Union Church

Lamentations 2:1-13

“the three goals of the initial poem—articulating grief, helping the community take responsibility for their shortcomings by means of spiritual interpretation, and helping members turn in prayer back to God as the only one who could take them beyond their catastrophe—are repeated in the second poem but at a more emotive and strident level in order to drive these messages home and encourage the community to turn to God in their own prayer.” 

"In the dust of the streets 

“The Lord has done what he purposed; he has carried out his word; which he commanded long ago; he has thrown down without pity;
he has made the enemy rejoice over you and exalted the might of your foes.”

“But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you. Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out.  The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me.” 

“What would happen to our faith if we believed that God reigns sovereign over both our celebration and our suffering?”

“This whole question of divine anger (ira dei) has been the subject of some sharp debate in the history of the church. It became known as the question of divine possibility (the quality or aptness in God to feel, suffer, or be angry) or impassibility (the denial of those qualities). Under the strong advocacy of Gnosticism (a philosophy that combined Greek and Oriental ideas with Christian teaching and professed access to truth that was a mystery to outsiders) a doctrine of God emerged that took the strongest exception to any claim that God could feel or suffer anything or that He could be angry.”

“believed that the God of the Old Testament was a ‘Demiurge’ (a god subordinate to the supreme God and responsible for the creation of evil) whose involvement in war, suffering, and judgments disqualified Him from being the God of grace and goodness whom Marcion found in most of Paul’s epistles in the New Testament.”

“Lactantius, wrote his De Ira Dei, ‘The Anger of God.’ For him passions or emotions were not in themselves evil, but avenues of virtue and goodness when kept under control. Furthermore, God must be moved to anger when He sees sin and wickedness in men and women just as He is moved to love them when they please Him. 

“He who loves the good, by this very fact hates the evil; and he who does not hate the evil, does not love the good; because the love of goodness issues directly out of the hatred of evil, and the hatred of evil issues directly out of the love of goodness. No one can love life without abhorring death; and no one can have an appetency for light, without an antipathy to darkness.”

“our problem with anger is that we define it as Aristotle did, ‘the desire for retaliation’ or a desire to get even and get revenge for a slight or real harm done to us. With anger goes the idea of a ‘brief madness’ and ‘an uneasiness or discomposure of the mind, upon the receipt of an injury, with a present purpose of revenge.’ But Lactantius defined anger as ‘a motion of the soul rousing itself to curb sin.’

Listen along as we begin our time in the book of Lamentations.

Notes//Quotes:

Lamentations 1:1-22

Title: Learning Lament

“In her book Journey through the Psalms, Denise Hopkins examines the use of lament in the major liturgical denominations in America. The study found that in the Lutheran Book of Worship, the Episcopalian Book of Common Prayer, The Catholic Lectionary for Mass, The Hymnal for the United Church of Christ, and in the United Methodist Hymnal, the majority of the Psalms omitted from liturgical use are the laments.”

“This trend is not only in the mainline traditions but in the less liturgical as well. In Hurting with God, Glenn Pemberton notes that lament constitutes 40 percent of the Psalms, but only 13 percent of the hymnal for the Churches of Christ, 19 percent of the Presbyterian hymnal, and 13 percent of the Baptist hymnal emphasize lament. Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) licenses local churches in the use of contemporary worship songs and tracks the songs that are most frequently sung in local churches. CCLI’s list of the top 100 worship songs  in August of 2012 reveals that only 5 of the songs would qualify as lament. Most of the songs reflect themes of praise.”

“the first of the five Lamentations has one monotonous theme repeated five separate times: ‘There is no one to comfort’ (1:2, 9, 16, 17, 21). 

“In section one (vv. 1-11) Jerusalem, is personified as a woman. Her present state is sharply contrasted with what she once was (vv. 1–3). Her forsaken roads, abandoned gates, grieving priests and maidens, exiled princes and nobles all tell part of her sad story (vv. 4–7). The reason for this wretched state of affairs (already hinted at in v. 5) is her awful sin (vv. 8–9). Even her sanctuary has been decimated (v. 10) trading her treasures to find food during the harsh famine (v. 11).” - Walter Kaiser

“For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name;”  Isaiah 54:5

8 Jerusalem sinned grievously;

“I called to my lovers,

12 “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow, which was brought upon me, which the Lord inflicted on the day of his fierce anger. 13 “From on high he sent fire; into my bones he made it descend; he spread a net for my feet; he turned me back; he has left me stunned, faint all the day long. 14 “My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand.” 

“The Lord is in the right, for I have rebelled against his word;” - Lamentations 1:18

“These are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the prophet sent from Jerusalem to the surviving elders of the exiles, and to the priests, the prophets, and all the people, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.” ….“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, for it is a lie that they are prophesying to you in my name; I did not send them, declares the Lord.”

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.” - Matthew 5:43-45

“do not listen to your prophets, your diviners, your dreamers, your fortune-tellers, or your sorcerers, who are saying to you, ‘You shall not serve the king of Babylon.” - Jeremiah 27:9

Listen in as we wrap up our series looking at the seven churches of Revelation.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 3:14-22

2 Cor 1:20-22

Its wealth was based on three things. First, it was a banking center. The banking arrangements for that part of the world were made there, and coins were minted there. It was a combination of Wall Street and Fort Knox. Second, it was also a garment center. The hills around Laodicea were famous for a certain breed of black-wooled sheep. From this wool, garments and carpeting were manufactured in Laodicea. Fashions were created there, in this mixture of a Paris salon and New York's Fifth Avenue.Third, it was a medical center. There was a medical school there, which had a worldwide reputation for two locally produced medicines. One was an ointment of nard, which was used to cure sore ears. But above all, it was famous for a certain eye powder. It was exported in tablet form, and the tablets were ground down and applied to the eyes as a cure for ophthalmia. It was a Johns Hopkins Hospital and Mayo Clinic to the ancient world. Money, fashion, medicine-these three successes brought the Laodiceans affluence and prosperity. They were so completely successful in these material blessings that they quite forgot about any other aspects of the world or existence. They were anesthetized by their affluence, and they lost all sense of God.  They were lukewarm.Lukewarmness is the special fault of the successful. Those who have achieved or inherited are particularly prone to it. It is a basic threat to our church and our Christian faith in these times. - Eugene Peterson

What does Jesus mean by rejecting the “lukewarm” Laodiceans and wishing for hot or cold? Koester suggests that the imagery has to do with hospitality. Chilled and warm wine were both popular drinks. When a guest arrived, his host might offer him wine chilled with snow, or wine mixed with warmed water. To be offered lukewarm wine was an insult to the guest and a mark against the host. In short, “The Laodiceans are unlike the hot or cold drink that a banqueter might desire. They are tepid, objectionable, and something to be vomited out of the mouth.” That fits with the overall imagery of the message to Laodicea, which ends with an explicit reference to a banquet. The Laodiceans have not welcomed Jesus as an honored guest. Even when they don’t leave Him outside the door knocking to get in, they haven’t been good hosts. - Peter Leithart

Counterfeits of Repentance (Tim Keller)

What repentance is:

In Proverbs 28:13 we read: “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” First, we must “confess”—a word that is helpfully contrasted in the proverb with the word conceal. To confess is to make a full, clean admission of what you have done wrong, without qualification or excuse, without minimizing or relativizing. It is to take full responsibility. The Hebrew word “yadah”, translated here as “confess,” always has the sense of praising and thanking God. So confessing a sin is not merely telling the truth, nor is it an abstract “I deserve punishment of some kind.” Rather, it is admitting that you have been failing to love and honor God, and at this moment you begin to glorify him by admitting how you have wronged him and others.

What is received in repentance? 

Nor will God force any door to enter in. He may send a tempest about the house; the wind of his admonishment may burst doors and windows, yea, shake the house to its foundations; but not then, not so, will he enter. The door must be opened by the willing hand, ere the foot of Love will cross the threshold. He watches to see the door move from within. Every tempest is but an assault in the siege of love. The terror of God is but the other side of his love; it is love outside the house, that would be inside, love that knows the house is no house, only a place, until it enter home, but a tent, until the Eternal dwell there. George Macdonald 

Listen along as Anthony teaches on the church of Philadelphia.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 3:7-13 - Kim J. Reading

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

“32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets— 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight.”

“At 4:1 the ‘open door’ will provide John with privileged access to the heavenly throne-room, and with it to heavenly mysteries otherwise hidden from him. The same privileged access is offered to the faithful Philadelphians, and indeed all who heed the words of this message, enabling them to see their own difficult situation from God’s perspective, and thus make sense of it. When one is privileged to glimpse through the opened door, what originally appeared to be a defeat is transformed into a glorious vision of victory.”

“Will play the role of the heathen and acknowledge that the church is the Israel of God.” 

“Some commentator have affirmed that the way in which Christ will protect believers from the coming tribulation of 3:10 is by physically “rapturing” then from earth into heaven. This is primarily argued on the basis that this best accords with the most logical and literal force of (“keep from”). However, Gundry has shown the improbability of this understanding by demonstrating parallels between Rev. 3:10 and John 17:15, which is the only other NT occurrence of (“keep” with “from”: there Christ prays, “I ask not that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.” Thus Jesus denies a physical removal from tribulation and affirms a spiritual protection from the devil. In Prov. 7:5 and Jas 1:27 has the same idea of protection from evil for those living in the midst of evil.”

“...Small, mostly overlooked things, over a long  period of time with Jesus." 

Question:

“What blazes up on Golgotha is God’s embrace of contradiction: weakness as power, foolishness as wisdom.”

Listen along as we look at Revelation 3:1-6.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 3:1-6

Psalm 19:1-2, Ps 24:1-2

Temptations for the church:

Incarnate: the Body Christ sent on mission in the world, distinct in holiness, humble in service, with clarity in the truth & charity towards all. - David Cassidy

Formation Image

“You may never see the fruits of your labor in this life, but it doesn’t matter. God did not call you to be successful. He called you to be faithful.” Alan Noble

“Our task is not to spend time pondering this success but to obey our orders.” Jacques Ellul

“Keep in mind that it is not enough that we should just read the Word. The object is that the words that are printed on the page would become indelibly written on our hearts. God never intended that we should merely get onto His Word-His intent is that the Word should get into us. - Nancy Leigh DeMoss

Listen along as we continue our series through the seven churches of Revelation.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 2:18-29

If God is holy, then he can’t sin. If God can’t sin, then he can’t sin against me. If he can’t sin against me, shouldn’t that make him the most trustworthy being there is? Jackie Hill Perry

To ask God to redeem Jerusalem but not cast sin outside the city walls is like asking a doctor to heal your body without excising the disease. Like asking the light to arise without casting out the darkness. Like asking for restoration to come and destruction to remain. It is to ask for a contradiction. God excludes sin from his kingdom because of his goodness, not in opposition to or in spite of it. - Joshua Ryan Butler

Holiness is the habit of being of one mind with God, according as we find His mind described in Scripture. It is the habit of agreeing in God's judgment, hating what He hates, loving what He loves, and measuring everything in this world by the standard of His Word. - JC Ryle

Does this teaching return you to the God revealed in Christ—His words, His acts—or does it excite you with what you’ll get, acquire, feel? Does this teaching return you to yourself—who you are, where you are—or does it incite ambition, discontent, a desire to be someone else, somewhere else? Eugene Peterson

And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before. - CS Lewis, The Last Battle

Listen along as we look at the third church addressed in the book of Revelation.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 2:12-17 - Larry and Jorgen

Hebrews 4:12-13

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.”Flannery O’Connor

“The throne of Satan” in Pergamum is a way of referring to that city as a center of Roman government and pagan religion in the Asia Minor region. It was the first city in Asia Minor to build a temple to a Roman ruler (Augustus) and the capital of the whole area for the cult of the emperor. Furthermore, Pergamum was also a center of pagan cults of various deities. For example, the cult of Asclepius, the serpent god of healing, was prominent in Pergamum; the serpent symbol of Asclepius also became one of the emblems of the city and may have facilitated John’s reference to “the throne of Satan” (cf. 12:9; 20:2). Zeus, Athene, Demeter, and Dionysus were also gods receiving significant cultic attention. Satan works through the ungodly, earthly political power in Pergamum to persecute God’s people.” G.K. Beale

Numbers 22:28-35

“The people of Israel, after 40 years of austerity in the desert, were seduced by the smell of roasted rams and the smiles of perfumed girls. They had been true to God in matters of life and death but failed to be true in matters of eating and drinking. Opposition didn’t work. Cursing didn’t work. But clever lies did.”

“Satan’s lie is to separate what we say from the way we live. To make a division between our confession in worship and our conduct at work. Truth is lived truth. Truth is not simply what we say but what we live…Sometimes it is easier to die for the truth in a crisis than to live the truth through a dull week at work.” Eugene Peterson

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you odd.” Flannery O’Connor

Growth equals change; change equals loss; loss equals pain; so inevitably, growth equals pain. Pain is a part of progress. Anything that grows experiences some pain. If I avoid all pain, I’m avoiding growth. Samuel Chand

Don't worry about being effective. Just concentrate on being faithful to the truth. - Dorthy Day

Listen along as Anthony Garcia teaches through Revelation 2:8-11 and gives a glimpse into the church of Smyrna.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 2:8-11 - Kim

“We must remember the paradox of grace: the gospel announces both leniency and violence; mercy and judgment; rescue and death. What blazes up on Golgotha is God’s embrace of contradiction: weakness as power, foolishness as wisdom.” — Jen Pollock Michel

“From what we know of late first-century Asia Minor we can speculate about how these Christians were being persecuted. Until the latter part of the first century Christianity enjoyed a degree of protection under the umbrella of Judaism, which was tolerated by Rome. The Jews were not forced to worship Caesar as a god, but allowed to offer sacrifices in honor of emperors as rulers and not as gods. But after the Neronian persecution Christianity came under suspicion, since new religions were not acceptable in the empire. And Jews, who sometimes had no qualms in semi-revering other deities along with their OT God, often were only too willing to make the Roman authorities aware that the Christians were not a Jewish sect. Perhaps Jews were motivated to inform on Christians because they were irritated that some of their Jewish brethren or Gentile “godfearers” were converting to Christianity (Ignatius, Smyrneans 1:2).” — G.K. Beale

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

“Are you willing to die for your faith? And are you willing to give up anything along the way in order to pursue it—those little deaths that sometimes seem as difficult as the final one, dying to impulses of ambition, of lust, of pride, of security, of comfort? …Here we have one of those paradoxes that are strewn all through the Christian’s life of faith. Until we pass the martyr test, we live neither deeply or widely. Until we are ready to die for Christ, we can’t live for him freely, openly, and exuberantly. If we spend all our energies trying to protect our interests, to preserve our safety, and to negotiate and compromise with the opposition in order to keep what we have at all costs, we will live meagerly. But if we live at risk, giving up all in witness and commitment and love, we are released from death to live in the power of the Resurrection.” 

Listen in as we begin a news series looking at the seven churches of Revelation.

Notes//Quotes:

Revelation 2:1-7

The Pattern:

I have set eyes on the wall of lofty Babylon on which is a road for chariots, and the statue of Zeus by the Alpheus, and the hanging gardens, and the colossus of the Sun, and the huge labour of the high pyramids, and the vast tomb of Mausolus; but when I saw the house of Artemis that mounted to the clouds, those other marvels lost their brilliancy, and I said, "Lo, apart from Olympus, the Sun never looked on ever so grand.” - Antipater of Sidon

Rev 2:2-3

“The theology that matters is not the theology we profess but the theology we practice.” - Francis Chan

“Jesus’s command to follow him is a command to align our loves and longings with his—to want what God wants, to desire what God desires, to hunger and thirst after God and crave a world where he is all in all.” - James K.A. Smith

Matthew 24:12

Jesus is a teacher who doesn’t just inform our intellect but forms our very loves. He isn’t content to simply deposit new ideas into your mind; he is after nothing less than your wants, your loves, your longings. - James K.A. Smith

“In any relationship, there will be frightening spells in which your feelings of love dry up. And when that happens you must remember that the essence of marriage is that it is a covenant, a commitment, a promise of future love. So what do you do? You do the acts of love, despite your lack of feeling. You may not feel tender, sympathetic, and eager to please, but in your actions you must BE tender, understanding, forgiving and helpful. And, if you do that, as time goes on you will not only get through the dry spells, but they will become less frequent and deep, and you will become more constant in your feelings. This is what can happen if you decide to love. Actions of love lead to feelings of love.” Tim Keller