Part IV Will the Real Anglicanism Please Stand Up? Latitudinarianism

Perhaps you read my first three posts and and you thought to yourself “This sounds very different from how my rector described Anglicanism to me!”  “I thought we were a big tent?”  “What about the via media?”  You may even have had a t-shirt that encouraged people to join The Episcopal Church because “no matter what you believe, there’s someone else in The Episcopal Church who believes it too!”  You may feel this way especially if you entered Anglicanism in North America. I would wager that many Episcopal or Anglican confirmation classes would define Anglicanism as a sort of compromise position. In the 1840’s, this compromise position was termed the ‘via media,’ the middle way. More recently, this compromise position has been termed “Three Streams Anglicanism.”  This is the idea that in Anglicanism the three streams of catholic identity, evangelical truth, and charismatic experience come together. Those who identify Anglicanism in either of these ways would have a hard time with the sort of picture I’m painting here of different camps that have vastly different theological foundations. For them, Anglicanism doesn’t devolve into silly arguments over churchmanship or theology. We are a big tent! There is room for all here!

Will The Real Anglicanism Please Stand Up? Part II

High Church Anglicanism

“Are you high and hazy or low and lazy?”  “They are low church, so they have, like, guitars and a praise band.” “I’m pretty high church. I love all the smells and bells.”  “I like the low church stuff, cause I’m just more of a casual person.”  “I’m glad we’re going back to a more Anglican way of doing things here and emphasizing traditional worship more.”  High Church and Low Church. This distinction is one that Anglicans will be all too familiar with. Unfortunately, the history behind this distinction has largely been lost so that today when people talk about “High Church” and “Low Church” they do so referring mainly to taste. The problem with this trend is that it ignores the significant theological differences that underpin High Churchmenship, Reformation Anglicanism, and Anglican Evangelicalism.

Today we consider the “High Church” movement. English seperatists (those who wanted the Church to be disestablished from the government in England) originally gave this name to those who advocated strongly for an Established Church of England, but more and more it came to be identified with those who would have been known as ‘Conservatives’ during the English Reformation because of their desire to hold on to more of the traditional elements of the churches teaching and practice. High Church Anglicans are sometimes identified historically with Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. This movement dominated the Church of England from the reign of Charles I until the Glorious Revolution.

Q33: Should those who have faith in Christ seek their salvation through their own works, or anywhere else?

A question and responses from New City Catechism. Our church plant small groups are going through these this year. Didn’t know about our church plant ? Check out the website :

www.coastalfellowship.com

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/ncc/2013/06/03/q33-should-those-who-have-faith-in-christ-seek-their-salvation-through-their-own-works-or-anywhere-else/

Grace for a Pharisee

Yesterday our Bishop, Mark Lawrence, preached on Luke 7:36-8:3.  This section tells the story of a promiscuous woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and annointed them with oil.  Mark handled the text wonderfully showing the tender love of Jesus for the most marginalized of sinners.  When the Pharisee who’s house Jesus is in complains that Jesus is allowing Himself to be associated with such a woman, Jesus informs him that “He who has been forgiven much loves much.  He who has been forgiven little loves little.”  As he was preaching, something else stood out to me about this text.  

Luke makes a point of recording in Jesus’ reply the Pharisee’s name.  When the Pharisee is considering how scandalous it is for Jesus to be involved with this woman, Jesus says “Simon, I have something to say to you.”  Why give this detail?  Jesus confronts scores of Pharisees who disapprove of His friendliness towards ‘sinners.’   Why record this one?  One simple answer is that that is what Jesus said.  I think Luke intends more than this though.  

Emerging scholarship has begun to recognize the use of a sort of name dropping as a means of what we would today consider academic citation.  So, when Luke is telling a story, he tells you one of the key players as a way of saying “This is my primary source.  If you want to verify my story, go talk to him.”  What if this is the case in this passage? What if Luke is recording Simon the Pharisee’s name because Simon was his source for this particular story?  I think it changes the thrust of the story significantly.  

Imagine Luke the historian interviewing Simon the Pharisee.  Imagine Simon telling him this story.  I cannot see Simon telling him the story grimacing around the name of Jesus.  I cannot see him telling Luke about this day inserting commentary on how inappropriate it was for Jesus to be with this woman.  In other words, I think it is highly likely that this conversation did something to Simon or else he would not have been telling so many people about it that it attracted the attention of someone wanting to verify the details about Jesus’ life.  

If I had to guess, I would think that Simon would tell the story something like this: “I had heard of Jesus and I had my suspicions.  I invited him into my home to see if He was as dangerous a heretic as He was made out to be.  He came to my door and I didn’t offer him water to cleanse his feet, oil to refresh himself with, or even the courtesy of greeting him with a kiss.  I wanted to vet him out first before I offered him any hospitality.  Then this woman comes in.  She was obviously a lady of the night.  She begin to weep over his feet, annointed them with oil, and dried them with her hair.  I thought ‘How scandalous!  Some prophet.  He can’t even identify a prostitute when he sees one.’  It was as if Jesus saw into my soul.  Immediately he explained to me that those who are forgiven much love much.  I saw how wrong I had been not only about this woman, but about myself.  Jesus knew this woman’s sin better than I did, and yet he forgave her.  Her heart was bursting with gratitude, but despite all my theological and moral precision, my heart was as cold as a cadaver!  He who has been forgiven much loves much?  How true.  I slighted Jesus.  I despised those He loved.  I was too self-righteous to ever seen my need for grace.  He loved me and forgave me despite all this.  You can’t imagine how much I love Jesus now!”  

This is the great beauty of the grace of God revealed in Jesus.  No one, not the most profligate sinner or the most precise Pharisee is too far from God’s grace.  We often speak of God’s grace as if it’s only for the prodigal.  But God is as pleased to forgive a stony hearted religious zealot as He is to welcome the most broken libertine.  When I came to Christ in college, there was no denying that I needed grace.  My life was as worldly as anyone’s.  However, I continue to need that grace as much today as ever I did, if not more.  I have been the Pharisee and the Sinner.  Thank God His grace extends to both!

Who Are We? Iain’s May Newsletter

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

1 Peter 2:9

“So, what are we now?”  I have been asked this question countless times in 2013.  Of course, by now, though I’m not quite sure how to answer it, I at least know what the question means.  It means, “Are we Episcopal?  Are we Anglican?  If so, what kind of Anglican are we?”  What lies behind that question, however, is more varied.

For some, it is simple curiosity.  They love being a part of Trinity, and the broader association of our church is less important to them.  For others, it comes out of a place of grief.  Our entire spiritual and religious life has been formed in The Episcopal Church.  We feel a bit like people without a country.  For still others, we are finding it hard to invite people when we don’t know who we are.  As varied as these concerns are, they stem from the same root.  Identity.

I think few of us really give the issue of our identity its due attention.  Who we think we are sets the course for our lives.  When people never get a secure sense of who they are, they can spend their lives in an aimless kind of wandering, never really knowing where they fit in.

Our identity begins forming early in life, and continues to do so based on who we are, what we do, where we live, what we like, etc.  I have a cousin who years ago dropped out of college despite the fact that he had walked onto the football field and was making decent grades.  When another family member asked him why he said, “You and me, we’re just not the kind of people who go to college.”  Despite having the ability and talent to succeed in college, his identity was wrong.  That’s why that question “So, what are we now?” is so important to answer well.

In his epistle to the churches, the apostle Peter addresses the identity of the church.  He tells them, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for [Christ’s] own possession.”  Who are we?  Peter says we are a chosen, royal, and holy possession of the Lord Jesus Christ.  He says we are a race of people formed into a nation of priests who live in the service of the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Who are we?  We are Christ’s.  We are His treasured possession.  We are honored dignitaries in His service.  Before we are Smiths, or Jacksons, or Petersons, or Americans, or black, or white, we are Christ’s.

Having our identity in Christ makes all the difference.  When we understand that we are Christ’s, then we understand that we are not our own.  We were purchased at a heavy cost.  We are not a people who stand on our own merits, but we are a redeemed people.  We are not failures, rejects, or victims, but beloved adopted children, “heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”(Romans 8:17)  We are not individuals, but we belong to the body of faithful people throughout the ages, those who have lived by faith, not by sight.  We have a family joined together not with blood of genetic heritage, but by the shed blood of Christ.

Because this issue of our identity is so important, I’ve invited our Bishop to address just that at a luncheon forum following our 11 o’clock service.  Bishop Mark Lawrence will be addressing the question “Who are we?”  in a presentation followed by a brief time of Q&A.  But remember, no matter who we are, no matter what we call ourselves, no matter who we are related to, our identity is first and last in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Vision Night February 2012

What does it mean to be a Reformed Christian? Part III

A good friend in Charleston recently asked the question “What does it mean to be Reformed?” That question sparked this most recent series on AwakeningGrace which I suspect will go on for several weeks if not months.

Access Part I by clicking here

Access Part II by clicking here

In the previous post I examined how an individual’s experience of the sovereign grace of God through Jesus Christ creates a desire in the human heart to live for the glory of God.  In this post I would like to examine a bit more closely the most common means by which this happens.

Forty days after the resurrection of Jesus from the dead he appeared for the last time to the disciples.  He gave them one final note of encouragement and instruction before he ascended into Heaven.  Luke records it in his book, The Acts of the Apostles.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  (Acts 1:8-9 ESV)

There is much that could be said regarding this little excerpt from Acts but for our present purpose I will zero in on two things.  First, Jesus has promised that the Holy Spirit is coming and more than that, he will “come upon you.”  Second, Jesus will no longer be physically present with the disciples as the following exchange with the disciples makes clear.

And while they (the disciples) were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”  (Acts 1:10-11 ESV)

The very simple point following from this is that Jesus is not physically present with us any longer.  There was a time when people experienced the sovereign grace of God in a very earthy, physical way.  For example when the Son of God placed his hand on a sick person, called the dead out from their grave, and spoke a word of pardon over desperate sinners.  But Jesus was “taken up from you,” and though there are notable exceptions in the unreached places of the world, by and large we should not expect to have a personal visitation from Jesus.  That is, we should not expect to have an experience of sovereign grace in the same way as those who walked the earth with Jesus did 2000 years ago.

So how then can we, who can no longer enjoy the direct benefit of Jesus’ physical presence, experience the sovereign grace of God in Jesus Christ?  While in college I remember reading an excellent book by Civil War historian Shelby Foote.  The book was called Shiloh and I found it to be a real page turner.  Foote had such a vivid style about him that at times I was convinced I could feel the wet, spring dew of the Tennessee countryside and smell the pungent stink of black powder spewing from the Enfield rifled muskets of the combatants.  The point I’m trying to make is that if you can’t be present at an event one of the best ways to experience the event is through a well written book.  You and I cannot see the miracles of Jesus however much we wish we could have.  You and I cannot see the savior’s eyes when he says “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  Nor can we behold the man on the cross, who gave up his life with the cry “It is finished!”  But just because we can’t see these things doesn’t mean we can’t have some experience of them.  One way by which people for thousands of years have experienced the sovereign grace of God through Jesus Christ has been through a good book, a book so vivid that the characters and events within its pages spring to life.

In an interview with Albert Einstein first published in the Saturday Evening Post, Oct 26^th 1929, the famed theoretical physicist had this to say of his experience reading the New Testament:

“No one can read the Gospels without feeling the actual presence of Jesus.  His personality pulsates in every word.  No myth is filled with such life.”

Einstein’s experience reading the New Testament is worth drawing particular attention to two features.  First, he said that reading the Gospels made him feel “the actual presence of Jesus.”  Second, he remarked that no matter how well told the story, “no myth is filled with such life.”  What are we to make of this?  What we might ask is whether or not the Bible is more than just a good story.  No matter how engrossed I was in Shelby Foote’s Shiloh, never for a moment did I feel the actual presence of General Ulysses S. Grant, or any of the protagonists at Shiloh for that matter.  And yet, when I read the Bible I find that I have an experience remarkably similar to what Einstein described.  Why is this?

The night before Jesus was murdered he spoke of his “going away.”  He said that it was necessary that he go away so that something special would happen.  Here’s what he said:

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7 ESV)

What does this mysterious “Helper” do?  Jesus said that the Helper would come and convict us of sin (John 16.8), of righteousness (John 16.10) and judgment (John 16.11).  Also, Jesus said that the Helper would come and lead us into all truth (John 16.13).  As a crescendo to this whole section, Jesus said that the Helper would “glorify me,” that is the Helper in a very special way brings glory to Jesus (John 16.14).  I would suggest, if you wanted to simplify the work of the Holy Spirit, you could say that everything he does can be summed up under the banner of bringing glory to Jesus.

So the Holy Spirit, Jesus’ “Helper” has a job to do.  Most jobs require tools.  The doctor uses the scalpel.  The construction worker uses the hammer.  The writer uses the pen.  The Holy Spirit in this regard is no different.  He has a job to do and he has a tool.  The Holy Spirit’s tool for bringing glory to Jesus is principally done through Scripture.  Paul says in 2 Tim 3.16 that all Scripture is “breathed out” by God.

This is why when Einstein read the Gospels it felt to him as if a living, breathing Jesus was present alongside of him.  This was nothing short of the Holy Spirit of God, playing the chords of the reader’s heart like a skilled musician gently pulls on strings to make a beautiful melody.

This not only gives us a way of thinking through why the Bible has a vitality which other books do not, but it also gives us an important clue as to how we are meant to read the Bible.  If the Holy Spirit’s principle work is to bring glory to Jesus, then this must also be the principle work of the Bible.  The concept is put well in the Jesus Storybook Bible from which I excerpt a long quote from their introductory chapter:

Now, some people think the Bible is a book of rules, telling you what you should and shouldn’t do.  The Bible certainly does have some rules in it.  They show you how life works best.  But the Bible isn’t mainly about you and what you should be doing.  It’s about God and what he has done.

Other people think the Bible is a book of heroes, showing you people you should copy.  The Bible does have some heroes in it, but (as you’ll soon find out) most of the people in the Bible aren’t heroes at all.  They make some big mistakes (sometimes on purpose).  They get afraid and run away.  At times they are downright mean.

No,  the Bible isn’t a book of rules, or a book of heroes.  The Bible is most of all a Story.  It’s an adventure story about a young Hero who comes from a far away country to win back his lost treasure.  It’s a love story about a brave Prince who leaves his palace, his throne- everything- to rescue the one he loves.  It’s like the most wonderful of fairy tales that has come true in real life

You see, the best thing about this story is- it’s true!

There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story.  The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.

One more thing remains to be said.  The Bible is but one of many voices that proclaim the wonderful story of “how God loves his children and comes to rescue them.”  C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is one such voice that proclaims the Gospel story through allegory.  Your Pastor may be another voice that proclaims the Gospel story through preaching.  And of course the church, throughout the centuries has endeavored to be a voice for this wonderful story of how God “loves his children and comes to rescue them.”  What, if anything, differentiates the voice of the Bible as it proclaims the Gospel from the voice of the church, or your pastor, or C.S. Lewis?  To answer this most important question we turn to Jesus’ trusted disciple Peter who had this to say of the Bible:

And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:19-21 ESV)

Lewis is helpful, but we have something “more sure.”  Your pastor may be helpful, but we have something “more sure.”  The Church has indeed throughout history been very helpful, but we have something “more sure.”  What is this that we have?  The “prophetic word,” which Peter here understands to the be the Scriptures.  He says that in the Bible men speak, but they speak as “from God,” because they were “carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  In no other book, speaker, or institution is the promise to hear directly from God attached.  Thus it is in Scripture alone, or as the Reformers said Sola Scriptura, that one has the assurance that he hears from God.  And because it is in Scripture alone that we have the promise that God himself speaks “you will do well to pay attention to is as to a lamp shining in a dark place.”  Thus the Reformed Christian pays attention to the Scriptures like a man lost in a mine will look for sun’s light.  Here are three quick applications in closing.

1. The Reformed Christian loves the Scriptures as a man lost in a mine loves sun’s light.  It is after all through seeing the sun’s light that the lost man is given hope for a way out.
2. The Reformed Christian follows Scripture in the same way that a man lost in a mine will follow the path laid out for him by sun’s light.  It is after all through following this light that the man has a course charted for his own salvation.
3. The Reformed Christian adheres to Scripture in the same way that a man lost in a mine will adhere to sun’s light.  Other voices may encourage the lost man.  Other voices may seek to guide the lost man.  Those voices that encourage the man to love and follow the light he listens to.  Those voices who seek to guide him closer to the light he is grateful for.  Those voices who cause him to stray from the light he disregards.  He disregards these voices because he adheres to the light, and he judges every encouragement, suggestion, claim, and guidance by how well it too adheres to the light.

In closing, I will say that just because we have something “more helpful,” does not discount other things from being helpful.  It simply means that whatever help you do find, you will find nothing as helpful as the Bible for it is the only place where we are spoken to as if “from God.”  In my next post, I would like to identify some helps and spell out exactly how they are helpful.  Topics I will address in the next post will be the Church in general, the role of tradition, and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit.

3 Questions to help lift worry and relieve anxiety

Anxiety and worry are a burden that “weigh a man down” (Prov 12.25) and produce a daily pressure that affects our emotional, mental, and physical health.  All of us from time to time carry the heavy burdens of worry and anxiety, some more than others.  The question is, how (if at all!) can these burdens be relieved?

Here are three simple questions that will help direct you as you seek to deal with the daily pressures that life throws at you.

Trinity Church Prayer Letter

“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”  (Colossians 1:19-20 ESV)

A great Christian apologist once remarked that Jesus was one of the only people in history that prompted not only the question “Who is he?” but more importantly “What is he?”  Paul teaches us in his letter to the Colossians that in the tiny child born in Bethlehem the “fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”  As if this were not incredible enough, Paul goes on to say that through this child all things have been reconciled to God through the peace that he would eventually purchase on the cross.

What impact might this have on our prayer life?  We might think we’re too insignificant for God to pay much attention to our prayers.  Others might believe that their own sins and shortcomings will prevent God from hearing their prayers.  But the Christmas promise is that the child in Bethlehem draws the insignificant to the heart of God and makes peace with the sinner.  Thus each can pray with the full assurance that not because of who we are, but because of who he is, our prayers will be heard.  I invite your prayers this week for the following things:

Answered Prayers:

• A few weeks ago I asked you to pray that God would help us pay for an unexpected expense concerning new heating and air conditioning units.  God has mercifully provided the funds and the new units will be installed soon.

Prayer Requests:

1. Sebron Hood died last Friday.  I invite your prayers not only for his family but for his friends, that the comfort of Jesus would be known in the midst of grief.
2. Pray for Tracy Winters, our Communications Coordinator.  She has been experiencing some severe back pain.  Pray that God will relieve the pain and heal her back.
3. Pray for our Christmas Eve services and for those serving in them.  Pray that the hearts of our Trinity family will be lifted to love and adore the Savior.  Pray also for our visitors, that they would find Trinity a welcoming and hospitable place and if they do not already know Jesus that we would assist in an introduction.
4. Pray for safe travel
5. Continue to pray for Bruce Geary, who will worship with us for the first time on Jan 2nd.
6. Continue to pray for our search process for Pastor for Children and Families.  We have received many applications.  Pray for wisdom in sorting through them and discerning who deserves a follow up.

Blessings and Merry Christmas to you all!

Rob Sturdy

 

 

What does it mean to be a “Reformed” Christian? (Part I)

A good friend in Charleston recently asked the question “What does it mean to be Reformed?”  Being “reformed” is currently in vogue.  That is, it’s cool to be a Calvinist.  This growing trend which has been documented by the New York Times, Time Magazine, and U.S.A. Today has produced new interest in Reformed Christianity but it has also produced much confusion about what it means to be Reformed.  So it’s currently a hot topic worth addressing.

Second, to speak of “Reformed” Christians is to speak of the heritage of the Anglican Church, which both me and my friend who asked the question are part of.  Unfortunately, just as people from Idaho will pretend they’re from somewhere else when they move to a big city so have many Anglicans forgotten where they’ve come from.  The Anglican Church was born in the fires (literal) of the Protestant Reformation, of which the Church of England adopted a fairly strict Reformed (yes Calvinist!) approach to theology in its first 100 years.  Just as visiting with your quirky friend’s parents is always an “aha” moment, so too knowing where this church has come from should prove a revealing experience.

Through several posts in the coming weeks I hope to address this question in a way that brings clarity to the term.  This might appear to be solely an academic exercise, but it most assuredly is not.  The clergy at Trinity Church consider those doctrines known as “Reformed” to be closest to the heart of the scriptures and they inform every sermon, Bible study, prayer, and counselling session done by us at this church.  Perhaps more importantly, these doctrines have sunk deep into the well of our lives and affected us profoundly.  I hope in the coming weeks as I attempt to engage this question, not only will your heads grow larger with new knowledge but more importantly so would your hearts.  The Reformed Christian, if anything, is a Christian deeply concerned with the heart and its “bigness” for the glory of God as revealed in Jesus Christ.

In this first post I aim no higher than a simple introduction.  So where to begin?  How about the beginning!  The first four words of the Bible are “In the beginning, God…” (Gen 1.1).  Before the larger conversation of creation, humanity, culture, sin, redemption, and restoration can begin we must first pause and acknowledge that the conversation must always begin with God.  Whatever it is that we speak of, the Reformed Christian must always begin with “In the beginning, God.”   Renowned theologian J.I. Packer in his introduction to John Owen’s Death of Death in the Death of Christ puts it this way:

Calvinism is a theocentric (God-centred) way of thinking about all life under the direction and control of God’s own Word. Calvinism, in other words, is the theology of the Bible viewed from the perspective of the Bible—the God-centred outlook which sees the Creator as the source, and means, and end, of everything that is, both in nature and in grace.

By “all life,” Packer means our work, our friendships, our creativity, our imaginations, our exercise, our marriages, our sex lives, our parentings, our youth and old age, and death itself must be acknowledged as flowing from God.  But it is not enough to recognize that these things merely flow from God.  Rather, it must be acknowledged that they are not only from him but also for him (Col 1.16).

For the Reformed Christian, worship is not something done on a Sunday but rather since all things are “from him and for him” all of life is an act of worship.  During the Reformation this came to be distilled in the Latin phrase Soli Deo Gloria, which means “glory to God alone.”  This means that all of life is invested with spiritual significance and is an act of worship.  Your job, no matter how worthless it might seem to you nevertheless has meaning because it is an act of worship aiming for the glory of God.  The intimacy between a man and a woman in marriage might seem like the farthest thing from church, but God alone will have the glory in the marriage bed.  Sex between a husband and wife is an act of worship aiming for the glory of God.  Dutch Calvinist Abraham Kuyper puts it well when he writes:

And because God has fully ordained…all life, therefore the Calvinist demands that all life be consecrated to His service…God is present in all life, with the influence of His omnipresent and almighty power, and no sphere of human life is conceivable in which religion does not maintain its demands that God shall be praised, that God’s ordinances shall be observed, and that every labor shall be permeated with fervent and ceaseless prayer. Wherever man may stand, whatever he may do, to whatever he may apply his hand, in agriculture, in commerce and in industry, or his mind, in the world of art, and science, he is, in whatsoever it may be, constantly standing before the face of his God, he is employed in the service of his God, he has strictly to obey his God, and above all, he has to aim at the glory of his God.(Kuyper, The Stone Lectures)

Thus the Reformed Christian is not satisfied with a spirituality that is confined to the church, the small group, or the fellowship hall.  The Reformed Christian brings God and his glory into every aspect of human life and makes every action an action of worship.  It is a spirituality that seeps into every aspect of the daily grind, unifying seemingly fragmented events and actions under the banner of God’s glory.

And there is one most satisfying aspect where the Reformed Christian must insist that God and God alone have glory.  This aspect is in the aspect of salvation.  I will say more (much more!) on this later, but for now one or two things will do.  Paul writes:

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8-9)

No one may boast says the Apostle.  But why would we boast?  We would boast, because in some sense we wish to glorify the object of our boasting.  And when my faith is strong, I will often boast in it!  If not to the whole world, perhaps to just myself.  When I am disciplined in scripture reading, in prayers, and in service I boast!  If not to the whole world, at least to my own conscience.  But on occasion, my faith becomes feeble.  On occasion, I do not read, pray.  On occasion the only reason I serve Christ is because I’m expected to by others.  And then where is my boasting!?!?  But more importantly, where is my assurance?

If I trust in my faith, my works, my discipline I will inevitably be disappointed.  Thus it is not merely a doctrinal concern for the Reformed Christian to say “to God alone be the glory!,” but principally it is a pastoral concern.  For you and I to have assurance, to have joy and peace before God we need something or someone more dependable than ourselves.  Thus the Reformed Christian turns to Christ.  The Reformed Christians says of his repentance. “In the beginning, God!”  The Reformed Christians says of his faith, “In the beginning, God!”  The Reformed Christian says of his prayers, study, and service, “In the beginning, God!”  The Reformed Christian says of his perseverance, “In the beginning, God!”  And as the Reformed Christian dies, his faltering life turning the page on this life and opening up the new chapter of eternal life he will say, “In the beginning, God!”  For every good thing that happens in the life of the Reformed Christian he must say “In the beginning, God!

Thus the Reformed Christian sees the initiation of every good thing, whether it be faith, or fatherhood, hard work, creativity, salvation etc. all have their initiation in God and are ultimately for him.  The Reformed Christian leads a happy, grateful life, under the knowledge that God has thought of him graciously and affectionately.   Because God finishes what he starts, we not only thank him that he began something in us but we wholeheartedly trust in him to finish it.   So I will close with a brief paragraph from Charles Spurgeon:

“ it is not prayer, it is not faith, it is not our doings, it is not our feelings upon which we must rest, but upon Christ and on Christ alone.  We are apt to think that we are not in a right state, that we do not fell enough, instead of remembering that our business is only with Christ.  O soul, of thou couldst fix thy soul on Jesus, and neglect every thing else- if thou couldst but despise good works, and aught else, so far as they relate to salvation, and look wholly, simply on Christ, I feel that Satan would soon give up throwing thee down, he would find that it would not answer his purpose, for thou wouldst fall on Christ, and like the giant who fell upon his mother, the earth, thou wouldst rise up each time stronger than before.”

Spurgeon, “The Comer’s Conflict with Satan” Spurgeon’s Sermons Vol II pg 309

Read Part II of this series here

Trinity Prayer Letter

Every week I send out a prayer letter to those on a church mailing list.  I will begin posting them on this blog as well.

“What thanksgiving can we return to God for you, for all the joy that we feel for your sake before our God, as we pray most earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?” (1 Thess 3.9-10)

One of the things that you and I can easily overlook is the grace of God to grow and mature our brothers and sisters in Christ through prayer.  In the above excerpt from Paul’s letter to the Church in Thessalonica, Paul reveals that he prays earnestly night and day that he may see the church and that God would supply what is lacking in their faith.  No matter how long you may have been following Christ, there are still parts of us that are broken and sinful.  This is true not only of you, but it is true of the person sitting next to you in the pew.  It’s true of the pastor as well.  You can directly contribute to God’s good work in restoring these broken parts of the soul in your church family by praying that God would supply what is lacking in our faith.  In addition to the prayers below, I invite you to pick one person this week and pray specifically that God would supply what is lacking in their faith.  If you want some specifics, pray that they would draw near to Christ in prayer, experience the help of the Holy Spirit, be especially touched by a piece of scripture.  If you have a friend or family member that doesn’t know Christ you could pray that the Father would draw them near to Christ.  At the end of the week, let them know you’ve been praying for them.

1. We have had two deaths in our church family.  Beverly Gehrman died on the morning of Dec 5th.  Please pray for the whole family, but particularly Dick (her husband) that he would know the comfort of the Holy Spirit.  The funeral will be this Thursday at 1:00 p.m.  Sarah Springs died this morning at 8:30.  The death was unexpected.  Please pray for all involved as the family mourns the loss of yet another dearly loved family member.  Pray particularly that they would know that God “works all things to the good of those who love him.” (Rom 8.28)
2. We have two dear, faithful Christian women who are very ill.  I have not asked their permission to put their names in this prayer letter, but God knows their names.  Pray for healing and comfort.  Pray that they would glorify God in their bodies during this difficult time.  Pray also for their husbands and family.
3. Our vestry meets this evening at 5:30 p.m.  Please pray that your elected leaders will be granted wisdom and will be blessed in their work of service.
4. The search committee for our new Pastor for Children and Families will meet this Wednesday.  Please pray for this team and pray for the person God has in mind to come serve us in this important role.  Pray for a short search process.
5. Please continue to pray for Bruce and Karen Geary as they prepare to move to Myrtle Beach and serve at Trinity.

Blessings!

Rob

The Gift

In the month of December a tsunami of human bodies will flood the local malls, outlets, and toy stores. Even (if not especially!) Christians will be swept away by the human tidal wave that characterizes the Christmas rush. But what if there’s more to Dec 25th than the latest e-reader or smart phone? What if there are greater things to anticipate than what’s under the tree? What if there was a gift out there so satisfying you would never need anything ever again? Come find out what we mean. Our new series, “The Gift” starts Sunday Nov 28th at Trinity Church.

The Gift Part I (Gen 1.1-27) Preached by Rob Sturdy on Nov 28th

The Gift Part II (Gen 1.31-2.17) Preached by Iain Boyd on Dec 5th

 

Syllabus for Immersion Section II Biblical Theology Part I

Required Text:  ESV Study Bible, Vos, G. Biblical Theology (if you wish to order this through the Trinity Book Stall let me know ASAP)

Oct 20^th:          An Introduction to Biblical Theology and the Gospel in Creation

• Biblical Readings:             Luke 24:  13-35, Gen chs. 1-2
• Readings from the ESV:   The Theology of the Old Testament (pg 29), Old Testament Timeline (pg 32), God’s Relationship With Creation (pg 2529), Interpreting the Bible (pg 2561), Interpreting the Bible: a historical overview (pg 2563), Reading the Bible (pg 2567-2576)
• Other Readings:    Walton, J.H. “Creation in Genesis 1.1-2:3 and the Ancient Near East” Calvin Theological Journal 43 (2008) pgs 48-63.  Click here for a link to this article

Oct 27^th:          The Fall and the Promises of Redemption

• Biblical Reading:              Gen chs. 3-11
• Readings from the ESV:   Introduction to the Pentateuch (pg 35), Introduction to Genesis (pg 39)
• Other Readings:    Vos pgs 41-65

Nov 3^rd:           Covenant and Redemption

• Biblical Reading               Gen chs. 12-50
• Readings from the ESV:   God’s Plan of Salvation (pg 2501)
• Other Readings:                Jeon, J.K. Covenant Theology pgs 116-130 & 213-234

Nov 6^th:           A day with the Rev. Dr. Kendall Harmon

Nov 10^th:         The Exodus and the Covenanted People

• Biblical Reading               Exodus
• Other Readings:                Vos pg 100-183

Nov 17^th:         Covenant Null and Void?  The Fall of Kingdom

• Biblical Readings              1 & 2 Kings, (Pick one MAJOR Prophet)
• Other Readings:                OPTIONAL BUT USEFUL Vos pg 234-296

 

A Day with Bishop Fitz Allison at Trinity Church

For more information about the Immersion Leadership Experience click here

Rob Sturdy: Spiritual Presence in the Sacramental Theology of the Medieval Church

As many of you know I continue my studies for a Masters in Theology.  This essay was for a course called “Pre-Reformation developments.”  The paper principally deals with the doctrine of the spiritual presence of Christ in the Eucharist during the Medieval period.  Thanks to the folks at Trinity Church for letting me pursue advanced academic studies and a special thanks to Colin Burch for providing editorial review.  The strange language used towards the end of the paper is “middle English.”  It’s not quite as hard to read as it looks.

How, if at all, is Christ present in the Eucharist?  The question itself was one of the most hotly contested of the Protestant Reformation.  Though the question is formally a matter of sacramental theology, the answer to the question for the Reformers often rested upon their own Christological presuppositions.  After all, how one understands the relationship between the divine and human natures of Christ, as well as what limits (if any!) one believes should be placed upon the physical body of Jesus will influence how one understands the possibility of the presence of Christ in the elements of bread and wine.  One could say that Christology sets the grounds rules for sacramental theology.

For many of the Reformed, the Christology that sets the ground rules for their sacramental theology has come to be known as the extra-Calvinisticum. Oberman defines the extra-Calvinisticum as the theological conviction “that the immutable God became man without diminution or loss as regards any of his attributes” joined with the conviction that the “existence of the second person of the Trinity et extra cernem.” [1] To put it more simply, the extra holds to the ubiquity of the divine Word, the local presence of the physical body of Jesus contained in heaven, while emphasizing the unity of the two in the person of Christ.[2] The extra-Calvinisticum as a formal Christology had many advocates long before its namesake John Calvin.  The affinity of patristic and even scholastic Christology with the extra-Calvinisticum has been demonstrated by many scholars and will be briefly reviewed in this paper.  Despite the presence of the extra-Calvinisiticum in the formal Christology of Calvin’s predecessors, it is noticeably lacking in the sacramental theology of many of Calvin’s more mainstream predecessors.  This does not mean, however, that the extra-Calvinisticum as applied to sacramental theology is altogether absent.  This paper will demonstrate that the extra-Calvinisticum as applied to sacramental theology was present, albeit in a minority fashion, from the late 9^th century up until the eve of the Reformation.  This will broaden the thesis that the extra-Calvinisticum should not only be regarded as a catholic doctrine in its formal Christology, but in its application to sacramental theology as well.