The Gathering - Part Eleven

We want to take a break this week from walking through our Worship Gathering Purpose Statement and focus in on some lyrics that we will be singing when we gather this weekend. The songs that we sing each week help carry out our purpose and the one we want to focus on really demonstrates this.

Rock of Ages by Augustus M. Toplady

Verse 1:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in Thee
Let the water and the blood from Thy wounded side which flowed
Be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure

Verse 2:
Not the labors of my hands can fulfill Thy law’s demands
Could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow
These for sin could not atone; Thou must save and Thou alone

Verse 3:
Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to Thy cross I cling
Naked, come to Thee for dress, helpless, look to Thee for grace
Foul, I to the fountain fly, wash me, Savior, or I die


I can think of no better way to . . .  "remember what God has done to bring us into relationship with Himself through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and to celebrate the communion that is now possible with God" than to sing these words. Let me try to summarize the themes of this great hymn that was written almost 300 years ago.

Verse 1 - Jesus is our Rock of Refuge whose blood was shed on Calvary. His sacrifice (water and blood is a reference to His brutal torture and death by crucifixion) brings about two remedies - it satisfies the wrath of God against our sin and it purifies us from our sin.

Verse 2 - No matter how zealous we might be to obey God's laws or how sorrowful and broken we are for our sin, these cannot bring about our salvation. We must completely trust in God to save us.

Verse 3 - Again, we are helpless, naked, foul. Our only hope is that God would wash us by the blood of Christ, that He would cloth us in Christ's righteousness and that He would continue to pour out His grace upon us.

What great truths to remember, proclaim, celebrate and to live by!

"Father, we acknowledge that we are unable to add anything to our salvation. You have done it all. It is all a gift of grace and yet of great cost to You. As we gather this weekend to sing these songs may Your glories become greater and greater in our sight, may we sing with understanding and may Your Spirit produce fruit in our lives this week because of our time together. Amen."

Songs for Our Gathering this Week:

Let God Arise

     by Chris Tomlin | Ed Cash | Jesse Reeves

Our Song From Age to Age

     by Joel Sczebel

Rock of Ages

     by Augustus M. Toplady

Now Why This Fear
     by Augustus Toplady | Doug Plank

I Will Praise Him Still
     by Fernando Ortega

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)
     by by Jonas Myrin | Matt Redman

The Gathering - Part Ten

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines communion as, "a close relationship with someone or something." The second aspect of our purpose as we gather together is to celebrate the communion that is now possible with God. 

When we have remembered Christ's atoning sacrifice it leads us to celebration. What we are celebrating is communion with God. Again, this should give us pause for awe and wonder. The sovereign creator of the universe and the One who is holy and righteous is the One that we have rebelled against. Our sin has caused death and more specifically a separation from Him. Yet He desires and has made a way for us to draw near, to commune with Him. Bob Kauflin writes in Worship Matters, 

"For centuries prior to the coming of Christ, the high priest represented God's people once a year as he entered the Holy of Holies to make atonement for their sins. The holiest man from the holiest tribe offered the holiest sacrifice in the holiest place for the holiest people on earth. To attempt to draw near to God in any other way or by any other means would result in certain death (Leviticus 16:2). Now Jesus has entered a holier place, the heavenly sanctuary, having atoned for our sins and having torn down the veil separating us from God."

It is only through Christ's perfect sacrifice that we are able to commune with God but the good news is that we are able to draw near. What a blessed hope!

"Father, may we never lose the wonder of the ability that we have through Christ to have communion with You. May our time together this week be a true celebration of our relationship with You and may we recognize how vital this communion with You is to our worship and our lives. Amen."

Songs for Our Gathering this Week:

Rejoice

     by Dustin Kensrue | Stuart Townend

Awesome is the Lord Most High

     by Chris Tomlin

Jesus Son of God

     by Chris Tomlin | Matt Maher | Jason Ingram

The Greatness of Our God
     by Stuart Garrard | Jason Ingram | Rueben Morgan

Even So Come
     by Chris Tomlin | Jess Cates | Jason Ingram

The Gathering - Part Nine

Last week as we prepared to gather we spent time considering the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ and what that meant. When we consider Christ's sacrifice, the unimaginable cost to God the Father to offer up His Son and the horrific pain and agony endured by Jesus physically, mentally and spiritually, it should stop us in our tracks! What this sacrifice is telling us is how despicable our sin is before a holy God. He didn't just do a few hours of community service on our behalf - He died! And He died the most horrific of deaths, one reserved for criminals and rebels. This sobering view of our sin should lead us to confession. Part of remembering Christ's death is confessing our great need, humbling ourselves before God and recognizing our complete inability to restore a right relationship with Him through anything we bring, do or say. We come falling on His mercy and His grace. And as we come to that place there is power in the Gospel. Our greatest need has been met by an even greater God! We have been set free from the curse of sin and death and can enjoy the blessing of a right relationship with Him.  

As we prepare to gather spend some time reflecting of this passage:

With what shall I come to the LordAnd bow myself before the God on high?Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings,With yearling calves?Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams,In ten thousand rivers of oil?Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts,The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?He has told you, O man, what is good;And what does the Lord require of youBut to do justice, to love kindness,And to walk humbly with your God?

~ Micah 6:6-8

"Father, as we prepare to gather with our brothers and sisters in order to magnify Your greatness may we have a moment to consider the cross. Please reveal to us how dreadful it was and yet how necessary. May it humble us and cause us to run to You for mercy and grace. Amen."

Songs for Our Gathering this Week:

Holy, Holy, Holy 

     by Reginald Heber | John B. Dykes

Jesus Messiah

     by Chris Tomlin

Let it Be Jesus

     by Chris Tomlin | Jonas Myrin | Matt Redman

By Faith
     by Keith and Kristyn Getty | Stuart Townend

The Gathering - Part Eight

Here again is the purpose statement for our gatherings:

To remember what God has done to bring us into relationship with Himself through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, to celebrate the communion that is now possible with God, to give attention to His word and to recommit to living within the grace of this covenantal relationship with God and each other.

This week as we prepare to gather let's consider what we mean by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In order to understand this great doctrine of the Atonement we must first grasp two truths. First, God is altogether holy and righteous. In Him is no evil, no sin. In fact, He is so opposed to sin that when He sees it, His holy wrath is aroused against it! The second truth we must understand is that all of mankind is sinful. We are sinners by nature, by birth into Adam's race. We also sin. We live out our fallen nature. When we understand these two truths we can understand the atonement. 

When we remember the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ we are talking about His death on the cross that makes amends for our sin and brings us back into a right relationship with God. The Bible Scholar and Pastor Lehman Strauss wrote these words on the subject,

Because of two great facts, the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man, Atonement is made an absolute necessity if sinners are to be pardoned and brought to God. When we have the true conception of the holiness of God, we will have the true conception of sin, and when we have the correct view of sin, we will have an adequate view of the Atonement. The only reason that men are offended at the preaching of the Cross is because they have no adequate sense of sin and the holiness of our Lord. When a man refuses to face sin, he will find it easy to dispense with what the Bible teaches about the Atoning Death of Christ. The love and mercy of God are infinite and matchless, still the penalty for sin must be paid. Thus it was, in the eternal past, before the foundation of the world, that God determined and planned that atonement should be provided for His fallen creatures who would be deceived by Satan. If no plan of atonement had been proposed and perpetuated by the Godhead, all would be hopeless for mankind. And so, in the counsels of the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it was decreed that One should come and offer Himself as a Divine Substitute in the sinner’s place. This necessitated the Substitute taking upon Himself a human body. The eternal Son of God was that Substitute. And so “the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). “God was manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16). “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).   (To read more of this article by Strauss click here.)

As we gather this weekend, may we keep in the front of our thoughts that Christ's atonement for sin is the only way that we are able to have a relationship with God, to engage with God, to worship Him.


"Father, make us keenly aware of Your holiness and Your hatred toward sin. Let us feel the weight of our sinfulness and then be able to rejoice in the atoning sacrifice of Christ. May we remember that He is our only hope. May we worship You in spirit and in truth today! Amen."

Songs for Our Gathering this Week:

Praise to the Lord, The Almighty

     by Joachim Neander

O Worship the King

     by Robert Grant

Open the Eyes of My Heart

     by Paul Baloche

Your Glory 

     by Leslie Jordan

Worthy, Worthy
     by Jacob Sooter and Mia Fieldes

The Gathering - Part Seven

     Here at FBC our practice is to celebrate communion on the first Sunday of the month.  Although the New Testament has very few instructions on what the specifics of our worship gatherings should look like, one thing is very clear – we are directed by Christ Himself to regularly remember His death until He returns and to do this through partaking together of the communion elements. The bread and the cup are specific symbols that are to remind us of what Christ has done for us and in our place.  It is no coincidence that Jesus instituted this ordinance of communion during the Passover celebration.  This festival was to be a reminder to the Israelites of God’s provision of a means to avoid the final plague of judgment upon Egypt, the death of the firstborn sons. Because of the death of a lamb and its sprinkled blood on the doorposts, the angel of death would pass over the household who followed God’s provision.  The Passover festival was to be a regular reminder of this salvation. 
     Christ is the fulfillment of the Passover festival through His death and sprinkled blood for us who by faith receive God’s mercy in “passing over” our sin.  We need a regular reminder that we have received a death penalty for our sin.  We need to be reminded that Jesus is the Lamb who died in our place.  We need to be reminded that His shed blood brings about our peace with God.  As we gather this weekend, the first Saturday and Sunday of the month, let’s take some time to prepare to celebrate communion together.  Let us reflect on these words that we will sing together:

There is love that came for us, humbled to a sinner’s crossYou broke my shame and sinfulness; You rose again victorious.

Faithfulness none can deny, through the storm and through the fireThere is truth that sets me free:  Jesus Christ who lives in me.

No beginning and no end, You’re my hope and my defenseYou came to seek and save the lost; You paid it all upon the cross.

You are stronger!  You are stronger!Sin is broken; You have saved me!It is written Christ is risen!Jesus, You are Lord of all!

"Father, we deserve a death penalty for our sin. There is nothing we can do to escape this judgment. Thank you that Your Son took our place on the cross. He is the Lamb of God slain for us who takes away the sin of the world. As we gather this week and remember His death, burial and resurrection, may we be humbled with hearts of thanksgiving for all You have done for us! Amen."

Songs for Our Gathering this Week:

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

     by Martin Luther

Strong to Save

     by Eddie Hoagland and Tyler Miller

More Than Conquerors

     by Rend Collective

Stronger

     by Ben Fielding and Reuben Morgan