The Value of LIFE Groups

Here is a snippet from history that, for me, reinforces the vital importance of small groups in the church.

Blog: Oversight of Souls
Post: Value of Small Church
Link: http://rvanneste.blogspot.com/2009/08/value-of-small-church.html

Family Worship Guide coming soon online

A website providing resources for family worship will be available online beginning August 30.  Parents, you can check it out at www.familyworshipguide.net.

Evening of Blessing for Teachers

Sunday evening, August 23, was a very sweet, powerful time in the worship center as teachers, home-schoolers, school administrators and staff, school board members and students were prayed for on the eve of the new school season.  I think this service will become an annual gathering at Rocky. Pastor Carey Dean has provided a "record" of the evening, including
Scripture passages read by Rocky people who shared from the Word and prayed for educators and students.  I encourage you to read the passages and pray for all those involved in education in various ways as you read.

And here is a prayer suggestion: Think of a "prayer prompter" for students, teachers, schools and homes that will remind you to pray.  For example, as you are driving, let the sight of schools or school buses move you to pray for students, home teachers and staff, praying especially for a strong move of God in our homes and schools.

Prayer for Administration/Staff               

• Gal 6:9  Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. 
• Mat 5:16  "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Prayer for Homeschooling families           

• 2Co 9:8  And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;
• Col 3:12  So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
• Col 3:13  bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Prayer for Students                             

• Psa 139:23  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
• Psa 139:24  And see if there be any hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

Prayer for Teachers                             

• Jas 3:5  So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire!
• Hab 3:19  (HEIGHTS theme verse) The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds' feet, And makes me walk on my high places.
• Eph 4:29  Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear.
• Eph 4:30  Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
• Eph 4:31  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
• Eph 4:32  Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
• Eph 5:1  Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children;
• Jas 2:1  My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism.
• Jas 2:2  For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes,
• Jas 2:3  and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, "You sit here in a good place," and you say to the poor man, "You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,"
• Jas 2:4  have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?
• Jas 2:5  Listen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?
• Jas 2:6  But you have dishonored the poor man. Is it not the rich who oppress you and personally drag you into court?
• Jas 2:7  Do they not blaspheme the fair name by which you have been called?
• Jas 2:8  If, however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF," you are doing well.
• Jas 2:9  But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors.
• Jas 2:10  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

“In Marriage, Look to Christ, Part 2”

In my sermon on August 23, the second of three foundation pieces I gave was this: Marriage is a mystery revealed.  Ephesians 5:31-32 says, “’Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’  This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”

I went on to elaborate on the mystery of marriage, quoting or paraphrasing from material found in This Momentary Marriage, by Dr. John Piper.  In reviewing my message later, I realized that I had forgotten to attribute ( as I usually do for any source) John’s work to him.  So herein I want to give John due credit for his helpful writing; I am committed to giving attribution to authors from whom I quote in my speaking and I apologize for leaving out this important note.

Here is the section of This Momentary Marriage to which I referred:

“In Genesis 2:24, the words ‘hold fast to his wife’ and the words ‘they shall become one flesh’ point to something far deeper and more permanent that than serial marriages and occasional adultery.  What these words point to is marriage as a sacred covenant rooted in covenant commitments that stand against every storm ‘as long as we both shall live.’  But that is only implicit here.  It becomes explicit when the mystery of marriage is more fully revealed in Ephesians 5:31-32.”

“Paul quotes Genesis 2:24 in verse 31: ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”  Then he gives it this all-important interpretation in verse 32: “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and his church.”  In other words, marriage is patterned after Christ’s covenant commitment to his church.”

“Christ thought of himself as the bridegroom coming for his bride, the true people of God (Matt. 9:15; 25:1 ff.; John 3:29)…Christ knew he would have to pay for his bride with his own blood.  He called this relationship the new covenant—“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20).  This is what Paul is referring to when he says that marriage is a great mystery: “I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”  Christ obtained the church by his blood and formed a new covenant with her, an “unbreakable” marriage.”  [pages 24-25]

And just as the covenant relationship of Jesus Christ with his church is permanent, so our marriages, by His design, are meant to be permanent.   

Jesus says to his people, “I am with you always.”

Husbands and wives vow to one another, “So long as we both shall live.”

What a great blessing, to be called to reflect the beauty of Christ and his church in and through our marriages!

Why the word "evangelical" is empty: The ELCA, Sexuality, Devaluing the Bible, and a Tornado

Blog: Between Two Worlds
Post: The Tornado, the Lutherans, and Homosexuality
Link: http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/08/tornado-lutherans-and-homosexuality.html

Barbaric and legal: Read (if your stomach is strong) and Pray for God's Mercy

http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/2009/08/abortion-evangelist.html

Apologetics Directory (read with discernment, of course.)

Blog: Apologetics 315
Post: Christian Apologetics Blog Directory
Link: http://apologetics315.blogspot.com/2009/07/christian-apologetics-blog-directory.html

Humility is the gift that receives all things as gift.

Blog: Between Two Worlds
Post: Lewis and Edwards on Layers of Self-Admiration and the Gift of Humility
Link: http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/08/lewis-and-edwards-on-layers-of-self.html

Worshipping God or Worshipping Worship?

http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/2009/08/humility-and-church-singing.html

The Dark Illogic of Abortion

Follow this link to access the article:

http://takeyourvitaminz.blogspot.com/2009/08/come-to-terms-with-this-illogic.html

“Cut to the Heart: God’s Power in His Word”

On Sunday morning, August 9, 2009, I preached from Acts 2:37-41, zeroing in on verse 37 especially. Of course, this verse follows v. 36: “Let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” That verse is absolutely devastating and wonderful because it points to two life-and-death truths: 1. That all the Jews present for Peter’s Pentecost day sermon (whether they were directly involved in calling for the Lord’s execution or not), and all people including us are implicated in this—“…this Jesus whom you crucified.” That is, because of our self-centered, self-dependent sinfulness, we are in agreement with those who crucified Jesus and at odds with God; and 2. This crucified Jesus was crucified to save countless self-centered, self-dependent sinners like you and me.

How do you receive verse 36? O, that God would wield His truth and cut us all to the heart, revealing our thoughts and intentions (Hebrews 4:12) in the light of His Word, waking us to flee to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith, and sanctifying us in the Truth. May it be that we welcome the piercing, surgically precise two-edged sword of God’s Word, and that we never be unmoved and cold at this thought—“…this Jesus whom you crucified.”

I am reminded of my favorite hymn, “And Can It Be”, by Charles Wesley:

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

He left his Father’s throne above,
So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race;
Tis mercy all, immense and free;
And O, my God, I found out Me.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quick’ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living head,

"The Ultimate Masquerade Party" moved me to search my heart, and confession and repentance. Please read it prayerfully and introspectively.

Blog: Between Two Worlds
Post: The Ultimate Masquerade Party
Link: http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/08/ultimate-masquerade-party.html

Pray for Christians in Pakistan

Blog: Between Two Worlds
Post: Pray for Pakistan Christians
Link: http://theologica.blogspot.com/2009/08/pray-for-pakistan-christians.html