Can we talk about Sunday?  I am writing this entry on a Sunday afternoon after a marvelous Sunday morning.  We do a little differently here on Sunday than many contemporary churches.  One of those differences is that we still believe that Sunday doesn’t end right after the middle of the day.  We still have a full worship and teaching time on Sunday night.  We simply believe that the Lord’s Day is the Lord’s Day in its entirety.  It is not biblical truth that has led us to redefine the Lord’s Day in terms of what it is and what we do with it; it is our contemporary culture and our consumption with the need for leisure time that had led us to this redefinition.  So, one thing that we do differently is that we do have Sunday Night Church.  And people come.  Lots of people come.  They understand what the Lord’s Day is and when it begins and ends.  Another thing that we do with the Lord’s Day is that we treat the four fifth Sundays that come each year in a different way than we do the other Sundays.

We only have one morning service on Sunday morning and then on Sunday night we observe family night.  Family night is simply a time when we cease from all other activities that normally go on on Sunday night and gather as one large family.  We sing, we pray, we give praise to God and we eat; usually in that order.  It is a time to testify to the goodness and grace of God in our lives.  I am writing these words on a fifth Sunday anticipating our Family Night tonight.  We have just had a wonderful time in the morning with full house and full service followed by a wonderful meal.  But my point in all of these words until right now will be made right here:  we did not begin this morning until 9:45 with Sunday School and we were done with the morning service around 12:20.  Earlier this morning as I had already completed at least a half days’ worth of work before 9:45 rolled around I began to ponder what people must be thinking when they think that because they came to Sunday School and then endured a worship service that went past twelve that they must have delighted God on His Day.  Some would think that they have demonstrated their devotion to God through such an investment of their lives.  Some are sure that it is a sign of their love for God and their desire to deliver Him praise.  Come now!  How could we wade around in such shallow water and think we are swimming?  How could we mount such a mole hill and consider it a mountain?  Seriously?

God gave us one whole twenty four hour day in seven for the purpose of rest from ordinary labor and for the worship of His great Name.  It is to be set aside in its entirety for “religious exercises” and I mean that phrase in the Puritan sense of the practice of what is proper to give good and right praise to God.  The time in which we are to engage in religious exercises is the entirety of the day.  It would look something like this:  the early morning would be spent in private and family prayer in preparation for the public worship of God.  The bulk of the morning would be spent in public worship followed by a fellowship with food in which the conversation would be salted by reflections on how to live out the preached word which would then be followed by a time of rest and then the Lord’s Day would end with the public worship of God followed by retirement to our homes where we would gather the family to reflect on the day and give thanks and praise to God for the good and right gift of this day.  How does that sound to you?  Be honest now.  You see, I believe how we see the Lord’s Day and what we do with it is very good barometer of the true marrow in the bones of who we really are. I hope our Sundays here say that we love God, His glory and His Word more than we love anything else.  And I hope that we say that we are glad to gather to give glory to His Name, even saying that we do not do it for long enough time in the morning and the evening.  What a day Sunday is!  What does your Sunday say?

 

 Walking in the Spirit: Faithfulness: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Galatians 5:13-26 [+/-]Galatians 5:13-26 [13]For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. [14]For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [15]But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. [16]But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17]For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. [18]But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. [19]Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20]idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21]envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [22]But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23]gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [24]And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [25]If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [26]Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (ESV)

Paul had he lived in our day and in our country would have loved this time of year.  The bowl season has just ended and the Super Bowl is just ahead.  The NBA is in full swing and March Madness is coming fast.  Spring training is just around the corner and the PGA Tour has arrived on the west coast.  And the World Cup is just in front of us.  Paul loved sports.  Read his letter and he uses the sports of his day as tools for teaching truth.  He says for example that he does not run without a goal and does not just punch the air but he disciplines himself to bring himself under control so that what he preaches to others he lives out in his life so as to be a bridge and not become a barrier (1 Corinthians 9:25-26 [+/-]1 Corinthians 9:25-26 [25]Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. [26]So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. (ESV)
).  Or when he gets near the end of his life and wants to describe his journey he uses image from the world of running and fighting:  I have finished the race and fought the good fight.  And here at the pivot point in this passage that is pointing us to how we are to live lives controlled by the Spirit he makes a statement and raises the question:  you were running well; who hindered you?  The word for hindered comes right out of the world of racing in which it was not abnormal for someone to cut in front of another to slow them down just enough to get them off stride and to impede their progress.  Paul is asking these believers:  who did that to you?  That is why your life is not filled with the fullness of the Holy Spirit; that is why you are struggling so much; that is why you are so downcast and depressed and not jubilant with joy.  And I want to ask you again this morning at the beginning of this sermon:  who is hindering you?  Here is a promise:  the more committed you are to Jesus as Lord of your life in every way the more certain it is that Satan will place people in your life whose role is to throw you off stride; they don’t mind you being a person of faith, they just don’t want that dimension of your life to dominate all that you are and all that you do.  And the extent to which we listen to their voice is the extent to which we cannot hear His and thus lose the sense of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

held at White Oak Ranch, Burke Co.

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
Isaiah 40:30-31 [+/-]Isaiah 40:30-31 [30]Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; [31]but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Women’s Ministry invites you to come away and wait for the Lord with us as He renews our strength. Come gain endurance with us as we learn to run without stumbling by drawing our strength from the only source that will last the entire race. We will begin the evening by eating dinner together. Throughout the evening and the following morning, we will have opportunities to delve together into God’s word and to share what we hear.

Cost: $20 includes lodging, 2 meals and materials. Scholarships are available.

Contact Carol to apply. Small Group Participation – Limit 12 women per retreat Everyone is invited even if you’ve been before. Each retreat will be identical so choose your date as soon as possible. The following date is available for now:

March 19 — 20, 2010

Each evening will begin at 5:30 and you will be on your way home by noon the following day. Though your time investment is only 18 hours (including sleeping), your time away will eliminate the busyiness that distracts us from God.

Need information or details, contact Carol Palmer at 706-554-5953. Transportation is available.
To Register: Simply fill out the THIS FORM and leave the completed form with your $20 payment in the church office.

I do believe that the doctrine of Scripture to which we are all the most resistant is the doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of God in all things.  I remember when this now to me very precious and sacred truth hit me squarely in the heart, I did not like it.  I wanted to prove that it was not true.  My argument was simple:  if God is truly sovereign in all things then I am not sovereign in anything.  I make choices that are designed to have an impact on the lives of people and produce a positive outcome but if God is sovereign even those choices are directed, even governed by His hand.  Such teaching was offensive to me.  I know now that it was offensive to me because I liked being and playing “god.”  I wanted to think that God needed me as a part of the work of His Kingdom and must be delighted that I had chosen to join Him in His work.  It was overwhelming at first for me to recognize that God needs no one or nothing.  God is completely perfect in and of Himself and it is the greatness of His grace alone that invites me into a relationship with Him on the basis of the death and resurrection of His Son.  Now if this doctrine scared me, what am I suppose it does to those who are attracted to churches that preach the full counsel of God but are wanting to reach people who are not attracted to the traditional church?

I have been able to learn something recently about what happens in these kinds of churches.  One of the churches that I really love where one of my heroes preaches the unsearchable riches of Christ has in recent years made a concerted effort to be more inviting to seekers.  The church has adjusted the forms of its worship as well as expanding its outreach to various campuses.  Thousands have responded being attracted by the power of the music and the penetrating perceptions of the preacher, but now some are beginning to waver.  Should we stay?  Should we walk away?  And it would not surprise you that the issue that is causing the stir is the issue of God’s sovereignty and particularly as that issue relates to salvation.  The question that is being raised that is rankling people is the question of the initiative of God vs. the initiative of humans.  Where does salvation originate?  Does it begin with God who for His glory and by His grace comes to us or does it begin with us who out of an intelligent choice choose to come toward God?  What disturbs those who are currently observers from the sideline is the teaching of John 6 [+/-]John 6 [6:1]After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. [2]And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. [3]Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. [4]Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. [5]Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" [6]He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. [7]Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." [8]One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, [9]"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" [10]Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. [11]Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. [12]And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost." [13]So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. [14]When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!" [15]Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. [16]When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, [17]got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. [18]The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. [19]When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. [20]But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." [21]Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. [22]On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. [23]Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. [24]So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. [25]When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" [26]Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. [27]Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." [28]Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" [29]Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." [30]So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? [31]Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" [32]Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. [33]For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." [34]They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." [35]Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. [36]But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. [37]All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. [38]For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. [39]And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. [40]For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." [41]So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." [42]They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" [43]Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. [44]No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. [45]It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-- [46]not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. [47]Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. [48]I am the bread of life. [49]Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. [50]This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. [51]I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." [52]The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" [53]So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. [54]Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. [55]For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. [56]Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. [57]As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. [58]This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." [59]Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. [60]When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" [61]But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? [62]Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? [63]It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. [64]But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) [65]And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." [66]After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. [67]So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" [68]Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, [69]and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." [70]Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." [71]He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him. (ESV)
that no  person can come to the Father unless that person is drawn by the Son.  Some in this particular place of which I am speaking are really struggling.  Some have already walk away, just like they did when Jesus taught this in John 6 [+/-]John 6 [6:1]After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. [2]And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. [3]Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. [4]Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. [5]Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" [6]He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. [7]Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." [8]One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, [9]"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" [10]Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. [11]Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. [12]And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost." [13]So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. [14]When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!" [15]Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. [16]When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, [17]got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. [18]The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. [19]When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. [20]But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." [21]Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. [22]On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. [23]Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. [24]So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. [25]When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" [26]Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. [27]Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." [28]Then they said to him, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" [29]Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." [30]So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? [31]Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" [32]Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. [33]For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." [34]They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." [35]Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. [36]But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. [37]All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. [38]For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. [39]And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. [40]For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." [41]So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." [42]They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" [43]Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. [44]No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. [45]It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-- [46]not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. [47]Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. [48]I am the bread of life. [49]Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. [50]This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. [51]I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." [52]The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" [53]So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. [54]Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. [55]For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. [56]Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. [57]As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. [58]This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever." [59]Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. [60]When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?" [61]But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, "Do you take offense at this? [62]Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? [63]It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. [64]But there are some of you who do not believe." (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) [65]And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father." [66]After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. [67]So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" [68]Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, [69]and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." [70]Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil." [71]He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him. (ESV)
.

Know what the irony is to me?  If God is sovereign in our salvation then there are no seekers after God except those who have already been found by Him.  No lost person seeks God because they can’t.  Only those who have been saved by the grace of God seek Him.  And oh how we seek Him.  It is one of the most sure signs that we are His.  Those who think that they are seeking to be His who are not already His may be further from Him than they know.  Maybe that is why just the hearing of the teaching of God’s sovereignty sends them scattering from the light of the absolute Truth of God.

 

 Walking in the Spirit: Freedom [39:45m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Michael O'Brien - Our Father [2:53m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Galatians 5:1-12 [+/-]Galatians 5:1-12 [5:1]For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. [2]Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. [3]I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. [4]You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. [5]For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. [6]For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. [7]You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? [8]This persuasion is not from him who calls you. [9]A little leaven leavens the whole lump. [10]I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. [11]But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. [12]I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! (ESV)

Look with me at the last two verses of Galatians 5 [+/-]Galatians 5 [5:1]For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. [2]Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. [3]I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. [4]You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. [5]For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. [6]For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. [7]You were running well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth? [8]This persuasion is not from him who calls you. [9]A little leaven leavens the whole lump. [10]I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. [11]But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been removed. [12]I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves! [13]For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. [14]For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." [15]But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. [16]But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17]For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. [18]But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. [19]Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20]idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21]envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [22]But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23]gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [24]And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [25]If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [26]Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. (ESV)
.  Here is our goal.  This is where we are headed.  Verse 25 is a very simple conditional sentence:  if our lives really are controlled by the Spirit of God then everything we are and everything we do will be governed and guided by the Holy Spirit.  Pride will increasingly pass away as humility emerges out of our love for God that comes from His love for us and enables us to love one another.   Anger and bitterness of spirit because we do not get our way will be deeply buried because of the joy that is ours in Jesus.  Envy of others for whatever reason will increasingly evaporate because of the peace that we have come to know through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, the fruit of the Spirit will be increasingly evident in our lives.  This is our goal but in order to get to this goal we must go back to verse one and listen to Paul as he points us down the path that leads us toward this goal.

Michael O’Brien sang in our worship service, and we’ve included one of his songs, to be on his new release this March. Please visit his website here: http://www.michaelo.org/ or if you are on Facebook, his fan page is here: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=199565099515

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

I want to tell you and talk about three blogs I read recently that are disconcertingly connected and tie the three to one conversation that I had recently.  Blog number one was an assessment of a recent report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation about the use of electronic media by children from the age of eight to eighteen.  The report was that children in this age range in our culture spend more time in some form of electronic media than in any other activity:  7.5 hours daily, seven days a week.  That is the bulk of every day spent in some form of electronic stimulation where the images are fast moving and constantly changing.  It has the potential to produce a population whose activity is frenetic for whom we must prescribe medication without ever thinking that they may just need to read a book or go for a long walk.  Blog number two was a reflection on a book by Diana West, The Death of the Grown Up in which she argues that we have not only in our culture shifted from adults to children as the center of the world but also have concluded that the children have greater wisdom than the adults.  We should not only pay them more attention but also pay attention to them.  We should shape our world around what they want and desire.  Let me reserve comment here because any comment at this point would either make me or some who read this feel stupid.  The third blog was about the sad state of preaching in our culture.  Now there is some preaching that is in a sad state but the blog was about the fact that too many churches are squeezing out preaching because it no longer seems to be either useful or relevant.  Some churches have given it a very restricted twenty minute time slot and others have reduced it to even less. Given the above, it may be that we will soon listen to the wisdom of children and divide the sermon into part children’s sermon and part for adults.  Now there is an idea given the great wisdom that resides in children:  that was my toy, not it was mine, I had it first.  If you don’t give it back to me I will hit you over the head with my tootsie pop; now that is great wisdom.  But I digress.

The conversation happened with my son-in-law while he was here.  He told me that he sensed that to listen to my preaching, a person had to be willing to think.  And then he told me about two preachers at his church:  one that was like me that many people his age did not like and often did not attend church when he preached and the other who as a story-teller with little of the story telling tied to the Bible that people his age loved to hear.  They went when he preached. But then he made an interesting observation:  those who like the guy who tells the stories tend to me really self-centered and shallow in their understanding of the Bible.  I perked up.  They tend to like this guy who tells stories because he really makes them feel good when he preaches.  He preaches in a way that helps them in practical ways toward getting what they want for themselves.  I’m really listening now.  And the other guy:  well, he just tells them what the Bible says and how God really wants to change their lives.  They don’t want to hear that.  Neither do I frankly.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if life were an unending sandbox where I could play with my toys and you could play with yours and I could get yours when I wanted them and whine to heaven when you got mine!  It would be the world of the child and it would be really childish.  But to stay in that world we would need people who would represent God to us in such a way that He would be pleased with our sandboxes  and give us more toys with which to play while we are in our sandboxes.  It is the kind of world that we are rapidly creating and it is why genuine biblical preaching is falling on such tough times in this kind of world.  At least that is what I learned from those three blogs and one conversation.

 

 Wednesday Evening January 20, 2010: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Matthew 6 [+/-]Matthew 6 [6:1]"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. [2]"Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. [3]But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, [4]so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. [5]"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. [6]But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. [7]"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. [8]Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. [9]Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. [10]Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. [11]Give us this day our daily bread, [12]and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [13]And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [14]For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, [15]but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [16]"And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. [17]But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, [18]that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. [19]"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, [20]but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. [21]For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. [22]"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, [23]but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! [24]"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. [25]"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [26]Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27]And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [28]And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [29]yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30]But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31]Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' [32]For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33]But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. [34]"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (ESV)

His Temptations, my temptations series wrapped up!

Long time, no posts; and I have missed it.  So, here we go for the new year.  I want to post twice a week.  That will be my goal:  Sunday or Monday and then again near the end of the week, always reserving the right to add another or two depending on issues that crop up or just my need to share my heart.  I begin this year with some simple reflections on yesterday.

It was a holiday for many.  It was for my bride and so I took the afternoon off to travel with her to Augusta for shopping where I had two very new experiences.  But before I talk about those, let me just let you know that I always feel a sense of guilt on Martin Luther King Day.  That guilt is because our office is open.  We are not open, I pray; in defiance of the day but because we only get so many holidays and we have chosen Good Friday over MLK Day.  I think that it is a good choice but I still feel guilty being open on MLK Day.  I think we ought to close the office simply as a sign of respect for our black brothers and sisters in the body of Christ.  I understand institutions whose origins and continued existence is rooted in racism being open for business on this day.  It is not defiance for them but a declaration of freedom from whatever oppression was felt historically by them during the days of  the Civil Rights Movement.  I was a young teen during those days and still remember the distress I felt when I saw and heard white men who were respected businessmen berating and beating black men.  Many of those white men were prominent citizens in my home town; many of those black men were my friends.  I still remember the confusion I felt as a young man not yet saved as I heard white men being praised by other white men for excommunicating entire black families from their homes and properties.  I understood just enough about Christianity and common decency to know that what they were being affirmed for was neither Christian nor common decency.  But I was a young buck then who was told by my elders, my grandfather being one of them; that one day I would understand.  Well, I have no idea when that day will come.  I am fifty seven and see today sitting in this seat  what happened then in the sixties as sinister and as sinful.  There is nothing right about it in my eyes now; in fact I see it now as a greater travesty of justice and tragedy of human abuse than I had ever seen it during those days.  That is why even at my age I am very sensitive to cultural issues that have no biblical base; many men and women who in those days treated black people as fodder were not mean and ugly people; they were captured by a culture and not controlled by the Holy Spirit.  They really thought that they were wise but they were fools.  I do not want some young person to say that about me when and if I get concerned about issues that are important to me but have no biblical warrant.

Well, enough of that.  Here are my two unique and new experiences from yesterday.  First, we are in the mall and Anne asked if I minded walking down to “sketchers” with her.  I don’t mind walking anywhere with her.  It makes me look better to walk with her.  Now I don’t know what “sketchers” is.  Never been there.  Assuming it is an art store or a craft shop, I walk in to a shoe store.  Boy was I surprised.  I have wondered for some time where some dudes like John Veldboom got their shoes.  They are cool and funky.  Well, now I know.  These are most unique looking shoes.  I was enthralled by looking at them and learned something new.  Second, Anne asked me to go with to “hobby lobby.”  We had just been to “buy buy baby.”  I love that store.  I love it second to “bed, bath and beyond.”  So I thought that this venture into ‘hobby lobby” would be fun.  I walked around that store, count them now; three times.  I walked out.  Jesse Palmer’s sister and her daughter were walking in as I walked out and asked me what I was doing and I told them, “I just walked around that store three times and for the first time in my life I have found a store in which there is nothing for me that is useful; can you tell me why all that stuff is in that store?”  Can you?  Happy New  Year.

 

 Sacred Truth [41:11m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Psalm 139 [+/-]Psalm 139 [139:1]O LORD, you have searched me and known me! [2]You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. [3]You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. [4]Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. [5]You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. [6]Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. [7]Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? [8]If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! [9]If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, [10]even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. [11]If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night," [12]even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. [13]For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. [14]I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. [15]My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. [16]Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. [17]How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! [18]If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you. [19]Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me! [20]They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain! [21]Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? [22]I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies. [23]Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! [24]And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!

Conservative evangelical churches all across America have been observing for some time now the third Sunday in January as Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.  I never come to this Sunday without an awareness of what day it is and what is being done on this day, but I am not always drawn to address the issue directly.  I was this year.  Back in the Fall during some of my prayer times it was becoming clear to me that this issue was an issue that needed our direct focus this year.  And it is not as if it does not deserve our focus every year.  We are as demonstrated by our decisions a pro-choice culture.  We love our freedom to make our decisions about the directions for our lives based on the sole authority of what we feel or think in the moment of crisis is best for us.  It has led us since 1973 to destroy fifty million babies.  That is 1.5 million a year, four thousand a day, one every twenty seconds which would work out to between twenty to thirty lives being destroyed during the course of this sermon.  At the same time we are spending literally millions of dollars to find and protect endangered species so as to keep them alive.  And it seems that too few see both the historical ironies and the biblical travesty of such an approach.  The historical irony is that brave men and women engaged in a necessary war to stop the demonically maniacal philosophies of men like Hitler and Mussollini while we have in our day killed more children by way of abortion than they did in all their gas chambers combined.  And the biblical travesty is that we destroy that which the Bible calls sacred and we treasure that which the Bible says exists for the sole reason of serving the purposes of those who are sacred to God because we are made in His image.  But let me move forward here by saying that I know what the issue for our society is and for some of you in this room; the issue is the nature of the embryonic fetus in the womb.  Is this sperm joined to egg combination really a human being?  No other issue tests our commitment to the sacred truth of Scripture quite like this one.  We all will decide whether this book is sacred truth and it has the final word or that we can know what is sacred through secular scientific investigations and we will choose stand there.

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

 

 Wednesday Evening January 13, 2010 [38:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Matthew 6 [+/-]Matthew 6 [6:1]"Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. [2]"Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. [3]But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, [4]so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. [5]"And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. [6]But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. [7]"And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. [8]Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. [9]Pray then like this: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. [10]Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. [11]Give us this day our daily bread, [12]and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. [13]And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [14]For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, [15]but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. [16]"And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. [17]But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, [18]that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. [19]"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, [20]but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. [21]For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. [22]"The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, [23]but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! [24]"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. [25]"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? [26]Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? [27]And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? [28]And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [29]yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30]But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? [31]Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' [32]For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. [33]But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. [34]"Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. (ESV)

 

 Super Conquerors [36:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Romans 8:31-39 [+/-]Romans 8:31-39 [31]What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32]He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? [33]Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. [34]Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-- more than that, who was raised--who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. [35]Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? [36]As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." [37]No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. [38]For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, [39]nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (ESV)

It was early in my ministry and among my first funerals.  I had yet to have any training at all and so we doing ministry by mimicry.  I did not have a lot of good role models for ministry in my town but I had one great one and in those early days, I did as he did.  It provided for a good start.  But something happened one day at a graveside that startled me in a way that stirred me to ask questions of a text.  I stood there that day ready to begin the committal service and did what I  had seen him do; I pointed to the casket stretched over the empty grave and raised the question of Romans 8:31 [+/-]Romans 8:31 [31]What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? (ESV)
, “what then shall we say to these things?”  And it was right there and right then that I was startled by this stirring:  is this what Paul is talking about?  Is this an appropriate use of this text in this way beside an open grave and a grieving family?  Well, is it?

Learn more about this message by downloading the sermon notes here!

 

 Wednesday Evening January 6, 2010 [48:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Genesis

The Creation Ordinances continued…

Pastor Al picks up on God as the Covenant making and keeping God.

Romans 9 [+/-]Romans 9 [9:1]I am speaking the truth in Christ--I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit-- [2]that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. [3]For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. [4]They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. [5]To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. [6]But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, [7]and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but "Through Isaac shall your offspring be named." [8]This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. [9]For this is what the promise said: "About this time next year I will return, and Sarah shall have a son." [10]And not only so, but also when Rebekah had conceived children by one man, our forefather Isaac, [11]though they were not yet born and had done nothing either good or bad--in order that God's purpose of election might continue, not because of works but because of him who calls-- [12]she was told, "The older will serve the younger." [13]As it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated." [14]What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God's part? By no means! [15]For he says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." [16]So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. [17]For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." [18]So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills. [19]You will say to me then, "Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?" [20]But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, "Why have you made me like this?" [21]Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? [22]What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, [23]in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory-- [24]even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? [25]As indeed he says in Hosea, "Those who were not my people I will call 'my people,' and her who was not beloved I will call 'beloved.'" [26]"And in the very place where it was said to them, 'You are not my people,' there they will be called 'sons of the living God.'" [27]And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, [28]for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay." [29]And as Isaiah predicted, "If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah." [30]What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; [31]but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. [32]Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, [33]as it is written, "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."

Basic Biblical Beliefs

Pastor Al speaks on the Absolute Sovereignty of God, with regards to the purpose of salvation.

 

 Suffering and Sanctification [35:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Romans 8:18-30 [+/-]Romans 8:18-30 [18]For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. [19]For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. [20]For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope [21]that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. [22]For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. [23]And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. [24]For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? [25]But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. [26]Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. [27]And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. [28]And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. [29]For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. [30]And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (ESV)

Does Romans 8:17 [+/-]Romans 8:17 [17]and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (ESV)
bother you at all: The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children then heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him (Rom. 8:16-17 [+/-]Romans 8:16-17 [16]The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [17]and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (ESV)
). It is as if we go from such glorious heights where we are declared by God on the basis of His dwelling by His Spirit in our lives to be His children and heirs of His rich inheritance which comes to us in and through Christ to the depths of despair where it is declared that the way of entry into this glorious inheritance is through suffering. But if we had the eyes to see as God sees we would know that it is the suffering that is glorious for it is our participation in suffering to the praise and glory of God that is the proving ground of both the validity and integrity of what we say about who we are as the children of God. Romans 8:17 [+/-]Romans 8:17 [17]and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (ESV)
is a connective verse; we don’t see this as clearly as we should since almost every translation separates verse 17 from verse 18 when in fact they are inextricably linked. God sanctifies us by His Spirit and through His Word and it is seen in our living out our lives under the dominion of the Spirit. Our lifestyle in all that we are and do is led by the Spirit of God through the Word of God. And it is the Spirit of God who leads us into suffering where our witness to the glory of God and the grace of God shines most brightly.

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