Love Extended

The Heavenly Father loves you and sent His Son to Earth for you. Jesus spoke the words of life and is Himself, the way, the truth and the life.

Jesus loves you and sought you with His words. He showed His love by gathering His sheep, feeding them bread and wine, word and sacrament, and He lost not one, except the son of perdition.

The Holy Spirit loves you and abides with you to testify of the Father and of the Son. His light shines in the darkness brighter and brighter until a full day.

All of this goodness offered here to you is because of the free gift of God in His Son, Jesus. When we take and eat and drink, we declare His glory and we partake in that glory through His grace, mercy and love extended to us. This is joy and gladness.

Thanksgiving

Prayer of Thanksgiving

         Our Father in Heaven, all good things are from Your hand. You grant us life, sustenance, physical and spiritual health, perseverance in times of suffering and trial, hope for the future, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Use us, Lord, to advance Your kingdom so that Your will is done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Bless those who faithfully give You their tithes and offerings. Provide for their every financial need and help them to see that You are the great source of all provision. Amen.

Prayer of Preparation

         Our Father, as we come to this Table of Blessing, we come with grateful hearts. You have reckoned us as righteous because we come to You in the name of Jesus, Your Son. We have been washed in His blood, as He gave Himself for us. And we have been raised to new life in Him as death could not hold Him in the tomb. Grant us life, health and peace as we eat and drink this memorial of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

Corporate Confession

Our Father in Heaven, we confess and repent of our sins and turn to Jesus for forgiveness. Grant us Your favor as we lay our sins upon Jesus and receive the righteousness that You offer us in Him. Renew our hearts and minds in Your Holy Spirit that we might walk in the power of new life in Christ. Amen.

Praise

Our Father in Heaven, we glorify Your Holy Name. It is a wonder to us that You sent Your Son to save us from our sins and that He became man and dwelt among us. Furthermore, He took upon Himself a true body that He might become like us in all things and yet without sin. He suffered the humiliation of being baptized as a sinner in need of repentance that He might fulfill all righteousness. Like John Baptist, we cannot comprehend how this ought to be and yet we gladly receive the righteousness of our Lord. All glory to You, Father, and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. Amen.

God's Sons and Daughters

 John Baptist was reluctant to baptize Jesus because he knew that he needed to be washed by Jesus. But Jesus required John to baptize Him anyway. Jesus was not afraid to be identified with sinners or even to be considered a sinner, even though He never sinned. 

         We must not shrink away from God because we are unworthy in ourselves. It is no secret that we are sinners but if we are in Jesus, He was washed for us, and we are washed in Him. The stain of sin is gone as Christ has forgiven us our sins. The Heavenly Father was pleased with His Son who came from Heaven to Earth to make us His sons and daughters. And He is pleased with us, His children, and has raised us from Earth to Heaven. 

Repent and Believe the Gospel

John the Baptist and had message in the wilderness, Repent and believe the Gospel. Jesus began His ministry with a message, Repent and believe the gospel.

         To repent is to turn away from sin and death, your natural fallen state, and to Christ. To repent is to turn from particular sins, gossip, drunkenness, lust, greed, bitterness, confess them, repent, turn to Jesus.

         To believe is to put your trust in, to know by faith that it is true, to have certainty of things apprehended without scientific precision.

         The Gospel is God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ. You deserved to die but He did. You were dead in your sins but He raised you up and justified you before the Father. He is long-suffering and quick to forgive sins. The gospel is that Jesus is Lord of everything and your Lord. 

         When you repent and believe the gospel you bow the knee to Jesus, the Christ and our Lord and Savior.

24 Things About Jesus

         There are really only two important questions to answer in this life. Who is God? And, Who am I?

         The first one, Who is God has to do with the nature, person and work of God.

         The second has to do with how you relate to Him. What does He require of me? Will I submit to His rule or not?

         If you answer these questions in the right way, then you are in the right way. If not, then you are lost.

         The question, Who is God?, cannot be answered without God’s help. He has to reveal the answer. He hints at the answer through nature and it is such a big hint that men are guilty if they do not serve Him. However, nature does not fully reveal God. That takes special revelation.

         Jesus tells us that if we have seen Him, we have seen the Father. Furthermore, we are told that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father. In order to know who God is, we must know who Jesus is.

         And the Word has much to say about the nature, person and work of Jesus.

         Just in the first few chapters of Matthew, even at the very beginning of the work of Jesus, we know much about His person and therefore know much about God. We are very culpable if we do not know and heed Him.

         In just the first 4 chapters of Matthew, we have already learned at least 24 character traits of Jesus.  These all answer the questions, “Who is Jesus? What is Jesus like?” That helps you answer the questions, “Who am I in Jesus?, What should I be like?”

         We know some of these truths about Jesus. But some of them catch us off guard, make us reevaluate Jesus and thus make adjustments to who we are. Start reading your Bibles more carefully!

1. Savior- Jesus 1:21- This is a primary characteristic. He likes to save people.

2. Emmanuel 1:23- God is with us in Jesus. Jesus is with people.

3. King- Son of David 1:1- He is a man but a great one, a royal king.

4. Woodsman who lays an axe- 3:10- He is not afraid of work and hard and damning work at that. Jesus will cut down those who despise and reject Him.

5. Husbandman who winnows and divides 3:12- He winnows the wheat from the chaff. The chaff is burned in the fire. 

6. Identifies with sinners at baptism for sinners 3:15- He is not afraid to be reckoned with sinners.

7. Beloved Son 3:17- He does His Father’s will and the Father is pleased with Him.

8. Residing place of Holy Spirit 3:16- The Holy Spirit resides on and in Him and therefore Jesus always walks according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. 

9. Knows solitude, loneliness, suffering, aloneness 4:1- He is driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit to a lonely place.

10. Disciplined, He fasts 40 days 4:2

11. Good listener, He heard the devil clearly- IF thou be…4:3- Jesus pays attention when people talk to Him, even in the midst of temptations, even in the midst of crowds.

12. Bible literate, quotes to devil 4:4- Jesus is not easily taken in by the teaching and traditions of devils or men. He knows what the Bible really teaches.

13. Authoritative, get thee hence Satan 4:10- Jesus is not afraid of the devil or the men that devils motivate. He speaks to them directly and they depart.

14. From questionable heritage, Rachab, Tamar, Bathsheba, 1:1-17- Jesus was from a kingly line but the line was tainted. He was not afraid to claim prostitutes and Gentiles in His heritage. His pride was in God’s work not man’s perfections.

15. Attracted to darkness, Capernaum, Naphtali, Zabulon 4:16- Jesus went to dark places because He was the light.

16. Preacher 4:17- Jesus did not have a soft and easy message of a minister, or a bible teacher, or speaker or one who shares a message. He preached.

17. Preacher of Repentance 4:17- Jesus not only preached, His message was far different than what goes for preaching in many quarters today. He didn’t share to make people feel good. Most of the time, His sermons made people feel bad, or even mad. But to those who responded by repenting, He healed them.

18. Walker 4:18- He walked around and with people and sometimes alone. He was an outdoor person.

19. Leader who gave orders., Follow Me 4:18- Jesus didn’t do much suggesting or challenging. He just said it with a “Thus sayeth the Lord authority.” The authorities hated this and the common people loved it.

20. Didn’t mind causing problems in families, He called Peter and Andrew and James and John away from their work. 4:18- Jesus didn’t consult these men about whether His demands would cause problems with his parents, their business or friends. He just said it and let the consequences work themselves out in the will of God.

21. Teacher 4:23- Teaching seems to be distinct from preaching. It has a more patient and careful aspect. He sometimes preaches, then takes aside His disciples and explains the difficult preaching.

22. Healer of lunatics, demon possessed, palsy 4:23- Jesus loves messed up people. He desires them to be delivered and made whole. Sometimes they come to Him. Sometimes He goes to them.

23. Preacher of the gospel of the Kingdom 4:23- He not only preached repentance but the gospel of the Kingdom. That message is bigger than repentance and salvation or healing. It includes the Christ, the Messiah, the one who would fill the shoes of David and rule on David’s throne forever.

24. Leader, great multitudes followed Him 4:25- Jesus led but He was an interesting leader. He was so direct about things and said such difficult things that He often lost lots of followers. But He was so charismatic in His teaching and His ministry that people were drawn to Him and followed Him.

God's Glory

As many of you know, I had a massive heart attack on September 21, 2018, suffered cardiac arrest, no heart beats, no breathing, and was saved by my neighbor who rushed into my house to do heart compressions, and the EMTs who showed up to shock my heart back into beating.

It is a bit odd having a 'back from the dead' experience. Many people have asked me if I had an out of body experience or saw Jesus. I did not. I went down on that Friday afternoon, was rushed to the hospital, sent straight to the Cath Lab, had a stent put in my heart and was put into an induced hypothermic coma. I was silent on Saturday and rose from that coma of death on Sunday morning. I know, it all sounds contrived, but it is all true. I don't remember the few minutes before my heart attack on Friday up to about Sunday evening. It was just the darkness.

I've actually had a bit of a tough time dealing with the reality of what happened to me. That's normal I hear. I am thankful for my wife, children, grandchildren, family, church and friends that I did not die, or stay dead. But I have been a bit indifferent about that myself. Part of the indifference is wondering exactly why the Lord saved me? There is no way for me to know that in the details and I will just have to wait and see what He does with me. I find myself wanting to 'make it count.' But I also find myself feeling wholly incapable of making it count.

Part of the reason I have not been able to find much joy in my salvation, thus far, is that I feel like I really don't deserve it. I have other friends who have recently lost loved ones and they seem much more worthy than I to have survived. This is a bit of survivors guilt, no doubt, but it is also bad theology. Or shall I say bad 'applied' theology. My theology is fine but sometimes getting it from the Bible into my head (or yours) takes a great deal of work. Or maybe, not work, just resting in the truth of the thing, just faith.

I have finally realized that I can really rejoice in my salvation and give Jesus all the glory for saving me, and actually be excited about it, if I come to better terms with the fact that I really don't deserve it. That does not make the situation worse. It makes it better. I don't deserve what the Lord has done for me, and that is what makes it all grace. That is what makes it really redound to the glory of Jesus. Furthermore, I can be thankful that He loves me, that out of His own good pleasure and sovereign will He chose to bestow life on me who was dead. Is this not a reason to glory in Him? Is this not a reason to rejoice in God, my Savior?

I've felt the pressure to be somebody, to do something, to make my life after death count. But that is not the point, at all. I will be whatever the Lord makes of me. I trust that if I faithfully follow Him, that something will be good, whatever it is. But the really great person in all of this is Jesus. He is the One who bestows life as He sees fit. He is the One who takes life and gives it. And if He has chosen to grant me life, and even life after death, then I really only have one thing to do. Give God the glory.

Thank You, Lord, for sparing me from death. Thank You on behalf of my wife, children, family, friends, church, CREC, and anyone else who I may have the opportunity to point to Jesus. Thank You from my own heart, my damaged, broken, dying, dead and restored heart. I am grateful for Your kindness to me, Your love for me, shown in this special and miraculous work of saving me. I am honored that You chose to strike me down on a Friday and raise me up on a Sunday. I feel almost ashamed that You should bestow this honor on me, to have me walk so obviously in the path of my Lord Jesus. But I am reminded that all who are in Christ Jesus have also died with Him on Friday and have been raised to new life in Him on Sunday. So, I am highly honored, Father, to proclaim this truth and I thank You for teaching it to me in such a profound way. May this all bring glory to You, to Your Son, Jesus, and to Your Holy Spirit. Amen.

One Family

There are many different people represented here. Men, women, girls, boys, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, husbands, wives, bosses, employees. In the world, there is a pecking order and men lord it over one another. But not so in Jesus Christ. God is no respecter of persons. 

All who are called by His name through the shed blood of Jesus Christ are made partakers of the benefits of Christ in the outpouring of His Holy Spirit, and are recipients of special favor with God, the Father. Such men, women and children have access to God, even into the Holy of Holies. All barriers to God have been taken down and there is not favor bestowed as Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, but only as children of the Most High, joint heirs with Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can truly unite us in our differences. In Christ Jesus, and only in Christ Jesus, are we are one family of God. 

Communion Prayer

Our Father, You have gathered us together as Your people to hear Your promises to us and our pledges of faithfulness to You. We know that we partake of this covenantal meal only because of the grace that You have extended to us through Your own dear Son, Jesus Christ. We lay hold of Him by faith and trust that You will visit us for blessing as we eat and drink this covenantal meal. Amen.

Thanksgiving

Our Father in Heaven, we thank You for the gospel that Jesus Christ has paid for our sins on the cross and that He is our risen and reigning Lord. In Him we have victory over the world, the flesh and the devil. In Christ, we even have victory over death, since He has risen from the dead and we are risen in Him. We are thankful to You for the good news that is Jesus and present ourselves before You in His name. Amen.

Colossians 3:18-4:1 Wives, Husband, Children, Workers, Masters

Colossians 3:18-4:1

Wives, Husband, Children, Workers, Masters

12/30/2018

Lynchburg, Virginia

EXHORDIUM

         I suppose now we finally get to the subject matter that many of you were hoping to hear. How am I to be a good Christian wife, husband, child, parent or worker or boss?

         We always want to run ahead to the practical teaching before we spend time in the Biblical, doctrinal or theological teaching. We have already spent several sessions looking at who Jesus is, what He requires of us and how we are to conduct ourselves in the life of the church. 

         If we rightly understand who Jesus is and who we are in Him, then by the time we come to the very practical how tos of marriage and family, the hard work is already done for us.

         Jesus is the ruler of everything. This means that He rules me. He rules you. When we submit to His rule, we have a new orientation to all things, particularly heavenly and earthly things. Or shall we say, spiritual and fleshly things. Our desires start to line up with His desires and we begin to live the life of the Spirit.

         This life of the Spirit does not just govern our lives in the church, or Sunday worship, but is to be pushed out into all the corners of our lives. As the last section told us, Do everything that you do for the sake of Jesus.

         So, we ask the Bible, How shall I be a wife, a husband, a child, a parent, a worker, a boss. And the Bible says, “Very glad you asked, thanks, I’ve got an answer for you.”

EXEGESIS

Col. 3:18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 

Wives are to submit to husbands. We are told elsewhere, she is to submit in all things. He adds, as is fitting in the Lord. It is fitting for wives in the Lord to submit to their husbands. This means that it is unfitting when Christian wives do not submit to their husbands. It is unbecoming, ugly.

Praise

Our Father, just as Mary’s did, our souls magnify You, O Lord. Our spirits rejoice in God our Savior. You have regarded the low estate of Your servants. In Christ Jesus, You have greatly blessed us. You are mighty and have done great things for us. Holy is Your name. Your mercy is on those who fear You from generation to generation. You have shown strength with Your arm and have scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. You have put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree. You have filled the hungry with good things and sent away the rich empty. You have helped Your people, remembering Your mercy to us, as You spoke to our Father Abraham concerning his seed, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom we trust, now and forever. Amen.