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Bear the Holy Crest!

King David calls us to worship the holy God “in the splendor of holiness, to tremble before him, all the earth!” (Psalm 96:9). The whole earth trembles before him precisely because he is holy, just, and requires righteousness. God brooks no moral impurity in us. None can measure up to the perfect standard of God’s holiness, so we tremble.

Yet David summons us to worship God in the splendor of holiness. This means God will have us don the holy attire fitting the magnitude of his holy presence. God commands our life be lived before the face of him who is holy; thankfully he always supplies what he commands.

So what are these beautiful garments of holiness we are to wear before God’s face? Paul explains to the Colossians, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14).

Because we are a distinct people—chosen, holy, and beloved—we are to display this identity by wearing distinct spiritual clothing fitting our heavenly parentage. God our Father will have his children display their divine adoption and new family kinship.

But is this a call to human effort to achieve some kind of moral makeover? No, it is rather a call to absolute despair of one’s own righteousness and the deliberate clothing of oneself in the righteousness of another: Jesus Christ. Again Paul helps, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).

Like a family crest, we who are Christ’s wear with humility and joy the moral splendor of his holiness and God the Father smiles at our family resemblance!

 

Join us this Sunday at 10:45am for our corporate worship service. Pastor Brent will be continuing in the series, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Support Short-Term Trip to Central Asia

This summer, Five Points has the opportunity to partner with Christians in Central Asia to further advance the gospel by sending a group to work with nationals in finishing construction on a facility that will be used for physical rehabilitation by individuals with disabilities.
 
We are excited about this project for two reasons.
 
First, our eager desire is to not only worship Christ ourselves or even with those around us, but we want to join in Gd's global work of redeeming a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation such that we will worship Christ forever with such a multi-national assembly. Or to put it more simply, at Five Points, we want to pursue our joy in Christ alone such that the nations worship him with us now and forever.
 
So we are looking for our joy to be increased this summer as we pray and partner with others as our joy in Christ is shared with those who do not yet know him.
 
Second, we join God in valuing life, all life. We do not only care about the preservation of pre-born image-bearers but also about those this world would rather have nothing to do with. And this group we are sending and project they will be working on is a wonderful demonstration of this value. Image-bearers with disabilities are still image-bearers.
 
It is an exciting opportunity to serve such a devalued group of people through such a practical means by working to provide a venue where they can be assisted in the rehabilitation of their bodies.
 
If you would like to learn more about this team and the project they will be working on, contact the church office. Also, pray if the Lord would lead you to financially support this project—an additional $15,000 is needing to be raised by June 7.

All God Makes Holy is Holy

If God’s holiness is his unwavering devotion to the purity, beauty, and goodness of his own name, how does that effect all that he has made? Genesis 2:3 begins to answer that question, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

What does it mean for God to bless a day and make it holy? Much the same as it means when he blesses land or persons or a nation to make them holy. The land or persons he blesses brim with his goodness and purity because he gives to them himself. For God to bless one day in seven is to say that on that day he means to give himself uniquely to his people such that they share in his holiness and brim with his blessing.

This divine visit of holy blessings is called Sabbath. The word means to rest, to cease, and to refresh. When we rest in God one day in seven, following the pattern God established, we remind ourselves of his goodness to give us the greatest possible blessing, namely himself! Can you imagine any greater news than the great and holy God of all glory commanding that we rest and enjoy him who is most enjoyable?

Why does God mean for this weekly rhythm of Sabbath rest to be so good for us all the years of our earthly lives? He does so for many reasons, but a chief one is that it prepares us for the eternity of un-ending Sabbath rest we will have in his presence: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9-10).

 

Join us this Sunday for Bible Study Hour at 9:30am and our morning service at 10:45am; Pastor Brent will continue in his sermon series, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Tremble Before the Holy God

Why do we call God “holy”? What does God’s holiness mean? And if he is holy, how should I respond to him? What difference does his holiness make in my life now and forever?

For the next ten weeks, Lord willing, I will take up texts of Holy Scripture to answer those questions in a series I’ve entitled, “Tremble Before the Holy God.” God’s person, God’s acts, God’s word, and God’s Spirit are all holy, because he is holy. Yet what does that mean? Essentially it means he is in a class by himself, and that class is perfectly good and perfectly pure.

But we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of God’s character to say he is good and pure like no other. He is also just and jealous, merciful and majestic, wonderful and wrathful, and so much more.

When God saves his beloved people out of Pharaoh’s grasp in Egyptian captivity, Moses sings a song of God’s salvation in which he highlights the majesty of God’s holiness: “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).  The feature of holiness that shines brightest in God’s salvation is his majesty.

And since the Holy Spirit commands us to be holy as God is holy—“But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16)—then God’s holy majesty must mark our lives in a similar fashion as it does his!

In what ways does God’s majesty mark your life? Like mountains mark the earth’s surface, do high and lofty truths rise from your life sending others’ thoughts Godward? Like deep oceans blanket the globe, does God’s majestic holiness cause humility to burst forth from your life like a fountain? O Lord, mark us with majesty!

 

Join us this Sunday at 10:45am as we come together again to adore and worship Jesus, the Son of God; Pastor Brent will begin a new sermon series titled, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Leading Through Humble Prayer

In the book of 2 Chronicles, after Solomon had completed the temple, the Lord appeared to him during the night while Solomon prayed. In this exchange, God explained how “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

No one can deny the grievous effects that sin has made in our lives. As men called to provide leadership in our church, families, and neighborhoods, we have a responsibility to lead well, and that begins with humbling ourselves in prayer before our heavenly Father. Just as Solomon was incapable of leading those of whom he was given oversight apart from continual dependence on God, so also we will fail to faithfully lead those entrusted to our care apart from dependence on God.

So let us, as men, come together to seek to faithfully lead by confessing and showing our dependence on God by humbling ourselves in prayer. How else will our families, neighbors, and the nations worship Jesus with us now and forever apart from God so moving through our leadership?

Join other men, especially younger men ages 18-35, in prayer together on Saturday, May 18, at 8:30am as we seek God's face and will for our lives as godly men.


Bear the Holy Crest!

King David calls us to worship the holy God “in the splendor of holiness, to tremble before him, all the earth!” (Psalm 96:9). The whole earth trembles before him precisely because he is holy, just, and requires righteousness. God brooks no moral impurity in us. None can measure up to the perfect standard of God’s holiness, so we tremble.

Yet David summons us to worship God in the splendor of holiness. This means God will have us don the holy attire fitting the magnitude of his holy presence. God commands our life be lived before the face of him who is holy; thankfully he always supplies what he commands.

So what are these beautiful garments of holiness we are to wear before God’s face? Paul explains to the Colossians, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14).

Because we are a distinct people—chosen, holy, and beloved—we are to display this identity by wearing distinct spiritual clothing fitting our heavenly parentage. God our Father will have his children display their divine adoption and new family kinship.

But is this a call to human effort to achieve some kind of moral makeover? No, it is rather a call to absolute despair of one’s own righteousness and the deliberate clothing of oneself in the righteousness of another: Jesus Christ. Again Paul helps, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).

Like a family crest, we who are Christ’s wear with humility and joy the moral splendor of his holiness and God the Father smiles at our family resemblance!

 

Join us this Sunday at 10:45am for our corporate worship service. Pastor Brent will be continuing in the series, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Support Short-Term Trip to Central Asia

This summer, Five Points has the opportunity to partner with Christians in Central Asia to further advance the gospel by sending a group to work with nationals in finishing construction on a facility that will be used for physical rehabilitation by individuals with disabilities.
 
We are excited about this project for two reasons.
 
First, our eager desire is to not only worship Christ ourselves or even with those around us, but we want to join in Gd's global work of redeeming a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation such that we will worship Christ forever with such a multi-national assembly. Or to put it more simply, at Five Points, we want to pursue our joy in Christ alone such that the nations worship him with us now and forever.
 
So we are looking for our joy to be increased this summer as we pray and partner with others as our joy in Christ is shared with those who do not yet know him.
 
Second, we join God in valuing life, all life. We do not only care about the preservation of pre-born image-bearers but also about those this world would rather have nothing to do with. And this group we are sending and project they will be working on is a wonderful demonstration of this value. Image-bearers with disabilities are still image-bearers.
 
It is an exciting opportunity to serve such a devalued group of people through such a practical means by working to provide a venue where they can be assisted in the rehabilitation of their bodies.
 
If you would like to learn more about this team and the project they will be working on, contact the church office. Also, pray if the Lord would lead you to financially support this project—an additional $15,000 is needing to be raised by June 7.

All God Makes Holy is Holy

If God’s holiness is his unwavering devotion to the purity, beauty, and goodness of his own name, how does that effect all that he has made? Genesis 2:3 begins to answer that question, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

What does it mean for God to bless a day and make it holy? Much the same as it means when he blesses land or persons or a nation to make them holy. The land or persons he blesses brim with his goodness and purity because he gives to them himself. For God to bless one day in seven is to say that on that day he means to give himself uniquely to his people such that they share in his holiness and brim with his blessing.

This divine visit of holy blessings is called Sabbath. The word means to rest, to cease, and to refresh. When we rest in God one day in seven, following the pattern God established, we remind ourselves of his goodness to give us the greatest possible blessing, namely himself! Can you imagine any greater news than the great and holy God of all glory commanding that we rest and enjoy him who is most enjoyable?

Why does God mean for this weekly rhythm of Sabbath rest to be so good for us all the years of our earthly lives? He does so for many reasons, but a chief one is that it prepares us for the eternity of un-ending Sabbath rest we will have in his presence: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9-10).

 

Join us this Sunday for Bible Study Hour at 9:30am and our morning service at 10:45am; Pastor Brent will continue in his sermon series, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Tremble Before the Holy God

Why do we call God “holy”? What does God’s holiness mean? And if he is holy, how should I respond to him? What difference does his holiness make in my life now and forever?

For the next ten weeks, Lord willing, I will take up texts of Holy Scripture to answer those questions in a series I’ve entitled, “Tremble Before the Holy God.” God’s person, God’s acts, God’s word, and God’s Spirit are all holy, because he is holy. Yet what does that mean? Essentially it means he is in a class by himself, and that class is perfectly good and perfectly pure.

But we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of God’s character to say he is good and pure like no other. He is also just and jealous, merciful and majestic, wonderful and wrathful, and so much more.

When God saves his beloved people out of Pharaoh’s grasp in Egyptian captivity, Moses sings a song of God’s salvation in which he highlights the majesty of God’s holiness: “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).  The feature of holiness that shines brightest in God’s salvation is his majesty.

And since the Holy Spirit commands us to be holy as God is holy—“But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16)—then God’s holy majesty must mark our lives in a similar fashion as it does his!

In what ways does God’s majesty mark your life? Like mountains mark the earth’s surface, do high and lofty truths rise from your life sending others’ thoughts Godward? Like deep oceans blanket the globe, does God’s majestic holiness cause humility to burst forth from your life like a fountain? O Lord, mark us with majesty!

 

Join us this Sunday at 10:45am as we come together again to adore and worship Jesus, the Son of God; Pastor Brent will begin a new sermon series titled, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Leading Through Humble Prayer

In the book of 2 Chronicles, after Solomon had completed the temple, the Lord appeared to him during the night while Solomon prayed. In this exchange, God explained how “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

No one can deny the grievous effects that sin has made in our lives. As men called to provide leadership in our church, families, and neighborhoods, we have a responsibility to lead well, and that begins with humbling ourselves in prayer before our heavenly Father. Just as Solomon was incapable of leading those of whom he was given oversight apart from continual dependence on God, so also we will fail to faithfully lead those entrusted to our care apart from dependence on God.

So let us, as men, come together to seek to faithfully lead by confessing and showing our dependence on God by humbling ourselves in prayer. How else will our families, neighbors, and the nations worship Jesus with us now and forever apart from God so moving through our leadership?

Join other men, especially younger men ages 18-35, in prayer together on Saturday, May 18, at 8:30am as we seek God's face and will for our lives as godly men.


Bear the Holy Crest!

King David calls us to worship the holy God “in the splendor of holiness, to tremble before him, all the earth!” (Psalm 96:9). The whole earth trembles before him precisely because he is holy, just, and requires righteousness. God brooks no moral impurity in us. None can measure up to the perfect standard of God’s holiness, so we tremble.

Yet David summons us to worship God in the splendor of holiness. This means God will have us don the holy attire fitting the magnitude of his holy presence. God commands our life be lived before the face of him who is holy; thankfully he always supplies what he commands.

So what are these beautiful garments of holiness we are to wear before God’s face? Paul explains to the Colossians, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14).

Because we are a distinct people—chosen, holy, and beloved—we are to display this identity by wearing distinct spiritual clothing fitting our heavenly parentage. God our Father will have his children display their divine adoption and new family kinship.

But is this a call to human effort to achieve some kind of moral makeover? No, it is rather a call to absolute despair of one’s own righteousness and the deliberate clothing of oneself in the righteousness of another: Jesus Christ. Again Paul helps, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).

Like a family crest, we who are Christ’s wear with humility and joy the moral splendor of his holiness and God the Father smiles at our family resemblance!

 

Join us this Sunday at 10:45am for our corporate worship service. Pastor Brent will be continuing in the series, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Support Short-Term Trip to Central Asia

This summer, Five Points has the opportunity to partner with Christians in Central Asia to further advance the gospel by sending a group to work with nationals in finishing construction on a facility that will be used for physical rehabilitation by individuals with disabilities.
 
We are excited about this project for two reasons.
 
First, our eager desire is to not only worship Christ ourselves or even with those around us, but we want to join in Gd's global work of redeeming a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation such that we will worship Christ forever with such a multi-national assembly. Or to put it more simply, at Five Points, we want to pursue our joy in Christ alone such that the nations worship him with us now and forever.
 
So we are looking for our joy to be increased this summer as we pray and partner with others as our joy in Christ is shared with those who do not yet know him.
 
Second, we join God in valuing life, all life. We do not only care about the preservation of pre-born image-bearers but also about those this world would rather have nothing to do with. And this group we are sending and project they will be working on is a wonderful demonstration of this value. Image-bearers with disabilities are still image-bearers.
 
It is an exciting opportunity to serve such a devalued group of people through such a practical means by working to provide a venue where they can be assisted in the rehabilitation of their bodies.
 
If you would like to learn more about this team and the project they will be working on, contact the church office. Also, pray if the Lord would lead you to financially support this project—an additional $15,000 is needing to be raised by June 7.

All God Makes Holy is Holy

If God’s holiness is his unwavering devotion to the purity, beauty, and goodness of his own name, how does that effect all that he has made? Genesis 2:3 begins to answer that question, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

What does it mean for God to bless a day and make it holy? Much the same as it means when he blesses land or persons or a nation to make them holy. The land or persons he blesses brim with his goodness and purity because he gives to them himself. For God to bless one day in seven is to say that on that day he means to give himself uniquely to his people such that they share in his holiness and brim with his blessing.

This divine visit of holy blessings is called Sabbath. The word means to rest, to cease, and to refresh. When we rest in God one day in seven, following the pattern God established, we remind ourselves of his goodness to give us the greatest possible blessing, namely himself! Can you imagine any greater news than the great and holy God of all glory commanding that we rest and enjoy him who is most enjoyable?

Why does God mean for this weekly rhythm of Sabbath rest to be so good for us all the years of our earthly lives? He does so for many reasons, but a chief one is that it prepares us for the eternity of un-ending Sabbath rest we will have in his presence: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9-10).

 

Join us this Sunday for Bible Study Hour at 9:30am and our morning service at 10:45am; Pastor Brent will continue in his sermon series, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Tremble Before the Holy God

Why do we call God “holy”? What does God’s holiness mean? And if he is holy, how should I respond to him? What difference does his holiness make in my life now and forever?

For the next ten weeks, Lord willing, I will take up texts of Holy Scripture to answer those questions in a series I’ve entitled, “Tremble Before the Holy God.” God’s person, God’s acts, God’s word, and God’s Spirit are all holy, because he is holy. Yet what does that mean? Essentially it means he is in a class by himself, and that class is perfectly good and perfectly pure.

But we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of God’s character to say he is good and pure like no other. He is also just and jealous, merciful and majestic, wonderful and wrathful, and so much more.

When God saves his beloved people out of Pharaoh’s grasp in Egyptian captivity, Moses sings a song of God’s salvation in which he highlights the majesty of God’s holiness: “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).  The feature of holiness that shines brightest in God’s salvation is his majesty.

And since the Holy Spirit commands us to be holy as God is holy—“But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16)—then God’s holy majesty must mark our lives in a similar fashion as it does his!

In what ways does God’s majesty mark your life? Like mountains mark the earth’s surface, do high and lofty truths rise from your life sending others’ thoughts Godward? Like deep oceans blanket the globe, does God’s majestic holiness cause humility to burst forth from your life like a fountain? O Lord, mark us with majesty!

 

Join us this Sunday at 10:45am as we come together again to adore and worship Jesus, the Son of God; Pastor Brent will begin a new sermon series titled, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Leading Through Humble Prayer

In the book of 2 Chronicles, after Solomon had completed the temple, the Lord appeared to him during the night while Solomon prayed. In this exchange, God explained how “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

No one can deny the grievous effects that sin has made in our lives. As men called to provide leadership in our church, families, and neighborhoods, we have a responsibility to lead well, and that begins with humbling ourselves in prayer before our heavenly Father. Just as Solomon was incapable of leading those of whom he was given oversight apart from continual dependence on God, so also we will fail to faithfully lead those entrusted to our care apart from dependence on God.

So let us, as men, come together to seek to faithfully lead by confessing and showing our dependence on God by humbling ourselves in prayer. How else will our families, neighbors, and the nations worship Jesus with us now and forever apart from God so moving through our leadership?

Join other men, especially younger men ages 18-35, in prayer together on Saturday, May 18, at 8:30am as we seek God's face and will for our lives as godly men.


Bear the Holy Crest!

King David calls us to worship the holy God “in the splendor of holiness, to tremble before him, all the earth!” (Psalm 96:9). The whole earth trembles before him precisely because he is holy, just, and requires righteousness. God brooks no moral impurity in us. None can measure up to the perfect standard of God’s holiness, so we tremble.

Yet David summons us to worship God in the splendor of holiness. This means God will have us don the holy attire fitting the magnitude of his holy presence. God commands our life be lived before the face of him who is holy; thankfully he always supplies what he commands.

So what are these beautiful garments of holiness we are to wear before God’s face? Paul explains to the Colossians, “Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony” (Colossians 3:12-14).

Because we are a distinct people—chosen, holy, and beloved—we are to display this identity by wearing distinct spiritual clothing fitting our heavenly parentage. God our Father will have his children display their divine adoption and new family kinship.

But is this a call to human effort to achieve some kind of moral makeover? No, it is rather a call to absolute despair of one’s own righteousness and the deliberate clothing of oneself in the righteousness of another: Jesus Christ. Again Paul helps, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Romans 13:14).

Like a family crest, we who are Christ’s wear with humility and joy the moral splendor of his holiness and God the Father smiles at our family resemblance!

 

Join us this Sunday at 10:45am for our corporate worship service. Pastor Brent will be continuing in the series, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Support Short-Term Trip to Central Asia

This summer, Five Points has the opportunity to partner with Christians in Central Asia to further advance the gospel by sending a group to work with nationals in finishing construction on a facility that will be used for physical rehabilitation by individuals with disabilities.
 
We are excited about this project for two reasons.
 
First, our eager desire is to not only worship Christ ourselves or even with those around us, but we want to join in Gd's global work of redeeming a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation such that we will worship Christ forever with such a multi-national assembly. Or to put it more simply, at Five Points, we want to pursue our joy in Christ alone such that the nations worship him with us now and forever.
 
So we are looking for our joy to be increased this summer as we pray and partner with others as our joy in Christ is shared with those who do not yet know him.
 
Second, we join God in valuing life, all life. We do not only care about the preservation of pre-born image-bearers but also about those this world would rather have nothing to do with. And this group we are sending and project they will be working on is a wonderful demonstration of this value. Image-bearers with disabilities are still image-bearers.
 
It is an exciting opportunity to serve such a devalued group of people through such a practical means by working to provide a venue where they can be assisted in the rehabilitation of their bodies.
 
If you would like to learn more about this team and the project they will be working on, contact the church office. Also, pray if the Lord would lead you to financially support this project—an additional $15,000 is needing to be raised by June 7.

All God Makes Holy is Holy

If God’s holiness is his unwavering devotion to the purity, beauty, and goodness of his own name, how does that effect all that he has made? Genesis 2:3 begins to answer that question, “So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.”

What does it mean for God to bless a day and make it holy? Much the same as it means when he blesses land or persons or a nation to make them holy. The land or persons he blesses brim with his goodness and purity because he gives to them himself. For God to bless one day in seven is to say that on that day he means to give himself uniquely to his people such that they share in his holiness and brim with his blessing.

This divine visit of holy blessings is called Sabbath. The word means to rest, to cease, and to refresh. When we rest in God one day in seven, following the pattern God established, we remind ourselves of his goodness to give us the greatest possible blessing, namely himself! Can you imagine any greater news than the great and holy God of all glory commanding that we rest and enjoy him who is most enjoyable?

Why does God mean for this weekly rhythm of Sabbath rest to be so good for us all the years of our earthly lives? He does so for many reasons, but a chief one is that it prepares us for the eternity of un-ending Sabbath rest we will have in his presence: “So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his” (Hebrews 4:9-10).

 

Join us this Sunday for Bible Study Hour at 9:30am and our morning service at 10:45am; Pastor Brent will continue in his sermon series, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Tremble Before the Holy God

Why do we call God “holy”? What does God’s holiness mean? And if he is holy, how should I respond to him? What difference does his holiness make in my life now and forever?

For the next ten weeks, Lord willing, I will take up texts of Holy Scripture to answer those questions in a series I’ve entitled, “Tremble Before the Holy God.” God’s person, God’s acts, God’s word, and God’s Spirit are all holy, because he is holy. Yet what does that mean? Essentially it means he is in a class by himself, and that class is perfectly good and perfectly pure.

But we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of God’s character to say he is good and pure like no other. He is also just and jealous, merciful and majestic, wonderful and wrathful, and so much more.

When God saves his beloved people out of Pharaoh’s grasp in Egyptian captivity, Moses sings a song of God’s salvation in which he highlights the majesty of God’s holiness: “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?” (Exodus 15:11).  The feature of holiness that shines brightest in God’s salvation is his majesty.

And since the Holy Spirit commands us to be holy as God is holy—“But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Peter 1:15-16)—then God’s holy majesty must mark our lives in a similar fashion as it does his!

In what ways does God’s majesty mark your life? Like mountains mark the earth’s surface, do high and lofty truths rise from your life sending others’ thoughts Godward? Like deep oceans blanket the globe, does God’s majestic holiness cause humility to burst forth from your life like a fountain? O Lord, mark us with majesty!

 

Join us this Sunday at 10:45am as we come together again to adore and worship Jesus, the Son of God; Pastor Brent will begin a new sermon series titled, "Tremble Before the Holy God."


Leading Through Humble Prayer

In the book of 2 Chronicles, after Solomon had completed the temple, the Lord appeared to him during the night while Solomon prayed. In this exchange, God explained how “if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

No one can deny the grievous effects that sin has made in our lives. As men called to provide leadership in our church, families, and neighborhoods, we have a responsibility to lead well, and that begins with humbling ourselves in prayer before our heavenly Father. Just as Solomon was incapable of leading those of whom he was given oversight apart from continual dependence on God, so also we will fail to faithfully lead those entrusted to our care apart from dependence on God.

So let us, as men, come together to seek to faithfully lead by confessing and showing our dependence on God by humbling ourselves in prayer. How else will our families, neighbors, and the nations worship Jesus with us now and forever apart from God so moving through our leadership?

Join other men, especially younger men ages 18-35, in prayer together on Saturday, May 18, at 8:30am as we seek God's face and will for our lives as godly men.