Sunday Men’s Group

“Revive Your Works in the Midst of Years”

By Creighton Miller

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After morning worship services at Cedar Church (OPC) in Hudsonville, we host a vibrant and highly-instructive Men’s Group, in addition to our small group ministry throughout the week.  Taking our cue from Habakkuk chapter 3 – “revive your works in the midst of years” - we deeply desire and pray for a continual and universal renewal of faith that is timeless – an ongoing spiritual process which dates from ancient days, through contemporary times and well into eternity future.

PRAYER TIME

Each week, our Men’s Group begins with a general time of prayer – adoration, confession, thanksgiving and petitions.  It has been a glorious experience to observe the men share their prayer requests and then pray with such fervency and sincere emotion to advance these “prayer arguments” before the Lord.  Indeed, our prayer time has actually developed into a vigorous platform and sanctuary for “heavy duty prayer.”  We are learning that faith-expressed-through-prayer is the bridge from temporal fear to spiritual courage, and that it is a mighty conduit through which flows an overabundance of God’s grace to the parched sinner.  It is this grace that enhances and energizes the perseverance of the church universal.

PAST TOPICS

Over the past few years, the range of Sunday morning subject matter has been wide and varied.  We have explored a detailed study of the Book of Malachi led by Elder David Van Dyke.  We have enjoyed and debated an enlightening presentation of the classic doctrines of the faith by R.C. Sproul.  We have taken a painful and incisive look at the topic of suffering, using Dan McCartney’s book, Why Does it Have to Hurt?  We have grappled with the theological complexities that can arise when one assumes that People are Big and God is Small, a book by Ed Welch.  Our conclusion – fear of God immediately eradicates any unbalanced and temporal fear of man.  In short, God is quite LARGE in relative perspective.

PRESENT STUDY

Most recently, we have had the edifying opportunity to study Patrick Morley’s book, The Man in the Mirror, which deals with 24 problems that Christian men face on an ongoing basis.  We have actually discovered that the number of problems extend far beyond Morley’s limited number.  In this study, however, we are finding dramatic assistance as Christian men in finding deeper balance in our daily life.  After all, we do live in spiritually stressful times, and this study has clearly revealed that the KEY to achieve Christian “sanity” is the supportive strength of God – attained through humble, meek and prayerful approach to the Lord God of Hosts.

THE VALUE OF OUR MEN’S GROUP

Obviously, the ABSOLUTE spiritual means of growing as a Christian man is the faithful preaching of God’s word, along with its practical application on a daily basis.  In tandem, God calls for the faithful teaching of the Word as well.  Thus, follow-up instruction that is warm and symbiotic is a vital and cherished companion to the formal preaching itself.  That is where Men’s Group comes in.  Men’s Group is an excellent follow up to the morning sermon.  It is curious to note how often the general themes of Men’s Group follows fast upon and reflects the essential themes of the sermon itself.  It is also important to understand that the “method” of Men’s Group is toward interactive discussion, rather than a mini-sermon or lecture.  We want all the men to be directly involved and immediately engaged.

CONCLUSION

It is readily apparent that the faithful teaching of a variety of Christian topics forms the structure of our Men’s Group ministry.  It is Cedar Church’s strong desire for direct, practical and daily application – of all that is learned – as the men make their “Pilgrim’s Progress.”  There is a certain STRENGTH to our STRUCTURE, and it is very clear that renewal is occurring.  In short, that is why our Sunday Morning Men’s Group is so necessary, so attractive, so relevant and so dynamic.  The men cannot help but be moved to ACTION, with head knowledge moving so swiftly to the heart.  And to that I give a hearty “Amen!”