For the Joy Set Before Him

Good morning! Today we will have a short message followed by a time remembering our Lord and Savior with the bread and cup, and then we will gather together in a circle and those who desire can share what the Lord has been teaching them. Our church service takes this format once a month, because we truly believe Scripture when it says that God desires to use all members of His body to speak into and build up and encourage one another in the Lord.

One of the many things I love about our body, that is, I love about all of you, is the freedom we give each other to try things, even to fail, because we shower one another with grace and love. Today, I am going to break some well-known rules about public speaking and read a longish passage of fiction to you because it hits my heart, and I hope, hits your heart, in a way that I know no other way to express.

The passage I am going to read to you is from the novel Hinds’ Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. The story is highly allegorical in nature, using a style of writing similar to that of the classic Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. I recommend both books, if you are looking for edifying things to read.

Humility and Obedience

Philippians 2:1-18

John Farmer started this series in Philippians last week and today I am going to continue where he left off.

First let’s pray and ask God to glorify Himself and bless us through His Word this morning.

Just for the benefit of you who missed John’s message last week, he talked about Philippi being named after King Philip, Philip the Conqueror, who was Alexander the Great's father. So the Philippians had a prestigious name from a prestigious heritage and really proud men who went on to conquer the world. But Paul wanted to address some of that pride in his letter to the Philippians.

Now let’s look at Philippians 2:1-2

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

Circumstances and Attitudes

 Philippians 1

Today we begin a new four week series on the book of Philippians.  To most of us, it is a familiar book.  It is one where we can go for encouragement and perspective on our circumstances.  It is a book from which we have committed verses to memory.  In chapter 1 (v.6), “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it [carry it on to completion] until the day of Christ Jesus.” 

Then in chapter 2 (v.3-4), “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

And then from chapter 4 (v.5-7, 8, 11-13, 19), “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

He Who Lives Forever

 Daniel 9:24-27, 11:35-45, 12

Welcome! Today we finish our series on the Book of Daniel, looking at Chapter 12 as well as portions of Chapters 9 and 11. In case you have not been going through this series with us, or have missed some of the lessons, let me give you some context. Daniel was taken away from Jerusalem, from Israel, from everything he had known, during a series of terrible events known as the great exile. The people of Israel, from the days of Moses, had been given this land and had also been given the Law, and in the Law, it was explained that the gift of the land, the blessings of the land, and God’s blessings on the people, was conditional on their remaining true to God, loving Him and following His decrees and commandments. Over the centuries, the people had again and again strayed terribly far from God, and in the years leading up to the exile things had only become worse and worse. And so finally, God removed His hand of protection from Israel, and Daniel, with many others, was taken as slaves to Babylon.

Face Like Lightening

 Daniel 10-11:39

Welcome! Today we continue our series on the Book of Daniel, looking at Chapter 10 and portions of Chapter 11. Two weeks ago we looked at Chapter 9, but did not study the last several verses. I have decided to put these verses off one more week, and we will look at them together with the end of the book of Daniel, because they have more in common thematically with this part of the book than with what we will look at today. We have a huge amount of verses to look at, so let us jump right in.

In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar). Its message was true and it concerned a great war. The understanding of the message came to him in a vision. At that time I, Daniel, mourned for three weeks. I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips; and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over. – Daniel 10:1-3

The Anointed One

 Daniel 9:1-26

Welcome! Today we continue our study of the Book of Daniel, focusing on Chapter 9. First, I want to briefly remind you of the big picture, of the context of the Book of Daniel in the history, the true story of God and His interaction of people, in the Old Testament.

At the time of Moses, the Israelites had been delivered from Egypt and promised the land of Israel, but the promise was a conditional promise; it depended on the people continuing to follow after God, obeying His commands and remembering Him in worship and in day-to-day living. Well, the people forgot God, ignored His commands, and even sought to do the very things He had forbidden, such as worshiping false gods. And through Israel’s history, God raised up prophets who spoke warnings that unless the people repented and turned back to God and followed His ways, they would lose the land, Jerusalem and especially the Temple built by Solomon, the place where God’s Spirit dwelled, would become desecrated and destroyed.

Prince of the Host

Daniel 8

Welcome! Today we continue our series in the Book of Daniel, looking in depth at Chapter 8. There is a lot of fascinating stuff to get into today, so I am going to get started with the chapter right away.

In the third year of King Belshazzar’s reign, I, Daniel, had a vision, after the one that had already appeared to me. In my vision I saw myself in the citadel of Susa in the province of Elam; in the vision I was beside the Ulai Canal. – Daniel 8:1-2

Son of Man

Daniel 7

 Welcome! Today we continue our series in the Book of Daniel, beginning the second half of the book and focusing in on Chapter 7. In the first six chapters we saw primarily a historical account of the events surrounding the life of Daniel, with a little prophecy thrown in. In these second six chapters, we see the reverse: primary a series of prophecies, with a little historical account thrown in.

I believe it is helpful to start with a very brief review of the highlights of the first 6 chapters. Daniel was captured with his friends from Jerusalem at the time of the fall of Israel, the culmination of centuries of warnings from God’s prophets and the fruit of centuries of disobedience, ignoring God’s laws and increasingly forsaking God altogether. And so Daniel, likely a teenager at the time, was made to serve in a foreign nation, the nation of Babylon.

Jesus: The Deliverer

When I was a kid growing up, at some point a cat “adopted” us. What I mean by this is that this cat consented to let us admire it, pet it, and give it the free reign of our property. The cat had no tags but was actually a very pretty cat, and as most cats do, it took very good care of itself. I was somewhat indifferent to it until I realized that my mom didn’t like it, and at that point I became much more interested, and even, you could say, a “fan” of that cat.

One reason my mom didn’t like the cat is that it wanted free reign not only of our property, but of our house. When my mom would be carrying groceries into the house, the cat would try to run in. Well, my mom would have nothing to do with that, and so she decided to start spraying the cat with a water hose when it came around. The cat did not like that at all. And for a while it seemed that things had more or less settled down – the cat ran away when it saw my mom, but when it was just the rest of our family outside, the cat would happily walk between our legs and consent for us to give it a gentle scratch at just that place behind the ears which would make it loudly purr.

Out from the Tomb

Daniel 6

Welcome! Today we continue in our study of the Book of Daniel, focusing in on Chapter 6. To begin, I want to give a bit of a recap of where we have been.

Daniel was a Hebrew, an Israelite, who lived in Israel during his childhood years at a very turbulent time in Israel’s history. For generations, even going all the way back to Moses, God had warned that His promises of blessings on Israel were conditional on the people remaining true and faithful to God, practicing His commandments and decrees, and refusing to worship false gods. Over the centuries, Israel had strayed farther and farther away from God, and at last, God’s warnings were coming to pass. Removing His protection, God now began to allow foreign nations to attack into the heart of Israel, including Jerusalem, and take apart the nation piece by piece.