The Churchtown Weekly Thursday, April 25, 2024
Learn-Grow-Become-GO!
Shout it in the assembly.
| Shout it to the world. (Psalm 40) |
Romans 10
1Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.
In these opening verses, Paul speaks of the Jews who would not accept Jesus as the Messiah. There were also Jews who tried to create a “hybrid” type of religion – claiming Christ while still trying to keep the law – just in case.
This really speaks to the church today – not necessarily to those who are Jewish as much as those who claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior – AND – claim the ways of the world as being good and proper. I said last week that good and evil cannot exist in your heart at the same time, and some of the conviction that we feel is a result of trying to have one leg in each world. My prayer for you, like Paul’s prayer for the Jews, is that you take this conviction to heart, look yourself in the mirror, and make you choice.
Do you want to claim Jesus as your savior?
Ok – From what, or whom, are you being saved?
Do you believe in redemption? Who and what are redeemed by Jesus sacrificing Himself in your place?
Do you believe that God did all this because you are worthy; that He is pursuing you in the effort to “invite you into a relationship with Him?”
*Theology Alert! Theology Alert!*
All three of these questions help us to examine the nature of salvation and our relationship with our Holy God, and all three are inextricably tied together.
Point one:
5For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8In fact, it says,
“The message is very close at hand;
it is on your lips and in your heart.”
And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”
Salvation is part and parcel of our faith and is based on first, the unwarranted forgiveness of our sin that God offers (grace), and that grace is embedded in the redemption of ALL creation. We are saved, not so that He can “pursue us and invite us into relationship with Him.” We are saved from His wrath – from being cut off, as it were, from our creator. In essence, because we are so unworthy to be in His presence, God saves us from Himself – from the natural result of an unholy created being in the presence of a perfect and holy eternal being.
We are saved FOR serving in the Kingdom of God now and the future. We are saved so that we may do the will of God on earth so that others may be saved, and the Kingdom will grow and being the shining light to the world that it is intended to be. We are saved so that we may complete GOD’S purposed on earth – not ours.
14But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
16But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “LORD, who has believed our message?” 17So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ. 18But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message? Yes, they have:
“The message has gone throughout the earth,
and the words to all the world.”
Point two:
God, as we know, DID create a pathway for salvation through forgiveness and redemption and AS A RESULT, we are able to be in a relationship that I am most unworthy of being in. In the words of a person with whom I had a Godly conversation with this week, “Last I read, Jesus died for God to redeem His entire creation, and we are welcomed into God’s story by His grace alone.”
Our self-focused culture creeps into Christian culture – sometimes covertly, sometimes very overtly. We profess to believe that we will follow the Christ by discerning God’s will while at the same time “chasing our dreams” or “creating our own destiny.” Seems to me that those belief systems are not only in opposition to one another, but fully deny our faith in God.
19But I ask, did the people of Israel really understand? Yes, they did, for even in the time of Moses, God said,
“I will rouse your jealousy through people who are not even a nation.
I will provoke your anger through the foolish Gentiles.”
20And later Isaiah spoke boldly for God, saying,
“I was found by people who were not looking for me.
I showed myself to those who were not asking for me.”
21But regarding Israel, God said,
“All day long I opened my arms to them,
but they were disobedient and rebellious.”
Point three:
Disobedient and rebellious. To claim that God pursues you with some hyper-exaggerated form of human love so that tap you on the shoulder and invite you to be in relationship with Him because you are so worthy is both disobedient and rebellious. Yet this is exactly what is taught via our “modern” view of atonement and our “modern” forms of worship and worship music.
In our preaching we have moved from, “It is a good thing If you leave today feeling the conviction of God’s Holy Spirit and knowing how much you are in need of your savior Jesus Christ,” to, “I want you to leave here today knowing that God loves you, has a wonderful plan for your life and has instilled in you the power to MAKE IT HAPPEN!” Yeah!
NO.
Our music has moved from sacred music to Hymns of the church to “worship music” and we sing about things like God’s “sloppy wet kiss” for us and His relentless pursuit of us. Moreover, we have banished the idea that worship is embedded in every waking moment of our existence and thus in everything that we do, say, or even think and moved to the idea that worship of God is a 20 minute segment of a Sunday morning during which between sips of our lattes and social media checks, we sing highly emotional songs about how great we are and how God is so lucky to have created us. Yeah!
NO.
I am teaching this because I do not want to go astray.
I am teaching this because I do not want you to go astray.
I am teaching this because I must be very intentional about my thinking, teaching, and preaching.
I am teaching this because through my teaching, I want you not only be able to tell Truth from falsehood – good theology from bad – but because I truly want you to be inspired to immerse yourself in the Word of God so that you understand what it means to be a son or daughter of God.
After healing a paralytic, Matthew records this reaction in chapter 9, “4Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts? 5Is it easier to say ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up and walk’? 6So I will prove to you that the Son of Manb has the authority on earth to forgive sins.” Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”
7And the man jumped up and went home! 8Fear swept through the crowd as they saw this happen. And they praised God for giving humans such authority.
Read that carefully – They Feared God – then WORSHIPPED Him. It is not the kind of human fear that makes us want to run, it is the kind of fear that fills us with respect and awe. It like walking outside on a Summer’s day and feeling the sun on our backs while knowing that is we get too close to it, we will die.
I will leave you with two thoughts to consider – two ways of thinking that can dramatically shape the way you approach scripture and your relationship with the Father through Jesus Christ.
The Bible was not written TO you – it was written FOR you.
The Bible was not written about YOU – it was written to reveal Who GOD is.
Finally, remember, good and evil cannot exist in your heart at the same time. Choose this day which you will serve. When you choose to follow God, your faith in Him is essential – stop knocking on wood (an example of the many superstitious behaviors that demonstrate our lack of faith) and stop trying to manifest this or that and/or speaking things into existence – again, a demonstration of disobedience and rebellion because, as they learned in the garden, that is God’s job and God’s job alone.
God did not sacrifice Himself on the cross as a man to that he could “invite into a relationship” with Him. He did so to save you from Hos wrath – from being separated from the Spirit of God now – which is hell on earth – and from being separated from Him when this fragile clay jar finally breaks – which means living in Hell for eternity.
Cry out to Jesus – “I do believe Lord, O help me in my unbelief!”
Let us Pray.
*A quick note *
Our time together in communal worship will be about 45 minutes, then we will begin the meeting. I do pray that you WANT to know about your church and will come, stay, and be a part of it all.
Sunday was another powerful day as we shared song, prayer, and God’s Word together. THANK YOU for your prayers before, during, and after. Delving into the preaching of spiritual warfare is never easy. I can always expect distractions and discouragements; but I know that we are in this together and that our church has a strong spiritual foundation edified by your faithful prayers. IT’s ALWAYS ALL ABOUT HIM!
Church Calendar
- Saturdays, April 20 and 27 are SERVE Saturdays
- Sunday the 28th Spring Meeting
- Friday May 3 is the First Friday with the movie at 7pm
- “Chosen” episodes will run Friday nights May 10, 17, 24, and 31 @7pm
- May 12 is Mother’s Day – Brass ensemble will lead music, Kids for our King – and that will feature Valerie Fite taking her vows of membership.
- Tuesday, May 14 is council prayer
- Wednesday, May 22 is congregational prayer (changed this month!)
- Kelly and I leave for Vacation Wednesday, May 22 (return Saturday, June 1)
- Saturday, May 25 – Randy Simpson is outside at 5pm
- Randy is back Saturday, June 1 – inside at 6.
- 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.
Churchtown Church of God
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Welcome to Churchtown!
We are glad you are here!
Prayer and Prelude, “Crown Him with Many Crowns”
Chorus #107, “Let’s Just Praise the Lord”
Hymn #8, “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”
The Opening Word
Psalms 121 and 122 (NLT)
“I Stand Amazed”
Back in the Word
Psalms 123 and 124 (NLT)
Hymn #473, “Victory in Jesus”
The Last Word
Psalms 130 and 133 (NLT)
Our Time of Communal Prayer
“The Lord’s Prayer”
The Final Word: Psalm 134 (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