Friday, April 14, 2006

Meditation on the Cross

Jesus cries out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why? How could the Father turn away from the Son? What could cause this break, this anguish for both Son and Father? It is the falling gavel of the Judge pronouncing the guilty verdict on the Son: you are guilty! The Lord has laid on the Suffering Servant, his beloved Son, the iniquity of us all. He has crushed him and caused him to suffer as a guilt offering for us (cf. Isaiah 53).

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It is happening now upon the cross. This is not a myth to illustrate God’s sacrificial love. The sacrifice is literally true. Jesus is really dying, really suffering, really experiencing the anger of his Father. He is an abhorrence to God, whose just wrath is now bearing down upon him.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? How can God do this to Jesus? How can the Father bring his wrath upon his Son? Because somehow, somewhere in the inscrutable mystery of the Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – there lies a merciful love that moves both Father and Son to bear incomprehensible agony to spare us. Parents, you know that the Father’s agony, if anything, was greater than the Son’s.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Those ought to have been our words: He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities (Isaiah 53:5).

From "Meditations on Christ's Death." Click here to read more.

Good Friday Service

Good Friday service today at noon. Click here for the order of service. If you cannot attend and want to hear it live, click here for the page to link to the broadcast.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Redemption

REDEMPTION.

Having been tenant long to a rich Lord,
Not thriving, I resolved to be bold,
And make a suit unto him, to afford
A new small-rented lease, and cancell th’ old.
In heaven at his manour I him sought:
They told me there, that he was lately gone
About some land, which he had dearly bought
Long since on earth, to take possession.
I straight return’d, and knowing his great birth,
Sought him accordingly in great resorts;
In cities, theatres, gardens, parks, and courts:
At length I heard a ragged noise and mirth
Of theeves and murderers: there I him espied,
Who straight, Your suit is granted, said, and died.

George Herbert

The Top Ten Countdown

Top downloaded sermons in the last 48 hours on SermonAudio:
1) Window on the World - The Judas We Never Knew
Dr. Philip Ryken · Examining our culture
2) Put It On
Rev. Aaron Messner · Series on Colossians
3) Hail to the King!
Dr. Philip Ryken · Series on Luke
4) The Cross and the Father
Rev. D. Marion Clark
5) Shadow of Christ Seen In The Tabernacle Pt. 1
Daniel Urroz · The Tabernacle Pattern
6) Intercessory Prayer
C. H. Spurgeon
7) What Does It Means to Know God
Dr. Jim Berg
8) Why Guys are Leaving the Church in Droves
Kevin Swanson · Male Relevance
9) Thoughts on the Last Battle.
C. H. Spurgeon · A cloudaudio Sermon
10) End Time-The Mystery of Iniquity-The Rapture
Clinton R. Ooten · 2 Thessalonians

How can I move up past Phil and Aaron? I've got to call my agent. And who is this C.H. guy?

Curtis Bible Study

Did you know that every Saturday Paul Jones hosts a Bible study for Curtis students? They gather for lunch and then Bible study. Different people have been teaching - Paul, myself, interns, and Tom Elliot. When Tom teaches, Popeng prepares the meal. By coincidence that day gets the most students.

Pancake Breakfast

(Note: Andrew is running the breakfast. He is also filling in at this moment at the receptionist's desk.)

Hi Rev. Clark,

I was wondering if you might be able to use your blog to help spread the word about the Maranatha Pancake Breakfast. I know there was a posting about all the Easter events but it might be good to devote one exclusively to the breakfast. Not only will people have a delicious breakfast, they will also have the opportunity to meet and support the members of the Maranatha summer missions team.

The breakfast - in Fellowship Hall - will start promptly at 7:45 (for those who want to beat the post-sunrise service rush) and ends at 9:00 on Easter Sunday morning. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children.

We are hoping to have 400 people come this year - if we meet that goal it will be our biggest breakfast ever. All are invited to come and be served by the Maranatha missions team as they prepare to serve in Chester this summer.

Thanks!

Andrew Canavan

Pressing On

I just finished revising the 12 talks on Speaking the Truth in Love. Thanks to Cheryl, Sheryl, Luke, Fred and Sandy for helpful feedback.

Next comes the recording. Robert patiently showed me how to operate the recorder. (But did I detect a slight tone of exasperation? "It's really very simple. You record by pressing the button that says 'record.' To hear the message, press the button that says 'play.' The instructions are easy to follow.")

Now to find a room far from the madding crowd of traffic, phone calls, and other building sounds.

Another Coming

It may now be made public - another Esterly (Rose and Brian) baby is on the way.

Housing Info

From Diana Frazier:

I saw the housing post on the blog today and it occurred to me that people who contact Tenth for this stuff may also want to send it to Robin Seah at Westminster for in-coming students. Her contact information is rseah@wts.edu. Right now the information goes into a housing notebook. We may be gong to an online password protected PDF/or information form posting of housing notices that only our Admissions or Student Affairs staff can release.

Special Events Schedule

Easter Season Events
Choral Concert, Open Dress Rehearsal, April 13, 7:00 pm: Handel’s Messiah (Parts 2 and 3)Soloists: Kristine Biller Mattson, Dan Bubeck, Stuart Neill, Branch FieldsTenth Church Choir/Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia/Tenth Chamber PlayersPaul S. Jones, conductorTodd Thomas, baritone

Good Friday Service, April 14, Noon bulletin

Good Friday Choral Concert, April 14, 7:30 pm: Handel’s Messiah (Parts 2 and 3)Soloists: Sarah Dionne, Dan Bubeck, Stuart Neill, Branch FieldsTenth Church Choir/Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia/Tenth Chamber PlayersPaul S. Jones, conductor

Sunrise Service in Rittenhouse Square, April 16, 7:30-8:00 amThe Rev. Geoff Bradford, preaching: “Dead Man Walking or Resurrection Life?” (John 11:1–44); Westminster Brass bulletin

Pancake Breakfast, April 16, 7:45 am, Fellowship Hall

Morning Worship Services, April 16, 9:00 and 11:00 amDr. Philip G. Ryken, preaching: “The God of the Living” (Luke 20:27–38)Bible School Classes for Adults and Children, April 16, 9:00 and 11:00 am

Soli Deo Gloria, April 16, 6:15 pm

Evening Worship Service, April 16, 6:30 pmThe Rev. Aaron D. Messner, preaching: “Put On Love” (Colossians 3:1–17)

Dress Rehearsal

Can't make tomorrow night's concert? Could go, but you don't won't to squeeze into a crowded sanctuary? Come tonight for the dress rehearsal. Hear and see the same performance with plenty of leg room. Starts at 7:00.

Poet Access

If you would like to read more of the metaphysical poets from whom these poems have come, go to www.luminarium.org. For Edward Taylor, you can access www.puritansermons.com.

The Incarnation and Passion

THE INCARNATION AND PASSION
by Henry Vaughan

LORD, when Thou didst Thyself undress,
Laying by Thy robes of glory,
To make us more, Thou wouldst be less,
And becam'st a woful story.

To put on clouds instead of light,
And clothe the morning-star with dust,
Was a translation of such height
As, but in Thee, was ne'er express'd.

Brave worms and earth! that thus could have
A God enclos'd within your cell,
Your Maker pent up in a grave,
Life lock'd in death, heav'n in a shell!

Ah, my dear Lord! what couldst thou spy
In this impure, rebellious clay,
That made Thee thus resolve to die
For those that kill Thee every day?

O what strange wonders could Thee move
To slight Thy precious blood, and breath?
Sure it was love, my Lord! for love
Is only stronger far than death !

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Spring Cleaning

Spring cleaning has begun. This week carpets have been steam cleaned and the outside windows washed.

Dead in Christ

From "Mediation. 2 Cor. 5.14. If one died for all then are all Dead"

Oh! Good, Good, Good, my Lord. What more Love yet.
Thou dy for mee! What, am I dead in thee?
What did Deaths arrow shot at me thee hit?
Didst slip between that flying shaft and mee?
Didst make thyselfe Deaths marke shot at for mee?
So that her Shaft shall fly no far than thee?

Di'dst dy for mee indeed, and in thy Death
Take in thy Dying thus my death the Cause?
And lay I dying in thy Dying breath,
According to Graces Redemption Laws?
If one did dy for all, it needs must bee
That all did dy in one, and from death free.

Painting Heat

I never did report on my painting project. It took a full two and a half days, but finished well. The only problem is that the paint - Arizona Heat - has raised the temperature to 100 degrees!

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Biloxi Trip

A team is being assembled to go to Biloxi, MS on May 27 - June 10 to finish rebuilding a couple's home that was heavily damaged in Hurricane Katrina. Team members may participate for either one week or two weeks. For more information, contact Tom Witmer at 215.546.0369. I am looking for a few people with carpentry experience (potential tasks: siding; finish carpentry
- hanging interior doors, trim, sills, etc.; kitchen cabinets and countertop installation; finish electric) as well as unskilled (at construction) helpers. A meeting will be held after the 11:00 service on April 23 to discuss the trip, but if you have any interest, please let me know as soon as you can. A portion of this year's Easter Sacrificial Offering will be dedicated to hurricane relief efforts in Biloxi.

Webcast Schedule

The following will be webcast live:
Good Friday service
The Messiah Concert
Both Sunday morning services.

The Good Friday service may only be audio, while the others should also be video.

Progress Report

Have spent much of this morning revising the Speaking the Truth in Love talks. Several friends have read over the full manuscript and given helpful feedback, much of which I am incorporating. Once Robert Polen teaches me how to operate the digital recorder, I will begin recording. I opened up the instruction manual, intent to master the process alone, but it wasn't long before I was feeling an out-of-body sensation and decided to recruit the help of a younger mind.

Video Webcast

Friday's concert will also be video webcast. You can view and listen to the concert in its entirety beginning at 7:15 here.

The Agonie

The Agonie.

Philosophers have measur’d mountains,
Fathom’d the depths of seas, of states, and kings,
Walk’d with a staffe to heav’n, and traced fountains:
But there are two vast, spacious things,
The which to measure it doth more behove:
Yet few there are that sound them; Sinne and Love.

Who would know Sinne, let him repair
Unto mount Olivet; there shall he see
A man so wrung with pains, that all his hair,
His skinne, his garments bloudie be.
Sinne is that presse and vice, which forceth pain
To hunt his cruell food through ev’ry vein.

Who knows not Love, let him assay
And taste that juice, which on the crosse a pike
Did set again abroach; then let him say
If ever he did taste the like.
Love in that liquour sweet and most divine,
Which my God feels as bloud; but I, as wine.

George Herbert

Monday, April 10, 2006

Rental

Upper Roxborough Townhouse

3BR/2.5BA townhouse condo in private community with wonderful neighbors. Abbey Lane condominiums located on Ridge Ave in Upper Roxborough. End unit with 1330 square feet plus finished basement and front/rear decks. Includes central air, washer/dryer, large eat-in-kitchen with new appliances. Quiet, convenient location with easy access to regional railway (R5) and bus routes. Includes two parking spaces. Landscaping and exterior maintenance covered by condo association. Asking $1300/month + utilities for caring tenants, one year lease. Available July 2006. For more info, contact Wayne at who4kids@gmail.com

Announcement Deadline

If you want an announcement in the bulletin for Sunday, the deadline is Tuesday at noon.

Jobs Posting

Here are jobs available at the Neighborhood Center in Camden, NJ, where Tim Humeniuk is director:

1. Accounting: need person with good business/Excel/accounting skills.
2. Executive administrative assistant: need person to come alongside director and be able to perform a wide variety of duties; person needs to have strong computer skills and excellent English and writing skills.

Both of these positions could be either full- or part-time.

Contact Tim Humeniuk at (856) 365-5295

Of Times and Times

For the Friday concert, we will open Handicapped alley gates at 6:30 for the concert (a full hour beforehand) and portico gates can open at 6:45. If weather is nasty, we will have people enter the Delancey lobby door and they can sit in RH until 6:45, as we do for Christmas Eve.

For Thursday dress rehearsal at 7pm, we will open handicapped gates at 6:15 and the portico gates at 6:30.

Note the times: Thursday dress rehearshal at 7:00. Friday concert at 7:30.

Nursery Requests

Marion,

We were very pleased to visit the Alliance space on Sunday and see the progress that is being made and to be encouraged that the space will be completed, probably, within the next 2 weeks. In light of our preparations for the transition, could you put this request on your blog site?

Tenth nursery is in need of toys and supplies for a new toddler class. Requested toys include: Kitchen playset and other role play toys; Little People playsets (ex. house, farm), people, and animals; Musical toys and CD/Cassette player; appropriate toys and books. Other requested supplies include construction paper, glue bottles or gluesticks, and crayons or washable markers.

Please contact Kristen Harnly if you are interested in donating toys and materials for the nursery. My email is kharnly@msn.com and phone number is 610.449.0353.

Kristen

Messiah Sites

Friday night's concert is of Parts 2 & 3 of Handel's Messiah. To prepare, here are two sites that take you through the libretto (text). Click here for a continuous reading of the libretto. As the libretto is simply a collection of scripture passage, click here for a site that pairs Matthew Henry's commentary with the text.

Crucifying

From John Donne's La Corona

CRUCIFYING
By miracles exceeding power of man,
He faith in some, envy in some begat,
For, what weak spirits admire, ambitious hate:
In both affections many to Him ran.
But O! the worst are most, they will and can,
Alas! and do, unto th' Immaculate,
Whose creature Fate is, now prescribe a fate,
Measuring self-life's infinity to span,
Nay to an inch. Lo! where condemned He
Bears His own cross, with pain, yet by and by
When it bears him, He must bear more and die.
Now Thou art lifted up, draw me to Thee,
And at Thy death giving such liberal dole,
Moist with one drop of Thy blood my dry soul.

Philly Girl Friday

Amy Carpenter has started a new business, Philly Girl Friday. It is a "concierge and errand running service." Her list of services include shopping, transportation, house/pet sitting, purchasing tickets/reservations... basically anything that takes time and trouble to do. To know more, you can contact her at 267.322.1131 or Amy@PhillyGirlFriday.com.