A series of new sermons from the book of Hebrews – No Perfect People Here.

December 2011 – Christmas on Trial Series

• December 4 – Punch Line – Matthew 16:13-20
• December 11 – Sign Here – Isaiah 7:1-14
• December 18 – Christmas Lights – John 1:1-14
• December 25 – Persian Paparazzi – Matthew 2:1-12

From the forward:

Although the Book of Revelation is, by its very nature a revealing, it has elicited more views and interpretations than any other book in the Bible. Having read many of these views and being familiar with many more, our focus and interpretation will be from within a conservative position regarding Scripture and from a reformed perspective theologically.

Many early church fathers, and those that followed them down through the centuries, did not delve to0 deeply into writing commentaries on this mysterious book. They seem to have been content to quote from portions, and produce some thoughts in sermons. Some selections from Revelation were used as challenges and refutations in the church, of which there is ample testimony in their writings. It was not until the eighteenth century that scholarship (within the church) concerned itself with fuller detailed studies and large commentaries.

Soon to come were many speculative theories along with serious studies, then with the advent of Dispensationalism (1830’s) whole new vistas opened up, which in our guarded opinion left the “Book” for emphasis on “portions” of the book. Our goal is to stay within the confines of the book and see what it has to say about itself by letting it speak from within. I am certainly aware that we need other Scripture to interpret this Scripture, and I have no hesitation in relying on that fact, and to use as much of the data found elsewhere to support our study.

This brief and relatively simple study shall always be under the beacon of light shed by a comment made by Geerhardus Vos, he sees the book (Revelation) as “so enigmatical” (this phrase is taken from a larger comment which we will view later). The key here is “enigmatical” which speaks to and suggests caution when engaging in a study of this kind. In many ways the book is an enigma. Our purpose will be to get to the content of the book quickly. We have divided this
study of the book structurally into twelve chapters. As an example, our chapter one covers the book’s chapter one, our chapter two covers the books chapters two and three; hence, multiple Revelation chapters are dealt with, within our single chapter.

Our view of the literary construct of the book is that it is highly figurative and symbolic. The portions that we see as literal will be evident, the portions we see as symbolical, figurative, or metaphorical will be detailed. The preface to our study will explain more of our position in that regard. I am certainly aware of the volumes of late that have been written on the book, and the scholarship exhibited in them. Our purpose includes a view that make it essential for every reader of this Revelation to think through the book chapter by chapter, theme by theme and to pay strict attention to the book itself. This idea stresses the book and not portions of it, and it stresses how the book relates to itself. As stated above, we have read studies that promote certain positions, especially in the area of millenarianism. It is not however, our intention here, to disparage millenarianism. Much excellent work has been done in this area for the purpose of edifying the church.

The reader must judge when examining these works, and to be cautious of the extreme measures that are posited by those who elicit too much from this book on subjects, that they see elsewhere, i.e. millennial and kingdom relationships. We must also examine carefully the works of those, whose focus is too narrow, by only seeing apocalyptic features throughout, or those whose focus is too limited, overlooking valuable details. Let the book speak. Our understanding is that God gave the book to the church for the purpose of edification. We have tried to bring many features of the book to the forefront to provoke and challenge thinking — so, let the reader be cautious, enjoy and learn from this exceptional revealing.

Rembrandt's painting of the Apostle Paul

Gary Meharg began teaching the new 14-week series Sunday, October 29.

• Romans 5 – Dead in Adam, Alive in Christ
• 1 Corintliians 15  - Resurrection in Christ
• 2 Corinthians 5 – Reconciliation in Chiist
• Galatians 5 – Christ has set you free
• Ephesians 3 – Gospel mystery revealed in Christ
• Philippians 2 – Christ’s example of humility
• Colossians 1 – The Preeminence of Christ
• 1 Thessalonians 4 – Christ, come quickly
• 2 Thessalonians 2 – Stand firm in Christ
• 1 Timothy 1 – Christ came to save sinners
• 2 Timothy 2 – Living with purpose through Christ
• Titus 3 – Justified by Christ
• Philemon – Forgiven in Christ
• Hebrews 8 – Hapax! Christ by one sacrifice!

The Prophet Joel - Russian Iconograph

The Twelve or Minor Prophets tend to be amongst the least studied portions of the Bible.   These Twelve speak with much unity on such topics as prosperity, social sins, idolatry, hesed, forgiveness, curse, blessing,  restoration, remnant, Day of the Lord, and foreign nations.  There is special treatment of God and His attributes.  The teacher will be Gary A. Meharg, an Oakland Hills member from Livonia. The classes will be held from 7:00 – 8:30pm on Wednesday nights  in the Fellowship Hall beginning September 28, 2011.  All are invited and encouraged to come. Christians are called to life long learning (discipleship).

The Minor Prophets (according to the New International Encyclopedia, 1909 edition) is a common designation for a group of twelve prophetical books in the Hebrew canon, which in the English Bible form the close of the Old Testament. It was employed as early as the time of Augustine, who are careful to explain that its use is occasioned by the brevity of the books and does not characterize their merit or importance.  The corresponding designation, major prophets, is applied to the longer books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. The Hebrews called this group of writings ‘the Twelve’ and this nomenclature was followed by the Greeks.  The books included in the collection, in the order in which they are arranged in the Hebrew Bible, are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. This order is retained in the English Bible.

Oakland Hills Community Church (OHCC) is located on 8 Mile Road in Farmington Hills, Michigan.  Oakland Hills is a member congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) in the historic Reformed and Presbyterian tradition.

When Life and Beliefs Collide

A group of ladies at Oakland Hills Community Church in Farmington Hills, Michigan are studying a book together starting this September. The book  is “When Life and Beliefs Collide” , by Carolyn Custis James. The group of women are drawn together from all over metro Detroit and south-east Michigan. The women — teenagers to retired — are from Dearborn, Livonia, Farmington Hills, Bloomfield Hills, Rochester, Romulos, Northville, Novi, Canton, and Plymouth (and other areas).  There are three options for meeting – Thursday night, Friday morning — or even a private Facebook group (for those who cannot attend in person).  Please call the church office at 248-478-5001 if you would like more information about participating in this women’s fellowship book study.

From a book review of  When Life and Beliefs Collide:

“When Life and Beliefs Collide raises a long-overdue call for us to think seriously about what we believe about God. With passion, brilliance, and eloquence, Carolyn Custis James weaves stories of contemporary women with episodes from the life of Mary of Bethany to illustrate the practical benefits of knowing God deeply… A book that calls us to be a composite of two women–Mary and Martha–who take time to know Jesus better and whose theology informs and emboldens their ministries to others.”

Sooner or later, life’s difficulties bring every Christian woman to God’s doorstep with questions too personal to ignore:

• ‘Why does God let me go through such painful circumstances?’
• ‘Why does he seem indifferent to my prayers?’

“We’re tired of spiritual pie in the sky. We want authentic, God-as-he-really-is faith — the kind that holds us together when our world is falling apart and equips us to offer strength and hope to others. When Life and Beliefs Collide raises a long-overdue call for us to think seriously about what we believe about God… Examining the misperceptions and abuses that discourage women from pursuing a deeper understanding of God, this insightful book demonstrates how practical and down to earth knowing God can be.”

• “This outstanding book offers the best demonstration that everyone needs theology, the best expository account of Mary and Martha, and the best trajectory for women’s ministry in modern North America that I have yet read.” ~ James I. Packer
• ‘Thoughtful, scholarly, and motivating . . . should inspire and encourage women for years to come.” ~ Joni Eareckson Tada

The author Carolyn Custis James (MA, Biblical Studies) travels extensively as a popular speaker for women’s conferences, churches, colleges, seminaries, and other Christian organizations. Her ministry organization, WhitbyForum, promotes thoughtful biblical discussion to help men and women serve God together. Carolyn founded and is president of the Synergy Women’s Network.

Becky Holloway said:

“This book changed my life. It is thoughtful, profound, real, and immensely challenging. It questions the notion of what it is to be a “theologian” and points out that we all do theology every day, whether we acknowledge it or not. James’s personal story has striking similarities to my own. Her husband almost completed a PhD at Westminster and then decided to go to Oxford to do a 2nd one. What she came to see is that God brought her young family to the UK not primarily so her husband could do a PhD but because He had amazing plans for each one of them. I read this book when we first moved to Aberdeen and it profoundly shaped my experience there.”

“We will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea.”- Psalm 46:2

Edie sees the hand of God at work among her friends and neighbors in Japan, and pleads for prayer, care and workers to pray, give and go in the coming days.

Edie will attend the  Oakland Hills Community Church (OPC) in Farmington Hills, Michigan on Sunday evening, March 27  at 6:00pm and share first hand stories of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  May God send waves of grace (a tsunami of grace) to Japan in the coming days.

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” – Matthew 25:35

The OPC Disaster Response team has been providing updates about the needs in Japan. Recent reports were hopeful:  ”We give thanks in all of God’s good providences. The more we learn about the devastation of the earthquake and tsunami, the more we marvel at God’s goodness and grace in sparing those in Japan who we hold dear. All our missionaries and all those in our sister churches there, as far as we know, were spared loss of life. Two churches sustained significant if not total loss. But these are things that are replaceable…and there will be a time and season for that.”

Regarding the OPC Disaster Response, the OPC has set up a Japan Tsunami Relief Fund to which donations can be sent.

“Through the generosity of the church over the years, the Committee on Diaconal Ministries has been able to build up a healthy reserve from which to pull funds for such a time as this. So we do not have an emergency need for donations, but would like to replenish that reserve to support the continuing need that we see in Japan. Also, we desire to give the church the opportunity to respond financially to this disaster through the church where that ‘cup of cold water’ will be given in the name of Christ.”

“At this immediate time, your gifts are being used to provide blankets, rice, ramen soup, toilet paper, fuel, and other basic necessities. These are being purchased in the Tokyo region and loaded up in rental trucks. Our missionaries have obtained permits to drive on the expressways, reserved exclusively for relief workers. The supplies are then being driven the 200 miles north to the Sendai area, where cold and even some snow has fallen. Upon arriving there, the supplies are being distributed, along with Bible and tracts, through church members in those areas.”

An updated teaching schedule provides an outline of upcoming classes in 2011. Class handouts are also provided below:

• WCF - Historical Context [Distant Background: Reformation and Monarchy] – (pdf)
• WCF – Historical Context [1642 Civil War, 1643 Breakdown of Church Order] – (pdf)
• Outline for Chapter 6 – The Fall of Man, of Sin, and Punishment (pdf)
• Outline for Chapter 7 – God’s Covenant With Man (pdf)
• Outline for Chapter 9 – Free Will (pdf)

There was some discussion recently in class about Westminster Confession of Faith (chapter 9) – concerning man’s free will.  The following chart and the quote below (from WCF-9) may be helpful in understanding this topic.

The Westminster Confession – Chapter 9 – On Free Will:

1. God hath endued the will of man with that natural liberty, that it is neither forced, nor, by any absolute necessity of nature, determined to good, or evil.
2. Man, in his state of innocency, had freedom, and power to will and to do that which was good and well pleasing to God; but yet, mutably, so that he might fall from it.
3. Man, by his fall into a state of sin, hath wholly lost all ability of will to any spiritual good accompanying salvation: so as, a natural man, being altogether averse from that good, and dead in sin, is not able, by his own strength, to convert himself, or to prepare himself thereunto.
4. When God converts a sinner, and translates him into the state of grace, he freeth him from his natural bondage under sin; and, by his grace alone, enables him freely to will and to do that which is spiritually good; yet so, as that by reason of his remaining corruption, he doth not perfectly, nor only, will that which is good, but doth also will that which is evil.
5. The will of man is made perfectly and immutably free to good alone, in the state of glory only.

Fred said the following books were helpful in his study over the years:

• Oswald T. Allis, Prophecy and the Church (P & R Publishing)
• Loraine Boettner, The Millennium (P & R Publishing)
• Herman Ridderbos, The Coming of the Kingdom (P & R Publishing)
• Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, vol. III, 20.3 (P & R Publishing)
• William E. Cox, Biblical Studies in Final Things (P & R Publishing)
• G. K. Beale, The Book of Revelation, NIGTC (Eerdmans Publishing)