Christ the Center is pleased to welcome Bill Snodgrass and Erica Bucey to discuss the challenges of urban ministry. Rev. Snodgrass is pastor of Grace Fellowship OPC in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, PA. Erica serves as the Director of Development at Sunday Breakfast Rescue Mission in Philadelphia. Bill and Erica talk about the particular challenges churches and para-church ministries face in urban contexts and how a reformed theology offers lasting hope in the sovereign God.
Author Archive
Book 1, Chapter 14, Sections 12-16: In the Creation of the World…
Sections
12. Use of the doctrine of Scripture concerning the holy angels.
13. The doctrine concerning bad angels or devils reduced to four heads. 1. That we may guard against their wiles and assaults.
14. That we may be stimulated to exercises of piety. Why one angel in the singular number often spoken of.
15. The devil being described as the enemy of man, we should perpetually war against him.
16. The wickedness of the devil not by creation but by corruption. Vain and useless to inquire into the mode, time, and character of the fall of angels.
Romans 4 (Eric Alexander)
What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; 8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring- not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”- in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ( since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.” 23 But the words “it was counted to him” were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Eric J Alexander has been ordained as a minister in the Church of Scotland for over fifty years.
Perspectives on Pentecost
Christ the Center revisited with Dr. Richard B. Gaffin, professor of biblical and systematic theology, emeritus, at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, about the significance of Pentecost for redemptive history and the life of the church. Drawing from his book Perspectives on Pentecost and his “Acts and Paul” lecture notes, Dr. Gaffin explained the place of Pentecost as the culmination of that complex of events surrounding the person and work of Jesus Christ which includes his incarnation, death, resurrection, and ascension. Pentecost, then, occurs as part of the accomplishment of redemption and is therefore unrepeatable although its significance and effects reverberate throughout the Christian life. This is a rich biblical theological discussion that will repay frequent rehearsals.
episode photo by knowhimonline
Books by Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.
Family and Sabbath
Darryl G. Hart and Camden Bucey converse about family and Sabbath through the writings of Wendell Berry. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Corinthians 10:31-11:1 – Whatever You Do (John Currie)
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved. Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.
John Currie is Director of Alumni Relations and Educational Advancement at Westminster Theological Seminary and an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
Counseling Difficult Cases
The Christ the Center panel had the privilege of conversing with Dr. George Scipione, professor of pastoral theology and director of the Biblical Counseling Institute at the Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh, PA about the necessity of pastoral counseling that is biblical. Specifically, discussion was had about hard cases calling for both learning and practical wisdom. Among the many issues raised was the importance of counseling and a proper ecclesiology. Clearly the conversation scratched the surface of this important issue.
Creating Culture
The panel continues to examine the theological foundations for engaging culture.
Book 1, Chapter 14, Sections 7-11: In the Creation of the World…
Sections
7. A kind of prefects over kingdoms and provinces, but specially the guardians of the elect. Not certain that every believer is under the charge of a single angel. Enough, that all angels watch over the safety of the Church.
8. The number and orders of angels not defined. Why angels said to be winged.
9. Angels are ministering spirits and spiritual essences.
10. The heathen error of placing angels on the throne of God refuted. 1. By passages of Scripture.
11. Refutation continued. 2. By inferences from other passages. Why God employs the ministry of angels.
John 2:12-22 – A New Temple (Nick Batzig)
After this he went down to Capernaum, with his mother and his brothers and his disciples, and they stayed there for a few days. 13 The Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. 15 And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16 And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” 17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews said to him, “What sign do you show us for doing these things?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking about the temple of his body. 22 When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
Nick Batzig is pastor of New Covenant Presbyterian Church in Richmond Hill, GA.
