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Living Sacrifices – CC Exhortation

Christ Church on November 7, 2023

One of the mistakes we make when it comes to our worship is thinking that it is merely an exercise in which we are refilled. We have spent ourselves for Christ and here we are on the day of rest to be repowered by the Spirit in worship. There is truth in the sentiment for “from him, through him, and to him are all things.” So there is a “from him” in worship.

But, Paul says that we “present our bodies as living sacrifices unto God.” And he adds that this is our reasonable service and worship. Worship, then, is a very active endeavor. You are presenting yourself to God, and you are doing so as a sacrifice.

The sacrifices of the Old Testament were quite passive. Their job was to be taken to the altar and killed. But, those sacrifices could never take away sin. Christ was the only sacrifice that could cancel sin entirely. And He was not taken to the slaughter by another but laid down His own life willing.

In the new covenant, we don’t need any more blood sacrifices, for Christ was the once for all time sacrifice who paid for our sin completely.

But, where does that leave us? Aren’t our bodies sacrifices as we worship God? Yes, indeed. But we are not sacrifices for sin. We are living sacrifices. And as we offer up our very selves to God it should be a lively endeavor.

So sing robustly. Pray fervently. Hear the Word attentively. Confess sin diligently. Receive assurance of your forgiveness gladly. Eat and drink at the table with a lively faith.

Be done with dead and dreary words, attitudes, and works. You are very much alive. So alive, you will never truly die. So alive, you can go sacrifice yourself on an altar and go right on living.

Jared Longshore – November 5, 2023

The Word of the King – Exhortation King’s Cross

Christ Church on November 7, 2023

Last week in my exhortation I extolled the efficacy of the Word of God and its centrality in the work of the Reformation. This was a reminder to all of us of our need to keep the Word at the center of our lives. Today I want to apply this high view of God’s Word to our Lord’s Day worship service, specifically the Word preached in the sermon.

When you gather on the Lord’s Day, you are not coming here as mere spectators, looking for free entertainment. The sermon isn’t a classroom lecture or some kind of talk you can find on YouTube.

Rather, you are coming to hear from the living God. For in His wisdom, God has called feeble and weak men, to be His very own mouthpieces, speaking His words to His people. We see this in Scripture when the Apostle Paul wrote that he and his co-laborers were “ambassadors for Christ” with God making His appeal to men through them (2 Cor. 5:20).

And so consider the sermon like this: When an ambassador relays accurately the word of a king, it is no less the word of the king even though it comes through the mouth of a messenger. And though the word of the king is mediated through a much inferior man, it still carries the authority of the king.

The message proclaimed each week to you by a minister of God is one of life for the dead. It is a message that reconciles the world to Christ. For it is an authoritative message from the very Word of God.

And so the Westminster Larger Catechism lists a number of duties for the listeners of the preached Word, which include receiving it as “the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God.”

Now I recognize that you won’t hear all the sermon, let alone understand or remember it. You are human. God made you that way and He knows your frame. And He has given many of you tiny distractions with mouths and legs.

But know that each week, the Lord is adding to the soil of your heart exactly what you need from His Word. And trust that out of that fertile soil, the Spirit of God will cause the fruit of righteousness to grow.

Shawn Paterson – November 5, 2023

Let the Word Run Wild – Exhortation King’s Cross

Christ Church on October 29, 2023

Looking back on all that had been done for the reformation of the church over the course of his ministry, Martin Luther had this to say:

“I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.”

In the fuller quotation, he also humbly calls himself a “poor stinking bag of maggots” – but that is beside my point.

What I want us to consider this Reformation Sunday is this – what gave life to the Reformation? What renewed the church in Europe? Was it the genius of man? Was it mere politics or statecraft?

No, not at all. The Reformation was simply the result of the Word being freed to run wild and hit the hearts of men. This is because the Word is efficacious. The Word gives life. As Scripture testifies of itself, the Word is living and powerful (Rom. 1:16), able to save souls (Jas. 1:21), at work in those who believe (1 Thess. 2:13), and will not return void (Isa. 55:11).

Isaiah said that the Word of God is like water which gives life to the earth (Isa. 55:10), David likened it to a lamp casting light upon the path (Ps. 119:105), Jeremiah compared it to a hammer that shatters rock (Jer. 23:29), and Paul called it the sword of the Spirit, able to pierce the innermost man (Eph. 6:17, Heb. 4:12).

It was the Word spoken through Ezekiel that called the dry bones to life (Ezek. 37). And it was the Word spoken through the incarnate Word that called forth Lazarus from the tomb (Jn. 11:43).

This is simply what the Word of God does. Ever since the beginning – when God spoke and light came forth (Gen. 1:3). And so on this Reformation Sunday, we are reminded of our need to keep the Word at the center of our lives. Let all that you do be according to the Word, and there, in families and in a community where the Word is received and believed, the Spirit of God promises to be at work again.

Shawn Paterson – October 29, 2023

Exhortation CCT

Christ Church on October 29, 2023

Proverbs 15:4 says, “A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.” As Christians we must bring our body under submission. The apostle Paul said, “I discipline my body and keep it under control.” We must do this with our hands, to the point of cutting them off if they cause us to sin. We must do this with our eyes, to the point of plucking them out if they cause us to sin. But the tongue is so unruly, that James says if you tame the tongue, then you are also able to keep the whole body in check. There is no shortage of ways to sin with the tongue. Do you gossip behind a person’s back? Do you talk down to people? Do you exalt yourself? Do you mutter under your breath? Do you keep your mouth open when you should be shutting it? Do you use it to revile the President of the United States? Ephesians 4 talks about coarse jesting; do you use it for that? All of these things break the spirit within a person. Listening to someone brag is not fruitful, and it’s certainly not fun to find out something that was said behind your back. So how do we combat this? A gentle tongue implies a tame tongue. There’s a wild beast in your mouth and it must be bridled. If you can focus on any part of yourself for spiritual growth, focus on your tongue. And if you can do that, then you’ll be in a position to build your brother up rather than tear him down.

Daniel Namahoe – October 29, 2023

CCT Exhortation

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