Original Sin or Free Will?
REVIEW: What we’ve learned from the heretics.
• Jesus is the unique Son of God—the battle between Athanasius and Arius.
• The Father considers us to be righteous by faith through the death of Jesus the Son—the battle between Martin Luther and Eck.
• Science & Faith: The Bible communicates the authority of God over our lives--
Big Idea: The controversy between Pelagius and Augustine in the Early Church over original sin illustrates what can happen when philosophy wins arguments about truth. Thanks to Augustine, the biblical view of sin survived.
Definition…What is ‘original sin?’
Alan Jacobs: "Original Sin: A cultural History"
‘original sin’ is NOT, Adam & Eve’s first sin.
1. Similar to Greek tragedy—“fatal choice”, a choice that sets in motion vast irresistible forces of retribution, what the Greeks named Nemesis. …”Oedipus’s sin was murdering his father.” Since Oedipus doesn’t know that it’s his father he kills, he can’t imagine the full consequences of the act; there’s no way to undo his deed, to get back to the life he was living before that moment at the crossroads; and the retribution he has called down upon himself is inevitable.
2. …it’s certainly possible to read the story of Adam and eve in this way: the First Couple ate the fruit not knowing how profound the consequences would be, not understanding that the price of their meal would be forced and permanent exile from the garden and then, eventually, death. …HOWEVER, the doctrine of original sin, as it eventually developed, strikes deeper and challenges or even overturns our usual notions of moral responsibility. Original sin is not merely fatality, the God who oversees it is not the faceless Nemesis, and Adam and Eve do not buy death for themselves only.
3. Original sin is more than that: Romans 5:12—Adam’s sin brought death not just to him, but to “all men”—to all of his descendants: all of us.
PWPT“Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned —”
When we all forfeit our lives because of what one man did at the beginning of human history, “what goes around, comes around” doesn’t quite cover it. …Earlier in his letter…he says that those who sin are “without excuse”…
a. Augustine takes up this argument in Genesis 17:9-14, “…any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised…shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.” …in no way the fault of the infant whose soul is said to be about to perish. It is not he who has broken God’s covenant, but his elders, who have not taken care to circumcise him.” And yet the passage clearly says that the uncircumcised infant is the one who has broken God’s covenant.
b. Augustine: this passage meant that “even infants are born sinners, not by their own act but because of their origin”—their origin being the primal fatherhood of Adam.
c. Augustine: sin that’s already inside us, already dwelling in us at our origin, at our very conception.
4. …sin afflicts like disease and that, like disease, it is easy to acquire and hard to get rid of.
ARGUMENT today
1. The problem of evil and the impact on our lives.
a. Created in the IMAGE of GOD.
b. How the mighty have fallen!
PWPT Ephesians 2:1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…
2. This problem is not merely philosophical: The root of evil runs through each heart.
a. PWPT Jeremiah 17:9—the heart is desperately wicked, who can know it?
b. Romans 7:15 For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
c. James: the tongue is an evil; James 3:5-8
PWPT So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. Behold, how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed, and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.
d. Jesus: out of the mouth comes the evil of the heart; Matt 15:17–18 NASB
Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? “But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man.”
e. We speak to our own condemnation. Hard to accept because we live in a “nice” culture, where we don’t dare say all the things we think!
3. The problem with evil and the road to faith came to a head in the fifth century:
a. Augustine of Hippo (354-430). After a lustful pursuit of peace, he turned to religion (Manicheanism in 373, Neoplatonism in 382), but found frustration. …rhetoric teacher…to Milan where he met Ambrose. After rejecting the gospel initially and struggling with a continued illness, he came to Christ in 387. …In 391…a priest and, in 395, the Bishop of Hippo. He remained in his office, writing voluminously, until 430 as the Vandals stood at the gates of his city [when he died; city burned, Possidius saved his library]
b. Pelagius (ca. 354-424 A.D.) …British origins. …a monk (not a monastic or hermit) with enormous learning (Antiochene). He was fluent in both Latin and Greek and linguistically superior to Augustine, his most formidable opponent.
a. Augustine declared that only God could intervene within us and open our hearts to grace.
i. Early on, Augustine believed that humans learned to sin; later…
ii. Not able NOT to sin.
iii. Augustine argued that God enables us to do what he commands;
b. Pelagius disagreed—we are able to do whatever God asks us to do.
i. Humans have free volition, free will.
ii. Adam’s sin has a bad influence upon others but no impact.
iii. Since all have free will, God’s grace is universal; adults may gain forgiveness through baptism.
iv. Since humans are not born in sin, it is possible to be preserved in the state of birth and to never need salvation.
c. PWPT Over the next centuries, four variations developed.
i. Augustine: Salvation is totally, causatively of God.
ii. Semi-Augustinianism—Salvation originates in God, proceeds in God and man.
iii. Semi-Pelagianism: Salvation originates in man, proceeds by man and God.
Berkof: took an intermediate position, denying the total inability of man to do spiritual good, but admitting his inability to perform really saving works without the assistance of divine grace. The grace of God illuminates the mind and supports the will, but always in such a manner that the free will of man is in no way compromised. …While the grace of God is universal and intended for all, it becomes effective in the lives of those who make a proper use of their free will. Strictly speaking, it is really the will of man that determines the result.
iv. Pelagianism: Salvation is totally, causatively of man.
McGrath [I, 74] The definitive pronouncement of the early western church on the Pelagian and Massilian controversies… to teach that the ‘freedom of the soul’ remained unaffected by the Fall was Pelagian. The Faustian doctrine of the initium fidei —i.e., that man can take the initiative in his own salvation—was explicitly rejected: not only the beginning, but also the increase of faith, are alike gifts of grace. While the Council declared that man’s liberum arbitrium is injured, weakened and diminished, its existence was not questioned.
Today, semi-Pelagianism’s variety is evident in Arminianism (Mennonites, etc.)
1. We receive from Adam a corrupted nature but not Adam’s guilt.
2. Our human nature is corrupted physically and intellectually but not volitionally.
3. Prevenient [preceding] grace enables us to believe.
4. We are not totally depraved, but still maintain the will/volition to seek God.
Today, Augustinian thought remains in Reformed views
1. Either each individual receives the physical nature from parents, God then creates the soul, such that Adam was our representative. [Federal Headship]
2. Or, We inherit our physical nature and soul from our parents, so that were all present in Adam in germinal form, such that we all participate in the sin of Adam, and inherit Adam’s sin. [Augustinian]
What do we learn from the heretics?
4. The solution to our problem with evil and free will.
a. God must initiate our salvation, we will not.
i. This reminds us of how INTENSE is God’s love for us.
b. God must accomplish our salvation, we cannot.
i. This teaches us how PERSONAL is God’s love for us.
c. We must respond to God’s grace with faith in order to experience
i. As He did with Lydia in Acts 16:14 NASB
And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
ii. We need not react as our culture programs us to react.
1. Our culture’s assumption: For it to really be love, it has to be freely chosen; totally unconstrained, and uninfluenced.
2. The Bible’s answer: You’re free to do whatever you want; you’re just not free to want whatever you want.
3. We ARE TORN!!
Carole King wrote both lyrics: It’s Too Late, Baby, Now It’s Too Late [I’ve lost that lovin’ feelin’]
AND, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, ON THE SAME ALBUM!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Humble Orthodoxy & Authority
Humble Orthodoxy & Authority
Questions & Answers today and/or next week
Big Idea: In the last two centuries, questions of faith and science - as in the age of the earth, the origin of man, and miracles - has tended to polarize the Church. The divisions among Southern Baptists illustrate what can happen when Christians make idols of orthodoxy, reason, and novelty. From these we learn the critical importance of biblical authority, but also our need to approach conflict with humility.
Two things we are seeing:
1. How much has been learned in conflict, rather than avoidance.
2. How we can respond to conflict ourselves.
Being a disciple of Jesus is challenging on several levels.
1. Disciples learn and obey.
a. How can we be certain that God has spoken, that the Bible is a faithful record of His intentions, and that we rightly understand what has been written?
b. How do we live out the truth-claims of Jesus and the Bible?
2. We can learn from those who have gone before us and from those who challenge our faith.
ORTHODOXY…a Sure and Certain Word…
I. The Word of God, it's claims, it’s claims upon us, and compelling trust
a. Hebrews 4:12—active, sharper
PWPTHebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
PWPTHebrews 1:1–2 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”
b. Psalm 19: The heavens declare the glory of God
PWPTPsalms 19:1
“The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”
II. We can have full confidence in the Authority of Scripture.
a. Authority—DECLARED
General & Special Revelation (Ps 19:1-6; Rom 1:18-20; 2:14-16; Acts 17:24-34; John 1:14-18)
b. COMMUNICATED
i. INSPIRED: Theopneustos¬—God-breathed
i. Metaphorical—God has no lungs, therefore no physical breath, BUT
ii. Intent—from God Himself, therefore…
1. To be taken seriously, “life or death”
Deuteronomy 30:11ff.
““For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. “It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ “Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.…
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.””
ii. ILLUMINATED: PWPT To be understood, mediated by the Holy Spirit, 1Cor2:14-16
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For Who Has Known The Mind Of The Lord, That He Should Instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
iii. RELIABLE— PWPT Matthew 5:18
““For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.”
iv. EFFECTIVE—
1. Hebrews 4:12 NASB—
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
2. PWPT 1 Thessalonians 2:13 NASB
“And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”
HUMBLE ORTHODOXY
III. Humility on our part, with an ear to those who disagree, and a mind open to reading the Word with fresh eyes.
A. I am aware of my limitations in correctly perceiving the meaning of God’s Son and God’s Word.
i. That confusion is no slam on God’s Word nor on its
ii. Clarity.
B. Those limitations were apparent in…
a. Galileo vs The Church? Actually, Galileo vs the Aristotelian philosophers who insisted that the heavens were fixed, that the moon was a smooth, perfect sphere, etc.
i. Galileo didn’t attack the Church, he offered verifiable evidence that the philosophers were wrong.
ii. The Church was too tight with the philosophers, not the Word.
iii. Science vs Christian faith only became an issue in the twentieth century—Christian thought has provided the foundation for reasoned investigation.
b. Innerrancy battles of the late twentieth century?
i. Southern Baptists:
1. Liberalizing views of Scripture by those in power moved the SBC into conflict.
2. Conservative push-back put them into power; they used largely the same power techniques. The SBC remains divided into two camps, 30 years later.
ii. Similar tensions and divisions occurred among Canadian Baptists in the past century; division remains.
c. Creation vs. Evolution among evangelicals today.
i. Some Creationists question the faith of any who support theistic evolution.
ii. Some Theistic Evolutionists question the mental capacity of those who deny evolution.
C. Those limitations are common to all humans.
Lessons to be learned:
a. God doesn’t ask us to believe anything that’s not true, contra Richard Dawkins (faith means believing something you know NOT to be true.)
b. Also, he doesn’t call us to reject anything that is true. We’re not to ignore what we see,
c. but we are to believe what we can’ t see as well. (i.e., what we can and can’t see can’t be the main arbiter of truth; that’s why we need His revelation).
In our culture, we’ve made an idol out of not knowing. We assume it’s arrogant to have an answer to any question. This borders on anti-intellectualism, denying the rational minds that God gave us to use.
d. In traditional church cultures though, we’ve made an idol out of uniformity: offering one interpretation and making it the test of orthodoxy—Genesis 1, 2 vs. Evolution
Fundamentalism is an expression of modernity: we can figure all this out; the Fall did not impact our minds, such that we can rightly parse all data, we can come to our faith through reason alone.
Orthodoxy: faith involves all of us--mind, will, emotion; faith comes as a gift through the Spirit of Christ.
CONCLUSION
a humble orthodoxy sees that faith is not blind but informed and humbly hungry to understand more profoundly
Humble Orthodoxy means... holding conclusions, and holding them loosely.
Questions & Answers today and/or next week
Big Idea: In the last two centuries, questions of faith and science - as in the age of the earth, the origin of man, and miracles - has tended to polarize the Church. The divisions among Southern Baptists illustrate what can happen when Christians make idols of orthodoxy, reason, and novelty. From these we learn the critical importance of biblical authority, but also our need to approach conflict with humility.
Two things we are seeing:
1. How much has been learned in conflict, rather than avoidance.
2. How we can respond to conflict ourselves.
Being a disciple of Jesus is challenging on several levels.
1. Disciples learn and obey.
a. How can we be certain that God has spoken, that the Bible is a faithful record of His intentions, and that we rightly understand what has been written?
b. How do we live out the truth-claims of Jesus and the Bible?
2. We can learn from those who have gone before us and from those who challenge our faith.
ORTHODOXY…a Sure and Certain Word…
I. The Word of God, it's claims, it’s claims upon us, and compelling trust
a. Hebrews 4:12—active, sharper
PWPTHebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
PWPTHebrews 1:1–2 “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.”
b. Psalm 19: The heavens declare the glory of God
PWPTPsalms 19:1
“The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.”
II. We can have full confidence in the Authority of Scripture.
a. Authority—DECLARED
General & Special Revelation (Ps 19:1-6; Rom 1:18-20; 2:14-16; Acts 17:24-34; John 1:14-18)
b. COMMUNICATED
i. INSPIRED: Theopneustos¬—God-breathed
i. Metaphorical—God has no lungs, therefore no physical breath, BUT
ii. Intent—from God Himself, therefore…
1. To be taken seriously, “life or death”
Deuteronomy 30:11ff.
““For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. “It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ “Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?’ “But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.…
“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.””
ii. ILLUMINATED: PWPT To be understood, mediated by the Holy Spirit, 1Cor2:14-16
“But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man. For Who Has Known The Mind Of The Lord, That He Should Instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”
iii. RELIABLE— PWPT Matthew 5:18
““For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.”
iv. EFFECTIVE—
1. Hebrews 4:12 NASB—
“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
2. PWPT 1 Thessalonians 2:13 NASB
“And for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”
HUMBLE ORTHODOXY
III. Humility on our part, with an ear to those who disagree, and a mind open to reading the Word with fresh eyes.
A. I am aware of my limitations in correctly perceiving the meaning of God’s Son and God’s Word.
i. That confusion is no slam on God’s Word nor on its
ii. Clarity.
B. Those limitations were apparent in…
a. Galileo vs The Church? Actually, Galileo vs the Aristotelian philosophers who insisted that the heavens were fixed, that the moon was a smooth, perfect sphere, etc.
i. Galileo didn’t attack the Church, he offered verifiable evidence that the philosophers were wrong.
ii. The Church was too tight with the philosophers, not the Word.
iii. Science vs Christian faith only became an issue in the twentieth century—Christian thought has provided the foundation for reasoned investigation.
b. Innerrancy battles of the late twentieth century?
i. Southern Baptists:
1. Liberalizing views of Scripture by those in power moved the SBC into conflict.
2. Conservative push-back put them into power; they used largely the same power techniques. The SBC remains divided into two camps, 30 years later.
ii. Similar tensions and divisions occurred among Canadian Baptists in the past century; division remains.
c. Creation vs. Evolution among evangelicals today.
i. Some Creationists question the faith of any who support theistic evolution.
ii. Some Theistic Evolutionists question the mental capacity of those who deny evolution.
C. Those limitations are common to all humans.
Lessons to be learned:
a. God doesn’t ask us to believe anything that’s not true, contra Richard Dawkins (faith means believing something you know NOT to be true.)
b. Also, he doesn’t call us to reject anything that is true. We’re not to ignore what we see,
c. but we are to believe what we can’ t see as well. (i.e., what we can and can’t see can’t be the main arbiter of truth; that’s why we need His revelation).
In our culture, we’ve made an idol out of not knowing. We assume it’s arrogant to have an answer to any question. This borders on anti-intellectualism, denying the rational minds that God gave us to use.
d. In traditional church cultures though, we’ve made an idol out of uniformity: offering one interpretation and making it the test of orthodoxy—Genesis 1, 2 vs. Evolution
Fundamentalism is an expression of modernity: we can figure all this out; the Fall did not impact our minds, such that we can rightly parse all data, we can come to our faith through reason alone.
Orthodoxy: faith involves all of us--mind, will, emotion; faith comes as a gift through the Spirit of Christ.
CONCLUSION
a humble orthodoxy sees that faith is not blind but informed and humbly hungry to understand more profoundly
Humble Orthodoxy means... holding conclusions, and holding them loosely.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Our New Mission at Philpott
2011 Annual Ministry Meeting Sermon
Ascension Day: Jesus is with the Father, interceding for us at the Father’s right hand.
Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us, direct us, empower us, and keep us as His own.
Jesus through His Spirit ensures that we will do His work here.
Jesus will return in the same manner as He left.
Matthew 28:18–20 NASB
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
Ephesians 4:11–16
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
1. Purpose:
As a local expression of the Body of Christ, our God-given purpose is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who exalt God, edify one another, and extend God’s love to all people.
The Mission of our congregation is the way we fulfill that Purpose…
2. Our Unique Mission:
Philpott Church is a community of grace, rooted together in the gospel, that exists to glorify God by making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ who are committed to the celebration of God, the cultivation of deeper faith, and the restoration of our community, our city, and the nations.
Philpott Church is
A. a community of grace,
a. Just as God embraces us just as He finds us, so we accept all those whose paths cross ours.
i. Why does God love us so powerfully?
ii. “God is love” John’s letter tells us. It’s what He is.
1 John 4:16
“And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
iii. God loves us because He made us in His likeness, He sees parts of Himself in us, so His delight is in us.
iv. We see this in the Father’s delight in His unique Son, Jesus:
Matthew 3:17
“…a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
b. As God loves us too much to leave us as He finds us, so we love one another too much to leave us as we are found.
c. We are embraced and embrace others as infinitely valuable, made in the image of God.
d. We are loved by God into depth and maturity in Christ, just as we long to love one another so powerfully that the Spirit of God is free to work through us to heal, to deepen, to restore each one.
B. rooted together in the gospel, that exists
a. Rooted:
i. Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
ii. Col. 2:7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
b. in the Gospel
i. In love
ii. In Him
iii.
C. to glorify God
a. God’s glory = God’s beauty, aura, etc.
i. Ex. 29:43 “I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory.
ii. Ex. 33:22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
iii. Is. 66:18 “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.
b. God’s glory = Our attribution of majesty, honour, to God
i. Is. 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.
ii. Is. 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name,
And whom I have created for My glory,
Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
iii. Is. 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My glory I will not give to another.
D. by making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ
a. make disciples of all the nations
b. Disciples—those who learn from and follow Jesus
c. Disciples—those who obey all that Jesus taught
d. Disciples—those who reproduce themselves by making new disciples
E. who are committed to
a. the celebration of God, as in…
Colossians 3:23–24 NASB
“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
Sara:
“Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together!” (Psalm 34:3)
We have made great efforts to celebrate God this past year corporately and in our own lives, desiring to express our worship of God authentically in spirit and in truth, wanting to resist all pretence in both our corporate and private worship.
We’ve celebrated together through exalting God and fixing our vision and our hearts on Him during our Sunday morning services and special events this past year. Our hope has been to make God’s glory the ultimate purpose of all we’ve done here, whenever we’ve gathered together on either Sunday mornings, during the week in growth groups, special services during the Christmas and Easter seasons, and through prayer retreats focused on just being with God and letting Him speak to us (setting aside time to make Him our true heart’s affection).
Our week of prayer this past year focused on celebrating God for being the Creator, the God who speaks and is actively involved in our lives, the God who sustains through suffering, and the God who passionately pursues us.
Through this year’s sermon series’, our celebration of God took the form of repenting of the idols that compete for our hearts’ attention and exalting Him as the One True God, greater than anything else the world has to offer. Our celebration of God also focused on acknowledging and celebrating the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word and in our lives.
The 40-Days o worship series highlighted how we celebrate by responding to God with our lives, saying “Here I Am”, and authentically through our various ‘sacred pathways’ or ways we worship. Our study on the book of Mark prepared us to celebrate Christ’s journey to the cross, His death for the sins of the world, and the victory of His resurrection.
We have realized that “Celebration” is a major part of our DNA as a church and community of grace, and also personally as believers in the One True God. We continue trying to incorporate various worship elements into our corporate times of celebration together. We have also tried to emphasize making celebration of God more integrated in our lives apart from Sunday mornings through private worship, in prayer, music, art, our work, our interactions and relationships in our families and communities, and in the attitude and motivation of our hearts.
b. the cultivation of deeper faith, and
i. for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
ii. MIKE MILESKI & JOE BOYACHEK
c. the restoration of all things
Jeremiah 29:7 NASB
And seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.
Ephesians 2:17–18 NASB
And He Came And Preached Peace To You Who Were Far Away, And Peace To Those Who Were Near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
John 14:12 NASB
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.
i. our city, and
1. Urban Ministries
a. Backporch
b. ESL—
A couple of years ago I started to mentor a MBA International Student from China and also invited her to ESL class - she attended our Philpott class but my involvement with her was much more than that. We spent at least a couple days of week together just working on her English - especially from a business perspective because that was ultimately her goal - was to get a good job in Canada. This person had a great job in China but left it to study in Canada.
As a result of our friendship, she got a couple of co-op jobs and also landed a full time job in CIBC - and is in a senior position in Corporate Finance. In fact, she won an award at CIBC for being a top performer. These award winners were invited to the annual Christmas banquet and she was chosen to sit at the CFO's table. She was allowed to invite a guest and she invited me. When I said no - she should invite her husband, she said she wanted to share her success with me because I was a part of it. So I humbly accepted and she was introducing me as her English tutor. That was funny because at this point I never thought of being her "english tutor". At this point I felt we were colleagues and just very good friends.
Yes, her life was impacted but mine more so. God has allowed me to be a part of someone's life in a way that my friend needed it the most. She knows exactly why I believe and the faith that drives me to do what I do and always listens and respects what I say. She has since moved to Oakville to be closer to TO, but always calls to just talk.
c. Cooking Class & Crafts Class
A young woman from Belgium with limited English was introduced to the cooking and craft classes almost two years ago. Her partner was here doing research at Mac. She made it known the first night that she hadn't been in a church since she was 13 and did not believe in God. She must have felt the acceptance though as she continued to come and shared the loneliness she felt and the difficulties with language and trying to find work. Last summer
she had a baby and we were able to hook her up with a few motherly Dutch women at Philpott who could guide her through the anxieties a first time mother have. When our classes resumed in September, the baby was there.
Before the baby came, volunteers from our New2Canada class held a baby shower for her, something that is not done back home. She was overwhelmed that she was supported in this way and when she went home that evening, her partner had to play all the "baby games" from earlier in the evening and got to enjoy some great food while watching all the gifts being opened again. We asked a new mum from the church to attend our classes so she could connect with someone her own age and share baby concerns. She has faithfully attended all the classes, trundling the baby out in all this winters weather to spend a few hours with our group. In a few months they will be returning to Belgium, but this last week, she brought the baby’s memory book with her to class, as she wanted her Canadian family to write their thoughts in it. A most tender moment was watching her sitting on the floor in Missionary Hall while one of the ladies wrote her thoughts in Urdu into the book and explained what she was writing. That evening the pages of the baby’s book were covered in blessings written in Mandarin, French, English and Urdu from the friends God brought into her life in a place she was hesitant to enter almost two years ago. Her heart has definitely been softened, the ground tilled, for someone to harvest.
A— is a young Muslim woman who came from Pakistan with her husband and two children almost four years ago. They live in a small, sparsely furnished apartment and her husband drives a cab. He was a judge and she a midwife back home. She has been faithfully coming to our cooking and craft classes for three years and she was one who received a Christmas Hamper from Philpott this past winter when her husband lost his job. When we delivered the gift, an invitation was given for them to attend Christmas dinner at Sonya's home. Her husband jumped at the invitation. In all the time they had been in Canada, they had never been invited to a Canadian home and had no Canadian friends. Oh, it meant adding a few "halal" items to the Christmas menu, but as people shared Christmas traditions in their own families (from several different backgrounds) around the table, they participated with what it was like in Pakistan at Christmas. God has woven others from Philpott into their lives since this time, helping with medical concerns, giving violin lessons, supporting them with ESL as they prepare for citizenship exams and having "play dates" with the children. They have even reciprocated by inviting their Canadian friends for meals. It was not the mosque but the Christian community that reached out to this family, especially as He put her on our hearts, and He has gently revealed Himself to the hearts of this family who were struggling with discouragement, loneliness and isolation in their new country.
d. TrueCity: nurturing vision; collaborating with sister congregations; planting churches in the city
2. Arts Bridge—
a couple who love the arts attended one of our Arts Events while making it clear that they had little and no interest in our faith. Event after event, year after year, their perspectives changed, the faith interest she had had she began to express; the hostility that he had expressed was transformed: on one of our Arts Outings, he asked me whether we had missionaries at work in a particular part of the world he was concerned about; I said YES! He later made a missions-sponsored trip to that continent, making investments in local health issues there.
3. Children’s ministry in the city—Arts Camp this July
ii. the nations.
1. Prim and Bir, two brothers in Nepal, whom we have supported in prayer and financially for almost twenty years: they continue to be effective evangelists among their own people.
2. Save The Mothers in Yemen, now Africa, led by Jean Chamberlain Froese with her husband and children.
3. Stephen & Peggy Foster, who have built a hospital as their ministry base in Angola, enduring the civil war and other mayhem for the healing of the people and the proclamation of Christ.
4. Rick and Sandy Polson, training Latin American believers to support themselves as they make disciples and plant churches.
CONCLUSION:
We have as our base the very Word of God, which narrates for us the beginnings of the story of redemption and restoration. By that story, we are called into life and into participation in God’s work of salvation and restoration of all things. First we are called to LIFE, a personal experience of the power of the resurrection applied by the Spirit of Christ. Second, we are called to LIVE with Christ, taking up the work of Christ in Restoring the world, one heart, one family, one congregation, one city at a time.
Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Jesus: Mark 8:34–35
“And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it.”
Close: you will hear this more precisely described and a little more personally in the months to come; in an expanded form in the month of August.
Paintings: CELEBRATE, CULTIVATE, RESTORE
Ascension Day: Jesus is with the Father, interceding for us at the Father’s right hand.
Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to indwell us, direct us, empower us, and keep us as His own.
Jesus through His Spirit ensures that we will do His work here.
Jesus will return in the same manner as He left.
Matthew 28:18–20 NASB
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
Ephesians 4:11–16
“And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.”
1. Purpose:
As a local expression of the Body of Christ, our God-given purpose is to make disciples of Jesus Christ who exalt God, edify one another, and extend God’s love to all people.
The Mission of our congregation is the way we fulfill that Purpose…
2. Our Unique Mission:
Philpott Church is a community of grace, rooted together in the gospel, that exists to glorify God by making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ who are committed to the celebration of God, the cultivation of deeper faith, and the restoration of our community, our city, and the nations.
Philpott Church is
A. a community of grace,
a. Just as God embraces us just as He finds us, so we accept all those whose paths cross ours.
i. Why does God love us so powerfully?
ii. “God is love” John’s letter tells us. It’s what He is.
1 John 4:16
“And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
iii. God loves us because He made us in His likeness, He sees parts of Himself in us, so His delight is in us.
iv. We see this in the Father’s delight in His unique Son, Jesus:
Matthew 3:17
“…a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
b. As God loves us too much to leave us as He finds us, so we love one another too much to leave us as we are found.
c. We are embraced and embrace others as infinitely valuable, made in the image of God.
d. We are loved by God into depth and maturity in Christ, just as we long to love one another so powerfully that the Spirit of God is free to work through us to heal, to deepen, to restore each one.
B. rooted together in the gospel, that exists
a. Rooted:
i. Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
ii. Col. 2:7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.
b. in the Gospel
i. In love
ii. In Him
iii.
C. to glorify God
a. God’s glory = God’s beauty, aura, etc.
i. Ex. 29:43 “I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory.
ii. Ex. 33:22 and it will come about, while My glory is passing by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by.
iii. Is. 66:18 “For I know their works and their thoughts; the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and see My glory.
b. God’s glory = Our attribution of majesty, honour, to God
i. Is. 42:8 “I am the LORD, that is My name;
I will not give My glory to another,
Nor My praise to graven images.
ii. Is. 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name,
And whom I have created for My glory,
Whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
iii. Is. 48:11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act;
For how can My name be profaned?
And My glory I will not give to another.
D. by making more and better disciples of Jesus Christ
a. make disciples of all the nations
b. Disciples—those who learn from and follow Jesus
c. Disciples—those who obey all that Jesus taught
d. Disciples—those who reproduce themselves by making new disciples
E. who are committed to
a. the celebration of God, as in…
Colossians 3:23–24 NASB
“Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”
Sara:
“Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt His name together!” (Psalm 34:3)
We have made great efforts to celebrate God this past year corporately and in our own lives, desiring to express our worship of God authentically in spirit and in truth, wanting to resist all pretence in both our corporate and private worship.
We’ve celebrated together through exalting God and fixing our vision and our hearts on Him during our Sunday morning services and special events this past year. Our hope has been to make God’s glory the ultimate purpose of all we’ve done here, whenever we’ve gathered together on either Sunday mornings, during the week in growth groups, special services during the Christmas and Easter seasons, and through prayer retreats focused on just being with God and letting Him speak to us (setting aside time to make Him our true heart’s affection).
Our week of prayer this past year focused on celebrating God for being the Creator, the God who speaks and is actively involved in our lives, the God who sustains through suffering, and the God who passionately pursues us.
Through this year’s sermon series’, our celebration of God took the form of repenting of the idols that compete for our hearts’ attention and exalting Him as the One True God, greater than anything else the world has to offer. Our celebration of God also focused on acknowledging and celebrating the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word and in our lives.
The 40-Days o worship series highlighted how we celebrate by responding to God with our lives, saying “Here I Am”, and authentically through our various ‘sacred pathways’ or ways we worship. Our study on the book of Mark prepared us to celebrate Christ’s journey to the cross, His death for the sins of the world, and the victory of His resurrection.
We have realized that “Celebration” is a major part of our DNA as a church and community of grace, and also personally as believers in the One True God. We continue trying to incorporate various worship elements into our corporate times of celebration together. We have also tried to emphasize making celebration of God more integrated in our lives apart from Sunday mornings through private worship, in prayer, music, art, our work, our interactions and relationships in our families and communities, and in the attitude and motivation of our hearts.
b. the cultivation of deeper faith, and
i. for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
ii. MIKE MILESKI & JOE BOYACHEK
c. the restoration of all things
Jeremiah 29:7 NASB
And seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.
Ephesians 2:17–18 NASB
And He Came And Preached Peace To You Who Were Far Away, And Peace To Those Who Were Near; for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father.
John 14:12 NASB
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.
i. our city, and
1. Urban Ministries
a. Backporch
b. ESL—
A couple of years ago I started to mentor a MBA International Student from China and also invited her to ESL class - she attended our Philpott class but my involvement with her was much more than that. We spent at least a couple days of week together just working on her English - especially from a business perspective because that was ultimately her goal - was to get a good job in Canada. This person had a great job in China but left it to study in Canada.
As a result of our friendship, she got a couple of co-op jobs and also landed a full time job in CIBC - and is in a senior position in Corporate Finance. In fact, she won an award at CIBC for being a top performer. These award winners were invited to the annual Christmas banquet and she was chosen to sit at the CFO's table. She was allowed to invite a guest and she invited me. When I said no - she should invite her husband, she said she wanted to share her success with me because I was a part of it. So I humbly accepted and she was introducing me as her English tutor. That was funny because at this point I never thought of being her "english tutor". At this point I felt we were colleagues and just very good friends.
Yes, her life was impacted but mine more so. God has allowed me to be a part of someone's life in a way that my friend needed it the most. She knows exactly why I believe and the faith that drives me to do what I do and always listens and respects what I say. She has since moved to Oakville to be closer to TO, but always calls to just talk.
c. Cooking Class & Crafts Class
A young woman from Belgium with limited English was introduced to the cooking and craft classes almost two years ago. Her partner was here doing research at Mac. She made it known the first night that she hadn't been in a church since she was 13 and did not believe in God. She must have felt the acceptance though as she continued to come and shared the loneliness she felt and the difficulties with language and trying to find work. Last summer
she had a baby and we were able to hook her up with a few motherly Dutch women at Philpott who could guide her through the anxieties a first time mother have. When our classes resumed in September, the baby was there.
Before the baby came, volunteers from our New2Canada class held a baby shower for her, something that is not done back home. She was overwhelmed that she was supported in this way and when she went home that evening, her partner had to play all the "baby games" from earlier in the evening and got to enjoy some great food while watching all the gifts being opened again. We asked a new mum from the church to attend our classes so she could connect with someone her own age and share baby concerns. She has faithfully attended all the classes, trundling the baby out in all this winters weather to spend a few hours with our group. In a few months they will be returning to Belgium, but this last week, she brought the baby’s memory book with her to class, as she wanted her Canadian family to write their thoughts in it. A most tender moment was watching her sitting on the floor in Missionary Hall while one of the ladies wrote her thoughts in Urdu into the book and explained what she was writing. That evening the pages of the baby’s book were covered in blessings written in Mandarin, French, English and Urdu from the friends God brought into her life in a place she was hesitant to enter almost two years ago. Her heart has definitely been softened, the ground tilled, for someone to harvest.
A— is a young Muslim woman who came from Pakistan with her husband and two children almost four years ago. They live in a small, sparsely furnished apartment and her husband drives a cab. He was a judge and she a midwife back home. She has been faithfully coming to our cooking and craft classes for three years and she was one who received a Christmas Hamper from Philpott this past winter when her husband lost his job. When we delivered the gift, an invitation was given for them to attend Christmas dinner at Sonya's home. Her husband jumped at the invitation. In all the time they had been in Canada, they had never been invited to a Canadian home and had no Canadian friends. Oh, it meant adding a few "halal" items to the Christmas menu, but as people shared Christmas traditions in their own families (from several different backgrounds) around the table, they participated with what it was like in Pakistan at Christmas. God has woven others from Philpott into their lives since this time, helping with medical concerns, giving violin lessons, supporting them with ESL as they prepare for citizenship exams and having "play dates" with the children. They have even reciprocated by inviting their Canadian friends for meals. It was not the mosque but the Christian community that reached out to this family, especially as He put her on our hearts, and He has gently revealed Himself to the hearts of this family who were struggling with discouragement, loneliness and isolation in their new country.
d. TrueCity: nurturing vision; collaborating with sister congregations; planting churches in the city
2. Arts Bridge—
a couple who love the arts attended one of our Arts Events while making it clear that they had little and no interest in our faith. Event after event, year after year, their perspectives changed, the faith interest she had had she began to express; the hostility that he had expressed was transformed: on one of our Arts Outings, he asked me whether we had missionaries at work in a particular part of the world he was concerned about; I said YES! He later made a missions-sponsored trip to that continent, making investments in local health issues there.
3. Children’s ministry in the city—Arts Camp this July
ii. the nations.
1. Prim and Bir, two brothers in Nepal, whom we have supported in prayer and financially for almost twenty years: they continue to be effective evangelists among their own people.
2. Save The Mothers in Yemen, now Africa, led by Jean Chamberlain Froese with her husband and children.
3. Stephen & Peggy Foster, who have built a hospital as their ministry base in Angola, enduring the civil war and other mayhem for the healing of the people and the proclamation of Christ.
4. Rick and Sandy Polson, training Latin American believers to support themselves as they make disciples and plant churches.
CONCLUSION:
We have as our base the very Word of God, which narrates for us the beginnings of the story of redemption and restoration. By that story, we are called into life and into participation in God’s work of salvation and restoration of all things. First we are called to LIFE, a personal experience of the power of the resurrection applied by the Spirit of Christ. Second, we are called to LIVE with Christ, taking up the work of Christ in Restoring the world, one heart, one family, one congregation, one city at a time.
Jim Elliot: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”
Jesus: Mark 8:34–35
“And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s shall save it.”
Close: you will hear this more precisely described and a little more personally in the months to come; in an expanded form in the month of August.
Paintings: CELEBRATE, CULTIVATE, RESTORE
Monday, January 24, 2011
DNA of PMC: Restoring All Things
Our DNA: God, Growth, Gravity
God is calling us to Celebrate Him, Cultivate Faith in one another and restore the world.
As those passions are expressed, you can expect to see…
1. We are here to Celebrate God.
Devote ourselves to knowing and enjoying the triune God as our great Treasure, resisting all idols that compete with Him for our hearts’ affection;
Embrace God and His will for us by grace through faith in Jesus, resisting both religious and irreligious deeds as the means of our acceptance;
Accept the cost of discipleship, believing that Jesus Christ is better than anything else the world has to offer;
Express our worship of God authentically in spirit and truth, resisting all pretence in our corporate and private worship;
Make God’s glory the ultimate purpose of all we do.
2. We exist to Cultivate Faith. Pharisee & Tax collector: Gospel-centred lifestyle, distinction between religion and faith.
Never stop repenting – for evil deeds and for good deeds done for the wrong reasons.
Surrender all our ambitions, hopes, and plans to the One whose will is good, pleasing, and perfect.
Allow God’s Spirit to transform us by His Word, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines, being teachable, humble, and open to His correction.
Know, develop, and use our unique gifts for the health of the Body of Christ.
Trust God, even when pain and difficulty cause us to doubt that He is working all things together for our good.
Today…
3. We are here to Restore the world.
a. Story: Good Samaritan: rescuing, healing, protecting the broken
PWPT Luke 10
“And by chance a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
“But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
“And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.””
Personal Intervention of the alien traveler, when the physical neighbours avoided the victim.
1. Intervention and hands on care
2. Transport to a safe place
3. Provision for longer-term care
b. THIS IS NOT NEW:
i. Social Gospel—left out Jesus and lost their vitality
ii. Fundamentalists left out the care of neighbours and lost our hearts
c. THIS IS NOW: What about us, here?
i. External Justice: The broken man was left with resources.
ii. Internal Restoration: needs to happen here as well—reconciliation.
d. The Word gets us started in the right direction, Jesus promises to finish it.
i. We can make a difference and will.
ii. We won’t change the course of history; Jesus will.
iii. Jesus will complete the Restoration at the end of History.
iv. Jesus is doing this work now BY His Gospel, the Gospel of Grace.
e. How:
PWPNT [use photos to illustrate, five minutes distance from our site
i. At the nexus of so much that’s going on in the city core, please see the need and the opportunities we have.
ii. WHAT IF:
1. We were to begin right here, seeking to restore all those who have been wounded, alienated by our own behaviours. TAKE OWNERSHIP
2. We were to begin a movement among congregations to prepare people for family life, in order to
a. strengthen their marriages and families, and
b. grow intimate marriages and
c. nurture families and
d. enfold single adults into true fellowship as ‘family’.
3. We were to work in the marketplace with a view to serving those we work with, work for, and sell to, with Christ as the One we keep in focus?
4. We were to restore Justice in our community by standing with the poor; with the poorest of the poor, New Canadians, such that…
a. We helped them settle.
b. We found them adequate housing.
c. We started businesses that employed them.
5. We were to cultivate a public education environment where children were in focus, rather than administrations and unions, such that our city’s children would learn to read, think and work; radically reducing poverty in our city
6. We were to deepen our love of beauty, so that we are sharing God’s joy in creation.
7. We were to savour and celebrate the work of artists ...bringing meaning to our chaotic space, and all who use their gifts, talents and abilities to “make something of the world”
8. We were to engage in managing the physical environment, such that the deterioration of our environment were reversed.
Love the unlovely, share with the needy, comfort the oppressed, and accept the marginalized, since Jesus identified with the least of these…
Commitment Cards: We will Our Restoration Pledge:
Our church family exists for the restoration of our community, the city, and the nations. Therefore, as a Community of Grace, rooted in the Gospel, we will:
• Love the unlovable, share with the needy, comfort the oppressed, and accept the marginalized, since Jesus identified with the least;
• Bless the city and invest ourselves in its well-being;
• Seek to resolve conflict, to be reconciled with those we’ve wronged, and to quickly forgive those who’ve wronged us;
• Pursue and embrace God’s missionary call on our lives, whether as those who send or as those who go, into our community, our city, and the nations.
• Persevere in our call to restoration until the Lord returns and completes it finally, ultimately, and triumphantly.
KIDS SERMON
Kids: the world is a hurting place—bandaids to help people who are hurting on the outside; Jesus also helps us when we hurt on the inside.
Heb. 2:18 “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Hebrews 4:15--For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Jesus heals and comforts us so that we can heal and comfort others.
God is calling us to Celebrate Him, Cultivate Faith in one another and restore the world.
As those passions are expressed, you can expect to see…
1. We are here to Celebrate God.
Devote ourselves to knowing and enjoying the triune God as our great Treasure, resisting all idols that compete with Him for our hearts’ affection;
Embrace God and His will for us by grace through faith in Jesus, resisting both religious and irreligious deeds as the means of our acceptance;
Accept the cost of discipleship, believing that Jesus Christ is better than anything else the world has to offer;
Express our worship of God authentically in spirit and truth, resisting all pretence in our corporate and private worship;
Make God’s glory the ultimate purpose of all we do.
2. We exist to Cultivate Faith. Pharisee & Tax collector: Gospel-centred lifestyle, distinction between religion and faith.
Never stop repenting – for evil deeds and for good deeds done for the wrong reasons.
Surrender all our ambitions, hopes, and plans to the One whose will is good, pleasing, and perfect.
Allow God’s Spirit to transform us by His Word, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines, being teachable, humble, and open to His correction.
Know, develop, and use our unique gifts for the health of the Body of Christ.
Trust God, even when pain and difficulty cause us to doubt that He is working all things together for our good.
Today…
3. We are here to Restore the world.
a. Story: Good Samaritan: rescuing, healing, protecting the broken
PWPT Luke 10
“And by chance a certain priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
“But a certain Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, and came to him, and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
“And on the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ “Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” And he said, “The one who showed mercy toward him.” And Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.””
Personal Intervention of the alien traveler, when the physical neighbours avoided the victim.
1. Intervention and hands on care
2. Transport to a safe place
3. Provision for longer-term care
b. THIS IS NOT NEW:
i. Social Gospel—left out Jesus and lost their vitality
ii. Fundamentalists left out the care of neighbours and lost our hearts
c. THIS IS NOW: What about us, here?
i. External Justice: The broken man was left with resources.
ii. Internal Restoration: needs to happen here as well—reconciliation.
d. The Word gets us started in the right direction, Jesus promises to finish it.
i. We can make a difference and will.
ii. We won’t change the course of history; Jesus will.
iii. Jesus will complete the Restoration at the end of History.
iv. Jesus is doing this work now BY His Gospel, the Gospel of Grace.
e. How:
PWPNT [use photos to illustrate, five minutes distance from our site
i. At the nexus of so much that’s going on in the city core, please see the need and the opportunities we have.
ii. WHAT IF:
1. We were to begin right here, seeking to restore all those who have been wounded, alienated by our own behaviours. TAKE OWNERSHIP
2. We were to begin a movement among congregations to prepare people for family life, in order to
a. strengthen their marriages and families, and
b. grow intimate marriages and
c. nurture families and
d. enfold single adults into true fellowship as ‘family’.
3. We were to work in the marketplace with a view to serving those we work with, work for, and sell to, with Christ as the One we keep in focus?
4. We were to restore Justice in our community by standing with the poor; with the poorest of the poor, New Canadians, such that…
a. We helped them settle.
b. We found them adequate housing.
c. We started businesses that employed them.
5. We were to cultivate a public education environment where children were in focus, rather than administrations and unions, such that our city’s children would learn to read, think and work; radically reducing poverty in our city
6. We were to deepen our love of beauty, so that we are sharing God’s joy in creation.
7. We were to savour and celebrate the work of artists ...bringing meaning to our chaotic space, and all who use their gifts, talents and abilities to “make something of the world”
8. We were to engage in managing the physical environment, such that the deterioration of our environment were reversed.
Love the unlovely, share with the needy, comfort the oppressed, and accept the marginalized, since Jesus identified with the least of these…
Commitment Cards: We will Our Restoration Pledge:
Our church family exists for the restoration of our community, the city, and the nations. Therefore, as a Community of Grace, rooted in the Gospel, we will:
• Love the unlovable, share with the needy, comfort the oppressed, and accept the marginalized, since Jesus identified with the least;
• Bless the city and invest ourselves in its well-being;
• Seek to resolve conflict, to be reconciled with those we’ve wronged, and to quickly forgive those who’ve wronged us;
• Pursue and embrace God’s missionary call on our lives, whether as those who send or as those who go, into our community, our city, and the nations.
• Persevere in our call to restoration until the Lord returns and completes it finally, ultimately, and triumphantly.
KIDS SERMON
Kids: the world is a hurting place—bandaids to help people who are hurting on the outside; Jesus also helps us when we hurt on the inside.
Heb. 2:18 “For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.
Hebrews 4:15--For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.”
Jesus heals and comforts us so that we can heal and comfort others.
DNA of PMC: Cultivating Faith Together
DNA: A Growing & Reproducing Faith
Central Idea: We grow in faith as it TAKES ROOT in all our person, if we are to Know God, Cultivate True Friendship, and Fulfill our destiny.
1. We exist to worship God by enjoying Him.
2. We live by Cultivating Faith.
a. Within ourselves
b. Within one another
Parable of the Pharisee and the tax-gatherer…
Luke 18:9–14 NASB
“And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. “The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer.
‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’
“But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’
“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.””
THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF FAITH…
A. Faith begins with the insight that we are broken and no amount of reform can re-form us.
1. Faith builds on our awareness of need, not on our competence.
[Pharisee and tax collector narrative: what ought to happen]
i. Faith in myself vs faith in Jesus.
1. Faith in myself: if I do these things, I’ll be a better person; God will owe me.
2. Faith in Jesus: Jesus has done for me all that God requires of me.
ii. What should have happened.
1. Pharisee didn’t realize his need for mercy;
2. The tax thief DID recognize his need for mercy.
iii. Difference between the religious lifestyle and a Gospel-centred lifestyle.
1. If we are Gospel-centred: hunger for more of Jesus will lead us to employ whatever means we can: SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES.
a. Prayer; Bible-absorption;
b. Fellowship; Rest; Fasting
Indicators that we are practicing religion.
Deep sense of duty & despair.
Growing frustration with the people around me.
Deepening conviction that God has let me down.
Indicators that we are centering our life in the Gospel…
Spiritual disciplines running rampant among us.
Infectious prayer life.
Insatiable hunger for the Word of God.
Transparent fellowship.
Contagious joy and delight in being together; true community.
Deepening awareness of each one’s spiritual gifts, passions, and commitments to serve.
Development of servant-leaders; “it’s about US!”
Joyfull readiness to give “the reason for the hope within”
2. God delights in that awareness, and responds with grace.
THIS IS THE EXPANSION OF FAITH…
B. As faith extends to every portion of a person, God’s transforming power is fully released in that person.
• mind: my intellect is INFORMED by the written Word and fascinated by the Living Word, Jesus.
• emotion: my heart is INFLAMED with passion for an intimate connection with Jesus.
• volition: my will is ENGAGED with the Father’s will, ready to fully obey Him.
APPLICATIONS:
1. Problem: we long for community and talk about community, but we are so afraid of being controlled, so radically individualistic, we actually AVOID the sort of environment that nurtures community.
This is the setting to engage the Gospel of Grace. If you don’t embrace that Gospel of Grace, you will base your identity on your own achievements, the status of your own family, etc. Once you do embrace the Gospel of Grace, your own identity will be gradually transformed as you look to the life and work of Jesus for that identity.
An idol is any good thing that is turned into the Ultimate Thing. Thus, our strong sense of individual identity is good—we are created with the capacity to respond personally to God’s grace.
WHAT would my world become IF faith invaded all of me?
What would OUR world become IF faith took hold in all of us?
What would we SEE, TASTE, HEAR and TOUCH?
• Reliance on grace, not religious duty or obedience for our acceptance with God, ourselves, and each other.
• People engaging God through a variety of spiritual disciplines.
• The gospel as the central reason for all our ministries
• People equipped and active in sharing the gospel – not just ‘being nice’ – as a normal part of life.
• An increasing appetite to know and live by God’s Word
• Ongoing repentance for evil deeds and good deeds done for the wrong reasons.
• Contagious joy and delight in being together; true community.
• Growth in Christian maturity, not just numerical growth, as the measurement of a ministry’s effectiveness.
• A trust that perseveres through trials and pain
• Deepening awareness of each one’s spiritual gifts, passions, and commitments to serve.
• Disciples who are making disciples
• Training influencers for the congregation and the world.
Years ago, after a celebrated international career on the stage, the world-famous violinist Jascha Heifetz became a professor of music at UCLA. When someone asked him why he had left the glamour of performing to become a teacher, Heifetz answered, "Violin-playing is a perishable art. It must be passed on; otherwise it is lost." Then he went on to say, "I remember my old violin professor in Russia. He said that (if I worked hard enough) someday I would be good enough to teach."
--From a speech by William Graves, editor of National Geographic magazine, Speaker's Idea File
2. Solution: Our church family exists for the cultivation of deeper faith in Jesus. Therefore, as a Community of Grace, rooted in the Gospel, we will:
• Never stop repenting – for evil deeds and for good deeds done for the wrong reasons.
• Surrender all our ambitions, hopes, and plans to the One whose willis good, pleasing, and perfect.
• Allow God’s Spirit to transform us by His Word, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines, being teachable, humble, and open to His correction.
• Know, develop, and use our unique gifts for the health of the Body of Christ.
• Trust God, even when pain and difficulty cause us to doubt that He is working all things together for our good.
Next week:
3. We long to Restore the world. Good Samaritan: healing the broken
Central Idea: We grow in faith as it TAKES ROOT in all our person, if we are to Know God, Cultivate True Friendship, and Fulfill our destiny.
1. We exist to worship God by enjoying Him.
2. We live by Cultivating Faith.
a. Within ourselves
b. Within one another
Parable of the Pharisee and the tax-gatherer…
Luke 18:9–14 NASB
“And He also told this parable to certain ones who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:
“Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, and the other a tax-gatherer. “The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer.
‘I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’
“But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’
“I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted.””
THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF FAITH…
A. Faith begins with the insight that we are broken and no amount of reform can re-form us.
1. Faith builds on our awareness of need, not on our competence.
[Pharisee and tax collector narrative: what ought to happen]
i. Faith in myself vs faith in Jesus.
1. Faith in myself: if I do these things, I’ll be a better person; God will owe me.
2. Faith in Jesus: Jesus has done for me all that God requires of me.
ii. What should have happened.
1. Pharisee didn’t realize his need for mercy;
2. The tax thief DID recognize his need for mercy.
iii. Difference between the religious lifestyle and a Gospel-centred lifestyle.
1. If we are Gospel-centred: hunger for more of Jesus will lead us to employ whatever means we can: SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES.
a. Prayer; Bible-absorption;
b. Fellowship; Rest; Fasting
Indicators that we are practicing religion.
Deep sense of duty & despair.
Growing frustration with the people around me.
Deepening conviction that God has let me down.
Indicators that we are centering our life in the Gospel…
Spiritual disciplines running rampant among us.
Infectious prayer life.
Insatiable hunger for the Word of God.
Transparent fellowship.
Contagious joy and delight in being together; true community.
Deepening awareness of each one’s spiritual gifts, passions, and commitments to serve.
Development of servant-leaders; “it’s about US!”
Joyfull readiness to give “the reason for the hope within”
2. God delights in that awareness, and responds with grace.
THIS IS THE EXPANSION OF FAITH…
B. As faith extends to every portion of a person, God’s transforming power is fully released in that person.
• mind: my intellect is INFORMED by the written Word and fascinated by the Living Word, Jesus.
• emotion: my heart is INFLAMED with passion for an intimate connection with Jesus.
• volition: my will is ENGAGED with the Father’s will, ready to fully obey Him.
APPLICATIONS:
1. Problem: we long for community and talk about community, but we are so afraid of being controlled, so radically individualistic, we actually AVOID the sort of environment that nurtures community.
This is the setting to engage the Gospel of Grace. If you don’t embrace that Gospel of Grace, you will base your identity on your own achievements, the status of your own family, etc. Once you do embrace the Gospel of Grace, your own identity will be gradually transformed as you look to the life and work of Jesus for that identity.
An idol is any good thing that is turned into the Ultimate Thing. Thus, our strong sense of individual identity is good—we are created with the capacity to respond personally to God’s grace.
WHAT would my world become IF faith invaded all of me?
What would OUR world become IF faith took hold in all of us?
What would we SEE, TASTE, HEAR and TOUCH?
• Reliance on grace, not religious duty or obedience for our acceptance with God, ourselves, and each other.
• People engaging God through a variety of spiritual disciplines.
• The gospel as the central reason for all our ministries
• People equipped and active in sharing the gospel – not just ‘being nice’ – as a normal part of life.
• An increasing appetite to know and live by God’s Word
• Ongoing repentance for evil deeds and good deeds done for the wrong reasons.
• Contagious joy and delight in being together; true community.
• Growth in Christian maturity, not just numerical growth, as the measurement of a ministry’s effectiveness.
• A trust that perseveres through trials and pain
• Deepening awareness of each one’s spiritual gifts, passions, and commitments to serve.
• Disciples who are making disciples
• Training influencers for the congregation and the world.
Years ago, after a celebrated international career on the stage, the world-famous violinist Jascha Heifetz became a professor of music at UCLA. When someone asked him why he had left the glamour of performing to become a teacher, Heifetz answered, "Violin-playing is a perishable art. It must be passed on; otherwise it is lost." Then he went on to say, "I remember my old violin professor in Russia. He said that (if I worked hard enough) someday I would be good enough to teach."
--From a speech by William Graves, editor of National Geographic magazine, Speaker's Idea File
2. Solution: Our church family exists for the cultivation of deeper faith in Jesus. Therefore, as a Community of Grace, rooted in the Gospel, we will:
• Never stop repenting – for evil deeds and for good deeds done for the wrong reasons.
• Surrender all our ambitions, hopes, and plans to the One whose willis good, pleasing, and perfect.
• Allow God’s Spirit to transform us by His Word, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines, being teachable, humble, and open to His correction.
• Know, develop, and use our unique gifts for the health of the Body of Christ.
• Trust God, even when pain and difficulty cause us to doubt that He is working all things together for our good.
Next week:
3. We long to Restore the world. Good Samaritan: healing the broken
DNA of PMC: Worship God by Enjoying Him
Our DNA: God, Growth, Gravity
Why are we here?
Celebrate God, AS A COMMUNITY OF GRACE, ROOTED TOGETHER IN THE GOSPEL
Who are we? A Lot of heritage…
Preaching Music Missions “Times Square” of Hamilton
Foundation:
Matthew 28:18–20
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
There are other local assemblies who do this that and the other.
What God is calling us to Celebrate Him, Cultivate Faith in one another and restore the world.
1. We are here to Celebrate God.
Everyone worships something; at PMC, we are committed to the celebration of God.
Romans 1:16–25 NASB
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
PWPT worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
a. We celebrate God in that…
i. We tell Him how great He is…
PWPT Psalm 95:3 “For the Lord is a great God, And a great King above all gods…
ii. We exhort one another to celebrate Him: Hallelujah!
PWPT Psalm 106:1
“Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
iii. We enjoy Him.
1. Together
PWPT Psalm 34:8
O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
2. Alone
PWPT Matthew 14:23
And after He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.
iv. We worship by expressing all our gifts and talents in His honor.
PWPT
Col. 3:16-18
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father…
b. “Celebration” requires authenticity, meaning we worship even when our hearts are heavy!
c. THIS IS NOT NEW, this is Ancient:
i. Israel practiced corporate worship.
ii. The church has made worship a priority.
iii. PMC has long been committed to worship the One True God.
PWPT
d. If we were celebrating God…
i. We’d see obedience to his commands.
ii. We’d see true fellowship, unity would grow among us.
iii. We’d see passion for His Word, not merely Bible knowledge.
iv. We’d see the transforming Gospel as the central element of all our ministries.
v. We’d see more and more curious neighbours, drawn by our mesmerizing passion for Him.
vi. We’d hear reports of expanding and deepening times alone with God.
vii. In hard times, we’d see deep trust in God.
viii. We’d hunger to practice the spiritual disciplines (next week).
PWPT Take home:
• We provide diverse settings so that we can worship authentically:
o We want to enable people to speak to God in their own dialect (English, musically, etc.)
o We do NOT want to divide the church based on PREFERENCE (what is an indicator that you are driven by preference—you skip the combined services! Not even one time can you tolerate someone else’s dialect, then you are motivated by personal taste.)
• We prepare ourselves for corporate worship—beginning Monday, continuing through Saturday evening.
• We seek the face of God daily.
• We honour God by our approach to life and work.
PWPT Commitment Card
Our church family exists for the celebration of God. Therefore, as a Community of Grace, rooted in the Gospel, we will:
• Devote ourselves to knowing and enjoying the triune God as our great Treasure, resisting all idols that compete with Him for our hearts’ affection;
• Embrace God and His will for us by grace through faith in Jesus, resisting both religious and irreligious deeds as the means of our acceptance;
• Accept the cost of discipleship, believing that Jesus Christ is better than anything else the world has to offer;
• Express our worship of God authentically in spirit and truth, resisting all pretence in our corporate and private worship;
• Make God’s glory the ultimate purpose of all we do.
Next:
2. We exist to Cultivate Faith. Pharisee & Tax collector: Gospel-centred lifestyle, distinction between religion and faith.
Why are we here?
Celebrate God, AS A COMMUNITY OF GRACE, ROOTED TOGETHER IN THE GOSPEL
Who are we? A Lot of heritage…
Preaching Music Missions “Times Square” of Hamilton
Foundation:
Matthew 28:18–20
“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””
There are other local assemblies who do this that and the other.
What God is calling us to Celebrate Him, Cultivate Faith in one another and restore the world.
1. We are here to Celebrate God.
Everyone worships something; at PMC, we are committed to the celebration of God.
Romans 1:16–25 NASB
Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
PWPT worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”
a. We celebrate God in that…
i. We tell Him how great He is…
PWPT Psalm 95:3 “For the Lord is a great God, And a great King above all gods…
ii. We exhort one another to celebrate Him: Hallelujah!
PWPT Psalm 106:1
“Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
iii. We enjoy Him.
1. Together
PWPT Psalm 34:8
O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
2. Alone
PWPT Matthew 14:23
And after He had sent the multitudes away, He went up to the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.
iv. We worship by expressing all our gifts and talents in His honor.
PWPT
Col. 3:16-18
Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father…
b. “Celebration” requires authenticity, meaning we worship even when our hearts are heavy!
c. THIS IS NOT NEW, this is Ancient:
i. Israel practiced corporate worship.
ii. The church has made worship a priority.
iii. PMC has long been committed to worship the One True God.
PWPT
d. If we were celebrating God…
i. We’d see obedience to his commands.
ii. We’d see true fellowship, unity would grow among us.
iii. We’d see passion for His Word, not merely Bible knowledge.
iv. We’d see the transforming Gospel as the central element of all our ministries.
v. We’d see more and more curious neighbours, drawn by our mesmerizing passion for Him.
vi. We’d hear reports of expanding and deepening times alone with God.
vii. In hard times, we’d see deep trust in God.
viii. We’d hunger to practice the spiritual disciplines (next week).
PWPT Take home:
• We provide diverse settings so that we can worship authentically:
o We want to enable people to speak to God in their own dialect (English, musically, etc.)
o We do NOT want to divide the church based on PREFERENCE (what is an indicator that you are driven by preference—you skip the combined services! Not even one time can you tolerate someone else’s dialect, then you are motivated by personal taste.)
• We prepare ourselves for corporate worship—beginning Monday, continuing through Saturday evening.
• We seek the face of God daily.
• We honour God by our approach to life and work.
PWPT Commitment Card
Our church family exists for the celebration of God. Therefore, as a Community of Grace, rooted in the Gospel, we will:
• Devote ourselves to knowing and enjoying the triune God as our great Treasure, resisting all idols that compete with Him for our hearts’ affection;
• Embrace God and His will for us by grace through faith in Jesus, resisting both religious and irreligious deeds as the means of our acceptance;
• Accept the cost of discipleship, believing that Jesus Christ is better than anything else the world has to offer;
• Express our worship of God authentically in spirit and truth, resisting all pretence in our corporate and private worship;
• Make God’s glory the ultimate purpose of all we do.
Next:
2. We exist to Cultivate Faith. Pharisee & Tax collector: Gospel-centred lifestyle, distinction between religion and faith.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Magi, the Happy Heretics!
God Was There/God Is Here:
To Introduce Jesus to the World
The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation J.I. Packer
TODAY MATTHEW 2:1-12
Central Idea: PWPNT
As the Magi were able to see Jesus for Who He is,
while the wise men of Judea did not,
so we long to see Jesus as He is.
I. The Magi were shown the importance Jesus.
They responded to the light by leaving home, making a great journey over a significant period of time, to a distant place.
The Magi saw a star, or a star-like object in the sky (“in the East” means they saw it seemed to be over Israel, to their west, while they were at home).
Magi:
• a priestly caste of Medes with dream-interpreting wisdom
• perhaps one of Babylon’s magi, a group Daniel joined;
• Babylon or Persia or Arabia, though the time involved suggests the distance of Babylon
• If from Babylon, they may have learned about these prophecies from Jews in exile.
• No names given; though by the 6th Century, they were given names;
• unspecified number, though three different gifts were mentioned.
• 17th century: Johannes Kepler noted there would have been a planetary alignment in that era, though not that year; he then suggested this was more likely a supernova, a faint star that suddenly explodes into brilliance, then fades.
• DA Carson, EBC: Matthew presents the “star” as strictly supernatural. This too is possible and obviously impossible to falsify, but 2:9 is not as determinative as is often suggested (cf. on 2:9). The evidence is inconclusive.
• PWPNT Carson: Matthew uses language almost certainly alluding to Numbers 24:17: “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” This oracle, spoken by Balaam, who came “from the eastern mountains” (Num 23:7),
• Granting Matthew’s informed devotion to the OT, he surely knew that the OT mocks astrologers (Isa 47:13-15; Dan 1:20; 2:27; 4:7; 5:7) and forbids astrology (Jer 10:1-2). Nevertheless it was widely practiced in the first century, even among Jews (cf. Albright and Mann). Matthew neither condemns nor sanctions it;
• instead, he contrasts the eagerness of the Magi to worship Jesus, despite their limited knowledge, with the apathy of the Jewish leaders and the hostility of Herod’s court—all of whom had the Scriptures to inform them.
• Formal knowledge of the Scriptures, Matthew implies, does not in itself lead to knowing who Jesus is; just as God sovereignly worked through Caesar’s decree that a census be taken (Luke 2:1) to ensure Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy, so God sovereignly used the Magi’s calculations to bring about the situation this pericope describes.
• 2:11 This verse plainly alludes to Psalm 72:10-11 and Isaiah 60:6, passages that reinforce the emphasis on the Gentiles (cf. on v.6).
PWRPT Psalm 72:10–11
“Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
And let all kings bow down before him,
All nations serve him.”
PWRPT Isaiah 60:6
““A multitude of camels will cover you,
The young camels of Midian and Ephah;
All those from Sheba will come;
They will bring gold and frankincense,
And will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.”
They responded to the light by leaving home, making a great journey over a significant period of time, to a distant place.
II. The reason we see how great God is, is because God has shown us light, and drawn us to worship.
A. The God who said “Let there be light” has caused light to shine in our hearts.
i. As He drew Gentiles to Jesus at the first Advent…
B. That light leads us to His greater promises…
a. PWPNT ““Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezk 36:26
C. The God who draws us to Jesus CONTINUOUSLY draws us to Jesus.
D. How do we SEE Jesus ONCE AGAIN at Advent?
=Lane talked about seeing Jesus with new eyes - the Holy Spirit has been active throughout history revealing Jesus to the world.......and he is active today, continuing to reveal Jesus in us and through us.....
To Introduce Jesus to the World
The Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as this truth of the Incarnation J.I. Packer
TODAY MATTHEW 2:1-12
Central Idea: PWPNT
As the Magi were able to see Jesus for Who He is,
while the wise men of Judea did not,
so we long to see Jesus as He is.
I. The Magi were shown the importance Jesus.
They responded to the light by leaving home, making a great journey over a significant period of time, to a distant place.
The Magi saw a star, or a star-like object in the sky (“in the East” means they saw it seemed to be over Israel, to their west, while they were at home).
Magi:
• a priestly caste of Medes with dream-interpreting wisdom
• perhaps one of Babylon’s magi, a group Daniel joined;
• Babylon or Persia or Arabia, though the time involved suggests the distance of Babylon
• If from Babylon, they may have learned about these prophecies from Jews in exile.
• No names given; though by the 6th Century, they were given names;
• unspecified number, though three different gifts were mentioned.
• 17th century: Johannes Kepler noted there would have been a planetary alignment in that era, though not that year; he then suggested this was more likely a supernova, a faint star that suddenly explodes into brilliance, then fades.
• DA Carson, EBC: Matthew presents the “star” as strictly supernatural. This too is possible and obviously impossible to falsify, but 2:9 is not as determinative as is often suggested (cf. on 2:9). The evidence is inconclusive.
• PWPNT Carson: Matthew uses language almost certainly alluding to Numbers 24:17: “A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel.” This oracle, spoken by Balaam, who came “from the eastern mountains” (Num 23:7),
• Granting Matthew’s informed devotion to the OT, he surely knew that the OT mocks astrologers (Isa 47:13-15; Dan 1:20; 2:27; 4:7; 5:7) and forbids astrology (Jer 10:1-2). Nevertheless it was widely practiced in the first century, even among Jews (cf. Albright and Mann). Matthew neither condemns nor sanctions it;
• instead, he contrasts the eagerness of the Magi to worship Jesus, despite their limited knowledge, with the apathy of the Jewish leaders and the hostility of Herod’s court—all of whom had the Scriptures to inform them.
• Formal knowledge of the Scriptures, Matthew implies, does not in itself lead to knowing who Jesus is; just as God sovereignly worked through Caesar’s decree that a census be taken (Luke 2:1) to ensure Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem to fulfill prophecy, so God sovereignly used the Magi’s calculations to bring about the situation this pericope describes.
• 2:11 This verse plainly alludes to Psalm 72:10-11 and Isaiah 60:6, passages that reinforce the emphasis on the Gentiles (cf. on v.6).
PWRPT Psalm 72:10–11
“Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring presents;
The kings of Sheba and Seba offer gifts.
And let all kings bow down before him,
All nations serve him.”
PWRPT Isaiah 60:6
““A multitude of camels will cover you,
The young camels of Midian and Ephah;
All those from Sheba will come;
They will bring gold and frankincense,
And will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.”
They responded to the light by leaving home, making a great journey over a significant period of time, to a distant place.
II. The reason we see how great God is, is because God has shown us light, and drawn us to worship.
A. The God who said “Let there be light” has caused light to shine in our hearts.
i. As He drew Gentiles to Jesus at the first Advent…
B. That light leads us to His greater promises…
a. PWPNT ““Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezk 36:26
C. The God who draws us to Jesus CONTINUOUSLY draws us to Jesus.
D. How do we SEE Jesus ONCE AGAIN at Advent?
=Lane talked about seeing Jesus with new eyes - the Holy Spirit has been active throughout history revealing Jesus to the world.......and he is active today, continuing to reveal Jesus in us and through us.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
