"Reflections" from 1/3/15 - Berlin Seventh Day Baptist Church

Seventh Day Baptist Church of Berlin
January 3, 2015
The New Covenant of Love
Pray With Us
Joys
 Erika Groux had her
annual MRI to make sure
the brain tumor she had
last year hasn’t grown,
and it has not.
Concerns
 Ed and Dorothy Stall are
recovering from illness
 Wade Greene is recovering from the flu
 Landon and Carter Manning have ear infections;
their brother Fletcher
has a respiratory infection.
 Jason Capasso had to
work on Sabbath day;
pray for his safety on the
job.
Answered Prayer
 The Clifton Park church
plant continues to thrive;
keep praying for their
continued success as
they serve the Lord
there.
 The Olson family safely
returned from their trip
to Wisconsin and Oklahoma, and are thankful
for traveling mercies.
Long ago the prophet Jeremiah foresaw a time
when there would be a
new covenant which
would be extended to everyone who belongs to God.
As recipients of the new
covenant God promised
His people, we have been
given new hearts. Once
our hearts were broken
by sin, unable to receive
or hold the love God
longed to grant us. We
did not know God’s Law,
but even if we did we
could not have followed it.
We could not hope to obey
that law because we were
incapable of the love
which makes such obedience possible, for our
hearts were broken. Into
our broken heart the Law
of love was poured, allowing the Lord of love to
reign there so that we
might lead a life of love.
That is the message of
Jeremiah 31:31-35
Law of Love (Jeremiah
31:33a)
"I will put My law within
them and on their hearts
I will write it..." Our
hearts were broken, rent
by sin and unable to
know or express God's
love. Into those broken
hearts the Lord poured
His love by pouring out
His Son on the cross.
Having received that
love, our hearts were
mended and the law of
love was written upon
them. Thus we are able to
know and to express
God's love.
Lord of Love (Jeremiah
31:33b)
"...and I will be their God,
and they shall be My people." With hearts mended,
the Lord is able to take
His proper place there.
He now sits on the throne
of our hearts as the Lord
of love and the Lord of
our lives. Where once we
attempted to run our own
lives, living according to
the desire of our broken
hearts, our desires are
now conformed to His, for
the Lord reigns in our
love.
Life of Love (Jeremiah
31:34b)
"...I will forgive their iniquity, and their sins I will
remember no more."
Where the Lord reigns
His will is done, and
God's will for us is to love
one another. What we
were once not able to do
love now compels us to
do, loving those around
us as God first loved us.
That love is no longer
alloyed with our sin. It is
instead the
same unconditional love
the Lord showed to us
through His Son as we
live a life of love.
PAGE 2
R E FLE C T I O NS
Prayer Partners Retreat January 9-10
The Prayer Partners will be holding
their annual retreat January 9-10,
2015. The retreat will begin Friday
evening at 7 p.m. with a service of
prayer and praise.
On Saturday, the Prayer Partners
will meet for three sessions. The
first will be held during Sabbath
School in the sanctuary. Adults
from other Sabbath School classes
are welcome to attend. The youth
Sabbath School classes will be held
as scheduled in their usual classrooms.
The second session will be held at 2
p.m. following fellowship meal, with
a third session scheduled for 3 p.m.
The retreat will be based on the
book “The Lost Art of Praying Together” by James Banks. The book
is designed to help congregations
make united prayer a priority—in
their church, their family, and
wherever God’s people are gathered
together.
Each session will focus on three
chapters from the book. We will
learn to build our confidence and
comfort levels with praying together, as well as discover practical tips
for how to do so in a way that is
natural and which builds up the
body of Christ.
New “Reach” Sermon Series
As we begin the new year we will
also begin a new sermon series. For
the next several months our church
will be looking to “reach up” (attend
to God in worship), “reach
in” (belong to a small group Bible
study, “reach over” (connect with
God and others on a daily basis),
“reach down” (care for those in need,
and “reach out” (call our family,
friends and neighbors to Christ).
The first section, “reach up” will be
can do so by going to the blog,
based on the book of Hebrews and
http://berlinsdb.blogspot.com/,
will explore God’s work on our bewhere you can not only read the
half and our reweekly scripture lessponse through
son but comment on it
worship. If you
as well. Stay tuned for
Our discipleship process
would like to
more news as we work
read the scriptogether for the next
challenges us to attend, belong,
ture passage
twenty weeks to grow
connect, care and call.
each sermon will
up together into
be based on, you
Christ.
Preacher’s Blunch
The men of the church will
meet twice this month as they
study “Autopsy of a Deceased
Church” together. We will meet
at 1 p.m. on January 17 and 31.
The book explores nine actions
a dying church often takes, including turning inward,
“omitting” the Great Commis-
sion, rarely praying together,
and obsessing over facilities.
The author, Thom Rainer,
also suggests twelve things a
church can do to reverse the
decline they are experiencing
or, in the case of a healthy
church, avoid that decline
altogether.
If you would like to take part in the
blunch this quarter, please let Pastor
Matt know. It is not necessary to purchase a copy of the book, but you may
find it helpful as we prepare to study
it together. Books are $9 for a hardcover copy and $7.40 for the electronic edition.

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