Readings for February 20

This Sunday I'm going to be preaching on Paul's text from 1 Corinthians 3 about the houses we build with the biblical material we've been given.  There are several things I appreciate about this passage.  Paul appears to give us a wide degree of latitude:  we all need to have the same foundation, but beyond that the "houses" of our faith might look significantly different.  God's grace is such that even those whose construction will be completely undone on that day will have some hope of glory because of the foundation on which they rest: some of us will make into glory with nothing more than Jesus and the skin of our teeth.  Praise the Lord!

And finally, we need not wait for the fire of judgment and we do not need to regard as sacred any of the walls in our house - only the foundation.  Everything else is a candidate for demolition and renovation.  The work will not be complete until Jesus completes it.  That too is a reason to praise the Lord and to approach the construction of our faith with renewed vigor.

February 20, 2011

Call to Repentance

Isaiah 30:15 (page 1108)

Call to Worship

Psalm 67 (page 902)

OT Reading

Haggai 1:1-11 (page 1468)

NT Reading

John 13:34-14:4 (page 1675)

Message

Hardcore Building Inspection

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 (page 1774)

Family Altar

February 21 Haggai 1:1-6

February 22 Haggai 1:7-11

February 23 Haggai 1:12-15

February 24 Haggai 2:1-9

February 25 Haggai 2:10-14

February 26 Haggai 2:15-19

February 27 Haggai 2:20-23

Suggested Hymn

That Anne Steele wrote this hymn (based on Haggai 2:7) is something of a miracle of grace. Anne had suffered great disappointment in life, of the sort that would lead most people to self-pity and a demand that what had been taken from her be returned. But instead of looking for this world to satisfy the demands of her needy heart she prays that God's glory would shine in her heart until “life, love and joy divine a heaven on earth appear.” That's a prayer to pray with her whenever we sing this hymn. It is in the Common Meter and can be sung to any CM tune, such as Azmon (O For a Thousand Tongues).

Come, Thou desire of all Thy saints!
Our humble strains attend,
While with our praises and complaints,
Low at Thy feet we bend.

How should our songs, like those above,
With warm devotion rise!
How should our souls, on wings of love,
Mount upward to the skies!

Come Lord! Thy love alone can raise
In us the heavenly flame;
Then shall our lips resound Thy praise
Our hearts adore Thy name.

Dear Savior, let Thy glory shine,
And fill Thy dwellings here,
Till life, and love, and joy divine
A Heaven on earth appear.

Then shall our hearts enraptured say,
Come, great Redeemer! come,
And bring the bright, the glorious day,
That calls Thy children home.

Readings for Sunday, February 13, 2011

February 13, 2011

Call to Repentance

1 John 2:16-17 (page 1900)

Call to Worship

Psalm 19 (page 858)

OT Reading

Psalm 78:32-39 (page 916)

NT Reading

1 Corinthians 15:1-11 (page 1789)

Message

Weather Reports

Hosea 6:1-6 (page 1401)

Readings for Sunday, January 30

Everyone hopes to some extent.  Everyone is afflicted.  Anyone can pray.  What makes the Christian different is that he goes higher up, deeper down and further in.

Reason will permit a certain amount of hope.  But the hope of the Christian quickly exceeds what reason would permit and keeps going.

The Christian is no more or less likely to suffer affliction, but he does not resist his suffering in the panicky manner of the lost.  The Christian finds that Jesus left the seat of suffering warm for him.  In suffering the Christian discovers an affinity with the suffering Savior.

And, while anyone is capable of praying, the prayer of the believer is not a matter of gasps and murmurs.  It is steady and progressive, part of an ongoing conversation building up to something.  Being faithful in prayer means participating in a conversation where many of the sentences will end in question marks and ellipses, but in which the last sentence ends with a delightful exclamation mark.

Higher up, deeper down, and further in.

January 30, 2011

Call to Repentance

Hebrews 12:11 (page 1877)

Call to Worship

Psalm 8 (page 848)

OT Reading

Proverbs 8:1-11 (page 994)

NT Reading

Galatians 6:1-10 (page 1816)

Message

Higher Up, Deeper Down, and Further In

Romans 12:12 (page 1764)

Readings for Sunday January 15

A proud king is afflicted with insanity and acts like a donkey for years.  He only stops eating grass when his long lost sanity, accompanied by his even longer lost humility, comes back to him.

Then later his son repeats the father's folly and gives free reign to pride.  Then one night a hand appears and writes on the wall "Weighed, weighed and found wanting."

The king made himself out to be someone very valuable and important but when measured on God's scale he did not amount to that much.  He was found wanting, lacking.

When we love others with devotion and treat them as though they were more important than we are we don't need to worry about the writing on the wall. 

Call to Repentance

John 15:6-8  (page 1677)

Call to Worship

Psalm 63  (page 899)

OT Reading

Daniel 5:18-31  (page 1380)

NT Reading

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12 (page 1840)

Message

Found Wanting

Romans 12:10 (page 1764)

“Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

Readings for Sunday, January 9, 2011

In this passage Paul tells us that our love should be sincere, genuine and authentic, that it should not be hypocritical.  We can't take that imperative seriously without asking the question of what it means for love to be hypocritical and insincere.  If my attitude toward evil falls anywhere short of hatred, if the good is something that I salute but fail to cling to than my "love" is a hollow and fragile thing, like a porcelain hammer: perfect in regard to detail, but useless as to purpose.  

Call to Repentance
Romans 12:1-2 (page 1763)

Call to Worship
Psalm 97  (page 935)

OT Reading
Amos 5:4-15  (page 1425)

NT Reading
John 3:16-21  (page 1650

Message
A Love That Does Not Lie
Romans 12:9

All Things Well

We have, in Jesus, a Savior who does all things well and this can be thrilling one moment and daunting the next.  Excellence is an aspect of his character and a trait of his conduct.  And nowhere is his refusal to cut corners or take shortcuts more apparent than in the manner of his incarnation.  Strip the fuzzy sentiment from the manger scene and what you see is a painstaking tableau.  Thousands of years of prophetic preparation bring us to the cusp of the great project of our redemption.  Pains are taken.  Jesus must be one of us to save us, but surely he could have arrived a full-grown man.  Surely he would have been as priceless a sacrifice after a half-an-hour of sinless human existence as he was after thirty some years of sinlessness.
But Jesus' character required of him more than even justice dared to require.  And so he came as an infant.  He endured all of our weakness.  He maintained his sinlessness over a full lifetime of provocation and temptation.
He not only did what none of us would have dared to hope for, but he did it well.  He did it in such a way as to silence his enemies and inspire his disciples.
The Savior who took such pains and showed such diligence in effecting our salvation applies the same excellence and care to the construction of our mansions in glory.  He will cut no corners and spare no expense in seeing his sheep to their appointed fold.
Being disciples of a painstaking Savior is hard though when we think that we might skip our personal mangers.

Call to Repentance

Luke 15:7  (page 1623)

Call to Worship

Psalm 111  (page 952)

OT Reading

Psalm 139:13-18  (page 974)

NT Reading

Luke 1:26-38  (page 1589)

Message

He Does All Things Well

Mark 7:37  (page 1565)

The Cornerstone of Our Worship

This Sunday I am going to be preaching on what the incarnation means for our worship.  It's difficult to appreciate, but believers of God in the Old Testament were physical people who found their physicality an obstacle to worship.  When I have a bad cold I could kiss my wife but I don't because I know that, however sincere the gesture, however much love I am expressing by it, I am also expressing some very undesirable germs.  The Old Testament believer felt this acutely: he desired to kiss God, to worship in the flesh, but knew too well that his flesh was polluted with a fatal illness.

That's why God's people, who could change nothing about their physicality or God's holiness, kept gravitating toward idols.  An idol will always consent to be worshiped by me in my flesh, no matter how unwholesome that flesh may be.  It raises no objection. 

So in Habakkuk God tells us "woe to the one who says to lifeless stone 'wake up!'"  That's the story of the Old Testament:  hopelessly physical people trying to wake lifeless stones.

But the story of the New Testament turns that story on its head, because it is the story of a Living Stone telling us to wake up!

Jesus is not only the Living Stone, but the Cornerstone on which we too, like living stones are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5)  By taking on the flesh as an infant Jesus not only demonstrated that he was worthy of our worship, but he also made it possible for us to worship him in the first place.  He removed the obstacle of our flesh by joining us in our condition.  Our physical worship is now made acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  

That being the case, shame on us if we're found sitting on our hands, right?

Call to Repentance

2 Peter 3:13-14 (page 1896)

Call to Worship

Psalm 61 (page 897)

OT Reading

Habakkuk 2:2-3, 18-20 (page 1458)

NT Reading

Hebrews 10:1-7 (page 1872)

Message

The Cornerstone of Worship

1 Peter 2:4-6 (page 1888)

Welcome Faith Louise English!

 Welcome Faith Louise English!
Born: Monday, November 8, 2010 @ 8:50pm
Weight: 7lbs, 14oz
Length: 18in

Congratulations, Brian, Abby, Noah, Luke, & Naomi!

Sunday, November 7

We have been doing a lot of thinking and talking lately about the direction God would have our church go in.  It's right and proper that we should be deliberate about this stuff.  We're going to have some difficult decisions to make and we want to make them well.
But all of that inward focus can be a real problem for us.  So this Sunday we are going to focus on the person of Jesus Christ.  We are going to reacquaint ourselves with him personally, doing our best to get beyond ourselves, and beyond the plastic Jesus of our careless piety.  He's flesh and blood and we need to touch him.  He's loud and living and we need to hear him.  He's warm and moving and we need to follow him.
We are going to dispense with our usual order of service and I'll invite some participation.  And after the service we'll provide an opportunity for those who aren't ready to leave to go on worshiping in the sanctuary for a time.
Looking forward to seeing you there.

Readings for Sunday, October 24

This Sunday I'm going to be preaching on the three verses that follow last week's text.  

Paul didn't have much patience for people whose ears needed tickling or for those who were willing to tickle those ears with soft and pleasing words. The gospel is robust and slappingly vital.  It manages to be good news that still somehow offends those who need to hear it most.  

There's a part of me that wants badly to tell people what they want to hear because most people will tune me out after about 15 seconds of listening to me telling them what they don't want to hear.  

I have a fairly well defined political outlook.  I read articles, watch television shows and listen to radio programs that reflect that outlook.  And when I'm listening to the radio and someone starts talking or reporting from a political outlook that is very different from mine I seldom wait even 10 seconds before I'm reaching for the dial.  

None of us are in the habit of providing or receiving hard words.  And that's too bad, because hard words can save us.

Call to Repentance

1 Peter 1:14-16

Call to Worship

Psalm 124

OT Reading

Isaiah 5:18-24

NT Reading

1 Peter 1:3-13

Message

2 Timothy 4:3-5

Giddy Heads and Itching Ears

Readings for Sunday, October 17, 2010

This Sunday I will be preaching on Paul's charge to Timothy in his second letter to the young pastor. I think this is thrilling stuff and I'm grateful for it. I give my faith a significant portion of my time, resources, and energy. I want to believe that it's about something more than feeling good and behaving nicely.
So when Paul gives us this earnest, weighty charge part of me groans at the heaviness of the demand, and the rest of me thrills to the significance of the assignment. It's in that tension that I aspire to great things.

Call to Repentance
Hebrews 12:14

Call to Worship
Psalm 113

OT Reading
Amos 4:4-13

NT Reading
Ephesians 6:10-18

Message
Charged and Ready
2 Timothy 4:1-2

Readings for Sunday, October 10

This Sunday I will be preaching on 2 Timothy 3:16-17: the word is useful for teaching, reproving, correcting, and training in righteousness. That's all very well and good to say that Scripture is useful for these things, and I believe it. But . . .
If I went into my neighbor's woodworking shop and he showed me his large collection of tools, assuring me that they were all useful for making beautiful kitchen tables I would certainly agree with him. But admitting their usefulness, picking them up and handling them, learning their names and which drawers they're to be found in - none of these things will get me any closer to having made a table.
So I hope to preach a highly applicable message, one that will give us all lots to do.

Call to Repentance
James 4:8 (page 1884)

Call to Worship
Psalm 34 (page 871)

OT Reading
Deuteronomy 6:1-9 (page 284)

NT Reading
James 1:19-25 (page 1881)

Message
Putting the Useful to Good Use
2 Timothy 3:16-17 (page 1855)

Results of Questionnaire

On Sunday we passed out a questionnaire to try and determine the level of interest in a midweek event of some sort. I received back 11 responses. That's fewer than I was hoping for, but I wanted to share the results so far while I wait for more responses.

Of the eleven responses two indicated that they had not interest at all in a midweek service.
Of the other nine responses about half were somewhat interested and the other half very interested.
And among those who were at least a little bit interested there was not any consensus about a day of the week, a time, a location, a frequency, or a topic. The only thing that most people agreed on was a preference for a small group format.

Given the tepid response and the lack of any general preferences it might be unwise for us to proceed too vigorously. But I am still interested in getting responses and further input. If there is a need for something between Sundays it would be worth doing even if it was only a percentage of the church that took advantage of it.

So please give the matter some prayer and pray for the leadership of the church that we would have wisdom about how to proceed.

Readings for Sunday, October 3

This Sunday I will be preaching on Galatians 6:1-10 with a special emphasis on verse 9.
I am results oriented. I like to see the progress I'm making, which is why mowing the lawn has a certain appeal to me. There is something wonderfully satisfying about that strip of uniformly cropped blades next to the untidy overgrown tangle of green next to it.
But there comes a point late in the summer when I feel like sabotaging my lawn mower and giving up in disgust. The grass never gets the message, never stays put at the height that my revolving blades have set for it.
That frustration is bad enough when it takes a week for the grass to get shaggy again: it would be unbearable if it only took a few minutes after I'd passed over it to grow back to its previous height.
That's what it feels like when we throw our best efforts at healing the world and making war on the sin lurking in our dark corners. Throw everything you have at the hunger in the world, and even if you were capable of filling all the bellies in a two mile radius at lunch you'd be facing the same amount of hunger again at dinner. Throw everything you have at the sin in your life; pull all the weeds of wrong thinking and wrong behavior; get done, turn around, and discover that it only took a minute of inattention for all those weeds to grow back thicker and more deeply rooted than before.
But Paul tells us not to grow weary, and assures us that we're going to be glad and rewarded if we keep it up. If that's the case, the good we do has got to be about more than the good that gets done.

Call to Repentance
1 Peter 2:11

Call to Worship
Psalm 111

OT Reading
Proverbs 3:21-32

NT Reading
1 Corinthians 15:50-58

Message
The Good Done
Galatians 6:1-10

Readings for Sunday, April 25

Sorry about the hiatus! Back to due diligence, right?

This Sunday I'll be preaching on the intersection of submission and freedom.  We should make it our goal to be no less submissive here than we will be in heaven, and no less free here than we will be in glory.  In the passage I'll be preaching on Peter tells us to be subject to all earthly authorities in verse 13, but then a few verses later we're told to "live as people who are free."
These wrinkles of contradiction don't get ironed out naturally.  It takes some practice to get it right.  But fundamentally it is our eternal condition that makes it possible.  People who anticipate casting their crown before the throne of God in glory will feel that they can afford to submit to (relatively puny) authorities here.  And people who look forward to an eternity of freedom unshadowed by even the cloud of sin's awareness, will feel that they can take the risk of behaving free now.

Call to Repentance
1 Peter 2:11  (page 1888)

Call to Worship
Psalm 138  (page 973)

OT Reading
Psalm 119:41-48  (page 959)

NT Reading
Titus 3:1-8  (page 1859)

Message
Free, and Free To Not Be
1 Peter 2:13-17  (page 1888)