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Weekend Recap – Fair Warning

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My sermon from 2/19/12AM was entitled Be Warned from Hebrews 10:26-31.  The sermon sought to unpack the warning we have in this heavy part of Scripture.  Simply put, God seeks to inspire our perseverance in the Gospel by warning us of the consequences that will be ours if we abandon the Gospel.  It was full of rich application and awesome insight.  I hope you’re helped by it, too.

Some of the most difficult verses in the Bible…

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…will be the text for my sermon this Sunday, February 19th.  Hebrews 10:26-31 is the text in question.  I can’t think of a better way to prepare you than to merely copy the verses here and encourage you to prayerfully consider its truth, as you ask the Spirit for wisdom.  And, while you’re at it, pray for me.

26 For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that willconsume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved bythe one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said,“Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

True Love

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From Octavius Winslow’s Morning Thoughts, Feb 14, out of 1 John 4:10.

“Herein is love!” as though John would say, “And nowhere else but here!” That God should punish the innocent for the guilty- that He should exact the blood of His Son to cancel the guilt of His rebels- that He should lay an infinite weight of wrath on His soul, in order to lay an infinite weight of love on ours- that He should sacrifice His life of priceless value for ours- worthless, forfeited, and doomed- that He should not only give His Son, but should bruise Him, put Him to grief, afflict Him, should make His soul an offering for sin- that the ‘Lord of Glory’ should become a ‘man of sorrows’, the Lord of Life should die, and the Heir of all things should be “as him that serves.” Oh depth of love unfathomable! Oh height of love unsearchable! Oh length and breadth of love unmeasurable! Oh love of God, which passes knowledge!

Today, bask in the glow of a God who is crazy for you.

Weekend Recap – Church Health

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My sermon from 2/12/12AM entitled Church Health from Hebrews 10:23-25 is now online.  The big idea was that the Gospel’s full access should promote full living (that was Kent Hughes’ thought).  Specifically, because of the relationship we have with God through Jesus, we should hold relentless tight on the Gospel and be aggressive in showing love to others.

In the evening, we had Small Group and my group discussed our sinful tendencies toward envy, jealousy and other sins.

Hope you had a great Lord’s Day.

Our Hope and Assurance

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This coming Lord’s Day, we will be looking at the vision of a healthy church from Hebrews 10:23-25.  v.23 urges us to hold on to our confession of Jesus for one big reason: The One who promised is faithful.

Writing on this, Ligon Duncan tells Christians to realize the brilliance of this: “You are a Christian.  You are struggling with assurance.  A dear friend and Christian comes to you to encourage you by turning you to the promises in the Word made to you.  You say back to him, “Well, you see, that’s my problem.  I am having a hard time believing that God could be so good to make those promises to me.”  The author of Hebrews has already figured you out.  He is saying, “Your confidence is not based ultimately on the promises that God has made to you, but the promises that God has made to Christ.  Do you doubt them?  Do you doubt the promises that God the Father has made to His Son?  When God the Father promised to make Him a priest according to the order of Melchizedek forever and when God the Father promised His Son that He would give you into His hands, do you doubt that promise?  You see, it is easy sometimes to doubt that God might be faithful to us.  That is because our lack of faith.  But you know, even when we are struggling with our own faith, we know enough about God to know that He is not going to break a promise to His Son.”

Hope to see you this Sunday as we think about this faithful, promise-keeping God and the calling He’s placed on our lives.

Desiring God Pastor’s Conference…

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Now that all the conference audio/video is available for free online, here’s another link to my recap of my time there:

Part 1 – visiting Bethlehem Baptist Church on Sunday AM
Part 2 – Doug Wilson Monday PM message on Father Hunger in the Home
Part 3 – Crawford Loritts and Darrin Patrick’s messages
Part 4 – Piper’s bio of Ryle and Wilson again on Father Hunger in the Church
Part 5 – Ramez Atallah on the Gospel in Egypt

Still feel really blessed by this opportunity.  Hope my notes help capture some of this for you.

Weekend Recap – Draw Near

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My sermon from 2/5/12AM entitled Draw Near from Hebrews 10:19-22 is online.  The sermon sought to revel in great Gospel truth.  My aim was partly to unpack the access that we have to the Father because of Jesus.  Far too many Christians live as if they are distanced from God somehow.  God, though, according to this passage has brought us near through the finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord.  The hymn Arise, My Soul Arise speaks of with “confidence I now draw nigh” and this is what is ours because of Christ.

Hope this sermon was a blessing to you.

Weekend Preview – Hebrews 10:19-22

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After being out of the pulpit last Sunday (but still being well served here at Crestview) we are back this Sunday and given some measure of application.  From 1:1-10:18, the writer of Hebrews has been on a campaign to help root and ground us in the superiority of Christ, who He is and what He’s done.  Now, in Hebrews 10:19-22, our text for this coming, we will be reminded of these things again, but be pointed to application, specifically that we can come near to God Himself.  Therefore, plan to join us as we corporately draw near and hear of His amazing work for us.

DGPC Recap – Part 5

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The conference ended yesterday morning with Ramez Atallah, secretary of the Bible society in Egypt.  The DG Conference always ends with a missions emphasis so that we can be reminded that all we’ve gained in this conference is meant to be deployed in God’s mission to bring all peoples into enjoyment of Himself.  Here’s my few tweets from this session.  Ramez had a gripping story that roped me in and I was drawn to listen at times rather than get a note down.  Here’s my few tweets:


#dgpascon Ramez Atallah, secretary of Bible society in Egypt, is speaking now…


#dgpascon a Christian leader has to have vision, seeing things others don’t see, and point people towards this


#dgpascon pastors must trust God’s sovereignty


#dgpascon church in Egypt was planted by John Mark (who wrote the Gospel of Mark) who was martyred and used in spite of weakness


RT: Ramez Atallah: “When I came to understand the gospel for the first time, I knew that this was what my peopled needed.” #dgpascon


After this session, we got on the road and returned home.  I’m still processing all of these notes, as you can see, but feel really blessed by God to have gotten to enjoy this conference.  

DGPC Recap – Part 4

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After lunch, Piper came and gave a biography on J.C. Ryle.  This talk really helped show what manhood looked like in the life of a historical figure.  Manhood requires courage.  Here’s my tweets:


#dgpascon time for @JohnPiper ‘s bio of JC Ryle #bringit


#dgpascon God has given Christianity a masculine flare


#dgpascon the masculine feel of Christianity is liable to serious misunderstanding and abuse.


#dgpascon 8 features of masculine ministry…1) masculine ministry puts men at head to take the first bullets of criticism


#dgpascon 2) masculine ministry seizes full-orbed doctrine, pressing it into life of people


#dgpascon Ryle took on jellyfish clergyman who lacked doctrinal nerve


#dgpascon 3) masculine ministry brings out rugged aspects of Christian life // sanctification is war!


#dgpascon 4) masculine ministry takes heavy, weighty things (like hell) and never shrinks back from the truth of it


#dgpascon 5) masculine ministry heralds the Scriptures with urgency and forcefulness


#dgpascon 6) masculine ministry welcomes cost of courageous leadership w/o grumbling & complaining for progress of church


#dgpascon 7) masculine ministry publicly & privately promote mobilizing people (women), fully engaging all people in ministry


#dgpascon 8) masculine ministry models caring for wife and children for the good of the church


There are moments as Piper was speaking that I was filled with praise to God for the faithful life of Ryle.  But, deeper still, I recognized the calling upon my life requires courage and boldness as well.


After this session, we had a break for dinner, then, Doug Wilson returned for an evening session on Father Hunger and the Church.  My tweets:


#dgpascon the Gospel means you are privileged to carry your sin around like David carried Goliath’s head (in victory)


#dgpascon we need teachers, instructors & fathers but acknowledge we have One Mediator between God & man. Don’t let them step in between.


#dgpascon role of fatherhood in church esv.to/1cor4:15-16 church & family are not plan a & plan b but plan a & plan a


#dgpascon we need fathers because we can only learn some things by imitation. God designed it this way.


#dgpascon our job as fathers is not to get them to live by the standard but to love the standard


#dgpascon we’re scared by masculine piety


#dgpascon two kinds of authority: of office & of blessing, fruit of death and resurrection, taking responsibility


#dgpascon worship of God the Father fills checkbook: it fuels spiritual responsibility


#dgpascon when we call people to the Father … We are calling people to be like Him


#dgpascon do you want traditional, godly fathers without God the Father? you are dreaming. We were made for this…


#dgpascon when you come to worship corporately, you come to a person (the Father),through Jesus, and are affected, battling unbelief


Again, Wilson brought great God-honoring, Gospel-filled truth.  We need to raise the standard for manhood in the church and not apologize for it.  God has made us for this.  In fact, the power of the Holy Spirit magnifies Jesus because He brings us to the Father.  This direction shows us what our lives were meant for: the glorify the Father.  We reflect this reality in church life.