My 4/18/21 sermon at Crestview Bible Church, Unfaithful Shepherds, was an unpacking of the hard truth in Zechariah 10:1-11:3. The gist is this, the people have gone after unfaithful shepherds at the expense of their King. So, God helps people see their need, promises a King, and assures that the unfaithful shepherds will be met with His judgment. I hope the sermon encourages you and helps you to seek Christ above all.
I’m in the middle of a short series on the OT book of Zechariah. Yesterday, I dug into Zechariah 12:10, which tells us of the miraculous way God will come through to save His people. It involved Him getting pierced. We fast forwarded to the New Testament fulfillment of this and saw that Jesus, God in the flesh, was the one pierced, fulfilling this, and, as Revelation 1:7, will be eternally recognizable as the one pierced. This also led to an implication for our having hearts characterized by repentance before God. I hope the sermon, and this series, are encouraging you.
Check out my 4/11/21 sermon at Crestview Bible Church: Looking on the One We Pierced (Zechariah 12:10)
What a great weekend at Crestview. For Good Friday, we served a modest meal and enjoyed communion as part of that meal. My Good Friday devotional was from Zechariah 11:12-13 on Thirty Pieces of Silver. The idea was that Jesus’s betrayal was predicted by the prophet years before and gives us clues what to expect when the Messiah came.
On Easter, my sermon was Hope In Our King from Zechariah 6:12-13. This passage highlighted who the Branch that would branch out would be and what He would do. I made some connections to Jesus.
I hope these talks encouraged the people of Crestview. If you’ve never studied Zechariah, I wrote a devotional that dug into the book of Zechariah and helped our people meditate on Holy Week. It’s available for free online.
Hope you’re energized after the amazing weekend we’ve celebrated. Have a good week.
My 3/28/21 sermon at Crestview Bible Church, Our King, Riding On A Donkey (Zechariah 9:9-17), is now online. This sermon got us into Palm Sunday, with the prophecy predicting some of the events of Palm Sunday. But, in a deeper way, it drove us to deeper application and living on mission. It kicked off a short series we’re pursuing on the book of Zechariah. And, it launched Holy Week. We wrote a Holy Week Devotional to engage deeper in the book of Zechariah this week. So, there is much to say wrapping up Sunday. I hope you engage in some of these things and find encouragement.
My 3/21/21 sermon wrapped up Crestview’s series on the book of Acts. Entitled Salvation Sent, this sermon dug into Acts 28. The big idea is that Jesus is building His church through a people living on mission. And, this sermon sought to encourage and exhort us to action in light of these truths. I hope it encourages you.
My 3/14/21AM sermon, Peculiar Providence (Acts 27), is now online. This sermon included a quick run through the narrative of Paul’s shipwreck on his way to Rome as a prisoner of the Roman Empire. I tried to connect this back to our own harrowing adventures on mission and how we are prone to some of the same questions Paul faced, like why is this taking so long, is God really with me through this, and does He realize the difficulty I’m facing. I hope this encourages you.
My 3/7/21 sermon, Persuading Others (Acts 25-26), wrapped up a section of Acts that found Paul defending himself before religious authorities, Roman governors, and provincial kings. All of this builds to Paul seeking to persuade King Agrippa to believe. And, my sermon dug into some considerations for persuading others, as we are witnesses to what Jesus has done in our lives. I hope it encourages you.
I don’t know how to put into words how grateful I am for Jared Wilson. Over the years, Jared has written books at an amazing pace. But, even more impressive is the content of these books, helping the church to think through issues, as well as ultimately driving us back to the good news which not only is the starting point for our faith but the continuing point for our growth and godliness.
His latest book, Gospel-Driven Ministry, is another book that delivers. When I first started digging into this book, I wondered how it would differ from other things I’ve read from Jared on ministry centered on the good news. But, this book does deliver and help the reader have a sense of what ministry–specifically pastoral ministry–looks like when Jesus is everything to you.
Some things that have stood out to me upon my first time through the book have been: helping pastors to root their identity in Jesus, encouraging pastors to be encountering God in worship as they study, prodding us to lead congregations not merely settle for what shakes down, and to pastor people through our preaching.
This book will certainly serve those who are called to some sort of full-time ministry. But, in a deeper way, it will help those who are curious about what pastors should be and do. In other words, church people will be helped by it. So, I encourage you to take advantage of this book. Take up and read Gospel-Driven Ministry by Jared C. Wilson.
My 2/21/21 sermon at Crestview, Determined Mission (Acts 21-22), is now online. This is the first of three sermons that will have Paul testifying and explaining his faith. And, in these chapters we see a good bit of determination from the apostle, to end up in Jerusalem, to try to serve his enemies, to be misjudged and use that to speak up for his beliefs, and finally to work to find a way forward. I hope this sermon encourages you.
My 2/14/21 sermon, Powerful Remembering (Acts 19-20), is now online. The sermon dug into Paul’s ministry in and around Ephesus in Acts 19-20. There were some amazing things happening in these chapters, which culminated in Paul exhorting the elders from Ephesus to lead a certain way. The sermon helped give some exhortation as to what we are encouraged to remember as we go about Gospel work, or living our lives on mission. I hope it encourages you.
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