Sweet counsel 03.03.09
March 3, 2009
Whence the name ‘Sweet Counsel’? It has a connection both to my blog “The Sweet Dropper” (sweetdropper.com) and to Psalm 55:14. The Psalm is a lament about betrayal at the hands of a friend. In v.14 the singer looks back at the friendship and remembers how “We used to take sweet counsel together; within God’s house we walked in the throng.” I’ve seized on that image of walking together in fellowship in God’s house by grabbing that name to describe what I want to do with these weekly updates.
REMIND
First Wednesdays: Remember that Wednesday the night for Women’s Bible Study, led by Maureen Boswell, on Tim Keller’s book The Prodigal God. The turnout has been great for that excellent study. While the women are studying together, I will lead a Men’s Forum, in which we will seek greater biblical perspective on the current financial crisis through teaching and discussion.
Bible Conference: March 27-29: Wilson Benton will be here to speak at 6:00 pm on Friday and Saturday nights, and in the Sunday services. We will also get to visit with Wilson during the Sunday School hour in a combined youth and adult class. On Saturday there will be a men’s breakfast with Wilson and a ladies’ event with Pam Benton. Sunday’s bulletin will contain times and other details.
Dr. Wilson Benton currently serves as interim pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Nashville, Tennessee. In October 2006, Dr. Benton retired after serving 21 years as Senior Pastor of the Kirk of the Hills in St. Louis, Missouri. Dr. Benton received his B.A. and B.D. degrees from Belhaven College and Columbia Seminary respectively, and his Ph.D. in Systemic Theology from the University of Edinburgh. Wilson and his wife Pam (daughter of our own Claude Woodward) have three children and seven grandchildren.
RECAST
- gospel-driven: Jesus and his work set us free from guilty fears and religious pride to worship and serve; the good news of free grace in Christ enables us to reach people in all walks of life, to experience personal transformation, and to glorify and enjoy God now and forever.
- pursuing: placing high priority on worship; seeking to grow in grace; becoming more of a “mission” church than a “receptor” church; moving toward the mess of people’s lives with grace and truth.
Next week, some thoughts on our VALUES, or why you’re about to hear the letters WTNR all the time.
ANTICIPATE
Morning Worship: I’m preaching Genesis 24, in which Abraham send his most trusted servant back to the homeland on a mission to find a good wife for Isaac. This is the passage on which Jim and Jane Baird spoke to our men and our women back at the end of January. I’ll be emphasizing the role of prayer and action in that story: God’s unseen hand of providence that moves the story along showing that God is faithful to Abraham and Isaac, and that God answers prayer and can be trusted to provide even when he has not spoken but has been spoken to in prayer. Among the hymns we’ll sing are Lift Up Your Heads (Psalm 24) and Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder.
Evening Worship: I’ll bring the fifth message in the series The Unveiling: the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Chapters 4-5 show us John’s vision of the glory and significance of worship that centers, gathers, reveals, sings, affirms the Lamb of God.
