From the Newsletter: Bowling Alone and Living as a United Church Family

How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron's beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the LORD bestows his blessing, even life forevermore. Psalm 133:1-3

British preacher Charles Spurgeon once said that “wherever it can be said of an assembly, ‘the Lord is there’ unity will be created and fostered. Show me a church that quarrels, a church that is divided with personal ambitions, contrary doctrines, and opposing schemes, and I am sure that the Lord is not there”. As wise as Spurgeon was, I think this is one of his finest insights. If we say that the Lord is there, and we are marked by division, then something is wrong. When trouble or hardship comes, when things are said that we regret, when mistakes are made, what do we do, do we point fingers and blame, or do we move against each other? In the past, this has happened; both here, and in many other Baptist churches. No denomination is more known for fragmenting than us Baptists. We are known for fighting and splitting over everything, from the color of a rug, to who looked at who funny. But here’s the thing, sometimes, we lack unity for another reason. Sometimes, it’s just that we don’t get to know and understand each other well, or have the same focus and goal. Sometimes the issue is that what was once a integral part of the church for one generation doesn’t attract or even make sense to the next. Sometimes, the issue is that the church reflects the trends of the culture around it, and act with the same unfettered, self focused, radical individualism of our culture, to our shame.

When we look around, we see a society that reflects unfettered, self focused radical individualism, and the result is that we live in an increasingly fragmented society, a society that struggles to understand each other, a society that struggles to get along. All you have to do is watch Washington. It doesn’t matter what the issue is, it seems consensus can’t be reached over anything. Each wants what it wants. And this fragmentation is happening in every area of our society, as people are pulling further and further away from each other.

In 1995, Sociologist Robert Putnam put his finger on this fragmentation in his book, Bowling Alone, when he said"Television, two-career families, suburban sprawl, generational changes in values--these and other changes in American society have meant that fewer and fewer of us find that the League of Women Voters, or the United Way, or the Shriners, or the monthly bridge club, or even a Sunday picnic with friends fits the way we have come to live. Our growing social-capital deficit threatens educational performance, safe neighbourhoods, equitable tax collection, democratic responsiveness, everyday honesty, and even our health and happiness."  Through this book, Putnam uses a mountain of data to show just how fragmented we are becoming, as he charts the grievous deterioration over the past two generations of the organized ways in which people relate to one another and partake in civil life in the U.S. For example, in 1960, 62.8% of Americans of voting age participated in the presidential election, whereas by 1996, the percentage had slipped to 48.9%. here’s another one, this one, painfully close to home. While most Americans still claim a serious "religious commitment," church attendance is down roughly 25%-50% from the 1950s, and the number of Americans who attended public meetings of any kind dropped 40% between 1973 and 1994. Even the once stable norm of community life has shifted: one in five Americans moves once a year, while two in five expect to move in five years. Putnam claims that this has created a U.S. population that is increasingly isolated and less empathetic toward its fellow citizens, that is often angrier and less willing to unite in communities or as a nation. "Americans are right that the bonds of our communities have withered," Putnam writes, "and we are right to fear that this transformation has very real costs." Putnam concludes his analysis with a concise set of potential solutions, such as educational programs, work-based initiatives and funded community-service programs. He offers a ray of hope in what he sees as a dire situation.

 

I don’t know if his solutions are the right solutions on a cultural level, I think that more is needed. I think only a deep, landscape altering revival of gospel centered Christianity will do the job. But he’s on to something big, and thinking about the issue as it pertains to the church, this is a problem, both in our church, and in the body of Christ at large. We reflect this fragmentation. And it’s not just us. The issue of fragmentation is hitting many churches. 

I was speaking with one of my mentors, and he said that unity is one of the biggest challenges of our era. The focus of the church, the direction of the church, the role of the church, the way people interact with the church and the church community, is all shifting in this postmodern, electronic age, and we are having to figure things out by diving into the Bible and re-examining how the Bible speaks to this cultural setting. What idols does it hit? What things does it say to us as we seek to follow Christ here and now as we live through this period of cultural transition?

One thing I know is that in this time, more than any time in our memory, we must be intentional about fostering unity; unity in mission, and as a church community. Now, that’s a word I have not used much. Community. When I was in college, I heard the word community thrown around till I got sick of it. all the resident life people talked about was community. It was a huge mantra. And I got numb to it, and came to disdain it. But in retrospect, I think they were on to something. Community doesn’t just happen. The church is to be a distinct, deep specific type of community, a family. That doesn’t happen easily. But it’s something that we must aim for. When we have unity as the people of God, when we know each other more, when we seek to have a shared mission and vision in life, and are involved in each other’s day to day lives, we are less likely to be divided by things like personal ambition, contrary doctrines, and the like. We are less likely to fragment, to follow the well worn Baptist paths, and the path of our culture. We are less likely to break up over little things, or no reason at all. We are less likely to lose track of each other. And we are more likely to seek each other’s good, to choose to love, to disagree to disagree about the little things, and to seek the glory of God and the furthering of his kingdom together.

 

So what’s the source of our unity? Is it just unity for unity’s sake. Community for community sake. No! It centers in the gospel. The gospel leads to unity and community. Christ’s life, death and resurrection changes our life. It makes us one body, one family, one in Christ. Apart from Christ, and his finished work we have no unity. We’re too fragmented, to different, but in Christ, Jew, gentile, slave, free, man, woman, all are one in Christ. And this should lead to two things. Shared life, and shared foundation and focus. 

First, it leads to shared life.  As Christians, we are to be sharing life together. More than just going to church on Sunday, but really getting involved in each other’s lives, spending time together. Visiting with each other, having meals together as a church family, checking in on one another, asking each other “how’s your walk with God”. Its spending life together in large gathered groups of Christians, and in smaller, scattered groups, meeting as smaller segments of the church family. It’s spending time together, and serving alongside each other on projects that further the gospel, projects around the church, and projects that help each other out, as we seek to obey the word of God and bear one another’s burdens in love.

But it not only leads to shared life; second, and far more importantly, it leads to shared foundation and focus. The gospel plants us all on the same foundation. Christ. He is the source of all unity. He gives us a new identity, in himself. He gives us a new mission. Our mission is found in his mission, in furthering his kingdom and righteousness, in bringing Glory to God, and bringing his peace to the world around. The gospel gives us a shared foundation and focus. Think of all that scripture says about unity. In Philippians, Paul says, in contrast with the pagan world around that was focused on self pleasure and the world around, “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brothers...stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers." (Phi 3:20-4:3)       

In Ephesians he writes, "Live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit--just as you were called to one hope when you were called-- one Lord, one faith, one baptism;one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Ephesians 4:1-,6, 11-20)

Notice some things from those passages. We are citizens of heaven, not of this fragmented world. We are to agree in the lord. If we can’t agree for any other reason on things, agree in the lord. And we are to make every effort to keep unity in Christ. And it’s a unity that is rooted in Christ, one lord, one faith, one baptism. It’s not in some nebulous sense of unity, or community, or peace. We are to have unity, community, life together as the family of God, because we have a new identity as followers of Christ, as people who have been called to one hope; hope in Christ. Because of that we are one. And notice three things. First, the gifts God gives are for the unity of the body so that we will mature as a community, as people who have knowledge of the Son and have the full measure of the fullness of Christ. Second, we are not to be schemers, instead, we are to speak the truth in love as we grow into him who is the head, Christ. Third, see what flows from that. We grow into Christ, and from him support comes, and the result is love, love for each other, as each part does its work.

And it's not just Paul that says this. Peter jumps in on the action as well, writing in First Peter, “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.  Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. (1 Peter 3:8-9). His unique contribution to the subject is this reminder that unity requires us to act in love even when we’ve been wronged. As Christians, you are called to forgive and show love when wronged, remembering that Christ forgave you,. And the early church was known for this. The church father Tertullian writes that the statement of those around the church was, “look how they love one another”.

The gospel gives us true unity, love filled unity. Unity rooted and grounded in Christ. Now here’s the issue, ultimately. The desire of the Lord is for his church to be united. It doesn’t matter what’s going on around us, he wants us to be united. We are to be a counterculture marked by unity. In his great high priestly prayer in John 17, Jesus prays for his disciples, and for those who will believe in him through their word, praying “that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me”.

When the church is united, when we stand together in unity, it is a powerful expression to the world of what the gospel does, and a wonderful experience of life in the kingdom of God. When we are fragmented, when we don’t have unity, we fail to live out the gospel, we damage our witness to the world around, and we miss out on something wonderful. We’re making progress. I see many signs of unity. I see some signs of disunity. we’ve got allow done, and we have miles to go. My hope and prayer is that 2013 be a year where we make many strides towards keeping the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace, as we connect to the gospel, grow in the gospel, serve from the gospel, share the gospel, and are together changed by the gospel.

Now, one final thought. it’s not enough for me to write something like this. A big data dump, and it’s over, thank God. My hope for things I write, is that they will create discussion. Talk about this with each other. We are going through momentous changes as a culture, and we feel them in the church. How are we uniting and failing to unite. What piece of this article stands out to you ? What piece do you find yourself most challenged by? What piece of the article do you identify with the most? What things have I missed. What are the areas that we don’t have unity, and how can we really truly work through these things? What steps can you take to grow closer to those in your church family? Talk about these things, talk about them with those you are closest with, and pick a couple of people that you are not with, people from a different generation, people that you don’t know as well, and share your thoughts. Talk about it, and lets seek to grow together in unity for the glory of God.

Calvin on the Confidence and Delight that the Lords Supper brings

I'm preaching on the Last supper this Sunday, nearing the end of the book of Mark, and as I was preparing for the sermon, I came across this quote by Calvin in the Institutes that is worth pondering.

“Pious souls can derive great confidence and delight from this sacrament, as being a testimony that they form one body with Christ, so that everything which is His they may call their own. 

Hence it follows that we can confidently assure ourselves that eternal life, of which He Himself is the heir, is ours, and that the kingdom of heaven, into which He has entered, can no more be taken from us than from Him; on the other hand, that we cannot be condemned for our sins, from the guilt of which He absolves us, seeing He has been pleased that these should be imputed to Himself as if they were His own.

This is the wondrous exchange made by His boundless goodness. Having become with us the Son of Man, He has made us with Himself sons of God. By His own descent to the earth He has prepared our ascent to heaven. Having received our mortality, He has bestowed on us His immortality. 

Having undertaken our weakness, He has made us strong in His strength. Having submitted to our poverty, He has transferred to us His riches. Having taken upon Himself the burden of unrighteousness with which we were oppressed, He has clothed us with His righteousness.

John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 4.17.2.

 

Think about what he's saying. We are made one with Christ, becasue of his glorious work, and that comes with enormeous blessings. Ponder that, and then rejoice in that. 

A Learning Community

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

I recently came across a quote by David Wells, one of my professors at Gordon Conwell. He has long lamented the decline of the church in America, and sought to diagnose the issue. One of his diagnosis is that we are not people who think, who reflect, who study, and that has led to our decline, as we have not been people of the book. This quote, from his book, The Courage to be Protestant, struck a nerve with me.

“Christianity is described as the faith, the truth, the pattern of sound words, the traditions, the sound doctrine, and what was delivered in the beginning. This is what the apostles taught, it is what they believed, it is what they “delivered” to the church, it is what is “entrusted” to the church. Christians are those who “believe” this teaching, who “know” it, who “have” it, who “stand” in it, and who are “established” in it. The New Testament letters were written to remind believers about their responsibilities in relation to this teaching, this faith that has been delivered to the church in its final and completed form. The apostles, we read, write to “remind” them of it, urge them to “pay close attention” to it, to “stand firm” in it, to “follow” it, to “hold” onto it, to “guard” it as one might a precious jewel, and to contend earnestly for this truth. Can we see the most basic point here? It is that the church in its earliest days was a learning community. What it was learning was the ways of God, his character, his acts, through the truth he had given and was giving them. This they knew was indispensable for a life of obedience in this world. By contrast, all of this is conspicuous by its absence in much of the contemporary evangelical church. Knowledge of the Bible ranks low in how the born-again judge themselves. And the preaching of the Bible’s truth has all but disappeared from many churches. We are today walking away from what we see modeled for us in the book of Acts as God’s will for the church.” (David Wells The Courage to Be Protestant, 84-85).

As we face another year, and prepare for all that comes, my prayer for us is that we will be people who seek to be people of the word. My prayer is that we will be a learning community. People who seek to grow deeper and deeper in the gospel throughout this year. This year, we will be seeking to learn the new city catechism as a church. We will be having studies, to seek to grow as followers of Christ. After the Super Bowl, on Sunday evenings, we will be having a marriage class, primarily using “The Meaning of Marriage” by Tim and Kathy Keller. Later in the spring, after that wraps up, we will have another Sunday evening study, and read through a little book called “What is a Healthy Church?”, by Mark Dever. We will continue to have Bible studies on Wednesday nights. And, we will seek to be applying the world to our lives, as we continue to grow as followers of Christ in the coming year. My hope is that we will be a learning community. A united, gospel centered, learning community that seeks the glory of God in 2013.

The Incarnataion: Odd Thomas

As we stand on the Eve of Christmas, check out Odd Thomas on the Incarnation.  Enjoy and Merry Christmas. For those of you that went as crazy hunting for the lyrics to this song as I did, the lyrics are below, thanks to Mike Sullivan at the Gospel Alliance.

 

 

 

 

“What good is the Christmas story if it’s void of God and His glory?

What’s the worth of the words ‘peace on earth’ if it’s not rooted in the Truth of Christ’s birth?

What benefit is it for us to discuss the joy of the season unless we fix our hearts and minds on the principal reason that Christ has atoned for us?

See Christmas is more than just a story of a baby born in a manger,

More than a poor fiancé engaged to a humble virgin teenager,

More than a Magi, more than gold, frankincense and myrrh.

It’s more than a narrative of a Nativity scene, it was so much more that occurred.

It’s the coming of the Messiah, the fulfillment of all Old Testament promises,

The prophecy of the suffering Servant and all of His accomplishments,

The second Person of the Trinity commissioned to abandon His position,

And literally set aside the independent exercise of His attributes in full submission,

The Word manifested in the flesh, the fullness of God expressed,

The self-emptying Jesus poured out at the Father’s request,

The image of the invisible God, the radiance of the Father’s fame,

Holy, but retained His humanness to empathize with our pain.

He was unjustly crushed, chastised, cursed and shamed,

Mocked and adorned with a crown of thorns, disgraced but He still faced the grave,

To fulfill the Father’s will, to come and die in the place of sinful men,

And receive the fully fury of God’s judgment upon Himself instead,

The most monumental mark for mankind made in human history,

Wretched sinners being made righteous only by the wounds of the risen King,

The condescending of a holy God made in the likeness of men,

A child born to be the Savior that would save the world from their sins,

The offspring of the virgin’s womb,

The Christ, God’s own Son, fully God, yet fully man, the only theanthropic One.

This is what we celebrate, Christ the newborn King, veiled in flesh, the Godhead seen,

Hailed incarnate Deity.”

Advent Reading: Christ

Here in the week before Christmas, I am posting the advent Readings that we have been using this year at First Baptist Church. Here is the fnal reading that I have written, it is the reading for the Christ Candle to be lit on Christmas Eve.

 

Leaders: In the season of Advent we have used the Advent wreath and its candles to focus our minds on the truth that Christ will return in glory, and to help us get ready for this great celebration of the birth of Christ, the light of the world. Today, we light all the candles of the Advent wreath. We light the candle for HOPE because Jesus is our ultimate source of hope. We light the candle for peace because Jesus is our prince of peace. We light the candle for joy because Jesus brings everlasting joy. We light the candle for love because Jesus is God’s love incarnate. Lastly we light the Christ candle, as we celebrate the wonderful reality that Jesus the Christ, the light of the world, our glorious redeeming savior, is born

 

People: As we light the candles, we celebrate the birth of Christ, the light of the world, rejoicing in the incarnation of our Savior and Lord, and anticipating his glorious return. As we do this, we remember:

[Light all five candles]

 

Leaders: We remember the that in Christ, the infinite became finite, the one who was in very nature God, the holiest of holies, the sovereign light of the world and the one in whom the fullness of deity dwells, took on flesh and came as a helpless babe. Jesus is the image of the invisible God, holy God made flesh

 

People: We remember our need for a Savior who will redeem us from our sins, and that in Christ, God’s promise is fulfilled. Christ is born! We have complete victory through the birth of Christ. Eternal victory is ours both now and forever because of Christ! He alone is our ultimate source of hope, peace, joy, and love in this life, and the next. He is the savior of the world to whom all scripture points. Someday, he wills come again and bring us to his kingdom to enjoy life with him forever.

 

Leaders: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

 

People: He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.(John 1:1-5, 9-13)

 

Leaders: Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth. (Isaiah 42:1-4)

 

People: he people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:2,6)

 

Leaders: I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts. (John 8:12. Ps 145:3-4)

 

People: As we remember Christ’s birth, and anticipate Christ’s Glorious return, may God fill our hearts with His light and life.

 

Together: Great God of love and light, who revealed your light gloriously through the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we light these advent candles, remembering His birth and anticipating His return, we thank you that the light of life has entered our broken world to bring victory over evil, suffering, and death. Fill us now with the light of your love, so that we may live for your glory, and as we rejoice in the birth of your son, may we worship him, welcome him, and make room for him in our hearts. O come, let us adore him! Amen!

Advent Reading: Love

Here in the week before Christmas, I am posting the advent Readings that we have been using this year at First Baptist Church. Here is Love.

 

Leaders: Advent is a word that means “coming” or “visit”. In the Christian season of Advent, we prepare for the “advent” of Christ at Christmas. This morning, we continue to light the advent candles as we move towards Christmas and the birth of Christ, Holy God made flesh.

 

People: As we light the candles, we continue our journey to Christmas, in anticipation of celebrating his birth, and in anticipation of the day when our loving savior will return in glory.

[Light three purple candles, and one pink candle.]

Leaders: Today we re-light the candles of hope, peace, and joy. Now, we light the candle of love, and as we do, we remember:

 

People: We remember that Christ alone is our ultimate source of hope, peace, joy, and love, and that he is God’s perfect love incarnate.

 

Leaders: We remember Gods promise to Israel of a loving messiah who will demonstrate Gods love completely, and rejoice that God demonstrated his perfect love in the sending his Son, Jesus Christ.

 

People: We remember our need for a Savior who will save us from our sins, and bring the love of God into our lives.

 

Leaders: We remember that Christ demonstrated self-giving love in his ministry as the Good Shepherd. Advent is a time for kindness, thinking of others, and sharing with others. It is a time to love as God loved us by giving us his most precious gift. As God is love, we are also to love.

 

People: We remember that out of darkness light shines. The true light of life whose love overcame darkness, and whose love is our light, both now and forevermore.

 

Leaders: Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine. Our soul waits for the LORD; he is our help and our shield. (Psalm 33:18-20)

 

People: The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.(Zephaniah 3:17-18) God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:5-8) No one has greater love than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends. (John 15:13)  

 

Leaders: God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matt. 22:39) I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.(John 13:34-35) We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)

 

People: As we remember Christ’s birth, and anticipate Christ’s Glorious return, may God fill our hearts with His love.

 

Together: Redeeming God, who revealed your love to humble servants like Mary and Joseph, and demonstrated your love through the life, death, and resurrection of your son, as we light these advent candles, remembering his birth, and anticipating his return, we ask that you teach us to love, may we know and grow in your love. May our hearts be filled with your love, a love for each other as a church, and a love for the world around, and may we demonstrate your love in such a way that the world may see our love and glorify our father who is in heaven. Amen!

 

 

 

 

Here are the sources that I used to generate ideas, in addition to the advent readings that the church had used for the last several years, which came from an article called What to expect when your expecting: six service plans for advent and Christmas. An series of Advent readings by Mark Roberts of Pathoes. An article by from Reformed worship called, I'm Waiting: A thoughtfull appraoch to using the advent wreath in worship. An Advent devotional guide done by Covenant Presbyterian Church in Chicago, and most helpfully, a  sereis on Advent Readings and Lightings done by Mike Milton of Reformed Theological Seminary.

Advent Reading: Joy

Here in the week before Christmas, I am posting the advent Readings that we have been using this year at First Baptist Church. Here is Joy.

 

Leaders: Advent is a word that means “coming” or “visit”. In the Christian season of Advent, we prepare for the “advent” of Christ at Christmas. This morning, we continue to light the advent candles as we move towards Chrsitmas and the birth of Christ, Holy God made flesh.

 

People: As we light the candles, we continue our journey to Christmas, in anticipation his birth, and in anticipation of the day when Christ will return and bring his ultimate, everlasting joy for all eternity.

 

 [Light two purple candles, and one pink candle.]

 

Leaders: Today we re-light the candles of hope and peace. Now, we light the candle of joy, and as we do, we remember:

 

People: We remember that Christ alone is our ultimate source of hope, peace, and unimaginable and everlasting joy.

 

Leaders: We remember Gods promise to Israel of a messiah who will judge evil, make all sorrow and sadness cease, and bring his everlasting joy forever.

 

People: We remember our need for a Savior who will save us from our sins, and that Chris’s birth is good news of great joy for all people because it is news of that promised savior.

 

Leaders: We remember that in a world that finds pleasure in the abundance of material possessions, we are called to find our true joy in Christ, the image of the invisible God made visible, as we look back on his birth, and look forward to his glorious return.

 

People: We remember that as we press forward in our world of sorrow and sadness, we can do so with confidence knowing that in Christ, we have a source of incomparable joy in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

Leaders: I will turn their mourning into joy; I will comfort them, and give them gladness for sorrow. (Jeremiah 31:13)Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. (1 Chron. 16:33) I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places. (Habakkuk 3:18-19)

 

People: Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. (Luke 2:10-12) He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. (Revelations 21:4)

 

Leaders: When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4:4-5) Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand. (Philippians 4:4-5)

 

People: As we remember Christ's birth, and anticipate Christ's Glorious Return, may God grant us his everlasting joy! 

 

Together: Holy God, who announced your news of great joy for all people to lowly shepherds, as we light these candles this Advent season, we rejoice, for we know how the first act of the story ended with the birth of Jesus the Messiah, and we know that the second act will end when he comes again in glory. Fix our hearts and our minds on those things you have done and will do, and fill us always with your joy as we hope in our savior who has come, and will come again! Amen.

Advent Reading: Peace

Here in the week before Christmas, I am posting the advent Readings that we have been using this year at First Baptist Church. Here is Peace.

 

Leader: Advent is a word that means “coming” or “visit”. In the Christian season of Advent, we prepare for the “advent” of Christ at Christmas. This morning, we continue to light the advent candles as we move towards Christmas and the birth of Christ, Holy God made flesh.

 

People: As we light the candles, we continue our journey to Christmas in anticipation of the day when Christ will bring his perfect peace that passes all understanding.

 

[Light two purple candles.]

 

Leaders: Today we re-light the candle of hope. Now, we light the candle of peace, and as we do, we remember:

 

People: We remember that Christ alone is our ultimate source hope, and our source of true and ultimate peace.

 

Leaders: We remember Gods promise to Israel of a messiah who will bring everlasting peace when he restores all creation at the end of time.

 

People: We remember our need for a Savior to save us from our sins, and give us the peace with God that our hearts were designed for.

 

Leaders: We remember that in Christ, the God of peace became our prince of peace. The one who was forever in very nature God, in whom the fullness of deity dwells, came not as a destroying conquer, but a peaceful babe.

 

People: We remember that as we press forward in our world of chaos and conflict, we can do so with confidence knowing that he is the source of ultimate and everlasting peace, and the one who calms our hearts as we await his second coming.

 

Leaders: In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.(Psalm 4:8) The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living! Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! (Psalm 27:1-2, 13-14)

 

People: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14). Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end (Isaiah 9:7). Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will towards men (Luke 2:14). Now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himslef is our peace (Ephesians 2:13-14).

 

Leaders: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.(John 14:27) Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.(Philippians 4:6-7)

 

People: As we remember Christ's birth, and anticipate Christ's Glorious Return, may God grant us his perfect peace.

 

Together: Gracious God, who sent your Servants the Angels to announce the birth of Christ, our ultimate source of peace with God, as we light these candles this Advent season, we ask you to bring your peace into our hearts, our lives, our families, our communities, and our world, heal the division around us, and use us to bring your peace your broken world. And at all times, may we remember that you alone are the giver of lasting peace, both now, and forever. Amen.

Advent Readings: Hope

Many churches celebrate Advent by lighting candles and reading liturgies together as we remind ourselves that we live between two advents, the first advent that we celebrate as Christmas, and the second coming that we long for. The emphasis and manner of celebration of this varies greatly. One of my Episcopal friends told me that they are not allowed to make a big deal of the advent candle lighting, while others, have responsive readings and make a huge deal of it. First Baptist is the later. Additionally, there is no one way to "do Advent" something I have been learning. Some celebrate the candle lightings as hope, peace, love, joy, while others do themes of light, or prophets, angels, shepherds, and so on... there is a great deal of difference in the significance of the candles.

 

I learned this, because I decided I needed new readings. I have not been happy with the readings we have used for the last few years, and not having a book of common prayer like my Episcopal friend, I went to google, and found lots of good readings, but none that felt right. None of the readings seemed like they fit First Baptist.

 

So, I decided to write my own. I will be posting them in the week leading up to Christmas . I have used a variety of sources to get ideas and wording from (if you want them, I'll send you a list), I take no credit for original genuis. I hope they encourage you as walk through advent. Here is Hope. The first instalment.

 

Hope

 

Leaders: Advent is a word that means “coming” or “visit”. In the Christian season of Advent, we prepare for the “advent” of Christ at Christmas. This morning, we begin to light the advent candles as we move towards Chrsitmas and the Birth of Christ, Holy God made flesh.

People: As we light the candle, we begin our journey to Christmas in anticipation of the day when Christ will return in glory.

[Light one purple candle.]

Leaders: Today we light the candle of hope, and we remember:

People: We remember the hope that the prophets foretold, and that scripture declares.

Leaders: We remember Israel’s hope for the coming of God’s Messiah to save, to forgive, and to restore.

People: We remember our need for a Savior to save us from our sins, and our hope for the second coming of Jesus to restore all things.

Leaders: We remember the that in Christ, the infinite became finite, the one who was in very nature God, the unimaginable liberator of whom the prophets spoke, the holiest of holies, the sovereign light of the world and the one in whom the fullness of deity dwells, took on flesh and came as a helpless babe.

People: We remember that as we press forward in our world of struggles and hardship, we can do so with confidence as we anticipate the coming of Jesus Christ, who is the source of our true and ultimate hope now and forever.

Leaders: I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.. (Ps. 130:5) Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isa. 40:31) The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. (Lam. 3:22-23)

People: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. Those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them the light has shined. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. And the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:2, 6)

Leaders: “Blessed be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope”. (1 Peter. 1:3). May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. (Romans15:13)

People: In our hope of Christ’s return we find our strength for each new day as we prepare to welcome Christ into our world and into our hearts here at Christmas.

Together: Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation, as we light this candle and begin this new Advent season, shine the light of your hope into our hearts and into our world, give us grace to heed the warnings of the prophets, and of our savior and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

My response to the Newtown CT tragedy

Here is what I am saying to my church on the Sandy hook shooting today.

 

Like most of you, I read of a shooter going into a school and killing 20 kids, and I was shocked and horrified and angered. And we should be shocked and horrified and angered. If the world was made to reflect God’s good design, his, love, his joy, his peace, his shalom where there is no evil, the world as it was designed to be, this is not it. And we should be shocked and horrified and angered. But how do we respond to this? Whats the Christian response? Let me attempt to answer that, I’ve been reading and thinking about this all weekend. And here's some of my thoughts. There are seven things we must do.
 

First, we must affirm the sinfulness of sin, and the full reality of human evil, and stand against it. As theologian Albert Mohler wrote this weekend, his thoughts undergird my thoughts (you can read his piece that I leaned on here), “we must recognize that this tragedy is just as evil, horrible, and ugly as it appears. Christianity does not deny the reality and power of evil, but instead calls evil by its necessary names — murder, massacre, killing, homicide, slaughter. The closer we look at this tragedy, the more it will appear unfathomable and more grotesque than the human imagination can take in. We should not sugar coat it”… We should call it what it is, and then we stand against it. We should have visceral reaction to it, we should hate it.

 

As followers of Christ, we’re to love what God loves, and hate what God hates...and that means we should hate evil, because God hates evil. All through scripture we're told that God hates evils. In Deuteronomy 12:31 we're told "You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way, for every abominable thing that the LORD hates they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods." Proverbs 6:16-19 says " There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

 

As followed of Christ, it's legitimate and warranted to love what God loves, and hate what God hates. In fact, God says we should hate evil. God says, in Amos, Seek good, and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, will be with you… Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gate; it may be that the LORD, the God of hosts, will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph."(Amos 5:14-15) It’s legitimate to hate this kind of sin, not a person but a sin, and to name it as evil, and stand against it. This kind of evil is straight from the pit. We must affirm the sinfulness of sin, and the full reality of human evil, and stand against it.

Second, we must look to the cross. Right now, some are saying, in this, what we need is more love. But that is not enough. Love is not all we need. We are not only for something, God's shalom, but against evil, sin and suffering, these things are all results of the fall, and it is valid to see them as something that is worthy of standing against with everything in us.

 

And in this, there is real evil...something is going on in our culture, there's a pure evil from the pit. It’s unmasked itself, here, in Colorado, in Toronto, and on and on. It feels like the restrainer has been taken away, and the hour of the man of lawlessness is at hand. There is a battle, powers and principalities, spiritual powers fight against God's good, and we’re watching what happens when evil is loosed.

 

The only thing that will right this is revival. No human love will do it. We need revival because there’s only one solution to evil...the cross... because of the fall, we are all wicked and sinful by nature, rebels like Adam and Eve, and only God’s actions will right the world. Only God’s actions will make us love rightly, only God’s actions will end evil and injustice, through the cross he took our place, so that he can end evil and injustice someday, without ending us...  and only God’s actions through the cross can make us love rightly. Evil will not have the last word, because evil, sin, death, and the devil were defeated at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There they were defeated conclusively, comprehensively, and publicly. On the cross, Christ bore our sins, dying in our place, offering himself freely as the perfect sacrifice for sin. As Mohler noted,  “The devil delighted in Christ’s agony and death on the cross, realizing too late that Christ’s substitutionary atonement spelled the devil’s own defeat and utter destruction. Christ’s victory over sin, evil, and death was declared by the Father in raising Jesus from the dead. The resurrection of Christ is the ground of our hope and the assurance of the final and total victory of Christ over all powers, principalities, and perpetrators.”

 

And here’s the thing. Mohler continues, “A tragedy like this cannot be answered with superficial and sentimental Christian emotivism, nor with glib dismissals of the enormity and transience of this crime. Such a tragedy calls for the most Gospel-centered Christian thinking, for the substance of biblical theology, and the solace that only the full wealth of Christian conviction can provide. In the face of such horror, we are driven again and again to the cross and resurrection of Christ, knowing that the reconciling power of God in Christ is the only adequate answer to such a depraved and diabolical power.”

 

 

Third, we must remember that God is with us, and he knows our pain. In Christ, God is with us…and all through the bible we see, he knows what it is to suffer. The bible doesn’t tell us why evil endure. But it does tell us something wonderful, a truth we celebrate here at Christmas. God is with us. We see in Matthew that Joseph is told, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us). Jesus is God, he’s God stepped out of heaven. He’s God come to, to be with us. To be present with us. That’s the whole story of the incarnation. And here’s the thing, the God that is with us is not a savoir who stands high and aloof. He’s not a God far away who doesn’t’ know our sorrow and suffering. He is God with us. Immanuel. He’s the god who drew near, and he endured hardship and sorrow. He experienced the full range of the human experience. Hebrews tells us that “it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. (Hebrews 2:16-18) And We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.(Hebrews 4:15-16). John tells us that he went to his friend’s grave, and wept. He died and excruciating death. Our savior knows sorrow and suffering. He was tempted. He was tried. And then he endured the greatest suffering imaginable, the cross. And that means that while we don’t know why evil and suffering happens. We’re not alone in it. He is God with us, in the good, and in the bad… and we can go to him with our tears and fears, our anger and our anguish, our lament and our longings. We can collapse in his presence, with the assurance of his welcome when we need the mercies of his heart. He is with us… he will never leave us, or forsake us… he is God with us… Immanuel.

 

Fourth, we should long for the day when God will end evil and injustice… our cry should be, Come lord quickly… we should cry out this day, with all the saints, how long our Lord, when will you come and end evil... how long o lord, as we look back on the first advent, we say, come quickly…in this life, it’s legitimate to say that justice must be done to evildoers, the sword is put in the hands of the state, in the hand of the king, Romans says, He is God's servant for your good, but if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. (Rom 13:4)

But there is an eternal justice for evildoers. No amount of justice in this life is enough, a lifetime in prison is not enough. In this case, we can have no justice, this man took his life, after taking the lives of 20 kids. But the day is coming, when God will judge evil. As Isaiah 11 tells us of the messiah, “his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. (Isa 11:2-5).

 

There is a day coming when God will end evil and injustice. He died so that we might not face his wrath towards evil…He went to the cross so he could end evil and injustice, without ending his children. But someday, he will end evil forever. He will come back, and judge the world with righteousness. Then, and only then, will we have true peace… then and only then, will we know true joy, then, and only then, will the world be put right. On a day like this, more than ever, we should long for that day.

 

Fifth, we should mourn with those who mourn and greive, in the midst of this national mourning, and give what comfort we can. As Albert Mohler wrote yesterday, For now, even as we yearn for the Day of the Lord, we grieve with those who grieve. We sit with them and pray for them and acknowledge that their loss is truly unspeakable and that their tears are unspeakably true. We pray and look for openings for grace and the hope of the gospel. We do our best to speak words of truth, love, grace, and comfort. What of the eternal destiny of these sweet children? There is no specific text of Scripture that gives us a clear and direct answer.

 

We must affirm with the Bible that we are conceived in sin and, as sons and daughters of Adam, will face eternal damnation unless we are found in Christ. So many of these little victims died before reaching any real knowledge of their own sinfulness and need for Christ. They, like those who die in infancy and those who suffer severe mental incapacitation, never really have the opportunity to know their need as sinners and the provision of Christ as Savior. They are in a categorically different position than that of the person of adult consciousness who never responds in faith to the message of the Gospel. In the book of Deuteronomy, God tells the adults among the Children of Israel that, due to their sin and rebellion, they would not enter the land of promise. But the Lord then said this: “And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it.” [Deuteronomy 1:39]

 

Many, if not all, of the little children who died in Newtown were so young that they certainly would be included among those who, like the little Israelites, “have no knowledge of good or evil.” God is sovereign, and he was not surprised that these little ones died so soon. There is biblical precedent for believing that the Lord made provision for them in the atonement accomplished by Christ, and that they are safe with Jesus.

Sixth, we must remember that this story reminds us of the events of the first Christmas. In Jeremiah we read “Thus says the LORD: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” [Jeremiah 31:15] and in Matthew, we read of an event that fulfilled it, an event just as heartbreaking as this.

 

The First Christmas, was not all joy. This tragedy is compounded in emotional force by the fact that it comes in such close proximity to Christmas, but we shouldn’t forget that there was the mass murder of children in the Christmas story as well. King Herod’s murderous decree that all baby boys under two years of age should be killed prompted Matthew to cite this very verse from Jeremiah. Rachel again was weeping for her children. But this is not where either Jeremiah or Matthew leaves us. By God’s mercy, there is hope and the promise of full restoration in Christ.

 

The Lord continued to speak through Jeremiah: Thus says the LORD: “Keep your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, declares the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope for your future, declares the LORD, and your children shall come back to their own country.” (Jeremiah 31:16-17) God, not the murderer, has the final say. For those in Christ, there is the promise of full restoration. Even in the face of such unmitigated horror, there is hope. “There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to your own country.”

 

Finally, on this Sunday that is the advent Sunday of joy, and today, of tears, and of joy, where do we find the joy? We find joy, in knowing that no matter what, the gospel is true. The hope of the gospel, gives us an inner joy that no circumstances or evil can destroy. We know that our savor has come, and died, and rose victoriously. Evil will not win, he died, so that someday, he can end evil and injustice without ending us. We can find joy, know that our light and momentary afflictions, will result in praise, glory and honor… we can find joy, knowing that, as Romans tells us, suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5:3-4), and we rejoice, knowing that nothing, nothing, in all creation, can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? And I might add, “Shall madmen murdering children, shall shooters in malls and movie theaters? Shall fiscal cliffs and hurricanes? I don’t think so”. As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39) And so I say to you finally, be joyful, even in this moment of national mourning, the savior who lived and died, and rose again promises to be with you always… and is with you always…He is God… WITH …US… In the good, and the bad. GOD WITH US. Both now and forever, he is with us always. Immanuel has come. He died that we might live, nothing can separate us from him. God is with us always, even to the end of the age.

A Prayer in Response to the Newtown, CT Tragedy

From the gospel coalition: A Prayer in Response to the Newtown, CT Tragedy

Jesus wept Jn 11:35

Dear Lord Jesus, we abandon ourselves to you tonight—we come running with our tears and our fears, our anger and our anguish, our lament and our longings. We collapse in your presence, with the assurance of your welcome, needing the mercies of your heart.

Some stories are just too much for us to absorb; some evil just too great to conceive; some losses beyond all measurability. We need your tears and your strength tonight. That you wept outside the tomb of a beloved friend frees us to groan and mourn; that you conquered his death with yours, frees us to hope and wait.

But we turn our thoughts from ourselves to the families who have suffered an unconscionable violation of heart and all sensibilities. Bring your presence to bear, Lord Jesus, by your Spirit and through your people. May your servants weep with those who weep and wail with those who wail. Extend your tear wiping hand—reach into this great tragedy with an even greater grace.

We cry out on behalf of the children of Newtown, those most directly affected by this evil, and for children throughout our country and the world, whose little hearts are reeling with fear and terror. Give parents wisdom and kindness, as they seek to love their children well, this night and in the coming days. Raise up gifted counselors and care givers to serve those most traumatized.

Lastly, Lord Jesus, we cry out with a loud voice, How long, O, Lord? How long before you return to eradicate all evil, redeem all tragedies, and make all things new? How long, O, Lord, how long? Your Bride weeps and waits for you. In your merciful and mighty name we pray.

From the Newsletter: Christmas and the hope of restoration

The Christmas season is upon us already. For some, it feels like it could never get here, for some, it arrived like a thief in the night; you blinked and suddenly it was here. As I found myself thinking about Christmas and all that goes into the Christmas season, I found myself thinking about the hope of the restoration of the world that is imbedded in Christmas.

You feel it pulsing in the great hymns of Christmas. “No more let sin and sorrow reign, and thorns, infest the ground’, declares ‘Joy to the World’ “His law is love and his gospel peace, chains he shall break, and in his name, oppression shall cease” ‘O Holy Night’ reminds us. “Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled. Light and life to all he brings ris’n with healing in his wings Mild he lays his glory by, born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth born to give them second birth” announces ‘Hark the Herald Angels Sing’.

This hope is announced in many of the great Christmas prophecies, and is seen most clearly in Isaiah 11, where we are told, “there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him”. We’re told that He will be the perfect judge who will set everything right, and in that day “The wolf shall dwell with the lamb. I find myself longing for that day when everything is put right. But here’s a question. Why is it that we instinctively look forward to this restoration? Man has been living for millennia, and the cycle is the same, you live, you struggle, you die, you become fertilizer for the plants, the animals eat the plants, and so on; it’s the “circle of life”. But, when we look around, we know instinctively that this isn’t the way things are supposed to be. My grandfather is nearing his death, he’s in hospice now, and I’ve been going to Vermont to visit him, and as I have, I’ve been faced with this painful reminder, this is not how God designed things to be. We were not designed to live 50, 60, 70, 80 or so years, and then fade. We weren’t designed to pass away, and be lost in the sands of time. We were made to know God, and bear his image to the ends of the earth, living forever in his presence. But since we rebelled in the garden and turned to our own way, losing our true home, that place of perfect relationship with God; everything has been broken. We look around and know that something is wrong, we feel it in our bones. Something is wrong with every one of us, and the world we live in. Romans 8 tells us that all creation has been groaning, it is subject to futility and it longs for the day it is set free.

And the hope of Christmas is that all will be put right. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of the one who can and will put everything right. At Christmas, what we celebrate is the birth of the king of kings and lord of Lords. Holy God became man. The baby in the manger is not just a baby, he’s God enflseshed, "Veiled in flesh the Godhead see hail the incarnate deity". Christmas represents the beginning of this restoration. He came, to take our place before the wrath of God, breaking the chains of sin, and restoring us to relationship with God if we place our faith in Him. And he did this so that someday, he can come and destroy sin and death, without destroying us. This is the promise of Christmas for all, if we place our faith in him. As his people, we can look forward to the reality that someday, he will right the world completely. He will come again not as a baby, but as Lord before whom all creation will bow, and he will set the world right. In that day, the wolf and lamb will lie together, there will be no more sorrow, or sin, no more decay, and sickness and death, instead, what we will find is joy unimaginable as we live in the presence of king, and live and work in his restored, perfected world, knowing God, and being known by God. The creation will groan no more, the horrible broken circle will be destroyed, and we will live for all eternity in the presence of the one before whom no brokenness stands.   

When you think about Christmas, think on this, remember this! At Christmas, we look back, but we look forward too, remembering what it means for our lives, and for our eternity. Christ has come, and Christ will come again, and on that day, he will restore the world, and we will find that forever, we have the true home we have always longed for. This Christmas, as you go about your business, keep this at the forefront of your mind.

Why the church must be careful of politics

Yesterday I finished City of Man: Relgion and Politics in a New era. It has some great things to say, but at the end it says something that speaks to why a church and must not dive into politics as general rule. Something that Christains should all remember here on election day.

They write,

A little mental distance from the temptations of politics is a good and necessary thing. 1951, Prime Minister Winston Churchill offered C.S. Lewis the title of a of Commander of the British Empire, a high appropriate distinction. "I feel greatly obligated to the Prime Minister”, he responded, "so far as my personal feelings are concerned this honor would be highly agreeable. There are always, however, knaves who say, and fools who believe, that my religious writings are all covert anti-leftist propaganda, and my appearance in the Honors list would of course strengthen their hand. It is therefore better that I should not appear there."

Lewis had higher goals and bore urgent priorities than public eminence. The wrong  kind of politics can not only compromise any individual believer but it undermine the message of the church itself.

From The Messenger: thought for the day after the election

On November 6, we will elect a president for the next four years. For some of you, it will mean that "your guy" won. For some, it will mean that "your guy" lost. I want to speak to all of you before that day, and remind you that at the end of the day, one of these men will be your president, and that means you are called to respect him because of the office, even if you didn’t vote for him. We’ve lost sight of this in our culture. I remember that at the lead up to the 2008 election, I was listening to a news report, and the reporter referred to the president as Mr. Bush, rather than President Bush, and was sharply critical of the president. Soon after that, I heard a local talk show personality from a different perspective state that if one political candidate won, he would not call that candidate president, and do everything that he could to see that this man’s presidential agenda was undermined.

In the last four years, things have gotten worse, not better. We have an ever increasing lack of civility in our political dialogue, as both sides of the cultural and political spectrums have become less and less civil and considerate. Both sides act badly, and both sides forget that we are called to respect the office even if we do not like the man. As Christians we must act and speak differently. As citizens of a higher kingdom, we are called to live differently. Scripture makes this clear.

For example, Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:17, Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king." Paul writes in Romans 13:1-7 to Christians living under Caesar that "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Stern stuff. Let’s apply these verses. How do we react to the election of the candidate we didn't vote for? By humbly acknowledging that this is the person that God has placed over us, and by being subject to laws that are in place, and the ones that will get passed into law. The early Christians lived in a very different system than we live in today. Instead of free elections, Caesar's came to power through cunning and intrigue. The people had no say in their government. Yet, despite the fact that the system was flawed, Romans pointedly reminds us that we should submit to those who rule over us. They are in this position because it was instituted by God, and the next president will be in that position because it was instituted by God that they would win.  

Christians, respect your leader. Love him hate him. Respect him. Do not forget that ultimately, he has been appointed by God, and as he governs he is due the respect and honor of his office. We may not like him, and we may be glad when his term is over, but we must honor him. If you struggle with this, know that I do too. But nevertheless, as we seek to live as followers of Christ and respond with gratitude to his saving grace, I say to you, and to myself, honor and respect the president, obey the president, pray for the president. For he is God's servant.