Beautiful on the Mountains

The Christian faith is an ancient faith. It is rooted in the faith of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and found its full expression in the ministry of Jesus and the Twelve. Together the 66 books of the bible (39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament) give us all we need for life and godliness. Through the revealed Word of God, we come to know God and salvation through him. Every generation of the Christian Church has its strengths and blind spots. While God’s word never changes, our interpretation of God’s Word is quite fallible. We all bring our biases, our blind spots, and our limitations to the reading and interpretation of God’s Word.

God’s Spirit works to help us understand his Word both personally as we read, but also through this Body, the church. Our faith is not simply a personal faith. It is also a corporate faith. A faith we share with believers throughout time and history. By God’s grace we can read how Christians throughout the centuries have read and interpreted God’s Word. The Spirit guided them just like it guides us. So while we do not rely solely on Church history for our interpretation of God’s Word, we do in fact stand on the shoulders of believers who have gone before us.

One of those believers who went before us was a pastor named Athanasius. He was born around 297 A.D. in Alexadria Egypt. His critics nicknamed him the “black dwarf” because of his small stature and dark skin, however he was a giant of the faith. When Christian beliefs came under attack, particularly the doctrines of the deity of Christ and the Holy Spirit, it were his words which helped best explain what the Bible teaches and what Christians have and continue to believe. His teaching on the doctrine of the Trinity best defines how God is trinity in unity. This teaching is called the Athanasian Creed. Please read and give thanks to God for the faithful ministry of men and women throughout history that have helped us understand and articulate the faith once for all delivered to the saints.

Now this is the catholic (universal Christian) faith:
That we worship one God in trinity and the trinity in unity, neither blending their persons nor dividing their essence.

For the person of the Father is a distinct person, the person of the Son is another, and that of the Holy Spirit still another. But the divinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is one, their glory equal, their majesty coeternal.
What quality the Father has, the Son has, and the Holy Spirit has.
The Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, the Holy Spirit is uncreated.
The Father is immeasurable, the Son is immeasurable, the Holy Spirit is immeasurable.

The Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, the Holy Spirit is eternal.
And yet there are not three eternal beings; there is but one eternal being. So too there are not three uncreated or immeasurable beings; there is but one uncreated and immeasurable being.

Similarly, the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, the Holy Spirit is almighty. Yet there are not three almighty beings; there is but one almighty being.
Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, the Holy Spirit is God. Yet there are not three gods; there is but one God.
Thus the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, the Holy Spirit is Lord. Yet there are not three lords; there is but one Lord.

Just as Christian truth compels us to confess each person individually as both God and Lord, so [Christian] religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or lords.

The Father was neither made nor created nor begotten from anyone. The Son was neither made nor created; he was begotten from the Father alone. The Holy Spirit was neither made nor created nor begotten; he proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Accordingly, there is one Father, not three fathers; there is one Son, not three sons; there is one Holy Spirit, not three holy spirits.
Nothing in this trinity is before or after, nothing is greater or smaller; in their entirety the three persons are coeternal and coequal with each other.

So in everything, as was said earlier, we must worship their trinity in their unity and their unity in their trinity.
Anyone then who desires to be saved should think thus about the trinity.

Serving the Most High God is the greatest privilege we as his creation can perform. And yet life is hard, ministry is exhausting, and our bodies and emotions have their limits. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah was despondent and exhausted. He had been faithful in his service to God. He had been a part of incredible miracles. He prayed and saw fire fall from heaven! When the evil queen Jezebel threatened his life however, he was afraid and he fled. The Bible describes its heroes in very believable human ways. One minute we are on fire for God and the next minute it is almost like we’ve forgotten a life’s worth of lessons in following Jesus. 

Elijah needed to rest, refresh, and be reminded of God’s power and goodness. Elijah felt alone but he was not alone. Elijah felt like the situation was hopeless, but God was about to restore his hope:

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 

¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

God spoke to Elijah in a gentle whisper, shared with him his plan to destroy his enemies, and reminded him that he was not alone in ministry. There were still 7,000 that remained faithful to the Lord. This has been an emotional and exhausting last few weeks for all of us, but I want to encourage you that God is at work. 

On Monday and Tuesday Juan and Niko with the Cru missionaries, Veronika, Bekah, and Gaby, to share the love of Christ and gain interest in starting a Christian club on campus. They had dozens of great conversations, but one stood out. Read this text from Veronika:

Super encouraged by our time meeting students today! The last student Niko, Gaby and I talked to was named Ben, he’s actually listened to sermons from your church Scott! Because someone who goes to your church met him outside of a 1-800 got junk thing then mentioned he goes to Western Hills & that y’all stream church online. He’s not a Christian but sounds like he’s seeking! Niko and him exchanged contact info.

This encouraged me so much. Think of all the pieces that God used to reach into Ben’s life. Juan and Niko were faithful in sharing. Chen and the tech team were faithful to put a quality recording online. I was faithful in my teaching, and one of you was faithful to talk to a young man named Ben and simply invite him. This is a modern day example of “Paul planted, Apollos watered, but God gives the increase.” Pray for Ben and keep being faithful to do your part. God is at work. 

Luke 2:20 “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”

 The post-Christmas let down is real. Months of preparation, gift buying, and planning all culminate on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and then it just feels like it’s over too soon. Family leaves, the weight gain stays, and if we are not careful discouragement can set in. But I have good news! Christmas isn’t over. In ancient times, Advent was a somber, reflective time to prepare for Christ’s coming. The waiting ended with the celebration of the Christ child, and the Feast of Christmas commenced. For twelve days Christians would celebrate all that it meant for Christ to come into the world and Christmas culminated with Epiphany, the day we remember Christ being revealed to the Gentile Magi or “Three Kings.” 

You don’t have to keep your decorations up or keep listening to carols if you don’t want to, but we should not be quick to move on from remembering what a gift Jesus was to this world. Yes we have to go back to work and get back on track with our healthy eating habits, but we need to be like the shepherds, the magi, and the other characters of the Christmas story that keep celebrating and sharing the good news of Christ means for this fallen world.

“Our mouths were filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” Then it was said among the nations, ‘The Lord has done great things for them.’” Psalm 126:2

The story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho is one of the most well-known stories in the Old Testament. We know that Rahab the harlot was a woman of great faith and was used of God to hide the Hebrew spies. But we don’t always remember why she became a woman of faith. Pay close attention to the reasons she shared with the spies as to why she risked everything to save them:

⁸ Before the spies lay down for the night, she went up on the roof ⁹ and said to them, “I know that the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us, so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you. ¹⁰ We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt, and what you did to Sihon and Og, the two kings of the Amorites east of the Jordan, whom you completely destroyed. ¹¹ When we heard of it, our hearts melted in fear and everyone’s courage failed because of you, for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and on the earth below” (Joshua 2:8-11).

Notice that she heard of the great things that God had done for God’s people and that caused her to believe in Yahweh. She was motived by God’s goodness to Israel to place her faith and actions in the God of Israel. When the people of Jericho’s courage failed, she actually found courage and was saved. 

God uses his love, care, and provision for his people and their resulting praise and thanksgiving to cause those that don’t yet know God’s salvation to hear and be drawn to God. So don’t be shy to vocalize your thanksgiving. Also, don’t be shy about your needs and requests. Tell you friends what you are praying for and then rejoice with them when God answers. This is one of the easiest ways to share your faith. Let God do the work and then give him credit for it. How has God blessed you this year? Who can you share that with? What are the burdens of your heart that you are praying over? Who can you share that with?