“I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world… for My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.”

He gave Himself once for all when He became flesh, was crucified, and rose on the third day. This is the gospel bread, broken for us and given to us. But having received His gift of life, being born again by the Word of the gospel, we must feed on the Word of the gospel day by day.

John Calvin says that the Lord’s Supper

“…gives us a taste and relish for that bread, and makes us feel its efficacy. For it assures us, first, that whatever Christ did or suffered was done to give us life; and, secondly, that this quickening is eternal; by it we are ceaselessly nourished, sustained, and preserved in life.”¹

He is like the manna that comes to us daily in an all-sufficient provision for His people in the wilderness. We feed on Jesus Christ day by day by delighting ourselves in the gospel of His death and resurrection.

Only those who love Christ feed on the gospel. Only those who feed on the gospel live gospel lives. Selfishness, self-centeredness, self-pity, and all the self-absorption sins are fed by the lusts of the world, the lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life. A life of self-denial, sacrifice, service, and giving is nourished by the daily appropriation of the death and life of Christ by faith.

¹Jean Calvin and Henry Beveridge, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Translation of: Institutio Christianae religionis.; Reprint, with new introd. Originally published: Edinburgh : Calvin Translation Society, 1845-1846., IV, xvii, 5 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).

Thus, our prayer life provides a barometer of our true spiritual condition. Prayer, earnest, effectual prayer, with its persevering cries and yearnings, makes a statement about reality. Prayer confesses that God is sovereign and that I am weak and dependent. Prayer confesses that God is wise while I lack wisdom. Prayer confesses that God is gracious and we are undeserving; that life is about God’s will and God’s glory, not my agenda.

In Psalm 63 David prays, and his prayer is also a confession.

“O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. ² So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. ³ Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. ⁴ Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. ⁵ My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

⁶ When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. ⁷ Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. ⁸ My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me. ⁹ But those who seek my life, to destroy it, Shall go into the lower parts of the earth. ¹⁰ They shall fall by the sword; They shall be a portion for jackals. ¹¹ But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.”

He confesses that the world is an empty place that cannot satisfy the thirst of his soul, that God is worthy to be sought, and that in finding Him, we find something far better than all other things. He confesses that worship is his chief delight, because God is so delightful and wonderful. In verse 8, his prayer demonstrates that our greatest significance is in the pursuit of God: “My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me.”

How do we pursue God? David demonstrates that one chief way is through prayer. Jesus teaches us, in John 14:13, that prayer is the pursuit of the glory of God: “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” Pastor John Piper illustrates how prayer glorifies God.

“Suppose you are totally paralyzed and can do nothing for yourself but talk. And suppose a strong and reliable friend promised to live with you and do whatever you needed done. How could you glorify your friend if a stranger came to see you? Would you glorify his generosity and strength by trying to get out of bed and carry him?

“No! You would say, “Friend, please come lift me up, and would you put a pillow behind me so I can look at my guest? And would you please put my glasses on for me?” And so your visitor would learn from your requests that you are helpless and that your friend is strong and kind. You glorify your friend by needing him and asking him for help and counting on him…

“How then do we glorify Him? Jesus gives the answer in John 15:7: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.” We pray! We ask God to do for us through Christ what we can’t do for ourselves – bear fruit. Verse 8 gives the result: “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit.” So how is God glorified by prayer? Prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in the confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy,” –  Desiring God, by John Piper, p.160-161.

As we approach prayer week, January 6-12, let us stir up our hearts to pursue God and His glory, especially through the grace of prayer. Prayer is intimacy with God by talking to Him about His greatness and our neediness.

Below is a simple personal prayer plan.* As one of your pastors, I encourage you to follow a prayer plan. Failure to plan, results in a failure to pray. May this New Year be a year of longing for God in prayer at Anniston Bible Church.

By His Grace,

Bob St.John

—

Wake up: 5:30 am
Time: Daily, 6:00 am to 7:00 am
Place: Kitchen Table

6:00-6:05 – Drawing Near & Confession

Come before your Father in the name of Jesus Christ; acknowledge that the basis of your approaching God is through His accomplished work and His mediation in heaven in your behalf.

Acknowledge your dependence upon the Holy Spirit even in your prayers (Romans 8:26–27). Ask for His help to pray.

Pray that the Father would receive your prayers as worship from a heart gladdened by His glorious grace. Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice (Psalm 141:2).

Confess your sin in light of God’s holiness; be specific and thorough. Ask for forgiveness on the basis of Christ’s shed blood on the Cross (Matthew 6:12; Hebrews 10:19–23).

6:05-6:10 – Praise & Thanksgiving

Spend time simply delighting in all that God is for you in Christ. Meditate on the beauty of His manifold perfections and His wondrous deeds throughout the ages. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name (Psalm 96:7–9), and honor Him as God by giving thanks to Him (Romans 1:21) for all His good and perfect gifts (James 1:17).

6:10-6:20 – God-Centered Petitions

Pray for God’s name to be glorified above all things by all peoples (Matthew 6:9).

Pray for His kingdom to increase through the ministry of the Church (Matthew 6:10a).

Pray for His kingdom to come in its fullness (Matthew 6:10a; Revelation 22:20). That is, pray for His second coming and the establishment of His consummated reign upon the earth.

Pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10b), namely, without hesitation and full of joyful zeal.

6:20-6:30 – Personal Petitions

Pray for growth in grace and godliness (2 Peter 3:18). Be specific with your particular needs for growth and transformation.

Battle against Satan and temptation with regard to specific sins by talking with God about your daily schedule and interactions which may often become an occasion for sin. Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41). Pray for wisdom to avoid temptation and the devil’s snare; And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one (Matthew 6:13, Psalm 141:3-4); and when temptation comes, strength to endure it without falling (1Corinthians 10:12–13).

Pray for opportunities of personal ministry, that your light would shine before men to the glory of your Father (Matthew 5:16). Pray for wisdom and boldness to speak in every situation (Proverbs 16:1, Psalm 141:3, Proverbs 25:11).

Pray for God to provide for your daily necessities (Matthew 6:11) – for food, health to work, shelter, employment, etc.

Pray for the strength to persevere and endure in trials (James 1:2–4), whether they be present or future, or both.

6:30-6:40 – Intercessory Prayer

During this time, pray for the requests of friends and family. This may involve keeping a prayer list and referring to it as you are praying. Pray for different individuals, missionaries, and ministries on different days, (see the ABC Prayer Guide for a daily list). Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18).

6:40-6:55 – Meditation

Choose a passage of Scripture to meditate on and pray through. This should be regular. That is, don’t just pick a random passage every day. You might choose to meditate on the main text and the supplemental texts of your pastor’s sermon from the previous Sunday. That would be a great way to be an expositional listener. You might also do a Psalm per day.

Fervently pray these texts into your soul. This is not reading merely for exposure or content. This is reading to see and know and worship God. This should be different than your daily Bible reading, and should be a small enough passage that you can pray through it in 15 minutes.

6:55-7:00 – Summarize

Thank God for the time spent with Him and for His gracious revelation of Himself in His Word.

Express your trust in Him to grant the things you’ve prayed for according to His sovereign, wise, and good will, and according to the glory of His name.

Pray again for strength and grace to glorify Him and serve people in His name throughout your day.

—

*A Sample Prayer Plan by Mike Riccardi, adapted by Bob St.John for Anniston Bible Church

]]> http://www.annistonbible.org/2013/01/longing-for-god/feed/ 0 http://www.annistonbible.org/2012/05/meditation-on-the-lords-supper-part-ii-2/ http://www.annistonbible.org/2012/05/meditation-on-the-lords-supper-part-ii-2/#comments Thu, 10 May 2012 16:04:40 +0000 admin http://www.annistonbible.org/?p=671 The encouragement in the Scripture to frequently remember the Lord, plus the fact that the practice is to continue without fail until the Lord’s return, and the example of the early church in the regular celebration of this feast, indicates how necessary and beneficial is the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, (1 Cor. 11:23ff; Acts 2:42; 20:7). Let us consider some of these benefits.

The bread testifies to the fact that we are one body, and though the symbolism of one loaf is lost with the use of wafers, nevertheless, the truth still stands at every celebration of the supper. We are one body. 1 Cor. 10:16 asks, “Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?” Since there is one bread, we, who are many are one body, for we are partakers of the one bread. The cup of juice symbolizes the same truth: “Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ?” Our unity is with Christ so that everything that is Christ’s is also ours. Eternal life is in His Son, and eternal life is ours in Christ. His is the kingdom, and we belong to and partake of His kingdom rule and blessings through Him. He is righteousness and we have righteousness in Him.

John Calvin says, “Having become with us the Son of man, He has made us with himself sons of God. By His own descent to the earth He has prepared our ascent to heaven. Having received our mortality, He has bestowed on us His immortality. Having undertaken our weakness, He has made us strong in His strength. Having submitted to our poverty, He has transferred to us His riches. Having taken upon Himself the burden of our unrighteousness with which we were oppressed, He has clothed us with His righteousness.” (4.17.2, Institutes) Such is the blessing of union with Christ.

Hallelujah!

Bob St.John

This celebration is a great treasure to the church. Satan, by his lies and deceit, has often corrupted this simple feast so that our faith would be set upon the outward signs of bread and wine instead of the spiritual reality of Christ our Redeemer. So in order to enjoy and benefit from the feast of the Lord’s Supper, let us remember:

1. The signs or symbols of bread and wine represent the historic realities of the gospel. They are a memorial to the truth that the Son of God took on flesh and became the sacrifice for the sins of the world. His body was broken and His blood was shed to take away our sin.
2. This spiritual reality of Christ’s broken body and shed blood is the basis of our salvation. God has appointed that all His saving grace should come to us through the cross-work of Christ, through the majesty and righteousness of His Person. So the celebration of this feast means to feed upon Him (His Person and work) as God’s provision for sustaining our spiritual life.
3. Christ is the source and the sustainer of our spiritual lives. He is the only food of our soul. He is the true bread by whom we are refreshed and strengthened. Faith set upon our Savior gives us the spiritual energy and vigor to persevere in the Christian life. Consequently, we are charged as His church to keep this feast seriously and frequently until He returns, 1 Corinthians 5:8;11:26.

“I believe that prayer is the measure of the man spiritually, in a way that nothing else is,  so that how we pray is as important a question as we can ever face.” J. I. Packer

Our congregation will consecrate, next week, the first full week of 2012, to God in prayer. As I pray this morning for the Lord’s favor and blessing upon our devotion to Him, two Scriptural requests come to mind, “Lord, teach us to pray,” (Luke 11:1), and “I beg you…strive together with me in prayers to God for me,” (Romans 15:30). In identifying with the disciples request and in response to Paul’s plea, let us ask God that He would teach us how to pray and that He would teach us how to labor in prayer as individuals and as a church. To this end, I ask that you take very seriously this call to the discipline and devotion of prayer. Here are some guidelines for how you can consecrate yourself to God in prayer.

1. Begin everyday with private prayer (Psalm 5:3). Open your Bible to a Psalm, and as you read, let the Psalmist’s praises and supplications become your own. The Psalms will teach you how to be focused on the glory of God even as you cry to Him concerning your own burdens, needs, and happiness. The Psalms will also comfort you with the promises and provisions of God’s love, goodness, and comfort. Commit all of the day’s foreseeable and unforeseen events and tasks to the Lord.
2. Be prayerful all the day (Psalm 25:5). Our days are filled with difficulty and distractions; but having begun by committing all things to God, now prove your faith by waiting on God with patient expectation in every undertaking. Matthew Henry, the puritan preacher, explains what the Psalmist means by his statement, On you I wait all the day. He says, “To wait on God is to live a life of desire towards Him, delight in Him, dependence on Him, and devotedness to Him.” Even in the midst of work and conversation, the believer must abide in a spirit of prayer. The private life of prayer is a life of moment by moment dependence on the Lord, and the secret prayers of the heart will guard our hearts from hypocrisy.
3. Take time daily for family prayer. Sitting down to eat with the family provides a perfect occasion for reading the Bible and praying together. Invite different family members to read and pray in proportion to their physical and spiritual maturity. Let the conversation during the meal provide the clues for the subjects of thanksgiving, petition, and intercession. When you buckle up in the car, take a moment to commit travel and destination plans to the Lord. During more planned family devotions, intercede on behalf of your children, teach them the gospel, commending it by Christ-like words and behavior in your daily walk. Joel Beeke reminds us, “Wherever you go, whatever you do each day, search for abundant reasons for prayer and praise.”

So in private, in our daily work, and in family-life, let us practice the discipline and devotion of prayer. Though separated by distance and duty, let us be always together…

Before His throne,
Pastor Bob

Habitat for Humanity has taken on the honorable task of renovating an already-existing home for the Rogers to live in Weaver. They began the project this first week of October. Habitat is currently remodeling and increasing the size of the bathroom, installing accessible shower cabinets, and tile flooring. They are adding a laundry room, replacing all windows, installing new interior doors, and doing electrical, H & A/C, and plumbing work.

Ignite Calhoun County! is going to help with this project on Friday and Saturday (October 14th & 15th). Our plan is to help install vinyl siding, a new deck with a 28ft. ramp, repair front steps, and possibly replace doors, paint interior walls, and do other work on the interior and exterior of the house. The Habitat leaders will manage the project. All they need is willing volunteers from our churches to come and serve from 8am to 2pm on Friday and Saturday.

Will you schedule time on Friday and/or Saturday to help this family that has experienced great tragedy? A sign-up list is in the fellowship hall. If you aren’t able to make it to the church building in coming days, simply email me and I will get you on the list. We will get you the meeting place and time next week. Don’t worry about that. Also, don’t worry about tools. Habitat said you can bring a hammer if you want, but they’ll be providing all the tools! They simply need people who want to work to get this family in a home.

Please be in prayer for this family, for the Habitat leaders, and for all those who are serving to help this family have a home.

Thank you,

Ryan

Through the medium of Facebook marriages have been wrecked, jobs have been lost, and lives have been destroyed. Honestly, I am not sure how much good Facebook has actually produced, but I am willing to say that it can be a legitimate avenue for evangelism, edification, and encouragement. It certainly has the potential for spiritual good. But before any Christian embraces the use of Facebook wholeheartedly and indiscriminately, it is necessary to ask some important and ongoing questions. If you are concerned for God’s glory and your own sanctification, ask questions like these:

• What is the goal of my Facebook account and what am I doing to achieve that goal?
• What am I reading on Facebook, and why?
• What am I posting on Facebook, and why?
• What pictures am I analyzing on Facebook, and why?
• What friends am I regularly communicating with, and why?

We must realize that Facebook is very much like the world we live in: attractive, alluring, inviting, and seductive. It welcomes us. It excites us. It makes us laugh. It makes us cry. It accepts us just the way we are. It even promotes us to others. But it also hooks us and methodically reels us in. It demands more and more of our time and allegiance. It can subtly destroy our affections for God and commitment to righteousness. It can warm our hearts toward worldliness and harden our hearts toward holiness. And we won’t even realize it when it’s happening to us.

So, here are some very practical guidelines for Christians to redeem your Facebook experience:

1. Make it your aim to encourage people spiritually.

• Post helpful Scriptures and quotes.
• Respond to people biblically.
• Be a source of light in people’s lives, not darkness.
• Point people to the greatness and sufficiency of Christ.

2. Promote prayer.

• Ask to pray for others and their needs.
• Ask your Christian friends to pray for you.

3. Promote the Gospel by posting helpful links to articles, blogs, sermons, etc.

4. Guard yourself from dangerous communication.

• Don’t seek to exalt yourself through sinful humor, flattering pictures, or any other means. Facebook is a great platform to exalt yourself. Do not seek self-exaltation, but rather the exaltation of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).
• Don’t slander anyone.
• Don’t complain about anyone.
• Don’t laugh at sin (or “like” it).
• Don’t post humiliating pictures of anyone. This is unloving and relationally-destructive.
• Married men, don’t have ongoing conversations with women not your wife. Married women, don’t have ongoing conversations with men not your husband.
• Remember that whatever you post cannot be taken back (no matter how hard you try). Your Facebook decisions will be with you until you die.

5. Limit your Facebook activity.

• Set time boundaries. Allot a specific time period that you will allow yourself to be “on” Facebook (remembering the principle in Ephesians 5:15-16).
• Set page boundaries. Some things should be “in bounds” for you and other things “out of bounds.” Don’t read unedifying posts or look at tempting pictures (Psalm 101:3).
• Set friend boundaries. You don’t have to “friend” everyone who makes that request. If you know that this potential friend will be a source of temptation, defilement, or distraction then don’t “friend” him/her. And don’t feel bad about it. Also, it is not unloving or unfaithful to “defriend” people who already have this influence on you.

Just like all the other technological mediums we have at our disposal, Facebook can either be sanctifying or defiling. It just depends on how we use it. I encourage you to take a serious look at your Facebook activity and ambitions, and bring them under the loving authority of Christ.

Love ya’ll,

Ryan

When Israel returned from captivity and rebuilt the city walls and temple of Jerusalem, they asked the priests and the prophets, “Should I weep in the fifth month and fast as I have done for so many years?” (Zech. 7:1-3). The captives of Israel had been mourning the burning of Solomon’s temple and the destruction of the city that took place in 586 BC. But now, sixty-eight years later, Babylon has fallen; Persia dominates the known world. The Jews have been granted freedom to go home and build their city, and the new temple is nearly complete. Should they continue to mourn?

Yes, it is right that we respond to national tragedies with solemn grief and reflection. The deaths of the three thousand people on September 11, 2001 must not be forgotten, nor the sacrifice of so many fire fighters, police, and emergency personnel. The sheer magnitude of the loss and the horror of the crime grips us. We desperately need to put these memories in a Biblical perspective. Remembering 9.11 should lead us to repentance. Zechariah answers with a searching question, “When you fasted in the fifth and seventh months during those seventy years, did you really fast for Me—for Me?” (Zech. 7:4-7). Their painful remembrance was directed toward their losses and their enemies, but not toward their own sins. Our mourning over such loss and devastation should lead us to sorrow over our national sins, to intercession for the wickedness of our land.

Remembering 9.11 should lead us to gospel compassion. Zechariah speaks again and calls the people to… “Execute justice, show mercy and compassion,… ” (Zech. 7:8-14). National tragedies should cause the people of God to “light up” the darkness with the justice, mercy, and compassion of the gospel. We must especially pray that the eyes of those blinded by the hate and darkness of Islam would be opened. Remembering 9.11 should focus our hopes on the return of Christ and His Kingdom. Zechariah’s third and fourth revelatory response (8:1ff; 8:18ff) declares a message of hope—the Kingdom of God will come with power and glory. A day is coming when all mourning will end and all tears will be wiped away. Zechariah pictures the blessing, safety, and joy of Christ’s Kingdom in verses 4-5, “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Old men and old women shall again sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each one with his staff in his hand because of great age. The streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.’”

Come quickly Lord Jesus!
Pastor Bob St. John