Psalm 128 is one of our community’s favorite psalms: “Blessed the man who fears Jehovah…” But do you stop and consider that opening line? Blessed is the man who fears Jehovah. It is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10), and especially when it comes to worship, we are required to draw near with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:28-29). 

When John saw Jesus, it says that he fell down at his feet like a dead man (Rev. 1:17). God is described in Scripture like a great and terrible storm of glory and majesty. “The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burned at his presence, yea, the world, and all that dwell therein” (Nah. 1:4). When Israel met with the Lord at Mt. Sinai, thick smoke and clouds descended on the mountain, full of lightning and thunder, and the whole mountain shook (Ex. 19:16-18). Think of standing in front of a volcano, a tornado, and tidal wave of glory as high as a mountain towering over you. 

Even the presence of angels are described as terrifying. The first words out of the mouths of angels are almost always: “do not be afraid/fear not.” If the messengers of God make people tremble, how much more God Himself? 

God is immense, majestic, and even in His goodness, there is awe and reverence, and the sense that we deserve to die. The fear of God shows us that we are next to nothing compared to Him – dust and ashes compared to Him. And then add to that our sins, and yes, even our forgiven sins, creates what John Bunyan called a “blessed confusion” – deep shame combined with profound relief. 

This is the salt that is to season our entire lives: God’s immense greatness, our miniscule frailty, and His glorious goodness in the face of our filth and rebellion. 

And it is to be particularly evident in our worship. The psalmist says, “rejoice with trembling.” As they sang on the banks of the Red Sea: “Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?” (Ex. 15:11)

Toby Sumpter – December 10, 2023

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The Christian faith is a bloody faith. There really is no nice or polite way to put this. We could talk about the color crimson or red as so many hymns hint at but that would not capture the fact that the shedding of blood was a necessity for this world. 

Consider with me the beginning of Genesis when the God of all glory opened Adam up in order to create the necessary Eve. No doubt there was blood involved. This act does not necessarily point to our salvation but it does show us that our God is involved with the things that bring life and where there is blood there is life. Eve is after all named the mother of all the living.

We then have our gracious God who covers Adam and Eve’s shame from their sin with animal skins and though it is not necessary to shed blood when you kill and skin an animal the fact remains that the internal blood flow has stopped. 

Life has been taken. Sin has been covered. A return to a right relationship with God has been called for. 

But animals could really never satisfy our righteous God’s holy wrath, could they? They certainly had flesh and blood as indicated by the sacrifice laws. We see animal blood being splashed on the altar and being put on the extremities of the high priest. Blood is splashed here and splashed there. Blood is everywhere.  Day after day the priests offered sacrifices but they never truly took away sin. This is because all of the grain, oil, drink, blood and even animal life offered never was the substance of a man. 

No, only a man, a sinless man, a true man, a man with the blood of kings and the breath of God inside him could take away the filthy sin and shame of this world. 

And Jesus did just that… for you. He offered himself for you. With all of your pride and greed and lust and dirty thoughts. With all of your laziness and complaining. With all that marred you as a sinful creature. When you didn’t even know you needed him. He gave his life up. Could it not have been another man or woman to take away your sin? Perhaps you could give even your own life? No. Never. The only way back to a perfect Father is through the shedding of the perfect son’s blood. And he did it once for all. 

His body was spent. His spirit was given up. His blood ran red. And when this happened, the whole world came alive. A life taken to give life. Jesus offered himself once for all time and sat down at the right hand of God and entered his rest. 

And would you have that rest? Then trust in the blood of the sinless one and let it cover you from this time forth and forevermore. Amen.

Joshua Dockter – December 10, 2023

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Why do we worship the way we do? One way to answer this question is by noticing the texts in the New Testament that urge us to offer our bodies and our praises as sacrifices: We are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices (Rom. 12:1). When we walk in love toward one another, it’s a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:2). When we give offerings and gifts to the work of ministry, it’s a sacrifice, acceptable and pleasing to God (Phil. 4:18). When we acknowledge God and do good and share with one another, these are sacrifices of praise, pleasing to God (Heb. 13:15-16). We are being built up into a spiritual house together in the church, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 2:5). 

But once we establish this point that New Covenant worship is to be full of these kinds of spiritual sacrifices of praise, we realize that the Old Covenant sacrifices were our training wheels. They were previews of the final bloody sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross, but they were also tutors or teachers, preparing us to offer what God truly always wanted: broken and soft hearts, lips of praise and thanksgiving, joyful fellowship, and wholly consecrated lives. 

And that is what we find in the three principle Old Testament sacrifices: a sin offering focused on cleansing from sin, a whole burnt ascension offering – focused on a wholly consecrated life arising to God as sweet smelling aroma, and a peace offering, where the worshipers ate and fellowshipped in the presence of God. And wherever we find those three sacrifices together, they are always offered in that order: sin offering, whole burnt ascension offering, and peace offering. 

If you add a Call to Worship to the beginning and a benediction at the end, we find this same basic pattern of Christian worship throughout the history of the Church: we are called into the presence of God, we confess our sins, we hear the Word read and preached, consecrating our entire lives to Him, we sit down for communion in His presence, and then we are sent out with His blessing. Why do we worship this way? Because we are holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ. 

Toby Sumpter – December 3, 2023

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²³ “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.

Matthew 5:23-24

Christmas is the season of gift giving. This is the season of presents. Ask any 5 year-old in our midst and they can tell you that, and this is a wonderful thing as we celebrate the ultimate gift of Christ. But there are some rules that go along with gift giving and one of them can be found here in this instruction from Jesus. If you would seek to make an offering, a freewill gift to God, you may not do so while there is something between you and your neighbor. That gift will not be accepted. Instead, you should leave it and go make things right with your brother first. In the same way, the nicest Christmas present will not cover up sin between you and your neighbor. This is a lie that you will hear in countless commercials. “Have you been a distant husband, make up for it with this beautiful neckless!” “Have you been failing as a mother, well just splurge a little extra this holiday season. This gift will say sorry for you.” No, it will not! Your mouth must say sorry for you. That gift will never do the trick. All the blessing of that gift that you intend will not be realized by the giftee when there is strife between you. Proverbs 17:1 “Better is a dry morsel with quietness, Than a house full of feasting with strife.” 

So, leave the gift at the door and first go in and make things right. Rather than trying to make up for your wrongs with your wallet, humble yourself, confess your sins to those you have wronged and don’t hold any sin back. Once you do that, then bring on the gift-giving and it will be bless-ed. This applies to our interaction with the city of Troy as well. We are seeking to bless our neighbors by contributing to the Christmas celebration and with Christmas caroling. But that gift will not be received if you are holding onto any malice in your hearts towards them. Confess this first and go to your neighbor if you have sinned against them with sideways words or actions, make things right. We are fighting back against the world, but we must do so like our Father, with peace and goodwill toward men.

Zach Browning – December 3, 2023

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