August 9th

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick (Jer. 17:9).  This is why we have to keep our hearts in check; they are liars.  According to Jeremiah 17:9, your heart is not a compass that will lead you to life or thriving.  Proverbs 14:12 warns: There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.  There is a different compass that will lead to life, and that compass is the God whose name is also Jehovah-Raah, which means, The LordMy Shepherd.  It is a name used in Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I will not be in need. He lets me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name (Psalm 23:13).

Jesus said of himself: I am the good shepherd, and I know My own, and My own know Me, just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep (John 10:14-15).  In and through Jesus we have Jehovah-Raah.  He is our compass who will guide us to the place of life and thriving, for He alone is the way, and the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except exclusively through Jesus (John 14:6). 

As you prepare your hearts to worship together in our 9:00 and 10:30 worship services, take some time to read Ephesians 5:1-21 (I will be preaching on verses 11-14) and think about the following quote written over a decade ago by D.A. Carson (a New Testament Scholar):

Neither the old tolerance nor the new is an intellectual position; rather, each is a social response. The old tolerance is the willingness to put up with, allow, or endure people and ideas with whom we disagree; in its purest form, the new tolerance is the social commitment to treat all ideas and people as equally right, save for those people who disagree with this view of tolerance.  Advocates of the new tolerance sacrifice wisdom and principle in support of just one supreme good: upholding their view of tolerance. So those who uphold and practice the older tolerance, enmeshed as they inevitably are in some value system, are written off as intolerant. Thus banished, they no longer deserve a place at the table. [1] 

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday at 9:00 and 10:30 to celebrate The LORD who provides!   

Perhaps a question you might want to think about or discuss with your family is this: From whom does ultimate truth come, and what place does truth have in a society that seems to be growing increasingly intolerant of any ideology it rejects?

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday!

Grace,

Pastor Keith