Pastor’s Notes (Page 30)

• A few days ago I was listening to Christopher Hitchens, the recently deceased advocate for atheism, who wrote God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. As an example of one of Christianity’s failings, Hitchens was implying the superiority of Socratic thought because it does not depend on the actual existence of Socrates. His ideas stand on their own. Jesus’…

• The strange thing about Ps. 119 is David speaks about the “law” and the Lord’s “statutes” in just the way that we speak about His love and grace: “my comfort in affliction” (v.50); “my hope is in your rules” (v.43); “I find my delight in your commandments” (v.47); “I delight in your law” (v.70). Although generally we love David and resonate with his heart, this seems…

• Because of our commitment to keep families together in worship, we recognize there will be more commotion in the sanctuary during the service. We accept this. At the same time, we encourage you to be mindful of when your child may be making it difficult for others to worship, due to either commotion or noise level. The options we offer, depending on age, are the…

• Here’s a list — four things I have found, over the years, to be common among immature Christians. But they serve as good reminders for all of us, regardless of our level of maturity. The fourth one is on grace and forgiveness; read it first if you are the guilty, self-condemning type. Seriously.

• After the cadence of weekly work and the day of rest, the basic increment of the Christian life is the 24-hour day. Each begins with fresh mercy from God (Lam. 3:23) and our renewal in His love and joy (Ps. 90:14). So the Church renews covenant with God every week, but as individuals we do so every day: renewing our intention to follow faithfully (“…let him take…

• Saw CNN praising Joel Osteen, in spite of his being “ light on sin and heavy on feeling good.” Let’s just get this straight: the Gospel is not a matter of balance, a yin-and-yang ratio of hard news to easy news, or equal doses of law and Gospel. Preachers are not charged with finding a magical blend of confrontation and encouragement. Rather. The Gospel is the…

• At prayer meeting Sunday we talked about acedia, which is probably best defined as “ spiritual lethargy.” Since coming into the ministry I’ve thought about this a lot — there seems to be a disillusionment that comes over people in their 40s. Through our 30s we may still take inspiration, and hope, from earlier spiritual vitality. But by the early to mid-40s, wearied by…

• Sending this with prayer that the truth and power of the Resurrection still burns within your hearts this week. And in the weeks to come.

• Sit at the foot of the Cross to begin your day; join us again for Lenten Prayers tomorrow morning at 6:30 in the sanctuary. We’ve had small turnouts, but be encouraged: the group at the foot of the original Cross was also small.

• Lenten Prayers tomorrow (6:30 a.m. In the sanctuary) which we observe not to “get” something from them, but that we might make better use of Lent for meditating on the Lord’s death and resurrection. Come, join us in pursuing wisdom and focus.