THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 13
These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!
My first pastorate of Berea Baptist Church, Hiddenite NC, commenced with their call to me in their Midweek service / business meeting. 1n 1973, the Fourth of July fell on a Wednesday—and yes! they gathered for their prayer meeting and business meeting during which they voted to extend the call to me to come and pastor them.
I had preached for them numerous times before; both during the ministry of their former pastor, ‘Preacher’ Harry Sims. and also during the interim after he had resigned. ‘Preacher’ Sims had been a life-long family friend of ours. He was most instrumental in discipling my own Dad shortly after the Lord had saved him and called him to minister the Gospel—and a few short years later, to found and pastor his first church. They enjoyed many hours and days conversing about the Scriptures and studying God’s Word together.
We [Parks and Sims families] were living in Winston Salem NC at that time. But, Preacher Sims was originally from West Virginia. So, he also made the connections and recommendations between Dad and the Little Sewell Baptist Church in Rainelle WV, where Dad was called to pastor in 1956.
When we moved back to Winston Salem in 1966, Preacher Sims and our family resumed our close family and ministry associations. He was pastoring Rosemont Baptist Church at that time. Then, Preacher Sims pastored for a few years at Berea in Hiddenite, about 45-50 miles from Winston Salem—in Alexander County, just a few miles west of Statesville.
Coming back now to 1973: I still had my 5th [senior] year of Bible College [1973-74] to complete when Berea called me to pastor them. So, I continued to live at home, attend Bible College, and drive to Berea every Friday evening to minister there over the weekend and Lord’s Day. Then drive back home for school the next week.
After graduation in May, 1974, I moved what little stuff I had [mostly books] to live in their brand-new, beautiful, brick, ranch style parsonage the church had built while Preacher Sims was there. [Debbie called it my ‘monastery’* and would later domesticate it—and the monk—into a home!**] I could ‘furnish’ it only sparsely; but I had it all to myself, and I was as happy as the whippoorwills that would sing in the nearby underbrush or the frogs croaking in the close-by bogs.
I spent many glorious hours in that nearly-empty parsonage: reading, praying, studying, walking and hiking in the nearby fields and woods, fishing in the neighboring farmers’ ponds, and visiting among the church members and neighbors a LOT—especially around supper time!
They still refresh and delight my heart’s memories as some of the most enjoyable years [1973-1980] of my 50+ years of pastoring God’s people.
* in the ‘monastery’ with some of my books … and, yes, Debbie bought and gave me the shirt. I didn’t even know such a style existed 😉
** Debbie also lovingly hand-stitched this for me before we were married … it’s still hanging in my office/study … and I’m still closely examining it to see if there is some concealed cryptic message in it somewhere something to the effect: “but just you wait…” 😉
is NOT in any nation’s capital or ‘centcom’ center …
BUT in the Heavenly ‘Throne Room’ of
the Most High God—the LORD of hosts—(1)
and in the ‘Prayer Rooms’ of the saints.(2)
(1) Psalm 2.4-6
He who sits in the heavens laugh; the Lord holds them in derision. 5 Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
(1) Psalm 115.3 & 135.6
115:3 Our God is in the heavens; He does all that he pleases.
135:6 Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.
(1) Daniel 4.17, 25-26, 32, 34-35
4:17 This edict is by the resolution of the watchers, And the decision is a command of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind And gives it to whom He wishes And sets up over it the lowliest of men.
4:25-26 …until you know that the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whomever He wishes … your kingdom will endure for you after you know that it is Heaven that rules with power.
4:32 …until you know that the Most High is the powerful ruler over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whomever He wishes.
4:34-35 “But at the end of those days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes toward heaven, and my knowledge returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever;For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can strike against His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’
(2) Daniel 9.3, 20-23 & 10.12-14
9:3 So I gave my face to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.
9:20 Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21 and while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, touched me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering. 22 Then he made me understand and spoke with me and said, “O Daniel, I have now come forth to give you insight with understanding. 23 At the beginning of your supplications the word was issued, so I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so understand the message and gain understanding in what has appeared.
10:12 Then he said to me, “Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you gave your heart to understand this and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. 13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was standing against me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me. Now I had been left there with the kings of Persia. 14 Now I have come to give you an understanding of what will happen to your people in the last days, for the vision pertains to the days yet future.”
(2) Revelation 5.8 & 8.3-5
5:8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.
Had our Mom lived until today, she would have been 96 years old (6/26/1929). But, today, in the Presence of Christ, she is ageless, timeless, and blessed forever! I have told people for years “Don’t even try to out-sentimentalize me over my Mom!” But it isn’t just sentimentalism; it’s genuine, passionate, heart-felt, and heart-held love for her. And it’s gratitude to God for ordaining that she would give me birth and be my Mother.
I have posted numerous tributes to her over the years—and I have a lifetime of loving honor I could give her—so I won’t reprise them here. But suffice it to sum up:
Mom has been the sweetest model and influence of love and grace in my life and the lives of my other five brothers and sisters.
I have never known a more sweet-spirited woman of Grace than my Mom. I wrote in a poem/song for her and Dad many years ago:
“My father taught me to fear the Lord, my mother taught me His love…”
And that’s true. But all of their instruction to us was conducted in perfect harmony—Mom taught me to fear the LORD also, and she sure taught me His love!
This was brought back to my mind with fresh, sweet power just a couple weeks ago. Our Sunday School lesson was from Psalm 19. The concluding verse 14 of that Psalm is a personal prayer of response David prayed to The LORD after extolling the virtues and sweetness of the Word of God:
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my Strength and my Redeemer” (KJV).
As I related to our class, that prayer is one—if not the one—of the first Scriptures I can remember memorizing. And Mom taught me to memorize it. I can still hear her voice leading me to repeat it over and over. Both Dad and Mom taught us to memorize TONS of Scripture—but this is the first one I can remember. She wanted me to not only learn to say it from memory; but more, she wanted to teach me to live by it—and pray it!
And I have. I don’t think there is a day that passes but that Scripture comes to my soul. And most days, I pray it. It is as comprehensive a prayer I know to pray to lead me to live with a Godly fear of The LORD and to offer every moment and movement of my life as an ‘acceptable sacrifice,’ obedient and pleasing to Him.
So, again today, I ‘rise up and call her blessed … Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all … Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates” (Proverbs 31.28, 29, 31).
THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 12
These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!
[3] it is a perfect snapshot of our family and spiritual relationship;
[4] and it is the last image I have of my Dad and me before he died from here.
The date of the picture is 1/23/13. Dad would depart this life [what he always called “this tabernacle of clay”] to be with Christ on 2/10/13—just 18 days later. I was on one of my visits there to be with him, 450 miles away—they lived in Lexington NC, and I in Lexington KY. I treasured all of my visits back ‘home,’ but I knew this one was especially poignant…surely my last visit with him here.
This image is actually a screenshot from a :45 video one of my sisters took of us without our knowing it. That’s one of the reasons it so blurry—it is somewhat moving. The video doesn’t have any audible, distinguishable sound. But you can see Dad’s lips moving and some inaudible, distant, muffled mumbling. But we are doing one of our favorite father-son exercises: we are reciting Scripture to one another and in unison. In this case, it is Psalm 23. I do distinctly remember him getting to the last line, and mustering up some of his last remaining strength, and saying with emphasis: “And I shall dwell in the house of The LORD forever!” And 18 days later he did just that! He took up his eternal residency in the House of The LORD!
See ya’ soon, Dad! And we’ll love it more then than we did back on 1/23/13! And ‘we’ll sing and shout and dance about’ with unrestrained gusto!
PS
If you’re interested in the line ‘we’ll sing and shout and dance about…,’ it’s from the refrain of a song we’d sing ‘back in the country’ in WV. Our Dad pastored Little Sewell Baptist Church outside of Rainelle [Greenbrier Co.] from 1956-66:
The Homecoming Week | Raymond Browning
1 Upon our journey here below we meet with pain and loss; Sometimes there is a crown of thorns, sometimes the heavy cross. The dreary road to Calvary, the bitter goad and sting, But what’s inside those gates of pearl will be worth ev’rything.
Refrain: When we’re inside the gates of pearl, We’ll learn a lot of things, We’ll have a harp that’s made of gold, Perhaps a thousand strings; We’ll sing and shout and dance about, The Lamb will dry our tears; We’ll have a grand homecoming week, The first ten thousand years.
2 The shadows now begin to fall, the time is drawing nigh, When Christ our Lord shall come again like lightning from the sky. And while we wait and suffer here, praise God, we’ll shout and sing, For one glimpse thro’h those gates of pearl will be worth ev’rything. [Refrain]
3 The precious blood of God’s own Son has saved and sanctified A wondrous people for His name and they are called the bride. Tho’ here neglected and despised, one day the Lord will bring His chosen ones within the gates, and that’s worth ev’rything. [Refrain]
THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 11
These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!
But Ruth said, “Do not press me to forsake you in turning back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may Yahweh do to me, and more, if anything but death separates you and me.” ~Ruth 1.16-17 LSB
This Lord’s Day will mark the 8th anniversary of our first visit to Buck Run—in 2017, it was on the 11th. This was immediately after my resignation from my former pastorate.
As I have often related, we had not made advance plans or even speculation where we would serve following my resignation [we had prayed!], and certainly Buck Run was not on my radar. All I knew was that there was a Buck Run Baptist Church in Frankfort, and that Hershael York was pastor there. I knew this from my previous personal acquaintance and associations with Pastor York in Lexington. But during those previous 35 years in Lexington, I had never attended a Buck Run service—at neither site. I hadn’t even been to Frankfort but a handful of times! We’ll always be grateful to Pastor York for his invitation to attend that Lord’s Day.
But, from the first welcome at the door by the face and hand of Bruce McCutchen (does everyone agree that there could no better first welcome than Bruce McCutchen?)—then later, after the service by Pastor Wesley Noss—to all the other greetings we received that day, we instantly felt right at home and among ‘our people’ from that first encounter. And, I might also note that as we made our way to the front of the seating area (of course), who should we find there to welcome us but our long-time dear friends, John and Sherry Wehrle?
We were seeking a ‘home’-church where the Lord would lead us to worship and serve, and we knew we had arrived! There was no desire or need to even visit anywhere else.
“Hitherto Thy love has blessed me—Thou hast brought me to this place!”
THE STORY OF THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST | Lesson 10
These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!
These messages/Bible study lessons are over 20 years old. There are 34 of these lessons in the series. I prepared and delivered them over 2005-2006 during my former pastorate. And, yes, I confess that I capitalized on the popularity and cultural interest in the Mel Gibson film which had just come out–though yet to this day, I haven’t seen the movie. But I have studied the Scriptural texts in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts for over fifty years. This is not only the Story of the Passion of the Christ, but more, it is the Story of God’s covenant love and grace in Christ that has redeemed and saved us! I have since shared them with other groups and audiences who have expressed an interest in sharing them still with others. So, I am posting them here in this format as I first prepared them without making any effort to revise or edit them. Since I wrote them in this Word format for the purpose of printing and creating paper handouts, the text doesn’t copy and paste well into this blog space–hence posting only the pdf. I pray God will use them for His Glory, to make Christ known to others, and to deepen our love and worship for God and His marvelous saving grace!
~Dave Parks 