"The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me."
— Martin Luther
Tomorrow we gather to worship the King…not a king, the King! What a privilege it is!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD, strong and mighty,
the LORD, mighty in battle!
Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
Who is this King of glory?
The LORD of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah
(Psalm 24:7-10 ESV)
Romans 8:1-11
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
(Romans 8:1-11 ESV)
"He is the best preacher [or worship leader], that can in the most lively and powerful manner display Jesus Christ before the people, evidently setting him forth as crucified among them; and that is the best sermon [time of leading worship] which is most full of Christ, not of rhetorical art [musical creativity]."
—
John Flavel - The Excellency of the Subject, 18
from worshipmatters.com
Two days, two parties…
…both surprises to my lovely bride, Rebecca.
But it couldn’t have possibly been done without the joyful, generous and selfless help of our dear friends. I believe - as crowded as we most certainly were - that all had a great time of fellowship and food. On Monday we grubbed on my world famous Hawaiian Grilled Chicken and on Tuesday I chose not to fry again outside, so it was Jordan’s BBQ to the rescue! On Monday it was a cookie cake made by the wonderful people of Walmarts and on Tuesday, Tracie (one of Rebecca’s co-workers) made a Mickey & Minnie cake which was de-lish! Though there may not have been enough chairs, there was certainly enough food and laughter to go around.
This hasn’t been the “easiest” of years for Rebecca and I…miscarriages, sicknesses, new starts and life changes. Life isn’t easy, but according to Romans 8:28, all of those things will work together for good. But as I began thinking about what would be the best way to celebrate Rebecca’s — birthday, God seemed to impress on me to share it with those who helped us through many of this valleys…so that’s just what I did.
A very, very special thanks to Jean Poland who birthed beautiful Rebecca Gayle on August 3rd 19—. These parties literally couldn’t have been a success without you kidnapping Rebecca. We love you dearly.
To Roxy and her boys, Vicki, Shelah and Emmah, Paige, Sam and Mallory, Kristin and Gary, Jim and Diane who all pitched in to make night one a success, THANK YOU!
To Jeff and Kristi and fam, Mike and April and fam, Shauna and Dennis and fam, Justin and Kim and fam, Aaron and Karice, Brian, Tracy, Audrey and Michelle, Chrissy, Brittany and Roxanne who all made night two a success, THANK YOU!
We love you all dearly and are thankful for the friendship, encouragement and joy you brought to our lives over the past year.
Yours in Christ,
Matt Henslee
PS: Shameless plug…the music in the background is a sneak-peek at the next hymn for My Hymnbook which will be posted on Friday, Psalm 7!
Today, that stunning lady in the picture above is celebrating a birthday!
Happy birthday, my love!
