

Denver Conley

Ohio Mission Bible Training Center

Janet Pence

Shalom Orphanage

Sharon Webb

Wayne Wiedenbein

Shut Ins:

Barbara Boris

Jewel Calmes

John Porter

Carol Setty

Cancer:

Jeffery Aurigema

Kari Crafton

Judy Roush

Mark Sears

Family Loss:

Missions:

The Brittons, The Millers, The Newmans

HCC Leadership:

Steve Allen

Brad Clouse

Roger Epley

Dan Fauber

Micah Herrick

Mike Labig

Adam Steele

Richard VanZant

Military:

Tyler Amos

Ryan Burns

Mark Conover

Thadeus Conover

Corey Hughes

Phillip Mycroft

Average attendance for the month of January was 298

Average weekly giving for the month of January was $16,474.00

Our weekly need is: $11,229.13

One question often asked when preachers are getting to know each other is, “How did you receive your calling?” The idea behind this question is that vocational ministry is a calling, meaning that God communicated to them that he wanted them to serve by becoming a preacher, missionary, worship minister, etc. Most ministers have a time or place where they felt God calling them individually. I remember a couple of instances in my life where I felt that God was directing me to pursue this career.

Moments at camps and youth groups where God spoke to me through youth workers, volunteers, worship services, and friends. I heard God calling me.

The Bible is full of examples of God calling people to serve him a in specific way. Abraham heard the voice of God giving instructions about what he should do, where he should go, and what would happen in the future. Jacob wrestles a blessing out of God one night. The

nation of Israel hears the voice of God at Mt. Sinai and is set apart as his holy people. Mary receives a direct message from God through an angel. The twelve disciples have Jesus, God in the flesh, physically being with them and instructing them. The Apostle Paul is blinded by a vision of Jesus where Jesus confronts what he was pursuing with his life. For many people in scripture, the calling of God is an obvious and life-altering experience.

This idea of God calling a person is very appealing. Most people want their lives to serve a higher purpose than their own happiness or comfort. They want to know that their life has made a difference in the world at large as well as in the lives of others. If you are a Christian, you don’t just want your life to matter here and now but also for eternity. But not everyone has a moment when God calls them individually. A moment where God says, “This is what I want you to do with your life.” For most people, God’s calling on their life is not that clear.

Throughout the New Testament, the word that is used most often to refer to this new group of people, these followers of the risen Jesus, is the Greek word ekklesia. This word literally means “called out ones.” It was used in Roman and Greek cultures to refer to assemblies where people could make their voices heard about what the government should be doing. When the Jews translated the Hebrew text into Greek (the Septuagint), this word was used to refer to the nation of Israel. The early church took this word, infused it with new meaning and context, and used it to refer to themselves as the “church.”

So, if the church is a group of “called out” people, who has called them out? The answer, of course, is God (Romans 8:30; 9:24; 1 Corinthians 1:9). The Apostle Peter describes the call of God on the church this way, “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). The church is a group of people who have been called by God. This means he has a special purpose that we are to fulfill as part of the church.

This all goes back to holiness. When God set the nation of Israel apart from every other nation, he was making them special, different, not ordinary; he was making them holy. This is why he was specific in instructing them to avoid the practices and customs of other nations. They were not like other nations; they were set apart, holy. Now because of what Jesus has done, the church has become God’s “holy nation.” Not in a physical sense like the Jewish people, but in a spiritual sense. This is why now, at long last, Gentiles could be included in God’s people. It isn’t about where you were born or who your parents were; it’s about being “born again” and God being your heavenly father. Jack Cottrell says this about the similarities/differences between the nation of Israel and the church, “Whereas OT Israel sought purity through (geographical) separation, the church seeks separation through purity” (The Faith Once for All, pg. 401). We are still called to be holy, but we pursue this holiness in the midst of an unholy world. The way we seek separation is through our purity, by acting, speaking, and being different from everyone else.

This is the call of God on the life of every Christian that we would live lives that look radically different from the lives of our friends, family, classmates, coworkers, etc. This is how we seek to be separate, holy in our current culture. We do not walk in darkness because we have been “into his marvelous light.” The way you conduct business, how you speak to your friends, the things you watch on television, the music you listen to, the way you raise your children, every aspect of our lives is to be a pursuit of holiness. We are the church, the called out ones; each one of us has the call of God on our lives. The question is, “Will you answer the call?”

Grace and Peace, Adam

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Adam Steele is originally from western Pennsylvania. When he was eleven his parents moved to West Virginia where he lived through his time in high school. Adam attended Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly, MO. While in college he met his lovely wife April. Adam and April have two children Silas and Sadie. Before coming to Hillsboro, OH they served at First Christian Church in Jackson, TN. Adam has a passion for ministry and for God’s word and has served as Youth and Families Minister at HCC since 2016.

AIM (Archery in Ministry) is an archery program offered here at Hillsboro Church of Christ. AIM begins Sunday evening, February 26, 2023. This 6 week session is for Middle Schoolers (grades 6 - 8). We will meet in the Connection Café at 5:00 p.m. and will dismiss at 6:00 p.m.

Photo from our Summer in the Son event held at Restoration Acres in August

Purpose of the Prayer Ministry

The prayer ministry is to actively encourage and promote prayer and unity within the life of the church. To lift HCC ministries, people and their concerns in prayer so that God would work through His mighty power to accomplish His will and bring glory to His name by:

• being open and responsive to the Holy Spirit

• praying that God’s love, guidance and healing power would be released for the benefit of His people and to His glory

• praying for people in a way that encourages them to seek God and His freedom in salvation

Goals of the Prayer Ministry

• build up HCC into a mobilized house of prayer

• provide prayer support for individuals of HCC

• pray for concerns in the church family

• challenge believers to pray

• equip believers in prayer

• pray for missions and evangelistic outreach

• seek and develop prayer warriors within HCC believers

If you would like to join Always Say a Prayer ministry, or if you would like to receive notifications of prayer requests, you can do this two ways:

1. Email a request to join the ASAP ministry to: asaprayer.hcc@gmail.com

2. Text “@hccprayer” to the number 81010 (do not use quotation marks)

By doing this, when the church receives a prayer request that is permissible to be made public, you will receive an email or text of the prayer request.

Dee Smaltz is in charge of this ministry, and if you have any questions, you may contact her.

(If you would like your ministry to be highlighted in the newsletter, please contact Susie Burns)

We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.

II Thessalonians 1:12

Augustus Caesar; Emperor of Rome; Divi filius (son of the divine); Rex regis (King of kings); Ruler of Pax Romana (Roman Peace) at the height of one of the greatest empires in the history of the west. He lived from 23 September 63 BC to 19 August AD 14 and ruled the empire for 41 years.

When looking at that impressive summary, the astute among us may notice a few things. First, some of his titles may overlap with those of someone else we know. Son of the Divine, though a reference to his adoptive father Julius Caesar, whom the Romans had recognized as a god, could be thought of as Son of (a) God. Also, as emperor, he was the high king or the king over all kings. Next, you may also notice that a certain date happened during Augustus’ life, what we would consider the change from BC (before Christ) to AD (anno domini, ‘the year of our Lord’). This points to the birth of a rather world-changing figure in Christ Jesus. When we put all these pieces of information together, we are confronted with the reality that the titles that Jesus and the church claimed during his ministry would have had major sociopolitical implications.

We often see in the Gospels the conflict between Jesus and the political/religious leaders in the Jewish state

that he regularly came into direct contact (and often conflict) with. But we have to remember that there was always a looming reality in that era. The mighty Roman wolf was always a reality hovering over and ready to devour. Jesus, making the claim to ‘Son of God’ and ‘King of kings,’ was simultaneously spitting in the eye of one and stepping on the toes of the other.

So, what does this all have to do with the concept of Ekklesia? Well, the best way to understand an ancient teacher/writer is to look at the context within which they were teaching. We translate ekklesia as ‘church,’ but there was a greater context to this term at the time. The most literal translation was ‘the called out ones.’ In an ancient Grecian context (pre-Rome), it was the governing body of a city-state. It was the job of the ekklesia, a pseudo-democratic body of free landowning men of the city, to come together and make important decisions for their communities together. But as Rome made her conquest across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, the term was modified. Before bringing the full might of the army, Caesar would send a diplomatic group of forerunners into a region. These forerunners were often from that area, spoke the language, and understood the culture. Their job was to prepare the way. They would teach the good news of pax romana (the

peace of Rome) and the superiority of her culture, religion, and mores. In this way, the conquest could potentially be more peaceful. When the locals saw the impressive military force and understood the profit of being ‘Roman”, many would lay down arms and welcome their new benevolent overlords and the peace they brought.

When Jesus taught that he was building and sending out his ekklesia (or church), none of these realities would have been lost on him. When Paul began traveling throughout the empire to spread the Gospel (good news) of the peace of the Kingdom of Heaven, none of these realities would have been lost on him. There is a part of this message that was intrinsically subversive. But the message is so incredible that the ekklesia is not called to raise arms against Rome. Instead, his church is called to lay down their lives, show mercy to all, and ever have the grace of God on their lips. It was a higher

calling and, to many, a stranger one than had ever been called for in history.

This is the same calling we each have. We are called to lay down our lives, to show mercy to all, and to always have the good news of Jesus on our lips. We should look strange to any culture that we live within because we are the forward advance who is teaching the culture, religion, and mores of a kingdom that is far off. One who will one day come and bring peace unlike any that has ever reigned on earth. We are each from this place and speak the language of this place, but we are devoted to and pointing toward a better heavenly kingdom. So, if you are in awe of Jesus, who he is, and what he has done, then get out there, ekklesia, and spread the good news of the peace of Heaven, which is coming to reign!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Micah Herrick began ministry in 2012 after being commissioned for ministry by his home church, White Oak Christian Church, in Cincinnati, OH. Micah is currently serving HCC as Worship Minister, as well as leading our Evangelism team and coordinating our online presence. He has served in both Youth Ministry and Worship Ministry in Richmond, IN and Knightstown, IN before coming back to Ohio to serve in Hillsboro.

He is pictured here with his wife, Rebecca, kids; Rowan, Luci, Kennedy, and Finn, his mother and father; Steve and Valeri Herrick.

God has been doing amazing things at HCC in 2023!

Alyssa Cline was baptized Sunday, January 1st. Be sure to congratulate her and welcome her to the family.