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Nick Hathaway: Jesus Overturning

On Sunday, Pastor Nick Hathaway from Liberty Church PCA preached on Matthew 21:12-17:

Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’”

The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple area, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

“Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

‘From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise’?”
And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

If you missed the sermon, you can listen to it here:

[mejsaudio src=”http://pasadena-ep.org/wp-content/uploads/sermons/nick_2012-09-2_Jesus_Overturning.mp3″]

 

Here are some questions to think about:

  • Read Malachi 3:1-5.  Was this prophecy fulfilled in the cleansing of the temple?  In verse 5 the Lord says who he will be against.  Who is he for?  Read Psalm 69:9,26,33.  How or why would anyone reproach the Lord?  If the Lord has struck someone down, made them needy, wounded, or imprisoned how should we act toward such people?  What does this have to do with zeal for God’s house?
  • Read Isaiah 56.  To whom does the Lord wish to give a monument and a name to in his house?  Who will the Lord bring to his holy mountain to minister to Him and pray to Him?  Who does the Lord condemn in this passage (verses 9-12)?
  • Read Jeremiah 7:1-15.  Where does the Lord tell Jeremiah to stand to deliver his message?  Where do you think the men of Judah were placing their trust (verse 4)?  What sin is listed right along with murder and idolatry (verse 6)?  What happens if they obey (7)?  How had the temple become a den of robbers (Look at the example of Shiloh in 1 Samuel 2)?  How can people rob God?
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The Fruit of the Spirit

On Sunday Pastor Tom completed his series on the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22 – 23:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Just click on any of the links above to hear a sermon in this series.  Here are a few study questions for this week:

  • Why is self-control an essential part of the Spirit’s fruit?
  • Read 2 Timothy 3.  What role will acting out self-centered desires play in the “last days”?
  • Read 1 Samuel 25.  Who exercised self-control; who did not?
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Self Control

Last week’s sermon on gentleness set the stage for the last sermon in this series on the Fruit of the Spirit: Self Control.  Here are the study questions for this week:

  • Read Galatians 5 and review your sermon notes.  Why is gentleness so important?
  • Read Matthew 11.  How does this chapter reflect both Jesus’ strength and his meekness?
  • Read Proverbs 15.  What do we learn about gentleness here?
  • Read Proverbs 16.  What are the problems with being a hot head?
  • Read Proverbs 25.  What does this teach about self control?
  • Read 2 Peter 1 (especially verses 5-7).  How do these points work together?  Why do you think self control is part of this list?
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Next . . . Gentleness

This week Pastor Tom will preach on Gentleness – the seventh in a series on the Fruit of the Spirit.  Here are a few study questions to help prepare for the sermon.

  1. Read Matthew 5.  Why would meekness be on this list?
  2. Read 2 Corinthians 10.  What contrasts does Paul make between meekness and gentleness compared to boldness and timidity?
  3. Read Colossians 3.  How does Paul’s instruction in this chapter coincide with the fruit of the Spirit?
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Faithfulness

This week’s sermon was about faithfulness – the sixth in this series about the Fruit of the Spirit.  Here are the study questions for this week:

  1. Read Galatians 5 and review your sermon notes.  Why is faithfulness important?
  2. Read 1 Corinthians 10.  What is revealed here about the character of God?  What does that mean for us?
  3. We sang Psalm 89 on Sunday.  Why is God’s faithfulness such a key point in this Psalm?

If you missed the sermon this week, you can listen to it here:

[mejsaudio src=”http://pasadena-ep.org/wp-content/uploads/sermons/tom_2012-08-12_Faithfulness.mp3″]

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Photos from Uncle Tom’s Cabin

Last weekend, five families from Pasadena EP Church headed up to Pastor Tom’s cabin in New York.  We shared meals, worshiped, and got to know each other better.  Pastor Tom led a study on a section of the Psalms called the Hallel (Psalms 113 – 118), which culminated in an exposition of Psalm 117 on Sunday morning.  He affirmed that God is worthy to be praised – at all times and by all people – for his steadfast love endures forever!

Here are some photos from the weekend . . .

The Cabin
Kids enjoying the Hammock
Sharing a meal together
Lunch!
Testing out the rope swing
Ice cream cones with Joanne
Friends
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Review: Living in God’s Two Kingdoms

The following book review was written by Pastor Tom Wenger, Sr. and originally appeared in the PEP Talk on April 17, 2011.  David Van Drunen’s book Living in God’s Two Kingdoms is published by Crossway (2010).

Van Drunen holds advanced degrees in both law and theology (JD, Northwestern University and PhD, Loyola University, Chicago). He is professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics at Westminster Theological Seminary in CA. He grapples with the concept of how the church interacts with culture and what differences there are between the church as an institution interacting with culture and the individual as a citizen.

His overview of the current situation in his introduction is worth the price of the book. He looks at the various voices calling for transformation of the culture from the neo-Calvinists (Wolters, Plantinga) to N.T. Wright, to the Emergent Church movement, and contrasts these voices with the alternative of a Two Kingdoms view.

As he argues his point, he makes a clear distinction between the “First Adam” and the “Last Adam.” This is key to building a foundation for a distinction between the common kingdom and the kingdom of God. The latter is about redemption and consummation and is entirely wrapped up in Christ’s work. God is redeeming a people to himself and will one day, at the return of Christ, the Redeemer, make all things new – fully and finally redeeming the world. The common kingdom is about loving our neighbor and living here together with unbelievers. Our calling to the common kingdom is to make life better here in whatever way we can – though we know it is only temporary. Van Drunen clearly points out that this in NOT redemption, and we ought not speak of redeeming the arts, or carpentry, or law, or marriage, etc.

Part Two of the book discusses how we ought to live – the short answer is as exiles. He does a biblical/theological study of the establishing of the two kingdoms, which is very helpful, and demonstrates that the new covenant believer’s situation is very much like that of the Jews while in exile in Babylon:

This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jer. 29:4-7 NIV)

Exile and sojourner language is used of the church in the NT. He sees a definite connection of the work of Christ and the church to the fulfilling of the Abrahamic covenant. The common kingdom is related to the covenant with Noah. The two have two distinct functions. The confusion of the two has always led to problems for the church.

The Kingdom of God / Heaven was inaugurated by Christ and is continuing to break in on this present evil age slowly and progressively until one day Christ will return in glory and the kingdoms of this world will become the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ!

Since we are citizens both of the Kingdom of God by grace through faith and members of the common kingdom we need to live out our dual citizenship. He spends a couple of chapters discussing what that means for the church and for things like education, vocation and politics.

We must not deny the common kingdom or consider it unimportant because it is not the Kingdom of God. God placed us here to function in both and be positive contributors to the common kingdom right along with unbelievers.

This is an excellent thought-provoking read – I whole-heartedly recommend it to
you.

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Sanctification: God’s responsibility and ours

The PCA magazine byFaith recently launched an online version of their newsletter.  They’ve done a nice job on the site – plenty of good articles and news stories.  Yesterday they posted Brian Chapell’s presentation from General Assembly on sanctification.  Here is an excerpt, in which he answers the question “How do all the Scriptures bear witness to Christ?”

Christ-centered exposition of Scripture should not require us to reveal Jesus by some mysterious magic of allegory or typology. Rather, solid exposition should identify how every text furthers our understanding of who Christ is, what the Father sent Him to do, and why. The goal is not to make Jesus magically appear from every detail of Hebrew history or Greek house code, but rather to show where every text stands in relation to the ultimate revelation of Christ. To do this we must discern the message of grace as it unfolds throughout Scripture. Our goal is not to force every text to mention Jesus, but to show how every text furthers our understanding of God’s grace, which is ultimately revealed in Christ.

Click here to read the rest of the presentation.  Michael Ross also delivered a presentation on this topic which can be viewed here.

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Kindness and Goodness

 

Pastor Tom is continuing his series on the fruit of the Spirit; this week he will preach on kindness and goodness.  Here are this week’s study questions:

  1. Read Psalm 109.  How is the lack of kindness viewed here?
  2. Read Colossians 3.  Paul says we are to clothe ourselves with kindness and a few other things.  Compare this list with the fruit of the Spirit.
  3. Read Psalm 116.  How can the goodness of the Lord be repaid?