John Piper on the Duty of Worship

"The real duty of worship is not the outward duty to say or do the liturgy.  It is the inward duty, the command: 'Delight yourself in the LORD!' (Psalm 37:4).  'Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice!" (Psalm 32:11).

"The reason this is the real duty of worship is that it honors God, while the empty performance of ritual does not.  If I take my wife out for the evening on our anniversary and she asks me, 'Why you do this?' the answer that honors her most is 'Because nothing makes me happier tonight than to be with you.'

"'It's my duty' is a dishonor to her.

"'It's my joy' is a honor.

"How shall we honor God in worship?  By saying, 'It's my duty'?  Or by saying, 'It's my joy'?

"Worship is a way of reflecting back to God the radiance of His worth.  Now we see that the mirror the catches the rays of His radiance and reflects them back in worship is the joyful heart.  Another way of saying this is to say, 'The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever'"  (John Piper, Desiring God).

J.C. Ryle of Joining Anything with Christ

"Is Christ all?  Then learn the enormous folly of joining anything with Christ in the matter of salvation.  There are multitudes of baptized men and women who profess to honor Christ, but in reality do Him great dishonor.  They give Christ a certain place in their system of religion, but not the place which God intended Him to fill.  Christ alone is not all in all to their souls.  No!  It is either Christ and the church, or Christ and the sacraments, or Christ and His ordained ministers, or Christ and their own repentance, or Christ and their own goodness, or Christ and their own prayers, or Christ and their own sincerity and charity, on which they practically rest their souls.

"If any reader of this message is a Christian of this kind, I warn him also plainly, that his religion is an offense to God.  You are changing God's plan of salvation into a plan of your own devising.  You are in effect deposing Christ from His throne, by giving the glory due to Him to another.

"I care not who it is that teaches such religion, and on whose word you build.  Whether they be pope or cardinal, archbishop or bishop, dean or archdeacon, presbyter or deacon, Episcopalian or Presbyterian, Baptist or Independent, Wesleyan or Plymouth brother, whoever adds anything to Christ, teaches you wrong.

"Take heed what you are doing.  Beware of giving to Christ's servants the honor due to none but Christ.  Beware of giving the Lord's ordinances the honor due unto the Lord.  Beware of resting the burden of your soul on anything but Christ, and Christ alone" (Holiness, J.C. Ryle).

Christ's First Sign

“J.S. Bach said, ‘All music should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the soul's refreshment; where this is not remembered there is no real music but only a devilish hub-bub.’

“He headed his compositions: ‘J.J.’ ‘Jesus Juva’ which means ‘Jesus help me.’  He ended them ‘S.D.G.’ ‘Soli Dei gratia’ which means ‘To God alone the praise.’”  (Kingdom Conflict, J. Stowell, Victor, 1985, p. 77ff.)

As disciples of Christ we are called to give God glory in all things.  This means that every mundane, unexpected, and deeply changing event in the life of a disciple of Christ points in one direction, to His glory.  As we continue to study the Gospel of John we will begin to see how the actions and words of Jesus all point to His own glory.

John 2:1-12 is Christ’s first public sign that He is more than just a carpenter.  At a wedding He is attending the wine has run out and Jesus proceeds to turn water into wine.  What purpose does He have in beginning His public ministry in this way?  What does this passage teach us about being a disciple of Christ?  What can we learn from Jesus and the actions of His disciples and mother?  Where does God’s glory fit into this passage?

May we be prepared to encounter God this week as we study and strive to understand His Word.  And may that Word have a profound affect on our hearts, minds, and lives.

Striving to know Christ and make Him known,

Mark

Grace Through Christ

“Charles Spurgeon and Joseph Parker both had churches in London in the 19th century. On one occasion, Parker commented on the poor condition of children admitted to Spurgeon's orphanage. It was reported to Spurgeon however, that Parker had criticized the orphanage itself. Spurgeon blasted Parker the next week from the pulpit. The attack was printed in the newspapers and became the talk of the town. People flocked to Parker's church the next Sunday to hear his rebuttal. ‘I understand Dr. Spurgeon is not in his pulpit today, and this is the Sunday they use to take an offering for the orphanage. I suggest we take a love offering here instead.’ The crowd was delighted. The ushers had to empty the collection plates 3 times. Later that week there was a knock at Parker's study. It was Spurgeon. ‘You know Parker, you have practiced grace on me. You have given me not what I deserved, you have given me what I needed’ (Moody Monthly, December, 1983, p. 81.).”

John 1:14-18 speaks to the grace of Christ given to the children of God.  What is grace?  How should the children of God view this grace in light of their sinfulness?  What is the importance of this grace in our relationship with Christ?  How does this grace affect our every day lives?

Join us this week as we strive together to understand, grasp, and attempt to live out the words of God in John 1:14-18.  May the Spirit prepare each of us hear His truth and to live it out.

Striving to know Christ and make Him known,

The Glory of Jesus

“Some men become proud and insolent because they ride a fine horse, wear a feather in their hat, or are dressed in a fine suit of clothes.  Who does not see the folly of this?  If there be any glory in such things, the glory belongs to the horse, the bird, and the tailor” (St. Francis de Sales).

As the shepherds witnessed the glory of God through his angels on that night so long ago, they did not think of themselves as great, wonderful, or suddenly spiritually awe inspiring.  They instead sought the one of whose glory was spoken.  The same can be said of us today.  When we witness the glory of Jesus Christ first-hand through the power of the Holy Spirit in saving us from our sins we should not think that we are glorious in-and-of-ourselves.  Instead, we should seek the glory of the One who has made us glorious.

As we gather together this Sunday may the glory of Jesus Christ become real to us, may we witness the awesome work of his mighty power, and may we be driven to seek out the Glorious One each day of our lives.

Patience in Suffering

The definition and understanding of suffering will differ greatly from person to person.  One individual will see suffering as physical ailments while another will understand suffering as financial difficulties.  Still others will understand suffering as anything in life that does not go as planned or expected.  Even within the church we hear suffering from the perspective of “my cross to bear.” 

What is suffering?  What does the Word of God have to say about the suffering of the disciple of Jesus Christ?  What is the purpose of suffering?  How should the disciple of Jesus Christ respond to and view suffering?  What does patience in the midst of suffering look like?

We must be warned, though.  This topic is very relevant to our everyday life, but it is also a topic of which we are very wary.  Why?  We may not like the answer God gives us.  For example, someone once asked C.S. Lewis, “Why do the righteous suffer?”  “Why not,” he replied.  “They’re the only ones who can take it.”  That is not quite the answer we expect or want while in the midst of suffering.  But the question naturally arises, how do the righteous, the disciple of Christ “take it”?

As we gather together this week may the Spirit move within our hearts and clarify in our minds the truth of God and His gospel.  And may He prepare us to listen and follow His words on suffering and patience.

Glorifying God

This Sunday morning at FBC will be much different than most as we will be hosting our annual Sunday School Promotion and Rally Sunday.  The schedule of events is listed below. 

Because of this change from our normal worship service I would like us to give some thought to our mission here at FBC which is “To Glorify God by Making Disciples.”  We get this from 1 Corinthians 10:31,

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

To truly understand this statement by Paul to the church in Corinth we need to study the context of the passage.  Paul is imploring the Corinthians to not do anything that may be offensive to someone else.  At face value we may think that the purpose of this is to keep harmony and relationship with others.  But in truth the statement is not to promote our relationship with others but to promote our and other’s relationship with God.  Certainly we who are disciples of Christ should make all attempts to keep our relationships with others in tack.  But Paul’s desire here is to make sure that disciples of Christ use their relationships with others to guide others into a saving knowledge of God.  In short, whatever we do, eating, drinking, speaking, etc. is to assist us in the promotion of God’s glory so that others might experience the saving grace of God. 

Our hope at FBC is that everything we do, whether teaching, preaching, fellowshipping, encouraging, living, breathing, Promotion Sunday, Rally Day, etc., is to encourage others into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.  So, how are we doing?  If you are a disciple of Christ, how are you doing at having everything you do be for God’s glory and encouraging others into His saving grace?

May we as His church in this place live out this directive from God. 

For His Glory,

Pastor Mark

 

Rally Day Events

9:30am                 Children’s Sunday School Promotion
10:15am               Coffee Fellowship in the Faith Center
10:30am               Puppet Ministry
3:00pm                 Softball Games @ Emery Ball Field (for all ages)
5:30pm                 Potluck Picnic @Emery Multi-purpose Room