February 21, 2010
6:00 pm Worship Service
Mr. Jim Stein, leader
Covenant Christian
Reformed Church
Winnipeg, Canada
Call to Worship: Psalm 134:1-3
Come, bless the
LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of
the LORD! Lift
up your hands to the holy place, and bless the LORD. May the LORD, maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.
Opening Prayer
Hymn: 432 - For the Beauty of the Earth
Greeting I greet you with the grace and peace poured into
our lives by God our Father and our Master, Jesus Christ. Ephesians
(The Message)
Confession of Faith – Belgic Confession Article 7 p. 821
Hymn: 530 - I Love to Tell the Story
Prayer
Scripture:
2 Timothy 3:10-4:5
Sermon: How did events, circumstances affect the NT church and
the writing of Scripture?
Prayer
Hymn: 405 - I Serve a Risen Savior
Offering:
King’s University College
God's
Blessing: Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at
all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you. 2
Thessalonians 3:16 NRSV
Hymn: 452 - Now
Thank We All Our God
2 Timothy 3:10-4:5
Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my
faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my
persecutions, and my suffering the things that happened to me in Antioch,
Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from
all of them. Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in
Christ Jesus will be persecuted. But wicked people and
impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly
believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from
childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is
inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and
for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to
God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living
and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I solemnly urge
you:
proclaim the message; be persistent whether the time is favorable or
unfavorable; convince, rebuke, and encourage, with the utmost patience in
teaching.
For the time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but
having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their
own desires,
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.
As for you, always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist,
carry out your ministry fully.
Timeline of the New Testament Scripture Writings
49 : Paul
composed his first epistle to the Thessalonians - the
earliest known New Testament writing.
51
: Paul
wrote epistle to the Galatians.
51-54: Paul wrote II Thessalonians.
54
- 57: Paul wrote epistles to
the Corinthians. A number of : : other “lost” letters
written to them.
54
- 58: Philemon was written by Paul.:
56
– 57: Philippians is written by Paul.
56-59: Colossians is written.
The authorship is uncertain : : but probably not Paul.
60
: Paul wrote
the epistle to the Romans.
62
– 64: Ephesians is written.
The authorship is uncertain : : but probably not Paul
65 : Q was possibly
written, (German: Quelle, meaning : : "source") a hypothetical
Greek text used in : : : writing of Matthew and Luke.
67
– 69: Jude is written (brother of James, who is the Lord’s : :
brother). Some scholars date it 80
– 100.
69: Hebrews is written (not by Paul).
70 : Mark, earliest known
gospel, was probably : : : composed.
73
– 79: Gospel of Luke and Book of Acts were
probably : : written.
80
– 90 : Gospel of Matthew was probably
composed.
80
– 95 : James is written.
90
– 100: Gospel of John was probably
composed.
90 : Old
Testament books, called "The Writings," were : : established as part
of Christian canon: : : : Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, : : : Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, : : : Daniel, Ezra, and Chronicles.
95 : Book
of Revelations was
probably composed.
95-
105 : Composition of the
"Pastoral Epistles," falsely : : attributed
to Paul: I and II Timothy, Titus, : : : and I and II Peter.
90
– 120: I, II and III John were written by an elder/teacher. : : The order of the writing is not
certain.
Note: Dating and authorship of a book is
based on its : : content with reference to:
·
context of historical
references in the book – e.g. people
·
events such as revolts,
the destruction of Jerusalem, earthquakes, persecutions, etc.
·
archaeology
·
literary style/genre
·
pseudepigraphy – using
false names of authors to works
(This
practice was quite common in antiquity.)
·
citations by early
church leaders – e.g. Clement (Epistles of
Paul), Polycarp (13 different New
Testament books)
·
The canon was settled
for most Christians at the Council of
Trent in 1546.
Criteria for selecting a
book to be placed in the canon:
v
Apostolicity – written
(believed to be) by an Apostle
v
Orthodoxy – agreed with
generally accepted beliefs
v
Antiquity – written
during the Apostles’ generation
v
Use – wide acceptance
and use in the churches
This was the most important especially
if they were
“useful in their worship, teaching and mission.”
“The NT writings continued
to be valued in the churches and were included in the NT canon because they
were able to address the current religious needs and issues facing the
churches. Also, the corpus of
writings was received in the churches because they continued to offer life and
hope in the variety of circumstances that the church experienced, that is, they
were adaptable to the contemporary issues facing the church.”
:
“All of the Christian
Scriptures, however, were not universally nor simultaneously acknowledged as
sacred Scripture by all of the Christians.”
: : The New Interpreter’s
Dictionary of the Bible