I preached on the secret to contentment
disclosed to us by our God
through an apostle in affliction
and you weren't there
I preached on the key to a fruitful life
united to the Source of life
through abiding in Him
and you weren't there
I preached on sustained joy
amidst the ravages of a weary land
against the threat of losing heart
and you weren't there
I preached on making sense out of senselessness
through a wisdom the world does not know
harkening to a revealed Word given by God
and you weren't there
I opened the God-breathed corpus
ministering pearls of life-giving truth
that first invigorated my own soul
and you weren't there
I lifted up Jesus,
full of life - eternal, abundant, free
reaching from right now into eternity
and you weren't there
I spread the meal of God's Word as a feast
for the soul hungry and weak
struggling under the weight of harshness
and you weren't there
I exercised my promise, my call
eager to share the wonders of God's lips
certain of the Spirit's power at work
and you weren't there
I had inkling of your need, your struggle
as a pastor, a shepherd should
bringing the honey of God to brighten
and you weren't there
Yet I am reluctant to cast stones
for how often has Jesus spoken to me
directing my gaze, my steps
and I wasn't there
Hebrews 1:5-14
Note: At the local church I pastor, I preached through the book of Hebrews in 2011, with an eye to "fixing our eyes on Jesus." In this blog, I am reproducing the emails I sent to my congregation by way of Monday morning follow up. Some will recap the message; some augment; and some bring greater application. The sermon audios themselves can be found at www.rpcwc.org. My goal in posting them here is keep before us the Jesus we need to see as the ground and focus of our faith, and the Jesus we want others to see for the sure hope of salvation.
-----------------------------
I get this as a pastor all the time. My guess is you do too if you are seen as the “religious” person in your family or in your office. Someone will give you give you some book on some general spiritual topic or forward some email that has some vague connection to religion, with good intentions that it has value, that will be meaningful to you— a potato that looks like Jesus, a story of someone who died and was drawn into a light that gave a profound feeling of peace and well-being.
Well meaning people view something other worldly as containing spiritual substance and, therefore, being of value. Nowadays, teaching about angels falls into that category. Awe of angels contributes to some sort of vague spiritual experience.
It's hard to say what prompted the writer of Hebrews to contrast Jesus with the angels as he lays out Jesus' C. V. as the Messiah of God. There's nothing to suggest that his original audience venerated angels like those did to whom Paul was writing in Colossians (Col. 2:18). But even without the precipitating reason, it becomes clear to us why Jesus was distinguished from angelic beings.
Angels were spirit beings from the heavenly realms, sent from God, who sometimes took human form. They are mysterious, mighty, even majestic creatures. But they not qualified to save. In contrast to the angels, the writer of Hebrews builds the case that Jesus is the Creator God, the One worshiped by angels. In contrast to angels, Jesus is the Savior, the One heralded by the angels. In contrast to angels, Jesus is the One about whom the entire Old Testament prophesied, the One into whose arrival angels longed to look.
Something spiritual and other-worldly is not sufficient for salvation. The writer of Hebrews takes great pain to bring us to examine the resume of Jesus and, in so doing, to bring us to examine the basis for our faith. Some vague spirituality will not save. Only the Savior described by God Himself in who He is and what He would do (and did do) will atone for our sins and reconcile us to God. No generics--only Jesus. No substitutes--only Jesus. No other way given by God by which we must be saved.
On the reverse side of Jesus' exclusivity is this. We who have fled to Christ in repentance and faith have great hope. We will not be disappointed. It is this Jesus on whom our faith rests and this Jesus whose curriculum vitae we hold up to others as God's given Savior for sinners.
-----------------------------
I get this as a pastor all the time. My guess is you do too if you are seen as the “religious” person in your family or in your office. Someone will give you give you some book on some general spiritual topic or forward some email that has some vague connection to religion, with good intentions that it has value, that will be meaningful to you— a potato that looks like Jesus, a story of someone who died and was drawn into a light that gave a profound feeling of peace and well-being.
Well meaning people view something other worldly as containing spiritual substance and, therefore, being of value. Nowadays, teaching about angels falls into that category. Awe of angels contributes to some sort of vague spiritual experience.
It's hard to say what prompted the writer of Hebrews to contrast Jesus with the angels as he lays out Jesus' C. V. as the Messiah of God. There's nothing to suggest that his original audience venerated angels like those did to whom Paul was writing in Colossians (Col. 2:18). But even without the precipitating reason, it becomes clear to us why Jesus was distinguished from angelic beings.
Angels were spirit beings from the heavenly realms, sent from God, who sometimes took human form. They are mysterious, mighty, even majestic creatures. But they not qualified to save. In contrast to the angels, the writer of Hebrews builds the case that Jesus is the Creator God, the One worshiped by angels. In contrast to angels, Jesus is the Savior, the One heralded by the angels. In contrast to angels, Jesus is the One about whom the entire Old Testament prophesied, the One into whose arrival angels longed to look.
Something spiritual and other-worldly is not sufficient for salvation. The writer of Hebrews takes great pain to bring us to examine the resume of Jesus and, in so doing, to bring us to examine the basis for our faith. Some vague spirituality will not save. Only the Savior described by God Himself in who He is and what He would do (and did do) will atone for our sins and reconcile us to God. No generics--only Jesus. No substitutes--only Jesus. No other way given by God by which we must be saved.
On the reverse side of Jesus' exclusivity is this. We who have fled to Christ in repentance and faith have great hope. We will not be disappointed. It is this Jesus on whom our faith rests and this Jesus whose curriculum vitae we hold up to others as God's given Savior for sinners.
Christian, Don't Settle
(This article appeared in our Nov. 2011 church newsletter.)
“Christian, Don’t Settle”
by Pastor Stan Gale
May 25, 2012. I just found out that is the release date for my booklet, What is Prayer?, as part of P&R’s “Basics of the Faith” (BOF) series.
You’ve seen some of the BOF booklets in our narthex. They cover topics like justification by faith, hell, spiritual gifts and infant baptism. These booklets are intended to provide a clear, concise treatment from a Reformed perspective on a variety of topics. Most are only 32 pages.
I have long been prodding the editors at P&R to produce a booklet on the topic of prayer. It didn’t have to come from me. I just thought it should be represented among the offerings. Why?—because I believe that Reformed theology has much to contribute to an understanding and practice of prayer.
I’ve discovered that prayer can be an enigma among Reformed-minded people. They find it hard to see how prayer can play any sort of significant role when God has already planned all that comes to pass. Wouldn’t what happened have happened anyway since God had it on the books? (I might mention we have the same sort of thoughts when it comes to evangelism. After all, Jesus said He would not lose any the Father had given Him, right?)
Actually, God does speak to address this and all sorts of other questions we might have about prayer. In the booklet, I try to explore His answers. I look at things like: what prayer is, the relationship of prayer and faith, praying in the Spirit, how our time-based prayer fits into God’s eternal plan, where the power of prayer resides and other aspects that, I hope, bring a biblically-grounded perspective to bear.
I also develop the topic of corporate prayer and God’s design for that. Especially in view here is what it means for the church to be a “house of prayer” for the nations, something dear to our Lord’s heart.
I close with a section on the practice of prayer, laying out ways and means given us by God to enliven and engage us, His people, in prayer.
I am sure there are others far better qualified to write on the subject of prayer than I. But I stepped up because I didn’t see anyone else and I thought the subject needed to be included. I am of the opinion that a Reformed understanding of prayer makes prayer more substantive and more urgent than what is typically a broadly evangelical approach. I thank God for the opportunity and pray that the booklet will be of use to His church.
But here is the reason I am telling you all this. You know how when you prepare to teach something, you learn more than those you are teaching? I did learn more about prayer as I was forced to deal with a variety of issues. But what humbled me was the acute awareness of my own inadequacy in prayer.
The Spirit of God opened my eyes to what He accomplishes through my prayers and the prayers of His people. He showed me His wisdom in gathering with fellow believers for the work of prayer. He impressed upon me what could be, and how immature and ineffective individual believers and the church are without prayer.
Evidently, we are content to live spiritually impoverished lives, either oblivious or indifferent to what God has for us. That ill-placed contentment is directly correlated to the vitality of our prayer lives, personally and corporately.
So I guess I’m sharing this because God has deeply convicted me of settling for less than what He wants of me, as a person and a pastor. But it’s not just about me. It’s about each of us who bears the name of Jesus. It’s about never settling because we want to know Him more. It’s about never settling for the church just to make the budget or have programs for kids, when the power of the risen Christ is at work in and through the church for the sake of His kingdom.
May the Spirit of the risen Christ work in us a deep unsettledness that drives us to prayer.
“Christian, Don’t Settle”
by Pastor Stan Gale
May 25, 2012. I just found out that is the release date for my booklet, What is Prayer?, as part of P&R’s “Basics of the Faith” (BOF) series.
You’ve seen some of the BOF booklets in our narthex. They cover topics like justification by faith, hell, spiritual gifts and infant baptism. These booklets are intended to provide a clear, concise treatment from a Reformed perspective on a variety of topics. Most are only 32 pages.
I have long been prodding the editors at P&R to produce a booklet on the topic of prayer. It didn’t have to come from me. I just thought it should be represented among the offerings. Why?—because I believe that Reformed theology has much to contribute to an understanding and practice of prayer.
I’ve discovered that prayer can be an enigma among Reformed-minded people. They find it hard to see how prayer can play any sort of significant role when God has already planned all that comes to pass. Wouldn’t what happened have happened anyway since God had it on the books? (I might mention we have the same sort of thoughts when it comes to evangelism. After all, Jesus said He would not lose any the Father had given Him, right?)
Actually, God does speak to address this and all sorts of other questions we might have about prayer. In the booklet, I try to explore His answers. I look at things like: what prayer is, the relationship of prayer and faith, praying in the Spirit, how our time-based prayer fits into God’s eternal plan, where the power of prayer resides and other aspects that, I hope, bring a biblically-grounded perspective to bear.
I also develop the topic of corporate prayer and God’s design for that. Especially in view here is what it means for the church to be a “house of prayer” for the nations, something dear to our Lord’s heart.
I close with a section on the practice of prayer, laying out ways and means given us by God to enliven and engage us, His people, in prayer.
I am sure there are others far better qualified to write on the subject of prayer than I. But I stepped up because I didn’t see anyone else and I thought the subject needed to be included. I am of the opinion that a Reformed understanding of prayer makes prayer more substantive and more urgent than what is typically a broadly evangelical approach. I thank God for the opportunity and pray that the booklet will be of use to His church.
But here is the reason I am telling you all this. You know how when you prepare to teach something, you learn more than those you are teaching? I did learn more about prayer as I was forced to deal with a variety of issues. But what humbled me was the acute awareness of my own inadequacy in prayer.
The Spirit of God opened my eyes to what He accomplishes through my prayers and the prayers of His people. He showed me His wisdom in gathering with fellow believers for the work of prayer. He impressed upon me what could be, and how immature and ineffective individual believers and the church are without prayer.
Evidently, we are content to live spiritually impoverished lives, either oblivious or indifferent to what God has for us. That ill-placed contentment is directly correlated to the vitality of our prayer lives, personally and corporately.
So I guess I’m sharing this because God has deeply convicted me of settling for less than what He wants of me, as a person and a pastor. But it’s not just about me. It’s about each of us who bears the name of Jesus. It’s about never settling because we want to know Him more. It’s about never settling for the church just to make the budget or have programs for kids, when the power of the risen Christ is at work in and through the church for the sake of His kingdom.
May the Spirit of the risen Christ work in us a deep unsettledness that drives us to prayer.
Hebrews 1:1-4
Note: At the local church I pastor, I preached through the book of Hebrews in 2011, with an eye to "fixing our eyes on Jesus." In this blog, I am reproducing the emails I sent to my congregation by way of Monday morning follow up. Some will recap the message; some augment; and some bring greater application. The sermon audios themselves can be found at www.rpcwc.org. My goal in posting them here is keep before us the Jesus we need to see as the ground and focus of our faith, and the Jesus we want others to see for the sure hope of salvation.
-----------------------------
“This has been the most horrendous year of my life! I am sure hoping next year will start out fresh and new and that I will be able to cope with my life better.”
That's a comment I read on Facebook that reflects the sentiment of many of us. We yearn for better days, less drama in our lives, a little more sunshine to warm and cheer us--please! But can we really expect 2011 to be any different from 2010? The hassles and hardships will just take different forms and be called by different names. Some days we'll be able to cope better than others.
On Sunday, we started a study of the NT book of Hebrews. Hebrews is a curiosity. On the one hand, it looks like a theological treatise. With the opening words, we jump into the deep end of biblical theology and redemptive history. Yet, on the other hand, Hebrews ends like an epistle, a pastoral letter tenderly speaking to the need of the moment for the original audience. It's like it can't make up its mind what it wants to be.
If you have a ruptured pipe that is spewing water all over your house, what do you want, words of comfort or concrete action? Actually, the concrete action would be comfort in itself, wouldn't it?
That's pretty much the approach the writer of Hebrews (we don't know the human author) takes. The original audience was Jews who had converted to Christianity, convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, but were having second thoughts because of the persecution they were experiencing.
The writer says in no uncertain terms how foolish and dangerous that would be to go back. How could they let go of the Reality to return to the shadow? So he takes them through a crash course on covenant theology. In so doing, he points them to Jesus.
The title for our sermon series is "HEBREWS: Fixing Our Eyes On Jesus." That subtitle presents us with our goal for the new year. Just as the original audience was dealing with fears and doubts and discouragements and struggles with sin and confusion, so do we. The answer to help them to persevere and to know joy and peace amidst the heartaches and hardships of life is the same answer for us. We need to see Jesus more clearly, more constantly, more gloriously, more personally.
That's just what the Spirit of God is going to help us do through the book of Hebrews. I would encourage you to commit to memory our theme verse behind the series' subtitle, Hebrews 12:1-3. And think about it. Like Mary, ponder these things in your heart. Meditate upon them on your bed as worry keeps you awake at night. Fortify yourself with them as doubts creep in. As sin's guilt and power presses in upon you, run the race of life in 2011 not with your head down, but with your eyes lifted to Jesus - intently, expectantly, joyfully.
-----------------------------
“This has been the most horrendous year of my life! I am sure hoping next year will start out fresh and new and that I will be able to cope with my life better.”
That's a comment I read on Facebook that reflects the sentiment of many of us. We yearn for better days, less drama in our lives, a little more sunshine to warm and cheer us--please! But can we really expect 2011 to be any different from 2010? The hassles and hardships will just take different forms and be called by different names. Some days we'll be able to cope better than others.
On Sunday, we started a study of the NT book of Hebrews. Hebrews is a curiosity. On the one hand, it looks like a theological treatise. With the opening words, we jump into the deep end of biblical theology and redemptive history. Yet, on the other hand, Hebrews ends like an epistle, a pastoral letter tenderly speaking to the need of the moment for the original audience. It's like it can't make up its mind what it wants to be.
If you have a ruptured pipe that is spewing water all over your house, what do you want, words of comfort or concrete action? Actually, the concrete action would be comfort in itself, wouldn't it?
That's pretty much the approach the writer of Hebrews (we don't know the human author) takes. The original audience was Jews who had converted to Christianity, convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, but were having second thoughts because of the persecution they were experiencing.
The writer says in no uncertain terms how foolish and dangerous that would be to go back. How could they let go of the Reality to return to the shadow? So he takes them through a crash course on covenant theology. In so doing, he points them to Jesus.
The title for our sermon series is "HEBREWS: Fixing Our Eyes On Jesus." That subtitle presents us with our goal for the new year. Just as the original audience was dealing with fears and doubts and discouragements and struggles with sin and confusion, so do we. The answer to help them to persevere and to know joy and peace amidst the heartaches and hardships of life is the same answer for us. We need to see Jesus more clearly, more constantly, more gloriously, more personally.
That's just what the Spirit of God is going to help us do through the book of Hebrews. I would encourage you to commit to memory our theme verse behind the series' subtitle, Hebrews 12:1-3. And think about it. Like Mary, ponder these things in your heart. Meditate upon them on your bed as worry keeps you awake at night. Fortify yourself with them as doubts creep in. As sin's guilt and power presses in upon you, run the race of life in 2011 not with your head down, but with your eyes lifted to Jesus - intently, expectantly, joyfully.
Fast Food
Note: Below is an email to my congregation as a follow up to a called day of fasting and prayer. In the call, I instructed them in the purpose and practice of fasting and gave them direction for prayer. I trust it will be an encouragement to you.
Thanks to all who participated in our Day of Fasting and Prayer yesterday. For those of you who fasted, isn't it remarkable how fasting keeps you in mission, reminding you, stimulating you, inclining you to God?
I hope many of you found it a blessing to choose prayer over TV or internet. It would be wonderful if we did this more often. Instead of turning on the TV, saying, "I have a better idea."
Prayer is not easy. It requires intention and discipline. I'm always struck by the urgency given prayer by the Apostle Paul. He also recognizes that prayer is work, the work of faith for the cause of Christ. At the close of Romans he says, “I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf.” The word “strive” carries the tone of strong, vigorous, fervent effort. In Colossians, Paul notes that Epaphras is “always struggling on your behalf in his prayer, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.”
Prayer is essential to our growth in Christ and effectiveness for His kingdom--your prayer. I am confident that our God will do mighty things in and through RPC because you gave yourself to the labor of prayer. Thank you again.
Blessings,
Pastor Gale
Thanks to all who participated in our Day of Fasting and Prayer yesterday. For those of you who fasted, isn't it remarkable how fasting keeps you in mission, reminding you, stimulating you, inclining you to God?
I hope many of you found it a blessing to choose prayer over TV or internet. It would be wonderful if we did this more often. Instead of turning on the TV, saying, "I have a better idea."
Prayer is not easy. It requires intention and discipline. I'm always struck by the urgency given prayer by the Apostle Paul. He also recognizes that prayer is work, the work of faith for the cause of Christ. At the close of Romans he says, “I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf.” The word “strive” carries the tone of strong, vigorous, fervent effort. In Colossians, Paul notes that Epaphras is “always struggling on your behalf in his prayer, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.”
Prayer is essential to our growth in Christ and effectiveness for His kingdom--your prayer. I am confident that our God will do mighty things in and through RPC because you gave yourself to the labor of prayer. Thank you again.
Blessings,
Pastor Gale
It Just So Happened
Paul was in trouble. Called by God to take the gospel to the Gentiles, he found his life in peril, threatening to cut short a mission that had yet to really begin. Yet God had his plan.
Detained in the barracks of Roman soldiers, protective custody of sorts against the violent mobs, we wonder what Paul must have been thinking. Scripture gives us a bit of insight by how the Lord spoke into Paul's turmoil:
That pastoral statement meets Paul at his point of need to attend to his fear and to compel him in mission. But it is what follows that makes it even more remarkable.
The text goes on to describe a plot. More than 40 Jews conspired to do away with Paul. The plan was to have him transported to the council of Jewish authorities for further inquiry. On the way, the conspirators would waylay Paul and kill him.
It just so happened that Paul's nephew was present at the right time and in the right place to overhear the plan. The nephew brings news of the plot to the Roman commander. The result is that Paul is taken under the cloak of darkness, under the guard of 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen to the next leg of his journey that would eventually take him to Rome.
What's so striking about all that military might for Paul's transport is that it flows out of the statement in v. 11 by Jesus that Paul would testify about him in Rome. Jesus used those means to ensure his purposes. Not only did the plot fail to kill Paul, it actually served in expediting God's timetable.
I doubt that the Roman soldiers knew they were ultimately following the orders of the King of kings, but we know. The "it just so happened" events of our lives may seen random to us, but our God is at the helm.
That means we can not only find courage in the midst of our fears, we can find confidence as well knowing that the Lord who is with us is the Lord of all that comes to pass. His purposes will be served.
Detained in the barracks of Roman soldiers, protective custody of sorts against the violent mobs, we wonder what Paul must have been thinking. Scripture gives us a bit of insight by how the Lord spoke into Paul's turmoil:
"The following night the Lord stood by Paul and said, 'Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome'" (Acts 23:11)
That pastoral statement meets Paul at his point of need to attend to his fear and to compel him in mission. But it is what follows that makes it even more remarkable.
The text goes on to describe a plot. More than 40 Jews conspired to do away with Paul. The plan was to have him transported to the council of Jewish authorities for further inquiry. On the way, the conspirators would waylay Paul and kill him.
It just so happened that Paul's nephew was present at the right time and in the right place to overhear the plan. The nephew brings news of the plot to the Roman commander. The result is that Paul is taken under the cloak of darkness, under the guard of 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen and 200 spearmen to the next leg of his journey that would eventually take him to Rome.
What's so striking about all that military might for Paul's transport is that it flows out of the statement in v. 11 by Jesus that Paul would testify about him in Rome. Jesus used those means to ensure his purposes. Not only did the plot fail to kill Paul, it actually served in expediting God's timetable.
I doubt that the Roman soldiers knew they were ultimately following the orders of the King of kings, but we know. The "it just so happened" events of our lives may seen random to us, but our God is at the helm.
That means we can not only find courage in the midst of our fears, we can find confidence as well knowing that the Lord who is with us is the Lord of all that comes to pass. His purposes will be served.
Goldilocks and the Gospel
Goldilocks was the consummate middleman. Whether it came to porridge, chairs, or beds, she gravitated toward balance.
I share Goldilocks’ concern when it comes to evangelistic materials. Most of what I encounter is either too dense with words, making it difficult to follow the trail of the logic of the Gospel, or too meager, not even providing a clear trail at all. I wanted something that was “just right,” condensing the Gospel, and asserting it clearly, without compromising the message.
Read the entire article
I share Goldilocks’ concern when it comes to evangelistic materials. Most of what I encounter is either too dense with words, making it difficult to follow the trail of the logic of the Gospel, or too meager, not even providing a clear trail at all. I wanted something that was “just right,” condensing the Gospel, and asserting it clearly, without compromising the message.
Read the entire article
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