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Weekend Prep – Gratitude

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This Sunday AM, we will be looking at Colossians 1:4-5a. Here’s what vv.3-5a say:

We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

This text will show us the grounds for Paul’s thanksgiving to God, specifically, faith and love, springing from the hope.

As we prep for the weekend, think about your heart and how gratitude is seen in your life, or, specifically, your prayer life?

The Hope Laid Up In Heaven

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Spurgeon preached a sermon, The Hope Laid Up In Heaven, back on October 13, 1878. This Sunday, I will be preaching on faith, love and hope in Colossians 1:4-5a: “since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.” I thought this might be something you could read to get you ready for the weekend.

The Need of Small Groups…

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A friend sent me an email the other day highlighting the following (from Piper’s sermon The Love of Human Praise as the Root of Unbelief):

7 Reasons We Need Small Groups
He has given pastors to the church “to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-12). I believe in what I do. And I believe that it is not enough. Here are the seven reasons I gave the small group leaders.

1) The impulse avoid painful growth by disappearing safely into the crowd in corporate worship is very strong.
2) The tendency toward passivity in listening to a sermon is part of our human weakness.
3) Listeners in a big group can more easily evade redemptive crises. If tears well up in your eyes in a small group, wise friends will gently find out why. But in a large gathering, you can just walk away from it.
4) Listeners in a large group tend to neglect efforts of personal application. The sermon may touch a nerve of conviction, but without someone to press in, it can easily be avoided.
5) Opportunity for questions leading to growth is missing. Sermons are not dialogue. Nor should they be. But asking questions is a key to understanding and growth. Small groups are great occasions for this.
6) Accountability for follow-through on good resolves is missing. But if someone knows what you intended to do, the resolve is stronger.
7) Prayer support for a specific need or conviction or resolve goes wanting. O how many blessings we do not have because we are not surrounded by a band of friends who pray for us.

So please know that when this small-group ministry of our church is lifted up, I don’t think it’s an optional add-on to basic Christian living. I think it is normal, healthy, needed, New Testament Christianity. I pray that you will be part of one of these small groups or that you will get the training and start one. This is the main strategy through which our pastors and elders shepherd the flock at Bethlehem.

This was so well put and a great needed reminder. If you desire more info on Crestview’s small groups, check out that portion of our website.

Twitter? Encouraged in Scripture?

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So says one of my elders, quoting Isaiah 38:14 from the NASB: “Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter; I moan like a dove; My eyes look wistfully to the heights; O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.”

Immediately another one of the elders who typically resists technological fads says, “I’m happy to support this verse. If someone uses Twitter, they will be oppressed.”

This is one facet of what makes Elder’s Meetings so fun.

The Needs of the World vs. Comfortable Christians…

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Writing from Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 9:19-22, Ajith Fernando says:

The thing I find hardest in this list is Paul’s statement that he became weak in order to win the weak. We all like to operate out of a position of strength, to be in control, to have things going the way we want them to go. But that is not the way of the gospel. It is quite common for people to say they are looking for a church they are comfortable with. I think that is a scandalous statement. When were churches supposed to be comfortable places? There is too much need in the world for Christians to be comfortable. (from p.94 of the Call to Joy and Pain)

It seems that we are not immune to this kind of thinking. We serve our comforts much more than we serve the world. I think Ajith is right. This is not only a scandalous statement, it is a scandalous way to live in light of the calling believers have upon their lives.