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Weekend Recap – Church & Leaders

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My 11/4/12AM sermon, Church and Leaders, from Hebrews 13:17 is online.  In this sermon, I sought to explore how the church at large is to relate to the leaders that God has given her.  Considering their teaching, lives and care for the souls of others should provoke people to put their trust and confidence in leaders for their own advantage.  It was a hard message to give — hoping that I was able to humbly unpack God’s Word and give some contours of thought that might help the people of Crestview glorify God more effectively.

Hope you had a productive Sunday as well.

Weekend Review – Offered Sacrifices

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My 10/28/12AM sermon, Offered Sacrifices, from Hebrews 13:15-16 is online.  While Christ’s work for redeeming sinners is completed and there are no further sacrifices needed, the writer of Hebrews gives us two sacrifices of praise that should still come out of lives: a sacrifice of praise in gratitude to God and a sacrifice of loving acts toward others.

In this sermon, I tried to root out some remaining remnants of selfishness that might keep us from offering to God sacrifices of praise and really tried to emphasize that these sacrifices don’t happen by gutting it out effort, but they are offered THROUGH CHRIST.

It was a convicting word for me personally and one that I hope helped the people I love to serve.

Hope you had a great weekend, as well.

Identify with Christ

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My sermon from 10/21/12AM was Identify With Christ from Hebrews 13:13-14.  This sermon included a call to go to Christ enduring reproach because here we don’t have a lasting city, but we seek a city that is to come.  This passage really helped unpack the big charge we had in Hebrews 13:7-12 on holding tightly to the Gospel.  So, the application of that truth is to go to Christ, identify with Him.  As we do, we will have to endure hardship and persecution but we can do this with confidence because of the future that is surely ours in Him.

I hope you were encouraged.  Have a blessed week identifying with Christ and glorifying God through Him.

Weekend Recap – God’s Mission

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We were privileged to have Matthew Ellison from 16:15 with us yesterday.  In the morning, he brought a great exposition of Matthew 28:16-20 entitled God’s Triumphant Mission.  He encouraged us with the truth that the Great Commission can’t be stopped.  Therefore, we should either, 1) join God in history’s greatest moment or 2) miss out.  We were encouraged, in light of God’s greatness and glory, to join in the spreading of God’s fame in the world.  All Nations Must Hear was his first point.  He spoke about the unfinished task and how God might be strategically positioning us as a people to advance the Gospel.  This work, is helped along by 2 promises: 1) All Authority Belongs To Christ and 2) ALL-ways Christ is with us.  In light of this, we were urged to respond.  It was a great morning in the Word.

In the evening, Matthew led our Elders, Missions Committee and other people in a discovery workshop to assess what we currently do as a church and how our current situation propels and ignites a vision for the future.  This was a time-consuming night, but very fruitful.

All in all, we enjoyed a great Lord’s day.  I hope you did as well.

Weekend Recap – Eternally Saving Savior

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My 10/7/12AM sermon, Eternal Jesus, Eternally Saving from Hebrews 13:7-12 is online.  The big point of the sermon was how we need to keep committed to the truth of the Gospel.  The Gospel of grace is a message that doesn’t change.  We must continually hold before us what God has done for us in Christ and it is through that truth that our hearts are strengthened.  We have a singular access to God in Christ.  And, Jesus’ work to save has changed us.  These truths were what we reveled in yesterday.

In the evening, we gathered for a church picnic.  Always a fun time of fellowship.

Hope you had a great Lord’s Day.

Weekend Recap – Content in God

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My 9/30/12AM sermon, Contentment, from Hebrews 13:5-6 is now online.  The big idea of the sermon is that we should be content in God, our Helper, and flee the love of money, look to Him and be confident that He will provide for our needs.  The confession of a contented soul flows in v.6, “The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear, what can man do to me?”  As we rest in God’s promise to never leave or forsake us, we find our souls revived to rest in Him alone.  This is contentment.  The music for our morning pointed to this and to Christ’s finished work on the cross.  Is there a better way to boost contentment than to gather at the Lord’s table together and reflect on what God’s done for us in Christ?  This was our morning yesterday.  It was such a blessing to be a part of it.

In the evening, equally blessed were those who attended a time of corporate prayer for needs that are all around us.  Casting our cares on the Lord freed us from the burdens we came with.  It was truly a marvelous Lord’s Day.  I hope yours was filled with grace as well.

Weekend Recap – Esteeming Marriage

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My sermon from 9/23/12AM entitled Esteeming Marriage from Hebrews 13:4 is now online.  While many in our culture scoff at what the church thinks of marriage, God calls His people to live in such a way that marriage is honored among all.  He also calls us to pursue the purity of marital relations as well as seek holiness in light of His sure judgment.  All of these thoughts led this sermon to conclusions like: Honor marriage!  Protect marriage! Sanctify marriage!

Hope you had a great Lord’s Day and God richly blesses your week.

Weekend Recap – 9/16/12PM

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On this past Sunday, our men gathered for a series called Collision Course, which seeks to allow men to sharpen one another to practice Biblical masculinity.  Specifically, we engaged with this Doug Wilson video entitled Two Departures from Masculinity:

Here’s a transcript:
Scott Anderson of Desiring God: Doug, talk to us about what it means to depart from masculinity? What are the options if we fall off that horse?
Doug Wilson: I’m fond of telling our people at our congregation at Christ Church that there’s always a ditch on both sides of the road. There are two ways to run your car off the road. And if you want to stay on the road of Biblical, godly masculinity, one way to veer off the road is simply to abdicate, to collapse in a heap, to fail to fulfill your obligations because you twisted your ankle, just sort of an effeminate collapsing. Then, the other way to veer away from masculinity is through bravado or machismo or sort of a swagger that is all hat no cattle. You know all the trappings of masculinity are adopted: sports fanaticism, smoking cigars, loud music, your pickup truck is jacked up so you can go hunting bear. You’ve got all the trappings, but you’re not taking responsibility for your wife or for your family. So, one is a counterfeit machismo and the other is an effeminate collapsing.
Benjamin Oard led our men in a discussion on what are the ditches to avoid, how are they created and how we keep in the center, walking the path of Biblical masculinity God intended.  We had lots of rich discussion and prayer at our tables following this and ended our night.  It was a great time of fellowship and encouragement for the guys.

Weekend Recap – 9/16/12AM

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Yesterday, we had a visiting speaker, Luke T, speaking to us on The Heart of a Sending Church from 3 John 5-8.  He pointed to this text as a way to calibrate our hearts as sending workers into the global harvest.  Specifically, there was a past look to faithfulness, a present passion for faithfulness, and a future commitment to being faithful.  Faithful, faithful, faithful, that is the core message to churches sending workers to the harvest.  There was much rich, Biblical application.  I hope it proved helpful for you.

Weekend Recap – 3D Love

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My 9/9/12AM sermon, 3D Love, from Hebrews 13:1-3 is now online.  This sermon, coming almost in the same breath of a revelation that God’s a consuming fire, helps us orient our lives in worship properly by displaying love to those around us.  The three dimensional love taught to us is an inward love for other Christians in the church, an outward love for those outside the church and a particular love displayed for the needy, as if we have the same kind of need.

I hope you had a great Lord’s Day, as well.  Now, with Monday, we have the opportunity to live out what we experienced yesterday.  I pray you do that in a way that pleases God.