Tag: Christian Life

Leviticus 23-27: Worship

On By BrianIn OT Studies

(23) The people were to gather together regularly throughout the year.  What was the purpose of each of the holy gatherings (or feasts) that God appointed?  How might each one point to Jesus?

  • Sabbath (Matthew 11:28-30) –
  • Passover / Unleavened Bread (I Corinthians 5:7) –
  • First Fruits (I Corinthians 15:20-23) –
  • Weeks / Pentecost (Acts 2) –
  • Trumpets (I Thessalonians 4:13-18) –
  • Day of Atonement (Hebrews 9:12, 24-26) –
  • Booths/Tabernacles –

How might the Lord’s Supper fulfill many of the same purposes of worship for us today?

(24) Worship includes not only public celebrations, but how we live our daily lives. What do you learn about our speech (v10-16)?  What would it look like to apply this principle to all of our lives?

(25) What was the purpose of the Sabbath year and the year of Jubilee (v4, 10)?  How does the year of Jubilee point to Jesus (Luke 4:16-21)?

What was the reasoning behind these special years (v2, 23, 42, 55)?  What do these reasons suggest about how we should live (see also Psalm 24:1)?  Be specific.

(27) This chapter deals with voluntary and required gifts.  Why is giving an important part of worship?

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

4 Ways to Cling to the Lord – Sam Storms (Crossway)
The temptation to forget God is always present. But there is a way to maintain one’s devotion to the Lord. Joshua’s counsel in Joshua 23:6-11 is especially helpful and can be summarized using four As.

How to Resist Temptation’s Mirage Moment– Jon Bloom (DG)
Temptation is a disorienting, defiling experience when evil is presented to us as good. Destruction comes dressed up to look like happiness.

5 Things You Can Give to God Every Day – Tim Challies
The heart of productivity is glorifying God by serving others. It is carefully and deliberately considering the things God calls us to do, and deploying all that we’ve got for his glory and the good of people made in his image. It is giving back to him what he has entrusted to each one of us.

Don’t Be Embarrassed by Your Ordinary Church – Erik Raymond (For the Church)
Is your church ordinary? Small? Well, my Christian friend, if it is preaching the gospel and endeavoring to help others to know and follow Jesus then it is not insignificant. It is powerfully important and surpassingly glorious.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day with your ordinary church and your extraordinary God!

The Triumph of Personal Perception

On By BrianIn Idolatry

The Bible teaches that God created the world.  As the Creator, God defines what is real.  God alone determines reality.

But of course our culture has rejected God as Creator, and so rejects his claim to define what is real.  And so now we will define reality based on our own personal perceptions.  We will become mini-gods and define reality as we see fit.  Objective created reality doesn’t matter.  All that matters is what I perceive to be real.

And so as a recent video shows us, a short white man can think he is a tall Chinese woman, and we will accept him as such because his personal perception defines his reality regardless of what is really real.  If this same adult claims to be a seven-year-old, we will affirm him in his personal perception of himself, and even allow him to attend first grade. Personal perception determines reality – even if we must throw out mathematics (the man’s height), biology (the man’s gender), and history (the man’s ancestry).

If I think I am a penguin, then I am, and I should be able to swim with the penguins at the zoo.  Because personal perception determines reality.  That is the teaching of our culture.

And so our president’s recent directive, that every public school must allow their students to define their gender regardless of their biological sex, should not surprise us.  That each school must allow boys claiming to be girls to shower in the girls’ locker room should not surprise us.  That so many people are willing to go along with this should not surprise us.  This is merely one symptom of this false way of thinking – that my personal perception defines reality.

I recently attended one of my daughter’s soccer games, and the school hosting the game provided programs with the names and numbers of all the players.  And at the bottom of the program was this little gem: “If you believe it, you can do it.”  In other words, your perception determines reality.  So if I believe I can fly, I can jump off a cliff and fly away.  But will my personal perception really determine my reality?

The fact is that the hard rocks of real reality lie at bottom of the cliff.  Reality often won’t bend to my perception.  And this attempt to redefine reality based on our own perceptions will leave many bloody and hurting at the bottom of the cliff.  And as people grow weary of the carnage and wreckage that their own perceptions of reality will ultimately bring, the church needs to be ready to lovingly point them back to Jesus. We need to be ready to point them to the real Savior who died on a real cross to pay for their real sin of trying to become gods who determine reality for themselves.

God alone defines reality.  Instead of trying to bend reality to our own perceptions, we must bend our perceptions to reality as God has defined it, reality as God has created it, reality as it really is.

 

Reflections on Leviticus 20-22

On By BrianIn OT Reflections

Our passage today continues to give laws, and tells again and again why God is giving these laws.

  • God is holy – This has been a theme throughout the book.  To be holy is to be set apart.  God is set apart from his creation; he is different.  He is full of glory and majesty beyond our comprehension.  God is also set apart from sin; he is morally perfect.  He is absolutely pure, righteous, and good.  Holy, holy, holy – Lord God Almighty!  Take some time to praise your holy God.
  • Be holy – God is holy, and he expects his people to be holy.  We are to be set apart to him and from the wickedness all around us.  God wants us to live for him, shunning all evil.  Is that the way you approach each day?
  • I am the LORD – Note this repetition throughout your reading today.  Why should you obey?  I am the LORD.  Because I brought you out of Egypt.  Because I am God.  Because who I am and what I do gives me total authority over your life.  Are you submitting to God’s total authority over your life?  What would this look like in your everyday life?

Current

On By BrianIn Current Collection

Here are some helpful posts for thinking through President Obama’s recent letter to every public school:

Explainer: Federal Government issues letter on transgender policy to America’s public schools – Joe Carter (ERLC)

President Obama: Accept Transgenderism or Else – Denny Burk

4 Bigger Repercussions of the Bathroom Decree – Trevin Wax

What the Transgender Bathroom Debate Means For You – Russell Moore

We must bear witness to the goodness of what it means to live as creatures, not as self-defining gods and goddesses. – Russell Moore

Sermon Songs: Ephesians 4:13-14

On By BrianIn Ephesians Hymns

MusicNotes

The Christian faith we must all know
Of Jesus we must learn
And in God’s Word we must all grow
The truth to now discern

So know the truth and in it live
Together – all of us
To God our full allegiance give
Become more like Jesus

So know the truth and in it stand
Against the devil’s lies
Deceptions blow across our land
God calls us to be wise

 (To the tune of “O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing”)

Reflections on Leviticus 18-19

On By BrianIn OT Reflections

Today’s passage proceeds to give a number of laws:

  • Abominations – Chapter 18 lists a number of laws that transcend the Mosaic Covenant.  These laws are universal laws that the nations in Canaan failed to obey, defiling the land so that it was going to vomit them out (18:24-28).  Actions that these laws prohibit are said to be abominations (18:26-30).  This is serious stuff, and a warning to us as we see some of these sins celebrated in our country (and even in the visible church!) today.
  • Mosaic Law – How are we to relate to the many laws in this passage and throughout the Pentateuch?  We have already noted that these laws are part of the Mosaic Covenant which we are not under as followers of Christ.  However, that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from them.  Sacrificial and priestly laws are fulfilled in Christ and so point us to Christ.  Other laws (like clean/unclean) have been abolished, yet can still teach us important principles (see last week’s reflection).
  • Universal Laws – Though we are not under the Mosaic Covenant, we must recognize that many of the laws stated in the Mosaic Covenant are universal laws that transcend that covenant.  The abominations of chapter 18 are one example (see above).  The 10 Commandments – all restated and reapplied in the New Testament – would be another example.  Context (first example) and the New Testament (second example) help us determine if it is a universal law.