Hanging of the Green

Hanging of the Green

On Saturday, November 26th at 10:00 a.m., we will gather for the Hanging of the Greens - decorating the church for the coming Advent and Christmas seasons, including the Advent wreath and the church Christmas tree.

The Christmas tree is deeply rooted in Christian tradition, going back at least to the story of St. Boniface, an 8th century missionary to modern-day Germany, a region controlled by Norsemen who brought their religion with them.  They worshiped many gods, Thor being the chief of them and they consecrated a gigantic oak tree in Thor’s honor at the top of Mt. Gudenberg. They would gather around the tree for feasts, idol worship, and animal sacrifices.

St. Boniface, in the company of these pagans, chopped down the tree. Angry at first, the response of the Norsemen turned to repentance – if Thor could not defend his own holy place, what good was he?

Boniface then used that tree as an object lesson to tell them of a tree that actually does save, not because the tree was magic, but because on that tree, Jesus Christ died for the sins of men. That tree, Boniface said, is an evergreen, an eternal tree.  Many Norsemen were converted to Christ and it was there that they began the practice of decorating evergreen trees (even in their homes) in celebration of the Savior's birth.  Increasingly, the tree became a focal point in the home and gifts were laid under it, not in honor of the tree, but in honor of the Savior who died on the tree. It is His birth that we celebrate during Advent and it was for our sins that He died on the tree, the cross.

When: Saturday, November 26th at 10:00 a.m.

Vespers & Bible Study for November

Vespers & Bible Study for November

On Wednesday, November 2nd, we will continue the series, "Saints & Sinners: Stories from Church History", with a study of Constantine the Great - an important, but controversial figure in Church history.

We learn from the heroes of the faith, of course (Hebrews 11), but we also learn from the sins and mistakes of those gone before us, whether in Scripture itself or in the history of the Church (1st Corinthians 10:6-13).  But, history also teaches us that some figures defy such black and white approaches.  Constantine the Great was certainly a Christian, but his actions as emperor leave us with many questions.

- What is the relationship between Church and State?
- Should political leaders impose explicitly religious laws?
- And many more!

Join us as we explore the life of Constantine, along with the questions his life leaves us to consider.

Where: Holy Trinity Reformed Church (3747 Trinity Church Road, Concord, NC)
When: 6:00 pm (dinner) & 6:45 pm (Vespers & Bible Study)

Men's Prayer Breakfast: October Edition!

Men's Prayer Breakfast: October Edition!

C. S. Lewis argues that it takes a community of people to get to know an individual person. Reflecting on his own friendships, he observed that some aspects of one of his friend’s personality were brought out only through interaction with a second friend. That meant if he lost the second friend, he lost the part of his first friend that was otherwise invisible. “By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets." If it takes a community to know an ordinary human being, how much more necessary would it be to get to know Jesus alongside others? By praying with friends, you will be able to hear and see facets of Jesus that you have not yet perceived.
- Tim Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe & Intimacy with God 

On Saturday, October 15th, we will host our first Men's Prayer Breakfast after our summer hiatus.  All men (and sons) are invited to attend!  We will cook together, eat, talk, and pray for one another. 


When:  Saturday, October 15th at 9:00 am


Where: Church Fellowship Hall (3747 Trinity Church Road)


If you need more information, feel free to contact us HERE!

Vespers & Bible Study for October: "Saints & Sinners" (Part Two)

Vespers & Bible Study for October: "Saints & Sinners" (Part Two)

On Wednesday, October 5th, we will pick up with the second part of our new series, "Saints & Sinners: Stories from Church History", with one of history's most notorious villains: Nero.

We learn from the heroes of the faith, of course (Hebrews 11), but we also learn from the sins and mistakes of those gone before us, whether in Scripture itself or in the history of the Church (1st Corinthians 10:6-13).  And, having first studied the life and martyrdom of Bishop Polycarp, we now move on to the life of Nero, a man whose actions greatly affected the first century Church.  

Where: Holy Trinity Reformed Church (3747 Trinity Church Road, Concord, NC)
When: 6:00 pm (dinner) & 6:45 pm (Vespers & Bible Study)

Nero - taking a break from fiddling and burning people

Nero - taking a break from fiddling and burning people

Saints & Sinners:  A New Wednesday Night Study

Saints & Sinners: A New Wednesday Night Study

Following our summer break, we are ready to launch back into our Wednesday night dinners and Vespers/Bible study.  As we start anew, we open a series entitled "Saints & Sinners: Stories from Church History."  

We learn from the heroes of the faith, of course (Hebrews 11), but we also learn from the sins and mistakes of those gone before us, whether in Scripture itself or in the history of the Church (1st Corinthians 10:6-13).  

We begin with some of the saints - the apostles (after the Ascension of Christ) and Polycarp.

Where: Holy Trinity Reformed Church (3747 Trinity Church Road, Concord, NC)
When: 6:00 pm (dinner) & 6:45 pm (Vespers & Bible Study)

You're Not Bothering God

You're Not Bothering God

The Exhortation given by Pastor Brian Phillips on Sunday, July 31st, 2016

“The only person who dares wake up a king at 3:00 a.m. for a glass of water is a child.  We have that kind of access.”
- Tim Keller

In today’s Gospel reading (Luke 11:1-13), we hear Luke’s accounting of Jesus teaching the Lord’s Prayer to the disciples.  But, after that, Jesus gives further instruction on prayer, telling them of a man who has a friend show up late at night, but he has nothing to feed his friend.  So, he goes to his neighbor, appealing to him for help – "Can you let me borrow a few loaves of bread to feed my friend?"

Jesus makes the point that even a neighbor who is not a close friend, or even a particularly nice guy, would help out in such a situation.  If for no other reason than wanting to be left alone, the neighbor would give him bread.  If for no other reason than the frustration of being awakened in the middle of the night (the "impudence" of it - v. 8), the neighbor would help.  

Then Jesus says:    

“And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.  What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (vv. 9-13).

These are shockingly plain statements from Jesus, yet we seem to miss them or gloss over them in practice.  Jesus simply says, if even that neighbor would rise late at night to help, how much more would your heavenly Father help you – His child whom He loves? 

If you as an earthly father, sinner and imperfect though you are, know how to give good gifts (and want to give good gifts) to your children, how much more does your heavenly Father want to bless you, hear you, and help you?

And notice that Jesus ends by saying, "how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"  Jesus did not say the Father will simply give good gifts, or that the Father would give us what we ask, but rather, the Father will give the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the Helper, the Comforter that never leaves.  He teaches us all things, brings the teachings of Christ to remembrance, gives us peace, and guides us into all truth (John 14:15-27, 16:7-15).  

In other words, God does not simply give good gifts or "stuff."  He gives us the Holy Spirit.  He gives us Himself.  If God would give us His Son, and give us His Spirit, then there is no need for which He does not care.

The exhortation here is so simple, yet so difficult - believe what Jesus says.  Whatever your need, take it to God in prayer.  Do not gloss over or excuse away the promises that Christ makes here.  Trust Him.  

Leave the Miracles to Jesus

Leave the Miracles to Jesus

From the exhortation delivered on Sunday, July 24th, 2016 by Pastor Brian Phillips

"Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman namedMartha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.' But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.'”

The Gospel reading for today recounts a familiar event in the life of Jesus.  In Bethany, Jesus enters the house of Mary, Martha, and their brother Lazarus.  And, as Jesus is teaching, the two sisters have very different reactions.  Mary sits at Jesus’ feet to listen, while Martha busies herself with preparations – serving Jesus and the disciples.  Finally, Martha has had enough and she says to Jesus, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.”

This is an astounding thing to say to the Son of God - “Do you not care?”  Yet, we all know our anxiety and worry can make us think and say all kinds of things, can’t it?  

But, Jesus does care, so He replies with compassion; not responding to Martha’s complaint directly, but getting to the heart of the problem: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

It was not that Jesus did not care.  It was not that He was ungrateful for Martha’s service.  The problem was, rather, that Martha had it backwards.  The desire to serve or labor, coming even from the best of intentions, can cause us to miss the “one thing needful.”  And, all of our work – even if done for Christ Himself – must be done from a state of rest and worship, not out of anxiety, worry, and harried frustration. 

This exhortation is certainly for all of us, but we have a number of stay-at-home moms and homeschooling moms in our congregation that need to take encouragement from this.  Jesus wants you to rest at his feet, not serve yourself ragged.  Jesus wants you to hear Him, not worry yourself to death about everything that could be done.  The list of what could be done, after all, is never-ending.  

Did you know that one of the (relatively) few events that all of the Gospels record is when Jesus took just a couple of fish and a few loaves of bread and fed thousands?  Give what you have, but leave the miracle to Jesus.  The miracle is His to do, not yours. 

Rest at His feet, then rise to serve Him in faith, knowing that He can multiply your service into whatever He needs it to be...with baskets left over.  

A Prayer after Orlando

In the wake of the tragedy in Orlando:

"Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is
hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where
there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to
be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is
in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we
are born to eternal life. Amen."

 

- Attributed to St. Francis (BCP)

Even That One?

Even That One?

The two "Great Commandments" in the heat of life. 

(The Exhortation from Pastor Phillips on May 29, 2016)

I have a habit of reading more than one book at a time.  Sometimes it takes me a while to get through a book because, frankly, I am just trying to get through it.  Other times it takes me a while because I don’t want it to end; my thoughts are too occupied with it, I am being changed and challenged by it. 

One such book was Wendell Berry’s book Jayber Crow, the story of a small town barber reflecting over his life, and I want to quote one of the many touching portions of the book:

“I have got to the age now where I can see how short a time we have to be here.  And when I think about it, it can seem strange beyond telling that this particular bunch of us should be here on this little patch of ground in this little patch of time, and I can think of the other times and places I might have lived, the other kinds of man I might have been.  But there is something else.  There are moments when the heart is generous, and then it knows that for better or worse our lives are woven together here, one with one another and with the place and all the living things.”

Have you ever wondered how in the world you ended up here, in this place, this time, with these people?  As you look back over time, it becomes clear that life is made up of small moments that can bring about big changes, with one thing leading to and causing another.  The comfort in all of that, is that our lives are not in the hands of random chance, but we are held securely in the providence of God. 

God has commanded us to love Him with our heart, soul, mind, and strength – and He knows the circumstances in which you have to do it.  He knows your struggles and your details, yet He still has commanded, “Love Me.”  God has commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves and, here’s the kicker: He gave you those neighbors.  Even that one?  Yes.  Even that one.  Let us confess our sins… 

Avoid the Ditches

Avoid the Ditches

For years, I have come back to the illustration of a road with ditches on both sides.  We are called to walk in faithful obedience, yet we spend far too much time in the ditches - going to extremes, living reactionary or excessive lives.  We walk too seldom on the road, spending far too much time in the ditches.  

Recently, I ran across a graphic that beautifully captures the same warning:

Not in Our Image

Not in Our Image

“God did not make this person as I would have made him. He did not give him to me as a brother for me to dominate and control, but in order that I might find above him the Creator. Now the other person, in the freedom with which he was created, becomes the occasion of joy, whereas before he was only a nuisance and an affliction. God does not will that I should fashion the other person according to the image that seems good to me, that is, in my own image; rather in his very freedom from me God made this person in His image. I can never know beforehand how God's image should appear in others. That image always manifests a completely new and unique form that comes solely from God's free and sovereign creation. To me the sight may seem strange, even ungodly. But God creates every man in the likeness of His Son, the Crucified. After all, even that image certainly looked strange and ungodly to me before I grasped it.”


― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Christian Community

Patterns, Types, & the Gospel of Matthew

Patterns, Types, & the Gospel of Matthew

Reprinted from The CiRCE Institute, with permission

by Brian Phillips

St. Matthew composed his gospel primarily for the Jews of his day.  In all likelihood, Matthew was a despised man.  He was a tax collector (Matt. 9:9), which garnered as much admiration then as now.  Both his Greek name (Matthew, which means “gift of Jehovah”) and his Hebrew name, Levi (Mark 2:13-14, Luke 5:27-28) rooted him in Jewish heritage.  Yet, there he was, a Jew working for the Roman government.

Thick hatred rears up in every account of Jesus’ call to Matthew.  For example, Matthew 9:9 says, “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, ‘Follow me.’  And he rose and followed him.”  Jesus then dines at Matthew’s house with “many tax collectors and sinners,” inviting the ire of the Pharisees, who ask, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”  The scene is repeated by both Mark (2:13-17) and Luke (5:27-32), beautifully answered each time by Jesus – “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”

Matthew answered that call, leaving all to follow Jesus, and eventually penning the first gospel which would serve to call his Jewish brethren to do the same.  I say that Matthew was the “first gospel,” intending both canonical order and chronology.  The strange, yet prevalent, idea that Matthew waited two to four decades after Christ’s Ascension (50-70 A.D.) to pen his gospel to the Jews has great problems even on the surface.  Matthew was literate (tax collectors had to be), and likely followed the established custom of taking careful notes while his rabbi taught, providing him with the framework for his gospel during the lifetime of Jesus.  Interestingly, the major discourses of Jesus do create the framework of Matthew’s gospel.  He also had the strong motivation of knowing that his audience had awaited the coming of the Messiah for centuries.  Why would he put off its composition a few more decades?

Convincing evidence exists showing that Matthew likely wrote an Aramaic or Hebrew version of his gospel before writing the Greek text that is often assigned the late dating mentioned above.

Eusebius cites Papias, the bishop of Hieropolis (c. 130 A.D.), as saying, “Matthew compiled the sayings in the Aramaic language, and everyone translated them as well as he could.”  Around 180 A.D., Irenaeus of Lyons wrote:

“Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome and laying the foundation of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon his breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.”

Eusebius also cites Origen (c. 250 A.D.) as writing, “Among the four Gospels, which are the only indisputable ones in the Church of God under heaven, I have learned by tradition that the first was written by Matthew, who was once a publican, but afterwards an apostle of Jesus Christ, and it was prepared for the converts from Judaism and published in the Hebrew language.”

Matthew assumed his audience would be quite familiar with Jewish customs, taking no time to explain his references to hand-washing traditions (15:1-9) and phylacteries (23:5), as Mark did when writing to the Gentiles (compare Matthew’s treatment with Mark 7:1-13).

But the Jewish feel of Matthew’s gospel goes far beyond references to customs or the original language of its composition.  It even extends beyond his roughly five dozen Old Testament quotations.  The gospel of Matthew is the Old Testament retold, loudly and beautifully proclaiming that Christ is all.  The whole story of the people of God is told in Christ, it is fulfilled in Christ.

This powerful message resounds from the beginning to the end of the book, indeed, in the beginning and end of the book.  Matthew begins his work with the words, “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”  The first phrase, “the book of the genealogy” or “the book of generations” is the Greek phrase "biblos geneseos" and it literally means “book of beginning” or “book of genesis.”  Matthew is writing a new Genesis or a book of the new creation, and it begins with Jesus, the “firstborn” of this new creation (Romans 8:29, Colossians 1:15-18, Revelation 1:5).

Matthew concludes his gospel in a manner more surprising, telling of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, of His appearance to the disciples, and ending with the Great Commission in 28:18-20: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

In this familiar passage, Jesus declares His authority and commands His disciples to go.  Now, Matthew’s audience, being predominantly Jewish, would have caught something that is lost on the modern reader.  The Hebrew Bible ends, not with Malachi but with 2nd Chronicles (remembering that Matthew first wrote his gospel in Hebrew or Aramaic, not Greek, thus following the order or the Hebrew text not the Septuagint).  This means that the final words of their Scriptures are found in 2nd Chronicles 36:23, a proclamation from Cyrus, the Persian emperor – “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may the Lord his God be with him. Let him go up.’”

Notice the great similarity between the Great Commission from Jesus and Cyrus’s proclamation – declaration of authority, the charge to go, the building of God’s house (or kingdom), and the promise that God’s presence would be with them.

Matthew begins and ends his gospel with the beginning and ending of the whole Old Testament, tying all of it together in the person of Christ, who is the beginning and the end, the fulfillment of all things promised by God.  He is the new Genesis, the new Creation, and even the new Cyrus, only greater, as His authority extends over all of earth and heaven.

More Food for Thought:

  • What other types and patterns can be found in Matthew’s Gospel?  What does the presence of such types and patterns teach us about reading the Bible (and other works as well)?
  • How can the realization that Scripture uses such rich patterns and types (mimetic teaching, if you will) affect our own teaching – at home, school, and church?

Next time: More on Matthew’s use of patterns and types throughout his gospel

Men's Prayer Breakfast: April Edition!

Men's Prayer Breakfast: April Edition!

C. S. Lewis argues that it takes a community of people to get to know an individual person. Reflecting on his own friendships, he observed that some aspects of one of his friend’s personality were brought out only through interaction with a second friend. That meant if he lost the second friend, he lost the part of his first friend that was otherwise invisible. “By myself I am not large enough to call the whole man into activity; I want other lights than my own to show all his facets." If it takes a community to know an ordinary human being, how much more necessary would it be to get to know Jesus alongside others? By praying with friends, you will be able to hear and see facets of Jesus that you have not yet perceived.
- Tim Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe & Intimacy with God 

On Saturday, April 23rd, we will host our April Men's Prayer Breakfast and all men (and sons) are invited to attend!  We will cook together, eat, talk, and pray for one another. 


When:  Saturday, April 23rd at 9:00 am


Where: Church Fellowship Hall (3747 Trinity Church Road)


If you need more information, feel free to contact us HERE!

The Danger of Boredom

The Danger of Boredom

Originally written for and posted by The CiRCE Institute.  Reposted with permission.

by Brian Phillips

Robert Farrar Capon's "cookbook" The Supper of the Lamb rested on my "to read" list for an embarrassingly long time.  Embarrassing because, now that I have begun reading it, I feel foolish for having not begun it years ago.  

The Episcopalian priest/chef combines recipes, cooking insights, and beautiful pastoral wisdom into one work that defies big box bookstore categories (the very mention of which dates me, I know).  

As I read through, I will pass along thoughts and passages that refuse to leave me in peace.  Here's one from the opening pages:

Amateur and nonprofessional are not synonyms.  The world may or may not need another cookbook, but it needs all the lovers - amateurs - it can get.  It is a gorgeous old place, full of clownish graces and beautiful drolleries, and it has enough textures, tastes, and smells to keep us intrigued for more time than we have.  Unfortunately, however, our response to its loveliness is not always delight: It is, far more often than it should be, boredom.  And that is not only odd, it is tragic; for boredom is not neutral - it is the fertilizing principle of unloveliness.  

A bored person views the world around him as unworthy of attention.  Nothing to see here.  Nothing to do here.  But, rather than seeing boredom as "the fertilizing principle of unloveliness," we often think of it as relatively innocent.  In fact, we think of it as a state of being.  

But, as Capon asserts, boredom is not neutral.  Boredom is rooted in ingratitude which, according to St. Paul, is fertile ground for all manner of trouble (see Romans 1:21 and following).  We would certainly do well to walk through this "gorgeous old place" with its "clownish graces and beautiful drolleries" with a bit more attentiveness. 

God Remembers

God Remembers

The Exhortation from Sunday, April 10th, 2016

Recently, in the children’s catechism class, we reviewed the story of the Flood, Noah, and the ark.  And, in the course of reviewing that story with them, I reread those chapters in Genesis and, in doing so, noticed something that should have been clear before.  Hear Genesis 9:12-16:

And God said, "This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

Whenever the story of Noah’s ark is told and we get to the rainbow – the sign of God’s covenant with man – we typically say that God sent the rainbow to remind us of the Flood, and of His promise not to destroy the world and man with a flood again, right?  But, the Scriptures actually say, “When the bow is in the clouds, (GOD) will see it and remember the everlasting covenant…”

God remembers His covenant with us.  We are in God’s memory.  He does not forget us, nor the covenant that He has made with man. Throughout the Scriptures, God commands His people to remember, and His people fail to do so.  We forget who we are, we forget who God is, we forget His commandments, His promises, and His goodness.  But, God does not.  And, truly, that is all the difference in the world.

When we kneel to confess our sins each week (every day, hopefully), we are acknowledging that we have forgotten God and His commandments, forgotten who we are as His people.  But, when we kneel to confess our sins, we are also acknowledging that God has not forgotten us. 

If God’s covenant and promises were dependent upon our remembering, then we would be without hope.  But, God’s memory is perfect and He remembers His people.

Good Friday Service

Good Friday Service

Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
- Book of Common Prayer, Collect for Good Friday

Join us as we remember the crucifixion of Christ our Lord.

When: Friday, March 25th at 5:30 p.m.

Where: Holy Trinity Reformed Church
             3747 Trinity Church Road
             Concord, NC

 

 

Spring Forward!

Spring Forward!

It's that time again - time to change the clocks ahead and, sadly, "lose" an hour of sleep!  Of course, we also "gain" an hour of daylight...somehow.

So, don't forget to move your clocks ahead tonight before bed, so you won't be late for church.  No one likes walking into the middle of a sermon.