my burg

In our Bible reading challenge we have begun the prophetic books , beginning with Isaiah. Like most of the prophets in the Bible, Isaiah calls out the many sins of God’s people. Most of these sins can be grouped under the category of idolatry (forsaking their covenant relationship with God) or injustice (forsaking justice to their neighbors). The bad news. A big lesson from the prophets is that, like Israel, all people (as in, all of us) have failed to love God wholeheartedly (commandments #1 through #4 in the Decalogue) and have failed to love their neighbors as themselves (commandments #5-10). See Romans 3 for the New Testament affirmation of this truth. The good news. As well, Isaiah in particular records some of the most beautiful prophecies about the coming Messiah, the Lord Jesus. Next week, we will be reading the Songs of the Servant (Isa 42–53), which portrays Jesus as the faithful Servant of the Lord who accomplishes what the people of Israel could never achieve. H

Why is the preaching and teaching of the Bible so central to the life of BCF?  This is the question asked in Sunday's sermon .  Here is the outline of those notes and a few quotations... Key passage :  “...the church of the living God [is] a pillar and buttress of the truth. ...devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”  (1 Timothy 3:15; 4:13 ESV) Here's a walk-through  of the ministry of the Word in biblical history... • In creation.   (Gen. 1:3, 5; Ps. 147:15-18; Rev. 21:5)   • To Israel. (Deut. 4:10-12, 33-36; Josh. 1:8; Ezra 7:10)  • In OT worship. (Ps 1; 19; 119) • In the prophets.   (Isa. 8:16-20; 40:8; 55:10-11; 66:2; Jer. 23:28-29) • By the Lord Jesus ( The Word in flesh! ) (Matt. 5:17-19; 26:13; 28:19; Mark 13:31; Jn. 8:31-32; 17:14-17) • In the early church .  (Acts 2:42; 6:4; 20:20, 27, 32) • By the Apostle Paul .  (Rom. 15:4; 1 Tim. 3:15; 4:13; 2 Tim. 2:2; 3:16-17; 4:1-2) • The rest of the NT .  (

Below are a few quotes from C. H. Spurgeon on the sufficiency of Scripture, taken from The Greatest Fight in the World , among his last public addresses and considered his final manifesto.   We need nothing more than God has seen fit to reveal. If the revelation of God were not enough for our faith, what could we add to it? Anything more than the Word of God sets before us, for us to believe and to preach as the life of men, seems utterly absurd to us; yet we confront a generation of men who are always wanting to discover a new motive power, and a new gospel for their churches. The Scriptures in their own sphere are like God in the universe — All-sufficient. We are resolved, then, since we have this arsenal supplied for us of the Lord, and since we want no other, to use the Word of God only, and to use it with greater energy. We are resolved to know our Bibles better. By God’s grace we purpose to believe the Word of God more intensely. We should resolve als

Painting depicting St. Peter preaching in catacombs The earliest Christian worship meetings seemed marked by simplicity : mainly the reading of Scripture with preaching/teaching, prayers and praise, and communion (the Lord's supper).   The earliest description of church gatherings comes from Pliny the Younger (ca. AD 112).  Writing with concern about the growing number of Christians in Bithynia in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey), Pliny relates to the Emperor Trajan the following about the church meetings:  "They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before  dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or  adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to  assemble again to partake of foo

...and why this corporate worship is important , not only for us, but also for our children, other believers, the watching world, and to the Lord himself.  Here I am using "worship" not in its broadest sense (as all of life lived in service to and for the honor of God), but more narrowly, as what takes  place when God's people gather to pray and to express praise in songs and hymns together.    a)  We are called to exalt God together not only as Creator, but also as Savior and Deliverer . We have something to sing about! (Ex. 15:1-2; Gen.  4:26; Job 38:6-7; 1 Cor. 1:2; Rev. 5:12-13)  b) Gathering corporately for worship makes public and visible our worship of the one true God.  (Ps. 51:14-15; 1 Chron. 15:16; 16:7-9; Ps. 30:11-12;  84:10; 122:1) c) Congregational worship is one dimension of our evangelism , both for our children and for the watching world.  (Ps. 18:49; 45:17; 57:9) d)  Corporate worship is an aspect of spiritual warfare , an act of defiance ag

"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"  (Matthew 6:26 ESV) In this one statement, the Lord Jesus answers both our personal anxieties about life and also some great questions debated by philosophers down through the centuries. "...your heavenly Father feeds them..."   Notice the following:  " Your "... as followers of Christ you belong to God as his children and he is your Father who cares and provides.  " Heavenly "... he rules over all of creation, heaven and earth.  " Father "... he is personal, relational, loving.  " Feeds "... he is involved, hands-on with his creation. " Them "... he provides for the small, seemingly insignificant creatures in this world.  The argument goes from lesser to greater: if he cares about and feeds the birds, certainly he cares about and will provide for you

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?"   (1 John 5:4-5 ESV) "Herein consists the triumph of the Christian.  In every step of his walk and warfare he is led from self to Christ, kept humbled in his own eyes, that he may exalt the Savior; emptied of self that he may live upon the fullness of Jesus, and may thereby be taught to rest his heart in Him at all times, and for all things."   (William Romaine, The Triumph of Faith , 1796)