April 8-10

Mark your calendars!

We'll be holding our Conference focusing on our global and local
partnerships to extend the grace of Jesus Christ to Gainesville and
the world.

Confession & Comfort, for Sunday March 20, 2011

Confession  --from Psalm 40

All: O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;

your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
For evils have encompassed me
beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
my heart fails me.

Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!

Comfort-- from 1st Peter 1

You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Pray for Japan

PCA NEWS
Call to Prayer for Japan
DR. PAUL KOOISTRA, MARCH 2011

Date: March 15, 2011

Subject: Urgent Prayer for Japan

You have, no doubt, watched the unfolding of the crisis in Japan following the massive earthquake and tsunami. We are grateful that our missionaries and their families are safe, but they are also grieving for this country whose people they love. Our missionaries and the churches with which they are affiliated are making an immediate response, taking food, clothing, blankets, and especially water into the tsunami-affected area. The aftershocks have continued, and many people are still sleeping in their clothes (as much as sleep is possible) in case they need to flee their homes in the midst of powerful aftershocks. There is great concern over meltdown and potential meltdown of failed nuclear reactors. Our missionaries report that many Japanese people are in shock and denial as they are faced with this overwhelming crisis.

For prayer:
• Physical, emotional, and spiritual strength for our MTW missionaries, their churches, and the many other organizations, churches, and missionaries with whom they work
• Comfort for grieving families, especially that they will come to know the love and comfort of Christ
• Safety from aftershocks and radiation released by nuclear reactors
• Shelter, food, and water for suvivors
• Wisdom and clarity for MTW regarding our immediate and long-term response
• Restoration of power and communications
• Financial and prayer support to be raised up across the PCA

Most of all, however, pray this will be an open door for the gospel, that missionaries and national believers will be able to show the love of Christ to those around them. Relationships are critical in Japanese culture, so pray this crisis opens new doors of ministry. Pray the eyes and hearts of the Japanese people will be opened by the power of the gospel. We know God has planted His Church in Japan for such a time as this.

Thank you for standing with us in prayer for Japan.

Paul D. Kooistra
Coordinator, Mission to the World

Please note that updates will be posted on MTW’s website and Facebook page.

Find all in all in Jesus!

I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small
Child of weakness, watch and pray; find in Me thine all in all”
 

Blessed Trinity (Sunday we sing)

Holy, holy, holy; Lord God Almighty
All Thy works shall praise Thy Name, in earth and sky and sea
Holy, holy, holy; merciful and mighty
God in three Persons; blessed Trinity

Jesus of the Scars

Jesus of the Scars

If we have never sought, we seek Thee now;
Thine eyes burn through the dark, our only stars;
We must have sight of thorn-pricks on Thy brow;
We must have Thee, O Jesus of the Scars.
The heavens frighten us; they are too calm;
In all the universe we have no place.
Our wounds are hurting us; where is the balm?
Lord Jesus, by Thy Scars we claim Thy grace.
If when the doors are shut, Thou drawest near,
Only reveal those hands, that side of Thine;
We know today what wounds are; have no fear;
Show us Thy Scars; we know the countersign.
The other gods were strong, but Thou wast weak;
They rode, but Thou didst stumble to a throne;
But to our wounds only God’s wounds can speak,
And not a god has wounds, but Thou alone.

Edward Shilito

Pray for each other

Please pray for some recent developments that put some of our members in times of trial:

--Rob & Sarah Hamersma:
Rob's dad was injured in Costa Rica and is now in hospital back home in Canada.

--Margaret Thaler
She was recently diagnosed and is seeking treatments.  Stay updated at
http://margaretthaler.blogspot.com/


This list is not exhaustive.

Redemption Story

"If you had asked a devout Israelite in the Old Testament period “Are you redeemed?” the answer would have been a most definite yes. And if you had asked “How do you know?” you would be taken aside to sit down somewhere while your friend recounted a long and exciting story—the story of the Exodus. For indeed it is the Exodus that provided the primary model of God’s idea of redemption, not just in the Old Testament but even in the New, where it is used as one of the keys to understanding the meaning of the cross of Christ.
[The Exodus] points beyond itself to a greater need for deliverance from the totality of evil and restoration to relationship with God than it achieved by itself. Such a deliverance was accomplished by Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection.” 


Chris Wright

Repentance is a gift

 repentance is not circumstantially produced. Repentance is not produced by showing a person the terror of judgment. You know, there are some folks that think you can cause someone to repent by showing them hell. Well, my friends, God has shown Pharaoh hell. Everything but the fire, and there’s no repentance. Because repentance is a grace, it’s a mercy, it’s a gift of God, it’s a work wrought of the Holy Spirit. And it is not one that is commonly bestowed. And so, my friends, we see here the lunacy of sin and the hardness of an unrepentant heart, as Pharaoh sees the judgment of God displayed before him, and he will not turn.

--Ligon Duncan 

Passover and Christ

Stott informs us that the original Passover God was revealed as:
1.) Judge (He judged Egypt), 2.) Redeemer (He redeemed Israel from destruction by the blood of the lamb), and as 
3.) Israel’s covenant God (He had set Israel apart as a people to whom he would later covenant).

 In the same way, Jesus’ death showed Him to also be:
1.) Judge (He judged the Pharisees and said He would come again to judge the nations),
2.) Redeemer (the savior/redeemer of all mankind), and again, 
3.) Israel’s covenant God (bringing the new covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31 to fruition) (Stott, 139–140).

MOVE CLOCKS AHEAD ONE HOUR!

chapter 11 outlined by Alec Motyer

11:1 The announcement

11:2-3 The granting of favor to Israel when they made requests of the Egyptians

11:4 The Coming of the LORD to Egypt

11:4-5 The nature of the coming plague and its timing

11:6 The great cry of the Egyptians

11:8 The command to leave Egypt

11:9 A concluding comment that Pharaoh had  not changed but was still resistent to the word of the LORD.

These topics reappear in the epilogue of 12:29-42.


what about 11:7??

Life From Death

These ceremonies are to be observed through all generations as a reminder, in this case a graphic reminder, of the lengths God will go to save His children---his firstborn son, Israel.  We see, then, a hint of what becomes clearer almost fifteen hundred years later on a cross near Jerusalem: Life comes from death, or better, life can only come from death.  The tenth plague was not a divine temper tantrum where God flexes His muscles before the Egyptians and really lets them have it.  It is the necessary implementation of a redemptive pattern, one that requires death as a means to fuller life.  The consecration of the firstborn, therefore, is a reminder of the once-for-all substitutionary death of the beloved firstborn son who is to come.


--Peter Enns

Measure for Measure

So thorough and devastating will God's action be that the Egyptians will beg the Israelites to leave. Moreover, they will be favorably disposed toward them, "so that God's people will leave with more than what they came with. Now it will be Egypt's turn to "cry" because of THEIR oppression (echo of Ex 3:7). Among the Israelites, however, not even a barking dog will be heard. The tenth plague is clearly a "measure-for-measure" punishment.

--Peter Enns

We are not exactly what we eat

And Jesus answered him, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone.'"

Luke 4

Luke 2

Jesus' parents always went to Jerusalem for Passover

Living and Dying

Lent is about repentance.  Valuing Christ and His love so much that we die to sin and live unto righteousness.  The Heidelberg Catechism helps.

Q. What is the true repentance or conversion of man?

A. It is the dying of the old nature and the coming to life of the new.[1]

[1] Rom. 6:1-11; I Cor. 5:7; II Cor. 5:17; Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:5-10.

89. Q. What is the dying of the old nature?

A. It is to grieve with heartfelt sorrow that we have offended God by our sin, and more and more to hate it and flee from it.[1]

[1] Ps. 51:3, 4, 17; Joel 2:12, 13; Rom. 8:12, 13; II Cor. 7:10.

90. Q. What is the coming to life of the new nature?

A. It is a heartfelt joy in God through Christ,[1] and a love and delight to live according to the will of God in all good works.[2]

[1] Ps. 51:8, 12; Is. 57:15; Rom. 5:1; 14:17. [2] Rom. 6:10, 11; Gal. 2:20.

91. Q. But what are good works?                                                                                                 

A. Only those which are done out of true faith,[1] in accordance with the law of God,[2] and to His glory,[3] and not those based on our own opinion or on precepts of men.[4]

[1] Joh. 15:5; Rom. 14:23; Heb. 11:6. [2] Lev. 18:4; I Sam. 15:22; Eph. 2:10. [3] I Cor. 10:31. [4] Deut. 12:32; Is. 29:13; Ezek. 20:18, 19; Matt. 15:7-9.

Frustrating

Rob Bell

Dang it.

Within a 24 hour period I was reading my son an article Bell had written on Advent/Lent/Sabbath-- a very helpful meditation on our human need to have rhythms in our lives.

Then today I stumbled across an internet brouhaha that Bell started by basically denying the realities of Hell.


Two thoughts:
1.) Love is truth and love wins through truth.
Hell is real.  Jesus delivers God's people from it.  I feel the temptation to deny it--who doesn't.  But you just gotta re-write the Bible to get away from the reality of Hell.
2.) I read and learn from many people that I disagree with on key points.
If I only read & quoted people with whom I am in complete agreement with--well, I couldn't read or quote anyone.

Dang it, Rob.

From the graveside service

UNTO Almighty God we commend the soul of our brother departed, and we commit his body to the ground; 

earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; 

in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life, 

through our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose coming in glorious majesty to judge the world, 

the earth and the sea shall give up their dead; and the corruptible bodies of those who sleep in him shall be changed, 

and made like unto his own glorious body; according to the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself.   ---1928 Book of Common Prayer

Sunday We Receive New Members

We are always thrilled to welcome new people to our tribe.  Expectantly we hope that the relationship will be mutually beneficial.  

-- from Ephesians 4
We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,  from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

Membership Vows

1. Do you acknowledge yourselves to be sinners in the sight of God, justly deserving His displeasure, and without hope save in [i.e., except for] His sovereign mercy?

2. Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and Savior of sinners, and do you receive and rest upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the gospel?

3. Do you now resolve and promise, in humble reliance upon the grace of the Holy Spirit, that you will endeavor to live as becomes the followers of Christ?

4. Do you promise to support the Church in its worship and work to the best of your ability?

5. Do you submit yourselves to the government and discipline of the Church, and promise to study its purity and peace?

Jesus on Earthy Spirituality

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name. [1]
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done, [2]
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread, [3]
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil. [4]

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

16 “And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Lay Up Treasures in Heaven

19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust [5] destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

What Every Christian Should Know About Ash Wednesday |

 Putting ashes on your forehead in the sign of the cross is not some kind of magic charm.  It is simply a visible reminder of our condition and the power of the cross to forever change that condition.

Good brief note ;

http://www.sojournmusic.com/2009/01/what-every-christian-should-know-about-ash-wednesday/

genesis 18
Abraham answered and said, "Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes."

Joel, 2nd chapter

12 "Yet even now," declares the LORD, "return to me with all your
heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the LORD
your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

THE IMPOSITION OF ASHES

During this time, you are invited to receive ashes on your forehead or the back of your hand. In Scripture, ashes serve both as a symbol of mortality and as a sign of mourning and repentance.

But neither sin nor death are the final word. 

We leave today in confidence and gratitude: Christ has conquered death, and nothing can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

--from our Ash Wednesday service, which is here:

THE AIM OF ASH WEDNESDAY

6:00am & 6:00pm; half-hour services in the sanctuary

The aim of Ash Wednesday worship is threefold:

 ~to meditate on our mortality, sinfulness, and need of a savior;

~ to renew our commitment to daily repentance in the Lenten season and in all of life; and

~ to remember with confidence and gratitude that Christ has conquered death and sin.

                                                                                            —The Worship Sourcebook

FREDERICK BUECHNER ON CONFESSION

To confess your sins to God is not to tell Him anything He doesn't already

know. Until you confess them, however, they are the abyss between you.

When you confess them, they become the Golden Gate bridge.

                                                                                                  —Frederick Buechner

ASH WEDNESDAY: A DAY FOR NEW BEGINNINGS

Ash Wednesday is a particular time for new beginnings in the faith, a time

for returning to the Lord. On this day we recall our mortality and wait upon

the Lord for a renewing Spirit. This is a time for putting aside the sins and

failures of the past in light of who we are yet to become by the grace of God.

                                                                                —Handbook of the Christian Year, 106

Israel's Plunder

We are going to be looking at the 1st Passover this Lenten season.  Our journey in Exodus has us at the spot where God's people will be spared and freed by the blood of a lamb.

"When it comes to Israel's plunder, what is usually overlooked is what

these gifts reveal about Egypt's spiritual condition. By his mercy God was

turning some of his enemies into friends. Many of the Egyptians had begun

to believe in the existence of the one true God. They acknowledged his power

and honored his prophet. They recognized the importance of treating God's

people with respect and generosity. They were making spiritual progress —

so much progress, in fact, that when the Israelites finally left, some of the

Egyptians actually went with them (cf. Ex 12:38).    --Phil Ryken

Exodus 12:37,38
The people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. 38 A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds. 

Tuesday 6:30am men, location change

The men's group that normally meets Tuesday 6:30am in the office complex will be meeting at Starbucks in the Town of Tioga.

Ash Wednesday

6:00-6:30am       AND     6:00-6:30pm

These two half-hour services will be held in the sanctuary.

Ash Wednesday begins the season known as Lent, which begins forty days prior to Easter and is characterized by a focus on repentance, fasting, prayer, and the needs of others. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus—His suffering and His sacrifice, His life, death, burial and resurrection. This first day of Lent reminds Christians of the words of Jesus in Matthew 16:24, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." The way to Easter is the way of the cross. 

As the first step in the Lenten journey the Ash Wednesday service invites us to acknowledge
-- our mortality,
-- our sinfulness and -- our dependence upon the grace of God.

We encourage all that are able to fast on Ash Wednesday leading up to the Ash Wednesday service as the Lord's Supper is served.

A unique feature of this service is the marking of the forehead with ashes in the sign of the cross (imposition of ashes). Since the 10th century this practice has been used to symbolize the frailty of our human existence and the 'dust and debris' in our lives (thus the name Ash Wednesday).

We hope you'll join us as we begin the Lenten season looking forward to its culmination on Easter Sunday morning as we worship our risen Savior.

Prayer Meeting Sunday 6pm

In January the elders decided to seek for God's glory to be known in and through Christ Community.  The plan involves monthly prayer meetings that seek this purpose.

Remember the connection between the Exodus and prayer?

The exodus was set in motion by the prayers of God's people: "The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried

out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard

their groaning and he remembered his covenant" (Exod. 2:23b, 24a). 

Wise Blood, Lent, and Easter

Haze Motes preaches a "Church without Christ" where nobody sheds
blood, and there's no redemption "'cause there ain't no sin to
redeem," and "what's dead stays that way."

Basically, what Haze took out is that in which we glory. And at no
time more than Lent & Easter.

Sober Awareness

For the seven weeks leading up to Resurrection Sunday, we practice
sober awareness of our frailty, sins and smallness. It starts on Ash
Wednesday when those ashes are traced on our foreheads in the shape of
the cross, a tactile reminder of our origins in the dust. From there
we come, and to there we will go.

You want to really live, the kind of living that drains the marrow
from every day? Then start by facing your death, your weakness, your
smallness.

We spend seven weeks facing our death and despair and doubt, entering
into it with the fullness of our being—heart, mind, emotions.

--Rob Bell

Ash Wednesday and Lent resources

• Mark Roberts overview article here
• Craig Higgins "Keeping a Holy Lent"  
  "The Lenten season is the spiritual equivalent of an annual physical exam; it’s a time to take stock of our lives, our hearts."
• "Tomorrow is Fat Tuesday" by yours truly
• Ashes of Affirmation, Lent and Our Worldview, by Jim Tonkowich.  My favorite line is:

"Lent is a great affirmation. It tells the truth about life—or, if you prefer, it affirms a core truth commitment of a Christian worldview: There is more to life than this world of time and space."

• Devotional for Lent, from City Church of San Francisco

6:00am and 6:00pm in the sanctuary--
We will have a simple half-hour services on Ash Wednesday.  

A prayer for the morning--GOD ALL-SUFFICIENT

O Lord of Grace,

The world is before me this day,

         and I am weak and fearful,

   but I look to thee for strength;

If I venture forth alone I stumble and fall,

   but on the Beloved's arms I am firm

     as the eternal hills;

If left to the treachery of my heart

     I shall shame thy Name,

   but if enlightened, guided, upheld by thy Spirit,

     I shall bring thee glory.

Be thou my arm to support,

         my strength to stand,

         my light to see,

         my feet to run,

         my shield to protect,

         my sword to repel,

         my sun to warm.

See more here:

http://www.banneroftruth.org/pages/dailydevotion_detail.php?3007

Rob Pendley

Motley Crew 2

1st Thursday's at Perkins

As Y'all Prepare for Communion Sunday

Behold the Lamb who bears our sins away
Slain for us and we remember
The promise made that all who come in faith
Find forgivness at the cross

Chorus
So we share in this bread of life
And we drink of His sacrifice
As a sign of our bonds of peace
Around the table of the King

Verse 2
The body of our Saviour Jesus Christ
Torn for you eat and remember
The wounds that heal the death that brings us life
Paid the price to make us one

Verse 3
The blood that cleanses ev'ry stain of sin
Shed for you drink and remember
He drained death's cup that all may enter in
To receive the life of God

Verse 4
And so with thankfulness and faith we rise
To respond and to remember
Our call to follow in the steps of Christ
As his body here on earth

Lent begins in one week, on Ash Wednesday

6:00-6:30am       AND     6:00-6:30pm

These two half-hour services will be held in the sanctuary.

Ash Wednesday begins the season known as Lent, which begins forty days prior to Easter and is characterized by a focus on repentance, fasting, prayer, and the needs of others. The purpose is to set aside time for reflection on Jesus—His suffering and His sacrifice, His life, death, burial and resurrection. This first day of Lent reminds Christians of the words of Jesus in Matthew 16:24, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." The way to Easter is the way of the cross. 

As the first step in the Lenten journey the Ash Wednesday service invites us to acknowledge
-- our mortality,
-- our sinfulness and 
-- our dependence upon the grace of God.

We encourage all that are able to fast on Ash Wednesday leading up to the Ash Wednesday service as the Lord's Supper is served.

A unique feature of this service is the marking of the forehead with ashes in the sign of the cross (imposition of ashes). Since the 10th century this practice has been used to symbolize the frailty of our human existence and the 'dust and debris' in our lives (thus the name Ash Wednesday).

We hope you'll join us as we begin the Lenten season looking forward to its culmination on Easter Sunday morning as we worship our risen Savior.