A Note From Brother Ken:
Beloved Brothers and Sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ at Maynardville Fellowship,
So good to be with you last night, although we missed many. Thank you Noah for faithfully leading us and faithfully sharing this with our visitors.
I believe the Scripture above is an Old Testament allusion to the unity of the “body of Christ” and the unity of the Trinity that the Apostle Paul addresses in the first six verses of Ephesians chapter four.
I offered the admonition last night in our Firm Foundation study of the importance of holding God’s highest and ultimate purpose before us, “the everlasting covenant”, (Hebrews 13:20), of making His elect one with the Father and the Son, (John 17), by presenting us as a Bride to Himself “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she may be holy without blemish”, (Ephesians 5:27). A pure and holy Bride, that as Anne Ross Cousin’s 1857 hymn captures clearly, “Oh I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved mine! He brings a poor vile sinner into His house of wine”, maximizes the praise of God’s glory. Had Adam and Eve not sinned, we would know perfection but we would not know the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. The thought that we will be collectively in a heavenly marriage relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ is the ultimate unity of John 17. I sometimes ponder if that glorious thought moved the Apostle Paul to shun an earthly marriage as he gazed on the “mystery”, (Ephesians 3:6,9), that he was entrusted with of that day in a glorious heavenly marriage with His Lord Jesus!
The reason for keeping God’s greatest glory fixed before us is that it will cause the scriptural tension between God’s perfection and holiness and our present condition to increase, that will encourage us to do all that is commanded of us in loving obedience.
Also, we desire to be disciple makers but we also desire to be in the process of being discipled ourselves in our sanctification. The Firm Foundation, (Luke 24:27,44), is expounding God and Christ and the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Genesis chapters one and two has already shown us over and over the glorious attributes of our “triune God”. I would encourage everyone to review and meditate on Chapter 14 of Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology”, The Trinity, particularly section D, (page 248 in the old edition) and section E, (page 256 in the old edition).
The comments in these two sections, I believe, will be helpful, if not necessary, to see the reflection in the anthropology as it unfolds in the Scriptures, having been made in the “image of God”, (Genesis 1:27). Everything about our justification and sanctification is about a Trinitarian work of God. There can be no salvation, no propitiation of Hebrews 2:14-18 for the offspring of Abraham if there be no triune God of Genesis 1:1-3!
For the praise of God’s glory in the Church of His Beloved Son by His Holy Spirit of Christ,
Ken
In Case You Missed It
Sunday night we continued our study in the book of Hebrews. We looked at how Jesus was morally obligated to take on our nature if He was going to be faithful to the will of the Father and take hold of the spiritual descendants of Abraham and be our faithful and merciful high priest. Because Jesus took on our flesh and passed the test of remaining faithful to the Father through immense suffering, we can be confident that His able to help us as we follow in His footsteps and are ourselves tested. Listen to “He Took Hold: Hebrews 2:16-18.”
The current directory we have is not very accurate, nor does it have many of our families information. If you are a part of our fellowship, and would be so kind, would you please email me with your family information (names, children and ages, birthdays, address, phone numbers, emails). All of the directory information will be password protected on the website, and only those who are actually a part of our fellowship will be given the password. Thank you!
Scripture Reading and Prayer
In order to promote unity of heart and mind among us, we are encouraging as many as are willing to join with us in reading through the entire Bible this year together, as well as devoting specific Scriptures to prayer each day. It is our prayer that as we meditate and pray over the same Scriptures each day, that God will work in our midst to bind us to one another, and to give us a common vision for the ministry here in Maynardville. Prayerfully consider joining with us in this endeavor, and we will see how God will work in our midst.
Our Scriptures to pray over this week are:
- Thur (4/3): Ps 19:12-13
- Fri (4/4): Eph 1:17-23
- Sat (4/5): Ps 139:23-24
- Sun (4/6): Eph 3:14-21
- Mon (4/7): Gal 5:16-25
- Tue (4/8): Col 1:9-12
- Wed (4/9): Phil 3:7-11
- Thur (4/10): Matt 22:37-39
Our Scripture reading schedule for the week is:
- Thur (4/3): Deut 23:1-25:18; Lk 10:13-37; Ps 75:1-10; Pr 12:13-14
- Fri (4/4): Deut 26:1-27:26; Lk 10:38-11:13; Ps 76:1-12; Pr 12:15-17
- Sat (4/5): Deut 28:1-65; Lk 11:14-36; Ps 77:1-20; Pr 12:16
- Sun (4/6): Deut 29:1-30:20; Lk 11:37-12:7; Ps 76:1-31; Pr 12:19-20
- Mon (4/7): Deut 31:1-32:27; Lk 12:8-34: ps 76:32-55; Pr 12:21-23
- Tue (4/8): Deut 32:28-52; Lk 12:35-59; Ps 78:56-64; Pr 12:24
- Wed (4/9): Deut 33:1-29; Lk 13:1-21; Ps 7855-72; Pr 12:25
- Thur (4/10): Deut 34:1-Josh 2:24; Lk 13:22-14:6; Ps 79:1-13; Pr 12:26
With Love and Affection in Christ,
Caleb
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