harvestoc.net blog, Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Psalm 44:17-26 'Joy through Christ in Suffering' (PDF of 30-Sep Prayer Meeting Booklet)
[click to read/save/download]
Because believers are more confident in what the Bible tells them about God than what their circumstances seem to say, they can rejoice in Christ always. From the opening chapters to Genesis to the closing chapters of Revelation, God gives us truth about Jesus that doesn't just sustain us in suffering, but transforms our suffering by bringing us into the very joys of the Trinity!
Because believers are more confident in what the Bible tells them about God than what their circumstances seem to say, they can rejoice in Christ always. From the opening chapters to Genesis to the closing chapters of Revelation, God gives us truth about Jesus that doesn't just sustain us in suffering, but transforms our suffering by bringing us into the very joys of the Trinity!
Labels: Prayer Meetings
¶ 10:26 AM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Monday, September 28, 2009
Rom 10:1 'Right Hearts and Prayers' (Audio of 27-Sep Evening Sermon)
[click to listen; right-click to download]
In this sermon we heard that it is possible to hold to right doctrine with a wrong heart. And we learned that this right heart will be one that finds nothing more pleasant concerning its most abusive enemies than that they would be saved. And that such a heart will expose itself in making just such pleas to God for those enemies, and persisting in patient presentation of the gospel of righteousness through faith in Jesus.
In this sermon we heard that it is possible to hold to right doctrine with a wrong heart. And we learned that this right heart will be one that finds nothing more pleasant concerning its most abusive enemies than that they would be saved. And that such a heart will expose itself in making just such pleas to God for those enemies, and persisting in patient presentation of the gospel of righteousness through faith in Jesus.
Labels: Sermons
¶ 5:36 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Gen 26:5 'Covenant Consequences' (Audio of 27-Sep Morning Sermon)
[click to listen; right-click to download]
In this sermon, we dealt at length between the difference between earning blessing and receiving blessings as a consequence. We found that God does indeed present incentives to obedience, such as the relationship with Himself into which He has brought us, and His normative giving of blessing as a consequence of obedience. And we saw that this is not at all in conflict with the fact that the Lord Jesus has earned every particle of every blessing that every believer receives.
In this sermon, we dealt at length between the difference between earning blessing and receiving blessings as a consequence. We found that God does indeed present incentives to obedience, such as the relationship with Himself into which He has brought us, and His normative giving of blessing as a consequence of obedience. And we saw that this is not at all in conflict with the fact that the Lord Jesus has earned every particle of every blessing that every believer receives.
Labels: Sermons
¶ 5:32 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jer 20:7-18 'Ministerial Depression' (Audio of 27-Sep Evening Reading)
[click to listen; right-click to download]
Elder Matt Van Essendelft led us in considering how human ministers are sinfully susceptible to depression at the meager fruit of his ministry.
Elder Matt Van Essendelft led us in considering how human ministers are sinfully susceptible to depression at the meager fruit of his ministry.
Labels: Serial Readings
¶ 5:27 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Mar 9:30-10:16 'Christ Alone Impressive' (Audio of 27-Sep Morning Reading)
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
From this passage we heard that finding ourselves unimpressive and finding Christ alone impressive are necessary to a proper understanding of Jesus' death and resurrection. A manuscript with more detail than actually spoken from the pulpit is available [here].
From this passage we heard that finding ourselves unimpressive and finding Christ alone impressive are necessary to a proper understanding of Jesus' death and resurrection. A manuscript with more detail than actually spoken from the pulpit is available [here].
Labels: Serial Readings
¶ 5:24 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Saturday, September 26, 2009
PDF of 27-Sep Worship Folder
[click here to view/print/save]
Labels: Worship Booklet, Worship Services
¶ 9:18 AM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Thursday, September 24, 2009
Transcript, Gen 26:1-3 'Birthright: Covenant Grace for Sinners' (13-Sep Morning Sermon)
[Click to read/print/save]; the audio can be found [here].
Many thanks to Yu Jueng who is serving us all, during her semester away, by typing up transcripts. If anyone else wishes to share this service with her, just let Pastor James know. Current sermons are enough work for more than one person to share, and we have a year and a half of old sermons to do too.
Many thanks to Yu Jueng who is serving us all, during her semester away, by typing up transcripts. If anyone else wishes to share this service with her, just let Pastor James know. Current sermons are enough work for more than one person to share, and we have a year and a half of old sermons to do too.
Labels: Sermons, Transcripts
¶ 11:47 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
New Bible Class Start Locations
We are now meeting directly in our separate groups for the Bible Class. Please meet directly at your class at 9 a.m. on the Lord's Day. (P-2nd Grade in our building; 3rd-Adult in the bank basement). We continue to strongly encourage families to process together the fundamental things that we are learning from Exodus about God's Person and work, and how we relate to Him. To facilitate this, each week, every group will learn from the same section of God's Word.
Labels: Announcements, Bible Class
¶ 10:23 AM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Psalm 44:9-16 'God Afflicts His People' (23-Sep Prayer Meting Lesson)
[click here to view the booklet; right-click to download it]
Labels: Prayer Meetings
¶ 3:41 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jer 18:18-20:6 'A Needfully Hard Word' (20-Sep Evening Reading)
[click to play audio; right-click to download it]
Russ Herman led us in considering this passage, which held before us the reality of God's blazing, terrifying wrath. It's a hard word, but it's a needful one, for the most terrifying result comes when we are ignorant of or deny this reality.
Russ Herman led us in considering this passage, which held before us the reality of God's blazing, terrifying wrath. It's a hard word, but it's a needful one, for the most terrifying result comes when we are ignorant of or deny this reality.
Labels: Serial Readings
¶ 11:46 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Mark 9:1-29 'A Kingdom of Love, Wisdom, and Power' (20-Sep Morning Reading)
[click to play audio; right-click to download it]
Jesus is the divine Son. Jesus is the beloved and well-pleasing Man, even by the standards of God. And Jesus has all the power of God in Him, so that what we can only hope for by prayer, He can do as a function of His own person!
Jesus is the divine Son. Jesus is the beloved and well-pleasing Man, even by the standards of God. And Jesus has all the power of God in Him, so that what we can only hope for by prayer, He can do as a function of His own person!
Labels: Serial Readings
¶ 11:43 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Rom 9:32-33 'Stumbling or Standing on Jesus' (Audio of 20-Sep Evening Sermon)
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
This Lord's Day evening, we heard from Romans 9:32-33 that we can either approach God as absolutely helpless in ourselves, and so stand completely upon what He has done; or, we can try in some measure to stand upon what we can do. If we do the latter, then no matter how much we know and agree with right theology, our interaction with God is but a disastrous fall in which we are broken.
This is what happened to so many Israelites--not because Jesus was a new twist in the method of salvation, but because they were already relating to God in this way. Paul demonstrated this, proving that Jesus is Yahweh, by pulling together Isaiah 8 and 28. And this was exactly what we found Jesus Himself saying about the Jews' rejection of Him in John 5-6.
Finally, we found that this idea of "not being put to shame" has its focus especially upon the last day. And this was helpful to us, because thinking of that last day drives us away from any particle of self-dependence and sends us flying to rest upon God alone in Christ alone.
So, the ultimate question was: on that last day, will we be put to shame (and Hell), or will we be found standing only and entirely upon God the Son made flesh, our sure foundation and precious cornerstone?
This Lord's Day evening, we heard from Romans 9:32-33 that we can either approach God as absolutely helpless in ourselves, and so stand completely upon what He has done; or, we can try in some measure to stand upon what we can do. If we do the latter, then no matter how much we know and agree with right theology, our interaction with God is but a disastrous fall in which we are broken.
This is what happened to so many Israelites--not because Jesus was a new twist in the method of salvation, but because they were already relating to God in this way. Paul demonstrated this, proving that Jesus is Yahweh, by pulling together Isaiah 8 and 28. And this was exactly what we found Jesus Himself saying about the Jews' rejection of Him in John 5-6.
Finally, we found that this idea of "not being put to shame" has its focus especially upon the last day. And this was helpful to us, because thinking of that last day drives us away from any particle of self-dependence and sends us flying to rest upon God alone in Christ alone.
So, the ultimate question was: on that last day, will we be put to shame (and Hell), or will we be found standing only and entirely upon God the Son made flesh, our sure foundation and precious cornerstone?
Labels: Sermons
¶ 7:01 AM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Gen 26:4 'Jesus Promises' (Audio of 20-Sep Morning Sermon)
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
This Lord's Day morning, we heard about how the promises of Gen 26:4 are not just promises about Jesus; they are promises to Jesus; and, they are promises that are ours in Jesus.
Along the way, we learned a lot about how to read the Bible. The Old Testament is a story of the "same but better": the same promise, of which God tells us more and more, doing so more and more clearly. The New Testament is the story of the "same but finished and best": Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God's promises; there is no promise-keeping beyond Him or revelation after Him.
This Lord's Day morning, we heard about how the promises of Gen 26:4 are not just promises about Jesus; they are promises to Jesus; and, they are promises that are ours in Jesus.
Along the way, we learned a lot about how to read the Bible. The Old Testament is a story of the "same but better": the same promise, of which God tells us more and more, doing so more and more clearly. The New Testament is the story of the "same but finished and best": Jesus is the fulfillment of all of God's promises; there is no promise-keeping beyond Him or revelation after Him.
Labels: Sermons
¶ 10:52 AM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Friday, September 18, 2009
20-Sep Worship Folder online
[click here]
Labels: Worship Booklet
¶ 5:10 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Psalm 44:1-8 "God's History Is My History" (16-Sep Prayer Meeting Study Booklet)
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
If you would like to work through the text inductively, you may wish to begin with last week's.
I hope many of you will be able to come pray. If we really believe things like what Psalm 44 teaches, then we of all people should be a people of prayer.
There is no scheduled elders' meeting afterward.
If you would like to work through the text inductively, you may wish to begin with last week's.
I hope many of you will be able to come pray. If we really believe things like what Psalm 44 teaches, then we of all people should be a people of prayer.
There is no scheduled elders' meeting afterward.
Labels: Prayer Meetings
¶ 4:11 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Rom 9:31 'Arriving at the Law' (13-Sep Evening Sermon)
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
In this sermon, we went back to v4 to catch the urgency of the matter and the flow of the argument, then heard from v31 how though the law is a wonderful law of righteousness, the law itself cannot make us righteous. In fact, the moral and ceremonial law both send us to Christ for righteousness--the former by making us fly from our sinfulness, the latter by driving it into us that the righteousness that commends us to God is an alien righteousness, and that as long as the sacrifices remain, it has not yet been revealed.
In this sermon, we went back to v4 to catch the urgency of the matter and the flow of the argument, then heard from v31 how though the law is a wonderful law of righteousness, the law itself cannot make us righteous. In fact, the moral and ceremonial law both send us to Christ for righteousness--the former by making us fly from our sinfulness, the latter by driving it into us that the righteousness that commends us to God is an alien righteousness, and that as long as the sacrifices remain, it has not yet been revealed.
Labels: Sermons
¶ 4:07 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Gen 26:1-3 'Birthright: Covenant Grace for Sinners' (13-Sep Morning Sermon)
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
In this sermon, we learned from the arrangement of the text that God means for us to see that His covenant grace is for sinners. We heard how His commands fit into this as a pleasant protection from sin. And we heard how His relating to people covenantally doesn't start over from zero with each individual but has an enduring aspect to it that comes with special privileges and special dangers.
In this sermon, we learned from the arrangement of the text that God means for us to see that His covenant grace is for sinners. We heard how His commands fit into this as a pleasant protection from sin. And we heard how His relating to people covenantally doesn't start over from zero with each individual but has an enduring aspect to it that comes with special privileges and special dangers.
Labels: Sermons
¶ 4:02 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jer 18:1-17 'Repenting Our Idolatry' (13-Sep Evening Reading)
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
The following is the summary as printed in the worship booklet (but listen to the audio, since Gary shed more light on it):
The following is the summary as printed in the worship booklet (but listen to the audio, since Gary shed more light on it):
Usually the image of the Potter is one about making; but, here, it is all about re-making. The practical, theological, point is that God is a God who always responds to repentance with mercy. He retains His right as the Potter to change the shape of a vessel midstream if it should repent (vv5-11).
Now, the counterpart (unspoken here) to this truth is the one that repentance can only come as a gift of God (cf. Ac 11:18, 2Ti 2:25). So we know that Judah is not going to repent. But God is defending Himself from their false charge that if they did repent it would be no use; and, therefore, they decide to proceed according to what seems best to them (v12a). What a tragedy, since we have just heard in ch17 that what seems best to them comes out of stubborn, evil hearts (v12b, cf. 17:9).
So the message of the first 12 verses is that true repentance is never pointless, for God always responds to true repentance. You will hear people argue that God’s sovereignty means that repentance changes nothing; but, God here argues that His sovereignty means that repentance changes everything. God’s sovereignty includes His right, which He says here that He exercises every time, to respond with grace to the repentance of even the worst sinners. So, God’s invitations to repentance are real invitations, promising real relief and salvation, to all who really repent!
And this makes it even more critical that every sinner who hears these wonderful invitations respond to God with repentance. It is unnatural and idiotic to reject God’s offer of salvation to the repentant (vv13-14), but the same idolatry in which we refuse to acknowledge God as Potter can cause even His visible church to fall into the idiocy of refusing repentance (v15).
And just as God is clear about how He responds to repentance, so God is also clear about how He responds to hard hearts: horrifying punishment (vv9-10, 16-17).Labels: Serial Readings
¶ 3:56 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Mark 8:11-38 'God Sets the Terms of Salvation and Discipleship' (13-Sep Morning Reading)
[click here to listen; right-click to save]
The following is the summary as printed in the worship booklet:
The following is the summary as printed in the worship booklet:
The original ‘me’ generation. Well, maybe they weren’t the original, but Jesus’ generation was certainly a ‘me’ generation. The word generation ties together the beginning and ending chunks of this morning’s reading, both of which have this theme: we are accepted by Jesus on His terms, or we are not accepted at all.
Jesus’ signs on earth weren’t enough for the Pharisees; they wanted to dictate what Jesus would have to do to convince them; they demanded a sign from heaven. This is actually shockingly like Herod’s attitude toward Jesus (cf. Mar 6:14 w/ Luk 23:8), so it’s not surprising to see Jesus warning the disciples of the leaven of Herod together with that of the Pharisees.
It’s actually a great danger to us that we would approach Jesus this way—“I refuse to believe in a Jesus who…” or “I won’t believe in Jesus because…” or “I stopped believing in Jesus when…” These are all statements that reveal a heart that refuses to be accepted by Jesus on His terms and His terms alone. And if you listen to people like this for very long, without stabilizing your own heart in worship and your own mind in the Scriptures, you too can slip into this kind of thinking.
Peter himself slipped into this kind of thinking in the passage immediately after his confession! He had plainly confessed Christ, but then he wanted to dictate the terms that were acceptable for his concept of Christ. And Jesus plainly points out that this is a Satanic approach to God. If God is God and men are men, then God must dictate the terms of our relationship. If we come to God deciding what we want Him to be like, we come to God Satanically.
And Jesus takes the opportunity to show that the same is true of our lives as disciples. We are not to dictate what we want out of life. The Christian life is one of cross-bearing and following, of willingness to lose everything because we count gaining Christ by Himself as gaining more than everything else.
And this is one of the points of the double healing of the blind man: Jesus isn’t just the initial solution to our sin and weakness problems, after which we are able to proceed under our own power and direction. Jesus is the Author of all of our salvation from start to finish; we mustn’t dictate any of it.Labels: Serial Readings
¶ 3:51 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Friday, September 11, 2009
13-Sep Worship Booklet Available Online
[click here to view; right-click to download]
Labels: Worship Booklet
¶ 3:29 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Thursday, September 10, 2009
9-Sep Elders' Meeting Roundup
Last night, the elders finished up the September stated meeting. The following is a summary of some items of interest for the entire congregation.
- We are ready to receive funds for supporting the Herman family through seminary. A special account is being set up. If you would like to contribute, please indicate in the "memo" section of the check that it is for the Herman Seminary Fund.
- We would like all new members to work through what the Bible says about how the church and church membership function. To assemble the information for future applicants for membership, we will be using the materials from last winter's study as a starting point.
- We delegated representatives, pending schedule confirmation, to the Presbytery meeting (next Friday and Saturday)
- We decided on classroom locations for the Exodus study. After the large group start, preschool, kindergarten, and 1st-2nd grade will stay in Harvest's building; and, 3-6, 7-12, and adult will go to the bank basement. If class runs late, an adult or two will scurry back around quarter to, in case there are visitors who need to be received. If you would like to prepare for this week's study, read over Exodus 1-2 and the related material in The Unfolding Mystery
- We approved the purchase of 150 Bible reading calendars for 2010. The calendars include four tracks, of which someone can do as many or as few as they wish with some cohesion. If you do them all, you will go through Proverbs 12 times, the New Testament and Psalms twice, and the rest of the Old Testament once in the year. We discussed encouraging our children to at least do the Proverbs track.
- Many items were deferred to the October meeting (Oct 7, 8p.m.)
- We closed with an extended season of prayer for these and other matters which we had discussed and with which we had dealt
Labels: Elders' Meetings
¶ 11:49 AM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Psalm 43 'Light and Truth in Emotional Darkness' (9-Sep Prayer Meeting Study Booklet)
[click here to view the study; right-click to download it]
If you would like to work through the text inductively, you may wish to begin with last week's.
If you would like to work through the text inductively, you may wish to begin with last week's.
Labels: Prayer Meetings
¶ 2:06 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Understanding and Responding to Baptism
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
Since some found the exhortation at Maggie's baptism helpful, I've made it available here. Why do we baptize, and why do we do it the way we do? What is happening in baptism? Of what use is it to the person receiving it, to persons who have received it in the past, and to those who haven't? Hopefully this will help toward answering some of those questions.
Since some found the exhortation at Maggie's baptism helpful, I've made it available here. Why do we baptize, and why do we do it the way we do? What is happening in baptism? Of what use is it to the person receiving it, to persons who have received it in the past, and to those who haven't? Hopefully this will help toward answering some of those questions.
Labels: Baptism, Pastoral Counsel, Worship Follow-Up
¶ 2:03 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Rom 9:30 'Salvation Is of the Lord' (6-Sep Evening Sermon)
[click here to listen; right-click to save]
This is the first in a series, which I have called "Righteousness Hunting," on the passage from Romans 9:30-10:4. How should we respond to the truth that God chooses to save some (and not others)? By saying that this truth--and the truth that right standing before God is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone--basically boils down to this: "Salvation is of the Lord." And by noting that this is exactly what God is doing: saving sinners in a way that shows that salvation is completely from Him.
This is the first in a series, which I have called "Righteousness Hunting," on the passage from Romans 9:30-10:4. How should we respond to the truth that God chooses to save some (and not others)? By saying that this truth--and the truth that right standing before God is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone--basically boils down to this: "Salvation is of the Lord." And by noting that this is exactly what God is doing: saving sinners in a way that shows that salvation is completely from Him.
Labels: Sermons
¶ 1:58 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Gen 25:27-34 "God, Hunter by Grace of Sin's Game" (6-Sep Morning Sermon)
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
God saves sinners. That's the message of the whole Bible in three words; and, it's the particular message of this passage in three words.
God saves sinners. That's the message of the whole Bible in three words; and, it's the particular message of this passage in three words.
Labels: Sermons
¶ 1:53 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Mark 7:24-8:10 'Jesus Divinely Sufficient to Save the Whole World' (6-Sep Morning Reading)
[click here to listen; right-click to save]
The following is the summary as printed in the worship booklet:
The following is the summary as printed in the worship booklet:
The passages in this section of Mark have a common theme: the abundance of salvation in Jesus, not only for Israel, but especially for the whole world.
A couple passages ago, in the section that included the feeding of the 5000, we saw Mark focusing upon Jesus sufficiency. Here, there is a similar focus: the abundance of Jesus’ salvation for the whole world. Mark emphasizes that the woman is a Gentile, and although Jesus doesn’t seem to intend upon doing ministry there, when He says “first” in v27, He does indicate that His salvation is to come eventually to the Gentiles as well. However, it is evident that God has been working already in this woman’s heart; she hungers from crumbs now, whatever riches may be available later, and Jesus who always does what He sees His Father doing responds to her God-produced faith by healing her daughter. Even the so-called “crumbs” of Jesus’ salvation are abundance of life!
Surprise at this ministry to the Gentile woman may factor into their puzzlement in v37. Their Messianic reference comes from Isaiah 35, where “the glory of Carmel”—straight west from Galilee and south of Tyre city, the very region of the woman—was supposed to be given to Israel. Could this really be Messiah, if instead of plundering the Gentiles to bless Israel, He is planning to spread the blessings of Israel to the Gentiles?
8:1-10 introduce a new angle to this question: if Jesus is planning to do this, does He have “enough salvation to go around”? You can see this emphasis in the word “again” in v1. Before, there had been 12 baskets of leftovers, a number that in Scripture identifies the people of God: twelve tribes, twelve apostles. Now, the number changes to 7, a number in Scripture of divine completion, divine sufficiency. This is a resounding answer, “Yes!,” to the question. Jesus has abundantly enough salvation in Him not only for the Jews but also for the Gentiles. He has in Himself all of the abundance of God!!
There is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the man Jesus Christ. And His salvation is divinely abundant for the whole world!
Labels: Serial Readings
¶ 1:51 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jer 17:19-27 'The Centrality of Sabbath' (6-Sep Evening Reading)
[click here to listen; right-click to save]
Elder Craig De Haan led us in considering the serial reading in Jeremiah. The following is the summary as printed in the worship booklet:
Elder Craig De Haan led us in considering the serial reading in Jeremiah. The following is the summary as printed in the worship booklet:
Jeremiah 17 has been a chapter all about having God alone as our joy (vv1-4), God alone as our strength (vv6-8), God alone as the hope of sinners (vv9-13), God alone as the healing and salvation of sinners (vv14-18).
After this interaction with Jeremiah, what Word does Yahweh give him to take back to Jerusalem to direct them to Himself alone for joy, strength, hope, healing, and salvation? A command to keep Sabbath!
This chapter has reminded us that God’s people are a people who are holy to Him every day of the week. As we enjoy nature and wealth treasures throughout the week, we are to enjoy them as from Him and through Him and to Him. We are to receive our labor throughout the week as a gift from Him and perform it as a service to Him. Everything that He provides for our security and our strength, our protection and provision, is to be bought and sold, built and maintained, as gifts from Him that direct our hope to Him.
In this particular passage, Jerusalem’s gates are the place, literally, of focus. What happens at Jerusalem’s gates on the Sabbath will demonstrate the truth about the hearts of Jerusalem’s inhabitants through the rest of the week.
And God underlines this by talking about the future of Jerusalem’s gates. If, week by week on the Sabbath, Jerusalem’s gates testify that the hearts of Jerusalem’s citizens belong to the God, these will be gates of the salvation and justice and peace and glory that 2Samuel 7 promises in Christ. If, week by week on the Sabbath, Jerusalem’s gates testify that the hearts of Jerusalem’s citizens belong not to God but only to the gifts God has given, then these will be literally gates of Hell, in which a fire will be kindled that will never be quenched.
Let our Sabbath-keeping on the Lord’s Day, then, not just be a matter of what we do or don’t do on the first day of the week. Let the stoppages of earthly labor and recreation on this day be a demonstration of delight in, dependence upon, and dedication to God—reflecting hearts that do this even on the 6 days of more earthly employment and enjoyment!Labels: Serial Readings
¶ 1:49 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Saturday, September 5, 2009
6-Sep Worship Booklet now Available Online
[click here to view; right-click to download]
Labels: Worship Booklet
¶ 12:18 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Friday, September 4, 2009
Delighting in Worship
Isn't worship supposed to be emotional? Only God may answer questions about right worship, right emotions, and the right path to right emotions in worship. So, John Owen, brought such questions carefully to Scripture, where God's answers are written. Danny Hyde deals with this issue in a fuller article [here]. He is especially concerned for people who come into Reformed worship from non-Reformed backgrounds. I suggest you read the whole thing. In fact, I suggest that you purchase [the entire original] for yourself or your pastor. An excerpt to suck you in:
In one of the more beautiful and practical sections of this treatise, Owen spoke of our delighting in the divine service. Picking up in question and answer seven, we read Owen saying that when we gather for the divine service there are four “chief things that we ought to aim at in our observation” (Works 15, 455–456):
Owen went on to explicate this first aim, or, chief end, of the Christians’ observation of the divine service by further dividing it into five parts (Works 15, 456–459):
- To sanctify the name of God.
- To own and avow our professed subjection to Christ.
- To build up ourselves in our most holy faith.
- To testify and confirm our mutual love.
- to reverence God’s sovereign authority in appointing his gospel institutions.
- to regard God’s special presence in his ordinances.
- to exercise faith in the promises of God annexed to his ordinances.
- to delight in his “will, wisdom, love, and grace” manifested in his gospel ordinances.
- to persevere in our observance of Christ’s ordinances.
Labels: Best of the Web
¶ 2:01 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
AntiChrist?
I spent some time this morning answering a dear Aunt's question about something she found on the net purporting to reveal "the name of antichrist," encrypted into the Bible. Since this may be something of interest to some of you, I reproduce my answer here. May God bless your consideration of these things to our being a people of Christ and proclaimers of His true Gospel as the ONLY hope for a sinful humanity!
Antichrist, then, is anyone who diminishes either the full and eternal divinity of Christ, or the full and real humanity of Christ, or the substitutionary death of Christ, or God's loving purpose in sending Him, or the complete efficacy of His death for turning away the wrath that our sins deserve.
Antichrist would especially apply to anyone or anything that sets itself up as the hope for sinful humans, as this strikes at the core of that entire complex of ideas about which John is speaking. Examples from today could be particular churches that set up membership with them as being the hope for sinful humans, or politics, or education, or "being true to yourself," or any religion that does not have at its core that God Himself came in the flesh and died an accursed death in the place of sinners, so that whoever believes in Him receives the life that the God-man deserves for His perfect obedience.
This is why John could say in chapter 2 of his first letter:
Rather than give into the Satanic distraction of trying to figure out the secret things (Deut 29:29a) of God, such as the identity of any great antichrist who may be a cataclysmic one at the end, or the timing of Christ's return; instead, let us be mindful of the revealed things (Deut 29:29b), such as the Good News that God has come in flesh to take the death of sinful man and offer us life in the obedience and sacrifice of the God-man, Jesus Christ!
And let us be careful not to offer any counterfeit hope (such as "being true to yourself" or any form of personal or moral self-improvement) to a sinful humanity, that WE might not be antichrists.
1 John 4:2-12 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.And also see
2 John 1:7-9 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.So antichrist is anything opposed to the idea that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh... and John "fleshes that out" by describing Jesus' coming in the flesh as "God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him... [God] loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."
Antichrist, then, is anyone who diminishes either the full and eternal divinity of Christ, or the full and real humanity of Christ, or the substitutionary death of Christ, or God's loving purpose in sending Him, or the complete efficacy of His death for turning away the wrath that our sins deserve.
Antichrist would especially apply to anyone or anything that sets itself up as the hope for sinful humans, as this strikes at the core of that entire complex of ideas about which John is speaking. Examples from today could be particular churches that set up membership with them as being the hope for sinful humans, or politics, or education, or "being true to yourself," or any religion that does not have at its core that God Himself came in the flesh and died an accursed death in the place of sinners, so that whoever believes in Him receives the life that the God-man deserves for His perfect obedience.
This is why John could say in chapter 2 of his first letter:
1 John 2:18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.So, if anyone purports to know the name of antichrist, you can turn to this clear Word of Scripture and be sure: (a) the prophecy of antichrist is fulfilled not in just one but many antichrists; (b) more than enough of them have come to fulfill the prophecy, so that the Lord may appear at any moment.
Rather than give into the Satanic distraction of trying to figure out the secret things (Deut 29:29a) of God, such as the identity of any great antichrist who may be a cataclysmic one at the end, or the timing of Christ's return; instead, let us be mindful of the revealed things (Deut 29:29b), such as the Good News that God has come in flesh to take the death of sinful man and offer us life in the obedience and sacrifice of the God-man, Jesus Christ!
And let us be careful not to offer any counterfeit hope (such as "being true to yourself" or any form of personal or moral self-improvement) to a sinful humanity, that WE might not be antichrists.
Labels: Pastoral Counsel
¶ 9:54 AM 2 Comments Links to this post
Truck(s) Needed after Fellowship Meal This Lord's Day
Matt and Maggie have been so prompt in offering their new home for hospitality on Lord's Day evening that there are not yet tables and chairs. The elders have authorized the use of the congregation's, so the plan is that after the fellowship meal, as we take down, we'll just load tables and chairs on vehicles to go to their house for the afterparty. Now we need vehicles! Can one or more of you bring a truck this Lord's Day morning to carry chairs and tables to the Laverman's house? Thanks!
Labels: Announcements
¶ 9:08 AM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Thursday, September 3, 2009
6-Sep-09 Baptism, Lord's Supper, Fellowship Meal, Afterparty
You already know from last week's published announcements that we plan to celebrate the Lord's Supper in morning worship on the 6th and enjoy a fellowship meal together afterward. As noted in the summary of the work at last night's elders' meeting, we now are also planning to administer baptism to Maggie Laverman before the Supper. ALSO the Lavermans have invited us all to have the afterparty at their new home. Stay posted for news of how you can help on this final item.
Labels: Announcements
¶ 1:50 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
2-Sep Elders' Meeting Roundup
- It was our joy to receive the Lavermans and Dahns as visitors to the meeting, both families indicating desire to join. The Lavermans were examined by the elders, and the Dahns will be at a future date. Matt and Maggie were unanimously received, and Maggie will be baptized this Lord's Day morning (due to her former church not practicing the sacraments, we get to share this joy with her!) before the Supper! These couples were a great encouragement to us elders, as also we know they have been to the congregation at large.
- We had a long pastoral discussion about a difficult situation and are grateful for God's help as we considered the many Scriptural factors of the issues and how best to fulfill our responsibilities to Christ in light of them. We desire your prayer for more clarity in our understanding, more courage in our actions, and unceasing compassion to saturate both.
- We revisited the fall Bible class decision, discussing the high value of catechizing, and concluding that for the same reasons that catechizing is valuable, studying Exodus (a foundational book for understanding all of Scripture) is also valuable, and more needful at this point in the congregation in general. Just as the history of our congregational studies has been very heavy on catechizing, we see a significant role for it in the future. Furthermore, we encourage parents to catechize their children and have elders who are willing to spend themselves in catechizing both adults and children in addition to the Exodus study. We are encouraged by the desire of many to understand the Bible as a systematic whole, and would like both to encourage and facilitate your pursuit of this understanding.
- We adjourned until September 9 at 8p.m.
Labels: Elders' Meetings
¶ 1:44 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Gen 25:27-34 'Sin: Hunter of Jacob and Isaac' (30-Aug Evening Sermon)
[click here to listen; right-click to save]
In this sermon, we identified the particular ways in which sin hunted Jacob (slow-boiling jealousy) and Isaac (spiritual laziness in time of blessing), proceeding to look at other examples of each of these hunting techniques that sin uses upon us. Again, we looked at how, specifically in the means of grace, God has given us weapons of protection against these particular hunting techniques. And we concluded (what was really the completion of the morning sermon) by identifying that although God has given us these wonderful means of grace as tools and weapons, our hope must not be in the means, but directly in God's grace, extended to us in Christ.
In this sermon, we identified the particular ways in which sin hunted Jacob (slow-boiling jealousy) and Isaac (spiritual laziness in time of blessing), proceeding to look at other examples of each of these hunting techniques that sin uses upon us. Again, we looked at how, specifically in the means of grace, God has given us weapons of protection against these particular hunting techniques. And we concluded (what was really the completion of the morning sermon) by identifying that although God has given us these wonderful means of grace as tools and weapons, our hope must not be in the means, but directly in God's grace, extended to us in Christ.
Labels: Sermons
¶ 11:20 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Mark 7:1-23 'We Need More than a Dishwasher' (30-Aug Morning Reading)
[click here to listen; right-click to save]
In these verses, we saw how our hearts are desperately wicked, using even those things that we design to help us serve God as means of rebelling against Him! Then, we considered that since the great problem of our filthiness is not those things outside of us that are the occasions for our sin, but rather our filthy hearts that are the source of our sin, our situation is one beyond human remedy. Christ's death, resurrection, ascension, rule, and soon return are the only hope for sinners such as we are!
In these verses, we saw how our hearts are desperately wicked, using even those things that we design to help us serve God as means of rebelling against Him! Then, we considered that since the great problem of our filthiness is not those things outside of us that are the occasions for our sin, but rather our filthy hearts that are the source of our sin, our situation is one beyond human remedy. Christ's death, resurrection, ascension, rule, and soon return are the only hope for sinners such as we are!
Labels: Serial Readings
¶ 11:15 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Gen 25:27-34 'Sin: Hunter of Esau' (30-Aug Morning Sermon)
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
In this sermon, we heard about how sin hunts our hearts by making earthly pleasures and moments seem more important and more precious than God Himself and eternal pleasures in Him. Then, we identified from Scripture several means of grace that God has given precisely to combat this way in which sin hunts our souls.
In this sermon, we heard about how sin hunts our hearts by making earthly pleasures and moments seem more important and more precious than God Himself and eternal pleasures in Him. Then, we identified from Scripture several means of grace that God has given precisely to combat this way in which sin hunts our souls.
Labels: Sermons
¶ 11:11 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jer 17:12-18 (30-Aug Evening Reading)
[click here to listen; right-click to download]
Elder Mark Fedders led us in reading and considering this passage
Elder Mark Fedders led us in reading and considering this passage
Labels: Serial Readings
¶ 11:08 AM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Psa 42:6b-11 'Standing upon the Rock' (2-Sep Prayer Meeting Lesson)
[click here to view the booklet]
Labels: Prayer Meetings
¶ 5:07 PM 0 Comments Links to this postharvestoc.net blog, Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Prayer Meeting and Elders' Meeting Tomorrow, Sep 2
Tomorrow is Wednesday, and that means that we plan to gather for prayer at 7p in the worship room. We will be studying and singing Psalm 42:6b-11 to draw our hearts up to the throne of grace in preparation for prayer. The booklet is not finished, but I will upload and link it when it is.
Also, it's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means that we will be having the stated monthly elders' meeting, which you are welcome to attend!
Also, it's the first Wednesday of the month, and that means that we will be having the stated monthly elders' meeting, which you are welcome to attend!
Labels: Elders' Meetings, Prayer Meetings
¶ 4:02 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
The Most Important Speeches of Our Lives
What if we really grasped that as we read, sing, pray, and hear the Bible in the Christian worship gathering, the Lord Jesus is literally addressing us from glory? I clicked over to [this document] today and marveled at how, with a few adjustments, this could be wise counsel to parents of children of all ages for how to prepare for Jesus' Words in worship, how to engage Jesus' words in worship, and how to continue to process them after worship.
What if before worship, we asked our children about who Jesus is and what Jesus had done and to whom Jesus was about to speak in the service and why we thought He wanted to speak to us and what we thought He might say?
What if we had them pay careful attention to what Jesus said, and take notes, marking out those things that hit especially close to home in our own lives? What if we had even the youngest scribble and draw pictures to the same effect?
What if after worship, we quizzed them on the main ideas of what Jesus said, and asked them what they think Jesus wants them to believe and do, and then made actual plans for doing it and charted progress?
These are exactly the kinds of suggestions that I skipped over for time in specifically applying the first point Lord's Day morning, when we came to the third application, focusing upon the means of grace in worship. Well, here I stand in my office, chastened that the white house has done a better job commending the voice of their messiah than this ambassador of Christ has done commending the voice of His.
But I am also grateful to God for this second chance. See those suggestions about preparing for, processing, and responding to Jesus' Word in worship? I think it would be a wise application of what we heard from the Word this week; why don't you do them and teach your children to do them too?
What if before worship, we asked our children about who Jesus is and what Jesus had done and to whom Jesus was about to speak in the service and why we thought He wanted to speak to us and what we thought He might say?
What if we had them pay careful attention to what Jesus said, and take notes, marking out those things that hit especially close to home in our own lives? What if we had even the youngest scribble and draw pictures to the same effect?
What if after worship, we quizzed them on the main ideas of what Jesus said, and asked them what they think Jesus wants them to believe and do, and then made actual plans for doing it and charted progress?
These are exactly the kinds of suggestions that I skipped over for time in specifically applying the first point Lord's Day morning, when we came to the third application, focusing upon the means of grace in worship. Well, here I stand in my office, chastened that the white house has done a better job commending the voice of their messiah than this ambassador of Christ has done commending the voice of His.
But I am also grateful to God for this second chance. See those suggestions about preparing for, processing, and responding to Jesus' Word in worship? I think it would be a wise application of what we heard from the Word this week; why don't you do them and teach your children to do them too?
Labels: Best of the Web, Sermon Follow-Up
¶ 3:31 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
