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Shepherd’s Glen
Good Shepherd OPC
Where the apostles’ doctrine is heard and heeded great fellowship will be found. Luke tells us that this fellowship is visibly seen as people talk about the Word of God, as people come together for meals, come together for prayer, share with one another, etc.
But what are some of the hindrances to our Christian Fellowship?
Our Lord continues to build his church through the ministry of men whom he calls and endues with special gifts for teaching, ruling, and serving…While it is the calling of every believer to confess Christ before men, and while God gives particular gifts and calling to some to minister the Word, and while every minister of the Word must evangelize in the fulfillment of his calling, there are some who are particularly called by Christ and his church as evangelists. OPC Book of Church Order
John Hannah, the Church History Professor of Dallas Theological Seminary, centers history on Jesus Christ, and he introduces his brief 24-page sweep of Church History with these words,
“The focus of all history is captured for us by the apostle Paul when he wrote to the Romans, ‘From Him and through Him and to Him are all things’ (11:36 NASB). History is about the triumph of God.” p. 4
Two points: 1) Hannah believes our secular postmodern milieu, the classroom of the academy and popular social media, along with broadcasts of radio and TV, falls flat when we take up the question: What is the purpose of history? He says today’s world separates facts from meaning. What’s on his mind? Make history what you wish. Figure it out. Toy with it. Apply it—all to your liking. 2) The Christian approach radically differs. To work with historical fact in a Christian way aims to restore God’s interpretation. History is his story. The Christian works with the assumption that God exists, and his wisdom, power, and love govern all creatures and their actions. The whole of heaven and earth yields to his truth, learning and living concerning these four matters:
a) he is the one infinite-personal God who exists Father, Son and Spirit, and he created all things ex nihilo
b) there’s the depth and pervasive moral cosmic ruin stemming from man’s sin
c) there’s the wonders of the redemptive work of Jesus Christ of Nazareth
d) there’s the coming eternal state marked with end-of-time judgment and the blessed hope of being in God’s presence forever
Hannah would surely affirm: History’s Creator and Governor stands outside of history; and therefore, he guides it and gives meaning to it. His short 24 pages might be called God’s Pictorial Providential History of the Church.
