Author Archives: reveds

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About reveds

Occupation: Pastor, Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Lennox, SD Education: BS - Christian Education, Sterling College; MDiv. - Princeton Theological Seminary Family: Married, with Four children. Hobbies: Running (will someday run a marathon), Sci-Fi (especially Doctor Who and Sherlock), Theater, and anything else my kids will let me do.

A Prayer for the new School Year

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As the students in our community return to school this week, and our college students head off to new adventures, I wanted to share this prayer for the upcoming school year.

God, most Holy, sovereign, and wise: Your creation sings your praises; the heavens declare your glory; and all your works reveal your power and might.

You have spoken: calling everything into existence, and all that exists thrives as it hears and responds to your Word.

We thank you: because you speak; calling your people, first to obedience, then, after the fall, to faith in your saving grace.

We thank you: that your Word became flesh in Jesus Christ, who was full of grace and truth, and in Him we find the words of life, the revelation of the wisdom of the almighty.

We thank you: that your Holy Spirit has provided for us the Scriptures, which are breathed out by you, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that we may be competent and equipped for every good work.

Forgive us, merciful God: for our ignorance of you; for exalting in the wisdom of this age which is folly in your sight; for being filled with knowledge without love, for you or for one another; and for having an appearance of godliness while denying its power in our lives.

We pray for the students: that their eyes may be opened to the wonders and mysteries of this world and be filled with a desire to learn and grow; that their schools would be safe from acts of violence, from unwholesome speech, from lies and deception that would blind them from your truth, from the perversion of this age, which would put truth and falsehood on the same level; we pray that they may know, in their schools and their homes, that they are loved; and that the church may stand ready to present them with the truth of the gospel, and lead them to a saving faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.

We pray for our college students: that as they venture out from home, they may be surrounded by godly influences; that the faith modeled in their homes and churches would be the faith in which they continue to walk; that their pursuit of a degree would go hand in hand with their pursuit of a life of faithfulness before you; that they would not be overwhelmed with anxiety and worry, but that your grace would sustain and support them as they walk with you.

We pray for the teachers: that they may be honored and respected by their students and the community; that they may know the support and encouragement they need from day to day; that as they teach, may they be guided in the truth of your word, so that they may teach well, with patience, grace, joy, and love.

We pray for the staff of the school: their service as support staff and para-professionals often goes unnoticed; we thank you for their faithful work; for their care for students and teachers; and pray that their service would be full of compassion, diligence, and kindness.

We pray for those who serve as administrators of our local schools: that they may be guided by your sovereign hand; that they may provide a safe, healthy, and encouraging place of learning for all students; that they may maintain fair and measured discipline when necessary; and that they may be treated with the honor and dignity that their positions deserve.

In all things, we pray, O God, that you would be glorified. As this new academic year begins, we know that we will never exhaust the “depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are your judgments and how inscrutable your ways! For from you and through you and to you are all things. To you, o God, be glory for every. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

From the Pastor’s Desk – Some interesting articles I’ve come across this week:

JEREMIAH 29:11  This is from the current issue of Tabletalk, which  in addition to the daily devotionals, has a tremendous resource of articles each month. August’s issue presents articles that are usually taken out of context, or the meaning is difficult to understand.  The Jeremiah 29:11 passage is usually cited to show that God has a happy and wonderful plan for us, we just have to figure out what it is. This article helps us to see how this passage applies to Christians today.

HOW TO PRAY IN SPIRITUAL WARFARE – This article really came at the right time.  Iain Duguid explains how to pray in times of spiritual warfare. Of course, “According to Paul in Ephesians 6, all of life is spiritual warfare. In that conflict, he reminds the Ephesians that—important though it is—the Christian armor is not enough. You and I also need to be in constant contact with God, and the means by which we stay in contact is by prayer.”

The Relentless and Exhausting Attempt to Get it Right – Thinking still about worship and the way we worship together, I remembered this article from 2001, over 18 years old, and still very much relevant to the conversations we’re having today.  Here’s the question at the heart of the article, ‘Could it be that we’ve spent so much time trying to get it right that we’ve lost a genuine sense of connection to God?”

 

Blessed are they that mourn…

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As I prepare for the funeral service for a dear sister in Christ, I thought I’d share from my reading from A.W. Pink’s “Comfort for Christians.”

Mourning is hateful and irksome to poor human nature. From suffering and sadness our spirits instinctively shrink. By nature we seek the society of the cheerful and joyous. Matthew 5:4 (Blessed are they that mourn) presents an anomaly to the unregenerate, yet it is sweet music to the ears of God’s elect. If “blessed” why do they mourn? If they “mourn” how can they be “blessed”?  Only the child of God has the key to this paradox. The more we ponder our text the more we are constructed to exclaim, “never man spake like this Man!” “Blessed (happy) are they that mourn” is at complete variance with the world’s logic. Men have in all places and in all ages deemed the prosperous and the gay the happy ones, but Christ pronounces happy those who are poor in spirit and who mourn.

Now it is obvious that it is not every species of touring that is here referred to. There is a “sorrow of the world which worketh death.” The mourning to which Christ promises comfort must be restricted to that which is spiritual. The mourning which is blessed is the restful of a realization of God’s holiness and goodness which issues in a sense of our own wickedness – the depravity of our natures, the enormity and guilt of our conduct, and the sorrowing over our sins with a godly sorrow.

The mourning which is referred to is manifestly more than that of bereavement, affliction or loss. It is mourning for sin. “It is mourning over the felt destitution of our spiritual state, and over the iniquities that have separated between us and God; mourning over the very morality in which we have boasted, and the self-righteousness in which we have trusted; sorrow for rebellion against God, and hostility to His will; and such mourning always goes side by side with conscious poverty of spirit” (quoting Dr. Person).

Mourning is ever a characteristic of the normal Christian state. There is much that the believer has to mourn over – the plague of his own heart makes him cry, “O wretched man that I am”; the unbelief which “doth so easily beset us” and the sins which we commit that are more in number than the hairs of our head, are a continual grief; the barrenness and unprofitableness of our lives make us sigh and cry; our propensity to wander from Christ, our lack of communion with Him, the shallowness of our love for Him, cause us to hang our harps upon the willows. But this is not all. They hypocritical religion prevailing on every hand, having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof; the awful dishonor done to the truth of God by the false doctrines taught in countless pulpits; the division among the Lord’s people, the strife between brethren, occasion continual sorrow of heart. The awful wickedness in the world, men despising Christ, the untold sufferings around, make us groan within ourselves. The closer the Christian lives to God, the more will he mourn over all that dishonors Him.

“They shall be comforted.” This refers first of all to the removal of the conscious guilt which burdens the conscience. It finds its fulfillment in the Spirit’s application of the Gospel of God’s grace to the one whom He has convicted of his dire need of a Savior. It issues in a sense of free and full forgiveness through the merits of the atoning blood of Christ. This Divine comfort is the peace of God which passes all understanding filling the heart of the one who is now assured that he is accepted in the Beloved. God wounds before healing, abases before He exalts.  First there is revelation of His justice and holiness, then the making known of His mercy and grace.

Though he mourns his excuseless failures and confesses them to God, yet is the Christian comforted by the assurance that the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses him from all sin. Though he groans over the dishonor done to God on every side, yet is he comforted by the knowledge that the day is readily approaching when Satan shall be removed from these scenes and when the Lord Jesus shall sit upon the throne of His glory and rule in righteousness and peace.

Sorrow may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning. During the long night of His absence, the saints of God have been called to fellowship with Him who was the Man of Sorrows. But, blessed be God, it is written, “If we suffer with Him we shall also be glorified together.” What comfort and joy will be ours when shall dawn the morning without clouds!

Taken from,  Comfort for Christians, by A.W. Pink (Reiner Publications, Swengel, PA, 1952).

Readings from the Pastor’s Desk

Walking away from the faith – Over the last few weeks there have been a couple of notable “prominent” Christian leaders who have announced that they no longer believe the Gospel and have walked away from the Church altogether.  Here are links to the first and second articles – as well as an article from David French I thought interesting. Pray for them, for their families, and for their Churches, and pray that God would hold us closely and keep us faithful to Him.

Drifting from the Church – On a similar note, here’s an article from LifeWay that states what I’ve seen in the church – when you drift away from the Church you will inevitably drift away from your faith.

Legalism or Discipline – Here is a wonderfully short article and video from Kent Hughes on the difference between Legalism and Discipline.