Please be in prayer today as Pastor Jason continues in the Renew Your Belief series. Today he is talking about the Trinity. For many, this doctrine is very difficult to understand. Pray that those listening will be open minded and hearted as Pastor Jason shares what Living Hope believes about the Trinity.
Please pray for these requests from our prayer cards:
Pray for a mom and three children to continue to place Christ at the center of their lives.
Pray for a family to sell their house quickly.
Pray for a member’s son to open up his life and let the Spirit work.
Pray for a friend that suffers from chronic pain. Pray specifically for relief of this pain, wisdom for doctors, and stamina for her husband as he cares for her.
Pray for Nate, father of a friend, that is in the hospital due to heart, lung, and kidney failure.
Pray for Mary as she is recovering from chemo for her lung cancer. She is 87 years old.
Pray for Will to quickly connect to a solid group of Christian men in his new church out of town.
Pray for Wade as he just found out he has lung cancer.
Pray for a friend Julie that has a serious case of meningitis.
Pray for Jan’s health to improve. Her kidneys are failing.
Salvation for Bob, Steve, Matt, BJ, Ron, Tyler, Missy, Joe, Meadow, Frank, Lenny, Owen, Joe, and Dennis.
Praise for Gennie, her school is paying for half her tuition for her masters. Pray for God’s guidance as she seeks ways to pay for the other half.
By Gary Hughes (Elder)
What do we believe?
That it is without error in the original manuscripts, worthy of our trust, sufficient for explaining salvation, and authoritative for faith and life. Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is the focus of divine revelation.
Why do we believe this?
Hebrews 4:12 – For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Why does it matter?
In New Testament times there were few things of which one could imagine that was as sharp as a well-forged and honed double-edged sword. When used as intended, it could quickly cut, penetrate, and divide that which was struck and expose what was beneath. In our own day, one of the sharpest items we can think of might be the surgeon’s scalpel. It, too, can quickly cut, penetrate, and divide for the benefit of the one on which it is used, helping to reveal what is below the surface, both good and bad.
As human beings, we try to put up a good front, as we seek to be self-sufficient and proud of ourselves, but the word of God exposes exactly who we are before the eyes of the Lord. The Holy Spirit who inspired the Scriptures is also the one who brings understanding of them. As the Holy Spirit leads us to understand the Scriptures, who we really are is laid open before our eyes just as it is to the Lord, and all of our Sin is exposed. Our thoughts, our intentions, and who reigns in the heart as the seat of our will, become as evident to us as it is to the Lord Jesus. Finally, after being convicted of our sinful estate, these same Scriptures lead us to the One who gives salvation and eternal life, Christ Jesus our Lord.
As you read the Scriptures, what sin has God exposed to you that you need to repent and hand over to Him?
Thursday by Jason Pettus
What do we believe?
That it is without error in the original manuscripts, worthy of our trust, sufficient for explaining salvation, and authoritative for faith and life. Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is the focus of divine revelation.
Why do we believe this?
Psalm 19:7-10 – The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
Why does it matter?
If the Word of God is not true, trustworthy, evangelistic, and authoritative, then we have no means of having certainty about what it is we believe. Our faith would have to rely upon our feelings, which won’t do because feelings change. The Christian faith is far from being void of feelings, but the affection we gain from and give back to God is based upon clear facts presented in the Bible.
How could we know that God alone is worthy of worship? Yes, we could look at the world around us and see the order and the beautiful design of all things and deduce that God is wonderful. Thankfully, the Scripture gives us details. The Bible tells us that God is not simply an amazing artist, but also a warrior and almighty King. It is through the Word that we understand that God is complete and whole and just fine without us and that His love and acceptance of us comes not from a need in Him, but through His unconditional love and grace that He chose to give us in Christ.
If the Word of God is not about Jesus, then the themes of covenant, grace, sacrifice, and atoning sacrifice make no sense. It is through the Scriptures that we understand that God is holy and all-powerful and yet, willing to love sinful finite creatures.
What God offers to sinful man makes no sense to a natural materialistic mind. This is the stuff of great fairy tales and dreams. It is the stuff that gives life joy and meaning. The fact that the Bible is true makes dreams and desires practical and reasonable and good. Because God has revealed Himself through His Word, we can understand not only who He is, but why we are the way we are, and how it is we can be re-made through rebirth in Christ. The Word shows us how our ultimate dream to be free and good and confident and at peace and full of joy can happen.
By Matt Haste
What do we believe?
That it is God’s only written revelation of Himself and His standards for mankind.
Why do we believe it?
Revelation 22:18-19 – I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book:
if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if
anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his
share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
Why does it matter?
The Bible is God’s ONLY written revelation of Himself. This is a simple statement but it presents a profound reality. This means that if anyone wants to know about God, they have to turn to God’s Word. Spiritual experiences may lead you to think certain thoughts about God but those ideas have to ultimately be weighed against God’s revelation of Himself in the Scriptures. Revelation 22:18-19 reminds us that God takes this matter very serious. Though originally spoken specifically about the book of Revelation, the final warning of this passage is applicable to all of Scripture. We cannot add to it or take anything away from it. It is not ours to mess with. It is God’s revelation of Himself.
The third president of the United States was famous for his disregard of this verse. Thomas Jefferson constructed the “Jeffersonian Bible” by cutting out the portions of the Gospel narratives that contained any aspect of the supernatural. As you can imagine, this greatly changed the story! Jefferson though wouldn’t have it any other way. He just simply couldn’t believe that something miraculous could happen and so he removed all evidence of it from his “Bible”. The result was a Jesus who told thoughtful stories and shared helpful advice but was undeserving of anyone’s worship.
This story may sound outrageous but we do the same thing when we explain away a command of God or justify our own disobedience today. Let’s be careful to heed the warning of Revelation 22. The Bible is God’s revelation of Himself and we should receive it as such.
From Stuart, the team leader (for security reasons, names of cities and people are changed):
Things are going great here. We have spent one whole day and and a morning in “B”. It has been great for the guys to spend time with “Sam” studying scripture and encouraging him. We have spent sometime prayer walking as well and shared the creation to the cross story with several. The girls have been working with the evangelism track. They will teach two stories and do a craft each day. They have seen some great fruit from getting to do these crafts. Women have been sharing and answering questions. “Sam’s” wife an unbeliever, when she was done with her craft came into the room beaming ear to ear and showed everyone her painting. She was so proud.
Yesterday we got rained out in the afternoon, so today we will go to “B” in the morning and then “K” and “T” in the afternoon.
I don’t know if you are friends with any of the team on facebook, but they are putting up some funny comments. Last night, the girls AC went out and they were bantering back and forth via facebook.
Tuesday by Mark Gilliam
What do we believe?
We believe that the sixty-six books of the Bible were written by men inspired by God.
Why do we believe this?
2 Peter 1:21- For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Why does it matter?
The Bible-66 books written over a 1500 year span on three different continents by 40 different authors from varying walks of life and at different times in God’s redemptive history. And yet God’s word fits together beautifully and has stood the test of time and relentless attack. How could that happen apart from God’s sustaining hand? What a miracle of God’s providence and grace that He has provided His word to us by allowing human hands under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to write it down. God could have simply sent us a big golden Bible and said, “Here it is. Read it and obey it!” Yet He chose to use sinful people to write down His very words. What a great gift we have in the Bible and the fact that you can hold it in your hand today is because many have fought and died to make that so. What humility should well up in us as we read it.
It’s God’s word so it should be obeyed. Penned by human hands to show His great power at work in fallen people to accomplish His mission. As you read it today, thank God for the wonderful gift of his word and for the Savior that it points to.
Be in prayer today as Jason preaches the Lord’s message to His people here at Living Hope. Below is some extraneous material for those who hear the message today:
One of the first attacks on Scripture by higher Biblical criticism was aimed at the book of Isaiah. Source critics have divided Isaiah into three parts and set for their theory explaining: Proto-Isaiah (chapters 1-39), containing the words of the 8th century BC (before Christ) prophet and 7th century BC expansions; Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40-55), a 6th century BC work by an author who wrote under the Babylonian captivity; and Trito-Isaiah (chapters 56-66), composed probably by multiple authors in Jerusalem shortly after the exile.
While these theories are interesting and make for creative writing, the integrity and truthfulness of the book itself directs the reader back to a straightforward reading of the book. The book of Isaiah was written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by “Isaiah the son of Amoz” (Isaiah 1:1) and his vision provides insights that those unfamiliar with or incapable of believing in the supernatural intervention of God find hard to accept. The introduction of Isaiah in the ESV Study Bible provides a general explanation of the issue and a simple explanation and answer to the questions surrounding Isaiah’s authorship.
Some scholars theorize that more than one author was responsible for this book. These scholars spread the authorship of the book through multiple hands writing over the course of around 200 years. This theory proposes that, though chapters 1–39 are largely the work of Isaiah, chapters 40–66 are the work of an anonymous prophet living during the Babylonian exile, over a century after Isaiah. Many propose further that chapters 56–66 were composed by yet another, still later, anonymous prophet. This would yield First Isaiah (chs. 1–39), from the late eighth century B.C.; Second Isaiah (chs. 40–55), from the middle of the sixth century; and Third Isaiah (chs. 56–66), from sometime in the fifth century. There are three primary reasons offered for not attributing chapters 40–66 to Isaiah the son of Amoz: (1) Chapters 40–66 assume the exilic period as their background. (2) Chapters 40–66 have differences in style from chapters 1–39. (3) The detailed predictions in the latter section of the book would have been meaningful to the exilic and postexilic community of Judah, but (according to this view) would not have been relevant to the people of Isaiah’s own time.
These reasons for dividing the book suffer from severe shortcomings, and it is better to take the heading (1:1) as indicating that the entire book comes from Isaiah, the son of Amoz.
1. There is unified testimony from the ancient world for single authorship. (1) The NT refers to passages throughout the book as the work of Isaiah (see Matt. 3:3; 4:14–16; 8:17; 12:17–21; 13:14–15; 15:7–9; Mark 7:6–7; Luke 3:4–6; 4:17–19; John 1:23; 12:37–41; Acts 8:27–35; 28:25–27; Rom. 9:27–29; 10:16, 20–21; 15:12). The NT acknowledges no other author or authors. The testimony of John in John 12:41 is especially instructive: “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.” “These things,” which is plural, refers to the two previous quotations in John 12:38 (using Isa. 53:1, from the so-called “Second Isaiah”) and John 12:40 (using Isa. 6:10, from so-called “First Isaiah”), but John refers to the one person, Isaiah, who both “saw his glory” and “spoke of him.” (2) The intertestamental book of Sirach (48:24–25) and the first-century Jewish historian Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 11.5–6) attest Isaiah’s authorship of the whole book. (3) A Hebrew manuscript of Isaiah in the Dead Sea Scrolls bears witness to the seamless unity of the book as the work of Isaiah. (4) It is hard to imagine how prophets could have issued such oracles as those of Isaiah 40–66, which were of such importance in the history of Judah, and yet fade into obscurity. (5) Later OT authors seem to cite prophecies from chapters 40–66, which they could not have done if the book were broken up as described (e.g., see note on 60:7, used in Ezra 7:27).
2. There are many distinctive features of Isaiah’s style that run through all three parts. For example, Isaiah’s characteristic title for the Lord is “the Holy One of Israel,” which appears 25 times in the whole book (12 times in Isaiah 1–39; 11 times in chs. 40–55; and twice in chs. 56–66). It appears only six times outside of Isaiah: twice in Jeremiah, three times in the Psalms, and in 2 Kings 19:22 (cf. Isa. 37:33). The phrase “high and lifted up” is a feature of Isaiah, appearing in 2:12–14; 6:1; 52:13; 57:15 (i.e., in each of the three sections; see note on 6:1). The notes will show other aspects of coherent thought and expression in Isaiah. Any differences of style can be explained by the different topics of the chapters and by different stages in Isaiah’s life (e.g., Isaiah may have written chapters 40–66 after the Assyrian invasion of 701 B.C.).
3. The predictive material in chapters 40–66 is highly relevant both to the exilic audience and to Isaiah’s own day. Certainly it demonstrates the Lord’s rule over history; these chapters appeal to it for that purpose (e.g., 41:21–29), and Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 11.5–7) records a story of the impression the specific prediction of Cyrus (Isa. 44:28) made on the Persian monarch when he learned of it (a prediction made about 150 years in advance). The biblical worldview, which begins with the majestic Creator, can readily accept this. Further, chapters 40–66 often mention pagan religion, but specifically Babylonian material is rare (46:1); most address Canaanite idolatry, which Judah mixed in with their worship of Yahweh (e.g., 57:5; 66:3, 17; cf. 40:19; 41:7, 29; 42:17; 45:16–20; 46:6; 48:5; and the extended satire on idolatry, 44:9–20)—and this was no longer a problem in Judah after the fall of Jerusalem.
However, the primary significance of this predictive material resides in a wider context. The whole book portrays God’s plan for Judah as a story that is headed somewhere, namely, toward the coming of the final heir of David who will bring light to the Gentiles. Israel was created for this very purpose, and it will require that God’s people be purified of those members whose lives destroy that mission (see note on 1:24–28). This prospect of a glorious future enlists all believing readers to dedicate themselves to living faithfully and to embrace the dignity of playing a part in its development (cf. 2:5).
At the heart of Isaiah’s message is God’s purpose of grace for sinners. If that ultimate miracle is accepted—and one cannot be a Christian without accepting it—then a lesser miracle is no barrier. Indeed, the prophet making predictions of future events is not a problem; it is, as Isaiah intended it to be, encouraging evidence of God’s sovereign salvation intercepting a sinful world.
Crossway Bibles, The ESV Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008), 1233-34.
Be in prayer today for the West Africa team. This will be there first full day of ministry. Pray for health and safety. Also, pray that they are sensitive to the divine appointments that the Lord sends their way.
Some of the prayer requests from our Prayer Cards this past Sunday.
Pray for the college students as they return to college that those who believe will live for Christ.
A grandmother requests prayers for her grandson, that God will work in his life.
Pray for all military families…that those who believe will feel the Lord’s strength and peace. And for those who do not believe that churches and believing military families will reach out and share the love of Christ with them.
Pray for a member’s father who just found out he has a serious health issue
Pray for a child of a member’s colleague as he is struggling for his life.