Twin Lakes Fellowship
April 15, 2009
I’m at the Twin Lakes Fellowship this week: warm fellowship, hearty singing, outstanding preaching, and lovely surroundings. Joe Holland is posting from the event at Mining Grace.
Flavel: Lord, the condemnation was yours
April 9, 2009
John Flavel (courtesy of Justin Taylor):
Lord, the condemnation was yours,
that the justification might be mine.The agony was yours,
that the victory might be mine.The pain was yours,
and the ease mine.The stripes were yours,
and the healing balm issuing from them mine.The vinegar and gall were yours,
that the honey and sweet might be mine.The curse was yours,
that the blessing might be mine.The crown of thorns was yours,
that the crown of glory might be mine.The death was yours,
the life purchased by it mine.You paid the price
that I might enjoy the inheritance.
John Flavel (1671), from his sermon, “The Solemn Consecration of the Mediator,” in The Fountain of Life Opened Up: or, A Display of Christ in His Essential and Mediatorial Glory.
Prayer for pastors
April 9, 2009
“From moral weakness of spirit, from timidity, from hesitation, from fear of men and dread of responsibility, strengthen us with courage to speak the truth as our ministry requires, with the strength that can yet speak in love and self-control; and alike from the weakness of hasty violence and the weakness of moral cowardice; save us and help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord.“
~courtesy of Philip Ryken and Reformation21.
Sweet counsel 04.07.09
April 7, 2009
REMIND
Easter Schedule
Lessons and Psalms Service – Friday, April 10 at 6:00 pm. Sing the songs that Jesus sang and that he fulfilled through his suffering, death and victory. Joe Holland and our choir will lead us through the passion narratives and raise the psalms of Jesus’ suffering and of Jesus’ glory.
Easter Sunrise Service – Sunday, April 12 at 6:30 am. This service has a devoted following–a simple service led by Grant Carroll. Some come dressed as they would for the regular morning service; others look as though they just rolled out of bed (I imagine the women and the disicples who went the empty tomb were not exactly dressed to the nines). This practice evolved from a vigil observance in the early centuries of the Christian church. The Easter Vigil was a means of preparing new converts for Baptism, which was normally done on Easter Sunday as the focal point of the entire year.
Sunday School (9:30 am) and Morning Worship (10:50 am) Ordinary Sunday schedule.
Changed by Jesus – Sunday, April 12 at 6:00 pm. Something a bit different from our usual Sunday evening gathering: Changed by Jesus is a time for people to glorify God by giving some testimony to the growth in grace they see in their lives or some other they see God at work around them. Let me know if you want such an opportunity. We’ll sing, of course, and watch a couple of short videos produced by St. Helen’s, Bishopsgate (London).
REBOOT
Webmaster: FPC has hired our own Keith Parish in a part-time capacity to take charge of developing our church’s website, maintaining our podcasting presence on the internet, and keeping up with the general good operation of our computers and internet systems. In the last three years we have significantly increased the ways we use internet technology to communicate with our church family and to get the gospel out to as many people as possible, and still we have not yet touched the bottom of the pool with what we can do. I’m very glad to have Keith working in this capacity. If you have ideas or if you encounter problems with fpckosciusko.org or sermon downloads, let Keith know about it.
REPRIORITIZE
Stewardship in Estate Planning:
• What estate planning documents should every person have regardless of age or family situation?
• What should you know about wills, trusts, probate and Christian stewardship?
• How can you prevent family discord over property distribution?
• What is the best way to leave gifts to churches and ministries?
On Thursday, April 23, Jim Sutton and Bruce Owens of Mission to the World will present a Biblically-informed seminar on estate planning and deferred giving. You can learn some ways to “put your house in order” and about being a faithful steward of what God has entrusted you. You can enjoy a free meal and an informative presentation. There will be no pressure to sell you any service, steer you toward particular investments, or badger you to give to MTW, FPC or any individual ministry. The presentation offers teaching and advice, along with the opportunity, if you so choose, to meet one-on-one with Jim or Bruce to develop a strategy for preparing estate documents that you can take to your attorney, CPA, or financial advisors to draw up. This is a tremendously beneficial service that MTW is making available to our church.
Morning Worship: What does Psalm 8 have to do with Easter? The New Testament quotes it when explaining Jesus’ resurrection glory. Man will one day have dominion over all creation, but before that happens the Son of God must become Man—the representative Man, the Man who does what the first man (Adam), and all men, failed to do, so that in him all who belong to him might share in what he does: living a perfect life, dying because of sin, rising from the dead, and ruling all creation to the glory of God. We’ll exalt the Lord in singing Isaac Watts’ paraphrase of Psalm 118, This Is the Day the Lord Has Made, All Glory, Laud and Honor
Evening Worship: Changed by Jesus.
Courtesy of Sean Michael Lucas, here’s an article that may explain why some babies in the church nursery can move so quickly. You can see Sean’s blog here.
On another subject, The Sweet Dropper is very happy to hear that First Presbyterian Church, Hattiesburg, Mississippi has called Sean to be its next senior pastor!
Maximize the benefit from a good conference
April 1, 2009
Don Whitney has posted 10 questions to ask to benefit from a conference/event. This is especially timely for FPC Kosciusko folks who have been blessed by the recent Bible Conference with Wilson Benton.
Sweet counsel 04.01.09
April 1, 2009
REFRESH
There’s been no Sweet Counsel for the last two weeks. I came back from a week’s vacation on the 22nd as refreshed as I can remember. This year there were no ambitious travel plans. But I think the most refreshing part was that I had no meetings to attend!
REVIEW
Spring Bible Conference in the rear-view mirror: What an encouraging weekend we had with Wilson and Pam Benton! The preaching was very good. The attendance at the Friday and Sunday evening services was very impressive. Thanks go out to Worship Committee for planning and organization, to those who recorded the reminder messages, to the ladies who organized the Saturday morning brunch with Pam and the fellowship supper, to the musicians and vocalists who did a little extra for the services, and to those who took Wilson turkey hunting on Saturday. Now pray for the fruit of the preached Word to ripen in our lives. God’s grace is indeed abounding!
Remember that you can request CD copies of Wilson’s messages from the church office (this will cost you a dollar) OR you can download them for free to your computer through iTunes or from fpckosciusko.org beginning Wednesday, April 1.
REMIND
Easter Schedule: It looks like this:
Lessons and Psalms Service – Friday, April 10 at 6:00 pm. Sing the songs that Jesus sang and that he fulfilled through his suffering, death and victory.
Easter Sunrise Service – Sunday, April 12 at 6:30 am.
Changed by Jesus – Sunday, April 12 at 6:00 pm. We’ll hear a few testimonies about how the risen Christ is changing lives among us. If you would like to share your testimony, let Phillip know.
RECAST
- Worship: Morning and Evening Worship on the Lord’s Day; personal and family worship between Sundays; glorifying God in all of life.
- Teaching: Wednesday night ministries; Sunday School; small group Bible studies; Bible Conference; Fall Lecture Series.
- Nurture: Sunday School classes as communities of ‘elder-led priests’; groups that form for specific encouragement (men’s, women’s, couples’, youth groups, Prime-timers); one-to-one ministry to those in need of counsel or encouragement.
- Reaching: Ministry teams and committees; GriefShare; Preschool; Presbyterian Day School; efforts in local and world missions; individuals using their gifts to help others; serving the community.
We want to see every member engaged regularly in worship, growth in grace under the teaching of the Word, nurturing and being nurtured in faith, hope and love by the fellowship of the saints, and serving in some ministry to the church and to the world. The W-T-N-R outline is intended to move each of us deeper into the process of discipleship. Think of it this way: What is your next step in the process of discipleship?
- If you’re a sporadic attender at Morning and/or Evening Worship, start coming more often!
- If you’re just a Sunday attender, join us for the teaching opportunities on Wednesday night.
- Join a Sunday School class and make an effort to get to know the people in that class. Join a men’s group or ladies’ group.
- If you’ve already taken these steps, then find a way to give of yourself through serving others in some way–e.g., keeping nursery, teaching, committee work, children’s and youth ministry volunteer, nursing home visitation, serving Wednesday night supper. If you can’t find something or don’t know how to get involved in something, talk to me about it. I’ll help you.
How simple is that?
Morning Worship: Lord’s Supper plus…What does Psalm 8 have to do with Palm Sunday and Easter? Jesus quoted Psalm 8 when after he entered Jerusalem, and the New Testament quotes it when explaining Jesus’ resurrection glory. We’ll try to get in on that conversation the next two Sunday mornings. We’ll exalt the Lord in singing Isaac Watts’ paraphrase of Psalm 118, This Is the Day the Lord Has Made, All Glory, Laud and Honor (you pretty much have to sing this on Palm Sunday) and the new hymn we’re learning, What Manner of Love. Someone said to me last week that What Manner of Love is like an entire devotional manual condensed into one hymn. Time spent meditating on that hymn is time well-spent.
Evening Worship: Revelation 6-7 will be in front of us. Ch.4-5 showed us worship at the center of the universe and Christ the Lion/Lamb as the center of worship and the kingdom. Now we start dealing with the bad stuff: Evil Unveiled.
