Prayer Involves Waiting

"To understand your struggle with waiting, you must begin here: waiting will always reveal the true character of your heart.`

Paul Tripp

Haiti Relief Info

Earthquake in Haiti MTW’s Disaster Response Ministry is leading our response to the unprecedented disaster in Haiti. Our protocol in these situations is to send teams at the invitation of the church and usually after the initial disaster consequences have eased. We are not “first responders,” but our goal in responding is to work through the church and to augment its ministry through the work DRM does. In the case of Haiti, we are preparing first to send in an advance needs assessment team (ANAT) as soon as we can reasonably get into the country.

To give by check, mark #93992MMHT10WEB on the memo line.

Donations Address:

Mission to the World

P.O. Box 116284

Atlanta, GA 30368-6284

Or you may give online by clicking here.

Current View, notice sign that is almost finished

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

loads of mystery on this topic, but here are some helps

articles
http://alfredplace.simbahosting.co.uk/pages/sermons/the-holy-spirit/the-holy-spirit-in-the-old-testament.php

http://www.thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/category/ot/file/99770.qna

and
This book looks really good, by a great guy

also, on this i'd like to check my copy of Sinclair Ferguson's, The Holy Spirit

Finally, found this quote from a post i wrote back in 2008 when i did 3 sermons on God's Holy Spirit:
(page 59)
"The truth of the Trinity is a New Testament revelation... But should anyone think that according to Scripture God was unipersonal during the Old Testament period and only became tripersonal when Jesus was born, he would be wrong. What is in question here is not the mode of God's being from eternity, but the manner of its revelation in history. I am not saying that the third person of the Godhead did not exist or was not active in Old Testament times; the New Testament writers assure us that He did and was. I am only saying that His distinct personhood is not expressed by the Old Testament writers; though God's triunity is an eternal fact, only through Christ was it made known." --JI Packer, from keeping in step with the Spirit

this looks good, on redemptive history

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justintaylor/files/2009/12/Waltke-BT.pdf

The Word and The Church

It is not the Word of God because the Church says so, but that the Word of God might be spoken, the Church came into being. The Church does not make the Word, but it is made by the Word.

~ Martin Luther ~

What in the world is hyssop?

Sunday Justin will lead us in confessing our sin by singing Psalm 51. Maybe this--from Paul Tripp--will help prep you:

It seems such a strange request from a man who's in the throes of grief over sins that he can't deny and can't take back. I would propose to you that it was exactly the right thing for David and each of us to pray whenever we're confronted with our sins. But when you first read the word in Psalm 51, it does make you wonder, "What in the world is hyssop?"

Researching the plant won't give you much help. It produces a delicate white flower and is thought by some to have medicinal qualities. But this is one time that wikipedia.com won't help you. What you really need to know, in order to understand the grieving in David's request, is Old Testament history. David's mind goes to that original Passover, when the firstborn of Egypt were stricken dead and the houses of Israel that had blood on the door frames, were passed over. What does this have to do with David's request? Here it is. God directed the Israelites to take a branch of hyssop and dip it in blood and paint the door frames with it.

Here is David, grieved by his sin and bowed before God between the "already" and the "not yet." Already the blood of the first Passover had protected Israel from death and made their exodus to freedom and the land of promise possible. Already the Mosaic system of constant animal-blood sacrifices covered the sins of God's people. But the promised Lamb had not yet come. Not yet had his blood been spilt, once and for all, in the final moment of sacrifice that forever ended any need for further sacrifice.

So, reflecting on the past, David's words actually reach into the future. They form the ultimate backdrop to the future prayer. For embedded in this cry for cleansing
that remembers the spilt blood of deliverance (Passover) and the shed blood of forgiveness (Mosaic sacrifices), David cries for the one thing that anyone who acknowledges his sin will cry for; cleansing.

When your sin really does become ugly to you, when it produces pain in your heart and sickness in your stomach, you celebrate forgiveness, but you want something more. You want to be clean. You long to be once and for all purified from all sin whatsoever. You want your sin to be once and for all washed away. You want to be free of every dark residue of sinful thought, desire, word, or deed.

Yes, you'll love the fact that you can stand before God dirty and unafraid because of his comprehensive and freely given grace. You'll love the fact that his forgiveness of you has been full and complete. But you'll grow tired of needing and seeking forgiveness. You'll mourn the hold that sin has on you. You'll be frustrated with the way that sin seems to infect everything you do. And you'll begin to plead for what the blood of Jesus alone is able to do; wash away your sin! In this moment of need and helplessness, you'll cry, "Purge me with hyssop Lord, dip the branch of your grace into the blood of your Son and cleanse me once and for all!"

David never sang this great old hymn, but maybe he'll hear it some day and remember the tear-stained prayer that followed the visit of Nathan. Maybe someday he'll celebrate final cleansing with a chorus of the ages singing:

"What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
O' precious is the flow,
That makes me white as snow.
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus."

re·gale (ri gāl′)

transitive verb regaled -·galed′, regaling -·gal′·ing

1. to entertain by providing a splendid feast
2. to delight with something pleasing or amusing

Forty Days for Life

Does abortion bother you but you don’t know what to do about it? PRAY! Partner with UF’s Pro-Life Alliance and other believers in prayer from February 17^th March 28^th for Forty Days of prayer for pre-borns and their mothers at the Bread and Roses abortion clinic 1233 Northwest 10^th Gainesville. Sign-up for times from 8a.m. to 6p.m. that you and your small-group, or family and friends could come and pray by contacting Caroline Pilgrim at pilgrim.caroline@gmail.com (407)-473-5679 or just sign-up by going to google.com/calendar and entering username: uf40daysforlife; pswd: fortydays. Pray for a culture of life in our community! www.40daysforlife.com

Prayer is a Big Deal

Francis Schaeffer once asked his wife:
"Edith, I wonder what would happen to most churches and Christian work if we awakened tomorrow, and everything concerning the reality and work of the Holy Spirit, and everything concerning prayer, were removed from the Bible. I don't mean just ignored, but actually cut out—disappeared. I wonder how much difference it would make?" We concluded it would not make much difference in many board meetings, committee meetings, decisions and activities.
—Edith Schaeffer

Power of Grace

"I guess we should call this gospel brokenness, because only the gospel of God's grace can enable us to be completely honest about our stuff without falling into toxic shame or self-contempt. And only the gospel can humble us, soften us, and give us the power to repent—or, at least, not run away or rant. When followers of Jesus walk openly in this kind of brokenness—gospel brokenness—angels in heaven rejoice, and people without faith or those with much cynicism about Christians, are likely to reconsider who Jesus is.


-- Scotty Smith, Restoring Broken Things

How Great Is Our God

How great he is, then, and how great His power! It is this God who is on our side, and it is in His world that we live, walk our pilgrim way, and meet the experiences of life. Yet our relationship goes beyond that of creature to Creator. ‘Our help’, says David, ‘is in the name of the Lord’ (verse 8a). Wherever we read of his ‘name’ our minds should at once fly back to Exodus 3:15. His ‘name’ declares who and what He is: He is the Lord who came to Egypt to save us when we were helpless and hopeless, and who, in doing so, revealed Himself to us, His chosen children (Exodus 4:22) and His redeemed (Exodus 6:6). He is our God for ever and ever, our Guide even to death (Psalm 48:14).
Alec Motyer -- page 62

Psalm 48:18 this is God,
our God forever and ever.
He will guide us forever.

Turkey Bowl has been rained out AGAIN

no game

no game

no game

This Is My Father's World

This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears
All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise,
The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair;
In the rustling grass I hear Him pass;
He speaks to me everywhere.

This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done:
Jesus Who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.

This is my Father’s world, dreaming, I see His face.
I ope my eyes, and in glad surprise cry, “The Lord is in this place.”
This is my Father’s world, from the shining courts above,
The Beloved One, His Only Son,
Came—a pledge of deathless love.

This is my Father’s world, should my heart be ever sad?
The lord is King—let the heavens ring. God reigns—let the earth be glad.
This is my Father’s world. Now closer to Heaven bound,
For dear to God is the earth Christ trod.
No place but is holy ground.

This is my Father’s world. I walk a desert lone.
In a bush ablaze to my wondering gaze God makes His glory known.
This is my Father’s world, a wanderer I may roam
Whate’er my lot, it matters not,
My heart is still at home.

Words: Malt bie D. Bab cock, 1901, alt. While a pas tor in Lock port, New York, Bab cock liked to hike in an ar ea called “the es carp ment,” an an cient up­thrust ledge near Lock port. It has a mar vel ous view of farms, or chards, and Lake On tar io, about 15 miles dis tant. It is said those walks in the woods in­spired these lyr ics. The ti tle re calls an ex press ion Bab cock used when start ing a walk: “I’m go ing out to see my Fa ther’s world.”

Music: Terra Beata, tra di tion al Eng lish mel o dy, ar ranged by Frank lin L. Shep pard in his Al le lu ia, 1915 (MI DI, score).

Haiti Relief Info

Earthquake in Haiti

Please pray with us for the country of Haiti which suffered the impact of a 7.3 point earthquake yesterday afternoon. The earthquake's epicenter was just west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, and was about five miles deep. The severity of the damage is extreme.

• Read the Minuteman Appeal Letter and update, January 2010

MTW is working with the OPC and Pastors Etienne and Amicy to respond to this crisis. If you would like to donate toward these relief efforts go to the MTW page for project number 93992.

See www.mtw.org for Haiti add info

Psalm 124

2 illustrations from physical environment (earthquake and flood)

and

2 illustrations from animal environment (prowling beast & ensnared bird)

Contrast is a Hebrew way of expressing TOTALITY.

Whether we think in terms of physical geography or of the animal creation, there is no place we are free of threat, no place where we are free to relax our guard.

-Mr. Motyer

Preaching is God's revealed way of making Himself and His saving covenant known to us.

--J.I. Packer

Uh-huh

Jesus is the Name exalted
Over every other name;
In this Name, whene'er assaulted,
We can put our foes to shame;
Strength to them who else had halted,
Eyes to blind, and feet to lame.

--15th century hymn

Jesus shows the love

"Jesus was showing people that God would always love them-- a Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love."

--page 227 in Jesus Storybook Bible