During his brief comments, he read a hymn that deeply affected me as it freshly redirected me to the most important person in history, the One of supreme value, the Son of God — Jesus Christ.

Matt kindly emailed it through, and I thought I’d share it with you again.  Trust it benefits your soul!

If I gained the world, but lost the Savior,
Were my life worth living for a day?
Could my yearning heart find rest and comfort
In the things that soon must pass away?
If I gained the world, but lost the Savior,
Would my gain be worth the lifelong strife?
Are all earthly pleasures worth comparing
For a moment with a Christ-filled life?

Had I wealth and love in fullest measure,
And a name revered both far and near,
Yet no hope beyond, no harbor waiting,
Where my storm-tossed vessel I could steer;
If I gained the world, but lost the Savior,
Who endured the cross and died for me,
Could then all the world afford a refuge,
Whither, in my anguish, I might flee?

O what emptiness!—without the Savior
‘Mid the sins and sorrows here below!
And eternity, how dark without Him!
Only night and tears and endless woe!
What, though I might live without the Savior,
When I come to die, how would it be?
O to face the valley’s gloom without Him!
And without Him all eternity!

O the joy of having all in Jesus!
What a balm the broken heart to heal!
Ne’er a sin so great, but He’ll forgive it,
Nor a sorrow that He does not feel!
If I have but Jesus, only Jesus,
Nothing else in all the world beside—
O then everything is mine in Jesus;
For my needs and more He will provide

– by Anne Orlander (1861-1939)

It was great to be together today to worship God, and celebrate his unchanging faithfulness towards us in Christ!

We began a sub-series of our “Christ in the Old Testament” preaching series, called “Redeeming Ruth”

Today’s sermon entitled, “Grace at the Bottom of the Barrel” from Ruth 1:1-22 is available to listen to or download from here, or via our iTunes podcast feed.

Today’s quotes are here:

Ian Duguid:
“Perhaps Naomi simply assumed that Orpah and Ruth wouldn’t be interested in Israel’s God.  They were Moabites, after all; they had their god and she had hers.  Who was she to impose her own understanding of God on her neighbours?  The vision of reaching out to her neighbours and incorporating them into the covenant community was lost on her, even when the opportunity leapt up and struck her in the face.  Few were looking for opportunities to make converts to the covenant community from those around them.  But in light of Matthew 28:19, where Jesus told us to go and make disciples of all nations, what is our excuse?  Who are the Moabites we see day after day, the people around us who we so quickly assume are not going to be interested in the gospel?  Perhaps if we sought to testify to them of God’s goodness to us in Jesus Christ, we might discover more interest in the gospel than we ever imagined.  Our problem is that all too often we have as little real care for our friends and neighbours as Naomi had for hers.”

John Piper:
“Seeing is a precious gift. And bitterness is a powerful blindness… Naomi is so weary with the night of adversity that she can’t see the dawn of rejoicing… What would Naomi say if she could see only a fraction of the thousand things God was doing in the bitter providences of her life? What if she knew that part of what God was doing was shaping a genealogy for the Messiah that would humble the world? If she had trusted God, she may have said, with William Cowper, ‘Judge no the Lord by feeble sense, But trust him for his grace; Behind a frowning providence, He hides a smiling face.’ Who would have imagined that in the worst of all times – the period of the judges — God was quietly moving in the tragedies of a single family to prepare the way for the greatest king of Israel.”

Come and join us this coming Sunday (29th August 2010) as we gather together to worship God and hear his Word proclaimed.

This week Nathan Smith (pictured right) will be preaching from the Book of Ruth (chapter 1), in a short sub-series called “Redeeming Ruth“, which is part of our larger “Christ in the Old Testament” summer series.

Colin Elliott (pictured left) will be leading us in singing praises to our God. Matt Chapman will lead us as we share the Lord’s Supper together this Sunday.

We have a fully-staffed creche available for little ones (6-months to 4 years old) and our Generations Sunday School for older ones (5-11 year olds).

Service starts at 10:30am, complimentary coffee from 10am.

Find us at Bristol Metropolitan Academy, Snowdon Road Entrance, Fishponds, BS16 2HD.

Join us as we continue our “Christ in the Old Testament” series with a four week study in the Book of Ruth:

Sunday 29th August – Redeeming Ruth (Part 1)

Sunday 5th September – Redeeming Ruth (Part 2)

Sunday 19th September – Redeeming Ruth (Part 3)

Sunday 26th September – Redeeming Ruth (Part 4)

Get the audio from our entire “Christ in the Old Testament” series here.

BANK HOLIDAY

MONDAY PICNIC!

Bring your picnic, a chair, and come ready to enjoy the sunshine, fellowship and fun with others from the church.

Blaise Castle Estate.
Monday 30th August 2010, 12noon.

(Weather-permitting!)

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I’m really excited about our current summer series, “Christ in the Old Testament“, and the opportunity to get to know the first portion of our Bibles better. But why have we decided to do this? The following quote provides an answer:

“The most compelling reason for Christians to read and study the Old Testament lies in the New Testament. The New Testament witnesses to the fact that Jesus of Nazareth is the One in whom and through whom all the promises of God find their fulfilment. These promises are only to be understood from the Old Testament; the fulfilment of the promises can be understood only in the context of the promises themselves. The New Testament presupposes a knowledge of the Old Testament. Everything that is a concern to the New Testament writers is part of the one redemptive history to which the Old Testament witnesses. The New Testament writers cannot separate the person and work of Christ, nor the life of the church, from this sacred history that has its beginnings in the Old Testament.”

–Graeme Goldsworthy, Gospel & Kingdom (p.18)

In light of this new series that will occupy us right through until the end of Setpember, I thought it might be useful to provide some resources and extra information so that we all might enhance the ongoing benefit of this series to our minds, hearts and lives.

First up is some documents that provide a rough outline of some Old Testament history and chronology. Secondly, you will see a list of recommended books for you and your children that will serve in deepening your understanding of Christ in the Old Testament.

An Outline of Old Testament Chronology

An Outline of Old Testament History

Recommended Resources for Further Study

It was great to be together today to worship God, and celebrate his unchanging faithfulness towards us in Christ!

We continued our summer preaching series, “Christ in the Old Testament“.  You can check out details of the entire series here.

Today’s sermon entitled, “The Story of Judges” from Judges 2:6-24 is available to listen to or download from here, or via our iTunes podcast feed.

This week I hope to post a few resources that I’ve found useful in my Old Testament studies.  And if you’re interested in where we’re headed next, please read the book of Ruth, as we’ll be spending the next few weeks exploring this great story together.

On Sunday 15th August we continued our summer preaching series, “Christ in the Old Testament“.  The audio available from the sermon, entitled “Joshua & Jericho” is available to listen to or download from here, or via our iTunes podcast feed.

You can check out details of the entire series here.