Be Justified by Faith and Receive the Promised Spirit

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘Be Justified by Faith and Receive the Promised Spirit‘

© June 23, 2013, by Steve Mickelson

BLCF Bulletin June 23, 2013

The Apostles Peter and Paul

Let us pray…

Welcome to BLCF Church service on this the first Sunday of summer for 2013. For today’s message, we will look at a verse that has been published on the front of the BLCF Bulletin for the last several years and how it impacts Christian faith and evangelism. If you look on the front of this morning’s bulletin, you will see below the Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship banner head, below BLCF contact information, and to the left of the graphic of the church the verse, Galatians 3:14 (ESV):

That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

For the Wiki bits on Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians, we find that Biblical scholars agree that Galatians is a true example of Paul’s writing:

The main arguments in favor of the authenticity of Galatians include its style and themes, which are common to the core letters of the Pauline body of writings. Moreover, Paul’s possible description of the Council of Jerusalem (Gal 2:1–10) gives a different point of view from the description in Acts 15:2–29, if it is, in fact, describing the Jerusalem Council.

The central dispute in the letter concerns the question of how Gentiles could convert to Christianity, which shows that this letter was written at a very early stage in church history, when the vast majority of Christians were Jewish or Jewish proselytes, which historians refer to as the Jewish Christians. Another indicator that the letter is early is that there is no hint in the document of a developed organization within the Christian community at large. This dates the Galatians Epistles to being authored within the lifetime of Paul.

No original of the letter is known to survive. The earliest reasonably complete version available to scholars today, named, dates to approximately the year 200 AD, approximately 150 years after the original was presumably drafted. This papyrus document is fragmented in a few areas causing some of the original text carefully preserved over the years to be missing, “however, through careful research relating to paper construction, handwriting development, and the established principles of textual criticism, scholars can be rather certain about where these errors and changes appeared and what the original text probably said.” Scholars generally date the original composition to c. 50-60 AD

Saul (Paul) on the Road to Damascus

Paul’s conversion believed by scholars to have occurred after the crucifixion of Christ between 33-36AD. Prior to becoming a Christian, Paul was known as Saul of Tarsus, a “zealous” Pharisee who “intensely persecuted” the followers of Jesus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistle_to_the_Galatians

As an Apostle of Christ, Paul is recognized to having authored half of the Epistles of the New Testament, including the Book of Romans which presents arguably the clearest and most concise explanation of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Initially, some Christians were skeptical of Paul’s ministry, as including Ananias, as we read in Acts 9:10-17 (ESV):

¹⁰Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” ¹¹And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, ¹²and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” ¹³But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” ¹⁵But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. ¹⁶For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.” ¹⁷So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Paul’s endorsement to by our Lord as a disciple of Christ by our Lord to Ananias gives no doubt as to his credentials. We learn about the degree of forgiveness afforded sinners, such as Paul, who by faith have been filled by the Spirit, when we read from Romans 5:1-5 (ESV):

Peace with God through Faith

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. ²Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. ³Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, ⁴and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

The focus of today’s message is that of the human tendency to be fallible, not to be confused with sin, can cause problems with our Christian faith walk. Everyone can make unintentional mistakes at one time or another, and often more than once in a lifetime.

Sometimes a small error can have huge implications. This brings me to share one of my minor mistakes as a weekend mechanic.

Over the years, I have owned a series of vans, each for ten or more years. The first van I owned was a full size 1972 GMC model, which had an extended wheelbase, powered by a small block 350 cubic inch V8 engine. I purchased the truck a couple of years before I was married, and it ran well for a couple of years until it developed a stalling problem, especially when accelerating on the highway. Several “knowledgeable” friends at work, as well as m brother-in-law, Arthur indicated that my problem sounded like a carburetor issue.

In those day’s vehicles were not controlled by computers and electronic ignition, so the idea of purchasing a kit to rebuild the carburetor seemed to cheap, viable solution. My brother in law, a driver, and roofer by trade, had grown up on a farm, where it was not uncommon to rebuild and repair tractor engines. As Arthur had experience rebuilding a few carburetors, I figured between his knowledge and my mechanical aptitude, we could follow the directions that came with the repair kit and truck’s service manual to repair the carburetor and eliminate the stalling problem. Not going to a mechanic is similar to not asking for directions when lost while driving in an unfamiliar area. It’s kind of a guy thing, as Sophie can attest.

It turned out that the van’s carburetor was a Holley 4-barrel type; very complex and intricate being composed of at least 80 individual components. The first step of installing the repair kit required disconnecting and removing the carburetor, disassembling an assortment of screws, springs, cams, washers, o-rings, needle valves, gaskets, linkages, nuts, bolts and other components. The next step required the cleaning and replacing gaskets, needle valves, o-rings, and gaskets. Finally, the components had to be reassembled back as a carburetor which had to be reinstalled into the van. After several hours of painstaking work, actually, we worked on it overnight, the kit was installed.

Holly 4bbl Carburetor

Now the moment of truth, I turned the ignition and the van would not start. After numerous tries, we decided to finally consult a local mechanic. As it was in the wee hours of a Saturday morning, we removed the carburetor and I brought it to a local mechanic the next morning.

72 GMC Van

A couple of hours later, the mechanic called to report that the carburetor had been repaired and was ready to be picked up. The bill for repairs was $20 labour and $20 for the kit, still only 1/2 the cost of a rebuilt carburetor. The mechanic indicated that we had assembled everything OK, except for one cam component that was reinstalled backward, causing the malfunction. Ironically, rebuilding the carburetor did not fix the problem. I later took the van to the garage, where the mechanic found that a plugged fuel filter was the cause of the stalling problem. As it happens, the carburetor kit would be the next step of repair, after the fuel filter, a $5 part, had been changed.

This story illustrates how a group may deviate from the proper path and go along a circuitous path to make an easy, simple process both difficult and complicated with unsatisfactory results. We find a similar example of people making something more complicated than intended in the Scriptures.

The Apostle Paul had intervened with Peter, latter had deviated from the truth of the Lord’s Gospel path, as we read in Galatians 2 (ESV):

Paul Accepted by the Apostles

2 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. ²I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. ³But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. ⁴Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— ⁵to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. ⁶And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. ⁷On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised

¹⁰Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Paul Opposes Peter

¹¹But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹²For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. ¹³And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. ¹⁴But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

¹⁵We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; ¹⁶yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. ¹⁷But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! ¹⁸For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. ¹⁹For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. ²⁰I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.

This Passage has much to teach us about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ had died, was resurrected and ascended to Heaven. The great commission had been given for all Christians to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. The day of Pentecost had taken place and the guidance of the Holy Spirit of God was freely available to guide the believers.

But we have an account where Paul found Cephas had mistakenly believed in order that a Gentile could convert to the Christian Faith only after first converting to the Jewish faith, by circumcision. Cephas is more commonly known today as Peter. This was not how the Lord intended faith conversion. Paul had heard about this practice was led by the Spirit to confront, in a kind and gentle way, Cephas and the others. Paul pointed out that Christian conversion was only through faith, not by an act like circumcision. In the same way, baptism by the Spirit does not assure Salvation. We are baptized by faith, not of works such as water baptism or circumcision. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit convicted Cephas of the truth and stopped the practice.

So does the conversion by faith apply solely to Gentiles? Not really, as we read in Galatians 3:7-9; 23-29 (ESV):

3 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. ⁸And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

²³Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. ²⁴So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. ²⁵But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, ²⁶for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. ²⁷For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. ²⁸There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ²⁹And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

So Cephas, through the Spirit, came to understand that through Christ, all believers are entitled to the inheritance promised to Abraham’s offspring who are the Chosen People of Israel. And making circumcision as part of the Christian faith conversion is to the Gospel as reversing a cam link is to a functioning carburetor. Neither will get the expected results because both do not belong to their respective processes.

Paul did not come to humiliate or discredit Cephas. Instead, Paul pointed out the error of substituting a faith practice with an act of works was not part of the Christian faith process. Such actions, while not considered a sin or transgression of the Law did nothing to justify the believer before God. In other words, it is not the actions of circumcision or water baptism which lead to our salvation, but faith that gives us the assurance of sanctification and the promise of the Spirit, as we read in Galatians 3:11-14 (ESV):

Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” ¹²But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” ¹³Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— ¹⁴so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

The keyword of today’s lesson is faith not works. As believers in Jesus, the resurrected Christ, we are provided a companion in the Holy Spirit which shows us the Way, and like Peter convicts us of His truth, so that we may lead other to light of salvation to God the Father in Heaven, who loves us, His children dearly in spite of our mistakes. May we honour Him with our trust and faith.

Let us pray…

Hymn #410: O What a Wonderful, Wonderful Day

Benediction (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17):

¹⁶Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, ¹⁷comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

The Awesome God, Who Keeps Covenant and Steadfast Love

Jun21

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘The Awesome God, Who Keeps Covenant and Steadfast Love’

© June 15, 2014 by Steve Mickelson

BLCF: Bulletin June 15, 2014

Originally Published June 16, 2013

BLCF Bulletin June 16, 2013

Announcements & Call to Worship: Responsive Reading #593 (God and the Family – Genesis 1, Deuteronomy6, Ephesians 5 and 6); Prayer

Hymn #22: Stand Up and Bless the Lord; Choruses

Tithing & Prayer Requests: Hymn #572: Praise God from Whom All Blessings

Today’s Scriptures: Nehemiah 9:6-21; 32-36 and Hebrews 12:7

Let us pray…

For our lesson on this Father’s Day Sunday, I would like to share with you the story of Sam Rayburn Jr. High, a middle school located in a small subdivision located just west of San Antonio, deep in the heart of Texas. As BLCF is a church that is located in the heart of Toronto, I found that the lesson found in today’s Scripture verses from Nehemiah, Chapter 9 have relevance on giving insight and understanding to the stories of the two buildings.

Some fifty years ago, in response to the needs of a growing, vibrant community, the local school district contracted to build a new middle school. The builders wanted to construct not just an ordinary run of the mill school building, but a structure that was ahead of its time, having a form that was practical in purpose, though innovative and appealing in its design.

Now the Wiki bits of this story (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Rayburn). The community built Sam Rayburn, a middle school whose namesake Samuel Taliaferro “Sam” Rayburn (January 6, 1882 – November 16, 1961) was a Democratic lawmaker from Bonham, Texas, who served as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for 17 years, the longest tenure in U.S. history. Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, on January 6, 1882, 24 days before Franklin D. Roosevelt, a fact noted by the news media while Roosevelt was President and Rayburn was Speaker.

Rayburn was baptized by Elder H.G. Ball in the Primitive Baptist Church, also known as Old Line Baptist or Hard Shell Baptist Church. Rayburn graduated from Mayo College (now Texas A&M University-Commerce) in Commerce, which was located in northeast Texas. He attended the University Of Texas School Of Law while teaching school, and was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1908.

Although many Texas legislators were on the payroll of public service corporations, Rayburn refused to do so. Later, while serving in Congress, a wealthy oil man had a very expensive horse delivered to Rayburn’s farm in Bonham. No one apparently knew the oil man delivered the horse except him, Rayburn, and a Rayburn staffer. Rayburn returned the horse. This practice of refusing to accept fees from clients who had interests before the Legislature was “virtually unheard-of” at the time, but sadly no so much today.

Speaker of the House, Sam Rayburn

In shaping legislation, Rayburn preferred working quietly in the background to being in the public spotlight. As Speaker, he won a reputation for fairness and integrity. In his years in Congress, Rayburn always insisted on paying his own expenses, even going so far as to pay for his own travel expenses when inspecting the Panama Canal when his committee was considering legislation concerning it, rather than exercising his right to have the government pay for it. When he died, his personal savings totaled only $15,000, and most of his holdings were in his family ranch.

I guess you would classify Sam Rayburn as a person who put into practice his Christian values, rather than a Christian who practiced politics. He was an exemplary model for all those involved in politics today. Now class, let us get back to school!

Sam Rayburn Jr. High, like its namesake, was quite different from its predecessors. The school was clad by louvered panels, set some six feet from the windows and afforded shade from hot Texas sun from May to October, while allowing cool breezes caught from the hillside location. The louvers were angled so that in the winter the sun helped warm the classrooms. Built on the top of the west side of a large valley that afforded a commanding view of the surrounding countryside. The two story school was comprised of two wings. One wing consisted of a gymnasium and cafeteria, under them ran a long hallway designed to shelter students and staff from the ravaging winds of a passing tornado.

Perhaps the most innovative design were the two air conditioned multimedia lecture halls, located in the centre of the classroom wing. Sound-proofed and windowless, the lecture halls had staggered seating on a gradient like the slope found in the sanctuary of BLCF. The halls were equipped with a stage and a retractable projector screen for presentations, variable lighting control and built in PA sound system. These halls provided a good environment for students to view films, slide or filmstrip presentations, music concerts, lectures, for tests and exams. They also provided an additional safe place to ride out a tornado if students or staff could not get to the safe hallway under the cafeteria wing of the school.

I attended grades 6 and 7 of my education at Sam Rayburn. In grade 7 English class, we observed the explosion of a Quonset hut at Medina Air Force Base on the opposite side of the valley, generating a mushroom cloud above the valley and a rain of ash the next day. I was at my locker in the school a week or so later, a passing student told me that John Kennedy had been shot in the head. Less than an hour later, the Principal solemnly announced on the PA system that the president had passed.

Medical expenses for my sister Rhona, a victim of a traumatic spinal injury, had caused us to lose our home and furnishings and move into a rental property in the city, closer to my father’s work place.

Fast forward some 3 years to 1967, and my family had immigrated to my mother’s birth place of Toronto. Canada had offered better medical care for Rhona, and gave the family refuge from the riots and social unrest; America’s version of Arab spring. In the next 13 years, I graduated from Secondary School, attended University, returning home after my mother suffered a massive heart attack. I entered the workforce and stayed home until Mom passed away some fourteen months later. A couple of years later, I met Sophie, the love of my life who first led me to the Lord and then later to the altar. Then in 1980, having resigned after seven years at Pitney Bowes, I had a month’s hiatus before starting my new job at Kodak Canada. Thanks to Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor’s providing a safe haven for the Americans in Iran, our family was able to take a vacation to Texas, courtesy of Greyhound Coach Lines’ “Thank you Canada” discount rates. After seeing the sites, we travelled to the old neighborhood. The house showed changes from time. Trees were bigger and Sam Rayburn Jr. High looked older and in need of a coat of paint. I did not return to Texas again for some 17 years, when our family drove to San Marcos to visit my brother-in-law at a rehab facility for people with severe head injuries. I wanted to show my kids my old neighborhood. Time and tide had not been kind to our old house, which looked quite run down, sporting iron bars on the exterior windows and doors. No longer manicured, the back yard now featured an old rusty pickup truck sitting on blocks.

Sadly, Sam Rayburn School was more shocking to see, being the victim of more neglect than the old homestead. The shutters were dilapidated, some cracked and broken; others dangling awkwardly from their supports. The name of the school, once boldly displayed in steel letters mounted on the brick facade of the school had eroded to the wind, rain and possibly vandalism, so that letters were missing or illegible. It seemed that the hope and vision that gave birth to a unique place of learning and a beacon of education had met its demise.

The Book of Nehemiah is a book of the Hebrew Bible, which we Christians refer to today as the Old Testament. When we read the story in the 9^th Chapter of Nehemiah, we can easily see how neglect and loss of a community’s faith and vision can lead to the path of destruction as had happened to my old school.

Nehemiah Rebuilding the Walls

Told largely in the form of a first-person memoir, Nehemiah concerns the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, a Jew who was a high official at the Persian court, and the dedication of the city and its people to God’s laws (Torah). The events take place in the second half of the 5th century BC, and together with the Book of Ezra, it represents the final chapter in the historical narrative of the Hebrew Bible.

In the 20^th year of Artaxerxes, king of Persia, (445/444 BC), Nehemiah was cup-bearer to the king. Learning that the walls of Jerusalem were broken down he asked the king for permission to return and rebuild them, and Artaxerxes sent him to Judah as governor of the province with a mission to rebuild the walls. Once there he defied the opposition of Judah’s enemies on all sides—Samaritans, Ammonites, Arabs and Philistines—and rebuilt the walls within 52 days, from the Sheep Gate in the North, the Hananel Tower at the North West corner, the Fish Gate in the West, the Furnaces Tower at the Temple Mount’s South West corner, the Dung Gate in the South, the East Gate and the gate beneath the Golden Gate in the East.

Jerusalem rebuilt by Nehemiah

He then took measures to repopulate the city and purify the Jewish community, enforcing the cancellation of debt, assisting Ezra to promulgate the Law of Moses, and enforcing the divorce of Jewish men from their non-Jewish wives.

After 12 years as governor, during which he ruled with justice and righteousness, he returned to the king in Susa. After some time in Susa he returned to Jerusalem, only to find that the people had fallen back into their evil ways. Non-Jews were permitted to conduct business inside Jerusalem on the Sabbath and to keep rooms in the Temple. Greatly angered, he purified the Temple and the priests and Levites and enforced the observance of the Law of Moses.

While Nehemiah did seek to rebuild the gates and walls of Jerusalem and restore the Temple as a holy place of worship, his narrative accurately points to his real concern about the faith or should I say lack of faith of and ingratitude to God as was demonstrated by the people of Jerusalem, as we read in Nehemiah 9:6-21 (ESV):

⁶“You are the Lord, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you. ⁷You are the Lord, the God who chose Abram and brought him out of Ur of the Chaldeans and gave him the name Abraham. ⁸You found his heart faithful before you, and made with him the covenant to give to his offspring the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Jebusite, and the Girgashite. And you have kept your promise, for you are righteous.

⁹“And you saw the affliction of our fathers in Egypt and heard their cry at the Red Sea, ¹⁰and performed signs and wonders against Pharaoh and all his servants and all the people of his land, for you knew that they acted arrogantly against our fathers. And you made a name for yourself, as it is to this day. ¹¹And you divided the sea before them, so that they went through the midst of the sea on dry land, and you cast their pursuers into the depths, as a stone into mighty waters. ¹²By a pillar of cloud you led them in the day, and by a pillar of fire in the night to light for them the way in which they should go. ¹³You came down on Mount Sinai and spoke with them from heaven and gave them right rules and true laws, good statutes and commandments, ¹⁴and you made known to them your holy Sabbath and commanded them commandments and statutes and a law by Moses your servant. ¹⁵You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger and brought water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you had sworn to give them.

¹⁶“But they and our fathers acted presumptuously and stiffened their neck and did not obey your commandments. ¹⁷They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them. ¹⁸Even when they had made for themselves a golden calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, ¹⁹you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud to lead them in the way did not depart from them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night to light for them the way by which they should go. ²⁰You gave your good Spirit to instruct them and did not withhold your manna from their mouth and gave them water for their thirst. ²¹Forty years you sustained them in the wilderness, and they lacked nothing. Their clothes did not wear out and their feet did not swell.

The story of how the walls of Jerusalem had deteriorated can be viewed as a metaphor for the church, which we know is not brick and mortar, but a body of believers. Many of God’s Chosen have repeatedly drifted away from their true God, and had chosen other gods. In this case the faith of body of believes had decayed almost to ruin and needed to be rebuilt in order that the members of the body could revive their faith and trust in the Lord. It is not surprising that many businesses and groups currently use the name Nehemiah or a derivative of the name as their corporate badge. The Nehemiah narrative indicates that the people have lapses of faith more than on one occasion. Still God is an awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love for His people, Nehemiah 9:32-36 (ESV):

³²“Now, therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love, let not all the hardship seem little to you that has come upon us, upon our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until this day.³³Yet you have been righteous in all that has come upon us, for you have dealt faithfully and we have acted wickedly. ³⁴Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept your law or paid attention to your commandments and your warnings that you gave them. ³⁵Even in their own kingdom, and amid your great goodness that you gave them, and in the large and rich land that you set before them, they did not serve you or turn from their wicked works. ³⁶Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves.

As Christians reading the Nehemiah account, we should not only concern ourselves with the rebuilding the fallen body of the church, we need to understand and avoid the circumstances that caused the church to fall in the first place. We do know that since the fall of Adam and Eve, humanity carries the stolen gift of knowledge of good and evil, as well as burden of sin. People are given the choice between following God in faith and listening to Satan at our peril.

When we walk in faith in the Lord, we contribute to a strong church body that can resist the attacks of an opponent whose sole desire is to tear down and destroy God’s Eternal Kingdom and replace it with his own worldly domain. A domain like the walls of the city of Jerusalem that were not maintained, can crumble and deteriorate over time, falling into dust and debris.

But do not despair. All is not lost. While Scriptures do record the accounts of many fathers, many of whom are exemplary models for the Christian fathers of today. If you turn to the back page of today’s bulletin, you will see several fathers who were keepers of the faith. This summary comes by way of About.com:

Famous Fathers in the Bible Who Set Worthy Examples – About.com

God the Father God the Father, the first Person of the Trinity, is the father and creator of all. Jesus, his only Son, showed us a new, intimate way of relating to him. When we see God as our heavenly Father, provider and protector, it puts our life in a whole new perspective. Every human father is also a son of this Most High God, the constant source of strength, wisdom, and hope.

Adam – The First Man As the first man and first human father, Adam had no example to follow except God. He faltered on that, plunging the world into sin. He also had to deal with the tragedy of his son Cain murdering his other son, Abel. Adam has much to teach today’s fathers about the consequences of our actions and the absolute necessity of obeying God.

Noah – A Righteous Man Noah stands out among fathers in the Bible as a man who clung to God in spite of the wickedness all around him. What could be more relevant to today? Noah was far from perfect, but he was humble and protective of his family. He bravely carried out the task God assigned to him. Modern fathers may often feel they are in a thankless role, but God is always pleased by their devotion.

Abraham – Father of the Jewish Nation What could be more frightening than being the father of an entire nation? That was the mission God gave Abraham. He was a leader with tremendous faith, passing one of the most difficult tests God ever gave a man. Abraham made mistakes when he relied on himself instead of God. Still, he embodied qualities that any father would be wise to develop.

Jacob – Father of the 12 Tribes of Israel Jacob was a schemer who tried to work his own way instead of trusting God. With the help of his mother Rebekah, he stole his twin brother Esau’s birthright. Jacob fathered 12 sons who founded the 12 tribes of Israel. As a father, however, he favored his son Joseph, causing jealousy among the other brothers. The lesson from Jacob’s life is that God works with our obedience and in spite of our disobedience to make his plan come to pass.

Moses – Giver of the Law Moses was the father of two sons, Gershom and Eliezer, yet he also served as a father figure to the entire Hebrew people as they escaped from slavery in Egypt. He loved them and helped discipline and provide for them on their 40-year journey to the Promised Land. At times Moses seemed to be a larger-than-life character, but he was only a man. He shows today’s fathers that overwhelming tasks can be achieved when we stay close to God.

King David – A Man After God’s Own Heart One of the great strugglers in the Bible, David was also a special favorite of God. He trusted God to help him defeat the giant Goliath and put his faith in God as he was on the run from King Saul. David sinned greatly, but he repented and found forgiveness. His son Solomon went on to become one of Israel’s greatest kings.

Joseph – Earthly Father of Jesus Surely one of the most underrated fathers in the Bible was Joseph, the foster father of Jesus Christ. He went to great pains to protect his wife Mary and their baby, and then saw to Jesus’ education and needs as he was growing up. Joseph taught Jesus the carpentry trade. The Bible calls Joseph a righteous man, and Jesus must have loved his guardian for his quiet strength, honesty, and kindness.

As believers in the Resurrected Christ and as vessels of the Spirit of the Living God, it is our responsibility to edify or build the body of believers in our church, not in numbers, but in faith. Each member of Christ’s Church must help build the church, by edifying and restoring the faith of its fellow members to counter the tendency towards decay and destruction over time.

Throughout the ages, the key to building and maintaining a strong church body, that is able to resist the onslaught brought by Satan, having strength in faith and not through numbers. In other words, quality of faith of a church body is more important than the quantity or number of members within the church.

And our hope and promise comes from Jesus Christ, who by having been crucified for our sins, has removed God’s judgement and restored us to God’s favour. Through Jesus, we are forgiven, sanctified, and given the promise of a comforter in the Holy Spirit. Additionally, we are given the covenant of our own resurrection upon Christ’s return.

In a similar manner, a church with limited resources, yet strong in faith, is buoyed by the Spirit so that may achieve much more than a larger corporate body of members with tepid faith. Even though the latter may have vast financial resources, the Spirit is absent.

The Spirit greatly rewards a church’s faith by multiplying modest means to achieve the Lord’s objectives. Just come to BLCF on a Wednesday evening to see not only the proof of how the Holy Spirit multiplies and rewards steadfast faith; you will see but how the Spirit restores the faith of those who keep or renew their trust for a loving caring God.

So when life brings forth challenges, fraught with pain and sorrow, do not despair, but trust in Him and endure, as we read in Hebrews 12:7 (ESV):

⁷It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

And on this Father’s Day Sunday, let us not only honour our earthly fathers, but also glorify our Father in heaven and remember that He is an awesome God who keeps His covenant and shows a steadfast love for all his children.

Proverbs 23:24 (ESV)

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

Let us pray…

Hymn #84: Come and Praise the Lord Our King

(to the tune of ‘Michael Row the Boat’)

Benediction (Revelation 1:5b-6):

^5bAnd from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood ⁶and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen

Just an update, I recently looked at the Google photos of my old Valley Hi neighborhood and was pleased to see that Sam Rayburn Jr. High, now called Sam Rayburn Middle School, has undergone a Nehemiah-like change, having been totally rebuilt. Kudos to those who restored the vision of their ancestors, giving this lesson a Scriptural-like positive ending, or should I say beginning.

Rebuilt Sam Rayburn School http://www.nisd.net/schools/info/42

Preserve the Faith, Illuminate the Gospel and Be Blessed

Jun16

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘Preserve the Faith, Illuminate the Gospel and Be Blessed’

© June 9, 2013 by Steve Mickelson

BLCF Bulletin: June 9, 2013

Let us pray…

Today’s lesson begins with the Scripture Matthew 5, verses 1 to 12 where we have Christ’s ‘Sermon on the Mount’ and Jesus shares a list of blessings commonly referred to as ‘The Beatitudes’. And in Matthew 5, verses 13 to 16, Jesus uses ‘salt’ and ‘light’ as metaphors for the expectations of those who receive the Lord’s blessings.

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

According to Jewish tradition, the Mount of Olives, also called Olivet, Mount Olivet, or Har HaZeitim, was prophesized as is to be the place where the Messiah will appear, to resurrect the dead, which is why it is the location of one of holiest cemeteries is found on the mount. Among the thousands buried on the mountain, we find the tombs of the Prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

The Triumphal Entry of Jesus, which we observe on Palm Sunday, took place over and down this mountain. And the Garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of Olivet, was the place where Jesus prayed, wept and was later arrested. Scripture holds that on the mount Jesus charged his disciples with The Great Commission and then ascended into heaven.

Olivet, where Jesus gave his longest, and perhaps most profound teaching, is a plateau-like ridge some 3½ kilometers long and it rises upwards some 60 meters upwards, between Jerusalem to West and the Kindron Valley on the east. It a flattened ridge which acts as a natural amphitheater, making a good venue to minister to a large gathering of people.

Jesus delivered his Sermon on the Mount while still early in his ministry, not long after being baptized by the Spirit and just after he completed a ministry in and around Galilee. Word of Jesus’ miracles and teachings had spread and a large crowd had gathered on Olivet to hear him speak, Matthew 5:1-16 (ESV) The Sermon on the Mount (see in the middle of today’s bulletin):

5 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.

The Beatitudes ²And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:

³“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Our English Standard translation defines the Greek Makarios as an adjective meaning ‘blessing’. Hence, we have Blessed are at the beginning of verses 3 through 11. An alternative translation for Makarios is ‘happy’. Using this substitution in verses 3 to 11, the translation reads as follows:

³“Happy are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

⁴“Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

⁵“Happy are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

⁶“Happy are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

⁷“Happy are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

⁸“Happy are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

⁹“Happy are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

¹⁰“Happy are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹“Happy are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.

With the substitution of Happy for Blessed, verse 12 seems to follow naturally when it states:

¹²Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

What concerned many of the Pharisees and scribes was not the compassion and love inherent in Jesus’ Beatitudes message, but that many of those beautified included the poor, the meek and the persecuted. A group normally shunned or avoided by the mainstream Jew, as their circumstance thought to be God’s punishment for a sin or transgression.

And such was the reaction, when Jesus spoke at the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth, Luke 4:14-20 (ESV), where Jesus Begins His Ministry (also in the middle of today’s bulletin):

¹⁴And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

¹⁶And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. ¹⁷And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, ¹⁸“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, ¹⁹to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.

Jesus In The Temple

If you continue reading Luke 4, you will see that Jesus words were not warmly received. Instead Luke 4:28 indicates that those in the synagogue were angry at his words, Luke 4:28-30(ESV):

²⁸When they heard these things, all in the synagogue were filled with wrath. ²⁹And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. ³⁰But passing through their midst, he went away.

In the temple at Nazareth and at Olivet, Jesus when he delivered sermon, he sought to teach Divine truth; not seeking to give his audience a warm and fuzzy feeling about their faith walk.

We see in the Beatitudes or blessings part of today’s Scriptures, the results of Christian love and compassion. But how does the Christian know whether what they are doing is what God expects and done in a manner that is pleasing to the Spirit?

The answer comes from verses 13 to 16 of Matthew 5: ‘Salt and Light’

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

¹⁴“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Using salt and light as metaphors for the characteristics of a blessed follower is quite interesting. One is a mineral, with physical characteristics, while light is a more ethereal or heavenly aspect of the believer.

Our words and actions act as a living testimony to our faith, but the light that is revealed by such actions is from the Spirit within each believer. What we do in the name of the Lord, acts like salt, it enhances and even preserves. Salt should not be wasted or applied casually.

In the same manner, the Lord has given us the gifts of the Holy Spirit; they are not intended to be hidden or wasted. Like light, our gifts of the Spirit have a purpose: to overcome darkness and to glorify God.

We can determine whether what we do is worthy of the Lord’s Blessing and is acceptable to Him, when we ask is whether or not what we do is wasteful and glorifies our Heavenly Father.

We have now discussed Jesus’ expectations of His disciples and how he was anointed was anointed by the Spirit to bring this Gospel or good news to the poor. And to tie the two together, you will find on the back of today’s bulletin, Psalm 103 (ESV) , Bless the Lord, O My Soul, Of David:

103 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!
²Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, ³who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, ⁴who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, ⁵who satisfies you with good
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
⁷He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.
⁸The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
⁹He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.
¹⁰He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
¹¹For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; ¹²as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
¹³As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
¹⁴For he knows our frame;he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;
¹⁶for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
¹⁷But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children, ¹⁸to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
¹⁹The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word,
obeying the voice of his word!
²¹Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!
²²Bless the Lord, all his works, in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Like our Lord, we must show compassion and love both to others and to Him. Does this sound familiar? Remember the Royal Law we discussed a few Sundays ago? That is how we keep the flavour of our salt and project the light of Lord to others, to His glory so that we may be blessed, be happy in the Lord!

Let us pray…

Hymn #81: All Praise to Him Who Reigns Above

Benediction (Numbers 6:24-26): The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Do We Seek to Edify: Ourselves or HIS Church?

Jun5

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘Do We Seek to Edify: Ourselves or HIS Church?’

© June 2, 2013 by Steve Mickelson

BLCF Bulletin – June 2, 2013

Let us pray…

At first blush it would seem that the topic of this Sunday’s message has something to do just with languages or tongues. While the account of the Tower of Babel does explain how it is that we have such a diversity of languages and people over the face of the earth, there is much more to the story, which may sound familiar to a lesson we recently shared, that being how Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan in the Garden of Eden in Genesis, Chapter 3.

Adam, Eve and the Serpent

You may recall that Satan appealed to Eve and Adam, who was with her, that by eating the forbidden fruit, they would be elevated to the same level as God in their understanding of good and evil. Fearing that they would next eat from the Tree of Life, God exiled Adam and Eve from the garden both as a punishment for their transgressions and to prevent them from doing another. Genesis 3:22-24 (ESV):

²²Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” ²³therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. ²⁴He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

Confusion of Tongues from the Tower of Babel

Now, back to the tower. For centuries, the human race has aspired to be at a higher plane, as evident by the building of structures such as the Eiffel Tower, Empire State building, CN Tower, Burj of Dubai, and so on. While like the Tower of Babel, most of these towers afford an overview of relatively low nearby terrain. I recall when the CN Tower in Toronto, there was a three month wait for dinner reservations at the tower restaurant. We had some friends of my sister visiting from Sydney, Australia. My dad thought it would be nice to take them to restaurant and enjoy the view of the city and lake as far as Rochester, New York. On the evening of the reservation a foggy cloud bank rolled in and all you see from the tower was parts of Toronto Island.

But the Tower of Babel was to be constructed to heaven as a monument to its builders, before they disappeared or were dispersed. Genesis 11:1-9 (ESV):

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ²And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. ⁴Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. ⁶And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Confusion of Tongues

It is ironic that a tower built as a testimony to its builders, so that they would not be forgotten or dispersed, ended up being the reason God made them become no longer unified in language and they were dispersed throughout the world. History indicates that the tower eroded so that the lower portions fell away. There were some writings that indicate that Alexander the Great had located the remnants of this tower and intended to rebuild it. This plan was abandoned after the untimely death of King Alexander. Which brings us to the next Scripture verse, Psalm 2:1-6 (ESV):

The Reign of the Lord’s Anointed

2 Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
²The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
³“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

⁴He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.
⁵Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying,
⁶“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

To aspire for something, is a desire to reach a higher plane, where, by definition:

as·pire /əˈspī(ə)r/

Verb

Direct one’s hopes or ambitions toward achieving something: “we never thought that we might aspire to those heights”.
Rise high; tower.

People seek to achieve or they aspire, not to be confused with inspire, as in the works of the Holy Spirit. The definition of inspire is as follows:

in·spire /inˈspī(ə)r/

Verb

Fill (someone) with the urge or ability to do or feel something, esp. to do something creative: “his enthusiasm inspired them”.
Create (a feeling, esp. a positive one) in a person: “inspire confidence”.

Biography courtesy of the United States Air Force:

Those who aspire seek to be filled with pride in self, while those who inspire, seek to have others filled with the Holy Spirit. An example of aspiration may be found in the sonnet, High Flight written by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. Portions of this poem appear on the headstones of many interred in Arlington National Cemetery, in the U.S., particularly aviators and astronauts. John Gillespie Magee, Jr. was an American Pilot Officer serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was born in Shanghai, China in 1922, the son of missionary parents, Reverend and Mrs. John Gillespie Magee; his father was an American and his mother was originally a British citizen.

Magee came to the U.S. in 1939 and earned a scholarship to Yale, but in September 1940 he enlisted in the RCAF and was graduated as a pilot. He was sent to England for combat duty in July 1941.

In August or September 1941, Pilot Officer Magee composed High Flight and sent a copy to his parents. Several months later, on December 11, 1941 his Spitfire collided with another plane over England and Magee, only 19 years of age, crashed to his death. His remains are buried in the churchyard cemetery at Scopwick, Lincolnshire.

John Gillespie Magee Jr

http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/highflig.htm

High Flight – By John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

“Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth,
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun-split clouds –
and done a hundred things You have not dreamed of –
wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I’ve chased the shouting wind along
and flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.

“Up, up the long delirious burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace,
where never lark, or even eagle, flew;
and, while with silent, lifting mind I’ve trod
the high untrespassed sanctity of space,
put out my hand and touched the face of God.”

While the sonnet is beautifully worded, it is an example of the flesh’s desire or aspiration to reach God in a manner that is not in harmony with the Spirit of God. An irony here is that the author, a son of missionaries, composed prose that presumes the protagonist, a pilot, could fly high enough in something he built to touch the face of God.

To reach God and Heaven requires not a tower, or an aircraft or any other worldly means. To reach the Spiritual plane mandates us not to take actions that are the result of aspiration, but to follow inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit to achieve that state of Spiritual Grace which allows us to lead others to find His Grace, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 (ESV):

Mystery and Victory

⁵⁰I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, ⁵²in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. ⁵³For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”
⁵⁵“O death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?”

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ

In this passage, we see the difference between the mystery of the flesh, which is of the world, and the victory that goes to the Holy Spirit. To achieve this state of Grace, we must replace our human impulses by our faith in Jesus Christ, Hebrews 4:14-16 (ESV):

Jesus the Great High Priest

¹⁴Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

You may recall that after being anointed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was taken to a desolate place, where he fasted and was tested by Satan. Jesus was brought to a high place and offered by Satan all authority over all that he saw from that great height. But Satan failed to tempt Jesus, as our Lord did not aspire to grow his own personal power and authority or to be placed upon an equal plane with God the Father. Instead, Jesus, in a perfect example of faith, replaced conceit and ambition with humility and obedience, Philippians 2:1-11 (ESV):

Christ’s Example of Humility

2 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, ²complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. ³Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. ⁴Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. ⁵Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, ⁶who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, ⁷but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. ⁹Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, ¹⁰so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, ¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And the confusion we still observe from Babel today, tends to interfere with not only building of towers of aspiration, but the building of the church body if we aspire to build the church in a worldly manner. Such confusion hampers both the health and growth of the church body, as we read in, 1 Corinthians 14:6-18 (ESV):

⁶Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? ⁷If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? ⁸And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? ⁹So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. ¹⁰There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, ¹¹but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. ¹²So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

¹³Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. ¹⁵What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. ¹⁶Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsidersay “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. ¹⁸I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

The body of members that compose any church are subject to a Spiritual standard where the mind and the spirit are in harmony. This facilitates an understanding among the members and eliminates confusion and misunderstandings which hamper growth of the church body through the Holy Spirit.

Let us pray…

Towers: Aspire to Heaven or Inspired from Heaven?

Hymn #355: Higher Ground (I’m Pressing on the Upward Way)

Communion: Responsive Reading #626

Benediction (Colossians 3:17):

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

A Prayer Walk In The Heart Of Toronto At Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship

Jun4

A Prayer Walk is where believers walk throughout a neighborhood, usually in pairs, stopping to pray to the Lord for the people who live, walk and pass through the comunity. The walk begins at a meeting place, disperses to walk and to pray, and concludes by gathering back at the place where the walk began.

For the last several years, Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church is one of several Christian Churches that participate in monthly Prayer Walks on the evening of the first Tuesday of the month. This Tuesday, June 3, BLCF Church will host June’s Prayer Walk.

If you would like to participate in the next Prayer Walk, join us this Tuesday at BLCF Church sanctuary at 7:30 PM. Every prayer counts.

^”For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

– Matthew 18:20

Question: “What is prayer walking? Is it Biblical to go on a prayer walk?”
Answer: Prayer walking is the practice of praying on location, a type of intercessory prayer that involves walking to or near a particular place while praying. Some people believe that being close to a location allows them to “pray nearer to pray clearer.” Prayer walks are taken by individuals, groups, and even whole churches. They can be as short as a block or as long as many miles. The idea is to use the five senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—to increase the intercessor’s understanding of prayer needs.

For example, if you walk through your neighborhood looking for things to pray about, you might come across a yard that is extremely untidy and rundown. This might prompt you to pray for the health, both physical and spiritual, of the residents inside. Some groups prayer walk around schools, prompting prayer for the teachers and students inside, for their safety and peace, and for the schemes of the devil in their school to be thwarted. Some people feel they can concentrate and direct their prayers more effectively by walking near the people and places they are praying for.
Prayer walking is a relatively new phenomenon, the origin of which is not clear.

There is no biblical model for prayer walking, although since walking was the major mode of transportation in Bible times, clearly people must have walked and prayed at the same time. However, there is no direct command that prayer walking is something we should be doing. To believe that prayers offered in any setting, or while in any position, are more effective than those offered at another time or in another manner is not scriptural. In addition, while we may feel we need to be close to a location or situation to pray more clearly, our heavenly Father, who is everywhere at all times, knows exactly what needs are present and will respond to them in His own perfect will and timing. The fact that He allows us to be part of His plans through our prayers is for our benefit, not His.

We are commanded to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and since walking is something we do daily, surely part of praying without ceasing is praying while walking. God hears all prayers offered by those who abide in Christ (John 15:7), regardless of time, place, or position. At the same time, there certainly is no command against prayer walking, and anything that prompts us to pray is worthy of consideration.

http://www.gotquestions.org/prayer-walking.html

Keeping Jesus as Lord in Our Words and Heart

Jun1

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church Message for Sunday:

‘Keeping Jesus as Lord in Our Words and Heart’

BLCF Bulletin May 26, 2013

Let us pray…

The message shared at BLCF last Sunday, described how those who view religion with a purely legalistic outlook without faith, can act like excess baggage and impede their faith walk. As a specific example, we looked at the Pharisee, Nicodemus, who had difficulty with Jesus’ teachings about being born again in the Spirit. Though Nicodemus had head knowledge of God’s laws in the scriptures, he had little or no faith understanding of God’s spiritual intent behind those commandments. Without faith or belief that Jesus came to end our judgment under the law, we face the impossible task of being perfect within the law to prevent our own condemnation. The conclusion of last week’s message was that all the other things of this world are of little importance to God, except our faith in Him, which God desires most from us. To grow our faith, we need to discard the excess baggage of the world, focus on the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the gospel of the Jesus.

Excess Baggage

So you may ask what are the risks of taking a purely legalistic approach to our faith? Before we discuss the penalty or remedy, let’s talk about which laws which govern us. We have two sets of laws that were given to the people of Israel. First, we have God’s 10 Commandments, written on stone tablets by God, and were carried inside the Arc of the Covenant. Next, we have the Ceremonial Law or Mosaic Law, written by Moses, which was carried as a book on the side of the Arc of the Covenant. There is an illustration in today’s bulletin which helps us to distinguish one from another.

God expects us to abide by His 10 Commandments. Now the legalist might question the name of these God given laws.

God’s Commandments

According to Wikipedia, the Ten Commandments are called, in biblical Hebrew, עשרת הדברים (transliterated Asereth ha-D’bharîm) and in Rabbinical Hebrew עשרת הדברות (transliterated Asereth ha-Dibroth), both translatable as “the ten words”, “the ten sayings” or “the ten matters”. The Tyndale and Coverdale English translations used “ten verses”. The Geneva Bible appears to be the first to use “tenne commandements”, which was followed by the Bishops’ Bible and the Authorized Version (the “King James” version) as “ten commandments”. Most major English versions follow the Authorized Version.

The English name “Decalogue” is derived from Greek δεκάλογος, dekalogos, the latter meaning and referring to the Greek translation (in accusative) δέκα λόγους, deka logous, “ten words”, found in the Septuagint (or LXX) at Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 10:4.

The stone tablets, as opposed to the commandments inscribed on them, are called לוחות הברית: Luchot HaBrit, meaning “the tablets of the covenant”.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments

So it is not surprising that some scholars will even confuse Ceremonial Laws of Moses with God’s Commandments. It is the Ordinances and Decrees that Jesus removed by His crucifixion, not God’s 10 Commandments.

Just as important as keeping God’s Laws, both to God and ourselves, is the need to keeping faith with the Lord. While a legalist may say that they abide by both the law and the spirit of the law. But that is not the same as abiding by the law of the spirit, which is, in essence, keeping the faith with the Lord.

In today’s first Scripture verse, Luke 11:37-52, we have Jesus invited by a Pharisee to dine with him. Remember from last week’s account of Nicodemus that the definition of a Pharisee is as follows:

Pharisee (noun):

1. a member of an ancient Jewish sect that differed from the Sadducees chiefly in its strict observance of religious practices, liberal interpretation of the Bible, and adherence to oral laws and traditions.

2. a self-righteous person; a hypocrite.

The Pharisee was astonished that Jesus did not wash before dinner, which was a Jewish Ceremonial observance, not for reasons of hygiene. The washing supposedly made one clean before God, something mandated by man, not by God. The reaction of the Pharisee gave Jesus an opportunity to criticise the Pharisee for being focused on the relative superficiality of being focused on outward appearances and what is on the inside, where greed and wickedness contradict an outward demeanor of righteous. Jesus gave the desire to have the best seats in the synagogues and the desire to be acknowledged in the public marketplaces as examples of the Pharisee’s greed. As for wickedness, Jesus pointed to Pharisee injustice to others and avoidance of love to God.

When a lawyer objected to what Jesus said, by characterizing these truthful observations as an insult not just to the Pharisees, but as an insult to lawyers as well. By defending the criticisms that Jesus made of the Pharisees and siding with them, the lawyer attempted to try to make such behaviour as righteous and justified. This opened the door for Jesus to observe how lawyers do behave fit the definition of a Pharisee, being self-righteous hypocrites. Jesus commented how the lawyers saw fit to burden people, rather than to help them. Jesus spoke of the hypocrisy shown by building tombs and monuments to the prophets who were killed by the fathers of the lawyers. And being educated and learned, the lawyers have had an opportunity to practicing faith, which they not only avoided but acted as a stumbling block to others finding faith. This is a perfect example of one reading the scriptures with the mind, but not the heart. By obsessing over the words and not the intent of God’s word, they miss the true meaning of the scriptures for both themselves as well as for those to whom they read the verses.

But is missing the mark of comprehending and sharing the scriptures limited to just Pharisees and Lawyers? Do some Christians recite verses from the Holy Word by rote, as if the words alone have some magical power? Let’s have look at how Jesus taught us to pray.

Lord’s Prayer – Sermon on the Mount

If you look on the back page of today’s bulletin, you will see two examples of what we commonly refer to as the Lord’s Prayer. The first recorded in the gospel of Luke, Chapter 11, verses 1-4, was a response to one of the disciples request to be taught how to pray, as John the Baptist had taught to his disciples. Thus we have:

²And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
³Give us each day our daily bread,
⁴and forgive us our sins,
for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

The other version of the Lord’s Prayer comes from Matthew, Chapter 6, verses 5 to 14, which is also found on the back of the bulletin, which Jesus spoke as part of His Sermon on the Mount. Before he began to pray, Jesus admonished those present not to behave like the hypocrites, who we now know to be the Pharisees:

⁵“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. ⁶But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. ⁷“And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. ⁸Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. ⁹Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
¹⁰Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹Give us this day our daily bread,
¹²and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

¹⁴For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you

But we see a variance between the two versions of the prayer, not only between those recorded in Luke and Matthew. We find differences in the same verse, from one Bible translation to another! How can this be? The best explanation may be found in the history of these translations:

The Lord’s Prayer is a central prayer in Christianity also commonly known as Our Father and in the Latin tongue as the Pater Noster. In the New Testament of the Christian Bible, it appears in two forms: in the Gospel of Matthewas part of the Sermon on the Mount, and in the Gospel of Luke,which records Jesus being approached by “one of his disciples” with a request to teach them “to pray as John taught his disciples.” The prayer concludes with “deliver us from evil” in Matthew, and with “lead us not into temptation” in Luke. The first three of the seven petitions address God; the second four are prayers related to our needs and concerns. The liturgical form is Matthean. Some Christians, particularly Protestants, conclude the prayer with a doxology, an addendum appearing in some manuscripts of Matthew, but originating in an ancient Christian writing known as the Didache.

Though Matthew 6:12 uses the term debts, the older English versions of the Lord’s Prayer uses the term trespasses, while ecumenical versions often use the term sins. The latter choice may be due to Luke 11:4, which uses the word sins, while the former may be due to Matthew 6:14 (immediately after the text of the prayer), where Jesus speaks of trespasses. As early as the third century, Origen of Alexandria used the word trespasses (παραπτώματα) in the prayer. Though the Latin form that was traditionally used in Western Europe has debita (debts), most English-speaking Christians (except Scottish Presbyterians and some others of the Reformed tradition), use trespasses. The Established Presbyterian Church of Scotland, the Church of Christ, Scientist, as well as the Congregational denomination follow the version found in Matthew 6 in the Authorized Version (known also as the King James Version), which in the prayer uses the words “debts” and “debtors”.

The Latin version of this prayer has had cultural and historical importance for most regions where English is spoken. The text used in the liturgy (Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, etc.) differs slightly from that found in the Vulgate Jerome is considered to be responsible for changes such as the use of “supersubstantialem” instead of “cotidianum” as a translation of “ἐπιούσιον” (epiousios) in the Gospel of Matthew, though not in the Gospel of Luke.

The doxology associated with the Lord’s Prayer is found in four Vetus Latina manuscripts, only two of which give it in its entirety. The other surviving manuscripts of the Vetus Latina Gospels do not have the doxology. The Vulgate translation also does not include it, thus agreeing with critical editions of the Greek text.

In the Latin Rite liturgies, this doxology is never attached to the Lord’s Prayer. Its only use in the Roman Rite liturgy today is in the Mass as revised after the Second Vatican Council. It is there placed not immediately after the Lord’s Prayer, but instead after the priest’s prayer, Libera nos, quaesumus…, elaborating on the final petition, Libera nos a malo (Deliver us from evil).

There are several different English translations of the Lord’s Prayer from Greek or Latin, beginning around AD 650 with the Northumbrian translation. Of those in current liturgical use, the three best-known are:

The translation in the 1662 Anglican Book of Common Prayer (BCP) of the Church of England
The slightly modernized form used in the Catholic mass and (along with the doxology) in the 1928 version of the Prayer Book of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America
The 1988 translation of the ecumenical English Language Liturgical Consultation (ELLC)

Other English translations are also used.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord%27s_prayer

Holy Bible

It is a common fallacy among some Christians and even certain Biblical scholars, that the Bible is based on one single set of manuscripts housed in some library, monastery or museum. All they have to do is go to this place and reference these ancient scrolls to obtain a definitive translation of the scriptures. This misconception likely comes from present lawgivers being able to see and reference the original historical documents such as the Canadian Charter of Rights, the US Constitution or the British Magna Charta.

Well, it is not quite that simple. Let us briefly look at where scholars obtained the source for the modern Bibles we use today:

The Hebrew Bible or The Tanakh was mainly written in Biblical Hebrew, with some portions (notably in Daniel and Ezra) in Biblical Aramaic. From the 9th century to the 15th century, Jewish scholars, today known as Masoretes, compared the text of all known biblical manuscripts in an effort to create a unified, standardized text.

A series of highly similar texts eventually emerged, and any of these texts are known as Masoretic Texts (MT). The Masoretes also added vowel points (called niqqud) to the text, since the original text only contained consonant letters. This sometimes required the selection of an interpretation, since some words differ only in their vowels—their meaning can vary in accordance with the vowels chosen. In antiquity, variant Hebrew readings existed, some of which have survived in the Samaritan Pentateuch and other ancient fragments, as well as being attested in ancient versions in other languages.

The New Testament was written in Koine Greek.

The discovery of older manuscripts, which belong to the Alexandrian text-type, including the 4th century Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus, led scholars to revise their view about the original Greek text. Attempts to reconstruct the original text are called critical editions. Karl Lachmann based his critical edition of 1831 on manuscripts dating from the 4th century and earlier, to demonstrate that the Textus Receptus must be corrected according to these earlier texts.

The autographs, the Greek manuscripts written by the original authors, have not survived. Scholars surmise the original Greek text from the versions that do survive. The three main textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the Alexandrian text-type (generally minimalist), the Byzantine text-type (generally maximalist), and the Western text-type (occasionally wild). Together they comprise most of the ancient manuscripts.

Alternative word order, the presence or absence of an optional definite article (“the”), and so on. Occasionally, a major variant happens when a portion of a text was accidentally omitted (or perhaps even censored), or was added from a marginal gloss. Fortunately, major variants tend to be easier to correct. Examples of major variants are the endings of Mark, the Pericope Adulteræ, the Comma Johanneum, and the Western version of Acts.

Old Scriptures

Early manuscripts of the letters of Paul and other New Testament writings show no punctuation whatsoever. The punctuation was added later by other editors, according to their own understanding of the text.

So we see that our current Bible comes from a variety of sources. Translators were supposed to use as many as 600 Greek manuscripts in order to avoid a skewed or misleading translation. Unfortunately, some of the early translators relied on as few as 40 Greek manuscripts in their translations, because geography and politics made universal access impractical. Over time the availability to more sources enabled corrections to the translations. A couple of years ago, while researching a message on the Holy Trinity, I came upon a good example of such a change. On the bottom of the second page of your bulletin, you will see two translations of 1 John5:7-8:

The King James states:

⁷For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

And the English Standard states:

⁷For there are three that testify: ⁸the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.

Changes to a verse’s translation by the removal, addition or change of the wording has led to some Christians claiming a demonic conspiracy in effect to alter the Word of God, particularly the King James Version when compared to the newer translations. This would be the kind of reaction one would expect from the Pharisees and scribes. Such disagreements are not the work of the Holy Spirit amongst the Christian body of believers and acts to hinder others from hearing the Gospel. Our commission is not to spend our time on petty arguments amongst ourselves over the merits of one translation over another, for the Spirit is absent from such debates. We are commissioned to share God’s Word and promote an appreciation and love for God, in order to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit. As the Apostle Paul said in his epistle, Romans 10:5-13 (ESV), entitled: ‘The Message of Salvation to All’

⁵For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. ⁶But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) ⁷“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). ⁸But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” ¹²For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. ¹³For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Peace through the Spirit

Again, we see that the key to salvation and forgiveness from God lies in our heart, as an expression of our faith in the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, and our testimony to the truth of God’s love.

Let us pray…

Hymn #3: God, Our Father, We Adore Thee

Benediction (2 Corinthians 13:14): The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship - BLCF Church, an Evangelical Christian Church, ministering the Gospel of Christ Jesus in the heart of Toronto since January, 1938. BLCF Church sponsors of BLCF Cafe Community Dinner, serving upwards of 150 homeless and marginalized guests, since January 2008. Volunteers welcome.

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship - BLCF Church

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship - BLCF Church A Church with a Vision in the Heart of Toronto In 1938, a group of believers embarked on a mission to bring the message of the Gospel of Jesus to the Bloor Lansdowne area in a relevant and meaningful ways. The membership moved into a converted truck garage on Bloor Street near Lansdowne Avenue, establishing the Church of the Crusaders. Now over eight decades later the church, now known as Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship - BLCF Church, continues to meet the challenges of actively preaching and practicing the message of the gospel in relevant and meaningful ways to the local community, such as Bloor Lansdowne Community Dinner, renamed December 2009 as BLCF Cafe, a weekly Community Dinner feeding upwards of 150 homeless and marginalized guests weekly, over 7,500 annually. BLCF Cafe was established in January 2008 by and is run solely under the auspices of Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship - BLCF Church with the help of a dedicated core of volunteers. The Bible says that a church is not mortar, brick and wood, but the body of believers who gather together to worship, pray, sing, teach and celebrate God’s path of salvation, through accepting Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross at Calvary. Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – BLCF Church, 1307 Bloor Street, Toronto, ON, M6H 1P1 or 416-535-9578. www.blcfchurch.ca - blcfchurch@yahoo.ca - blcfcafe@yahoo.ca - twitter: @blcfca

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Monthly Archives: June 2013

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And such was the reaction, when Jesus spoke at the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth, Luke 4:14-20 (ESV), where Jesus Begins His Ministry (also in the middle of today’s bulletin):

¹⁴And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

If you continue reading Luke 4, you will see that Jesus words were not warmly received. Instead Luke 4:28 indicates that those in the synagogue were angry at his words, Luke 4:28-30(ESV):

The answer comes from verses 13 to 16 of Matthew 5: ‘Salt and Light’

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

Benediction (Numbers 6:24-26): The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

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A Prayer Walk In The Heart Of Toronto At Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship

Keeping Jesus as Lord in Our Words and Heart

²And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

Benediction (2 Corinthians 13:14): The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

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And such was the reaction, when Jesus spoke at the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth, Luke 4:14-20 (ESV), where Jesus Begins His Ministry (also in the middle of today’s bulletin):

14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. 15 And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

If you continue reading Luke 4, you will see that Jesus words were not warmly received. Instead Luke 4:28 indicates that those in the synagogue were angry at his words, Luke 4:28-30(ESV):

The answer comes from verses 13 to 16 of Matthew 5: ‘Salt and Light’

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

Benediction (Numbers 6:24-26): The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

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2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

Benediction (2 Corinthians 13:14): The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

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¹⁴And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country. ¹⁵And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.

²And he said to them, “When you pray, say: