Jesus, I Come

Out of my bondage, sorrow and night,

Jesus, I come; Jesus, I come.

Into Thy freedom, gladness and light,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

Out of my sickness into Thy health,

Out of my wanting and into Thy wealth,

Out of my sin and into Thyself,

Jesus, I come to Thee.

God's Ownership of Creation

Deuteronomy 8:17-18 "You may say to yourself, 'My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me. ' But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth...”
Read Psalm 50, especially 7-15
Apply God is the creator (Gen 1:1), the sole ruler and Lord over all creation. He controls all things in this world, the whole creation (Psalm 50:12). Nothing that we do takes away from God's overruling presence throughout all of creation. It is his to create, and protect, and use for his glory. So whenever we use the resources of the world, we use the resources of God's world.
That also means that "the silver is mine and the gold is mine" (Haggai 2:8). When we look at our own finances, we tend to forget God's sovereign ownership of creation. We expect him to care for us as if he owes us something. In Job 41: 11, God replies, "Who has a claim against me that I must pay? Everything under heaven belongs to me." Or, we think that we have earned our treasures because of our own abilities (See Deuteronomy 8:17 above).
Therefore, God doesn't need our money as if he needed an income. Instead, we need him every moment to sustain us. Our worship, and the dedication of our whole lives to him, is an acknowledgment of his control over everything. It's a thank offering, a giving back of what we have so abundantly received (Psalm 50:14).
1. Do you act like God "owes" you something? Why?
2. What causes you to forget God's loving control of the world?
Pray For a renewed heart that daily remembers God's active control of the world and a thankful heart that praises his loving care.
Do How might living as if God owns everything influence: the way we shop, the presents we put under the Christmas tree, the vacations we plan, our giving to the needy?



Copyright 1997. Redeemer Presbyterian Church of New York City
Day 2 of 20

One beggar telling another

"I cannot believe that you have tasted of the honey of the gospel if you can keep it all to yourself." Spurgeon

'

Prayer

 Just pay attention, then patch
  a few words together and don't try
  to make them elaborate, this isn't 
  a contest but the doorway
  into thanks, and a silence in which
  another voice may speak.

--Mary Oliver

Your Only True Treasure

Read
 Matthew 6:21: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. "

Apply: 

Jesus here tells us the most important lesson about money. Our heart, our desire and hope, is tied closely to our treasure. Our money and our heart go together. We all know that, of course, to some extent. But when Jesus calls our attention to this part of our character, he confronts us.

He alerts us to the powerful tug that material wealth possesses, an allure that makes us do and act and believe contrary to our Christian confession. We say that we live for heaven. Our pocketbook shows us what we really live for. He calls us to examine where we place our money and our heart: earthly pleasures that fade away or eternal kingdom investments that last forever.

1. Where is most of your treasure? Is that where your heart is?

2. When you give, does that frighten you or excite you? Why?

Pray:

 For a renewed heart that tells treasure what to do, not more treasure that tells your heart what to do.

Do:
 Look at your bank statement and your credit card statements.

Specifically, where does most of your money go? 

Are those your priorities?

copyright, Redeemer Presbyterian Church

George Herbert, Redemption

Having been tenant long to a rich Lord,
Not thriving, I resolvèd to be bold,
And make a suit unto him, to afford
A new small-rented lease, and cancel th'old.

In heaven at his manor I him sought:
They told me there, that he was lately gone
About some land, which he had dearly bought
Long since on earth, to take possession.

I straight return'd, and knowing his great birth,
Sought him accordingly in great resorts;
In cities, theatres, gardens, parks, and courts:
At length I heard a raggèd noise and mirth

Of thieves and murderers: there I him espied,
Who straight, Your suit is granted, said, and died.

John Donne quote

Mr McKamey,

This is all I have found so far.  

Romans: Righteousness from Heaven - Google Books Result

R. Kent Hughes - 1991 - Religion - 352 pages
John Donne said of this : I shall be so like God, as that the devil himself shall not know me from God, so farre as to finde any more place to fasten a ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=0891075240...

Youth group

Faith, mighty faith

In hope, against all human hope,
  Self-desperate, I believe;
Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees,
   And looks to that alone;
Laughs at impossibilities,
   And cries: It shall be done!
                                  

                           (Charles Wesley)

Beyond Deliverance, to Inheritance

Exodus 3:17 reveals a God of deliverance, inheritance, and good providence. 

The LORD is a God who can both rectify the past and open the door to a blessed future. For as God later says in not dissimilar circumstances, "I know the plans I have for you....plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future (Jeremiah 29:11).     

--Alec Motyer

"Plundering the Egyptians" in Exodus

This was God's way of making sure that his people got

paid for all the work they did for Pharaoh, which was only fair! Umberto

Cassuto writes:

The Hebrew slaves who went forth from Egypt had already served their

masters the number of years that Providence had predetermined, and consequently

they were entitled to liberation, and upon liberation the bounty

was also due to them. This was required by law — that is, absolute justice

demanded it — and although no earthly court could compel the king of

Egypt and his servants to fulfil their obligation, the Heavenly Court saw

to it that the requirements of law and justice were carried out, and directed

the course of events to this end.

Later, when God gave his people the law, he decreed that Hebrew slaves

were never to be sent away empty-handed but always compensated for their

labor: "If a fellow Hebrew, a man or a woman, sells himself to you and serves

you six years, in the seventh year you must let him go free. And when you

release him, do not send him away empty-handed. Supply him liberally from

your flock, your threshing floor and your winepress. Give to him as the LORD

your God has blessed you. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and

the LORD your God redeemed you" (Deut. 15:12-15a). One of the deep

principles of divine justice is that the redemption of a slave requires the

payment of a gift. The same thing happened when the Israelites were freed

from Babylon: They were given gold and silver for their return trip to

Jerusalem (see Ezra 1).

There is an echo of this principle in the New Testament. When Jesus

Christ liberated us from our bondage to sin, he lavished us with gifts —

spiritual gifts to enrich our new life of freedom in Christ. As the Scripture

says, "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts

to men" (Eph. 4:8). Jesus despoiled the devil through the cross, and now

the gifts of the Holy Spirit serve as the bounty of our liberation.

--Phil Ryken

Words we'll sing to God Sunday

Light of the world, You stepped down into darkness.
Opened my eyes let me see.
Beauty that made this heart adore you hope of a life spent with you.

King of all days,
Oh so highly exalted Glorious in heaven above.
Humbly you came to the earth you created.
All for love's sake (you) became poor.

'

Past Present Future

Yahweh was the God of the past who promised salvation to the patriarchs. He was the God of the present who sent Moses to save his people. And he was the God of the future who would bring them into the Promised Land:


“I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land
of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites — a
land flowing with milk and honey” (v. 17). As we have seen, salvation is
not only from something but also to something. When God rescued his people
from slavery and captivity, he did not leave them in the wilderness but
brought them into the land of milk and honey. After the exit from Egypt, there
was the entry into Canaan. The God who spoke to Moses is the God who is
active in history — past, present, and future.
We have come to know this same God through Jesus Christ, who is
“the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8).

---Phil Ryken, in commentary, chapter WONDERS AND SIGNS / EXODUS 3:16 — 4:9 

More questions from Moses

Exodus 3 — 4 recounts a lengthy discussion — not to say a dispute —
between God and Moses. Moses was still trying to decide whether he wanted
to lead God’s people out of Egypt or not; so he asked God five questions.
First he wanted to know who he was to undertake such a difficult and dangerous
mission: “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the
Israelites out of Egypt?” (Exod. 3:11). God answered by saying that it didn’t
matter all that much who Moses was, as long as God was with him. Second,
Moses asked who God was (v. 13). If the success of his mission depended
on God rather than on himself, Moses wanted to know what God’s name was.
God answered by revealing himself as the Great I Am.
Once he had answered those two questions, God proceeded to give
detailed information about what he wanted Moses to do. Rarely has a man
ever been given such explicit instructions for carrying out God’s will. The
verses that follow contain a message for the Israelites (vv. 16, 17), a message
for the Egyptians (vv. 18-22), and three signs for Moses (4:1-9), which
— as we shall discover — were given in response to his third question.


--Phil Ryken, in his commentary on Exodus

Pray

CCC needs a Director of Children's Ministries

Please ask God to provide.

'

Reflection

"What Moses learned from the stick was that in order to be used for
God's glory, he had to place his life in God's hands."

--Phil Ryken

'

None but Jesus

(@ScottyWardSmith) "It is a destructive addition to add anything to Christ." Richard Sibbes (1577-1635)

'

Next step class, best ever!

Sept 26 @ 3:45pm

Who are you?

Phil Ryken:
One difficulty is determining exactly what the answer is. What is God’s
name? Does it come in verse 14 or verse 15? If it comes in verse 14, then
God’s name is “I AM WHO I AM” or simply “I AM.” But in that case God’s
name is a verb, which would be highly unusual. It seems more likely that
the divine name is given in verse 15, where God identifies himself as “the
LORD.” “LORD” is the special name for God that occurs more than 5,000
times in the Old Testament. One place it occurs is in the Song of Moses,
where it shows how Moses himself understood God’s answer to his question:
“The LORD is his name” (Exod. 15:3b).
The name “LORD” is sometimes called the tetragrammaton because in
Hebrew it consists of four letters: YHWH. The Jews considered these letters
to be so sacred that later some of them even refused to pronounce the
Lord’s name, for fear of taking it in vain. Perhaps that is why the proper
way to pronounce the divine name has been forgotten (part of the problem
too is that the most ancient Hebrew manuscripts do not contain any vowels,
only consonants). The King James Version of the Bible sometimes writes it
out as “Jehovah,” although this is based on a misunderstanding of Hebrew
vowels that dates back to the medieval church. The New International
Version simply prints it as “LORD” in capital and small capital letters.
Probably the proper way to say God’s special name was something like
“Yahweh.” But even if its pronunciation is uncertain, God’s name itself has
never been forgotten. The French Huguenots preserved it in their insignia:
a burning bush imprinted with the four Hebrew letters that spell the divine
name.

Page 122 in Stuart commentary

God would be known by this name for generations--As long as the old
covenant endures. Name changes in the Bible signify changes of status,
and with the new covenant comes the supremacy of the name Jesus,
replacing Yahweh.

Phil 2:10
1john 3:23
And
The frequent and obviously intentional emphasis on the efficacy of the
"name of Jesus" in the book of Acts

'
Exodus 3
Yahweh

Thoughts on a song

From Justin Piazza

"Your Grace Is Enough" is a newer worship song written by Matt Maher and made popular by Christ Tomlin.  In the last several years this song has been one that I've hung my hat on and said "That's My Song".  Why?  Well, the title is enough for me to shout AMEN!  I don't mean to over simplify it or over spiritualize it, but the truth is that:  God's grace truly is enough.  All of us with out God's great GRACE are dead men and women walking.  It's the Grace that's so greatly poured out in Colossians 1:13-14 "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and TRANSFERED us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."

I never want to take that Grace for granted!  I always want the sacrifice and the love that our Father has for me to be in the forefront of my mind and heart and that is my prayer for you as well!  So as we worship Sunday morning let's truly meditate on and remember God's great Grace poured out in our hearts and lives everyday!   Selah!

'

Next Step Class

Meets Friday evening, Sept 17th at 7- 9:00PM
at the home of Rob & Kim Pendley   (MAP)

and Saturday morning, Sept 18th 8:30-12:30
at Christ Community Church, in the main building

too late to sign up?  No worries, we want you there.

Barocha

In the 11:15 (Eleven-Fifteen) service Sunday we'll baptize a couple of our new cherubs.

We are re-instituting a practice that we did for years "back in the day" at CCC----- the singing of the Aaronic blessing over them.

Wanna prep?  Here's sheet music and an mp3 file

http://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtdVPE.asp?ppn=MN0051530

http://michaelcard.com/audio/cds/Sleep%20Sound%20in%20Jesus/15%20-%20Barocha.mp3

and HERE is where Michael Card wonderfully unpacks this blessing from Numbers chapter 6

Exodus 3, Moses says, "You got this?"

We have a clear play on words with the "I AM" phrase in verse 14 ("I will be" and "I am" are the same word in Hebrew).  The "I AM" is with Moses.  Moses' assertion that he cannot do this task is correct but entirely beside the point.  He (Moses) is not doing the saving.  Moses says, "I cannot do this." Yahweh responds, "You're not, I am."     

 --Peter Enns, page 101

New mercies I seek

Monday nite @ study center

Addcox/Herber/Donne
In the house!!!

6pm tonight, Holy Communion

Christ draws near.

In the Sanctuary

'

Celebrate the Eucharist, Wednesday@ 6, in the Sanctuary

!

6:30AM TUESDAY, FOR MEN

@ ccc BUILDING

mañana 

Utes

a happy exposition of the dignity and glory that the Lord showers on women

excerpt from book by Jerram Barrs, my professor @ Covenant Seminary



This book is a happy exposition of the dignity and glory that the Lord showers on women. Its aim is to encourage women to delight in their creation, redemption, and calling and to challenge men to honor women as does the Lord himself. My hope is that many men, especially pastors and teachers, will read this book and be challenged by it, in addition to the book giving great encouragement
to women. My special prayer is that younger women who are becoming disenchanted with the church and with the Christian faith will be sufficiently encouraged by the book to embrace their faith much more wholeheartedly. I long for men to treat their wives, and women in general, better.
Many women experience discrimination and poor treatment in their churches and in their homes. In conservative circles this is sometimes defended and justified by specious appeals to Scripture. I am thoroughly conservative in my approach to Scripture, but I passionately believe that Scripture teaches our equality and mutual dependence. Some will be troubled that I do not devote a chapter to the so-called “restrictive passages” (1 Corinthians 11 and 14 and 1 Timothy 2) and to the issue of who should be pastors and elders with teaching and ruling authority in the churches. I have taught on this subject in many settings, and if anyone wishes to know my views on this, they can find them in a series of lectures on “Women in Church” and “Women in Society” that are available on Covenant Seminary’s website (www.covenantseminary.edu). However, my aim in this book was not to address that issue, a subject on which many volumes have been written, but to look at the far more extensive material in Scripture about God’s love and respect for women, material that is often neglected. My prayer is that the Lord will use this book to be an encouragement to both women and men, for we all need to see women through God’s eyes.

buy it here:
http://www.crossway.org/product/9781433502248

Tuesday for men and Wednesday 6pm communion

I'm excited about leading a couple of things this week at the building and I want to make sure that you are aware of them.  Also, please take a moment to see if you might make a way to join in the action.
 
Tuesday 6:30am Men's 10-week study begins
An hour of bible study, prayer, time with guys, and coffee intake
 
Wednesday 6:00pm Communion
A half-hour of scripture, prayer, and the Lord's Supper
 
Both are held @ Christ Community's main building. 
"I will say to the Lord: My refuge & my fortress,

my God,

in whom I trust." 

                                 --Psalm 91

 

 

 

Please note: if you are one of the fellas that has been benefitting from the awesome Tuesday morning group (formerly known as the Mkt St. Pub group----now meeting at Grandy's)
OR

the thursday group meeting at noon at the Christian Study Center--------------don't worry about coming to the 10 weeks at the church building.  You've got a good thing going, keep it up!

Youth group

expand your Vocab, insert THEOPHANY

The Bible says that what appeared to Moses was none other than "the angel

of the LORD" (Exod. 3:2). Here is a great mystery. The angel may have

been a member of the heavenly host, one of the angelic beings who serve

God in glory. But the Hebrew word for "angel" is simply the word "messenger"

(malakh). Since this angel is identified specifically as "the angel of

the LORD," there may be more here than meets the eye. Notice the wording

of verse 4: "When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called

to him from within the bush." The messenger did not simply see and speak

for God but as God. Here the angel of the Lord is so closely identified with

God that the burning bush is generally considered a theophany. In other

words, it was a God-appearance, a visible manifestation of the invisible God.

For a few brief moments in time and space, the bush was the temple of the

living God, the place of his presence on earth. Since the time of the early

church, Christians have wondered whether perhaps this was a revelation of

God's pre-incarnate Son, who brings God's saving message to humanity.

Whether or not Christ was in the bush, one thing is certain: Moses was in

the presence of God.

--Phil Ryken

exodus 3

Moses' Father-in-law: Jethro, Reuel, or both?

We were introduced to Jethro back in chapter 2,

where he was called Reuel. It is possible that the man had two names, which

was common in ancient times. It is also possible that Reuel was the name

of Jethro's father, which would actually make him Moses'grandfather-in-law

(see Num. 10:29). But perhaps the most likely explanation is that Jethro,

which means "his excellency," was a formal title indicating the man's status.

In any case, he is called Jethro throughout the rest of Exodus.

The Essence & Cause

Gregory of Nyssa (330-c.395), what Moses saw in the burning

bush was nothing less than 

"the transcendent essence and cause of the universe, 

on which everything depends, alone subsists."

exodus 3

The exodus from Egypt reveals the pattern of salvation in Christ.

 So whatever God did for Moses has direct relevance for the Christian. John Calvin wrote:

We again, instead of supposing that the matter has no reference to us,

should reflect that the bondage of Israel in Egypt was a type of that spiritual bondage, 

in the fetters of which we are all bound, until the heavenly

avenger delivers us by the power of his own arm, and transports us into his

free kingdom. Therefore, as in old times, when he would gather together

the scattered Israelites to the worship of his name, he rescued them from

the intolerable tyranny of Pharaoh, so all who profess him now are delivered

from the fatal tyranny of the devil, of which that of Egypt was only

a type.

Tell Him you need large mercy, great forgiveness

.

What Moses experienced at the burning bush teaches us about God and

the way of his salvation. It is also a great encouragement to prayer. The

God who promised to come down and save the Israelites has the power to

save us. All we need to do is cry out to him for deliverance. 

In his sermon on this text, Charles Spurgeon pleaded with his congregation: "Sinner, tell

God your misery even now, and he will hear your story. He is willing to listen,

even to that sad and wretched tale of yours about your multiplied transgressions,

your hardness of heart, your rejections of Christ. Tell him all, for

he will hear it. Tell him what it is you want, — what large mercy, — what

great forgiveness; just lay your whole case before him. Do not hesitate for a

single moment; he will hear it, he will be attentive to the voice of your

cry."

 If we open our hearts to offer such a prayer, the same God who met

Moses at the burning bush — the holy God of glory, the God who has entered

into a loving, personal relationship with his people through Jesus Christ —

will come down and save us.

--Phil Ryken

exodus 3 Sunday Sept 12

Helpful letter Frank Matthews showed me

Regarding dove and Koran

http://media.covenantseminary.edu/placement/CTS_Response.pdf

'

The Theater of Redemptive Activity

Martin Luther declared that a new Christian must withdraw from the world for a season, but upon reaching spiritual maturity he must embrace the world as the theater of redemptive activity. His message was, "Away with the cowards who flee from the real world and cloak their cowardice with piety."

Perhaps the greatest need for our day is the need to market Jesus Christ. The church must become expert in marketing, not in the slick Madison Avenue style but in an aggressive, yet dignified way. The marketplace is where we belong. It is where needy people are found. It is not enough for the church to hang a welcome sign on her door. We dare not wait for the world to come to us.

God never intended the Christian community to be a ghetto. The church is not a reservation. Yet the pervasive style of modern evangelicalism is that of a reservation or a ghetto. We can argue that it is the secularist agenda to put us there and keep us there. But such arguments won't do. We are there because it is safe and comfortable to be there.

The secularist hates the light and is quite willing to offer us a bushel for it. Shame on us when we buy custom-made bushels and willingly place them over our candles. To hide the light or to restrict it to a reservation is to do violence to the gospel and to grieve the Holy Ghost.

--from Ligonier

'

Exodus is @ deliverance from bad slavery TO joyful loyalty to a loving Father

In calling you to take up your cross and deny yourself, Jesus is freeing you from something you alone can't defeat; your bondage to you.

'

Living by Faith

Every morning . . . every moment of every day . . . I have a choice to make. I can trust in my heart's default position: Work it out, work harder, prove I'm better, show that I do love my neighbor, engage with Hagar and my sticky-notes. Or, I can rest in his promise that even though I look at myself and realize that for me it's been nearly 40 years since I first believed the promise, the One who is able to speak into existence things that don't exist, has declared that I am righteous now and that this faith is enough now. It must be enough or I can't breathe. That was the choice for me today and it's the choice we all face every day. Taken from: Is faith enough today? Elyse Fitzpatrick combats the inner slave driver http://bit.ly/dzYrfp

'

One reason we confess in our worship services

Paul David Tripp (@PaulTripp) 9/9/10 6:50 AM Everyday you give empirical evidence that even though the power of sin is broken, the presence of sin remains and for that you need grace.

'

More on "crying out" of exodus 2

Some of us are not leading holy lives for the simple reason that we have too high an opinion of ourselves.  No man ever cries aloud for deliverance who has not seen his own wretchedness.  In other words, the only way to arrive at faith in the power of the Holy Spirit is along the road of self-despair.

--From "Men Made New" (London: IVF; Downers Grove, IVP, 1966), p. 74.

John stott. 

'

Burning Books or Proclaiming Christ-- @ Dove World stuff

--this is by Michael Scott Horton

To mark the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, The Rev. Terry Jones is planning an “International Burn the Qur’an Day” at his 50-member Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida. Yesterday Gen. David H. Petraeus warned that if a Florida church goes through with its plan to burn copies of the Qur’an this weekend, it could “endanger troops” and set back the U. S. war effort in Afghanistan. Beyond Afghanistan, it could spark protests and violence around the world (David Nakamura, Washington Post on-line, Sept 7, 2010). On Monday, 500 protesters at a Kabul mosque burned an effigy of Mr. Jones.

There is a long history of burning books when you don’t want to actually deal with the ideas that they promote. When the medieval church sponsored public bonfires of the Reformers’ writings, raw power seemed more convenient than reasoned argument. It’s an act of desperation. In other times and places, a call for Qur’an-burning would be dismissed as a crank’s irresponsible exercise of free speech, but in the present context, Jones has received more attention than perhaps even he could have imagined. To their credit, evangelical organizations—like the World Evangelical Fellowship and the National Association of Evangelicals—have been as vocal in opposing this incendiary event as liberal religious groups.

Especially given the timing of the event, NAE President Leith Anderson says that Terry Jones and his handful of supporters are engaging in “revenge” rather than the loving witness that Scripture teaches (citing 1 Thes 5:15). According to Mr Jones, however, “We only did it because we felt there needed to be an outcry against Islam, because Islam is presenting itself as a religion of peace” (The Christian Post on-line, July 30, 2010). Evidently, Mr. Jones believes that the best way of making the point that Islam is not a religion of peace is with a public burning of its primary text. I have not read his book released apparently for the occasion: Islam is of the Devil. Nor do I intend to do so (life is short). However, summaries point out that the author somehow sees American tolerance of Islam as the root of the nation’s social and moral evils. Another irony: on the Dove Center website, the seventh of Mr. Jones’ reasons for such book-burning is that “Islam is not compatible with democracy and human rights.”

In spite of the widespread Christian condemnation of the proposed action, this is not an isolated case. John Hagee leads a San Antonio, Texas, megachurch with a telecast that reaches 99 million homes around the world each week. His central message in books, sermons, and broadcasts is Christian Zionism—which includes a call for a pre-emptive strike of Iran by Israel. Although such voices are on the fringes of what used to be a more mainstream movement within evangelicalism, the basic paradigm (namely, radical dispensationalism) is held by millions of Christians in the U.S.. Besides the fact that Hal Lindsey’s Late Great Planet Earth was the best-seller of the 1970s and the Left Behind series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins led the best-seller list for the 1990s, this popular end-times theology has played an influential role in foreign policy from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush.

I do not doubt that many Christians who hold to these radical scenarios would denounce the incendiary proposals of Terry Jones and others. However, at a moment like this it is worth reminding ourselves what we believe and why we believe it. After all, as Christians our first question is not whether Qur’an-burning will set back war efforts in Afghanistan, but whether it is consistent with Christian neighbor-love and will set back efforts to reach Muslim neighbors with the Good News.

On one end are those who react by invoking religious pluralism. At least when it comes to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, we are talking about the “Abrahamic faith traditions,” after all. We are all children of Abraham and should stop killing each other. As simple as this sounds, it is a position that no Christian can hold. The prophets—all the way to John the Baptist—announced that the true children of Abraham are all who trust in the coming Messiah. Jesus Christ made himself the focal point for the inheritance of everlasting life, replacing the Temple by forgiving sins directly in his person, proclaiming himself Lord of the Sabbath, welcoming the outcasts, and offering himself in death and resurrection for the life of all who embrace him. Paul, who had persecuted the church, was now the Apostle to the Gentiles and argued—just as Jesus had—that it all who are united to Christ by faith are children of Abraham. The distinction between Jew and Gentile is abolished in the “new creation” that is Christ with his body. Faith, not law; justification in Christ, not physical descent or obedience to Torah, is the only way to become a child of Abraham—more than that, a child of God. By the way, this means that nominal Christians are no more children of Abraham than anyone else. There is only one way into the family: faith in Jesus Christ.

This means, of course, that all rival prophets, priests, and kings are pretenders. Judaism and Islam—as well as heretical forms of Christianity—reject the central claims of the gospel. Israel may be an ally of the U.S. whom we are obligated by moral and political ties to support as citizens. However, Israel is not holy land and no longer has any eschatological significance in the history of redemption. Where the Temple Mount once stood in redemptive history, Jesus now stands, calling, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.”

As citizens of democratic nations, Christians may be concerned about the implications of Qur’an-burning for international peace and justice. However, as citizens of the kingdom of Christ, they have even more reason to denounce such actions. Recall James and John—the “sons of thunder”—asking Jesus if they could call fire down from heaven on a Samaritan village that rejected their message. We read that Jesus rebuked them.

This is not the era of driving out the nations from God’s holy land, for the church is the only holy land and Christ is its living Temple. This is the era of enduring persecution, not for provoking or participating in it. In the Book of Revelation we read that it was not the martyr’s protests or book-burnings, but “the word of their testimony” and their witness to the Lamb that conquered the Beast.

Along with other religious distortions and denials of the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Islam belongs to that vast complex that makes up the Beast of the last days. Yet there are also “Christian” ways of looking away from Christ and attaching ourselves to the powers and principalities that array themselves against the Lord and his Messiah. Muslims need to encounter the power of faith in Christ that bears the fruit of hope and love. They need to hear the gospel and its central claims with gentleness and respect. Believers in Christ too are those who have been delivered from the power of sin and death and are not yet perfect in their understanding or actions. Christians are called to love Muslim neighbors simply because they are created in the image of God. Yet they are also called to proclaim the gospel and to explain and defend it, albeit with gentleness and respect.

As responsible citizens, we cannot help but be concerned about the political ramifications of Islam—especially since Islam is a geo-political as well as religious movement. Yet as citizens of Christ’s kingdom, we must resist the temptation to confuse U. S. interests with the goals of the City of God. Furthermore, we should recall the myriad ways in which Christianity confused these two kingdoms in its history—not only in medieval Christendom, but in the “God-and-Country” confusion that we see all around us today on the left and the right.

Muslims are our neighbors and regardless of what their religion encourages, our scriptures call us to imitate our Father who sends sunshine and rain on the just and the unjust alike. It is an era of common grace, a space in history for calling all people everywhere to repentance and faith in Christ. Our children play regularly with Muslim neighbors and sometimes the topic of religion comes up in conversation. It is interesting to overhear the interaction. On occasion, the oldest boy will ask me questions about Jesus and why we believe that he rose from the dead. I cannot imagine that the burning of the Qur’an this coming Saturday will help move that discussion along.

Evening Communion

One week from today:

Wednesday 6:00PM Evening Communion.  A half-hour service of Scripture, prayer, and Holy Communion.   Held in the sanctuary.

This is the first of three times this Fall when we'll offer communion mid-week in the evening.

Evening Communion Next Week

Next Wednesday, September 15 we will have a half-hour Communion Service in the Sanctuary at 6:00pm.

Lifting Heart & Voice

Women's Bible Studies start Tuesday!

Morning and Evening

Book of Galatians

Work mightily, Lord!

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Group auditing Seminary class

Kids class !

Dying, You destroyed our death!

Remembrance is a beautiful communion song that reminds us there are "none too lost to be saved; None too broken or ashamed; All are welcome in this place." I wondered about one line that seems at face value to be referring to transubstantiation ("now the simple made divine"). When I read in the liner notes that the words were taken from the Roman Missal, I realized it was more than an implication. That being said, a case could be made that the song is talking about acknowledging God's divine activity in the simple act of taking the bread and cup together. I'd want to make sure people knew what was meant by that line.

--Bob Kauflin

Oh How Could It Be (Remembrance)

Words and Music by Matt Redman & Matt Maher

Oh how could it be
That my God would welcome me
Into this mystery?
Say 'take this bread, take this wine'
Now the simple made divine
For any to receive

By Your mercy we come to Your table
By Your grace You are making us faithful

Lord, we remember You
And remembrance leads us to worship
And as we Worship You
Our Worship leads to communion
We respond to Your invitation
We remember You

See His body, His blood; know that He has overcome
Every trial we will face
None too lost to be saved, none too broken or ashamed
All are welcome in this place

Dying You destroyed our death
Rising You restored our life
Lord Jesus, come in glory
Lord Jesus, come in glory (Lord Jesus, come in glory)

Copyright (c) 2009 Thankyou Music / sixsteps / Said & Done Music / spiritandsong.com / kingswaysongs.com & International Commission on English in Liturgy

One road home

One road leads home and a thousand roads lead into the wilderness.  C.S. Lewis

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Communion, 8:30 & 11:15

Prepare yourself--- to be drenched in Christ's love.

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Word AND Spirit

We must never divorce what God has married, namely his Word and his Spirit.  The Word of God is the Spirit's sword.  The Spirit without the Word is weaponless; the Word without the Spirit is powerless.

John Stott--From "The Message of Thessalonians" (The Bible Speaks Today series: Leicester: IVP, 1991), p. 34.

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Now it has character

Only God hears, knows, remembers, sees us

"Look to physical things to comfort our hearts, and we end up overweight, in debt, addicted, or all three." Paul Tripp

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In worship we learn to enjoy something better!

C. S. Lewis (@CSLewisDaily) 9/2/10 4:06 PM The real way of mending a man's taste is not to denigrate his favourites but to teach him how to enjoy something better

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Exodus 2-- oh my!

23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of
Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their
cry for rescue from slavery came up to God.
24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with
Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
25 God saw the people of Israel-and God knew.

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on Sunday we'll seek to review our inheritance

Puritan Stephen Charnock:

 'If rich men delight to sum up their vast revenues, 

to read over their rentals, 

to look upon their hoards, 

how much more should the people of God please themselves 

in seeing how rich they are in having an immensely full 

and all-sufficient God as their inheritance.'

New mercies are here!

Some fellas enjoying football season starting

God Remembers

God remembered. Now this is a glorious word. What do you think? God forgot? This word is much richer than that. God didn't forget the promise He had made. When it says that God remembered, it means that He acted upon the promise that He had made. Just as he said to Noah, "When I look at the bow in the cloud, I will remember the promise that I have made." God set up the memoriam. Now He is acting upon the promise that he had made and memorialized.     --Ligon Duncan

Do NOT miss this

I will be 3000 miles away. I'd make it if I was a mere 2500. Addcox on
Herbert and Donne? Fugit about it!

Kitchen!

We are baptizing people September 19

Call the church office if interested.

He pours into our emptiness

"Let your tears fall because of sin; but, at the same time, let the eye of faith steadily behold the Son of man lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, that those who are bitten by the old serpent may look unto Jesus and live. Our sinnership is that emptiness into which the Lord pours his mercy."—C.H. Spurgeon

From the Pulpit to the Palm-branch: A Memorial of C. H. Spurgeon, pg. 23

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Remembrance

Sunday, you will have the opportunity to come forward and receive the Lord's Supper.

What a gift!  What a weighty gift.  May the words of this Matt Redman song be experienced in our hearts together:

By your mercy, we come to your table,
By Your grace you are making us faithful

The twin truths--equally true--that
1.) We never earn our way to God
2.) He never leaves us as we are