At 9:00am
Heroes of The Faith
“…of whom the world was not worthy.” (Hebrews 11:38)

Men and women faithfully devoted to God in the midst of great suffering yet some clear victories for Him and His Kingdom are clearly won. Even though these powerful passages in the book of Hebrews spoke of those living in the first century after Christ, the centuries since have brought us many more of whom the world is not worthy. We will look at some of these saints over the ages.
• Irenaeus (117 AD) Bishop of Antioch “Bring on the fire, bring on the cross, bring on the hordes of wild animals! Just let me get to Jesus.” •Constantine (337 AD) Roman Emperor who forbade the cross from ever being used as an instrument of death.
•John Huss (1415) Reformer of Scotland said “I will not for a chapel full of gold, recede from the truth.”
•Hugh Latimer, pillar of the English Reformation (1555) “We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace in England, as I trust shall never be put out.”
•Joan Mathurin (1560) “I would rather go to the stake and have eternal life.” when asked by the magistrate to come to mass and receive pardon.
•John Bunyon, author of Pilgrim’s Progress (1688). “If I am let out of prison today, I would preach the Gospel tomorrow, with God’s help.”
• John Newton, slave-trader, author of “Amazing Grace (1807). “When I think about heaven, I am amazed …..that I myself will be there.”

At 10:30am
“Beyond Noah’s Ark“
Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9

After Moses delivered the Ten Commandments, he instructed the people on how to live in devotion to the Lord. They were to love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and strength. They were to keep the commandments and
teach them to their children.
And when the children asked, in future years, about the meaning of the decrees, then the people were to tell their children the story of the Exodus: “We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.” (Deuteronomy 6:21).

As Christian parents, grandparents, and caregivers, we, too, want to teach the holy words to our children. We want to tell them the ancient stories of promise, deliverance, human failure, and divine forgiveness so that they may come to “love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and strength.”
But just how do we go about imparting to them a knowledge of Scripture? The temptation is to leave this task to “the experts” at Sunday school or a week of vacation Bible school. But kids’ opportunity to develop knowledge of and love for the Bible will be much greater if parents and grandparents show and tell them, too.

Read the article at: http://opusproject.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/beyond-noahs-ark.pdf

“Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Heb. 12:1).

At the end of Hebrews 11, we are reminded that the old covenant saints, in their lifetimes, never received what was promised. This was because God was not willing to perfect them apart from new covenant believers. Nevertheless, they died in faith, trusting that God would bring all of His promises to final fulfillment (vv. 39–40).

One motivation for us to run this race is the great “cloud of witnesses” surrounding us. In a race, the stadium is filled with great throngs of people in the bleachers cheering on the contestants to victory. In the race that is the Christian life, the old covenant saints described in chapter 11 are our cheerleaders. They cheer us on through the example of their faithful endurance, waiting for the promises of God to come. They cheer us on saying, “You live in an even better age than we did. Therefore, you have no excuse for not persevering. So run brothers and sisters, run and do not stop holding onto Christ!”

Sunday morning a new class begins at 9am only:
Heroes of the Faith

Grant, most merciful Lord,
to Your faithful people pardon and peace,
that they may be cleansed from all their sins,
and serve You with a quiet mind;
through Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Book of Common Prayer

Charles Spurgeon

For those who don’t know much of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, he really was a boss.

John Piper does great biographies and his on Spurgeon can be enjoyed by audio or written word. Now, two things from yesterday’s message.

1.) The extended quote from yesterday on prayer is this:
Never be content, my brethren in Christ, till all your children are saved. Lay the promise before your God. The promise is unto you and unto your children. The Greek word does not refer to infants, but to children, grand-children, and any descendants you may have, whether grown up or not. Do not cease to plead, till not only your children but your great grand-children, if you have such, are saved. I stand here today a proof that God is not untrue to his promise. I can cast my eye back through four or five generations, and see that God has been pleased to hear the prayers of our grandfather’s grandfather, who used to supplicate with God that his children might live before him to the last generation, and God has never deserted the house, but has been pleased to bring first one and then another to fear and love his name. So be it with you: and in asking this you are not asking more than God is bound to give you. He cannot refuse unless he run back from his promise. He cannot refuse to give you both your own and your children’s souls as an answer to the prayer of your faith.

“Ah,” says one, “but you do not know what children mine are.” No, my dear friend, but I know that if you are a Christian, they are children that God has promised to bless.

“O but they are such unruly ones, they break my heart.” Then pray God to break their hearts, and they will not break your hearts any more.

“But they will bring my grey hairs with sorrow to the grave.” Pray God then that he may bring their eyes with sorrow to prayer, and to supplication, and to the cross, and then they will not bring you to the grave.

“But,” you say, “my children have such hard hearts.” Look at your own. You think they cannot be saved: look at yourselves, he that saved you can save them. Go to him in prayer, and say,
“Lord, I will not let thee go except thou bless me;” and if thy child be at the point of death, and, as you think, at the point of damnation on account of sin, still plead like the nobleman (of John 4), “Lord, come down ere my child perish, and save me for thy mercy’s sake.” And oh, thou that dwellest in the highest heavens thou wilt never refuse thy people. Be it far from us to dream that thou wilt forget thy promise. In the name of all thy people we put our hand upon thy Word most solemnly, and pledge thee to thy covenant. Thou hast said thy mercy is unto the children’s children of them that fear thee and that keep thy commandments. Thou hast said the promise is unto us and unto our children; Lord, thou wilt not run back from thine own covenant; we challenge thy word by holy faith this morning—”Do as thou hast said.”

2.)  I also mentioned Spurgeon’s famous sermon, “Children Brought to Christ, and Not to The Font”