Notes from last Wednesday night’s teaching

God Sent His One and Only Son to Die for Us

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . .  John 3:16

 

Review:

1.      God is Our Creator

·         This means I am responsible to Him

2.      I am a Sinner

·         This means I stand condemned

3.      God Sent His Son to die in my place

 

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.   Ephesians 1:7

 

REDEMPTION THROUGH THE SON PROPHESIZED

·         In the Garden of Eden  – Genesis 3:15-21

·         In the OT Sacrificial System – Hebrews 9:11-15

 

REDEMPTION THROUGH THE SON PROVIDED

·         Romans 3:21-26  

·         In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  1 John 4:10  

·         You were ransomed not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.   1 Peter 1:18-19  

 

REDEMPTION THROUGH THE SON PROCLAIMED

·         Isaiah 61:1-3  

·          And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.   1 Cor 2:1-5  

 

O What A Savior!

Isaiah 53:3-12

3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.

5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?

9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

New Blog – “Be Careful How You Hear”

Our own Matt Emerson has started his own blog, Be Careful How You Hear. I’ve added his blog to the “Blogs of Interest” links on the right side of this page, and would encourage you to check it out!

Here’s a quote from his first post on September 15th where he gives something of a purpose statement for his blog.

“Take care then how you hear, for to the one who has, more will be given, and from the one who has not, even what he thinks that he has will be taken away.” -Luke 8:18

This blog is dedicated to exploring the area of listening as an act of worship in a believer’s life, and specifically listening to the Word of God in the preaching event. Hopefully it will edify both myself and anyone who happens to read to listen to the Word with an ear to hear and a hope to be transformed into the image of Christ.

Article in the Washington Post on persecution of Christians

We in America often forget how blessed we are to live in a country where we do not face major persecution for our faith. This article in the Washington Post reminded me that God calls us in the book of Hebrews to “Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.”

Christians Face Hindus’ Wrath

“What is the gospel?” Mark Dever

more about “#src=the-gospel-mark-dever“, posted with vodpod

 

 

On Wednesday nights, as well as this past Sunday morning, we have been talking about how we are to articulate the gospel. Here’s a helpful video from Dr. Mark Dever (who is pastor of one of our sister SBC churches in Washington D.C. – Capitol Hill Baptist Church) giving his 2 minute presentation of the gospel.

Pastor Steven on “Gender and the Presidential Election”

Someone recently asked me what our response should be to a woman (specifically Governor Sarah Palin) on the ticket as President or Vice President.  I thought you might be interested in hearing my response, so here it is:

 

While I do not know too much about Palin and therefore cannot comment yet on whether I believe she will be a good candidate for vp (or even possibly the pres), I will be glad to address what the Bible would have us think about women in public office (or any position of leadership in the world).

 

First, we need to be reminded that the Bible speaks much about the Kingdom of God and is very specific about those who are qualified to be elders and lead in His church. The Bible clearly gives distinct roles to men and women in the ministry of the home and the church. However, there is a distinct difference between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. The Bible does not set out qualifications for those who lead in the kingdom of the world in reference to gender. Since the Bible does not pose the same kinds of qualifications on leaders in the kingdom of the world, it is not be valid for us to impose those qualifications there. This means that I do not believe we can call it SIN for a woman to be in leadership in the world. To state it plainly, the Bible would not call it sin for Sarah Palin to be the Vice President of the United States or even the President. As a matter of fact, there are examples of women in leadership positions in the text of Scripture that are blessed by God and used by God (e. g., the Queen of Sheba consulting with King Solomon and Queen Esther). Thus we must conclude that gender is not a biblical category by which to judge the fitness of a leader in the kingdom of the world.

 

Nevertheless, we must still go further and acknowledge that for all of us there are responsibilities and commitments that may trump our roles in this world which ultimately makes the decision to participate in any position in the world a matter of wisdom. What I mean is that for believers there are commitments to spouse, family, and church that may hinder one from entering into a role that will take him or her away from these primary commitments. For example, the Bible teaches that the primary caregiver for a child is the mother. If any position takes mom away from this primary responsibility it is probably wise for her not to trade what is best for what is lesser. Specifically, I believe it brings more glory to God for a mom to pour her life into her children (another generation of believers to impact the world) than to take on a responsibility that the world thinks noble and prestigious. Therefore, the question is not one of whether it is sin for a woman to be in a leadership role in the world, but rather whether she can fill the leadership role and still fulfill the biblical mandates of a wife and mother (of course, we must also have these same considerations for men). This makes the question one of wisdom: is it wise for this particular woman to be in this particular role?

 

So, to sum up . . . while I do not think we can call it sin for a woman to hold public office, I do believe a Christian woman must answer more questions than the sin of doing or not doing a particular action. Some women ask these questions and decide it is indeed possible to serve in such a position. For a believer this must be done in faith that she is bringing the most glory to God by seeking such a role (Romans 14:23). Therefore, the question for us as we decide how to cast our vote is not one of gender. Rather, we must look at the character and convictions of the persons running.

 

God bless brother.

 

spw

The Book of Ephesians – Introductory Notes

As you know, pastor Steven began a new sermon series on Sunday morning. He will be preaching through the book of Ephesians. Today I wanted to post a link to a PDF file that contains the introduction to the book of Ephesians found in the ESV Study Bible. CLICK HERE!

This introductory material was written by Steven M. Baugh; he does a great job of giving a brief overview of the book. Especially interesting is the information given on the city of Ephesus.

You can read an interview with Dr. Baugh about his work on Ephesians for the ESV Study Bible here.