Psalm 127:3-5 says, “(3) Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward. (4) Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. (5) Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!”

At Remedy we believe this.  We love children and truly view them as gifts from the Lord.

On Monday, March 1, my wife (Christie) and I had our fourth child.  The baby is doing great and so is mom.  Besides less sleep, all is well in our household.

Kevin Powell, our connections director, also became a dad (again) this week.  His wife (Beth) and he had their second child on Thursday, March 4.

God is good.

Here is how you can pray:  Beth was 24 weeks pregnant when she had the baby.  Most pregnancies are 40 weeks.  So their daughter is very premature.  She weighs right around 1 pound.  I visited them on Thursday morning and the Doctors (right now) have said that both Beth and the baby are doing well.  Premature babies can still have some complications arise.  Right now she is on a ventilator to help her breathe.  You can pray that her lungs will grow very strong very quickly and that she will not have to stay on it very long.  Also, please pray for her development.  Being so small, there will be some hurdles to overcome.

We praise God for how gracious He has been to us as a church.  Thank-you for your prayers.

This Friday Remedy Church is hosting a benefit concert for Haiti relief.  The cost is only $5 at the door and 100% goes to Haiti relief.  We will have donation boxes in the back if you wish to donate any extra.

Come out and hear some great bands and give to a great cause.

If you have a Facebook, you may RSVP to the event here. Also consider becoming a fan of our page.

I am very excited to be back in 1 Timothy as we hear from Paul.  This text this week will be challenging.  It will call all of us out to simpler lives.  It will call all of us out to true contentment in Christ.

February 28 service:

Come, O Spirit – Bifrost Arts

Sermon – 1 Timothy 6:1-10

All We Need – Charlie Hall
All My Tears – Emmylou Harris (Ex Nihilo version)
Everything – Tim Hughes
In Christ Alone – Stuart Townend & Keith Getty (Matt Papa version)

Sending Song – You Are God – Charlie Hall

See you this Sunday!

Books:
Momentary Marriage – John Piper
God, Marriage & Family – Andreas Kostenberger
Sacred Marriage – Gary Thomas

Sermons:
Marriage Series – John Piper
Sanctification in Marriage – Matt Chandler
Proverbs: Marriage – Mark Driscoll
Men and Masculinity – Mark Driscoll

I would highly recommend reading these books on marriage.  They will be extremely helpful.  If your budget doesn’t allow to buy the books, then listen to the sermons.  I hope these are helpful resources.

We have been saved, we have been shown compassion.  God has worked and He has moved greatly. He has done a work no one else can do. Jesus Christ died on our behalf to allow us to have a relationship with God. How does this affect the way we live?

For a long time serving for me was a hindrance to my day. I saw it as taking up my time, I thought I could be doing better things such as spending time with my friends, going to bible studies, listening to sermon after sermon after sermon. I saw these things as more important than loving the less privileged, the less fortunate, the broken, the abused, the hurting, and most importantly the spiritually dead. I thought that I need to get to a certain point spiritually, then I could love others. Recently though God has been showing me my sinfulness in thinking this way. He has been revealing to me that my love for others, even the ones who are totally different than me, is a fruit that I should be showing if I am truly elect. In Galatians 5:22-23, Paul writes to us (22 )But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, (23) gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

If I am one of the elect, then these fruits should all be evident in my life.

In your life are you seeing this fruit?
If you are seeing this fruit, who is it around? Is it around only your Christian friends, or are you showing these to non-Christians, or people that are different from you?
If you cannot see this fruit, then you may need to examine yourself.

What I am trying to get across in this blog post is that true Christians are not only the ones who read and listen to Matt Chandler, Mark Driscoll, or first, second, and third john, those three being John Calvin, John Macarthur, and John Piper.

If we have been saved from an eternity in hell.
How should that affect the way we live?
How should it affect how we care for others?

Let me get the point across; just doing good things is not sufficient.  If you are helping someone’s physical needs and not telling them of their greatest need, which is Jesus, then you do not love them.
Calvinists, get off your iPod, get away from your commentaries for a time.
Go love people, go serve them, go preach the Gospel.  There will always be time for study.

Here are two possible reasons (among others) why you would not tell someone about Jesus.
1) You don’t believe eternity is real, and that people will really  go to hell.
2) You are selfish and would rather not be put in an awkward situation.

GUYS, GO LOVE PEOPLE. GO LOVE PEOPLE.
I am so excited of the possibilities of how big of an influence we can have in Rock Hill, SC and the world.
Lets go out and love.

In closing, I ask that you read God’s word and meditate on it and examine your heart in light of these verses and how well you love others.
James 2.

Last week I spoke to women.

This week I will be speaking to the MEN.  Lord willing, I hope God will challenge us deeply regarding our marriages.  I have been confessing sin and repenting of my own short-comings as a husband.  If you are not yet married, this will still be a very valuable time for you.  Hopefully you will hear some things that you can use for when you are married.

If you are not a male, this will still be helpful for you.  You will know how to pray for your husband or future husband.

As always, we are posting the order of service, so you can read the text and prepare your hearts to hear from God.  Also you can listen to the songs that we will be singing together and have the words in your mind and can focus during worship.

February 21 service:

Song Of The Redeemed – Charlie Hall

Sermon – Ephesians 5:25-33

Come Thou Fount – Hymn
It Is Well – Hymn
You Reign – Hillsong United
Our Redemption – Remedy Worship

Sending Song -  Mission’s Flame – Matt Redman

Is this wrong?

I don’t think it is.

It is ok to seek your own happiness by serving others…but it cannot stop there.

Here is where it gets interesting.  Meeting other people’s physical needs ONLY helps them here, while they are alive.  So, ONLY meeting their physical needs is simply just not enough.  All you can do is make them comfortable, while they will still go to hell, if they do not know Jesus.  Therefore, we cannot just simply serve for the sake of serving.

Serving someone, must involve truth telling.  We don’t want to only serve them here, but also tell them about There.

There is where true reality is. There is eternal.  If we truly love others, when we do local missions, we will tell them OFTEN about There and Him.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 11:28 “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup“.

When I was younger I used to think that after I examined myself and realized how sinful I was, that I shouldn’t take the Lord’s Supper because I was just too “bad”.  I thought, “my sin is too great, and I am not worthy to take the Lord’s Supper today”.  And so I would not take it.

I did not have any unconfessed sin, nor was I in the middle of some egregious sin.  I just didn’t feel worthy to take the Lord’s Supper because I knew that I was a sinner.

This is what I have come to discover.

The reason I thought I should not take the Lord’s Supper (I am too sinful) IS THE EXACT REASON I SHOULD TAKE THE LORD’S SUPPER.

Taking the Lord’s Supper is a reminder of the Gospel….That there is nothing good in me except Christ and that I am totally dependent on His grace, mercy and love to come and die for me and declare me righteous in His eyes.
Therefore, I repent of sin, remember my sin, and take the Lord’s Supper, celebrating the Gospel that Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ has given me life and Christ will come again.

So, consider these things as we take the Lord’s Supper this Sunday.  Know your sin.  Confess and repent from sin, trust Jesus, and celebrate His work on the cross for us on our behalf.

This is probably one of the most perfect Sundays to begin a new series.  HOLY. MARRIAGE. is the new two week series we will start this Sunday

For the next two weeks we will be talking about dating and marriage.  This Sunday will be dating/marriage and women.  Next Sunday will be dating/marriage and men.

I’m excited about this little “mini-series” because I believe the Lord can teach us all a lot.  The church always needs to be encouraged on how they can glorify God in our dating and marriages.

After this series, we will return to 1 Timothy.  After that, we will go to 1 John.

February 14 service:

Come, O Spirit – Bifrost Arts

Sermon – Ephesians 5:22-24 & 1 Peter 3:1-6

Lord’s Supper – Reflection Song – He Never Said a Mumblin’ Word – Bifrost Arts

Glory to God Forever – Steve Fee
Doxology – Mars Hill Church
All Creatures Of Our God And King – Mars Hill Church

Sending Song – Mission’s Flame – Matt Redman

These are things that the Lord desires that we, as Christians, would have in our life.  As a church, we have opportunity and privilege every month to get together and pray as a church.  We do this the first Wednesday of every month at 620 Oakland Ave.

We will have our church-wide corporate prayer tomorrow night, February 3, at 6:30pm.

Won’t you join us and enjoy the great gift we have as a church to pray together?

See you tomorrow night!