Good Shepherd Community Church

John the Apostle was the youngest of Jesus' apostles and he had a unique relationship with the Lord Jesus. Both his gospel testimony and his letters to the churches convey a warm pastoral heart of loving care for the Lord's people. One thing I value in his writings is his stated purpose for writing. In his gospel he states, " Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." JZohn 20:30f in his letters of 1 John he states several times why his writing and to whom he is writing. "that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled. JZohn 1:3-4 My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a

The Biblical description of a "saint" is not some super-spiritual Christian but all those people whom God has called out of the world and set apart for himself through their faith in Jesus Christ. These people are expected to live holy lives, separated from the world, and reflecting the character of God. They have spiritual union with contemporary believers around the world, as well as with those who are already in heaven. An example of a fellow believer and martyr from the early centuries of the church would be Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who stood firm in his faith in Christ despite being killed for his belief. The distinguishing and necessary mark of a true believer is personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. This faith is marked by ongoing spiritual growth by conforming progressively more into the image of the Savior. Such people are commanded to "run with endurance" the race of life marked out for them, looking to Jesus, "the author and finisher of their faith," as well as to the example of the saints

The various Reformers during the Protestant Reformation restored New Testament worship emphasis especially the centrality of the Bible in the language of the people. Preaching and the public reading of the Scriptures was the focus in the services. They looked to such Bible passages as John 4:24 and Phillippians 3:3; 1 Corinthians 14:16-18,26 and Acts 2:42 for direction. John 4:24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." Phil 3:3 For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh Acts 20:7 On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them Acts 2:42 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 1 Timothy 2:1-8 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, .. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God

The supreme goal and end of all things is the glory of God. God's glory is seen in the magnificence of his creation but it is even more profoundly seen in the salvation of sinners through the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. That God would send his Son from heaven to take upon himself full humanity and then die on Calvary's cross to pay the sin debt owed to God is grace and mercy beyond comprehension. God created the universe out of nothing but when he saves a sinner he enters into his creation in mortal combat with sin, Satan, and death through the atoning work of Jesus Christ. The Biblical truth of the all-sufficient saving work of Jesus Christ for his people was recovered at the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. In his work God's glory is fully displayed, and that is to be the supreme focus of the Christian life.

There are a number of very important issues that were addressed by the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Among them is the recovery of biblical spiritual worship offered to God alone. How we worship must be in accordance with God's special revelation first to Israel under Moses and then to the fullness of truth given in the person and actions of Jesus of Nazareth. "The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." John 1:17 This episode looks at God's first revelation under the Old Covenant through Moses. The first 3 commandments God spoke from Mount Sinai concern his worship. God alone is the object of our worship. His worship is exclusive and tolerates no idols. Under the Old Covenant God's worship involved an elaborate priesthood, sacrifices ,vestments , days, ect. An imitation of these practices rose in the history of the church and is seen in the worship practices of Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches. The various Protestant Reformers rejected the use of idols in Go

Of all the people groups on the earth, the ancient Hebrew people were the most blessed because God revealed his being and nature to them alone, as well as another vital revelation: they had sinned against him and needed cleansing and forgiveness of their sins. The Law of Moses established the sacrificial system of killing animals whose deaths were a substitute for the deaths that the Israelites deserved for their sin. But the sacrifices of animals was insufficient to cover the peoples' sins. It was a temporary stop-gap measure that would be completed when the Messiah and Savior would come in the future to die for their sins on a cross outside of Jerusalem. The sacrifice of his body was all-sufficient for the complete removal and forgiveness of sin, once for all and eternally.

A "mediator" is someone who stands between two parties and has the interests of both parties at heart - such is our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament Moses (along with his brother Aaron) stands as the great model of a Mediator between Yahweh and the people of Israel. When the people had fallen into idolatry and immorality while Moses was up on Mt. Sinai, in his anger Yahweh told Moses he would destroy the nation and begin another nation with him. But God relented when Moses implored him to withdraw his hand of judgment and reminded him of his promise to the patriarchs that he would make a great nation of them. In Hebrews 2:10 we read about the suffering of this Mediator, Jesus Christ, which qualified and tested him and confirmed his worthiness for the job God appointed him to. The former Levitical priests under the Old Covenant were imperfect because of their sin, but Jesus was perfectly sinless and rose from the dead so "he ever lives to make intercession for his people" (Heb. 7:25). This Mediator, wh

David in Psalm 145 tells us the greatness of God by declaring what he is and what he has done. By example he shows how to praise God the King. However, he goes further by speaking at the beginning of the psalm of he various ways he intents to lift up the Name of God. Listen for the various ways he is extolling God and we can join him in these actions.

In the first three chapters of the Book of Romans, the apostle Paul lays out the case that all humanity, not only the Gentiles, but also the Jews are guilty before God of sin. Their infection with sin is not shallow, but all pervasive. In this passage in Romans 3 the apostle quotes several passages in the Old Testament, mainly from the psalms, demonstrating how deep-seated sin is in all humanity. This immersion of every human in sin can be seen in that: No one seeks God No one does good. No one is righteous Every person is active and deliberate and cruel in their wickedness. No one fears God. The world with its philosophies and religions has no real solution to this massive spiritual problem; only the Gospel of Jesus Christ recognizes the seriousness of this problem and presents the only solution: the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ whose death on the cross paid the price of his people's sin and provides them with the imputed righteousness of Christ. Salvation from sin cannot be obtained by hum

David composed a hymn, a song, extolling the greatness of God in the revelation of his nature, his character displayed in his grace to us. Psalm 145:3 Great is YHWH (Yahweh) and greatly to be praised.

The Psalms of David are so valuable and instructive to God's people in every age. The overarching theme of this psalm is the magnificent greatness of God. The content of this psalm may be structured as follows: I. From whom should Yahweh's praise come? It would come from David himself as well as all of God's people and even all humanity from every age. It will arise from one generation to another as the faith is passed on by faithful teachers and preachers. All the saints of God who call on him, those who fear him and love him will praise him. II. When should Yahweh's praise come forth? David declares it would arise every day as well as forever and ever from him - probably indicating it would continue into the future after his death. David is the model for all God's people to follow. III. Why should Yahweh's people offer him unending praise? It is because of his mighty acts, his goodness to all his creatures, but especially for the perfections of his holy being: he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger a

Paul writes in Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." These words address participation in Christian assembly and tells us to use Psalms. We should read them, pray them, sing them and teach and preach them. Three recently used psalms demonstrate this. The psalms reviewed are, first of all, Psalm 130, a prayer of lament and petition resulting in a self exhortation and a group exhortation. For the next service we turned to Psalm 105. However, Psalm 105 and 106 are actually one psalm of poetic historical narrative of God's dealings with his chosen people, the Hebrews, Israel. The psalm is an exhortation to praise God and a teaching device to encourage spiritual renewal in light of God's faithfulness. Lastly, we used Psalm 86, a prayer of David in the form of lament and petition to Yahweh, the Lord. It is a heartfelt prayer of deep relationshi

We are not told the specific occasion for David's distress but we can learn from him how to deal with the trials that come our way. He goes to Yahweh in prayer with confidence that God would answer him. Even in the midst of David's personal trials, God's glory and majesty remains unchanged and his worthiness to be worshiped will be recognized by all nations. David's enemies are ruthless, but God's love and faithfulness is steadfast. As David is comforted in his God, so are we as we look to him.

The Lord's Supper , holy Communion is an integral part of Christian worship and the singing done at the Table should be rich in content filled with biblical orthodox teaching as well as praise and prayer. Jesus set the example at inaugural holy meal recorded in Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26. After singing a hymn (probably Psalm 118) they went out to the Mount of Olives. Consider the teaching of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:14-21 and Luke's words in Acts 2:42 and Acts 20:7. The Supper was frequent apparently every First Day of the week when the disciples, the believers came together to eat the Lord's Supper. See 1 Cor. 11 repeated phrase "when you come together". Examples of good hymns to sing at the Lord's Table that express rich biblical teaching and the meaning are cited. From the Baptist Charles Spurgeon, in the 19th century when teaches spiritual presence of the Resurrected Lord Jesus, "Among Us Our Beloved Stands". Alex Motyer, in the 20th century, "O God Your Mercy Moved by Love" and "Behold the

The people of Israel rejoiced in Yahweh because they remembered his mighty acts in their history, especially how he chose them, the least of all the peoples of the earth, to be his very own treasured possession. Then he graciously saved them from starvation when he brought them from Canaan to Egypt. After several hundred years they had grown into a populous nation which the Egyptians feared, so they oppressed them and put them into servitude. Yahweh sent Moses to deliver them out of Egypt, lead them through forty years of wilderness wanderings, and bring them to the Promised Land. God brought them there so they could obey his law and live before him as his special people. When the ancient prophecies of the coming Messiah-Deliverer of God's people were fulfilled in the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ the Lord, and through his subsequent death, resurrection, and ascension, there was even greater reason to remember the mighty acts of Yahweh seen in the Savior. Through his Son, God has done all tha

The act of worship that is Christian baptism must contain the proclamation of the Word containing its institution and its meaning. A biblical way of enhance this service is to sing Christ centered gospel focused hymns expressing Biblical truth to both the one being baptized and the body of worshippers participating in this gospel ordinance. Psalm 105:2 ESV Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! There are examples of people who upon being baptized responded with rejoicing Acts 8, the newly baptized Ethiopian went on home rejoicing. The converted Philippian jailer upon hearing and believing the good news was baptized and rejoiced greatly with all his household, having believed in God. Acts 16:34 New Testament baptism presents conversion and baptism together. We must not separate what God has joined! The order of human response to God's sovereign move in grace is to repent-believe and baptized. One very importan

Sermon Outline: I. The Distress of the Psalmist - v. 1-3 II. The Relief of the Psalmist - v. 4-6 III. The Certain Hope of God's People - v. 7-8 As we read this Psalm we see that the psalmist is in great distress and is crying out for the mercy of God. The thing that is overwhelming him is his own sin, his great iniquity. He knows how righteous God is but is comforted in Yahweh's steadfast love and plentiful redemption. So the Psalmist waits in certain hope that God will redeem him as well as all his people from their iniquities. Knowing the Old Testament promises of the Messiah is where his ultimate hope rested: the coming One who would pay the price for the true removal of their sin and guilt. We, too, wait for the consummation of our salvation at Christ's return.

Jesus Christ gave and commanded two ordinances or sacraments for his followers to observe. Both are directly connected to and embody the gospel, the wonderful news of forgiveness and new life with God as our Father through the redemptive actions of Jesus- his life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven. Through these appointed rites we participate with Christ in his work on our behalf. To counter the all to common low view of the ordinances we must embrace a robust biblical view of their connection with our salvation through union with the Lord Jesu

Paul's words in Col. 3:1-4 cut across time: they begin with the past, come into the present, and look to the future. In all these phases we are united to Christ. Union with Christ has been called the "umbrella doctrine" because it covers the entire Christian experience. "In Christ" is the fundamental expression used over and over in Paul's letters to describe the position of the Christian in this world. In Gal. 2:20 we learn that we have been united with Christ in his death. All of our subjective blessings are based on his objective work on the cross. As Michael Horton says, "If Christ remains outside of us , it's useless to us - we must cash in through personal faith in Christ." When Christ arose and ascended, we also rose and ascended with him, not bodily, but spiritually. So in our present experience on earth, we walk by faith via the enablement of the grace of Spirit, to live our daily lives so as to please him. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 we read about our future at Christ's return: the raising of our

Hymn singing that is the musical expression of Biblical truth in the form of vocal music is extremely important in the Christian life. What we sing and how we sing it shapes us in many ways. In the Bible singing plays a major role. This is especially true when believers gather. The Scriptures in both the Old Testament and the New Testament command us to sing and gives examples. The earliest recorded song I find in the Bible is Exodus 15:1ff Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, "I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea. 2 Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him; my father's God, and I will exalt him. 3 Yahweh is a man of war. Yahweh is his name. WEB Moses concluded his mediator prophet role by composing and singing a song recorded in Deuteronomy 32. Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. My doctrine will dr