Isaiah 31: 1-9; Woe to Those Who Rely on Egypt

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"...but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD." Much like we do with plans we also have a propensity to try and get ourselves out of trouble without consulting God in some way. We think we can get out of those things on our own, when really we cannot do anything without God's help. We need to remember that. We need to ask God for help when we are in need. If we do his answer will always come, and it will always be the answer we truly need. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Pastor Josh on Vacation

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I will be on vacation from September 30-October 2, 2011. If you need anything while I am away please contact one of the church elders. Reverend Oscar Cruz will be preaching on Sunday, October 2. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for October 2, 2011

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Sunday sermon will be delivered by Reverend Oscar Cruz. Worship will begin at 11:00 a.m. and I hope you are all able to attend. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 30: 1-33; Woe to the Obstinate Nation

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I like the first couple verses of this chapter the best because they highlight a problem that all of us seem to have at one time or another: we make our own plans. 'I know the plans I have for you,' says the Lord. God has plans, and his plans are better. God's plans are the ones to which we should listen. We do not need to make our own plans. That shows a lack of trust in God. Rather, we should turn our lives completely over to God and allow him to lead us down the right path. He will not lead us astray. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 29:1-24; Woe to David's City

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

As much as we love to talk about God in terms of his love, compassion, and faithfulness this passage serves as a reminder to us, and everyone else, that we do not want to get on God's bad side. God is love, but for those who choose to not believe in him there is going to be trouble. For those who choose to punish and persecute God's children the same fate just might await them when the day of judgment comes. And in that is a motivation for us to bring people to a life of faith in Jesus. We are commanded to love our neighbors as ourselves. With our love for them comes a desire to see our neighbors be saved, to have life. If we love our neighbors as we should we will do everything we can for them to make sure they are saved: by telling them about Jesus. Share your faith. Save your neighbors from God's judgment. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 28:1-29; Woe to the Leaders of Ephraim and Judah

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"All this also comes from the LORD Almighty, whose plan is wonderful, whose wisdom is magnificent." With all of the chaos in the world right now it is hard to imagine that there is any sense to any of it. It is hard to imagine God having anything resembling a plan for the world, but in these words from Isaiah we find all the comfort we need: God does have a plan. God's wisdom does surpass everything else we have ever known in the world. With all that in mind, how can we not trust? It is sometimes difficult, but we need to trust and believe that the Lord is good, that he is wise, that he does have a plan (and a wonderful plan, no less). God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 27: 1-12; Deliverance of Israel

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

God will have the final victory. Israel is faced with a time in which they will be overthrown and invaded. And in that time they somewhat question their faith. They are unsure about God's love for them and God's power to help. But in this passage Israel is given the good news that God will have the final victory; that God will, in the end, save Israel from its enemies. We can take the same comfort Israel took from that statement. The world is full of evil; and when we see evil things happen we question God's love, goodness, power, etc. Find comfort in these words: in the end, God will have the final victory over all the powers of evil. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 26: 1-21; A Song of Praise

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

A great deal about this song of praise is related to trust, trusting God to provide for every need. I think all of us need to print this song out, blow it up in real big letters, and tape it to our bedroom wall so we see it every day. In other words, we need to trust God more. God has given us many things to make our lives easier, but instead of thanking him and trusting him to do more we have become far too reliant on these things and do not have the same kind of trust of God we used to have. We need to develop our trust in the Lord. We need to believe that God loves us, and that he has the means, and the power, to take care of our every need. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 25: 1-12; Praise to the Lord

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This passage almost reads like a 'who's who' of God's acts of love toward the Israelites. God has done so much for them, and the Israelites take this time to thank God, and praise him for all he has done. This is what Sunday morning worship is all about for us. We gather in God's house to praise him for all he has done. This means we leave behind all the things of this world. All of our cares, concerns, burdens, angers, frustrations, etc need to be left behind so we can rest in God's presence, so we can worship him with all our hearts. Next time you go to worship make sure you make time, and effort, for worship. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 24: 1-23; The Lord's Devastation of the Earth

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Poking the bear is a very real fear for the world. In this passage we are given an idea of what may happen to us if we continue to lay aside and let the world have its way: the world will be destroyed. While we will get to go to heaven, the destruction of the world will not be such a good thing. This is when we, as Christians, need to step in and steer the world back on course. It is up to us to make sure the world is not devastated by God. We know God's love, and his salvation, which have been given to us. We do not have to worry about being punished. But the rest of the world may. And we need to make sure that does not happen. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for September 25, 2011

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday comes from Philippians 2: 1-13, in which Paul speaks of Christ, who he is, and what he has done for us. The sermon is titled 'Revelation' and will focus on the fact that Christ perfectly reveals who God is as well as what Christ tells us about God. I hope to see you all in church on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 23: 1-18; A Prophecy Against Tyre

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Wail, you ships of Tarshish; your fortress is destroyed." A fortress is something we build to protect ourselves from our enemies. It is also a place in which we might hide from someone who is looking for us. God tells the people of Tyre their fortress is destroyed. In other words, 'you cannot hide from me.' Now, for the people of Tyre this is not really good news. They want to hide from God, but cannot. However, for us this is a reminder that we cannot flee from God's presence. This is a reminder that we cannot hide from him anywhere. God will never leave us, nor will he ever let us leave him. The fortress we have built for ourselves has been destroyed. We are in a new fortress: God's fortress, where God will always be with us. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 22: 1-25; A Prophecy About Jerusalem

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Beware, the Lord is about to take firm hold of you...' Now those words are meant for a specific person in this passage, but can they not also be applied to us as well. For many years now the world, as a whole, has kept God at an arm's length away. 'We don't need you,' we sometimes say to God. In these words we are reminded that we are not all that far away from God. We are reminded that God is strong enough to reach into our lives. And we are reminded that God has the desire for our lives to be right. If we continue down the road we are on, as a nation and as a world, God may just grab hold of us and move us down the right path, with us kicking and screaming if necessary.. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 21: 13-17; A Prophecy Against Arabia

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Imagine for just a moment if you only had one month left to live. Arabia is facing that in this passage. What would you do with that amount of time? Would you do all the things you never had a chance to do before? Or would you live those last days, weeks, and months for the glory of God knowing you might not have another chance? Now imagine this: what if all of us lived every day as if it were our last day; our last day to praise, to worship, to share our faith, etc. What if we only had a little time left? What if we lived our lives that way? God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 21:11-12; A Prophecy Against Edom

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Morning is coming, but also the night.' It is not explicable, really, but sometimes we simply have to take the good with the bad. They often come in pairs, good and evil. We find a job, but we lose our house. We are blessed with children, but those children are sometimes sick. I cannot explain, perfectly, why these things happen. What I can say, though, is that God is with us through it all. You see, God is a not a god who flees in the hard times. God does not leave us when the chips are down. God stays with us, and he suffers with us. As we endure hardships we have a God who stays with us every step of the way. That is no small thing. It may not be a perfect answer as to the presence of evil in the world, but it is no small thing that God stays with us as we face the joys and the sorrows life sometimes brings our way. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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Isaiah 21: 1-10; A Prophecy Against Babylon

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Is it not a nice feeling to know we will not suffer in this way? The suffering that comes in this passage comes from the hands of God for some sin or other. The pain and agony sound almost unbearable. And while this passage is dark and filled with despair I cannot help but pull just a little bit of hope from it: we will not suffer at the hands of God. We know God, we have accepted Jesus as personal Lord and Savior. As such, Jesus has saved us from sin. Jesus has taken the punishment that should have been ours. Jesus is our salvation, for we have confessed him. And because we have confessed him we receive the blessings he offers. We are saved from sin; we are spared from punishment. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 20: 1-6; A Prophecy Against Cush and Egypt

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There are signs everywhere. Isaiah goes barefoot for a while to give a message to the people of Cush and Egypt. Similar things happen today. God speaks in many ways; God shows himself in many ways. The trick is for us to pay attention; to look properly and listen properly to what God is calling us to do. We need to see, or hear, the signs around us so that we might know what God is up to in the world. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Small Group Study at Mt. Lebanon Christian Church

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

We are going to be having a Small Group Study here at the church: Balancing Life's Demands. If you are feeling stressed out by the busyness of life then this small group study is just the thing for you. In this study we will learn how to balance all those demands and deal with the stress of life.

The study will begin on Monday, September 19, 2011 at 7:00 p.m. and will run every Monday at the same time.

Please stop by and join us for this study. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 19: 1-25; A Prophecy Against Egypt

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I would like to turn those first couple of verses into a positive. Isaiah tells us here that God is able to go anywhere. For the Egyptians this is not good news, but for us it is. Every once in a while, some of us lose our way. For one reason or another we sometimes find ourselves off the path of faith. When that happens we are still visible to God. He can still see us. He can still come to us. That should fill us with hope. No matter how far off the beaten path we get God will always be near us. He will never leave us, and we cannot get away from him. Praise God that He is always here. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for September 18, 2011

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Scripture passage for this Sunday comes from Philippians 1: 21-30, in which Paul exhorts the Philippians to stay true to their faith, to be grounded in their heavenly home. The sermon is titled 'I'm From...' and will focus on our call to act like we are from our heavenly home. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 18: 1-7; A Prophecy Against Cush

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty.' Someday everyone in the world will come to know God and accept Jesus as personal Lord in Savior. At least, that is our hope and prayer. As Isaiah says here, 'a trumpet will sound and you will hear it.' So we work for that day, we pray for that day when 'at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow...and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,...' Let us all sound the trumpet and bring people to a life of faith in Jesus. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 17: 1-14; A Prophecy Against Damascus

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'In that day people will look to their maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.' I say this prayer, or a version of it, just about every day. The world has lost its way. This country, in many ways, has lost its way. My prayer is that the world will find its way to God again. This is a prayer all of us should pray every day. Those of us who follow Christ have turned our lives around. We have repented and turned into a new life in Christ. Because of that we have been blessed. We should hope, and pray, that the rest of the world will follow suit. Let's all pray for the day when the world turns its eyes to God. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 15: 1- 16: 14; A Prophecy Against Moab

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

As Christians we sometimes have to deal with difficult passages such as these. In these two chapters we learn about the punishment and destruction that awaits Moab. Due to their sinful ways they are going to be punished most severely. This kind of language and action do not fall in line with the salvation and eternal life we find through Jesus; the grace that is central to the New Testament. So, how do we reconcile the two. In my mind we reconcile them by saying this is a before and after picture. Before Jesus came into the world the punishment that was visited upon Moab was something that awaited all the world: punishment for sin. But after Jesus came into the world there is no need for punishment anymore because Jesus took the punishment that should have been ours: salvation from sin. That, I think, helps us deal with these passages that focus so much on death and judgment. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 14: 28-32; A Prophecy Against the Philistines

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

I do not want to speak for anyone else, but after reading this passage I have absolutely no desire to be a Philistine. Really, I have absolutely no desire to be on any one's side but God's. In reading this passage I am reminded of just how good we have it as God's children. Look at all the things that await the Philistines, and remember what we have through Jesus. What we have through Jesus is much more appealing. Of course, this makes faith sound like a rewards program, which is not always the best thing. But at the end of the day it cannot be denied that there are benefits to having faith in God. And the really good news is that they are ours for the taking. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 13: 1- 14: 27; A Prophecy Against Babylon

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

On this day many of us will be remembering with broken hearts the events of September 11, 2001. Most, if not all, of us remember exactly what we were doing when the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center. Most, if not all, of us wanted, and still want punishment to come on those responsible. In this passage we are reminded of one very important thing: vengeance belongs to the Lord. Ours is to forgive. Is it hard? Yes. Is it impossible? Possibly. But we need to remember that it is up to God to punish, not us. We are called by God, and Jesus, to forgive those who have sinned against us. Just as Jesus has forgiven us, we ought to forgive each other, knowing God will handle the rest. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 12: 1-6; Songs of Praise

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name.' Every so often, Sundays perhaps, it is good for us to get together to praise God. We spend the rest of our lives and faith asking God for guidance, strength, helpful traffic patterns, money in the bank, etc. We need to realize how important it is for us to simply pause and offer our praise and thanksgiving to God for what he has done for us. Praise God, and not just on Sundays. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Mt. Lebanon Christian Church Harvest Festival and Craft Sale

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This Saturday, September 10, 2011 there will be a Harvest Festival and Craft Sale here at the Church. We will be having a yard and bake sale. There will be quite a few vendors selling homemade crafts, etc. And we will have a number of fun activities for children and adults. The festivities will begin at 9:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m. Please stop by and check things out. We lookforward to seeing you. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 11: 1-16; The Branch From Jesse

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'A shoot will come up from the branch of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.' Isaiah is prophesying about 500 years or so before Jesus comes into the world. I mention to highlight the fact that God did not send Jesus into the world on a whim. No, God planned it from the very beginning. God planned ahead of time our salvation. Isaiah is looking ahead to that time, which lets us know it was not an accident or an afterthought, Jesus coming into the world. God had that plan in motion long before Jesus came into the world. And just as God had that plan in motion, he has another plan in motion for the world. God loves the world he has made, and has plans for the world he has made. We can rest knowing we are in good hands; God's hands; the hands of God who has a plan for us and the world. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Sunday Scripture and Sermon for September 11, 2001

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

This Sunday we will be having a special service in commemoration of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. We will be praying for peace and moving toward forgiveness. We faithfully invite everyone to attend this special worship service. I hope to see you all on Sunday. God bless you.

As a reminder, we will be returning to our normal worship hours this Sunday. Worship will begin at 11:00 a.m.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 10: 20-34; The Remnant of Israel

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

"...But they will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.' This is the day to which the Israelites are looking forward. They are eager for the time when they will truly rely on God for everything in their lives. God is looking forward to this day as well. I wonder if we will ever get there. We have made so many things for ourselves. Advancement is a wonderful thing, but I fear because of the advancement of our world we have come to believe we do not need God anymore. If there was ever an evil thought in the world it is that one. We need the Lord, perhaps now more than ever. We all need to rely on God more. We need to get closer to that day when we will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 10: 5-19; God's Judgment on Assyria

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

'A mighty fortress is our God.' This passage highlights the good news that God will have the final victory over our enemies, the forces of evil in the world. In these words God speaks to the Israelites words of comfort that someday he will deal with the Assyrians. This message is for us today as well. Some days we might as well be the Psalmist who talks about his enemies surrounding him on every side. We feel surrounded. We feel trapped. We feel like we will not be able to survive. But in those moments we have these words: that the Lord will have the final victory. We do not know when this is going to happen. We do not know how it is going to happen. But we can hold on to the hope we have in God that God will be with us; that someday God will rescue us from the forces of evil, the forces that would do us harm in this world. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 9: 8- 10: 4; The Lord's Anger Against Israel

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Accountability is a word that has lost its meaning for a lot of Christians. We believe wholeheartedly in the saving work of Jesus, as we should. However, this believe has created in some of us a sense that we cannot sin, or if we do, it does not matter. It does matter what we do. God cares about how we live our lives. We may not have to worry about being punished for sin, but that should not keep us from living holy lives. We may not have to worry about punishment, but we do have to worry about living lives that please, honor, and glorify God. Believe in Jesus' salvation, but also believe in our call to holiness. God bless you.

Pastor Josh
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Isaiah 8: 19- 9: 7; The Darkness Turns Into Light

Grace and peace to you from our Lord Jesus Christ.

There is darkness in the world, and sometimes we are drawn to it. Just like bugs are attracted to light we sometimes find ourselves attracted to the dark things of this world. We go there in an attempt to fill the void in our lives, but when we turn to these things we find there is only more darkness. In those times, though, there is light at the end of the tunnel. When we find ourselves in the darkness, surrounded by the blackest night, there is light shining to lead us home, and when we get home we will find the loving arms of God flung wide open to receive us. There is darkness, but it never lasts. Only God's light, his light of love, endures forever. God bless you.

Pastor Josh

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