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Weekend Recap – Jesus, Sin and Gospel Toil

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Well, Sunday is nearly wrapped up. (We are starting a new class for men on theological topics that meets at 8PM.)

This morning, we looked at Gospel Toil from Colossians 1:29. It seems that Paul expended himself in amazing ways for the sake of the Gospel’s advancing, yet he was always quick to rely on God and His power for all good things. I felt the need to call us to rely on God’s power by trusting in Jesus.

This evening, we looked at Jesus in the Fall from Genesis 3:1-24 in our Jesus in the Old Testament series. It seems that one clear conclusion we should reach when seeing sin enter the world is how we need rescued (or, more specifically the need for a Rescuer). Enter Jesus and the prophecy of Him in Genesis 3:15.

I thought it was an amazing day with much to encourage us.

Weekend Recap – Proclaiming Christ

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I thought we had a great Sunday yesterday. My sermon was on Colossians 1:28 entitled Proclaiming Christ. This text really compelled us to be those who are speaking truth about Jesus (as opposed to simply “living a life that tells something” whatever that means). Specifically, we are told to speaking words of warning, instruction and communicate with purpose.

We ended by “proclaiming the Lord’s death until He comes” in the Lord’s Supper. It was a fitting way to say something about Jesus.

Hope you all had a great Lord’s Day as well.

Weekend Recap – Glorious Mystery/Glorious Creator

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Had a full Lord’s Day. My SS class is going through Paul Tripp’s What Did You Expect Curriculum and coming face to face with selfishness week in and week out.

The AM Sermon was from Colossians 1:26-27 and was entitled Gospel Mystery. A mystery, from this text, included truth hidden in the past and revealed to God’s saints. The mystery is Christ in us, the hope of glory. It was a humble reminder of what God has to do to save us.

The PM sermon looked at Jesus in the OT, specifically, the Creation account in Genesis 1:1 on and was entitled Jesus in Creation. Many times, we read this creation account as if God the Father is acting alone, but the NT is quite clear that Jesus was the Creator. I sought to remedy that with this message and was, again, humbled to see the glory of God in Jesus.

Weekend Recap on Ministry…

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Yesterday’s sermon from Colossians 1:25 is now online–entitled Ministry: From, To, For. This sermon greatly affected my heart by allowing me to see afresh how ministry is from God, to us as individuals and for the benefit of others. It also affected me in showing me how arrogant I often function in ministry. As God’s Word called me to humble service, I could find grace.

In small group last night we talked about different kinds of righteousness that we use to inflate our position before God. These performance driven righteousnesses easily get us from centering all that we are on Jesus and His Work for us. One they didn’t mention might be:

MINISTRY RIGHTEOUSNESS — “I’m serving in the church, doing what God has gifted me to do. Surely my obedience in this area and care for others establishes my position before God.” Nope! It doesn’t replace the cross and my need for it daily. I hope you are encouraged, then, to serve in the strength that God supplies, so that HE is glorified.

Weekend Recap – Perseverance

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Today’s sermon, Gospel Perseverance, from Colossians 1:23 is now online. The outline was pretty simple, getting at motivations for perseverance…

I. We persevere continuing in our faith.
II. We persevere recognizing the scope of the Gospel.
III. We persevere remembering the change the Gospel produces.

I loved the way the passage unfolded to our corporate practice of the Lord’s Supper. We need the encouragement to persevere because we are so prone to think that because we believed at one point in our lives, we are no longer responsible for living out those truths with more and more belief. We need to heed this passage and “not shift from the hope of the Gospel that we heard.”

Weekend Recap 1/17 – OT Story

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Last night, we began a series of sermons highlighting the Old Testament story. The first sermon, using various references but springing from John 5:39-40, entitled Jesus: The Point of the OT is now online.

One application I pressed toward the end, of which I have been guilty in the passed is to avoid moralizing. What is moralizing? “reading the Old Testament not to learn about Jesus, but only to learn principles for how to live my life as a good person by following the good examples of some people and avoiding the bad examples of others” (as defined by Driscoll in A Book You’ll Actually Read on the Old Testament).

Another application I pressed was to look for Jesus in the OT. An interview with John Sailhamer on his latest book, the Meaning of the Pentateuch, was very helpful is seeing a balance and avoiding overspiritualizing.

At any rate, I hope you are encouraged to see how every page of the Bible “whispers His name” and ask God that through this series, we would have spiritual eyes to behold Jesus in the Old Testament.

AM Recap from 1/17 – Reconciled!

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Today’s sermon, Before and After, from Colossians 1:21-22 is now online. The sermon sought to highlight snapshots of God’s reconciling work for us. Before Christ, we were in need of reconciliation. We are reconciled through Jesus’ death on the cross and the result of this is positive – we are presented holy, blameless and above reproach before Him. I thought the sermon got to some good truth for me. I need to be humble and patient with unbelievers who don’t necessarily understand the truth of the Gospel. And, I can have confidence for the future only because of Christ, not my performance.

Any thoughts from anyone else?

Weekend Wrap Up – Small Groups…

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Our Sunday PM message, In One Body, from Colossians 3:12-15 is also online. This sermon was my attempt to answer the question, Why do we do small groups? This extraordinary passage calls us to put on Godly characteristics, Godly actions and to pursue Godly unity. To have a context to do these things with other believers, we have small groups. We had a great response of people getting plugged in to relationship with one another. This winter/spring, we will be studying the Gospel Centered Life curriculum from Serge. I am very excited about this curriculum which deals with three questions:
1) What is the Gospel?
2) What does the Gospel do in us?
3) How does the Gospel work through us?

I hope you can be plugged into a small group and grow in grace.

Weekend Wrap Up – Scripture Memory…

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Yesterday’s AM sermon, Indwelling Word, from Colossians 3:16 is online. After our Week of Prayer, we take time to consider how God’s Word can be a part of our lives each year and this year, we decided to launch a Scripture Memory Program church wide. We hoped that our lives individually, our lives in families and our life as a corporate body would all benefit. It was exciting to see how people grabbed onto this. We ran out of books (which meant over 1/2 of our congregation will be involved in this). Here’s what I wrote to introduce the book:

As a church, we are embarking on a new emphasis here. Beginning Sunday, January 10, 2010, we will be seeking to memorize a verse of Scripture each week. All of our publications will use the ESV, since that is the translation we use in the pulpit ministry of Crestview.

This emphasis comes for a few reasons:
1) We want to be characterized by widespread Scripture memory together. As God’s Word is hidden in our hearts, the spiritual benefits we can pursue collectively will undoubtedly multiply.
2) We wanted a simple way to promote family worship. By encouraging our people to be hovering over a particular verse each week, we will be encouraging families to be hiding God’s Word in their hearts together.
3) We wanted to create a simple way to deepen relationships we have with one another in spiritual ways. When you get together for coffee, to exercise, for fellowship or study, we can simply ask, “Do you know this week’s verse?” and be able to transition into spiritual discussions.
4) God’s Word being hidden in our hearts should help us fight against sin week in and week out.
5) Many of us believe this is a great thing, but we need a plan. We are implementing a plan, then, to help us remain disciplined in this.

Dallas Willard has said, “Bible memorization is absolutely fundamental to spiritual formation. If I had to choose between all the disciplines of the spiritual life, I would choose Bible memorization, because it is a fundamental way of filling our mind with what it needs. The book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth. That’s where you need it. How does it get in your mouth? Memorization.”

It is in this spirit, then, that the Elders recommend this pursuit to you. May it inspire you and encourage you to glorify and enjoy God, forever.

I hope you have a great week storing up God’s Word in your heart. (Our verse for this first week is Genesis 1:1.)

Wrap Up on Prayer

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Today’s sermon, which was overview from Colossians on Prayer, is now online. This sermon helped to serve our church by kicking off the Week of Prayer. We were encouraged to pray:

– gratefully
– for growth
– for the Gospel’s progress
and – with discipline

I was encouraged by the example of Epaphras in Colossians 4:12, who of whom it was said his prayers were striving for the growth of others. I hope you practice prayer this week and you are encouraged to depend on God for all things in 2010.