He rejoices over us..

He rejoices over us � Of First Importance:

“How heart-cheering to the believer is the delight which God has in his saints! We cannot see any reason in ourselves why the Lord should take pleasure in us; we cannot take delight in ourselves, for we often have to groan, being burdened; conscious of our sinfulness, and deploring our unfaithfulness; and we fear that God’s people cannot take much delight in us, for they must perceive so much of our imperfections and our follies, that they may rather lament our infirmities than admire our graces. But we love to dwell upon this transcendent truth, this glorious mystery: that as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so does the Lord rejoice over us.”

- Charles Spurgeon, Morning & Evening, September 21"

The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving.

What do we give to God when we really don't feel up to giving much? God is not hungry or needy. Therefore he does not want our offerings of food or service to him. What he does want is a thankful heart:

“Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,
and perform your vows to the Most High,
“and call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” Psalm 50:14-15

But what do you do when you feel so beat down, stressed, or in need that you can’t muster up a grateful and thankful heart? The car is in the shop (again!), the jobs are tenuous and scarce, the kids are having problems, etc… Feelings like that are what I call a “Day of Trouble”! And what do we do in the day of trouble? We call upon the Lord for deliverance. And we start counting our blessings.

Here’s my list:

• Food (I haven’t missed a meal!)
• A/C, refridgeration, running water, indoor plumbing, electricity
• A lake to swim in
• Health Care
• Breakthroughs (Janna got a job!)
• Air to breathe
• Breath!
• A heart beat
• Friends I could call on at anytime
• Etc, etc, etc!

Now, add to those all the treasures we have in Christ:

• Forgiveness of sin
• Power of regeneration
• A sovereign and loving Father
• Prayer that is heard
• Union with Christ through faith
• Jesus – my example, savior, victor
• Indwelling Holy Spirit
• Hope of a great inheritance
• Etc, etc, etc!

All of these (and more) become my “sacrifice of thanksgiving”. They also talk me off the ledge and calm my heart.

So call upon the Lord in the day of trouble. He will deliver you and you will glorify him. How will we glorify him? By our thankful hearts!

“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me” Psalm 50:23

The well wisher of your soul’s happiness,

Pastor Tom

Luther on Depression...

This week I have invited Martin Luther to share his thoughts on spiritual depression. In this letter he counsels Prince Joachim of Anhalt, a mutual friend of Luther and Nicholas Hausmann, on how to deal with apathy, burn-out, and depression. Enjoy!

"Be merry, then, both inwardly in Christ himself and outwardly in his gifts and the good things of life." Luther

“Your Grace has Master Nicholas Hausmann and many others near at hand. Be merry with them; for gladness and good cheer, when decent and proper, are the best medicine for a young person - indeed, for all people. I myself, who have spent a good part of my life in sorrow and gloom, now seek and find pleasure wherever I can. Praise God, we now have sufficient understanding [of the Word of God] to be able to rejoice with a good conscience and to use God's gifts with thanksgiving, for he created them for this purpose and is pleased when we use them.

If I am mistaken in my judgment and have done Your Grace an injustice, I hope that Your Grace will be good enough to forgive me. But it is my opinion that Your Grace is reluctant to be merry, as if this were sinful. This has often been my case, and sometimes it still is. To be sure, to have pleasure in sins is of the devil, but participation in proper and honorable pleasures with good and God-fearing people is pleasing to God, even if one may at times carry playfulness too far.

Be merry, then, both inwardly in Christ himself and outwardly in his gifts and the good things of life. He will have it so. It is for this that he is with us. It is for this that he provides his gifts - that we may use them and be glad, and that we may praise, love, and thank him forever and ever.

Old age and other circumstances will in time render present depression and melancholy superfluous. Christ cares for us and will not forsake us. To his keeping I commit Your Grace forever. Amen.

Your Grace's willing [servant],
Martin Luther, Doctor.
The eve of Pentecost in the year 1543

The well wisher of your soul’s happiness,
Pastor Tom

Free Excellent Audio Book...

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With more than 500,000 in print, Spiritual Leadership has proven itself a timeless classic in teaching the principles of leadership. J. Oswald Sanders presents and illustrates those principles through biographies of eminent men of God - men such as Moses, Nehemiah, Paul, David Livingstone, and Charles Spurgeon."

Breaking Out of Sunday Morning

• What do we think of when we speak of “going to church”? Answer: Sunday morning.
• When does “the church” meet? Answer: Sunday morning.
• What is “the church”? Answer: The place we meet on Sunday morning.
• How do we answer; “So, how was church?” Answer: What happened on Sunday morning.

Have we overemphasized what we do on Sunday mornings? We plan up, gear up, set up, and unleash the production and call it “church”. Then we turn around and do it all again.

We emphasize an “attractional”, “Come and See” model when the gospel demands an “Incarnational”, Go and Tell” model. And Sunday morning is the focal point.

As a pastor I had better not be devaluing Sunday morning! And I’m not. But what we do as the church throughout the week is the real test.

We must “be the church” in our community if we want to unleash the power of the gospel. And to do so we must be connected and involved.

We must be connected to one another. If the only time you see your church family is on Sunday morning, you need to get connected. Go get coffee. Do lunch. Phone a friend. Whatever it takes! As we connect with one another, bring those who are un-connected to Christ into that relationship!

We must be involved in our city/community. How are you connected to the issues and needs of your community? Bring Christ with you to homeowners meetings, neighborhood watch, school volunteering, community garage sales, civic events, community causes, whatever it takes! Show that Christ cares for our community though your involvement.

Then let’s get together on Sunday morning and share our stories! (Check out these stories!)

The well wisher of your soul’s happiness,

Pastor Tom

Praying for the need behind the need

It’s natural to have concern for those who are suffering. We hear about the afflictions of someone we care for and we just want it to stop. The affliction could be illness, finances, employment, relationships – you name it! In fact, just below you’ll read a list of needs to pray for.

And there is nothing wrong with praying for needs to be met and afflictions to be lifted. Jesus tells us to pray for our “daily bread” – and that is a need.

But remember to pray for the need behind the need.

You see, afflictions are not our enemy. Afflictions are inevitable. Afflictions are even sent by God to strengthen and refine us.

The Apostle Paul’s concern for the church at Thessalonica was “…that that no one be moved by these afflictions. For you yourselves know that we are destined for this. For when we were with you, we kept telling you beforehand that we were to suffer affliction, just as it has come to pass, and just as you know.” (1 Thessalonians 3:3-4)

Paul’s main prayer for the church was not that their afflictions would be lifted. His focus was on their faith (1 Thess 3:5-8). He prayed that their faith would be strengthened through the afflictions. Strengthened faith is the need behind the need!

So when you pray for a friend to get a job – also pray that their trust and hope in God would not fail while they search. When you pray for healing for someone who is sick, also pray that the Lord would draw them close during their time of illness. When you pray for a financial breakthrough for a friend, also pray that Jesus would be more precious to them than silver or gold (or cash!).

And throw in a prayer for your pastor while you are at it!

The well wisher of your soul’s happiness,
Pastor Tom

What does it take for a prostitute to “get saved”?

Last week in church we looked at “Extravagant Love” from Luke 7:36-50. In that amazing encounter, Jesus tells the woman, “Your faith has saved you, go in peace”. Faith? Saved? At this stage of redemptive history, what possibly could this woman have believed about Jesus?

She could not have articulated a theology of the atonement, she probably wasn’t versed in the Trinity, and the dual natures of Christ might have sent her over the edge!

But you don’t have to know a lot. It boils down to this. She believed...

* She was a great sinner (no self-deception here – she knew who she was.)
* She could not save herself (absolute abandonment at the feet of Christ.)
* She needed Jesus (not reformation, not condemnation, not self-justification)
* Jesus would not reject her (Jesus has never rejected anyone who comes with faith and repentance)

That’s about all it takes for someone to begin with Jesus. We may fault her for her theological imprecision (but, hey, she might have been a biblical scholar for all we know!). What we do see is the love and protection and forgiveness of Christ causing a response of extravagant love.

How about you? What have you ever done just because you loved Jesus so much? Yeah, me too. “Lord, may the gospel come to us, so that it may come through us!”

The well-wisher of your soul’s happiness,

Pastor Tom

p.s. Here’s the link for a clip from Matt Chandler, “Jesus wants the rose!”. Just view it!