Good afternoon  brothers and sisters,

On the Christian calendar, tomorrow is Good Friday. It is the day which, historically, the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church has identified as the day our Savior was crucified, died and was buried. It is the day which literally crushed the expectations of every single one of His disciples. It is the day that ended with unfathomable sorrow, immeasurable grief and extreme anguish of soul for all who knew Him….for all who placed their hope and trust in Him. What they experienced was an utter sense of helplessness. What could they possibly do now? Jesus was dead. All their hope was destroyed as Jesus cried out from the cross, “It is finished.”

Hope is a precious commodity. People can endure more than they ever thought possible if there is a glimmer of hope. But when hope dies something inside us dies and needs to be restored, or dare I say “resurrected?” The immense value of hope cannot be minimized. Paul identifies it as one of the chief virtues we all desperately need. And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:13).

The importance of hope, the significance of hope is illustrated by the frequency with which it appears in Scripture. Here is a sampling of some verses that speak to the nature, the effects, the benefits and the Object of our hope.

²⁴Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord. (Psalm 31:24)

²²Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us, just as we hope in You. (Psalm 33:22)

11Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him,

the help of my countenance and my God. (Psalm 42:11)

¹¹⁴You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word. (Psalm 119:114)

⁵I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. (Psalm 130:5)

¹Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; ⁴and perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)

²⁵But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. (Romans 8:25)

¹⁰Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; ¹¹not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; ¹²rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer. (Romans 12:10-12)

¹³Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)

¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. (Ephesians 1:17-18)

⁴There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling. (Ephesians 4:4)

²⁷To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

²³Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:23)

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (1 Peter 1:3)

¹³Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:13)

¹⁵But sanctify [b]the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. (1 Peter 3:15)

With the death of Jesus, His disciples were bereft of all hope. Their Messiah, their Savior had died an ignominious and shameful death. He was accounted as accursed, for the Scriptures tell us that ¹³Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”). (Galatians 3:13)

But what they did not recognize, what they did not understand was that Jesus had to die if we were to have any hope of life. He died so that we might live.  What they never could have guessed was that this same Jesus who laid down His life had the power to take it up again. This was His own testimony in John 10.

¹⁵ As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. ¹⁶And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.

¹⁷ “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. ¹⁸No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” (John 10:15-18)

So, yes, Jesus died in a most horrible manner. Yes, His body was taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb so that He was buried. But the grave could not hold Him. On the third day, Jesus burst forth from the grave, just as He had repeatedly told His disciples He would do.  But because they did not have ears to hear, because Jesus seemed to be speaking a foreign language when He talked about His coming mistreatment and death, they simply could not grasp the concept resurrection. But all that was about to change.

The Scriptures tell us that early on the first day of the week, some women who had been among His most faithful followers, went to the tomb to further prepare His body for a proper burial. In Matthew’s account, two women are identified by name: Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Mark identifies three women by name: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James

and Salome. Luke identifies three by name (Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother James) but also adds this comment: and the other women were with them. John mentions only Mary Magdalene.

In Matthew’s account, the two women were met by an angel who descended from heaven, rolled back the stone and then told them that he knew they were seeking Jesus who had been crucified. And then he said to them, “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead.” (Matthew 28:6-7)

But before they could return to where the disciples were gathered together so that they might tell them this glorious news,  ⁹“behold, Jesus met them, saying, ‘Rejoice!’ So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.” (Matthew 28:9b-10)

Mark’s account contains some variations. He wrote: ¹Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. ²Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. ³And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” ⁴But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. ⁵And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. ⁶ But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. ⁷But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going [a]before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” ⁸So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Mark adds this slight twist to his account of Jesus resurrection: ⁹Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.  ¹⁰She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. (Mark 16:9-10)

Luke’s account has some several variations as well. He wrote, ¹Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. ²But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. ³Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. ⁵Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, ⁷saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ” ⁸ And they remembered His words. ⁹Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.

John’s account has additional information not found in any of the synoptic Gospels. He wrote: Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. ² Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” ³ Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. ⁴ So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. ⁵ And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, ⁷ and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. ⁸ Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. ⁹ For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. ¹⁰ Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. ¹¹ But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. ¹² And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. ¹³ Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” ¹⁴ Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”

¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her. (John 20:1-18)

Both Mark and Luke record the response of the bulk of the apostles to the news that these women had brought to them. ¹¹And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. (Mark 16:11)

¹¹And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. (Luke 24:11)

They knew that He was dead and buried and that was the end of the story. All the wishful thinking in the world could not change those facts. They were utterly without hope and no alleged sightings of a living Jesus could change that.

Imagine what it must have been like to be in such a state of mind, to be in such despair and despondency that they could not even entertain the possibility that these women had actually see the risen Lord.

And now imagine their shock when two of their brothers who had been traveling to Emmaus were describing their encounter with the risen Lord when suddenly there He stood, right in their midst, for that is exactly what happened. Luke records for us the amazing response of those gathered there. Even with Jesus standing before their very eyes they could not get their minds around the fact the He had risen from the dead. It took a while for that reality to settle in.

³² And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” ³³ So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, ³⁴ saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” ³⁵ And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread. ³⁶ Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” ³⁷ But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. ³⁸ And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹ Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” ⁴⁰When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. ⁴¹ But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” ⁴² So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. ⁴³ And He took it and ate in their presence. (Luke 24;32-43)

Brothers and sisters, I trust this Scripture-laden recounting of our Lord’s resurrection has instilled a longing within you to gather with your brothers and sisters this Lord’s Day to celebrate this eternity-altering event. Eternity itself will not prove adequate to tell of the glories of our Lord, to extol His great sacrifice on our behalf.  Of course this is far from being a rarity. We celebrate our Lord’s Resurrection every single Lord’s Day. Let’s not forget that.

My sermon this Lord’s Day will be focusing on the importance of gardens to the story of redemptive history. Our God makes use of a wide array of literary devices to move that story forward. He uses types and anti-types, metaphors and similes, symbolism and allusion, alliteration and acrostic to name just a few. Several of the most pivotal events of redemptive history are played out in gardens. I will get the Order of Worship to you in the next day or so.

I thought I would give you a link to my all-time favorite Contemporary Christian song about our Lord’s resurrection. It wonderfully portrays the impact on those who understand just how much we need Jesus our Lord and the difference His resurrection makes for us. It’s an oldie but goody.

Please remember that our Spring Feet ‘n Eat  is this Saturday for those who are able to make it. UPDATE: Postponed because of rain.

The following Saturday we need the help of many to take care of a number of projects around our building. The lists are on the back table and there are still plenty of spots available to sign up for a particular job.

Our Resurrection Day breakfast is this Lord’s Day. There is still time to sign-up online.

Announcements/Calendar

·        April 20 – Spring Feet ‘n Eat UPDATE: Postponed because of rain

·        April 21 – Resurrection Day breakfast

·        April 21 – Adults Fellowship Group (westsiders)

·        April 22 – Ladies Group

·        April 27 – Spring Workday (at the building)

·        April 28 – Neighborhood Fellowship

Classic/Encouraging Quotes

Prayer is as natural an expression of faith as breathing is to life. —Jonathan Edwards

The more you read Scripture, the more you actually talk to God rather than think about fear.—Edward Welch

We are not heard for our many words, but for the cry of our hearts. —John MacArthur

The most important exhortation in complementarianism is not for women to sit down, but for men to stand up. —Kevin DeYoung

Ease and luxury, such as our affluence brings us today, do not make for maturity; hardship and struggle however do. —J.I. Packer

Death breaks the union between the body and the soul, but perfects the union between Christ and the soul. —Thomas Watson

Important/Helpful/Challenging Links

It’s time to go on the offensive

            Rebecca McLaughlin

When it comes to giving reasons for our faith, we Christians are playing far too defensive a game.

We’ve believed that Christianity is declining. It isn’t. We’ve assumed Christianity can’t stand up in the university. It can. Too many of us think Christianity is threatened by diversity. It never has been. And too few of us think Christian sexual ethics are sustainable in the modern world. They are. On these and many other fronts, we have conceded far more ground to secularism than it deserves.

But we’ve also been playing too aggressive a game. We’ve majored on point-scoring and culture-warring, when the Bible calls us to “gentleness and respect” (1 Pet. 3:15). We’ve propagated weak arguments without listening to real experts. And we’ve blindly stepped out into cultural traffic, rather than taking our lead from those with the credibility to speak.

If we are to be faithful in this cultural moment, we must be neither retreaters nor attackers, neither (needlessly) defensive nor (faithlessly) aggressive. Instead, we must go on a “gentle offensive.” Here are five things that will help.  READ MORE…

He Sealed His Fate with a Song: The Most Famous Psalm in Scripture

            David Mathis

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” (Psalm 110:1)

He almost sealed his fate that Sunday. Riding in on the humble steed (Matthew 21:7; Zechariah 9:9), he had stirred up the whole city with messianic hopes (Matthew 21:10–11). Then Monday he cleansed the temple, and refused to rebuke the children’s hosannas (Matthew 21:15–16). Now there was no turning back, and he confirmed it with his words on Tuesday.

With each passing hour, Jesus drew nearer to the lion’s jaws. In just three days, he would be shamed and humiliated, tortured and executed — each step toward Calvary met with increasing friction. Yet, on the inside, he was singing.

As he walked that harrowing road, he was rehearsing the Psalms and living out the ancient Script with every act of faith. On Tuesday, he drew the Psalm from its blessed scabbard, stumping the brightest minds of his day and silencing the loudest mouths. Now, their only recourse would be to kill him.  READ MORE…

What Do Expiation and Propitiation Mean?

            R.C. Sproul

When we talk about the vicarious aspect of the atonement, two rather technical words come up again and again: expiation and propitiation. These words spark all kinds of arguments about which one should be used to translate a particular Greek word, and some versions of the Bible will use one of these words and some will use the other one. I’m often asked to explain the difference between propitiation and expiation. The difficulty is that even though these words are in the Bible, we don’t use them as part of our day-to-day vocabulary, so we aren’t sure exactly what they are communicating in Scripture. We lack reference points in relation to these words.  READ MORE…

How the Lord’s Supper Reminds Me of the Lord’s Grip

            Daryl Crouch    

Learning to ride a bike on a bike that has no brakes. Dabbing my fingers in red paint and chasing my sisters around while screaming “Bloody fingers! Bloody fingers!” Crawling under the choir loft to play war after Royal Ambassadors on Wednesday nights. Those events set up memories early in my life that I’ll never forget.

While taking the Lord’s Supper recently, I saw again how early spiritual patterns are often the ones that sustain us later in life.

A man named Roger captured my attention because he suffers from early onset dementia. Roger is a faithful husband, father, and grandfather, but he is now in a season where his loving wife picks him up from a residential care facility every Sunday and brings him to church. He provided well for his family over the years and saved enough money to make possible his care.

Roger’s capacity is limited, his memory short, his usefulness waning. Yet every Sunday he shows up to worship King Jesus with a smile on his face. Always in slacks, a dress shirt, and a perfectly tied necktie that lands just above his belt buckle, Roger stands with hands clasped in front, moving them up and down to the sound of the music as he sings every word of every song.

After attending the first service, Roger stands in the back of the sanctuary during the music of the second service. His participation is never distracting, but never passive. He may have forgotten some things, lost a few skills and a few steps, but he hasn’t forgotten how to worship his great God.  READ MORE…

Proudly Humble

            Tim Challies

Sometimes pride looks an awful lot like humility. There are times that our pride convinces us to put on a great show of what looks to all the world like humility so that we will be seen and acknowledged by others. We swell with pride when we hear, “He is humble.” It is a tricky thing, the human heart—prone to deceive both ourselves and others.

The Apostle Paul was a genuinely humble man. He had a deep awareness of his own sin and a profound sense of his own unworthiness before God. When he wrote to the church at Philippi, he went to great lengths to explain that he knew himself to be the chief of sinners. He remembered with shame that by persecuting the Lord’s church, he had persecuted the Lord Himself (Phil. 3:6; Acts 9:4). He had much to humble him. READ MORE…

You’re Dead, Start Acting Like It

            Chris Thomas

Or maybe I should have led with, “You’re Alive, Start Living Like It!” Both statements are true. At least that’s what Paul argues in his short gospel-rich book to the Colossian believers.

As the fragmentation of our modern, Western culture breaks its banks and washes sediment into our churches, as the gaps widen and the edges grow sharper, as the rhetoric rages ever brighter and the disenfranchised retreat in bruised hurt — now, even as much as it was needed then, we need to hear Paul’s fatherly exhortation:

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. (Colossians 2:20–23, ESV)

READ MORE…

450 Free eBooks Listed Alphabetically by Author

We believe the Church should have open access to Scripturally/Theologically sound edifying Christian literature and that one need not be held back from having a significant Christian library because of cost. Our ministry at Monergism involves providing quality Christian literature in accessible formats for free. These eBooks are high quality (not scanned) and available in ePub, .mobi (kindle) & .pdf formats, each with actively linked table of contents.  The links below will take you to the download page. Lord Willing, this list will continue to grow.  CHECK THIS OUT….

The Best Hike in Every State

Alpine scrambles and beach-front strolls; multi-day singletrack adventures and quick urban escapes; soaring trees and rolling sand dunes—every state in the country has something to offer intrepid hikers. So we rounded up a bucket-list-worthy, best-of-the-best guide.  AN AMAZING RESOURCE…    Where was this 40 years ago!!!

Blessings,

Pastor Mark                                                                                                                                       

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

“In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight.” J. Gresham Machen

“When Christ calls a man – he bids him come and die.”  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Good morning brothers and sisters,

It looks as if Spring may finally have arrived. Temperatures in the 50s and 60s over the next two weeks is a good sign. It has been a long, hard winter. ‘Course that could be just my age talking. All I know is that it is delightful to walk outside and feel a warm breeze on my face instead of a biting cold wind.

Patti and I have been reading in Luke’s Gospel. Yesterday, we read this verse from chapter 9: “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” This is actually a paraphrase of a verse from one of the four Servant Songs found in Isaiah, all foretelling the coming Messiah. Isaiah 50:7 says this: “For the Lord God will help Me; therefore I will not be disgraced; therefore I set my face like a flint, and I know that I will not be ashamed.”

As these four Servant Songs progress, the mission of the Messiah comes more clearly into focus. I have included them in this Post-it for your edification. They would be a helpful resource upon which you might reflect and meditate as we approach the celebration of our Lord’s resurrection.

14 ¹“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
² He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
³ A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth.
⁴ He will not fail nor be discouraged,
Till He has established justice in the earth;
And the coastlands shall wait for His law.”

49 ¹“Listen, O coastlands, to Me,
And take heed, you peoples from afar!
The Lord has called Me from the womb;
From the ^[a]matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name.
² And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword;
In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me,
And made Me a polished shaft;
In His quiver He has hidden Me.”

³ “And He said to me,
‘You are My servant, O Israel,
In whom I will be glorified.’
⁴ Then I said, ‘I have labored in vain,
I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain;
Yet surely my ^[b]just reward is with the Lord,
And my ^[c]work with my God.’ ”

⁵ “And now the Lord says,
Who formed Me from the womb to be His Servant,
To bring Jacob back to Him,
So that Israel is ^[d]gathered to Him
(For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord,
And My God shall be My strength),
⁶ Indeed He says,
‘It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant
To raise up the tribes of Jacob,
And to restore the preserved ones of Israel;
I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles,
That You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”

^{50 4} “The Lord God has given Me
The tongue of the learned,
That I should know how to speak
A word in season to him who is weary.
He awakens Me morning by morning,
He awakens My ear
To hear as the learned.
⁵ The Lord God has opened My ear;
And I was not rebellious,
Nor did I turn away.
⁶ I gave My back to those who struck Me,
And My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard;
I did not hide My face from shame and spitting.

⁷ “For the Lord God will help Me;
Therefore I will not be disgraced;
Therefore I have set My face like a flint,
And I know that I will not be ashamed.
⁸ He is near who justifies Me;
Who will contend with Me?
Let us stand together.
Who is ^[a]My adversary?
Let him come near Me.
⁹ Surely the Lord God will help Me;
Who is he who will condemn Me?
Indeed they will all grow old like a garment;
The moth will eat them up.

52 ¹³ Behold, My Servant shall ^[a]deal prudently;
He shall be exalted and ^[b]extolled and be very high.
¹⁴ Just as many were astonished at you,
So His visage^[c] was marred more than any man,
And His form more than the sons of men;
¹⁵ So shall He ^[d]sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths at Him;
For what had not been told them they shall see,
And what they had not heard they shall consider.

53 ¹Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
² For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no ^[e]form or ^[f]comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no ^[g]beauty that we should desire Him.
³ He is despised and ^[h]rejected by men,
A Man of ^[isorrows and acquainted with ^[j]grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

⁴ Surely He has borne our ^[k]griefs
And carried our ^[l]sorrows;
Yet we ^[m]esteemed Him stricken,
^[n]Smitten by God, and afflicted.
⁵ But He was wounded^[o] for our transgressions,
He was ^[p]bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes^[q] we are healed.
⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord ^[r]has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

⁷ He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
So He opened not His mouth.
⁸ He was taken from ^[s]prison and from judgment,
And who will declare His generation?
For He was cut off from the land of the living;
For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.
⁹ And ^[t]they made His grave with the wicked—
But with the rich at His death,
Because He had done no violence,
Nor was any deceit in His mouth.

¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to ^[u]bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.
^11 [v]He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.
By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,
For He shall bear their iniquities.
¹² Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,
And He shall divide the ^[w]spoil with the strong,
Because He poured out His soul unto death,
And He was numbered with the transgressors,
And He bore the sin of many,
And made intercession for the transgressors.

This Lord’s Day we will continue our exposition of 1 Peter. Our text will be 1 Peter 4:12-18 where Peter gives his largest (and last) commentary yet on the theme of suffering. This is a meaty series of verses so we will take some time looking at them in detail. The Order of Worship is attached.

Please remember that our fellowship meal is this Lord’s Day as well and that will be followed by a season of prayer. We have  much about which we need to be praying, so please join us as we avail ourselves of this powerful means of grace.

Finally, please put April 27 on your calendar. Our deacons have scheduled a workday for some much-needed Spring cleaning and repair work. There is a list of projects on the back table from which you may choose. I would remind you that this is our “home” and we need as many family members as possible to accomplish these numerous tasks. So please stop by and sign up for one (or more) of these projects. A fair number of them can be done as your schedule permits.

Announcements/Calendar

·        April 7 – Fellowship Meal

·        April 7 – Prayer service (immediately following Fellowship Meal)

·        April 8 – Ladies Group

·        April 10 – Session meets

·        April 14 – Young Adults Fellowship Group

·        April 15 – Adults Fellowship Group (townies)

·        April 20 – Spring Feet ‘n Eat

·        April 21 – Resurrection Day breakfast

·        April 21 – Adults Fellowship Group (westsiders)

·        April 22 – Ladies Group

·        April 27 – Spring Workday (at the building)

·        April 28 – Neighborhood Fellowship

Classic/Encouraging Quotes

Do you feel loved by God because you believe he makes much of you, or because you believe he frees you and empowers you to enjoy making much of him? —John Piper

The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God. —Martin Luther

The decay of the church is never the fault of the world. Inward spiritual decline always precedes outward collapse. —Sinclair Ferguson

Learn much of your own heart; and when you have learned all you can, remember you have seen but a few yards into a pit that is unfathomable. —Robert Murray McCheyne

What an almost infinite field there is for mercies negative! We cannot even imagine all that God has allowed us not to do, not to be. —Frances Ridley Havergal

God is not glorified by self-generated righteousness or human will power. He is glorified when we both make it our aim to glorify Him and depend on Christ through His Spirit to enable us to do so. —Jerry Bridges

A fearer of God steers the rudder of his life according to the compass of the Word. —Thomas Watson

Important/Helpful/Challenging Links

Self-Righteousness Wears Many Disguises

            Trevin Wax  

Recently, I wrote a column about the preface to Jesus’s parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector and what that introductory comment tells us about the connection between trusting in yourself and looking down on others. When we look at the parable itself, particularly the description of the Pharisee, we should take note of just how easy it is to be self-deceived about our own self-righteousness.

Today, we’re used to reading the worst possible motives into the character of the Pharisee. But Jesus’s original listeners would not have assumed that the Pharisee was the bad guy, not at first. They would have seen this Pharisee as a model citizen—a decent, upstanding religious man who was pious in his practice. READ MORE…

How Not to Study the End Times

            William Boekestein

Eschatology, the study of the last things, is a fancy word for something we all already do. All of us think about the end. Yes, our culture and our fears push to the periphery thoughts of our death and the life hereafter. But count on it: at some point in your life, you are going to agonize over what will happen to you after you breathe your last. You can’t attend a funeral—whether of a religious or nonreligious person—without hearing somebody’s eschatology, their concept of what happens after death. We are all eschatologists. But that doesn’t mean we always engage the end times well. In at least three ways, we could go wrong in this most basic theological discipline.  READ MORE…

Calvin’s Failed Missionaries Were Just the First Wave in Brazil

            Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra   

When Vinicius Pimentel was 12 years old, his parents got divorced, and he started going to church by himself in Americana, São Paulo.

He didn’t go to the Nazarene church he grew up in, but to a neo-Pentecostal church. At first, there “was not a lot of good theology but not a lot of bad theology—just love for Jesus and evangelism and, of course, the gifts of the Spirit.”

But over the 12 years he spent there, the teaching moved steadily into “more health-and-wealth theology and coaching to be the best version of yourself,” Pimentel said. As a leader, he worked hard to attract more people to the faith, even planning a disco party at the church.

“We tried to attract people with any possible strategy, to convince them to be converted,” he said. And then he broke his leg. He calls it his “God wrestling with Jacob” moment.

“I had more time to be at home on the internet,” he said. While browsing a Christian YouTube channel, he clicked one that was at the top because it was trending in the United States—evangelist Paul Washer’s “shocking message.”

Read more here: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/calvins-failed-missionaries-first-wave-brazil/

What Judges Teaches the Church

            Robert Godfrey

And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. (Judg. 2:10)

It seems incredible that it could happen. Only a generation after Joshua, Israel no longer knew the Lord. How is such a development possible?

This is a very important question, not just for the ancient Israelites, but for us. Churches, too, have seen sudden decline from one generation to another. How can we understand and prevent this kind of calamity?

The book of Judges provides a very clear answer to our questions. Its answer does not say everything that might be said in general, but it does say specific, crucial things that we must ponder to understand both Israel’s situation and our vulnerability.  READ MORE…

Does Modesty Matter Anymore?

            Chris Thomas

I’ve wanted to write this post for some time. I believe it’s a message needed more than ever, yet part of me is still fearful. I’m afraid my voice will be swept up among the boorish voices of ignorant men keen to blame their juvenile lusts on someone other than themselves. My options then are to either dissent silently, or swing in my opinion of what Scripture says. I’m not willing to do either.

Though there has been a growing voice, dominant in wider society and growing in volume even within the church, that has said, “Modesty is for a by-gone era, it holds no purchase now.” — I cannot escape that in the currency of God’s values, modesty matters. I guess the question we must ask though is, why? Many who argue for modesty (often men) use as their foundational argument the effect on men when modesty is laid aside. I’d like to come back to that argument a little later, but first I think there is a greater principle at stake when considering modesty in today’s culture.  READ MORE…

Cultivating Earth and Eternity

            J.K. Wall

Sixty years ago this year, Henry Van Til’s The Calvinistic Concept of Culture was first published. It’s still must reading today.

Why? Because it presents a clear solution to many of the controversies we’ve seen over the relationship of Christians to culture, church to state. The key to solving them is the mediatorial kingship of Christ. READ MORE…

Blessings,

Pastor Mark                                                                                                                                       

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

“In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight.” J. Gresham Machen

“When Christ calls a man – he bids him come and die.”  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Good afternoon brother and sisters…

I so enjoy reading, studying and meditating on the Psalms. I try to spend little time there as often as I can.

In the two opening verses of Psalm 31, David approaches Yahweh with these words: Deliver me! Rescue me! Save me!

What is the chief thing from which we need to be rescued, even after coming to saving faith in Christ? Is it not our sin?

So we pray:

Lord keep me from sin.

Lord keep me from wandering away from You.

Lord keep me from forfeiting the joys of my salvation.

Lord keep me watchful and vigilant.

Lord keep me from whatever is inconsistent with the love and allegiance I owe to Christ.

Lord keep me humble and thankful, grateful and submissive.

Lord keep me from the dominion of pride or selfishness.

Lord keep me from being over-anxious and over-troubled about earths many things.

Lord keep me from surrendering my heart and it’s affections to the base compliances and maxims of this present evil world.

Lord keep me from all indolence and sloth.

Lord keep me from all unworthy ambitions and debasing allurements.

Lord keep me from all that would interfere with my brothers well-being.

Lord keep me from every breach of love.

Lord, deliver me… Lord, rescue me… Lord save me.

This Lord’s Day we will continue our exposition 1 Peter. The text we will be considering is 1 Peter 4:1-6. There is some interesting language in these verses, especially verses 1 and 6. Please pray that the word would be preached with power and that it would accomplish that purpose for which God sends it forth. The Order of Worship is attached.

Please remember that this Lord’s Day is the final one of the month which means that we will be heading down to Neighborhood Fellowship to serve a meal to our brothers and sisters and others who need the grace of Christ demonstrated to them in tangible ways.

Our deacons are planning a major workday at our building on April 27. We will need all the help we can get. The list of projects is attached. A fair number of them can be done as your schedule permits.

Announcements/Calendar

·        March 24 – Neighborhood Fellowship

·        March 25 – Ladies Group

·        March 31 – Psalm/hymn sing

·        April 1 – Adults Fellowship Group (townies)

·        April 3 – Deacons meet

·        April 7 – Fellowship Meal

·        April 7 – Prayer service (immediately following Fellowship Meal)

·        April 8 – Ladies Group

·        April 10 – Session meets

·        April 14 – Young Adults Fellowship Group

·        April 15 – Adults Fellowship Group (townies)

·        April 20 – Spring Feet ‘n Eat

·        April 21 – Resurrection Day breakfast

·        April 21 – Adults Fellowship Group (westsiders)

·        April 22 – Ladies Group

·        April 27 – Spring Workday (at the building)

·        April 28 – Neighborhood Fellowship

Classic/Encouraging Quotes

At any rate, cost what it may, to separate ourselves from those who separate themselves from the truth of God is not alone our liberty, but our duty. – C.H. Spurgeon

Let the man who would hear God speak read Holy Scripture. – Martin Luther

Take the world, but give me Jesus; In His cross my trust shall be, till, with clearer, brighter vision face to face my Lord I see. —Fanny Crosby

Everybody wants to enjoy heaven after they die, but they don’t want to be heavenly-minded while they live. —D.L. Moody

The riches of His free grace cause me daily to triumph over all the temptations of the wicked one, who is very vigilant, and seeks all occasions to disturb me. —George Whitefield

Prayer is not so much an act as it is an attitude—an attitude of dependency, dependency upon God. —A.W. Pink

Where one thousand are destroyed by the world’s frowns, ten thousand are destroyed by the world’s smiles. The world, siren-like, sings us and sinks us. —Thomas Brooks

Important/Helpful/Challenging Links

A Horror of Theology

      Nick Batzig

The noisy gongs of acerbic and judgmental discernment bloggers, podcasters, vloggers and conference speakers are scattered throughout our social media feeds…and they’re here to stay. The uncharitableness with which such individuals speak online immediately ought to leave a bad taste in the mouth of Christ’s true lambs. After all, the fruit of the Spirit in the life of believers is an inextricable constituent of doctrinal truth. No amount of insistence that one is speaking the truth in love (when, in fact, he is speaking the truth in anger) will mask the fact that he is actually speaking in loveless pride. As Jesus said, “A tree is known by its fruit.” The bitter fruit of an acrimonious “truth speaker” will inevitably be the bringing forth of disciples more fractious than himself. Nevertheless, the root of the problem does not lie in a love of the truth and a desire to trumpet forth sound doctrine–it is rooted in pride and self-love. READ MORE…

We All Live in Marx’s World Now

     Carl Trueman                                                                                                                                                    

The term “cultural Marxism” has recently entered the mainstream vocabulary of orthodox Christianity. A staple of the media of Twitter and blogs, it seems to have gone the way of all sophisticated ideas when reduced to a few hundred characters and placed in the hands of those with too much time to troll yet not apparently enough to think. It has become a verbal bullet, designed to kill any opponent on the left, much as “white privilege” has come to be used to hit those on the right.

Yet the emergence of the term, and even its deployment in inconsequential Twitter exchanges, points to an interesting and perhaps disturbing pathology of our times. Indeed, it witnesses to the fact that, while Karl Marx and his progeny may have lost the economic battle, a good case can be made for saying they’re winning the cultural struggle.

In this sense, we all live in Marx’s world now.  READ MORE…

A Guide for Bible Reading

     Jared Olivetti

I hope your personal and family worship is going well! From painful personal experience, I know how easy it is to let this most basic spiritual discipline slide, especially when it feels like you’re not “getting something” out of it. In recent conversations with my own kids as well as friends in the church, I’ve been reminded that we all need both encouragement and instruction in Bible reading. Encouragement because we have real enemies who would keep us from it and instruction because we’re not naturally good at it. That is, just because we have the Bible open and are reading words on a page doesn’t necessarily mean we’re reading it correctly and in a way that will benefit us spiritually.  READ MORE…

The Story of Marriage in Seven Verses

      David Mathis

Recently I married an unusually mature couple. Both groom and bride were in their late thirties. They had waited with admirable patience. Both were established in life and in faith, and they knew where they each stood: together on God’s word. Few couples, if any, that I’ve married have demonstrated such clear, solid, stable footing together on the rock of what God has said in the Bible. READ MORE…

The Blessing of the Gift of Prayer

      David Qaoud

Lately, I’ve been thinking about the benefits of being a Christian. There are so many that I hardly know where to start. I can easily write about the gifts of justification, sanctification, or adoption (and many others similar to it). But in this post, I want to keep it simple. I want to focus on a blessing that we may sometimes overlook — the blessing of the gift of prayer.

Isn’t it amazing that the God of the Bible allows his people to communicate with him through prayer?

I think sometimes we take for granted this access we have to God. But if you pause and think about the various dimensions of prayer and just how beneficial this access to God is, it will bless your soul.  READ MORE…

The Character of the Christian: Mature and Humble

       Tim Challies

Today we continue our series on the character of the Christian. We are exploring how the various character qualifications of elders are actually God’s calling on all Christians. While elders are meant to exemplify these traits, all Christians are to exhibit them. I want us to consider whether we are displaying these traits and to learn together how we can pray to have them in greater measure. Today we will consider why elders—and all Christians—must strive to live mature and humble lives.

Paul tells Timothy, “[An elder] must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:6). This is a call to spiritual maturity and we learn that elders must be mature for at least two reasons: Because maturity is accompanied by the virtue of humility and because immaturity is accompanied with the vices of pride and condemnation. Thus we must give positions of responsibility only to those who are spiritually mature. John Piper writes, “the new believer, given too much responsibility too soon, may easily swell with pride. The implication is that part of Christian seasoning is a humbling process and a growing protection against pride. We should see evidences in his life that humility is a fixed virtue and not easily overturned.”  READ MORE…

Blessings,

Pastor Mark                                                                                                                                       

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

“In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight.” J. Gresham Machen

“When Christ calls a man – he bids him come and die.”  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Good evening brother and sisters…

Early tomorrow morning I, along with Elder Cameron Cox, will be heading for Springfield Ohio for the Spring Stated Meeting of the Presbytery of Ohio. That always makes for a busy week and that pattern has not changed for this week.

Sooo, I will be quite brief in this edition of Pastor’s Post-it.

I trust you remember that this weekend Daylight Savings Time kicks in. Yep, we lose an hour of sleep unless you get yourself to bed an hour earlier than usual.

This Lord’s Day we will be blessed to have Rev. Danny Olinger with us. In his former position as the Regional Home Missionary of the Presbytery of Ohio, Danny was hugely influential in shepherding us into the OPC. He personally mentored me for nearly a year in preparation for my examinations by the Presbytery Ohio. He presently serves as the General Secretary of Christian Education for the OPC. In that role, he has oversight for our monthly denominational magazine, New Horizons as well as the journal for church offices, Ordained Servant. His office also oversees the MTIOPC (Ministerial Training Institute) which provides ongoing training for ministers, elders and deacons. Those are just a few of the numerous duties which are part of his job description. He will be bringing us an update on the work of Christian Education as well as opening God’s Word for us. It is both a privilege and a delight to have him here with us. He is a most dear brother.  The Order of Worship is attached.

Announcements/Calendar

·        March 11 – Ladies Group

·        March 13 – Session meets

·        March 16 – Young Adults Fellowship Group

·        March 17 – Adults Fellowship Group (westsiders)

·        March 18 – Adults Fellowship Group (townies)

·        March 24 – Neighborhood Fellowship

·        March 25 – Ladies Group

·        March 31 – Psalm/hymn sing

·        April 1 – Adults Fellowship Group (townies)

·        April 3 – Deacons meet

·        April 7 – Fellowship Meal

·        April 7 – Prayer service (immediately following Fellowship Meal)

·        April 8 – Ladies Group

·        April 10 – Session meets

·        April 14 – Young Adults Fellowship Group

·        April 15 – Adults Fellowship Group (townies)

·        April 20 – Spring Feet ‘n Eat

·        April 21 – Resurrection Day breakfast

·        April 21 – Adults Fellowship Group (westsiders)

·        April 22 – Ladies Group

·        April 27 – Spring Workday (at the building)

·        April 28 – Neighborhood Fellowship

Classic/Encouraging Quotes

You say, ‘If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.’ You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled. —C.H. Spurgeon+

“Thinking Christian” should be a redundancy, not an oxymoron. —Albert Mohler

Nothing so clears the vision and lifts up the life, as a decision to move forward in what you know to be entirely the will of the Lord. —John Paton

The common, outward prosperity may be given to the wicked, who have their portion in this life, prosperity of soul is not. —Richard Baxter

Lord, the task is impossible for me but not for Thee. Lead the way and I will follow. —Mary Slessor

Important/Helpful/Challenging Links

The Peacemakers

            Dustin Benge

With each passing beatitude in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, it becomes more and more clear that a person cannot be a genuine Christian without have their attitudes and actions completely and radically transformed from the inside out. Regardless the extent of your exegetical gymnastics, there is no possibility of developing a theology of salvation by works from Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5. In fact, it is quite the opposite. The beatitudes are shining reminders that when a person is saved by grace through faith, their life will begin to manifest attitudes of genuine humility, gentleness, righteousness, mercy, purity, and peacemaking.

In Matthew 5:9, Jesus states, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” Jesus is not giving priority to how one might become a “son of God,” but is emphasizing that the likeness of “sons of God” have to their heavenly Father––for God is a “God of peace” (Romans 16:20; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; Hebrews 13:20). From the moment man was exiled from the garden in Genesis 3 because of sin to the climax of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God’s plan has been to bring about lasting peace between himself and man, and then between man and man. Paul describes God as a peacemaker in 2 Corinthians 5:19, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.” Therefore, since this is a characteristic of their heavenly Father, peacemaking should also characterize the “sons of God.” READ MORE…

The Training Ground of Sound Doctrine

            Tim Challies

For over a decade, I have been reviewing books that are of particular interest to Christians. While the vast majority of the titles I have reviewed are solid works founded on biblical principles, I am far better known for those occasional reviews of the very worst  books in the Christian world. Sadly, these books that teach the worst are often the books that sell the best.

I do not relish writing such reviews. That’s partly because they meet plenty of backlash. But it’s mostly because I find writing them very sorrowful. It’s sorrowful to witness the church’s widespread theological ignorance exposed by these books’ popularity. Because Christians are not trained in sound doctrine, they wholeheartedly embrace error, often finding it more satisfying than God’s revealed truth.

There are many reasons that ignorance pervades today’s church. For decades, Christians have focused on felt needs rather than doctrinal truth. We have focused on immediately-applicable topical sermons rather than verse-by-verse exposition that unleashes the whole truth of God’s whole Word. We have ceased catechizing our children, building within them a solid, systematic foundation for their faith. We have emphasized Christianity as a relationship with God at the expense of Christianity as an established body of truth. In so many ways, we have focused on feelings rather than facts. We have attempted to make Christianity palatable by making it simplistic.

Why I Don’t See Tithing as the Pinnacle of Christian Virtue, OR as Something Legalistic

            Randy Alcorn

I first became aware of tithing as a teenager when my pastor preached on the importance of supporting the local congregation. His sermon drew on Galatians 6:6: “Anyone who receives instruction in the word must share all good things with his instructor.”

As a new believer, I was already giving significantly beyond 10 percent to world missions and organizations working with suffering Christians. However, what I determined to do at that point was to give 10 percent to the church. I then sensed a vested interest in my church. By that time I understood what Jesus was saying in Matthew 6:19–21, in terms of storing up for ourselves treasures in Heaven, and when you give to something, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. READ MORE…

Desperately Seeking Transcendence

            Owen Strachan

The church, an institution whose existence transcends present history, struggles to offer its members its own chief good: transcendence.

The church is not made by men. It was not created by an agency. It has no earthly origin. The church is the brainchild of God. The church has existence for one and only reason: God dreamed it into being. God began it. God wanted it to exist.

As the people of God, the church is more about heaven than earth. It is not as if earth created the church. Heaven created the church. The church only lives at all because the Father willed to form a people for Himself by the blood of his Son and the sealing of his Spirit (Ephesians 1). Take away God, and there is no church. There is no worship. There is no people of God.

How strange, then, that churches would grasp after immanence in their weekly worship. How odd that churches would strive “to make people feel comfortable” in their services. There is nothing quaint and glancing about worshipping God in the Bible. Though we view worship in anodyne terms—dimmed lights and flaring guitars—biblical worship centers in holy duties: reading the Word, confessing our sin, singing hymns to God, sitting under the Word preached. These are not immanentist activities. They are holy, set-apart duties of the church.  READ MORE..

How Do We Explain Talking Donkeys and Burning Bushes?

            Dan DeWitt     

Dear pastor,

I’m completely committed to the authority of the Word of God and to all it teaches including its inspiration, inerrancy, and infallibility. Unfortunately, I have this nagging doubt that I feel plagues me at times when I read certain portions of Scripture. It’s not a doubt caused by “apparent” contradictions and the like, but a reservation and doubt as I read the portions that seem like they could be straight out of a fairy tale—things like a talking serpent, a special tree, a burning bush, Balaam’s talking donkey, Samson slaying a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey, a pillar of cloud and fire that went ahead of the Israelites in the wilderness, and so on. On top of that, there are the difficult passages that gnaw at the question of God’s goodness when he deals out justice. When I read Scripture with my children and things like these come up, I feel perplexed and even a little disingenuous as I try to communicate why these stories are true but why those in The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe are not. Could you help?

Dear Josh,

Thank you for your note. I appreciate your honesty. Please know that doubt isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. Doubt can be a sign that you are taking your faith seriously. I sometimes worry about Christians who have no questions. That can be a sign they aren’t paying much attention to their faith or the world around them.

You mentioned that you believe the Bible but sometimes struggle with parts that seem like they could be ripped from a fairy tale: talking snakes and donkeys, fish swallowing men whole then vomiting them up on land so they can preach God’s judgment, and stuff like the sun standing still for an entire day. READ MORE…

Has Christian Apologetics Failed?

            Esther O’Reilly

In the past year, I have been writing extensively about the Jordan Peterson phenomenon and what the Church can take away from it. As I and friends of mine have observed, Peterson’s rise has been sparking a surprising and heartening renewal of interest in spiritual things generally and Christianity specifically. Pastors all around the world have reported that people, young men in particular, are literally wandering into their churches for the first time at a shockingly accelerated rate. By any standard, this is good news for Christians. But it’s sparked a certain amount of reflection, some of which I summed up in my last post on the topic, “5 Lessons Jordan Peterson Has Taught the Church.” Today, I want to look at one specific sub-question that Peterson’s rise has induced in some of my discussion circles: Has Christian apologetics failed?

To imitate Peterson’s signature style of question-answering, it depends on what you mean by “apologetics.” And it depends on what you mean by “failed.”

Because “Christian apologetics” is not a monolith, it’s important to make some distinctions when answering this question. Are we talking about Ray Comfort, Sye Ten Bruggencate, and Ken Ham? Or are we talking about William Lane Craig, John Lennox, or Ravi Zacharias? Are we talking about young earth and global flood apologetics, or arguments for the resurrection and the reliability of the gospels? Are we talking about general arguments for theism? Are we talking in broad outline about any attempt to “reason one’s way to God” within what some might pejoratively call a “modernist frame?” It’s not my intent to do a deep dive into all the various and sundry “apologetics cottage industries” here. My point is simply that context matters, and the answer to our main question will vary depending on which context we choose.  READ MORE…

Blessings,

Pastor Mark                                                                                                                                       

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

“In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight.” J. Gresham Machen

“When Christ calls a man – he bids him come and die.”  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ,

Over the last number of weeks, I have made several references to the book I’m reading on Jonathan Edwards and his understanding, his view of the Christian life. I have been moving slowly through this book for the simple reason that  every chapter is meaty and requires time for reflection. But the one chapter that has most impacted me is that which addresses Edwards’ understanding of Christians as pilgrims, Christians as sojourners. I’ve read that chapter at least five times and each time its truths sink down more deeply into my soul. I would love to include the entire chapter in this weekly email but I suspect that a fair number of you who do read the Post-it each week would find it daunting. But I will ask your indulgence to quote a couple of pages from this chapter. Hopefully it will incite you desire to read the entire chapter or, better yet, read the entire book. So, here’s a snippet of the richness found in this chapter.

By the standards of Hollywood and Wall Street, Christians are of all people the most to be pitied. But bank accounts and social standing are not the true measuring bar. Life in this fallen world often feels like walking through a tornado; but even in a tornado there is a calm eye of the storm. The eye of life’s tornado is the calm hope of our final destination. Only this delivers true peace. We therefore remain calm and stayed on God when life upends us. We come to echo the sentiment expressed in a journal entry by David Brainerd, who stayed in Edwards home for a time and whose journal Edwards read and published: “I hoped that my weary pilgrimage in the world would be short, and that it would not be a long before was brought to my heavenly home and Father’s house.”

We cannot drive to work or go through the line at the grocery store without being bombarded by the flashy efforts of the multibillion dollar advertising industry to plant our hopes in this life. Edwards reorients us to soul sanity. “Have you had that divine comfort,” he preached,” that has seemed to heal your soul and put life and strength into you and given you peace after trouble and rest after labor and pain? Have you tasted that spiritual food, that bread from heaven, that is so sweet and so satisfying, so much better than the richest earthly dainties?” In the course of our pilgrimage, there is a food that Hollywood does not know of (John 4:32). Not only can money not buy it; money may be a hindrance to the enjoyment of it.

One of the key contributions Edwards makes at this point is his penetrating insight that the final end of our pilgrimage includes the good things of earth. This is part of what makes heaven heaven. We do not trade in the good of earth for the better of heaven. We lose nothing. Our final destination is not heaven minus the joys of earth but heaven including the joys of earth.

Or as he would put it in his famous sermon on Christian pilgrimage, “The True Christian’s Life a Journey Towards Heaven” – “God is the highest good of the reasonable creature. The enjoyment of Him is our proper happiness, and is the only happiness with which our souls can be satisfied. To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here: better than fathers and mothers, husbands, wives, or children, or the company of any or all earthly friends. These are but shadows; but God is the substance. These are but scattered beams; but God is the sun. These are but streams; but God is the fountain. These are but drops; but God is the ocean. Therefore, it becomes us to spend this life only as a journey towards heaven.”

How can a regenerate man or woman not be changed in reading that? We know such a statement is true. But after days upon days simply living life – paying the bills, working through the marital arguments, fighting and sometimes succumbing to diverse temptations, worrying about the future, picking up meds from Walgreens – heaven fades from view. Left in neutral, our hearts slide away from enjoyment of God, and toward enjoyment of this world. Psychologically we slowly transition from being pilgrims through this world to being citizens of this world.

And then we read a paragraph like that. We read, “To go to heaven, fully to enjoy God, is infinitely better than the most pleasant accommodations here.” Suddenly the lake home we had been dreaming of owning one day grabs us a little less forcefully. We are liberated. This life, we are brought to feel once more, is not our one shot at joy. We are pilgrims. Our true home, a home better than any money could buy here, is coming – “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading  (1 Peter 1:4). So why not sacrifice the shadow for the substance, the drop for the ocean? Why not invest where it matters? As Jesus himself taught, we’re all amassing wealth; it’s only a question of where (Matthew 6:19-21).

I hope this brief passage sheds some light on why I have found myself so enamored with this chapter. Those who understand themselves to be pilgrims or resident aliens, have a perpetual ache, an unquenchable longing for a better land. They long for home. C.S. Lewis describes it in this way: “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” The author of Hebrews explains it this way: ¹³ These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off ^[e]were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. ¹⁴ For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. ¹⁵ And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. ¹⁶ But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:13-16)

This Lord’s Day, I will be returning to the pulpit (Lord willing) for the first time since January 6….a staggering six weeks. If there is a silver lining in this, it would be that on two of those Lord’s Days we were compelled to cancel our morning worship service due to the weather. I greatly appreciate the willingness of Rev. Brett Mahlen and Pastor Jim Strietlemeier to fill in for me. We will be picking up our exposition of 1 Peter this Lord’s Day. However, in light of our lengthy absence from this epistle, I’m planning on doing a 30,000 foot flyover of the ground he have covered up to this point. In one sermon I will tell you what was said in the preceding 24 sermons. I must confess that I’m a bit apprehensive about my return to the pulpit for several reasons, not the least of them being that I’ll still be in a sling. The presence of the sling is a constant reminder that I need to be most careful with how I use my right arm.  Even when my attention is focused elsewhere, I’m subconsciously aware of my damaged shoulder. So, brothers and sisters, I would greatly covet your prayers for peace of mind and confidence as I stand before you and declare God’s Word.

Please remember that this Lord’s Day, we will be conducting our annual congregational meeting. It is crucial that we have representation from each family in our congregation. Please make this a priority for your family. We will be reviewing the budget and answering any questions you might have. We will also provide you with a status report on where our Pastor Search Committee (a.k.a., the Session) is in their search for our next pastor. Here, too, we will endeavor to answer any questions you might have with regard to the process. Additionally, we will be presenting Bob Rotan to the congregation as a candidate for Deacon. You will be voting on whether you believe he should serve in that office. Should he be elected, immediately following the conclusion of the business of the congregational meeting, we will move to ordain and install Bob in that office. So, I trust you recognize the vital importance of broad participation by the congregation as we address these critical issues. The meeting will begin at 6 PM.

Announcements/Calendar

·        February 22– Family Board Game Night (6:30 PM)

·        February 24–Neighborhood Fellowship

·        February 24– Annual Congregational meeting (6:00 PM)

·        February 25–Ladies group

·        February 26– Deacons meet

·        March 3– Fellowship Meal

·        March 3– Prayer service (immediately following Fellowship Meal)

·        March 4– Adults Fellowship Group (townies)

·        March 10– Young Adults Fellowship Group

·        March 11– Ladies Group

·        March 13– Session meets

·        March 17– Adults Fellowship Group (westsiders)

·        March 18– Adults Fellowship Group (townies)

·        March 24– Neighborhood Fellowship

·        March 25– Ladies Group

·        March 31– Psalm/hymn sing

Classic/Encouraging Quotes

Through Jesus, the Father shows us his innermost being—in the form of a servant, dying to give us life. —Michael Reeves

The gospel is so simple that those who complicate it are doing the Devil’s work. —Burk Parsons

Calvinism might kill unbiblical, manipulative evangelistic methodologies, but it does not kill missions and evangelism. —Jim Orrick

Love for the Lord, love for neighbor—that is the heart of holiness and how the triune God’s people get to be like him. —Michael Reeves

The worst possible heritage to leave with children: high spiritual pretensions and low performance. —D.A. Carson

Important/Helpful/Challenging Links

The Myth of Influence

            W. Robert Godfrey

In the March 7, 1998, issue of the Los Angeles Times, the Religion section featured an article entitled, “L.A.-Area Seminary Teachers Gather to Ponder the Truth.” For the fourth year, the Skirball Institute on American Values drew five seminaries together for discussion: St. John’s Seminary of the Los Angeles Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church, Hebrew Union College of Reform Judaism, the University of Judaism of Conservative Judaism, Claremont School of Theology with liberal Protestant connections, and Fuller Theological Seminary with evangelical roots. The article quotes several participants on the positive character of the meeting. The comments of the moderator, Donald E. Miller of the University of Southern California, captured the spirit of the news report: “There is more similarity of religious views among what Miller called ‘progressive’ Jews, Catholics and Protestants than there is between orthodox and progressive believers within each faith.” READ MORE…

Have We Become Pharisees? 5 Evaluation Questions

            James Williams

Last year, my family and I enjoyed some vacation time at the beach. After finding a place to put our towels, my oldest son and I jumped into the ocean to go body surfing. Fifteen minutes later, I looked up to find my wife—but nothing on the beach looked familiar. I thought I was still directly in front of her but, without realizing it, I had drifted a few hundred yards.

The gradual pull of the ocean can be so subtle that it’s hard to notice you’re drifting further away.

Likewise, for the believer who desires to be gospel-centered, the drift toward becoming more Pharisaical is also so subtle we might not even notice it.

READ MORE…

How Dismissing the Doctrine of Hell Leads Us to Hate Our Neighbors

            Joe Carter    

The Story: A significant portion of practicing Christians reject evangelism. Could it be because they also reject the doctrine of hell?

The Background: A new Barna report, based on research commissioned by Alpha USA, looks at the views on evangelism by practicing Christians (defined in the report as those who identify as Christian, agree strongly that faith is very important in their lives, and have attended church within the past month).

Almost all practicing Christians believe that part of their faith means being a witness about Jesus (ranging from 95 percent to 97 percent among all generational groups), and that the best thing that could ever happen to someone is for them to know Jesus (94 percent to 97 percent). Almost all practicing Christians (ranging from 86 percent to 92 percent) also say they know how to respond when someone raises questions about faith, and a majority of each generational group (ranging from 56 percent to 73 percent) believes they are gifted at sharing their faith with other people

Yet despite recognizing the importance of telling people about Christ and claiming to know how to share their faith, a significant portion of practicing Christians say it is wrong to share one’s personal beliefs with someone of a different faith in hopes that they will one day share the same faith. READ MORE…

Let Children Get Bored Again

            Pamela Paul

“I’m bored.” It’s a puny little phrase, yet it has the power to fill parents with a cascade of dread, annoyance and guilt. If someone around here is bored, someone else must have failed to enlighten or enrich or divert. And how can anyone — child or adult — claim boredom when there’s so much that can and should be done? Immediately.

But boredom is something to experience rather than hastily swipe away. And not as some kind of cruel Victorian conditioning, recommended because it’s awful and toughens you up. Despite the lesson most adults learned growing up — boredom is for boring people — boredom is useful. It’s good for you.

If kids don’t figure this out early on, they’re in for a nasty surprise. School, let’s face it, can be dull, and it isn’t actually the teacher’s job to entertain as well as educate. Life isn’t meant to be an endless parade of amusements. “That’s right,” a mother says to her daughter in Maria Semple’s 2012 novel, “Where’d You Go, Bernadette.” “You are bored. And I’m going to let you in on a little secret about life. You think it’s boring now? Well, it only gets more boring. The sooner you learn it’s on you to make life interesting, the better off you’ll be.” READ MORE…

Covenant Evangelism

            Jared Olivetti

In the RPCNA, when parents bring their children for baptism, they take several vows, one of which regards our responsibility to bring the good news of Jesus to our children:

Do you promise to teach your children of their sinful nature, of the plan of salvation which centers in Jesus Christ, and their own personal need of a relationship with Christ?

As we seek to be faithful to this calling of evangelizing those born into the covenant people of God, reformed Christians are often subject to pressures and trends they might not fully understand. In response to good conversations during a recent Sunday school class, here is an attempt to shine a light on those pressures and on God’s better way.

On one side are the many ways Christians have abused the covenant promises of God. Hearing God tell us that His promises are for us and for our children (Acts 2:39), many in the reformed world have fallen into presuming upon the grace of God. Rather than seeing God’s promises as a reason to have confidence and joy as we bring our children to Jesus (Mark 10:13-16), it’s easy to see those promises as a reason to “let go and let God,” to trust the sufficiency of their baptism and covenant status rather than diligently leading them to faith. This hyper-covenantalism goes by several names, but an unbiblical presumption is always at the heart of it.  READ MORE…

How To Be Conformed to the World

            Tim Challies

Romans 12:2 is consistently one of the most quoted verses in the Bible. In that little passage we are warned that there are forces competing for our attention and loyalty and that even Christians are at times torn between the two. “Do not be conformed to this world,” says the Apostle Paul, “but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Paul assumes that we will not and cannot remain unchanged in life. We will not and cannot remain who and what we are right now. The question, then, is how we will change and who we will allow to influence us. Will we be conformed to the world around us or will be we transformed by God? READ MORE…

Blessings,

Pastor Mark                                                                                                                                       

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (Ephesians 3:20-21)

“In the sphere of religion, as in other spheres, the things about which men are agreed are apt to be the things that are least worth holding; the really important things are the things about which men will fight.” J. Gresham Machen

“When Christ calls a man – he bids him come and die.”  Dietrich Bonhoeffer