Sunday Services

     This morning's Sunday School lesson continued our foray into the 1689 Confession of Faith, particularly the section on Saving Faith. There were several main points which helped to flesh out the details of this great power which we possess, this faith. Also, I was able to draw several conclusions or personal applications from it which I will share presently. The morning sermon was in the gospel of Mark, chapter 2 verses 13-22 on the calling of Levi and Jesus' meal at his house with the tax collectors and sinners.

     One of the first points that was made in Sunday School was the fact that witnessing must always be based upon Scripture. You cannot adequately explain to a person the way of salvation based off of what you believe the Scripture says, your testimony of a life turned 180*, or what the person might happen to be struggling through. The Word of God must be front and center because that is what leads to true hearing, and faith only proceeds from hearing the Word of God. Also, although it is possible to be saved simply through personal encounters with the Word of God, more often, the seeds of salvation are sown by people who will share the gospel with you. Therefore, in preparing your personal testimony, be sure to include Scripture so that you can show both the impact of the Word on your life as well as what the Word is so that it can impact the life/lives of the hearer(s).
     In addition, we saw that faith is the crux of the believer's spiritual life. Without faith, there is no justification of God's wrath, sanctification throughout our lives, remission of sins, adoption into God's family, or perseverance of the saints. The more you understand your spiritual position before God, the more your faith will grow as you see what exactly Christ has turned you into. Then, lest we think that we are responsible for our faith, we saw that faith -- in and of itself -- is totally empty and devoid of worth. Christ saves us through faith, the faith is not the saving element of salvation. Faith must have an object because it is an empty arrow pointing at something else; for the believer, that object is Christ. On top of that, because we are spiritually dead up until the moment of salvation, we are not even responsible for our faith. Christ does the work of salvation so that we can be saved and then gives us the faith to believe in His work; His work is the thing of value. We must have both a conviction of Christ's saving work and a commitment to live out the ramifications of that belief in order to be saved. You can have neither a true conviction nor a true commitment without the other.
     A lot of ground was covered in the morning service, but I hunted for and found the golden nugget of conviction and instruction for my own spiritual life; there was also a side note which I will mention first. Jesus, when he saw Levi, called him and Levi responded with immediate obedience. He also responded with instantaneous evangelism: the gospel is not something that can be or should be kept to oneself after experiencing it, it must be shared. Levi did this and was able to gather a crowd of friends and co-worker together for a supper with Christ, many of whom were probably part of the crowd that followed Christ anyways. From Jesus' participation in this meal, we can learn that the believers are not to put on airs or show superiority. Like Christ said, the sick are the ones that need healing, we ought to go to them for the advancement of the gospel, they are the ones who will be changed by it. In this simple statement, Christ laid claim to deity as well; He is the one who will save sinners.
     The second paragraph in Mark 2 illustrated the joy of the Lord that believers should possess and display toward others. The Pharisees were very conservative and ritualistic, they did not have joy on the agenda and were not interested in a religion supposedly devoid of solemn fasting. Christ rebuked them by noting for them the fact that He was the culmination of the Christian faith, and so while He was on earth with His disciples, then there was no point in them moping around. Times would come after His departure when the disciples would need to continue in prayer and fasting for their spiritual strength. This is the main point which I needed to hear today; joy is something which I need to purposefully concentrate on developing in my life. I have a very analytical mind; I can tear things apart to examine them, but I've got to work at putting them back together and giving thanks for them. The pastor pointed out that joy is the second fruit of the spirit. The Greek word is charis, from which we get charisma or thanksgiving. Joy comes from thanksgiving, when we give thanks for things or events; we will naturally become more joyful as we learn to look for positive aspects rather than living in pessimism. It's interesting to see the way Christ layers truth for us so that we can keep up with it, this is the reason I am posting things to be thankful for each day. They help to make you focus on finding those things throughout the day and lead to greater joy and cheerfulness.
     This afternoon I was also able to show my little sister what a printer does. I told her it drew on paper for you so that you didn't have to. To help her grasp this concept a little bit better, we drew a picture together with some computer software. Then we printed the picture out to show what the printer does; she was ecstatic! I was also able to complete the memorization of the first chapter of 1 Peter. Yes! Lastly, I put together the folders for the Wednesday night music that I'll be doing at our prayer meetings. Hopefully everything will go over well...
     So, things to be thankful for today: 1) convicting lessons from teachers at church, 2) finishing memorizing chapter 1, 3) a lot of bumps throughout high school that have pushed me to improve, 4) the pending arrival of Spring, and 5) a fun time with my sister today.
     Joke of the day: A girl ran downstairs into the living room just as her parents were commenting on who her little brother looked like.
     "I think he has your eyes," Mother was saying.
     "And your nose," Father was adding.
     "And now he's got Grandma's teeth!" the daughter interrupted.

Joke Credit: the 365 DAY Clean Joke book