Redeemer Presbyterian DSM, IA

I went to a Presbyterian Church of America church this morning called Redeemer Presbyterian in Beaverdale, IA. Lindsey is down in Arkansas so I thought I'd see what the only PCA church in central Iowa was like.

This church preaches the Word of God! Expositional all the way! Praise God for the labor that they are doing in DSM, Iowa!

Anyhow, the passage that Wayne preached on was 1 Peter 2:18-25...here are some of my notes.

• Introduction: Commentary on slavery.
• First Sentence… “What do we think of when we think of slavery?”
• Main point: Because Jesus Christ suffered for us we must follow in His steps.
• Suffer for the sake of the gospel.
• Suffering injustice is a gracious gift from God.

o Because by obedience we find grace to do what is commanded of us.
o We are not suffering because of our sin, but we are suffering by the grace of God.
o It is a gracious gift of God because it points us to Jesus Christ!

Now my favorite part…

• Atonement: The extent of Christ’s sufferings…

o The atonement wasn’t just an example as some folks would say today.
o Here where Peter is outlining and exhorting us most strongly to follow Jesus’ example in suffering he says that Jesus was crucified in our place.
o This is the vicarious [suffered in the place of another] subsitutionary [replacement for another] atonement [satisfaction of God’s wrath for the sins we have committed against Him].
o 1 Corinthians 5:21 “He became sin who knew no sin”
o 1 Peter 2:24 “He…bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.”

• “Look to God in faith to Jesus Christ who bore our sin on the tree…that we might follow and imitate.”
• “We cannot atone for our sin, but we are called to lay down our lives…in that people see self sacrifice and the love of God in our lives.”
• “The price of suffering is all worth it to be with our God.”
• “We are most effective in ministering when we come in our own brokenness…not to hide and cover up…it’s the power of the gospel.”
• Last Sentence… “Live life to follow our shepherd.”

Amen!

The thing I liked the most about this service was the reverence for the word of God! We stood when Scripture was read. Also, I loved how we actually prayed the Lord’s prayer, and said the Apostle’s Creed out loud.

Communion was pretty sweet too…I was pretty surprised when I drank of the cup though…it was wine…and I don’t drink.

Lama’an Shmo
Noah