For I am not ashamed of the gospel...

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”  -Romans 1:16-17

Faith is a living, unshakeable confidence in God’s grace; it is so certain, that someone would die a thousand times for it. This kind of trust in and knowledge of God’s grace makes a person joyful, confident, and happy with regard to God and all creatures. This is what the Holy Spirit does by faith. Through faith, a person will do good to everyone without coercion, willingly and happily; he will serve everyone, suffer everything for the love and praise of God, who has shown him such grace. It is as impossible to separate works from faith as burning and shining from fire. -Martin Luther

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad...

The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;

    the desert shall rejoice and blossom like the crocus;

 it shall blossom abundantly

    and rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it,

    the majesty of Carmel and Sharon.

They shall see the glory of the Lord,

    the majesty of our God.

   -Isaiah 35:1-2

You will never find Jesus so precious as when the world is one vast howling wilderness. Then he is like a rose blooming in the midst of the desolation—a rock rising above the storm.  -Robert Murray M’Cheyne

Be Still, Be Still, My Soul...

 

Be Still, Be Still, My Soul 

Sovereign Grace Music

VERSE 1

Should mountains melt into the roaring oceans

The earth give way or heaven’s lights grow cold

O mighty God, You are my strong defender

Be still, be still, my soul

 

VERSE 2

When all I see are enemies before me

When unbelief and doubt have taken hold

O Lord of hosts, You promise to defeat them

Be still, be still, my soul

 

CHORUS 1

For You are God, I need not fear

You’re sovereign over all

For You are good and always near

I’ll rest in You alone

Be still, my soul

 

VERSE 3

Though all around the wicked seem to prosper

They mock Your name and rise against Your throne

O righteous Judge, their deeds You will remember

Be still, be still, my soul

 

CHORUS 2

For You are God, I need not fear

You’re sovereign over all

For You are good and always near

I’ll rest in You alone

For You are God, I need not fear

You’re sovereign over all

For You are good and always near

I’ll rest in You alone

Be still, my soul

 

VERSE 4

Though wars erupt, You will not leave us orphans

Though nations rage, You guard us as Your own

O, Prince of Peace, we will not be abandoned

Be still, be still, my soul

Be still, be still, my soul

The risen life of Jesus...

The risen life of Jesus is the nourishment and strengthening and blessing and life of a Christian. Our daily experience ought to be that there comes, wavelet by wavelet, that silent, gentle, and yet omnipotent influx into our empty hearts, this very life of Christ Himself. -Alexander MacLaren

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul...

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

 O my God, in you I trust;

    let me not be put to shame;

    let not my enemies exult over me.

 Indeed, none who wait for you 

shall be put to shame;

    they shall be ashamed 

who are wantonly treacherous.

 Make me to know your ways, O Lord;

    teach me your paths.

 Lead me in your truth and teach me,

    for you are the God of my salvation;

    for you I wait all the day long.

 Remember your mercy, O Lord, 

and your steadfast love,

    for they have been from of old.

 Remember not the sins of my youth 

or my transgressions;

    according to your steadfast love remember me,

    for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

-Psalm 25:1-7

I waited patiently for the Lord...

I waited patiently for the Lord;

    he inclined to me and heard my cry.

He drew me up from the pit of destruction,

    out of the miry bog,

and set my feet upon a rock,

    making my steps secure.

He put a new song in my mouth,

    a song of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear,

    and put their trust in the Lord.

Blessed is the man who makes

    the Lord his trust,

who does not turn to the proud,

    to those who go astray after a lie!

You have multiplied, O Lord my God,

    your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;

    none can compare with you!

I will proclaim and tell of them,

    yet they are more than can be told.

In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,

    but you have given me an open ear.

Burnt offering and sin offering

    you have not required.

Then I said, “Behold, I have come;

    in the scroll of the book it is written of me:

I delight to do your will, O my God;

    your law is within my heart.” 

-Psalm 40:1-8

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed...

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;

 save me, and I shall be saved,

for you are my praise.

-Jeremiah 17:14

The Lord is my strength and my song...

The Lord is my strength and my song;

    he has become my salvation.

Glad songs of salvation

    are in the tents of the righteous:

“The right hand of the Lord does valiantly,

    the right hand of the Lord exalts,

    the right hand of the Lord does valiantly!”

I shall not die, but I shall live,

    and recount the deeds of the Lord.

The Lord has disciplined me severely,

    but he has not given me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness,

    that I may enter through them

    and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord;

    the righteous shall enter through it.

I thank you that you have answered me

    and have become my salvation.

The stone that the builders rejected

    has become the cornerstone.

This is the Lord's doing;

    it is marvelous in our eyes.

This is the day that the Lord has made;

    let us rejoice and be glad in it.

    -Psalm 118:14-24

Morning breaks upon the tomb...

Morning breaks upon the tomb;

Jesus scatters all its gloom.

Day of triumph through the skies,

See the glorious Savior rise.

You who are of death afraid,

Triumph in the scattered shade.

Drive your anxious cares away;

See the place where Jesus lay.

Christian, dry your flowing tears;

Chase your unbelieving fears.

Look on his deserted grave;

Doubt no more his pow'r to save.

-William Collyer

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!

O Lord, hear my voice!

Let your ears be attentive

to the voice of my pleas for mercy!

If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,

O Lord, who could stand?

But with you there is forgiveness,

that you may be feared.

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,

and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord

more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the Lord!

For with the Lord there is steadfast love,

and with him is plentiful redemption.

And he will redeem Israel

from all his iniquities.

-Psalm 130

---------------------The Great Silence--------------------

Ancient Homily For Holy Saturday

Something strange is happening – there is a great silence on earth today, a great silence and stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because God has fallen asleep in the flesh and he has raised up all who have slept ever since the world began. God has died in the flesh and hell trembles with fear.

He has gone to search for our first parent, as for a lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit those who live in darkness and in the shadow of death, he has gone to free from sorrow the captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of Eve. The Lord approached them bearing the cross, the weapon that had won him the victory. At the sight of him, Adam, the first man he had created, struck his breast in terror and cried out to everyone: “My Lord be with you all.” Christ answered him: “And with your spirit.” He took him by the hand and raised him up, saying:

“Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.

“I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your descendants I now by my own authority command all who are held in bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise.

“I order you, O sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my hands, you who were created in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for you are in me and I am in you; together we form only one person and we cannot be separated. For your sake I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the form of a slave; I, whose home is above the heavens, descended to the earth and beneath the earth.

“For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the Jews in a garden, and I was crucified in a garden.

“See on my face the spittle I received in order to restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the scourging I endured to remove the burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands, nailed firmly to a tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.

“I slept on the cross and a sword pierced my side for you who slept in paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has sheathed the sword that was turned against you.

“Rise, let us leave this place. The enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not restore you to that paradise, but I will enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed cherubim to guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them worship you as God.

“The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers swift and eager. The bridal chamber is adorned, the banquet is ready, the eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity.”