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Elders, Unity, Retreat…

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Starting today, the Elders I get the privilege to serve with will be taking some time to get away, pray, focus on long term vision and have unhurried discussion about many areas of the future.  We are taking our wives with us for some of this, to build into them and experience good fellowship together.  It really is a rich time.  Psalm 133 speaks of how good and pleasing it is for brothers to dwell together in unity and likens it to rich oil dripping down the head.  God is blessed when we lavish a spirit of unity on one another.  This is one component of how meaningful these times are.  While we are by no stretch of the imagination perfect, at the end of the day, we are in this great cause for the Gospel together.

So, if you take the time to read this, would you mention a prayer for our time together, that God would be glorified as we seek Him, seek His heart, and try to shepherd Crestview to the glory of God.

Chandler & The Magic Silver Bullet

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Got some exercise this morning and listened to Matt Chandler’s sermon from 6/17/12.  It was entitled Sowing, Reaping and Gospel Good from Galatians 6.  I loved in the middle of the message when he pressed this idea so prevalent in some pockets of Christianity that holiness will just happen someday.  That we will flip the switch and hear a sermon and the change will be instantaneous for sanctification.  That will not happen.  People who are allegedly called to ministry, for instance, don’t magically decide to not be lazy and start aggressively serving in the church once a church calls them to a position.  If they are called that is their heart now and it should be seen now.  This relates to our pursuing holiness.  It’s sowing, then reaping.  At any rate, take some time and listen to this word and be helped.

Something Better

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This coming Sunday, I hope (Lord willing) to finish Hebrews 11 by preaching Hebrews 11:39-40.  After listing hero after hero who triumphed in faith one way or another, our writer wants to turn the corner to help us see what this means for us.  And, he’s been sitting on a royal flush.

He assures us that God provided something better for us, namely the Lord Jesus Christ and His new covenant work.

All these Old Testament saints had trusted and didn’t have the great and precious promises that we have in Christ.  Here’s how Lig Duncan highlights this charge:

“Look you Hebrew Christians, who heard the Gospel from those who had heard it from the apostles themselves.  You have seen how the story ends.  You have seen the coming of the Messiah.  These people before had not seen it and yet they trusted.  So why don’t you trust?”

Or Calvin:

“A tiny spark led them to Heaven.  But now that the Son of Righteousness shines on us, what excuse shall we offer if we still hold to this earth?”

We’ve been given much more than the heroes of faith had in chapter 11 of Hebrews.  The only question that remains is, “Will we live by faith?”  Come this Sunday as we explore this.

Weekend Recap – Worthy Heroes

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My 6/17/12AM sermon from Hebrews 11:32-38 is now online.  It was entitled Worthy Heroes.  There were a few things that really stood out to me in this passage…

1) The hope of a better life.  In v.35, there are 2 ways contrasted.  2 women triumphed in faith when they received back children from the dead.  That was a pretty amazing thing, a physical resurrection.  But, what captivates the writer of Hebrews was those who were tortured, and led to death in the hope of a better life, a better resurrection.  This spiritual resurrection that is ours should be enough to jolt us in the here and now to live lives of endurance marked by faith.  This hope of a better life should help get you through Mondays.

2) Worthy – In v.38, these suffering believers are described as those of whom the world is not worthy.  Which led me to ask, well if they aren’t worthy of the world, then who are they worthy of?  The answer: God Himself.  When we triumph in endurance, God is pleased and esteemed as the most worthy one of the universe.

Today, then, strive to be a worthy hero that honors God by living in faith.

Tweets from Revelation 2

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In late May, I began 202 days of journaling through the 404 verses of the final book of the Bible, Revelation.  To go along with my personal study and preparation to preach through this book in 2013, I’m trying to tweet something from every verse.  Today I finished chapter 2.  Here’s a compilation of my tweets followed by the reference.


Revelation 1


Jesus is very involved and aware of the life and ministry of the local church. (Revelation 2:1)
Jesus knows what local churches are doing and has right to speak commendation and/or judgment. (Revelation 2:2)
Jesus is very aware of your patient endurance and your not growing weary in the difficult times. (Revelation 2:3)
Since love fulfills the law, Jesus is always calling us to deeper love of God and neighbor. (Revelation 2:4)
Jesus’ call for His straying people is always repent and return. (Revelation 2:5)
We ought to nurture a love & knowledge of God so that we hate what He hates. (Revelation 2:6)
Listen up! If we endure to the end we get eternal life in heaven. (Revelation 2:7)
Jesus, who died, was raised, & is everything has something to say to the church. (Revelation 2:8)
Jesus knows your good times and bad as well as the true condition of people around you. (Revelation 2:9)
Don’t fear but persevere in suffering for Christ; the time is short compared to the eternal blessings that will come. (Revelation 2:10)
Listen up! Persevere in Christ & enjoy eternal life. (Revelation 2:11)
The church needs to listen to what has been said in God’s Word. (Revelation 2:12)
Jesus knows where you are & what your life is: your faithfulness & faithlessness. (Revelation 2:13)
Jesus has disdain for teachings that don’t result in His worship. (Revelation 2:14)
An easy way to recognize false teaching is to examine the fruit it produces (Revelation 2:15)
If we refuse to repent, Jesus Himself will work through His Word to lead us there. (Revelation 2:16)
Listen up! Persevering trusts in God’s provision & our identity in Him. (Revelation 2:17)
The Lord Jesus is holy. (Revelation 2:18)
Jesus knows our life and whether or not we are living out what we believe. (Revelation 2:19)
Jesus is against us when we tolerate things that are an affront to Him. (Revelation 2:20)
Jesus calls us to repent of specific sins, most notably sexual immorality. (Revelation 2:21)
Refusing to repent has consequences, including further judgment. (Revelation 2:22)
Jesus searches our minds and hearts and perfectly judges accordingly. (Revelation 2:23)
There is a blessing for avoiding things that dishonor God. (Revelation 2:24)
Jesus is coming back; therefore, let’s persevere to the end. (Revelation 2:25)
If we persevere in well-doing, Jesus promises to reward it. (Revelation 2:26)
Look forward to the day when your faith is made sight and you live in God’s authority. (Revelation 2:27)
For those who persevere to the end, we will one day appear like Jesus. (Revelation 2:28)
Listen up, church, God has something to say today. (Revelation 2:29)

Weekend Preview – Worthy Heroes

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With VBS behind us, we continue to be changed by the truths we saw.  One song, which will be incorporated into our gathering Sunday is the song “Worthy” extolling the amazing praise due Jesus.  This Sunday, we will be in Hebrews 11:32-38 for the AM sermon, which will be entitled Worthy Heroes.  We will see people described as those of whom the world was not worthy.  However, in light of Jesus and the amazing attributes He has better than any other, I’m hoping that faith would rise to make us worthy followers of Him, for He is worthy of everything.  Plan to join us Sunday at 10:15AM for worship.

VBS Wrap

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We’ve had an amazing week of Vacation Bible School. We again used and were very pleased with Lifeway’s theme/curriculum. This year’s theme was Amazing Wonders Aviation. For our missions project, we took an offering and trumpeted the ministry of The Elisha Foundation, which cares for the needs of disabled children and their families by offering Gospel encouragement.

On a deeper level, we were humbled that God entrusted us nearly double the number of people we were expecting.  This caused some restructuring and thought to reorganize early in the week, but it was no problem for the amazing support staff and workers God had already provided.

We closed our week with an In-Flight Movie for parents highlighting the week.  Here’s that video:

Our hope is that God was glorified and the lives of children and workers were changed this week.
 

Uncle Drew

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I enjoyed this video from Kyrie Irving & Pepsi Max.  “Uncle Drew” appears to be an old washed up player, but proves he is really a “playa.”  Hope this makes you smile…

Weekend Recap – Faith & God’s People

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My 6/10/12 sermon entitled Faith Developed in God’s People from Hebrews 11:29-31 is now online.  The sermon sought to show how God seemed to work faith in His people in this passage.  Specifically, we saw faith trust God’s Word of deliverance as the children of Israel crossed the Red Sea.  We saw faith cling to God’s promises in the midst of tough circumstances as they marched around Jericho 7 times and saw it fall.  And faith obeyed, as Rahab evidenced her faith in obedience to God’s call for her salvation.

There are many rich applications for our lives from this.  For instance, we all face tough times and this passage shows how to unrelentingly hold to God through those.  I hope you found it encouraging.  Have a blessed week.