See this video with The Doctor narrating:
Weekend Recap – Lessons in Suffering
My sermon from 2/26/12 entitled Lessons in Suffering from Hebrews 10:32-35 is now online. The sermon sought to unpack the reality of the situation these early believers faced and then help give us encouragement for the sufferings we might face. Put simply, because of the realities that are ours in the Gospel, we can endure suffering with joy and confidence.
In the evening, my small group studied “Sins of the Tongue” in Bridges’ Respectable Sins. We had good discussion and were helped by the standard for speech found in Ephesians 4:29. Again, we are driven to the Gospel for help.
Hope you had a great Sunday.
What Drove Those People?
In Hebrews 10:32-35, we read of a people who endured suffering “sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.” These people “joyfully accepted the plundering of their property” since they knew that they themselves “had a better possession and an abiding one.” That was their secret. Or, as F.F. Bruce put it on p.271 of his commentary on Hebrews:
“The eternal inheritance laid up for them was so real in their eyes that they could lightheartedly bid farewell to natural possessions, which were short-lived in any case.”
Today, we live in a day and age in which even Christianity is sometimes overly caught up in property and possessions. Maybe this is true because we are much more wrapped up in the stuff of here and now and not in believing that we have a better possession that will abide forever. This Sunday, join us as we look at this amazing passage and what drove these people to endure such suffering.
Weekend Recap – Joy
This weekend’s sermon from Sunday AM is now online. It is entitled Joy from Luke 2:8-12. The sermon sought to reason how the Gospel is good news of great joy.
After the AM service, we had our Annual Member’s meeting, affirming one lay elder and 4 men as deacons. We also approved the 2011 Budget.
In the PM, the joy continued as Ben Cornish shared with us of the Gospel’s advance in Australia. We are rejoicing in his partnership with us in the Gospel. Awesome day.