Friday, July 13, 2007

Capitol Hill Baptist Church

Jule forgot to mention one of the most enjoyable experiences of our anniversary trip to Washington DC. We were able to participate in the worship service Sunday morning at Capitol Hill Baptist Church - home of 9 Marks and pastored by Mark Dever.

I am thankful to our God for the opportunity to fellowship and sit under the ministries of fellow-ministers in the body of Christ. Pastor Dever was not preaching the Sunday of July 1st when we were there. Michael Lawrence, the associate pastor is currently preaching a series out of 2 Timothy. It was both encouraging and convicting to hear Pastor Lawrence admonish the people out of 2 Tim 1:1-14 to joyfully suffer for the sake of the gospel. He concluded:

"On the cross, Jesus destroyed death by suffering on the cross for us. Jesus paid the penalties we owe by dying on the cross. He got up from death and revealed eternal life. This is the source of Paul’s confidence. This is why Paul is joyful and invites Timothy to join him, and us too. What are a few years of suffering for eternal life?

"Elders in the church, consider carefully the high and noble calling we have been given. We are guarding the message that brings eternal life. Let us carry this message with love and faith.
Members of CHBC, we are known as a deliberate church. Paul challenges us to live by faith, and not by our own skills and righteousness. Can people see the fruits of our ministry?

"Thinking about Paul’s vision for the future invites us to have a similar vision. What will we have passed on to the next generation when it comes time for us to pass the message on? I hope we will say, “come and suffer with us.

What a challenge! I pray that God will enable us to joyfully suffer for Christ.

3 comments:

cranny + b said...

Rob-- I actually read through your entire "theologic" (I know that is not a real word) post! Steve and I were just at Capitol Hill not too long ago--it is such a neat place!

smlogan said...

robbo,

i've been to capitol hill 2x (once with lindsay, and once before we met). dever was gone both times.
must be tough to be a sweet guy;
although, it's nice to have a 2nd man who also has degrees from duke, gordon-conwell, and cambridge. lawrence is no slouch.

my father-in-law is an army chaplain at Arlington, and i've been trying to get them to go to that church, but they can't swing the amill stance. i'm not all about eschatology mitigating a church choice - especially when it is so rare to have the opportunity to sit under a pastor-scholar.

in any case...
glad to hear you enjoyed your trip.
God willing, the baylors will roll into town in a few hours.
tomorrow, we'll start undoing what you did sunday. fun times.

robertlhall said...

Logan, sorry its just you helping him unload. We had about 87 people there to help load up the truck. Such is your lot in life. BTW, I was very impressed with Lawrence and blessed by his message, and I did get to speak with Dever for a few minutes as well.