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Weekend Recap – Freedom?

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My 1/30/22 sermon at Crestview, Freedom? (1 Corinthians 9:1-14), is now online. On the heels of 1 Corinthians 8 with all of its instructions that our freedom or rights should be governed by love and that knowledge won’t deliver on what it promises–it puffs up, but love builds up–chapter 9 comes to question everything. As you read 1 Corinthians 9, you’re immediately struck by how many questions are asked. I summarized this with three questions that inform our freedom. And, I hope my sermon encourages you to lay aside your rights for the sake of the Gospel.

Weekend Recap – Love Preferred

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My 1/23/22 sermon at Crestview, Love Preferred (1 Corinthians 8:7-13), wrapped up the first half of the book of 1 Corinthians. And this sermon, in particular, gave some more thought to what I taught last week on the failure of knowledge to deliver. Knowledge puffs up, and love builds up. So, when the Corinthians are flexing their freedoms to encourage the eating of meat sacrificed to idols, they are bypassing love and smashing the weaker Christian. The warning for us is that it damages our souls too: we are sinning not only against someone for whom Christ died but are also sinning against Christ Himself. The stakes are high. Love is the most excellent way. I hope this helps you walk in it.

Knowledge Is Power?

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In my sermon at Crestview on 1/16/22, Knowledge Production Line (1 Corinthians 8:1-6) got us back into our study of 1 Corinthians. In my introduction especially, I was digging into this prevalent notion in our world that knowledge is power. But, when we’ve come to know Christ, we see that knowledge coupled with love is where the true power is (see 1 Corinthians 13 for further explanation). At any rate, I hope this sermon encourages you.

Weekend Recap – Into God’s Word 2022

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Each year at Crestview, we begin with a Week of Prayer and then end with a sermon emphasizing the importance of God’s Word for our lives. This year, I preached the sermon on getting Into God’s Word in 2022. I’ve been reading and studying Deuteronomy a lot, so this proved to be an excellent time to use an essential part of the ending of that book.

Deuteronomy 32 is a song of Moses that came after his closing remarks to the people. Immediately after this song, as Ray Ortlund says…

This song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32:1-47) gave us so much to think about related to God’s greatness, our great sinfulness, God’s justice, and His compassion. I used these realities to apply them toward our intake of God’s Word. And, I hope this word encourages you.

Week of Prayer 2022

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I love a rhythm that our church has (which was initially birthed from the practice of Bethlehem Baptist in Minneapolis, MN), beginning our year with a Week of Prayer. This year, we launched 1/2 with my friend Luke preaching Luke 10:2, inviting us to ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest. The sermon launched (and was entitled) Week of Prayer 2022 and was followed by a Noon Meal in which we prayed and began the year hanging out together.

Luke also developed a Week of Prayer guide to help us have some ways to pray for the unreached who are connected to our church’s international partners.

I’m also super excited about a calendar Luke and his talented wife designed, providing our church ways to pray for our community throughout the year.

So, I don’t know how you intend to begin the year, but might I recommend you spend some time in prayer, allowing God to shape your heart.

Extra Christmas Resources Dec 2021

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Hey everyone! I hope you’re feeling blessed this holiday season. I found some resources that might encourage you this holiday season. So, I thought I’d post them here to keep a record of them.

One contention that preachers make is that the season of Advent is about hope. But, you might not realize just how much hope Jesus being born was to those first listeners. And, Glen Scrivener helps us see that here in this poem called The Night Before Christmas:

The Gaither Vocal Band isn’t my preferred genre of music, but I don’t think there is any denying how incredible David Phelps performance of O Holy Night was in this video. Stick around for the 3:20 mark and then how he brings it home at the end. Pretty incredible:

Finally, for the more theologically minded, I don’t know if you’ve ever read the Nicene Creed. But the Credo Magazine devoted an entire issue to this moment in church history. So if you want to have your mind stretched around what it means that the second person of the Trinity came to earth to save sinners, I’d encourage you to seek to digest these helpful articles.

The Nicene Creed issue by Credo Magazine

Weekend Recap – Advent Joy

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My 12/19/21 sermon at Crestview, Advent Joy (Luke 2:8-12), is now online. I tried to dig into what is producing joy in our lives and the reasons why the Gospel is the good news of great joy. I hope this sermon encourages you and helps you prepare your heart for Christmas later this week.

Weekend Recap – Advent Love

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My 12/12/21 sermon at Crestview was on Advent Love from John 3:16. While this verse is super familiar to many people, I thought it gets at the heart of God related to what’s happening at Advent. As we think about the coming of Jesus, the Word becoming flesh, we marvel at how this was an act of love for God to give us Himself. I hope this sermon encourages you. And, check out the church’s Facebook to see highlights from our exceptional children’s program. Thanks so much to Mandy for all she did to organize this. Have a great week.

New Song – O Come, All You Unfaithful

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At Crestview this Advent singing, we love singing many of the cherished carols of Christmas. God has given us such a gift in the music the church has. This year, we introduced the song O Come All You Unfaithful. Here are a lyric video and lyrics:

Lyrics: 

Verse 1
O come, all you unfaithful
Come, weak and unstable
Come, know you are not alone

Verse 2
O come, barren and waiting ones
Weary of praying, come
See what your God has done

Chorus
Christ is born, Christ is born
Christ is born for you

Verse 3
O come, bitter and broken
Come with fears unspoken
Come, taste of His perfect love

Verse 4
O come, guilty and hiding ones
There is no need to run
See what your God has done

Bridge
He’s the Lamb who was given
Slain for our pardon
His promise is peace
For those who believe

Verse 5
So come, though you have nothing
Come, He is the offering
Come, see what your God has done

Music and words by Bob Kauflin and Lisa Clow © 2020 Sovereign Grace Praise/BMI (adm. worldwide by Integrity Music). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Churches. All rights reserved.

I love these lyrics and this song. We opened our service with this song last week and invited everyone to come and enter in to find hope in the good that Jesus Christ has come for us. I hope it encourages us.

Weekend Recap – Advent Hope

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We enjoyed a fantastic day yesterday at Crestview. My AM Sermon, Advent Hope (Malachi 4:4-6), helped connect the notion of hope to the coming of Jesus (both first and second advents were in view). I hope that’s an encouragement.

Speaking of Advent, Thomas Cranmer, an English Reformer, wrote some masterful prayers (called Collects) to help guide people during advent. Here’s the first one:

Collect for Advent I:
“Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son, Jesus Christ, came to visit us in great humility: that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead; we may rise to the life immortal.”

https://theanglicanbreviary.wordpress.com/2016/12/10/advent-collects-2/

The highlight for me was getting to be a part of two young women in our church who gave strong testimony of how Jesus has changed them. Here are some pics I’ve collected from yesterday’s baptisms: