Good Afternoon Rivermont Family! Love your enemies! That’s the counterintuitive message we heard last Sunday that Jesus gives to his followers. I was so encouraged to hear how one of our members took that to heart this past week. This particular husband had gotten a text from his wife who was upset with him because he neglected to fill up her car with gas the day before when he drove it. Now the gas light was on, and she needed to warm the car up so the kids wouldn’t be cold on their way to school. Frustrated, and understandably so, she lobbed a text grenade that exploded on his phone. “Thanks for leaving me a car with the gas light on - on a super cold morning so that I can’t heat up the car!” Because the gas light was not on when the husband drove the car the day before, he felt attacked by an enemy and his inclination, he said, was to lob a text grenade right back at her. But then he remembered last Sunday’s sermon about loving your enemy, and instead of trying to be right, he tried to be loving. He texted back, “I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you were low on gas.” Not satisfied with his answer, she lobbed another text grenade, “You drove it yesterday. Not me!” Realizing the pain and frustration his wife was experiencing, he sent one last text, “I love you and I’m very sorry for not noticing that you were low on gas.” Thankfully the message was received and an enemy was turned into an ally. I continue to be thankful for the way the gospel is freeing us to love our enemies because we recognize that, “while we were yet sinners (enemies of God), Christ died for us.” Pastor Clay continues his sermon series on Luke and more particularly, the Sermon on the plains. This Sunday we look at Luke 6:37-49 where Jesus again presses into us the transformative power of the gospel as he calls us to be merciful as our Father in heaven is merciful. Like last Sunday, we’ll see that being merciful is counterintuitive to the flesh but gospel-intuitive to the Spirit. Prior to Pastor Clay’s sermon, we are called to worship by the glorious thought expressed in Romans 5:8-11 that we who were God’s enemies have now been reconciled to Him. So who reconciled us? Our Hymn of Praise gives us the answer. It was Christ alone that reconciled us to the Father. It was on Jesus that every sin was laid so that in Christ’s death we can now live! After a time of personal and corporate confession and being assured of God’s pardon, we acclaim our praise by using the first verse of “And Can It Be That I Should Gain.” Our Chapel Choir prepares us to hear the word preached as they sing, “Wisdom.” Following the sermon, we will affirm our faith using Question #60 from the Heidelberg Catechism. Our Sanctuary Choir leads us as we give God’s tithes and our offerings by singing, “Give To The Lord Honor and Praise.” This leads us into our celebration of the Lord’s Supper, which is bookended by the first three verses and then the last verse of Hymn #482, “Come Unto Me, Ye Weary.” Can’t wait to be with you all this Sunday, Pastor Brett, along with Pastors Clay, Ron, and Chris PS - Please be in prayer for our Christianity Explored guests who begin attending on Wednesday, February 5th. If you’ve invited someone to attend, make sure that you have signed the guests in through Janet, Pastor Ron or Pastor Brett. We want to make sure we have enough space.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 18:56:32 +0000
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