Guest Speaker: Matthew Parks

This Sunday, we have a real treat. Ruling Elder Matthew Parks from Exeter Presbyterian Church will be preaching at Christ Presbyterian.

His Sermon Text is Hebrews 3:1-2.

Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house.

The Sermon Title: "Consider Jesus."

Come and join us this Sunday.

Sermon Text: Genesis 29

Sermon Title => Laban : The Good Uncle

We will focus mainly on Jacob and Leah and their need for love. Please plan to join us this coming Sunday.

The Year I Smelled Like Milk

In 2010, I have been making an effort to read more at night before going to bed. It is going well so far. I think the reason in the past I have not been great reading at night was that most of my books were theological, textbook format. I decided to mix it up and read some biographies.

One recent biography I just put down was written by a friend of mine, Michael Hobson. It was written about our time in China in 1993-1994 as English Teachers. The book is specifically about Michael's experience, living in Beijing and riding a bike in Western China. It is well written, and for me, really brought back a lot of great memories.

So I would highly recommend picking it up at Amazon.com. It is a delightful snapshot of a China that no longer exists. A lot has changed in a few years, this book captures life in China for foreigners before the Internet, Olympics and automobile craze.

Enjoy!

Book's Website

Sermon Text: Genesis 26 & 27

We are looking at a real soap opera this coming Sunday. In the center of all of this is Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Esau. Please plan to join us this coming Sunday.

Good Friday Service

Good Friday Service
7:00 - 8:00 p.m.
Seventh Day Adventist Church, 20 Robinson Rd., Nashua, NH

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, “Truly this was the Son of God!” - Matthew 27:50-54

Sermon Text: Genesis 28

Gen. 28:10 Jacob left Beersheba and went toward Haran.
Gen. 28:11 And he came to a certain place and stayed there that night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place to sleep.
Gen. 28:12 And he dreamed, and behold, there was a ladder* set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!
Gen. 28:13 And behold, the LORD stood above it* and said, “I am the LORD, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring.
Gen. 28:14 Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
Gen. 28:15 Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land. For I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Gen. 28:16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is bin this place, and I did not know it.”
Gen. 28:17 And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

John Piper takes some time off from ministry

As I ponder some time off this summer, I was somewhat surprised to find out that Rev. John Piper has taken very little time out over his years of pastoral ministry. But that comes to an end in April.

Click to Read the Article

I have always respected hard working individuals and particularly those who faithfully minister in churches for years with out a break. But at the same time, I think we need to take breaks, rest, and evaluate our effectiveness, and ability to fulfill our call. And that is not taking into consideration time with family.

Glad to hear he is taking some rest, I hope it is time well spent.

Holy Week Schedule

CPC Prayer Mtg.
Monday
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Wakefield's Home


Small Groups
Wednesday
6:30 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.


Good Friday Service
Friday
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Seventh Day Adventist Church, Nashua, NH


Sunday Morning Worship Service
Sunday
10:30 a.m.
Seventh Day Adventist Church, Nashua, NH

Sermon Text: Genesis 23 & 25

This Sunday's sermon is titled : "Life & Death - Abraham, Sarah, Jacob & Esau"

Please plan to join us this coming Lord's Say.

Sermon Text: Genesis 24

Isaac & Rebekah... A Love Story?

Come join us this Sunday.

"Spring Ahead"

Just a friendly reminder, set your clocks ahead one hour. Don't want to see folks late for church!

Sermon Text: Genesis 21-22

Gen. 21:1 The LORD visited Sarah as he had said, and the LORD did to Sarah as he had promised.
Gen. 21:2 And Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the time of which God had spoken to him.
Gen. 21:3 Abraham called the name of his son who was born to him, whom Sarah bore him, Isaac.*
Gen. 21:4 And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him.
Gen. 21:5 Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
Gen. 21:6 And Sarah said, “God has made laughter for me; everyone who hears will laugh over me.”
Gen. 21:7 And she said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”
Gen. 21:8 And the child grew and was weaned. And Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned.
Gen. 21:9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, laughing.*
Gen. 21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son, for the son of this slave woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.”
Gen. 21:11 And the thing was very displeasing to Abraham on account of his son.
Gen. 21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Be not displeased because of the boy and because of your slave woman. Whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for through Isaac shall your offspring be named.
Gen. 21:13 And I will make a nation of the son of the slave woman also, because he is your offspring.”
Gen. 21:14 So Abraham rose early in the morning and took bread and a skin of water and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.
Gen. 22:1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”
Gen. 22:2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
Gen. 22:3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.
Gen. 22:4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar.
Gen. 22:5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy* will go over there and worship and come again to you.”
Gen. 22:6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together.
Gen. 22:7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here am I, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
Gen. 22:8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.
Gen. 22:9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood.
Gen. 22:10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
Gen. 22:11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”
Gen. 22:12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
Gen. 22:13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son.
Gen. 22:14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”;* as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”*
Gen. 22:15 And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham a second time from heaven
Gen. 22:16 and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
Gen. 22:17 I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his* enemies,
Gen. 22:18 and win your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
Gen. 22:19 So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.

The Pacific: HBO Mini Series

I have been a fan of Band of Brothers, the story about the men of Easy Company in Europe during World War 2. If you have not watched the Mini Series, I would urge you to do so. I will warn you, it is very violent, not suitable for children.

Hollywood likes World War 2, but for reasons I have not understood, many of the films produced in the last decade or so have focused on the European Theater of Operations. The Pacific Theater of Operations was much bigger and was way more costly. And often we only think of Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima when it comes to the War in the Pacific. That's about it.

Finally, HBO is doing a mini series on the War in the Pacific. It follows 3 Marines and looks very promising. It is produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the same men who did Band of Brothers. It is called => The Pacific

I don't have HBO, but I will look forward to seeing this when it comes out in DVD.

Sermon Text: Genesis 20

Gen. 20:1 From there Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar.
Gen. 20:2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
Gen. 20:3 But God came to Abimelech uin a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”
Gen. 20:4 Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people?
Gen. 20:5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.”
Gen. 20:6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her.
Gen. 20:7 Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, so that he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you, and all who are yours.”
Gen. 20:8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid.
Gen. 20:9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done.”
Gen. 20:10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?”
Gen. 20:11 Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, There is no fear of God at all in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.
Gen. 20:12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, the daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife.
Gen. 20:13 And when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, He is my brother.’ ”
Gen. 20:14 Then Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him.
Gen. 20:15 And Abimelech said, “Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.”
Gen. 20:16 To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all* who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.”
Gen. 20:17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children.
Gen. 20:18 For the LORD had closed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Forget the iPad, consider an ADAM

We have a lot of very intelligent tech folks at our church, and I recently asked one of them what they thought of the iPad. He liked it, but told me about a device coming out of India this summer called the ADAM.

I read an article on the ADAM and its comparison to the iPad.

Very cool stuff.

A New Kind of Christianity: Book Review

I am not a fan of Brian McLaren, but I think he is worth listening too from time to time. He provides insights into the church that I rarely come across in my ministry circles.

He has a new book out entitled: A New Kind of Christianity where he is highly critical of the Western Evangelical church. I like the premise, but he goes way to far.

Here is a good review on CT's website. Check it out and make sure you read the entire article. I think the review is very helpful.

Talk about ambitious!

Talk about ambitious!

The breakaway Anglican Church in North America ACNA has an Archbishop that thinks big. Very big. From an article in Christian Today.....

"In the next five years, I want us to plant 1,000 new churches," Duncan said last summer when he was installed as the first Archbishop of the ACNA. "We can do that."

Duncan is the new archbishop for the ACNA. Wow, I am stunned. Would love to see the blueprint for this plan, which is called, not surprisingly, Anglican 1000.

Time will tell....

The Dickin Medal Cat

I found this amazing, the British Army has a medal, called the Dickin Medal that they award to animals who have served in the military. This year, a black lab has been awarded the medal for his bomb sniffing abilities. That does not surprise me, labs are great. But this snippet in a BBC article really caught me off guard.

"A total of 26 other dogs, 32 World War II messenger pigeons, three horses and one cat have won the award"

Yes, you read correctly, a cat has won this military award. A cat. I found that unbelievable and had to find out why.

Here is the reason....

"1949: Simon – the ship's cat on HMS Amethyst during the Yangtze Incident, noted for surviving injuries from a cannon shell, raising morale and killing off a rat infestation during the incident, by doing this duty despite being wounded. He was raised to the fanciful rank of "Able Seacat" and awarded a campaign medal. "

True Story.

Sermon Text: Genesis 18:9-15, 22-26, 19:23-29

Gen. 18:9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.”
Gen. 18:10 The LORD said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.
Gen. 18:11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah.
Gen. 18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
Gen. 18:13 The LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’
Gen. 18:14 Is anything too hard* for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
Gen. 18:15 But Sarah denied it,* saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Gen. 18:22 So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham jstill stood before the LORD.
Gen. 18:23 Then Abraham drew near and said, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
Gen. 18:24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it?
Gen. 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”
Gen. 18:26 And the LORD said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

Gen. 19:23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
Gen. 19:24 Then the LORD rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of heaven.
Gen. 19:25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
Gen. 19:26 But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Gen. 19:27 And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.
Gen. 19:28 And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.
Gen. 19:29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Trans Siberian Railway via Google

When I was living in Shenyang in Northeast China, every Sunday an extension of the Trans Siberian Railway stopped on it's way to Vladivostok, Russia. I wanted to travel home after my one year teaching assignment via the Trans Siberian Railway. I would travel from Shenyang => Vladivostok => Moscow => Warsaw => London.

The only problem was, I could not find anyone to go with me. And in 1995, it was dangerous to travel alone on the Trans Siberian. So my adventure was never realized.

Well Google has a project that is a decent compromise. They have created a virtual trip on the Trans Siberian for anyone to experience from the comfort of your home. It is not the same, but really really cool experiment.

Check it out for yourself.