The Churchtown Weekly Thursday, July 11, 2024
Learn-Grow-Become-GO!
Shout it in the assembly.
Shout it to the world. (Psalm 40)
13Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance. 15But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, 16for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” 17Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.
(1 Peter 1:13-17 BSB)
14Pursue peace with everyone, as well as holiness, without which no one will see the Lord. 15See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many. 16See to it that no one is sexually immoral, or is godless like Esau, who for a single meal sold his birthright. 17For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected. He could find no ground for repentance, though he sought the blessing with tears.
(Hebrews 12:14-17 BSB)
Recently, a friend asked me how I would describe holiness in words that those who do not know Christ would understand. Being that I am supposed to, in many ways, do that for a living, I have been giving that a lot of thought. It is easy to define the word holy. It means, “to be set apart.” It is much more difficult to place the meaning in the context of following Christ, and even more difficult to live out in a corrupt world.
We know, as demonstrated in the above text, that we are called to be holy. We know that the Hebrew people were called to be holy. We know that the high priests had to be completely ritualistically clean to even enter what was called, ‘the holy of holies’ that housed the Ark of the covenant. Moreover, as Christians, we believe that through faith in Jesus Christ, we are redeemed, and it is possible for us to live a holy life – made clean by the sacrifice of Christ and thus able to be in s direct spiritual relationship with The Most High.
So how would YOU explain that to a person who does not understand the idea that we are taught?
The key to understanding is understanding a concept that is, as we say, a foot wide and five miles deep.
Truth: Only Yahweh is truly holy – truly “other.” All other forms of holiness stem from this understanding. We are not just commanded to be holy; holiness is made possible by the very Spirit of the Living God within us and by intentionally following the teachings of God (hear the laws of Leviticus in the Old testament and the Sermon on the Mount in the new).
In the old testament, followers of Yahweh were made holy by a heartfelt commitment to follow the law. In exodus 19 verse 6, God told Moses to tell the Israelites, “6And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”
This meant everything from NOT sacrificing to idols to wearing their hair a certain way. You see, our holiness and our relationship with God go hand-in-hand, of this there is no doubt. That which is unholy will not survive in the presence of that which is – unless that which is holy allows it.
Beyond the cross, according to the New Testament, being made holy means repenting, turning to Christ, believing in His completed work of redemption, and submitting our will to His.
So, we see that regardless of Old or New Testament teachings, the concept is the same – the followers of Yahweh are His special possession and, frankly speaking, we are called to act like it.
We know this from many teachings of scripture – from Moses, who had to hide himself in the cleft of the rock as Yahweh passed, to the high priests, who had to make themselves ritualistically clean in order to enter the ‘holy of holies’ on the day of atonement – to Isaiah, who was brought into the presence of God only to have himself sanctified by the coals placed on his lips.
We are called, we respond – GOD MAKES US HOLY.
As we move beyond the resurrection, we know that we are unable to spiritually dwell in the presence of God without the sacrifice of Jesus and the unwarranted grace He gives to those who will believe and persevere. We know that we are not righteous; but by His sacrifice, we are covered by His righteousness. He is the last High Priest – interceding constantly on our behalf.
Again, we are called, we respond only GOD MAKES US HOLY.
We then then are very intentional about living in the Spirit – seeking and following God’s will – and being OK with Who He is and where we are led.
Being Holy is being possessed by the Spirit of God and being OK with that. So many want to be possessed by the Spirit of God but are NOT OK seeking His purposes for us or following His will. The road to our Emmaus is filled with the temptation of compromise.
I came across this in one of my reading plans and it sums up this point well. It is verse 43 of 1 Kings 22, “Jehoshaphat was a good king, following the example of his father, Asa. He did what was pleasing in the LORD’s sight. During his reign, however, he failed to remove all the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.”
Jehoshaphat wanted peace. He wanted to consolidate power, and he actually wanted to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord; BUT to achieve all these things, he sought compromise. Seeking peace and seeking power are common to leadership and it could be argued that even in God’s kingdom on earth, compromise will always be a part of the political process.
When it comes to adhering to God’s command to, “Be holy as I am holy,” however, compromise cannot be a part of the picture. The irony for Jehoshaphat, as it is for many of us, is that he actively sought to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord…
Jehosaphat sought to follow the law while simultaneously “keeping the peace” by allowing the “high places” of sacrifice to Baal to stand. He fought against being holy for the sake of being king. In New Testament words, Jehosaphat sought HIS kingdom first, not the kingdom of God, and although his intentions may not have been evil, his behavior was. He wanted to follow, but he did not want to be holy. Then, as today, a follower cannot have both; a follower cannot promote both; and a follower cannot expect God to allow both.
Can I sum up what it means to be holy so that I could express it to a non-believer? Yes.
To be holy as God is holy means that we are comfortable living as children of God, and we will not compromise in our faith, our conviction to follow, or our intentionality in seeking first the Kingdom before we seek to fulfill our own purposes.
Easy peezy, lemon squeezy. Yeh, right.
A foot wide, five miles deep.
I honestly don’t know if that would translate to a person who did not know or follow Jesus; but I hope it helps you.
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
Saturday July 13 – Wednesday July 17 – Churchtown Riders RIDE!
Sunday July 14 – Barb preaching / Brass ensemble playing / Kids for Our King
Sunday July 21 the New Song Singers Lead the Service of the Ordinances
Wednesday July 24 is chamily prayer at 7pm
Saturday July 27 Randy Simpson outside at 5.
July 29-August 2 is SERVE WEEK 2024! Sign-up today to help or if you need help!
SERVICE OF THE ORDINANCE DATES:
July 21
October 13th
November 27th – Thanksgiving Eve.
July 29-August 2 is SERVE WEEK 2024! Sign-up today to help or if you need help!
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, July 7, 2024
Welcome to Churchtown!
We are glad you are here! We enjoy a special prelude pieces today from the brass ensemble! Enjoy!
Opening Word
Romans 8:8-14 (NLT)
383, “Open Our Eyes”
#404, “The Solid Rock”
#97 “All Hail the Power”
262, “Holy, Holy, Holy”
Our time In the Word
Leviticus 19:1-19 (NLT)
“He Hideth My Soul” – The Brass
Our Time of Testimony and Prayer
“The Lord’s Prayer”
The Final Word: Romans 16:25-27 (NLT)
Postlude, “When the Saints Go Marching In”
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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