Perret
O Come Let Us Adore Him!
12/08/10 12:36
Christmas is here again and with it comes the yearly barrage of parties, plays and presents. It is a sentimental time for some and for others a time that brings up painful memories While our emotions might take very different paths during the holiday season one thing remains constant, that God became man. We remember this fact when we come to church and when we see the family of the week read the Advent reading and light the Advent candle; however, what does the incarnation (God becoming man) really mean for you and me? Most of all it means the freedom to repent and believe in Christ’s finished work as our savior and the hope to carry on when repentance and faith seems very much impossible. Christ did not save us from heaven. He did not make a divine fiat that gave pardon to his children from afar. He became “us” because “us” is whom he loved. Think about that for a moment. In the wake of the Mission’s conference with its challenges to move out of our comfort zone and into the world the incarnation is the greatest “mission trip” ever done. No one in your life is too far gone, too crusty or too hopeless not to hear the good news of the gospel from you. Christ came to earth to accomplish the good news of the gospel, the Spirit is at work transforming us so that we are gripped more and more by that good news, and we are to exude that good news in every relationship at all times of the year. What a wonderful reminder the incarnation is that Christ came to accomplish salvation for us so that people from every nation might share the good news that we have.
Rev. Kyle Perret
Cascade Presbyterian Church
Eugene Oregon
knperret@cascadepca.org
(541) 343-5538
Rev. Kyle Perret
Cascade Presbyterian Church
Eugene Oregon
knperret@cascadepca.org
(541) 343-5538
The Greatest High Priest vs. the Greatest Sin
11/05/10 08:49
I have enjoyed very much studying the book of Hebrews, preaching from it and listening to Rev. Parker’s sermons on this deep and powerful book. The book of Hebrews is unique in the cannon of scripture in its development of the priestly work of Christ on the earth. Christ truly is the great High Priest who obeyed and then voluntarily suffered and died for his people on the cross. This is the overarching message of Hebrews, and it was timely for the audience for two reasons, first because of their desire to return to Judaism and second in light of the persecution they would face. Yet, as we saw Sunday, while Christ’s death and atonement made for sins is sufficient to cover sin there is a sin that will not be covered by the sacrifice of Christ, the sin of deliberation. In this blog entry, I want to draw out the difference between what the author of Hebrews is saying is not intentional sin, especially in chapter 5:2, as opposed to an intentional, deliberate sin. Hebrews 5:2 tells us that high priests in the Old Testament, as well as Jesus, are able to deal with the ignorant and wayward because the priest himself is beset with weaknesses.
What the author means when he uses the terms “ignorant” and “wayward” in regard to sin are sins that are not committed with a deliberate, hard hearted decision. All sin is abhorrent and evil fully deserving God’s wrath but some sins reveal a heart that is more committed to evil than others. A sin committed in “ignorance,” verse 2, is a sin that is committed because of forgetfulness. It is an American forgetting the great offense of leaving his shoes on inside a home in an Oriental culture, driving on the right side of the road instead of the left in England or carelessly spoken words in front of people you are not used to being around. It is wrong, and deserves punishment, but Christ died to pay for that sin. Repentance is possible because the one who sins in ignorance will feel the most guilt about the sin committed.
The sin committed with “waywardness,” 5:2, is more volitional involving a conscious decision to sin rather than sinning out of ignorance. However, it is not deliberate. Most of the sins that we commit fall into this category. We sin because of a decision that weighs the benefits of obedience vs. disobedience and choses sin because it seems more beneficial than obedience. This is what the author describes as waywardness. For whatever reason, there is a benefit (approval of others, maintaining a level of comfort, having control) a particular sin offers that seems delightful compared to the hard work and loneliness of obeying God. While waywardness demonstrates more of a commitment to evil than the sin of ignorance there is still forgiveness for this sin as well through the shed blood of Christ. This is because, again, the one who has sinned will feel sorrow for his sin and come to see that his sin ultimately hurts God and also hurts others as well.
The sin of deliberation (described in places such as Numbers 15:30-31) is a complete and utter hardening of the heart so that the decision to sin is made without equivocation, sorrow and often times, publicly. The deliberate sinner feels no shame or sorrow over his sin because there is none. He has looked at sin and decided the real, yet fleeting, pleasures of doing wrong are better than obedience to God. The deliberate sinner does not care that his sin hurts or even destroys others. All he can see is his infatuation with evil and it’s all he cares about. The deliberate sinner refuses to repent of his sin even when confronted publicly by the church. There is no forgiveness for this person because he refuses the sacrifice of Christ, not because Christ refuses to forgive him.
In conclusion I have two final notes. First, there is no formula for determining if someone has committed a deliberate sin. Some throughout the history of the church have seemed to have committed it only to repent later on. Others who seem not to have committed it have left the church completely never to return, or to repent. We, as finite and fallen human beings, do not know the heart of a sinner and so it is dangerous, and sinful, for us to make definitive judgments about another’s sin (Matthew 7:1-5). As brothers and sisters of fellow sinners, we need to give others time and opportunity to repent, especially when it seems they have committed the sin described in Numbers 15:30-31 and again in Hebrews 6. Second, if the idea of being separated from Jesus Christ for eternity because of your sin bothers you, then you haven’t committed a deliberate sin. The deliberate sinner does not care, at all, what Christ or his church thinks of what he is doing. Conversely, if the reality of deliberate sin does not at some level bother you then I challenge you to think about and pray about what the sacrifice of Christ means to you. If we get to a place where the work of our great High Priest does not mean very much, then we may not have committed a deliberate sin but we have come too close for comfort. Until the day we see Christ face to face, let us forsake our sin and cling to him alone, our savior and friend, for salvation from all sin.
Rev. Kyle Perret
Assistant Pastor
Cascade Presbyterian Church
What the author means when he uses the terms “ignorant” and “wayward” in regard to sin are sins that are not committed with a deliberate, hard hearted decision. All sin is abhorrent and evil fully deserving God’s wrath but some sins reveal a heart that is more committed to evil than others. A sin committed in “ignorance,” verse 2, is a sin that is committed because of forgetfulness. It is an American forgetting the great offense of leaving his shoes on inside a home in an Oriental culture, driving on the right side of the road instead of the left in England or carelessly spoken words in front of people you are not used to being around. It is wrong, and deserves punishment, but Christ died to pay for that sin. Repentance is possible because the one who sins in ignorance will feel the most guilt about the sin committed.
The sin committed with “waywardness,” 5:2, is more volitional involving a conscious decision to sin rather than sinning out of ignorance. However, it is not deliberate. Most of the sins that we commit fall into this category. We sin because of a decision that weighs the benefits of obedience vs. disobedience and choses sin because it seems more beneficial than obedience. This is what the author describes as waywardness. For whatever reason, there is a benefit (approval of others, maintaining a level of comfort, having control) a particular sin offers that seems delightful compared to the hard work and loneliness of obeying God. While waywardness demonstrates more of a commitment to evil than the sin of ignorance there is still forgiveness for this sin as well through the shed blood of Christ. This is because, again, the one who has sinned will feel sorrow for his sin and come to see that his sin ultimately hurts God and also hurts others as well.
The sin of deliberation (described in places such as Numbers 15:30-31) is a complete and utter hardening of the heart so that the decision to sin is made without equivocation, sorrow and often times, publicly. The deliberate sinner feels no shame or sorrow over his sin because there is none. He has looked at sin and decided the real, yet fleeting, pleasures of doing wrong are better than obedience to God. The deliberate sinner does not care that his sin hurts or even destroys others. All he can see is his infatuation with evil and it’s all he cares about. The deliberate sinner refuses to repent of his sin even when confronted publicly by the church. There is no forgiveness for this person because he refuses the sacrifice of Christ, not because Christ refuses to forgive him.
In conclusion I have two final notes. First, there is no formula for determining if someone has committed a deliberate sin. Some throughout the history of the church have seemed to have committed it only to repent later on. Others who seem not to have committed it have left the church completely never to return, or to repent. We, as finite and fallen human beings, do not know the heart of a sinner and so it is dangerous, and sinful, for us to make definitive judgments about another’s sin (Matthew 7:1-5). As brothers and sisters of fellow sinners, we need to give others time and opportunity to repent, especially when it seems they have committed the sin described in Numbers 15:30-31 and again in Hebrews 6. Second, if the idea of being separated from Jesus Christ for eternity because of your sin bothers you, then you haven’t committed a deliberate sin. The deliberate sinner does not care, at all, what Christ or his church thinks of what he is doing. Conversely, if the reality of deliberate sin does not at some level bother you then I challenge you to think about and pray about what the sacrifice of Christ means to you. If we get to a place where the work of our great High Priest does not mean very much, then we may not have committed a deliberate sin but we have come too close for comfort. Until the day we see Christ face to face, let us forsake our sin and cling to him alone, our savior and friend, for salvation from all sin.
Rev. Kyle Perret
Assistant Pastor
Cascade Presbyterian Church
Looking Glass nearing completion!
11/03/09 11:10
Yesterday morning I went to Looking Glass with Mike Farell, Sam Duncan and Parker to work on completing the work we began on the two apartments there for Doulos ’09. We worked to cover nail holes in window trim, put up a basketball goal and installed light fixtures. Although it was chilly outside and in the apartments, it was good to see an almost finished project. I was able to speak briefly with Katie, one of the supervisors whom we’ve worked with at Looking Glass, and she expressed her gratitude for everything that we’ve done over the past few months. It has been great to work with the folks at Looking Glass. They genuinely love the homeless youth who have been entrusted to them, and I am glad that Cascade and 1st Pres. (Hattiesburg) have a chance to partner with Katie, Kirsten, Kyle and the others who are doing kingdom work even though they may not know it or recognize the work they do as such. I hope that we can continue to work with them doing little projects with them but also having conversations where we point them to the hope that cannot be completely found in government programs, social work or good deeds in general, but in Jesus Christ alone.
Rev. Kyle Perret, Assistant Pastor
Cascade Presbyterian Church
Eugene Oregon
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Rev. Kyle Perret, Assistant Pastor
Cascade Presbyterian Church
Eugene Oregon
blog comments powered by Disqus