Heritage Weekly

><>><>><> 9/14 LORD’S DAY<><<><<><

Sermon:
Blessed is He Who Comes in the Name of the Lord – Mark 10:46-11:11

Hymns:
Fairest Lord Jesus 88
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing 2
All People That on Earth do Dwell 20
My Hope Is in the Lord 406
Gloria Patri 623

><> OTHER NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS <><
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Heritage Weekly #96

Dear Family,

Reminder: men’s breakfast tomorrow at Harner’s

Brief personal note:

Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement for my family and me. I am feeling better by God’s grace. We don’t have everything figured out at this point, but things seem to be stable. We may not learn anything new until next week when my regular physician returns from vacation. Please pray that the Lord would grant me His strength so that I might be with you all on Sunday and that I might preach.

Women Speaking in Church

Several weeks ago I was asked the question, “Is it appropriate for women to say ‘amen’ during the worship service in response to something said in a sermon?” This past elder meeting we spent a significant amount of time looking at the Scripture and discussing this issue. Here, then, is the position of HOFC on the issue of women speaking in the worship service:
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Heritage Weekly #95

Dear Family,

Reminder: Elder/head of household meeting tonight at 7 p.m. at the Emrick house.

As you know, we are called to a high calling as Christians (1 Peter 1:13-16). In addition, the way to heaven is through much suffering and tribulation (Acts 14:22). How, then, are we to make it through our pilgrimage in this land that is not our own? What is the source of our strength? This small devotion by JR Miller gives the answer:

Loving the Unseen Christ

(J. R. Miller, “In Green Pastures”)

Holy thoughts in the heart, transfigure the life. Your daily thoughts–build up your character. Our hearts are the quarries where the blocks are fashioned, which we build into our life-temple. If our thoughts and meditations are holy, beautiful, true, pure, loving, and gentle–our life will grow into Christ-likeness.
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Heritage Weekly #94

Dear Family,

Divorce and remarriage is a potentially painful and divisive topic. I share the following with the intent of encouraging us all to be Bereans and search the Scriptures for ourselves on this topic (Acts 17:11). I also encourage everyone to deal with the topic with a spirit of humility and grace. The gospel is powerful to heal even the deep wounds of divorce (Rom 1:16).

Here is a quick summary of my current understanding of Scripture on divorce (this was Option 3 on Sunday):

1. God hates divorce. (Mal. 2:16) If God hates it, then we as his children should also hate it.
2. What God has joined, let no man separate. (Mt. 19:6; Mk 10:9) When it comes to troubled marriages, our goal should always be first and foremost reconciliation. Continue reading…

Heritage Weekly #93

Dear Family,

Please remember to join your family’s voices with ours to ask the Lord for his blessings on our worship service on Sunday.

There has been a lot of enthusiasm about a children’s recital so we will plan to hold it on October 17 at 7 p.m. The location will be the Waubonsee Auditorium.
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Heritage Weekly #92

Dear HOFC Family,

*Reminders*
- Ladies salad supper get-together tonight at Emrick home at 7 p.m. All ladies are invited even if you didn’t know about it until just now.
- Men’s breakfast Friday morning at 6 a.m. at Harner’s in North Aurora

*Book Recommendation*
I just finished a book that I will be placing in the church library. The book is called Why We’re Not Emergent (by Two Guys Who Should Be). It is a very helpful analysis of the emergent/emerging church movement. It is unique in that it is written by two guys who alternate chapters…one is a pastor/theologian and the other is a sports writer. It is easy to read, entertaining and very helpful. Please contact Brad if you would like to check out this book.

New Feature! Ask the Pastor

People occasionally ask me about specific issues they would like my take on or want to know what the Bible says about it. I thought it might be edifying to the entire body to share my answers to such questions. While keeping the source of the question anonymous of course!
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Heritage Weekly #91

Dear Worshiping Family,

My week is off to a wonderful start after our encouraging day of worship and fellowship on Sunday. I didn’t mention it on Sunday, but I was moved by the outpouring of joyous worship in our service. Thank you for making a joyful noise with me!

I would like to share my notes from our call to worship as further encouragement. Also, the hymns this Sunday will be from the Home Discipleship Hymnal which many of you have. Please feel free to practice the hymns with your children so they will be familiar with them on Sunday.
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Heritage Weekly #90

Dear Family,

Quick reminder: fellowship meal this Sunday.

I came across this quote from AW Tozer. I have not been able to verify the reference, but it is a wonderful quote about the importance of the church in God’s plan. If you have the book and can verify the page number I would appreciate it.

“The highest expression of the will of God in this age is the church which He purchased with His own blood. To be scripturally valid any religious activity must be part of the church. Let it be clearly stated that there can be no service acceptable to God in this age that does not center in and spring out of the church. Continue reading…

Heritage Weekly #89

Dear Heritage of Faith Family,

I have just finished a very helpful little book called, What’s So Great About the Doctrines of Grace? written by Richard D. Phillips. The purpose of the book is to explain in clear, non-technical language the doctrines of God’s sovereign grace (aka Calvinism). Here is what Rev. Phillips explains is his goal in writing the book (from the preface):
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Heritage Weekly #88

Dear Family,

One of our great enemies is pride. Here is a helpful devotion to keep us alert and vigilant against this insidious foe. May God use this to humble our hearts before Him and cause us to lean more wholly on Christ.

A tumor and swelling in the mind

(Thomas Brooks, “The Unsearchable Riches of Christ”)

“The Lord Almighty has done it to destroy your pride and show His contempt for all human greatness.”
Isaiah 23:9

Pride is the original and root of most of those notorious vices which are to be found among men.

Of all sins, pride is most dangerous to the souls of men.

Pride is . . .
a gilded misery,
a secret poison,
a hidden plague.
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Heritage Weekly #87

Dear Family,

One of the many areas in which I need to grow and improve is singing. I like to sing, but I have had no training and have zero natural talent. However, I desire to improve so that I might worship our great God in a manner which pleases Him and brings Him glory.

Would you care to join me and my family as we seek to grow in our ability to sing?
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Heritage Weekly #86

Dear Family,

We have much opportunity to fellowship together over the next three days:

Friday – Hymn Sing at SG Community House at 7:00 PM
Saturday – Father-Son study at SG community house at 6:30 AM
Sunday – Lord’s Day worship and teaching time
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Heritage Weekly #85

Dear Family,

Sunrise Nursing Home Update: Bob McBroom will have a memorial service for his wife Faye on Tuesday, June 10 at 2:30 p.m. It will be held at the Sunrise of Naperville North facility.

As I was leaving church last Sunday someone mentioned the need to be content and to not complain about a situation. I saw this list and thought it might be helpful for all of us to use in our devotions. The regular Weekly information is below.

A 12 Point Cure for Complaining

Author: Bill Izard

Complaining is unbecoming of the true Christian and yet we are proficient at it. The cure is found in these verses. In Christ we are never hopeless or forsaken. Every trial has meaning. Meditate on this cure in order to change both your language and your heart.

1. GOD COMMANDS ME NEVER TO COMPLAIN.
Do all things without complaining and disputing. Philippians 2:14(NAS)
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Heritage Weekly #84

Dear Family,

Reminder: Men’s Breakfast at 6 a.m. at Harner’s in North Aurora

I hope that your week is going well. If I were to guess I would suspect that 7 out of 10 of you would describe your week as busy or worse. Are you feeling overwhelmed with your commitments and responsibilities? Do you feel like the carousel is spinning a little out of control and you can’t get off? I understand…I have been there and I’m sure I will get myself there again before long unless God intervenes.

Here are a few encouraging words from John Piper on the subject of finding times of quiet:

Do we need to pursue times of silence for our spiritual health?
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Heritage Weekly #83

Dear Heritage of Faith Family,

I just sent out the minutes from the elder meeting and I thought I would highlight a couple of things for you.

Teaching Time Info
- We will have our third teaching time session on other religions and cults this Lord’s Day. We will be looking at the religion of Wicca or witchcraft.
- Food and/or drinks are welcome during the teaching time especially for our younger participants who might find it challenging to make it through teaching time and worship without a snack.
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Heritage Weekly #82

Dear Family,

The week is almost over and I’ll be heading home later today. Thank you for your prayers for my family and me. I look forward to worshiping with you all on Sunday, Lord willing.

Just a reminder that there will be an informational meeting at Wayside Cross Ministries tomorrow morning from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. They are located at 215 E. New York Street in Aurora.

Because of Calvary,

Vaughn
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Heritage Weekly #81

Dear Family,

I write the words of greeting above with a joyful heart as I contemplate the wonderful family that God has put together here in the suburbs of Chicago. We are a family. We call each other brother and sister because we, by grace, have become children of God…we have one Father. We share in each other’s lives in a unique way because of what God has done in our hearts and because we have committed to live as a family at HOFC. I think this is part of the importance of membership to a local church. It is making a binding commitment to stick together no matter what…like a family.
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Heritage Weekly #80

Greeting Heritage of Faith Family,

We had a wonderful time last night as God’s family enjoying each others’ company at gym night. The Fowlers did a great job of organizing and leading the activities.

Here is a list of the religions we will be looking at during the new teaching time series (not in any specific order):
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Love Thy Neighbor: Understanding Other Religions

New teaching time series to begin May 11, 2008.

We are commanded by Jesus to love our neighbors (Mark 12:31). If we can’t understand our neighbors it is hard to know how best to love them. Maybe your neighbor is a Muslim or someone who is into New Age philosophy. We can show love to our neighbors in many ways, but the most important way is to share with them the gospel.
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Heritage Weekly #79

Dear HOFC Family,

Mark your calendars! Our next hymn sing will be June 13th.

I want to one more time encourage you to listen to a very encouraging and challenging message by John Piper entitled, How the Supremacy of Christ Creates Radical Christian Sacrifice. You can get the audio and/or read the transcript at the Desiring God web site. The main point of the message which is the main point of the book of Hebrews is to encourage radical service for God.
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Heritage Weekly #78

Dear Heritage of Faith Family,

I just finished attending the Together for the Gospel conference in Louisville. It was an extremely encouraging, convicting and motivating conference that I pray will bear fruit in our church in years to come. We are going to be in Indianapolis today and tomorrow and, Lord willing, return home Saturday so we can worship with our family at HOFC.

Let’s continue looking at the article on contentment by William Ames. Here are the next seven in a total of 22 points on the topic. The first eight can be found HERE. And the next seven are HERE.

Before going to the last eight points from Ames, I want to share a point CJ Mahaney made in today’s last session. He reminded us that all complaining and grumbling is complaining and grumbling against God. Complaining is saying to God, “I know what is best for me not you God”. Complaining is sin. If you want proof see I Corinthians 10.

Contentment
One of the most difficult of Christian virtues to obtain.
Dr. William Ames

15. An inordinate love of ourselves is a cause of covetousness,

16. This philaoutia, self-love, is the source and origin of all sins not which is called philaoutia, 2 Tim. 3:2. only against our neighbor, but against God himself, 2 Tim. 3:4.

17. Covetousness is divided by John into that of the flesh, having

to do with food and lust, that of the eyes, having to do with outward delight and profit, and the pride of living, having to do with the glory and pomp of this world, 1 John 2:16.

18. Envy or an Eye being evil is opposed to joy and pleasure in the prosperity of our neighbor. Matt. 20:15. Likewise opposed is any epikairekakia rejoicing over the hurt of our neighbor, Ps. 70:3, 4; Obad.12.
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Heritage Weekly #77

Dear Heritage of Faith Family,

*Quick reminder: Fellowship meal this Sunday following service

Let’s continue looking at the article on contentment by William Ames. Here are the next seven in a total of 22 points on the topic. The first eight can be found HERE.

Contentment
One of the most difficult of Christian virtues to obtain.
Dr. William Ames

9. Covetousness is opposed to contentment, Heb. 13:5.

10. Covetousness does not mean the power and faculty of desiring and seeking what is natural; or the act of that natural faculty, or its lawful operation, which is also natural; or the whole inclination of our corrupt nature (not specially condemned in any one precept but in the whole law); or the actual inordinate primary lusts (for the most part contrary to religion and condemned in the first table); or last, lusts which tend to the hurt of our neighbor (for those having a deliberate will and purpose behind them are condemned in the other commandments). Covetousness means that desire which first instigates and excites the mind to yearn for the good things of our neigh­bors although it has not yet occurred to us to get them by unlawful means, 1 Kings 21:2; Mark 10:19.
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Heritage Weekly #76

Dear HOFC Family,

William Ames wrote an interesting and helpful article on the issue of contentment. There are 22 points in his article so I thought I would share it with you in installments. Below you will find the first eight points.

Contentment
One of the most difficult of Christian virtues to obtain.
Dr. William Ames

1. The virtue of contentment is the acquiescence of the mind in the lot God has given, 1 Tim. 6:6; Heb. 13:5; Phil. 4:11.

2. This contentment is ordered in the tenth commandment as appears from the words themselves. It is not at all proper to refer this precept to the inward and original purity of righteousness, which is the fountain of all obedience; such purity is not commanded in any one commandment but in all. And the precept no more belongs to the second table where it is situated than to the first.
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Heritage Weekly #75

Dear HOFC Family,

I hope this email finds you and your family feeling well. We have certainly been challenged this winter with much ill health in many of the families of the church as well as some serious job related trials. I pray that the Lord would grant us a season of health and provide work for all the men in the church. More importantly, I pray that the Lord would help each of us to learn the important spiritual lessons that he has for us in and through these trials. Romans 8:28 says, “that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” May we each get to see the good that will come out of these difficulties we have faced.
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