Beautiful Song
Jul. 24, 2008

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The Lord's Supper
May. 25, 2008

What Is Taught in the Lord's Supper

The Lord's Supper is presented to us in the language of a "remembrance." It is not in itself a saving act, but it recalls to our minds the saving work of Christ. As such, it is naturally symbolic in nature. Specifically, it reminds us of the transaction of the atonement, which is central to the fulfillment of God's covenant of salvation. Christians are to partake of the supper in order to regularly recall the truth and meaning of Christ's death.

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His Love is the Theme of My Song
May. 19, 2008

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Our Baptisms This Weekend
May. 16, 2008

 1._____ Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death and resurrection; of his being engrafted into him; of remission of sins; and of giving up into God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-5 ; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:27; Mark 1:4; Acts 22:16)

2._____ Those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to, our Lord Jesus Christ, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance. (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:41; Acts 8:12; Acts 18:8 )

3._____The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, wherein the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:38 )

4._____Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance. (Matthew 3:16; John 3:23 )

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Question 82
May. 3, 2008

Q. 1. Who made you?
A. God.

Q. 2. What else did God make?
A. God made all things.

Q. 3. Why did God make you and all things ?
A. For his own glory.

Q. 82. What is the second commandment?
A. The second commandment is, You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

Q. 83. What does the second commandment teach us?
A. To worship God in a proper manner, and to avoid idolatry.

Q. 84. What is the third commandment?
A. The third commandment is, You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

Q. 85. What does the third commandment teach me?
A. To reverence God's name, word, and works.

Q. 86. What is the fourth commandment?
A. The fourth commandment is, Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Q. 91. How do the ordinances become effectual means of salvation?
A. The ordinances become effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that does administer them; but only by the blessing of Christ, and the working of his Spirit in them that by faith receive them.

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Without Holiness No One Will See the Lord
Feb. 15, 2008

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Rediscovering Holiness
Feb. 14, 2008

Rediscovering Holiness

Holiness. What a strange word. Sounds a little fanatical. What does it even mean? As a teenager, I would have answered that question, "No dancing, no drinking, no movies. Read your Bible in the morning, pray every day, and you'll be fine. The rules are clear. Keep them and thou shalt be pronounced holy."

My idea of holiness, however, didn't stay that simple. During my twenties, I saw many of those rules for "How to Be the World's Best Christian" cited as examples of legalism by fellow Christians. After all, didn't King David dance before God (2 Samuel 6:14)? And didn't Jesus turn water to wine at a wedding (John 2:1-11)? As I began to consider these things, my perspective on holiness started to change.

For example, as a young mom, I felt relieved to learn God didn't require a specific time for devotions, such as first thing in the morning. With my new freedom I soon went from feeling guilty if I missed my morning quiet time to often going to bed without having spent any time with God that day. How easy it was to slide from legalism to license!

Yet, in the midst of my liberation, unease gnawed at my soul. If holiness only meant keeping certain rules and now the rules were gone, was the idea of holiness extinct? If not, what did it mean to be holy without being legalistic? Was such a thing possible?

(Click on the link above to keep reading.)

1 Peter 1:13-16 “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

Leviticus 22:31-32 "So you shall keep my commandments and do them: I am the LORD. And you shall not profane my holy name, that I may be sanctified among the people of Israel. I am the LORD who sanctifies you.”

Ezekiel 36:27-28 “And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.”

Psalm 119:9-10 “How can a young man keep his way pure?  By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!”

Romans 12:1-2 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, 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."
 

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And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us
Dec. 24, 2007

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-14

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I shall go to him, but he will not return to me
Dec. 23, 2007

"He said, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept, for I said, ‘Who knows whether the Lord will be gracious to me, that the child may live?’ But now he is dead. Why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he will not return to me.”

2 Samuel 12:22-23

And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni; but his father called him Benjamin.

Genesis 35:18

To every matter there is a bright as well as a dark side. Rachel was overwhelmed with the sorrow of her own travail and death; Jacob, though weeping the mother’s loss, could see the mercy of the child’s birth. It is well for us if, while the flesh mourns over trials, our faith triumphs in divine faithfulness. Samson’s lion yielded honey, and so will our adversities, if rightly considered. The stormy sea feeds multitudes with its fishes; the wild wood blooms with beauteous florets; the stormy wind sweeps away the pestilence, and the biting frost loosens the soil. Dark clouds distil bright drops, and black earth grows gay flowers. A vein of good is to be found in every mine of evil. Sad hearts have peculiar skill in discovering the most disadvantageous point of view from which to gaze upon a trial; if there were only one slough in the world, they would soon be up to their necks in it, and if there were only one lion in the desert they would hear it roar. About us all there is a tinge of this wretched folly, and we are apt, at times, like Jacob, to cry, “All these things are against me.” Faith’s way of walking is to cast all care upon the Lord, and then to anticipate good results from the worst calamities. Like Gideon’s men, she does not fret over the broken pitcher, but rejoices that the lamp blazes forth the more. Out of the rough oyster-shell of difficulty she extracts the rare pearl of honour, and from the deep ocean-caves of distress she uplifts the priceless coral of experience. When her flood of prosperity ebbs, she finds treasures hid in the sands; and when her sun of delight goes down, she turns her telescope of hope to the starry promises of heaven. When death itself appears, faith points to the light of resurrection beyond the grave, thus making our dying Benoni to be our living Benjamin.

And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God:  ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

Matthew 22:31-32

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Joining the Bandwagon of Uncertainty
Dec. 7, 2007

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