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Spurgeon on the Lost Coin…

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In prep for Sunday AM, I thought it doesn’t get any better than Spurgeon himself, commenting on Luke 15:8-10…

Did the woman rejoice at finding her piece of silver, that she had lost, and shall not God much more rejoice over an inestimably precious human soul which had been lost, but which, through Grace, is found again? Ah, yes, there is joy in Heaven! There is joy in all heavenly hearts! There is joy in all who are the friends of Christ when lost ones are found! There was another quiet stroke at the Pharisees and scribes who were proved not to be the friends of the soul-seeking Savior because they did not rejoice with Him over those whom He had found. If they had been at all like the angels in Heaven, as they thought they were, they would have been glad that the Lord Jesus Christ had come to seek and to find the lost. Then came the third most touching panel of the picture—perhaps the best beloved of all the parables—one which, like a key, fits the locks of the human heart and many a time has opened the heart.

Weekend Update…8/8

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As you may or may not know, we (Me, Meghan, Andrew, Gabriel) are in Colorado Springs, CO for Tyler Dixon’s Wedding this weekend. The wedding is in a few hours at Cathedral Pines Lodge. Rehearsal went well yesterday and wedding is today. Should be a fun time. As you think of them, pray for Tyler and Melanie as they begin their new life together.

Tomorrow, back home at Crestview, Josh Seachris will be filling in, continuing his series through Ecclesiastes. I don’t have it in front of me, but I believe Josh told me that his sermon would be from Ecclesiastes 3 on the Sovereignty of God.

In the evening, the church will continue in worship meeting in small groups to discuss our unity of purpose and how that connects us to one another from Philippians 1:27-30. Hope the weekend goes well there.

4 Sunday: God and, well, um God…

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Yes, that’s right, we will be very God-centered as we approach the Scriptures tomorrow.

In the AM, we will be looking at the Parable of the Lost Sheep from Luke 15:4-7. We will see God’s heart on display, as He shows compassion for the lost sheep and calls us to joy and many other truths. Does your heart reflect God’s heart for the lost?

In the PM, we will return to Hosea and look at a longer narrative (Hosea 6:7-7:16), addressing some contentions God has with His people in their disobedience. It should be an interesting day of listening to God as He speaks loud and clear through His Word.

Spurgeon – Christ and His Co-Workers

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In prepping to preach this coming Lord’s Day (7/12), I have really benefitted from C.H. Spurgeon’s sermon on Mark 16:20 – Christ and His Co-Workers. Among many things, I thought this description of how we need to be proclaiming the Gospel was very revealing:

A great many learned men are defending the Gospel—no doubt it is a very proper and right thing to do—yet I always notice that when there are most books of that kind, it is because the Gospel, itself, is not being preached. Suppose a number of persons were to take it into their heads that they had to defend a lion, a full-grown king of beasts! There he is in a cage and here come all the soldiers of the army to fight for him. Well, I would suggest to them, if they would not object and feel that it was humbling to them, that they should kindly stand back, open the door, and let the lion out! I believe that would be the best way of defending him, for he would take care of himself—and the best “apology” for the Gospel is to let the Gospel out! Never mind about defending Deuteronomy or the whole of the Pentateuch—preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified! Let the Lion out and see who will dare to approach Him! The Lion of the tribe of Judah will soon drive away all His adversaries! This was how Christ’s first disciples worked—they preached Jesus Christ wherever they went! They did not stop to apologize, but boldly bore their
witness concerning Him.

Pray that God would work through His Word this Sunday to inspire in us this kind of boldness.

Witness…

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Tomorrow’s sermon, entitled “iWitness”, will be over Mark 16:9-18. It seems that in the wake of the resurrection and the surprising ending of v.8, some witnessing did occur. Join as we gather together as the church and are reminded of the big kingdom calling that Jesus the Lord has planned for His followers.

Weekend Preview…6/21

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We are anticipating a good Lord’s Day. We’ll probably have some special arrangements to make for children and students in light of the mess. The sermon will be from Mark 15:39-47. Yes, we will be looking at the centurion, again. His confession is a capstone to this excellent book. The focus, though, in the burial of Jesus will be on these three remarkable characters we meet who are followers of Jesus. The centurion demonstrates his following in boldly confessing Christ. The women demonstrate following in identifying with the Savior and serving His needs. Joseph (of Arimathea) shows his following of Jesus in courageously extending honor to Him. We are thinking of what it means to follow Jesus, therefore, which is a huge theme in Mark. Hope to see you there.

Preview – Christ

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For the past few Sundays, we have consistently been looking at Jesus and who He is. We have seen the amazing suffering He endured and sought to get some measure of hope through it. This Sunday, we will continue our survey of the wondrous cross by seeing how Mark 15:33-39 reveals Jesus as the Christ (Even In Death). Hope to see you this weekend.

Gospel-Centered?

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C.J. quotes Spurgeon, who said this…

“Dear friends I am going to preach to you again upon the cornerstone of the gospel. How many times will this make, I wonder? The doctrine of Christ crucified is always with me. As the Romans sentinel in Pompeii stood to his post even when the city was destroyed, so do I…every thing else can wait, but this one truth must be proclaimed with a voice of thunder. Others may preach as they will but as for this pulpit it shall always resound with the substitutions of the Christ…Our blessed Savior would have us hold his death in great reverence; it is to be our chief memory we cannot think of that death too often.”

This is where we are headed again this weekend. We will be exploring the themes of the Gospel in Jesus’ Roman trial. I think Spurgeon is onto something here: our Savior would have us hold His death in great reverence and we can never exhaust the thought that we could give towards it. Therefore join me this Sunday as we come to awe and wonder again at the incredible Gospel of Jesus Christ. Prepare your heart as we enjoy the Lord’s Supper as well.