Category: Articles

From your Pastor

THE FIRST EASTER SUNDAY

Dear Church family,

The first Easter Sunday is about the risen Christ. We all need to understand that the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is not just a future of our the Christian religion but it is the main event and point of redemption. The whole purpose of God the Father in creating and redeeming us was to raise us to everlasting glory so that we can worship him forever. That was the whole point of our salvation. Resurrection to eternal glory and in glorified bodies. But keep this in mind, our bodily resurrection is fully secured by the power of God that was demonstrated in the bodily resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead after which he ascended to eternal glory and sat down at the right hand of God to intercede for us all and bring us all into eternal glory spiritually and in a resurrected form. That my friends was what exactly Easter Sunday brought to us through the risen savior and Lord who conquered the power of sin and eternal death forever for us to live with him forever. It was our Lord Jesus Christ himself who told us ” Because I live , you also will live” John 14: 19. This means, those of us who believe in Jesus Christ who died for us on the cross and was raised from the dead for our justification are a living proof of the resurrection of Jesus Christ which was the great event in history. An event that was the corner stone of the gospel promise which declares to every one of us that we have been saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in order to be raised from the dead and go to heaven in a resurrected body and form. That’s all what Easter Sunday is all about. On that Friday on which our Lord Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross he uttered his final words saying ” It is finished” and on Easter Sunday the Father being fully satisfied by the perfect atoning sacrifice of his son he raised him from the dead to validate the completion of the work of redemption of God’s people not because of anything we contributed toward our redemption but solely because of the once for all sacrifice of the son of God on our bahalf. As Jonathan Edwards once said “You contribute nothing to your salvation except the sin that made it necessary.” You see, only the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ brought our salvation to completion and that makes the first Easter Sunday so great and special for us believers. That’s why we come to Church every Sunday which is the resurrection Sunday to worship and adore the risen Christ.

And as we together enter God’s presence for worship we like Mary Magdalene do not look for a dead savior but by faith and through the power of his resurrection we look at the risen Lord and participate in the worship of God who loved us unconditionally and before eternity to the praise of his glory here in the visible Church. That is what Easter Sunday offers to us all in Christ Jesus- the foretaste of what is awaiting for us in heaven. Is that the chief reason why we come to Church every Sunday? to bow down and worship the risen Lord who did destroy the power of hell and death for us and who is surely coming back in glory to wipe away all our tears and sorrows once for all and take us with him to glory to live with him forever.

That my brothers and sisters is what the first Easter Sunday brought to us. And that’s why we all together will gather in our father’s house on the Easter Sunday this week to enjoy the Easter breakfast and Christian fellowship among one another and more importantly to WORSHIP CHRIST, the Risen King!!!!!!

He is risen! And happy Easter to you all!!!!!

In the fellowship of the risen Lord!

Pastor Zaki

From Donna Williams Spiller, member of Redeemer OPC

This week’s Prayer Meeting and Bible Study focused on one symptom of the current pandemic -fever. Elder Ben read several Bible passages, one from Luke’s account of how Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law from a high fever, reminding us that Jesus is the Great Physician.

One day when my son was seven, he became violently ill. His fever was so high he began hallucinating.

We were visiting my in-laws at the time. Usually, around nine o’clock in the evening, we would have traveled the forty-five minutes back to my parents’ house, where we always stayed overnight on our visits from Vermont to Long Island, NY, but this night that fever was so high, we decided to stay put. My mother-in-law, Edith, lived within ten minutes of her doctor and a hospital.

We settled my son on a sofa in the den and set up a cot for me so that I could stay near him during that long, scary night. Every time I reached out to my little boy I knew his fever was rising. It was the first time I came face to face with the reality of someone burning with fever, and as he cried out in delirium, I prayed for wisdom – was it safe to wait till morning to call the doctor?

I knew that in the next room, Edith was also praying fervently. Midnight came. One A.M. Two A.M. My son’s body kept getting hotter and hotter. I’d doze off for a few minutes, wake at his mutterings and groanings, and reach out to touch his forehead. How could his little body be this hot? He was on fire! I prayed more urgently, then dozed off.

I awoke again – this time because of the silence – and reached out to touch his forehead. It wasn’t as hot as it had been, and my son was sleeping peacefully. I looked at the clock. It was twelve minutes past three A.M. I felt a peace come over me, and I knew that, though he was still sick, we didn’t have to rush him to the hospital, we could wait till morning to take him to Edith’s doctor.

Around six A.M. I left my son’s bedside and headed to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Edith heard me and came out of her room. She asked how her grandson was, and I told her he was doing better. When we shared how we had each been praying through the night, she told me that at twelve minutes past three, she had awakened and felt such a peace, she knew his fever had gone down and that she could get a few hours of restful sleep.

She and I took my son to her doctor when his office opened. He saw a huge abscess in my son’s ear and prescribed antibiotics. The abscess cleared up. And another huge blessing was that my mother-in-law and I had been brought closer together as sisters in Christ. For each of us to have experienced such a powerful reminder of God’s presence and the healing power of Jesus and the peace of the Comforter at exactly the same moment in time – well, it was awe-inspiring. In time, we each came to believe that God’s peace is what had awakened us at twelve minutes after three A.M., letting us know it was safe to wait till daylight, that our little boy could rest easy and not have to go through the turmoil of a trip to the E.R.

So, what have I to add to this story? I’d like to say my faith never wavered after that night. How could it? But it did waver. I had many rough years and eventually I turned away from God. I doubted my salvation. But over and over, again and again, with all my questions to God asking Him, “Am I really your child?”, I kept going back to the times – including that long scary night – that I had felt the presence of the Holy Spirit and ultimately nothing could convince me that I wasn’t His child. In God’s time and in many ways, He assured me of His love and of my salvation. Praise be to God.

The name Immanuel is one of our Savior’s most precious names. And we all know that it means “God with us.” Our Lord Jesus Christ received this name as the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy. The Gospel of Matthew explains that in this way, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” That, of course, was the fulfillment of what the prophet Isaiah prophesied 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ in Isaiah 7:14, “Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”

Isaiah spoke these words to King Ahaz, king of Judah, who was being threatened by surrounding nations. When you read the context you will discover that, sadly, Ahaz had no interest in God being with him. Do you have an interest in God being with you? Can you imagine anyone who has no interest in that? Why do you think Ahaz was disinterested in God being with him through the promised Immanuel – Christ the Lord? It was because Ahaz chose to rely on his own arrangement for security. And what was that security? The king of Assyria, a human shield.

By doing that he was basically saying to God, “No thanks, I trust my own arrangement/wisdom for security more than you or your deliverance.” And what was sadder about Ahaz’s choosing of human protection over God’s sovereign keeping was that he used a pious excuse by quoting Deuteronomy 6:16, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test, as you tested him at Massah.”

You see, he masked his refusal to trust God for deliverance with a false and distorted quote from the Scripture. But why? What was the one thing that caused the king to trust his own plan (alliances with Assyria) as his ultimate security rather than God’s ever present help and protection? It was FEAR. It was the news that he and his people heard about the league between Syria and Israel to destroy him and his kingdom (Isaiah 7:1-4). It was the fear of man and threat of an imagined danger that caused him to rely on his own devices rather than on God who promised him Immanuel – God with us.

Are you also afraid? Are you in fear of a real threat of conflict, failure, loss of someone who you love, deadly diseases like Covid 19 and death? If you are wrestling with a fear of one or more of these things or other imagined dangers, what are you doing about it? Are you like Ahaz, depending on your own arrangements for security and safety, or are you depending on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was born in a manger in Bethlehem to be your Immanuel – God with you? God with you, not only to bring spiritual salvation to your life, but also to deliver you from all fears and physical dangers.

Remember, Assyria, as a security and shield upon which Ahaz depended, was destroyed by the “Immanuel” who Ahaz rejected and distrusted. Jesus Christ, who was born to be a lamb for the sacrifice of your sins, also came to the world to be your Shepherd. And he shepherds you as the Lord over all things that trigger fear and anxiety in your life as a Christian. That was the reason why the angel who pronounced the birth of Christ told the shepherds that the Savior who was born in the City of David was Christ the Lord. The title “Lord” makes him the ruler over all things — including the details of your life that sometimes cause you to rely on your own human resources and wisdom rather than on his creating and governing power over all things.

Thus, during this Christmas season, do not let your fear cause you to choose your own human plans and arrangements over Immanuel who rules over all things (including your feeble human provisions) here on earth. As we all celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ and welcome another new year, as families and as a church family, I want to encourage you all to find your peace and inner security in the words of the one who was born as Immanuel: “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go-in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9)

A very blessed Christmas and New Year to you all!

Pastor Zaki

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our pastor Zecharias Weldeyesus has posted a new devotional from Psalm 23 today on YouTube, “I Will Dwell…”, the last one of this series.
Follow the link below to watch it:
https://youtu.be/FloOMyD-jSc

Also follow this link to see the entire playlist (please note that new videos will show as private until the day of posting):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoieOE4ITUoQYaVOPRREPqm65snMrWcUJ

This will be the last devotional from Psalm 23. Enjoy and be encouraged!

Blessings,
Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our pastor Zecharias Weldeyesus has posted a new devotional from Psalm 23 today on YouTube, “Surely Goodness and Mercy…”.
Follow the link below to watch it:
https://youtu.be/9ul2_8zShvg

Also follow this link to see the entire playlist (please note that new videos will show as private until the day of posting):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoieOE4ITUoQYaVOPRREPqm65snMrWcUJ

Please look for the last Psalm 23 devotional on Monday. Enjoy and be encouraged!

Blessings,
Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our pastor Zecharias Weldeyesus has posted a new devotional from Psalm 23 today on YouTube, “My Cup Overflows”.
Follow the link below to watch it:
https://youtu.be/0IdaBAIdmlc

Also follow this link to see the entire playlist (please note that new videos will show as private until the day of posting):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoieOE4ITUoQYaVOPRREPqm65snMrWcUJ

A new video will be posted each day around 9:00am so please look out for them in the coming days. Enjoy and be encouraged!

Blessings,
Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our pastor Zecharias Weldeyesus has posted a new devotional from Psalm 23 today on YouTube, “You Anoint My Head with Oil”.
Follow the link below to watch it:
https://youtu.be/Bc-5iM1V08M

Also follow this link to see the entire playlist (please note that new videos will show as private until the day of posting):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoieOE4ITUoQYaVOPRREPqm65snMrWcUJ

A new video will be posted each day around 9:00am so please look out for them in the coming days. Enjoy and be encouraged!

Blessings,
Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our pastor Zecharias Weldeyesus has posted a new devotional from Psalm 23 today on YouTube, “You Prepare a Table…”.
Follow the link below to watch it:
https://youtu.be/dXAP9aokxJo

Also follow this link to see the entire playlist (please note that new videos will show as private until the day of posting):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoieOE4ITUoQYaVOPRREPqm65snMrWcUJ

A new video will be posted each day around 9:00am so please look out for them in the coming days. Enjoy and be encouraged!

Blessings,
Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Our pastor Zecharias Weldeyesus has posted a new devotional from Psalm 23 today on YouTube, “Your Rod and Staff…”.
Follow the link below to watch it:
https://youtu.be/SfLk5K-yFJo

Also follow this link to see the entire playlist (please note that new videos will show as private until the day of posting):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLoieOE4ITUoQYaVOPRREPqm65snMrWcUJ

A new video will be posted each day around 9:00am so please look out for them in the coming days. Enjoy and be encouraged!

Blessings,
Redeemer Orthodox Presbyterian Church