IN DEATH

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dearest family,
One of the passages we looked at on Sunday, establishing the relationship between hope and our death, 1 Cor. 4:16-5:10, is regarded as one of the most difficult in the NT and arguably, more has been written about it and discussed than any other. That means that the best way to understand it is maybe not just by exposition but also by the example of believers who die. The truth of this passage though is the explanation of why their spirit just gets stronger and stronger, their peace gets more palpable, their assurance more confident, their joy more vibrant as they continue to mature in Christ. Regardless of any physical weakness, anything that could possibly waste away, inwardly, their life that was eternal, their life that was of the age to come, is going from strength to strength, being renewed day by day, just as the text says. While things from one point of view, the present, are in fact getting slowly worse, everything from the future point of view, is getting better. It is an amazingly brilliant paradox, a mystery of God’s ingenious grace. Things are falling apart, and as a result, everything that really matters is coming together. Time is running out but timelessness is kicking in. Health is deconstructing and a new body is being constructed. As Paul puts it, the old tent is falling down and a new building emerges. The process of losing an old personality is overtaken by the creation of a new person. Every sign of wear and tear becomes the forerunner of renewal and refurbishment. Preparing for the end turns out to be a preparation for the beginning.

In The Last Battle, the characters are all trying to describe the new Narnia, heaven no less, but in the end they sort of give up with the words of one of them: “If you ever get there, you will know what I mean!” It is then that we read this. “It was the Unicorn who summed up what everyone else was feeling. He stamped his right forehoof on the ground and neighed and then cried, ‘I have come home at last! I belong here! This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now… Come further up, come further in!” It is then that Aslan notices that Peter, Edmund and Lucy are not looking quite as happy as he meant them to be, and Lucy explains why: “We’re afraid of being sent away Aslan. You have sent us back to our own world so often.” “No fear of that,” said Aslan, and he explains that they really had died. “The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.” Lewis concludes that though this was the end of the story “it was really the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures had only been the cover and the title page. Now at last they were beginning chapter one of the Great Story, which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”

You see, all that appears to be achieving nothing but gloom as the body fails, that seems like a law of diminishing returns, happens to be God’s accruing investment in the future. As we lose, God is achieving a weight of glory. What we in fact call “the end”, is so for a Christian only in this sense – it is the finishing touch on a new creation. Even the groaning that goes with the pain, and the burden-bearing that goes with the pressures, are transformed and transmuted and instead, become the groaning and burden-bearing that Paul talks about here, that wish and desire to be clothed with a heavenly dwelling. At the moment that we become homeless through our death, we are re-housed in the life to come. The moment we become naked in our death, we are clothed forever with his glory, resplendent as the sun, or as Lewis says, we become a creature of such brilliance and beauty that if we were to be seen someone would want to worship us. The assaults of present life, including the final assault of death, do not in fact tear anything down, but rather they are building something up – our assurance about the future no less. When our present is most threatened, the thrill of our future is most perceived. What at first appears as the worst adversity, turns out to be to our greatest advantage. If we think something is being dismantled, Paul says we are right, but we are wrong about what is being taken away. It is not life that is being taken away, but merely the scaffolding that has been around what God has been building that’s brand new. The image of death that is captured by the closing of a coffin box forever, could not be more misleading. It’s more about tak-ing the wrapping off the gift of his pleasures and treasures in us, forever. I see it more like an artist who whips off the blanket from the sculpture that he has been working on in secret. Where the world sees only loss, Paul puts it best for the Christian: “to die is gain!” What gain Paul?

• To be with Christ forever (would those with Christ ask us questions about our present relationship with Him?)

• To have my spirit made perfect (would they ask us questions about our distaste for sin now?)

• To be home at last with the Lord (would they ask us questions about our present comforts and securities in this world?)

• To have rest for my soul (would they ask us questions about our current stresses and driven-ness?)

• To be delivered from pain and sickness and decay (would they ask us questions about our lusts for health and wealth?)

• To always be in the presence of the Lord (would they ask us questions about our present communion?)

Paul comes to an amazing conclusion in 2 Cors.5:5 “God made us for this very purpose…” Isn’t that incredible? Wouldn’t you assume that death had just brought an end to the possible purposes of God? At the very moment of our death, when the world assumes that we have been unmade, when all our vocational purpose has come to an end, we have in fact just fully discovered the purpose and meaning for which we were made, serving God in his presence forevermore. Doesn’t scripture say that what God was after all along was to bring many sons and daughters to glory? Now you can understand why Paul says death is preferable. Not because there’s anything great about death, believe me. No, the thing is all about the glory that is achieved for the one who loves Jesus.

Listen to scripture once again. “We would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So make it your goal to please him, whether you are at home with him in the body or away from it like me. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him or her, for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” What advice would those who have gone before give to us today? I think they’d tell us to please Jesus in such a way that we can give a good account of our life when he evaluates it at the seat of inspection. I think they’d get straight to the urgent point and tell us to commit our life to Christ and to his work. I think they’d tell us to watch and pray as we’ve never done before. I think they’d take us to scripture, and remind us that the reality of adversity now is to prepare us for glory then; that we must resist sin and its effects on our life, especially the premature death that sin brings to mind and spirit, to personality and sexuality and spirituality, to relationships and callings, to marriages and vocations; that we must live our life in a state of readiness to meet Jesus – be ready and be right; that we should redeem the time and not shorten our life through waste or striving after wrong things; that we should remember our end and be always mindful of what it is we are tuning up for – the concert that is to come. I’m reminded of the dying words of Richard Baxter: “I’m almost well!”

All that I have suggested they would say to us is in agreement with what Paul has said to the Corinthians. As we have noted, the assurance of faith that we have about God’s promises for our eternal future is an amazing work of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we have enormous confident hope (twice he mentions confidence) and courage in the face of death.

Pastorally yours,
Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

PATIENCE PT. 3

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dear Family,

“…hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans 7:24- 25). This past Sunday, Stuart continued his series on hope, and more specifically, his smaller series-within-a-series on patience. He did a bit of review, and then led us into a meditation in three parts: (1) patience/impatience as it is expressed in the nature of God/man; (2) the “parents” of patience, or what produces patience in us; and (3) the “children” of patience, or what patience then goes on to produce in our lives. He also reminded us that “Christian hope is both the parent and the child of patience.”

Any way we cut it, patience necessarily has to do with the passage of time, and as we face this passage of time (the time that is frequently presented in scripture as a principality and power that stands against us), there are only two potential outcomes: either our circumstances change, or we do. When we face the delays of the world around us, we are asked to choose a godly delay of our own worldly reactions. In essence we are in a staring contest with our circumstances, waiting to see which can hold out longer before breaking. In our nature, we don’t have the strength to stand firm or stay cool, but thanks be to God, He does!

Our nature is impatience. The causes of impatience in our lives are numerous: loss of self-control, anger, dissatisfaction, selfishness, drivenness, and entitlement, just to name a few (for the full list, give the sermon a listen). The consequences of impatience are equally numerous: subversion of motivation, early withdrawal from commitments, loss of calling, loss of godly goals, loss of time and energy, losing the ability to encourage others, loss of credibility, loss of trust, etc.

God’s nature, however, is patience (and therein lies our hope!). He identifies Himself as patient in passages throughout scripture, of which the most noteworthy might be Exodus 34:6. In revealing His very glory to Moses, His description of Himself is striking: And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love…” Each member of the Trinity expresses patience in their own turn: we have the image of the patient Father waiting for His prodigal son to return home; we read about Jesus’ patient endurance as He walked the long road from Gethsemane to Calvary; and we experience the patience of the Holy Spirit, as He is the means by which the fruit of patience is produced in our own lives.

In one of Stuart’s pastoral encouragements to us he asked, “Is there any area of your life that God is having to be patient about right now? …Is there an obedience that has not been enacted? …A response of devotion or intimacy that is long overdue?” Our response to God’s patience should be both an expression of deep gratitude (like that of Paul in 1 Timothy 1:15-16) and a resolve to settle matters quickly with Him, not to leave any sin unconfessed, or any promise unfulfilled.

So what then produces the fruit of patience in our lives, and what other fruit does patience then go on to produce once it has taken root? I’ll leave you with the lists for your own meditation (one that Stuart said could have been a whole sermon series in and of itself!).

What Produces Patience:

• Intimacy with Jesus (John 15)

• Wisdom (Proverbs)

• God’s Word (Romans 15, Psalm 119)

• Needs and necessities, ours and others’ (This is the context and school in which we learn patience.)

• Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)

• Suffering (James 1:2-3, Rom 5:3)

• Obedience (James 5:7-8, Col 3:12)

• Hope (Job 6:11)

• Submission and surrender

• Love (1 Corinthians 13:4,7)

What Patience Produces:

• Understanding (Proverbs 14:29)

• Peacemaking, reconciliation (Proverbs 15:8)

• Self-control (Proverbs 16:32)

• Persuasion (Proverbs 25:15)

• Humility (Ecclesiastes 7:8-9)

• Fulfilled promises (Hebrews 10:36)

• Character/Maturity (Romans 5:3-4, James 1:4)

• Hope (one would hope you’ve learned this by now!)

• Security and assurance (James 5:8)

• Spiritual authority (give a listen to the message from Larry Winnes’ ordination; patience is fundamental to how one leads and nurtures a family or a congregation)

• A harvest (James 5:7, Galatians 6:9, Luke 8:15)

• Eternal life and salvation! (Romans 2:7, 1 Timothy 4:16, James 1:12)

As a final encouragement, think of the words of the Apostle Paul: And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:10-12)

Many blessings to you this week,
Ben

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

PATIENCE PT. 2

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dear family,

At the beginning of the story of the church in Acts of the Apostles, the hope of Christ returning, the fulfillment of the hope of our salvation, was communicated to the disciples by the angels immediately after Jesus was ascended and before they could take a step into their new life. “This same Jesus who you have seen being taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” But what had been communicated by Jesus before that? “Wait…” (Acts 1:4) And of course, that question that comes to challenge our hope arises immediately in v6, where they are basically asking: “How long?” “Are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” And then comes the answer that sets the course: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.” You see, only the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of hope, would be able to resource them for what lay ahead, and be the supply of hope for the blessed hope that they were about to hear from the angels. Jesus had immediately then said, “But you will receive power…” They would not have the comfort of knowing the timing of everything, but they would have the comforter to empower them in that unknowing and in the inevitable waiting that would be required. It is the supremely charismatic work of the Holy Spirit according to Paul in Rom.5:5 that ensures that this hope will never disappoint us. “Hope does not disappoint us because God has poured his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” Paul tells the Ephesians that it is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that helps them to know, better and better, the hope to which they have been called. To be charismatic is to be filled with the hope of God.

What I have been suggesting is that the disciples’ very last moments with Jesus established the relationship between hope and waiting. Their version of “How long” had a long history. “How long Lord? How long?... How long Lord will you forget me? Forever?... How long will you hide your face from me?... How long must your servant wait?” These cries of the psalmist are echoed by about every prophet. Isaiah had his “Woe is me” experience, and then says “Here am I send me!” God tells him what to say and his very first question of God in his new ministry is “For how long O Lord?” Jeremiah’s “How long will the land lie parched?”, Habakkuk’s “How long must I call for help?”, Zechariah’s “How long will you withhold mercy?”, Daniel’s vision that asks “How long until the vision will be fulfilled?” And to make things worse, I know that in Revelation it says at last that “there will be no more delay” but what is way more memorable is that same question again, that they’re even asking in heaven: Rev.6:10: “How long O sovereign Lord…” – basically, how long really till all this is sorted out, so we can get on with the rest of our eternal life?

The litany of “How long’s” that resonate through biblical history always jostle uncomfortably with the affirmations of trust and faith. Did you hear it in the U2 song that we played that used the words of Psalm 40: 1-3? “I waited patiently for the Lord… I will sing, sing a new song…” But the refrain is taken from another psalm: “how long to sing this song…” Is the “waiting patiently” being presented with the possible refrain of impatience in the cry, “How long…” And what is the tone of the question? What are the emotions behind it? It will sound different depending on whether it comes out of weariness or frustration, annoyance or despair. There is a tension, is there not? And so there should be for this is precisely the geography of biblical faith, being extended between what is no longer and what is not yet, between the wanting and the waiting, the hoping and the having. In Christian quotation books you will often find an old Puritan saint, Thomas Brooks, quoted on this: “Waiting is indeed but an act of faith stretched out.” If I was to do a quotation book I would include this one from Os Guinness: “Waiting is not the falsification of hope but merely the duration between the promise and the fulfillment.” And why not quote Os again as he says it in fewer words than I could. “The vision of faith takes the flow of time and history and charges them with a dynamic of hope, freeing the Christian to wait for God with meaning.”

If only hope did not require waiting! But precisely because it does, it requires something else. See if you can work out what it is by listening to the following: “We also rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces patience; and patience experience; and experience hope…. But if we hope for what we do not see, then we do with patience wait for it… for whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope…remembering without ceasing…your patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ…” (Roms. 5:4; 8:25; 15:4; 1 Thess. 1:3) And the key word is? PATIENCE! This does not sound like good news!

There is no presentation of hope in scripture which doesn’t require this seemingly slow waiting, this crock-pot faith, or is it crack-pot? You cannot read about our hope in the NT without tripping over the same word again and again. The interplay between hope and waiting patiently has led someone to say: “Christian hope is both the parent and the child of patience.” Hope produces patience and patience produces hope. Working in unity, they preserve the strength of the believer, even under great trial and suffering. Surely, those who hope patiently in the Lord, will renew their strength. Can you take any more? Listen for it again: “Imitate those who through patience inherit the promises…” (Hebr.6:12) “For you need patience after you have done the will of God, that you might receive the promise…” (Hebr.10:36) “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us…” (Hebr.12:1) “Be patient until the Lord’s coming…be patient because the Lord’s coming is near.” (Jm.5:7-8) “I John…in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ..” (Rev.1:9) “The beast was given power to make war against the saints…this calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints.” (Rev.13:10; 14:12) “So after waiting patiently Abraham received what was promised.” (Hebr.6:15) “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently I will also keep you from the hour of trial…” (Rev.3:10) We see then that the pursuit of the hope for which we have been saved, of necessity demands the virtue of patience, the spiritual capacity to wait.

It sometimes takes several different words to capture the range of nuance and meaning of another word, and not surprisingly, when it comes to a biblical study of patience, it is not enough simply to look up all the specific references to “patience” in a concordance. However, if you begin by doing that, you will get a long way, and you will find that there are two predominant Greek words that are used:

1. Greek makrothumia. makro=long; thumos=wrath. "long-temper" The idea is to “bear long”. It denotes a delayed reaction or response: positively, it is a response related to other virtuous dispositions like love (I Cor. 13:4 - "love is patient"; Gal. 5:22 - "fruit of Spirit is love, joy, peace… patience”); negatively, it is a response in which anger, frustration, re-activeness, impulsiveness is restrained (I Thess. 5:14 - "be patient with all men”; James 5:7,8 - "be patient until the coming of the Lord")

2. Greek hupomeno. hupo=under; meno=to abide. "abide under" The idea here is of a yielding that involves endurance and continuance. Again, there is the idea of a delayed response that does not give expression negatively to despair or despondency, or fear or reactive panic; to withdrawal or escape or flight (Rom. 5:3 - "tribulation works patience"; Rom. 15:5 - "the God of patience"; Heb. 10:36 - "you have need of endurance"; James 1:3,4 - "test of your faith produces endurance"); positively, it is most often related to hope (Roms. 12:12 – “rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation.”)

The biblical words for patience, and related words, generally cover two main ideas that come up again and again:

• the need to stand firm under pressure: this may often have to do with staying where you are, patiently holding a position against the odds, and not being dislodged by pre-emptive strikes of self or circumstance or Satan against your soul.

• the need to stay cool under provocation: (Loseth not thy cooleth!) the idea of holy calm and self-control and restraint in the face of anything that disrupts or distracts, that assaults or assails, that diverts or subverts, that hinders or hurts. Augustine said that the one who shows patience “prefers to endure evil so as not to commit it, rather than to commit evil so as not to endure it.” That is profound and simple and captures the truth that our impatience in response to provocation is usually sinful.

Join me on Sunday as we “patiently” pursue this matter of patience in order to more faithfully, pursue the hope that is set before us.

Pastorally and “hoping to be patiently” yours,
Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

PATIENCE

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dear family,

On Sunday we picked up the “Here’s Hoping” series again and looked at the Isaiah 40:31 encouragement that those who wait and hope in the Lord will renew their strength. We noted the context of several passages from the Psalms that showed particular ways that strength was indeed renewed through hopeful waiting. We began to look at the cruciality of patience in relation to our hope, but also the incredible damage that impatience does. We’ll talk about that more next time…if you can wait that long!

The spiritual fact is that waiting and hoping are non-negotiable parts of our faith -walk, and as Spurgeon put it, why would we be surprised that the patient Savior would require patience of his disciples. I suggested that both at the beginning of his life on earth, to the moment that he ascended, Jesus was synonymous with “waiting and hoping.” One of my favorite presentations of this hopeful waiting, this eager patience, is at the very beginning of the story of the new covenant. The hopelessness was 400 years long and deep. It continued in the profiles of the characters in the story. The evil of a Herod is public, the mention of divorce jars the reader, there is Elizabeth’s barrenness and Zechariah’s dumbness representing the loss of hope and a future. The participants are too old, or too late, or too unconnected, or too sad. How I love Simeon and Anna! As the messianic hope bursts as a reality into the pages of history, the gusting Holy Spirit blows these two into the perfect co-ordinates of the will of God. Of Simeon it was said “he was waiting for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” (Lk.2:25) How charismatic is that! And what about darling Anna, waiting in the temple night and day, fasting and praying, “looking forward to the redemption of Israel.”

Simeon and Anna are persevering, patient, faithful, hoping and actually totally expectant, never succumbing to disappointment as the years rolled by, never allowing the lack of fulfillment and therefore the necessity of continued hoping, to stop them fulfilling what God had given them to do and what God had made them to be. Again, despite the realities of aging, their hoping just got stronger, seemed to engender more faith and fervor, and it seems they just spoke about it more and more. There’s a magnetic quality to their lives. You just want to know more about them. As old as they are, there is a vigor and a spriteliness, a holy activism about them, sharp and focused minds, that more than support the fruits of hope in those that hope for God. Anna is a particularly amazing example as she is off everyone’s radar, except God’s. She was from the lost tribe of Asher, just to add to her lost-ness, and lost to marriage as a widow, lost to men. But she never said she was hidden from God’s view! And then there’s Simeon, who once he can say “as you have promised” (testimony to the hope fulfilled) is just eager for the next experience of hope “dismiss your servant in peace.” There is something in the perseverance of the hoping that is in itself purifying and strengthening, even in the face of possible discouragement. Hoping that is wearying and discouraging, is only empowered and emboldened through continued hoping. The Gospels begin by offering these incredible examples of waiting hopefully.

But what about the end of the Gospels and the beginning of the experience of the early church? Read the text! Hope, the hope of Christ returning, the fulfillment of the hope of our salvation, was communicated to the disciples by the angels immediately after Jesus was ascended and before they could take a step into their new life. “This same Jesus…will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11) But what had been communicated by Jesus before that? “Wait…” (Acts 1:4) And of course, that question that comes to challenge our hope arises immediately in v6, where they are basically asking: “How long?” and Jesus says it is not for them to know the times and dates, which means that trusting patience is the order of the day, the very DNA of daily spiritual life. You see, only the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of hope, would be able to resource them for what lay ahead, and for the supply of hope and patience for the blessed hope that they were about to hear from the angels. It is the supremely charismatic work of the Holy Spirit according to Paul in Rom.5:5 that ensures that hope will never disappoint us. Paul tells the Ephesians that it is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that helps them to know, better and better, the hope to which they have been called. To be charismatic is to be filled with the hope of God. To be a disciple is to live with patient waiting between our new birth into a living hope, and the blessed hope that is yet to come.

What I’m suggesting is that all those who participated in Jesus’ life and story were tutored to wait on the Lord in hope. We are among that number! May our hopeful waiting indeed renew our strength to continue to wait hopefully as patience does its “perfect work.”

Pastorally (and patiently) yours,
Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

STRENGTH

Fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.(ESV)

Isaiah 41:10

ANCHOR

19 We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain,(ESV)

Hebrews 6:19

ABRAHAM

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dearest family,

I said on Sunday that if I was doing a series on the “A-Z of hope” then the letter “A” would be the logical place to start. In that case, Hebrews 6 would be a passage in the first chapter, simply because it invites us to learn about hope from two “A’s”. The first is a person: A for ABRAHAM, and the second is an object, A for ANCHOR. We never did get to any comments about the anchor, as I only had time to make some preparatory remarks on the first of these, Abraham, as we looked at Genesis 15 and 18, and also Romans 4, to understand why his name appears so readily in a discussion about hope. For the purposes of this letter, I’ll just draw your attention to four quick points about the anatomy of biblical hope from Romans 4, as illustrated by Abraham who is presented as our great example for faith and hope. We are invited to imitate him. But it is more hopeful than just imitating him. He is not merely our exemplar, he is our spiritual father. “Against all hope Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations…He is the father of us all…” (Rom.4:16-18) What does Gal.3:29 tell us? “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Spiritually we are his seed so have the same DNA to hope, but because we are his seed we also have inherited the same promise as the ground of our hope. His hope “against all hope” in God, shows us how to hope against all hope in Christ and for our future.

Hope is about a person: “in the sight of God, in whom he believed” (4:17) It’s all about who God is. Hope is before him: it is utterly related to the dependability of God. It’s not about my insight but being in his sight. It’s not about my perspective on the future but on the assurance of God’s presence there as well as here. In whom: this is not about the grade of our hope or faith, but the goal of our hope, to believe in him, to be with him.

Hope is about a promise: “I have made you… Abraham in hope believed..” (4:17-18) Our faith is first in the one who promised, then we exercise our hope in what was promised, but the “what” never displaces the “who”. When there’s nothing to go on, there’s something to stand on: Standing on the promises that cannot fail / When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail / By the living word of God I shall prevail / Standing on the promises of God. “I have made you…” (promise) leads to Abraham…so became…” (fulfillment)

Hope is about a persuasion: “being fully persuaded…” (4:21) Where there was no conceivable hope (literally!) Abraham did not allow the facts of what he saw by sight (“that his body was as good as dead”) to overcome the holy facts of faith. The text says he did not weaken or waver. It was a matter of fact, not a matter of fate. Hope does not deny the reality and the state of his virility or Sarah’s fertility. The NT nowhere plays down suffering in order to elevate hope. On the contrary, as we’ve seen, you almost always find them in the same context. Examine the facts and exercise faith in the future facts that God has promised for us. “Weak faith on thick ice is better than strong faith on thin ice.”

Hope is about a provision: Again, this deserves a full treatment, but the fact is that there are endless by-products of hope in God’s future promise that are reaped in our present life. Strength and effective-ness of present discipleship is utterly contingent on our biblical hope. Abraham reaped present blessings as a result of his future hope and so will we in our daily discipleship. It is amazing to me how many books on discipleship never deal with this necessary subject.

• Listen to Peter (2 Pet.1:13): “as long as I live in the tent of this body” It is because of the hope of what is to come that he is aware of the temporary nature of this life and therefore the need to escape the corruption of the world caused by evil desires and live a cleansed life. Hope provides both a motivation to change your life but also an empowerment to do so.

• Listen to Paul, in Tit.2:1-13, Paul lists many manifestations of godliness in those who seek to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior. The mark of these people is that they are “looking for the blessed hope”. Biblical hope will, as someone has put it well, “affect what we do with our lives – our talents, our time and our treasures.” You could argue that the different results of discipleship are calibrated by convictions about biblical hope.

• Listen to Jesus: Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…” (Mt.6:19-20) The hope of heaven as a spiritual habit of mind, a “supernatural orientation” as Harry Blamires described it, settles the issues about what we value, and how we make decisions about what we invest in. It will also help us decide what we divest as of no usefulness in the work of the kingdom of God.

The old song goes: “Father Abraham had many sons, many sons had Father Abraham…” May we all be his sons and daughters, not only in faith but also in hope, and like him, against all hope…hope.

Hopefully yours,
Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

Announcements CHRISTMAS SERVICES

• Our Candlelight Christmas Service will be on Saturday, Dec. 18th at 6pm (there will be no service on the following Sunday morning). Please bring something sweet or salty to share for a time of fellowship after the service.

• Church of the Resurrection will be having a Christmas Eve Service on Dec. 24, 4:00pm.

• On Dec. 26, we will have a shorter communion service, beginning at 11am.

OFFICE CLOSED: The Church office will be closed from Dec. 24—Jan. 4.

MEN’S RETREAT: January 29-30, 2011. Men, please join us for a weekend of fellowship and encouragement. Stay tuned for details.

HEALING PRAYER TRAINING: There will be a Healing Prayer Training course in 2011. An introduction to healing prayer will be held on Jan. 15, open to everyone, and the Level 1 training (open to all attending a homegroup) will be held on Feb. 19, Mar. 5, and Mar. 19. Email Deborah if interested, deborah@christourshepherd.org.

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR: Faith Tabernacle has invited us to join them on Dec. 18, 10am— 4pm, for a day of shopping, festive music and holiday treats. There will be handmade crafts, jewelry and specialty items for sale. Faith Tabernacle is located at 300 A St. NE.

Donations for 2010 must be received in the church office (or must be postmarked) on or before December 31 to qualify as a 2010 contribution. Contribution statements for 2009 will be mailed by January 31, 2010.

End of year checks designated for Care Company must be made out to “Care Company,” not COSC.

Bulletin Board
Postings not officially sanctioned by COSC.
Ads will be posted for up to 4 weeks. After that time period,
please contact the church office to see if space will permit the ad
to remain posted.

HOUSING WANTED: Barrett Bowdre is looking for short term housing in DC in the spring, roughly January/February to May, while he interns at the New Atlantis publication of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Looking for housing in range of less that $725/mo. Preferably near Cap. Hill, a metro, or accessible parking. He also has a potential roommate to share a space with if that would be a preferable situation. Contact barrett.bowdre@gmail.com.

HOUSING AVAILABLE: Nice, cozy room in Dupont Cir townhome available for $700/mo. + util between Dec. 4 and Feb. 24 (Dates are flexible). Townhome is located 5 mins from Dupont Cir metro, 7 mins from Foggy Bottom/GWU metro, 2 mins from Starbucks and 8 mins from Trader Joes! If interested, please contact kwdoley@gmail.com.

HOUSING AVAILABLE: Looking for CF/CMs for 2 rooms available in a lovely 3 bedroom townhouse near Del Ray, Alexandria. Fully furnished. Walking distance to bus/metro. Lots of parking available. $600-700/mo. + Util. Contact andrew.wasuwongse@gmail.com.

HOUSING AVAILABLE: Late-20s/Early-30s roommate wanted to share huge master bedroom in historic Victorian mansion in intentional Christian community with 4 young professional women (and 2 cats) in Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. BR has fireplace, private bath, spacious closet. Roommate is an early-30s female who values having a clean space. Large backyard, wrap-around porch, 2 full BA, 2 half BA. $531.50/mo. + util. Available immediately. Contact Laura at lauramgood@gmail.com.

Worship Team
Monthly Gathering | Tuesday, December 14th | 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

Even if you are not sure you want to join the team, we would love to get to know you and worship with you. Bring your voice or your instrument, and feel welcome to worship with us.

ADVENT

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dear family,

It was wonderful to take communion with you all on Sunday. There was a precious sense of sanctity experienced, and I was touched and encouraged by the number of conversations with many of you in response to the meditation. My pastoral letter this week is a poem that I wrote twenty years ago now, that relates to some of what I shared. I trust it is a blessing to you and encourages the strength and consolation of your own heart this advent season. Celia joins me in sending you all our Christmas blessings!

ZECHARIAH’S PRAYER
“Elizabeth was barren…” (Luke. 1:7)

Pray, speak to me with angel-words,
And hearken not to my vain litany,
That with legal exactitude recites
Each clause of my contracted life,
Considered, faithlessly, to be
Exclusive to your gavel’s freeing grace.

Pray, number not receding hairs and years,
And measure neither tears nor seed
That have been spilled in search of joy.
Listen no more to sterile unbelief
And murmured rage between my childless sheets;
Nor watch dumb lips indict your word.

Pray, chide my frigid, fearful heart,
Constricted, breathless, crushed and self-condemned;
Long weighted by the felled and sapless trunk
Of unconceived, bough-bare desire.
Step not on withered, once green hope
That lies leaf-browned and brittle round my stump.

Pray, heed not our shamed infertility,
But sprinkle soft your love-moist dew
Upon our sun-scorched, sand-duned souls.
Let tender mercy spring and spray the dust,
Until your fertile will both roots and shoots,
And wells water our wilderness.

“The word of God came to John, son of Zechariah… in the desert.” (Luke 4:2)

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

Announcements

CHRISTMAS SERVICE: Our Candlelight Christmas Service will be on Saturday, Dec. 18th at 6pm (there will be no service on the following Sunday morning). Please bring a plate of goodies, ready to serve, to share after the service (sweet or salty).

WOMEN’S MINISTRY:

• Friday Night Bible Study: Our next study will be on Dec. 10, 7-9pm at Subuola Kujore’s house, 1412 Mass. Ave. SE. For more info, see the women’s yahoo group or call Subuola (202-321-4134) or Anne Bradley (228-806- 4916).

• Book Club: Dec. 13, 7pm at Beth Young’s house, 701 13th St. NE. See the women’s yahoo group for details!

MEN’S RETREAT: January 29-30, 2011. Men, please join us for a weekend of fellowship and encouragement. Stay tuned for details.

PREGNANCY CENTER BENEFIT CONCERT: The Capitol Hill Crisis Pregnancy Center will be having a benefit concert on Thursday, Dec. 9, 7:30pm at Washington Community Fellowship Church, 907 Maryland Ave. NE. Admission is free, and free-will donations will be accepted.

HEALING PRAYER TRAINING: There will be a Healing Prayer Training course in 2011. An introduction to healing prayer will be held on Jan. 15, open to everyone, and the Level 1 training (open to all attending a homegroup) will be held on Feb. 19, Mar. 5, and Mar. 19. Email Deborah if interested, deborah@christourshepherd.org.

SOUND ENGINEER: The worship team is looking for a few more people to join the sound team. Training is available. If you are interested, please email ben@christourshepherd.org.

Donations for 2010 must be received in the church office (or must be postmarked) on or before December 31 to qualify as a 2010 contribution. Contribution statements for 2009 will be mailed by January 31, 2010.

End of year checks designated for Care Company must be made out to “Care Company,” not COSC.

Bulletin Board
Postings not officially sanctioned by COSC.
Ads will be posted for up to 4 weeks. After that time period,
please contact the church office to see if space will permit the
ad to remain posted.

HOUSING WANTED: Barrett Bowdre is looking for short term housing in DC in the spring, roughly January/February to May, while he interns at the New Atlantis publication of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Looking for housing in range of less that $725/mo. Preferably near Cap. Hill, a metro, or accessible parking. He also has a potential roommate to share a space with if that would be a preferable situation. Contact barrett.bowdre@gmail.com.

HOUSING AVAILABLE: Nice, cozy room in Dupont Cir townhome available for $700/mo. + util between Dec. 4 and Feb. 24 (Dates are flexible). Townhome is located 5 mins from Dupont Cir metro, 7 mins from Foggy Bottom/GWU metro, 2 mins from Starbucks and 8 mins from Trader Joes! If interested, please contact kwdoley@gmail.com.

HOUSING AVAILABLE: Looking for CF/CMs for 2 rooms available in a lovely 3 bedroom townhouse near Del Ray, Alexandria. Fully furnished. Walking distance to bus/metro. Lots of parking available. $600-700/mo. + Util. Contact andrew.wasuwongse@gmail.com.

HOUSING AVAILABLE: Late-20s/Early-30s roommate wanted to share huge master bedroom in historic Victorian mansion in intentional Christian community with 4 young professional women (and 2 cats) in Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. BR has fireplace, private bath, spacious closet. Roommate is an early-30s female who values having a clean space. Large backyard, wrap-around porch, 2 full BA, 2 half BA. $531.50/mo. + util. Available immediately. Contact Laura at lauramgood@gmail.com.

Worship Team
Monthly Gathering | Tuesday, December 14th | 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm

We need you! Even if you are not sure you want to join the team, we would love to get to know you and worship with you. Bring your voice or your instrument, and feel welcome to worship with us.

LOVE

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dearest family,

“Put your hope in the Lord for with the Lord is unfailing love, and with him is full redemption.” (130:7) Sunday’s message was encapsulated in this psalm, as much as in the wonderful new song that Ben wrote based on it, as in anything that I later shared. I made reference to over thirty different passages in scripture so I’m limited in what I can rehearse in this letter. But suffice it to say, that as in all biblical study, we must first begin by understanding the nature of God, before we can properly discern the needs of men and women. Both the Old and New Testaments are emphatic and agreed that the essential nature and character of the God-head is “hope”. You hear the same exhortations from OT prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah as you do from NT apostles like Paul or Peter.

• Jeremiah’s plea is desperate: “Our sins testify against us…our backsliding is great…” His next words? “O hope of Israel, Savior in times of distress…” (14:7-8) Often, when all else has failed, Jeremiah refers to “the Lord the hope of Israel…the Lord the hope of our fathers…” (17:13; 50:7)

• Similarly, at a time of great hopelessness and darkness in national ministry, when the occult abounded and the curse was the lingua franca of the day, Isaiah’s ministry was to declare that even though God seemed to be hiding his face, “I will hope in him.” (8:17) Isn’t it encouraging that the next chapter is chapter 9 that will be read again and again this advent. The hope of the nations breaks the surface of history: “Unto us a child is born, to us a son is given.” Hope is rewarded as a light dawns, as the nation is enlarged, as joy is increased, as the harvest is gathered, as the plunder is divided, as the enemy’s boots and bloody tunics are burned, as the yoke and the bar and the rod of the oppressor is shattered. What an incredible biblical example of the relationship between the power of hope and the resulting deliverance!

• In the NT, Peter’s message is propounded then pounded in to the consciousness of his harassed readers: “your faith and hope are in God!” (1 Pet.1:21)

• Similarly, intrinsic to Paul’s basic discipleship course is the exhortation to Timothy: “This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance (and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God.” (1 Tim.4: 9-10)

Because God is hope he is the supreme and superb and superlative object of our hope. Our hope is not based on our own subjective feelings, dependent on our levels of confidence or security at any one time, but in the thoroughly unchangeable, inexhaustible, unfathomable, indescribable, unbreakable, unshakeable, immovable, inviolable, objective hope that is our God, at all times, forever and ever. Amen! This revelation of the nature of God, common to both Testaments, must be grasped.

But equally, we must have a biblical diagnosis of our hopelessness, if we are to understand why we need God’s hope. That is why we looked at the way that Paul presented our hopelessness three ways: in terms of death, slavery and condemnation. But wherever we examined biblical examples of utter hopelessness, whether in Malachi or in Lamentations, whether in Ephesians or the Psalms or in Romans, we discovered a recurring phrase: “because of the Lord’s great love…” The continuous scriptural alliance between our failing hopelessness and God’s unfailing love cannot be missed. Therefore we have hope. I thought you might like to read the text of the quotation from Spurgeon that I used.

It is from the love of God that all our hopes begin and it is upon the love of God that all our hopes depend. If it were not for the Father’s love, there never would have been a covenant of grace. If it were not for his infinite love, no atoning sacrifice would have been provided. If it were not for his active love, no Holy Spirit would have given us life and renewed us. If it were not for his unchanging love, all that is good in us would soon pass away. If it were not for love almighty, love unchangeable, love unbounded, we could never hope to see the face of the King in his beauty in his land that is very far off. He loves us and therefore he leads us and feeds us and establishes us forever. Does not your heart confess this? If that love could be suspended for a moment, if it were to cease sustaining you for an instant, where would you be? The love of God is the chief reason for our hope in him.

So with David and Malachi, with Isaiah and Jeremiah, with Paul and Peter, with the Ephesians and the Romans, and the Colossians and the Thessalonians and with Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones, and with all the host of heaven, the angels and the martyrs, and also with you, I would say that there is indeed no hope without his unfailing love, but there is hope in his unfailing love and with that we will all rest our case.

Pastorally and hopefully yours,
Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

Announcements
The Church Office will be closed on Thursday and Friday of this week for Thanksgiving!

CHRISTMAS SERVICE: Our Candlelight Christmas Service will be on Saturday, Dec. 18th at 6pm (there will be no service on the following Sunday morning). Please join us as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ.

MEN’S BREAKFAST: Our next Men’s Breakfast will be on Dec. 4, 9-10:30am. Doyle Dunn will be leading our discussion and Childcare will be provided.

WOMEN’S ADVENT EVENING: Women, Join us at COSC on Dec. 6th, 7pm to prepare your heart for the celebration of the season! This is a great event to invite female friends, family or co-workers to come along. We also need women to bring hors d'oeuvres and to volunteer for logistical support. Contact Emily Tangen at etang03@yahoo.com if you can help.

CHRISTMAS DRIVE: Through Polaris Project and Restoration Ministries, we are sponsoring a number of the girls who have come out of sex-trafficking. This drive had a wonderful impact last year, and we look forward to blessing these young women again this Christmas. For more information on how to participate, email ben@carecompanydc.org.

I’ll BE HOME FOR CHRISTMAS: On Dec. 4, 7pm, we will have a prayer meeting for all those returning home for Christmas, praying especially for those family members who do not know the Lord. Location TBD.

HEALING PRAYER TRAINING: There will be a Healing Prayer Training course in 2011. An introduction to healing prayer will be held on Jan. 15, open to everyone, and the Level 1 training (open to all attending a homegroup) will be held on Feb. 19, Mar. 5, and Mar. 19. Email Deborah if interested, deborah@christourshepherd.org.

For general questions or building use inquiries,
send an e-mail to office@christourshepherd.org.

To communicate updates for the pastoral letter and/ or the church bulletin,
send an e-mail to ben@christourshepherd.org.
The church bulletin will be completed by end of day on Thursdays.

Bulletin Board
Postings not officially sanctioned by COSC.
Ads will be posted for up to 4 weeks. After that time period,
please contact the church office to see if space will permit the
ad to remain posted.

FREE CONCERT TICKETS!!! Phil Waite, a member of COSC and the director of the USAF Band will be conducting concerts on Dec. 4, 3pm & 7:30pm, and Dec. 5, 3pm. Tickets are available at the Church Office and will also be available on Sundays.

HOUSING AVAILABLE: Looking for CF/CMs for 2 rooms available in a lovely 3 bedroom townhouse near Del Ray, Alexandria. Fully furnished. Walking distance to bus/metro. Lots of parking available. $600-700/mo. + Util. Contact andrew.wasuwongse@gmail.com.

HOUSING AVAILABLE: Late-20s/Early-30s roommate wanted to share huge master bedroom in historic Victorian mansion in intentional Christian community with 4 young professional women (and 2 cats) in Mt. Pleasant neighborhood. BR has fireplace, private bath, spacious closet. Roommate is an early-30s female who values having a clean space. Large backyard, wrap-around porch, 2 full BA, 2 half BA. $531.50/mo. + util. Available immediately. Contact Laura at lauramgood@gmail.com.

VOLUNTEER: After school Boys house, called the 859 House, has (4) four computers that need updating and checking for virus. The house is located at 19th and I Street NE. If interested, please contact Dorothy Logans, 206-683-3326 or dorothy.logans@gmail.com.

EVENING OF HEALING PRAYER
The Evening of Healing Prayer will be held on Tuesday, September 28 at 7:30 PM. This prayer service is open to all those currently attending a COSC homegroup. If you would like to schedule a 30 minute prayer appointment, or attend the service for a time of silent prayer, please contact Deborah at the church office by Friday, November 26th: deborah@christourshepherd.org / 202-544-9599.

WORD

feeding . . . gathering . . . carrying . . . leading . (Isaiah 40:11)

Dearest family,

It was great to see so many of you on Sunday, almost a full house, despite the challenges of the Marine Marathon. I heard of one brave congregant who tried for two and a half hours to get to us before giving up. Full absolution is granted! I know I often say this, but I will say it again! You guys are fantastic the way you faithfully and patiently look for parking spaces on Sunday mornings. I was looking for a place at 9:00a.m. and I’m always praying that places will open up for everyone coming later! I know one feels ambivalent sometimes praying for a parking space, but I never cease to be amazed how often such prayers are answered. Someone pulled out right in front of the office door for me on Sunday before I’d even gone into deep intercession! The statisticians tell us that it is impossible to grow a church without good parking. I guess it’s more about good people than good parking!

On Sunday, my working title was “His Word – our hope” as we looked at the invitation of scripture, both Old and New Testaments, to put hope in God’s word, to expect hope to be strengthened as a result of our engagement with scripture. Get the CD for a full revision, but for this letter, I will just rehearse the points I made from Roms.15:4 which reads: “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” This is actually a digression on Paul’s part. He has just quoted Psalm 69 to proof text what he is saying about Jesus, the fulfillment of the text, and that leads him to make this comment. How helpful that he did so, because he gives us a whole sermon outline about the nature of scripture and its relationship to our hope. It is:

1. Current: although written “aforetime” it’s a present word for us because God purposefully intended the divine explanations and experiences of the Old Testament, as well as the holy examples of its characters, to be a source of present hope to us. It is always relevant, always contemporary, always applicable, always timely. It was written in the past “to teach us” (for “our instruction”) right this moment. It is a NOW word. In Roms. 4:23-24 Paul asserts that the account of Abraham was “written not for him alone but also for us.” Peter, writing about the prophets, tells his readers that “they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you…” (1 Pet. 1:12) The word gives us a current hope.

2. Comprehensible: it really does teach us. It is about our learning. The Spirit of the Word interprets it and makes it known to us. It is coherent. We really can comprehend and understand and know this hope in a way that we can be prepared, to use Peter’s words, to “give the reason for the hope” that is within us; to speak about it in a coherent and comprehensible way. (1 Pet.3:15) The word gives us a comprehensible hope.

3. Complete: all of scripture is necessary, and all of our needs are covered. There is nothing about our hope that we need to know for victorious living that has not been spoken by God to us, recorded in His Word, and revealed by His Holy Spirit. Remember Paul’s words to Timothy about the wide ranging purposes of scripture that are intended to make us “thoroughly equipped” (2 Tim.3:15-17) It is comprehensive. “Everything that was written…” As a teaching pastor, I have always sought to ensure that our diet included the balanced nutrition of both Old and New Testament teaching. Douglas Moo, a seasoned Christian author, commentator and respected Professor of New Testament has written this: “The ignorance of the OT among believers in our day is staggering…contemplation of the OT stimulates our hope…The modern church’s impoverished understanding of the OT cannot but breed an impoverished…hope.” The complete word gives us a complete and comprehensive hope.

4. Correct: in the next verse it says “may the God who gives endurance and encouragement…” Didn’t Paul just say that was what scripture gave? The repetition is deliberate, equating the words of scripture with the very words of God himself. This is the unchanging God who cannot lie – therefore the hope that we learn about and receive from the word is absolutely correct and true – there is no wishful thinking about it. This hope cannot be fanciful or fantastical – only faithful and true. It is the word of hope because it is the word of the God of hope. It is correct and therefore conclusive, not speculative. And because it is correct, it will challenge, oppose and correct what is false hope. The word gives us a true and a correct hope.

5. Compassionate: the fact that “endurance” is mentioned is totally in keeping with other biblical teaching about hope (as in Roms.5), acknowledging that the scriptures compassionately address the cost and consequences of this hope, as we hold on to it in troubled and trying circumstances, in trials and temptations, in sadness and suffering. In Rom.5:4 we saw that perseverance, this endurance, produced a character that in turn produced hope. Remember that Paul complimented the Thessalonians for their “endurance inspired by hope” (1 Thess.1:3) The word gives a compassionate, consoling, comforting hope.

6. Confirming: as well as endurance (patience) the scriptures bring hope because of their encouragement, their comfort. As we’ve seen, the record of God’s dealings with others, the stories of faith and hope that cram the pages of scripture, are written for our learning and encouragement. The scriptures of hope are the antidote to despondency and disillusion. I’ve already made reference to the account of Abraham in Rom.4 that was written for us. There we read: “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed.” (4:18) He “faced the facts” (4:19) and hopeless facts they were, but he connected his persuasion to God’s promises; he connected his persuasion to God’s power to do what he promised – therefore he had hope. He fathered us in faith and in hope. Do you see how scriptural accounts like this promote and produce hope, confirm and consolidate our confidence in God’s future? You cannot hold fast to hope if you are not related to the God of hope of the word and the word of God that is hope. The word gives us a confirming hope.

7. Christocentric: (Christ-centered, Christ-focused, Christ-revealing) The only reason that Paul made this aside was because he was using the scriptures (Ps.69:9) to show something really wonderful about Jesus; namely that he did not please himself, but accepted a way of suffering in order to obtain what he hoped for. When the disciples were recovering from lost hope after the crucifixion, the risen Christ did a 40 day “Here’s Hoping” series, going through the word of hope, showing the way that “Moses, the Law and the Prophets” were fulfilled in him – how messianic hope was realized. The word of hope was good! Then when Jesus ascended, the very first words spoken to them by the angels were: “This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:11) They haven’t even left the spot they were standing on and the word of hope breaks out, and they leave there with no other marching orders than to have hope in that which will as surely come, as when Jesus came the first time. The New Testament church, the apostolic ministry, is born into this living hope. The word gives us a Christ-centering, Christ-focused, Christ-revealing hope.

8. Communal: This is an interesting thing to note in this context. Paul is addressing people who are having a hard time getting on with each other. There is significant disunity among them. That is why the very next verse expresses his prayer that the endurance and encouragement that God gives will produce “a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ…. Accept one another….” (15:5-6) When we lose the focus, the hope that scripture exhorts us to have, our eyes will fall on any number of other things, other people, breeding discontent and disunity. Hope is a great sponsor of unity. Disunity is a sure sign that our hope is deficient. (Paul is particularly passionate here about the unity of Jew and Gentile.) This connection, between hope and relational unity in the church, is made again by Paul in Cols. 1:4-5: “the love which you have to all the saints, by reason of the hope laid up for you in heaven.” In other words, the stronger the word of hope in each believer, the more the community is “lifted above the bitterness and littleness of secondary controversies.” (Moule) One of the key fruits of a shared hope is harmony. The hope that strengthens the communion of the individual believer’s life, is the same hope that will consequently strengthen the community of believers. The word gives us a communal hope.

Hoping this is encouraging your hope!
Stuart

http://www.christourshepherd.org/pastlet.htm (and follow links to download MP3 audio of sermon)

Announcements

ONE NIGHT OF PRAYER: The next Care Company Night of Prayer will be on Saturday, Nov. 6th. Please join us in the Christ Our Shepherd sanctuary from 7- 9pm as we join in prayer for the needs of our churches, ministries, and neighborhoods.

THANKSGIVING BASKETS: There are a number of ways to serve those in need during this holiday season. If you would like to participate in Care Company’s Thanksgiving drive by putting together a basket of food items, contributing financially, or volunteering your time on Nov. 20th to help us assemble and deliver the baskets, contact ben@carecompanydc.org.

WOMEN'S MINISTRY : Upcoming events

• Book Club - The next book club date is Monday, November 8th! Watch the women's yahoo group for more details.

• Saturday Supper - Our next Saturday Supper will be November 20th, 6-8 pm. We'll be having an "Operation Christmas Child" shoe box packing party! Bring Indian food to share with each other and watch the yahoo group for more info on what to bring for the Operation Christmas Child.

• Monthly Friday Night Bible Study - we are meeting on Friday, November 12th at Subuola Kujore's house to continue our study on "God's lovingkindness". Join us from 7-9 at 1412 Massachusetts Ave. SE, 20003. See the women's yahoo group for more information and call Subuola (202-321-4134) or Anne Bradley (228-806-4916) with questions.

HEALING PRAYER TRAINING: There will be a Healing Prayer Training course in 2011. An introduction to healing prayer will be held on Jan. 15, open to everyone, and the Level 1 training (open to all attending a homegroup) will be held on Feb. 19, Mar. 5, and Mar. 19. Email Deborah if interested, deborah@christourshepherd.org.

BAPTISM: We will have a Baptism service on Nov. 14. Contact Bo in the church office if you are interested in being baptized, bo@christourshepherd.org.

COMMUNITY PRAYER GROUP: There will be a group gathering monthly for dinner and to discuss and pray through the issue of community in the body. The next meeting will be on Monday, Nov. 15, 6:30-9pm. RSVP to Nancy Chan if you are interested in attending, nchan@gmail.com by Nov. 12.

SAMSON MEN’S MEETING: Men, you are invited to join other men for a weekly Tuesday evening gathering from 7:30 -8:30 at COSC. E-mail matthew.tropiano@navy.mil for more information.

C.S. LEWIS INSTITUTE: hosting two seminars in November with Michael Ramsden:

• Nov. 12—“Apologetic Evangelism Program: Faith, Fact or Fantasy?”

• Nov. 13—“Affluenza: The Effects of Affluence”

For more details, visit www.cslewisinstitute.org.

Bulletin Board
Postings not officially sanctioned by COSC.
Ads will be posted for up to 4 weeks. After that time period,
please contact the church office to see if space will permit the
ad to remain posted.

HOUSING AVAILABLE: Mid-Jan 2011, 1 BR in 4 BR apt. with 2 shared baths in Arlington, 2 blocks from Rosslyn Metro. We are 3 youngh professional women/grad students (& 2 cats) looking for a 4th female roommate. Easy access to I-395 and I-66. Garage parking available (for a fee). $960/mo. + cable. Contact Jamirah, jhamirah@gmail.com.

HOUSING AVAILABLE: 4 fun, friendly people in their early 30s, looking for CF for a room on Capitol Hill, near 7th and MD, NE. One block from Stanton Park, 10 min walk to Union Station or Eastern Market. $650/mo + util. Looking to fill room by Nov. 1. Contact Molly, mollyjmalone@yahoo.com.

VOLUNTEER: After school Boys house, called the 859 House, has (4) four computers that need updating and checking for virus. The house is located at 19th and I Street NE. If interested, please contact Dorothy Logans, dorothy.logans@gmail.com or 206-683 -3326

Worship Team
Monthly Gathering | Tuesday, November 9th | 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm We need you!

Even if you are not sure you want to join the team, we would love to get to know you and worship with you. Bring your voice or your instrument, and feel welcome to worship with us.