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Resources for Men, Mothers With Young Children, and Small Groups

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BHMensConf

Ray Ortlund spoke at the Church at Brook Hills Men’s Conference recently.  Here’s a link to audio/video of those sessions.

smallgroupleading

GoThereFor had an encouraging article on Leading a (very) small group and I found it encouraging for those who have small groups with a smaller number of people.

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And, GoThereFor also had a nice read encouraging mothers of young children to persist in attending that women’s Bible study they often dread.  Good thoughts.

 

Weekend Preview – Jesus’s Time Has Come

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bucketlist

You’re familiar with this term “bucket list” more than likely.  It’s things you’d like to accomplish before your time is up.  This coming Sunday, in John 12:20-50, we’ll be looking at what Jesus would exhort you to do.  After all, we’re told His time has come and therefore, these are His closing words for us.  So, I hope you’ll dig into this amazing passage with us Sunday and see what God might want to shape in you.  See you then.

Wisdom, Outsiders, and Opportunities

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I’m still feeling the challenge from this past Sunday’s Sunday School lesson at Crestview.  We’re working through BILD International’s Participating in the Mission of the Church.  We’ve talked about the New Testament strategy and how good works relate to that.  We got into a lesson that dealt with this passage:

[2] Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. [3] At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—[4] that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak. [5] Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. [6] Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4:2-6)

So, what do we make of this?  A few thoughts…

  1. Thankful prayer – interesting isn’t it?  Paul invites these believers to join his work of Gospel advance by praying prayers (continually with perseverance) of thanksgiving.  Yes, they pray that doors are opened for the Gospel mystery.  Paul wants them to pray that his speech would be clear.  But, thankful prayer, that doesn’t seem too dynamic.  Paul placed an emphasis on this, though.
  2. We’re called to walk with outsiders.  Church people have a hard time doing this.  We’re great, good friends with people who see the world, vote (by and large), and enjoy the things we enjoy.  This isn’t bad.  After all, the church is meant to be a compelling community to the world.  But, we need to walk with outsiders in life.  This is Gospel 101.
  3. We walk with wisdom.  We’re not free styling.  There’s a degree of intentionality with this walk we have with those outside.  We’re walking in ways that make the compelling storyline of Christianity attractive to the watching world.  This takes wisdom.
  4. Making the best use of the time.  The time/opportunity given to us is the time we have with others.  We get to drink coffee, work, be involved in kids sports, eat, drop off/pick up our kids with all kinds of people that we individually have an opportunity to walk in wisdom with, drawing them close with our attractive, gracious speech, enticing them to ask questions.

What would happen if we gave ourselves to thankful prayer, walking with outsiders, in wisdom, realizing that God’s given us this opportunity for Gospel witness?  It might be that “sharing our faith” might not be such an elusive thing.  So, let me encourage you to get walking and see what fruit God might give.

Weekend Recap – Haters Gonna Hate

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My 8/21/16AM sermon at Crestview Bible Church is now online.  This sermon continued our series out of the Gospel of John, focusing in on John 11:55-12:19.  I was intrigued by the sinister motives that emerged in this section that kept people from following Jesus.  Things like religious zeal, love of money, being threatened, and jealous envy can easily distract us from Jesus.  I summarized this in the title of the sermon: Haters Gonna Hate.  I hope it encourages you.

Gospel Friday – Believe?

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rezandlife-believe

I’m still amazed at the passage we studied this past Sunday, Jesus being the Resurrection and the Life.  But, it’s not enough that He’s who He is.  What’s your response to this?  Do you believe this?

Today, if you are clinging to Jesus alone by faith, then death has no hold on you.  In fact, because of Jesus you know life now and will know life for eternity.  Place your faith in Jesus.

Gospel Eldership

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gospel_eldershipI’m being helped and want to recommend the book Gospel Eldership by Bob Thune to you.  Having worked through rewriting bylaws nearly 12 years ago and continuing to look for material that serves our Elders well, I’ve continue to look for resources that help us.  I love the vision found in this book.  So, here are some quick things I enjoy and am helped by in this:

  1. Everything is rooted in Gospel realities.  Whether it’s character qualifications or the work that an Elder is to do, many of us are very aware of how we don’t measure up to this high calling.  Thune takes us to Gospel truth and this is encouraging.
  2. The outline is simple.  The book lays out as character and work.  So, there are few helpful chapters on what an elder is to BE, followed by what an elder is to DO.  I like the simplicity of the approach.
  3. The book comes with many exercises designed to get groups talking.  One of the exercises requires that you speak with your spouse about an item and they have to sign that the conversation took place.  Many times, thinking about things like this can become an “out-there” discussion.  But, these exercises keep the learning in our hearts.
  4. It’s easy used with a group.  I’m using it to meet with a small group of men and talk about the elder’s life and work.  The book is helpful.
  5. There’s a chapter on “Mission.”  I’m preparing to write on this in another post, but much of ministry builds into maintenance type work.  But, Elders have to be relentlessly focused on mission.  This curriculum includes this in the elder’s work.  This is helpful to me, challenging, and a healthy vision for the future work of the church.

So, for these reasons, among others, I’m happy to recommend Gospel Eldership to you.

 

Weekend Preview – Hate, Hearts

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heartexposureThis coming Sunday, I’m preaching John 11:55-12:19 and calling the sermon Haters Gonna Hate.  There are all kinds of sinister motives revealed in this passage.  I think the way this will most help us is revealing all the motives that lie in our hearts, keeping us from following Jesus the way He deserves.

There are things like misguided passions, love of money, the world’s resistance, and jealousy that cloud what a pure following of Jesus might look like.

So, would you pray that God would search you and know your heart, try you and know your thoughts, to see if there is any wicked way in you, and lead you in the way everlasting.  We’re headed here this Sunday.

Psalm 23 Recap

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We are wrapping up 6 weeks of memorizing Psalm 23 at Crestview this week.  My hope is that some people have chosen to try to memorize that (some for the first time).  Memorization of passages of Scripture like this is helpful because 1) it promotes meditation, 2) encourages us to not sin against God, 3) will be with us to comfort or convict, and 4) allows us to access God’s Word on demand.

We encouraged memorizing this using Stuart Townend’s song, The Lord’s My Shepherd.

The super-talented Elizabeth Wood also created a print for free download.

Psalm+23

Finally, we’re all probably aware of how Psalm 23 encourages us in the here and now as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death.  Elyse Fitzpatrick drew my attention (in her new book Home) to how this relates to a more eternal perspective.  Consider how she directs us to think of Psalm 23:1-3:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want [there, in the age to come]

He makes me lie down in green pastures [in the New Jerusalem]

He leads me beside still waters [of the River of the Water of Life]

He restores my soul [feeding me from the Tree of Life]

He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake [so that I will worship him forever].

(accessed the Kindle edition, locations 2261-2266)

I hope you’ve enjoyed our work in Psalm 23.

 

Gospel Friday – But God…

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butGod

This coming Sunday, we’ll be thinking about someone who was dead…but God.

Today, if you’re trusting in Jesus, you were dead…

But God, rich in mercy, with great love, even when we were dead, made us alive together with Christ.

Pray Him today for His awakening work of grace in your life.