Tag Archive - redemption

Worshiping Together: 3/28/2010

March 31, 2010 in Sunday Setlist with 0 Comments

We again gathered in our “Do You Believe” series as we remembered Palm Sunday and began the journey through Holy Week that will bring us to the celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. Today, we were in John 18 and began looking at the extensive injustices done to the One who is the rightful King of our lives and the world. The contrast between the celebration during Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey and the injustices done to Him by those same people is stark.

Part of wrestling with question of “do we believe Jesus is who He says He is” is also coming to grips with all that He went through and why He did it when He didn’t deserve it. An innocent man who proclaimed and revealed the Kingdom of God sentenced and punished.

We began our time together with welcome, announcement, greeting, and a reminder of upcoming opportunities to be involved with short term missions over the next months. Continue Reading…

[QOTW] Resurrection & Redemption

March 25, 2010 in QOTW with 0 Comments

“In God’s mighty act of raising Jesus bodily from the grave we are right to glimpse the final chapter of the drama of redemption. Indeed, an understanding of redemption that fails to take its moorings from Christ’s victory over sin and death via bodily resurrection, and the promise of ultimate restoration of all things declared by the empty tomb, is not a biblical understanding of redemption at all.”

- Michael D. Williams, Far as the Curse is Found (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2005), 12.

Why Sing New Songs?

February 23, 2010 in Worship Leading with 3 Comments

If you attend a church for any amount of time, you will eventually be asked to learn a new song. For some this is an exciting thing. For others it is not. Perhaps you wonder why we choose to do new songs. By doing new songs, are we saying that the old songs are bad or no longer useful? Not at all. The song selection for a worshipping community does not need to be either new or old, but can be both.

Some may say that we should do new songs because the Bible tells us to. They will point to Scriptures such as those found in Psalm 96:1, which says “Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth;” or Psalm 149:1, which says “Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise to the assembly of the saints.” However, most scholars believe that the meaning of these verses, and others like them, has little to do with an actual song, and more to do with what happens in our hearts as God renews us through the Holy Spirit and we see and understand the amazing grace extended to us through Jesus Christ. As our hearts are reborn, then what is expressed is a new song of praise to the King of kings instead of the old song of sin and selfishness. It is the redemption through Jesus Christ within our lives. Continue Reading…

Expectation at Advent

December 16, 2009 in Ponderings with 1 Comment

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Advent is the time when God breaks in on us with new surprises and touches us with a renewing and restoring power. –Robert Webber, Ancient Future Time

 

It’s the time of year when we enter into the season of Advent, which comes from the Latin adventus, meaning arrival or coming. Advent is traditionally a time when people slow down and take time to celebrate and prepare for Jesus’ birth at Christmas time. Many religious traditions choose not to sing songs of Christ’s birth until Christmas Day since Advent is not a time of joy, but of longing for the coming of the Savior. Continue Reading…

For the Glory of God…

May 27, 2009 in Ponderings with 0 Comments

Ephesians 1:11-14 (NIV):

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession-to the praise of his glory.

I came across this passage last week. When you stop to think about what it says, it’s pretty significant. As we live on this world and walk in this life, we need to remember what God has done for us, who we are in Christ, and why that is.

As we place our hope in Christ, it is for God’s glory. As we trust in the forgiveness and completeness of Christ, it is for His glory. As we allow our life to be fully conformed and in the hands of God, it is for His glory. Life isn’t about us, yet God allows us to be a part of the inheritance to come beacause He loves us so much.

And no matter what the future holds, our future is secure and is not in jeopardy. Just as you make a deposit on a house or a custom order or a car to secure it, our future place in God’s Kingdom is secure by God’s Son – Jesus Christ. And it’s still for His glory.

So rest secure because we are God’s and live for His glory.