Update October 14th, 2005

Dear Good Shepherd,

Good Morning! Below you will find this week's article and below that you'll find the news of the week. Enjoy!

Sanctification: Being Made Holy

Last week I wrote about the atonement and what it means to say, “Jesus died on the cross for my sins”.

This week I want to define an equally “churchy” word, “sanctification.”

The English word “sanctification” derives from the Latin word “sanctus” which means “holy”. We get the word “sacred” from the same Latin root.

Well, thank you Mr. Webster but who cares?

Well, we all should care. It’s not the Latin root “sanct” that matters so much for us as the part that comes after it “ification” which means essentially “to make”

Put it all together and “santification” means, “to make holy”

Again, so what?

Well, this is where you come in…and me too.

The very moment you invite Jesus Christ into your life, God forgives your sins on the basis of Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross (covered last week) and he counts you as righteous in his sight on the basis of Jesus’ righteousness that he credits to your account.

Before going on, let me flesh that out a bit. The perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ is CREDITED to you. Think about a credit card. When you pull out your plastic and pay for dinner you’re not using your own money but the bank’s money. The bank has given you a credit line and you can use that credit line to spend what you don’t have.

In much the same way, God credits you with a righteousness you don’t have, Jesus’ own righteousness, so that you can spend eternity in his kingdom. There are three huge differences between your credit line from the bank and the righteousness of Christ credited to you by God. 1. You don’t have to pay God back. The righteousness of Christ is a free gift he gives to all who believe. 2. You’ll never run out. The righteousness of Christ cannot be maxed or overcharged. Nothing you do can destroy it because it’s not yours. It belongs to Jesus. You’re just being covered with it. When you sincerely come to faith, you are assured of salvation on the basis of Christ’s righteousness 3. While you’ll probably never have as much cash on hand as you have credit, God WILL bring you into conformity with the righteousness of Christ he credited to your account (Philippians 1:6).

And this, with no further delay brings us finally to sanctification. Sanctification is the process whereby God, through the Holy Spirit changes you from the inside out. He changes your heart, your mind, and your will so that over time you begin to desire, think, and act more and more like Jesus himself. (Rom 8:29; 2 Cor 3:18; 1 Thess 3:13, 1 Pet 2:24)

Here’s an easy way to think of it. Before you came to faith in Jesus Christ, you were a lot like a fish. You breathed water though gills and you lived under the water. The water represents sin. When you surrendered your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit set up his home in your heart and you were transformed into a human being. You were given a set of lungs and the ability to breath oxygen from the air. The air represents righteousness.

As a fish you might have occasionally jumped out of the water into the air, but it was unnatural .You were most comfortable under the water. As a human being you might still be able to dive down under the water, but you can’t stay down too long. The further down you dive and the longer you stay under the worse you feel.

You have been changed and you are being changed. The further you go in the Christian life the more difficult and uncomfortable it becomes to dive into sin; and the more miserable you feel when you do. And, conversely, the further you go the more capable you are and the more comfortable you are living a godly, righteous life.

In the process of sanctification, God transforms your heart mind and soul so that over time you begin to be more at home living a life of righteousness in God’s presence than you do living a disobedient life apart from God.

This is the work of the Holy Spirit. But, unlike your salvation (which is given to believers on the basis of Christ‘s work alone), this is a work in which you must cooperate (Romans 12:1-2).

The more you seek God’s face the more you grow.

What do I mean by “seeking God’s face?”

Two things:

1. Devoting yourself to daily prayer and the study of God’s Word alongside a weekly habit of corporate worship.

2. Praying daily to be free of sin and disciplining yourself to do good and avoid evil as defined by the Word of God.

Sounds like a lot of work?

It can be.

But it is more than worth it.

The deep and intimate relationship with Jesus Christ that results from seeking his face brings the greatest joy and satisfaction available on earth. In fact, as you grow closer to Jesus you realize that the joy you formerly sought in a life of sin and disobedience is truly and only found in him and in a life lived in obedience to his commands.

One final point for those of you who might be wondering. Your progress in being sanctified on earth has absolutely no bearing on your salvation. You were saved the moment you turned your life over to Jesus Christ. Your sins were forgiven, Christ’s righteousness credited to you. Forever.

May God be with you as you are sanctified, made holy, and drawn closer and closer to his Son our Lord Jesus Christ.


Update Contents:
GUEST SPEAKER
WOMEN'S BIBLE STUDY
105th ANNUAL HARVEST DINNER
BEGINNERS BIBLE STUDY
NEW BEGINNERS
MARRIAGE AND FAMILY LIFE
THANKS FROM THE ECW
SOUTH SIDE ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
BUFFALO BILLS

NEWS

GUEST SPEAKER: This Sunday the 16th , Good Shepherd plays host to a guest speaker, Fr. Don Brown, from Food for the Poor.

Good Shepherd became a supporter of Food For the Poor one year ago. As a supporting parish they send a speaker once a year to talk about their organization and their mission. It's our turn next week.

You have given so very much this year to Hurricane and Tsunami relief, to the parish operating fund, and to Good Shepherd’s soup kitchen, the Shepherd's Bowl. Fr. Brown’s visit was scheduled long ago, but I regret the timing of the visit because I know how much you have given. Don't worry or fret if you can't help this time. You have already given abundantly.

But do come and worship the Lord together with our brother in Christ Fr. Brown and hear about his mission to the world’s poor and learn how important it is for believers to be involved in God’s plan to save lives as well as souls.

WOMEN'S BIBLE STUDY: The Women's Bible Study meets at the regular time and place this Saturday, 10:00am in the parish hall. All women of every age are invited and welcome to come and bring as many friends as you like!

THE 105th ANNUAL HARVEST DINNER: Is coming up on THIS WEDNESDAY October 19th . Here is a note from Mrs. Cookie Finch:

Our dinner is getting closer and we need a few more people on the list to help with various jobs. We definitely need a couple more people to help in the kitchen to fill bowls with food and help the wait staff keep our customers happy. This means simply being in the kitchen to put food in bowls and on platters, etc. It involves standing but no running around.

On Sunday we need some strong men to help set up the tables and chairs and generally get the heavy work done.

The people who volunteered to roast turkeys can pick up their birds on either Saturday or Sunday. We realize that everyone has their own personal recipe but we are asking that you prepare it according to the recipe given so that we have a uniform tasting product to serve. Please sign out a turkey when you take it and then sign it back in when you return it. Please remember to carve it and return the necks, giblets and all juices so that we can prepare the gravy.

Remember, if you have not signed up yet, we still have room for your help. Thank you.


BEGINNERS BIBLE STUDY: I was sick this last Tuesday so we didn’t meet. This will probably set us back about a week since, because of the harvest dinner, we will not meet this week either, which means that our next meeting will most likely be next Tuesday (25th of October).

This gives everyone a two week break to catch up on any reading and to prepare for graduation by doing some pre-reading in the gospel of Matthew discuss the change in format that will come when the class morphs into a regular study.

Don’t worry we will still be going very slow and still concentrate on many of the basics.

In any case, over the next two weeks please do the following. 1. Finish reading Ezekiel and 2. Start reading the Gospel of Matthew.

It would be wonderful if, by the time we start, everyone had already read through Matthew once and had an eye to where the book is going. Matthew is the most descriptive and most detailed gospel and it is perfect for the beginner. I'm excited about starting there and I hope you are too.

Third note: NEW BEGINNERS: The beginner's bible study is almost complete. In two more weeks the current class of beginners will graduate and what is presently the Beginner's Bible Study will morph into a regular bible study on the same night. The beginners are no longer beginners. They now have a solid basis of knowledge that will enable the to begin reading and understanding the bible by themselves and in a regular bible study.

I light of the success of this program, I am going to organize a new beginners bible study for a new crop of students. If you are interested in the beginner's program and would like to participate, please let me know. If you were a member of the first beginner's bible class but had to drop out for any reason, you are invited to join this one.

So far I have about 8 people. If you are interested in adding your name to this growing list please contact me at the church office 723-8032 (leave a message if no one answers) or email me here: lambeth@flash.net

Hope to see you there.

MARRIAGE & FAMILY LIFE: We are midway through the marriage section of the Family Life series and we are just about ready to take up the timely topic of marital conflict.

There are many many sources of conflict in a marriage. Most of them do not appear until after the marriage actually takes place. The important thing to remember as we begin this section is that there are two kinds of conflict. There is the normal sort of conflict that arises naturally when two different people share their lives together and there is the deep and serious sort of conflict that points to an even deeper relational problem.

The difficult thing is that both the normal kind and the deep kind of conflict can erupt over the same topics Finances, décor, housework, childrearing…the “little“ things. The difference becomes clear only after you get below the surface.

We’ll talk about healthy and unhealthy conflict and what distinguishes them and then we’ll talk about how to fight fair.

We’ll also give some strategies for getting below the surface and dealing with the sources of serious conflict.

After we finish the marriage section of this course, we’ll move on to talk about parent-child relationships and dating (not necessarily in that order).

This has been a great series so far and I'm looking forward to our next discussion.

THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH WOMEN (ECW) would like to thank everyone for our very successful Rummage Sale on October 1 st . Leftover Rummage was given to worthy charitable organizations. By Mary Lindsey.

SOUTH SIDE ECUMENICAL COUNCIL (SSEC) is collecting donations for the purchase of thanksgiving turkeys for poor families. If you would like to help, please put your donation in an envelope addressed to the SSEC and place it in the offering plate. Thank you, Mary Lindsey

BUFFALO BILLS: Don Dean has volunteered to lead a group from Good Shepherd to a Bills game this fall. He has already purchased 15 tickets for the November 27th Buffalo Bills v. Carolina Panthers game in Buffalo. If you'd like to go along you can buy a ticket from Don for $50.00. Sounds like a great deal. First come first serve.

GOOD NEWS FOR THE WEEK:
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. (1st John 1:5-10)


Don't forget to....BRING A FRIEND TO CHURCH!

Daily Schedule for the week of Sunday October 9th, 2005

Monday:
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer

Tuesday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
9:00 a.m. Tuesday Morning Bible Study (Chapter 2 of 1st John)
7:00 p.m. Bible Study for beginners will not be meeting tonight so that everyone can rest up for the Harvest Dinner on Wednesday

Wednesday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
Anne's in the office all day; my study day
6:00pm HARVEST DINNER

Thursday
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer
5:30 p.m. Shepherd's Bowl
7:30 p.m. Thursday Evening Bible Study (still on hold)
7:30 p.m. Choir practice

Friday
6:30 a.m. Men's Breakfast/Bible Study (Romans 7)
8:30 a.m. Morning Prayer

sermon writing day

Saturday:
10:00 a.m. Women's Bible Study (Deuteronomy)

Sunday October 23rd: Proper 25 year A
8:00am Holy Communion II and Sermon
9:15 Christian Education for All ages
10:30 am Holy Communion II, Music and Sermon

God bless you all!

In Christ

Matt+