Holding Fast to the Word of Life

Beloved, these are difficult, sobering times in which we live.  With today’s Supreme Court Ruling granting greater rights and benefits to gay couples, we are witnessing the tragic realities of Rom. 1:18-32 before our very eyes.

 

For those of us whom the Lord has mercifully rescued from this “…crooked and twisted generation,” our Master has now tasked us with the privilege and responsibility of shining “…as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life…” (Phil. 2:14-16).  Ours is ever to prayerfully and faithfully proclaim the Gospel, and to “walk worthy” of the glorious calling we’ve been given in Christ  (Eph. 4:1-3).

 

May the Lord enable all of us at RCG to live all the more purposefully as His people in this world, that the excellencies of Jesus Christ would be all the more fully displayed and proclaimed from us (1 Pet. 2:9-12).

 

Growing in Him with you,

Greg

Patience and Kindness in Love

It is humbling to consider the following contrast.  On the one hand there is me, a confirmed sinner, who can so quickly be impatient and unkind toward those who offend me. On the other hand, there is God, the eternal, holy, sovereign ruler, who is “… merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” (Ps. 86:15)  God is extravagantly rich in patience and kindness to sinners like me.  Amazing!  Truly, what hope would any of us have if God Almighty responded to us the way we so often respond to those who hurt and injure us?

 

God’s infinite patience and kindness has been poured out upon us through Jesus Christ (Titus 3:4-7).  As we grow in the knowledge of His love for us, by faith, so we must be all the more faithful in being instruments of His love to others – especially our brothers and sisters in the local church (1 Cor. 13:4).  In God’s perfect providence, it is the very sins and weaknesses of our brothers and sisters that become the occasion of genuinely displaying the supernatural love of Christ.  Thus we must learn to look beyond the offense of our brother or sister, to the need of their soul.  We must seek to bless them with the patience and kindness of Christ.  None of us can do this on our own, but God gives us the power through His Holy Spirit.

 

Beloved, in this way God’s excellencies in Christ are all the more displayed through us (Eph. 3:8-10) , and the unity of His Spirit is all the more preserved among us (Eph. 4:1-3).  The process is often hard, difficult, and painful.  But oh, what wonderful fruit God bears for His glory, and the joy of His people (Jn. 15:8-11)!

 

I’m so grateful for each of you, and the privilege of growing in these matters together as a part of RCG!

Greg

Love.

Beloved, What is the essence of the church?  What is the heart of all ministry?  What makes a healthy church?  What makes a church powerful and fruitful in bearing witness for Christ among unbelievers?  What is it in the church that is always, absolutely essential, necessary, and indispensible?  What builds the church?

 

What is it that forgives and cleanses the sinner?  Heals the brokenhearted?  Lifts up the discouraged?  Rescues the wanderer?  Exhorts the rebellious?  Instructs the humble?  Bears with the stumbling?  Comforts the grieving?  Restores fractured relationships?  Encourages the fainthearted?  Cares for the struggling?  Strengthens the weak?  Maintains peace and unity in the church?  And on, and on, and on…

 

Here’s how the living, exalted, reigning Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ, answers all these questions:

 

LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE.  LOVE. 

 

John 13:34-351 Cor. 13:1-13Heb. 13:11 Pet. 4:7-11; 1 Jn. 3:11-18.

 

According to God’s Word, by the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of Jesus Christ!

 

I love you,

Greg

The Evangelistic Priority

A few weeks ago, while sharing in corporate worship at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, I listened to Dr. John MacArthur preach from 1 Pet. 3:13-17.   This, of course, is the same passage I’ve been preaching from the last two weeks (for the record, I think Pastor John did a pretty good job 🙂 ).

 

Pastor John rightly emphasized that the church’s mission in this troubled, terrifying world is not simply to survive, but to evangelize.  As the distinct people of God, our calling is not to defeat and destroy unbelievers, but rather to love them and seek to win them to Christ.  This “evangelistic priority” is clearly stated by Peter when he says that believers are always to be ready to humbly give an answer to those who ask about the hope that is in us (1 Pet. 3:15-16).  Here’s the amazing, life-altering truth for us to grasp:  God sovereignly orchestrates persecution in our lives, so that we might show and tell the excellencies of Jesus Christ to the very ones who persecute us (see also  1 Pet. 2:9-12)!

 

A glorious example of the significance of this truth is found in the testimony of Rosaria Butterfield, in her book The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert (Pastor Steve referenced this book a few weeks ago.)

Rosaria was an outspoken lesbian activist and tenured English professor of “Queer Theory” at Syracuse University, when Jesus Christ transformed her life.  While the Lord did the work in Rosaria’s heart, He used the faithful, humble, loving, patient witness of a Christian pastor and his wife, Ken and Floy Smith.  Though the Smith’s might have been tempted to see Rosaria as an enemy, they instead seized the opportunity, over many years, to share the love and hope of Christ with this lost soul.  Rosaria tells it this way, recounting her first visit to the Smith’s home for an unhurried dinner:

 

“Ken and Floy did something at the meal that has a long Christian history but has been functionally lost in too many Christian homes.  Ken and Floy invited the stranger in – not to scapegoat me, but to listen and to learn and to dialogue.  Ken and Floy have a vulnerable and transparent faith.  We didn’t debate worldview; we talked about our personal truth and about what ‘made us tick.’  Ken and Floy didn’t identify with me.  They listened to me and identified with Christ.  They were willing to walk the long journey to me in Christian compassion.  During our meal, they did not share the gospel with me.  After our meal, they did not invite me to church.  Because of these glaring omissions to the Christian script as I had come to know it, when the evening ended and Pastor Ken said he wanted to stay in touch, I knew that it was truly safe to accept his open hand…Before I ever set foot in a church, I spent two years meeting with Ken and Floy and on and off ‘studying’ scripture and my heart.”  (Page 11, from the book.)

 

Oh beloved, I say to you as I say to myself, and as God says to us in 1 Pet. 3:15-16:  Go, and do likewise!

 

Because He lives,

Greg