Psalm 89 is a psalm for when everything is falling apart. God doesn’t seem trustworthy as his promises are unambiguously unfulfilled. If action speaks louder than words, then God’s actions (or inactions) are louder than the words of his promises. This is the kind of existential crisis that can shake us to our core. Do you have a plan when you are in such a time and place? What will you do when your world begins to fall apart?
Read MoreIn view of heaven’s glory, “the worldling’s pleasure” cannot possibly anything more than a mist. Don't live, then, chasing after mist. We have something better, for “solid joys and lasting treasure none but Zion’s children know.”
Read MoreJust what exactly is the “normal” or “ideal” Christian life? Some say that the Christian life is lived most fully when God’s presence and favor are felt close at hand, the heart brims over with joyful praise, and we conquer all our enemies, be they our besetting sins or our enemies. It all sounds so wonderful.
Read MoreWe often misinterpret troubles of life. Life’s troubles certainly need to be resolved. But God ordains life’s troubles to disturb our self-confidence and self-sufficiency, all so that we may at last see the deepest problem of our broken communion with him. Indeed, how does it profit us if we have food, but not the Lord?
Read MoreGrace is often hidden in the shadow of darkness. Our lives as exiles in this world, our remembrance of sin, are indeed sources of grief for us. And yet in God’s hands they work to nurture hope in our hearts. “No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!”
Read MoreSo we trust, in the midst of pain and shock over evil, much of it not our making, that God remains our Shepherd. God has granted us to suffer for a while. Yet he is our good and loving Shepherd. His face shines on us in this dark world.
Read MoreWe see it on bumper stickers. Well-meaning friends share on Facebook. “Prayer works.” This is the one thing that Christians are never supposed to doubt. Prayer works. Just keep at it. God will answer. In the mean time so many of us go on with aching hearts, too ashamed and too afraid to say out loud, because God never came through.
Read MoreWe conclude the membership class with exhortation to mutual love and ministry, practiced through discipline, service, and giving.
Read MoreWhy does God do nothing when we need him to act? Why does he say nothing when we need him to say something? We have all had to wrestle with these questions at some point. Perhaps you are wrestling with them now. We are unfortunately all too familiar with the situation.
Read MoreMembership in Grace Fallbrook is a membership in a Reformed and Presbyterian congregation. When we identify ourselves as a Reformed congregation, we are asserting an identify that is historically informed, theologically shaped, and has clear boundaries in our piety.
Read MoreLife here and now is a mess, and that is by God’s design. God would have us (almost) driven mad by this world that we find our sanity only in his grace and providence.
Read MoreAs we meditate on Psalm 72, let us look to Jesus with confidence. For Jesus is the glorious king of Psalm 72, and the joy of all nations. He is our glorious king, and the joy of our hearts.
Read MoreThe Church is a community of “members.” In order to build a community that fulfills God’s design for the Church we need to have healthy participation in the various relationships that make up a church.
Read MoreWho am I? What do I celebrate? What informs my life’s direction and passion? It is the resurrection of our Lord. He rose from the dead, and it changes everything.
Read MoreDavid’s longing was realized when Jesus triumphantly entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. According to Jewish liturgy Psalm 24 was being read on Palm Sunday. As the Temple singers were singing “Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in” the crowd was welcoming Jesus, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
Read MoreIt is not easy to rejoice and be glad in God amidst trials. We have convinced ourselves that such things are impossible as long as the circumstances remain the same. Let God change my reality first, and then I will praise him! But we are encouraged rather to understand that God is worthy of praise in every circumstance, and that our soul’s happiness is not rooted in the changing realities of life, but in the fact that we know him, and he knows us.
Read MoreOur present life may have the hues of death about it. After all, following after Jesus is nothing less than taking up our cross to follow him. Nevertheless, a day will come when all laments will cease and all bitterness pass. We await that day, and in anticipation of that glorious day we gather in worship. For in worship our God gives us a foretaste of that feast of the Lamb.
Read MoreThe Church can be defined along two axes. As the “body of Christ” the Church’s identity is defined vertically. As the “fellowship of believers” the Church may also be defined horizontally. But the vertical relationship is foundational to the horizontal and is its fountainhead. The focus of this session is to understand the Church's calling in light of Church’s vertical relationship.
Read MorePsalm 69 is quoted more than any other psalms in the New Testament (John 2:17; 15:25; 19:28; Acts 1:20; Romans 11:9; 15:3). The New Testament writers saw in Psalm 69 a vivid description of the Messiah and the the rejection that Christ faced. David’s experience recorded in Ps 69 became the vehicle to describe Christ’s anguish.
Read MoreThese are the notes from the first of the five membership class sessions. In this first part, we first set the discussion in the context of the challenges posed by the culture in which we live. Secondly, we orient ourselves to think about the church according to the great work that God has been doing throughout history.
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