Dear Friends,
If you don’t leave church each week with your heart freshly stirred with a deeper love for Jesus, somehow we’ve dropped the ball.
Yesterday in Nashville, I listened as John Piper reminded the 7,000 people who are here for the Getty Music Sing! Conference that when God’s word is preached, “thinking is the servant, feeling is the goal.” Or put another way, “doctrine is the servant and delight is the goal… The inspired, infallible Word of God exists for the sake of invigorating right emotions for God… Biblical propositions exist for the sake of stirring biblical passions for the glory of God.”
He took us to scripture after scripture which demonstrates his premise. Here are two examples.
Psalm 16:8–10
[8] I have set the LORD always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
[9] Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
[10] For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
What is true about God in this passage – my flesh dwells secure, my soul will not be abandoned to Sheol and I will not see corruption – is the kindling that sets David’s heart ablaze with gladness. His whole being rejoices.
Psalm 47:1–2
[1] Clap your hands, all peoples!
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
[2] For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared,
a great king over all the earth.
The truth being declared in this Psalm is that the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared and that He is a great king over all the earth. Because this is true, the response of the Psalmist is for us to clap and shout for joy. That is the only right and appropriate response. In fact, it could be argued, to hear and believe what the Bible declares is true about God and to remain unmoved borders on blasphemy.
That’s the reason Dr. Wayne Grudem included a hymn text at the end of each chapter in his Systematic Theology. In his introduction to the text, Grudem says “I do not believe that God intended the study of theology to be dry and boring. Theology is the study of God and all his works! Theology is meant to be lived and prayedand sung!... Theology when studied rightly will lead to growth in our Christian lives, and to worship.”
In our current sermon series, where we’re looking at the characteristics that mark someone as a spiritually mature Christian, I’ve been stressing the point that a growing knowledge and understand of God and His ways is an essential element of spiritual maturity. But if it doesn’t nourish and ignite our emotions, and if it doesn’t direct our hands and feet, that knowledge can put you in spiritual danger. Knowledge on its own, as the old King James Version tells us “puffeth up.” That is exactly the opposite effect God intends for His word to have in our lives.
Music, by God’s design, stirs our emotions. That’s why it’s so important that the lyrics which accompany a melody be right and true and beautiful. To have our passions engaged in the service of lies is to move us away from the One who is the Way and the Truth.
All of which brings me back to where I began. I trust that on any Sunday morning, we are declaring unashamedly the truth of God’s word. And I trust that God the Holy Spirit is using this proclamation of His word to help you grown in your knowledge and understanding of God and His ways. But I also hope and pray that it doesn’t end there. I trust your heart is being warmed and stirred and fully engaged each week.
I’ll restate here what I shared in a recent sermon – a helpful observation on this subject from J.C. Ryle:
“Let us never forget this. However much the world may sneer at ‘feelings’ in religion, and however false or unhealthy religious feelings may sometimes be, the great truth still remains behind, that feeling is the secret of doing. The heart must be engaged for Christ, or the hands will soon hang down. The affections must be enlisted into His service, or our obedience will soon stand still. It will always be the loving workman who will do most in the Lord’s vineyard.”
This expands on Dr. Piper’s thesis in the message I heard from him this week. An informed mind together with a stirred heart should produce in each of us an active obedience. I trust that is true for us as we gather for worship. I trust our hearts and minds will direct our hands and feet to be doers, not simply hearers of (or even lovers of) God’s word.
A mature follower of Jesus is someone who knows, loves and follows Him. May God continue to mold and shape us to become that kind of disciple.
On Sunday, I recommended you download and read David Mathis’ book about spiritual disciplines called Habits of Grace. If you weren’t able to capture the QR Code, you can click this link (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=cae8ed151b&e=fbb0a4052b) to download your copy.
Last week, we had a surveying team on site at church to begin the work on an engineering plan for the gravel parking lot we are hoping to put in very soon.
Thank you for praying for this project. Sincerely. After weeks of getting nowhere, I asked you to pray and things start happening! Thank you. Pray keep that we can proceed quickly and that the city will approve our project in a timely way.
Also, please continue to pray for funding for this project and for future construction plans. We are grateful for the gift we’ve already received of $100,000. As I shared with you, the donor is hoping that each of us might ask how we can join him in supporting this project, and that over the next three weeks, we might have additional gifts come in that would double the amount he has given.
If you give by writing a check, we can avoid credit card processing fees and more of your giving will go to the project. If it works best for you to make your donation online, click here (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=ff645472c8&e=fbb0a4052b) and use the drop down box on the donation page to designate your gift for the building project.
While we’re on the subject of giving, here’s the report of our donations and expenses for the month of August:
August Giving: $40,219
August Expenses: $47,773
Year to Date Giving: $293,670
Year to Date Expenses: $371,376
Balance on Hand on 2/29/24 $58,425
Two notes.
First, our year-to-date giving number only reflects general giving. Building fund gifts are not included here.
The balance on hand number shows the balance in our church checking account. In addition, we have more than $200,000 (including building fund giving) in a church money market account to earn a preferred interested rate.
As always, thanks for your generous giving to Redeemer. And if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or Tim Friesen.
Redeemer Small Groups start this coming week. Here’s a list of group leaders and times when their group meets.
Do you have plans to visit a group this week? Remember, visiting a group isn’t a commitment to join. It’s an opportunity to check things out and see if being part of a particular group is a fit for you.
Men – next Thursday night at 7:00, the Redeemer Men’s Institute meets for the first time.
The goal of this new work is to help each of us assess our individual personal strengths and weaknesses related to spiritual leadership, and to help us all select an area or two where we can begin to intentionally pursue growth.
Later this month, on Saturday morning September 28, plan to join us for our fall men’s breakfast. (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=cb8c4a6164&e=fbb0a4052b)
Ladies. Don’t forget the Fall Women’s Gathering happening this coming Monday night. It’s a time of fellowship for all the ladies in the church (click here (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=5ef2342054&e=fbb0a4052b) to register or for more info):
The fall Women’s Bible Study of the Gospel of Mark begins the following week, startin on September 16. You can attend on Monday nights or Tuesday mornings. Again, click here (https://redeemerlr.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df57aea0670b59c32464d5bab&id=d9e7a81f73&e=fbb0a4052b) to sign up or to find out more.
If you’re interested in knowing more about what we are and what we believe as a church, it’s not too late for you to take part in our church membership weekend this weekend. Spend a Friday night and Saturday morning with us to find out more about Redeemer.
As we’ve been looking at what it means for us to follow Jesus, we’ve seen that we need to walk humbly with Him, to walk stable and steady with Him, and to continue to cultivate spiritual disciplines that keep us strong for our journey. This Sunday, we’ll look at what it means for us to keep in step with the Holy Spirit as we follow Jesus.
See you in church.
Soli Deo Gloria!
Pastor Bob
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