Redeemer

Jun 18, 2011

Preparation For Lord’s Supper ^{0}

Jon Meyers pointed me to the following is a responsive reading from the Christian Reformed Church designed to prepare the congregation for the Lord’s Supper. It certainly gives me the idea they don’t participate in the Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis Take some time to read through this on a Saturday evening.

Preparatory Exhortation for the Lords Supper (1981)

Minister: As we prepare to celebrate holy communion, let us remember that Scripture calls us to examine ourselves before God. We are taught that eating and drinking unworthily brings judgment upon ourselves (1 Cor. 11:28-29). Let us therefore ask God for the proper spirit in which to celebrate the sacrament. Almighty God, before whom can be neither secret thought nor hidden deed, grant us your Spirit that we may know our hearts, our lives, and our inmost thoughts as you know them. Grant us your grace that we may repent sincerely of all sin, find peace with you through our Lord Jesus Christ, and grow in assurance of salvation in him. May the celebration of our Savior’s infinite love in his redeeming death bring joy to us and glory to you.

All: We thank you, heavenly Father, for the atoning power of our Savior’s death and for our share in his victory over sin. Open our hearts as we prepare for this celebration, that it may strengthen us in our faith, establish us in our hope, and confirm us in our love. In his name, Amen.

Minister: Brothers and sisters, let us first examine our faith. We all confess the truth of God as taught by Scripture and summarized in the creeds of the church. By this faith we take to ourselves Christ and all his benefits, so that for us to live is Christ.

All: Lord God, author and finisher of all true believing, confirm our faith as we prepare for the holy sacrament.

Minister: Let us, further, examine our hope. All Christian hope rests upon the finished work of Christ as Savior. The holy gospel teaches that all our righteousness is in him alone. God’s children rely wholly upon the merits of Christ, find in him their strength and victory, and confidently expect his return in glory. They look forward to celebrating this holy supper anew with him in the kingdom. They will surely be received by God at his table.

All: Most merciful Father, fill us with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit we may abound in hope.

Minister: Let us also examine our love, both for God and our neighbors. Remember the great and first commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Let us consciously determine to live a life of loving service to him, through Christ our Lord. Let us also search ourselves to determine whether we love our neighbors as Christ commands. Do we unselfishly live for the welfare of others? Do our lives reflect the godly virtues of obedience, fidelity, integrity, justice, humility, and contentment? Do we seek reconciliation with our neighbors in all cases of offense?

All: Dear Father, daily increase in us the greatest gift of all, our Christian love.

Minister: If these marks of spiritual life are not evident in us, we may not presume to approach his table. Those, therefore, who live in self-righteousness, who hope in works or virtues of their own, and who do not show love to God and neighbor, have no true place at the Lord’s supper.  Yet we should not be deterred by any sin lingering within against our will. As we find faith, hope, and love within us, we ought gladly to obey our Lord’s command and come with full expectation to God’s open house of mercy.

All: Gracious God, we love and adore you in Christ our Lord. We thank you for reconciling us to yourself in him. We rejoice in being received as your children. Prepare us by your Holy Spirit for the sacrament. Help us to come in the assurance that by it we shall be spiritually revived, and strengthened in faith, hope, and love, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

By futuregrace Category: Devotional, Feature, Redeemer Tags:

Mar 15, 2010

Personal Journal Entry: To Live Is Christ ^{0}

This past Lord’s Day Pastor Tony preached on Philippians 1:18-16. This is one of my favorite passages of Scripture. It is so because it draws me to focus on the essence of life when it says, “To live is Christ.” Many years ago this verse caught me off guard and I wrote about it moments later in my journal which was worded as a letter to my father which was later sent. I do not often feel comfortable sharing such things, but do wish to share this. The text of that journal entry is below.

In Philippians 1:21 Paul says, “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” This is where I and we usually stop and say wow, what a statement. In fact we ought to stop there more often and really think about what he says there and in response say a bigger WOW. But read on past that point. Paul continues, “If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.” Did you hear that? Read it again. “If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.” Did you see it that time? Which shall I choose? You mean Paul was at a place where he could choose death or life? This was not a situation like euthanasia where Paul was in great pain and thought death itself would be better than the pain. He was in prison, surely some pain, but that is not why he says this. I wish we knew the situation better to understand how it is he could have “chosen” death. Obviously that part is not something God intended us to know, so don’t dwell on it for long. Besides it’s yet the next verse that is the absolute jaw dropper.

I type the whole dialogue here for you to see, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” Can you believe that?! I am hard pressed between the two. Should I die or continue living? I am hard pressed between the two. So either Paul is absolutely nuts, or his Damascus experience(Acts 9) has given him a clear vision of what he gains in death. Can you think like that? I can’t, but I wish to, I long too and I am pleading with God to. Imagine you have the chance to go to some “closed country” to evangelize the lost. If you go you will probably be put to death for your Christianity and if you stay in America you will probably live safely to an age where you can see your grandchildren grow into adulthood.

I wonder how many of we Christians would respond to that with, “I am hard pressed between the two.” Go, preach, possibly in vain, and die some glorious and painful martyr’s death or stay and live out your years in a safe country. Oh how I wish I could think like that! You know what makes you think like that? I suppose the big difference between Paul and us is that Paul did not think or believe that Christ existed, is the Son of God, and will reign through out eternity. No, Paul knew that those things were true. His faith did not consider those things as possibly true or even more than likely true, he believed them as absolutely true. If we could do that we would no longer love this world, we would no longer seek the pleasures of this world, but the pleasures found in intimacy with Jesus Christ. Yet we seek our pleasure else ware. I too seek pleasure in the world. And I don’t mean sinful things, I mean neutral or even good things that become evil only because we love them more than God. We say we don’t love them more, but the choice of quiet prayer, time in God’s word, or a moment of worship and the choice of our favorite hobby, a good movie or hanging out with a close friend we routinely do not choose God. I really am just in shock and awe at Paul’s response to death or life. I’ve never seen it that way. Who says to those options, “I am hard pressed between the two”? Who says that? Oh how I long to answer me, I say that.

By futuregrace Category: Redeemer Tags:

Feb 16, 2010

Communicant’s Class Coming ^{0}

The next Communicant’s Class is on Saturday March 13th from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. To sign up please call the church office at 913-685-2322

By futuregrace Category: For Parents, Redeemer Tags:

Apr 19, 2009

Progressive Dinner 2009 ^{1}

Thanks to all our helpers with the Progressive Dinner this year. This year Norma and Travis helped with driving. The night began at Redeemer and immediately headed to the Thomas’ home for peach cobbler, apple crisp and ice cream. After that the group stopped by the Creecy’s home for tasty fondue. We dipped chunks of apple and bread into the pot, great experience many had never had before. Spring Hill had their prom Saturday and The Lutz hi-jacked Zach’s limo and stopped by so we could all get in. I expect it would be very hard to parallel park that thing, but then who parallel parks a limo. The third stop of the night was at the Basham’s where we munched on tatter tots and french fries while playing air hockey in the basement. The final stop of the night was at the Vos’ home for homemade lasagna and bread sticks. Thank you to everyone who took part in this annual event. More pics after the link below.

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By futuregrace Category: High School, Junior High, Photos, Redeemer Tags:

Feb 28, 2009

Don’t forget, Square Dancing Saturday Night! 7 – 9 p.m. ^{0}

This Saturday we are joining up with area PCA churches for a youth square dance. We’ll be meeting at New Hope PCA (directions) from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. for a great time of fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ. 6th grade through high school are invited to wear costumes, western wear or just come dressed “normal.” No need to know how to dance or square dance, we’ll teach you. If you have any questions please call me at 913-439-9319 or email at bhough@redeemer-pca.org.

By futuregrace Category: High School, Junior High, Redeemer Tags:

Feb 21, 2008

RPC United ^{5}

You may or may not be aware of RPC United. It is an indoor soccer team fielded mostly by members of Redeemer. This Thursday night at 6:15 we play our last game of the season against the best team in the league. It won’t be pretty, but you are invited to come and watch us give our best. The picture above is from the media event when I signed a two year agreement with the team. The games are played at All-American Sports in Lenexa. You can see the whole team and our current stats if you follow the link that follows.

#	Name	Games	Goals	Assist	Points
3	Tim Chilcote	3	0	0	0
5	Tomi Ardiles	4	0	4	4
9	Raphael Ngengwe	4	0	1	1
10	Ashley Barton	3	0	2	2
11	Erick Babbitt	5	1	0	1
13	Brian Hough	4	4	4	8
14	Travis Shanahan	4	0	0	0
17	Nathan Currey	5	5	1	6
19	Tony Felich	5	4	4	8
21	Tim Gillen	4	0	-1	-1
27	Brandon Unruh	5	0	0	0
88	Lenin Guerra	5	3	2	5
?	Robbie Hotz	5	0	0	0
	Chico	3	1	2	3
	Total		18	20	38

By futuregrace Category: Funny, Redeemer Tags:

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Redeemer

Preparation For Lord’s Supper ^{0}

Personal Journal Entry: To Live Is Christ ^{0}

Communicant’s Class Coming ^{0}

The next Communicant’s Class is on Saturday March 13th from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. To sign up please call the church office at 913-685-2322

Progressive Dinner 2009 ^{1}

Don’t forget, Square Dancing Saturday Night! 7 – 9 p.m. ^{0}

RPC United ^{5}

Clover Patch Devotional

LInks

Links

Recent Photos

Redeemer

Preparation For Lord’s Supper {0}

Personal Journal Entry: To Live Is Christ {0}

Communicant’s Class Coming {0}

The next Communicant’s Class is on Saturday March 13th from 9:00 – 11:00 a.m. To sign up please call the church office at 913-685-2322

Progressive Dinner 2009 {1}

Don’t forget, Square Dancing Saturday Night! 7 – 9 p.m. {0}

RPC United {5}

Clover Patch Devotional

LInks

Links

Recent Photos

Categories

Preparation For Lord’s Supper ^{0}

Personal Journal Entry: To Live Is Christ ^{0}

Communicant’s Class Coming ^{0}

Progressive Dinner 2009 ^{1}

Don’t forget, Square Dancing Saturday Night! 7 – 9 p.m. ^{0}

RPC United ^{5}