Westminster Presbyterian Church

Since I spaced posting an update last night, I'll do my best to recap yesterday's activities. First, I woke up, then studied. At noon, I ate lunch, then studied. Late afternoon, I ate dinner, studied, then went to bed. There, now we're caught up-to-date. ;-)

Tonight I visited a new church, Westminster Presbyterian Church, about 2.5 miles north from my apartment. The pastor reminds me of Arnold Schwarzenegger, both in build and speech, but that was about the most alarming part of my visit. In fact, one could argue that the resemblance helps result in an authoritative delivery of the Scriptures. Of course, the content of the message was solid as well. The passage was from Luke 13:10-17, on the topic of legalism. My notes were as follows:

1. Jesus Christ's ministry on earth was to set free those held captive by Satan, effectively reversing their state of bondage.The year of Jubilee and the Sabbath were two institutions that symbolized this ministry of reversal (the year of Jubilee saw the return of goods to their original owners, the Sabbath saw rest from the typical pattern of work during the week).
   
2. Because of the above points, the four instances of Jesus performing miracles on the Sabbath serve as special pictures of His earthly ministry. This particular miracle involved releasing a woman bent over due to an unclean spirit.
   
3. In touching the woman, Jesus effectively claimed her from Satan's 18-year old grasp. The interesting thing is that this miracle, unlike most, was unsolicited, and the woman's faith was never mentioned. This shows an example of how God's mercy often extends to those who have not asked for it, and may in fact be hostile towards him. The "natural" blessings of rain, greenery, and sunshine are other examples of (ofttimes) unsolicited mercy.
   
4. The takeaway is that we as Christians should be just as free with our compassion towards those suffering from satanic oppression, whether solicited or not. Furthermore, if Jesus was so responsive towards one who didn't ask for His help, how much more responsive is He towards those who do?
   
5. Despite this miraculous healing, the ruler of the synagogue did not rejoice with the woman, instead pointing out that she should not have been healed on the Sabbath. In return, Jesus called him a hypocrite, pointing out that even animals are cared for during the sabbath.
   
6. The ruler of the synagogue was indeed a hypocrite. All he saw was a violation of rabbinical law. There were 49 actions explicitly forbidden (by the pharisees) to be performed on the Sabbath, healing was one of these. However, caring for animals was not explicitly forbidden in these laws (pointed out by Jesus). The result was a system of laws that valued animals higher than man (sound familiar?). These laws were effectively used by Satan to oppress people, and Jesus's ardent opposition to the religious establishment was meant to reverse this oppression.
   
7. The takeaway is that misdirected zeal (legalism) is one of the most destructive forces in the church. We need God to deliver us from our pet peeves that cause us to be hypocrites who aid Satan's cause.

The message was followed by a 15 minute question and answer time, in a teaching setting. The pastor taught from an ESV Bible, had a strong but easy-to-understand accent, and used an expository style of teaching. Hymns were sung exclusively, accompanied by an acoustical guitar (a piano was also on stage). The pastor mentioned during the Q/A time that he prefers this style of worship, though he admits he couldn't provide a theological argument against CCM styles. His wording was that he finds most CCM styles "hideous". The congregation is quite small. About 120 people worship on Sunday mornings, and around 80 worship Sunday evening. There is a considerable (for the size) college-age group, which isn't all that surprising, given theproximity to OSU. They have bi-weekly home groups and men's fellowship, all in Corvallis.

I think I'll try attending WPC on Sunday evening for a few weeks, just to see how things go. I'll try to broach the topic of infant baptism with the pastor, though after tonight's sermon on legalism, I'm somewhat reluctant to do so. The main Presbyterian argument in favor of infant baptism essentially equates circumcision with baptism. Their full argument is here.