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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.

Weekend Preview – Better Covenant…

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This coming Lord’s day, we plan to look at Hebrews 8:6-13.  It is an amazing picture of seeing just how beautiful our relationship with God through Christ looks.  Here’s a couple of gems from Pete O’Brien:

So Jesus’ role as mediator is not in a strict sense that of an arbiter or intermediary of a bilateral agreement. The terms of the covenant are not in dispute or up for discussion, so that Jesus has to act as a mediator by bringing the two parties together to hammer out an agreement. He is an agent, or delegate invested with divine authority in God’s settlement, which Jesus realizes and guarantees. (p.292)

One benefit of the new covenant is that we know God and again, O’Brien writes:

To know God is to recognize Him, to trust Him, and to obey Him. (p.300)

I hope to see you this coming Lord’s day as we relish in these and other glorious truths so that Christ is seen as the glorious Savior that He is.

Weekend Recap – Heaven Is For Real

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Yes, my sermon from 9/25/11AM entitled In Heaven from Hebrews 8:1-5 is now online and yes, it did talk about the reality of heaven.  It seems the writer of Hebrews is bent on encouraging our perseverance, so he urges us to consider our present in light of eternity, or, specifically, in light of the reality wherein Christ serves.  I hope the sermon was encouraging.

In the evening, my small group looked at the lack of gratitude we exhibit in the church and sought to fought that in the Gospel.  I need to update my Facebook status accordingly: “God, thank you for the gift of Facebook and how it allows me to stay in touch with so many friends.  Thank you also for the trials that come when they change things, knowing that you are working on my character through it.”  Something like this should be our heart in everything.

Your Marriage Needs the Gospel…

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Great post here on how the Gospel is what we need:

Only the gospel will usher us past the hatred and confusion to this truth. Only the cross will appear as the real solution to such deep confusion and sin. It tells the adulterer what’s truly wrong and the broken spouse how forgiveness is even possible. Every other wisdom stops short of it and fumbles around with symptoms lying around on the surface. Grace makes a family out of a disaster.

You see when you are tempted to be a selfish person in marriage, the Gospel speaks something loud and different and, in the midst of that, gives hope. Hoping you’ll run there for all your marital needs…

Links Related to Parentingology

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I was helped by each of these links recently when JT linked to them:

  1. Technology no longer has boundaries
  2. Know when to cut it off
  3. The difference between preference and addiction
  4. Focus on technology that truly connects us to our kids
  5. Model the balance
Reb Bradley, Homeschool Blindspots
  1. Having Self-Centered Dreams
  2. Raising Family as an Idol
  3. Emphasizing Outward Form
  4. Tending to Judge
  5. Depending on Formulas
  6. Over-Dependence on Authority and Control
  7. Over-Reliance Upon Sheltering
  8. Not Passing On a Pure Faith
  9. Not Cultivating a Loving Relationship With Our Children
Quoting Bryan Caplan: “Secondhand stress is one of kids’ leading grievances.”

Weekend Preview – Heaven IS for Real…

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Yes, the title of this post was meant to bait you in…

I know many of you have probably read Heaven Is For Real or experienced something like that and thought, “It was so encouraging to read something like this.”  Actually, when we say something like this it communicates for more than we may intend.  The story told in that book is an experience of someone and we somehow feel as if that experience helps cement reality.

The Bible, though, is as real as any best-seller ever was.  And, this coming Lord’s Day, we will be looking at how Heaven Is For Real in Hebrews 8:1-5.  You see, our salvation is a sure and final thing because Jesus didn’t perform His ministry in an earthly tent…No!  Jesus went to heaven where the real tabernacle was and ministered on our behalf there.  That is reality.  Heaven is for real and Jesus really ministered there and because He did, our lives will never be the same.  I hope this coming Sunday you rest in Jesus as your reality.

Weekend Recap – Suffering…

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We enjoyed a blessed Lord’s Day yesterday on so many levels.

My good friend, Brad Russell, was here preaching from 1 Peter 1:3-9 a message entitled Perspective in Suffering.  Many of us, when facing suffering, act as if some strange thing is happening to us.  But, the Bible is clear about how we can remain grounded in the midst of it.  I appreciated Brad opening his life to us and giving us solid anchors to latch onto in the midst of the storm.  The perspective we have in suffering leads to perseverance based on the Prize we have in the glorious Gospel of Christ.

In the evening, our rain moved on and the temp cooled off and we enjoyed a great night of fellowship at our church picnic.  Fun stuff.  Nothing like unhurried fellowship, tossing the football around and watching the joy on the children’s faces as they played together.  What a rich time.

Hope you had a blessed Lord’s day and enter this week refreshed.

Some Links as we near the weekend…

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First off, Mark Driscoll has a new webpage…and answers a FAQ on his view of alcohol. Tim Keller was critiqued on something he said nearly 3 years ago on the exclusivity of Christ but responded with Gospel-infused grace and clarified his words. Josh Hamilton hit a grand slam last night, which means free carpet and flooring evidently. Both Crestview Bible Church and our children’s ministry, CrestviewKids, have Facebook pages. How about a like? Have a great weekend.