Is the Gospel Worth It?

Is the Gospel Worth It? Martin Luther is credited with saying “The Gospel cannot be preached without offence and tumult.”[1]

Isn’t the person of Jesus Christ supposed to be the very essence of peace, compassion, forgiveness, and charity? Why then this talk of offence and tumult?

First, it is not the purpose of the preacher or the Christian bearing witness to the person of Jesus Christ at work in their life to cause division or strife. However, any person seeking to proclaim Christ can proclaim no other Christ than the one revealed to us through Scripture.

It is not the disciple who brings strife. Neither is it the Gospel that causes division. It is the presence of the sin of pride, that prince of all other sins, which prompts the one confronted and convicted of their own transgression to hold on to those same transgressions rather than to kneel before the cross of Christ in repentance and plead for mercy.

We reject the righteousness of Christ, which convicts us of sin, which leads us to the cross, which justifies us before our Heavenly Father, which sets us back in a proper relation with our God and Creator. Instead, we claim to be more enlightened, to have a new revelation which nullifies the claim of the Gospel on our life and allows us to set aside that call to righteousness and holiness commanded by the Old and New Testaments. In doing this, we become more tightly bound to our sinful selves and enslaved to a dead end theology with no hope of being made anew!

Thanks be to God for the graciousness of our Heavenly Father, who continually holds before our eyes the person of Christ, calling us to abandon those unfulfilling ways and rest in His forgiveness and peace. We only first need to recognize the emptiness of our efforts and trade our path to destruction for a path of life and peace.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare![2]

Pastor Craig

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[1] Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther

[2] Isaiah 55:1,2

Stirred up

Let us consider one another to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together.   (Hebrews 10:24-25)

“We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints. We want to stay off the rough rods of life and our primary objective is to secure a peaceful retreat from the world. To live a distant, withdrawn, and secluded life is diametrically opposed to spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it.

All we want to hear about is a spiritual retirement from the world. Yet Jesus Christ never encourages the idea of retirement - He says, "Go and tell My brethren.”[1]

While our Savior is no taskmaster, neither is He without expectations. In the same way that Christ called His disciples to a time away from the crowds, bustle, and stress of ministry, so He called them back to ministry and sent them out to continue what had already begun.

Sometimes the difficult process of discernment for the Christian is knowing when Christ calls to push ahead, and when He calls us to rest, recharge, and relax. There are certainly times when we feel our energy has been spent, our reserves are dried up, and nothing is left to finish the task at hand. It is in those times that Christ does indeed call us away to a quiet place and bids us, “rest.”

The rest of Christ, the renewal of the Holy Spirit, prepares us once again to take up the work of the Kingdom. It is truly refreshing, as long as the time spent is spent submitting to the comforting peace of the Holy Spirit. If one is simply avoiding the task Christ has called them to take up, there will be no rest until that task is completed; their soul will find no peace in solitude, no comfort in quietness, no refreshment in sleep. Satisfaction, at least in this particular calling, will only come when the task is completed and the Spirit releases us from that particular urging. What is God calling you to complete?

Pastor Craig

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[1] One-Minute Mediations

Venture All!

We lose nothing by the Gospel, therefore we should venture thereupon all we have.[1]

 When I read the statement above it seems so obvious to me, so plain, simple, straightforward, and true. However, if that is indeed the case, why are we so hesitant? It seems that we should be more bold in our witness. Have we not been entrusted with the words that lead to eternal life? Have we stopped believing that, regardless of the question, when it comes to life’s difficult issues the answer is still, somehow, bound up in the person and work of Jesus Christ?

Yes, we may be rejected a hundred times for every one person who comes to know Christ in a whole and real way. Is that one “Yes” not worth the 99 “No’s”? Is our intact pride to be valued above another person’s soul? Are we that fragile that our Savior cannot restore our shattered self-esteem when we feel the rejection on a personal level?

There is a phrase, popular in some sections of Christianity these days. It is “living into our baptism.” When we were baptized, we made certain promises, or there were promises made for us. If we were baptized as an infant, we went through a confirmation class to join a local congregation. The purpose of this class is to allow us to confirm on our own behalf those promises originally made for us as a child.

The questions asked when a person joins the church include at least one question about involvement in the church and the desire to lead a life in obedience to Christ. How many of us have seriously thought about what full obedience to Jesus Christ actually means? In one sentence, it means recognizing that we are not our own boss anymore. We bend our will to the will of Jesus Christ. If ever we find the Scripture commanding one thing and our desires wanting something else, we set aside our desires and submit to the guidance of Scripture. It’s time to live like the Gospel is true!

Pastor Craig

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[1] Luther, Martin (2006-02-01). Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther (p. 67). Public Domain Books. Kindle Edition.

Consequences

The question has been raised as to what will be different, what are the consequences for First Presbyterian Church if we join the Fellowship of Presbyterians? Here is the fallout as I see it.

If we take this seriously, including the questions asked of us as a congregation below, we are no longer allowed to come and finish our God responsibility on Sunday morning. It won’t be enough to come and sit and the pew and pay attention. It won’t be enough to preach the sermon and consider the people fed and ministered to. It won’t be enough to serve on the session or teach a Sunday school class.
If we ask these questions of ourselves and not just the church, we will not be able to sit still. This does not mean that everyone will have to go to Joplin, New Orleans, or Reynosa. It does mean that each one seeks God’s place for him/her in the vision and ministry of FPC. It does mean that the session cannot just vote on the color of the carpet or approve a new AC unit or support a missionary or a mission trip. It means the session as a whole must develop a vision for FPC and guide that vision in its formation, activation, and implementation. It means the session must be intimately involved in the recruitment, equipping, training, and encouragement of the saints of God here in FPC. It is a vision that will not stop or end, for the kingdom of God does not stop or end.

We commit ourselves not just to the six tenets of the covenant. We also commit ourselves to transparent accountability with the questions below. I think it is the way the Scripture calls us to encourage one another. This will not be achieved by rules and punishments for failure. It will be achieved by leadership in effort and grace in weakness.

1.             How has the Holy Spirit been evident in your congregation in the past year; through conversions, growth in the fruit of the Spirit, or other transformational experiences that make disciples of Jesus Christ?

2.             How has your congregation extended itself beyond its bounds through the establishment of new communities of worship and discipleship, expanding the Kingdom of God?

3.             In what ways is your congregation seeking the welfare of the community to which you have been called; devoting itself to the poor, seeking justice, and living out the whole of the Great Commission?

4.             How are you encouraging people to allow God’s Word to shape their priorities and actions, and to nurture constant learning and the life of the mind?

5.             How are you helping children and others new to the Christian faith to discover Jesus and grow in their understanding and love of God’s Word?

6.             Describe the moral expression in your congregation – are you more like the world or more like participants in the values of the Kingdom of God?

7.             How is your congregation intentionally unleashing the ministries of women, men, and people of different ethnic groups who are experiencing God’s call?

8.             How is the idea of ministry as the joy and calling of every disciple evident in your congregation? How are you equipping people to represent Jesus more effectively in their respective professions?

9.             Illustrate the commitment of your congregation to global evangelism and discipleship, including examples of where you are engaging and with whom you are partnering.

10.          How does your congregation understand commitment to the larger church through our connectional relationships within the Body of Christ?

Pastor Craig

The Spiritually Self-Seeking Church

Till we all come. . .to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Ephesians 4:13

The church ceases to be spiritual when it becomes self-seeking, only interested in the development of its own organization. The reconcilication of the human race according to His plan means realizing Him not only in our lives individually but also in our lives collectively. We are not here to develop a spiritual life of our own or to enjoy a quiet spiritual retreat. We are here to have the full realization of Jesus Christ, for the purpose of building His body.

from One-Minute Devotions

The Spiritually Vigorous Saint

That I may know Him. . .
            (Philippians 3:10)

A spiritually vigorous saint never believes that his circumstances simply happen at random, nor does he ever think of his life as being divided into the secular and the sacred. He sees every situation in which he finds himself as the means of obtaining a greater knowledge of Jesus Christ, and he has an attitude of unrestrained abandon and total surrender about him.

The aim of the spiritually vigorous saint is "that I may know Him."

                       from One-Minute Meditations

Is the Gospel Worth It?

Is the Gospel Worth It? Martin Luther is credited with saying “The Gospel cannot be preached without offence and tumult.”[1]

Isn’t the person of Jesus Christ supposed to be the very essence of peace, compassion, forgiveness, and charity? Why then this talk of offence and tumult?

First, it is not the purpose of the preacher or the Christian bearing witness to the person of Jesus Christ at work in their life to cause division or strife. However, any person seeking to proclaim Christ can proclaim no other Christ than the one revealed to us through Scripture.

It is not the disciple who brings strife. Neither is it the Gospel that causes division. It is the presence of the sin of pride, that prince of all other sins, which prompts the one confronted and convicted of their own transgression to hold on to those same transgressions rather than to kneel before the cross of Christ in repentance and plead for mercy.

We reject the righteousness of Christ, which convicts us of sin, which leads us to the cross, which justifies us before our Heavenly Father, which sets us back in a proper relation with our God and Creator. Instead, we claim to be more enlightened, to have a new revelation which nullifies the claim of the Gospel on our life and allows us to set aside that call to righteousness and holiness commanded by the Old and New Testaments. In doing this, we become more tightly bound to our sinful selves and enslaved to a dead end theology with no hope of being made anew!

Thanks be to God for the graciousness of our Heavenly Father, who continually holds before our eyes the person of Christ, calling us to abandon those unfulfilling ways and rest in His forgiveness and peace. We only first need to recognize the emptiness of our efforts and trade our path to destruction for a path of life and peace.

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why do you spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare![2]

Pastor Craig

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[1] Selections from the Table Talk of Martin Luther

[2] Isaiah 55:1,2