11.1.09 gbcvic sermons

Glorying in Tribulations [Romans]

Rm 5.3a

One of the blessings of salvation is a new way of thinking God grants us by enlivening our spirit and giving us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Instead of looking at troubles as evidence that God is not good or sinking by them into bitter despair, the believer has the blessing of glorying in trouble because of what God will do in our lives through them. In this message we concentrate on the expectation of troubles in the Christian life and the examples of the new mind provided for us in the apostle Paul and our Lord Jesus.

The Imputation of Sin (1) [Basic Theology]

We begin to look at the aspect of sin which determines the physical death of all men – the imputation of Adam’s sin. Imputed sin differs from inherited sin in that it involves our participation in the guilt of Adam’s sin whereas inherited sin involves the transmission of corrupted human nature from father to son from Adam to each succeeding generation.

Eating Holy Food [Leviticus, Communion]

Lev 21.16-22.16

In this lesson we see how God regulated access to the holy food of the Old Testament (the priests portions of the sacrifices) but how in the new dispensation the Bread of Life (our Lord Jesus) is open to all, the blind, the lame, the diseased, the disfigured, the Jew, the Gentile – to all who will believe on our Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. The banquet table is open to all who receive Christ.

~~~

A great day in the Lord’s house in spite of several of our members being out of town. Several visitors made up the difference including a young fellow newly converted to Christ. His enthusiasm for the things of the Lord added much to our services.

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sinaiticus

Sinaiticus is available to view online.

This might be of interest to only a select few, but the various libraries that own sheets of Sinaiticus have cooperated to make the entire codex available.

You can see photographs of each page (or fragments of pages), jump from page to page by Bible reference, see a transcription of each page as well as a translation.

Regardless of your views of the textual issues, it is tremendous that this most important manuscript of the Bible is now available for anyone to see.

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culture clash

The critical issue of Christians and culture is being discussed by a Challies book review here with a rejoinder by Christianity Today’s Liveblog here. The subject is a book by Tullian Tchividjian, Unfashionable.

I am not commenting on the articles or the book, but from what I read in these blogs, I would side with Challies, only more strongly than he does! (How’s that for a logic leap???) I am pointing these out for any of my readers who share my interest in the subject and may have not seen these articles.

Maranatha!
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

3.1.09 gbcvic sermons

Here are the blurbs from our church website:

As a Man Does (Rm 3.15-17)
depravity displayed by conduct

Our text is essentially a quotation from Isa 59.7-8, part of Paul’s proof of the proposition that all men are sinners in need of righteousness from God. These verses point to the violence and wickedness that are seen everywhere in the world. The violence of some men proves the depravity of all men because though all men are not as violent as they could be, all men are cut from the same cloth, all are of the same nature. Again our passage proves the need of all men for righteousness from God.

Pilgrim’s Progress (2): Entering the Celestial City

Our study of Pilgrim’s Progress comes to a close this week. We follow the pilgrims through the last period of danger, the Enchanted Grounds, then watch their sojourn in Beulah Land. It is from here that pilgrims are called to the Celestial City and we see  numbers of them called on to glory as Bunyan’s allegory closes. Next week we will have a testimony time for our folks to talk back to me about what the Lord taught them in this series.

He is Clean (Lev 14)

Our series in Leviticus takes us to the regulations for restoring a healed leper to the congregation. The ritual teaches us that access to God is available only under God’s terms, not man’s. It also makes a visual parable for us of the new birth, as the cleansed leper is covered by the blood of the sacrifice and sanctified by the oil of consecration.

~~~

We had a great day today, with most of our regulars in attendance plus five visitors.

2.22.09 gbcvic sermons

Here are our sermons for this week:

As a Man Speaks (Rm 3.13-14)

Man’s depravity is betrayed by speech – by throat, tongue, lips and mouth. The wicked nature of man is universal, comprehensive, and constant. As we consider these themes in Rm 1-3, we see increasingly how desperate is man’s need of the power of God unto salvation with the righteousness that comes from God.

Pilgrim’s Progress (2): The Delectable Mountains

In this section, we see the pilgrims working their way along the way from just past Vanity Fair to the Enchanted Ground. On the way, the men of the party dispatch Giant Despair and rescue two fainting pilgrims, they meet the Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains and learn more spiritual lessons there, and meet a new manly Christian, Mr. Valiant-for-truth.

Our Church and Evangelism (Mk 16.15)

In this message we talk about our responsibility in the world as Christians, the business of preaching the gospel to the world. In our passage, as in Mt 28, going is the assumption, not the command. The activity to which we are called is preaching (heralding) where every task in the ministry of a church plays a part. And every creature is the opportunity. May God give us the courage and zeal to reach our world for Him.

What Dost Hinder Me to be Baptized?
Guest Speaker: Bill Carter, Capital City Baptist Church

This afternoon we had the great joy of offering our church building and baptistry to our fellow-workers and friends, the people and pastor of Capital City Baptist Church for a baptismal service. Three were baptized today, a great blessing to see. Several of our folks stayed for the fourth service of the day to celebrate the baptism with them.

Pastor Carter preached a solid message on the meaning and theology of message for us which we offer here for you. We pray that both churches may succeed in reaching our city for Christ.

~~~

A long day, but a good day in the Lord. It was a blessing to see three folks baptized and a privilege to serve a sister church.

the glory of ordinary ministry

I’d like to call your attention to a little book by D. A. Carson. He published this book last year, a truly wonderful tribute to his father, Memoirs of an Ordinary Pastor: The life and reflections of Tom Carson.

These Memoirs tell the story of every pastor, especially those pastors who lead small churches (most of us.) I have heard statistics that 50% of all churches are less than 100 in membership. If that is true, most men who enter the ministry will see long years of labour in small works with little increase. Such ministry can be very discouraging – the temptation to quit can ovewhelm. [Read more…]

2.15.09 gbcvic sermons

Guilty as Charged (Rm 3.10-12)

In this message we begin to consider the proof of Paul’s proposition: all men are sinners under the wrath of God. The proof comes from God’s written revelation, the only authority for faith and practice. It conclusively proves man’s guilt as the depravity of his character is revealed.

Pilgrim’s Progress (2): Gaius Welcomes the Pilgrims

In this section we cover two homes which host the pilgrims (and provide brides for Christiana’s sons). One of these houses is in the midst of Vanity Fair, where they find less trouble than Christian and Faithful did, due to a greater number of pilgrims and the guilty consciences of those who dwell in the Fair. The pilgrims are pictures of victorious Christians living in the midst of an evil world.

Willful Ignorance (2 Pt 3.5) [Creation]

Our message this afternoon is motivated by wide spread recognition of the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth. We show that God calls such unbelief ‘willful ignorance’ and that such willfulness is an attempt to excuse some indulgence of lust, but at an awful cost.

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Today was a ‘cool’ day at church. We are due for new gas furnaces in two weeks, so we wanted to make sure we used up as much of our fuel oil as possible. Well… we used it all up, so we huddled together in our first service (with temp. in the mid-50s … chilly, but not too bad) and moved to our fellowship room for the afternoon service.

Nevertheless a good day, with good attendance and a good spirit by all.

are your people stupid?

A recent blog by Mark Galli of Christianity Today includes this “gem”:

The place [the National Pastors Convention] is full of pastors who are either exhausted, burnt out, frustrated, or missional. They all amount to the same thing: a simmering anger about the church.

For most pastors that anger is directed at stupid lay people, stubborn church boards, or indifferent church bureaucrats. But “the church,” and especially “the Western church” or “the American church,” is the object of a myriad of derisive and sarcastic comments.

Wow…

Pastor, would you say your people are “stupid”? [Read more…]

state of the Canadian church

canadianchristianity.com is publishing a series of articles describing the state of the Canadian church. This must be an annual thing, because they published a series of seven articles last year. Today’s article is called "Protestant realignment". I thought I’d highlight a few paragraphs that struck me.

[Read more…]

the most expensive books of 2008

Our own Victoria, BC’s ABEBooks.com posts a list of the most expensive sales through their system in 2008. The list is very interesting. The number one sale was for $17,216 for Etudes à l’Eau-Forte by Francis Seymour Haden. Number two was $13,000 for L’Abou Naddara, Journal Arabe Illustre (1878-1884) by James Sanua.

Now, what do you think was number three? Would you believe Harry Potter?

[Read more…]