Matt Chandler, in a sermon on 1/4/09 (2009, Part 2) at the 44:00 mark:
Your relationship with Christ, your spirituality, although immensely personal, was not designed to be private. The more you make your struggles and your victories privatized, you turn sanctification into a crawl. It was not designed to be that way.
Chandler admits he’s banging the drum of Biblical community.
So, how are you in opening up your life to others? Or are you actively pursuing pride?
Part of my desire in 09 is to be more efficient with my time and energy. Therefore, I am going to post on marriage and free audio more sporadically, so that I am not pressured to write every Monday and Wednesday. If you like these regular posts, you will find that there will be plenty to keep you thinking in both of these regards (marriage and free audio). Just thought I’d let you know what’s happening.
As our church is pursuing a Week of Prayer together, I thought I would commend an excellent sermon by John Piper. He preached this a couple of weeks ago to kick off the Week of Prayer at Bethlehem. I was especially moved in being reminded that prayer is a wartime activity, not just praying for the stuff of earth. Here it is:
Put In The Fire for the Sake of Prayer – John 16:16-24
We have changed the location of our church’s podcast. Find out more at our Sermon Cloud Page.
This year is John Calvin’s 500th birthday, so the folks over at Reformation 21 are blogging through the Institutes this year. They also have a schedule to read everyday to get through the Institutes on your own.
Our congregation began its Week of Prayer yesterday. The devotional is available for download and you can listen to my sermon which kicked off the week. Let’s make 2009 a year in which we see progress in our prayer lives.
Each year, as the new year is quickly approaching, I take time to review the previous year as well as think through my roles and consider what goals God might be pleased to allow me to accomplish in the coming year. Here’s the 2009 list of what I plan to pursue, if the Lord wills(not particularly in order of importance):
One calling God has placed upon my life is to shepherd the flock of God among which I have been made an overseer (1 Peter 5:1-2). I don’t consider a calling to pastor the people of Crestview to be a chore, but it is a calling—a stewardship—to which God has called me to be faithful (1 Corinthians 4:2). Therefore, I want to resolve to be faithful in the coming year of ministry. This will mean continuing to faithfully administer God’s Word to people and, jettisoning the fear of man, faithfully equipping the people God has entrusted me to works of ministry (Ephesians 4:12).
God has also called me to specific roles in my home. As a husband, God has called me to lovingly lead my wife as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25-33). As a father, I have been entrusted with the task of supporting my family (1 Timothy 5:8) and fathering my children in a way that brings glory to God (Ephesians 6:4). In the coming year, I want to be a better father and strive to love Meg more by loving me less.
In terms of my personal spiritual life, I’ve benefited so much in the past year through reading. I hope to continue to grow in grace. In late 2008, I refined my personal vision to be such that since I am changed from the inside out by Christ’s atoning sacrifice for me on the cross, I want to grow downward in humility and upward to glorify and enjoy God, forever. I hope to continue daily Bible reading using my ESV Study Bible and For the Love of God (Vol. 2). Also, I hope that after 2009, I will have made progress in weakening pride and fear of man issues in my life.
In my personal life, I continue to want to honor God in my body (1 Corinthians 6:20). Recent success from the Lord (in losing up to 53 lbs. in the fall of 2008) give me encouragement that I can say “no” to ungodly passions and desires by God’s grace. Therefore, I hope in the coming year to lose more weight, continue exercise and discipline in a way that points to God’s grace (Titus 2:11-14).
So, these are my aims for the coming year. They are ever before me. By God’s grace, I hope to fine favor from Him in accomplishing these.
Hope you all have an awesome New Year and 2009 is a year you are blessed with God’s favor in remarkable ways.
The year ended in an incredible way. Preached on the characters of Christmas on Sunday mornings: Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Got to do lots of reading and had a meeting with the Elders, men, and other people. Fought video problems in auditorium a lot, but got those solved by the end of the month. Did many festive things: parties, fellowships and enjoying friends and family. Ended the year traveling to my Mom’s which meant we celebrated Christmas with Meg’s family before the 22nd. Was able to get some thinking done about long-term personal planning for 2009. All in all, while the beginning of the year began with me praying about where God would have me, God seemed to confirm His calling in my life toward the end. I praise Him for a great 2008. More on where I’m headed in 09 later.
November continued with the busy pace I had set in August: meetings with Elders, men, pre-marital, discipline in eating/exercise and other administrative things. Enjoyed a report from one of our missionaries and church wide fellowships in this month. Officiated Theoden and Katie Wedel’s wedding. Voted and watched another candidate take the presidency. Hosted Joe Braden for our church’s Bible Conference on Loving Relationships in the Church. Preached at Dale Baker’s ordination in Kansas City. Watched my first KState football game at K-State. Continued preaching through Mark 12. Celebrated Thanksgiving. Watched with joy as our congregation met budget on the last week of this month. Devoured the book Because He Loves Me. We met our Thanksgiving offering goal as a church, too – which will greatly help one of our missionaries. As November ended finished preaching on Mark 12.
In October, enjoyed listening to the DG National Conference on the Power of Words. Good encouragement here. Enjoyed Elders Meetings, fellowship with men, couples, pre-marital work and other appointments. Continued preaching through Mark 12 and small groups began considering a ministry project in Hutchinson. Relaunched HomeWord for fall, looking on how marriage is to be esteemed. Got good reports from my doctor about my health. Had some work done on the truck. Wed PM class continued to work through Sermon on the Mount. Read Power Encounters. Got to speak at Spiritual Emphasis week at Central Christian. Had a good time dressing up Andrew on 31st.
