Introduction

May 27 2022 - Eric Buresh

Welcome to the Grace Church Blog!

Our purpose is simple – to provide a steady stream of Written Worship so that together we may see the beauty of Christ more clearly and be transformed by His beauty for our own joy in Him and for the overflow of that joy in love to all we encounter.

Too many of us, myself included, allow our faith to regress to mundane duty. The fountain of living water becomes a puddle to step around in our already busy lives. We naturally wander toward becoming emotionless toward God, without awe of the One who brought us from spiritual death to a joy-filled life. Speaking personally, my spiritual life has too frequently been a joyless mess of duty and unending religious failures and frustrations:

I believed in God. I did not worship Him.

I mentally assented to Him. I did not delight in Him.

I obeyed Him because it was the smart play. I did not long to be like Him.

I feared hell. I did not desire heaven (or His presence).

I wanted good gifts from God. I did not see Him as the supreme gift.

I expected to be satisfied. Yet, I found no lasting satisfaction in God Himself.

He was not my bread of life. I did not long for Him like a deer pants for water or like a newborn babe desires milk. I knew Him. I did not love Him.

Then, He opened my eyes a little more and I fell in love with what I saw! That’s the point of this blog. We must exhort one another continually in the Scriptures where Christ is revealed. Together, let’s strive to see God in Jesus Christ as the infinite Treasure in life.

Let’s live the miracle of salvation: “For it [was] the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in [my heart] to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor. 4:6)

By seeing the glory of Jesus and being transformed by what we see: “But [I], with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, [am] being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor. 3:18)

If the way I described myself at the start of this paper hits home, or if you are just not quite at the place where you would say you have consistent and full joy in God that overflows in love toward others, join us in looking at Him, receiving what we see as a Treasure, and letting Him transform us more and more into His image. O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God:

Arise, shine;
For your light has come!
And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the Lord will arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising.
Lift up your eyes all around, and see:
They all gather together, they come to you;
Your sons shall come from afar,
And your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
Then you shall see and become radiant,
And your heart shall swell with joy. (Isaiah 60:1-5)