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Weekend Preview – Week of Prayer

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This coming Lord’s Day, 1/1/17, we’ll gather at 10:15AM for worship (no Sunday School or Children’s Church) at Crestview.  This will kick off the Week of Prayer for us.  My sermon will hopefully propel this week.  Most of my work is around the idea of being “devoted to prayer”.  Nearly 10 times in Scripture, the people of God are characterized or called to be constant or devoted to prayer.  So, I’m going to tease out this idea in Scripture and hopefully encourage more practice of prayer in the coming year.  Pray for fruit from this.  And, join us Sunday at 10:15 if you’re able.

Prayer for Beginners

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Our church’s Week of Prayer is going to start this coming Sunday, January 1.  In doing some research for it, I came across this helpful post entitled Prayer for Beginners.  I hope it encourages you and reminds you of where we can start this coming new year…

  1. Pick a time and place.
  2. Listen before you speak.
  3. Prioritize the spiritual over the circumstantial.
  4. Don’t be afraid to stop and pray now.
  5. Identify your prayer circles.
  6. Ask whatever you wish — literally anything.
  7. Be willing to ask one more time.

Grab the entire post for elaboration on these things.

Weekend Review – Tidings of Comfort AND JOY

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My 12/25/16AM sermon, Tidings of Comfort AND JOY from Luke 1:26-45 and Luke 2:1-20, is now online.  This wrapped up a short series on how the Christmas message leads to tidings of comfort and joy.  This week’s message focused in on JOY.  I tried to define the concept of joy and help show how the Bible points us toward joy.  I hope it encourages you this holiday season.

Gospel Friday – Good News, Great Joy, All People

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Christmas is coming this weekend.  Center your thoughts and life on the amazing news that the angels delivered to the shepherds in the field (and as a result to all kinds of people like them):

There is Good News…

Of Great Joy…

For all people:

Unto you is born, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

Weekend Preview – Christmas Eve and Day

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It’s going to be a full weekend at Crestview as we celebrate God coming to earth to rescue sinners like us.

Join us for our Christmas Eve Carol and Candlelight Service, 6PM on Christmas Eve.

Then, Sunday morning, we will gather for worship at 10:15AM and think of how the message of Christmas produces joy.

Hope to see you this weekend.

Cranmer and Christmas

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Thomas Cranmer loved the Church of England and worked hard to keep her prayers (and prayer book) pleasing to God.  Here’s how Tim Keller describes the impact of Cranmer (with a little background):

Years ago when I wanted to become more skillful in public prayer, I was fortunate to come across the collects of Thomas Cranmer, the writer of the original Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. The “collects” (the stress is on the first syllable) that Cranmer wrote were brief but extremely ‘packed’ little prayers that tied together the doctrine of the day to a particular way of living. They were prayed by the minister on behalf of the people, or prayed in unison by the whole congregation.

As I have read them over the years they have brought me two great benefits. First, they have given me a basic structure by which I can compose good public prayers, either ahead of time, or spontaneously. Cranmer’s collects consist of 5 parts:
1. The address – a name of God
2. The doctrine – a truth about God’s nature that is the basis for the prayer
3. The petition – what is being asked for
4. The aspiration – what good result will come if the request is granted
5. In Jesus’ name – this remembers the mediatorial role of Jesus

So, what do we make of this?  Well, it’s encouraging because of the collects related to Christmas Day (and this year, we have a Christmas Day on a Sunday) and you can read these collects, with history, and a meditation here.

Christmas Day

The First Collect

God, which makes us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of thy only Son Jesus Christ; grant that as we joyfully receive him for our redeemer, so we may with sure confidence behold him, when he shall come to be our judge, who liveth and reigneth, &c.

The Second Collect

Almighty God, which has given us thy only begotten son to take our nature upon him, and this day to be born of a pure Virgin; grant that we being regenerate, and made thy children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by thy Holy Spirit, through the same our Lord Jesus Christ who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost now and ever. Amen.

I like Paul Zahl’s summary: “The two Collects for Christmas are so arranged as to give priority in time to the for-ness of Christ.  The prayer for the First Communion of Christmas stresses the Atonement.  But Christ’s with-ness is also celebrated, in the prayer for the Second Communion of the Day, which stresses the Incarnation.”

So, Cranmer and Christmas helps us see these amazing theological themes wed: that Jesus became like us to do something for us, specifically save us from our sin.  I hope you’re building up to have a Merry Christmas.

Advent Prayer – Peace

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Here’s the prayer that helped me along this past Sunday, reflecting on the 4th Week of Advent and Peace (from the Austin Stone Story Team):

MY GOD, MY PROMISE KEEPER,

You made a promise long ago:

Peace was promised to Isaiah.

Peace was promised to your people.

Israel expected a prince

Born into privilege and power,

But received a babe,

Born into a lowly stable.

There was no room in the inns,

No room in their hearts for a poor carpenter father

And his humble wife,

Dirty from traveling dusty roads.

Your Son, their prince,

Fed the masses,

Healed the blind,

Dined with cheaters,

And rebuked their leaders.

Where was their prince?

Where was their peace?

They expected a lion to silence the roaring jaws of oppression and affliction,

But your son, their prince, Jesus,

Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,

Opened not His mouth.

On that dark day of the cross,

When the curtain in the temple tore,

The Promised Prince gave up His spirit.

All was chaos.

Peace seemed distant.

As soldiers jeered, a mother’s tears

Fell softly in the night.

But that was not the end.

Your promises would be kept.

Your son did not stay on the cross,

He did not stay in the tomb.

He is a prince after all, a Prince of Peace.

He is the Lion.

He is the Lamb.

In him, the two are met—

The gentle and humble,

The power and might,

The babe and the Savior,

The flesh and the God.

We find peace in Your Son, who hung in our place.

Who put His hands where ours belonged,

On the rough wood of a cross.

He cancelled the roar of our guilt with the might of His silence,

So that we could know You, our God.

He rose from the darkness of the tomb,

Conquering death with His light.

He is our promised peace.

Our Prince is waiting for His people.

We will embrace Him, our Wonderful Counselor,

Press our faces to His holy robe,

And find our Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Our perfect Prince of Peace.

Amen.

Weekend Recap – Tidings of Comfort…

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My 12/18/16AM sermon, Tidings of Comfort using Matthew 1:18-25 as a guide, is now online.  My sermon is shorter than I typically preach.  It wrapped up the Children’s Christmas Program we had at Crestview in the morning.  Our children did an amazing job of centering us on the story of Christmas.  My words simply helped bring a conclusion to what they said.  Specifically, my message had to do with God coming near to save sinners.  I hope it encourages you to look to Christ this Advent season.

Weekend Preview – Christmas Children’s Program and New Sermon Series

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This coming Sunday at Crestview, our children will be presenting a musical related to the story of Christmas.  They usually begin the prelude (kids play instruments for the prelude on this week) around 10:10.  Then, we’ll have some singing and the program will happen.  Kids get sacks of candy as they leave this morning, too.  It’s one of the funnest days of the year at Crestview.

For my preaching, I’ll start a short series for these final two weeks of Christmas entitled “Christmas: Tidings of Comfort and Joy”.  This week will focus largely on the comfort brought by Jesus entering our world.  Please join us.