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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.”

Stand Fast (or Gospel Perseverance)

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This Sunday, we will be looking at Colossians 1:23. I thought of entitling the sermon “the Big IF” but ended up entitling it Gospel Perseverance. Here’s the issue, from Spurgeon’s sermon Stand Fast on the same text…

But, Brothers and Sisters, the battle does not end when, by a desperate rush, a man has come to Christ. In many it assumes a new form—the enemy now attempts to drag the trembler from his refuge and eject him from his stronghold! It is difficult to get at the hope of the Gospel, but quite as difficult to keep it so as not to be moved away from it. If Satan spends great power in keeping us from the hope, he uses equal force in endeavoring to drag us away from it—and equal cunning in endeavoring to allure us from it. Hence the Apostle tells us not to be moved away from the hope of the Gospel. The exhortation is necessary in presence of an imminent danger. Do not think that in the moment when you believe in Christ the conflict is over, or you will be bitterly disappointed! It is then that the battle renews itself and every inch of the road swarms with enemies.

Between here and Heaven you will always have to fight, more or less, and frequently the severest struggle will be at a time when you are least prepared for it. There may be smooth passages in your career and you may, for a while, be like your Savior in the wilderness, of whom it is said, “Then the devil departed from Him, and angels came and ministered unto Him.” But you may not, therefore, cry, “My mountain stands firm, I shall never be moved,” for fair weather may not outlast a single day! Do not grow secure, or carnally presumptuous. There is but a short space between one battle and another in this world. It is a series of skirmishes even when it does not assume the form of a pitched battle. He that would win Heaven must fight for it! He that would take the new Jerusalem must scale it and if he has the wits to take Jacob’s ladder and set it against the wall and climb up that way, he will win the City. “The Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force.”

The Christian life isn’t for the faint of heart. It involves a struggle to continually lay hold of the Gospel. I hope you are encouraged to that end this Lord’s day.

Upcoming Conference on Shepherding

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Back in August an interview on shepherding online prompted my good friend Joe Braden to organize a conference related to the topic. I’m happy to announce the conference will be held February 23-24 at FBC St. Peters.

Here’s the rundown from Ray Van Neste’s blog…
Tuesday, February 23
12 noon- Registration
1:30 p.m. Joseph Braden -“Our Shepherd God”
3:30 p.m. John Thornbury- “The World’s Greatest Job”
5:00 p.m. Dinner
6:30 p.m. Tom Ascol- “Gospel Saturated Preaching”

Wednesday, February 24
9:00 a.m. Ray Van Neste- “Oversight of Souls: The Heart of Pastoral Ministry”
10:30 a.m. John Thornbury- “Pastoral Pitfalls”
12 noon- Lunch
1:30 p.m. Tom Ascol- “Gospel Shaped Ministry”
3:30 p.m. Ray Van Neste- “Shepherding a Rebellious People”
5:00 p.m. Dinner
6:30 p.m. John Thornbury- “Jesus Christ, the Pastor’s Message”

This should be great content for your leadership teams as you seek to pastor your people to the glory of God. Here’s the brochure and at $50, how big of a bargain is this? (I would recommend you add the meal plan from the church so that you don’t have to leave. The church does an AMAZING job at hosting this conference.)

I plan on going and hope to see you there.

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 Prep — Reconciled & Jesus

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Here’s the scoop for where we’re headed this weekend as we look gather corporately.

On Sunday AM, we will be focusing in on Colossians 1:21-22 and seeing 3 snapshots of our reconciliation, a before Christ element, the element Christ accomplished in His death and an “after” element looking forward into eternity. Pray for the Gospel to be clear to unbelievers who might be present and for God’s Word to richly build us up.

In the PM service, we will be starting a new series overviewing the big storyline of the Bible. The sermon is entitled “Jesus: The Point of the Old Testament.” I hope to give reasons we know the OT is about Jesus in this message, which will be an important framework for the sermons that will follow.

I am looking forward to seeing each of you this weekend.

Piper on God’s Word…

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Each year, Piper begins the year with a sermon on prayer followed up by a sermon encouraging Bethlehem to be passionate for God’s Word. I had a chance to listen to last Sunday’s sermon, Holding Fast The Word of Life in 2010, and was encouraged and challenged to be passionate for God’s Word.

One part was when Piper was showing how the world influences believers so that they think God’s Word is boring. Piper’s response “Avatar is boring.” His point was that when the Almighty God of the universe speaks, it is never a boring thing. Great point and really used by God to awaken me to the sinful reality of my own heart. Listen, watch, or read and be encouraged.

9 Marks E Journal – Jan/Feb 2010

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The Jan/Feb 2010 9Marks EJournal is now online (on Evangelical Liberalism).

This month’s 9Marks Interview is with Matt Chandler. Here’s a special appeal from Mark Dever:

This past August, Matt shared an hour with us to talk about his ministry. In light of what has happened to Matt in recent days, we contacted him about publishing this interview. He said he was very happy for us to present it, and that he was continuing to trust in God for the future. As you listen to this interview, thank God for our brother and pray for him.

As always, please take advantage of these amazing free resources.

Planning…

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Jeremy Carr has an excellent post over at the Resurgence entitled Make Plans, Not Resolutions. He highlights three types of people: the Non-Planner, the Solo Planner and the Proverbs 16:1 Planner. The Proverbs 16 Planner is:

The Proverbs 16 planner understands that God-centered and God-motivated plans honor the Lord, bless the planner, and benefit others.

This short post would be a helpful read for you. We all can plan better. Some of us need to lighten up and center on God. Others need to plan because their lives are jumbled messes. Either way, we can plan effectively because God is a planning God, trusting Him to direct us.