He has gone to great lengths

 
To redeem our brokenness and lovelessness
the God who suffers with us
did not strike some mighty blow of power
but sent His beloved Son to suffer like us,
through His suffering to redeem us from suffering and evil.

-Nicholas Wolterstorff

One Step Closer

Tuesday of Holy Week

Holy Week: What Happened on Tuesday?: With help from the ESV Study Bible, here's an attempted harmony/chronology ... http://bit.ly/bXig92

This week

Thursday @ Parker Rd
7pm Maundy Thursday Communion Service

Saturday @ Parker Rd
9:30am Easter Festival

Sunday @ Oak Hall
Services at 9:00am and 10:30am

Holy Week

Holy Week Geography and Harmony in Google Earth: Today is the first day of "Holy Week," where Christians recount Jesus' passion... http://bit.ly/8XVdGU

Richard White, elder candidate

This morning we announce Richard White as elder candidate.  Here is some info on Richard:

Richard White

Married to Cindy for 23 years (next Sunday).  They have two daughters, Angela (student @ UF) and Laura (student @ Cornerstone Academy).  Richard has worked with the Florida Farm Bureau Insurance Companies for 19 years.  From 2004-2007 Richard was ordained and served as an elder at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Deland, Florida.  At CCC, Richard serves as a teacher and CG leader.

1. If you were to stand before God and He were to ask you, “Why should I allow you to enter heaven,” what would you say? 

Because I have trusted in your Son, Jesus Christ, and Him alone to get me here.  I have nothing else to offer but His shed blood on my behalf.

I grew up in a Christian home. My father is an ordained minister and therefore I have always been in church and around the teaching of the gospel there and at home.  My profession of faith and baptism came at the age of 12, but the gospel became a reality to me more after college when I truly understood what faith and repentance meant and that Christ was more than just my ‘Savior’.  He was my Lord and Master and that actually meant something.  Rather than look to a date in the past for assurance or evidence of my salvation, the Spirit’s active work in the present is where real assurance comes from.    

2. How does your relationship with Jesus affect your life? 

I don’t despair.  I know that He works everything to my benefit even though in trials it often doesn’t feel like it.  His word makes sense to me and I have an increasing desire to know him more and more.  I can look back over my life and see His fingerprints everywhere. 

__________________________________________________

After a lengthy time of apprenticing, the session of Christ Community is putting Richard White forward to the congregation, to be installed as an elder. There will be a congregational meeting on Sunday, April 11 for the purpose on voting on this matter.

A Potential New Elder for Christ Community

Joy Joy!  Tomorrow we will announce that the session of elders is putting Richard White forward to the congregation to be considered as an elder.  Richard  was ordained to the office of elder at Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Deland, where he served for a number of years before moving to Gainesville.
In an effort to help you understand the office of elder, i've been
Digging out some stuff previously posted here on Elders.

A brief sketch on elders
Why God Invented Elders, by Ligon Duncan

Members will have the opportunity to vote in this matter at the congregational meeting scheduled for Sunday, April 11.

Blood-bought we are

Palm Sunday is about a royal king riding in peace.  Yet, this king does bring victory to his people, defeating their worst enemy.  The descriptions of Palm Sunday in the bible all quote Zecheriah chapter 9, which references “the blood of my covenant”.  Here is what this blood does for us, the subjects of THE KING:

 

Satan accuses Christians day and night. It is not just that he will work on our conscience to make us feel as dirty, guilty, defeated, destroyed, weak, and ugly as he possibly can; it is something worse: his entire ploy in the past is to accuse us before God day and night, bringing charges against us that we know we can never answer before the majesty of God’s holiness. What can we say in response? Will our defense be, ‘Oh, I’m not that bad!’? You will never beat Satan that way. Never. What you must say is, ‘Satan, I’m even worse than you think, but God loves me anyway. He has accepted me because of the blood of the Lamb.’ —D.A. Carson (Scandalous, pp. 98-99)

Donkeys and Royalty in the Scriptures

The royal associations of the donkey are behind Zech 9:9, a prophecy of Jerusalem’s king riding on an ass. Matthew 21:5 and John 12:15 cite this prophecy as having been fulfilled in Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. That Jesus rides not a war horse but the donkey of Zech 9:9 makes Him (like Moses, who also rode and ass [Exodus 4:20]) “meek”. His chosen beast does not show him to be a poor or common man but a king, albeit one who does not conquer. Clearly He is innocent of the charge of rebelling against Caesar,
A man on a donkey is not looking for war.


Zech 9:9 is not the only OT text about donkey’s connected with Jesus’ triumphal entry. Not only does the prophecy that the disciples will find a colt (Mark 11:2 and parallels) remind one of 1 Samuel 10:1-9 (Samuel’s prophecy of the finding of the lost asses), but the seemingly superfluous mention that this colt will be “tied” probably alludes to Genesis 49:11 (“binding his foal to the vine and his ass’s colt to the choice vine” RSV). This line was given a messianic interpretation in Judaism (cf. Gen 49:10 LXX; rabbinic sources naturally associate Gen 49:11 and Zech 9:9).
 –Dictionary of Biblical Imagery

Palm Sunday

"The whole procession (of Palm Sunday) was saying, in its way . . . Jesus is going to be the sort of king we want!

But Jesus knows that nothing is that simple."

--Tom Wright

Ponder Anew

"Divine grace can make the coward brave.
The smoking flax can flame forth like fire on the altar when the Lord
wills it.
These very apostles who were timid as hares, grew to be bold as lions
after the Spirit had descended upon them, and even so the Holy Spirit can
make my recreant spirit brave to confess my Lord and witness for his
truth."

--Spurgeon this morning

Tomorrow @ Oak Hall, 10:30

After 11 years, we may be down to only a few more Sundays at Oak Hall.

Ponder Anew

"Divine grace can make the coward brave.
The smoking flax can flame forth like fire on the altar when the Lord
wills it.
These very apostles who were timid as hares, grew to be bold as lions
after the Spirit had descended upon them, and even so the Holy Spirit can
make my recreant spirit brave to confess my Lord and witness for his
truth."

--Spurgeon this morning

Thank God for the Gospel!

“Without the gospel everything is useless and vain; without the gospel we are not Christians; without the gospel all riches is poverty, all wisdom folly before God; strength is weakness, and all the justice of man is under the condemnation of God.

But by the knowledge of the gospel we are made children of God, brothers of Jesus Christ, fellow townsmen with the saints, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, heirs of God with Jesus Christ, by whom the poor are made rich, the weak strong, the fools wise, the sinner justified, the desolate comforted, the doubting sure, and slaves free. It is the power of God for the salvation of all those who believe.”

—John Calvin, preface for Pierre Robert Olivétan’s 1534 French translation of the New Testament

 

"Yes I'm a King---But..."

"The crowd calls Jesus the King of Israel but He refuses to reinforce their political and nationalistic aspirations by riding on a war horse or by stirring up insurrection against the Romans. Rather, He takes steps to enter Jerusalem on a donkey, fulfilling rather different OT promises."

--Don Carson

did i mention they are carpeting?

accent walls in children's room look grrrrreat!

last deacon meeting with Matt Kubo

<<bill hickock accent paint and some septic 004.jpg>>

Sign

Fellas helpin' out

Making preps for life on the property

Lights are going in; power is on!

Palm Sunday is here!

From Knox Chamblin’s commentary on Matthew:

 

 Thus, despite the genuine excitement that attends Jesus' entry (v. 10), the crowd still

shows itself to be lacking in the spiritual insight needed for rightly understanding

Messiah's person and work. Yet among those to whom this insight has been given

(13:11), there is cause for the greatest possible jubilation. For Christian believers who

look back on the great eschatological Exodus, who praise God for his great victory over

Sin and Death in the Cross of His Son, who on that basis repeatedly approach the place of

worship and celebrate the Passover of the New Age (26:26-28), Ps 118 still provides a

marvelous vehicle for praise. But as for the original pilgrims, the Psalm is still more

than a song of thanksgiving. It is also a means of our shouting "O LORD, save us!" - to

implore Him to complete his saving work and to bring his kingdom to full realization

(6:10) - to hasten the day when the Savior will come again (23:39).

 

Time article

From: @between2worlds
Sent: Mar 23, 2010 10:47a

Pray for Missionaries in Morocco: Time Magazine has an article on the deportation of Christian aid workers in Morocco. http://bit.ly/9cBUXG

Seeing and Delighting

"So much as we see of the love of God,
so much shall we delight in Him, and no more."

--John Owen

Eating Passover meal

Hebrews had to eat this special meal "ready to make haste"; we might say "get it to go".

See Exodus 12:11

Eating Passover meal

Hebrews had to eat this special meal "ready to make haste"; we might say "get it to go".

See Exodus 12:11

"Sun is comin' up in the morning"

Exodus 12

The Passover



Exodus 12
The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, “This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. Tell all the congregation of Israel that on the tenth day of this month every man shall take a lamb according to their fathers' houses, a lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons; according to what each can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You may take it from the sheep or from the goats, and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight.






“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord's Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt.






“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall remove leaven out of your houses, for if anyone eats what is leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that person shall be cut off from Israel. On the first day you shall hold a holy assembly, and on the seventh day a holy assembly. No work shall be done on those days. But what everyone needs to eat, that alone may be prepared by you. And you shall observe the Feast of Unleavened Bread, for on this very day I brought your hosts out of the land of Egypt. Therefore you shall observe this day, throughout your generations, as a statute forever. In the first month, from the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening. For seven days no leaven is to be found in your houses. If anyone eats what is leavened, that person will be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he is a sojourner or a native of the land. You shall eat nothing leavened; in all your dwelling places you shall eat unleavened bread.”






Then Moses called all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and select lambs for yourselves according to your clans, and kill the Passover lamb. Take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. None of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians, and when he sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you. You shall observe this rite as a statute for you and for your sons forever. And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you, as he has promised, you shall keep this service. And when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses.’” And the people bowed their heads and worshiped.






Then the people of Israel went and did so; as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.

Exodus 12, God defines Israel's time

"God is weaving into the very fabric of Israel’s calendar, their time, their schedule, their routine, a remembrance of Him, and a remembrance of what He is going to do in this great redemptive work of the Exodus."

--Ligon Duncan

Fortnight - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Fortnight - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary: "Main Entry: fort·night
Pronunciation: \ˈfȯrt-ˌnīt\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English fourtenight, alteration of fourtene night, from Old English fēowertȳne niht fourteen nights
Date: before 12th century
: a period of 14 days : two weeks"

Relyea baby here!!

Congrats to Joe and Lauren!

more

Collante photos from JOF celebration

Go to Christ immediately

“I feel when I have sinned an immediate reluctance to go to Christ. I am ashamed to go. I feel as if it would not do to go, as if it were making Christ the minister of sin, to go straight from the swine-trough to the best robe, and a thousand other excuses. But I am persuaded they are all lies direct from hell.
John argues the opposite way—‘If any man sins, we have an advocate with the Father;’ … The holy sensitiveness of the soul that shrinks from the touch of sin, the acute susceptibility of the conscience at the slightest shade of guilt, will of necessity draw the spiritual mind frequently to the blood of Jesus. And herein lies the secret of a heavenly walk. Acquaint yourself with it, my reader, as the most precious secret of your life. He who lives in the habit of a prompt and minute acknowledgement of sin, with his eye reposing calmly, believingly, upon the crucified Redeemer, soars in spirit where the eagle’s pinion [wings] range not.”
- Octavius Winslow, No Condemnation in Christ Jesus

fyi esv on ipod itouch

.

Now Available: The ESV on your iPhone/iPod Touch

For the first time, read the ESV Bible on your iPhone or iPod Touch, with or without an internet connection—for free. Record your own notes, highlight verses, save favorites, and share with friends. Please take a look at the ESV App and tell us what you think.

Please note: For those of you using other mobile devices, we haven’t forgotten about you.  We’re working on it!

Oven hood

Back @ Oak Hall this Sunday, March 21

Not Without Tears, Stott on Hell

The gospel brings warnings as well as promise, of the
retention of sins as well as the remission of sins.  
'Beware, therefore', warned the apostle Paul, 'lest there
comes upon you what is said in the prophets:  "Behold, you
scoffers, and wonder, and perish ..."' (Acts 13:40-41).  
'Perish' is a terrible word.  So is 'hell'.  We may, and I
think we should, preserve a certain reverent and humble
agnosticism about the precise nature of hell, as about the
precise nature of heaven.  Both are beyond our
understanding.  But clear and definite we must be that hell
is an awful, eternal reality.  It is not dogmatism that is
unbecoming in speaking about the fact of hell; it is
glibness and frivolity.  How can we think about hell
without tears?

JOHN Stott --From "Christian Mission in the Modern World"

Of note

A Weekly Bulletin from the Editors of Books & Culture Magazine
Tithing <http://christianitytoday.com/lyris/booksandculture/img/tithing_130x130.jpg>
Most of us don't look forward to a sermon—or a book—devoted to stewardship. But it's a subject we need to be reminded about fairly regularly. Doug LeBlanc's new book on tithing, one of the best I've seen, is the lead subject of this week's podcast <http://lists.christianitytoday.com/t/65725623/2299340/182409/0/> conversation.

Pics from today, Wonderful Celebration of completion of 3 year capital campaign

And we are glad!

THE LORD HAS DONE GREAT THINGS FOR US; WE ARE GLAD.  – PSALM 126:3
Some Christians are sadly prone to look on the dark side of everything, and to dwell more upon what they have gone through than upon what God has done for them. Ask for their impression of the Christian life, and they will describe their continual conflicts, their deep afflictions, their sad adversities, and the sinfulness of their hearts, but with scarcely any reference to the mercy and help that God has provided them.But a Christian whose soul is in a healthy state will come forward joyously and say, “I will not speak about myself, but to the honor of my God. He has brought me up out of a horrible pit and out of the miry clay and set my feet upon a rock and established my goings; and He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. The Lord has done great things for me—I am glad.” This summary of experience is the very best that any child of God can present. It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them. It is true that we have our corruptions, and sadly we acknowledge this, but it is just as true that we have an all-sufficient Savior who overcomes these corruptions and delivers us from their dominion. In looking back, it would be wrong to deny that we have been in the Slough of Despond and have crept along the Valley of Humiliation, but it would be equally wicked to forget that we have been through them safely and profitably; we have not remained in them, thanks to our Almighty Helper and Leader, who has “brought us out to a place of abundance.”‘ The deeper our troubles, the louder our thanks to God, who has led us through them all and preserved us until today. 
Our griefs cannot spoil the melody of our praise; we consider them to be the “bass line” of our life’s song, 


“The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.”




(spurgeon on psalm 126, Morning June 9, from the totally awesome and tubular devotional MORNING & EVENING)

Don't miss it tomorrow 10:30am

CCC driveway is exactly 1.4 miles south of Newberry Road.

And .4 miles South of SW 8th ave

If you are travelling north on parker---you are on your own!!!

Here's the deal-e-o

1.) Move your clocks ahead one hour
2.) Prepare a side dish that goes with Fried Chicken
3.) Put a picnic blanket in the car

4.) Come to church property 1603 sw 122nd drive at

10:30am for worship service under our new covered porch

followed by picnic lunch on the grounds

Great day as we celebrate God's faithfulness as we mark 3rd year of Journey of Faith, our capital campaign.





Almost 50 folks worked last saturday, including Tom and Wesley Olmsted, to make the property look great!

Sunday we hope to hit and exceed a historic number in our JOF giving

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee, sunday we sing

Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee:
God of glory, Lord of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before thee,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day!"

So often I come in on a Sunday morning and I don’t feel like singing. How would you encourage someone in my place?

When I don’t feel like singing it’s usually because I haven’t been thinking much about who God is and what He’s done for us in Christ. Some situation, relationship, or event seems more important to me than the fact that Jesus came into the world to save rebellious sinners and reconcile them to God, and that I’m one of them. How can I not want to sing about that!
So the first thing I’d do is confess my distraction to God. I can tell him that I haven’t been loving him with my whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. Then I’d receive his full and complete forgiveness through Christ. God doesn’t hold my sin against me. Jesus bore it on the cross. Then, I’d start to think about the words I’m singing and direct my thoughts towards the greatness and goodness of God. If for some reason the lyrics aren’t helping me, I’ll start rehearsing the basic truths of the gospel and the promises of God. Before too long, my perspective changes and I feel like singing again.


good stuff from Bob Kauflin

Grateful for God's Unconquerable Grace

Thou shalt be called, Sought out."—Isaiah 62:12.

The surpassing grace of God is seen very clearly in that we were not only sought, but sought out. Men seek for a thing which is lost upon the floor of the house, but in such a case there is only seeking, not seeking out. The loss is more perplexing and the search more persevering when a thing is sought out. We were mingled with the mire: we were as when some precious piece of gold falls into the sewer, and men gather out and carefully inspect a mass of abominable filth, and continue to stir and rake, and search among the heap until the treasure is found. Or, to use another figure, we were lost in a labyrinth; we wandered hither and thither, and when mercy came after us with the gospel, it did not find us at the first coming, it had to search for us and seek us out; for we as lost sheep were so desperately lost, and had wandered into such a strange country, that it did not seem possible that even the Good Shepherd should track our devious roamings. Glory be to unconquerable grace, we were sought out! No gloom could hide us, no filthiness could conceal us, we were found and brought home. Glory be to infinite love, God the Holy Spirit restored us!


from spurgeon's evening March 11

taken y'day -- of course

moving the ol' clocks

probably around 6pm on Saturday I will move the clocks of my house fwd

why?

1.) I'm just a trend-setter
2.) I've found i can fool my kids into going to bed an hour earlier and getting the right amount of sleep in lieu of the option of putting them to bed at "normal time" and then losing an hour of sleep

for what it is worth

Front page

Grab a copy or look www.gainesville.com

pics from today

Lucas Hamersma is scheduled to come home today!

cabinets in kids class

Tile in foyer/narthex

Sunday we meet and celebrate HERE

Sunday at the Site

This Sunday should be a wonderful time of celebrating God's faithfulness.  It is our Journey of Faith Celebration 

Sanctuary doors

Bldg

Lucas Simon Hamersma is here!!

From Rob and Sarah:

Please join us in welcoming the arrival of Lucas Simon Hamersma!

He's doing great and we'll be bringing him home on Wednesday evening if all goes well---

Sunday March 14 We Meet on our Property, make a note

Ben and Charlie still at it

work day

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed o’er the grave,

And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.

His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,

Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

Wordle of Psalm 125

SimplyNoise.com - The best free white noise generator on the Internet.

this is actually a very handy little thang

SimplyNoise.com - The best free white noise generator on the Internet.

saturday 8am, we like to move it move it

sweet landscaping

All Healing is Divine Healing

That the life of Jesus should be constantly revealed in our
bodies; that God has put into the human body marvellous
therapeutic processes which fight disease and restore
health; that all healing is divine healing; that God can
and sometimes does heal miraculously (without means,
instantaneously and permanently) -- these things we should
joyfully and confidently affirm.  But to expect the sick to
be healed and the dead to be raised as regularly as we
expect sinners to be forgiven, is to stress the 'already'
at the expense of the 'not yet', for it is to anticipate
the resurrection.  Not till then will our bodies be
entirely rid of disease and death.

--John Stott

From "The Cross of Christ"

Praying in trials

In the thick of difficult experiences, whatever form the 'sceptre of wickedness' may take--
-an oppressive, persecuting regime
-a difficult, unpredictable superior
- an uncongenial circumstance

--We must look beyond it in our prayers, and pray for the coming divine settlement (TWWAW!) of all things, when at last the Lord's Israel (verse 5b), you and me and all who trust in Jesus as Saviour, will enter into perfect peace: the full reality of peace with God, the peace of perfect fellowship among perfected saints, and the peace of our characters at last fully fashioned in the likeness of Christ.

--Alec Motyer, on Psalm 125

(I use brit spelling as nod to author and slight nod to Jason MacGregor and Sid Crosby--O canada)

You're in good hands

"We live in the hand that appoints our experiences and our destiny, and which controls our daily circumstances. This is not a problem; it is a fact; it is also the softest pillow on which to lay our heads. Our God is really and truly God."

--Alec Motyer, on Psalm 125

Two-Part Delusion

We all suffer from a 2-part delusion. We imagine we are

1. Autonomous,
2. Self-sufficient.

If either one were true, we'd be God.

--Paul Tripp


.

Ain't No Grave Can Hold My Body Down, THE Man in Black

Longing for the Patria

From a letter written by C. S. Lewis (5 November 1954) and published here:

“About death, I go through different moods, but the times when I can desire it are never, I think, those when this world seems harshest. On the contrary, it is just when there seems to be most of Heaven already here that I come nearest to longing for the patria [the heavenly homeland]. It is the bright frontispiece which whets one to read the story itself. All joy (as distinct from mere pleasure, still more amusement) emphasizes our pilgrim status: 

always reminds, beckons, awakes desire. Our best havings are wantings.”

Responsibility and Dependence

Though the power for godly character comes from Christ, the responsibility for developing and displaying that character is ours. This principle seems to be one of the most difficult for us to understand and apply. One day we sense our personal responsibility and seek to live a godly life by the strength of our own willpower. The next day, realizing the futility of trusting in ourselves, we turn it all over to Christ and abdicate our responsibility which is set forth in the Scriptures. We need to learn that the Bible teaches both total responsibility and total dependence in all aspects of the Christian life

--Jerry Bridges, The Practice of Godliness

Saturday is huge. Need help!

Saturday we are--as a church family--landscaping the North side of the property.

Please let us know:
A.) If you can help
B.) How long you can help

379-4949 or email
fmatthews
At
christcommunitychurch DOT
Com