Reading

Reading and Reading

It has been a while since I have posted anything on this blog. I really want to because I long for our Church to see our hearts, and maybe, through the grace of God, would be encouraged to look to Christ and rest in Him. But to just throw a little post out here, I wanted to let you know a little bit about what I have been reading. I just finished reading The Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards. All I can say is delish! It was wonderful. I think I may write a blog upcoming on it and just sum it up. It was very encouraging and helpful in my understanding of the Sovereignty of God and the will of man.

But, primarily, I wanted to invite you all to read something with me. In 2009, the blog known as reformation21.org is blogging through and reading through The Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin. Now, they have already started, but all this week is just the introductions and prefaces, which you could read quickly. I would greatly encourage you to take on this effort. In case you were wondering, The Institutes were not written for high-minded theologians who reveled in their superior knowledge. Rather, they were written for the commoner, the layman, the plain Joe-blow Christian. And so far in reading the preface, I am greatly encouraged. It is beautiful to see the humility worked on Calvin’s heart by the Lord. One thing that just jumps out is this: that Calvin wanted no glory for Himself. He did not want to be recognized. He did not want to be known. He did not care about being liked. He wanted all the glory for everything to go to God and His Son Jesus Christ.

So I would encourage you to pick this up and read it. If you want a reading schedule, you can email our buddies at reformation21.org and they will send you one. Or just ask me and I will email you one. May the Lord get all the glory for everything, now and forevermore. Soli Deo Gloria.

Aaron M Addison

TIME CHANGE!

Hello Everyone,

Remember the time change this week.  We will be meeting at 3pm instead of 7pm from now on starting Sunday January 11.  Also, we will be meeting for corporate prayer at 2pm.  I love you all dearly.

Heb 13: 20-21

Brandon

Abide

“By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be My disciples. As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” – John 15:8-11

Sometimes when Christians try and cognitively grasp big theological truths they erect one truth at the laying down of another. In other words, it can be difficult to fight for one truth without neglecting other important truths. Possibly the two truths that American Evangelicals seem to have the greatest difficulty reconciling together are the love of God and the justice of God. Either God is a fairy in the sky that flutters about passing out buckets of candy so everyone will like Him, or He is this angry Cosmic Policeman who shoots lightening at everyone who smiles or has a good time. Over time, if someone focuses on one while neglecting the other, people start to get a very weird view of who God is. The truth is that God is infinitely more loving, gracious, and compassionate than we will ever know! Yet He maintains His love without slacking His total and complete justice, holiness, and righteousness. Other truths that people seem to struggle with is God being completely and totally sovereign and yet not letting that be an excuse for man’s responsibility to all that God has commanded from us. On and on we could go here…

Christ, the story of the Old Testament!

- In Genesis Christ is the better Abraham that brought the true blessing of Salvation to every tongue, tribe, people, and nation
- Christ is the better Isaac who is God’s one and only Son who willingly laid down His life for His friends
- Like Abraham prophesied in Genesis 22, God truly did provide Himself the Lamb; only it was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world
- Christ is the better ram that was sacrificed in place of Isaac; for Christ was sacrificed as a substitute in the place of us and we are free to live as Isaac lived also
- Christ is the better Joseph who was hated and rejected by His own people yet by His death, many are spared! God used the evil sin of Christ being crucified to bring about the ultimate good for His people…the salvation of our souls!
- In Exodus we see that Christ is the better Moses who comes to rescue us from our bondage to sin and Satan
- We see that Christ is our Passover Lamb. B/c of His blood that was shed on the cross, the wrath of God is passed over us and we are spared
- The Israelites feasted on manna from heaven and Jesus says in John 6 that He is the true Bread from Heaven, whoever comes to Him will never hunger again
- The Israelites drank water from the rock, but Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10 that Christ is the Spiritual Rock that we must drink from, for from Christ flow springs of Living Water
- After Israel had sinned by worshipping the golden calf Moses interceded for them, Christ is the better Intercessor who stands in the Father’s presence and intercedes for His children
- Christ is the better more perfect Tabernacle who according to John 1, came and “tabernacled among us”
- Christ is the better more perfect High Priest who enters the Holy of Holies on our behalf
- Christ is the better Sacrifice who enters the Holy Of Holies with His own blood instead of the blood of bulls and goats
- According to Hebrews 10, the body of Christ is the veil that was torn in two on the cross for our sins so that we might have access to enter in the very presence of God with boldness
- And finally, according to 2 Corinthians 4:6, the true glory of God is no longer revealed in a Tabernacle like Exodus 40, but in the face of Jesus Christ!
- CHRIST IS THE STORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT!

Time Change!!!!

Andrew mentioned that we would soon be switching our time on Sundays.  The new times that he suggested were 2:00, 2:30 or 3:00.  Now, we need you guys to tell us if you have any problems with any of those times.  You can leave a comment on here, or you could just let one of us know. 

For example, if you were able to attend all three of the times than you would not need to say anything, but if 2:00 and 2:30 are bad for you and you can only attend the 3:00 o’clock service than we would need to know that 2:00 and 2:30 wouldn’t work for you.  Please let us know asap.   

ps there is a possibility that our name could soon be changing!!!

Love you guys
brandon

The Struggle of a Young Pastor

Writing has never been one of my strong points. But I have days where I feel as though if I do not write, my heart will burst out of my chest. Today is one of those days…

I often sit in a childish daydream pondering my life in five, ten, or twenty years from now. Will things be different? No doubt, yes, but will things be easier? That question is what haunts me, pursues me, and some days overtakes me in despair. Will loving, leading, and caring for my wife be easier in twenty years? Will leading a church be easier? What about preaching? Will preparing for a new sermon week after week become easier? What about the weightiness of souls? Will the heavy burden of church members’ souls become lighter as years go by? As silly as these questions can be, I find myself wrestling often with them.

Buildings and the Glory of Christ

On Sunday we as a Church voted on some important issues. We voted first on changing our account. Originally we had planned on changing our account to where 65% of our giving would go toward a building and any needs there, 25% toward people in need, and 10% to outside ministries and missionaries for the advancement of the Gospel to unreached people-groups. After much prayer, the elders decided to change their recommendation to 70% toward the building and 30% to give to people in need. In the near future we hope to change that to be able to use our money for outside ministries as the Lord permits us. So we voted and decided to change the account to the 70%-30% breakup by a vote of 97% to 3%.

Building Oppurtunity!!!

This is an informative post on what the Housechurch elders hope to be our future church location. It seems as though the LORD is leading us to rent this building as our new gathering place to lift up the name of Christ, sing songs to Him, and preach His word. As you read the specifics on this particular building, please be in prayer about this decision to move out of a house and into this location.

The building is known as the Brookside Wedding Chapel, an older, white Chapel (http://www.okchapels.com) located  right off of I-35 Frontage Road in between South 89th and 104th in Oklahoma City. This particular building is around 4,500 to 4,800 sq. feet, contains sound equipment, nursery rooms, a screen for a projector, and a baptistery built into the church. It most definitely has an older look and feel to it with it’s very 1980’s blue-colored pews, and unique wood finish on most of the walls and parts of the ceiling. It rents for $1,200.00 a month; this includes all utilities paid (water, electric, etc.) and insurance on the building. The days we would have it available to us are both Wednesday and Sunday all day. The owner is asking for a lease term of one year, a very reasonable and helpful lease term.

John Stott

All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of his Name. Therefore acceptable worship is impossible without preaching. For preaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and worship is praising the Name of the Lord made known. Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the Word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced. Indeed, it is their unnatural divorce which account for the low level of so much contemporary worship.

Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the Word of God is expounded in its fullness, and the congregation begin to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before his throne. It is preaching which accomplishes this, the proclamation of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God.

Baptism at Brookwood

View Larger Map

Here is a map to Brookwood Baptist Church.

Address:
8921 S Walker Ave
Oklahoma City, OK

call me if you have any other questions.
405.921.4992