O Love beyond Compare,
Thou art good when thou givest,
when thou takest away,
when the sun shines upon me,
when night gathers over me.
Thou hast loved me before the foundation of the world,
and in love didst redeem my soul;
Thou dost love me still,
in spite of my hard heart, ingratitude, distrust.
Thy goodness has been with me another year,
leading me through a twisting wilderness,
in retreat helping me to advance,
when beaten back making sure headway.
Thy goodness will be with me in the year ahead;
I hoist sail and draw up anchor,
With thee as the blessed pilot of my future as of my past.
I bless thee that thou hast veiled my eyes to the waters ahead.
If thou hast appointed storms of tribulation,
thou wilt be with me in them;
If I have to pass through tempests of persecution and temptation,
I shall not drown;
If I am to die,
I shall see thy face the sooner;
If a painful end is to be my lot,
grant me grace that my faith fail not;
If I am to be cast aside from the service I love,
I can make no stipulation;
Only glorify thyself in me whether in comfort or trial,
as a chosen vessel meet always for thy use.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
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 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.
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!
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.
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.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
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”
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
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 ScarsIf 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
Monday, March 14, 2011
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.
--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.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
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
[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
Saturday, March 12, 2011
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
--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).
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).
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??
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??
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