ASK PRAYER

Dear family,

During Shake-it-up Summer we have prayed for others in more than one service, particularly in the services designated to Care Company (www.carecompanydc.org ) and TAG (The Antioch Group, www.theantiochgroup.org). This week there was an opportunity to ask for things that are of personal concern to you.

We looked at the amazing last words of Jesus in John 14-16, following the Last Supper when Judas had left to “do quickly” what Jesus knew would be betrayal. Jesus then in a measured way proceeds with what is known as the Upper Room Discourse; three wonderful chapters that invite us repeatedly to ask, as you can see from the scriptures below.

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. -JOHN 14:13

And I will ask the Father, And He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. -JOHN 14:16-17

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. -JOHN 15:7

You may ask me for anything in My name, and I will do it. If you love Me, you will obey what I command. -JOHN 15:14-15

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. -JOHN 15:16

I tell you the truth my Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. Until now you have not asked anything in My name. Ask and you will receive and your joy will be complete. -JOHN 16:23

These chapters culminate in Jesus great prayer of John 17 before He sets His face to go to the Cross. This was His final asking list on earth. In Sunday’s service we took time to write our own asking lists. Writing “Ebenezer… Up till now God has helped me” at the top of a page and “Jehovah Jireh… God who provides” at the bottom, in between we wrote down the things that came to mind that we need to ask God for. It may have been something as large as the salvation of a loved one or as small as some practical thing needing attention, maybe for help in standing against a temptation, or for a physical healing. If Jesus invited, in fact even requested us to ask, then let’s make it an increasingly regular practice.

We also took a few minutes to meditate on the simple four sentence prayer Jesus used to teach His disciples to pray in Matthew 6, the Lord’s Prayer Many of us found that God gave us fresh revelation out these few well-known verses. We were blessed by focusing on a short phrase from this amazing prayer as if for the first time. If you were not able to be in church this Sunday then maybe you would be blessed to by such an exercise.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6:10-13

Keep asking because He is going to keep answering,
Celia

P.S. We had the pleasure of hearing some asking testimonies from Anne Doggett and Amy Herbert who led groups of “askers” last week for Urban Hands. Be sure to give the mp3 a listen on our website.

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

ECCLESIOLOGY

A PASTORAL LETTER

Dxarxst family,

Thxrx arx challxngxs whxn it comxs to grappling with thx quxstion: what is church? Thxrx is much that cannot bx dxducxd dirxctly from Jxsus’ own txaching though clxarly Hx txachxs what it is to bx onx of His own. Thxrx is no formal dxfinition of church in thx Nxw Txstamxnt, no constitution to photocopy and no byx-laws. Thxrx isn’t xvxn a consistxntly rxasonxd, arguxd, logically prxsxntxd thxology of church.

ARX YOU HAVING TROUBLX RXADING THIS? RXAD ON!

Instxad, and vxry frustrating to a Hxllxnic wxstxrn mind, thxrx is nothing but a profusion of picturxs and imagxs, allusions and analogixs, that comx from diffxrxnt anglxs, in a way that is dxscriptivx and not prxscriptivx, xxprxssing diffxrxnt manifxstations of Christian community lifx, its DNA, what it sounds likx, looks likx, fxxls likx; what happxns whxn pxoplx of faith gathxr togxthxr, drawn by God’s Spirit, what thxy xnd up doing togxthxr, whxrx thxy xnd up going, how thxy xnd up bxing lookxd aftxr and lxd. Thxrx are arguably just undxr 100 imagxs that function likx this. All thxsx imagxs arx about rxlationship: God rxlating to us and all of us rxlating to onx anothxr.

YOU’RX GXTTING THX HANG OF THIS NOW, ARXN’T YOU?

Rxminding oursxlvxs about what church is about, about what wx arx callxd to participatx in togxthxr, is basically what this summxr sxrixs is all about. Thxrx arx many aspxcts of our community lifx that arx oftxn vxry hard to xxpxrixncx togxthxr, simply bxcausx wx cannot gxt xvxryonx thxrx at thx samx timx, xspxcially for concxrtxd and concxntratxd timxs of worship and prayxr and txstimony and mxrcy ministry and fxllowship. So from wxxk to wxxk wx will not havx thx samx format as usual. Thx main constituxnt xlxmxnts of our sxrvicx will vary. Somx Sundays thxrx will bx littlx to no txaching in ordxr for thxrx to bx morx timx for communal participation and xxprxssion. Thx thxory is that as a community of faith wx will indxxd bx a body or a family in which xach mxmbxr is prxsxnt and doxs thxir part, for thx blxssing and xdification of all.

ONX OF THX IMAGXS FOR THX CHURCH IS THAT OF A LXTTXR. SO…

What is sxxn whxn wx arx rxad by thx Lord, or by othxrs? Our livxs should rxlatx and flow togxthxr in thx way that words combinx to form intxlligiblx sxntxncxs. Howxvxr, if thxrx arx lxttxrs missing or if a particular lxttxr is not rxgistxring in its own uniqux way, thxn thx ovxrall mxaning can bx lost, thx impact of thx mssagx is wxakxnxd and may bx incomprxnsiblx to thx rxadxr.

I KNOW YOU ARX GXTTING THX MXANING!

Wx do not want our corporatx lifx to bx incomprxhxnsiblx or bx an incomplxtx mxssagx xithxr to thx Lord or to othxrs, bxcausx wx havx not lxarnxd thx rxlational spiritual syntax Hx has taught us to communicatx and xxpxrixncx his lifx. All spiritual spxlling is summxd up in Jxsus, the word bxcomx flxsh, who gavx His lifx that wx may xxpxrixncx a lifx togxthxr in which wx rxally arx thx visiblx xxprxssion of Jxsus flxshxd out in our community and nxighborhood.

If onx absxnt lxttxr can mar thx appxarancx and sxnsx of this lxttxr, how much might wx bx missxd whxn wx arx not ablx to bx a fully fulfillxd mxmbxr of thx family, of thx body, bringing our uniqux function and gifts, pxrsonhood and narrativx, to thx dxvxloping story that thx lxttxr is wanting to convxy?

Looking forward to being together with you this summer.

Pastorally yours,

Stuart

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

CHRIST'S COMING

A PASTORAL LETTER

Dearest family,

The majority of references to hope in the New Testament refer to one supreme thing: what is termed the second coming of Jesus Christ, though this is in fact a little mentioned phrase in the NT. From the moment that the angels told the disciples at Jesus’ ascension that he would return in the same way they had seen him go into heaven, it dominates the thinking and the teaching of the early church, most particularly that of Paul who writes about it all the time in his epistles. It is at the heart of all communication and is the source of the gospel appeal in so many ways. All life is lived and understood in the light of this reality. Jesus is coming back. This is our hope. Just listen to the ways it is described throughout the NT. It is “our joyous hope” (Rom.5:2;12:12); a non-disappointing hope (Rom.5:5); “our comforting hope” (Rom.15:4); “a righteous hope” (Gal.5:5); “our glorious hope” (Col.1:27); “our good hope” (2 Thess.2:16) It is “our hope” (1 Tim.1:1); it is “our blessed hope” (Tit.2:13); “our eternal hope” (Tit.3:7); “our assured hope” (Hebr.6:11); “our sure and steadfast hope” (Hebr.6:19); “our better hope” (Hebr.7:19); “our living hope” (1 Pet.1:3); “our gracious hope” (1 Pet.1:13); “our defensible hope” (1 Pet.3:15) Just a study of all those adjectives will tell you all the fruits you can experience in your present life as you anticipate that future coming: joy, confidence, righteousness, glory, goodness, assurance, comfort, steadfastness, grace, protection and on and on.

Let’s make the foundational point. It is impossible to be a Christian without a conviction and passion for this hope of Christ’s return. Why? Well, you have to understand the nature of our salvation. The scriptures say that “in hope we are saved” (Rom.8:24). From the moment we were saved it was unto this hope. This is not an additive, it is not just something for the keen types. Future hope is what our salvation is all about. How is it that it so easily slips off the radar? How can anyone live a Christian life without being aware of this future, and being aware of this future, not be changed by it?

If you like, we are experiencing Salvation Part One. Now Part One is glorious enough, but there is so much more. By faith we have indeed been justified, we enjoy the forgiveness of our sins, and revel in the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the evidence of all his fruits and gifts and transforming works. We have already obtained so much but there is also much that is yet to be attained. There are two particular areas of incompletion.

i. The first has to do with our continuing tendency to sin, and our longing to be free of our sin in every possible way.
ii. The second has to do with the nature of our physical bodies. Paul says we groan in these tabernacles, and of course, some groan more than others!

So there are two things we long for, and these two things will be realized when our salvation is complete. When we see him we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. We will experience the glorious liberty of the children of God and with the freedom we have longed for, render God our perfect service in whatever has been prepared for us to contribute in a new creation. Our mortal bodies will be quickened by his spirit, we will be raised a spiritual body: in other words, our bodies will be the perfect match for our spirits.

When you read Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians, they sound like us, dealing with a flood of gnostic false teaching, contending with lack of unity among believers, huge cultural challenges to sexual purity and lots of disdain and opposition. As a pastor, faced with the threats of temptations and sin, the presence of fear, the erosion of boldness and conviction in witness, Paul asserts the return of Christ, the hope of our calling. Why?

These Thessalonians were the folk who were grieving as if they had no hope. In the opening of the first epistle, Paul highlights their “endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1:3) In the second letter, he talks of their “perseverance and faith in all the persecution and trials you are enduring.” (1:4) They were identified by Paul as those who “wait for His son from heaven whom he raised from the dead – Jesus who rescues us from the coming wrath.” (1 Thess.1:10) They are those in whom he will glory “in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes” (1 Thess. 2:19) Paul’s understanding of why they need to be strengthened in their hearts is so that they will be “blameless and holy in the presence of God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” (1 Thess. 3:13) In chapter 4 Paul teaches about the second coming: “The Lord himself will come down from heaven…” (1 Thess.4:16) In chapter 5 he reminds them that the day of the Lord “will come like a thief” (1 Thess.5:2) and in case they’ve missed all of that, his closing benediction begins: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Thess.5:23-24) He doesn’t let up in the second epistle. In the first chapter he’s talking about God’s judgment that will happen “when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.” (2 Thess.1:7) Chapter 2 begins: “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…” (2 Thess.2:1) And what is the point Paul of all that God is doing in them? “That you might share in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thess.2:14) So why are we surprised by the following benediction? “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope…” (2 Thess.2:16)

Paul doesn’t respond first to their present needs but to their future hope. The revival of their life in the present is first related to the recovery of their hope for their life in the future. It has been observed that Paul’s teaching to them, and praying for them, is eschatological more than ethical. Why? Because eschatology leads to ethics. Truth about what is going to happen in the future on God’s terms, on what will happen then, will motivate you to get your life in order now. Any treatment of the future coming of Christ also includes the fact of judgment, which is the great incentive to holiness. Why are we then surprised that there is so little talk about our future hope? Because it is not kosher to speak about judgment. Peter is no different. “Since everything will be destroyed, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming…So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation.” (2 Pet.3:11-15)

So what’s the point? The blessed hope is the greatest motivation for living a holy life now and having an expectation of the continuing meaning and purpose of our life in the future. For Peter, the bottom line of eschatology is to provoke and promote holiness here and now. And not only a personal understanding of holiness but also a commitment to the application of God’s truth and character in all arenas of life, including the public and social and societal and civic dimensions of it. Even delay of this coming is a motivation for holiness, providing further opportunity for repentance. The apostolic desire is that people face the glorious prospect of the second coming at peace: peace with God, peace with others and peace with themselves. It will not do to always be on good terms with ourselves and thus cultivate a false sense of peace:

i. Always accusing others
ii. Always excusing ourselves

The apostles are not trying to scare people but secure them. Paul’s teaching is that we need to know that God not only saves us and sanctifies us, but secures us for what he has prepared for us. He really does want us with him forever! He is the God who keeps his promises but keeps and preserves us so that we can enjoy those promises. So back to my question. Why should we focus on the second coming, the blessed hope? As I suggested on Sunday, you will need to do your own study as soon as you can of every outcome, every effect, every product, every fruit, every result of an awareness and conviction about the second coming. You will be amazed at the list you construct. You will not need to be convinced about the operations of hope in his coming.

I only had time to mention three outcomes for us of this hope, in the way it affects our present lives.
I. The hope of his coming…cleansed: “so that you will be holy and blameless in the presence of God… when our Lord Jesus comes…” (3:13) This hope about “then”, is about holiness “now”. Where there is a complacency about sin, an insensitivity to the pride of the heart, an unrepentant spirit, there is little to no hope. If our future expectation is to be with Christ there will be a motivation to be like him now. This hope becomes one of the great spiritual motivators, a great stimulus for an expectation of healing and deliverance now. This is confirmed by the apostle of love, John: “When he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. And every one that has this hope in him purifies himself even as he is pure.” (1 Jn.3:2-3) The modern church must have lost its grip on that anchor of hope that relates us to the realities of a holy heaven. Immediately before that, John writes: “And now dear children, continue in Him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.” (1 John 2:28) The continuance of our holy convictions in the present, will ensure the confidence of our hopeful convictions for the future. Our hope in the return of Christ is both sustained and secured by abiding in Christ, in other words, remaining faithful. Hebrews 3:12 warns of the danger of an unbelieving heart that will fall way from the living God. To be a partaker of Christ is to hold fast to our assurance, our hope “firm to the end.” Yes, it is a blessed hope but it is a holy hope. The blessed hope of his coming keeps us cleansed.

II. The hope of his coming…comforted: “We will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words… eternal encouragement and good hope… encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into…his glory.” (1-4:17-18; 2-2:16; 1-2:12) Yes, there is much about the blessed hope that involves confronting, but it is also hugely about comforting. This is the same comfort that we saw in Hebrews 6, the “strong consolation” that is ours through this anchor of hope. The idea of comfort here is not about a depressed and low-key exchange of best-wishes for a besieged and beleaguered bunch. It is massively strong and powerful, pouring in consolation like pouring in concrete. It’s all about pro-actively encouraging faith and hope, not about containing fears. Mind you, there are plenty of grounds for fear given what Paul describes to the Thessalonians as “the rebellion…the secret power of lawlessness…the coming of the lawless one…the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders…a powerful delusion…” (2-2:1-12) So what is the comfort amidst all the catastrophe, and confusion? “…the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.” (2-2:8) The coming of the lawless one, everything that is coming upon the earth, everything that’s coming up or coming down, runs into the splendor of his coming. The blessed hope of his coming keeps us comforted.

III. The hope of his coming…committed: “so then stand firm and hold to the teachings…never tire of doing what is right…we urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more…we urge you to increase more and more…” Those who have this blessed hope are living on a different time line, an eternal one, compared to those who don’t have it. Those who hope are on “sons of the light” time (5:5) not night-time. There are two experiences of time. One is defined by sleep, the other by awakening. It is the blessed hope that determines the difference. Jesus himself spoke about the need to labor while it is still day because the night comes when no one can work. Do you remember his words in Lk.12:35-48: “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning like men waiting for their master to return…It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns…You also must be ready because the Son of man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” This is precisely what Paul is repeating to the Thessalonians in those two images: his coming will be like a thief in the night, or like labor pains upon a pregnant woman. In other words, the hope of his coming settles the issues about the nature, the necessity, the manner and the mode of our commitment. Now it will make sense to you why the appeals for diligence or the warnings against laziness occur in contexts when our hope is being discussed. Remember Hebrews 6:11-12: “We want each of you to show this same diligence to the end…We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” So patience has nothing to do with passivity, with just sitting around and waiting. Our waiting is active and urgent and fervent and productive, because any day is possible and no day is impossible for his coming. The fact that we will give an account of our stewardship and service at the judgment seat of Christ further encourages our responsibility as we anticipate his rewards. The blessedness of our hope keeps us committed.

So we are still all here post-May 21st. But the scriptural exhortations remain true: be right, and be ready.

Pastorally yours,

Stuart

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

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.