February 14, 2024

Dear Rockford Reformed Church family and friends,

Today is Ash Wednesday and the first day of Lent, a Christian liturgical season that lasts approximately 40 days (excluding Sundays) and is observed as a period of reflection, penance, fasting, and preparation leading up to Easter. Note the prayer and explanation below from a pastor/author, Scotty Smith, whom I have appreciated for years, based on the following text: “As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. But days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day.” Mark 2:19-20

“It’s not a season for beating ourselves up, but for lifting you up; not 40 days of groveling, but 40 days of “grace-ing.” Surveying the wonders of your cross and reflecting on the depth of our need, can only lead to more glory for you, and more freedom for us.

Should we, like many, choose to “fast” something during Lent, may it be for the singular purpose of intensifying our hunger for you, Jesus. We crave a fresh work of your Spirit in our hearts…

Jesus, you are the perfect Bridegroom who died to make us your cherished Bride. The work has been done, the “dowry” is paid in full, the wedding dress of your righteousness is ours, and the wedding Day is set. Hallelujah!

Until that much longed for Day, teach us how to lament—to embrace the “good grief” and grace-tears of contrition. With no condemnation hanging over us (Rom. 8:1), work fresh conviction inside us. May we repent because of your great love for us. And may we obey you because we are compelled to love you more and more, Jesus. So Very Amen.”

One resource to consider, as you think about surveying the wonders of the cross through this season of Lent, is the daily “Gospel In Life” devotional guide found at this link.

On this Valentine’s Day, I also commend to you Paul Tripp’s excellent weekly devotional at this link. This can be another helpful resource subscription for your growth.

On this first Sunday of Lent, we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Leading into this celebration, we will focus on the John 13:1-17, where Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. Why would Jesus do that? And what does that mean for us today? I love sharing the beauty of Jesus with you because I see his transformative gospel power doing its stunning work. Please pray for this—for yourself, and for our church family.

If you have listened to my preaching for some time, you know how I often use references to what’s happening in our culture—particularly music. Let me explain one reason that I do this. Last week, I referred to the Grammy Show song/duet by Tracy Chapman and Luke Combs (Fast Car) and at various times, the list has included music by Jelly Roll, Billie Eilish, Chicago, or BTO. As I showed last week, the music of our culture often expresses how we were created with a deep thirst for an escape out of our mundane existence and into a relationship of love and joy that only Jesus can provide.

Or, last summer, I noted how Jelly Roll’s lyrics and voice convey a lifetime of pain that people can feel and absorb. People deeply identify with him, weeping as they hear his pain. I noted that everyone is ultimately looking to be known, understood, loved, and shown the way to some kind of hope for the inadequacy, sin, and guilt that we all share. I don’t suggest that you add any of these artists to your playlist. But if you do, understand that we are like fish that live in the polluted stream of culture. We can thrive in that stream when are equipped to critique, view, and absorb our cultural cries/expressions/music/arts through a biblical filter that always reveals the gospel’s perfect provision of Jesus.

See below for a quick summary of how God has generously provided for our finances from our treasurer, Jerry Swett. I praise God for so many of you who generously and faithfully participate in the ministry here through your giving.

If you peek into the sanctuary, the new lights are being installed between the beams and the transformation is becoming more and more evident. Pray for all the last details to come together and pray for God’s gracious provision for the overall finances of the project as well. God is wonderfully working in and through us. There are many reasons to expect a year of growth, fruit, and a harvest—all for his glory!

Our confidence is in Jesus,

Pastor Tim

The December 31, 2023, financial statements have been completed. Thanks to your response and faithful giving, we were able to end the year with a small surplus of contributions in excess of expenses. Total Ministry and Missions (M&M) contributions were $686,039, which was 98.00% of the budgeted amount. Total M&M expenses were $652,016, which was 93.15% of the budgeted amount, leaving us with a $34,023 surplus. Thank you to all who made this possible.

As we look forward to 2024, the M&M approved budget was increased by approximately 7.0%, so we continue to ask for your support of this budget. Also, as we near the completion of our Welcome Renovation Project, we would like to reduce any loan balance going forward to the smallest amount possible. Therefore, if you have any pledge amounts outstanding or would like to contribute towards this, would you please prayerfully consider doing this in the next few months? In addition, we will have monthly loan payments starting in 2024, which will be over and above the M&M budgeted amounts. Please consider making a monthly amount to the Welcome Renovation Fund to help cover this expense.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support,

Jerry Swett

Treasurer

More about the "Gospel in Life" devotional:

Lent is a time where we search our hearts and repent in anticipation of Christ’s victory over the darkness of sin and death.

As we have done in years past, Gospel in Life is offering to send you free daily devotionals during the season of Lent. Each day during the 40 days of Lent you can receive a devotional that will help you to prepare your heart for Easter. If you would like to receive these daily emails, please sign up here.

Throughout the 40 days of the Lenten season you’ll receive an e-devotional each day from our book — A Journey Through Lent.

As you take time to meditate on God’s word each day from Ash Wednesday to Easter our prayer is that you would reflect on the reality of our sinful state and brokenness so you can experience with greater abundance and joy the reality of God’s redeeming grace!

I pray our Lent devotionals will encourage you as you examine your heart and prepare to celebrate the incredible joy and hope we have in Christ’s resurrection.

In Christ,

Kathy Keller

Today's devotional from Paul Tripp:

I was initially going to take a break from our Wednesday’s Word series on evangelism and how to be a light in your neighborhood because today is Valentine’s Day. Typically, my devotional during this week every year focuses on love, applied specifically to marriage.

The list below, of course, applies to how you treat your husband or wife. But then it hit me: there’s no better way to preach Christ to your neighbor than by incarnating the love of Christ as an ambassador of the One who is love.

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20).

So, here is a definition of biblical love, followed by a list of ways you can apply it to any relationship in your life. But I encourage you to read through this list first with your evangelist hat on and how you might practically express ambassadorial love to your neighbors who have yet to accept the love of Christ.

“And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).

1. LOVE IS willing self-sacrifice for the good of another that does not require reciprocation or that the person being loved is deserving.

2. LOVE IS being willing to have your life complicated by the needs and struggles of others without impatience or anger.

3. LOVE IS actively fighting the temptation to be critical and judgmental toward another while looking for ways to encourage and praise.

4. LOVE IS making a daily commitment to resist the needless moments of conflict that come from pointing out and responding to minor offenses.

5. LOVE IS being lovingly honest and humbly approachable in times of misunderstanding.

6. LOVE IS being more committed to unity and understanding than you are to winning, accusing, or being right.

7. LOVE IS a making a daily commitment to admit your sin, weakness, and failure and to resist the temptation to offer an excuse or shift the blame.

8. LOVE IS being willing, when confronted by another, to examine your heart rather than rising to your defense or shifting the focus.

9. LOVE IS making a daily commitment to grow in love so that the love you offer to another is increasingly selfless, mature, and patient.

10. LOVE IS being unwilling to do what is wrong when you have been wronged, but looking for concrete and specific ways to overcome evil with good.

11. LOVE IS being a good student of another, looking for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs so that in some way you can remove the burden, support them as they carry it, or encourage them along the way.

12. LOVE IS being willing to invest the time necessary to discuss, examine, and understand the relational problems you face, staying on task until the problem is removed or you have agreed upon a strategy of response.

13. LOVE IS being willing to always ask for forgiveness and always being committed to grant forgiveness when it is requested.

14. LOVE IS recognizing the high value of trust in a relationship and being faithful to your promises and true to your word.

15. LOVE IS speaking kindly and gently, even in moments of disagreement, refusing to attack the other person’s character or assault their intelligence.

16. LOVE IS being unwilling to flatter, lie, manipulate, or deceive in any way in order to co-opt the other person into giving you what you want or doing something your way.

17. LOVE IS being unwilling to ask another person to be the source of your identity, meaning, and purpose, or inner sense of well-being, while refusing to be the source of theirs.

18. LOVE IS the willingness to have less free time, less sleep, and a busier schedule in order to be faithful to what God has called you to be and to do as a spouse, parent, neighbor, etc.

19. LOVE IS a commitment to say no to selfish instincts and to do everything that is within your ability to promote real unity, functional understanding, and active love in your relationships.

20. LOVE IS staying faithful to your commitment to treat another with appreciation, respect, and grace, even in moments when the other person doesn’t seem deserving or is unwilling to reciprocate.

21. LOVE IS the willingness to make regular and costly sacrifices for the sake of a relationship without asking for anything in return or using your sacrifices to place the other person in your debt.

22. LOVE IS being unwilling to make any personal decision or choice that would harm a relationship, hurt the other person, or weaken the bond of trust between you.

23. LOVE IS refusing to be self-focused or demanding, but instead looking for specific ways to serve, support, and encourage, even when you are busy or tired.

24. LOVE IS daily admitting to yourself, the other person, and God that you are unable to be driven by a cruciform love without God’s protecting, providing, forgiving, rescuing, and delivering grace.

A Prayer for Today: God, would you make me the kind of person who moves through this world as a living, breathing example of your love for others? Would you shape me into the kind of loving ambassador you want me to be in my neighborhood so that others might know you, Jesus, and be pulled toward an authentic, loving relationship with you, our God and King. Amen.

God bless,

Paul David Tripp