Christ's Power and Sufficiency

It is when we have nothing that we find that Christ is enough.

This week we are in John 6:1-15 where Jesus feeds five thousand men, not including women and children.  This large crowd is hungry, so Jesus provides.  They have little to nothing to eat, so Jesus gives in abundance.  But this miracle is far greater than the provision of food.  It is a revelation of Jesus as the Christ and his sufficiency for those who believe in Him.

Join us this Sunday at ElmCreek Community Church as we seek the truth of God’s Word and will for our lives as His disciples.  May we be open to what Scripture has to teach us and open to the work of the Spirit as we study His Word.

Striving to know Christ and make Him known,

Pastor Mark

J.C. Ryle on Christianity's Unexplainable Facts (2 of 4)

"When skeptics and infidels have said all they can, we must not forget that there are three great broad facts which they have never explained away, and I am convinced they never can, and never will.  Let me tell you briefly what they are.  They are very simple facts, and any plain man can understand them."

Fact #1 - Jesus Christ

"The second fact is the Bible itself.  If Christianity is a mere invention of man, and the Bible is of no more authority than any other uninspired volume, how is it that the book is what it is?  How is it that a book written by a few Jews in a remote corner of the earth, written at distant periods without consort or collusion among the writers; written by members of a nation which, compared to Greeks and Romans, did nothing for literature - how is it that this book stands entirely alone, and there is nothing that even approaches it, for high views of God, for true views of man, for solemnity of thought, for grandeur of doctrine, and for purity of morality?  What account can the infidel give of this book, so deep, so simple, so wise, so free from defects?  He cannot explain its existence and nature on his principles.  We only can do that who hold that the book is supernatural and of God" (J.C. Ryle, Holiness).

Surrendering the Secret

In recent months the media focus on Planned Parenthood and abortion has brought about protests, opinionated blog posts, and caused a heated political issue to become even more so.  But this Sunday our desire at ElmCreek Community Church is to sift through all the heat and get to the crux of the issue for the church of Christ today: the love of Christ to heal from the spiritual and emotional pain abortion leaves in it’s wake. 

The words of David Altrogge speak strongly to this in his article on desiringgod.org.

"We must stop looking the other way when it comes to abortion.  Yes, it's uncomfortable.  Yes, it's awkward.  Yes, people will get mad at us.  But until we start talking about abortion and what it is and who it affects, we will never see change. 

"Until we learn to love the women who choose abortion, and the men who encourage abortion, and the babies who lose their lives to abortion - until we learn to love them the way Jesus loved us, we will never see change. 

"The lives of women and children are at stake.  We cannot remain silent.  We must love with Christ's love, the love we have been shown.  We cannot look the other way."

This coming Sunday we will be having a special guest and special focus.  Karen O’Kane will be giving her testimony and speaking of the healing power of God to overcome the shame, regret, and pain caused by abortion.  Join me in praying for Karen as she speaks of the truth of God’s healing power and may we as His church not only be a place where sin is condemned but points to the power of God to heal through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Striving to know Christ and make Him known,

Pastor 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 Light

“In 1866, Robert J. Thomas left from China on a mission to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Korea.  Filled with a love for the Korean people and a desire for the light of God’s love to shine among them, he boarded an American ship bound for he city of Pyongyang with a large supply of Chinese Bibles.  As the ship drew near to that city, however, a fight broke out between the American ship and the Korean coast guard.  The ship was burned and all the passengers were killed, except for Thomas.  As the ship sank, he struggled to reach the shore.  He staggered to the beach, his arms filled with as many Bibles as he could carry without drowning. When Korean soldiers came to Thomas, he thrust the Bibles into their hands, after which they clubbed him to death” (Richard D. Phillips).

What would drive a man to give his life for a people he had never met?  In this case, the gospel message.  More specifically, Jesus Christ and the desire to make Him known to the Korean people.  The book of John reveals the Word (Jesus Christ) as the true light which has the power to change people.  And His willingness to die so that we may become children of God.

Join us this week at ElmCreek Community Church as we look into God’s Word in the gospel of John.  May we be prayerfully prepared to hear what He has to tell us.

Striving to know Christ and make Him known.

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

“Radio personality Paul Harvey tells the story of how an Eskimo kills a wolf. The account is grisly, yet it offers fresh insight into the consuming, self-destructive nature of sin. ‘First, the Eskimo coats his knife blade with animal blood and allows it to freeze. Then he adds another layer of blood, and another, until the blade is completely concealed by frozen blood. Next, the hunter fixes his knife in the ground with the blade up. When a wolf follows his sensitive nose to the source of the scent and discovers the bait, he licks it, tasting the fresh frozen blood. He begins to lick faster, more and more vigorously, lapping the blade until the keen edge is bare. Feverishly now, harder and harder the wolf licks the blade in the arctic night.

‘So great becomes his craving for blood that the wolf does not notice the razor-sharp sting of the naked blade on his own tongue, nor does he recognize the instant at which his insatiable thirst is being satisfied by his OWN warm blood. His carnivorous appetite just craves more--until the dawn finds him dead in the snow!’”  (Chris T. Zwingelberg)

A life is consumed by sin before it is captured by the salvation offered through Jesus Christ.  But once a life is seized by the grace and mercy of God it becomes dead to sin and alive to God.  The sin no longer controls or dictates that life.  To use the example from above, the life saved by Christ is no longer consumed by the taste and smell of the blood on the knife. 

Baptism is the perfect representation of this change from death to life.  Join us this week at ElmCreek Community Church as we celebrate together the transforming power of Jesus Christ in the lives of others and witness their obedience to Jesus’ call to be baptized.  For they are now “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).

A Hymn of Praise

“A farmer took a piece of bad earth and made things flourish thereon.  Proud of his accomplishments, he asked his minister to come by and see what he had done.  The minister was impressed.  ‘That’s the tallest corn I’ve ever seen.  I’ve never seen anything as big as those melons.  Praise the Lord!’  He went on that way about every crop, praising the Lord for it all.  Finally, the farmer couldn’t take it anymore.  ‘Reverend,’ he said, ‘I wish you could have seen this place when the Lord was doing it by himself’” (Ronald Reagan, in a speech in Indianapolis).

This farmer does not realize that no matter how much care he puts into his crops, they could not and would not grow without the Lord’s power and grace.  The same can be said for the human heart when it comes to salvation.  Pride tends to get in the way and credit for all the “accomplishments” in our faith and salvation begin to point inwardly.  But the reality of salvation and sanctification (becoming more like Jesus Christ) is that it can only happen through the power of Christ.

The words of Paul in 2 Timothy 2:11-13 are a reminder to us all where all credit and praise should be focused. For he is the life-giving, unchanging, and faithful King.  To Him be glory forever and ever.

2 Timothy 2:11-13  (ESV)

11 The saying is trustworthy, for:

If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

12        if we endure, we will also reign with him;

if we deny him, he also will deny us;

13        if we are faithless, he remains faithful—  

      for he cannot deny himself.

Join us this week at ElmCreek Community Church as God’s Word comes alive, meeting us where we are, and changing us for his glory and praise.

Striving to know Christ and make him known,

Pastor Mark