The Weekend Word
What did you teach?
What did you learn?
Did you hear the Gospel?
We continue in the Heidelberg Catechism;
Question 122. Which is the first petition?
Answer: “Hallowed be thy name”; that is, grant us, first, rightly to know thee, (a) and to sanctify, glorify and praise thee, (b) in all thy works, in which thy power, wisdom, goodness, justice, mercy and truth, are clearly displayed; and further also, that we may so order and direct our whole lives, our thoughts, words and actions, that thy name may never be blasphemed, but rather honoured and praised on our account. (c)
(a) John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. Jer.9:24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. Jer.31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jer.31:34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. Matt.16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. Ps.119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (b) Ps.119:137 Righteous art thou, O LORD, and upright are thy judgments. Luke 1:46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, Luke 1:47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. Luke 1:68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people, Luke 1:69 And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; Rom.11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! Rom.11:34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Rom.11:35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? Rom.11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. (c) Ps.71:8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day. Ps.115:1 Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.
Daniel preached on John 13:1-17.
Being washed by Jesus is essential to belonging to Jesus; belonging to Jesus leads to becoming like Jesus. Service in His name comes only through His power; He gives us our pardon, our pattern, our power for serving.
We went to a new church today,
a house church that recently began…
What a sweet time of fellowship,
especially sweet for me, as it was all in English and I could understand all that was being shared!
Its a church plant from an established church in the UK.
Whats remarkable about this church is that every service ( which is only 1x a month)
The UK church sends a speaker/teacher/worship leader to share with the little home group.
This week ( and some may cringe at this) There was a woman speaker.
She shared from the book of Mark regarding the woman who had been suffering for years with the issue of blood. How she pressed in through the crowds to reach Jesus.
It got me thinking how the woman of this particular narrative took initiative; after she had suffered a great deal, over a decade under the care of physicians and had spent all the money she had yet grew worse. (heath care was an issue then too!) She took the initiative, upon seeing Jesus, did all she could to get close to Him, to touch Him, in her pain, in her weakness… she pressed though. Her actions were determined and purposeful.
How many in that crowd had brushed alongside, walked alongside Jesus, or were simply passing the time, carried along with the crowds. However, this woman was focused in her contact with Jesus; so much so, Jesus took notice of her particular touch of His very garments.
and she was healed of her infirmity.
Often times we have the idea, that God will take the initiative to reach out to us, and how often He does!
Yet sometimes it works out differently. In looking at this woman, we can visualize how she penetrated beyond the obstacles, the crowd pressing in upon Jesus, maybe even her fears, doubts and the disdain of those who classified her as unclean and how she should not have even been in the midst of the crowd. Look also at another story, of obstacles: the one of the man who was in the cot, whose friends carried him to the roof of the building, because the crowd was so great which had gathered in the place Jesus was teaching in. They took off the tiles and lowered him in to reach Jesus, to be in His presence, to be able to receive of Him. He likewise, with the help of faithful, encouraging friends was able to get past the obstacles that may have seemed insurmountable, and receive a great blessing from Christ.
What an encouragement, to see how these two, who made purposeful effort to get close to Jesus, determined to reach beyond the obstacles to be in His very presence, received that very personal touch from Him.
In looking at the obstacles in our lives today, fears, doubts, cares of this world, noise of everyday life…in looking at our weaknesses, our infirmities or any variety of cares or concerns that press upon us to vex our hearts, bodies and soul,
perhaps this can give us encouragement to press through, or perhaps aid others to press past the obstacles and distractions with purposeful determination to seek out and be in the presence of our Lord, so that we too may likewise receive that personal word of His:
“Go in peace, and be freed from your suffering”
Not that in every case we are guaranteed to be physically healed,
but that in every case as we boldly enter His presence,
He gives us the grace sufficient to go forward in peace
peace not as the world gives, but peace that surpasses all understanding
guarding our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Sister Christian– how comforting to be able to fellowship with people who speak your native language How beautiful was the time of fellowship we had in English with the CC family in Paris! I’m so glad that this group has brought a fellowship to your area, even if once a month.
Went to church at a church plant I like The speaker this week was a young guy from France. He spoke about being “poor” and how in the West that means something different than in Africa where he’d been to do a mission of some sort.
He put into words alot of what I’ve been thinking about and experiencing this last year and a half in a way I haven’t been able to articulate. It was good…
Coolest thing was that after that we were able to “participate” over the internet in a baptism service of a couple women at the church I hang around 4 states away. It was so AWESOME!
The baptisms happen at a lake down the road from the pastor dude’s house…so we thought that we weren’t going to be able to stream more than 1/2 of the service this week because the camera equipment isn’t portable. One of the guys there has a Droid phone which is video capable. So…they went to the store and bought a couple of portable lights, extension cords etc. Walked with those down to the lake, plugged them into some power source and streamed the entire baptism over the cell phone! How cool is that??!!
We were able to type in comments which the guy with the phone could see and respond to. It was soooo much fun and allowed these women’s families to see what was going on.
Think about this..I was in a car traveling down the highway, and had a wifi connector hanging out with a church 4 states away, that was streaming a baptism over a cell phone..
We live in amazing times!!!
I taught 1 Cor. 13 today under the influence of cold medicine in order to breathe.
I did a really bad Russell Crowe imitation at one point. feed://www.cclakestevens.org/podcast.cfm
We continued through 2 Peter, looking at Ch 3:1-9 – the promise of Christ’s 2nd coming, and God’s glorious sure promise & longsuffering, despite the ever-present existence of scoffers.
Notes are here.
PS – Yes of course, that’s a Sam & Dave reference. 🙂 Just in case you were wondering.
I preached!
I prayed! 😉
I listened! (and didn’t ask any questions or try to make any points 🙂 )
SIster C…that was cool…what you shared.
I went to church, not a Catholic church but my “regular” church. I was waiting for the come on down and get prayer time so I could go down and unload. first unloading is something that makes me physically ill, knowing it can upset someone, which I dread doing. The pastor gave a talk on prophecy and history etc, I found several flaws in logic, historic interspecies and other problems. But, being the moral coward I am, I could not bring myself to go down and trash his sermon, first because I want what he said to be true, a moral failing on my part, and because, he is a nice guy and me trashing him would serve no purpose. I understand that such emotionalistic twaddle is rather pathetic and even demonic. If I find error I should long to correct that error with a vengeance if people get hurt, tough they have it coming. Being the moral degenerate I am I have never been able to be like that to people, I find being rude one of the worse sins someone could ever commit. That shows my degenerate nature and even my apostasy. A true follower of Jesus would have no concern in such emotionalistic areas, none what so ever.
So I left. I do that alot so I dont hurt people, It is a disgusting part of my personality. I dont know why it is, but it was often pointed out to me that it is.
An honest question please watch these two video clips, granted this is simplistic but it demonstrates a struggle I have, and I admit it is totally my fault I have this struggle.
and
I understand the logical issues etc. But I am interested in the raw response, personally the first was totally wanting, even infantile, I found it well useless. The second had answers that actually had results, testable results, which produce, constantly produce. I am not a biologist, scientist etc, I do not pretend that, never have. But we are loosing this war, if it is even a war. Please, If I could be on my face before you please tell me where I am wrong. That was the main reason I went to church this morning for someone to tell me where I am wrong.
ps please take no offense I am not mocking those fine teachers, I would almost give my soul to find their assurance, that is all I am looking for. I understand a Christian should never need such things like assurance, hope etc, but I do. I say that to my shame. God be with you all.
brian,
If you seriously would like to hear an excellent exposition of Genesis and the issue of origins I strongly recommend that you buy Dr. Waltkes Old Testament Biblical Theology from Regent Audio.
Despite the things said about Dr.Waltke I find him to be a man who loves Christ deeply, yet holds to a form of theistic evolution.
He holds to the cardinal doctrines of our faith while answering some of your concerns.
Actually Michael I have listened to some parts of Dr. Waltkes who never denied a literal anything, he just made the mistake of answering questions as best he could. for that he was canned, which is totally typical and expected. The left spins his words as does the right, when he leaned on the body he was canned, his response was to leave quietly and trust in God, for that he will, and I mean with a deep vengeance, be vilified for the rest of his life.
I do appreciate your kindness to me Michael I am not an easy person to deal with.
Brian…watched them both.
Digesting before commenting further…but I “get” (I believe) what you are saying…and asking…and wrestling with.