Picture of the Week

I just opened the blog and thought I should write something. I was then, wondering about what I should write. Well, here goes:
Earlier this week I was looking through some pictures and found this one, which is really beautiful because it reflects the glory of our King shown through Creation. At the minute I saw this, I thought of Psalm 19, verse 1:
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork."

It is impossible not to see that there is a God Almighty when you see such a beautiful sight as this. If you look for a second at the sky with its millions of stars you can be convinced of His existence and His handwork (Psa 147:4  He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.) Our Lord is Great indeed! His works are amazing!
Praise be to the Lord for such a beautiful Creation!

O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. (Psalm 8:1)

Interrogando Imãos e Irmãs- Tradução

O sermão de domingo passado foi interessante. O Pastor falou sobre Tito 2:1-11 e apesar de eu não estar escrevendo sobre o sermão em si, tem algo que foi dito que eu penso ser muito, muito relevante.A lição que eu aprendi esta semana com pregacão e que nós temos que olhar para os outros cristãos para aprender com eles.

O Peregrino - Tradução

Bom, eu não tenho escrito aqui ha algum tempo ... A vida é muitas vezes ocupada. Sempre penso que deveria escrever mais neste blog, e estou realmente envergonhada porque não o faço mais vezes, mas sim, estudar ocupa muito do meu tempo... Agitação é o pior inimigo deste blog :).

De qualquer forma, não é sobre isso que eu quero falar ... Quero falar (como o título sugere, se você tirou tempo para lê-lo) sobre "O Peregrino" de John Bunyan.

Our Hope: The life to come

Yesterday I was reading on Colossians 3: 1-11 and I was once more awakened to the necessity to once more set my affections upon heavenly things...
Isn't that interesting that we want to be good students, eat healthly, provide the best for our family, and although these things are important and part of life, many times we forget the most important part of our life is yet to come...
As Christians our hope is eternal, and not from these world. How then can we so oftentimes set our afections in so weak, meaningless things as the ones around us??

May the Lord gives us all wisdom to keep our hearts and minds where they should be:
In Christ

J Roque

Christian Living/ Putting on New Clothes

That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the Spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.(...)

Questions. Questions??!!??

The Christian life is something very exciting, specially when you consider the process of learning new things.

Grilling Brothers and Sisters...

The sermon this last Sunday was interesting. Pastor talked on Titus 2:1-11 and although I won't be writing about the sermon itself, there was something that was said that I thought to be very ,very relevant.

The lesson I learnt this week from that sermon was that we have to be looking up to other Christians to learn from them.

He said that once in a while we should get one Christian
(older in the faith, or more mature) and ask questions, or to be more accurate: "to grill them".

Pilgrim's Progress

Well, I haven't written here in a while...Life is quite busy oftentimes.
I am always thinking that I should write more on this blog, and am quite ashamed I do not do it more often, but indeed studying takes up a lot of my time. Busyness is the worst enemy of this blog :)

Anyways, that is not what I want to talk about...
I want to talk about (as the title might suggest, if you took the time to read it) the Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.

It is well

When peace like a river attendeth my way;
when sorrows like sea-billows, roll,
whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say:
'It is well, it is well with my soul.'
It is well with my soul;

 it is well, it is well with my soul!!

Conference Audio

The audio of the Conference ( Jesus Christ: Prophet, Priest and King) is available at the Clonmel Baptist Church website.
It is under the series " Autumn Church Conference 2010 ".
You can listen to that here.

May the Lord bless your life

J Roque

Driving test...

Yesterday, Paulo was blessed in passing his driving test.

Jesus Christ: King, Prophet and Priest- part 3

Read Part 1, Part 2
This has been a very hard and busy week, so I just got to finish this " report " about the conference today...

Jesus Christ: King, Prophet and Priest- part 2

Part 1
... Consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus.
The Second sermon was about Jesus Christ as a priest. We were encouraged to look closely, fully consider and understand that the Lord Jesus Christ is described not as a priest but as the High Priest.

Jesus Christ as High Priest acting on our behalf, offered sacrifice for our sins. He was the only one who could and did satisfy the wrath of God and died so that justice would be made. So that the guilty, condemned man would be set free, when the Lord Jesus did die in his place.
Three features are seen in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ as a priest:

• His purity, character and the quality of his person
• The ability to symphatise with the lost man
• The purposefulness of his death on the cross

A very interesting point on this second sermon was that the death of the Lord Jesus Christ was presented in a way that we rarely see it done. I hope this quote explain what I am trying to say:

" It wasn't a tragedy that God the Son was put on the cross. IT WAS HIS GLORY.We dare not approach the Father except through Jesus Christ."

Isn't that interesting that sometimes when we hear people talking about the gospel in some called Christian circles, we hear them trying to persuade you to pity the fact that the Lord Jesus was crucified. They try to transform the gospel in some sort of politically correct , acceptable message of a sentimental, weak love.They try to reduce the name and authority of the Christ Jesus to simply a Saviour that is always there just in case you change your mind and decide to accept it. They forget his Lordship, his glory and power.
When we start reading the Scriptures it tells us of a completely different story.It tells us that it was the power of God that his Son would die for the sins of his people. The whole of the Scriptures is about the One that would come to save His people from their sins. The death on the cross is the means by which salvation would be accomplish.
When you talk about God the Father, people (although confronted with their wickedness and the fact that they have transgressed God's law) try to get themselves alright with hopes that eventually they will do good enough to be saved. But when you start talking about Jesus Christ on the cross, and the fact that it took the Son of God to make atonement for such an offense as ours, then the story changes:
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
This is our message!

In Christ alone!!

J Roque

to be continued...

Jesus Christ: King, Prophet and Priest- part 1

Today we were able to attend a much blessed conference in the Clonmel Baptist Church.
 I was looking forward to it specially this being our first conference in a while, and indeed I was  blessed beyond my expectations by the 3 preachers talking on the Lord Jesus Christ.