MARKDALE BAPTIST CHURCH
  • Home
  • Jesus?
    • Tell Me More >
      • Who is Jesus?
      • What is Christianity All About?
      • The Sinner's Prayer
      • FAQ
  • About
    • Baptism and Membership
    • Beliefs
    • Donate
    • History
    • Missions
    • Photos
    • Programs >
      • Life Group Questions
    • Virtual Tour
  • Announcements
  • Worship
    • Service >
      • What to Expect
      • LIVE Stream
      • Phone In
    • Sermons >
      • Coming Sermons
      • Past Sermons
      • Past 5MMs
  • Who's Who
    • Leaders
    • Our Pastor
    • Pastor's BLOG >
      • Drippings from the Honeycomb
      • Memory Verse Songs
  • Contact Us

Drippings from the Honeycomb

O Canada- A Prayer

7/3/2020

0 Comments

 
Though our ultimate citizenship is in heaven, Christians ought to pray for their earthly country, its leaders, and ultimately its salvation. Did you know Canada used to be a Christian country, though now a conservative estimate is that only 3-4% are born again. In fact at the turn of the last century Ontario was one of the most Christianized lands in the world! Though there is cause to hope for brighter days, as it was Canada day this week it is relevant to look back to our Christian heritage as an encouragement to look forward.
 
Here are just three marks of our Christian past (point people to these when doing evangelism):

-Our coat of arms. Did you know the Latin saying on our coat of arms is taken from Ps 72:8 and expressed the Christian vision for Canada: Et dominabitur a mari usque ad mare, et a flumine usque ad terminos terrae or "He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth." And don’t forget the cross at the top of her majesty’s crown!
-Our national anthem. Originally part of a larger Christian hymn, one line says it best: God keep our land glorious and free. It is God we need to look for to keep us glorious and free, a freedom and blessing which comes from faithfulness to the Gospel.
- Our Charter: While many forget this or dismiss this all together, the defining line of our Charter comes at the very beginning: Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law.
 
Sadly today we can only beg God’s mercy (“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” Pr 14:34). Any hope of future blessing can only be found in the Gospel re-reaching our land. Not that Canada would look the same in the past if this were so in the future, but we need to point people back to the founding person of Jesus Christ if we are to remain glorious and free: “ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.” (Jer 6:16)
Picture
0 Comments

Remembrance Day

11/11/2019

0 Comments

 
Picture
Today is Remembrance Day; the banks and post offices are all closed and people are encouraged to attend their local cenotaph to remember all those who have served, and died, for the civic freedoms we enjoy, past and present. We owe it to them to remember, we owe it to ourselves to remember, lest we fail to learn from the horrors of conflicts past and present.

The cost of many conflicts and the terrors many individuals and families endured, have led a great many to believe that to die for “king and country” is to gain immorality. This was certainly the case as communities grappled with the Great War (1914–1918). This is captured on a local cenotaph which reads:

They died as few men get the chance to die, fighting to save a world’s morality, they died the noblest death a man may die, fighting for God, and right and liberty, and such a death is immortality.

Now aside from the cult of Imperialism inherent in this quote and some less than qualified statements (some of which are true in part), the last line is very unsettling to me as a Christian.

                                   “And such a death is immortality.”

When we wrestle with trials greater than our comprehension, we ought not to create our own truths and false assurances but to turn to the truth and clarity of Scripture and the promises it offers concerning immortality, through which alone we can find a blessed assurance. Sadly, theological liberalism and nominal Christianity compounded during the Great War to lead many to foolishly embrace such sentiments as expressed on this war memorial.   
                                                                                                                                                                          Truly, to selflessly lay down one’s life for the good of one’s country and “right and liberty” is a noble form of death, but “noble” and salvific are two very different things. The Bible is very clear that salvation and immortality come only through faith and not works, even of the noblest kind:

And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (John 17:3)

So may we remember the fallen today, but may we remember the greatest death of all, that of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the peace He won that day, in the great spiritual conflict of our age, so all those who believe might be saved and so find peace with God, eternally.

The Lord’s Sweetest Blessings,
Chris
​

0 Comments

    Author: Chris Crocker

    Pastor, historian and beekeeper.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019

    Categories

    All
    Acedia
    Age
    Apologetics
    Apostacy
    Bible
    Book Recommendation
    Christmas
    Christ's Return
    Church
    Church Life
    Communication
    Communion
    Contemporary
    Conversation Starter
    Conversion
    Covid
    Culture
    Definitions
    Devotional
    Dilemmas
    Discernment
    Discipleship
    Doctrine
    Doubt
    Error
    Eschatology
    Evangelism
    Faith
    False Christianity
    False Teachers
    Fasting
    Fear
    Forgiveness
    Freedom
    Gender
    Giving
    Gospel
    Government
    Hard Passages
    Heresy
    History
    Holidays
    Job
    Leadership
    Liberalism
    Licentiousness
    Local Church
    Marriage
    Ministry
    Mission
    Moral Failure
    New Covenant
    News
    Nominalism
    Observation
    Orthodoxy
    Other Sermons
    Personal
    Politics
    Prayer
    Preaching
    Public Holidays
    Real Christianity
    Recommended
    Reflection
    Salvation
    Sanctification
    Sexuality
    Sin
    Smallness
    Spiritual Disciplines
    Spiritual Warfare
    Standing Firm
    Stewardship
    Submission
    The Lord's Day
    Theology 101
    Tithing
    Truth
    Worship

    RSS Feed

    Click the RRS feed above to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts. 

Location

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)
Picture

Sunday Service Times
Morning @ 10:00 a.m.
Evening @ 6:00 p.m.
​
Contact Us

P- 519-986-4372
E- markdalebaptistchurch
@hotmail.com


dONATE
  • Home
  • Jesus?
    • Tell Me More >
      • Who is Jesus?
      • What is Christianity All About?
      • The Sinner's Prayer
      • FAQ
  • About
    • Baptism and Membership
    • Beliefs
    • Donate
    • History
    • Missions
    • Photos
    • Programs >
      • Life Group Questions
    • Virtual Tour
  • Announcements
  • Worship
    • Service >
      • What to Expect
      • LIVE Stream
      • Phone In
    • Sermons >
      • Coming Sermons
      • Past Sermons
      • Past 5MMs
  • Who's Who
    • Leaders
    • Our Pastor
    • Pastor's BLOG >
      • Drippings from the Honeycomb
      • Memory Verse Songs
  • Contact Us