Jesus Came to Reveal What the Law Could Not
Listen to our brother Misael explain the meaning and significance of Christmas from John 1:17. Jesus came to reveal what the law could not that we might find the grace that we need.
Worship through Prayer
Almighty God we come to you this morning declaring your greatness and your goodness. You never grow weary or faint; you never sleep or slumber; you never take a day off or lose attention; you never grow impatient; you are never overwhelmed or unsure about what to do. You are eternal and inexhaustible; you are infinitely wise and meticulous in your compassion. Cause our souls to rest in your goodness, which you show us in Christ Jesus. Amen.
We praise you this Advent season; we look back at the incarnation and marvel that Jesus would take on the fullness of humanity for our sake; we lean forward in anticipation of his return. Holy Spirit, teach our souls to wait; how to long for Jesus’ return yet rest in the present. We rejoice that “A Son Is Given.” We praise you that Jesus, your eternal Son, the Son of God, is holy and his holiness heals. We praise you that the holiness of Christ is more contagious than our sinfulness. In faith we touch Christ this morning; heal us we ask. Comfort the hurting; give hope to the weary; give faith to the doubting. Amen.
We pray for our sister D this morning. Continue to help her body make a full recovery. We praise you for your zealous faith and unwavering hope in Christ. We pray for D and P. Continue to increase their conformity to use them to build up the body of Christ here at Restoration Church.
Lord, we praise you that Jesus, the Son of Man, has all authority and will one-day restore all things in his perfected Kingdom. Use this church to make disciples of our neighbors and the nations that delight in the supremacy of Jesus Christ with a heavenly hope. Give each one of us the boldness and humility and wisdom to speak of the glorious good news of the gospel to our friends and family members and co-workers and classmates. For the glory of your name in Christ Jesus, we ask that you would use our church to help people trust and treasure Jesus. Do this, Lord we ask for our joy and your glory. Amen.
Holy Spirit, this Advent season, remind us that Jesus authority is a good authority and all that he calls us to do is for our ultimate happiness. We praise you for our sister E’s testimony to the authority of Christ in baptism. Remind us, Lord, remind us the holy life is the happy life; that sin never fully gives us what we truly want. When we are prone to wander call us back.
We confess our sin; not just our outward rebellion in what we do, but our inward hope in something or someone other than You. We confess that we look to our spouse to provide only what you can. We confess our pursuit of and participation in romantic immorality. We repent. Forgive us Lord. We confess our distrust of and dullness for You and your word. We confess our anger that results from thinking of ourselves better than other. We repent. Forgive us Lord. We confess our abuse of alcohol and over indulgence of food. We confess our bitter envious thoughts of those who have what we want. We repent. Forgive us Lord. We confess our impatience in parenting. We confess our selfish, me-centered view of the church. We repent. Forgive us Lord. Amen.
And we confess Christ. We confess his righteousness is our righteousness. We praise you that our sin does not define us – Jesus does. We repent of our rebellion and rejoice in the soul-satisfying, Satan-crushing, joy-purchasing, death-defeating, heavenly hope of Jesus. This morning we look back to a cradle in Bethlehem; we look back to a cross in Jerusalem; we look back to an empty tomb. And we look forward. We look forward to heaven on earth – enjoying you with your people forever and ever. Amen.
We praise you that we labor for the glories of Christ in this city with many other faithful churches. We thank you for Redeemer City and Redemption Hill and Capitol Hill Baptist. Use these brothers and sisters to magnify your mighty name. We thank you for McLean Bible and National Community Church and All Nations DC. Advance your gospel through these churches. Amen.
Lord, your word tells us to pray for our enemies and so we do. We pray that in your sovereignty that the leaders of ISIS would come to faith in Jesus. In your unfathomable grace save Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and Abu Muhammad al-Shimali. Turn these men from false worship and persecution to true worship and gospel proclamation. Do this Lord for the glory of your name. Take the men and women of Al Queda and bring them to faith in Jesus. Open their eyes that they might behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Lord you did this with the Apostle Paul; you did this with us; we trust that you can do this with them. We also pray that you would restrain the evil these organizations are able to spread. Cripple their efforts to persecute, slaughter and terrorize. Bring about peace in the Iraq and Syria and Turkey and Sudan.
We praise you Lord that you sent forth Christ to die for us when we were still your enemies. We praise you for the hope and grace and mercy found in Christ Jesus. Cause us to increasingly understand the depths of the gospel that we might be fully satisfied in you. Use our brother N. this morning to unfold the wonders of your word that we might worship you with all that we have for all that you are. We pray this all in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Reflections from the Field
Listen to a few members of Restoration reflect on their trip to encourage our friends abroad.
Serving the Community at Christmastime (Part 3)
In our past two posts, we discussed how to serve the community effectively at Christmastime as well as individual and corporate ways to serve. In this final post, we will look at a list of ten other local nonprofits that don’t have specific Christmas opportunities, but would certainly benefit from a Christmas donation. Or, consider committing to consistent volunteering with one of these organizations next year as a Christmas gift. Each of these nonprofits fights poverty in a sustainable and effective way.
Habitat for Humanity seeks to put God’s love into action. It brings people together to build homes, communities and hope. Their vision is a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Habitat for Humanity engages and empowers new homeowners by involving them in the whole process.
The Mission’s goal is to glorify God by proclaiming the Gospel and meeting the needs of hungry, hurting and homeless individuals and families in the Washington Metropolitan Area. They provide shelter for crisis situations and immediate needs, but also work to connect each person who visits the shelter to programs that will equip and empower the men to find steady income. They also have Bible studies for men at the shelter and help them understand what it looks like to walk with Christ.
YMCA Youth & Family Services (YMCA- YFS) is a community-based, comprehensive social services branch of the YMCA Metropolitan Washington. YFS provides school and community-based prevention and early intervention services to at-risk and under-served children and families from across Montgomery County, MD. YFS programs address basic social-service needs, teach fundamental life skills and assist participants in making healthy choices.
Prison Fellowship seeks to restore those affected by crime and incarceration by introducing prisoners, victims, and their families to a new hope available through Jesus Christ. They prepare prisoners to return to their communities as good neighbors. They advocate for a criminal justice system that upholds restorative values, so that communities are safer, victims are respected, and those who have caused harm are transformed. Outside prisons, they collaborate with churches, para-church organizations, and local service providers to support families with loved ones behind bars and people affected by crime.
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The rest of this list includes nonprofits that are not explicitly Christian; however, they allow us to care for the least of these in an effective way. They’re strategies for serving others are sustainable and focus on empowering those they serve. They target more than just material poverty, though they do not explicitly preach the gospel at the corporate level.
Community of Hope’s mission is to create opportunities for low-income families in Washington, DC, including those experiencing homelessness, to achieve good health, a stable home, family-sustaining income, and hope. They have five housing programs that connect families with shelter in times of crisis and also job referrals, counseling and mentoring for their children. They also have three health centers to provide for low-income families who are un- or under-insured. Finally, to increase family-sustaining income, they connect families to employment opportunities, insurance, educational opportunities, workforce training and financial literacy training.
Jubilee Jobs is one of the longest-serving and best non-profit workforce development providers in the Greater Washington Region. Jubilee Jobs programs offers hope for jobseekers all over Washington, DC as they strive to overcome often extensive barriers that result from unemployment, learning disabilities, former incarceration, and alcohol/substance abuse. Some individuals desire to leave behind reliance on public subsidies. Others start with little work experience, large gaps in work history, communication or language barriers, low education or weak job proficiency. Jubilee Jobs sees beyond these circumstances and assists every applicant as they take steps toward a better life.
With both their maternity home and the pregnancy center programs, their mission is to support pregnant or parenting women in need, to act on our belief in the intrinsic value and dignity of all human life, and to provide for new beginnings for pregnant or parenting women. The Northwest Center believes that it is essential for every pregnant woman to have access to safe housing, food, clothing, medical care, and educational and/or job opportunities so that she can adequately provide for herself and her children. Their programs are designed to be more than a “band-aid solution,” rather they strive to effectuate real change in the lives of the women and children we serve. The ultimate goal of both programs is to enable our clients to achieve self-sufficiency, which we define as having sustainable employment, adequate health care and viable housing for themselves and their child(ren).
Higher Achievement works to strength middle school students, for they believe it is the last chance they have to get on track for college. Through afterschool and summer academies, the student receive homework coaching, daily meals, intensive small-group academic mentoring, field trips, college visits, and more. Finally, they help the students as they transition to high school.
The mission of the Latino Student Fund (LSF) is to provide opportunities for a strong academic foundation for underserved PreK-12th grade students of Hispanic descent to promote higher education and professional leadership. They support students and their families through scholarships, academic support services and informational outreach.
For Love of Children (FLOC) provides educational services beyond the classroom to help students succeed from first grade through college and career. FLOC brings together students, volunteers, families, and community partners in proven programs that teach, empower, and transform. Their programs include a neighborhood tutoring program, scholars program, and outdoor education center.
Serving the Community at Christmastime (Part 2)
Yesterday's post provided two questions to help us think through helpful service during Christmastime and described three ways Restoration is corporately serving this season.
Our guiding questions to sustainable and effective service and giving are:
- Does this opportunity respect the dignity of the poor by empowering them to be a part of their own development?
- Does it address not just material poverty, but also social, spiritual, and/or psychological poverty?
These questions are a good start in helping us think through how to serve the less fortunate this Christmas season. With one-off service events, often the best way to get involved is to donate to or partner with organizations that are already doing good, sustainable work in your community.
Let's look at a what a few local organizations do and how you can serve them during Christmastime.
What they do: Little Lights, similar to the Porch is an excellent Christian nonprofit that serves underprivileged youth and families in DC. Through after-school and summer programs, mentoring, and arts-based programs, Little Lights empowers the children they are serving and works to meet not just their material need but also help them understand what it looks like to walk with Jesus. Further, Little Lights has programs for families, such as on-the-job training, and economic empowerment resources.
What you can do: One of the ways they get the community involved during the Christmas season is by asking for donations to their Christmas Store. You can donate using this Amazon wish list. Each family who is connected with Little Lights can “shop” at the Christmas Store. The Store gives the opportunity for parents to pick out gifts for their children and allows for children to receive gifts from their parents (rather than strangers) who otherwise may not be able to afford gifts. And, it gives the Little Lights staff an opportunity to get to know the parents of the kids who are in their programs.
What they do: Mission Muffins is a ministry of the Central Union Mission. Men from the shelter are hired as bakers and are taught hard skills (baking, marketing, sales) as well as soft skills to prepare them to enter the workforce. Mission Muffins cultivates the gifts of homeless men to enable them to pull themselves out of poverty through access to a steady income. The men also spend time in Bible studies through the Mission.
What you can do: Consider buying some muffins, coffee, scones, or handheld pies for your next party or get-together. Or, buy some Mission Mud (their coffee brand) as a Christmas gift. By purchasing these goods, you are supporting an effective homeless ministry.
What they do: Compassion “is a child-advocacy ministry…that releases children from spiritual, economic, social, and physical poverty. The goal is for each child to become a responsible and fulfilled adult.” They have a variety of programs to help empower these children and their communities from after school programs to aid during crises.
What you can do: They have a gift catalog that allows you to choose the way your donations are used. Keep in mind aid and handouts are essential for emergencies, but hurtful for development. Aid in place of development can cause reliance, dependence, and take away from their own self-initiative. In Toxic Charity, Robert D. Lupton writes, “When we do for those in need what they have the capacity to do for themselves, we disempower them...Giving to those in need what they could be gaining from their own initiative may well be the kindest way to destroy people.”
With this in mind, donate aid to the emergency needs, but not for development. For example, for non-crisis situations, donate to academic scholarships or baking classes rather than a playground. Donate to hygiene training rather than a water well. It is not to say that playgrounds or water wells are not good investments. However, without knowing exactly how they go about giving aid in non-crisis situations, it is possible that donations could cause more harm than good in the long-run.
What they do: Serving meals, while important in crisis situations, isn’t always the most helpful way to serve the poor in the long-run. However, DC Central Kitchen has a far broader impact on the community. From culinary job training to providing access to healthy options in DC’s food desserts, DC Central Kitchen “fights hunger differently.”
What you can do: They are always looking for volunteers to help chop, slice, and peel. Volunteers help turn wasted food into healthy options for those who don’t typically have access to them.
Tomorrow's blog will provide a list of ten other excellent local nonprofits that don’t have specific Christmas opportunities, but would certainly benefit from a Christmas donation. Or, consider committing to consistent volunteering with one of the orgs on the list (or one of the ones above!) as a Christmas gift.
Serving the Community at Christmastime (Part 1)
Christmas is fast approaching! During the Advent season, we are simultaneously reminded of all we have to be thankful for and all the ways we can serve the poor in our communities. With so many opportunities to serve, dozens of philanthropic gift catalogs, and a plethora of organizations to donate to, how do we decide how to serve the community this Christmas season?
We want to be able to serve in a way that is sustainable and effective. Often this requires consistency, fully entering into the messiness of people’s lives, and coming alongside them as you both work towards a goal. With one-off Christmas service opportunities, we need to be intentional in finding ways to serve that are more helpful than hurtful.
In general, when deciding how to invest time or money into serving the community, ask two questions:
- Does this opportunity respect the dignity of the poor by empowering them to be a part of their own development?
- Does it address not just material poverty, but also social, spiritual, and/or psychological poverty?
These questions are a good start in helping us think through how to serve the less fortunate this Christmas season. With one-off service events, often the best way to get involved is to donate to or partner with organizations that are already doing good, sustainable work in your community.
With these guiding thoughts, let’s look at some specific opportunities. (This is by no means a comprehensive list!) First, we’ll look at ways we can serve as a corporate body. In the next two blogs, we’ll look at ways to serve individually.
Corporately, Restoration is partnering with the Porch and DC127/FAPAC this Christmas season. You can learn more about that here.
- The Porch’s mission is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ by creating safe and welcoming space for youth in DC to experience God's love, hope and healing.” They do this through small and large Bible studies, working with the youth to develop life and leadership skills, assisting the youth and families with practical needs, and the list goes on.
- DC127 fights poverty by supporting strong families. They strive to “unite churches with organizations, government agencies, and businesses in DC around recruiting and supporting foster and adoptive families so that no child is waiting for a home.” They are helping the Foster & Adoptive Parent Advocacy Center gather toys for a Christmas party that unites and celebrates both foster and birth parents and their kids.
Both of these organizations target not only material but also social and spiritual poverty while empowering and equipping those they serve. While you may not be able to volunteer regularly with either of these organizations, helping by buying a food basket or donating toys is a great way to get involved. Because Restoration’s donations will go through these organizations, it will serve to further the mission of the Porch and DC127/FAPAC and continue to develop the relationships they are pouring into week in and week out. It makes donating a meal or toys much more significant and effective, and is a way that we can corporately serve our brother and sister laborers at these organizations.
Rather donate your time? Sing Christmas carols with the Wiesners at Friendship Terrace. One way Restoration serves our community is by caring for the elderly at Friendship Terrace. To continue developing relationships and to visit with men and women who may not be able to see family during the Christmas season, Restoration is going caroling on December 23. Contact Jeremy for more info.
Look for blog #2 tomorrow, which will describe a variety of other excellent local organizations and ways you can get involved individually!
Worship through Prayer
Father,
How amazing it is to think of your greatness.
Father you are MIGHTY and WISE! You created the universe, you gave it laws that we study and marvel in!
You are ALIVE! You are not the figment of our imagination, nor a man-made construct whose sole purpose is to alleviate your fears.
Father, you are GOOD! You are not a tyrant, nor are you indifferent. You care about your creation even as your creation is so much smaller than you.
And how AMAZING are your works Father! You keep the world going! You made the world good and enjoyable. You selected a people for yourself and showed faithfulness over the ages! You are not a distant God, but one who sent prophets to reveal Himself. And when the prophets were rejected, you sent your very Son!
Father, you are LOVING! We can imagine a powerful and mighty God. We can even imagine, unwillingly, an angry God. But a loving one? Who really, sacrificially, personally, deeply loves somebody else in this world?
Father, you are not a God who doesn’t know our weaknesses or looks upon them with contempt. Your Son, Jesus Christ, became man, lived our lives, suffered our pain, took away our punishment. In our sin, we rejected you and we cursed you and we killed your son. But you didn’t let that stop you. You kept loving your rebellious people.
Father, we confess we don’t worship you the way you want to be worshipped. Your glory, your might, your love are many times too condemning for us. We don’t love our neighbors. We envy them and hate them because they have more and better stuff than we do. We hate them because they seem happy and we are miserable. We confess we come to you to be served by you, to be delivered by you and the moment we are we reach out for our past idols because they are the work of our hands and they are tame, they don’t make big demands of us. We confess that we don’t read your word and don’t meditate on it in our hearts. We dwell on our emotions and our human thoughts as the guiding light of our lives.
Father forgive us our sins, our rebellion. In the name of Jesus, your Son, forgive us our sins and help us hope in you.
Father, we are thankful for the Lord Jesus. It is by His sacrifice alone that we can be forgiven, that we can have peace with you. Our good deeds are not enough to wipe away our transgressions, but Jesus’ righteousness is sufficient because He is your Son and because he lived the perfect life we should have lived. We thank you that you opened our eyes to who you are and who he is and that you did not leave us in our sins.
We are also very grateful that we get to participate in your love for your people. We are grateful that our church could serve R and E in NQ this week. We pray that you bless them and encourage them. We pray they would be able to learn the language quickly. We also pray for W and C that they would be able to get there soon and that W would be able to preach your Word well and feed R and E with your word. We pray that both the B and the Y would hear the Gospel in their own languages and repent and believe.
Lord, we thank you that you work all over the world. We thank you also for the fact that your word is being preached in N in spite of so many physical and spiritual obstacles. We thank you for the work of the NGC and that at least 120 people that were baptized this year. We thank you for the discipleship classes and pastoral training that they do. We pray, Lord, that you would empower your people there to love their neighbors, to keep preaching and proclaiming your mercies and we pray that you would save a great number of souls.
Father, we pray that in this season of Advent, as we go towards Christmas, we would rejoice and proclaim the Gospel to our neighbors. We pray that we would not focus on ourselves but on our neighbors. We pray that we would not think about the many things we don’t have and would like to have, but about the fact that you gave us your very own son. We pray that we hope in you and that our joy would grow in this season.
In Jesus’ name
Amen
Completing What Was Lacking
In Philippians Paul talks about how Epaphroditus provided the very thing he was lacking - physical presence. Listen as a few members from Restoration talk to our brother and sister on the field. We went to complete what was lacking and provide encouragement. In turn, we are also encouraged in our gospel efforts.
Worship through Prayer
Father, we come to you this morning in the name of Jesus Christ, our heavenly priest who intercedes for us. We praise you for who you are. We praise you for your inexhaustible love and lavish grace. You have acted toward us not as we deserve, but according to your compassion and the abundance of your steadfast love. We rest this morning knowing what we do does not define us. We rest this morning knowing our failures do not determine our worth. Remind us Lord, remind us of your graciousness shown to us in Christ Jesus. Holy Spirit, awaken our souls that we might taste and see the Lord is good and all together desirable.
We praise you that you are a God who hears our prayers; we praise you that you, though you are sovereign, you choose to use the prayers of your people to bring about your plans. So we pray. We pray for Christians around the world suffering persecution simply because they take the name of Jesus. We pray for the new believers in Liberia facing persecution from family members. We pray for pastor Yuri Park as he sits in prison for false charges. Bring justice, Lord. We pray for the underground church in China – make it flourish all the more.
Lord, we praise you that we find ourselves in a country with religious freedom. Cause us to realize the preciousness of this liberty. Do not allow us to become complacent and presumptive. By your grace, cause us to use this freedom to boldly live for Christ Jesus in every part of our lives faithfully proclaiming the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.
We praise you Lord that we live in a country that has a democratic process. We praise you that citizens in this country get to vote and voice their opinions. We pray for Venezuela – restore democracy there Lord. We pray for stability and peace in Syria and Somalia. We pray for justice to flourish in North Korea and Sudan. We pray for the government of this country, the United States. In these last days, we pray that you would grant President Barrack Obama much wisdom. We ask as newly elected officials transition in at local, state and national levels they would be mindful of their call to govern justly, upholding the God-given dignity of all people. We pray this for President-elect Donald Trump. That he would surround himself with those who will help him lead with justice and wisdom, that he would govern and advocate for laws that allow all people, all races, all socioeconomic statuses, all genders to flourish as your image bearers.
Father, above all, by your Spirit, fix our gaze on Jesus, and fuel our trust in you. Keep us perpetually aware of the warm-seated throne of heaven. We praise you that Jesus is the King of kings and the Lord of lord - and no earthly election can or ever will change that reality.
We thank you this day for the veterans of this country and those around the world who have served on the front lines to promote justice and peace. We thank you for J who served decades in the military and now serves those still enlisted. We thank you for Pillar Church that has a specific ministry to those in the Marines striving to bring the hope and peace for the gospel to marines around the world. We thank you for the Southern Baptist Convention and their ministry to resource all branches of the military with chaplains.
Father, your word tells us our main fight is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. So we pray for our brothers and sisters on the frontlines battling this darkness in unreached places. We pray for A as she labors to bring the gospel to refugees in the Middle East. We pray for R and E as they seek to bring the light of Jesus to the Middle East. We pray for the International Mission Board as they seek to resource missionaries all over this world. Raise up men and women from this congregation Lord, to take the hope of the gospel to the ends of the earth.
We praise you for this message of hope that forgives and frees sinners, of whom we are the foremost. As we pray for others, we confess our own sins. Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We have been angry and greedy. We have pursued romantic immorality and been self-righteous. We have gossiped and slandered. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent, for the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in the supremacy of Christ to the glory of your holy Name.
Refresh those of us who are weary. Comfort those of us who hurting this morning. Draw near to those of us who feel you are far off. Grant wisdom to the confused. Spur on the faithful. Stir the affections of those who find you dull and boring. Work in this place this morning. Do it for the glory of your name and the eternal joy of your people.
Amen.
Get to Know Misael & Alex
Joey sits down to talk with Misael & Alex. Listen in and learn more about their lives, how they came to faith, what they enjoy doing, etc. As our church grows and changes, we hope these "Get to Know..." podcasts will serve as a way for your to learn more about fellow church members.