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QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“The triunity of God is the secret of His beauty. If we deny this, we at once have a God without radiance and without joy (and without humor!)….”

~Karl Barth (1886-1968) in Church Dogmatics
 
“Creation’s being is God’s pleasure, creation’s beauty God’s glory; beauty reveals the shining of an uncreated light. … Creation is only a splendor that hangs upon that life of love and knowledge, and only by grace; it is first and foremost a surface, a shining fabric of glory, whose inmost truth is its aesthetic correspondence to the beauty of divine love. … It is delight that constitutes creation, and so only delight can comprehend it, see it aright, understand its grammar. Only in loving creation’s beauty—only in seeing that creation truly is beauty—does one apprehend what creation is.”

~David Bentley Hart in The Beauty of the Infinite (2003)
 
“…all the beauty to be found throughout the whole creation is but the reflection of the diffused beams of that Being who hath an infinite fullness of brightness and glory; God . . . is the foundation and fountain of all being and all beauty.”

~Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) in The Nature of True Virtue
 
“A sin…consists in doing, saying, thinking, or imagining anything that is not in perfect conformity with the mind and law of God.”

~J.C. Ryle (1816-1900), Anglican bishop, in Holiness
 
“Sin is the dare of God’s justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.”

~John Bunyan (1628-1688), writer of The Pilgrim’s Progress
 
“If God is holy, then he can’t sin. If God can’t sin, then he can’t sin against me. If he can’t sin against me, shouldn’t that make him the most trustworthy being there is?”
 
“We will want and choose to put to death what is earthly in us when we believe God is infinitely better than everything we are tempted to leave him for.”

~Jackie Hill Perry in Holier Than Thou: How God’s Holiness Helps Us Trust Him

SERMON PASSAGE

Galatians 5:22-23, Psalm 118:1, Psalm 34:8-10 (ESV)

Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
 
Psalm 118

1 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
  for his steadfast love endures forever!

Psalm 34

8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
  Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints,
  for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
  but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“Peace is more than the absence of war. Peace is accord. Harmony.”

~Laini Taylor, award-winning fantasy author
 
“Instead of hating the people you think are war-makers, hate the appetites and disorder in your own soul, which are the causes of war. If you love peace, then hate injustice, hate tyranny, hate greed – but hate these things in yourself, not in another.”

~Thomas Merton (1915-1968), Trappist monk and writer
 
“The theologian who has no joy in his work is not a theologian at all. Sulky faces, morose thoughts and boring ways of speaking are intolerable in this science.”
 
“Loving us, God does not give us something, but Himself; and giving us Himself, giving us His Son, He gives us everything.”

~Karl Barth (1886-1968), Swiss Theologian in Church Dogmatics
 
“The Trinity is not some inessential add-on to God, some optional software that can be plugged into him. At bottom, this God is different, for at bottom, He is not creator, ruler, or even ‘God’ in some abstract sense: He is the Father, loving and giving life and love to his Son in the joy of the Spirit. A God who is in himself love, who before all things could ‘never be anything but love.’ Having such a God happily changes everything.”

~Michael Reeves, Delighting in the Trinity
 
“From harmony, from Heav’nly harmony
This universal frame began…”

~John Dryden (1631-1700), England’s first Poet Laureate
 
“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.”

~Augustine of Hippo (354-430), Confessions
 
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

~Jesus in John 14:17 (ESV)

SERMON PASSAGE

Galatians 5:19-26 (ESV)

Galatians 5

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
 
John 16 [Jesus speaking]

33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.
 
Romans 5

1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
 
Romans 8

5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot.
 
Romans 14

17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good, be good for something.”

~Henry David Thoreau
 
“Piglet was so excited at the idea of being Useful that he forgot to be frightened any more, and when Rabbit went on to say that Kangas were only Fierce during the winter months, being at other times of an Affectionate Disposition, he could hardly sit still, he was so eager to begin being useful at once.”

~A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
 
“The Lord has made me drink
The cup of his severity
That he might kindly show to me
What I would be when only he
Remains in my calamity.
Unkindly he has kindly shown
That he was not my hope alone.”

~“The Misery of Job and the Mercy of God” by John Piper

SERMON PASSAGE

Proverbs 19:17, Romans 2:4-5, Titus 3:1-8, Luke 10:29-37 (NASB)

Proverbs 19

17 One who is gracious to a poor person
  lends to the Lord,
   And He will repay him for his good deed.
 
Romans 2

4 Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and restraint and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God…
 
Titus 3

1 Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, 2 to slander no one, not to be contentious, to be gentle, showing every consideration for all people. 3 For we too were once foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. 4 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we did in righteousness, but in accordance with His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He richly poured out upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This statement is trustworthy; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and beneficial for people.
 
Luke 10

29 But wanting to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

30 Jesus replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he encountered robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him half dead. 31 And by coincidence a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan who was on a journey came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt compassion, 34 and came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 On the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I return, I will repay you.’ 36 Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The one who showed compassion to him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“When a society rejects the Christian account of who we are, it doesn’t become less moralistic but far more so, because it retains an inchoate sense of justice but has no means of offering and receiving forgiveness. The great moral crisis of our time is not, as many of my fellow Christians believe, sexual licentiousness, but rather vindictiveness. Social media serve as crack for moralists: there’s no high like the high you get from punishing malefactors. But like every addiction, this one suffers from the inexorable law of diminishing returns.”

~Alan Jacobs, scholar and literary critic
 
“To get the full value of joy, you must have someone to divide it with.”

~Mark Twain (1835-1910), writer and humorist
 
“Happiness quite unshared can scarcely be called happiness; it has no taste.”

~Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), English novelist and poet
 
“Happiness is only real when shared.”

~Jon Krakauer, writer and mountaineer
 
“Envy blinds men and makes it impossible for them to think clearly.”

~Malcolm X (1925-1965), Muslim minister and activist
 
“As a moth gnaws a garment, so doth envy consume a [person].”

~John Chrysostom (c. 347-407), church leader and preacher
 
“Comparison is the thief of joy.”

~Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th president of the United States
 
“Since the love which binds the Trinity together is the same love which binds the church to the Son and the saints to each other, we can rightly conclude that the structure of relationship which constitutes the glory of God or God’s internal fullness is the same structure which constitutes the reality of the church…. The re-presentation of the societal and relational structure of God’s Trinitarian life in the community of the saints, is, in a manner of speaking, the visibility of the God in the world.”

~Krister Sairsingh, university professor, in his Harvard doctoral dissertation, “Jonathan Edwards and the Idea of the Divine Glory: His Foundational Trinitarianism and its Ecclesial Import”

SERMON PASSAGE

Galatians 5:13-15, 22-23 (ESV)

Galatians 5

13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another….

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Matthew 3

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. 16 And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; 17 and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
 
Isaiah 42

1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
 my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
 have put my Spirit upon him;
 he will bring forth justice to the nations.

John 15

9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.

Philippians 4

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION
 
“[Self control is] control over one’s behavior and the impulses and emotions beneath it.” 

~Philip Towner
 
“Self-control is...not the same as self-dependence, in which we rely on personal will power to control ourselves. Instead, self-control is a gift of the Holy Spirit, given through faith in Jesus Christ... Self-control is a strategic countermeasure to the insatiable cravings of sin.”

~Edward Welch
 
“Our minds are mental greenhouses where unlawful thoughts, once planted, are nurtured and watered before being transplanted into the real world of unlawful actions... These actions are savored in the mind long before they are enjoyed in reality. The thought life, then, is our first line of defense in the battle of self-control.”

~Jerry Bridges
 
“People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.”

~D.A. Carson

SERMON PASSAGE

selected passages (ESV)

Galatians 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
 
Proverbs 25

26 Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain
  is a righteous man who gives way
  before the wicked.
27 It is not good to eat much honey,
nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.
28 A man without self-control
  is like a city broken into and left without walls.
 
1 Corinthians 9

23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.
24 Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25 Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 26 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. 27 But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

QUOTES FOR REFLECTION

“PATIENCE and I have traveled hand in hand
So many days that I have grown to trace
The lines of sad, sweet beauty in her face,
And all its veiled depths to understand.
 
Not beautiful is she to eyes profane;
Silent and unrevealed her holy charms;
But, like a mother’s, her serene, strong arms
Uphold my footsteps on the path of pain.
 
I long to cry, – her soft voice whispers, ‘Nay!’
I seek to fly, but she restrains my feet;
In wisdom stern, yet in compassion sweet,
She guides my helpless wanderings, day by day.
 
O my Beloved, life’s golden visions fade,
And one by one life’s phantom joys depart;
They leave a sudden darkness in the heart,
And patience fills their empty place instead.”

~Edith Wharton (1862-1937), first woman to win Pulitzer Prize
 
“The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.”

~Elie Wiesel (1928-2016), Holocaust survivor and Nobel Laureate
 
“What I long for is a love big enough to be disturbed by what people are doing, and strong enough and patient enough to carry them to the place where Christ wants them to be!”

~C. John Miller (1928-1996), Pastor and Missionary

SERMON PASSAGE

2 Peter 3:8-15 (ESV)

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him…