For God Alone

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26) Love divine, all loves excelling, joy of heaven to earth come down. Fix in us thy humble dwelling, all thy faithful mercies crown. Jesus, thou art all compassion, pure, unbounded love thou art; Visit us with thy salvation, enter every trembling heart. Breathe, oh, breathe thy loving Spirit into every troubled breast; Let us all in thee inherit; let us find thy promised rest. Take away the love of sinning; Alpha and Omega be; End of faith, as its beginning, set our hearts at liberty. Come, Almighty to deliver, let us all thy life receive; Suddenly return, and never, nevermore thy temples leave. Thee we would be always blessing, serve thee with thy hosts above, Pray and praise thee without ceasing, glory in thy perfect love. Finish, then, thy new creation; pure and spotless let us be; Let us see thy gr...

Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may one from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 3:19-20a) Yesterday morning, our pastor preached a sermon on Isaiah 40:1-31. He called the fortieth chapter of Isaiah one of the greatest chapters of the Bible, a statement with which I completely resonate. Pastor Ellis’s theme for his final Lenten sermon was Renewal, a consistent theme that runs through the Bible. Those of us who have heard countless sermons, and who are faithful students of the Bible will readily agree with this claim. Pastor and author, Ray Ortlund, Jr. subtitled his commentary on Isaiah: God Loves Sinners. And, indeed, He does! Pastor Ellis described how God’s plan for renewal, brokenness, and repentance, is found throughout the entire word of God: Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, Noah, Jacob and Esau, Joseph, and Moses. Job sings a song of renewal even when his body is covered with disease: For I know that my Redeemer lives...