Hello OCBC family,

 During my devotional time for school, I read John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (ESV).  This is a petition of Jesus to the Father.  It is wonderful to see that this petition is before His crucifixion, which means that He will die, be in the tomb, rise from death, and go to heaven.  He made the promise that the Holy Spirit will be with us as our Guide and Helper.  This doesn’t mean that we do not need the Bible.  In fact, if the Holy Spirit is in us, He will encourage us to read the Scriptures, as John 5:39 tells us, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me”.

When Jesus said to the Father “your word is truth” was he talking about the written word, or the Word (John 1:1)?  Both, the written word and the WORD are truth, so maybe He was talking about to abide in the Bible under His direction.  Read your Bible and enjoy it, but do not read it as any mere book; the Bible is the eternal Word of God.  Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you through its pages to understand passages and how to put them into practice.

Remember the words of the old hymn, “How Firm a Foundation”:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said--
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

In His service,

Israel

Hello OCBC family,

Today is another anniversary of the tragedy of the Titanic.  On April 15, 1912, this enormous transatlantic ship sank because she struck a large iceberg.  In just a few hours,  over 1,500 people died in this tragic event.  I know most of you know have seen or read the popular retellings of this story, but you may not have heard that in the midst of this situation the gospel was shared.

One of the passengers aboard the Titanic was an obscure evangelist named John Harper.  On that disastrous night, he put his 6 year old daughter in one of the life boats and ran back through the ship warning people about the danger.  But he was not talking about the danger of the present situation, rather the danger of going into the eternal life without a Savior.

“Are you saved?” was the question that John Harper repeated over and over to everyone that was in front of him.  At some point in the early morning, he was forced to jump into the cold water of the Atlantic, but even there he was asking the same question, "are you saved?".  When somebody said “no”, he immediately answered, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved."

John Harper was obeying the word of God found in 2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season.”

Let me end this article with the hymn that the legend said was sang that night; “Nearer, My God, to Thee”:

Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone.
Yet in my dreams I’d be nearer, my God to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

There let the way appear, steps unto Heav’n;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy given;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I’ll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I’ll fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

There in my Father’s home, safe and at rest,
There in my Savior’s love, perfectly blest;
Age after age to be, nearer my God to Thee.

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee!

In His service,

Israel

Hello OCBC family,

Here we are again on the Holy Week, a special week when we remember the perfect sacrifice of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for our sins.  The passion of Jesus inspired hymn writers, poets, and musicians to create masterpieces to help believers to remember this great act of love, and one so inspired was James Montgomery.

James Montgomery was born on Nov. 4, 1771, son of John Montgomery, a Moravian minister.  James became a Moravian minister as well, and wrote several hymns; the most popular one is “Angels, from the Realms of Glory.”  When he wrote a hymn, he used a Moravian practice: to get his inspiration based in the harmonized account of the gospels, especially the passion of Jesus.   You can see this inspiration in every verse when you read Montgomery’s hymns.

Because this is the Holy Week, I want to share a hymn by Montgomery based on the passion of Jesus.  Pay close attention to the connection between verses, because he describes every part of the last week of our Savior in a clear picture, ending with a lesson that we can learn from.  Please, take time to read this hymn and be blessed by its words.

Go to dark Gethsemane,
You who feel the tempter's pow'r;
Your Redeemer's conflict see;
Watch with Him one bitter hour;
Turn not from His griefs away;
Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

Follow to the judgment hall;
View the Lord of life arraigned;
O the worm-wood and the gall!
O the pangs His soul sustained!
Shun not suff'ring, shame, or loss;
Learn of Him to bear the cross.

Calv'ry's mournful mountain climb
There' adoring at His feet,
Mark the miracle of time,
God's own sacrifice complete:
"It is finished!" Hear the cry;
Learn of Jesus Christ to die.

Early hasten to the tomb
Where they laid his breathless clay;
All is solitude and gloom;
Who hath taken Him away?
Christ is ris'n! He meets our eyes:
Savior, teach us so to rise.

In His service,

Israel