Betty Bristol was, and still is, a great gift of God to Redemption Hill. Not only that, but we recognize that we are but one piece of the legacy that she leaves behind after her promotion to glory. Tomorrow, as family and friends, we will gather to remember and celebrate the grace of God shown to us in Betty Bristol.

Here are some details regarding the services tomorrow:

The Bristol’s will have a graveside service at Hollywood Cemetery tomorrow at 2:00 PM. Everyone is invited to attend this service. Please remember to arrive early as parking is not abundant in Hollywood Cemetery and you will most likely have to walk to get to the gravesite. MAP LINK

After the graveside service, at 3:30 PM, there will be a celebration of life service followed by a (in Betty’s words) party at The 400. Please be reminded that all parking at The 400 is street parking. For those among us who are younger and don’t have kids, please consider parking at the Patrick Henry School and walking to the the 400. Also, carpooling is a good idea for those who can. MAP LINK

Finally, we are in need of some men and women who can serve the Bristol family tomorrow. In particular, we are in need of greeter/ushers and parking attendants. If you can serve in this manner, please let me know as soon as possible (ryan AT redemptionhill DOT org or message me on the city).

Enjoy Grace.

This Sunday, Robert Greene will continue with our series on 1 John. His text for this week will be 1 John 1:6-10. If you missed last weeks sermon by Pastor Robert on 1 John 1:5, you can listen to and download the sermon here. Don’t forget to RSVP for the Parent Commissioning on February 26 if you have welcomed a new son or daughter into your family recently. Lastly, if you are interested in becoming a member of Redemption Hill, or simply learning more about who we are, consider joining us for our next Membership Seminar on Saturday, February 25. You can RSVP and get more info here.

Here are some of the songs that we will sing together this week:

See you Sunday!

This Sunday, Robert Greene will continue with our series on 1 John. His text for this week will be 1 John 1:5-10. If you missed last weeks sermon by Pastor Robert on 1 John 1:1-4, you can listen to and download the sermon here. Don’t forget to RSVP for the Parent Commissioning on February 26 if you have welcomed a new son or daughter into your family recently. Lastly, if you are interested in becoming a member of Redemption Hill, or simply learning more about who we are, consider joining us for our next Membership Seminar on Saturday, February 25. You can RSVP and get more info here.

Here are the songs that we will sing together this week:

See you Sunday!

You may expect that between here and heaven, if you have not met with it yet, you will have enough trouble to destroy you unless the Lord is your Helper. – Charles Spurgeon

This Sunday we will be introducing a new song to our Sunday gathering entitled Anthem of the Redeemed by Relevant Worship (Brothers McClurg). It is featured on their Anthem of the Redeemed album. The song is a simple reminder that it is God who we should turn to and rely upon in the midst of our daily trials and afflictions.

Anthem of the Redeemed is based on Psalm 121:1-8, and although the circumstances surrounding the psalm are not clearly stated, because of the psalmists cry for help, it is implied that he may have been in some state of anxiety or distress. Basically, the psalmist was in need of God’s help, and instead of choosing to wallow in self-pity, he chooses to put his confidence and trust in God, his “Helper,” who made heaven and earth.

Just like the psalmist, we also are in need of God’s help every waking moment of our lives. Many times though, we search for help within the creation and don’t realize that help from within the creation is always tainted in some degree. True help, wholeness, and healing can only come from the source of creation; the creator. True help can only come from God. In Jesus, God reveals to us this truth; time and time again throughout the gospel we see examples of how Jesus is our help and there is nothing else that can be our help except the Lord. In his strength, we are then encouraged to choose to look towards God in our most difficult circumstances.

So where do you find your help? Is it truly in the one who made heaven and earth, and who has “redeemed your life completely for his will?” God’s character assures us that He has the ability to follow through on His promise to help us. He Who spoke the heavens is to be “my” personal Helper. This is a pretty humbling thought.

Here are the lyrics to the song:

I will lift up my hands all I am up to the mountains where my help comes from
In your strength I have found the will to rise again now to proclaim the beauty of Your name

We will lift the highest praise
You alone are truly great

We will shout Your fame with endless voices raised
You have redeemed our lives completely for Your will oh God
So take our hands and set them to Your plan
Jesus You be glorified

I will lift up my hands all I am up to the mountains where my help comes from
You are all that I seek
Your Kingdom and Your righteousness oh God
Make us instruments of peace

I will always say, blessed be Your name
Ever You are faithful unto me

You can purchase and download Anthem of the Redeemed by clicking here. I pray that meditating and singing the truths found in Psalm 121:1-8, and this song, will, in times of distress and anxiety, lead us to put our confidence and trust in the one who stands above, beyond, and within this world, and to proclaim and adore our supreme “Helper,” Jesus Christ. May we “always say, blessed be your name. Ever you are faithful unto me.”

Since the Bible does not directly address these questions, Christians and churches are free to recognize and celebrate the arrival of newborn children in any way that does not violate what is expressly commanded in Scripture.

At Redemption Hill we do not perform infant baptisms. Nor do we, in the strictest sense, dedicate anyone’s baby to the Lord; we leave that privilege and responsibility to our parents. In fact, the practice of churches dedicating babies to the Lord is usually supported from Luke 1:22, which says:

…When the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, [Mary and Joseph] brought [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord…

Notice, though, that it was Mary and Joseph who presented Jesus to the Lord, not the priests or the other officials in the Temple. In the same way, we acknowledge the right and the responsibility of our parents to present their own children to the Lord, and we intentionally create a few opportunities per year for them to do so in front of the entire church.

So what does Redemption Hill Church do?

As our parents come forward to present their children to the Lord, Redemption Hill Church commissions its parents to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4), just as Paul commissioned the parents in Ephesus. That’s why we refer to this event as a Parent Commissioning.

So, for those of you who have recently experienced the blessing of a newborn child, we look forward to commissioning you as parents while you present your child to the Lord.

Our next Parent Commissioning will be Sunday, February 26, 2012. Please register below if you are interested in participating.

photo credit

This Sunday, Robert Greene will begin a new sermon series on 1 John. His text for this week will be 1 John 1:1-4. If you missed last weeks sermon by Pastor Robert entitled Something Old, Something New, you can listen to and download the sermon here.

Here are the songs that we will sing together this week:

See you Sunday!

Links from Update:

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. – Psalm 30:4

Dear Self,

You really should sing more. You should sing more than at gathered worship with the church. You should sing in the car, while working in the yard, and in your home. And when you sing, you should do so with more than lungs and lips. You should sing with your heart, mind, and soul.

And stop rolling your eyes! I’m not suggesting that you become the perpetually happy whistler who rolls through the aisles of the grocery store whistling others into an incurable state of annoyance. But song does need to be a much bigger part of your life.

People sing about the things that capture their hearts and things that give them joy. People sing of heroes, victory, longing, and hope. People even sing as a way to express their sorrow. Does anyone have more reasons to sing than you? As a sinner who has been forgiven, a slave who has been freed, a blind man who has received sight, a spiritual cripple who has been healed—all by the gospel—you have real reasons to be known as a person of song!

It is one thing to tell the world of God’s work of redemption in Jesus; it is another to sing of it. Anyone can parrot truth, but to sing of it—from the soul—reveals how you feel. Song is the natural and appropriate response to the gospel, because singing is one of the highest expressions of joy.

So why aren’t you singing always, only for your king? Have the mercies of God grown small in your heart? Is there little joy, little gratitude, little wonder? Do you just not feel like singing? The confession of your sins and gospel meditation will lead you to song, so start there. There are songs of praise, thanksgiving, confession, lament, and victory that need your voice.

From the great hymns of old to the new songs echoing the wonders of God’s mercy, you have more means of finding songs of redemption than any other generation before you. So join the chorus of God’s people, who have always been known as a people who sing.

“The simple believes everything, but the prudent gives thought to his steps.” Proverbs 14:15

The proverb above teaches that God desires for His people to be wise and thoughtful (cf. Matthew 10:16). There are many aspects of our lives which we should plan for, and the most important of these should always be those centered on God. John Piper exhorts “…plan how prayer and meditation on the Word are going to be significant parts of your life. Without a plan these most important things always get pushed aside by urgent pressures.” As a new year begins, don’t neglect to take time to plan for your spiritual growth this year, including how you will daily engage God’s word.

Being fed daily from the Bible is awesome. It is the very word of God (1 Thessalonians 2:13), the means of salvation (Romans 10:17), the chosen instrument of instruction and correction (2 Timothy 3:14), a medium of encouragement (Romans 15:4), a lamp shining in the darkness (2 Peter 1:19), that which will bring people into the inheritance of the Lord (Acts 20:32), the witness to true life (John 5:39), that which is valiantly protected by the Lord (Revelation 22:18-19), alive and active (Hebrews 4:12), the revelation of Christ to the whole world (Romans 16:25-27), the test of one’s truthfulness in communicating God’s desires and declarations (1 Corinthians 14:37), the words of restoration (Isaiah 29:18,19), a preacher of the Gospel (Galatians 3:7-9), a basis for conversion (Acts 17:2,3), utterly truthful (Proverbs 30:5,6), the tool of the Holy Spirit for good (Ephesians 6:17), a witness of the Lord forever (Isaiah 30:8), and that which should be made fully known (Colossians 1:24,25).

There are many ways in which you can read God’s word on a daily basis. For a lot of people, using a Bible reading plan can be a great help and encouragement. If you are interested in using one, we found a couple resources that may help you. First, Justin Taylor has a great blog post with numerous resource. If you’re a smartphone user, YouVersion is a great app with numerous reading plans built in. Finally, Zondervan has put together a lot of different reading plans based on length and topic.

If you do decide to start using a Bible reading plan, as in all things, it is important to be grace-driven. Focusing on the gospel allows us to avoid both the pride and despair that can come from following a reading plan.

First, there is the matter of pride. Sometimes when we are particularly disciplined, we tend to feel superior to others who drag behind. We boast in ourselves, rather than in the Lord. We must know that our righteousness before God does not come from what we do or accomplish, like checking off a box next to a reading assignment – “For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). In light of Christ’s sacrifice, all who are in Him have no room to look down on others or think themselves great based on any of their own doings. The gospel allows us to celebrate God’s gift of His word and His drawing us into it.

Second, there is the matter of despair. For those less disciplined, who struggle with keeping up to any prescribed plan, there can come a feeling of inferiority and dejection when your Bible reading isn’t going as well “as it should.” Again, the answer to these feelings is to know that your righteousness in God’s eyes comes through Christ and not yourself. Though you may struggle and want to grow in your disciplines, know that you have a loving Father who devotedly, graciously, and impartially gives encouragement, strength, and wisdom to all of His children whom He will never cast out of His presence (Acts 1:8, 2 Timothy 1:6–7, Isaiah 41:8-10, John 6:37).

Reading plan or not, in 2012 may the very word of the Lord be your counselor and guide.

Post by Mike Landis. Mike is a first year MDiv student at Southeastern Seminary and is helping out around the Redemption Hill office while on winter break.

This Sunday, Robert Greene will be preaching out of Revelation 21:5, where the Gospel promise is that God is making all things new. We’ll look to see how the gospel has shaped Redemption Hill in 2011 and how we are praying to be shaped in 2012. If you missed last weeks sermon by Rayshawn Graves entitled Idols in the Heart, you can listen to and download the sermon here. Also, if you missed any of the messages during Advent, you can listen and download them here. Lastly, beginning Sunday, January 15, we will be kicking off a new sermon series looking at 1 John.

Here are the songs that we will sing together this week:

See you Sunday!