Observations from worship this morning
I had the privelege of leading worship and preaching at the reitrement center today and my assigned passage was probably the hardest one I've ever had, Luke 16:16-18.
I think the reason it's so hard is because it's sandwiched between two parables and in order to gain the force of the context, you really have to work hard, I mean hard.
The essence of the message was God's faithfulness in light of how the Law and the Prophets pointed to the Messiah and the coming of the Kingdom.
The hard thing is to not get "too seminary" people, but things have to be said like what the law did/does: points to God's holiness, points to people's need; the various aspects of it (legal, cerimonial, moral) and how they cry out for somone to step in our place and fulfill it - Jesus.
Then how the Prophets enter into the situation. They predict the forerunner to the Messiah (John the Baptist) as well as predict the fulfiller (Jesus), and it culminates with John's ministry and Jesus coming to innagurate the already/not yet Kingdom of God.
If you stop and think about these verses, it's huge. It's got redemptive history written all over it. It's got Covenant written all over it.
It's beautiful.
Oh man, I felt really Presbyterian today.
Also, I've been dealing with a pulled muscle in my ribs for the past couple of weeks and wouldn't you know that leading two services back to back (readings, singing, confessions, preaching, benediction) would re-aggrivate the pain and by the end of the second service I could barely stand.
I think the reason it's so hard is because it's sandwiched between two parables and in order to gain the force of the context, you really have to work hard, I mean hard.
The essence of the message was God's faithfulness in light of how the Law and the Prophets pointed to the Messiah and the coming of the Kingdom.
The hard thing is to not get "too seminary" people, but things have to be said like what the law did/does: points to God's holiness, points to people's need; the various aspects of it (legal, cerimonial, moral) and how they cry out for somone to step in our place and fulfill it - Jesus.
Then how the Prophets enter into the situation. They predict the forerunner to the Messiah (John the Baptist) as well as predict the fulfiller (Jesus), and it culminates with John's ministry and Jesus coming to innagurate the already/not yet Kingdom of God.
If you stop and think about these verses, it's huge. It's got redemptive history written all over it. It's got Covenant written all over it.
It's beautiful.
Oh man, I felt really Presbyterian today.
Also, I've been dealing with a pulled muscle in my ribs for the past couple of weeks and wouldn't you know that leading two services back to back (readings, singing, confessions, preaching, benediction) would re-aggrivate the pain and by the end of the second service I could barely stand.
posted by Bobby's blog at 4:41 PM
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