2019.07.12 Family Friday - Holy Vision for Family Life (Gouge), pp51-131

On these Family Fridays, we are reading A Holy Vision for Family Life by William Gouge. Over the last several weeks, we covered pp51-131, with the following scribbled notes:

and the following select quotes:

from p88 on how Christ's purpose toward perfecting us as His bride should both establish perfection as the standard at which we aim, and also banish from us all discouragement at our falling short, since Christ will in fact accomplish it.

from p108 on how, since Christ cherishes us as His own body, all of His care--even disciplining care--toward us is exercised in the most affectionate love.

from p110 on how, since Christ can never starve His own body but only always provides for it what is best, we can know that even if we should die for lack of outward means, that is His way of bringing us into our final and most perfect provision.

from p117 on the fact that being made into the very body of our Lord Himself has raised us much higher than anything which Adam had before the Fall.

from p124 on how one of the most needful responses to having Christ Himself as our own head is that--having such an One as Himself to depend upon in this way, we refuse that wicked dishonoring of Him that would occur if we depended upon anything else.

2019.06.12 Worship Wednesday - Gospel Worship (Burroughs), pp67-110

On these Worship Wednesdays, we are reading Gospel Worship by Jeremiah Burroughs. Over the last several weeks, we covered pp67-110, with the following scribbled notes:

and the following select quotes:

from p78 on how an unbeliever can never worship from pure motives

from p81 on how the only way to sanctify God's name in worship is by the power of the Spirit and union with Christ

from p84 on how the only right worship is worship that comes from truly regenerate affections

from p86 on how a true apprehension of God's glory is what produces true zeal in worship

from p89 on how worship must be done chiefly from a genuine desire that God would be honored, not any other reason

from p92 on how worshiping from a desire for God's honor means that we will love even that right worship from which we perceive no benefit to ourselves

from p96 on how the one who truly fears God will fear Him most when closest to Him in worship

from p97 on the greatness of the vileness of allowing ourselves to be distracted in worship

from p99 on how the best way to resist distractions in worship is to stir up fervor toward the Lord Himself

from p100 on the necessity of giving all of one's strength to God's worship

from p102 on the complete impropriety of ever being impressed with our worship

from p104 on how right worship is not only worship that is only according to God's Word in Scripture, but also only that worship that is done in and through us by God's Spirit

from p106 on how worship that is done merely out of a sense of duty cannot genuinely gladden the heart

from p108 on how right worship is only that worship that is done in union with Christ and offered by Him to God on our behalf

190605FW Judg 3:12-31 - The Lord Who Saves in the Icky Details of Life

Family Worship teaching time in Judges 3:12-31, following up upon the Old Testament reading from Lord's Day morning worship on June 2, 2019. Israel is still being Israel--wicked. And the Lord is still being the Lord--showing patience and mercy and saving them. How does He do it? Even in some of the icky little details of life. This encourages us that the Lord is working, and saving, even in such details. But, we ultimately come away longing for the Lord's deliverer who can do something about our internal filthiness. That deliverer can only be the Lord Jesus Christ!

190604FW Prov 4:14-19 - The Paths of the Wicked and the Righteous

Family Worship teaching time in the "Proverb of the Day." The wicked and righteous are on two completely different paths. To one, wickedness is as natural as eating bread and drinking wine, and it will destroy them. To the other, righteousness is a glory in the infancy of its dawning, and a guarantee that it will be completed, because that righteousness can genuinely exist only in Christ!

190604FW Heb 2:10-18 - Knowing and Experiencing Jesus's Likeness to His Brethren

Family Worship teaching time in Hebrews 2:10-18, following up upon the text that formed the first portion of the Lord's Day morning worship service. God gave His own Son to be our Trailblazer--the One who cleared a path that could and would never have to be cleared again, with a suffering of a kind that we will never have to endure. Indeed, we who follow after Him in suffering do so by His attendant help, rejoicing that we are taking the same route that He has cleared for us. God is "bringing many sons to glory," in all of our sufferings, and He gives us a weekly taste of that when we are gathered into Heaven in our Captain Who has gone before us!

2019.06.04 Timeless Tuesday - Letters of Samuel Rutherford, pp150-166

On these "Timeless Tuesdays," we are reading through the full Banner of Truth edition of Letters of Samuel Rutherford. Today, we covered pp150-166, with the following scribbled notes:

And the following choice quotes:

from p154 on the grief of failing to be weaned from this world by our trials

from p154 on how Christ is better than the rest of heaven itself

from p161 on the blessedness of the trials that fit us for glory 

from p162 on how finding Christ Himself sweeter is itself a reward of infinite value for our trials

from p163 on regret over not having made better use of opportunities to preach

2019.06.03 Ministry Monday - An Able and Faithful Ministry (Garretson), pp204-235

Notes from Samuel Garretson's An Able and Faithful Ministry: Samuel Miller and the Pastoral Office. pp204-235

And a few choice quotes...

from p207 on the attraction and power of expository preaching

from p214 on the need for Christ-compelled men preaching as messages from God

from p218 on the superiority of directness, clarity, and organization over elqouence

from p221 on the importance of weighty earnestness in preaching

from p233 on the superiority of introducing from the text/context

from p235 on the superiority of using Scripture itself for illustrations

190603FW Prov 3:1-4 - The Loving, Fatherly Gift of God's Law

Family Worship teaching time from the "Proverb of the day." God's law is as personal as it is legal. It is the loving gift of a Father who loves us in His Son, and who employs His law as He makes us like unto His Son, and gives us the blessings of His Son.

190603FW Gen 11:10-32 - Christ-Driven History and Living

Family Worship teaching time in Genesis 11:10-32, following up upon the morning sermon from the Lord's Day morning worship service. This genealogy shows how Christ-driven and gospel-driven history really is, in the providence of God. It calls for our lives to be the same--especially as we recognize that God loves to use our weakness to glorify Himself in Christ in the gospel.

190601FW Prov 1:1-7 - Who Needs Wisdom and How to Get It

Family Worship teaching time from the "Proverb of the day." The simple and the young especially need wisdom--and if we don't think we need it, then we actually need it all the more! The only true knowledge is that which fears the Lord, and the fear of the Lord is also the prerequisite for the true humility required to overcome our flesh's resistance to being instructed.

190601FW Gen 11:10-32 - Zeroing in on Jesus

Family Worship teaching time in Genesis 11:10-32, preparing for the Lord's Day morning sermon tomorrow. We all have a vested interest in this genealogy, because its focus is Christ; and, we desperately need a Redeemer who can take away our guilt and overcome death. Christ is just such a Redeemer. As God propels redemptive history forward to Jesus, He is pleased to use weakness so that all the glory will be His.

190531FW Prov 31:10-12 - Being or Finding an Excellent Wife

Family worship teaching lesson from the "Proverb of the Day." What kind of wife is more valuable than the greatest earthly treasure? Where does this value appear? How are young ladies to prepare to be such a wife? How are young men to find them?

190531FW Jn 13:1-17 - Christ's Almighty, Cleansing, Disciple-making Love

Family worship teaching lesson, reviewing John 13:1-17, the epistle reading from the Lord's Day morning worship service, May 26, 2019. The Holy Spirit amazes us with what Jesus was "knowing" and thinking about as He washed the disciples' feet. The almighty, eternally begotten, God the Son has stooped down to be the cleanser of dirt-creatures who must be delivered from the penalty, power, and presence of sin. Those whom He loves, He cleanses. And, if He is not cleansing us, then it is a sure indicator that we have no part in Him. Part of His cleansing us is that we would love one another, and be willing to humble ourselves to serve one another--especially to participate in His cleansing work in each other's lives.

190530FW 2Cor 11:1-15 - True Apostolic Christianity vs Satanic Apostolic Christianity

Family worship teaching lesson, reviewing 2Corinthians 11:1-15, the epistle reading from the Lord's Day morning worship service, May 26, 2019. The apostle is concerned for the Corinthians that though they are betrothed to the true Jesus, listening to satanic apostles has got them setting their affections upon a false Jesus who is a figment of deceived imaginations.

190528FW 1Chr 29:10-15 - The Generous Privilege of Worship

Family worship teaching lesson, reviewing 1Chronicles 29:10-15, the Scripture from which came the first part of the Lord's Day morning worship service, May 26, 2019. As David considers that they have been permitted to give offerings to build a temple for Almighty God, he confesses that all belongs to God already, and that it is actually an infinite condescension that God generously gives them the privilege of offering to Him or worshiping Him. The same is true with all of our set times of worship, and even the opportunity to offer our very lives in a spirit and act of worship!

190517FW Prov 17:13-14 - Responding to Goodness & Preempting Quarrels

Family worship teaching lesson from Proverbs 17:13-14 (yesterday's "Proverb of the day"). v13 teaches that sin is much more heinous against someone who has done you good. This magnifies the heinousness of believers' sin against God, and therefore the wonderful grace of God in His longsuffering with us. These should be strong inducements to putting our sin to death! In v14, we are reminded of how important it is to be one who refuses to start a quarrel.

What Are We Commanded to Sing in Public Worship?

Recently, I encountered [an article] attempting to reason against Exclusive Psalmody. If you're not familiar with the case for EP, here's an overly brief/simple summary:

Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

That which we sing in corporate worship will dwell in us richly. There is only One whose Words may be permitted to do so! (see also the parallel in Eph 5:18-21, where this rich-indwelling of Christ's Word is conjoined with being filled with the Spirit, and each of us is to render obedience to what the others are singing--again, not something to be done with the ideas of men, but only with the Word of God.)

Hebrews 2:11:12 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You.”

Quoting from Psalm 22, the apostle teaches that part of the "joy set before Him" on the cross, was Jesus's current action in not only the preaching, but also His activity in the singing in the worship assemblies of the church. If it is Jesus who sings in the assembly, we must not presume to put our words or thoughts into His mouth!

Then, there are the many, many obvious Scriptures that apply the 2nd commandment. Basically, if we worship according to the ideas of men, then we make ourselves our own gods. We might sound like we are honoring God with our lips, but our hearts will be far from Him.

The WCF summarizes these Scriptures thusly:

The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might. But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.

So, how is it that I arrive at believing that I am commanded to sing some of what people call "hymns"? It really is not by the form of argument in the article above. I'm not particularly convinced that creed/confession recitation is a prescribed element of the public worship of God (it troubles my conscience to do so where I currently minister, but I submit to the elders in their understanding texts like 1Cor 1:10 to imply some kind of speaking together for confessing the faith). And whereas the preaching that is commanded is inherently expository, but singing is not inherently expository, so that analogy dies easily. The article by itself would push me in the other direction.

However, one cannot so easily dismiss the assertion that metrical translation is inherently paraphrastic--or that singing itself requires some extent of paraphrase.

The argument that has actually compelled me into what some would call "hymn singing" is the fact that we are commanded to sing as the Spirit's appointed method for the rich indwelling of the Word of Christ, and that the Holy Spirit has attached a specific glory to the name, Jesus (c.f. Phil 2:9-11; Col 3:16-17).

In the first place, if "Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs" is a limiting clause, then we may only sing in public worship those particular Psalms with those words in the superscripts. So, not even the entire Psalter would be commanded in that case. However, if that is not a limiting clause, then the full command is to sing the Word of Christ--so, rather than like so many "red-letter" text editions of Scripture, we must understand a command to sing the Words of Christ as a command to sing the thoughts of all of Scripture.

I am sympathetic to the argument that the thoughts of all of Scripture may be found somewhere in the Psalms. But, personal and pastoral experience has proved that while we may sing a couple lines from a Psalm that are analogous in theme to the other Scripture text about which we are trying to obey the command; yet, a metrical/paraphrastic translation of that text itself, or faithful opening of its ideas in verse, is a more direct and complete obedience to the command.

I appreciate that the article is trying to say that there is such a thing as hymn singing that is not "our putting our words into God's mouth." At least, I hope that's what he was saying: "here are other places where we are very intentionally yielding our thoughts to God's thoughts by paraphrased/rearranged words; and, that is something that applies especially in the form of song."

Ultimately, this comes to a head when trying to obey the good and necessary consequence of Phil 2:9-11 and the command of Col 3:17. Because, while there are many names and titles for Christ in the Psalter, yet I am commanded by God specifically to use the name of Jesus, and specifically in the glorifying of the Father through the worship of Christ, and specifically in context and connection with letting Christ's Word dwell in me richly in connection with congregational singing in the public worship of God.

Now--a proper understanding of Scripture commands for worship would exclude a vast majority, of the hymns currently sung in American services on the Lord's Day. But, I also think it excludes being exclusive to the Psalter.

190517FW John 12:37-41 - Displaying Christ's Glory: Whom and What Isaiah Saw

Family worship teaching lesson, reviewing John 12:37-41, the Gospel lesson from Lord's Day worship on May 12. Christ declares the cross as the great display of His glory. This, Isaiah saw in the throneroom of Isaiah 6 and the substitutionary atonement of Isaiah 53!

2019.05.16 Theology Thursday - The Glory of Christ (Owen, vol 1), pp389-408

On these Theology Thursdays, we are reading The Glory of Christ by John Owen. Today, we covered pp389-408, with the following scribbled notes:

And the following favorite quotes...

from p393 on the disastrous effect of purported images of Christ

from p395 on fresh faith-views of Christ's glory as the cure for spiritual malaise

from p397 on how unbelieving it is to lack a desire for experience and enjoyment of Christ's glory to whatever extent we may do so even now

from p401 on the necessity of both the intellect and the affections for properly perceiving Christ's glory

from p403 on how every true glimpse of Christ's glory must produce love for Him

190515FW Judges 1:27-2:6 - Incomplete Obedience or Repentance Is None At All

Family worship teaching lesson, reviewing Judges 1:27-2:6, the Old Testament lesson from Lord's Day worship on May 12. The Holy Spirit takes us a step back in time, to when Joshua was still alive, to show us the progressive downgrade of Israel's obedience that had taken place during the conquest itself. Ultimately, their partial obedience was the result of not having Yahweh alone as God, but rather being their own god and adopting and raising up for themselves other gods--including tax money (nothing new under the sun!). Tragically, their partial repentance included only that selfish sorrow, which keeps serving oneself, not that godly sorrow that bears the fruit of turning from the sin to newly committed obedience.

190511FW Gen 9:18-29 - How to Be Blessed: Christ Is Adam's Children's Only Hope

Family worship teaching lesson, previewing the morning sermon text for May 12, Genesis 9:18-29. The end of Genesis 9 finally concludes Genesis 5. It seemed that the line of the godly had all but vanished, but the flood brought both wrath and salvation and re-set the covenant of grace with Noah. Still, Noah and Ham and Canaan and all of us are children of the first Adam. This is shockingly displayed when Noah's abuse of covenantal blessing ends up in great sin on his and Ham's parts. If we are to escape the curse that we deserve and be blessed instead, it will come only by being graciously transferred from him to the Last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ!

2019.05.08 Worship Wednesday - Gospel Worship (Burroughs), pp48-66

On these Worship Wednesdays, we are reading Gospel Worship by Jeremiah Burroughs. Today, we covered pp48-66, with the following scribbled notes:

And the following favorite quote on the importance of worship (and therefore the importance of preparing for it)

190509FW 2Corinthians 9 - Godliness That Displays Christ unto His Glory

Follow-up on 2Corinthians 9 from the epistle reading in Lord's Day morning worship and the Lord's Day afternoon sermon. The apostle is eager for the Corinthians to display the character of Christ in their generosity, so that thanksgiving and glory will abound to God for His indescribable gift of Christ. Christ not only is a believer's righteousness, but He then begins to transform that believer into a display of Himself.

190508FW Judges 1:1-26 - The Beginnings of Unfaithfulness

Following up upon the Old Testament reading from Judges 1:1-26 in the Lord's Day morning worship service this week. God alone is faithful, and we need Him Himself to be our own faithfulness. We need Christ! The book of Judges starts out pretty well, with the people inquiring of the Lord, Judah and Simeon cooperating, and Israel beginning to possess the land that they have taken. However, things will go badly quickly, and some hints of it are already appearing.

2019.05.07 Timeless Tuesday - Letters of Samuel Rutherford, pp128-150

On these "Timeless Tuesdays," we are reading through the full Banner of Truth edition of Letters of Samuel Rutherford. Today, we covered pp128-150, with the following scribbled notes:

And my favorite quote from this section was this one on looking forward to glory

190507FW Mar 4:1-20 - Good-Soil Listeners Submit and Devote Themselves to God's Word

Following up upon Mark 4:1-20 from the Prayer for Help, Song of Adoration, and Confession of Sin in the Lord's Day morning worship service.  Family Worship teaching time of a family of 10--complete with noisy baby! Here, we study the parable of the soils, and how a good-hearing heart has to be given by God. How does such a heart hear? By paying good attention, by interacting with God in His Word, and by determining to submit to and be controlled by God in His Word. Attend thereunto with diligence, preparation and prayer. Receive it with faith and love. Lay it up in our hearts. Practice it in our lives. The Word is authoritative and sufficient!

2019.05.06 Ministry Monday - An Able and Faithful Ministry (Garretson), pp172-204

Notes from Samuel Garretson's An Able and Faithful Ministry: Samuel Miller and the Pastoral Office. pp172-204

And a choice quote from p196:

I'm Believing God That... This Phrase Is a Rather Anti-biblical Way to Describe Prayer

I've noticed a trend, lately, of professing believers saying that they're "believing God that" He will do something that they want Him to do. I assume that what they mean is that they are praying--pleading with Him, crying out to Him, making known their requests to Him. These are Scriptural ways of describing what it means to pray for something. And then there's the entire issue of having such requests formed by the mind of the Lord Himself in the Scriptures.

I'm not sure where the other way of speaking is coming from. While I try to stay abreast of the latest inventions of men that are passing themselves off as "Christianity," there must be some new book(let), or preaching personality, or radio ditty of which I'm not aware.

But I am aware that it is harmful. One of the chief delights of the believer is to know that God is God, and we are not. It is to view Christ in the Bible by Spirit-wrought faith, and behold His glory as the only-begotten of the Father. It is to realize continually that He is wise, and I am not. He is powerful, and I am not. He is righteous, and I am not. He is holy, and I am not. He is good, and I am not. He is perfectly faithful and true, and I am not.

We see an ocean of glory in God the Son, incarnate--full of steadfast love and faithfulness. We see in Jesus Christ all that God is, all that we ought to have been, all that is credited to us through faith in Him, all that will be done in us as He makes us like Himself. Why would we want to feel like we ourselves are something? Such a feeling can only hide from our view the glory of Christ. Why would we want to speak of our desire, and our confidence in that desire, as if it has in itself some kind of spiritual power?

When I hear someone say, "I'm believing God that..." what I hear is the opposite of prayer and of faith. Prayer involves a submission to the wisdom of God, but this statement seems to impose upon Him my wisdom. Faith binds itself to believe God's words, but this statement seems to bind God to believe and obey our words.

So, I think we might find it more helpful (and certainly more honest) to use one of those Bible phrases to describe the fact that we are asking God for something. It is a wonder that the Lord God listens to the voices of men. And a mercy that He responds by His grace which is sufficient for us, as His power is perfect in our weakness. Often, this mercy comes in the form of a resolute, divine, "No!"

And let us reserve "believing God" for reference to believing not what we are telling Him, but rather for what God has perfectly told us in the Scriptures--best of all, all about Himself in Jesus Christ.

2019.04.30 Timeless Tuesday - Letters of Samuel Rutherford, pp108-128

I've picked this one back up after a long hiatus. Rather than do a write-up each day, which discourages my posting, I'll just throw in a snap of whatever I've scribbled about the section, along with one of my favorite quote from the day.

On these "Timeless Tuesdays," we are reading through the full Banner of Truth edition of Letters of Samuel Rutherford. Today, we covered pp108-128, with the following scribbled notes:

And this gem from p127 was my second-favorite quote, but my first (from p128) was providentially quoted by Greenville Seminary today on social media. Here, SR is writing to a noblewoman who is being severely persecuted for faithfulness to Christ in His church:

2019.04.29 Ministry Monday - An Able and Faithful Ministry (Garretson), pp159-172

I've picked this one back up after a long hiatus. Rather than do a write-up each day, which discourages my posting, I'll just throw in a snap of whatever I've scribbled about the section, along with one of my favorite quote from the day.

Samuel Garretson's An Able and Faithful Ministry: Samuel Miller and the Pastoral Office. pp159-172.

And from p169:

190430FW Romans 11:33-12:33 - Gifts from God for His Church to His Glory

Family worship teaching time, following up upon Romans 11:33-12:13 from the Call to Worship, Prayer for Help, Song of Adoration, and Confession of Sin in the Lord's Day morning worship service. We need the Lord to renew our minds by His Word, so that we can offer our whole selves for the service of His church, unto the praise of His glory!

Notre Dame Burned to the Ground

Notre Dame burned to the ground. As far as the building goes, it was just the roof and spire that burned this week. The rest may have to wait until Jesus burns even the elements of heaven and earth in the process of refashioning them for the new creation.

But the whole thing burned all the way to the ground some 200 years after the building was "consecrated," when Trent took Roman Catholicism over the threshold from "decaying church" into "synagogue of Satan" by anathematizing the gospel.

It's far more dreadful for the church, as a living and spiritual organism, to burn than for even the most significant of buildings to be lost. When Solomon's temple was razed, it was a smaller tragedy than the previous 400 years of Judah's spiritual collapse.

"But Notre Dame is a symbol." Stop right there. Christ brought us out of the shadows. Post-ascension, religious symbols beyond the two sacraments are indicative of a church that's burning.

I grieve for France, and Paris, and even beautiful buildings. I wish I grieved more, but my heart is never so soft as it should be. I fall even further short when grieving for churches. I keep hearing that it's holy week. Who says? Men? Certainly not God.

I'm not just hearing this from Roman Catholics. Not just from Evangelicals. Not just from so-called "Continental Reformed" (though we should change the euphemism to "Continental 2/3 Reformed," since the preacta and postacta of the Synod of Dordt would thoroughly shock them).

I hear it from ministers in my own Church. I am subjected to their Facebook ads for Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services. I am amazed at their articles that throw the word 'catholic' around as if it has anything to do with the organization headquartered in the Vatican. I am dismayed at their dismay at the possible "loss" of dead images, which we confess together are offensive to the living God.

It's not that I'm ungrateful that the Lord has been turning our Church back around to its former, more biblical, doctrine and practice. Rather, I'm alarmed that there's not still alarm, when the fire is not yet out.

To be sure, the heat is diminished. The soundness of the structure as a whole is no longer in question. But the last of the fire still smolders in fairly obvious ways. It needs to be put out. And then the rebuilding and refurbishing can begin and should proceed in earnest.

To be honest, most of the time, I forget altogether to see this reality. Sometimes it takes an historic event to put the rest of our everyday experience into historical (or even biblical) perspective.

O, for a heart that would grieve as it ought for the spiritual state of the Church! O, for a Church that is so enraptured with the reigning, returning Christ who sits on the Throne, that it would shrug at the weightlessness (and grieve at the offensiveness) of all human embellishments that dare go by the name "Christ"ianity.

A First-Day Sabbath Primer

Again and again, I encounter sincere but misguided believers, who think that the church has made some grave error in observing the first day of the week as the Lord's holy day of worship. For some of them, this is because the Spirit's stirring up of their hearts unto love of the Lord and His law has not been met with sound instruction or clear biblical thinking.

Here is a very basic primer, intended to help such as these. I have no delusions that it will satisfy those who are vociferously hostile to the Christian Sabbath. 

Hebrews 4:9 says that there remains a Sabbatismon for the people of God. But the day of observance is established by the Lord Himself as the first day of the week. 

Between the resurrection and the ascension, the disciples literally gathered w/Christ whenever He walked through the wall or appeared out of thin air. Scripture tells us of this happening only on the first day of the week. 

During the apostolic period, 1Cor 14 tells us that corporate worship was dependent upon immediate revelation of the Spirit not only for preaching but also for prayers and even songs. 1Cor and 2Cor both tell us that the Spirit chose to do this on the first day of the week. 

When Paul was racing to Jerusalem so speedily that he wouldn't even take time to go inland from Miletus, he still took an entire day to worship at Troas. On the first day of the week. 

By the time John writes Revelation, he can write "the Lord's Day," and all the churches know what he is talking about. The first day of the week. 

There is still a weekly Sabbath, and God Himself has blessed and hallowed it as the first day of the week. 

Incidentally, the new creation hearkens back to the unfallen creation. Adam's first full day was a Sabbath!

What would you like our Lord's Day keeping to look like?

Obviously, even Calvin had not achieved everything for which he had a strongly biblical desire, such as weekly Supper, by the time he died. And this is exactly right, because no congregation should ever be directed by the whims of an individual (and certainly never by the whims of a congregation!), but always by the Scripture-convicted decisions of a body of elders.

But I've been asked, so here it is. I'm very grateful to God for the growth and maturation over the last year and half--especially among the group that generally tries to keep the bulk of the day well in fellowship with the Lord together.

9:00 a.m. breakfast starts

9:15 a.m. class starts (breakfast continues)

10:15 a.m. class ends

10:45 a.m. announcements and catechism recitations

[11a.m. standing]

Call to Worship

Pastoral Invocation/Adoration/Confession/Thanksgiving (prayer)

     (elder-led, and study-prepared, but still extemporaneous, not a prescripted form prayer)

Scripture Song 

     (metrical psalm/paraphrase/etc--from the passage that called to worship)

Serial Reading

     (extended reading from just one book, with couple sentence elder summary of the teaching)

Psalm

Lord's Prayer

Reading out of sermon text

[11:30a.m.--12:15p.m. sermon]

[12:15p.m.--standing again]

Song of response, singing that which was just opened from Scripture

Benediction

[12:20p.m. congregation files out, meditating upon Word and Sacrament, observing silence until arrival in the Fellowship Hall]

12:30 p.m. lunch begins

    (concerted effort at intergenerational interaction, with adults leading children in

    sermon review, and other Lord's-Day-intentional conversation)

1:15 p.m. catechism class (1/2 hour)

1:15 p.m. concurrent class (communicants/new-members/Q&A/whatever)

[2p.m. standing]

Call to Worship

Pastoral Invocation

Scripture Song 

Second Serial Reading

     (extended reading from just one book, with couple sentence elder summary of the teaching)

Psalm

Reading out of sermon text

[2:15p.m. - 2:45p.m sermon]

All come to the front, where the long tables are prepared with the elements

     Those who have difficulty standing sit along front row

     Others stand at angle, on either side of the tables, permitting as many as possible to be at table

     Non-communicant children stand with their parents

     Non-communicant adults sit in 2nd, 3rd row, etc.

Pastoral prayer 

    (again, elder-led, extemporaneous, asking for application of the sermon 

    and other pressing spiritual needs, including the conversion/obedience of the state,

    the welfare of the church around the world, and spiritual good to be done in current earthly trials,

    concluding with prayer for benefit from the sacrament)

Lord's Supper

    (immediately following the prayer of thanks/blessing: simply read out the words of institution 

    and announce the sacramental benefit in a sentence or two, followed by immediate partaking

    in response to and laying hold of the benefit by faith, without additional mystic quietness,

    first for the bread, and again for the wine)

Benediction at the Table

[AFTERPARTY--party/feast hosted by different congregation household each week, including early supper, a few hours of fellowship, and dispersal to homes so that each household can conclude the day with family review/thanksgiving/prayer and retire to bed in good season to have extra sleep and/or early start on the Monday morning]

===

--"Offering" moved out of the service, since there's no real Bible mandate for it as part of worship

--Creed/confession recitation moved out for same reason

--Supper weekly, in the afternoon service, but swapping the services once each month for those providentially hindered from afternoon attendance

--All form prayers removed

A pastor can dream

190209FW Prov 9:1-6 - Feasting at Wisdom's House

Family worship lesson from the "Proverb of the day"--Proverbs 9:1-6. Wisdom invites us to feast in hear spacious, strong house at hear richly supplied table of strength, health, and joy. This word picture of a life shaped by wonder at the Lord and worship of the Lord reminds us of how silly and foolish we would be to live any other way.

190209FW Genesis 4:6-24 - Getting Killed by Sin or Killing Sin by Grace?

Family worship teaching time from Genesis 4:6-24, preparing for the coming Lord's Day morning sermon. Cain was challenged to be killing his sin, or it would kill him. Alas, he indulged his sin, which turned out to be not so much against his brother as it was against the God of glory and grace. Sadly, we find that we are able to consider ourselves quite glorious while descending into ever more heinous depths of sin.

190208FW John 8:31-59 - Knowing Our Slavery to Know Our Savior

Family worship teaching time from John 8:31-59, the gospel reading in Lord's Day morning's worship. Jesus is talking to people who agreed with certain facts about Him... UNTIL He began to point out that they need Him to be almighty God and their only deliverance from slavery and escape from death. Suddenly, they would rather curse Him and kill Him than continue to agree with Him. Oh how dangerous is spiritual pride, that would keep us from the only Savior!

190207FW 2Cor 1:23-2:11 - Christ's Stops Satan through Our Fellowship

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the epistle reading from 2Corinthians 1:23-2:11 in Lord's Day morning worship. The Lord Jesus has given church members and officers the privilege of being gladdened by one another, as He uses us in one another's lives for good. Satan's attacks on us include both keeping us from doing the hard work of grieving one another when necessary for confrontation or rebuke, and the sometimes harder work of restoring relationship and demonstrating affection once repentance has occurred. In this passage, we learn the kind of fellowship by which Christ designs to defeat the devil in our churches!

190205FW Hebrews 12:22-13:4 - Heaven-and-Earth-Shaking Worship

Family worship teaching time, following up upon Hebrews 12:22-13:4 from the Call to Worship, Prayer for Help, Song of Adoration, and Confession of Sin in the Lord's Day morning worship service. In corporate worship, the Lord brings us by faith into the great worship assembly in glory. From there, He speaks to us by His living Word in the preaching, preparing us to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken!

190204FW 2Timothy 2:19 - Assurance's Firm Foundation from God: Election and Sanctification

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the Lord's Day morning sermon from 2Timothy 2:19. The Church and true believers will be preserved--a truth that is sealed to us by election and sanctification. Since the Lord has chosen His people in Christ from all eternity, they cannot ultimately fall. And, the fact that He is sanctifying them (causing them, by His Spirit, to use the means of grace and find them fruitful for departing from sin) demonstrates that He is surely saving them.

190128FW Genesis 4:1-5 - The Difference between a Cain and an Abel

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the Lord's Day morning sermon from Genesis 4:1-5. Children of parents who express faith in Christ have so much promise--and so much promised concerning them. But since some do turn out to be of the evil one, what is it that makes the difference? It is faith in Christ, which also produces fruit in the life.

190125FW John 8:12-20 - Jesus Is the Only Light by Which We May Know God

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the Lord's Day morning gospel reading from John 8:12-20. Having identified Himself as the manna from heaven, and the rock to which we can come for living water, Jesus now takes it a step further: He Himself is the One who appeared as a glory cloud and a pillar of fire. Now, He declares Himself to be not only the light of the Hebrews, but the light of the entire world. If we are to know God truly at all, then we must know Him as God who has revealed Himself in Christ!

190124FW 2Cor 1:8-14 - God WILL Give You More Than You Can Handle

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the Lord's Day morning epistle reading from 2Corinthians 1:8-14. God gives us troubles that are above our strength, so that we will not trust in ourselves. He gives us troubles that make us despair of life, so that we will trust in Him who alone can deliver from death. Since what we all need is what only the miraculous power of God can accomplish, He makes it utter foolishness to try to accomplish it by worldly wisdom. Instead, He gives us the privilege of praying and obeying--so that when HE has accomplished His good will, we will have enjoyed the privilege of being used, but HE will get ALL the praise!

190116FW Josh 13:1-6 - Our Fleeting Labor Established and Employed by Our Faithful Lord

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the Old Testament reading from Joshua 13:1-6 in corporate worship, this past Lord's Day morning. Already we have come from the beginning of Joshua's administration to its winding down. Lord, teach us to number our days! Just as in Moses's life, so now in Joshua's, the Lord has faithfully accomplished all that He set out to do. The land is conquered and ready for marking out each tribe's inheritance. Yes, there is more driving out/possessing to do, but the Lord will be faithful in future generations as well. Whatever part He has assigned to our lives, He will surely be faithful to keep all of His promises in bringing about the effects of Christ's finished work and victory. So,let us trust in Him, and do whatever is our part with zeal, confidence, and joy.

190111FW John 7:37-53 - Humble Thirst for the Rock that Is Christ

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the gospel reading from John 7:37-53 in corporate worship, this past Lord's Day morning. At the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus identifies Himself as the true and eternal Rock from whom our hearts can be filled with streams of living water, by His Holy Spirit. He calls to the thirsty to come to Him and drink. But, as with the Pharisees, if we think that we are made righteous by knowing the law or that we are better than others, we will not be thirsty. Such pride will keep us from coming to Jesus and send us to unquenchable fire!

190110FW Prov 10:1-3 - Christ Defeats the Curse, Death, and Fallenness in Our Lives

Family Worship teaching time in Proverbs 10:1-3, the "Proverb of the day." The curse was that children would bring agony, but children who trust in Christ and belong to Him can be a joy to their parents by His grace and His Spirit. Death laid claim to us spiritually and physically, but when Christ is our righteousness, sin is no longer our master, and death cannot hold us forever. As the Spirit makes those who belong to Jesus more and more like Him, they grow in right desires and find themselves content in the Lord.

190110FW 1Cor 16:13-24 - Battling That Loves and Loving That Battles

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the epistle reading from 1Corinthians 16:13-24 in corporate worship, this past Lord's Day morning. Christian theology and practice is a battle in which both strength and love are essential. Christ's grace alone empowers this battle, and one of His appointed means for that power is the ministry of the particular elders whom He has given us in our particular congregation.
 

190107FW Gen 3:16-19 - Thy Kingdom Come: the Curses that Christ Reverses

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the sermon from Genesis 3:16-19 in corporate worship, this past Lord's Day morning. Parenting. Marriage. Work. Central place in the fall. Central place in display of Christ's victorious redemption of His people. We deserve to be a display of death and the devil; but Jesus, who is HIMSELF the image of God, remakes us into His own image!

190104FW John 7:14-36 - God's Truth, Righteousness, and Power for Us in Jesus

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the Gospel reading from John 7:14-36 in corporate worship, this past Lord's Day morning. Jesus's teaching at the feast is so obviously true that the people are astonished. He explains that He does Bible study and theology different than everyone else, because He came from God. Therefore all His teaching is inherently true, and He is completely righteous. When the argument with the Pharisees and priests heats up, He notifies them that they cannot succeed against Him, because His power is heavenly, and He is returning there. In Jesus Christ, God has provided us with His own truth, His own righteousness, and His own power!

190103FW 1Cor 16:1-12 - Ways that Jesus Ministers to Our Bodies and Souls

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the Epistle reading from 1Corinthians 6:1-12 in corporate worship, this past Lord's Day morning. Jesus ministers to His people's material needs through all of His people through giving on the Lord's Day and through hospitality. And Jesus's plan for ministering to our souls is elders who, literally, "do the Lord's work." Scripture teaches us to submit to and encourage our elders so that they will shepherd us both with joy (Heb 13:17) and without fear (v10).

190102FW Josh 11:16-23 - Our Infinitely Faithful, Just, Merciful, and Generous Covenant God

Family Worship teaching time, following up upon the Old Testament reading from Joshua 11:16-23 in corporate worship, Lord's Day morning. God gave His people victory over ALL whom He said He would. He satisfied ALL His justice. And showed great mercy even to those who weren't His, and ALL mercy to His own. And He brought them into ALL their inheritance!