This Past Lord's Day
... from vacation and rest and study and times of refreshment.
Yesterday was the first Sunday morning back in our church, in our sanctuary, with our congregation, worshipping together. It was wonderful. The week prior was our church picnic and that was truly wonderful also, but this was the first time to be back “in the pulpit” in four Sundays. I’ll leave all judgment to the Lord and any other assessment to the people. Let’s put it this way though: I was thankful to worship with God’s people, to celebrate the Lord’s Supper with them and to be able to open the Word before them.
It was also a time to gather the kids from our youth group for the first time in over a month. The neighbors let us use there pool and what a gorgeous day for swimming.
James, the Tuber (is that like a potato?)
Alex the Human Cannon Ball
Jonathan makes a big splash
Heather showing great form
This Past Lord's Day
Yesterday's theme was on being people of the Word. It was one of those let's-start-the-year-off-right kind of sermons. One of the choruses we sang was Lynn DeShazo's "Ancient Words." I really, really like this song; I mean, if a song about the Words power to sustain and change doesn't move a pastor's heart then you probably shouldn't be in ministry. I've included the song in this post. Don't hit the play button and expect to hear Michael W. Smith singing at the top of his lungs from his Worship Again CD. What you'll hear will be Cornerstone's version of it yesterday. Here are the lyrics, in case you'd like to sing along with a handful of humble saints:
Lynn Deshazo
Verse
1
Holy
words long preserved
For our walk in this
world
They
resound with God's own heart
O let the ancient words impart
Words
of life words of hope
Give us strength help us cope
In
this world where'er we roam
Ancient words will guide us home
Chorus
Ancient
words ever true
Changing me changing you
We
have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart
Verse
2
Holy
words of our faith
Handed down to this age
Came
to us through sacrifice
O heed the faithful words of
Christ
Holy
words long preserved
For our walk in this world
They
resound with God's own heart
O let the ancient words impart
Chorus
Ancient
words ever true
Changing me changing you
We
have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart
Verse
3
Martyr's
blood stains each page
They have died for this faith
Hear
them cry through the years
Heed these words and hold them
dear
Chorus
Ancient
words ever true
Changing me changing you
We
have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart
We
have come with open hearts
O let the ancient words impart
O let the ancient words impart
2001 Integrity's Hosanna! Music
CCLI #432103
My sermon was focused on challenging us to be
people of the Word. Ken Sande once said that the
reason it's necessary to repeat that which sounds so
obvious and so basic to us as Christians is that we
leak. So, it's always a good reminder and exhortation
to stay in the Word, stay grounded upon the Word. If
we wonder why some Christians seem so powerless and
so immature, it can probably be traced back to little
time in the Word beyond a Daily Bread reading. Little
contact, little Christ-likeness. Little input, little
growth. It's just that simple.
We also began a new teaching series in the
Adult Bible Class using
Modern
Parables.
I think this is going to be a great time in the
Word, studying six of the parables (yesterday's
was
Hidden
Treasure).
The goal is to grow in our knowledge of the
Kingdom of God and to live out that calling in
this world at present. Check out the web site and
the previews. Then come and join us for the full
deal each week.
This Past Lord's Day
Our opening hymn of praise was "Lead On, O King Eternal", not your typical Advent/Christmas carol. But that's good; we need a frequent reminder in the midst of the world's crush of economic stupor that Jesus is King; that He only came once as a baby, but He'll always reign as King.
From there, our voices cried out, "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel"
| O come, Thou Rod of
Jesse,
Free Thine own from Satan’s tyranny; From depths of hell Thy people save And give them victory o’er the grace. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel! |
My sermon was from John 1.14: "He Is... With Us" Oh the wonder of that statement: the eternal Word, ever-existing with the Father, one with God, the great Three-in-One, took on flesh. Praise be to Immanuel, Jesus Christ, "... who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2.6-7, ESV) God was and is among us. Jesus told us it would for our good that He go away, for then the Father would send His Spirit, who would "tabernacle" within each of His children.
We have also seen His glory, although not like the disciples. They beheld Hm with their eyes, heard His authoritative teaching with their own ears, and with their very hands, touched His resurrected body. We have seen His glory through the written Word, through the eye of faith. Some might say that we see Him in each Christian. While that is true, only to the extent the Holy Spirit has taken up residence within each believer, I'm very uncomfortable with that expression. I, like Paul before me, want to live in such a way that I can say, "Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ" (1 Corinthians 11.1, ESV).
This glory is tremendous; if we could see it, feel it, experience it, it would be weighty. And it is the glory of the One and Only Son, sent from the Father above. He, the Deliverer, has come
Lord willing, next Sunday, we'll take a closer look at the fullness of His grace. He is grace entirely, but not exclusively. He is truth, God's truth, spoken and revealed in God's Word.
Conclusion – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. Do you see and know the power, the glory, the weight of Immanuel, God with us? Have you come to embrace that reality: Jesus, the Son of God, took on flesh and lived among mankind, in order to bring God’s grace to us? And more than just understanding a doctrinal truth – the Incarnation – have you seen the daily glory of that truth? Do you have the comfort of knowing that Jesus understands your physical ailments and maladies just like you, because He took on a body just like yours or mine? Do you have the peace deep within you, knowing that Jesus identifies with all your temptations? He was tempted like you and me, but He never gave in, He overcame them: He has power. Do you have the joy in realizing that Jesus was among us, and is even now, through His Spirit? You don’t go through your days alone, without notice; He is there with you, beside you.
And have you also laid hold of the glory that because He became man, He would also die? He came to live in perfect obedience to God’s laws and commands, and He did just that. But He also came to die as the perfect sacrifice for our sins, and He did that, too. Unless God became a man, He could not die as that sacrifice. Unless He took on flesh, we could never have offered enough sacrifices to cover our sins. His becoming flesh is a glory, for by it, we can be saved.
This Christmas, let your eyes be fixed on Him, the One who came to live & die for you. Push out the world’s screaming voice to follow; instead, look to Jesus, the Perfecter of our faith. Cast your gaze upon Him, who suffered and died so that we might live in glory. May we see Christ, today, on Christmas day and every day. He is Immanuel, God with us
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Ancient Words |