The Peace of Christ and Us

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you;

not as the world gives do I give to you.  Do not

let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

John 14:27

However, this peace, the peace of Christ, is not a peace at the expense of righteousness, or peace at the expense of the truth. It does not compromise righteousness or truth, but instead it is a peace at the expense of the self, at the expense of personal "rights", at the expense of personal desires, at the expense of personal comfort. It is a peace at the expense of personal ambitions, personal glory, at the expense of personal achievements, or personal recognition. It is peace because we have given up ourselves, and is part of taking up our cross daily and following after (living in like manner) Him, who gave Himself up for us.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for

 they shall be called sons of God.

Matthew 5:9

Children in the Worship Service

Some good thoughts here.

http://banneroftruth.org/us/resources/articles/2001/a-child-was-bored-in-the-service/

God's Lovingkindness in Psalm 119

This is a repost, and, really, a timely reminder for us all.

Lovingkindness, hesed in the Hebrew, is one of my favorite words in the Scriptures. It is part of the Lord's self-revelatory declaration in Exodus 34:6, where not only does the Lord declare that He possesses it, but that He abounds in it. It is a vastly rich and nuanced word, and has a depth of meaning and a breadth of application as you can see through its use in the OT. Read through its definition in a good Hebrew Lexicon and you will see what I mean.  

What makes it this way, though, is pretty simple when we boil it down to its essence. Lovingkindness is God's love in action. It is His love exhibited in and through His actions towards His own. It is His strength, mercy, compassion, grace, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, steadfastness, commitment, gentleness, benevolence, truthfulness, and favor towards His children, those with whom He is in covenant. We see it expressed in the command in I John 3:18, "Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and in truth."  God loves in deed and in truth...His love in action...and we are to love as He loves; in other words, we are to express His love through our actions. We also see an example of this in Ephesians 2:4-5, "But God, being rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ." His love for us moved Him to be merciful to us and make us alive in Christ, despite our sinfulness. So we see His lovingkindness toward us in His saving us. His love was put into action to bring about our salvation, and His love was expressed through His mercy toward us.

The Psalms, especially Psalm 136 are replete with the use of lovingkindness. It is also used seven times in Psalm 119, and I want us to go through those and see how it relates to the Word of God.

Psalm 119:41...God's lovingkindnesses (notice the plural) come to us in salvation, and that salvation according to His Word.

Psalm 119:64...The earth is full, overflowing with the lovingkindness of God. God has built His lovingkindness into the earth and all it contains, and His lovingkindness is available to man in and through His creation. The knowledge of the Word helps us understand and appreciate all He has provided for us in this world. Reminds me of I Timothy 6:17...God supplies us with all things richly to enjoy, and He does this through His creation, and it is part of His lovingkindness toward us.

Psalm 119:76...The comfort that His Word brings to us, in any and all circumstances, is part of His lovingkindness to us. God wants us to be comforted and has provided that through His Word of truth.

Psalm 119:88...God's lovingkindness renews, refreshes, and revitalizes us so that we will be strengthened to keep His word.

Psalm 119:124...Not only does God deal with us according to His Word (Psalm 119:65), but dealing with us according to His Word is also dealing with us according to His lovingkindness; and in His dealings with us, He teaches us His Word. His teaching us His Word, the taking of the Word and making it part of the fabric of our life, is His love in action towards us. Psalm 51:6 tells us that God desires truth in our innermost being and as part of His lovingkindness towards us He takes His truth and makes it a part of us. Wow! What a blessing! What a God!

Psalm 119:149...His hearing our voice is due to His lovingkindness towards us. In another Psalm it tells  us that He inclines His ear to hear our prayer. God's response to our prayer is in accord with His lovingkindness, and in accordance with His Word through which we are refreshed, renewed, and revitalized.

Psalm 119:159...Here the Psalmist is saying, "Lord, in the exercise of Your love for me, take into account my love for Your Word, and deal with me accordingly."What great faith and confidence the Psalmist has in the lovingkindness of God toward him, a confidence founded and grounded in the Word of God.  This is a man who knows and trusts his God because He knows and believes God's Word. A great example for us.

In Psalm 34:8 we are exhorted to taste and see that the Lord is good. In Psalm 119:68 we see that the Lord is good and does good. His goodness is expressed toward us in His acts of lovingkindness, in other words, His lovingkindness is good, and He does not withhold it from us, but lavishes it upon us. This begins with our salvation, and will be continued in the ages to come as He shows the surpassing (which means it is more than we can comprehend) riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).  

Father, You indeed abound in lovingkindness, and Your lovingkindnesses are as infinite and grand as You are. So help us to know and understand Your lovingkindnesses toward us. Cause us to see them. Help us to not take them for granted; and may we be grateful now and for all eternity for Your active love toward us.

Why You Must Not Completely Segregate the Youth in Your Church

JULY 3, 2014

This following is an excerpt of an article by Drew Dyck.  Excellent insight into a potential danger in youth ministry, and implies the importance of integrating the youth into the services and life of the church, and the importance of the family attending worship together, or at least all being in the same worship service.  The body of Christ is for all ages.

Foster Intergenerational Relationships

I’ve read virtually all of the books on Millennials and the church, and I’ve added my own thoughts in Generation Ex-Christian. If there’s one lesson to take away from this corpus of literature, it’s this: intergenerational relationships are crucial. The number one predictive factor as to whether or not a young Christian will retain his or her faith is whether that person has a meaningful relationship with an older Christian.

We’re surprised when even our most ardent young people walk away, but we shouldn’t be. If they didn’t have relationships with older Christians in the congregation, in all likelihood, they’re gone. When they age out of youth group, they age out of the church. Churches must find ways to pair older Christians with teens and to engage Millennials outside the church (many of whom are starving for mentors).

The number one predictive factor as to whether or not a young Christian will retain his or her faith is whether that person has a meaningful relationship with an older Christian.

For the complete article here is the link:

 http://aspengroup.com/blog/millennials-need-a-bigger-god-not-a-hipper-pastor

Our Giving--Thankfulness, Acknowledgment, Recognition, and Stewardship

Our giving to the Lord, our giving on the Lord's behalf,

is a measure of our thankfulness to the Lord for all that He has 

given to us.  It is also an an acknowledgment that all we have

comes from His hand, and a recognition that we are to be

faithful stewards of all that He has entrusted to us.