SAVE THE DATE: End of Summer BBQ

Remember to mark your calendar on September 14 and join us for our End of Summer BBQ here at the church. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/save-date-end-of-summer-bbq.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

SAVE THE DATE: Missionary Conference - Part II

Be sure to save the evening of Wednesday, September 11 and plan to join us as we hear from our missionaries to Cambodia, the Baldwins. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/save-date-missionary-conference-part-ii.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

CATECHISM: This Week's Memory Work

First Catechism  FCQ. 13. Can God do all things? Yes – God can do all his holy will. Westminster Shorter Catechism SCQ. 8. How does God execute his decrees? God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/catechism-this-weeks-memory-work_26.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

More Lessons from the Wilderness - Pastor Tito Lyro - 1 Corinthians 10:1-13

AUDIO LINK -- If you find these lessons helpful, or if you have questions please write to us at contact@olympiabp.net or visit us at facebook.com/olympiabp. We would love to hear from you and learn how we can serve you.  http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/more-lessons-from-wilderness-pastor.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

More Lessons from the Wilderness - 1 Cor. 10:1-13

Introduction  The Corinthians thought they had arrived in their spiritual walk. They thought it was time to relax and congratulate each other. They were convinced that they were so strong in their faith the world, the flesh, and the Devil no longer posed a threat to them. It seems like they were relying on all their experiences as Christians. It seems that their thinking went like this: "I have been baptized; I regularly partake of the Lord's Table; I speak in tongues and prophesy. This means that I have reached a point in my spiritual life in which I can now coast the rest of the way because heaven is guaranteed for me."  This attitude led them to think that holiness of life was not important and that they were above any of the struggles of life in this world. So, Paul points them back to their forefathers in the wilderness. They too had experienced wonderful things. Yet, they did not see God through those blessings. Instead, they disregarded the God who gave them those blessings.  Paul warns them how dangerous this attitude is!  I. Thinking That You Have Spiritually Arrived Is Extremely Dangerous  A. Thinking that you have arrived because you have been baptized, partake in the Lord's Supper, or any other experience leads to idolatry; so, don't do it, 7.  B. Thinking that you have arrived because you have been baptized, partake in the Lord's Supper, or any other experience leads to sexually immorality; so, don't do it, 8.  C. Thinking that you have arrived because you have been baptized, partake in the Lord's Supper, or any other experience leads to testing Christ; so, don't do it, 9.  D. Thinking that you have arrived because you have been baptized, partake in the Lord's Supper, or any other experience leads to complaining against God and his leaders; so, don't do it, 10.  II. Don't Be Deceived, You Have not Arrived, 12.  A. Verse 12 is the culmination of Paul's argument.  B. None of us has arrived.  C. Spiritual pride is deadly and nowhere is spiritual pride demonstrated more clearly than in the refusal of living a holy life while at the same time complaining that God hasn't given us all we think we are entitled to.  D. So be careful lest you fall.  E. How do we do that?  1. By considering our sins.  2. By considering the cost to God of forgiving our sins.  3. By having a healthy distrust of our capability to deal with the struggles of life.  4. By daily communion with Christ through prayer and reading of the Bible.  5. By weekly communion with Christ through the preaching of the Word and sacraments.  6. By being part of the communion of the saints.  Conclusion  Paul brings the Corinthians and us to the brink of despair. How can we do it? How can we persevere to end? But before despair sets in, he adds verse 13. It is God who preserves us. It is his grace that brings us to the end. Sanctification, the living of a holy life, is the work of God's free grace in which he works in us. Praise the Lord for that!  http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/more-lessons-from-wilderness-1-cor-101.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

PRAYER: Deacon's Meeting

Please be in prayer for our Deacons as they meet tonight. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/prayer-deacons-meeting.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

PRAYER: Session Meeting

Please be in prayer for our Session as they meet tonight. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/prayer-session-meeting.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

CATECHISM: This Week's Memory Work

First Catechism  FCQ. 12. Does God know all things? Yes – nothing can be hid from God. Westminster Shorter Catechism SCQ. 7. What are the decrees of God? The decrees of God are, his eternal purpose, according to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/catechism-this-weeks-memory-work_19.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

Lessons from the Wilderness - Pastor Tito Lyro - 1 Corinthians 10:1-14

AUDIO LINK -- If you find these lessons helpful, or if you have questions please write to us at contact@olympiabp.net or visit us at facebook.com/olympiabp. We would love to hear from you and learn how we can serve you.  http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/lessons-from-wilderness-pastor-tito.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

Lessons from the Wilderness - 1 Cor. 10:1-13

Introduction  Pride and self-reliance are deadly attitudes for a Christian to have. The Corinthians thought they had arrived in their spiritual walk. They thought it was time to relax and congratulate each other. They were convinced that they were so strong in their faith the world, the flesh, and the Devil no longer posed a threat to them.  It may not be apparent at first glance, but Paul is continuing the discussion he began in chapter 8 concerning eating food offered to idols. You remember that there were two issues: eating meat that had been offered to idols and was now being sold in the market and eating meat offered to idols in the temple of that particular idol during a time of worship.  Some in the church thought that they had the right and authority to do whatever they wanted regardless of how it affected others in the church or even themselves. The passage leaves us with the impression that at least some in Corinth relied on their baptism and their partaking of the Lord's Supper as the cause for their acceptance before God.  The moreover in the beginning of the chapter, which is better translated as for, connects what Paul is about to say with his concern for disqualification he just addressed in 9:24-27. So, 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 develops Paul's concern with disqualification. The Israelites in the wilderness had experienced amazing things, yet many of them were disqualified. The Holy Spirit wants us to run the race of life with precision and endurance so that we are not disqualified.  I. These Stories in the OT Were Written for Our Benefit, 11, 1.  A. There is a current school of thought in the Reformed world that teaches that the OT narratives should never be used in preaching as examples for what we should do.  B. The problem with that idea is that Paul says that they were written precisely for that purpose.  C. Not only were these narratives (stories) written for our examples, the very things that happened to them happened for our benefit.  D. Paul expected the Corinthians to know the OT, 1.  II. The Means of Grace apart from Faith in Christ Are Nothing, 1-5.  A. Means of grace are things that the Lord has given his Church in order for her to grow closer to him.  B. In the Reformed tradition, we believe that there are four primary means of grace:  1. The reading and specially the preaching of God's Word;  2. Prayer;  3. The sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper;  4. The fellowship of the saints.  C. The goal of these means of grace is to point us to Christ, to show our inability to sustain ourselves by our own strength, and help us persevere to the end.  D. There were means of grace in the Old Covenant as well – here Paul lists two events that were designed to point God's people to Christ.  E. Yet God was displeased with them; they were disqualified, 5.  F. Why was God displeased with them?  G. Why do you think Paul picked these two examples to bring before the Corinthians?  III. Don't Rest on What You Have Done in the Past; Rather, Rely on God's Present Grace to you, 6-10 – Four Warnings!  A. These things are written so that we can learn to desire what is good, 6.  B. In v. 11, Paul says they are written for our admonition.  C. The four warnings are against idolatry, fornication, testing Christ, and complaining. We will cover them next week.  Conclusion  God hasn't changed. What he wants his Church to be hasn't changed. We do well do learn from the examples of the Old Covenant, so that we might have a clearer picture of whom God is and what he desires of us. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/lessons-from-wilderness-1-cor-101-13.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

CATECHISM: This Week's Memory Work

First Catechism  FCQ. 11. Can you see God? No – I cannot see God, but he can always see me. Westminster Shorter Catechism SCQ. 6. How many persons are there in the Godhead? There are three persons in the Godhead; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one God, the same in substance, equal in power and glory. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/catechism-this-weeks-memory-work_12.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

Complacency - Pastor Tito Lyro - Revelation 3:14-22

AUDIO LINK -- If you find these lessons helpful, or if you have questions please write to us at contact@olympiabp.net or visit us at facebook.com/olympiabp. We would love to hear from you and learn how we can serve you.  http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/complacency-pastor-tito-lyro-revelation.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

Complacency - Revelation 3:14-22

Introduction  Today we are going to go through the heart-wrenching duty of declaring that a man who once was part of this body is no longer a follower of Jesus Christ. The Scriptures command to hand him over to Satan in hopes that his soul might be saved. This is an experience that, though necessary, we hope is rare. It also gives us the opportunity to reflect about our own heart. I think Christ's words to the Laodicean church are very pertinent for our situation today.  I. Laodicea A. Was situated on the convergence of 3 busy roads.  B. Thus, prominent center of banking and industry.  C. The city was famous for a beautiful black cloth used to make clothes and carpet.  D. Was also seat of a flourishing medical school – Famous for "Phrygian Powder" used for ear and eye ointment.  E. Probably founded by Epaphras from Colossae.  F. Paul wrote a letter to the Laodiceans – possibly Ephesians.  G. The church  H. Summary  1. Commendation – none  2. Criticism – indifference  3. Instruction – be zealous and repent  4. Promise – Share Christ's throne  II. The Author of the Message, 14.  A. Amen – Hebrew expression meaning true – means that Christ is the reliable and trustworthy one.  B. Faithful and true witness – Christ can be trusted to communicate the truth.  C. The beginning of the creation of God – Christ is the source of the creation of God.  D. Because of these three things, his message must be heard.  III. The Problem: Lukewarmness, 15.  A. Hot or cold  B. What does that mean? The Laodiceans had become numb to the gospel.  C. Two things that lead to complacency: losing awe of God, losing track of what is important.  IV. Consequence: Rejected by God, 16.  A. Christ does not want people who claim to be his to be in the middle of the road.  B. People that are complacent (lukewarm) he will spit out – just image how disgusting a big glass of lukewarm water from the kitchen would be.  C. Interesting that the church that Jesus is the hardest on is the church that is complacent, not necessarily immoral or theologically astray.  D. Now this rejection is not permanent because Christ calls them to repentance, 19.  E. Jesus knew exactly where they were – he knows the heart.  V. The Solution, 18.  A. Buy gold from God (poor) – acknowledgement that we don't have it.  B. Dress in white garments (naked) – the naked church is called to put on the white garment of righteousness.  C. Medicine for your eyes (blind)  VI. The Reason for Strong Language, 19a – Christ loves his church  VII. God's Desire, 19-20  A. Be zealous and repent  B. Christ describes the human side of repentance, 20.  VIII. The Reward Is Victory in Christ, 21.  A. Our overcoming has been accomplished in his overcoming.  B. Though faith in him, his death is our death, his resurrection is our resurrection, and his victory is our victory.  Conclusion – Listen to what the Spirit says to the Church. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/complacency-revelation-314-22.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

REMINDER: Special Report on 2013 BPC Synod

REMINDER: Elder Anderson will be giving a special report on this year's General Synod meeting during the Evening Worship Service tonight. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/reminder-special-report-on-2013-bpc.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

CATECHISM: This Week's Memory Work

First Catechism  FCQ. 10. Where is God? God is everywhere. Westminster Shorter Catechism SCQ. 5. Are there more Gods than one? There is but one only, the living and true God. http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/catechism-this-weeks-memory-work.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887

The Mercy of God - Pastor Dennis Leaman - Romans 3:21-26

AUDIO LINK -- If you find these lessons helpful, or if you have questions please write to us at contact@olympiabp.net or visit us at facebook.com/olympiabp. We would love to hear from you and learn how we can serve you.  http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-mercy-of-god-pastor-dennis-leaman.html

Put the internet to work for you. via Personal Recipe 881887