Month: November 2016

Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This coming Lord’s Day is the first Sunday of Advent 2016!  For the next five Sundays, culminating with worship on Christmas morning Sunday December 25, we will be preaching a series of messages from John 17.  Most of us will remember that this is the blessed chapter from the Fourth Gospel that contains the record of our Lord’s special prayer for the Disciples in those moments preceding His betrayal, arrest, trial, and crucifixion. As the immediate context indicates (16:29-33), Jesus sought to provide the strength and comfort His Disciples needed in order to go from there into the world with the Gospel, even though they would be resisted and persecuted, and would inevitably face the terrible tribulations of which Jesus had spoken. But this is much more than just a prayer offered on behalf of the Twelve.  As Jesus Himself says in verse 20, it was uttered for each of us as well—“but also for those who will believe in Me through their word.”

The 26 verses of this sacred prayer give us some amazing insights into the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth, the One born in Bethlehem’s manger to the virgin Mary.  It is here that His identity, His sovereignty, His mission, and His eternal plan for the cosmos comes into full focus. One simply cannot consider the words recorded here and come away with any confusion about our Lord’s own self-awareness as to His true nature and identity, or the purpose for which He took on human flesh.

Let me encourage you to carefully read John 13:1-17:26 in preparation for this series.  And let us all pray that our Lord will open our eyes to the magnificent truths discovered in the supplications of our wonderful Savior.

I love you all, and can’t wait to worship our Lord with you on Sunday!

In His grace,

Mike

Church family,

As a way of loving our neighbors in the community, we are going to be supporting the Care Center with toy and food donations this Christmas.

Beginning December 4th and continuing on December 11th and December 18th, please bring canned food items, dry goods, and new toys for all ages to place in collection bins that will be located in the narthex. These items will be taken to the Care Center, where they will be used to help the needy in our community.

Below is a list of requests from the Care Center:

For more information on the Care Center, please see here: http://www.thecare-center.org

Thank you!

Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

Perhaps the Epistle of James is best known for its teaching on the relationship between faith and works.  On first glance, James seems to be asserting something quite different about salvation than we find affirmed by Paul.  Of course, Paul champions the truth that one is justified before God upon the basis of faith in Christ alone.  Works have nothing to add to the grace and mercy that the sinner finds in our Lord Jesus Christ—“For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28).  On the other hand, however, James seems to contradict Paul with his claim that the sinner is, in fact, “justified by works and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).  So what gives?

This Lord’s Day we will begin our exploration of this apparent inconsistency as we consider James 2:17-20.  In this passage, James will set forth his case that true, saving faith in Christ always leaves a trail of evidence. It makes its indelible mark on the behavior of the one redeemed.  And, understood this way, we will discover that there is absolutely no discrepancy between the teaching of Paul and our Lord’s brother.  Both are making the same point, yet from differing, but equally valid, perspectives.  As you prepare your heart to worship our Lord, take a close look at James 2:17-26, and compare this with the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:13-23.

A Look Ahead

As amazing as it sounds, next Sunday November 27 is the First Sunday of Advent!  This year our Advent sermons will come from John 17, what is commonly regarded as our Lord’s ‘high priestly prayer’ for the Disciples and those who have believed their testimony.  And what a blessed chapter this is!  On each of the five Sundays of Advent 2016 (culminating on Christmas Day, Sunday December 25) we will be probing this text and discovering more about our Savior who took on human flesh for our eternal salvation.  And, in keeping with our annual tradition, we will also gather on Saturday December 24 at 5:00 PM for our Christmas Eve Service of Worship and Communion.

I love you all, and always have you in my heart and in my prayers!

Mike

Brothers and Sisters in the Lord,

This Sunday we will resume our sermon series in the Epistle of James and our text will be taken from James 2:12-13.  In this brief passage James exhorts us to conduct our lives as believers in the light of the certainty of divine judgment. And he indicates that the coming judgment will be upon the basis of what he calls “the law of liberty” (v. 12, see also 1:25).  He then issues a somber warning to the Church that this judgment on the final day “will be merciless” (v. 13), and then concludes with the assurance that, in the end, “mercy triumphs over judgment.”

Of course, the context for these words is 2:1-9 where James condemns the sin of “partiality,” or showing favoritism to some (the rich man) while ignoring others (the poor man).  Such a display of prejudice is a violation of God’s Law, both tables of which may be summarized by the word “love,” or what James calls the “royal law” (2:8).

But as we read these ominous lines, we are a bit perplexed as to how they relate to those who have already been saved from God’s wrath and, therefore, have nothing to fear on the Day of Judgment.  What is the connection between showing “mercy” now (the opposite of favoritism, and a practical expression of “love”) and finding God to be “merciless” at the judgment?

We will dive into these and other questions as we probe this inspired Word from the Lord on Sunday. And as you are praying and preparing your heart for worship, let me suggest that you consider what James has written in our sermon passage in light of the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 25:31-46.

I love you all and can’t wait to worship our God with you this Lord’s Day!

In His grace,

Mike

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

This coming Lord’s Day will be a very significant one for our Church family as we witness the faithfulness of our God to raise up leaders and servants among His people. The five men that you have nominated and elected as Officers of the Church will be ordained (authorized for ministry) and formally installed into their respective Offices of Elder and Deacon. Our ascended Lord Jesus continues His ministry of giving gifts to His Church for her edification, and to further advance her mission in the world as a herald of the Gospel (Ephesians 4:8).

Our sermon text for this special day will be Acts 6:1-7 where Luke (the author of Acts) recounts the selection, ordination, and deployment of the first men to occupy the Office of Deacon.  And what is most clear in this familiar passage is the way that the Deacons humbly serve the practical needs of the body—serving food to widows, in this case—while the Apostles, or Elders, served the spiritual needs of the body—the need for the preaching and teaching of the Word and fervent prayer.  And such is a blessed picture of the Body of Christ functioning properly for the glory of her Savior and the evangelization of the lost.

What a wonderful and historic day it will surely be!  Let us give our hearts to fervent prayer for our time of worship and proclamation, and may the Lord continue to bless His people with love, unity, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit!

Fall Back

Remember to set your clocks back one hour on Saturday night and enjoy that extra hour of sleep!

I love you all so dearly, and look forward to our meeting together in worship on the Lord’s Day!

Mike