Hello again, friend.
It’s been a while! Three months since the end of our last Book Club.
But my little hiatus was for good reason—to become a father.
To prepare a place for a son formed after my own image and likeness—a son formed from Love and for Love.
So I’m not so sorry to keep you all waiting a while. Christians are a waiting people after all.
But you can quit your waiting; for the time is fulfilled, and the fourth iteration of Book Club has come near!
We will be reading Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith by Michael Reeves.
“it is only when you grasp what it means for God to be a Trinity that you really sense the beauty, the overflowing kindness, the heart-grabbing loveliness of God” (p. 9)
I have found what Reeves says here to be absolutely true.
The more I have come to understand God as a Trinity, the more astonished I have become by Him—the more striking and glorious He is in my eyes.
And the more you come to understand Christianity, the more indispensable our understanding God as a Trinity becomes.
As Reeves points out, the Athanasian Creed states that “whosoever will be saved, before all things” a person must believe “that we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in Unity.”
To read that surprised me. That before all things—of first importance—we must understand God as Trinity. That the Trinity is the red-hot center of our faith—the foundation upon which Christianity is built, the key to Christianity making any sense at all.
Maybe you don’t see that. Maybe you’re thinking, “okay, yes I know the Trinity is important; but not the most important thing for a Christian to believe, right?”
If that’s you, read Delighting in the Trinity with us.
I get it. There was a time I knew about and believed in the Trinity, but didn’t see how it really shaped how I view God—and especially not how I lived my life.
But I think that nothing has so acutely magnified the Beauty of God for me than when I have understood the wonderful implications that the Trinity has on the nature of God and how I live my life as His image bearer.
Your vision of God and the purpose of your life will become more and more defined and lovely as you work your way through Delighting in the Trinity with us.
So join the club, friend. Whether you’ve been a part of our previous Book Clubs, you’ve just stumbled upon this substack post, you’re local, or you’re not—you are invited to join us for Book Club 4 : Delighting in the Trinity.
How it will work:
This will function identically to our last Book Club! But if you’re new here, let me explain:
If you’re local, you can pick up a FREE copy of the book at one of TWO LOCATIONS: The Cenacle Bookstore and Cafe (open Tu.-Sa. 10AM-2PM) OR Northridge Church in Peru, NE on a Sunday morning. If you’re joining us from somewhere far away, you’ll have to order your own copy—but you should have time to order it now and have it before the start date!
Starting December 5th, there will be a post every Saturday following the reading schedule below. The post will have some personal reflections, but also serve as an online meeting place for discussion and dialogue in the comments. You’ll get to share your thoughts and questions, as well as interact with the insights of others!
The only requirement of you is to get that week’s reading done sometime before each Saturday, and be ready to share your insights on the discussion post! (participation in the online discussion is not required—we’d love if you simply followed along with the reading on your own if online discussion isn’t your cup of tea)
Also, we HIGHLY encourage you to invite someone else to join the Book Club with you and meet IN PERSON, if possible! We’d love to hear your thoughts in the online discussion, but nothing can replace real, embodied, face-to-face fellowship, so prioritize that if it’s an option for you.
Here’s the schedule:
12/5 - Chapter 1
12/12 - Chapter 2
12/19 - Chapter 3
12/26 - Chapter 4
1/2 - Chapter 5 + Conclusion
One other thing:
We will be pairing a Prize Writing competition with this book club following shortly after our read through. All the details on that will come later—but succinctly, we will hold a non-fiction writing competition with the Trinity as the prompt and some great prizes for the winner! So keep that in the back of your mind as you read through the book this December.
If you have any questions: leave a comment here, send us a message on Substack, or email ty.jones@gospelcoffeeclub.com
Otherwise, grab a drink and a copy of the book from the Cenacle in Auburn, pick one up on a Sunday morning at Northridge Church in Peru, or order your own copy—and join us in this fourth iteration of Book Club!
