First Presb Church of Belzoni (PCA)

Dr. Lloyd Kim, Coordinator of Mission to the Wold -the PCA's international missions organization-, is with us for our church's Winter Bible Conference. This year's conference is an emphasis on missions.--This first sermon is on the commission Christ gives his church, based in our joy.

This was an audible-called sermon. Due to sicknesses, floods, and travel, many in our congregation were missing, so we changed what we were doing. --Luke includes two strange accounts with little explanation in Acts 9. One records a paralyzed man named Aeneas- the other, a dead woman named Dorcas, or -Gazelle-. Why does Luke do this- --What was Luke thinking-

Do you have a resum-- Do you have one for your child- Competition among parents and families can be intense. There are limited spots on cheer squads, soccer teams, private schools, clubs, and universities. Our children MUST succeed. If they don't, we have failed as parents.--This is the world's perspective. Not that Christians want their children to fail, but we have a different metric for success. What is it- --How do you know you are succeeding as a parent- How do you know when your children are truly successful---In Proverbs and Romans, Scripture reveals the answer. Success comes from submission to God's design from a heart of faith, resisting independence and autonomy, and conformity to the perfect and beloved Son, Jesus.

The 5th commandment is well known. Even kids who know only a few of the 10 commandments will typically know this one. They learn it from the earliest age, and as they age and have their own kids, they realize it's importance, and it's promise. Some forget it, however, or despise it. Ultimately, too many rebel from the authority of the Heavenly Father, dishonoring him and themselves. --This commandment is picked up by Paul in the New Testament in Ephesians, and Paul re-asserts it to his ex-pagan and Jewish congregation. He asserts that parents have an extraordinary authority over their children, and children owe their parents an extraordinary obedience. --Why- Several reasons.

Some doctrines make people mad. One of those is perseverance of the saints, or what some call preservation of the saints. Both phrases point to the key truth- those whom God calls, he justifies, and those whom he justifies, he glorifies. A salvation in God's hands will never fail- a person indwelled by the Spirit shall never be abandoned.--To believe in perseverance-preservation is not to believe in the strength of Man, but rather, is to confess the glory of God shown in his effective grace. In times of existential crisis, or in times of great joy, this doctrine is for God's people and is itself a means of grace, based in the finished and ongoing work of Christ on our behalf, and brings us great comfort.

There are doctrines, and then there are DOCTRINES. We like God's love- do we love his judgment- --Some truths are easier to accept than others, but for God's people, who are continuously being transformed from one degree of Christ's glory into another, truth and love-loving truth-is necessary, especially when the truth is hard. --God's judgment is one such truth. In 2020-in all ages, really-men have recoiled at the thought of God's judgment. They hate it. But it is coming. It is real. And there is refuge. --What is it that makes it so difficult a doctrine-

The Lord's Day-the Christian Sabbath-is not an anomaly- it is not an aberration in history, but the fulfillment of it. The fall of Man in Eden's time of testing --Heaven is a big deal in the Christian church especially, aka -life after life after death.- But is that really our hope- Scripture tells us a time is coming when we will dwell, both body and soul, in the presence of the Lord. Revelation 21 and 22 give full picture to this great Sabbath, this great Rest, testified by Christ himself. --This is our hope. This is the fulfillment of everything we experience temporarily every Sunday in worship, when God's people gather to remember who they are, and how glorious our Triune God really is. This marvelous God is not simply commanding us to obey, but inviting us into his time, and he is making it come to be in our midst, until we are in his.

The Sabbath, i.e., the -Lord's Day,- is not merely for rest, sleep, or leisure. Far from it. It is for works of necessity and mercy, for worship, for renewal, through action and attention.--What actions, and what kind of attention, are we to take and have on this holy day- In the other 6 days, we spend energy to extend our empires of space. In the Lord's day, we spend energy to enjoy and know his Kingdom, which he is extending-we enter his holy time.--How-

The first in a series on the Fourth Commandment -Honoring and Remembering the Sabbath, to keep it holy-, which is part of a longer series on the Ten Commandments.--First Scripture reading from Exodus 20- Second Scripture reading from Hebrews 3 and 4.