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Weekend Preview for 10/23/11

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We anticipate a great weekend at church this weekend.  First off, on Saturday, October 22nd, our Ladies have a Prayer Retreat.  Always a great time for them.

I’m really excited, though, for Sunday when we have Dan Dumas from Southern Seminary and author of Guide to Biblical Manhood in to speak.  He will preach in the morning and speak, specifically, to our men at the Men & Boys Chili Feed, Sunday night at 6PM.

The Gospel changes everything, especially how you act as a male and female in the unique hardwiring God created for you.  Come this weekend expecting this glorious Gospel to be on full display as we flesh out what being a man and woman is all about.

Weekend Recap – Better Sacrifice (2)

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My sermon from 10/16/11AM entitled Better Sacrifice (2) from Hebrews 9:11-14 is now online.  We don’t like people claiming to be the best.  When it comes to Jesus, as C.S. Lewis famously said, “He’s either a liar (not the best acting as if He is), lunatic (acting like He’s out of His mind) or Lord (He is the best).”  The stakes could be any higher for the writer of Hebrews.  Jesus is the best.  He is the Lord.  And, He’s proven that His work is way better than Old Testament sacrifices and law keeping by giving His own blood to secure freedom from sin and a pure conscience. This sermon unpacks these types of truths.  Hope it’s a blessing to you.

Weekend Preview – More on Jesus

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This coming Lord’s Day, we hope to complete the thought we began in Hebrews 9:1-10 by looking at Hebrews 9:11-14 and how Jesus’ sacrifice is a better sacrifice.  Think of it, under the old covenant, the conscience of the worshipper was never made perfect, but in Christ, we have secured an eternal redemption and have pure consciences from dead works to serve the living God.  There is truly reason to praise.  Hope you can enjoy God’s work for you in the Gospel this week.

You Need Community…Really…You Do…

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I was privileged to get a copy of Brad House’s book Community, the latest in the RE:LIT series.  House serves as a pastor at Mars Hill Church, Seattle, where he oversees community groups for the multi-site church.  For me, a good book is built on the basics of God’s Word and filled with practicality, or what the foundational truth from God’s Word should look like fleshed out.

The tension in a book on a particular facet of ministry is that while a broad cross section of evangelicalism may agree that something is important and even rooted in God’s Word, we may disagree on its practice.  I thought House did a great job of helping us see that what Mars Hill Church has chosen to do, how it has come out of Biblical conviction, but isn’t meant to be replicated by every church.  We are responsible, however, to flesh out community in our midst and this is the real strength of the book.

In Part 1, the foundation (or as he calls them, Building Blocks For Life) is unpacked.  This lays some biblical footings for how the book will flesh itself out in the later chapters.  Why do we need community?  How did God create us for this and other truths.

Part 2, health plan, helps to lead us in a positive direction by helping us see the different facts of community that need to be considered.  How should groups function, how often should they meet, where should they meet, what should they do?  Are you getting a feel for the practical side yet?

Part 3, treatment, gives us ways to effect change in our groups.  In other words, I’m given practical tools in this section to go about changing things from the way we’ve always done them.  This includes not only changing the past, but equipping leaders for the future.

Positives in this book include getting a great feel for what the Bible says about community, how those are fleshed out in a local church taking those commands seriously, humility in communicating what has been pursued, stories of how pursuing this has helped, as well as what I’ve already mentioned: practical things.

Negatives for me were that it is a longer read.  At times I felt the book drag.  This might have been my fatigue or the time of life when I’m reading this (3 kids under 5), but as I pressed through, it proved to be time well spent.

House has definitely thought deeply about this issue.  And if community is something you would like help in applying or tweaking in your particular ministry, then this book would be a book worthy of your time and investment.

Weekend Recap – Better Sacrifice (1)

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My sermon from 10/9/11AM entitled Better Sacrifice (1) from Hebrews 9:1-10 is now online.  The sermon really unpacked the bad news on the limitations that were in place for the OT worshipper.  There wasn’t access to God, but barriers and even the priests work was continual and dealt with outward realities.  We need words like this occasionally to see the brightness of the Gospel.

I saw a good summary of my sermon on Google+ in a quote from John Bunyan:

“Run, John, run, the law commands but gives us neither feet nor hands;
Far better news the Gospel brings: it bids us fly and gives us wings.”

Hope you have a great week standing in awe of what God has provided for you to draw near to Himself through His Son.


What Up G?

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I stumbled across the 4 Gs this week, again, (truths that set you free)…Here’s a listing of them:

1. God is great – so we don’t have to be in control

2. God is glorious – so we don’t have to fear others

3. God is good – so we don’t have to look elsewhere

4. God is gracious – so we don’t have to prove ourselves

The deal is, we have our eyes on so many other things (than God Himself) that we are discouraged, frustrated, feeling weak and powerless and not very much changed by the Gospel. However, if we can look to God and turn from our way (that whole repentance piece), we can find that the Gospel is, indeed, the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes (that’s peeps like you and me). So, today, if you’re not feeling quite changed by these things, lift up your eyes to where your help comes: the Lord who made heaven and earth.

Paul Tripp on Marriage

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I’ve used Paul Tripp’s What Did You Expect? to walk with people in pre-marital, marriage enrichment, or marriage class about 5 times since it came out and continue to commend it.

As he begins in session 1 of this, he says “A marriage of unity, understanding, and love is not rooted in romance; it is rooted in worship.”  As you think about your relationship, how is worship affecting you?  We must put our identity over our activity (to quote Tripp again).  We won’t honor God in our marriages until we honor God in our marriages.  He must be supreme.

Today, look at what your heart is revealing as the true source of worship and see if this isn’t just part of what God is seeking to change in you.

Weekend Preview – Walk Through The Tabernacle…

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This coming Sunday, we will be examining Hebrews 9:1-10 in the AM service.  The writer of the book of Hebrews wants his readers to be exhorted to keep on keeping on when it comes to their faith.  To give them the kind of foundation he needs to, he presses on them the superiority of Jesus in every realm of religious life they’ve known.  And in Hebrews 9:1-10, he walks them through the tabernacle and the ministry that took place there so that when they get down to Hebrews 9:11-14, Jesus will shine bright and beautiful.  God has crafted the storyline of the Bible in particular colors so that they pop.  Join us this Sunday as we look deep to see Jesus lifted high.

Better Ministry – For Real!

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My sermon from 10/2/11AM is online.  The sermon was entitled Better Ministry and was out of Hebrews 8:6-13.  This section of Scripture, which included the longest quote of the OT in the NT, pointed us to the ways in which Jesus’ ministry was better than the old covenant way of relating to God, since it was built on relationship and offered forgiveness for sins.

I trust it will help you to rest in the final work of Jesus alone for your sanity, but deeper, for your relating to God.