Rebecca Stark is the author of The Good Portion: Godthe second title in The Good Portion series.

The Good Portion: God explores what Scripture teaches about God in hopes that readers will see his perfection, worth, magnificence, and beauty as they study his triune nature, infinite attributes, and wondrous works. 

                     

Sunday
Apr212019

Sunday's Hymn: There Is a Redeemer

This morning the choir at my church will be singing this song in this arrangement during the service. (We will also celebrate the resurrection of Jesus with two baptisms, a sermon in both Mandarin and English, and lunch with lots of Chinese food.) 

 

 

 

There is a Redeemer,
Jesus, God’s own Son;
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
Holy One.

Jesus my Redeemer,
Name above all names;
Precious Lamb of God, Messiah,
Hope for sinners slain.

Thank you, O my Father,
For giving us your Son,
And leaving your Spirit,
Till the work on earth is done.

When I stand in glory,
I will see his face;
There I’ll serve my King forever,
In that holy place.

Thank you, O my Father,
For giving us your Son,
And leaving your Spirit,
Till the work on earth is done.

There is a redeemer,
Jesus, God’s own Son,
Precious lamb of God, Messiah,
Holy one.

Thank you oh my Father,
For giving us your Son,
And leaving your Spirit,
Till the work on earth is done.

And leaving your Spirit,
Till the work on earth is done. 

—Melody Green © 1969 Sparrow

 

Other hymns, worship songs, or quotes for this Sunday:

Friday
Apr192019

Selected Reading

I read these this week and recommend them to you.

Atonement

3 Reasons I Changed My Mind About Penal Substitution
“Actually reading the Scriptures in their cohesive entirety, and seeing the Old Testament repeatedly preview the gospel, showed me that Jesus bearing our sin and its penalty is central—not peripheral, and not artificially imposed—to the story’s vast sweep.” — Daniel Hames

(This is one reason we don’t want to “unhitch” from the Old Testament. The Old Testament sacrificial system, which was obviously substitutionary, foreshadows Jesus’s sacrifice, and gives us the needed background for understanding the substitutional nature of his sacrifice.)

Church History

Edward Dering and His Stuning Lenten Sermon
“Whatever Queen Elizabeth I might have expected by inviting Edward Dering to preach a Lenten sermon in her presence, it was certainly not an outspoken rebuke.” - Simonetta Carr.

Good Friday

Christina Rossetti, “Good Friday”
Michael Haykin says this poem “bears witness to a faith both thick and deep.”

“Man of Sorrows”
“God designed us as emotional beings. Emotions, feelings, and moods are God’s idea. Therefore, they are not, in and of themselves, sinful. In fact, they can be beautiful expressions of our creation in God’s image. Jesus was a deeply emotional being. His grief in the garden makes that abundantly clear.” - Bob Kelleman

Thursday
Apr182019

He Can Help

 

I posted a reflection on Hebrews 2:18 at Out of the Ordinary today.