LEFC Online Series: Messages

The Shephered and Overseer of Our Souls - Daniel Holmquist - 1 Peter 2:21-25

lefcwebteam — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:55:00 -0500

Christian tradition’s prevalent use of Isaiah 53 begins here with the Apostle Peter’s extensive, creative, unique and lingering meditation upon this Siffering Servant Song of the Divine Redeemer. May we meditate along with out beloved Apostle: continually entrusting ourselves to God while suffering secures progress in our Christian life. Our Lord Jesus Christ is both our model and our mediator.

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Remain Mindful of God While Suffering - Daniel Holmquist - 1 Peter 2:18-21

lefcwebteam — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 14:02:00 -0500

Last Sunday we learned how those Four New Names in 2:9 and that one metaphor of “resident foreigners” in 2:11 makes all the difference in the world for us. As Christians, we live life among the peoples of the world, but live life distinctly as the new People of God. This isn’t always easy, so here is a great encouragement: Being mindful of God while enduring sorrows from unjust suffering leads to many wonderful encounters with God’s grace. Suffering unjustly as a Christian has a subversive Gospel element to it that is powerful for good.

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Residing as Foreigners - Daniel Holmquist - 1 Peter 2:11-17

lefcwebteam — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 14:43:00 -0500

Today we begin part two of 1 Peter (2:11-4:11), which takes us to the heart of the letter and its specific applications. The Apostle Peter is teaching Christians how to live within their various pagan societies; and he uses the metaphor of residing as foreigners. This is a very helpful and powerful image by which we can direct our lives in this world.

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Four New Names - Daniel Holmquist - 1 Peter 2:9-10

lefcwebteam — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:37:00 -0500

These two verses highlight our privileged identity like no other Biblical passage. The four new names say it all. We will celebrate Pentecost today by continuing in our First Peter series of rediscovering our identity and purpose in Christ. Our new identity in Christ obligates us to proclaim the excellencies of our God who has created a new hope in Christ Jesus.

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The Building Project of God - Daniel Holmquist - 1 Peter 2:4-8

lefcwebteam — Sun, 24 May 2009 13:24:00 -0500

In part one of 1 Peter we have been given four exhortations: Set your hope fully on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; be holy before you new Father, conducting yourselves with fear; love one another earnestly from a pure heart; and crave the pure spiritual milk of the grace of God in Christ. Now we learn more of the how and why of these instruction. The more we go to Christ, the more we grow spiritually, the more we take in the honor, and the more we live to worship God. In our passage, we can identify two ongoing building projects: The honor project and the shame project.

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Loving One Another Deeply - Daniel Holmquist - 1 Peter 1:22-2:3

lefcwebteam — Sun, 17 May 2009 13:16:00 -0500

Our Life together as Christians is a gift from God Himself. God’s grace brings about spiritual growth in us as we engage in loving one another. Expressing our love for one another leads to further experiences of God’s grace in Christ. Through Peter, God gives us two commands in order to enjoy this very encouragement: love earnestly because of your new life, and long for more of God’s grace in Christ.

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Setting Your Hope - Daniel Holmquist - 1 Peter 1:13-21

lefcwebteam — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:26:00 -0500

The Society in which we live talks about hope in very general terms and almost as a purely emotional experience. But the Christain holds on to a highly specific hope, one that is neither a wish nor an uncontrollable emotion. Hope is our response to the grace of salvation in Jesus Christ. A full Christian hope results from alert clear thinking and active holy living. We are given two further commands to complete the hope in our lives: be holy because God is holy, and be fearful because God is your father.

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Our Historical Privilege - Daniel Holmquist - 1 Peter 1:10-12

lefcwebteam — Sun, 03 May 2009 13:26:00 -0500

We often forget the many advantages of our position in the History of Redemption. We need to be reminded of them repeatedly, so as to stay familiar with them and grow in appreciation and enjoyment of them before the Lord in worship. God speaks with one voice all through history of His great salvation in Christ.

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Renewed in Knowledge - Todd Bates

lefcwebteam — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:41:00 -0500

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The Kindness of God - Tony Chute - Genesis 16

lefcwebteam — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:24:00 -0500

Guest preacher Tony Chute takes us through the story of Abram, Sarai, and Hagar as found in Genesis 16. From this passage we can learn true kindness by observing how God, the author of kindness, reacts to this failure of faith and trust in Him.

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The Ascended Son of Glory - Daniel Holmquist - Psalm 110

lefcwebteam — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 13:18:00 -0500

Psalm 110 is the most quoted and alluded to Old Testament passage in the New Testament. The reason is obvious, we see our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, who is priest and king, ascended to glory and returning in glory. As it was a favorite Psalm of the Apostles and early Church, it should also be one of ours. Two Passages of Scripture, both by Luke, will guide us as we seek to examine Psalm 110.

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The Superiority or Christ's Priesthood - Daniel Holmquist

lefcwebteam — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 20:23:00 -0500

The priesthood of Christ was a priesthood of the order of Melchizedek, the Christ archetype. The kingship and priesthood of Melchizedek was a template and shadow to the person and role of the messiah to come. The priesthood of Jesus Christ, our King and High Priest, has fulfilled the imperfect Levitical priesthood, there by removing for all eternity our need for any earthly Temple or priest in order to know God. “Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens.”

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The Eternal Priest-King - Daniel Holmquist - Psalm 110

lefcwebteam — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 13:27:00 -0500

Psalm 110 is the most quoted and alluded to passage of the Old Testament in the New Testament. The reason is obvious. We see our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, who is priest and king, ascended to glory, and returning in glory. As it was a favorite Psalm of the Apostles and early Church, it should also be one of ours. In this Psalm, Yahweh gives promises and tells of the victories of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Three Essentials for Spiritual Growth - Tom Halstead

lefcwebteam — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:26:00 -0500

Professor Tom Halstead of the Master’s College preaches in today’s message from 1 Thessalanians 5:16-18, showing us three essentials that are necessary for our spiritual growth.

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A Joy Inexpressible - Daniel Holmquist - 1st Peter 1:6-9

lefcwebteam — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:22:00 -0500

Our passage of Scripture begins, “In this you rejoice.” The “this” of the rejoicing is all of verses 3-5 that we considered so carfully last Sunday—the doxology for life that we are working to memorize. And because of the “salvation ready to be revealed in the last time” (v.5) we do have a tremendous joy in the present. Today we learn to maintain joy even as our faith develops.

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A Doxology For Life - Daniel Holmquist - 1st Peter 1:3-5

lefcwebteam — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 13:25:00 -0500

The opening of 1 Peter is quite lengthy, as it is really one sentence extending from verse 3 to verse 12. However, the main clause, our thesis, is found right at the begining, not to be forgotten. Most appropriately then, we we begin today with an opening doxology: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

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Elect Exiles - Daniel Holmquist - 1st Peter 1:1-2

lefcwebteam — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 13:19:00 -0500

The Book of First Peter holds a seeming irrelevance to the Western World, and few would name it their favorite book of the Bible. This is because, among other things, the recipients’ experiences don’t appear to match our own. However, not only can we learn from others’ experiences and situations, the more we examine them, the more we will find them to be quite similar to our own. Things will change for many of us, and First Peter will become one of our favorite books. In the opening or our Apostle Peter’s letter, he makes his purpose quite clear: “May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” Our Apostle reminds us of our identity as the elect and as exiles.

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Our Membership: Benefits and Responsibilities - Daniel Holmquist

lefcwebteam — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 13:43:00 -0600

Joining a church is expected of Christains as a natural expression of belonging to Christ’s Church. There are many ways to talk about the topic of church membership. This fourth and final message in our series on the Lancaster EFC community focuses on what is of immediate importance—our membership and what we believe membership means, that it “expresses our deep and full commitment to one another in Christ.”

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Our Mission and Vision: A Unique Calling - Daniel Holmquist

lefcwebteam — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 13:24:00 -0600

In this third message of our four part series “The Lancaster EFC Community,” Pastor Daniel Holmquist takes us through a Scripture passage that is at the heart of our vision and calling, Psalm 67, followed by a brief historical tour of the development of our unique calling here at Lancaster EFC: “For The Glory Of God Among All Peoples And Their Full Enjoyment Of Him.”

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Our Six Core Values: A Preferred Culture (Part 2) - Daniel Holmquist

lefcwebteam — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 13:15:00 -0600

Core Values are not all of our values. They are the values that are most prominent, characteristic, and ultimately unique. They define us as a church—who we are and what we are about as a particular community of believers. They remind us of our common commitments that we cherish and hold most dear. In this second message on the Six Core Values of Lancaster EFC we will take a look at the three Core Values of Earnest Discipleship, Genuine Community, and Satisfying Theology.

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