When: February 20th, 2010

Where: Krystal Q,  9630 Techno;ogy Drive Easton MD, 21601

Who: Those who are married or considering marriage in the near future.

Cost: $70.00 for couples and $35 for singles .

Contact: Donna Bodzer for sign up information

A Response to Evangelical Feminism

Evangelical feminism has had a profound impact on the Church. In this book, 22 men and women commit their talents to produce the most thorough response yet to evangelical feminism. The writers identify their view as complementarian rather than “traditional” or “hierarchical.” The book combines systematic argumentation with popular application and deals with all the main passages of Scripture brought forward in this controversy. An important and informative book for those concerned with the fundamental questions of the relationship between men and women in home, church and society.

Download this book (PDF).

www.whokilledgod.com

Martyn Lloyd-Jones on what the church is for:

The primary task of the Church is not to educate man, is not to heal him physically or psychologically…. I will go further; it is not even to make him good. These are things that accompany salvation; and when the Church performs her true task she does incidentally educate men and give them knowledge and information…she does make them good and better than they were. But my point is that those are not her primary objectives. Her primary purpose is not any of these; it is rather to put man into the right relationship with God, to reconcile man to God. (Preaching & Preachers, 30)

3. The New Calvinism

ILLUSTRATION BY LORENZO PETRANTONI FOR TIME; CALVIN: POPPERFOTO / GETTY

Many suns, showers, and frosts, pass upon it before it comes to perfection. And in winter, when it seems to be dead—it is gathering strength at the root.

Be humble, watchful, and diligent in the means, and endeavor to look through all, and fix your eye upon Jesus—and all shall be well. “

—John Newton, Letters of John Newton (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth: 2007)

I am really enjoying Keller!!!

“The gospel, by telling us Jesus died for us, is also really insulting. It tells us that we are so wicked that only the death of the Son of God could save us. This offends the modern cult of self-expression and the popular belief in the innate goodness of humanity.”

- Timothy Keller, The Message of Romans (Redeemer Presbyterian Church, 2003), 2.

SERMON DOWNLOAD

Here is a very helpful post for parents: How (Not) to Raise a Pharisee. Kurt Gebhards writes:

It is the sad testimony of church history that the works and expressions of sacrificial love and devotion of one generation of Christians can quickly turn into legalistic rules and regulations for the next. The convictions of the first generation become the caprice of the second. It is sad and shameful how quickly the Object of wonder and worship of a generation can become the boredom and betrayal of the next. Hypocrisy is an imminent and evident threat to the church of Jesus Christ.

Churched children are seldom given to outright defiance of authority; they are much more susceptible to the poison of Pharisaism. Hypocrisy in the heart is much more difficult to spot than disobedient behavior. The Bible gives us some definite character traits of the pretentious pietist, and here is what they may look like in a child:

His outward behavior and adherence to rules are driven by a desire to please men, not by a love for God with all his heart, soul, mind and strength (Mk. 12:30).

Doing good works and having them observed by adults is more important than the action itself (Mt. 6:5).

The child is openly obedient and responsive — asking to pray before bedtime with you — while maintaining a quietly deceitful and rebellious attitude (Gal. 6:7).

He scrupulously observes the letter of the law — like religiously bringing his Bible to church — but neglects the weightier spirit of the law — like sharing his favorite toys with his siblings (Mt. 23:23).

He craves the verbal praises and tangible rewards of his parents and teachers, but cares little for the approbation of God Himself (Jn. 12:43)

Left unchecked by the grace and Word of God, by the time such a child reaches his teenage years, hypocrisy can have entrenched itself.

This teen prefers well-defined, black and white rules, for they give him a sense of certainty that God must surely reward those achievements (Lk. 18:12).

He adds a layer of rules to the Word of God (like not watching any movies, not listening to popular music, et cetera), giving the impression that he holds to a higher standard than Holy Scripture (Mt. 23:4).

He tends to propose personal preferences as, or elevate them above, divine imperatives (Mt. 15:2-3).

He pursues perfectionism (Phil. 3:6), not excellence (Phil. 3:12-14).

He separates himself from others he considers of lesser cultural morality — people whose table manners, courtesy of speech, and refinement of mannerisms do not match middle-class norms (Lk. 15:1-2).

He is judgmental — he excels at fault-finding, he loves to pick verbal fights — and the standard by which he condemns others is not primarily biblical, but personal, preferential, or traditional (Mt. 7:5). He fights against many people, against many issues, but he does not know who he is fighting for.

Hypocrisy is the pretense of virtue or piousness that is contrary to one’s real character. And make no mistake, hypocrisy spreads like an unseen cancer. Everything appears alive and spiritually vital, then suddenly, the person is dull –and soon dead. The Lord specifically warned His disciples, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” (Lk. 12:1) Since hypocrisy is hidden deep within the recesses of the heart, it goes on unchecked and will hollow out its victim from the inside.

One of the dangers is that these outwardly compliant children receive much approval from parents and teachers. So they are encouraged to continue the duplicity unless anti-hypocritical measures are employed. We can certainly teach and militate against hypocrisy in the following ways:

Instead of just dealing with external behavior issues, we should seize every opportunity to help children understand that it is their hearts that generate their actions (Mt. 15:19). In His judgment of man, God looks at the heart (1 Sam.16:7). We should never equate occasions of good behavior (professions of love for Jesus, acts of compliance, et cetera) with saving faith in Jesus. We need to go beyond fixing wrong behavior to helping the child understand that his evil heart can only be changed by the Lord in regeneration.

Emphasize the affections of NT religion. Make sure that we are not just aiming at a young person’s understanding, but that we reach for the heart and its affections.

Do not encourage children to exhibit their talents and gifts to impress others. They should be reminded that all that they are and have are gifts of grace from God (1 Cor. 4:7), and they should not regard themselves more highly than they ought (Rom. 12:3).

Teach the truth about integrity — which comes from the word for “integer” or “whole.” For a child with integrity, whichever way you turn them, they look they same. Who they are at church, is who they are in school, is who they are at home. This is what our kids should be.

Do not be afraid to share our spiritual and moral failures with children in instances where they can identify with our shortcomings. This allows us to be authentic with them. It also allows us to demonstrate our response to God when we have done wrong, and our reliance on Him to continue molding our hearts.

Be authentic in your love for Christ. Genuine desire for Christ is not easily faked. Let your zeal be a barometer by which they measure their own affection for Christ.

Hypocrisy is an insidious danger in Children’s Ministries today. It also threatens each individual home. As parents, it is our job to honor the intention of Psalm 78:4-6:

We will not conceal [the Word of God] from their children, But tell to the generations to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done, that they should teach [the law] to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, That they may arise and tell them to their children.

 

Here is our FACEBOOK PAGE

F.  Free and Formed

A.  Assembled and Alone

D.  Desperate and Delighted

E.  Explosive and Extended

S.  Spontaneous and Scheduled

More to come soon.

Enjoy!

SERMON DOWNLOAD

 LISTEN HERE

  BUY HERE

  Download FREE song

   Thank you Sovereign Grace for your kindness to the Saints!

SERMON DOWNLOAD

SERMON DOWNLOAD

SERMON DOWNLOAD

SERMON DOWNLOAD

We had the priveledge to hear Eric Barnes one of our members preach as he has been feeling called to the ministry . He did a wonderful job!

SERMON DOWNLOAD

Ryle begins the book by explaining the biblical command to train up children in the way they should go. He says people rarely followed this command during his day and this failure was a serious omission. Many parents act like hypocrites. They can quickly point out wrong in the parenting decisions of others, but fail to recognize their own shortcomings. Ryle understands parenting to be one area in which we all desperately need the insight of other believers. Our own judgment proves far to flimsy and our own prejudices far to strong.

The bulk of the book is made up of sixteen hints about the right training of children. Ryle expresses the purpose of his book by saying, “Be very sure, if you would train children for heaven, they are hints that ought not to be lightly set aside.” (p. 3) Considering that this book was written in the 1800’s, the hints which Ryle gives are supremely beneficial, even to today’s reader.

Sound theology forms the foundation for the hints offered. For example, the first hint offered tells the reader; “If you would train your children rightly, train them in the way they should go, and not in the way that they would.” (p. 3) By pointing out the difference between should and would, Ryle highlights the natural bent of man to sin. Parenting must operate within the framework of a biblical view of sin. Children must be trained in the pattern of life in which they should go, because if left to the way in which they would go, they would plunge deeper and deeper into sin.

The placing of this hint first shows us the importance of understanding the doctrine of depravity and how it will affect our parenting. Raising children to the glory of God cannot be something done haphazardly. Because children are born already walking on the road to destruction, our parenting must be done with purposeful passion to point them toward the cross.

Ryle goes on to give fifteen more hints which can each be meditated on and applied in a variety of ways. Here are some of the other hints which are given throughout The Duties of Parents. Hint number three says, “Train your children with an abiding persuasion on your mind that much depends upon you.” (p. 6) Number seven instructs, “Train them to habits of diligence, and regularly about public means of grace.” (p. 14) And hint number nine says, “Train them to a habit of obedience.” (p. 19) Ryle gives each hint, explains what each one means, then challenges parents to practice the principle he has just expounded.

The Duties of Parents provides basic but timeless instruction to parents seeking to walk in obedience to the Lord. I believe this small book will stimulate parents to remember what they are responsible to be doing in the process of raising children. Ryle states each hint simply and profoundly in a way which will capture the attention and encourage obedience. Here are some instructive quotes from the book:

“As a minister, I cannot help remarking that there is hardly any subject about which people seem so tenacious as they are about their children. I have sometimes been perfectly astonished at the slowness of sensible Christian parents to allow that their own children are in fault, or deserve blame. There are not a few persons to whom I would far rather speak about their own sins, than tell them their children had done anything wrong.” (p. 2)

“Remember children are born with a decided bias towards evil, and therefore if you let them choose for themselves, they are certain to choose wrong.” (p. 3)

“Kindness, gentleness, long-suffering, forbearance, patience, sympathy, a willingness to enter into childish troubles, a readiness to take part in childish joys, these are the cords by which a child may be led most easily, these are the clues you must follow if you would find the way to his heart.” (p. 4)

“Try hard to keep up a hold on your child’s affections. It is a dangerous thing to make your children afraid of you.” (p. 6)

“We depend, in a vast measure, on those who bring us up. We get from them a colour, a taste, a bias which cling to us more or less all our lives.” (p. 7)

“Precious, no doubt, are these little ones in your eyes; but if you love them, think often of their souls.” (p. 8 )

“Idleness is the devil’s best friend.” (p. 22)

“Instruction, and advice, and commands, will profit little, unless they are backed up by the pattern of your own life. Your children will never believe you are in earnest, and really wish them to obey you, so long as your actions contradict your counsel.” (p. 30)

Which Are You?
The key is to discover whether you are more naturally a contemplative or an activist and then work on your area of weakness. In my years as a pastor I have found that most of us lean heavily toward the contemplative or the active disciplines at the expense of the other. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for people to read about Jesus in their Bible and only see His contemplative or activist scenes at the expense of seeing the healthy tension that Jesus lived in. As a result, when a contemplative thinks of Jesus they are prone to imagine Him sitting alone in the wilderness and silently reading Scripture and praying. Conversely, when an activist thinks of Jesus they are prone to imagine Him performing miracles, preaching, and casting out demons, never sitting down or taking a day off. The truth is that Jesus practiced every contemplative discipline and every active discipline (with the exception of lovemaking). To follow in His example means we must follow in His entire example.

Active Disciplines
Study
Fellowship
Speaking
Teaching
Activism
Work
Lovemaking
Evangelism
Service
Feasting

Contemplative Disciplines
Solitude
Silence
Meditation
Prayer
Sabbath
Chastity
Worship
Journaling
Fasting

Part 1

Listen         Read

Part 2

Listen         Read

Listen            Read

Listen             Read

Listen          Read

Listen         Read

Listen       Read

Some things to remember are :

• Do not over eat.
• Eat slowly
• Chew your food well so that there is less to digest.
• Eat only 3 meals.
• Work back into eating fatty foods

Things to eat when breaking a fast

• Fresh Leafy Salad with little or no dressing.
• Popcorn
• Yogurt
• Oatmeal

Graduate to

• A pasta or bean soup
• Rice
• Bananas

After this intoduce a Vegetable Sandwich with some cheese.

If all goes well, go back to normal eating with caution. Your body will let you know if you are moving too quickly. If your tummy becomes upset, go back a step.

Prayer, Fasting, and the Course of History

Listen     Read

Some negatives that may happen when you fast

• Headache ( first 10 days)
• Backache/ kidney pain (day 3 to day 7)
• White pasty tongue and bad breath ( first 15 days) Have Mints
• fatigue (first 10 days)
• Lightheadedness or dizziness (on and off the entire time)
• Hunger (on and off the entire time)
• Sleeplessness ( After 5 days)
• Nausea (first 10 days)
• loss of weight

You may have one of these, none, or many of them. Your body is working out toxins, so the first 10 days are the worst. I personally had the backache, Fatigue (first 5 days) pasty tongue,  hunger first 3 days, Day 11, Day 20 and day 30. Mostly it was a desire to eat, not actual hunger. I did have sleeplessness after day 10. I had a burst of energy and did not need as much sleep. I would awake in the night and just use that time to pray. I was lightheaded occasionally.

Other things that may happen.

• Some melancholy and grieving of your sin
• Extra energy
• Heightened senses ( physical as well as spiritual)
• Glowing appearance
• God to reveal himself in ways he never has before.

In our 40 day fast, God met with us in very special ways. Gifts came out that were not normally present. We also went through times of grief over our sin.

Laura

SERMON DOWNLOAD

SERMON DOWNLOAD

Fruit Juice a mixture of any of these fruits and 1 TBLS of Psyllium per person

• apples
• pineapple (gives alot of juice)
• Cantalope
• strawberries (can do frozen)
• Pears
• grapes
• Kiwi
• Blueberries ( can do frozen)
• Watermellon
• Honeydew melon
• Peaches

Sometimes I will add a little orange juice, but limit it because of the acid can upset your stomach.

About Psyllium- put psyllium in last. and drink immediately. It gels up and is nasty if you wait. I think you risk choking as well once it has gelled up.  Also the flavored kind is nasty in my opinion

Between Morning and Evening

• Vegetable Broth- we usually only do this in the beginning of our fast as we get tired of it quickly

Bring a pot of water to a boil

Cut up carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes, celery,

Add Cale or Spinach leaves and spices but no salt or sugar

Bring all to a boil, strain and drink. It is yummy at first, but later you may not desire this

• Water ( we sometimes will add a small amount of juice or maple syrup)
• Herbal decaffienated Tea ( sometimes add a bit of maple syrup)

Evening

Carrot Based Vegetable Juice ( it takes about 6 carrots per person to make a carrot base) Below are good combinations

• Carrot, apple, with cale, green leaf lettuce, spinach, or celery
• Carrot, cantelope, apple, with green above
• Carrot, garlic, with greens above

In my jucier you can add apples, cantalope and pineapple with skins on them

Note: Sweet Potato Juice was recommended to us. Let me tell you, it was the nastiest stuff and I do not recommend it

Later: Side Effects and What to Expect.

Do’s

• Do use fresh fruits and vegetables
• Do drink lots of water
• Do drink herbal decaffeinated tea
• Do drink Vegetable Broth
• Do use Psyllium in your fruit juice in the morning (Psyllium keeps your bowels moving and passes toxins faster and takes some side effects away)
• Do pray when you are hungry.
• Do set a time to spend intimate time with God
• Do rest if you are tired and are able

Do Not

• Do not drink juice with sugar added ( It will give you the jitters)
• Do not drink caffeinated or alcoholic drinks
• Do not chew ice or gum ( chewing sends signals to your brain that you are eating which can cause your stomach to rumble and break down the lining of your stomach when there is nothing to digest)
• Do not just not eat without spending time with God.
• Do not fast to loose weight or the health benefits, while both will happen naturally, if that is the motive for your fast, you should not fast.

Tomorrow: What to Juice

Preparing your Body for your fast

•  Educate yourself on fasting and what side effects, and struggle you may come across.
• See a Dr and make sure that you are healthy and able to fast. 
• Cut down or stop caffeine and alcohol consumption, less salt and sugar is a help as well.
• Cut down on the size of the meals you are eating.
• Make sure you have a good, in working condition Juicer. We have the older version of this Champion Juicer and on sale HERE.
• Sock up on Fruits and Vegetables. Many of Sam’s fruits and veggies are cheaper, in bulk, and organic. (More on this later)
• Buy Psyllium Colon Cleanse (No Flavor) GNC carries this.
• If you have children, plan meals for them. Freeze some if you can (We did not figure this out til later fasts, the grocery store and cooking is especially hard, and we did not want the children’s nutritional value to change just because we were fasting)
• Have a celebration dinner before you start. This has always been a joyous beneficial event for Eric and me.

Prepare yourself Spiritually.

• Read Scripture that talks about fasting (some verses below)

  Judges 20:26–Israel fasted for victory in war.
  1 Sam. 1:6-7–Hannah fasted for a son
  1 Sam. 7:6–Israel fasted in repentance
  1 Sam. 31:13–Men of Jabesh fasted in mourning for Saul
  2 Sam. 1:12–David and his men fasted in mourning for Saul, Jonathan, and the fallen of Israel
  2 Sam. 12–David fasted for mercy upon his child
  1 Kings 21:27–Ahab fasted for mercy
  2 Chron. 20:3–Jehoshaphat and Israel fasted for help and protection
  Ezra 8:21-23–Ezra and the people fasted for help and protection
  Nehemiah 1:4–Nehemiah fasted in mourning and for help upon Jerusalem
  Nehemiah 9:1,2–Israel fasting in mourning and repentance
  Esther 4:16–Esther and friends fasted for victory
  Esther 9:3–Fasting is mentioned as having had a role in the victory
  Psalm 35:13,14–Fasting in prayer and mourning
  Psalm 69: 10,11–Fasting in prayer and mourning
  Isaiah 58:6-8–The fast which pleases God
  Jeremiah 36:9–Israel fasted for mercy
  Joel 1:14; 2:12,15–God commanded fasting and repentance
  Jonah 3:5–The Ninevites fasted in repentance for mercy
  Daniel 9:3–Daniel fasted for wisdom
  Matthew 4:2–Jesus fasted when tempted in the wilderness
  Matthew 6:17-18–Jesus promised that the Father would bless fasting
  Matthew 9:14-15–Jesus said his disciples would fast
  Matthew 17:21–Fasting is necessary for overcoming some demonic strongholds
  Mark 9:29–Fasting is necessary for overcoming some demonic powers
  Luke 2:37–Fasting was part of Anna’s service to God
  Acts 13:2–Fasting was part of the ministry of the workers at Antioch
  Acts 13:3–Ordination was accompanied by fasting                                                                                                         Acts 14:23–Ordination was accompanied by fasting
  1 Cor. 7:5–Fasting and prayer is the only proper reason for abstinence from the marital relationship
  2 Cor. 6:5–Fasting was one way Paul approved himself as a minister of Jesus Christ
  2 Cor. 11:27

• Pray for God to break down sin barriers in your life and give you mourning over your sin during your fast
• Pray for God to reveal Himself to you in ways He has yet to have done.
• Pray for God to give you self control in your fast and that God will show you great and mighty things you do not know
• Pray that your fast  would remain pure and that God would not allow your fast to become ritualistic

 Tomorrow Juicing for your Fast.

Laura

As a background, Eric and I both felt called to a  big conference on the Mall in Washington DC. Bill Bright had spoken of fasting and we both felt called to do a 40 day fast. In preparation we did pick up the book The Coming Revival by Bill Bright.  This book was very helpful and much that I am going to mention about the ways to safely do a long term fasts, is mentioned in His book.

If you feel called to a fast. John Piper also was called and has done a wonderful job conveying the call of fasting for the New Testament Church. You can read his article/ sermon  here.

First I would consider anything over 3 days a long fast. I am not sure unless you are really sure god is calling you to a water only fast beyond 3 days, that it is healthy for your body.  We definitely felt like a juice fast was best for us. Eric has in the past fasted with only water for the first 3 days and then transfer to a juice fast. I however was not able to do that, but I think the book actually recommends that you start with a water fast.

I am going to split this up over the next few days as, it is alot on information and I do not want to overload you. Eric and I really took several weeks to prepare for this calling. I think if you are going to fast for a day or two, you can just decide to do that, but with a a long term fast, you really need to prepare in body, soul and spirit.

I am going to start with, Why Juice fast?

I think there is a humbling factor that God allows you to go through when you fast for a long period of time. No food for a 7. 14, or 40 days allow you to see your dependency on food. God teaches us what it is like to really hunger after Him. What’s more, God alone becomes your strength and that is amazing in and of itself. As your body is rid of toxins, your body, goes through amazing things and once you are rid of the toxins you have built up over years, your senses ( sight, smell, and spiritual) become keenly aware. While I have benefit from short fasts and there definitely is a need for them and God does call us to them. I found God revealed Himself to me in ways and also cleansed my heart in ways that were uncomfortable but necessary. Since water fasting for long periods of time was not feasible, juice fasting was an option for us.

More on Preparation Tomorrow,

laura

FASTING BROCHURE

Pastor Robb

SERMON DOWNLOAD

You may Download it HERE .

There are many articles in this packet from Desiring God.

We will keep you up to date on the plans for our next baptism.

Have a great weekend,

Eric

Nursery Worker Handbook

Cari

nursery@oasiscovenant.org

Cari, thank you for stepping up to take on the task of nursery coordinator. You are a blessing and your excitement and joy in the task is contagious.

Laura

SERMON DOWNLOAD

  SERMON DOWNLOAD

You and You Alone

Prayerfully consider joining us in serving the families in our Church.

Laura

UPDATE: Thank you to all who have volunteered to be a part of this very important Ministry. We were able to fill the schedule, up through June 22nd, 2008.  Cari Reyes, has graciously accepted the roll as our Nursery Coordinator. If you have any questions, you can contact her at nursery@oasiscovenant.org She will be filling the schedul again in late April, so stay tuned

Laura

“Monday is Martin Luther King day. I encourage all pastors and Sunday School teachers to make something of it this weekend. It may be too late to preach on racial and ethnic issues, if you have not already planned to. But it is not too late, if you read this on Saturday, to plan to simply take note of the day and speak a word of exhortation to your people concerning their hearts in matters of race and ethnicity. None of us. None of us is without need for help in the purification of our hearts in the way we feel and think about other ethnic groups. Your people need help.

The point of this weekend is not to celebrate all that MLK was. You need not belabor his sins. The point is to lift up some magnificent things he stood for and some necessary and amazing achievements of the civil rights era in which he was a key leader. We are Christians and can see these things in the light of providence and the gospel. Let everything point to Christ and him crucified. Consider Revelation 5:9 if you wonder whether ethnic diversity and ethnic harmony are Jesus-blood issues.

All you have to do to find some good word from MLK is Google his name. His “I have a dream” speech has some powerful lines. He dreams that some day his children “will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character.” That cry is as important today globally and locally as it was in 1963.

In my judgment the “I have a dream” speech was not the apex of King’s eloquence. That is reserved for certain passages in “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” (April 16, 1963). Here is the most powerful word from King I have ever read:

Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dart of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six- year-old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience.

You need not have all the answers. You need not be democrat or republican. You need not think things are as bad as they were or as good as they could be. What you need to do is press the issue of ethnic ill-will on the consciences of your people in the name of Jesus, who came to us when we were more alien to him than anyone has ever been to us.

God give you courage and grace.

Oasis, pray that God will deal graciously in our own hearts and help us become more like Christ as we seek to see racial barriers fall to the ground.

In His Grace,

Eric

Listen To Savior

Eric

01-06-2008 Sermon

SERMON DOWNLOAD

To save: right click on link above and click save target as and save to your computer

• We moved around a bit,  moving from Sunday Night to Sunday Morning. Moved through 3 different buildings, with God seemingly planting us in the wonderful facility of  Krystal Q. God is so kind!
• Our care groups have allowed us to get to be more intimately in love with one another.
• We have gotten to meet many new brothers and sisters in the Lord, both globally and locally. The growth we have seen both spiritually and numerically has been a great testimony of God’s greatness. Having family is such a blessing!
• We got a new website, logo, and God has given us a clear vision for the community in which we live.
• Our worship team has grown and it has been great to see God move among His children through the Music ministry.
• We have added to our family though babies being born and through the gift of marriage.

God has been so good to us. As we start a new year, it will be exciting to see the work God will accomplish in the next year. Things you can be praying that God will guide us in for the coming year.

• Pray that God will continue to pour out on our leaders, giving them wisdom, boldness, and courage.
• Pray for new leader for new ministries to spring up and be developed into what God would have, as well as continual guidance for the ministries that are in the works.  Specifically, The children’s Ministry, The Nursery Ministry, The Men’s Ministry, and Youth Ministry and the Woman’s Ministry.
• Pray that God will continue to give us a hunger to know and glorify him more, through His word, through serving, and through using spiritual gifts.
• Pray that God will continue to give us a vision for ways to meet the needs of our community and provide the reinforcements to accomplish the vision.

We look forward to growing with you this year. May you continually seek Him.

Eric, Laura, Robb and Beth

12-30-07 Worship Set

WORSHIP SET DOWNLOAD

12-30-2007 Sermon

SERMON DOWNLOAD

To save: right click on link above and click save target as and save to your computer

Thanks again Robb and Beth and also to our dedicated worship team (Greg, Amanda, Beth, Michael, Chip and Austin) You all serve us so well, Praise God

Know we do not take your service lightly and so encouraged by you both Thank You, Thank You!!!!

Eric and Laura

We used Bethlehem Baptist’s scripture reading plan. We wanted to pass this along to you in case you would like to join us.

Scripture Reading Plan

Bookmark for 1st Half of Year

Bookmarks for 2nd Half of Year

Regardless, of whether you use this tool, may God continually bless you by His grace in your reading of His word.

Eric

Eternal and yet born of a woman.

Almighty, and yet nursing at a woman’s breast.

Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms.

Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter’s despised son.”

–Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“That man should be made in God’s image is a wonder,

but that God should be made in man’s image is a greater wonder.

That the Ancient of Days would be born.

That He who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle?”

-Thomas Watson

“Man’s Maker was made man

that the Bread might be hungry,

the Fountain thirst,

the Light sleep,

the Way be tired from the journey;

that Strength might be made weak,

that Life might die.

–Augustine

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,

and we have seen his glory,

glory as of the only Son from the Father,

full of grace and truth.”

(John 1:14)

Merry Christmas,

Eric

Thank you to all who were able to come and be a part of serving our community! Also Thank you to Crystal’s Coffee for welcoming us and serving up wonderful coffee and hot chocolate to us.

For those of you who were unable to  make it , we started our evening at Crystal’s Coffee for a hot beverages and a quick warm up for our voices. We then proceeded to Hyde Park to sing to those who live there. We then proceeded to the trailer park on Black Dog Alley. We hand out several Free Turkey Coupons and have already received a few calls.

We will deliver the Turkeys, Friday or Saturday. Please pray that God will do amazing things during our visit and that hearts will be open. Pray for discernment and wisdom for us. We are excited to serve these people in this way and pray the doors will remain open for the Gospel, not just during this Christmas season, but throughout the year.

We are open to ideas on how to continue to minister to these people.

I look forward to sharing more with you on Sunday.

God bless,

Eric

Here is the Written Version  or you can Listen to it

Have a great week and keep making Him preeminent!

You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint (see Genesis 32:24-25 ). Don’t become a cripple by wrestling with the ways of God, but be someone who wrestles before God with the things of this world, because “we are more than conquerors through Him . . .” ( Romans 8:37  ). Wrestling before God makes an impact in His kingdom. If you ask me to pray for you, and I am not complete in Christ, my prayer accomplishes nothing. But if I am complete in Christ, my prayer brings victory all the time. Prayer is effective only when there is completeness— “take up the whole armor of God . . . .”Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives. God’s perfect will is unchangeable. It is with His permissive will, or the various things that He allows into our lives, that we must wrestle before Him. It is our reaction to these things allowed by His permissive will that enables us to come to the point of seeing His perfect will for us. “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . .” ( Romans 8:28 )— to those who remain true to God’s perfect will— His calling in Christ Jesus. God’s permissive will is the testing He uses to reveal His true sons and daughters. We should not be spineless and automatically say, “Yes, it is the Lord’s will.” We don’t have to fight or wrestle with God, but we must wrestle before God with things. Beware of lazily giving up. Instead, put up a glorious fight and you will find yourself empowered with His strength.

Lord, remind us of our fellow Saints in the battle. You designed us for fellowship and to help one another in these struggles. Amen

 Personal Reflection

 Listen to CJ’s Discern your Heart!

X-ray Questions from “Seeing With New Eyes”. chapter 7

Here’s all 35 of Powlison’s X-Ray questions:

1. What do you love? Hate?

2. What do you want, desire, crave, lust, and wish for? What desires do you serve and obey?

3. What do you seek, aim for, and pursue?

4. Where do you bank your hopes?

5. What do you fear? What do you not want? What do you tend to worry about?

6. What do you feel like doing?

7. What do you think you need? What are your ‘felt needs’?

8. What are your plans, agendas, strategies, and intentions designed to accomplish?

9. What makes you tick? What sun does your planet revolve around? What do you organize your life around?

10. Where do you find refuge, safety, comfort, escape, pleasure, security?

11. What or whom do you trust?

12. Whose performance matters? On whose shoulders does the well-being of your world rest? Who can make it better, make it work, make it safe, make it succesful?

13. Whom must you please? Whose opinion of you counts? From whom do you desire approval and fear rejection? Whose value system do you measure yourself against? In whose eyes are you living? Whose love and approval do you need?

14. Who are your role models? What kind of person do you think you ought to be or want to be?

15. On your deathbed, what would sum up your life as worthwhile? What gives your life meaning?

16. How do you define and weigh success and failure, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable, in any particular situation?

17. What would make you feel rich, secure, prosperous? What must you get to make life sing?

18. What would bring you the greatest pleasure, happiness, and delight? The greatest pain or misery?

19. Whose coming into political power would make everything better?

20. Whose victory or success would make your life happy? How do you define victory and success?

21. What do you see as your rights? What do you feel entitled to?

22. In what situations do you feel pressured or tense? Confident and relaxed? When you are pressured, where do you turn? What do you think about? What are your escapes? What do you escape from?

23. What do you want to get out of life? What payoff do you seek out of the things you do?

24. What do you pray for?

25. What do you think about most often? What preoccupies or obsesses you? In the morning, to what does your mind drift instictively?

26. What do you talk about? What is important to you? What attitudes do you communicate?

27. How do you spend your time? What are your priorities?

28. What are your characteristic fanasies, either pleasurable or fearful? Daydreams? What do your night dreams revolve around?

29. What are the functional beliefs that control how you interpret your life and determine how you act?

30. What are your idols and false gods? In what do you place your trust, or set your hopes? What do you turn to or seek? Where do you take refuge?

31. How do you live for yourself?

32. How do you live as a slave of the devil?

33. How do you implicitly say , ‘If only…’ (to get what you want, avoid what you don’t want, keep what you have)?

34. What instictively seems and feels right to you? What are your opinions, the things you feel true?

35. Where do you find your identity? How do you define who you are?

 This is on Project Bluewater as well. These are from the NA Conference last May  I listened to a few of these and they are applicable for everyone. Great Stuuf. I thank God for Sovereign Grace being so kind as to share their stuff with those outside their local bodies. Universal Church lived out Thank you Sovereign Grace!!!!!

You do not have to download these, as you can listen right from the BLOG , by mousing over and clicking the arrow in the box. Sometimes you have to forward it a bit to get it to go

Audio Message Downloads

All audio messages from our 2007 conference are available as free downloads. To download a message, right-click on a message title below and select “Save Target As” or “Save Link As” from the menu that appears (“Download Linked File” on Safari).

Discernment (Joshua Harris)

Discern Your Doctrine (Mark Dever)

Discern Your Culture (Albert Mohler)

Discern Your Heart (C.J. Mahaney)

Discern the Graymatters (Eric Simmons)

Discern What Pleases God: Himself (John Piper)

Discern What Pleases God: Personal Obedience (John Piper)

Discern How to Apply (C.J. Mahaney)
Audio messages from previous New Attitude conferences are available at the Sovereign Grace Store.

 Your Christianity and Your Church

If You’re Thinking About Leaving a Church…

You can buy the book HERE!

Free Stuff, Got to love that

Thabiti’s Post

“And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our assembling together, as is the habit of some; but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” Hebrew 10: 23-24

Laura

Note on Super Early Bird Special!!!!!

WorshipGod Conference

The WorshipGod Conference is a biennial event devoted to the theology, practice, and joy of God-honoring worship.

WorshipGod06 was held in August 2006. Audio messages from this and previous worship conferences are available at the Sovereign Grace Store. For more resources for worship leaders, visit the Worship Matters blog written by Bob Kauflin, our director of worship development.

WorshipGod08

The next WorshipGod conference will be held July 30–August 2, 2008, at Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. It will begin on Wednesday evening and end on Saturday (around 1:00 p.m.). Lunch will be provided on Thursday and Friday.

Registration will open online in January, at the following rates:

You can find out more from Sovereign Grace.

Christmas Eve Service

When: Monday, December 24th, 2008

When:  7:00 PM

Where: 9630 Technology Drive, Easton, MD 21601 Directions to Krystal Q

Where else can community and family be lived out in such a way then in the local church. I do love the church universal, but there is a special place in my heart for the immediate family that I have in my local body   I totally concur with Charles Spurgeon in this

“If I had never joined a church till I had found one that was perfect, I should never had joined one at all. And the moment that I did join it , if I found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect church after I had become a member of it. Still as imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth to us.”

 Thank you Saints for bearing with me in love.  Life Jon and Kate plus eight say” It is not a perfect life but it is our life”   I am so thankful to be a part and look forward to many years to grown together with you as well as to see who else God may bring into our flock

 Grace to you,

Laura

They also are giving away a free Music Download for  Savior-Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man

You can Download Glory Be to God HERE

Great Music and makes a great gift We are carrying the Christmas CD at Oasis at the churches cost.

Laura

See you then!

Laura

Please R.S.V.P. to Carine at 410-829-2999 or email her at carine@oasiscovenant.org

When: December 16th, 2007

Time:: 1:00- 3:00 PM

Where: My House

Pizza will be served!

Carine

By Thabiti Anyabwile

The greatest need in the world today is the gospel. It is the greatest need of the world because men, women, and children are perishing without a vital knowledge of God through the good news of his Savior Son Jesus.

The greatest need in the church today is the gospel. The gospel is not only news for a perishing world, it is the message that forms, sustains, and animates the church. Apart from the gospel, the church has nothing to say—nothing to say that cannot be said by some other human agency. The gospel distinguishes the church from the world, defines her message and mission in the world, and steels her people against the fiery darts of the evil one and the false allurements of sin. The gospel is absolutely vital to a vibrant, joyous, persevering, hopeful and healthy Christian and Christian church. So essential is the gospel to the Christian life that we need to be saturated in it in order to be healthy church members.

How then does one immerse oneself in the gospel? What path might lead to greater spiritual health?

1. KNOW THE GOSPEL

The first order of business is to know the gospel. This seems such an obvious statement that stating it can feel silly. But, in point of fact, many professing and believing Christians possess a shallow understanding of the gospel as a result of years of hearing short “gospel presentations” tacked onto the ends of sermons. Still others who know the message of Christ find themselves awkward and incapable of sharing the good news clearly with family and friends. Taking steps to be sure we know the gospel with some clarity and depth, then, is a necessary first step.

It’s helpful to rule out some ideas frequently presented as the gospel. The gospel is not simply that (i) we are okay, (ii) God is love, (iii) Jesus wants to be our friends; or that (iv) we should live right.[1] Neither is the gospel simply that all our problems will be fixed if we follow Jesus or that God wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. All of these ideas may be true in some sense, but only in a partial sense and never as a solely sufficient statement of what the gospel is.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is literally “good news.” As news it contains statements of fact and truths derived from those facts. As good news the gospel holds out hope based upon promises from God and grounded in the historical facts and truths that vindicate those promises.

The gospel or good news of Jesus Christ is that God the Father, who is holy and righteous in all his ways, is angry with sinners and will punish sin. Man, who disobeys the rule of God, is alienated from the love of God and in danger of an eternal and agonizing condemnation at the hands of God. But God, who is also rich in mercy, because of his great love, sent his eternal Son born by the virgin Mary, to die as a ransom and a substitute for the sins of rebellious people. And now, through the perfect obedience of the Son of God and his willing death on the cross as payment for our sins, all who repent and believe in Jesus Christ, following him as Savior and Lord, will be saved from the wrath of God to come, declared just in his sight, have eternal life, and receive the Spirit of God as a foretaste of the glories of heaven with God himself.

It is this message—briefly stated here—that we must imbibe and delight in if we are to be healthy church members.

By John MacArthur)

The Church Is the Most Precious Reality on Earth

There’s a third biblical reason I love the church: It is the most precious thing on this earth — more precious than silver, or gold, or any other earthly commodity.

How precious is the church? It demanded the highest price ever paid for anything. “You have been bought with a price” (1 Cor. 6:20). What price? “You were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Pet, 1:18-19). Acts 20:28 refers to “the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

The church is so precious that the Son was willing to suffer the agonies of the cross and die in obedience to the Father so that this eternal love gift could become a reality. The apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians of this great reality: “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Cor. 8:9). That verse has nothing to do with earthly riches or material things. Christ was rich as God is rich — rich in glory (cf. John 17:5). Neither is the poverty spoken of an earthly poverty. Christ divested Himself of His glory. He went from sovereign supernatural deity, to taking upon Himself the form of a servant — and ultimately to a death on the cross in which all the force of divine wrath was poured out upon Him (Col. 2:6-8).

So the precious value of the church is seen here in the price that was paid, when the One who was as rich as God in fullness of glory, became as poor as someone alienated from God (cf. Matt. 27:46).

And, to return to the point of 2 Corinthians 8:9, Christ did this so that we might become rich. His dying made us heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Rom. 8:17). In other words, in giving up His heavenly riches, Christ made it possible for the church to share in those riches. That makes the church the most precious thing on earth.

The main trouble in this whole matter of spiritual depression in a sense is this, that we allow our self to talk to us instead of talking to our self. Am I just trying to be deliberately paradoxical? Far from it. This is the very essence of wisdom in this matter. Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself? Take those thoughts that come to you the moment you wake up in the morning. You have not originated them, but they start talking to you, they bring back the problem of yesterday, etc. Somebody is talking. Who is talking to you? Your self is talking to you. Now this man’s treatment [in Psalm 42] was this; instead of allowing this self to talk to him, he starts talking to himself, ‘Why art thou cast down, O my soul?’ he asks. His soul had been repressing him, crushing him. So he stands up and says: ‘Self, listen for a moment, I will speak to you’. Do you know what I mean? If you do not, you have but little experience.The main art in the matter of spiritual living is to know how to handle yourself. You have to take yourself in hand, you have to address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself. You must say to your soul: ‘Why art thou cast down’–what business have you to be disquieted? You must turn on yourself, upbraid yourself, condemn yourself, exhort yourself, and say to yourself: ‘Hope thou in God’–instead of muttering in this depressed, unhappy way. And then you must go on to remind yourself of God, Who God is, and what God is and what God has done, and what God has pledged Himself to do. Then having done that, end on this great note: defy yourself, and defy other people, and defy the devil and the whole world, and say with this man: ‘I shall yet priase Him for the help of His countenance, who is also the health of my countenance and my God’.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cures, pp. 20-21; emphasis added.

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
A Divine and Supernatural Light
His Farewell Sermon of 1750

http://christianaudio.com/free_download.php

Tom Wells on controversy: “It is the unhappy lot of any man who cares a fig for truth to be called on to engage in controversy. He may embrace it as a purse of gold or despise it as a putrefying sore, but he can no more escape it than he can escape the atmosphere or the common cold. In a fallen world, truth and controversy are bedfellows. . . . A man may spend valuable time bemoaning that fact, but what is needed is a way to come to terms with it as a godly man, a way to carry on controversy with a minimum amount of damage to his opponent and to the interested bystander and the maximum amount of good to the cause of God and truth.”

Wells’s main points are that in controversy, we must do the following:

• show respect for the persons with whom you differ
• give your opponent accurate definitions of your key ideas
• when in doubt, put an orthodox construction on your opponent’s words
• suspect a man’s judgment before you suspect his sincerity
• be ready to believe that the truth is larger than you have understood it to be

 From J. C. Ryle:

Controversy in religion is a hateful thing.
It is hard enough to fight the devil,
the world, and the flesh,
without private differences in our own camp—
But there is one thing
which is even worse than controversy,
and that is false doctrine tolerated,
allowed, and permitted without
protest or molestation …
Three things there are which men
never ought to trifle with:
a little poison,
a little false doctrine,
and a little sin.

In His Grace,

Eric

C. H. Spurgeon

“Blessed be God, which hath nor turned away my prayer.”—Psalm 66:20.

N looking back upon the character of our prayers, if we do it honestly, we shall be filled with wonder that God has ever answered them. There may be some who think their prayers worthy of acceptance—as the Pharisee did; but the true Christian, in a more enlightened retrospect, weeps over his prayers, and if he could retrace his steps he would desire to pray more earnestly. Remember, Christian, how cold thy prayers have been. When in thy closet thou shouldst have wrestled as Jacob did; but instead thereof, thy petitions have been faint and few—far removed from that humble, believing, persevering faith, which cries, “I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me.” Yet, wonderful to say, God has heard these cold prayers of thine, and not only heard, but answered them. Reflect also, how infrequent have been thy prayers, unless thou hast been in trouble, and then thou hast gone often to the mercy-seat: but when deliverance has come, where has been thy constant supplication? Yet, notwithstanding thou hast ceased to pray as once thou didst, God has not ceased to bless. When thou hast neglected the mercy-seat, God has not deserted it, but the bright light of the Shekinah has always been visible between the wings of the cherubim. Oh! it is marvellous that the Lord should regard those intermittent spasms of importunity which come and go with our necessities. What a God is He thus to hear the prayers of those who come to Him when they have pressing wants, but neglect Him when they have received a mercy; who approach Him when they are forced to come, but who almost forget to address Him when mercies are plentiful and sorrows are few. Let His gracious kindness in hearing such prayers touch our hearts, so that we may henceforth be found “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit.”

I also want to share a necessary clarification from our prayer time. My words may have caused some to be confused about the role of sin as it pertains to our issues of fear, low-self esteem, self-doubt, etc…  My heart was to impress on you the incredible gift that God has bestowed in every believer, to offer encouragement and hope. I am confident that our Lord heard that plea and graciously responded. However, in attempting to focus on issues of self-worth, I spoke as if these feelings are not related to sin. The Scriptures are clear that the existence of fear, self-doubt, and the like are rooted in sin. To ignore the promises of God is to deny His sovereignty and to declare our feelings above His truth (Phil 4:6-9). Please forgive any misunderstanding.

To think of self-doubts and fears as sin may be a difficult concept for some. The beauty of this perspective is God’s provision for healing. As we confess these feelings that are not from him, we empty ourselves to be filled by His Holy Spirit. We are reminded that His Spirit is not one of fear and self-doubt, but one of power, love, and discipline (2Tim 1:7). It is our sovereign Lord who has opened our hearts, but it is our job to empty out the junk that prevents His filling. This morning was just a taste of what He can do during any prayer time, individual or corporate. I look forward to sharing more “filling times” with all of you.

Pastor Robb

To put it bluntly and plainly, if Christ is not my Substitute, I still occupy the place of a condemned sinner. If my sins and my guilt are not transferred to Him, if he did not take them upon Himself, then surely they remain with me. If He did not deal with my sins, I must face their consequences. If my penalty was not borne by Him, it still hangs over me. There is no other possibility.
–Leon Morris

In His Grace,
Eric