Tag Archives: Christianity

December 13, 2012

Run!

By Terrie van Baarsel
56/365 morning run

56/365 morning run (Photo credit: kharied)

I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. (Psalm 119:32)

Oh, Christian, run hard after God’s commands. His yoke is easy and His burden, light. His path is free of snares and traps. He goes before you to smooth the way. Follow close. The way is narrow, but well-marked.

Run without fear, for His perfect love casts out fear. Run without guilt; your sins are forgiven. Run without worry; God will provide. Do you love Him? Are you called? Then run without question, for He makes all things work together for good.

Run without doubt, for He promises you wisdom. Run without thirst; living water is yours. Run without hunger; He is the bread of life. Run by faith, for by it you are justified. Run with joy, for therein lies your strength. Run in love, for that is the greatest commandment of all. Run and take heart; He has overcome the world.

Run for His sake. Run by Grace. Run that He may be glorified. Run well, and do not faint.

Run with abandon, beloved. Has He not set your heart free?

By His Grace and for the Gospel,
Terrie van Baarsel

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December 12, 2012

Together For Preaching

By Terrie van Baarsel
St. Peter Preaching 06.jpg

St. Peter Preaching 06.jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

SERMON NOTES–Pastor Mike Berry
December 9, 2012–Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church

The following notes were taken from a sermon that was part of our CFBC Winter Seminar: Together for the Gospel.

THE VALUE OF GATHERING TOGETHER FOR THE PREACHED WORD OF GOD

Preaching is the pinnacle of worship.

Preliminaries:
-preaching is a positive thing (the word “preach” often has a negative connotation)
-preaching is a heralding of Scripture, lifting up of God and the Gospel

We need to hear God’s Word preached, together.
-This is an irreducibly complex proposition. You cannot remove any part of it and still have it be true.
-This is a need, not an option.

1. We need God.
-We have been made to have a relationship with God.
-Ps. 42:1-2 (like the Psalmist, my soul pants for God, my soul thirsts for God).

2. We need God’s Word.
-If it were not for God revealing Himself to us through His Word, we would be lost.
-He reveals Himself in love through His Word.
-John 6:68, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

3. We need to hear God’s Word.
-Hear=Listen with the attitude that it will impact our wills.
-Rom. 10:17, So faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

4. We need to hear God’s Word preached.
-Not just by ordained ministers.
-The preaching of God’s Word is sacramental, a means of Grace.
-Rom. 1:15-16, for I am not ashamed of the Gospel…
-The preaching of the Gospel is even for saved people.
-Eph. 4:11; 2:20
-If the Gospel is being preached, we are to be thankful.
-1 Tim. 5:17-18
-Preaching is not just something that happens after worship. Preaching is worship.

5. We need to hear God’s Word preached together.
-Something special happens when God’s people gather together.
-In the New Testament, we are the temple of God and He is pleased to manifest His presence when God’s people gather to hear the preached Word.
-Acts 2:41-44
-The body grows together under the preaching of God’s Word.
-The preaching of God’s Word is not mere giving and receiving of information. It is worship.
-If we don’t gather=modern Protestant Monasticism

Questions:

What if we don’t gather together to hear God’s Word preached?
-We are despising a gift of Jesus.
-We grow at different rates.

How can we take advantage of the preacher?
-Like physical exercise:
Stretch out before the preaching: prepare beforehand.
Exercise yourself during the sermon: active listening, fight to pay attention, understanding this is a spiritual activity.
Warm down after the sermon: process the sermon and talk about the message with others, i.e. Care Group.
Continue the burn: take whatever you learn and work with it.

What if the preacher isn’t Milton Vincent (or your favorite pastor, or well-known preacher, etc.).
-If the Gospel is being faithfully preached, it should not matter.

What if the preacher is wrong?
-Understand that humans have frailties.
-Compare what the preacher says to Scripture.
-Get further clarification/feedback from preacher.
-Talk to your pastor if need be.

“The mature worshiper is easily edified.”

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December 5, 2012

Covenantal Commitments Underlying Our Togetherness

By Terrie van Baarsel

SERMON NOTES–PASTOR MILTON VINCENT
December 2, 2012–Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church

The following notes were taken during our 2012 Winter Seminar: Together for the Gospel.

The emphasis on community (togetherness) is a return to an ancient reality of the first century church. The matrix of togetherness is the matrix in which the Church was born.

See Acts 1:4, 6, 14; Acts 2:1, 44, 46-47

3 Types of relationships:

A. Casual relationships.
-No obligation.

B. Consumer relationships.
-Some degree of obligation, expectation.
-In a consumer relationship if you aren’t having your expectations met, you feel you don’t owe the other person anything and so you just leave the relationship.
-We often bring a consumer mentality with us to church.
-You can’t be “real” in a consumer relationship because you fear that if you are and the other person does not like it, they will leave.
-There is no covenantal commitment in a consumer relationship.

C. Covenant Relationships.
-i.e., marriage.
-In God’s mind, covenant gives freedom and security to a relationship.
-Covenant is the matrix in which true intimacy can flourish.

3 COMMITMENTS THAT UNDERLIE OUR TOGETHERNESS HERE AT CORNERSTONE:

1. God the Father’s covenantal commitment to us in Christ.
-The nature of the New Covenant. (Eph. 2:12-13; Jer. 31:31-34)
-We as Christians enter into a covenant relationship with God.
-The Gospel is not just the story of God doing saving acts, but also the promises of doing saving acts and then fulfilling those promises.
-For example, God promised to send His Son, and He did. God promised to raise His Son, and He did. God promised that He would send His Spirit, and He did. etc.
-The Holy Spirit is a pledge of God’s faithfulness to us. (Eph 2:13-14)
-God also promises that He will love us forever, will never leave nor forsake us, and that nothing will ever separate us from His love.

Because of the covenantal relationship we have with God (neither casual nor consumer based relationship), we have a safe place to relate to God, be transparent with Him with our sins, and enjoy intimacy with Him.

2. Christ’s covenantal commitment to us, His Church.
-Eph. 5:31-32
-Human marriage is a picture of Christ’s covenantal commitment to the church.
-Our relationship with Christ is based on covenant promises:
that He would build His Church
that nothing can destroy His Church
that He would die
that He would rise again
that He would ask the Father to send a Comforter
that those who look to Him for salvation would receive forgiveness, justification, adoption, sanctification, glorification etc.
that He would go to prepare a place for us
that He will come again
-Christ made a covenant and sealed it with His blood.
-See 1 Cor. 11:25; Matt. 26:28; Ex. 24:5-8; Jer. 31:31-34.

Jesus died to be the Senior Pastor and a member of our body here at Cornerstone (1 Peter 5). Jesus seals the promises he makes with His blood. He is covenantally committed to us. We can go to Him without fear that He will abandon us.

3. Our covenantal commitment to each other.
-Acts 5:12-13 (…none of the rest dared to join (cleave to) them…
-”Cleave” is a covenantal term.
-Those inside the church continually cleave to each other, those outside are not brave enough to do so.
-If God the Father and God the Son deemed our brothers and sisters to be recipients of His covenantal promises, we can too.

We struggle and hurt each other at times, but we covenantally commit to one another without fear of abandonment.

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November 29, 2012

A Perseverance Not My Own

By Terrie van Baarsel

The last 4 or 5 months have been the most difficult I have ever faced.

There, I said it.

My struggles have to do with people in my life that I love very much. These trials do affect me, but what hurts worse is watching those close to me suffer. Loved ones are battling against disease, facing single motherhood, reaping life-changing consequences for sinful choices, awaiting family custody hearings, and grieving prodigal children.

I am sure I have shed more tears in the last few months than I have in my whole 57 years on this earth.

But today, Paul’s assurance to the Philippians, written so many years ago, has encouraged this believer as well. In chapter 1 verse 6, he writes:

And I am sure of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

In the darkest hour, God never fails to light the way with Grace. Grace that works itself out in encouraging words written centuries ago that remind us: God is still at work not only in me, but in the people I love.

Our stories are not fully written yet!

Our lives get messy. In fact, life stinks sometimes. There have been moments over the last several weeks that I have positively squirmed under the pressure. I have let it get me down. At times, I have felt downright hopeless.

That’s why the eternal perspective we enjoy by virtue of the Gospel is of such great importance. Without it, our hope would wither and die.

Thank God for assuring me today that even in the mess we make of our lives, He is still working. He will complete what He started. I will hold on to that truth as tightly as I can, all the while knowing that when darkness overwhelms me and I let my grasp slip, that the perseverance of the saints of God lies not in their own ability to hold on, but in the power of the Gospel of Grace.

By His Grace and for the Gospel,
Terrie van Baarsel

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November 28, 2012

Grieving With Those Who Grieve

By Terrie van Baarsel

SERMON NOTES – PASTOR MILTON VINCENT
November 25, 2012 – Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church

Rejoice with those who rejoice, grieve with those who grieve. Romans 12:15

This verse is a description of how to love one another. Love expresses itself by rejoicing with those who rejoice and grieving with those who grieve. This is a call to relationship with one another. In this way, we render ourselves vulnerable to the joys and griefs of others.

FIVE THINGS YOU WILL WANT TO DO IN ORDER TO LIVE OUT THE ETHIC OF ROMANS 12:15 AND GRIEVE WITH THOSE WHO GRIEVE:

1. Appreciate the fact that the capacity to grieve with those who grieve is a precious gift.
A. An inability to grieve with those who grieve is one key characteristic of a psychopath.
-Even the unsaved have the capacity through God’s common Grace to grieve with those who grieve.
B. The capacity to grieve with those who grieve protects us from many evils.
-The ability to empathize with others and thought of the grief we would bring loved ones if we were to sin against them can keep us from sin.
-Grieving with those who grieve is a key to relationship, friendship, ministry, counseling, and the overall health of the church.

If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 1 Cor. 12:26

2. Realize all that you are being called to inside of this instruction to grieve with those who grieve.

Includes:
A. Grieving with a person who is grieving over a sorrow that God has allowed in both of your lives. Grieving together.
B. Grieving with a person who is grieving where God has allowed  a sorrow into their life and not yours.
-Paul calls us here to step outside of ourselves and make ourselves vulnerable to the grief of others.
C. Grieving with a person who is grieving during a season in which you find yourself rejoicing (or grieving).
-Setting aside your own grief (or joy) to grieve (or rejoice) with others.
D. Grieving with a person who is grieving over a sorrow not as great as the sorrow that you yourself are grieving over.
-Humbling yourself to enter into the lesser grief of others.
E. Grieving with a person who is grieving over a sorrow they have brought on themselves.
-Luke 15:20 (story of prodigal son).
-Not rejoicing over “what they had coming to them”.
-We can look at them and their sin and say, “That’s me and Jesus came to me!”
-No “I told you so” attitude.
F. Grieving with a person who is grieving over a sorrow that you know will be short-lived.
-John 11:33-35 (the resurrection of Lazarus).
-Jesus was moved with compassion and wept with them even though He knew that Lazarus would be raised from the dead.
G. Grieving with a person who is grieving over hurts that you have caused.
-When you sin against someone, make a true apology which includes grieving with the person you have hurt and sinned against.
-Owning and entering into the hurt you have caused.

Apologies are moral events that have real power to heal. -Susannah Meadows

H. Grieving with a person who is grieving before you impart wisdom to them.
-Paul does not say preach or lecture with those who are grieving.
-You may really have wise words for the person who is grieving but if you skip grieving with them your wise words will only be an irritant.
-Don’t stay safely outside the other’s circle of grief and try to lob truths into it. Enter into their pain first.
-Words of wisdom are more effective when we first enter into the other person’s circle of pain.
I. Grieving with a person who is grieving even though they are grieving in a way you think is inappropriate.
-i.e. longer, more intensely, hurtfully than you deem appropriate.
-Especially when it is grief over a hurt you have caused.
-Sometimes people may even grieve in ways that hurt you–i.e. acting out, etc.
J. Grieving with a person who is grieving even though they are grieving in a way that is different than how you express your grief.
-People are different and grieve in different ways.

3. Let the compassion of God revealed in the Gospel shape and move you to grieve with those who grieve.
-Romans 12:1; “by the mercies of God”.
-God has great compassion for us.
-God sent Jesus to save us because He was moved to do so.
-Rather than moving away from us, God moves toward us in the Gospel.
-The Gospel radically changes us into compassionate people.
-Isaiah 53:3; Jesus despised, a man of sorrows…
-Emmanuel = God with us. Jesus entered into our griefs and sorrows.
-In the Gospel we have the ultimate empathetic friend.

4. Let the ongoing sympathy of God revealed in the Gospel shape and move you to grieve with those who grieve.
-Romans 8:22-23
-The Spirit helps us in our weakness (Romans 8:26).
-God groans with us in our brokenness.
-We always have the Spirit to express our griefs and groaning to God when we don’t know how.
-Hebrews 4:15; …we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses…
-Grieving with those who grieve reveals the heart of God to others.

5. Let the hope of the Gospel shape and free you to grieve with those who grieve.
-Romans 8:28; Knowing that for those who love God all things work together for good.
-When we grieve with others, we guarantee that joy, when it does come, will be our joy too.
-When we go through our own grief, God is deepening our ability and capacity to grieve with others.

Paul calls us here into something rich and deep–the essence of our community with one another. In this we display the heart of God to others. Rejoice with those who rejoice and grieve with those who grieve.

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November 12, 2012

Rejoicing With Those Who Rejoice

By Terrie van Baarsel

SERMON NOTES-Pastor Milton Vincent
November 11, 2012-Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church

Rejoice with those who rejoice… Romans 12:15a

A failure to rejoice with those who rejoice will ruin you and reduce you to a spiritual invalid. You will never be a consistently happy person until you learn to rejoice with those who rejoice.

“Rejoicing with others (even if we are deprived of their joy)…requires a selflessness which only the power of the Gospel can bestow.”  -James Edwards

FOUR THINGS YOU WILL WANT TO DO IN ORDER TO LIVE OUT THE ETHIC OF ROMANS 12:15 AND REJOICE WITH THOSE WHO REJOICE:

1. Understand that there are limits as to what you are to rejoice in.
-1 Cor. 13:6; Rom. 12:9
-Agape love knows what is good and what is evil and hates evil.
-In our world there is rejoicing in evil, calling evil good.
-The path of love is not to rejoice in evil. In fact, the most loving thing you can do is not rejoice in evil.
-Includes rejoicing when someone is rejoicing over any genuine good that God has brought into their life. (James 1:17)

2. Rejoice with others when it is natural and easy to do so.
-Many times it is natural and easy to do so.
-Rejoice when you share in whatever it is that they are rejoicing about.
-We don’t even need to ponder what to do in these kinds of situations. Rejoicing comes easy.

3. Rejoice with others when it is difficult or seemingly impossible to do so.
-Sometimes it is costly to rejoice with others.
-At times, rejoicing with others takes a denial of self.
-Maybe the person has received something that you have wanted.
-Includes rejoicing over a blessing that God has given to another and not to you.
-Includes when someone who (in your mind) is less deserving than you has received some blessing greater than you or even equal to you. (See Matt. 20:1-15)
-Includes when someone is rejoicing in the achievements or ministry of another person instead of you. (See 1 Cor. 12:26)
-Includes when someone is rejoicing in something that does not interest or affect you at all.
-Includes when someone is rejoicing during a season in which you find yourself grieving, even if the area they are rejoicing in is the very area in which you are grieving.
-Includes when someone is rejoicing in some blessing that you think is not as impressive as what you are rejoicing in.

“Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next person.” -C.S. Lewis

-Includes when someone is granted an opportunity beyond what has been given to you. (Phil. 1:17-18)
-Includes when someone is rejoicing in God’s forgiveness of their sins which they have committed against you. It’s easy for the wounded person to begrudge the joy of forgiveness given to the one who has wounded them.

Sometimes it takes a heroic Gospel effort to step out and rejoice with other people. We see that Paul’s call to rejoice with those who rejoice is humanly impossible. Therefore:

4. Let the Gospel motivate and shape your rejoicing with those who rejoice.
-Reason from the Gospel. (Romans 12:1-15)
-If you want to rejoice with those who rejoice, you must plumb the depths of the Gospel to do so.
-Remember the judgment you deserve. Not to stay there, but to use as a backdrop to see clearly the Gospel of Jesus Christ. (Romans 1-3)
-Think what God has done for you in Christ! (Rom. 3:20-11:36)
-Understand God gives you everything needful. (Rom. 8:32)
-Even what we lack is a gift from God and He is working toward our good through what we lack.
-Understand that God works everything out for good. (Rom. 8:28)
-Remember that you are destined for glory. (Rom. 8:30)
-Make use of the privilege of prayer. (Rom. 8:26) Prayer is a Gospel blessing. Even when we don’t know what to pray the Spirit is interceding.

When you are challenged to rejoice with those who rejoice, know that such moments are tailored for you by God to bring us to the foot of the cross. Go there!

Note from Terrie: I have glossed over this Bible verse many times and never thought too much about what rejoicing with those who rejoice really means. Pastor Milton was correct when he announced at the beginning of his sermon that this verse would give us a good scrubbing on the inside. Point 3 was very convicting for me. But, thanks be to God for the Gospel and for our pastor who never fails to bring the good news to bear on the many ways God’s word makes us aware of our failings and sins against God. Without point 4, we would be hopeless, indeed!  What hope we have in the Gospel!

By His Grace and for the Gospel,
Terrie

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November 8, 2012

Counting My Blessings

By Terrie van Baarsel

Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.  Psalm 106:1

b/w line drawing of a cornucopia

b/w line drawing of a cornucopia (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If I give serious thought to counting my blessings, both great and small, I find that they are innumerable. For example, I am thankful for my husband, for my children, my family, my friends. My marriage is a blessing. My children are healthy. My family ties are strong. I have good friends and, I love my church. Beyond that, I even have clothes to wear, a roof over my head, and enough to eat. My car runs. And if it doesn’t, the busses do!

There are also the small things in life that make me happy and for which I am thankful. Sunsets. Yellow roses. The sound the wind makes blowing through the trees. The early morning cacophony of singing birds. Music! The warmth of clean clothes straight out of the dryer. And laughter.

While it is good to be thankful for these gifts, I would also do well to cultivate a grateful heart for the blessings I have in Christ. Blessings that will never fade away, my inheritance, my adoption into the family of God, salvation. Access to Godly wisdom. Truth. Love. God’s Grace. His peace. The prospect of Heaven. Genuine joy. His mercy that endures forever. Surely, I can echo the psalmist’s exclamation, “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!”

I will leave you with these wise words written in 1897 by Johnson Oatman:

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done!

By His Grace and for the Gospel,
Terrie van Baarsel

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November 5, 2012

The Glorious Benefits of Trials

By Terrie van Baarsel

Sermon Notes-Brad Lay (our missionary to Albania)
November 4, 2012-Cornerstone Fellowship Bible Church

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. Though you do not now see Him, you believe in Him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.         1 Peter 1:6-9

4 Wonderful Benefits of Trials in the Lives of Believers

1. Focus on final salvation. (v. 5-6)
-Anticipating the coming of Christ.
-We try to make the “now” comfortable.
-In the midst of trials, we long for heaven, our final salvation.
-Trials provide the dark background against which our faith shines.

2. Genuine, God-glorifying faith. (v. 7)
-The purpose of trials: “so that the tested genuineness of your faith…”
-Testing proves our faith is real.

3. A walk full of love, faith, and joy. (v. 8)
-This is not a command or exhortation, but Peter is telling them what they are doing.
-Peter is reminding them of the reality and result of new birth-you love Jesus whom you have not seen.

4. Progressive and final salvation. (v. 9)
-Yes, they are already saved and justified.
-But the final result of that kind of faith is salvation.
-Our faith is tested and becomes stronger, taking us all the way to the finish line.

Note from Terrie: My notes here fail to do Brad’s sermon justice. It was an encouraging word from the Lord. I would recommend that you listen to the sermon when it is posted on the church website. I was blessed, and I’m sure you would be, too!

By His Grace and for the Gospel,
Terrie

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October 31, 2012

Post Tenebras Lux

By Terrie van Baarsel
luther posting his 95 theses in 1517

luther posting his 95 theses in 1517 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After Darkness, Light

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his revolutionary 95 theses to the church door in Wittenburg, Germany thereby sparking the Protestant Reformation. In honor of the historical significance of this day and how God used the reformers, including John Calvin, to restore a much deserved preeminence to the Holy Scriptures and the Gospel of Grace, here’s a link to John Piper’s blog post and video entitled “After Darkness…Light (Video from Geneva)”.

To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Happy Reformation Day!
By His Grace and for the Gospel,
Terrie

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October 25, 2012

Internet Mixer-October 25, 2012

By Terrie van Baarsel

The Mix is one day early this week. I will be out of town tomorrow. Here we go!

Being a Wife is All About Jesus: Good words by Jen Smidt over at The Resurgence.

National Geographic Photo Contest 2012: An amazing sampling of photographs from this year’s contest.

How Can We Pray? R.C. Sproul Jr., who lost his wife and daughter in the last year, answers this question.

Jesus Saving Me From Me:  My friend Micey is a nurse for Mercy Ships, a ministry delivering free, world-class healthcare services to the poor in developing nations. This is a link to her blog.

God bless you all!

By His Grace and for the Gospel,
Terrie van Baarsel

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