Morning Worship, Every Lord’s Day at 11.30am, DV, at
The Old Reformed Church
at Ballymacashon
Affiliated to the Congregational Union of Ireland and The Evangelical Fellowship of Congregational Churches
78 Saintfield Road, Killinchy, Co.Down. BT23 6RN.
Psalms – Bible Reading – Exegetical Preaching
For information contact 07802466302 or click https://saltyscrivener.uk/ballymacashon-congregational…/
We always welcome visitors!
Martin Luther: “at home, in my own house, there is no warmth or vigour in me, but in the church when the multitude is gathered together, a fire is kindled in my heart and it breaks its way through.”
The Old Reformed Church at Ballymacashon (Congregational) 78 Saintfield Road, Killinchy, NEWTOWNARDS Co.Down BT23 6RN
Text Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
God is working in us, rescuing us from our sins. But we must go on. God’s work in us is not confined to our rescue, for he continues to work in us, preparing us for heaven, sanctifying us, separating us more and more from the world around us, making us more like Jesus, out of gratitude for the amazing rescue that we have experienced in him. In this study we will look at how God works, and how he works IN US…
1 God WORKS. For we are his workmanship,
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Victim Wars- Victimhood and Intersectionality – A Biblical Response
Psalm 11
Have you noticed that nowadays it seems that victimhood is actually fashionable. Gone are the days of looking adversity in the face, determined to overcome it. We have great sympathy with those who have suffered, who are genuine victims, and there are many. But ‘fabricated victimhood’ is now a prevailing attitude in society. In this study, we will try to find out how this happened.
Listen to the PODCAST HERE
1. Critical Theories and the Roots of Victimhood.
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Text Ephesians 2:8-9
God applies his saving work to us by regenerating us, giving us new life, so that we are born agin, by raising us up from the filth and the gutter of sin, by seating us with Christ in heavenly places, and by keeping us as his purchased possession, to demonstrate his glory for eternal ages! And, it is all of His doing, so that only he can get the praise and the glory. So, Paul summarises all of that, and reinforces our passivity in it, in verse 8 and 9:-
1 We are SAVED.
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Text: Ephesians 2:4-7
We’re still reeling with the unforeseen realisation that despite our abhorrent corruption and pollution by sin, God has stepped in on our behalf, without any merit on our part, to rescue us from our eternal plight. He could have destroyed us for our sin. But he didn’t. Lamentations 3:22-23 We already KNOW how God has rescued us, for that is exactly what Paul has been telling us in chapter one. It has been accomplished for us, on our behalf, in Christ alone, without any input from us. It is the objective work of God. But all of that divine work, in its enactment, as it is applied to our lives, has an EFFECT upon us. We might refer to that as the empirical effects of the rescue, our first hand, observable experiences of new birth. How our rescue affects us, sinners, being rescued from our sin. What did the divine shepherd, the Lord Jesus do for His sheep, for ME and YOU when he rescued us in similar manner, from our sin?
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1 Kings 1:38-39, 1 Kings 11:1-13.
A King has been crowned, King Charles III. The King, in a nominally Protestant ceremony, took the coronation oath, “I will to the utmost of my power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel. I will to the utmost of my power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law. And I will maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England. And I will preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England, and to the Churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them. The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me God.” So, let’s look at two moments in history, one 965 years before the birth of Jesus, and one just now!
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Text: Ephesians 2:4-7
Paul has given us a shocking assessment of the very nature of all humanity, in every age, in every location, people of all races and creeds, men and women… They are all polluted with sin, and we discovered in Ephesians 2:4, that Paul had inserted two very important and pivotal words: BUT GOD. Someone once remarked that right here we have the biggest BUT – a contrast – in the Bible. Here’s why. Because it is an unexpected twist. There’s many’s a novel has a twist like that. But none of them can compare with this twist, this BUT.
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Text: Ephesians 2:2-4A
To fully appreciate how vast the work that God has done for sinners we must understand the problem, the dreadful polluted corrupt nature into which and with which we are born. Paul introduces the subject here…
1 The Spread of the Pollution.
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John 20:24-31
The disciples of Jesus all had their own individual personalities, and these characteristics all come out in the Biblical record.Universally, the disciple Thomas has become known as a doubter – his name and his story has become legend – he is ‘Doubting Thomas’ – a pejorative description to this day, of anyone who has legitimate concerns about some concerning matter. Yet Thomas was not the only disciple who had periods of doubt. Mark 16:9-11 Luke 24:10-11 Thomas’s experience simply mirrored that of the rest of the disciples. So let’s set aside thinking of ‘Doubting Thomas’ for a few minutes and ask, “What can we learn from Thomas’s examination of the wounds of Christ; his personal encounter with the risen Saviour?”
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Matthew 27:35. And they crucified him…
The fact that God has triumphed over sin, and redeemed his elect forever, is seen in just a few momentous days which changed the world. At Calvary Jesus gave his sinless life for you and for me, worthless wretched sinners, – a momentous day that outshines any other day before or after, in human history. Let’s contemplate the central act of that dark and dreadful day. Here’s our text: Matthew 27:35. And they crucified him…
Who’s the ‘They?’
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE
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Simon the Crossbearer
Mark 15:16-32 Esp.Mark 15:21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.
I wonder how many times it has happened – someone is just walking along a road, minding their own business, when they stop to look at something unusual happening, something that distracts them from the everyday events of life – and suddenly they find themselves caught up in an unexpected drama, – maybe even becoming an unwilling participant in a life-changing incident? That was what occurred to me when I read the story of Simon of Cyrene, – probably just an ordinary man, going about his ordinary business. One minute he was an unconcerned passer-by, a foreigner visiting Jerusalem for a religious pilgrimage, and the next he was suddenly thrust into the greatest drama ever, God’s eternal plan of redemption.
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE
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The Salty Scrivener 