Puritan Prayer~ Christ The Word

MY FATHER,

In a world of created changeable things,
Christ and his Word alone remain unshaken. O to forsake all creatures,
To rest as a stone on him the foundation,
To abide in him, be borne up by him! For all my mercies come through Christ,
Who has designed, purchased, promised, effected them. How sweet it is to be near him, the Lamb,
Filled with holy affections! When I sin against thee I cross thy will, love, life,
And I have no comforter, no creature, no go to. My sin is not so much this or that particular evil,
But my continual separation, disunion, distance from thee,
And having a loose spirit towards thee. But thou hast given me a present, Jesus thy Son,
As mediator between thyself and my soul, As middle-man who in a pit
Hold both him below and him above, For only he can span the chasm breached by sin,
And satisfy divine justice. May I always lay hold upon this mediator,
As a realized object of faith,
And alone be worthy by his love to bridge the gulf. Let me know that he is dear to me by his Word; I am one with him by the Word on his part,
And by faith on mine; If I oppose the Word I oppose my Lord when he is most near; If I receive the Word I receive my Lord wherein he is nigh. O thou who hast the hearts of all men in thine hand,
Form my heart according to the Word, According to the image of thy Son,
So shall Christ the Word, and his Word, be my strength and comfort.

Taken from: The Valley of Vision A collection of Puritan prayers and devotions

Meaghan's Notes~ part 4 of Hebrews 6

Once again, I am sharing the notes that my daughter took over the sermon this week over Hebrews. This week we looked at Hebrews 6: 13-20, of course we needed to take a tour in Genesis in order to put Abraham's promises / oath into perspective.

Hebrews 6:1-20 (part4)
The Certainty of Gods Promise
...God never ever turns away genuine repentance, EVER!
Hope, we can find hope in Jesus
Rest in the full assurance of hope until the end.
'Surely I will bless you and multiply you'
This leads us to look at Geneses
Gen12:1-15:1-22:1-
..Great nation, bless you, make your name great, you Will be a blessing, you Will bless those who bless you, whoever curses you I Will curse them, and all the peoples on earth Will be blessed through you..
...I am your shield your very reward.. Abram believed the Lord..God credited him with righteousness..
...you fear God...because you have done this I will surely bless you..
..I swear on my name

Back to Hebrews..
Move from a promise to a covenant oath..I swear by my name by myself..
If you swore in Hebrew time and went against it you broke a commandment..
...'We who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us..'vs18
Our hope must be sure!
Our hope can not be subjective~based on ourself ..... it must be objective~ based on Christ..
Anchor..you are grounded to Jesus;
make him your anchor for your soul..Grounds us..hold you still in one place,
word of god tells us to continue to move..do not become sluggish.. be imitators..patientce / waiting
... walking in the truth of your ways, we wait on you for your name and renown are the desires of our hearts
You can find clarity in Christ alone when you anchor yourself to him..
Hold fast..when you love you love well when you greave you greave well..
Is 26:8 Wait!
God keeps us by our Faith
What will you rest in? Hope of the gospel..

Meaghan

Sovereign Grace~ Spurgeon

I cannot understand the reason why I am saved, except upon the ground that God would have it so. I cannot, if I look ever so earnestly, discover any kind of reason in myself why I should be a partaker of Diving grace. If I am not at this moment without Christ, it is only because Christ Jesus would have His will with me, and that will was that I should be with Him where He is, and should share His glory

Meaghan's Notes... part 2 and 3 of Hebrews 6

These are my daughter's notes from part 2 and 3 of Hebrews 6. We have been walking through Hebrews for the past several months and I love posting my daughter's notes. Her notes serve as a great tool for me to read and understand what people are getting from what is being taught. She is in the 9th grade and I love her heart for the Lord. I am so proud of what she is allowing the gospel to do in her, to her, and through her.

Hebrews 6:1-12 (part2)
.......Psalms 119:97-112
--Warning Against Apostasy--
..God is not unjust
When he permits us it gives us a time to rest. Rest in him.
Think..
3 ways to look at text::
1 lose salvation
2 a warning 'if' -hypothetical
3 Been influenced by the gospel but haven't tasted the fullness of the gospel. No believer living in sin can not enjoy the perseverance.
Has there been a genuine transformation in someones life
Possession and profession
There are times in peoples lives when they just turn their back.
He gives us warnings...
They have tasted the gospel; but haven't 'finished the meal'
Been enlightend
Shared in the holy spirit
- holy spirit convicts us
Is it possible to sit under the conviction of the holy spirit and not respond? Yes!
You can sit and be enlightened by the gospel, but they still want the former way...turn their back...fallen away
--judas--one of the boys; was enlightend, tasted, rolled with the peeps, publicly renouced God
Have you had a repented heart?
- after the taste ~ religious traditions...
- turned their backs on the gospel
Vs8. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed, and it's end is to  be burned.
If you turn your back on the very things that lead us to repentance, will you ever be able to repent?
After being enlightened are you able to take the 'punch' the ways of the gospel?
Romans 7:15-25
We are relying on the gospel.
Are you going to profess you are saved?
Are you walking through religious tradition, or have you had a hardened  heart, or a repenting heart?
How are you sitting?
When things get hard some just bail, because they thought that things would be easier...easier with salvation.
Were spiritually immature.
Most of us want a christian reality without the reality of a christian walk.
Some of us have been dating Jesus way to long, we need to fall in LOVE with him!!(;
2tim 2:19

-meaghan(;


Hebrews 6:1-12 (part3)
....start on vs9
Concern 4 their spiritual welfare
The encouragement given is grounded in the nature of God and how he loves us and keeps us. Gods justice will be served. He is not unjust. Sin is punished. Progress is recognized
..vs10- For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you e shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.
..understanding that God keeps us
God has given us each day to show us what he has given us..
..don't just show up and do the deal, show up and worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!
We need to confess that we are a mess and sinners.
God calls us and compels us. To do things that are a part of the gospel
Genuine faith-
..does your life look any diff than it did after your life was changed  by Christ?
1Thess 1:2
Constantly mentioned on how we are living-
Has to be practical- the encouragement of the lord.
What happens when you fall in love? Willing to give everything...fall in love with Christ alone and stop dating him~ marry him and love him with your whole heart!!!
Teaching and modeling Christ can be two different things!
~you can profess but still not possess
Model your life after the gospel.
Praise be to God that he keeps us!

You have got to be diligent
Vs11..And we desire each one of you to show the same  to have the full assurance of hope until the end.
Sluggishness-LAZY! BORED!
Encouragement is to hold onto Jesus! In this be diligent in this, and be patient..disciplined
Practice Patience!
Step away from the very things that pull you away from God.
Be encouraged...
Hold on to our sovereign God
Think of Abraham and how he was told to sacrifice his son, and how he followed through with what Christ called him to do, the. In the end he was saved, God gave him a ram in the place of his son. Be patient with the Father. (He will be our provision)

Meaghan(;








 

The Church

There was a time when the church was very powerful--in the time when the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society... If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust.


This was written in 1963, almost 50 years ago. They are the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., penned in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail. And they have proved to be exceptionally accurate.

Dominican_Republic

This video was put together by, Andy Henderson, one of our students who went to the Dominican with us this past December. The song used in the video is called "Rescue The Perishing" by Jackie Castro

Meaghan's Sermon Notes~

Once again, I wanted to share with you the notes that my daughter took, on her phone, during my sermon on January 1, 2012 as we continued our series in Hebrews. This Sunday, we covered Hebrews 6:1-12, but to be honest we covered, in reality, the first three verses. Here are her notes. I love the fact that she is listening and allowing the truths of the gospel to bring about transformation in her life.

"1 Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 and of instruction about washings,[a] the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And this we will do if God permits."

Hebrews 6:1-12

Therefore-
(Hebrews5)__Have to practice the basic truths of the gospel to grow and mature in Christ. Stand firm on the foundation of Jesus Christ.

....If God permits
Foundation is Jesus- and we can build on this foundation.
..God is in control of all things
God has the final say in everything we do, in weather or not we will step into maturity but it is God who permits us.
If God permits; he can give us maturity when we push 'press on' to maturity it will be him who permits the maturity to us.
God equips you:
To him be the glory forever and ever amen..

You can rest in the fact that God is in control; rest in the hope of the gospel..In control of ALL things..
As we live our life knowing He is in control it is another testimony that he will save and reconcile us and that he can permit us to maturity.
He is giving us Grace when he is permitting us maturity
God does not OWE us the Grace that he gives us..
He doesn't OWE, He just gives so we can conquer our rebellion..
He could in fact leave us in our rebellion but he gives us Grace..

We must have Faith in God... Permitting us allowing us to mature is him giving us Grace.
...to be moved by Grace

God governs our progress into being mature
He governs our sanctification

Is it important to press towards that maturity or are you just going to sit there and watch things happen; press strongly into your maturity?

We have to work do our duty and our delight has to be pressing towards the gospel for what he has for us.
God does not remove your obligation to delight into pressing toward the gospel

Gods sovereignty; you can rest in.