The Churchtown Weekly Thursday, June 13, 2024
Learn-Grow-Become-GO!
Shout it in the assembly.
Shout it to the world. (Psalm 40)
1Then Job replied to the LORD:
2“I know that you can do anything,
and no one can stop you.
3You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’
It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,
things far too wonderful for me.
4You said, ‘Listen and I will speak!
I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.’
5I had only heard about you before,
but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
6I take back everything I said,
and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”
I know that I had said earlier in the week that I was probably going to write about parables in general and the parable of the Sower in particular, but then I came across this in my daily reading on Tuesday. It is in my top 10 favorite, most meaningful passages of scripture. It is from the book of Job, Chapter 40, verses 1-6 (NLT).
Job is a powerful book. It is, perhaps, the oldest book of the Bible and, like many other books of the Old Testament, (Leviticus comes to mind) is often misquoted and misunderstood.
First and foremost, like the book of Leviticus, Job is a world-altering, paradigm shifting, theological treatise. The story of Job, the discussions regarding his plight, his righteousness, the good and bad that happens to him and the involvement, or lack thereof, of Yahweh and the Satan is designed to change the way God’s image-bearers view Him and understand our interactions with Him. This is why many will read Job before even Genesis – because the way Job ends up thinking about Yahweh is the way in which Abram thinks about Yahweh from the time he is called out if Ur.
And how does Job end up thinking about Yahweh? The answer is embedded in the passage I am sharing.
The common thought regarding human interaction with “gods” was, and still is to some degree, transactional. In other words, the way God feels about me is contingent upon what I do for him or her. In this case, Job believes, as was the common thought of the day, that God gave him all the good things that he had in life because he (Job) behaved well in the sight of God.
Good (righteous) behavior = Good stuff and good things happening.
Bad (sinful) behavior = Bad stuff and bad things happening.
This is the most common way that human beings are wired to think about relationships – transactionally. If you are nice to me, I will be nice to you. If you respect me, I will respect you etc.
We know that God, however, does not relate to His special creation in this way. We can do nothing for Yahweh to make Him like or even love us – for God IS love and that is His innate nature.
We know that we can do nothing that would make God respect us – for God is Holy and Sovereign. He need not respect us because we are on no level His equal.
We know that we can do nothing to be in a right (righteous) relationship with God – for our natures are sinful and incapable of living in such a way. God alone is capable of creating a “path of righteousness” for us.
It is Yahweh – The Sovereign of the universe – Who loves, provides for, and seeks to redeem His image-bearers.
Job learns this only after exhausting every possible argument for and against God and the way God thinks. The simple matter is that – Yahweh is “other” and does not think as we do. He is Love and does not love the way we do. He is Holy and is not dependent upon any other being to be so.
God is an autonomous moral being whose nature is perfect and who’s choices are just.
As Job learns, we are none of those things and have not even a glimmer of tasting those things without complete dependence on Yahweh and His Spirit within us. Job finds out that his relationship with God is, in fact, NOT transactional. God giveth and God taketh away, as we say, according to His good and perfect will. God chooses to create the story of Job so that all humanity could know that He is above human precepts of who He is and that He is above human ideas of morality and justice.
It was Yahweh’s choice to take away from Job so that all could see that He (God) is Holy. It was Yahweh’s choice to gift Job at the end of his trials in a picture of restoration that we all should be motivated to seek, (for we know that God is displeased with Job’s behavior thus the good things that Job receives at the end are not blessing, but rather gifts given by God’s choice) as Job ended up doing, by sitting in dust and ashes to show our repentance.
From these last words of Job to the first words of the ministry of Jesus we see the consistent, just, holy character of Yahweh. He seeks only a broken and contrite heart. As He chooses to provide a path of redemption, He desires His image-bearers to repent of their sin and submit.
Submit to the One Who is Holy, Just, and loves His special creation so much that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whomsoever shall believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!
You can now subscribe and listen to the
“Churchtown Podcast Network!”
Available on both Apple Podcasts and Spotify, just search “Turning on the Lights!” and “Churchtown Church of God Sermons” – subscribe and then leave a rating and a review! More folks will see it!
*Audio and video are always posted on our YouTube channel @churchtownchurch (there are 1,100 videos there)
Church Calendar
Chamily prayer is happening at 7pm Wednesday, June 19th in the sanctuary.
Here is the agenda: Churchtown Praise and Prayer
- Greetings and Opening Prayer: Open to anyone who would feel moved to ask for blessings.
- Transition: Galatians 5:19-21, Let’s talk about recognizing our sins. – Ryan N.
- Open Discussion (Check-In with each other): Let’s talk. Let everyone know how you, your family and friends are doing. What blessings have you had or what stresses would you like to get out?
- Directed Discussion: So far open discussion has led to the immediate needs of our members and the church. I trust that this will continue but we do have several topics already from outreach, social movements, and the church universal.
The Yard and Bake Sale is Saturday June 22!
Randy is back Saturday June 29th at 6pm.
Sunday the 30th is a FIFTH SUNDAY CELEBRATION!
SERVICE OF THE ORDINANCE DATES:
July 21
October 13th
November 27th – Thanksgiving Eve.
Remember, the single biggest reason given for why someone attends church for the first time is that a friend asked them!
As always, we continue in prayer for Churchtown, for our community, for the church universal, and for the lost everywhere.
God is good. God provides. Keep your eyes up and on the cross people.
Be well and do good, my friends. And, as always, Keep Looking Up! The lord comes!
REMEMBER THAT!
Opportunities!
We are always seeking individuals to be trained in technology. We would like to develop TEAMS that could rotate weekends.
There is always the opportunity to provide music – join up with the New Song Singers and / or talk to me about a special prelude or piece.
Gather-Grow-Become-Go
Churchtown Church of God
Sunday, June 16, 2024
Welcome to Churchtown!
We are glad you are here!
“Happy Father’s Day!”
Landon, Liam, and Steph have a special prelude, “Awesome God”
“Come Let Us Worship and Bow down”
“As the Deer”
“In the Garden”
The Opening Word
John 14:27-31; 16:31-33 (NLT)
“10,000 Reasons”
Our Time in the Word
1 John 5:1-12 (NLT)
247, “Spirit of the Living God” – a cappella
Our Time of Testimony and Prayer
“The Lord’s Prayer”
The Final Word: 1 John 5:13-21 (NLT)
As a “little” church, we are always asking the question, “What CAN we do?” Well, we can start by caring for the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of each other.We CAN serve the next person God places before us.
We CAN invite that person to church!
We CAN be intentional about going to church and strengthening ourselves and the body.
We CAN serve our community and show who Christ is to those who do not know Him.
We CAN PRAY, PRAY, PRAY – and we can REMAIN FATIHFUL!
I Love Being Your Pastor and Your Friend,
Brian
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