visiting and preaching

Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:15:16 +0100

On the way to our TEAM Italy missions conference in Austria, we stopped in Germany! Don’t ask me who planed this itinerary (me), but it was not exactly “on the way.” The truth is, you don’t have to twist my arm to visit the beautiful black forest of Germany and the school that I still hold so dear in my heart.

We stayed four days with Mike and Loralee, who are some of the sweetest people on the planet, and some of the best cooks too! Another tempting reason to visit. They have known me since childhood and have been faithful friends all the way through. We greatly enjoyed our time with them, covering all the major things that have happened since last we saw them, and resting up a bit after a long stretch in ministry. Partly given the intensity of things, Ruth has been quite sick recently. While we were up Germany we also had the opportunity to visit a ENT specialist that Mike recommended.

On Sunday I had the immense privilege of preaching at BFCF (Black Forest Christian Fellowship), a church which was my home while I attended school there and a church which now supports us on the mission field. If you can to hear the message (this one in English) here is a link:

http://www.bfcf.de/files/BFCF_2012_02_19_Mark_Brucato_Acts_19.mp3

Thanks for all your prayer,
Mark Brucato

Preaching and Teaching

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 11:12:05 +0100

In my opinion it is the “great” passages of the Bible that are the hardest to preach. Of course, all passages are equally great in that they are equally God’s word and of equal necessity for the growth and godliness of the church (2 Tim. 3:16). But those passages which are best known and most dearly cherished in the Christian community, passages like Psalm 23, John 3, Romans 8, can be especially challenging to preach. This happens for a variety of reasons: the hearers may feel “overly” familiar with the text and so loose attentiveness to the element of surprise in the text, or the preacher himself finds the text straightforward and thus compelled to look at a little “unknown” detail while missing the main point, ect.

Compelled in my own study and prayer last week, I felt God directing me towards Isaiah 55 - one of the greatest OT invitation texts. This text is marvelous in its structure, content, and poetic passionate appeal. A good sermon would be simply reading and re-reading the text.

Being deeply and personally impacted by Isaiah 55, I ventured to preach this passage to the Nuova Vita congregation. With much fear and trepidation I tried to honor God by faithfully expositing this passage and allowing for the hearers in our church to experience what the first hearers would have felt. I’m sure I fell a good deal short of that goal, but here is a snippet from the sermon:

EVERYONE'S INVITED!

Have you ever been invited to a special event, maybe a friend’s wedding, or a business party? Invitations, whatever the context, are nice to receive. One of the invitations I received some years back that impressed me was a simple invitation to dinner at the home of a lovely Scottish lady. We had met at a Christian college in Glasgow, and seeing that I was a foreigner, she asked me “for tea” (which means for supper, although I did not know it at the time).
When the day arrived, I showed up at her home thinking I would spend a few hours sitting in a maroon and green classic wingback chair, dialoging about theology and ethics in between sips of Twinning’s tea. As delightful as that thought was, when the front door opened, a much more elaborate evening awaited me.

The table was already replete with food. Fish, meat, various breads, and grilled vegetables filled the table such that there was no room to sit. This of course caught me by pleasant surprise being a young college student used to much less exquisite foods. Even more surprising was that we waited a few minutes before eating because the other guests had not arrived yet. Other guests? I was not aware others were invited. One by one, this lady’s closest friends and relations showed up bearing gifts. Yes, each brought a gift for the special guest … me.

Wow! Food, gifts, new friends... I was overwhelmed, and would have been embarrassed if it were not for the unmistakable joy with which the event was prepared and gifts given. To not receive this moment with similar joy would have been inappropriate. These dear Scottish friends really manifested the truth to me that it is “more blessed to give than to receive.”
When we turn to the Scripture, it is astounding to notice not only the joy of God’s people when receiving from Him, but the joy in God himself as He invites people to come to Him and receive from his banquet table. One of the greatest invitation texts is Isaiah 55: a Scripture passage which is both a metaphorical and theological feast of grace and generosity. The text begins with joy and generosity, because the guests invited are the least likely.
So who can attend and participate in this banquet?

In the first few verses of Isaiah 55, we realize that two types of people are invited to attend: (1) the broke person who knows it, and (2) the broke person who does not yet know it or does not want to confront the reality of being broke. The word “broke” in English helps us because it can describe different states: financial, physical, and even spiritual, metaphorically speaking. “I’m broke” is the cry of a penniless man on the street corner. “All my money is gone and I have no resources whatsoever to meet my needs and wants.” It applies to our bodies when we speak of broken limbs, or even a “broken heart.” Of course, the primary reference in Isaiah 55:1–3 is spiritual: I am empty spiritually, have nothing to which I can appeal, no grounds upon which to make a case. I am broke before God.

The metaphor Isaiah uses is physical hunger and thirst (v.1). This is the overarching metaphor that guides the passage all the way through. It is the physical deprivation that will finally be satisfied through “delighting yourselves in rich food” and this rich food is God’s word, which yields a fertile crop according to God’s design (v.10-11). And, finally, the consummation of this banquet celebration is the growth of cypress and myrtle in the place of thorn and brier – the curse on creation undone and true fruitfulness fulfilled in God’s presence.

Who comes?

This first person invited is the woman at the well. In John’s narrative it seems as if the journey Jesus and his disciples were on mattered little compared to the “coincidental” lunch break meeting. It is precisely at a point of redemptive significance, Jacob’s well, that Jesus waits for the Samaritan woman - the soon to be village evangelist. She comes at noon, a very improbable time to fetch water given the heat of the day, but the most probable time to avoid the other townswomen. A man is there, someone with whom she is far better at talking (based on the narrative we realize that she is certainly not inarticulate or uneducated either). In fact, her dialogue with Jesus, the Jewish teacher, proves more theologically engaging than in the previous chapter with Nicodemus.

Despite the woman’s theological diversions in the conversation, Jesus is direct and reveals her desperate need and deep void. She is an outcast culturally, ethnically, and morally. Though she has a simple jar with which to fetch water, the real spring of Life is sitting before her. She believes that he indeed is the Christ, and is radically transformed that very instant.
Like those whom God invites in Isaiah 55, people of broken water jars, this woman’s search for peace and joy would never find satisfaction without the living waters of Jesus. While we never learn her name, we see clearly the legacy of gospel testimony that she left: “And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on him because of the word of the woman, who testified, He told me all things that I ever did.” To her testimony was added the witness of many others, who came to “know that this is indeed the Savior of the world” (John 4:39,42).

Pray that many people in Bologna will come to know that JESUS is the SAVIOR of the world!!

On to the next project .... Porterbrook Learning!

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:08:08 +0100

God was exceedingly gracious to us during the last weekend, in which we had Dr. David Geisler for our Apologetics Conference.We had 80 attendees from Friday night to Sunday afternoon. We learned not only from the solid content, but also from David’s gospel passion for the lost. This was a great encouragement to many. Another aspect of the conference which was encouraging was to see the presence of 5 different evangelical churches participate in the conference .... unity in reaching our world! Praise God, and thank you for your prayers!

Now I am in Budrio, a town 20 minutes from Bologna with 7 other men working through the training material which we are going to launch for our churches. The material derives from the UK, and is known there as Porterbrook Learning. In Italy it is Percorsi. I am one of the four tutors for this program and will begin regular teaching in February. More to come about this ministry and how it will shape other things in our lives.

As always, thank you for journeying with us!

Apologetics Conference at Nuova Vita

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:54:53 +0100

These days are full of preparation for our three day Apologetics Conference this weekend (13th-15th)!

For some time we have been discussing as church leaders (among three evangelical churches in Bologna) how to equip our members in the social and intellectual climate of our city. The opportunity presented itself to have Dr. Dave Geisler here with us in partnership with SES, Southern Evangelical Seminary (http://www.ses.edu/). A number of other professors are traveling with him and will be doing small-group orientation on specific topics. We are very excited about this unique opportunity.

Well, most things have lined up by now, but I am still going to be running around today; have to make the booklets for the participants. And guess what? ..... We are expecting 75 participants!! Unbelievable! Consider that Nuova Vita Church has about 60 members and 110 attenders on a given Sunday.

Needless to say, we are encouraged and going into this weekend with prayerful and expectant hearts.
Pray along with us!

Prayer update

Wed, 4 Jan 2012 17:17:10 +0100

Some key prayer requests as we enter the new year.

* Wisdom and discernment in planning out our schedules and finances for this new year.

* Driving- It's a long story... but first pray that Mark is able to get his Italian drivers license (already passed written exam, praise God!) Once he does have his license, we are supposedly not allowed to drive our car because Italian law says that "new" drivers have to drive a small car with small engine. We're not sure what we're going to do.

* Porterbrook- Our church is taking part in this training program called Porterbrook (http://www.porterbrooknetwork.org). Mark will be doing a lot of teaching and training and this will be a significant time commitment. We are excited about the unity that has been established among the local churches in Bologna, and that this material will be used for the formation of future leaders in four churches. Please pray for this new initiative.

* Vite Trasformate- Pray for the prostitutes (treasures) in Bologna. We'll be going out again this month with hot tea and seek to show them God's love.

* Non-believers:
S. - my friend from the gym. She came to church with us Christmas Sunday and brought 3 friends!!
O. - The university professor that Mark meets with regularly.
P. - our neighbor who comes to church whenever Mark preaches :)
E. & B. - our friends and Ruth's Italian conversation partners. They come to evangelistic events when invited but we find it hard to get them to talk about their spiritual beliefs.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!!!!!

Finishing Strong and Praising the Lord

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:48:51 +0100

In the last few days we have received a number of contributions to our ministry here in Italy, and for this generosity we remain humbled and greatly encouraged. God knows how to care for His children. We have seen this truth time and time again in the last two years, and the faithfulness of His people in giving is one of these ways.

I am just now finishing study in Psalm 121 which I will share in our New Year’s service tomorrow evening. This Psalm is all about God’s divine aid: his help is without interruption (3-4), without exception (5-6), and without limit (7-8). Our family can testify to this directly, just at the pilgrim psalmist in this song invites us to remember the character of the Lord who watches, with utter faithfulness, over His people.

Let us go into the New Year rejoicing for His divine presence and help.

Walk the Extra Mile

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:53:35 +0100

Walking a mile, and walking an “extra” mile are two very different things. Those of you who are runners/walkers know that by the end of a race you have spent all your energies just getting to the finish line. If it so happened that someone moved the finish line just a mile back, you may consider giving up.
When it comes to cross-cultural missions, the finish line is always just around the corner and at the same time a long way off. For us, the tangible next stage is towards our first “home assignment” – fall 2013. In reality, this date is too far in the future for us to think about, primarily because of the busyness of present ministry.
We would love for you to run these next two years (laps around the track) with us, and we are asking for your partnership in a specific area. Our move to Bologna brought with it increased ministry and an increase in budget. Both our living costs and our ministry work funds are stretched to the limit, and even exceeding the limits. We are looking to raise an additional $500 per month to cover these ministry needs.
When you commit to give through our ministry in Italy, here are some of the tangible things that you are facilitating:
·      Strengthening of an Italian Evangelical church through preaching, teaching, and Biblical training
·      Mentoring young men in their walk with the Lord
·      Reaching out evangelistically though friendship evangelism and teaching English as a second language
·      Discipleship through a College/Career small group
·      Partnering with YFC Italy in youth ministry
·      Preparation of church plant launch
We are humbled to be serving here in Italy, even as we journey together on this walk of faith! You are walking with us through your prayers, sacrificial giving in difficult economic times, through your visits, notes, calls and through so much more!
Walk with us the extra mile as we move forward, trusting that it is God who is always working before, in, after, and over all that we do. He has privileged us to partner with Him, and has privileged us with your support.

Christmas Cookies and Bible Calendars

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 11:10:19 +0100

Yes, it’s finally Christmas Eve!!! Today is a baking and distribution day. Having Ruth’s sister Rebekah here always means baking, cooking, eating ....! And yes, she is a marvelous cook.

The last few days have been dedicated to baking the fabulous “brucato biscotti”! In a few hours we are going to wrap the Bible calenders and visit our neighbors with these little gifts. The calenders have a Bible verse for each day of the year, and a little meditation on the meaning of the verse on the back side. We have actually found that people enjoy these Bible calenders very much.

Pray that God’s word will bear fruit in the lives of our friends and neighbors.

Merry Christmas to all of you! Come over for some biscotti if you are in town! :)

Pasta Evangelism

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:04:24 +0100

During the olive harvest in Italy, as a family we have the privilege of traveling just south of Rome to visit friends. It was an fun trip because we went specifically to be with a family that we had met on vacation this summer. We spent three days with them, and they showed us the warmest italian hospitality imaginable. We picked olives, visited their town and the surrounding countryside, got to know their extended family and close friends, and ate lots of delicious food. One of the traditional things that Ruth got to do was make pasta - fettucini! Through all this time with them we shared our lives, tried to sow gospel seeds, and prayed that God would bless our time with them.

Preaching Workshop Tonight

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 20:06:28 +0100

This is probably one of the favorite things I do in my internship at Nuova Vita Church. Every quarter the Nuova Vita preaching guys (Gianluca, Marco, Giuliano, and me) get together to go over the texts of the sermons and plan in advance the next sermon series. I have affectionately called our group “fratelli di fuoco” (brothers of fire), a title taken from Jeremiah’s prophecies about “fire in the bones.” It is such fun looking at texts together, praying for the needs of the congregation, considering how to structure a given sermon, and refine each other in our preaching style. These three guys are becoming dear friends and ministry partners.
Pray for us tonight as we study and discuss.