Author: Jeff Crippen

I am the pastor of Christ Reformation Church in Tillamook, Oregon, arriving here in 1993. I have been a pastor since 1983 and was a police officer for 12 years before that. My wife and I have been married since 1971. Verla is a medical assistant at a local clinic and in our spare time we like to hunt, fish, and ride our motorcycle.

Let’s Think Some More about the Popular “Christian”

~ Jeff Crippen ~ 7 Comments

Isaiah 53:3 ESV  He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

I would like to ask you to think carefully about the Lord Jesus when he was here on this earth, and about the Apostle Paul as he went about preaching the gospel of Christ. Think about how they were treated, and even by those who claimed to be God’s people. Or think of this:

Hebrews 11:36-38 ESV  Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment.  (37)  They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were killed with the sword. They went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, afflicted, mistreated—  (38)  of whom the world was not worthy—wandering about in deserts and mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

And now I would like you to think about the kind of “christian” most churches and church leaders try to produce.

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The Power of God’s Word – CRC Sunday Sermon

~ Jeff Crippen ~ Leave a comment

September 13, 2020

Responsive Reading
Psalm 135 (Trinity Hymnal #834)

Praise the Lord
Praise the name of the Lord;
praise him, you servants of the Lord,
you who minister in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God.
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant,
For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be
his own, Israel to be his treasured possession.
I know that the Lord is great, that our
Lord is greater than all gods.
The Lord does whatever pleases him,
in the heavens and on the earth, in the 
seas and all their depths.
He makes clouds rise from the
ends of the earth;
he sends lightning with the rain and 
brings out the wind from his storehouses.
He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
the firstborn of men and animals.
He sent his signs and wonders into
your midst, O Egypt, against Pharaoh
and all his servants.
He struck down many nations and killed
mighty kings — Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan and all the kings of Canaan — 
and he gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to his people Israel.
Your name, O Lord, endures forever, 
your renown, O Lord, through all generations.
For the Lord will vindicate his people
and have compassion on his servants.
The idols of the nations are silver and
gold, made by the hands of men.
They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but they cannot see;
they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is
there breath in their mouths.
Those who make them will be like them,
and so will all who trust in them.
O house of Israel, praise the Lord; O
house of Aaron, praise the Lord;
O house of Levi, praise the Lord, you
who fear him, praise the Lord.
Praise be to the Lord from Zion, to him
who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord.

Opening Hymn
My Hope is Built on Nothing Less (Trinity Hymnal #521)

Prayer
Focus this week:  Joenne

Congregational Hymns
By Grace I’m Save, Grace Free & Boundless (Trinity Hymnal #456)

By grace I’m saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not;
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Hath Scripture ever falsehood taught?
Nay; then this word must true remain:
By grace thou, too, shalt Heav’n obtain.

By grace! None dare lay claim to merit;
Our works and conduct have no worth,
God in His love sent our Redeemer,
Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth;
His death did for our sins atone,
And we are saved by grace alone.

By grace! O, mark this word of promise
When thou art by thy sins oppressed,
When Satan plagues thy troubled conscience,
And when thy heart is seeking rest.
What reason cannot comprehend
God by His grace to thee doth send.

By grace! This ground of faith is certain;
So long as God is true, it stands.
What saints have penned by inspiration,
What in His Word our God commands,
What our whole faith must rest upon,
Is grace alone, grace in His Son.

Not What My Hands Have Done (Trinity #461)

Offering Hymn
Object of My First Desire (CRC #86)

Scripture Reading
2 Kings 22

Preaching the Word
The Power of God’s Word – Jeremiah 1
YouTube link

Closing Hymn
O Worship the King – Trinity Hymnal #2

(links to sermon and hymns are in blue font)

Most Professing Christians Tell Christ What to Teach

~ Jeff Crippen ~ 1 Comment

…though he [Nicodemus] had in general owned Christ to be divine teacher, yet he was unwilling to receive his teachings when they did not agree with the notions he had imbibed. Thus many people who claim to be Christians profess to accept the doctrine of Christ in general, and yet will neither believe the truths of Christianity nor submit to the laws of it further than they please. Christ shall be their teacher, provided they may choose their lesson. [Matthew Henry]

Need I say more than Matthew Henry has stated here? This is truth. Most supposed Christians insist on choosing the lesson and thus limit the topic only to subjects and doctrines they like. In other words, they really don’t know Christ at all because they exemplify Paul’s words to the Corinthians-

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