Bye Bye Bellybutton

The God Who Doesn’t Relent

Most holy and merciful Father:
We confess to you and to one another,
and to the whole communion of saints
in heaven and on earth,
that we have sinned by our own fault
in thought, word, and deed;
by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.

We have not loved you with our whole heart, and mind, and
strength. We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We
have not forgiven others, as we have been forgiven.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We have been deaf to your call to serve, as Christ served us.
We have not been true to the mind of Christ. We have grieved
your Holy Spirit.
Have mercy on us, Lord.

We confess to you, Lord, all our past unfaithfulness: the
pride, hypocrisy, and impatience of our lives,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our self-indulgent appetites and ways, and our exploitation
of other people,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our anger at our own frustration, and our envy of those
more fortunate than ourselves,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our intemperate love of worldly goods and comforts, and
our dishonesty in daily life and work,
We confess to you, Lord.

Our negligence in prayer and worship, and our failure to
commend the faith that is in us,
We confess to you, Lord.

Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done:
for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our
indifference to injustice and cruelty,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For all false judgments, for uncharitable thoughts toward our
neighbors, and for our prejudice and contempt toward those
who differ from us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

For our waste and pollution of your creation, and our lack of
concern for those who come after us,
Accept our repentance, Lord.

Restore us, good Lord, and let your anger depart from us;
Favorably hear us, for your mercy is great.

Accomplish in us the work of your salvation,
That we may show forth your glory in the world.

By the cross and passion of your Son our Lord,
Bring us with all your saints to the joy of his resurrection.

Let us set fully before our eyes the doctrine of Christ dying in our place – His substituted death, and rest our souls on it. Let us hold on firmly to the mighty truth, that Christ on the cross:

Christ on the cross: Stood in the place of His people

Christ on the cross: Died for His people

Christ on the cross: Suffered for His people

Christ on the cross: Was counted a curse and sin for His people

Christ on the cross: Paid the debts of His People

Christ on the cross: Made restitution for His people

Christ on the cross: Became the guarantee of His people

Christ on the cross: Became the representative of His people

In this way Christ obtained His people’s freedom. Let us understand this clearly, and then we will see what a mighty privilege it is to be made free by Christ. This is freedom which, above all others is worth having.

It ceases to be a devil when it ceases to be a god…Or, How Your Idols Will Mess You Up

-We’ll worship God together in Word and Sacrament this Sunday, the sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, at 10:30AM at Teasley Elementary. David and Justin will lead us in singing, Jonathan will lead our liturgy and celebrate Communion, and Curt will continue our preaching series on the book of Jonah (4:1-4). Jonah’s story is rich in the gospel, so this is a great opportunity to invite an unchurched friend!

-All Sunday School classes will be meeting this week – youth, adults, new members – 9:15AM at Teasley.

-Our friends at Sixty Feet are releasing their new film, Beloved, this Saturday night, Feb. 11 at 7:00PM at our sister church, Trinity Anglican Mission. The film is an inside look at the lives of the Ugandan children that Sixty Feet ministers to every day.

Here’s a link that describes the film: http://sixtyfeet.org/2012/01/08/beloved/

And here’s a link for tickets (tickets are free, but required due to limited seating): www.sixtyfeet.org/tickets

-We are in need of more helpers for set-up for church at Teasley on Sunday mornings. While the chairs are already set-up each week when we arrive (thanks to Brad Fowler!), there are several other things that need to be put together before the service. If you are not in a Sunday School class, and would like to be on a rotation to help out, please email Carlyn at carlyn@villagechurchvinings.org.

-A group of ladies in the church met a few weeks ago to discuss what women’s ministry could look like in a gospel-centered, missional, simple church plant like ours. Everyone present agreed that a great starting point is to simply provide an outlet for women in the church to get to know each other. We’re calling it “Face to Face” with the idea that close, meaningful, gospel-marked relationships can’t happen virtually. We have a personal, intimate God who wants a face to face relationship with us, through His Son, and He wants that same quality in our Christian relationships as well. The idea is simply for the women of VCV to meet in a home for an evening once per month, spend time together, eat some hors d’oeuvres together, hear the story of one of the women, and pray together. The first meeting will be at Charlotte and Peter McNally’s home (3468 Rilman Rd. NW, Atlanta, GA 30327) on Wednesday, February 22 from 7-9PM. Contact Carlyn Defnall – carlyn@villagechurchvinings.org - for more info.

Here’s thought for the week:

When idols are opposed, it’s dangerous. Idols are violent. Through idols, the powers and principalities control us. Paul risked his life to oppose them; he rested in Jesus, who had already given his life to defeat the principalities and powers. Jesus defeated our idols both objectively and subjectively through the cross:

Objectively, the punishment for our adultery and reconciliation with God were fulfilled in Jesus.

Subjectively, we remember that none of our idols can die for our sins. Our idols will always crumble under the weight of our expectations. Only by living in the power of the cross, exulting in the cross, and proclaiming the cross can we be fearless and free from the power of idols. We must learn how to take the gospel to our idols.

-Tim Keller-

Grace and Peace,

The VCV team

To Repent or Not To Repent