The third paragraph of our Covenant states, “We also covenant to maintain family and personal devotions; provide religious education for our families; to seek the salvation of our kindred and acquaintances; to walk cautiously and wisely in the world; to be just in our dealings, faithful in our commitments, and passionate in our efforts to spread the gospel for the sake of the kingdom of our Savior..”
As we see, our covenant together extends outside the walls of our church building. This paragraph is almost entirely devoted to the things we do as a church while we are not meeting together. We must constantly remind ourselves that we are not just the church on Sunday mornings, or even Sunday nights or Wednesday nights. We are the church of Jesus Christ 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Just as God never leaves us or forsakes us, we never cease to be his people. That simply means that we continue to be in covenant together even when we are not physically together. I love the emphasis placed on the family in the opening phrases of this paragraph. We are charged with the solemn duty, responsibility and joy of nurturing our children in the love and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Children’s time in Sunday School and church activities should not be the only time of learning about the faith. In fact, those times should really be a supplement to the growth that is happening in the home. Parents are directly and ultimately responsible for the education of their children according to the principles of Scripture. We must not abdicate this responsibility to anyone. The church body is a support, not a substitute. I am thankful that Stephenie Stokes and so many other volunteers are emphasizing this important goal of family worship each week as our children gather together at Oak Crest. Did you notice the third phrase? We are in covenant together to share our faith through our actions and our words with our friends and neighbors. I don’t know about you, but I need constant improvement in this area. It should be a top priority of our lives to share the gospel with the people in our lives. As the final phrases of the paragraph imply, we sometimes share the love of Christ through our lives and actions. Only in Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit can we even hope to be wise and just and faithful in all our dealings. As we live out this covenant together, day by day we will be making Christ known in our community. Integrity and honesty and hard work are increasingly rare in our culture. God is ready to use us to be a blessing to others. I am reminded of the old hymn, Make Me a Blessing, “Make me a blessing, out of my life may Jesus shine, make me a blessing, O Savior I pray, make me a blessing to someone today.” In Christ, Blain Craig
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The second paragraph of our Covenant states, “We engage, therefore, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to walk in Christian Love; to strive for the advancement of this church in knowledge, holiness, and comfort; to promote the church’s prosperity and spirituality; to sustain its worship, ordinances, discipline, and doctrines; to contribute cheerfully and regularly to the support of the ministry, the expenses of the church, the relief of the poor, and the spread of the gospel through all nations.”
I gladly and joyfully recommit to this noble ambition. If we truly understand what the church of Jesus Christ really is, we will not shy away from this commitment, but fully and gloriously embrace this Covenant. The first part of the paragraph is crucial. It is only by the indwelling Holy Spirit that we are able to be faithful to Christ and each other. Also, the Spirit leads us to do something. He leads us to walk in Christian love. The Covenant we share with one another is grounded in love. The Bible says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love,” (1 John 4: 7-8). What does love in the church look like? Love results in our striving for the church to be more like Christ. We want each other to grow in knowledge and holiness and comfort in the Lord. In His word, God has shown us that this maturity in Christ comes as we encourage and support and edify one another in Christ. That is why it is vitally important that each and every one of us actively sustains all that the church is. How do you think of your role at Oak Crest? Is it merely the church you happen to attend to hear preaching and sing songs? Or is it your covenant family that God has joined you to for your good and growth? As we each are conformed to the image of Christ, the church becomes healthier. That means we support the gospel work with our presence and our gifts and talents, as well as our financial support. As we contribute to the budget and various other special offerings such as Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon, we are doing kingdom work both here and all over the world. I hope you will join me in diligently praying for the health and well-being of Oak Crest Baptist Church. When the church God has called us to is healthy and vibrant, we all grow closer to God and each other in the process. We are part of the Bride of Christ. Let us daily die to self, “so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish,” (Ephesians 5: 27). In Christ, Blain Craig I am amazed at what Jesus prayed in his final hours before his arrest and crucifixion. He prayed for us. He prayed this. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me,” (John 17: 20-23).
I am convicted and convinced that a top goal at Oak Crest this year is our unity as a family and as the body of Christ. At Oak Crest, we use the word “Covenant” a lot. It may not be a popular word in the world, but I think it is a crucial word for the church. You have probably heard me say that I think the current lack of commitment in the American Evangelical church is due to a lack of understanding of what covenant is and why it is important. I take it very seriously that I am in covenant relationship with each one of you. I hope you are aware that we have a document that expresses this covenant relationship, appropriately known as the “Church Covenant.” Very simply, the “Covenant” is a written promise of our mutual desire to live according to Scripture. We read a portion of this document when someone joins the church and we read it in its entirety at the beginning of a Members’ Meeting, but aside from that you may be largely unfamiliar with this important statement. We need a renewed awareness of this covenant. We should be familiar with our covenant, so let’s think about it together. Each “block” for the next several weeks I will share a portion of our “Covenant” and make some commentary on it. I am certainly aware that many of you have heard this before, but when your children tell you they love you I doubt you say, “I’ve heard that before!” We can’t be reminded too often of the love relationship God has granted us to one another. The covenant begins, “Having been led, as we believe, by the Spirit of God to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord and, on the profession of our faith, having been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, we do now, in the presence of God and this assembly, most solemnly and joyfully, enter into this covenant with one another as one body in Christ.” This opening paragraph of the covenant is absolutely crucial. I think there are three main parts to this paragraph. If we don’t have these, we are not in covenant. The first prerequisite to covenant is faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. That is the very first part of the covenant. We don’t believe just anything. We believe Jesus is Lord. The Spirit himself has revealed this truth through the Word of God. This is the foundation of our love relationship with one another. We are not joined together because we like the same kind of music or style or preaching or hobbies, all that may be true, but what joins us in covenant is the gospel and our trust in Christ alone for salvation. Isn’t it beautiful that a group of people who otherwise might not even associate with one another are called together by a power and person outside themselves to be joined together. The second prerequisite is baptism. The baptism we have upon our salvation is our public profession of faith. Baptism is our press release to the world that we have been crucified with Christ, and that one day we will be physically raised by Christ to be with him forever. Baptism is also the testimony of the church that the baptismal candidate has passed through judgment in Christ and has been raised again to new life in Christ. Together these first two parts of the covenant tell us something. There is not to be a mixed multitude in the body of Christ. The church is composed of a regenerate or “born-again” membership. This is not meant to be rude or arrogant, but a person simply cannot consider himself or herself in the covenant body of Christ if he is not redeemed in Christ. The third and final part of this first paragraph is the active participation in the covenant. Based on the first two, salvation and baptism, we are to “solemnly and joyfully” enter into an amazing God-honoring relationship with each other. Solemnly signifies that this is not something we take lightly. Joyfully means we are anticipating great things in the Lord. So in other words, joining in covenant with a local body of believers is neither like joining Sam’s Club or getting a prison sentence. It is not like Sam’s club because we are not merely affiliating with this group because of the personal benefit it provides, but because we have been bound together by the finished work of Christ. It is not a prison sentence because it is a joyful participation in the abundant life Christ gives his people. Oh, what a blessing to be in the Body of Christ. In Christ, Blain Craig For several years I have found The Valley of Vision to be a magnificent source of devotional praise. It is a collection of Puritan prayers on various topics. Occasionally I reproduce one of these prayer for your encouragement. Consider the following as an appropriate prayer for Morning Needs:
O God, the author of all good, I come to thee for the grace another day will require For its duties and events. I step out into a wicked world, I carry about with me an evil heart, I know that without thee I can do nothing, That everything with which I shall be concerned, However harmless in itself, May prove an occasion of sin or folly, Unless I am kept by thy power. Hold thou me up and I shall be safe. Preserve my understanding from subtlety of error, my affection from love of idols, my character from stain of vice, my profession for every form of evil. May I engage in nothing in which I cannot implore thy blessing. And in which I cannot invite they inspection. Prosper me in all lawful undertakings, Or prepare me for disappointments. Give me neither poverty not riches; Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee and say, Who is the Lord? or be poor, and steal, and take thy name in vain. May every creature be mad good to me by prayer and thy will; Teach me how to use the world, and not abuse it, to improve my talents, to redeem my time, to walk in wisdom toward those without, and in kindness to those within, to do good to all men, and especially my fellow Christians. And to thee by the glory. In Christ, Blain Craig |
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November 2024
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