“We Were Once As You Are” (Duty, Pleasure & Beauty)

On Sunday July 3rd we considered the themes of Duty and Dependence, whereby the beauty of God overwhelms our hearts and what used to be a mere duty receives a whole new energy to be joyfully performed, even with pleasure!

The following Sunday we sang “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” (original lyrics by Sir Robert Robinson) with added closing verses borrowed from one John Newton’s hymns. The fully hymn “We Were Once As You Are” is listed below, with the chosen verses emphasized (added at 3:21 in song).

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“We Were Once As You Are” (Olney Hymns) by John Newton (1779):

Shall men pretend to pleasure
Who never knew the Lord?
Can all the worldling’s treasure
True peace of mind afford?

They shall obtain this jewel
In what their hearts desire,
When they by adding fuel
Can quench the flame of fire.

Till you can bid the ocean,
When furious tempests roar,
Forget its wonted motion,
And rage, and swell, no more:

In vain your expectation
To find content in sin;
Or freedom from vexation,
While passions reign within.

Come, turn your thoughts to Jesus,
If you would good possess;
‘Tis he alone that frees us
From guilt, and from distress:

When he, by faith, is present,
The sinner’s troubles cease;
His ways are truly pleasant,
And all his paths are peace.

Our time in sin we wasted,
And fed upon the wind;
Until his love we tasted,
No comfort could we find:

But now we stand to witness
His pow’r and grace to you;
May you perceive its fitness,
And call upon him too!

Our pleasure and our duty,
Though opposite before;
Since we have seen his beauty,
Are joined to part no more:

It is our highest pleasure,
No less than duty’s call;
To love him beyond measure,
And serve him with our all.

ReCreate: Beauty of Duty & Dependence

It is the beauty in Christ that fuels true obedience in us.

John Newton expresses this truth in one hymn:

“Our pleasure and our duty,
Though opposite before,
Since we have seen His beauty,
Are join’d to part no more:
It is our highest pleasure,
No less than duty’s call,
To love Him beyond measure,
And serve Him with our all.”

As the William Cowper hymn says:

“To see the law by Christ fulfilled,
And hear his pardoning voice;
Transforms a slave into a child,
And duty into choice.”

ReCreate: Beauty of Duty & Dependence

Message title: Beauty of Duty & Dependence
Tenth week of the ReCreate coincides with the second week of #RenewSummer with the Story Catechism
Scriptures: 1st Chronicles 29:10-12; Isaiah 42:5-7; Luke 11:1-13
Preacher: Jeff Patterson
Date: 7/3/16

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Additional quotes shared during message:

“Do not rest until love and faith in Jesus are the master passions of your soul.” —Charles Spurgeon

“We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God.” —A.W. Tozer

The fourth chapter of the Story Catechism is about how we are meant to be together with God:

It was God’s desire that Man and Woman would always be with Him and take care of His creation.
God would always love Adam and Eve and take care of them.
Because God was faithful, God would always provide everything they needed.
Eden was home because God was with them.
God was in control and had complete authority.

Story Catechism

Scripture readings:

1st Chronicles 29:10-12 (NLT)

David’s Prayer of Praise

10 Then David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly:

“O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel,[a] may you be praised forever and ever!11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. 12 Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.

Footnotes:
  1. 29:10 Israel is the name that God gave to Jacob.

Isaiah 42:5-7 (NLT)

God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out.
    He created the earth and everything in it.
He gives breath to everyone,
    life to everyone who walks the earth.
And it is he who says,
“I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness.
    I will take you by the hand and guard you,
and I will give you to my people, Israel,
    as a symbol of my covenant with them.
And you will be a light to guide the nations.
    You will open the eyes of the blind.
You will free the captives from prison,
    releasing those who sit in dark dungeons.

Luke 11:1-13 (ESV)

The Lord's Prayer

11 Now Jesus[a] was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” And he said to them, “When you pray, say:

“Father, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Give us each day our daily bread,[b]
and forgive us our sins,
    for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation.”

And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence[c] he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 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. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for[d] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 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!”

Footnotes:
  1. Luke 11:1 Greek he
  2. Luke 11:3 Or our bread for tomorrow
  3. Luke 11:8 Or persistence
  4. Luke 11:11 Some manuscripts insert bread, will give him a stone; or if he asks for

ReCreate
Audio for this teaching may be played above, and is included in the RENEW Church podcastsubscribe in iTunes here, or access the church podcast feed directly here.

This year we each of us are invited on an adventure to look up and love God first. What will be your plan to develop a new rhythm of seeking God each day? » Find some help here.

ReCreate: Echoes of Eden (Life As It Should Be)

Today we hear the Echoes of Eden, when we long for beauty, pleasure, significance, joy, security, glory, and so much more.

We were created to know and enjoy God, and we did to the fullest before the Fall. What was life before it all went wrong? How was life as it should be?

Echoes of Eden

Message title: Echoes of Eden: Life As It Should Be
Ninth week of the ReCreate coincides with the second week of #RenewSummer with the Story Catechism
Scriptures: Genesis 1:1-2; 2:1-9; Psalm 29:3-9; 46:10; Revelation 2:7
Preacher: Jeff Patterson
Date: 6/26/16

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The second week of the Story Catechism is about how it all began in the Garden of Eden:

At the beginning of the Story there is a garden.
The garden is called Eden.
Eden was a place where everything was in its right and proper place.
And God said “it is good.
It was good because God is good and He was there.

Story Catechism

Scripture readings:

Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Genesis 2:1-9

The Seventh Day, God Rests

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

The Creation of Man and Woman

These are the generations
of the heavens and the earth when they were created,
in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Psalm 29:3-9

3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
    the God of glory thunders,
    the Lord, over many waters.
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
    the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.

The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
    the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon.
He makes Lebanon to skip like a calf,
    and Sirion like a young wild ox.

The voice of the Lord flashes forth flames of fire.
The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
    the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth
    and strips the forests bare,
    and in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

Psalm 46:10

“Be still, and know that I am God.
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth!”

Revelation 2:7

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.

ReCreate
Audio for this teaching may be played above, and is included in the RENEW Church podcastsubscribe in iTunes here, or access the church podcast feed directly here.

This year we each of us are invited on an adventure to look up and love God first. What will be your plan to develop a new rhythm of seeking God each day? » Find some help here.

Renew Summer: Home with the Father, Following His Lead

A special morning as we’re invited on a journey this next season to grow in mutual fascination before God our Father and the good news of His Son Jesus.

Renew Church family worship

We walk through the elements of using the Story Catechism as a tool to use as a church family “on the go” this Summer, taking our identity as God’s children with us. (See Learning Together for June 12th for more.)

Today we enter in with an example of what and how we can communicate well in our homes and “on the go,” tracing the biblical Story narrative toward a deeper relationship with God together.

Story Catechism

Message title: Home with the Father, Following His Lead
Eighth week of the ReCreate coincides with the beginning of #RenewSummer with the Story Catechism
Scriptures: Genesis 1:1-2; Isaiah 42:8; John 1:1-5; Hebrews 1:10; Colossians 1:15-16
Speakers & teachers: Jeff Patterson; Grace Ruiz, Dawson & Anna Hunter; Paul Hunter
Date: 6/19/16

Listen or download:

The first week of the Story Catechism is about God the Creator:

The beginning of the Story is called Creation.
The Creator is God.
God is perfect.
God created everything.
God created everything out of love and for His glory.

Story Catechism

Scripture readings:

Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.

Isaiah 42:8

“I am the Lord; that is my name!
    I will not give my glory to anyone else,
    nor share my praise with carved idols. …

John 1:1-5

Prologue: Christ, the Eternal Word

In the beginning the Word already existed.
    The Word was with God,
    and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
    and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
    and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
    and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Hebrews 1:10

He also says to the Son,

“In the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundation of the earth
    and made the heavens with your hands.

Colossians 1:15-16

Christ Is Supreme

15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
    He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
16 for through him God created everything
    in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
    and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
    Everything was created through him and for him.

ReCreate
Audio for this teaching may be played above, and is included in the RENEW Church podcastsubscribe in iTunes here, or access the church podcast feed directly here.

This year we each of us are invited on an adventure to look up and love God first. What will be your plan to develop a new rhythm of seeking God each day? » Find some help here.

ReCreate: Plenty of Pleasure in God

Our Creator has created for pleasure by His pleasure. We can find plenty of legitimate pleasure in Him and in what He provides, so we don’t have to take shortcuts and go looking for pleasure elsewhere. If you’re looking for happiness, look to Him.
Plenty of Pleasure in God

Message title: Plenty of Pleasure in God
Seventh week of the ReCreate
Scriptures: Ecclesiastes 5:18-20; Psalm 16:11; Psalm 115:3; Exodus 20; Psalm 1
Preacher: Jeff Patterson
Date: 6/12/16

Listen or download:

Scripture readings:

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

18 Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. 19 Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. 20 For he will not much remember the days of his life because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.

Psalm 16:11

You make known to me the path of life;
    in Your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Psalm 115:3

Our God is in the heavens;
    He does all that He pleases.

See also Exodus 20; Psalm 1

10 Pleasures

What if the intent of the Ten Commandments was more than to tell us what not to do?

What if the prohibitions come from the Father’s desire to see us flourish and find ultimate enjoyment and pleasure in Him?

What if each vice enjoins an accompanying virtue? 1

1. Enjoy the pleasure of knowing, worshipping and serving the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.
2. Enjoy the pleasure of worshipping God in ways that He approves, loves, rewards, and responds to.
3. Enjoy the pleasure of speaking and singing about God’s beautiful persons, names, attributes, and acts.
4. Enjoy the pleasure of six days working in God’s calling for you and then enjoy the freedom of one full day off work to worship God and rest.
5. Enjoy the pleasure of loving and following the leaders God has placed in your life for your temporal and eternal good.
6. Enjoy the pleasure of healthy attitudes and activities that will improve the quality and length of your life.
7. Enjoy every physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual pleasure with the wife/husband God has given you.
8. Enjoy the pleasure of growing wealth in order to provide for your family and to bless others with loving generosity.
9. Enjoy the pleasure of praising others and of promoting all that is true, beautiful, and good.
10. Enjoy the pleasure of being thankful and content with all that God has given you.

ReCreate
Audio for this teaching may be played above, and is included in the RENEW Church podcastsubscribe in iTunes here, or access the church podcast feed directly here.

This year we each of us are invited on an adventure to look up and love God first. What will be your plan to develop a new rhythm of seeking God each day? » Find some help here.

Story of Renewal: Bryce K. of Renewal Painting

Renewal Painting FB cover

We pause to listen in as Bryce K. shares about how Jesus is renewing him, confirming his calling as a disciple and a new business owner, and the beginnings of Renewal Painting — for all things can be made new. As mentioned, if you need a local painting contractor, consider Bryce and contact him for a free quote.

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Date: 5/15/16

Azusa Now

Renewal Painting


Audio for this message may be played above, and is included in the RENEW Church podcastsubscribe in iTunes here, or access the church podcast feed directly here.

Verses Project: Colossians 3:16-17

ReCreate: Sacred Mundane

A message for every woman, man & child: “And let steadfastness (ὑπομονὴ = ‘conquering endurance’) have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

This is the Sacred Mundane. When we let our days transform our lives.

Kari Patterson » Sacred Mundane

We are disappointed to announce that the audio recording for the message “Sacred Mundane” by Kari Patterson on Sunday, May 8th is not available. There was a technical glitch with the audio system power going off and the recording was not restarted.

Kari Patterson » Sacred Mundane

Message title: Sacred Mundane
Third week of the ReCreate
Scriptures: James 1:2-4; 2nd Kings 5:1-14; Romans 5:3-5
Speaker: Kari Patterson
Date: 5/8/16

Listen or download: sorry, no audio

Kari Patterson » Sacred Mundane

Scripture readings:

James 1:2-4

Testing of Your Faith

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

2nd Kings 5:1-14

Naaman Healed of Leprosy

Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master and in high favor, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. He was a mighty man of valor, but he was a leper. Now the Syrians on one of their raids had carried off a little girl from the land of Israel, and she worked in the service of Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “Would that my lord were with the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.” So Naaman went in and told his lord, “Thus and so spoke the girl from the land of Israel.” And the king of Syria said, “Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel.”

So he went, taking with him ten talents of silver, six thousand shekels of gold, and ten changes of clothing. And he brought the letter to the king of Israel, which read, “When this letter reaches you, know that I have sent to you Naaman my servant, that you may cure him of his leprosy.” And when the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, “Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man sends word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? Only consider, and see how he is seeking a quarrel with me.”

But when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, he sent to the king, saying, “Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” So Naaman came with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha’s house. 10 And Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, “Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh shall be restored, and you shall be clean.” 11 But Naaman was angry and went away, saying, “Behold, I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call upon the name of the Lord his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper. 12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Could I not wash in them and be clean?” So he turned and went away in a rage. 13 But his servants came near and said to him, “My father, it is a great word the prophet has spoken to you; will you not do it? Has he actually said to you, ‘Wash, and be clean’?” 14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.

Romans 5:3-5

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

ReCreate
Audio for this teaching may be played above, and is included in the RENEW Church podcastsubscribe in iTunes here, or access the church podcast feed directly here.

This year we each of us are invited on an adventure to look up and love God first. What will be your plan to develop a new rhythm of seeking God each day? » Find some help here.

ReCreate: Clothed with the Character of Christ

The resources of the Father are plentiful for His children to be “clothed” for any and all circumstances, by putting on the character of Jesus the true Son.

Because we have His compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, we can wear His character — our new true selves — every new day and thus be ready for any trouble that comes our way, relationally, personally, emotionally, spiritually, financially and physically.

Clothed with the Character of Christ

Message title: Clothed with the Character of Christ
Second week of the ReCreate
Scriptures: Colossians 3:12-15
Preacher: Jeff Patterson
Date: 5/1/16

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Scripture reading: Colossians 3:12-15

(Put On the New Self)

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

ReCreate
Audio for this teaching may be played above, and is included in the RENEW Church podcastsubscribe in iTunes here, or access the church podcast feed directly here.

This year we each of us are invited on an adventure to look up and love God first. What will be your plan to develop a new rhythm of seeking God each day? » Find some help here.

ReCreate: Renew the Image

Recreation is what we do for enjoyment outside of work, but re-creation is what God does in His children to finish the work of Christ in their lives.

Renew the Image

Message title: Renew the Image
First week of ReCreate
Scriptures: Colossians 3:1-11
Preacher: Jeff Patterson
Date: 4/24/16

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Scripture reading: Colossians 3:1-11

Put On the New Self

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

ReCreate
Audio for this teaching may be played above, and is included in the RENEW Church podcastsubscribe in iTunes here, or access the church podcast feed directly here.

This year we each of us are invited on an adventure to look up and love God first. What will be your plan to develop a new rhythm of seeking God each day? » Find some help here.