"Getting It All Started" - Doug Rehberg

It’s one of my favorite stories. If you have been at Hebron for ten years or more, you’ve most likely heard it.

Nearly 70 years ago, Dr. Robert Lamont was living in Pittsburgh and preaching at The First Presbyterian Church downtown, as their 10^th senior pastor. It was during the early years of his tenure when he and his wife were expecting their first child and Lamont had invited Barnhouse to come and preach for the week.

Every night it was the same routine. There’d be fifteen minutes of singing and prayer, then Lamont would come and introduce Barnhouse; and for the next 45 minutes this nationally acclaimed Bible teacher would come and teach. But one night Lamont was missing. So, Barnhouse got up, introduced himself, and began to teach. About 30 minutes into his message the big back doors of the church opened and in walked Lamont. He tried to be inconspicuous, but as soon as he entered the sanctuary Barnhouse stopped and stared at him. Everyone began to laugh. They all knew where he had been, but no one said anything. When Lamont took his seat, Barnhouse simply continued his message. When it was over, Lamont hurried to his side and said, “Dr. Barnhouse, can I see you in my office right away?”

Now normally at the end of the service, they’d both stand at the front of the sanctuary, but this night the elders handled those duties. Lamont closed his office door and said, “Donald, I’ve just come from the hospital. My wife has given birth to a mongoloid son. (Today it’s called Down Syndrome.) “They’ve taken the infant away. They won’t let us see him. My wife is crying and she wants answers. What should I tell her?” And Barnhouse said, “Tell her this is of the Lord.” And instantly Lamont said, “I can’t tell her that! Where did you get that?” Dr. Barnhouse opened his Bible to Exodus 4 where Moses is telling the Lord why he can’t go to Pharaoh. He says, “I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to me, but I am slow to speech and of tongue.” And then the Lord said to him, “Who made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?” And with that Lamont left his office and headed to the hospital. When he entered the room his wife was crying, “Where’s my baby? Why won’t they let me see our baby?” And Lamont said, “Honey, I don’t understand it all, but the Lord has blessed us with a mongoloid child.” She was shocked and through tears said, “Where’d you get that?” Lamont opened his Bible and read it to her. Now there was a telephone operator at the hospital who was an agnostic at best. She knew that given the right set of circumstances any Christian would go to pieces the same way anyone else would. So, she decided to listen in to the phone call Mrs. Lamont placed to her mother. She said, “Mom, we don’t understand it right now but God has blessed us with a mongoloid son.” There were no tears. There was no anguish, just quiet surrender, and the operator couldn’t believe it. The news spread like wildfire all over the hospital. And the following Sunday night, when Dr. Lamont had finished preaching, he stood at the front of the sanctuary ready to pray with anyone who might have come forward to receive Christ. When he opened his eyes, there in front of him stood 24 nurses and the telephone operator.

Now think of it. A week earlier when Barnhouse was asked, “What shall I tell my wife?” do you think for one minute he knew that that baby would be the one God would use to bring 24 nurses and a telephone operator to Christ? Not on your life. The only thing he knew was how to apply the Word of God to Lamont’s situation.

One Christmas a family received an elaborate wooden puzzle. It had over 500 finely cut and pointed pieces. As the father of the house walked through the family room, he noticed that his two older sons were working on putting the pieces together while their 3-year-old sister was off to the side with a few pieces.

As soon as he walked into the room the little girl shouted excitedly, “Daddy, come here and see how I’ve put the puzzle together!” When he walked over she held up a red piece and said, “This is an apple.” She had about 20 random pieces that she had set all over the table, and to her it qualified as putting the puzzle together. Now, as she was showing her father her discoveries, her two older brothers shook their heads. They knew that she didn’t have a clue, but to a 3-year-old that was all there was to it.

And that’s how it is with interpreting the Bible. You can read it sequentially. You can memorize the words. You can quote them chapter and verse, and gain a certain amount of understanding. But it’s not until you seek to put the puzzle together by drawing in all the other scripture that bears on a particular text or theme that the puzzle comes together.

That’s what we are going to seek to do throughout 2021 as we dig into the Book of Genesis. It is the place where every major Christian theme and doctrine has its roots. We will see that time and time again, throughout our study.

In preparation for our first message: “Getting It All Started” from Genesis 1:1-3, you may wish to consider the following:

1. What does verse 1 of chapter 1 tell us about God?

2. What does it tell us about time?

3. What did St. Augustine mean when he said, “I cannot show you my God, not because there is no God to show, but because you have no eyes to see Him.”?

4. Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “Out of nothing, nothing comes.” How is he right? How is he wrong?

5. How important is the period after verse 1?

6. What does it mean that the Spirit of God “was hovering over the face of the waters”?

7. How do we see the Triune God in verses 1-3?

8. Where’s the Gospel in verse 3?

9. What doctrines can you identify in verses 1-3?

See you Sunday!

"The Benediction of Peace" - Henry Knapp

Ending on a High Note… Launching Into the Future 

The problem with a good illustration is that sometimes it can be taken by people to “illustrate” the wrong thing! 

In the 1920s and 30s, it was popular to end a public musical performance with a musician or singer hitting a particularly difficult high note, rousing the crowd in admiration. The idea was, after a pleasing concert or show, the audience would be left with a powerful, moving finale to go home on, thus extending the joy post-performance as one would reflect back on that final moment. 

Now, I need to be careful here… in worship the congregation is NOT, repeat, NOT an audience! We all are the participants who direct our worship toward God, the rightful “Audience”. The illustration above is not to parallel the congregation and a crowd passively listening, but to emphasize the power and impact of “ending on a high note”. In worship, that “ending” is the benediction. 

If you have been worshipping at Hebron for some time, you will note that we end each and every worship service with a benediction. That is not simply some ritual or action that we do “just because”. A benediction is an important part of a worship service—it both ends the service on a “high note” and it launches the worshipper into their week. 

“Benediction” is Latin for “good word” or “good speaking”. So, when the pastor speaks a benediction, he is blessing the congregation with a final “good word”: a good word intended to wrap up all that has been happening during the worship service, and a good word which should spur us on to godliness, service, and adoration throughout the week. The benediction of a Hebron worship service is sometimes a summary statement of the Scripture, sometimes a charge and/or encouragement, sometimes a passage from the Bible. 

The classic benediction in Scripture is in Numbers 6:22-27 where Moses is explicitly commanded by God to bless God’s people with words you might be familiar with: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace.” The essence of this benediction is the announcement of God’s blessing, His grace and peace—all wrapped up with the promise of His very Presence with His people. 

Just as a benediction is to “end with a high note”, to wrap up the worship experience with God’s Presence, and to send us into the world with His blessings; so this week in worship we will give a “benediction” to this past year and look forward to the one coming. For many of us, thinking of the past year in terms of blessing will not be too easy—it certainly has been a challenge! But, as we attend to the Word in Scripture, we will, I trust, hear God’s blessings, and be able to carry them into the future. 

Join us, online, for worship this Sunday as we explore a marvelous scriptural benediction, Hebrews 13:20-21.

"Anticipating Joy" - Doug Rehberg

The word for this 4^th Sunday of Advent is “joy”. What a perfect word to describe the essence of Christmas!

According to Webster a truism is, “a statement that’s obviously true and says nothing new or interesting.” Here’s an example: “You get what you pay for.”

When you read the Bible you find one of the greatest truisms:

The only thing that stands between you and joy is you!

Eight years ago a friend and mentor of mine wrote a book that we’ve used in some Groves over the years. In it he tells of the time he was speaking at a national gathering of his denomination (PCA) where he said some controversial things. After his talk he was confronted by a serious young man in a three-piece-suit with a concerned look on his face. Here’s his description of their encounter.

“Dr. Brown,” he said, “what you said today grieved my heart!”

“Grieved your heart?” I responded. “There was nothing big enough here to grieve your heart. We’re one of the smallest denominations in America, and I’m a peon. Find something bigger to grieve your heart!”

“You don’t want to hear,” he said quietly and with a godly patience, “what a fellow pastor says?”

I thought about it for a moment and said, “No, not really, but if you want to say something and be honest about it, I’ll listen…at least awhile.”

“I think,” he said, his voice rising for the first time (really spiritual people don’t shout, but he was close) “that you are arrogant, rude, and prideful.”

Do you know what I said? I said: “Bingo! You have read me well, but I’m better than I was. Your heart would have been even more grieved five years ago, and it would be even more grieved if you knew the whole truth about me now.”

We ended up talking for over an hour, and he eventually loosened his tie. All things considered, it was a rather honest and good discussion, but that’s not the point. The point is how I felt when I said, “Bingo!” Once I said that, I had an incredibly wonderful feeling of freedom and joy.

Generally, I would have defended myself. (I’m quite good at doing that.) I would have engaged him in a debate and “eaten his lunch”. (I have a glib tongue and know how to use it.) I may have worked to belittle him and his judgmental spirit. (Any preacher can do that well.) I didn’t. I just told him that he had read me well.

Do you know what I experienced with that one word, “Bingo!”? I felt free and powerful. In fact, it felt so good I’ve decided to do it more. I call it the “Bingo Retort.”

You’re wrong!

Bingo! I’ve been wrong at least 50 percent of the time.

You’re selfish.

Bingo! My mother said the same thing, and my wife knows it too.

You’re not living up to your potential.

Bingo! If it’s okay with you, I’m not going to live up to my potential awhile longer.

You’re not fit to be a Christian.

Bingo! That’s why Christ died for me.

You’re a preacher? You’re certainly not spiritually qualified to be a preacher.

Bingo! I’ve often said the same thing to God.

How can you be a Christian and say/do that?

Bingo! I sometimes wonder that myself.

I am follically challenged (“bald” for the slower among us). It didn’t happen overnight. I didn’t just look in the mirror one morning to discover that my hair was missing. It was incremental and slow.

I did what every bald guy tried to do at the beginning…hide the baldness. I moved hair around to those places where growth was sparse. But trying to hide baldness is sort of like self-righteousness. One doesn’t even know it or admit it or think that anybody else notices it until a good wind destroys the ruse and everybody sees the truth. It starts with lowering the part of one’s hair and eventually it comes to growing the hair long where it will grow and brushing it to cover the places where it won’t. There were even times when I refused to take speaking engagements—I can’t believe I’m telling you this!—because I wouldn’t have time to “fix” my hair and cover my baldness.

It was my atheist friend who messed up the gig. “Can I ask you a question?” he said.

“Of course.”

“You’re a preacher?”

“You know I am.”

“How the h___ can you be a preacher who is into honesty and stuff like that and be that dishonest with your hair? Frankly, it’s not only dishonest, it looks silly. Don’t you know that everybody knows it and that they laugh behind your back?

I don’t remember what I said to him, but I do remember what I did that evening. I stood in the mirror and gave up. I cut off the long hairs I used to cover my bald head with and brushed what was left straight back. I was kind of surprised. I didn’t look handsome exactly, but there was something to be said for joining the ranks of Yul Brynner, Patrick Stewart, Telly Savalas, and Michael Jordan. And I slept better that night, better than I had in a very long time. I was even able to sleep late because I didn’t have to get up so early to “fix” my hair.

“Free at last! Thank God Almighty! Free at last!”

That experience was not dissimilar to the experience I had when I finally accepted the true grace of God given to me in Jesus Christ…You see, self-righteousness isn’t the only thing that’s addictive. Repentance is too!

That’s what we see in our primary text this week: Luke 1: 26-46 and our secondary one: Philippians 2:5-11. Both Mary and Paul prove that, for the Christian, the only thing that stands between you and joy is you.

In preparation for Sunday’s message, “Anticipating Joy” you may wish to consider the following:

1. What similarities are there in the circumstances of Mary and Paul in these texts?

2. To whom is joy attributed in Luke chapter one?

3. What similarities are there between these three?

4. We are going to show that joy, for Mary, is a 4-step process. Can you identify each of them?

5. Why does Mary go to see Elizabeth after receiving the news the angel reports in verses 28-37?

6. What do we see in Elizabeth that propels Mary’s joy?

7. What do we see in Mary’s song of praise that indicates her knowledge of God’s character?

8. How similar is Paul’s response in Roman custody?

9. How true is our suggested truism?

10. How contingent is our joy on the finished work of Christ?

See you Sunday!

"Anticipation: Love" - Doug Rehberg

It’s been called, “A Masterpiece in Acting” — The Two Popes. Have you seen this film yet? It’s available on Netflix, and it’s worth your time.

Written by Anthony McCarten, the writer of “Darkest Hour”, and directed by Fernando Meirelles, the director of “City of God”, The Two Popes is inspired by true events that occurred inside the papacy of the Roman Catholic Church in the last decade. Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce) is the soon-to-be elected Pope Francis to replace the aging Pope Benedict XVI (Anthony Hopkins). The ideological and temperamental differences, and the theological debates that spring from them, drive the movie’s action as the leaders spar over the future of the 21^st century Roman Catholic Church. And though much of the movie is fictional, those real debates have consequences far beyond the cloistered enclave of the Vatican. They even have direct relevance to our sermon topic this Sunday!

Pope Francis, former archbishop of Buenos Aires, is portrayed in the film as a strong-willed progressive, a man more comfortable with giving open-air sermons and working on projects for the poor than participating in the solemn rituals of the Vatican. This depiction is not far off. As a Jesuit priest in Argentina, Bergoglio rose rapidly through the ranks of the Catholic order. In 1973, at age 36, he became head of all the Jesuits in Argentina and neighboring Uruguay.

In 1990, after a dispute within the Jesuit order, he was stripped of his leadership responsibilities and exiled to Cordoba, in central Argentina, where he spent two years in what he later described as, “a time of great interior crisis”. When he emerged, it was as a changed leader, with a new perspective gleaned from his interactions with the city’s poor.

Pope Benedict XVI, born Joseph Rateinger, who served as Pope from 2005 to 2013, is portrayed in an equally life-like manner. He is shown as a rigid, uncompromising leader who sees a return to doctrinal purity as the best course for a Roman Catholic Church struggling with 21^st century problems. Like Pryce’s portrayal of Francis, the film’s characterization of Benedict XVI is not far off the mark.

In the film the two meet under unprecedented circumstances. Bergoglio travels to Rome to request permission to retire. Immediately he’s met by Pope Benedict XVI who tells him that he will not accept his resignation, in part, because he is about to step down from the papacy.

As the film plays out, it offers a fascinating window into the debate between the two ideologically opposed religious leaders. The literal veracity of these conversations and the situation that created them, are mostly imagined by McCarten. But it’s an imagination solidly founded in the stated positions of each expressed in their speeches and writings over the years.

It’s in one of these heated conversations, in the confines of the Sistine Chapel, that some remarkable transparency occurs. The future Pope Francis says to Pope Benedict XVI words with which Benedict is familiar. He wrote them years earlier!

Angrily Benedict says to Bergoglio, “Without truth, love degenerates into sentimentality.” Without skipping a beat Bergoglio replies, “Yes, ‘Truth may be vital, but without love it is unbearable.’” These are the same words Joseph Ratzinger had written years before. Bergoglio is simply reminding him of this greatest truth.

Do you know where Ratzinger got that truth? From the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ. That’s why the Apostle John describes the incarnation and the crucifixion the way he does in I John 4:7-12. In the Old Testament there are glimpses of the loving essence of God, but in Jesus we get the full picture of it. The sad truth is that even with the full picture our wicked hearts propel us to forget that God is Love and all that that means. Being reminded of it changes everything, even for a pope!

In preparation for Sunday’s message, “Anticipation: Love” you may wish to consider the following:

1. Read the following brief Old Testament texts to get a glimpse of the power of God’s loving essence: Exodus 33:12-23; Hosea 14:1-4; Malachi 3:1-6.

2. In R.C. Sprouls’ book The Holiness of God he points out that the angels’ description of God in Isaiah 6:3 as the only attribute of God raised to the third power, or repeated three times in quick succession. This implies that holiness is the paramount attribute, the central essence of God. Do you agree?

3. In the New Testament God is described four times by the words: “God is _____.” What are the four words that fill in the blank?

4. Why is truth unbearable without love?

5. How does the Gospel perfectly answer that question?

6. John 1:14-18 speaks of the fullness of God being seen in Jesus. How does he describe that fullness? (see verses 16 & 17)

7. How is the reality of the Trinity a perfect picture of God’s essence as love?

8. Charles Spurgeon once said, “The wheel of providence revolves, but its axis is eternal love.” Would you agree?

9. Why do you think Paul tells the Corinthians that love is greater than faith and hope? Would you agree?

10. Is it by truth or love that we best reflect God?

See you Sunday!

"Anticipation: Peace" - Henry Knapp

The Tranquility, Security, Harmony, and Maturity of Peace 

Sitting at the breakfast table with a heaping bowl of sugary cereal, I ponder the nuances of “Advent”. 

Like so much of the Gospel, understanding “Advent” is both blessedly easy and incredibly deep. On the one hand, “Advent” as a time of anticipation is something we are all familiar with, it is a natural part of life, and we can translate that easily into our waiting for Christ. On the other hand, recognizing that “Advent” is not a passive thing, but something that puts demands on the believer is deep, real deep. Advent is the action of waiting, expecting something to happen. Advent is anticipating the feeling of a future that is better than the present. We anticipate the feeling of hope, of peace, of love, and of joy—all feelings that come easily to us, but that are hard to classify and discuss. Advent is easy… and challenging. 

Advent is a time of yearning for peace, expecting a better, more peaceful future than our present. 

Peace = tranquility. With sugary bombs on my spoon, I gaze contentedly out the window on a gently falling snow… but in the back of my mind, the rush of the day is building and I know a hectic time is ahead. My current tranquility is temporary at best. 

Peace = security. I feel safe wrapped in my home, sitting on my duff, Christmas music playing softly in the background… but I know that emotional challenges lay ahead. Indeed, I am likely just ignoring pressing issues that will endanger my sense of security, for security this side of heaven is an illusion. 

Peace = harmony. Everything comes together well, everything works smoothly in unison. My son pats me on the head, the snow is a beautiful blanket of white on the ground, my wife greets me with a good morning, there is no discord… until she sees my breakfast of sugar, my son tells me of the dripping faucet, and my car slides off the snowy road. Harmony? Ha! There are simply too many discordant notes. 

Peace = maturity. Well, with my choice of cereal, perhaps maturity is not exactly what I feel, but something like that. With God’s Word before me, I am prepared for the day, declared righteous in His sight… but, I know there are so many holes yet! So many things that yet need to be done in my life. 

And so, peace reigns in my life… sort of. Given the blessings of my life, the gift of peace—tranquility, security, harmony, maturity—are easy to see. But, the pain of sin, of brokenness, of wickedness is present as well, always lurking just beneath the surface. 

And, here then is “Advent”: The anticipation of that feeling that the future, a future full of God’s peace, will not be temporary, not incomplete, and not blind to sin. Instead, it will be a future so much better than today, because God Himself will make it so. The “peace” we are expecting is not a peace of human invention, but a peace of God’s very Presence. True tranquility, perfect security, beautiful harmony, and complete maturity is ahead for all believers, for our Lord has promised, and has guaranteed it through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

Join me in anticipating the coming of Peace this Sunday. Read Isaiah 55 (especially verses 12-13). 

1. What is the overall point of this chapter? What does God want to communicate to the reader?

2. List out all the times God does something or states that He will do something.

3. What is our response in light of what God is doing? How are we to act and respond?

4. In verse 12, what is the connection between peace and joy?

5. Why do the mountains and the hills and the trees act that way? Assuming this at least is partial imagery, what is being communicated?

6. The first half of verse 13 brings to mind Genesis 3 when God announced the curse on the ground for sin. What might the connection there be?

7. How does the end of verse 13 link everything back to God? What/where is the “Advent” here?