Finally…..Ladies Conference Audio is Uploaded

I’ve been having trouble, as it turns out like many other people with my BT Homehub 2, the trouble being that it does not allow file uploads of any significant size! I only found that out today! So, I plugged in my old faithful hub and got the files uploaded.

Here is a link to the Church Website Audio page which will direct you to where you can download the files.

How to keep the Lord’s Day

Tim Challies posts some useful extracts from Don Whitney, on the positive use of the Sabbath Day.

Follow the link here.

Finding Christ in the New Testament Worksheet 1

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be applying the lessons we have learnt over the last couple of months by considering three Old Testament passages.

As a memory aid here are the 7 ‘ways’ of finding Christ:

1.Redemptive Historical Progression

Key Question: “What is God doing here to ensure the birth and saving work of his Son, the Messiah?”

Think about the text at three levels: Personal History, National history and then Salvation or Redemptive History.

2.Promise-Fulfilment

Is there a promise made in the text by God that Christ fulfills.

Remember multiple fulfillments: historical, Christ centred, eschatalogical.

3.Typology

A type is always a pattern of something which IS SIMILAR but which becomes clearer, more tightly focussed, more important or in some other way ESCALATES, BETTERS, IMPROVES OR PERFECTS the typological expression…

Don’t look for complete identification between type and thing typified.

NOTE…typology is about the THEOLOGICAL TRUTH taught in both parts, not just, or not even, the external similarities.

4.NT reference or citation

Is the passage, cited or alluded to in the NT?

5.Analogy

Does God do something for the Church through Christ similar to something he does in the passage for Israel or the individual in the passage?

6.Progression of Themes

Is there a big theme contained in the passage that carries through to the New Testament and that Christ fuflills?

7.Contrast

Is there a contrast or partial difference between the Old Covenant way of doing things in the passage with how God does things in the New Covenant?

Here are the passages for application:

A- Abraham’s Offering – Genesis 22

B -The Story of Noah – Genesis 6-8

C- The Battle of Jericho and Rahab – Joshua 2 & 6

Ladies Conference

We had a great time of ministry. I hope to post some photos on the web site in due course. If you would like copies of the sessions I’m sure we could arrange.

Ladies Conference Update.

The subject Pastor Smith will be covering at the conference (23rd May see below) is the following:

“Light in Darkness: Lessons from Sorrowful Saints”

Session 1: When Sorrow Goes Too Far: David and Absalom

Session 2: When Providence Is Perplexing: The Death of the Widow’s Son

Session 3: The Happy Ending: Naomi and Ruth

Reading the Old Testament in pursuit of Christ

In our first week of our Sunday School study on reading and understanding the Old Testament, we thought of how a primary factor in our study is that we should read with the intention of finding aspects of Christ’s person and work there-in.

Here are some of the quotes of past theologians and Bible readers to the same effect.

Firstly’ two from Calvin,

“First, then, we ought to believe that Christ cannot be properly known in any other way than from the Scriptures; and if it be so, it follows that we ought to read the Scriptures with the express design of finding Christ in them. Whoever shall turn aside from this object, though he may weary himself throughout his whole life in learning, will never attain the knowledge of the truth; for what wisdom can we have without the wisdom of God?” – John Calvin (Calvin’s Commentaries; John 5:39)

“This is what we should in short seek in the whole of Scripture; truly to know Jesus Christ, and the infinite riches that are comprised in him and are offered to us by him from God the Father” (Preface to French New Testament)

And then two from Owen,

Our second direction unto the same end [seeing the glory of Christ] is, that we diligently study the Scripture, and the revelations that made of this glory of Christ therein. To behold it, is not a work of fancy or imagination; it is not conversing with an image framed by the art of men without, or that of our own fancy within, but of faith excercised on divine revelations. This direction he gives us himself, John 5:39”.

John Owen, Work 1:314 – The Glory of Christ

This principle is always to be retained in our minds in reading of the Scripture, – namely, that the revelation and doctrine of the person of Christ and his office is the foundation whereon all other instructions of the prophets and apostles for the edification of the church are built, and whereunto they are resolved……

There are, therefore, such revelations of the person and glory of Christ treasured up in Scripture, from the beginning unto the end of it, as may excercise the faith and contemplation of believers in this world, and shall never, during this life, be fully discovered or understood; and in divine meditations of these revelations doth much life of faith consist.
John Owen, Works 1:314-315 – The Glory of Christ

Ladies Conference 2009

We’re glad to be able to host our second (annual?) Ladies Conference on Saturday morning 23rd of May. We’re also glad that our speaker this year will be Pastor Jeffery Smith from Covenant Reformed Baptist Church, Easley, South Carolina, USA.

You can find details at our web site by clicking here. For convenience here is the little flyer for the event.

Why have a church blog?

What is the purpose of this blog. Well from past experience blogs can be useful and edifying, but all too often they degenerate into being places for self-promotion, argument and so forth.

It is important that this blog does not become so, but rather reflects the former ideal, a place for mutual edification.

So what will you find on here?

• Notes from Adult Sunday School class
• Book reviews
• Useful quotations
• Church history articles
• etc.