Week of November 14, 2004
Know the story…Be the people…Expand the Kingdom.
If you would like to contribute to the eNews or converse with the editor, send an email to tfbyam1@hotmail.com
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IN THE eNEWS THIS WEEK
THINK! – What are we worshiping?
MEMORIZE!! Leviticus 23:3
BEING COMMUNITY— The Front Porch is a place to worship
BUILDING A FRONT PORCH…
STUFF ON PSALMS—Keys to the apparently repetitious poetry of God
JUST AROUND THE CORNER—“Holy Vocab!” What does THAT mean?
REVIEWS—Put yours here…
SERMON NOTES— How To Tell God You Love Him
WHAT I SAY—God Will Fulfill His Promises, by Stef M
REGULAR HAPPENINGS
EVENTS—next up: TFB 90th anniversary
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THINK! – What are we worshiping?
There are entire congregations who worship praise and praise worship but who have not yet learned to praise and worship God in Jesus Christ. The song, the dance, the banners have been accepted as worship instead of being seen as a means of expressing worship. -- Judson Cornwall
[Source: Jordon Cooper’s quote page]
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MEMORIZE!! Leviticus 23:3
THIS WEEK
The Front Porch is a place to worship: Leviticus 23:3
ALREADY IN THE BRAIN!
The Front Porch is all about Love: John 13:35
The Front Porch reaches out streetside: Colossians 4:5
On the Front Porch, it’s easy to belong: Romans 12:5
The Front Porch is a place to grow: 1 Thessalonians 5:11
The Front Porch is a place to serve together: Galatians 6:2
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BEING COMMUNITY— The Front Porch is a place to worship
November 14: The Front Porch is a place to worship, Psalm 22:23-29
CORE TRUTH: Fearers praise Yahweh because he is merciful; all will worship Yahweh because he is King.
v.23-26: Those who fear Yahweh are called to praise him because he has given mercy to all who are afflicted and needy.
v.27-29: Everyone, from the richest to the poorest, from the strongest to the weakest, will worship Yahweh because he is King and Ruler.
STUDY
There are two groups of worshipers mentioned in this Psalm:
- v.23-26 “those who fear”
- v.27-29 “the ends of the earth”
For each section:
- circle words or phrases about God
- underline words or phrases about our response
What kinds of things are included in the people’s praise?
Using your findings, work with your group to write three biblical guidelines for a worship event.
1.
2.
3.
ADDITIONAL READING: Read Stef’s article on Isaiah 6 for a good picture of how serious God is about his worship!
COMING:
November 21: Building the Front Porch—the Blueprint
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BUILDING A FRONT PORCH…
A front porch is the transitional space between the personal/intimate space of the house and the public/social space of the street. It is a space where perfect strangers are free to interact and join in community, if only for a moment between sips of iced tea.
We’re working on three front porch projects:
1. A Front Porch event in December: bowling
2. A Front Porch space: creatively thinking about how we might help the 10:30 TFB "coffee time" to be a front porch space.
3. An elegant, catered Christmas party.
WORSHIP WORKSHEET
Brainstorm:
- celebration elements:
- contemplation elements:
- confession elements:
- challenge elements:
The Sketch
LOVE
buddy love
family love
sacrificial love
REACH
front porch streetside events
front porch houseside events
BELONG
comfy
refuge
conversation
GROW
hang out
love-walk-keep
SERVE
Mercy = a real need + a real solution
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STUFF ON PSALMS—Keys to the apparently repetitious poetry of God
(Excerpted from What Is a Psalm?)
Psalms are about experience, expression, and emotion.
Psalms (which are songs, by the way, not poems) tend to be repetitious. That’s because parallelism is a feature of this type of Hebrew writing. Here are some types of parallelism:
Synonymous parallelism: the first line is echoed in the second, with only a slight change of terms
Psalm 2:1
Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
Antithetical parallelism: the words of the first line are affirmed in the second, not by repetition, but by contrast
Psalm 1:6
for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Climactic parallelism: the second line refines, develops and completes the thought of the first
Psalm 96:7
Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
Synthetic parallelism: the second line develops the thought of the first, but without quoting words from the first line (as does climactic parallelism)
Psalm 95:6
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
Emblematic parallelism: the first line introduces a figure of speech which is explained in the second
Psalm 42:1
As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God
Formal relationship (parallelism): the first and second lines have only a formal, structural relationship—more a relationship of proximity (neighbors, so to speak), than of logic or sequence of thought
Psalm 109:1
Be not silent, O God of my praise!
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JUST AROUND THE CORNER—“Holy Vocab!” What does THAT mean?
Coming in December, we’ll take a closer look at some biblical/theological terms that we often take for granted. Here’s the list so far:
Pick ten words you would like to know more about.
Send your list to Laura (in person, via email at tfbyam1@hotmail.com, or in the online comments)
apostasy
yearn
sin
majesty
glory
fear
awe
holiness
trespass
judgment
discipline
righteousness
justice
mercy
faith
propitiation
sovereignty
peace
grace
repentance
hope
joy
blasphemy
unity
immanent
contingent
transcendent
heteropraxy
orthopraxy
heterodoxy
orthodoxy
love
forgiveness
salvation
blessed
wisdom
heresy
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REVIEWS—Put yours here…
[This space left sadly blank…]
Here's how to do it:
- Give the movie/restaurant/TV show/whatever a rating of 1-5 stars (5 being best)
- Describe the story/style
- Explain your rating, why it was good or bad
- Send your review to tfbyam1@hotmail.com
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SERMON NOTES— How To Tell God You Love Him
Pastor Charlie
“…Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment”
(Matthew 22:3, NIV).
Expressing my love to God is called WORSHIPPING. Revelation 5:11-13
WE EXPRESS OUR LOVE TO GOD BY:
SINGING TO HIM. Psalm 147:7; Psalm 66:8; Psalm 95:1
Regularly – Occasionally - Rarely
TALKING TO HIM. Psalm 116:1-2
Regularly – Occasionally - Rarely
LISTENING TO HIM. Leviticus 23:3; Proverbs 11:4; John 10:14-16
PUBLICLY IDENTIFYING WITH HIM. Mark 8:38; Matthew 5:14-15
Regularly – Occasionally - Rarely
- through COMMUNION:
- through BAPTISM Romans 6:3; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:27
BEING COMMITTED TO HIM. Joshua 24:20-22-25; Romans 12:1
Regularly – Occasionally - Rarely
GIVING TO HIM. Acts 4:32-35; 1 Corinthians 8:7-8
Regularly – Occasionally - Rarely
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WHAT I SAY—God Will Fulfill His Promises, by Stef M
Isaiah 6 is of the vision account genre of writing, meaning that the information stems from a vision that Isaiah has in which God speaks to him. It appears in the first section of Isaiah (chapters 1 through 39), which deals primarily with the rebellion of God’s people Israel and God’s resulting judgment. A precursor to this chapter is how the people of Israel (and Judah, which broke off from Israel) have continually broken their covenant with God through idolatry, sexual immorality, and lackadaisical worship to God. Because the people assume that the covenant is unconditional, God elects people such as Isaiah to send a prophetic critique; that is, to warn the people that they are doing wrong in the eyes of the Lord and they will surely not get away with it as they believed they would.
Isaiah 6 opens with one of the most memorable scenes in the entire book: Isaiah sees the Lord seated on a throne, glorious and wonderful, surrounded by seraphim who proclaim, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” This imagery shows how truly marvelous God is, and sets up the idea that He is deserving of praise and obedience. The three-time repetition by the seraphim of the word “holy” draws special attention to God’s sanctity and the idea that He alone is worthy and set apart from other gods. Because the glory of the LORD fills “the whole earth” and the very foundation of the temple shakes and fills with smoke, God’s dominion and omnipotence are also conveyed. This simple, yet elegant scene described in verses 1 through 4 has thus established has established God’s majesty and power over all the earth.
Isaiah’s reaction to this magnificent sight is one of terror and humility. He recognizes his own sins, as well as those of the people around him, and knows that since he has seen the face of the LORD he deserves death. Isaiah expects God’s judgment, but because he has admitted his shortcomings God shows forgiveness by sending one of the seraphs to symbolically atone for his sins by touching a coal to his lips. This action is parallel to God’s covenant and shows that God is indeed willing to forgive if only people will turn from their wicked ways.
At this point the election of Isaiah as a prophet occurs as he answers God’s call for a messenger with an enthusiastic, “I’ll go. Send me!” Isaiah’s obedience provides a sharp contrast to the malpractices of the people of Israel and sets him up as a “mouthpiece for God who calls the king and the people to radical accountability to the covenant.” Consequently, God gives him a forthtelling oracle in verse 10 to tell the people of Israel that they are “ever hearing but never understanding” and “ever seeing, but never perceiving.” A foretelling prophecy denotes an occurrence that is happening at the present time, and in this case shows that the Jews have not repented and therefore will receive judgment. The description of how the people wear “blindfolds” and put their “fingers in their ears” perhaps shows the way they react to the word of God; his law is present, although in their ignorance and laziness they are blind and deaf to its true meaning.
Verse 10, in which heart, ears and eyes are used to describe the Israelites, uses a literary format commonly used in the Old Testament known as a “chiastic” arrangement, in which words are organized as a-b-c/c-b-a. This arrangement gives emphasis to the almost sardonic description that God gives of Israel, that His commands and blessings are attainable, yet the people have refused to accept and live them out because of their inability to “hear or see.” The description conveyed through Isaiah may be described as a prophetic critique, for Isaiah is forced to chastise Israel for their half-hearted worship of God.
God then expresses how he wants to make the people have “calloused hearts” or else they might realize their inequities and be healed. It is not that God desires the people to ignore him; on the contrary, he simply wants to make them aware of how much they truly need him. Time after time the people have been warned of what will happen if they continue to ignore their fulfillment of the covenant, and now God wishes them to remain obstinate so they He may go ahead and destroy the people so that a new community of more faithful people may rise up from the group of survivors.
In verse 11 Isaiah asks how long he must tell this prophecy to the people of Israel, and God gives him a foretelling oracle that the people will not listen, but he must persevere and prophesy until the judgment comes and the “cities lie ruined…the fields ruined and ravaged.” The destruction of the land is foretold by God through Isaiah as a punishment for the breaking of the covenant. However, God does offer hope that there will be a remnant, “perhaps a tenth” of the people, that will survive, and although they too will undergo destruction, they will be the beginning of a new era. God uses the metaphor of a forest with all its trees cut down but with a “holy seed” remaining amidst the stumps. The cut down trees symbolize the mass judgment and devastation God will bring upon the Jews, but the holy seed is a small yet faithful group of people that will one day rise up into a “tree.”
Isaiah 6 is a chapter full of the awe and fear that God inspires. The majesty that Isaiah is allowed to witness shows that forgiveness is possible, yet the oracle Isaiah receives from God and then prophetically critiques to Israel about their upcoming destruction demonstrates God’s steadfastness to the covenant. Despite the many sins of Israel and Judah and their need for cleansing, God will still never forget them completely, for he allows a remnant to come out of the chaos, a “holy seed” out of the desecrated forest of God’s people.
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REGULAR HAPPENINGS
WORSHIP GATHERING @ 9:15 am—Main Worship Center
“COFFEE HOUSE” @ 10:30ish—TFB Courtyard
SUNDAY COLLEGIUM @ 11 am—TFB College Room
TUESDAY BIBLE STUDY @ 7:15-9:00 pm on Tuesdays— TFB College Room
Paul’s Letter to the Philippians
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EVENTS—next up: TFB 90th anniversary
Torrance First Baptist, 90th anniversary celebration, November 21 @ 6 pm
(complete with a film by our own Dan P)
Bowling, December TBA
Christmas Party, December TBA
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