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Ash on Preaching (2)

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I mentioned in a previous post how much I’ve enjoyed Christopher Ash’s book The Priority of Preaching and promised to post some thoughts on Chapter 2. Here’s the second installment.

On p.55, Ash writes:

The more deeply converted I am, the more appetite I will have to sit under the preached word, and the less concerned I will be to have the opportunity to participate in a dialogue, to get my word in edgeways, to make my views known and get myself heard.

If what we believe about God’s Word is true, then He is the most important speaker. He is the One we would do well to listen to. Remember the Mount of Transfiguration when Peter, James and John were talking about tents for Moses, Elijah, and Jesus. The voice came from heaven: “This is My Beloved Son; Listen to Him!” (Mark 9:7) I know I am guilty of wanting to give my opinion to hastily on many issues. Our concern should be to hear what God has to say.

That’s why this quote from Ash stuck out to me. As I grow in grace, what should characterize me more and more is the desire to listen to Him, not my opines. Come this Lord’s Day to your local church eager to hear God speak.

Rick Auxier – Bday 4/30

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Today is the day that was my father’s birthday; he would have been 59. For those who don’t know, my father passed away on 1/28/98. While in seminary, my good friend, Brad Russell, wrote a poem to remember my father’s passing on to glory. It is loaded with excellent theology and a fitting thing to remember today. It’s entitled “To The Glory of God.”

To the glory of God, his life was created,
In the providence of God, living a grace unfading,
In the love of God, husband, father, son and friend,
In the word of God, each step firmly waiting,
In the sovereignty of God, always hoping,
In the power of God, touching hearts with compassion,
In the holiness of God, always rejoicing,
In the mercy of God, each moment a vapor passing,
To the glory of God, with Him now reigning,
To the glory of God, we hope in the blood unchanging.

We now and forever worship; in Spirit and Truth
In praise of the providence
love
word
sovereignty
power
holiness
and mercy of God.
Praising God for you…
Living and living forever…
To the Glory of God!

My father was not a perfect man nor a perfect pastor (he pastored churches as long as I can remember, but before he married my mother traveled as a full time evangelist). But I can see him now in my mind’s eye, rejoicing in his Savior’s presence to God’s glory. Thanks Brad for this piece that directs me heavenward. And, I’m thankful to God for the heritage of a father who loved God’s Word, loved people and lived in a way that made the Gospel attractive.

Weekend Preview – SS, Circumcision, Rescue & Simplicity

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This Sunday, May 2, we have a lot happening.

First off, we have new adult SS classes starting. Conor Eastman will be teaching Piper’s video curriculum Let The Nations Be Glad and Ron Rhoades will be walking through the Parables of Jesus.

During the AM service, I will be preaching a sermon entitled Gospel Likeness from Colossians 2:11-12. A recent journal article (for those scholarly among my readership) was on this passage. It’s entitled “Does Baptism Replace Circumcision? An Examination of the Relationship Between Circumcision and Baptism in Colossians 2:11-12.” The thrust of this message will be how we display a Gospel Likeness to Jesus in His death, burial and resurrection.

In the PM service, we continue to walk through the Old Testament looking for sightings of the Savior. And we will be looking at how God rescuing His people out of Egypt in Exodus 3 pointed to a Savior who would come and rescue us from sin.

Finally, my Men’s Theology class will discuss “What’s God Like?” Part of the homework included reading Kevin DeYoung’s post The Simplicity of God and answering the question, “How does this affect the way you think about God?”

It looks to be a full day, then. Prepare your heart in prayer, asking God to be our strong tower that the righteous run to and are safe (Proverbs 18:10).

Ash on Preaching (1)

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You might remember that at T4G, we were given quite a stack of books.

Over last weekend, I was able to finish…
God the Peacemaker – Cole (an excellent book on the atonement I was reading when I attended T4G)
What is the Gospel? – Gilbert (Gospel 101 so to speak)
Fear Not! – Duncan (an overview and sound theology of death and afterlife)
What Does God Want of Us Anyway? – Dever (short summary of the storyline of the Bible)
Sticky Teams – Osborne (another good book I brought with me to T4G with practical tips on keeping your leadership team cohesive)

After getting through all of these, I dove into Christopher Ash’s book The Priority of Preaching. Ash trains preachers and this book is a helpful reminder for keeping the Word of God, specifically preaching, at the center of the church’s life.

For a few posts, then, I am going to interact with chapter 2 – “Preaching That Transforms The Church” because in this one chapter I found much that will help me prepare sermons for listeners. Chapter 1 was helpful is showing why preaching must be the core. Chapter 2 gets us into how this preaching can be effective.

So, with all of that intro, here’s the first quote that struck me, from the section entitled “The Stubbornness of People”:

And so I find myself slipping into what has been called the Socratic fallacy, that if I persuade them with rational argument (like Socrates), if I get my arguments clear and educate them, then education will change them. If I teach them the Bible, they’ll get it. I ought to know better, because I know my own heart. (p.52)

What I found so helpful about this is how he went on to talk about Moses (this chapter’s a sermon from Deuteronomy) and how he knew the people. He anticipated their reactions (their unbelieving fears, their pride, and their stubborn guilt). I find that often I am guilty of thinking that if I can get correct information out there that will change them. While it is important the we preach the text accurately, we must lay the ax at the root of the tree and not address surface things. We must go after the heart. The quote stood out to me because my heart is the same way. It takes more than education alone for heart change. It takes God’s Spirit causing my heart to awaken.

What I take away from this is that “preaching is more than merely educating and engaging the mind.” Preaching is holding out the word accurately so that the Spirit can take the truth and wield it for life-change in the heart of another.

Weekend Recap – Fullness / Heart Idolatry…

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Yesterday’s AM message, Fullness, from Colossians 2:9-10 is now online. The sermon sought to show compellingly how satisfying Jesus is, since He is fully God, fills us and is the Head of ALL rule and authority. I hope it was encouraging to you. It was fitting to close with the Lord’s supper, as well, seeing Jesus in glorious ways.

In the PM we met in Small Groups discussing chapter 6 of the Gospel Centered Life curriculum on heart idolatry. In the article, an citation was made from Steven Childer’s excellent article: True Spirituality. For more on discerning your heart idolatry, listen or read C.J. Mahaney’s excellent sermon, “The Idol Factory.”

BBC Women’s Conference – You Are Mine!

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The Spring Women’s Conference at Bethlehem Baptist Church is an event that is being attended by my wife (and our women’s leadership team). [Side note: I miss you lots, love; the boys and I are fine.] I noticed this afternoon that they put notes from Session 1 online at Desiring God (Session 2 and Session 3 notes are available, too). Sounds like a good time with speaker Andree Seu (here’s Noel Piper’s take). Let’s pray that God’s purposes continue to unfold in the lives of women present.

Weekend Preview – Jesus @ Center

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This weekend, we have a full Lord’s Day again.

First off, this is the final week of adult SS classes. I will be wrapping up Tripp’s What Did You Expect? Marriage Curriculum. Tom Dixon will be finishing out the Gospel of John.

In the AM service, I will be preaching a sermon entitled Fullness from Colossians 2:9-10. The basic idea is that since Jesus is fully God and you are filled in Him, who is the head of ALL rule and authority, is false teaching even alluring?

And then, in small group, we will be discussing chapter 6 of the Gospel-Centered Life curriculum on how we can continue to believe the Gospel as believers by destroying the idols of our hearts.

It should prove to be a great day, Lord willing. Pray that God would glorify Himself as we seek to center on Jesus.

Triune Praise

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I really enjoyed Shai Linne’s presentation of Triune Praise @ T4G. Here’s a video and the lyrics:

Verse 1

Praise God the Father, the Immortal Creator
For Your glory you made us, You’re the Sovereign Orchestrator
All that You decree will most surely come to happen
You’re awesome as can be and Your glory none can fathom
Nothing could ever stain You, the heavens can’t contain You
We thank You for sending Your Son to explain You
Otherwise we would have remained in the dark
but You sent Your Holy Spirit to spark a change in our hearts
According to Your eternal purpose and will
You determined to reveal Yourself to those who deserve to be killed
Those of us whom You foreknew adore You
We praise You that You predestined us to be conformed to
The image of Your Son who’s the radiance of Your glory
When I meditate on it, the weightiness of it floors me
So Father, we’ll praise you over and over again
Because You sent Your only Son to atone for our sins

(Chorus)

Glory to the Father, Glory to the Son,
Glory to The Spirit- Three and Yet One
One in Your essence, Three in Your Person
The same in Your nature, distinct in Your working
Oh my soul- behold the wonder of the Trinity
Blessed be the Trinity, Oh, what a mystery!
I’ll stand amazed for the rest of my days
Pouring out my heart in Triune praise

Verse 2

Praise God the Son, Second Person of the Trinity
You’re distinct from the Father, yet you share in His divinity
Fulfilling an eternal covenant- You came through
To planet earth to save who? All the Father gave You
You became a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief
For the glory of Your Father You extinguished the beef
That stood between us at the cross- the Father’s anger released
The Shepherd slain for the sheep, the situation is deep
I can’t find the right language to speak, in fact it’s making me weep-
Just the thought of You saving this creep
You’re risen from the dead, I still can’t get this in my head,
How the Judge could leave the bench and go to prison instead
Lord Jesus, you’re amazing, Your bleeding is what saved men
It’s the reason why we’re praising, can’t wait to see Your face
In the meantime, please help us to see You as colossal
And by the Spirit live lives worthy of the gospel

(Chorus)

Verse 3

Praise God the Holy Spirit, 3rd person of the Trinity
Distinct from Father and Son, yet share in Their divinity
Holy Spirit we praise You, You don’t like the spotlight
You’d rather point away from yourself and give props to Christ
But yet because You’re God, You deserve veneration
And You’re the One responsible for our regeneration
You apply the finished work of Christ to all the elect
Your call is effectual- You haven’t lost one yet
You comfort us when sin, Satan and the world got us bothered
And it’s only by You that we cry out “Abba Father”
You’re the Spirit of adoption, the Spirit of Truth,
You graciously provide Your people with the gifts and the fruit
You help us kill sin and dis-attach us from our idols
If it wasn’t for You, we’d never understand the Bible
Because You wrote it- For our life it will surely suffice
Amazingly, You do it all for the glory of Christ!

(Chorus)