Scripture: Phillipians 3:1-11
Our most revolutionary, political act is to hope. I have been meditating lately on a remarkable insight by the novelist Marilynne Robinson: “Fear is not a Christian habit of mind.” To be a Christian is to be a person who engages in politics, but without fear. Fear drives us to panic, and no one makes good decisions when panicked. We overestimate some threats and ignore others. We can’t see clearly, and we’re prone to being manipulated by those who would foment our panic.
But we ought not be a panicked people. Our King has told us over and over again, “Be not afraid.” You have already heard good news that brings great joy. The King is alive, is seated on his throne, and he reigns. And not only that: he is also interceding for you at the right of his Father. “Be not afraid.”—James K. A. Smith
“The essential content of the Faith, then, includes first of all the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which covers the whole many-sided reality of the divine plan and work of salvation. Secondly, the Faith includes the sound doctrines of the truth that properly accord with that glorious Gospel. It includes thirdly the Way of living that conforms to those doctrines. And fourthly it includes the experience of all the life-giving benefits that flow from the power of the Gospel and enable us to walk in the Way of the Lord. The last three of these elements may be regarded as three facets or dimensions of the Faith that derive from the Gospel” (121, emphasis added).—J.I. Packer
Download audio file
Bulletin