At the decisive moment of Jesus' earthly life and ministry His disciples completely abandoned Him. But the good news for them and for us who have also failed Jesus is that at this same moment, He succeeded. This Sunday I preached on Matthew 26:31-56, Jesus' prediction of Peter's denial and all of the disciples' failure, His faithfulness and their unfaithfulness in Gethsemane and Jesus' betrayal and arrest. The main point as I saw it relating to us is that "Where we fail, Jesus succeeds for us." We have all been unfaithful but He remained faithful and in so doing provided the solution for our failure. If you would like to listen to the sermon, click here.
By God's Grace, Jeff
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Why St. Patrick Deserves his Own Day
Like many Christian holidays, the meaning of St. Patrick's Day has been hijacked by our secular culture and turned into a day to wear green, pinch those who don't and drink green beer. Now I don't have a problem with any of these practices, if done in moderation (e.g. you don't want to be overly pinching people). But they have distracted us from the significance of the person to whom this day is set aside. In fact, St. Patrick lived quite a life that's worth celebrating.
St. Patrick (well, actually long before he was a saint) was born in England in 384 AD to a nominal Christian family. But he was abducted by pirates as a child and taken to the pagan country of Ireland as a slave. During his six-year captivity he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and his relationship with God grew. He was able to eventually escape and return to England. But that's not where the story of St. Patrick ends...not by a long shot.
In 431 AD (30-40 years later) he has a dream in which the Irish people beg him to return and to share the Good News of Jesus with them. So even though he was not well educated, he returned to the country of his enslavement and spent the rest of his life (until his death in 461 AD) spreading the gospel throughout.
The gospel's penetration into Ireland is almost exclusively due to God's use of St. Patrick's enslavement and faithful return. That my friends is why he deserves his own day!
By God's Grace, Jeff
St. Patrick (well, actually long before he was a saint) was born in England in 384 AD to a nominal Christian family. But he was abducted by pirates as a child and taken to the pagan country of Ireland as a slave. During his six-year captivity he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and his relationship with God grew. He was able to eventually escape and return to England. But that's not where the story of St. Patrick ends...not by a long shot.
In 431 AD (30-40 years later) he has a dream in which the Irish people beg him to return and to share the Good News of Jesus with them. So even though he was not well educated, he returned to the country of his enslavement and spent the rest of his life (until his death in 461 AD) spreading the gospel throughout.
The gospel's penetration into Ireland is almost exclusively due to God's use of St. Patrick's enslavement and faithful return. That my friends is why he deserves his own day!
By God's Grace, Jeff
A Disappointing End
This past weekend marked the end of the junior high basketball season. During the regular season we amassed an 8-2 record and unofficially tied for first-place in our district. But the end of the season district tournament was another story. We were matched up (randomly) with Turtle-Lake in the first-round. This was the other top team during the regular season and we had split our two previous match-ups. I felt confident going in as we were finally healthy. We were down by one at half but I was still optimistic that if we came out and played well in the second-half we'd have a good shot. Unfortunately they outscored us 19-4 in the third quarter and even though we tried to claw our way back in the fourth it was to no avail. The guys were pretty bummed about losing the opening round as even though we still had a couple more games to play, the best we could now finish was fifth. However, even that was not to be.
Saturday morning we played Wilton and although maybe not at the top of our game, were able to take care of business and get the win. So in the afternoon we were matched up with Washburn (a team we'd beaten twice already) for fifth place. However, from the opening tip they seemed fresher and hungrier for the victory than our guys. We were down by double-digits at the beginning of the fourth quarter and again put up a furious comeback but fell a few points short. Afterward I tried to console the guys by reminding them that as eight graders their basketball careers were really only beginning and if they stuck with it, worked on improving over the summer and used this game as motivation, the future would be bright.
Other than the basketball tournament, this past week was fairly quiet. My wife and I Netflixed the movie "Changeling" which is based on a true story of a woman's fight to locate her missing son amidst a corrupt LA police department. I really enjoy movies based on actual events and this one was no different. I thought it brought out the struggle between maintaining one's position of power and doing what's right even at potential personal cost.
On Sunday we had a family from the church over for supper (i.e. dinner). Actually it was a mom who's in her 90s and one of her sons (who's in his 60s). They are both members of the church but my wife and I had never really had the opportunity to get to know Rich. Come to find out that while served in the Navy he was part of a convoy that assisted in the recovery of the Apollo X astronauts' space capsel and that he used to be an avid golfer.
And in case anyone is curious, the weather is beginning to warm up around here. The last few days have been in the 40s and the snow is finally beginning to melt.
By God's Grace, Jeff
Saturday morning we played Wilton and although maybe not at the top of our game, were able to take care of business and get the win. So in the afternoon we were matched up with Washburn (a team we'd beaten twice already) for fifth place. However, from the opening tip they seemed fresher and hungrier for the victory than our guys. We were down by double-digits at the beginning of the fourth quarter and again put up a furious comeback but fell a few points short. Afterward I tried to console the guys by reminding them that as eight graders their basketball careers were really only beginning and if they stuck with it, worked on improving over the summer and used this game as motivation, the future would be bright.
Other than the basketball tournament, this past week was fairly quiet. My wife and I Netflixed the movie "Changeling" which is based on a true story of a woman's fight to locate her missing son amidst a corrupt LA police department. I really enjoy movies based on actual events and this one was no different. I thought it brought out the struggle between maintaining one's position of power and doing what's right even at potential personal cost.
On Sunday we had a family from the church over for supper (i.e. dinner). Actually it was a mom who's in her 90s and one of her sons (who's in his 60s). They are both members of the church but my wife and I had never really had the opportunity to get to know Rich. Come to find out that while served in the Navy he was part of a convoy that assisted in the recovery of the Apollo X astronauts' space capsel and that he used to be an avid golfer.
And in case anyone is curious, the weather is beginning to warm up around here. The last few days have been in the 40s and the snow is finally beginning to melt.
By God's Grace, Jeff
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Forgiveness for Partakers in Jesus' Sacrifice
In Matthew 26:17-30 Jesus' foretells of His betrayer while celebrating Passover with His disciples and He institutes the New Covenant ordinance of Communion. Throughout this passage the main point as I see it relating to us is that there is forgiveness for all who partake by faith in Jesus' work on the cross for sinners. If you would like to listen to this sermon, click here.
By God's Grace, Jeff
By God's Grace, Jeff
Communion and the Wedding Supper of Lamb
"We are not sharing a funeral meal together; we are having a dress rehersal for the wedding supper of the Lamb. This One who was crucified as a criminal will return as our Judge and King. That is what this Supper is all about."
- Mark Dever (Twelve Challenges Churches Face, p. 134)
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
This Saturday my wife and I drove to Bismarck for a book sale at their Public Library. One of the features of the culture around here that I appreciate is the number of "Christian" books stocked by local libraries. I was able to pick up a copy of Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline" (there were actually three to choose from!), Hendrickson's "More than Conquerors" (commentary on Revelation) and a bible study guide for Romans...all for a couple of bucks (and that included the books that my wife picked up for the Underwood library!). You would be hard pressed to find another locale where you could discover such finds at a public library.
While we were in Bismarck we caught the 2009 Best Picture "Slumdog Millionare." It was entertaining and thought-provoking. Although the characters may be far from role models, you gain an insight into India's caste system and changes in that country over the last twenty years. As an editorial in this month's "Christianity Today" by Philip Yancey pointed out, America elected an African-American president within 250 years of instituting slavery but India is still struggling with the effects of 4000 years of their caste system.
I had a busy week of basketball as well. We had games on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We won our games on Tuesday and Friday but fell by three to Garrison, a team we had beaten earlier this season, on Thursday. We were short-handed (missing two starters) and have been battling the flu and cold bugs lately. Hopefully we can regain our health and be at full strength for the end of the season tournament this weekend. On a positive note, our seventh grade team (made up of more 6th than 7th graders) won for only the second time this season on Friday, which also happened to be their last game. I am glad they could finish on a positive note.
By God's Grace, Jeff
While we were in Bismarck we caught the 2009 Best Picture "Slumdog Millionare." It was entertaining and thought-provoking. Although the characters may be far from role models, you gain an insight into India's caste system and changes in that country over the last twenty years. As an editorial in this month's "Christianity Today" by Philip Yancey pointed out, America elected an African-American president within 250 years of instituting slavery but India is still struggling with the effects of 4000 years of their caste system.
I had a busy week of basketball as well. We had games on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. We won our games on Tuesday and Friday but fell by three to Garrison, a team we had beaten earlier this season, on Thursday. We were short-handed (missing two starters) and have been battling the flu and cold bugs lately. Hopefully we can regain our health and be at full strength for the end of the season tournament this weekend. On a positive note, our seventh grade team (made up of more 6th than 7th graders) won for only the second time this season on Friday, which also happened to be their last game. I am glad they could finish on a positive note.
By God's Grace, Jeff
Friday, March 6, 2009
Local Flavor
For those of you who do not subscribe to the Bismarck Tribune or live outside of central/western North Dakota, I wanted to give you a little taste of the local flavor. In honor of having recently seen (and thoroughly enjoyed) "Marley & Me" based on the newspaper columns of a Florida writer, I want to let you in on a treasure buried in the Friday edition of the Bismarck Tribune; columnist Kelly Hagen. My wife and I look forward to reading his hilarious and culturally relevant snippets each week. This week Kelly ponders the "near" miss of the recent asteroid and its impact on his life, including his advice to the Defense Department on how to deal with a future potential cosmic collision. So, for a taste of Bismarck's hidden gem, click here.
By God's Grace, Jeff
By God's Grace, Jeff
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