The words of our Lord’s half-brother, Jude (quoted above), are a bit perplexing, especially in light of what we know to be true about God’s love for us. If we examine them too quickly, only in a cursory fashion, we might wrongly conclude that we have to ‘work’ in order to remain loved by the Father. In this case, Jude would be exhorting us to labor hard to be loved, to perform in order to be worthy of Divine affection.
But, as we know, such a view of these inspired words, if true, would stand in direct contradiction to all that we know and believe about God’s love for sinners. If this were our conclusion, then any notion of our Father’s redeeming, sovereign, and free love for unworthy sinners would suffer complete destruction! We would all, in the end, stand in a hopeless state forever.
So, what exactly is Jude telling us to do by means of such a strange sounding command?
Well, my suspicion is that by the use of the word “keep” Jude has in mind the idea of ‘location.’ The exhortation is, after all, to stay “in” God’s love. It is, as one modern translation reads, to, “Keep yourselves safe in God’s love.”
This reading would suggest that Jude’s call is for each of us to discover and experience the security and safety we already have as a result of our Father’s unfailing love for us.
If I might be permitted to offer a paraphrase of verse 21, it would go something like this:
“As you await the full revelation of the mercy of the Lord Jesus when He comes again, find your peace and strength in the truth that your Father loves you! And stand right there in that truth no matter what! And don’t let anything or anyone move you away from this one blessed fact!”
Another way we might get at Jude’s meaning would be to say that the one reality that is to govern our lives of service to our Lord, and also our daily warfare of loyalty and obedience to Him, is that our Father loves us with an immeasurable love!
In practical terms, this means that:
When I fail Him and fall into sin against Him, I stand in His never-changing love for me that has fully made atonement for all of my transgressions.
When I am assailed with doubts and uncertainties, I run for cover under the massive shadow of His love that will always protect me.
When I am weak, weary, and ready to give up, I find my one source of strength in the reality of His omnipotent love for me, which fills my soul with a new resolve.
When I succumb to the illusion that I am alone, I call out to Him who is always with me, enfolding me in His omnipresent love that will never depart from me.
In other words, if we belong to Jesus, then the first duty we have each day is to remember where we are: we are always “in” our Father’s love! It is here where we must stand. It is here where we must repeatedly discover our hope and security! And it is “in” this blessed and holy place that we must ever abide, even as we await our Savior’s return!
My prayer for you today is that you will know His love and rest securely “in” it all day, and every day! This is the one truth that changes everything. As they say in real estate, it all comes down to ‘location, location, and location’!
I love you all with all of my heart,
Mike
PS: This is our final Monday Encouragement for 2021. The next one will be delivered to you on January 3, 2022, the Lord willing. In the meantime, during December I’ll be sharing some (hopefully encouraging!) words with you each Friday in our Sermon Preview emails.
One of the age-old issues among believers is the relationship between faith and works. This has been the case since the very earliest days of Christianity, and is evidenced by the fact that this subject is treated so frequently in the New Testament Scriptures.
Of course, we believe that works cannot save anyone. To use the rather graphic language of the prophet Isaiah, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Is. 64:6).
But, nevertheless, works are vital to authentic Christianity. In fact, we would even say that they are absolutely essential to saving faith. Our Lord’s own brother put it this way: “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (Jas. 2:26).
In Hebrews 11:17-36 we not only encounter a list of the names of faithful saints from the Old Testament, but also an impressive catalogue of works, the good works that resulted from a true and vital faith.
As we examine this passage together this Sunday, we will see what we can we learn from this combination of names and actions. There is a great lesson here about the relationship between our faith in Christ and our works performed in His Name, and by His power.
I believe we will discover much encouragement as we submit our hearts to God’s Holy Word.
I can’t wait to see you on the Lord’s Day!
All my love and prayers, always,
Mike
Announcements:
Christmas Hymn Sing:
We will be singing seasonal festive songs at the church on the evening of December 5th at 6 PM. Please come prepared to sing about the birth of our Savior King!
Girls Craft Night:
We will have the second youth “Girls’ Nights” on Monday, December 6th, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the home of Amy Schnorrenberg. All middle and high school girls are invited to join us for dinner, a vibrant devotion, and an extremely compelling activity.
Youth Group:
Fall Youth Calendar
December 5th – Youth Group
December 12th – Christmas Party
*All dates are Sunday evenings. Youth group is from 4:30 to 6:30.
The CARE Center:
We will collect Christmas gifts and pantry food items for the CARE Center on Sundays, Nov 28, Dec 5 and Dec 12. Gifts are requested by Dec 5. Place the donations in the labelled tubs in the Narthex. Lists of suggested items are available in a handout on the table in the Narthex.
Senior Fellows:
The next Senior Fellows Breakfast and Bible Study will be be at 9 AM on December 7. Church members and visitors are invited to attend. If coming for breakfast, please notify Senior Fellows at: seniorfellows@christpreshamptoncove.org
Women’s Ministry:
Christmas Dinner:
The Christmas Dinner will be Tuesday, December 7 at 6 pm at the Huntsville Country Club on Oakwood Avenue near the Pulaski Intersection. The cost is $25 per person for the sit down plated meal.
Payment can be handed to Denise Scrip at church Sunday
If by check: make payable to Christ pres and put womens dinner in memo line
Bring raffle items to the dinner UNWRAPPED, please
Monthly Lunch: Our next monthly luncheon will be on January 6 beginning at 11:30 at the Timbers Edge Clubhouse located at 1 Timbers Main, Brownsboro. It’s potluck – feel free to bring a dish or just yourself.
Fall Bible Studies:
The fall Bible studies are ongoing! The Tuesday study for mothers meets at 9:30 AM at the church. Contact Amy Schnorrenberg for more info. The Wednesday studies meet at 10 AM and 6 PM at the church. Contact Denise Scrip for more info.
Men’s Ministry:
Bible Study: We would like to invite all CPC men to our Fall Bible study series!
Title – Knowing the Times: A Look at Contemporary Works on Race, Social Justice, Wokeness and Christianity
Description – The church has always grappled with competing worldviews, issues of race, and alternate systems of morality. In modern society, we acutely feel the shifts in our society with our increased accessibility to information at our fingertips at all hours of the day. We would like to invite our men to our Fall study on issues of CRT, wokeness, and the response of the evangelical church. Led and taught by Dr. Mike Calvert, we will take several contemporary Christian works as starting points for our study and discussion. Among these works include Voddie Baucham’s Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe and Owen Strachan’s Christianity and Wokeness: How the Social Justice Movement is Hijacking the Gospel.
Time – Friday from 11:30 to 12:30. Please bring a bag lunch to enjoy while we study and discuss.
Schedule – We will meet a total of 10 sessions with our first meeting on Friday, September 24th. Our final meeting will be on Friday, December 10th. skipping Friday, October 8th for Fall break.
Please make plans to join us for this important study! If you have any questions, please contact Matthew Elliott at matthew@christpreshamptoncove.org.
Career/Singles:
Upcoming schedule:
Sunday, November 28 – NO MEETING. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Sunday, December 5, 6:00 – Christmas Hymn Sing at the church
Monday, December 6, 5:30 – Supper Night (Restaurant to be determined) AND Movie at the Daughtrys – “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Friday, December 10 – Christmas Party at DJ Alhorn’s home
Sunday, December 12 – Winterlude Concert
Prayer Requests:
Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Stirling McNeese, Glen Mettler, Jean Terry, Suzanne Nimon, Lincoln Ely, Dave Angotti, Zig and Virdia Jastrebski, Ramona Edwards, Bill Dent, Jacky Haynes, Steve Terry, Bill Cowley, and Elizabeth Holton. Expecting: Please pray for the Elliotts, expecting in March. Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Noah and Karleigh Stephens (Thailand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); Marcus and Jessica Nobles (RUF at Alabama A&M); Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA); Franky and Alaina Garcia (church plant in Canada); Dieter Paulson (church plant in Scottsboro, AL); Gannon Miles (seminary student); The Huntsville Pregnancy Resource Center.
Online Donations:
If you would like to give to Christ Presbyterian, you can do so at the following link:
“And after you have suffered a little while . . .” (1 Peter 5:10).
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
There’s a familiar saying that we hear (or use) quite often in every-day conversations: ‘Time flies when you’re having fun.’
And, of course, it’s true! Pleasant moments seem to pass by way too fast. And as we get older, the speed at which they go by seems to increase dramatically! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have the power to somehow slow down the pace at which our most fulfilling experiences pass!
On the other hand, the experience of time’s passage is exactly the opposite when things are not going so well for us. A troublesome cold or cough seems to ‘linger’ for weeks. It takes ‘forever’ to manage our way through a traffic tie-up on the way to work. We wait ‘days on end’ for that distressing situation at home or at our place of employment to change for the better. Examples of this phenomenon are legion. Time seems to stand still when we are experiencing life’s worst ‘moments.’
Strangely, however, the Word of God has something different to say about this!
What the Apostle Peter claims in the passage quoted above is that, when viewed from the right perspective, our most painful experiences last only “a little while.” And, as is clear from the language used here, it is suffering that passes quickly!
The word rendered “suffered” in verse 10 is indicative of the worst kinds of pain and affliction. Remarkably, this is the same word we find on the lips of Jesus in Mark 8:31 as He describes His mission:
“the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.”
Peter, then, has in mind whatever we face that causes the deepest experience of pain, either of body or soul, or both at the same time.
So what makes the difference? How can Peter make such a claim?
Again, I believe the answer is perspective.
If we consider the whole verse, we can start to see how this works:
“And after you have suffered a little while,the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”
What the Apostle means here is that no experience of suffering is neither meaningless nor endless. The outcome of all suffering, no matter its nature or cause, will be our spiritual restoration, confirmation, strengthening, and establishment! Our gracious Father will do all of this, without fail, every time!
And while the ultimate rescue and confirmation will surely take place when our King returns, I don’t believe that this promise is limited to that Day. Rather, until Jesus comes this will be a repeated experience for each of us who belong to Him.
Over and again, the pathway our Father has ordained for us will take us through troubled territory, even through the “valley of the shadow of death.” But each and every time, without fail, He will be at work bringing about a marvelous result in us.
Every interminable moment of affliction will turn into a joyous experience of unquenchable delight! Beautiful blessings will blossom after the storms of trial subside!
This is the perspective we all need. As Israel’s great king David said,
“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5).
So, my dear Ones, let us be encouraged, and by faith stand upon what our Father has told us. In just “a little while” He will show up in His mighty power and grace! And He will do great and awesome things for us and in us! Time will fly for sure!
I love you all so much, and may our Lord bless you with a glorious Thanksgiving!
One of the age-old issues among believers is the relationship between faith and works. This has been the case since the very earliest days of Christianity, and is evidenced by the fact that this subject is treated so frequently in the New Testament Scriptures.
Of course, we believe that works cannot save anyone. To use the rather graphic language of the prophet Isaiah, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away” (Is. 64:6).
But, nevertheless, works are vital to authentic Christianity. In fact, we would even say that they are absolutely essential to saving faith. Our Lord’s own brother put it this way: “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead” (Jas. 2:26).
In Hebrews 11:17-36 we not only encounter a list of the names of faithful saints from the Old Testament, but also an impressive catalogue of works, the good works that resulted from a true and vital faith.
As we examine this passage together this Sunday, we will see what we can we learn from this combination of names and actions. There is a great lesson here about the relationship between our faith in Christ and our works performed in His Name, and by His power.
I believe we will discover much encouragement as we submit our hearts to God’s Holy Word.
I can’t wait to see you on the Lord’s Day!
All my love and prayers, always,
Mike
Announcements:
Meals for New Moms:
Hello Church Family!
The Prinzingers and Paseurs have grown! We get the privilege of blessing them with meals as they settle in at home. Below is the sign up.
We will have the second youth “Girls’ Nights” on Monday, December 6th, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the home of Amy Schnorrenberg. All middle and high school girls are invited to join us for dinner, a vibrant devotion, and an extremely compelling activity.
Youth Group:
Fall Youth Calendar
November 21st – Youth Group
December 5th – Youth Group
December 12th – Christmas Party
*All dates are Sunday evenings. Youth group is from 4:30 to 6:30.
The CARE Center:
We will collect Christmas gifts and pantry food items for the CARE Center on Sundays, Nov 28, Dec 5 and Dec 12. Gifts are requested by Dec 5. Place the donations in the labelled tubs in the Narthex. Lists of suggested items are available in a handout on the table in the Narthex.
Senior Fellows:
The next Senior Fellows Breakfast and Bible Study will be be at 9 AM on December 7. Church members and visitors are invited to attend. If coming for breakfast, please notify Senior Fellows at: seniorfellows@christpreshamptoncove.org
Women’s Ministry:
Christmas Dinner:
The Christmas Dinner will be Tuesday, December 7 at 6 pm at the Huntsville Country Club on Oakwood Avenue near the Pulaski Intersection. The cost is $25 per person for the sit down plated meal.
Payment can be handed to Denise Scrip at church this Sunday
If by check: make payable to Christ pres and put womens dinner in memo line
Bring raffle items to the dinner UNWRAPPED, please
Monthly Lunch: Our next monthly luncheon will be on January 6 beginning at 11:30 at the Timbers Edge Clubhouse located at 1 Timbers Main, Brownsboro. It’s potluck – feel free to bring a dish or just yourself.
Fall Bible Studies:
The fall Bible studies are ongoing! The Tuesday study for mothers meets at 9:30 AM at the church. Contact Amy Schnorrenberg for more info. The Wednesday studies meet at 10 AM and 6 PM at the church. Contact Denise Scrip for more info.
Men’s Ministry:
Bible Study: We would like to invite all CPC men to our Fall Bible study series!
Title – Knowing the Times: A Look at Contemporary Works on Race, Social Justice, Wokeness and Christianity
Description – The church has always grappled with competing worldviews, issues of race, and alternate systems of morality. In modern society, we acutely feel the shifts in our society with our increased accessibility to information at our fingertips at all hours of the day. We would like to invite our men to our Fall study on issues of CRT, wokeness, and the response of the evangelical church. Led and taught by Dr. Mike Calvert, we will take several contemporary Christian works as starting points for our study and discussion. Among these works include Voddie Baucham’s Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe and Owen Strachan’s Christianity and Wokeness: How the Social Justice Movement is Hijacking the Gospel.
Time – Friday from 11:30 to 12:30. Please bring a bag lunch to enjoy while we study and discuss.
Schedule – We will meet a total of 10 sessions with our first meeting on Friday, September 24th. Our final meeting will be on Friday, December 10th. skipping Friday, October 8th for Fall break.
Please make plans to join us for this important study! If you have any questions, please contact Matthew Elliott at matthew@christpreshamptoncove.org.
Career/Singles:
Upcoming schedule:
Sunday, November 21, 5:30 – Sunday Evening Gathering
Sunday, November 28 – NO MEETING. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Sunday, December 5, 5:30 – Sunday Evening Gathering with carol singing & Christmas Devotional
Monday, December 6, 5:30 – Supper Night (Restaurant to be determined) AND Movie at the Daughtrys – “It’s a Wonderful Life”
Friday, December 10 – Christmas Party at DJ Alhorn’s home
Sunday, December 12 – Winterlude Concert
Prayer Requests:
Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Ramona Edwards, Glen Mettler, Jean Terry, Suzanne Nimon, Lincoln Ely, Dave Angotti, Zig and Virdia Jastrebski, Ramona Edwards, Bill Dent, Jacky Haynes, Steve Terry, Bill Cowley, and Elizabeth Holton. Expecting: Please pray for the Elliotts, expecting in March. Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Noah and Karleigh Stephens (Thailand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); Marcus and Jessica Nobles (RUF at Alabama A&M); Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA); Franky and Alaina Garcia (church plant in Canada); Dieter Paulson (church plant in Scottsboro, AL); Gannon Miles (seminary student); The Huntsville Pregnancy Resource Center.
Online Donations:
If you would like to give to Christ Presbyterian, you can do so at the following link:
“For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate . . . .
Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:15, 24-25).
My Dear Ones in Christ Jesus Our Lord,
One of the most colorful characters ever to grace the world of sports was the late Spanish professional golfer Severiano Ballesteros, known popularly as Seve.
By the time of his death (of brain cancer) in 2011 at the age of 54, he had won 90 tournaments around the globe, and five Major Championships. In the process, he established himself as one of the most beloved golfers of all time. Anyone watching Seve play would be immediately drawn to his unique passion and flare, and equally amazed at the unbelievable creativity he possessed in navigating the hardest courses on the planet in his ‘go-for-broke’ style.
Seve was also known for providing some of the best quotes in sports.
Back in 1986 at the Masters in Augusta, Georgia, Seve suffered one of the worst indignities a professional golfer can endure. He took four putts on one of the greens. Normally, a pro is expected to take no more than two putts per green. A three-putt is a disaster. A four-putt is unthinkable! After his round, Seve was asked by a reporter about that terrible hole and how he had managed to create such an embarrassing mess. His answer, spoken in heavily accented English, was simple: “I miss. I miss, I miss. I make.”
Well, by now you’re likely wondering where all this is going here on another new Monday. What does the Apostle Paul have to do with the Hall of Fame golfer Seve?
In Romans 7, Paul is writing about his own life and intense struggles as a believer. And what he records here is, frankly, hard to imagine. In fact, many Biblical commentators, convinced that these words can’t possibly be applied to a true believer, have argued that Paul is speaking of his life before He met Christ. The assumption is that no believer, and especially not a ‘hall of fame’ Christian like Paul, could ever describe his life in such stark terms.
Yet, this is precisely what the Apostle is doing! He is, in fact, telling the world about his daily battle to walk faithfully with His Savior and Lord as a Christian.
What Paul writes here is as unexpected as it is blunt. In embarrassingly honest language, we learn that this great man of faith experienced many ‘misses.’ Despite knowing the right thing to do, he would often fail to obey. As he states in verse 19, there were many times when he practiced “the very thing that I hate.”
As we track with him though verses 18-24, there is even the obvious evidence of despair in his voice, culminating in the heartrending cry, “Wretched man that I am!” To put it in Seve’s plain terms, Paul is telling us that when it comes to obedience to Christ, “I miss. I miss. I miss.”
I wonder how many of us can relate to such an honest admission about the nature of our life as a believer?
It’s no mystery why these inspired words from the Apostle Paul have supplied generations of Christians with both encouragement and hope. Simply knowing that a believer of the stature of Paul so frequently (and desperately!) struggled with daily obedience is comforting to each of us who can relate to such persistent inconsistency! How often our story is one of our ‘misses,’ not of our ‘makes.’
Yet, this is not all that the Apostle says!
Having laid out his Christian life in such brutal honesty, Paul concludes with the glorious announcement found in verse 25. The answer to the desperate cry of his heart, “Who will deliver me?” (v. 24), is “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
Yes, it’s true that Paul, like each of us, missed, and missed, and missed yet again. But then, in the midst of all of that missing, there was Christ His Lord!
In Him, the One whose blood atoned for his sins and whose righteousness covered his transgressions, Paul triumphed! Day by day, oftentimes imperceptibly, the Apostle was, indeed, becoming holy and obedient. The pathway of his sanctification, often arduous and frustratingly circuitous, was nonetheless aimed in the right direction! There were, to be sure, many ‘misses’ along the way. But as sure as the sunrise, there would be that Day when he would ‘make’! His journey to Christ-likeness would be completed as guaranteed by the promises of God:
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6) and . . .
“for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).
The encouragement for the day is this: Miss you will, and many times over. Yet, the perfect obedience of your Savior and Lord counts for you in God’s eyes! Every miss will lead you into a deeper understanding of His ‘makes’! To paraphrase Paul (Romans 5:20), where your ‘misses’ are in abundance, His ‘makes’ are in superabundance!
With such a grand promise in view, we can continue faithfully in this great contest, this ‘Major Championship.’ We can pursue greater holiness and obedience, knowing with certainty that, even as we miss, one day our Lord will set us free “from the law of sin and death” (Romans 7:25).
In Hebrews 11:13 we encounter a most unexpected attribute of true, saving, and enduring faith in Christ.
Now before you take a look at this verse, you might try and guess what it might be.
Whatever it is, it was exemplified by the cast of heroes whose names and colorful stories appear in this great chapter. You might even try and fill in the following blank:
By faith, these Old Testament saints _____________________.
Well, if you look up this verse you’ll discover the answer that the author of the Epistle has supplied for us, and I’ll bet it will surprise you! As the verse emphatically declares, every last one of them, with the exception of Enoch, “died in faith”!
Among the many things that perplex us about this blunt statement is the fact that we think of death not as something that we do, but as something that happens to us.
So, what could be meant by this most unusual claim?
As we prayerfully open our Bibles together this Lord’s Day, we will look for the answer!
This Week in Sunday School
I have a favor to ask of those who are studying the Song of Solomon with us in our Adult Sunday School Class.
Take a moment or two in order to reflect upon all that we have covered so far. Then, take out a piece of paper and make a list of any questions that you have, and bring it with you to the class. I’ll collect them as we get started, and then we’ll spend our time working though the answers. And you don’t need to put your name on the list.
Much love and many prayers,
Mike
Announcements:
Girls Craft Night:
We will have the second youth “Girls’ Nights” on Monday, December 6th, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the home of Amy Schnorrenberg. All middle and high school girls are invited to join us for dinner, a vibrant devotion, and an extremely compelling activity. Please feel free to bring a friend!
Youth Group:
Fall Youth Calendar
November 21st – Youth Group
December 5th – Youth Group
December 12th – Christmas Party
*All dates are Sunday evenings. Youth group is from 4:30 to 6:30.
Senior Fellows:
The next Senior Fellows Breakfast and Bible Study will be be at 9 AM on December 7. Church members and visitors are invited to attend. If coming for breakfast, please notify Senior Fellows at: seniorfellows@christpreshamptoncove.org
Women’s Ministry:
Christmas Dinner: Mark your calendars for an electrifying time of Christmas fellowship and food! December 7! Details coming soon!
Monthly Lunch: Our next monthly luncheon will be on January 6 beginning at 11:30 at the Timbers Edge Clubhouse located at 1 Timbers Main, Brownsboro. It’s potluck – feel free to bring a dish or just yourself.
Fall Bible Studies:
The fall Bible studies are ongoing! The Tuesday study for mothers meets at 9:30 AM at the church. Contact Amy Schnorrenberg for more info. The Wednesday studies meet at 10 AM and 6 PM at the church. Contact Denise Scrip for more info.
Men’s Ministry:
Bible Study: We would like to invite all CPC men to our Fall Bible study series!
Title – Knowing the Times: A Look at Contemporary Works on Race, Social Justice, Wokeness and Christianity
Description – The church has always grappled with competing worldviews, issues of race, and alternate systems of morality. In modern society, we acutely feel the shifts in our society with our increased accessibility to information at our fingertips at all hours of the day. We would like to invite our men to our Fall study on issues of CRT, wokeness, and the response of the evangelical church. Led and taught by Dr. Mike Calvert, we will take several contemporary Christian works as starting points for our study and discussion. Among these works include Voddie Baucham’s Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe and Owen Strachan’s Christianity and Wokeness: How the Social Justice Movement is Hijacking the Gospel.
Time – Friday from 11:30 to 12:30. Please bring a bag lunch to enjoy while we study and discuss.
Schedule – We will meet a total of 10 sessions with our first meeting on Friday, September 24th. Our final meeting will be on Friday, December 10th. skipping Friday, October 8th for Fall break.
Please make plans to join us for this important study! If you have any questions, please contact Matthew Elliott at matthew@christpreshamptoncove.org.
Career/Singles:
The Young Career Bible Study meets on Sundays at the Daughtry’s house at 5:30 PM.
Prayer Requests:
Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Glen Mettler, Jean Terry, Suzanne Nimon, Lincoln Ely, Dave Angotti, Zig and Virdia Jastrebski, Ramona Edwards, Bill Dent, Jacky Haynes, Steve Terry, Bill Cowley, and Elizabeth Holton. Expecting: Please pray for the Prinzingers, expecting in November, as well as the Elliotts, expecting in March. Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Noah and Karleigh Stephens (Thailand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); Marcus and Jessica Nobles (RUF at Alabama A&M); Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA); Franky and Alaina Garcia (church plant in Canada); Dieter Paulson (church plant in Scottsboro, AL); Gannon Miles (seminary student); The Huntsville Pregnancy Resource Center.
Online Donations:
If you would like to give to Christ Presbyterian, you can do so at the following link:
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning”–Psalm 92:1-2
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ,
For some reason my mind was filled with the opening lines of a beautiful Christian hymn early today as I worked in my study. That a song might be reverberating in my head at the beginning of the day is not in itself unusual at all. There are very few days when this is not the case, and I’m all but certain that you share a similar daily experience.
But what was unusual was the song itself. Almost without exception, the music that fills my mind (and sometimes, even to a distracting degree!) is a tune that I have encountered somewhere along the way during the course of a day. But not today.
I have no idea why, but the words that that played on repeatedly in my mind were these:
When morning gilds the sky, our hearts awaking cry: May Jesus Christ be praised! (#167,Trinity Hymnal)
Of course, this is a wonderful old hymn, and like most of you I’ve heard it all my life. But with its surprising emergence in my thoughts this Monday, it has taken on a much deeper significance for me.
Clearly, the author of these elegant words was reflecting upon the language of the Psalmist (the Biblical text assigned to it in our hymnal is Psalm 34:1). As in the anonymously penned words of Psalm 92, it was in the morning that king David’s heart was turned upward in praise to the One whose covenantal love and faithfulness never fail. The acknowledgement of the Lord’s gracious posture towards His beloved people framed the rest of his day. Everything that might take place over the next hours of life was to be seen, experienced, and interpreted in the light of the unfathomable love of God and His unrelenting commitment to those whom He has saved.
However, I’ll be the first to admit that this is not always our experience as we awaken. Perhaps more often than not, our thoughts upon awakening take us far away from the love and power of our Heavenly Father. Anxious musings so frequently greet us as our eyes open. Our minds quickly move toward the contemplation of world events, family and work concerns, relational challenges, our sins and those of others, and a virtual catalog of unpleasant things that send us on our way in a foul or frightful mood. We don’t feel like giving our Lord praise.
But there is a lesson and a note of blessed encouragement to be found in the Psalmist’s words and in the reflections of this great hymn.
What if praising our Lord upon awaking is not a feeling that we wait for, but a discipline that we engage in? What if we don’t praise Him the first thing each day because we ‘feel’ like it, but we ‘feel’ like it because we praise Him? What if morning praise and adoration is an act of spiritual warfare, the taking captive of every thought to the service of Christ (2 Cor 10:5)? And what if the spiritual discipline of beginning each new day with uplifted eyes, adoring heart, and joy-filled voice is our Father’s prescription for our fears, our despair, our many anxieties, and our persistent temptations?
I am thankful for the way I was gently reminded of all of this today, and I want to encourage you to join me in the ‘warfare of morning praise.’
The old devil would love nothing more than for our first thoughts each day to take us far away from our Savior’s power and love. So let’s fight back, together!
Each new day, “When morning guilds the sky,” let us send our praises upward! Let us “sing praises” to His Great Name! Let us “declare” our Father’s “steadfast love in the morning”! And then, and only then, will the day be properly ordered and our hearts at rest!
I hope there is now a great old hymn bouncing around in your mind too!
I love you all so much, way more than my frail words could ever express!
Someone has said that while the plan of salvation stands solely upon God’s sovereign grace and mercy, granted in Christ Jesus alone, it never moves forward apart from ‘heroes of the faith.’
From Genesis onward we see precisely this fact. God chooses ordinary men and women, sinful vessels, that He ‘graces’ and then uses for His glory as the story of redemption marches forward in time. This is, of course, what Hebrews 11 is all about.
Last Sunday we were introduced to “Noah,” a man we already know pretty well. And we began to unpack the amazing details of his life, not the least of which was his remarkable demonstration of obedience to the Divine Word in the building of the ark.
This Lord’s Day we will return to Noah’s story as it is summarized in Hebrews 11:7. In this one inspired verse we will encounter a host of key terms that shine a radiant light on the amazing depth and glory of the grace of God. These include “reverence,” “household,” “heir,” and “righteousness.” What a great joy it will be to immerse our minds and hearts in this Word from our Father!
Time Change: Fall Back!!
Just a reminder that we get to “fall back” on Saturday night! Don’t forget to adjust your clocks accordingly.
I love you all so very much!
Mike
Announcements:
Sunday Lunch:
Everyone is invited to a compelling and hearty lunch in the fellowship wing immediately following the worship service this Sunday.
Youth Group:
Fall Youth Calendar
November 7th – Youth Group
November 21st – Youth Group
December 5th – Youth Group
December 12th – Christmas Party
*All dates are Sunday evenings. Youth group is from 4:30 to 6:30.
Senior Fellows:
The next Senior Fellows Breakfast will be 9 AM, Tues, Nov 9. The topic for discussion will be Issues facing the PCA. It will be led by Pastor Mike and start at 10 AM. Church members and visitors are invited to attend. If coming for breakfast, please notify Senior Fellows at: seniorfellows@christpreshamptoncove.org
Women’s Ministry:
Christmas Dinner: Mark your calendars for a compelling time of Christmas fellowship and food! December 7! Details coming soon!
Monthly Lunch: Our next monthly luncheon will be on January 6 beginning at 11:30 at the Timbers Edge Clubhouse located at 1 Timbers Main, Brownsboro. It’s potluck – feel free to bring a dish or just yourself.
Fall Bible Studies:
The fall Bible studies are ongoing! The Tuesday study for mothers meets at 9:30 AM at the church. Contact Amy Schnorrenberg for more info. The Wednesday studies meet at 10 AM and 6 PM at the church. Contact Denise Scrip for more info.
Men’s Ministry:
Bible Study: We would like to invite all CPC men to our Fall Bible study series!
Title – Knowing the Times: A Look at Contemporary Works on Race, Social Justice, Wokeness and Christianity
Description – The church has always grappled with competing worldviews, issues of race, and alternate systems of morality. In modern society, we acutely feel the shifts in our society with our increased accessibility to information at our fingertips at all hours of the day. We would like to invite our men to our Fall study on issues of CRT, wokeness, and the response of the evangelical church. Led and taught by Dr. Mike Calvert, we will take several contemporary Christian works as starting points for our study and discussion. Among these works include Voddie Baucham’s Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe and Owen Strachan’s Christianity and Wokeness: How the Social Justice Movement is Hijacking the Gospel.
Time – Friday from 11:30 to 12:30. Please bring a bag lunch to enjoy while we study and discuss.
Schedule – We will meet a total of 10 sessions with our first meeting on Friday, September 24th. Our final meeting will be on Friday, December 10th. skipping Friday, October 8th for Fall break.
Please make plans to join us for this important study! If you have any questions, please contact Matthew Elliott at matthew@christpreshamptoncove.org.
Career/Singles:
The Young Career Bible Study meets on Sundays at the Daughtry’s house at 5:30 PM.
Prayer Requests:
Healing: Please pray for the health of the following individuals: Glen Mettler, Jean Terry, Suzanne Nimon, Lincoln Ely, Dave Angotti, Zig and Virdia Jastrebski, Ramona Edwards, Bill Dent, Jacky Haynes, Steve Terry, Bill Cowley, and Elizabeth Holton. Expecting: Please pray for the Prinzingers and Paseurs, both expecting in November, as well as the Elliotts, expecting in March. Ministries: Please pray for the following missionaries and ministries: Seth and Jessica Lewis (Ireland); Steve and Rita Williams (New Zealand); Noah and Karleigh Stephens (Thailand); Vinnie and Molly Athey (RUF at UAH); Amos and Jessica Williams (RUF at Alabama A&M); Ken and Angie Burnett (FCA); Franky and Alaina Garcia (church plant in Canada); Dieter Paulson (church plant in Scottsboro, AL); Gannon Miles (seminary student); The Huntsville Pregnancy Resource Center.
Online Donations:
If you would like to give to Christ Presbyterian, you can do so at the following link:
“ I can do all things through Him who strengthens me”–Philippians 4:13.
Recently, in my reading, I ran across a very convicting and timely statement from an Old Testament theologian: “ man courts self-destruction by engaging in self-congratulations.” If there was ever a suitable warning for our generation, this is surely it.
While since the fall of Adam the sinful nature of man has always been what it is–thoroughly awash in self-worship–never in history have we possessed the capabilities to celebrate ourselves with such a degree of world-spanning efficiency. Modern communicative technologies, ever evolving at the speed of light, have enabled us to announce and bask in our “ self-congratulations” before the whole world with the mere push of a button.
The warning sounded above is really a restatement of the Word of God: “ Pride goes before destruction” (Proverbs 16:18). The celebration of ourselves and our achievements is, as the Lord Himself declares, an invitation to divine retribution.
All of this seems to make Paul’s claim in Philippians 4 a bit perplexing, at least upon first glance. For sure, his declaration is a celebration of sorts. The Apostle is announcing to the world that he is able to “ do all things.” In the context, Paul is asserting his ability to navigate successfully all of the vast perplexities of daily life as a Christian in this fallen world.
A casual reader of this Epistle might think that he is bragging here. One might assume that if the Apostle had access to the internet, he might well tweet this out for all the world to see, mimicking the spirit of our self-obsessed age! But looking deeper into his inspired words we discover that there is much more to behold!
Surprisingly, what we have in this verse is actually an announcement of Paul’s inability. While this is stated in a most unexpected fashion, it’s still there for us to read. That last phrase is the secret: “ through Him who strengthens me.”
We might rephrase it this way: “ I can do nothing on my own, except those things that my Lord graciously empowers me to do.” Far from a pompous, self-glorifying assertion, this is an announcement of Paul’s complete dependence upon the power of God at work in his life.
And this is the source of our encouragement for this new Monday!
We would do well to meditate upon Paul’s words while also reflecting upon something that king David once wrote:
The Lord is my strength and my shield; in Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to Him” (Psalm 28:7).
When we align these two statements, we see that they are saying the same thing. Both promise us that, while we are weak in ourselves and have no cause for self-celebration, we are nonetheless fully able to accomplish whatever our Father requires of us given that it is His strength, always graciously provided, that enables us! And this calls for a celebration!
When a believer in Christ calls out to the Savior, humbled by the realization of his or her own weakness, the strength of the Sovereign One arrives right on time! When we are aware of our inability, only then are we able to boast of and rest in our Father’s omnipotence!
Therefore, my dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, you also are able to “ do all things”! Whatever is required of you today as you serve your Lord with love and faithfulness shall be given to you, especially in your weakness! This moment you are not only loved and shielded by your Father, you are always being strengthened by the One who ever indwells your heart!
This is a day to celebrate alright! We unashamedly celebrate His strength at work in us!
“ I sing the almighty power of God, that made the mountains rise, that spread the flowing seas abroad, and built the lofty skies” (Isaac Watts).