A Message from Pastor Dave... |
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9/30/05 The Trinity and Church Attendance Beloved, Leaving aside the very rare legitimate and qualified absences from the Lord's Day and our mid-week studies, some repentance is in order. In other words the excuses we often make for skipping church and not involving ourselves in the mid-week studies are sinful and selfish most of the time. I have tried many pastoral persuasions to get us to mature in this area and some are still not getting it. So I try a different approach. In the life of our Triune God there is an eternal and mutual submission, sacrifice, self-giving, and pursuing the glory and good of the other Persons. In other words what the Father does, He does for the Son and the Spirit. What the Son does, He does for the Father and the Spirit. And what the Spirit does, He does for the Father and the Son. When we wrongly break the Sabbath or refuse to go out of ourselves in the mid-week, the reason is simple... because we want to or don't want to. The point of reference for the decision is our feelings, wants, and so forth. This is not God's way. When we are sinfully absent it has an effect on others. Others who are in attendance miss out on your fellowship and participation. Your absence often times is a distraction for others. It is also very discouraging to the preacher or teacher who has labored (in every sense of the word) to provide you with the Word. It is very disrespectful to them and their work. However we never consider this. In other words we never consider others we simply consider ourselves. And considering ourselves this way is what children do, not adults. If we ware going to image and enact God's Triune life we have to consider that sacrifice is a God-ordained way of making decisions. If it costs, then it is like God. I hope that we can see a more Trinitarian ordered attendance in our church in the future. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library 9/30/05 A Trinitarian Thought Beloved, The Father sends the Son by the Spirit in the incarnation. The Father gives the Spirit to the Son to send at Pentecost. The sent Spirit brings us to the Son who brings us to the Father. The Son commissions us in the power of the Spirit to bring new sons and daughters to the Father by baptism into the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. All of this so that the Father has sons and daughters, the Son a bride and the Spirit a temple. The mission of the Trinity is the mission of the Church. The fellowship of the Trinity is the goal of the Church. Happy days, Pastor David Cranmer Library 7/28/05 Changes for the Better! Beloved, In the twelve years of GRC, I can say that there is one thing that I have learned that stands out above all others. I can also say that there is one area where we have and can make a contribution to the reformed world. The most important thing I have learned is God's own Triune Life. All of the stuff we have learned in connection with the Trinity is the greatest of all for me. The one area where I think we have and can contribute is in our theology and practice of the Lord's Table. So some food for thought. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library 7/27/05 Twelve Before Men Beloved, In the past twelve years there have been a handful of men whom the Lord has used to shape my life. The fact that I do not measure up as I should is no reflection on them, it is simply sinful me. However, to the degree that there has been some theological growth and sanctification these dudes are why. I am going to keep it Trinitarian so it is coming in threes. There could be more but I am confining myself.In the past twelve years there have been a handful of men whom the Lord has used to shape my life. The fact that I do not measure up as I should is no reflection on them, it is simply sinful me. However, to the degree that there has been some theological growth and sanctification these dudes are why. I am going to keep it Trinitarian so it is coming in threes. There could be more but I am confining myself. Dead guys: St. Augustine John Calvin C.S. Lewis Alive guys theologically: R.C. Sproul Douglas Wilson Peter Leithart Alive guys personally: My father John Ford Ervin Martin If there be any good in me, these fellas are the reason why. Thanks be to the Lord. Pastor David 7/27/05 12 Year Reformation Beloved, As you all know I love quotes from dead guys. These words from the past have a shaping and powerful influence as we bring them forward into our time. The following quotation from Caspar Wistar Hodge (one of the old Princeton greats) is my favorite quotation of all time. The only other quotation that comes close for me is Chesterton's: "anything worth doing is worth doing badly". This favorite of mine is also somewhat autobiographical in terms of my own personal theological reformation through the years. This quotation I hope is also a reflection of our own church. This one is for the refrigerator and the memory. Here it goes: The majestic testimony of the Church in all time have always been toward and not away from the Bible, and in proportion to the reverence for, and power of realizing in practical life, the revealed Word. My Prayer is that this will be the story and the legacy of Grace Reformed Church. My hope is that it has been so far. Thanks for joining the adventure. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library 7/26/05 Twelve Years Beloved, Twelve years of Grace Reformed Church. Wow! The only thing to say I believe is that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have been faithful to us. We have stumbled in many ways, our Triune God has not. We have been weak, our God has been strong. His covenant faithfulness is the ground and goal of our feeble faithfulness. And also of course there have been good works galore by the saints. You, the people of God at GRC have been offering your good works in history by the Spirit to the Father through the Son for these twelve years. These are the works that God has prepared before hand that you should walk in them. The Spirit has taken up Word, water, bread and wine and has made the many into one. This He has done with us and it is marvelous in our eyes. So from me to you in the presence of our God, thanks for your faithfulness as a congregation throughout these twelve years. Thanks to Pastor John and Pastor Ervin for tireless, faithful and sacrificial service in the Lord's vineyard and among His flock. Thanks to Chris for his patience and faithfulness as the Potter is at work. Thanks to John D., Jon E., James E., and Dave B. for their continuing love for and faithfulness to Christ's Church. Thanks to Diane Erickson for simply doing everything and doing it with excellence. Thanks to you all. What a blessed family you are. What a blessed family we have. May God be pleased to continue His faithful leading of us in all things biblical and reformed. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Forever Grateful in the Cranmer Library 7/21/05 Covenant Renewal Worship Beloved, Sometimes we need a reminder. Sometimes we need a slap in the face. Sometimes we need a slap in the face reminder. Sometimes we need to be reminded more than once. Sometimes we deceive ourselves into thinking that a specific sin is justified in our case because we know so. Sometimes we warmly move in certain sins because we are around others who swim comfortably in the same sin. Certain sins also stand out more in smaller churches. Assumptions of ignorance are also easily bantered in small churches. What I am talking about here is gossip. Gossip is easy. Gossip is easily justifiable. Gossip is easy in a small church. Gossip is sin. Gossip is a cancer that begins by eating others and then ends up eating the gossiper. God hates gossip and so should we. The Scriptures are clear that certain groups in the church have a greater propensity towards this sin than others. This would be women who have too much time on their hands. All of us need to take a gander at our mouths. Men, women and children all have mouth issues. We often ought to remember that our opinion on something might not matter. If it does matter it will matter in the right context. If it matters it might be because it is asked for. I ask for peoples' opinions and convictions on things all the time. Let's just remember the importance of the proper use of our mouths to the glory of God. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library 7/5/05 Covenant Renewal Worship Beloved, I will be preaching this Lord's Day and beginning a summer series on 'The Covenant'. This series will comprise my eight or so sermons left this summer before we get back in the fall to the series on the identity of Grace Reformed Church. This series on the covenant will necessarily feed right into the fall series. This will be one of the most important series I have ever studied or preached before. There is an enormous amount of confusion regarding the covenant in our day. Yet the covenant is our very life. There has never been a consensus among the Reformed on the covenant even though it is the very life of God, creation, fall, redemption, and new creation. I do not expect to be the man who fixes all the confusion and gives the Reformed world a consensus, but I intend to proclaim the Scriptures to the utmost of my ability as I interact with the past and present expositions of the covenant. It is amazing in the seven hours that I studied this today just how much diversity there is in the Reformed world on all this. Yet we have people dividing like crazy over this in the church because so and so will not agree with every jot and tittle of mr.-know-it-all. It is absolutely ridiculous some of what is going on. And because we are in the midst of some of this controversy, I am heading back to the Scriptures to sort out my own thinking and in the process preach the results to you all as a part of our corporate sanctification and maturity. Hope you look forward to it and come ready to receive it. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library 6/30/05 Because Our Children Are Listening Beloved, As I prepare to leave for the family reunion and have a little time I thought that I would drop you a thought. One of the great battles that we are fighting today (and have for some time) is the fallout of individualism. I say fallout because the center here cannot hold. The devastating effects are all around us in the divorce rates and rebellious children just to highlight two of a plethora. This all began in the church with the marginalization of our God as Triune and the abandonment of covenant theology. So the recovery must not begin 'out there' but 'in here'. However it is going to be a very difficult and long process of recovery. So many of our presuppositions and habits are unconsciously shaped by forms of individualism so that we live comfortably in them. And then when someone comes along with a robust Trinitarian and covenantal faith we almost think that it is another religion altogether. In one sense it is another religion altogether, it just happens to be the right one. The individualistic one we inherited is the false one. And it is ever so hard to thrust off that which we have inherited from our immediate fathers in the faith. What we have to remember is that even though we are throwing off some of the heritage of our immediate fathers; we are actually returning to the true faith of their and our fathers who speak from the grave. As I have been recently confronted by individualism on fire in various theological disputes I have gone back to the Scriptures and to our reformed and puritan fathers to see if these things are so. There we do not have the individualism of our day but rather covenant communities. In the half-way covenant we see the fracture and the future individualism breaking in. But it did take some time before every man saw everything in terms of himself. I hope and pray as our preaching and teaching continues to tackle these things that God will grant us reformation. I am so tired of hearing people justify doing things because they want to. Pastor John's sermon this Lord's Day will help us to this end in the area of Christian liberty and its exercise. Well, gotta go. We will certainly miss you all. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library 3/22/05 Because Our Children Are Listening Beloved, Though nobody has listened to the Church for many years now. Though nobody in the culture looks to the Church for authoritative answers as they once did and will do again in the future. Our covenant children are listening. And as they listen they are shaped for the future. They are our future and the future of our Church and country. What are they hearing? Are they hearing the same stuff they can hear on The O'reilly Factor or Hannity & Colmes? Or are they hearing the Word of God Almighty, King of heaven and earth. All the politicking gets us nowhere. It simply reveals where we are. The only thing that slays, that kills, that regenerates and resurrects is the living and abiding Word of God. So, let us be careful to speak of our children in the way the Bible does. Let us be careful to speak to our children the perfect Law of the Lord. Let us be careful to speak of all things going on in submission to the Word in the presence of our children. In other words, our children should have a Scripture saturated life of blessing provided by the normal way their Father and Mother go about life. This should not be the exception, it must be the rule. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library at Calvin Culdesac 3/18/05 Because I Have To! Beloved, Every once in a while something comes along that you just must do! This email is one of those. I believe that besides worship, wives and wee ones the most important thing we can do is read. Read, read, read. God gave us a book to read and to hear. However, we must also read good books. The two following book suggestions that I am going to give you are the cream of the crop that I have read in the past two years. Of the top ten for me of the past two years, these are the top of the list. There is no way that I could make a higher recommendation than that these are books worth re-reading for years to come. I heartily and robustly recommend the purchase and reading of these books. >The Crown and Covenant Series by Douglas Bond. Published by Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing. There are three books available in the series: Duncan's War, King's Arrow and Rebel's Keep. These are historical fiction at its best. These stories follow the M'Kethe family through the killing times in Scotland for Covenanters. These books are covenant lived and Sabbath sanctification at its best. Buy these, read them. Read them to your children. You can actually buy all three books right now in a package deal for around $20.00 and this includes shipping. A fourth volume is in the works. >Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places by Eugene Peterson is a Tour de Force of Trinitarian, incarnational, sacramental and covenantal living. This book takes up the best of what we have learned at GRC over the past two years and seasons it with the poetic and pastoral in a way that I could only dream of. Right now, if I only had my Bible and this book, I could preach and live well before God for a decade without going anywhere else. Pastor Ervin who is also reading this book could vouch for this as well. This is a must read. It is published by Eerdmans and is in hardback. It can be purchased almost anywhere online and even locally (though it is much more expensive locally). Eugene Peterson is an older, seasoned, godly Presbyterian Pastor who brings the fragrance and sweetness of Christ into everything. Read this book. Hopeful you will read, Pastor David Hopeful you will buy these books! 3/2/05 Sola et Tota Scriptura Beloved, Bring your Bible this Lord's Day because I intend to preach from the Bible. Our confession is: Sola et Tota Scriptura (Only and All the Bible). We have a tendency to confess this and then get angry at it when it confronts us and requires us to change what we believe and what we do. We must never ever be ashamed of God and His Word. We must never think that God was mistaken somehow in giving us what He gave us in His Word. It is this Word that creates, shapes, and defines reality (and not any other word). What God thinks is important is what we should think is important. God's way of saying things should shape and mold our way of believing and doing (not the other way around). We should never be afraid of God's Word. We should be afraid of our prejudices that keep us from reforming under the Word. As a Pastor in this Church it is my ordination oath to preach only the Bible (rightly understood) and all of the Bible (rightly interpreted). I (and the elders and Chris) work very hard at this and pray that you will continue to join us on this journey of reformation that is Grace Reformed Church. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Back to the Texts! 3/1/05 Prayers and Patience Beloved, I would appreciate your prayers and patience regarding the next two sermons in our Genesis series. Prayers because the preacher is only as effective as those prayers that ascend for him. Patience because I am working on two sermons at the same time. I am doing this because there is some very difficult exegesis in the book of Revelation that may take a bit longer than I anticipated (ya think, that's such an easy book). I am continuing to work on part II of the 'Dragon Slayer' sermon along with another. If I am not convinced that I am ready to deal adequately with the 'Dragon' passages in the Gospels and the Revelation then I will give myself another week of study and preach the other sermon I am working on. If I sense an adequate exegesis that my conscience can live with regarding the difficult passages for the 'Dragon' sermon, then I will finish that one first. (By the way, I view it as a sign of pastoral wisdom to admit the need for more study rather than to potentially mis-represent something that needs more time to gel.) All in all we will finish both of the sermons in the next two weeks. Then we will focus the next two sermons on the death and resurrection of Christ as we head towards 'Resurrection Lord's Day'. Following this in April Pastor John will take his turn in the pulpit. Hope all of that was worth your read. If not, well, it was worth my typing so that I can now get back to my studies with a sense of liberty. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library at Calvin Culdesac 3/1/05 What is the covenant? Beloved, I am often asked the question: What is the covenant? What we are looking for in that question is a definition. Even though I will give you a definition, that fact that this is what we are looking for poses a problem. Our question is posed with modern assumptions of scientific definitions in mind. This narrows our answer and our understanding of covenant greatly. Biblically the covenant is robust, symbolic, dynamic and a bit wild. It is an adventurous relationship with the Triune Creator and Redeemer. However, since we would have catechism answers to our questions... here it is. What is the Covenant? God's covenant is the bond of union, communion, self-giving love, and humble receptivity between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, into which God sovereignly and graciously brings Christians and their children through Jesus Christ, so that they can live with Him and enjoy mutual love and faithfulness forever. Eternally glad, Pastor David Cranmer Library at Calvin Culdesac 2/17/05 A Sermon Note Beloved, Here are some pastoral thoughts to help you hear the sermons on Genesis faithfully. In these sermons we are repeating some themes that have arisen in previous sermons. That should not in any way lead us to believe that this material is old hat or is simply re-hashed. My studies are not based on previous notes or sermons in any way but on fresh exegesis. Also, we are developing this material at a greater depth than we ever have before. Lord willing, this material is being delivered in a more mature, broad and deep manner than the skimming of it before. In addition to all this we are blessed to have many new people in our covenant community. These sermons allow them to be brought to where we are in the journey, and allow for you to mature in it. However, even though we are maturing here, these sermons are by no means comprehensive. To do this would require series upon series and I do not think that this would be pastorally wise. So, I am pastorally and self-consciously trying to steer a path that is more comprehensive and deeper than before but is not thoroughly comprehensive. I hope this helps. This Lord's Day the sermon will follow the Biblical story from Genesis 3 on 'The Dragon Slayer'. Lord bless. It's wet down here in the river. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library at Calvin Culdesac 1/31/05 Listen to the Bible Beloved, As I prepare to leave for L.A., I offer some reflections on the last five Lord's Days we have had together. It is clear from the Covenant Renewal sermons and the evening studies that we are participating in the maturity that the Holy Spirit accomplishes in the covenant community. We seem to have overcome some hurdles and obstacles by God's grace and are finally beginning to read, study, preach and learn the Bible from within the Bible's own story. We are beginning to see things differently/rightly and the Bible is shaping us in a particular way that I have been praying for some time. However, to whom much is given much is required. What is preached and taught at Church must be re-taught, lived and loved organically at home, in the world and with one-another. This is the responsibility of the heads of households. All that we are learning has its potential centering in on and out of the head of the home. The Romans 6 and Genesis material has the potential to see us grow in many ways. It must be lived faithfully. We are beginning to see this. Let us be glad. Let us be humble. Let us continue to move forward. Lord bless us all on this pilgrimage together. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library at Calvin Culdesac 1/28/05 Listen to the Bible Beloved, My mind has been riveted on St. Paul's closing words to his son in the faith Timothy: "For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy4:6-7". Though the time of all our departures is in the hands of our Triune God; the fight, the race and the faith are our covenant duty now. We are called to fight the good fight now so that at the end we can say with Paul that we were faithful. We are called to run the race with endurance now so that we can say at the end that we have finished the race. We are to keep faith now so that at the end we can say with St. Paul that we by grace have been faithful to the covenant. So, we must all look at our lives and ask whether we have so ordered them so that this faithfulness is even possible. We must look at how we have ordered our lives to see if these are even important. There will be shame for many covenant people on the Last Day. What is the thermometer to determine all this you say? The fight of faith is fought as the Church in the Church with the Church. The race is a team race where God's covenant people together encourage and help one-another along the way. The faith is a publicly confessed faith that we live together in community. So, all of this is Christ/Church centered. If I am to be pastorally frank, many of the homes in our Church need to repent. We need to re-examine whether or not our priorities fit and are submitted to the Scriptures. Based on the attendance at the Church life gatherings lately(Mid-week, Sunday School, Worship, Sunday Evening, a mere 5 1/2 hours of a 168 hour week), I would say many of us have our priorities elsewhere. I am praying that this changes. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Hoping to see you all a lot more. 1/27/05 Listen to the Bible Beloved, This has been a rough week for me physically, spiritually and mentally. In the midst of times like this the final resurrection of the body becomes ever more precious of a hope. And yet I am reminded of what the Apostle Paul said when he had set the resurrection hope before the Corinthian congregation: "Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain" 1 Corinthians 15:58. So to consider the resurrection drives us back to work in the world God is redeeming. To meditate on the resurrection is to be pushed forward to greater labor. This labor 'in the Lord' is not in vain even if it looks a little weak at the time. The reason it is not in vain is because Jesus has risen and therefore we work in and for the new creation. So, even when we seem to hit the wall, always abounding in the work of the Lord is our covenant duty. So, here then I must go and return to my covenant privilege: preparing the sermon/meal for you this Lord's Day. May the Lord make His Face to shine upon you today. Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Hoping for some lunch soon. 1/13/05 Listen to the Bible Beloved, In my studies of Romans 6 the Lord has been kind to grant me small pockets of uninterrupted study time. In this time I have sought to actually listen to what St. Paul is saying. I often fear that much of the time that we read the Bible we are telling it what it means (or because of prejudice 'must mean'), rather than listening to the text. I know this is the case with preaching! The people of God often spend more time talking back to the preacher (in their minds) or telling him what the text means (in their minds while they are listening to the sermon) based on their 30 seconds of thought. No. No. No. The text and the sermon must be humbly listened to. The text governs and shapes us, we do not govern and shape it. The text conforms us to Christ's image, we do not conform the text to our own. All this has been made abundantly clear to me as I have been studying Romans 6. I have sought to listen closely and faithfully to the actual text itself in context. The fruit of this has been a couple of the most enjoyable sermons I have ever preached. Well, gotta go, I've got some listening to do. Beloved, Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Hoping to get a pipe in today! 1/12/05 Get Yor Children Ready Beloved, This Lord's Day in Covenant Renewal Worship our Creedal Confession is going to be question #1 of the Heidelberg Catechism. Normally we confess either the Nicene or Apostles' Creed. This will change things up a wee bit. However, since I know that many of your children who cannot yet read have these creeds partially memorized; I send this to you ahead of time so that maybe you can help them memorize it before the Lord's Day so that they may participate faithfully. (How is that for a brutally long run-on sentence! Yikes!) Question 1. What is your only comfort, in life and in death? That I belong-body and soul, in life and in death-not to myself but to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ, who at the cost of His own blood has fully paid for all my sins and has completely freed me from the dominion of the devil; that He protects me so well that without the will of my Father in heaven not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, that everything must fit His purpose for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life, and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for Him. Happy Memorizing! Pastor David 1/11/05 Knowing What You Believe Beloved, I just finished a grueling four hour defense of our Church's take on a number of Biblical, Covenantal, Historical and Practical issues in my study with someone who does not attend our Church (but has visited). I was thinking after it was all over: "How many in our congregation could give this defense?" That leads me to a reminder of the importance of consistent and teachable attendance at the Bible open opportunities. This is especially the case with the issue of Courtship (two hours of my four hour was on this topic). This just makes Wednesday night all that more important for those of you who are looking to raise and send your children covenantally. Also related is the continuing authority of the Old Testament Scriptures for life and godliness (this was very significant in my four hour defense). This is what we are doing on the Lord's Day Evening in our study of Genesis. All this to say, we all need to be going hard after learning those things that are being taught by our elders at Grace Church. I hope you all agree. Lord Bless you all today! Serving Christ and you, Pastor David Cranmer Library at Calvin Culdesac 1/10/05 Sunday Evening Thanks Beloved, A very special thanks to the few of you who joined us last night for the Lord's Day Evening Service. I believe we need to know our Bibles better than we presently do. I believe we need to be a Bible saturated people more than we need anything else right now. I am working extra hard at my studies to provide you all with the best biblical scholarship I can offer. Most of this cannot come out in the sermons on the Lord's Day morning. But the Evening Service provides a forum for me (and the elders) to bring you along with us on this journey of knowing our Bibles in the manner in which our Lord has given them to us. If we are studying extra hard I hope you will try extra hard to be there. I am thankful to the few of you that made that commitment last night. It is very important to the elders that the people they serve with the Word do not take it for granted. So, maybe more will be there next week. However, please know that we will deliver our best no matter who is there and this because we do this first and foremost for Him. Stay dry and safe! Serving Christ and you, Pastor David With pipe hanging from my mouth! |
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