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Weekend Recap – Pointer and Small Groups…

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Happy Monday everyone. Hope you all are doing well as we get off and running on another week. I thought we had a tremendous Lord’s Day yesterday. God was so gracious to move and act in many ways and I continue to stand in awe of what we are learning about Him (and Jesus) through the book of Hebrews. Yesterday’s sermon, Pointer, from Hebrews 7:1-10 tried to hop on a trajectory or course that pointed us to Jesus as the main theme of the Bible. As I mentioned in the introduction, I wanted to dazzle everyone with Jesus’ character and superiority. I hope you found yourself delighting in Him. In the evening, we had great time in small groups, continuing to work our way through Jerry Bridges book Respectable Sins. My group looked, specifically, at the chapter on Anxiety, Worry and Frustration, which proved to be very fruitful for good Gospel application. Hope you have a blessed week!

Weekend Recap – Hoping in Promises

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My sermon from 8/21/11 entitled Promise from Hebrews 6:13-20 is online.  It was a great morning for us to see the hope that is ours in Christ.  The picture of Christ being our anchor for today and having our security tied to His work for us in the holy place behind the veil was pretty stunning.  I hope the reality of this helps you live this week.

In the evening, we had an encouraging report from our Immanuel Mission Team (they traveled to Arizona from July 31-August 7.  Here’s the video from the Team:

All in all, we had a tremendous and amazing Lord’s Day and I hope you were blessed as well.

Weekend Recap – Confidence

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Another weekend is in the books and we had a great one.  I was coming off a 3 day/2 night retreat with our elders.  We discussed 2012, future leaders, future plans, current visions and strategies and how we can be more effective in serving Crestview.  Very good stuff.

On Sunday AM, my sermon Confidence came from Hebrews 6:9-12.  The writer of Hebrews wrote to encourage these he had called out as spiritually immature by encouraging them to have confidence for the future based on how they lived today, not based on something in the past.  Hope would be found as they rested in God’s promises and continued to trust Christ.  I hope the sermon was encouraging to you.  It said much about encouragement, serving others and assurance of salvation.

In the evening, our church met in small groups.  We continue to discuss Jerry Bridges book Respectable Sins.  My group discussed ungodliness.  We thought about ways that we can repent of this by centering more on God throughout our daily lives.

It was a full day and weekend and we’re off on another one.  Blessings to you as you seek to honor God in it.

Weekend Recap – The Hard, But Good, Work of Ministry…

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Enjoyed a full Lord’s Day.  The hard, but good, work of ministry included:

Preaching Hebrews 6:1-8 (which some consider to be one of the most difficult texts in the Bible) on Spiritual Immaturity, Part 2.  We also enjoyed a visit from Wayne and Dianna Penner, who are transitioning from Brazil to South Africa this Winter.

In the evening, I presented a talk on why we are changing our strategy on ministering to children on Wednesday nights, including presenting our new curriculum God’s Story.

It’s hard to deal with difficult texts and change long standing programs but it is a good work.  I trust that God will honor my attempts at faithfulness.

Weekend Recap – Full Day, Oh and…

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…we dealt with immaturity as well.  The audio from 7/31/11 is now online: Spiritual Immaturity (1) from Hebrews 5:11-14.  The sermon sought to unpack the writer’s intent in moving people out of immaturity into maturity by centering them on the proper foundation of the Gospel.

On top of the sermon, we enjoyed a report from a missionary, commissioning of our Arizona mission team and the Lord’s Supper.  It was a glorious and full morning.  I hope you had a rich day of worship, as well.

Weekend Recap – Qualified

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The sermon from 7/24/11 entitled Qualified from Hebrews 5:1-10 is now online.  In this sermon, I sought to unfold what is an amazing text of Scripture, showing how amazingly qualified Jesus is to not only be our great high priest, but, deeper, to be our Savior for all of eternity.  We need this truths as anchors for our souls.  I hope you profited from this message.

In the evening, many of our church’s small groups gathered.  It was an enriching Lord’s Day.  I hope you were blessed.

Weekend Recap – Prayer, Prayer and Christ

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Yesterday’s sermon, Clinging To Christ, from Hebrews 4:14-16 is online.  The sermon was led by this big idea in this portion of Scripture about Jesus being our high priest and the exhortations to hold fast our confession and draw near to the throne of grace with confidence.  It was an encouraging and needed word in my life.

In the PM, we met for corporate prayer praying together for some needs that are pressing in our congregation.  We typically do this once a quarter and have found it to be most productive when the Elders lead out with some specific requests.

At any rate, we enjoyed a tremendous Lord’s day and I’m grateful that I got to participate in it.

Weekend Recap – God’s Powerful Word

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My sermon from 7/10/11, God’s Powerful Word out of Hebrews 4:12-13 is online.  I thought we had an amazing morning in corporate worship coupled with some great time examining these familiar verses as we continue to make our way through this book.  God’s Word is powerful and this sermon, in particular, pointed us to how God’s Word prepares us for the Gospel.

In the evening, our small group read through Chapter 5 of Jerry Bridges’ Respectable Sins on The Power of the Holy Spirit.  We were encouraged that in the fight with sin, we aren’t left to our devices but have been given God Himself to help us in the fight.

It was a full day, but filled with blessings from our Lord at each turn.  I hope you had a blessed day yourself.  

Weekend Recap – On Sin

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Yesterday’s sermon, On Sin, from Hebrews 3:12-13 is now online. In that sermon, I tried to unfold how having believing hearts nurtured in the Gospel equip us to be aware of sin’s schemes and fight it together in community.

We had an amazing morning of worship, too. I’m really grateful for the musicians and singers who use their gifts to bless us week in and week out.