Psalm 3
1 O LORD, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
2  many are saying of my soul,
there is no salvation for him in God.
3  But you, O LORD, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
4  I cried aloud to the LORD,
and he answered me from his holy hill.
5 I lay down and slept;
I woke again, for the LORD sustained me.
6  I will not be afraid of many thousands of people
who have set themselves against me all around.
7 Arise, O LORD!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
8  Salvation belongs to the LORD;
your blessing be on your people!

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” or so the song goes! For many though, emotionally it does not feel “wonderful” at all. Whether it be due to missing those who aren’t with us (either through death, distance, or conflict), an overall sense of feeling sorrow, or some other catalyst, this time of year can be a trial for some (even mature Christians). As one who has walked this road I’d like to take a few paragraphs to encourage  you this Christmas season!

It has been said that in many cases (not all) we struggle with depression because we fail to see things in light of the gospel. We look around us at everything that seems wrong with our lives and we lose sight of the One who makes everything right between us and God. Our identity in Christ is the perfect starting point in helping us persevere when the darkness falls on our lives. Let’s look to the third Psalm to help us in our quest to persevere during difficult times:

A little context goes a long way. Psalm 3 was written by King David when he was on the run from his son, Absalom, who wanted the kingdom for himself. It’s not much of a leap here to think that this was probably an emotionally distressing time for King David. His own son wanted him dead and this had all come about due to David’s own failure. In verses 1 and 2 David sets forth his circumstances: he had many foes who believed he had no chance and that God would not deliver him. I imagine it was tempting to believe that their assessment of God’s ability and willingness to save him was right. We may not have many enemies and if we have any I doubt they are trying to kill us (I’m writing from a human perspective), but there are other “enemies” which seek to steal our peace and joy as followers of Christ. From within we may deal with guilt, regret, doubt, or a host of other issues which cause us to ask ourselves: “Does God really love me? Is Christ’s death sufficient for my sins?” The temptation to doubt God in this way is as old as time, think of Satan’s temptation of Eve, “Has God not said?” Whether we realize it or not, this is a spiritual battle. When we doubt God’s goodness and love we are well on the way to despair. King David faced it and so will we.

In verses 3 and 4 we find David making a choice that will help us as we seek to fight the darkness by faith. He reminds himself of what is true about God: God is the “shield about him,” “his glory,” and the “lifter of his head.” David reminds himself that God is the One who will protect him, David chose to trust in God’s sovereignty and goodness even when the circumstances did not yet match what he knew to be true. He knew that God would redeem him and restore him. Christian, you must remember that in Christ you have already been redeemed and restored. The guilt for our sin has been removed and we are brought near in Christ. Even if your circumstances cloud your view of the cross you must cling to Christ and what He has accomplished for us. The cross proclaims God’s love for us far more loudly than our circumstances, even when we experience times of blessing. Seasons of emotional and spiritual darkness tempt us to lose perspective and to lose sight of the One who truly is our glory. We must fight by faith to cling to Him until the darkness lifts. How do we do this? Like David, we must remind ourselves of what is true about God. Let me write that with a little more force: we must PREACH these truths to ourselves. Like David we must call out to God for help to sustain us in the battle.

Verses 5 and 6 are the reason I wrote this blog post. After calling out to God David made the choice to rest in Him. He understood that the battle is the Lord’s and his best course of action was to trust God with the outcome. So he rested. If you’ve ever struggled with times of deep sorrow you know that rest does not come easy. Even when we sleep we wake up with a sense of not having truly rested. This can be devastating emotionally as fatigue builds over time. We see David’s confidence in God evidenced in the fact that he rested even though his circumstances had not yet changed. This is an example that we must follow in overcoming the darkness. When we remember what is true about God we must act on it (even if that action is to stop fretting and go to sleep!), this is true faith. Knowing the truth means nothing if it does not result in a changed life. David proclaimed “I will not fear!” What a strong statement given his circumstances. As those redeemed by the blood of Christ we have nothing to fear. The most frightening thing in the universe (God’s wrath) has been dealt with on our behalf! Anything we lose now is gain if it brings us closer to Christ.

I’ll stop here even though the rest of Psalm 3 is powerful. Your homework is to read it, believe it, and apply it!

A word to those struggling because of sin, regret, and guilt: It has been said by someone way smarter than me, “the Christian life is made up (consists) of repentance.” The fact that we sin shows that we have lost perspective and embraced a lie rather than the truth. Confess your sin, turn to Christ, and press on in faith pursuing obedience. If you are struggling and you feel that it is unrelated to something you have done the remedy is the same. Confess to God that you have lost perspective and ask for His help in renewing your mind and enabling you to see things as they truly are, through the lens of the gospel!

Sunday we celebrate the Savior’s birth. If all the other hoopla threatens to steal your joy (it does mine at times) remind yourself that the baby lying in a manger is the One who restores you to God. God’s wisdom is on display in the plan of redemption, we can rejoice in that year round! May this Christmas be spent celebrating the glory of the incarnation and the beginning of the ministry of the One who is truly “our glory” and the “lifter of our heads!”

This is the video we watched as part of my sermon introduction:

“Sam’s Blog” has been untouched for almost two months now so I guess now would be a good time for an update! For those who attend or are members at New Hope you know how much has happened over the past couple of months. For anyone else who reads this I’ll just summarize by saying GOD IS FAITHFUL!

This morning I had the pleasure of sharing my devotional time with two of my children. We read the account of Jesus healing the man born blind from John 9. I won’t break down the whole story in this post (go read it for yourself, you’ll be glad you did). After we read the story, I focused primarily on the man’s (who was born blind) response to the questions of the Pharisees. Jesus had not revealed himself as the Messiah to the man at this point yet his answers to the Pharisees’ questions are powerful nonetheless. The man testified of what he knew and did not back down in the face of those in power. He knew that the one who had healed him had power that could only come from God. Later, when Jesus approached him, he was ready to respond in faith to the news that Jesus was the Messiah.

As the kids and I discussed this story we talked about the man’s honesty and boldness. He didn’t know much when he faced the Pharisees but he did testify of what he knew (and he came to some pretty logical conclusions about what kind of man Jesus was). There are times when we don’t think we know enough to tell others about Jesus. We fear that someone will ask a question that we don’t know the answer to (and they might!). Does this mean we should hold back from sharing the gospel with those around us until we know all the answers? Of course not. The call on our lives is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. We do this with our mouths and our actions. We should be growing in our knowledge of God through his word and we should be able to communicate the facts of the gospel clearly and we should actively be seeking to share with others what God has done and is doing in our lives. Spiritually speaking we were once blind but can now see!

Pastor Sam

While Farid and his family are in Indonesia adminstrative control of the website has fallen to me. So I figured “why not take advantage of it?!”  Hopefully you’ve noticed the new “Song of the Week” posted on our homepage, if not you MUST listen to it. Yes it’s an Easter hymn but it’s so good I did not want to wait. Here are the lyrics:

See, what a morning, gloriously bright,
With the dawning of hope in Jerusalem;
Folded the grave-clothes, tomb filled with light,
As the angels announce, “Christ is risen!”
See God’s salvation plan,
Wrought in love, borne in pain, paid in sacrifice,
Fulfilled in Christ, the Man,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

See Mary weeping, “Where is He laid?”
As in sorrow she turns from the empty tomb;
Hears a voice speaking, calling her name;
It’s the Master, the Lord raised to life again!
The voice that spans the years,
Speaking life, stirring hope, bringing peace to us,
Will sound till He appears,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

One with the Father, Ancient of Days,
Through the Spirit who clothes faith with certainty.
Honor and blessing, glory and praise
To the King crowned with pow’r and authority!
And we are raised with Him,
Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered;
And we shall reign with Him,
For He lives: Christ is risen from the dead!

One of my all time favorites… Hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Blessings,

Pastor Sam

Last Sunday was a great day in the life of New Hope Christian Fellowship. To hear the testimonies of the six people who were baptized and to hear them proclaim their dependence on Christ alone for their acceptance with God was such a blessing. The Gospel really must shape our lives both individually and as a church. We live in a time when it is popular to belittle the church and minimize her importance. This must not be the case with us. Active involvement in the local church is essential to our spiritual health and development. It is in the context of the church that we develop a strong support system. We are called to be known for our love for one another. For this to happen we must be in one another’s lives beyond a couple of hours each Sunday morning.

This is an exciting time for us and we are called to move forward together in faith. As we grow together we must also increase our efforts in reaching out with the Gospel to our community. We are in Marietta for a reason and that reason is to glorify God. We glorify God by showing others His worth. We show others His worth when we live like He truly is the treasure of our lives. We show others that He truly is the treasure of our lives when we respond well to adversity, are willing to be inconvenienced for the sake of others, and are genuine about our spiritual lives (we never outgrow our dependence on His grace so why pretend we have it all together?). Lives that reflect His worth have a drawing effect on many. They will truly want to know the reason for the hope that is within us…

“We will gain a clearer grasp of the gospel if we hold a clear grasp of the desperate situation the gospel addresses.”            -D.A. Carson

I received this quote through my Twitter account of all places. Don Carson is one of the great theologians of our day. Reading almost any of his books will positively influence your view of God and the gospel. Put simply: I’m a fan. Not because he’s a dynamic speaker (although he is an excellent preacher), nor because he’s particularly funny (but he can be); I appreciate Dr. Carson’s books and sermons because of his commitment to the word of God. He understands his authority is found in the word of God and he understands and communicates the seriousness of man’s sinful condition and the remedy God supplies in Christ. That’s what makes this short tweet so profound. We grasp the gospel more clearly when we see the seriousness of sin, our inability to save ourselves, and the wrath each one of us deserves for the sin that saturates our lives. When we understand that this is the reality we face apart from Christ, the gospel becomes so much clearer and sweeter to those who have received His grace through faith in Christ.

Jesus lived the life that we cannot live (perfect obedience and total righteousness) and bore the punishment we deserved in order to restore us to God. When we come to faith in Christ his righteousness is credited to us. He bore our sin and now we bear his righteousness (what an incredible trade). This incredible gift we have received will not be valued as it should as long as we have a low view of the seriousness of the situation we have been rescued from. We won’t love the Savior as we should if we think that somehow we were worthy of the price that was paid. We deserve hell, we received grace! Those outside the faith need to understand that this grace is available to them but they also need to understand the seriousness of their current situation: objects of God’s wrath. We are called to proclaim this reality with love and clarity. It’s a part of who we are called to be as followers of Christ.

“I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.”  -Psalm 34:4-6

Thanks to Mary for shaming me into updating my blog!  I was going to do something lighthearted but I think it a better use of the blog space to direct you to something of substance (blame it on my cold). Psalm 34 is one of the first Psalms I ever memorized and it has stuck with me for about 15 years (sadly I can’t quote it word for word anymore). When I need comfort or am seeking to comfort or encourage someone else often times verses from this Psalm come to mind. In verses 4-6 we see a cause and effect aspect to our relationship with God.  ”I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears” (v. 4). “Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed” (v. 5). God is the one who makes us radiant and removes our shame. “This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him and saved him out of all his troubles” (v. 6). In each of these verses the “heavy lifting” is being taken care of by God. Think about how much more significant these verses are through the lens of the gospel! Jesus is our deliverer, we reflect his glory and he bears our shame, he is our Savior. The call on our lives as followers of Christ is to look to him, treasure him, and follow him. This fits well with last Sunday’s message that focused on our identity in Christ. Allow your identity in him to transform you this week. Reflect his glory, live as one who has been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of his beloved Son!

-Pastor Sam

Ok so I’m batting .500 in the recommended reading category so a big “thanks” to whoever is reading Marks of the Messenger! .500 in baseball lands you on the All Star team so I think I’ll recommend a couple of more books for your edification (speaking of recommended reading, check out Farid’s latest blog post… excellent). Ok on to the recommended reading.

For those who have questions about their involvment in the church or are simply interested in learning more about the importance of being committed to one local body I highly recommend Joshua Harris’ Stop Dating the Church. Joshua Harris is a gifted communicator and approaches this important issue with a combination of humor, insight, and biblical exhortation, that is sure to captivate and challenge you to increase your love for the church!

My second recommendation is The Unquenchable Flame, by Michael Reeves. This book is a must (and easy) read in gaining a greater understanding of and appreciation for church history. So much of what we currently enjoy (and take for granted) as Christians, like access to the Bible, was delivered at a high cost those who have gone before. The Unquenchable Flame focuses specifically on the Reformation and is a compelling read. Check it out!

For those who have taken time to look at the church library, you’ve probably noticed that I have extra copies of certain books. I can think of no good reason as to why I should keep all these good resources to myself so in the spirit of unity, love, christian charity, (and a desire to make more space) LET’S GIVE AWAY SOME BOOKS!

The first book to be given away is for our Jr. High and Highschool students. I will be giving a copy of Alex and Brett Harris’ Do Hard Things to the first student who can tell me (at church on Sunday) why we rely on the Bible as our authority and why it is trustworthy.

The second book to be given away is open to anyone college aged and above. I will give a copy of John Piper’s Don’t Waste Your Life to the first person who can tell me (at church on Sunday) the chapter and verse in the Bible where believers are first referred to as Christians.

Ok New Hope family, I will be inconsolable if I can’t give at least one of these books away so encourage your pastor!

Praising God for the privilege of serving with you all,

Pastor Sam