Category Archives: ministry

The Glory of God for Worship

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Dear Zion,

One of the things I enjoy doing most with you is spending time in worship to give glory to God. Thinking about what we do in worship helps us to realize how important it is to bring glory to God in all that we do.

The activity of bringing glory to God is something that we learn chiefly from God Himself. Everything our Triune Lord does brings praise, honor, and glory to Himself. Scripture is replete with the fact that everything God does is glorious, and it is all “from Him, and through Him, and for Him forever” (Romans 11:36). Even our existence falls into this category, as we are those “whom I created for My glory” (Isaiah 43:6-7). “God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world” and the purpose of this was “to the praise of the glory of His grace” (Ephesians 1:4-6). More specifically, He called Israel “in whom I will be glorified” (Isaiah 49:3). When He brought Israel through the Red Sea in the Exodus, it was for His glory (Psalm 106:7-8), and it was this same reason He never forsook them in their later rebellions (I Samuel 12:22). For the glory of His Name’s sake, God forgives our sins (Psalm 25:11; Isaiah 43:25), He welcomes us (Romans 15:7), He gives us the Holy Spirit (John 16:14), and brings us to our heavenly home (John 17:24) – all for His glory! When God tells us in Isaiah 48:9-11 “I will not share My glory with another,” John Piper reminds us in his book Let the Nations Be Glad that God’s ultimate goal is His glory, and that “the most passionate heart for the glorification of God is God’s [own] heart.”[1]

So when we live our lives for God’s glory, we are joining with the Almighty Jehovah in the most important activity in the universe: glorifying our glorious God! We pray for God’s glory in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory!” Even our sin is primarily about God’s glory: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Our obedience and evangelical service is for God’s glory (Philippians 1:9, 11; I Peter 4:11). We are to do everything for God’s glory: “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (I Corinthians 10:31).

Reformed Christians have emphasized this important truth for centuries. Over four hundred years ago, the Westminster Catechism started Question #1 by asking, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer? “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” The most important thing we can do as human beings is to glorify and enjoy God.

So not only do Christians give their every living, breathing moment for the glory of God, but we explicitly set apart time on the Lord’s Day – Sunday – to worship Him in the beauty of His holiness (I Chronicles 16:28). This worship that we render to God is subtly different from how we glorify God throughout the week. During the week, we glorify God at our jobs and vocations individually by faithful obedience. But in worship, we gather corporately as the Body of Christ, called out of the world as His washed people in the name of our Triune God. In corporate worship, we do not worship God as we choose, but as He has commanded us. As the First and Second Commandments remind us, we must not only worship the true God (First Commandment), but we must worship Him in the way that He prescribes (Second Commandment). We are commanded to be very careful to do only what God has commanded us to do, and not to turn aside to our own ideas or desires (Deuteronomy 12:28).
As we worship our Lord together on Sunday, may we be a people who glorify God throughout the week, and then gather to glorify His Name together as the Family of God. He is glorious!, and it is our privilege to worship Him in the beauty of His holiness.

Praying with you to worship our glorious God,
Pastor Brian

Don’t Waste Your Life

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Dear Collegians,

I hope your second semester is off to a good start, and that there aren’t too many cobwebs from Christmas break. It was great to see so many of you when you were back home, and if I didn’t get a chance to see you then, hopefully I’ll get a chance to connect with you over Spring break or another weekend you stop by Garner.

As you’re dealing with the business of life, studies, relationships, and work, it’s easy for all of us to get so caught up in the details that we never spend any time actually living for anything. But let me warn you – don’t waste your life. Don’t spend all of your time living for the details and missing the big picture. Not only is it possible, it is natural for Americans to be consumed by pleasure and business and a whole host of other temporal, trivial issues in life. But there’s only one way to live so that you don’t waste your life. And that is to live in such a way that demonstrates that Jesus is more valuable and priceless to you than anything else in this world. He’s more valuable to you than money or marriage, or power or pleasure.

Our Lord Jesus finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.

We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased. – C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory

If you’d like to learn more about how to live in such a way as to not waste your life, I’d encourage you to download this free book – Don’t Waste Your Life (.pdf format). Its written by a pastor who has mentored me through the years named John Piper, and you can find more about him and his ministry here.

You are in the years of your life when you are making a lot of decisions that will define who you are and what you do for years to come. My prayer for you (and for myself) is that you wouldn’t come to the end of your life and sadly whisper, “I’ve wasted it.” If you ever want to talk about this or anything else on your mind, get a hold of me: pastorbrian AT zionerchurch Dot com or 641.923.3152. I’d love to talk. Until then, don’t waste your life but let’s live for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Hope to see you soon,
Pastor Brian

Don’t Waste Your Life

Sounds of Christmas

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For those of you who are into cantatas, Zion Ev. & Reformed Church recently presented their 51st annual cantata, “Sounds of Christmas.” Perhaps the following may be of interest for any looking for structuring their own cantata presentation.

Narrator
It seems like the Christmas season gets busier every year! More presents to buy, cookies to bake, decorations to be hung… in all the hustle and bustle, there is no time to wait – Christmas is coming! Where did the time go?! When we were children, Christmas couldn’t come fast enough; we couldn’t wait for it! So what has changed? What are we waiting for now?

We are all waiting… some are waiting for Christmas, some are waiting for their families to be healed; others are waiting for their health to be restored. We are all waiting for that angelic promise so long ago: “peace on earth, good will toward men.” But how long must we wait? And Who are we waiting for?

When Emmanuel Has Come

Narrator
Emmanuel has come, and we will never be the same. So how did this King come to earth? When Heaven was opened, what glorious procession did Emmanuel take to display His regal majesty? All the heavenly host of God’s angels held their breath as they awaited the sudden appearance of the King of Glory.

But what’s this? Where are the heavenly trumpets, sounding forth their royal fanfare? Where are the angelic voices shouting as a roar of the ocean, that the King is coming? It is a silent night, with only the blue-white of stars twinkling over a quiet village in Israel. Here there is no shining palace, no golden throne; only a solitary man and pregnant wife who are plodding their way to a small dusty inn and cramped stable.

A Simple Stable

Narrator
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord… you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

O, Tiny Babe of Bethlehem

Narrator
And so, the Babe was born. In the quiet of that holy night, salvation was created. And all was still on earth.

High above that lowly manger, the heavens were not quiet. Though the earth lay wrapped in silence, all of Heaven was exploding for joy in the birth of the King. The heavens were telling the glory of God, and galaxies were spinning in their celestial orbits to the praise of the newborn King. Comets and meteors, stars and nebulae reverberated with angelic praise. But one star, one special, little star, was given an extraordinary assignment. As the starry hosts gave glory to God, this little star cast its heavenly light on little Bethlehem, the holy manger awash in its glow. Like a beacon of grace, this little star shone out in the darkness, proclaiming the Light of the World!

One Star

How Quietly, How Quietly

Narrator (Choir of Children reciting in unison)
Within a crib my Savior lay / a wooden manger filled with hay /
Come down for love on Christmas Day

Now Holy Babe rest in Your bed / But on the Cross His blood He’ll shed /
O Jesus, Jesus, rest your head

Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head

Narrator
As shepherds watched their flocks by night, suddenly the glory of the Lord shone about them, and the heavenly host appeared to them, saying “Glory to God in the highest! The Savior is born in Bethlehem!”

Can it be true? Is this midnight vision to be believed? Is the King whom we have all been waiting for been born this silent night? Come, let us see Jesus! Come with the Magi – those kings of the East – see their royal array in a majestic procession. Come with the shepherds – fresh from the fields – still smelling of sheep and the goats and the grass – with the radiance of the heavenly host flickering on their faces. Come with the angels, and give glory to God – Hallelujah!

Hurry, Hurry to Bethlehem

Narrator
“Let us, like these good shepherds, then employ
Our grateful voices to proclaim the joy
Look now! the Babe, who has retrieved our loss
From His poor manger to His bitter cross
Trusting His pow’r, assisted by His grace
Till man’s restored to His glorious place.
Then may we hope, the angelic thrones among
To sing, redeemed, a glad triumphal song
He that was born upon this joyful day
Around us all His glory shall display
Saved by His grace, incessant we shall sing
Eternal praise to Christ, almighty King.”

A Christmas Proclamation

Narrator
Christmas is here! And the Christ child is born! Salvation is created! Sin, death and darkness are conquered- so joy the world! And glory to God in the highest. May you and your loved ones have a happy – and holy – Christmas!

A Carol Festival

Merry Christmas!

Looking Ahead for 2011

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Dear Zion,

It seems like the New Year has snuck up on us again, and with 2011 comes all sorts of new experiences: new hopes and new fears for what the new year may bring, new possibilities, as well as the feelings of regret and loss that can come as time marches on. Many people spend the New Year thinking about new resolutions to make and ways to change. But how should Christians think about the inauguration of 2011? How are we to “redeem the time” (Ephesians 5:16)? While there are surely many ways to think about these issues, here are some especially pertinent, biblical concepts to consider.

The Sovereignty of God in 2011
No matter what the new year brings, we can be sure of this: God is in control of 2011. All times are in His hand, and since He is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last (Revelation 1:8), we know that He makes the ends known from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). Every day that we live in 2011 has already been written in His book (Psalm 139:16), and nothing that happens to us can happen apart from His will. Life and death, health and sickness are in His hands (Deuteronomy 32:39). Neither a sparrow (Matthew 10:39 – 31) nor a hair from your head (Luke 21:16 – 18) can fall apart from God’s will. So for those who love God and are called according to His purpose, the future of the new year doesn’t need to be a scary thing, because He has promised that all things will work together for our good (Romans 8:28). As we make our plans for 2011, we should recognize God’s absolute power and control over all the decisions we make, and ultimately entrust ourselves and our plans to Him (James 4:13 – 17).

The Second Coming and Missions
It could be that 2011 is the year in which Jesus Christ returns “to judge the quick and the dead,” and to bring His people home to God. I can’t think of a more glorious idea! We pray with the saints down through the ages, “Come quickly, O Lord!” (I Corinthians 16:22; Revelation 22:20). When the date is written out 2011 A.D., that stands for anno domini, or “the year of our Lord,” and it reminds us that time is waiting for Christ to return. The Second Coming of Jesus is the blessed hope for all Christians, and one we eagerly await. As we wait, we are to strive to live in a manner worthy of His calling.

But we are also to spread the Good News of God. If Jesus doesn’t return in 2011, may the Lord use this season for the advancement of His Kingdom! Jesus reminds us that in every age “the fields are white for the harvest,” and so we should “pray the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Luke 10:2; John 4:35). How may God be calling you to support missionaries and evangelistic efforts through prayer, finances, and your own time?

Personal Holiness and Spiritual Growth
No matter what God’s will for 2011 may include, you can be sure of this, that part of God’s will for you is for you to grow in holiness (I Thessalonians 4:3). That is true in all times and all places. Many New Year’s Resolutions include weight loss and stopping bad habits, but how many of us take time to plan how to grow in our faith? How many of us purposefully seek deeper discipleship and richer communion with the Triune God? If it would help you, notice the Bible reading plan included in this newsletter[1]. Perhaps you would like to join or start a prayer meeting. May God grant us all a zeal to be holy, even as He is holy, in 2011 (I Peter 1:16).

Praying with you for faithfulness in 2011,
Pastor Brian
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[1] This is referring to M’Cheyne’s Bible Reading Plan.

Advent Liturgy

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The purpose of this liturgy is to direct the people of God as they are served by their Covenant God who condescends to our weakness in the Incarnation, and who visits us with perfect justice in the Final Judgment. These two advents frame the experience of New Covenant believers: we look back to Christ’s first coming and look forward to His Second. We live by faith based on the First coming, by hope looking forward to the Second, and the fruit of love in the mean time. We receive grace from the Cross, which leads to good works of gratitude for the Bema Seat. We worship the risen Christ, listening to Him through ordained servants because He is ascended, but praying “Marana tha!” because He has promised to come again.

See Lehigh Valley PCA’s Advent Liturgy for another take on how to conduct Covenant Renewal during the advent season.

Divine Service of Worship

Preparation for Worship
Prelude
Welcome & Announcements
Introit
Scripture Reading and Lighting of the Advent Candle[1]
Passing of the Peace

Call to Worship[2]
Call to Worship
Prayer of Invocation
Votum
Hymn of Praise

First Advent
Scripture Reading[3]
Christological Creed[4]
Congregational Prayer[5]

Charter of Faith
Choral Exhortation
Children’s Sermon
Giving in Tithes & Offering
Gloria Patri
Prayer of Thanksgiving
Singing of a Psalm
Pastoral Prayer & Lord’s Prayer

Ministry of the Word
Scripture Reading
Prayer of Illumination
Sermon
Prayer of Application
Hymn

Communion
Exhortation & Excommunication
Words of Institution
Holy Eucharist

Second Advent
Scripture Reading[6]
Congregational Prayer[7]

Commission
Song of Response
Benediction

_______________________________________
[1] The lighting of the Advent candle is not a circumstance of Scripture reading or any other aspect of worship, and is certainly not an element, and therefore does not belong to the service of worship proper. Our tradition is to have different families come forward, with the head of the household reading select Scripture passages highlighting the advent of Christ, while his wife or child lights the appropriate candle.
[2] Our Call, Charter, Word, Communion, and Commission sections of the liturgy follow our common Covenant Renewal liturgy, and so won’t be explained in detail. Some of the order is changed due to the nature of flow in the historia salutis.
[3] These Scripture readings, spoken by a Ruling Elder, will focus on one of the facets of Christ’s first coming. For example, the First Sunday in Advent includes Genesis 3:15, Isaiah 27:1-6, and Luke 10:17-24 to focus on Christ’s destruction of the Evil One.
[4] Jesus asked Peter to confess His identity in Matthew 16:15-16, and just as Christ gave a good confession, so His disciples are to confess His name before men (I Timothy 6:12-13). These corporate confessions of faith will feature the historic Christian and Reformed creeds, confessions and catechisms. Our Advent Sundays will employ the Nicene and Athanasian creeds, the Definition of Chalcedon, the Belgic Confession, and the Heidelberg Catechism.
[5] We pray for Christ’s coming to forgive our sins, transform us, and use us for His glory. A sample prayer is as follows:

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast off the works of darkness, and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which Your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when He shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen. 

[6] This Scripture reading focuses us on Christ’s Second coming. For example, II Thessalonians 1:7-12 directs us to Christ’s coming in judgment but also salvation.
[7] A concluding, congregational prayer for us to direct our pleas and petitions to our coming King.

Celebrating Advent

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Dear Zion,

You’ve probably noticed that we have begun a special season at church called “Advent.” This word comes from the Latin, adventus, which means “coming,” but both of these words help us understand the biblical word parousia, a word we see in I Thessalonians 3:13, “the coming of our Lord Jesus.” Advent is an opportunity to remember that Christ came into the world “for us and for our salvation.” How can we as Christians benefit from the season of Advent? What can we do to remember “the reason for the Season?” How should we “keep Christ in Christmas?” Let me offer some suggestions.

First, we should meditate on Christ’s first coming. Jesus didn’t come into this world unbidden and for no reason. Rather, Jesus was “sent by the Father” (John 5:36-37). Even being born as a babe in the Bethlehem manger was an act of obedience by the Son to God the Father. Jesus’ obedience is imputed to us by faith (I Corinthians 1:30), so that we may also be obedient to our heavenly Father. But why did the Father send Jesus? Jesus was sent to destroy Satan (I John 3:8), to save us from our sins (I Timothy 1:15), to bring life and light into the darkness (John 1:4-5, 9), for the glory of God (John 7:18), and to serve us and give His life as a ransom for His people (Mark 10:45). Meditating on Jesus’ first Advent should drive us to be Christ-lovers who desire to lay down our lives to serve our neighbors so that we could obey and glorify God!

Secondly, we should look in hope for Christ’s second coming. Though we normally think of Advent with regard to Christmas and Jesus’ birth, the word parousia usually refers to Jesus’ second coming (I Thessalonians 2:19; James 5:8)! Like Abraham, Moses, David, and the saints of the Old Testament, we are waiting for the appearance of the Messiah, even Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:10-14). However, unlike those Old Testament saints who died before Christ came the first time, we “rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” because we already know Christ by faith in Holy Scripture (I Peter 1:8). Because we too are waiting for Jesus’ Advent for the second time, we are to live with patience, faith, meekness and righteousness, shining like stars in a dark world. As we celebrate this Advent season, we should remind our neighbors that Jesus has come as a Suffering Servant, and He will come as our Judge and King. This should make us confident in our faith and humble before others.

Many people will give you other laundry lists to “keep Christ in Christmas.” They’ll tell you to never sign your Christmas cards with “Xmas” or “Happy Holidays,” to boycott certain stores, to put a certain Nativity scene in your yard, to only promote certain non-profit ministries, etc., etc., ad infinitum ad nauseum. But what if I sign all my Christmas cards just so, avoid the “wrong” stores in favor of the “right” ministries, and decorate my house with just the right number of Christmas-light-angels, but don’t have Christ’s love in my heart? Have I really “remembered the reason for the Season?”

This Christmas and Advent season, may we be a people who seek the Lord through prayer, looking to Him to create within us the joy of Jesus’ first coming and the hope of Christ’s second coming. Let’s “keep Christ in Christmas” by avoiding commercialism and consumerism, but also by trusting in God’s grace to work powerfully within us to produce the fruit of the Spirit.

Trusting with you in the Christ of the First and Second Advents,

Pastor Brian

Happy Reformation Day

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Reformation Day 2010

Yesterday was Reformation Day, the celebration of when, in 1517, an obscure and unimportant German monk named Martin Luther nailed his “95 Theses” to the door of the Wittenburg church. We celebrated God’s grace in His Church by holding a special worship service. The liturgy we used is posted below, following a quote concerning the Reformation rediscovery of grace:
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