Trinity Presbyterian Church at Woodstock, NB
7 Bull Rd E7M 3Y2 Woodstock, NB, Canada

Redeemed sons and daughters of God: sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus! When he had gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. John 13:31-32 English Standard Version...Continue reading

Children of God: sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus! Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. John 13:20 English Standard Version... On this Remembrance Day, we are keenly aware that Canada has long played an important, international role in peace-keeping. Men and women are sent to various world hot-spots and enforce a negotiated peace settlement. The presence of soldiers seems daunting and aggressive, but their presence directs people away from their former hostility against one another and helps them to live a new normal where fighting is no longer an option. Life without the former in-grained conflict riddled view of the world must first be imposed and then naturalized and finally something embraced. We are sent as Jesus’ messengers of peace. We declare the peace which Jesus brought to us because of His accomplished work at the cross. The cross, which is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins, brings the ultimate peace between God and people; peace between formerly hostile people; and peace which fills the soul of the one who has received Jesus. Do not be surprised if those who first meet you and see Jesus’ peace in you are recalcitrant and hostile in their response to you. Peace is such a foreign concept in our world today. But those who receive you receive Jesus Christ and those who receive Jesus receive the Father. The Father in heaven is the One Who has purposed to bring many sons and daughters to salvation. Blessed be the Triune God of majesty and righteousness, love and justice, peace and salvation. Blessed are You, God Most High! Praise and honour be to Him Who lives forever and everfor Your dominion is an everlasting dominion and the kingdom of this world is the Kingdom of the Lord and of His Christenduring from generation to generation! Who can stop Your purposes or criticize saying, What have you done?! By Your Spirit You close the hearts of the wicked and by this same Spirit You direct men and women into the peace which started at the cross and expands and stretches, building and wafting in glory unto all eternity. Amen. Copyright 2020 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

Hi everybody. On November 27th at 7:00 p.m. there will be special ordination service to ordain a new elder. Everyone is welcomed.

Beloved of God the Father: sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, ‘He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes place, that when it does take place you may believe that I am he. John 13:18-19 English Standard Version... Jesus is declaring His divinityI am He. He is telling the disciples what will take placeHis betrayal and crucifixion are not a surprise nor unexpected. It must take place. Jesus is aware of the identity of the betrayer. This brings to mind these words: for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done saying my counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish my purpose Isaiah 46:9-10 ESV Jesus is fully aware of the darkness that lurks in your heart and in your thoughts. He knows the evil you’d planned and carried out. In fact, the context of Isaiah bears that out as well. The Isaiah prophecy was spoken to you transgressors. The God of eternity has purposed to bring salvation to those whom He has chosen. He will deliver you from the death grip of sin and bring life and renewed, transformed thinking. Nearing the end of his life, it is said that John Wesley was somewhat forgetful, but he could confidently declare: ‘My sin is great, my Savior is greater!’ Lord of Righteousness and Justice You have no equal, there is none that can rival Your wisdom and understanding. Blessed are You, Who have chosen Your people from before the foundation of the world. Blessed are You, Jesus the Savior of ruined sinners. Blessed are You, Spirit of God Who brings both the awareness of sin and the greater, glorious awareness of new life which is given in Christ to believers unto the praise and honour and blessedness and hallowing of the Father. Amen. Copyright 2020 Sh'ma Christian Ministries, All rights reserved.

Hi everybody. Pastor Richard will be preaching this Sunday. It will be the lords super with a potluck right afterward.

Beloved children of the Father: sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus! Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. John 13:1 English Standard Version...Continue reading

Much loved children of the Omnipotent: sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus! My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one. John 10:29-30 English Standard Version...Continue reading

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. John 10:11 English Standard Version The imagery of shepherd is rich in the Old Testament. Jesus’ audience would have recognized immediately many of the implications of this reference. We probably catch the obvious and familiar reference to Psalm 23The LORD is my Shepherd. But perhaps we are unfamiliar with Ezekiel 34. This is another critical reference to help us understand what Jesus is saying.... At the start of Ezekiel 34 the LORD speaks against His people’s leaders. They were supposed to care for the people, the sheep. Instead they took advantage of them. Let them wander. These false shepherds slaughtered the sheep and ruled them harshly. Then there is the glorious promise that the LORD God Himself would Shepherd His sheepHe will seek them out, rescue them from the places they have been scattered, feed them, bind up their wounds and strengthen the weak. When Jesus called Himself the Good Shepherd, He was drawing on this powerful promise of God and declaring it has been fulfilled. Jesus is the Good ShepherdWho exposed false shepherds, Who rescues His sheep, Who strengthened the weak, binds up the wounded. The miracles of feeding the crowds takes on new relevance and significance when we understand these highlight the fact that Jesus is the Good Shepherd Who feeds His sheep. What a glorious truth this is. What a huge contrast to how the world sees Jesus. He is not a sissy. He is not a weakling helplessly crucified at the hands of cruel leaders. He is the Mighty Shepherd who like historical shepherds on hillsides fought bears and lions and as God’s Shepherd rescues sheep from political villains and tyranny leading them in triumphant victory through the valley of the shadow of death to the presence of our Father in heaven. Blessed Sunday to you. Find a Bible-believing church and attend it. Be fed by Him Who is the Shepherd of your soul. Or find a livestream service of a Bible-believing church and delight in the truth of Jesus Christ as our Good Shepherd. Mount Zion ARP Church, Moncton has a livestream service on Facebook. Pastor John Shearouse is our guest preacher today. 10AM Atlantic time, 9 AM EDT and 6 PM (5 PM EDT). LORD God, we bless You as the God Who made and keeps all His promises. We thank You for Jesus, our Good Shepherd. We thank You for the Shepherd of our souls Who is able to rescue us from the mire of our sins and bring us from the four corners of the earth to Your glorious presence. Spirit of God, direct us in worship this day so that our minds are fed, our hearts strengthened and our faith emboldened for holy service. Amen.

So Jesus again said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. John 10:7 English Standard Version... When I visited the life-sized replica of Noah’s Arka display made by Answers in Genesis for instruction in Bible truthI was struck by the clear teaching that the Ark had only one Door. The only way to be saved from the flood waters was to get into the Ark and the only way onto the Ark was through that door. This passage today, Jesus’ teaching is clear. He alone is the Door, He alone is the way of salvation from the rising floodwaters of sin, dissipation and the corruptions of the world. When you play chess, you are aware of the rules of the game. A chess master will know the rules so well and use these strictures for achieving moves calculated long in advance. When you are playing a chess master you can’t suddenly decide a piece on the chessboard will now move in a different configuration than the rules allow. The game would be impossible to play. God the TriuneFather, Son and Holy Spiritcreated the heavens and the earth. When Adam and Eve brought sin into our world, the LORD of Glory had already decreed the Rule of SalvationJesus Christ. He alone is the Door, through whom we are saved. No matter how much someone wants to alter the rules or change the way God has set down His decrees, it is immaterial. The King of Glory has set out what is right and how one can find everlasting life. Tomorrow is Sunday. Find a bible-believing, Gospel-preaching church that is open and attend. Find Jesus the Door of our salvation and delight to enter into eternal life through Him. Anyone who is in the Woodstock, NB area, I’ll be preaching at Trinity A.R.P. at 11 AM. Would love to see you there. Many centuries ago the psalmist cried out: Answer me when I call, O God! As Christians living in this time we have the privileged vantage point of history seeing how You have answered this cry in Jesus Christ. In Him we have life and hope. He is the Door by which we receive salvation full and free. Blessed are You, God our Father and faithful in hearing and answering the cries of Your children. Spirit of the Living God, bless our preachers and teachers, evangelists and ministers as they bring the Good News of Jesus Christ to people. Lead Your people the Jesus the Door though and by Whom we are saved. Ah Faithful God, be glorified! Amen.

This is the best attitude to have during the pandemic!

Hi everybody. This Sunday pastor Richard will be sharing the word of God with us. We look forward to seeing you all there.

Freedom loving children of God: sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus! They answered him, We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’? John 8:33 English Standard Version... Jesus had just made the bold claim if His listeners abide in His word they will know the truth and the truth will set them free. His listeners scoffed. They answered with the text above. Jewish people are biologically descended from Abraham. So in a sense that is literally true. This is significant because the covenant promise God the Mighty had made was those who bless Abraham will be blessed, those who curse Abraham will be cursed. Jesus’s listeners equated being biological descended from Abraham with being blessed. They missed the point. Abraham believed in God. He served God. That is true freedom. Those who believe in the Triune God of the Holy Bible are truly descendants of Abraham. It is a bit rich for the Jewish people to claim we have never been enslaved to anyone. They were slaves in Egypt. They were currently under the domination of the Roman Empire. Through-out their history the Covenant-Making God has issued charges against His peoplecalling them to account for their waywardness. As such, they are proving themselves to be slaves to sin, slaves to foreign gods, slaves to immorality, slaves to accommodation which compromises their faithfulness to the Living God. Our only freedom is found in Jesus Christ. Our only freedom is to live in the world without being part of it. Our only freedom is to be fully aware of the evil that surrounds us, but making a stand for Jesus Christ and obedience to His Word. This is Jesus’s point. Those who stood before Him then, and we who hear these words today, must ask: are we free? Do we acknowledge Jesus Christ and Him alone as our source of fullness of life and freedom? If we answer yes, then we are descendants of Abraham. Then we are those who walk in the blessings of God our Father as those who are free from enslavement to sin. Spirit of the Living God, confront us with the Word of Truth so that we will recognize the blinders which are covering our eyes. Uncover for us also the sins which abound in our culture, such as those which would enslave us so that in Your power we will throw them off in whole-hearted service to Jesus Christ. Enable us to see all the enslavement to sin which entangle and chain people in our culture todaythe same which threaten to make us slaves also. Thank You, Father in heaven, that You have shown us the pathway of full life and true freedom given in the Mighty and Majestic Name of Jesus ChristYour precious Son, our Savior. Amen

Dearly loved children of God: sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus! The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery.. John 8:3-4 English Standard Version... The scribes and Pharisees are aiming to trap Jesus between the laws of the Romans and the laws of the Jews. They imagine this will be a tightrope and Jesus will have to fall off on one side or the other and get Himself bound up in all kinds of trouble. As this story unfolds we’ll notice, quickly, Jesus does not make a misstep. I will cling to your testimonies, O LORD; let me not be put to shame! I will run in the way of your commandments when you enlarge my heart! (Psalm 119:31-32). He keeps Himself close to the Word of God, He is steeped in the Word and He does not make any misstep. The Word of God gives us glorious freedom so that we can run in the way of our Father’s commandments. In every and all situations the Word is powerful, relevant and insightful. Notice how the scribes and Pharisees stumble and fall even as they seek to trap Jesus. Leviticus 20:10 commands that both the man and the woman caught in adultery must be put to death. Hmm. Where is the man? The woman was not caught in adultery by herselfby definition that is not adultery. So was she set up? Was the adulterer paid to trap her so that the scribes and Pharisees have a case to bring to Jesus? Who knows. The fact is, the scribes and Pharisees were wrong from the start, bringing the woman alone. Beloved of Goddelight we are to delight ourselves in the Law of God. Know the whole Word of God so that we will not be put to shame! And our text today is teaching us to be aware of the circumstances of any case put before us. When someone is about to accuse someone else, we need to know as much as we can, or at least realize every story has at least three sides (one, opponent, and God’s). Again, notice Psalm 119:32, the commandments of God enlarge our hearts. We understand Jesus ChristHis sacrifice that brings us without blemish or spotmeans we see others with the eyes of faith. Jesus conquers our sins and the sins of those we would accuse. Our dearest desire is to bring people to Jesus, so that they and we ourselves, will not be put to shame but be able to judge circumstances rightly and run in the way of His commandments. Thank You for the joy and blessing of worship. Thank You for preachers and missionaries, bible teachers and evangelists who brought Your Word of Truth to Your hungry people. King Jesus, as the week unfolds, constantly bring us to Your Word and by Your Spirit make it for us living and pertinent in every situation. Thank You, Father in heaven, for the gift of the Law which shows us our sinfulness and directs us to Your Son, our Good Shepherd, so that we can follow Him in thankful obedience. Amen.

Beloved of God: sh'ma ~ hear and obey Jesus! Nicodemus, who had gone to him [Jesus] before, and who was one of them, said to them, Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?" John 7:50-51 English Standard Version... The Jewish Leadership was indeed prepared to judge a man without first giving him a hearing. At chapter 11 we learn that the most radical part of the Pharisees were prepared to put Jesus to death because He raised Lazarus up from the deadso they wanted Lazarus killed also! I was listening to Michael Kruger preach and teach on Hebrews 3. He noted that one of the most important things a person accused of crime must do is to get a good lawyer. In fact, to paraphrase, a man who represents himself at court has a fool for a lawyer. An uninformed defendant will make procedural mistakes, will antagonize the judge and likely unwittingly reveal even greater depths of his own criminality. Nicodemus, part of a human court, did his part to represent Jesus. Nicodemus would fail. Jesus ultimately would be put to death, though innocent. Jesus was prepared to be the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. However, Jesus took all of God’s wrath and punishment against our sin so that He would be for us the Best, Only, Divine Lawyer of Heaven. When we as sinners are convicted of our sin, we appeal to Jesus, the Lamb of God Who has taken away our sin and we ask Him to represent us to the Father in heaven. Jesus is our Advocate. He Is our Sure Help. A man would be a fool to represent himself before GodGod is the Just Judge and He has provided Jesus as the ONLY representative for sinners. Anyone who refuses Jesus, refuses the help God the Father Himself has given. Jesus, our Lawyer, Savior and Kingblessed are You! Our souls sing in praise and adoration to You. Spirit of God, when our sins and the awareness of our guilt would drive us away from our only source of Help and Counsel, hold on to us tightly and keep us in the powerful Presence of our Sure Defender and Lord. Great and glorious are You, Father in heaven, drawing us ever nearer to Yourself in Christ by the Spirit of Power. Amen.

Hi everybody. This Sunday, we will be having communion with pastor Richard. A fellowship meal will follow. We so look forward to seeing you all there.