Posted on April 28th, 2010 by Pastor Jeff in worship
“The Lord is King for ever and ever.”
Psalm 10:16
Jesus Christ is no despotic claimant of divine right, but He is really and truly the Lord’s anointed! “It hath pleased the Father that in Him should all fulness dwell.” God hath given to Him all power and all authority. As the Son of man, He is now head over all things to His church, and He reigns over heaven, and earth, and hell, with the keys of life and death at His girdle. Certain princes have delighted to call themselves kings by the popular will, and certainly our Lord Jesus Christ is such in His church. If it could be put to the vote whether He should be King in the church, every believing heart would crown Him. O that we could crown Him more gloriously than we do! We would count no expense to be wasted that could glorify Christ. Suffering would be pleasure, and loss would be gain, if thereby we could surround His brow with brighter crowns, and make Him more glorious in the eyes of men and angels. Yes, He shall reign. Long live the King! All hail to Thee, King Jesus! Go forth, ye virgin souls who love your Lord, bow at His feet, strew His way with the lilies of your love, and the roses of your gratitude: “Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.” Moreover, our Lord Jesus is King in Zion by right of conquest: He has taken and carried by storm the hearts of His people, and has slain their enemies who held them in cruel bondage. In the Red Sea of His own blood, our Redeemer has drowned the Pharaoh of our sins: shall He not be King in Jeshurun? He has delivered us from the iron yoke and heavy curse of the law: shall not the Liberator be crowned? We are His portion, whom He has taken out of the hand of the Amorite with His sword and with His bow: who shall snatch His conquest from His hand? All hail, King Jesus! we gladly own Thy gentle sway! Rule in our hearts for ever, Thou lovely Prince of Peace.
Posted on February 15th, 2010 by Pastor Jeff in worship
“Whereby they have made Thee glad.”
Psalm 45:8
And who are thus privileged to make the Saviour glad? His church–His people. But is it possible? He makes us glad, but how can we make Him glad? By our love. Ah! we think it so cold, so faint; and so, indeed, we must sorrowfully confess it to be, but it is very sweet to Christ. Hear His own eulogy of that love in the golden Canticle: “How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine!” See, loving heart, how He delights in you. When you lean your head on His bosom, you not only receive, but you give Him joy; when you gaze with love upon His all-glorious face, you not only obtain comfort, but impart delight. Our praise, too gives Him joy–not the song of the lips alone, but the melody of the heart’s deep gratitude.
Posted on February 14th, 2010 by Pastor Jeff in worship
“She was healed immediately.”
Luke 8:47
One of the most touching and teaching of the Saviour’s miracles is before us to-night. The woman was very ignorant. She imagined that virtue came out of Christ by a law of necessity, without His knowledge or direct will. Moreover, she was a stranger to the generosity of Jesus’ character, or she would not have gone behind to steal the cure which He was so ready to bestow. Misery should always place itself right in the face of mercy. Had she known the love of Jesus’ heart, she would have said, “I have but to put myself where He can see me–His omniscience will teach Him my case, and His love at once will work my cure.” We admire her faith, but we marvel at her ignorance. After she had obtained the cure, she rejoiced with trembling: glad was she that the divine virtue had wrought a marvel in her; but she feared lest Christ should retract the blessing, and put a negative upon the grant of His grace: little did she comprehend the fulness of His love! We have not so clear a view of Him as we could wish; we know not the heights and depths of His love; but we know of a surety that He is too good to withdraw from a trembling soul the gift which it has been able to obtain. But here is the marvel of it: little as was her knowledge, her faith, because it was real faith, saved her, and saved her at once. There was no tedious delay–faith’s miracle was instantaneous. If we have faith as a grain of mustard seed, salvation is our present and eternal possession. If in the list of the Lord’s children we are written as the feeblest of the family, yet, being heirs through faith, no power, human or devilish, can eject us from salvation. If we dare not lean our heads upon His bosom with John, yet if we can venture in the press behind Him, and touch the hem of his garment, we are made whole. Courage, timid one! thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace. “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.”
Posted on April 27th, 2009 by Pastor Jeff in worship
It has been great worshiping with other believers at camp and exposing new believers to worship. With a crowd of more than 700 young people, it was amazing to hear them singing songs of commitment to God. One of the songs sang at camp was Pick It Up by Planetshakers. Below are th lyrics of the song.
Pick It Up
Planetshakers
Verse 1
I was blind but now I see
Love has got a hold on me
Now I sing cause I am free
Pre-Chorus
So I’m laying down my life
And I’m taking up my cross
Chorus
I’m taking up my cross
Laying down my life
All for the glory of Your name
I’m living my whole life
All for You Jesus
Taking up my cross everyday
Verse 2
I was lost
Now I’m found
Put my feet on solid ground
Now I sing cause I am free
Posted on April 8th, 2009 by Pastor Jeff in Prayer, worship
We were not on sale when Jesus Christ redeemed us! In fact, Jesus paid a very high price for us. 1 Peter 1: 18-19 says, “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, 19but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” Yes! His blood was precious and He shed it for us. Let us meditate on this truth this Holy Week.
C.S. Lewis once said, “The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important.”
If Jesus is who He says He is, if He saved us from all our sins and did what He said He was going to do – if God’s word is true, it deserves everything we’ve got. He’s not a piece of the pie along with our career and hobbies. He’s the whole pie. If it’s not true then let’s not bother going to church anymore, or else we’re just kidding ourselves.
The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important. The casual Christian is a contradiction of terms. We’re either passionate about loving God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength or, very simply put, we’re not.
Galatians 6:7 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”
Believing and applying the principle of sowing and reaping can be helpful enough to make a person fear the consequences of wrong actions. But maturity is seen in a person who is not just motivated to obey because of the fear of the consequences but is motivated by a right fear of God. The one that is careful not to bring displeasure because he loves his God aside from the knowledge that God will hold as all accountabe someday.
