Credo: I Believe - preaching on the Trinity this Sunday

As you may know, I have been down since Saturday afternoon with a stomach virus. I am back in the office today but am still feeling weak. My voice is shot from being sick all weekend. I'm sure everyone around me is really happy that I can't talk so much! :) I am especially thankful that Mindy, Mary Grace and the rest of the kids haven't come down with it. I'm praying feverishly that they don't!

I begin this week by picking up a happy burden. This Sunday I have the privilege and, yes, sobering job of preaching a sermon on the great doctrine of the Trinity and what it means for us.

The background to this is also very exciting to me. I am beginning a new sermon series this Sunday on the vision and mission of Trinity Presbyterian Church. It is called "Credo: I Believe". It will be an 11 week series that covers such grand topics as the Trinity, the Gospel, the mission of God, worship, discipleship, community, family and more. I am particularly excited about a sermon handbook that will be given out this Sunday with information about the sermon and a song for private/family worship for each week. A collection of musical accompaniments is also being created today for families to use to help them sing the songs. These will be distributed by CD and/or website. My friend Ben Geist has created some beautiful artwork for these sermon guidebooks as well, so I'm very excited about this resource to put into our church's hands.

Now the first sermon in the series will be on the Trinity. It is the doctrine that teaches that there is only one true God, but that this God exists in three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Each of these three persons are the same in substance, equal in power and glory. The doctrine of the Trinity has stood for centuries as a legitimate litmus test of what is orthodox, historic, biblical Christianity. The early church perfected its understanding of this biblical doctrine in its major church councils at Nicea (in 325 AD), Costantinople (381 AD), Ephesus (431 AD), and finally in Chalcedon (451 AD). One theologian has correctly called the doctrine of the Trinity "the most comprehensive and the most nearly all-inclusive formulation of the truth of Christianity." Roughly speaking, the whole Bible is really nothing but the unfolding of the knowledge of the Triune God - in creation (Father), in redemption (Son), and in the church and future (Holy Spirit).

When we speak of the Trinity, we are peering into the most mysterious, most glorious of all realities. And as Cornelius Van Til once famously remarked, "Every truth is nothing but the externaliziation of the personality of the Trinity," which is a very compact, formal way of saying that every truth we come into contact with is related back to the Trinity. The fact that I am an individual but am also so connected with others in deep relationship is itself an expression of the unity, diversity, personality of the Trinity. This doctrine is an expression of the heart and essence of who God really is. It's mind boggling! The Trinity informs us that God is both unity and diversity at the same time. The Trinity informs us that God is both vastly glorious beyond comprehension, but also eternally a very personal God. In fact, if God were not triune, then there could be no salvation for us.

"The verbal expression of the Trinity is the most difficult job man has had to do," said J. I. Packer. I definitely feel the truth of these words this week! But shame on me and shame on the church that we do not preach on the Trinity often enough. (If we all followed the old liturgical calendar, at least there would be one day a year in which all churches would preach on the Trinity. But the modern church has taken away Ascension Sunday, Pentecost Sunday and Trinity Sunday and replaced it with Memorial Day, Independence Day and Mother's Day. What a shame.) Back to the point: I am very excited to launch a new sermon series on the vision and mission of our church by beginning at the core of all reality: the Godhead. We begin at the place from which all else flows. Our redemption and our mission begin here. So, just as Moses had helpers to keep his arms up as he watched over Israel, pray for me (if you are a praying person) this week as I prepare an important sermon. Pray that my full strength would be restored as well as my voice. And more important, pray that the glory of the Triune God would so grip my own heart this week that my preaching would simply be an overflow of that same glory experienced by my own soul.

Backing up...Pastor's Summit - Jackson Hole, WY

I realize that we never posted anything about our trip to Jackson Hole, WY in July for our last of 6 meetings with the Pastor's Summit. I think the reason we kept putting it off was because it's next to impossible to summarize in a blog post how life-changing the Pastor's Summit has been for us. As soon as we got home from this past summit meeting I sat down and started typing up my thoughts and reflections from the week. I think I have about 6 single-spaced typed pages so far, plenty more to write about and lots of gaps to fill in. One of the things I shared with the group of pastors and their wives at the end of this last meeting was that this has not been a mere "mountain top experience", no pun intended, where we simply attend a conference or retreat, get all fired up and then go on with life as usual after coming home. These meetings, and especially this group of people that we have been sharing our lives with over the past two years have truly affected and transformed our lives. We have been truly blessed to be a part of this.

So here are just a few pictures from our week in Jackson Hole...

The wild flowers that covered the fields in Grand Teton National Park were so vibrant against the soft green sage that filled the air with its aroma.


Here is a photo of Hidden Falls. We had to hike about a mile up into the park to see this - just gorgeous.


While the scenery was truly breathtaking, what made the trip was being reunited with the 9 other pastors and their wives who have become so dear to us. In addition to gathering with this particular group, John and I also had the added bonus of getting to spend time with Michael and Denise Wichlan, former members of Trinity that we 'sent off' to seminary 4 years ago! Denise has been on staff with Covenant Seminary's Center for Ministry Leadership, which is responsible for spearheading the Pastor's Summit, so it has been a real treat to be reunited with them at most of the meetings.


Pictured here are Josh and Shannon Geiger (in front - serving at Cristo Rey PCA in Dallas), Steve Garber (next to Josh on the left - one of our speaker/facilitators who is the director for the Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation & Culture), Donald Guthrie (next to Shannon on the right, wrote the grant for the Pastor's Summit as well as a wealth of theological books), and Lisa and Andrew Vander Maas (in the back - serving at Crossroads PCA in St. Louis).


Pictured here are Adam and Liz Brice (in front - served at Christ the King PCA in Conshohoken, PA, but are now planting a church in Lafayette, IN), Chuck and Diane Jacob (in the middle - serve at Knox EPC in Ann Arbor, MI), and Wendell and Priscilla Stoltzfus (in the back - serve at Covenant OPC in Reading, PA).


Pictured here are Drew and Becky Derreth (in front - serve at Hanover Valley Church in Hanover, PA), Janet Burns (on the left - wife of Bob Burns, the director of the Center for Ministry Leadership) and John on the right (if you read our blog, you already know about him).


April and Bob Willetts (currently serving at Trinity PCA in Norfolk, VA).


Andy & Linda Phillips (Harley on the left - serve at Providence PCA in York, PA), and David and Cindy Tate (Harley on the right - serve at Manor PCA in Cochranville, PA).


One of the biggest highlights of this last trip was spending time with and getting to sit under the teaching of Joe and Barb Novenson (both pictured on the right sitting next to Becky and Drew), who serve at Lookout Mountain PCA in TN. John and I both felt like his preaching cut us to the core and spoke to our situation in much needed ways.

As one of the other pastor's wives and I were reflecting on this past summit meeting, the one word that we both walked away with was brokenness. I remember the first time we all gathered together for worship, I was so moved by the heartfelt and emotional singing from these 30 or so pastors and their wives. I thought to myself, 'Boy, nobody sings like a bunch of broken pastors and their wives who are constantly trying to remind themselves of the transforming power of the gospel!' John also pointed out to me later that it was just so refreshing to be able to worship without the worries of the temperature in the room, the timing of the announcements, if the service was going too long, how the sermon was going, etc. etc.

Our times of worship were led by Reggie Kidd, who truly ministered to this group of pastors with his rich knowledge and talent as well as his compassion, heart for the gospel and his heart for pastors. On the last day of the summit, John and I went into the worship service right after an intense meeting with Joe and Barb Novenson over breakfast to talk about life, marriage and ministry. We were deeply encouraged by their own life journey and counsel to us and had much MORE to reflect upon. Now, I am not easily moved to tears but I quickly turned into a puddle on the floor during that last gathering for worship. Reggie had us sing, "Before the Throne of God Above", which happens to be one of my favorite songs but after such an emotionally intense week, it particularly hit me like a ton of bricks - especially the 2nd verse.

When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there who made an end to all my sin!
Because the sinless Savior died my sinful soul is counted free!
For God the Just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me,
to look on Him and pardon me.

Once the tears started, I simply could not stop them. But I soon realized that I was far from being the only one who was so moved. I heard several others from the pastor's summit comment that they were more encouraged by the shared trials, sufferings and brokenness with the other pastors/wives than they were by the shared triumphs. How true it is that Christ's power is made perfect in weakness. "Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." (2 Corinthians 12:9b)

J. I. Packer on Charles Simeon

Here is quote I came upon that I thought blog-worthy. At least, it's a good reminder for myself of what is most important. Here is J.I. Packer on Charles Simeon:

The quality of his preaching was but a reflection of the quality of the man himself. And there can be little doubt that the man himself was largely made in the early morning hours which he devoted to private prayer and devotional study of the Scriptures. … Such costly self-discipline made the preacher. That was primary. The making of the sermon was secondary and derivative. (Preach the Word, 152)

Newsweek on Tim Keller

Famous PCA pastor Tim Keller has a book defending the Christian faith. Newsweek profiles him here.

Sunday's Sermon and Charles Finney

In my Reformation Day sermon this past Sunday, I stated that Charles Finney was a highly negative influence in the history of the modern church in America. Two people after worship expressed their appreciation for what I said and asked me if I had been listening to Mike Horton's White Horse Inn radio show recently since he had been speaking about Finney. I have not, but I know that Horton wrote an article on Finney a while back. For those interested in learning more about the beliefs and (mal)practices of Finney, I recommend Horton's article "The Legacy of Charles Finney". There is also an audio by Horton on "Finney and American Revivalism" that I haven't listened to yet but will. Of course, the book that best describes this problem is Iain Murray's Revival and Revivalism: the Making and Marring of American Evangelicalism (Amazon or WTS Books). Chapter 9 would probably be the best place to start in that book to understand the effects of Finney on the church. A book review of Iain Murray's book can be found here at a Reformed Baptist website.

Another Week in St. Louis

Well, I left Mindy and the kids behind and traveled last Monday for another week in St. Louis with 9 other pastors. We stayed at a house-turned-retreat center near the campus of Covenant Theological Seminary. I spoke to the student body at the seminary on "The Joys and Pains of Ministry". I have felt a very strong bond with these fellow pastors. We have met together enough times to develop relationships of real trust and intimacy. It is by far one of the very best things I have ever been apart of. It was a great joy to see our good friends the Wichlans throughout the week. How they are thriving at Covenant seminary! I got home Thursday night to discover that my car had been vandalized, my dash board ripped up and the radio stolen. What a pain. I spent Friday having various catch up meetings, the first half of Saturday madly writing my sermon for Sunday, and then we had a wonderful fall festival at Trinity on Saturday afternoon. Lots of people showed up and it was really fun getting to know our neighbors and some of our newer folks better. There were various games with prizes, nachos, popcorn, cotton candy, face painting, and a fabulous creativity fair in which several members of our congregation had a table display of their various hobbies and talents. We were thankful for the bouncy houses where our kids could expend all of their sugar-filled energy.

I'm leaving again this Wednesday night for a meeting of various theologians in Chicago. It should be a fascinating discussion. I'll be gone until Saturday night. We'll post some pictures of the fall festival.

Also, I want to make a movie recommendation: "Freedom Writers" with Hillary Swank. It's a true story of a teacher who tries to turn around a class of 62 kids from opposing gangs. I watched it with the pastors on Wednesday night and then Mindy and I watched it together last night. Tonight after the kids went to bed we watched all the special features. It is a wonderful movie on a number of levels. Go see it!

A lengthy worship service

Despite what some may think, when the Bible says "those who endure to the end shall be saved", it's not referring to the length of our worship services at Trinity! Our worship service ran a little longer today than normal, about 1 hour 40 minutes. (We usually run from 10:30 till noon.) We heard an exhilarating report from our Romania missions trip team. We started Acts 1 in a new sermon series. And we celebrated the Lord's Table for the second Sunday in a row. Really, it was a great Sunday morning and I sensed the Spirit move in many people's heart today. But I still felt a little badly that the service went so long until I just read that this morning's worship service at First Baptist Church Dallas went for two hours!

This is what the Dallas Morning News says, " Members of the historic First Baptist Church of Dallas elected Robert Jeffress as their new pastor at the conclusion of a rousing two-hour Sunday morning worship service, attended by 3,200." That put things in a little better perspective for me. I wish FBC Dallas all the best with the new pastor. May they bear much fruit for the Kingdom!

TPC Romania Missions Trip

A group of 22 from our church is currently on a missions trip in Craivo, Romania. You can visit the mission trip blog here. If I didn't have a new baby at home and so much to do before the Fall starts, I'd be there too. I'm very jealous of the experience they are having! God is really doing some great things through them.

St. Louis in pictures...

Here is a brief summary of our week in St. Louis. We feel as if we've been drinking from a fire hydrant all week long and are still digesting everything that we've learned and discussed! So it will be difficult to summarize in just a few words all that the Lord has been teaching us this week through the speakers and through the discussions with our fellow "cohorters."

We arrived in St. Louis late Monday night and had a sweet reunion with Michael and Denise Wichlan. Michael and Denise were members at Trinity before John became the pastor, but had felt a call to full-time pastoral ministry while we were there. So we had the privilege of 'sending' the Wichlans off to Covenant Theological Seminary to prepare for the ministry. While there, Denise was asked to serve in her current job as the administrative assistant for the Pastor's Summit! It has been great to have the Pastor's Summit as an excuse to get together with the Wichlans!

Tuesday morning we had even more reunions with the other pastors and their wives who are a part of the "Westminster Cohort". We cannot even begin to describe the blessing it is to share struggles as well as encouragements with these fellow partners in the ministry. Our sessions began Tuesday at noon with our speakers, Pete and Geri Scazzero, who serve at New Life Fellowship in Queens, NY and who authored the books, Emotionally Healthy Church as well as Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. Each session was followed by exercises (i.e. journaling, listening/conversations between spouses, etc.), which were incredibly helpful to each couple as well as to the larger group as we regrouped to reflect and discuss. We recognized how much we need to grow emotionally as individuals and as married couples, and how this affects church leadership as well as the church at large. As I said earlier, it's too much to summarize, so I highly recommend the books!

We finished Thursday afternoon and spent all day Friday touring St. Louis with our personal tour guides, Michael and Denise Wichlan! Denise is like the "mother hen" of the Pastor's Summit, making sure everyone gets there on time, knows where to go and what to do, and makes it home on time. What's funny is that after spending the day with them in St. Louis, we got stuck in unexpected traffic and missed our flight to Dallas! Thankfully, there was 1 more flight that evening and we made it home a little after midnight... But hey, we had a great time with the Wichlans and we're home safe!

We were able to get pictures of all the members of our cohort, the speakers, as well as a few fun pics around St. Louis. My only regret is that we didn't get a picture of the Wichlans, even after spending all of that extra time with them! We hope that you enjoy these pics almost as much as we enjoyed our trip to St. Louis!


Here we are standing at the base of the Jefferson Memorial Arch. Hannah is hiding behind the doll.


The arch is very impressive. We saw the video about the 'making of the arch' and decided we didn't need to take the tram car up into the arch.


St. Louis has the largest park within city limits, which includes a beautiful zoo, museums, walking trails, etc. - all of which are free to the public! Our favorite part of the zoo was the penguin and puffin exhibit. Here are some puffins swimming around.


Here are some King Penguins. They were so noisy...but very cute.


Here are our speakers, Geri & Pete Scazzero. What a gift they gave to all of us who attended the summit!


Pete & Geri in action... sorry these pics are a little dark.




The Pastors Summit is made up of 3 cohorts - the Reformed Seminary Cohort (those in their 1st 5 years of full time ministry), the Westminster Cohort (those who have been in full time ministry for 5-15 years), and the Covenant Seminary Cohort (15+ years in the ministry).


After the large group sessions, we would gather with our individual cohorts and reflect.


Priscilla & Wendell Stoltzfus - serve in an OPC church in Reading, PA.


Lisa & Andrew Vander Maas - serve in a PCA church in St. Louis.


Josh & Shannon Geiger - serve in a church plant targeting the Hispanic community in Dallas, TX.


John & Mindy - you already know about us...


Drew & Becky Derreth - serve in a PCA church in Hanover, PA.


Diane & Chuck Jacob - serve in an EPC church in Ann Arbor, MI.


Dave & Cindy Tate - serve in the 2nd oldest church in the PCA in Cochranville, PA. (This picture gives the illusion that Cindy is rather tall, but Dave is actually quite a bit taller than Cindy).


Bob & April Willets - serve in a PCA church in Norfolk, VA.


Linda & Andy Phillips - serve in a PCA church in York, PA.


Adam & Liz Brice - serve in a PCA church in Conshohocken, PA.


Hannah was such a trooper throughout the week! She stayed with us through all of the sessions, mealtimes and discussions and hardly made a peep. She is certainly happy to be back in her own bed though.

In St. Louis after a long delay at the airport

Mindy and I (along with baby Hannah) arrived in St. Louis last night around 8:30 pm, after a 3-4 hour flight delay at DFW. There was a backlog of flight due to weather and the AC on our plane went out, leaving temps in the plane at 97 degrees. Fortunately, they deplaned us and fixed the AC. It was much better waiting in the terminal than on the tarmac.

We had dinner with our friends Michael and Denise late last night at the hotel. This morning we met up with a bunch of other pastors/wives for breakfast. Our cohort has its first official meeting at noon today. It looks like we'll be meeting from 8am to 10pm until Thursday. Mindy and I are really excited to be back with our group. We've gotten to know them pretty well over the last two summits and we've formed some great friendships. We're expecting the Lord to do some good things in our lives this week.

Next week in St. Louis

Mindy and I will be leaving the older kids with the grandparents on Monday and heading to St. Louis for the week. We'll meet up with other pastors and their wives and spend the week talking about marriage and ministry. We met up with this same group in Orlando back in February and talked about conflict in ministry. Peter Scazzero will be addressing our group about some of his own experiences in Queens. We're really excited about this week together. I won't miss any Sundays in the pulpit on either side of the week. Thankfully, I have most of a sermon ready for a week from this Sunday. We'll get home late Friday night, after spending a day with our good friends Michael & Denise W.

Meredith Kline: 1922-2007

Influential covenant theologian Meredith Kline passed away on Friday night. To find more info about Kline, visit theopdia (pasted below) or visit Lee Irons' web site: http://www.upper-register.com/.

http://www.theopedia.com/Meredith_Kline

Meredith Kline

From Theopedia

Meredith G. Kline

Meredith G. Kline, born 1922 in Coplay Pennsylvania, is an American theologian and Old Testament scholar. Kline is an influential voice for Covenant theology in the Reformed tradition. He is perhaps best known for his important contributions in the area of Suzerain-Vassal treaties in the 2nd millennium BC. He is also well-known for his defense of the "framework" interpretation of the creation story in the first chapter of the Book of Genesis.

Kline received a B.A., Gordon College; Th.B., Th.M., Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia (1947), and a Ph.D. in Assyriology and Egyptology from Dropsie University (1956). He is an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and has had a long career as Professor of Old Testament at various institutions, including Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia; Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; and Westminster Seminary California.

Selected publications

• God, Heaven and Har Magedon: A Covenantal Tale of Cosmos and Telos (2006) ISBN 1597524786
• Glory in Our Midst: A Biblical-Theological Reading of Zechariah's Night Visions (2001) ISBN 1579105998
• Kingdom Prologue: Genesis Foundations for a Covenantal Worldview (2000) ISBN 1597525642
• The Genesis Debate: Three Views on the Days of Creation (contributor, 2000) ISBN 0970224508
• Images of the Spirit (1999) ISBN 1579102050
• The Structure of Biblical Authority (1997) ISBN 1579100694
• "Space and Time in the Genesis Cosmogony," Perspectives on Science & Christian Faith 48 (1996) pp. 2-15
• By Oath Consigned: A Reinterpretation of the Covenant Signs of Circumcision and Baptism (1968)
• Treaty of the Great King: The Covenant Structure of Deuteronomy: Studies and Commentary (1963)
• "Because It Had Not Rained," Westminster Theological Journal 20 (1958) pp. 146-57.

External links

• Meredith Kline Online - a website with a comprehensive collection of Kline's writings
• The Upper Register - a website with publications by and about Kline from his former student and collaborator Lee Irons

Sin & Grace

Here is a very fine epigram: "No sin, no need for justification: no grace, no possibility of it." - Tom Wright, as quoted in John Stott's The Cross of Christ, p. 64

Theology-Driven Ministry - Sinclair Ferguson and Paul Tripp

Justin Taylor points to Southeastern Seminary's recent Theology-Driven Ministry Conference, featuring our friends Paul Tripp and Sinclair Ferguson. You can access the audio here.

Here were the messages:

1. Your Walk with God Is a Community Project – Paul Tripp
   
2. Progressive Sanctification and the Anti-Social Nature of Sin – Paul Tripp
3. The Pastor’s Role in Sanctification – Sinclair Ferguson
4. Colossians 3:1-17 – Sinclair Ferguson
5. Sanctification in the Middle of the Messiness of Relationships – Paul Tripp

Ferguson also preached on Looking in the Mirror (James 1), and Tripp on Playing with the Box (Romans 7). This definitely looks Ipod-worthy!

Growing Christian Shrinks

I ran across this the other day: the WSJ reports on how Christians came to embrace psychology. Interesting read.

Tom Ascol on Family Worship

An interview with a good Baptist pastor, Tom Ascol, on family worship:

http://www.joethorn.net/2007/03/29/ascol-on-family-worship/

 

 

Some thoughts on family worship...

Justin Taylor has a link today to a blog with some brief and practical thoughts on family worship, a topic near and dear to our hearts.

Back from Orlando

Mindy and I have spent Monday night through Thursday afternoon in Orlando, Florida meeting with a group of pastors and their wives. We got home last night around 9 very mentally, emotionally and spiritually stimulated but physically exhausted. We met from about 8am till 10pm every day, with only a little 5 min potty break here and there. Our time was filled with VERY intense conversations over very weighty topics. It was a great, great time, but we are very glad to be home. Today I'm going to spend some time capturing on paper many of the high points of our discussions and thinking through how to incorporate the lessons learned into my own life, as well as devoting all of these thoughts to the Lord in prayer. We read "The Leader's Journey" and "The Peacemaking Pastor" before attending this summit. We're now going to read "The Emotionally Healthy Church" and "The Emotionally Healthy Spiritual Life" before our next gathering this July. But for now, we're glad to be back!

Evangelism and Small Groups

Mindy and I went to small group tonight and had a great time. The conversation around Acts 3 was particularly stimulating. Lots of folks had great insights.

Our small group leader tonight did a wonderfully simple thing. As each of us went around the circle to share prayer requests, he asked us to include the first names of one or two people we know who do not "obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ" (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:8, 1 Peter 4:17). In this way, we were all encouraged to remember those in our lives who are spiritually lost and under God's wrath (Romans 1:18, Ephesians 2:3). It is a way of holding ourselves accountable to pray for and find ways to share the good news of Jesus with the lost. And it also employed at that very moment the most powerful evangelistic weapon ever invented: prayer. A very simple idea. But one worth replicating dozens and dozens of times in our small groups, homes, quiet times, and lives.

How You Prepare to Preach

Another great post from Colin Adams on how one pastor prepares his sermons. It certainly reminds us all that sermon preparation is hard work.

http://unashamedworkman.wordpress.com/2007/02/07/how-you-prepare-1st-edition/