Amid Confusion, Clarity in Christ

Perhaps you’ve heard – the Pope was here, right here in America.  Suffice it to say that for many, this was a BIG deal!

Oh beloved, how God’s people need to be discerning, loyal to Christ, and saturated in God’s word in these days!  Contrary to the gushing adulation so many have expressed toward Pope Francis – lots of it sadly coming from many Evangelicals – there is MUCH to be concerned about.  Despite all the pomp and pageantry, the Pope is a false teacher presiding over a false religion, peddling false hope for billions.

Here are some helpful insights from Dr. Nathan Busenitz, faculty member at The Master’s Seminary: Popular Popes and Priestly Pretenders.

May God give us much wisdom, compassion, confidence, and clarity as we share the true hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ with unbelievers.  And may we show great care and sensitivity as we interact with those who embrace Catholicism – expressing gracious speech seasoned with salt (Col. 4:5-6).

Praying for you, and with you, in the great hope of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ (Heb. 4:14-16),

Greg

The Basis of Our Identity

We so easily lose sight of our identity in Christ!  How quickly we can forget who we are before God, and who we are in this world.  Temptations abound for us to look to things we see as the basis of our identity:  our abilities, our circumstances, our background, our relationships, our accomplishments, our approval/acceptance from others, etc.  And depending on how we subjectively evaluate these very murky indicators, we’ll either be puffed up with arrogance, or crushed with despair.  Such living by sight leads to an endless identity crisis!

 

How much better (and right!) to base our identify fully on who God is, what He has done for us in Christ, and what He has called us to in Christ!  In short, how much better to live by faith in God, and in all the spiritual blessings He has lavished on us in Christ.

 

Such a call to live by faith is at the very heart of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.  He wants believers to understand the glory of God’s provision and purposes in Christ (Eph. 1-3), and to live accordingly by faith in these great truths (Eph. 4-6).

 

Dr. P.T. O’Brien, in his excellent Commentary on Ephesians, observes that Paul…

 

“…writes Ephesians…with the intention of informing, strengthening, and encouraging [believers] by assuring them of their place within the gracious, saving purposes of God, and urging them to bring their lives into conformity with this divine plan of summing up all things in Christ (Eph. 1:10).  Paul wants to ‘ground, shape, and challenge’ his readers in their faith.  In other words, the main purpose of his letter is ‘identity formation’”. (pg. 57)

 

Beloved, is your identify being formed through faith in God’s revealed word, or through the things you see and experience in this fleeting world?  May God ever strengthen us in this walk of faith – for the glory of His great name!!

 

Praying for you, and with you to this end (Eph. 1:15-23; 3:14-21),

Greg

Singing Among God’s People

In His great wisdom and goodness, God has designed singing to be an instrumental (no pun intended 🙂 ) means of grace among His people.  Our singing to God, with and to one another, expresses thanksgiving to Him, along with instruction and admonition for each other.  And so God graciously commands us:

 

 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col. 3:16)

 

Our rich heritage of biblically solid “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs”, both old and new, demonstrates the centrality of singing among God’s people.  Who can measure the faith-strengthening impact of these songs, helping us give voice to our deepest joys, sorrows, longings, and praises?

 

This coming Lord’s Day we’re planning to sing an old song, with a couple new verses.   The ancient Irish lyrics to Be Thou My Vision date to the 8th Century, and were translated to English in the early 1900’s.  In addition to the four familiar verses found in our hymnal, we’ll add the following:

 

Jesus exalted in glory above

Thou my Redeemer through Thy precious blood

Now interceding my confidence sure

O my Good Shepherd be my vision pure

 

Spirit indwelling my Counselor Thou

Teaching, enabling by Thy holy power

Through Thy Word given perfect and true

Help and transform me while bearing Thy fruit

 

Beloved, one way we cultivate Christ-exalting love for each other is to heed the command of Col. 3:16.  Looking forward to gathering with you again, with these truths in mind!

 

Because Christ lives, and is returning,

Greg

A Few Important Items

A few important items…

 

First, as a follow-up to this past Sunday’s sermon from the book of Job, check out these resources:

 

 

Second, our Equipping Hour resumes this coming Sunday, Sept. 13, meeting from 9:00am – 10:10am (followed by our Corporate Worship Service at 10:30am).  In addition to nursery care and age-appropriate children’s classes through 6th grade, our class in the auditorium through the Fall will examine “A Biblical View of Gender, Marriage, and Sexuality”.  This first week will provide an introduction/overview of the whole class.  As a means of continuing to be equipped (Eph. 4:11-12), and sharing in the life of Christ’s people at RCG, we encourage you to make participation in the Equipping Hour a high priority.

 

Finally, in the Lord’s kind provision, we’ve been able to purchase a new piano for the auditorium.  Our old upright piano (it may be older than the church J) was increasingly unable to hold a strong, consistent tune.  So after praying, and much research by a few folks involved with our music ministry, a new piano was purchased and delivered this week.  The old piano was moved to the Education Building, where it will be used with ministry to children.  We’re grateful for the Lord’s supply of a wonderful instrument to help guide our “…addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart…” (Eph. 5:19).

 

Beloved, what a blessing to walk together in the Lord’s faithful work among us.  May He continually be glorified as His grace and truth in Jesus Christ abounds in, and overflows from us to more and more people!

 

Because Christ lives, and is returning,

Greg

Aligning Our Vision with His

How powerful and profound is Jesus’ prayer for His church, recorded in Jn. 17:24 –

 

 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

 

Here we learn that God’s eternal vision for His people is to behold the exalted glory of His Son!  While we now behold Christ’s glory by faith (2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Pet. 1:6-9), so we are to eagerly await the day when we’ll behold Him face-to-face (1 Jn. 3:1-3).

 

Beloved, how kind and gracious of God to ever hold this vision before us!  The certainty and anticipation of being in Christ’s glorious presence should give great clarity and encouragement to our daily lives (2 Cor. 4:16-18; Col. 3:1-17), and likewise bring us much comfort even in the face of death (Phil. 1:21-23).  May the Lord continually bring our vision into alignment with His vision – for our good, and the glory of His great name!

 

Praying for you, and with you, to this end,

Greg