Enjoyed a full Sunday. We opened our service with a baptism and I was privileged to baptize my oldest as well as another friend of his (you could check this out on our livestream page where video of this is archived if you’re interested…it’s after the opening hymn). My sermon was a little different than normal in that I used it as a deeper meditation to prepare for the Lord’s Supper. Also, the sermon itself was an Introduction to the Gospel of John using John 20:30-31 as my springboard. Starting next Sunday, I will be preaching through John’s Gospel.
Weekend Preview – Ordinances and John
This weekend we are anticipating a full day at Crestview on 2/28. We will be opening our service with some baptisms. We’ll also sing, hear some insight for our upcoming study of John’s Gospel and come to the Lord’s Supper table together. I hope it’s a rich time of fellowship and worship for you. Plan to join us as 10:15AM or by our live stream.
Weekend Recap – Waiting Expectantly
My 2/21/16AM sermon, Waiting Expectantly from Luke 18:1-8, is now online. This passage ends with a question, “When the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?” And, what I teased out was what the parable was about – inspiring people to pray consistently and not lose heart. I hope it encourages you. It also helped launch our church’s Week of Prayer. Here’s more info on this week in the life of our church.
Gospel Friday – You’re A Child
If you know Christ, trusting Him as your Lord and Savior, then you are not separated from Him, but you are a dearly loved son or daughter. Today, then, call out to Him with confidence…
[6] And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” [7] So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
(Galatians 4:6-7 ESV)
Poor Thinking about Missions = Poor Practice
There are all kinds of myths when it comes to the cross-cultural work that the church has been called to engage in. One of these has to do with the “native missionary” (or a missionary who grew up in the culture and Western church can support at a much cheaper rate than sending our own). Yes, Gospel partnerships need to be formed for the good of the global work. But, this kind of thinking and the practice that emerges from this kind of thinking can easily be abused as this story shows.
Here’s an episode from last year’s Mission Table that discusses To Send or Not To Send.
Engage with this content and consider what God might do through you. Or, as the Scriptures say, come, let us reason together…
Weekend Preview – Week of Prayer 2016
This coming Sunday at Crestview, we will kick off our Week of Prayer. I plan to preach on persistence in prayer from Luke 18:1-8. We will be distributing a Week of Prayer devotional, giving you many ways to connect together in prayer this week, as well as, tools that will help you pray for our body in the coming year. I hope you plan to join us. It’s going to be an amazing week, begging God to move among us.
Weekend Recap – Imitate Good
My 2/14/16AM sermon, Imitate Good from 3 John is now online. I had a blast as this sermon wrapped up a long series on John’s letters as well as gave me a chance to preach with my friend Matthew Ellison. The sermon looked at the book of 3 John and its call for us to imitate good. We met three characters:
Gaius – a fellow worker
Diotrephes – a major problem
Demetrius – a fine example
After I unpacked this letter and the way it compels us to imitate good, Matthew came and fleshed out how we can apply this when it comes to serving those who have gone out for the sake of the name. I hope this sermon encourages you, too.
Friday – What Do You Seek?
It’s Friday…everybody’s working for the weekend. But, I want to encourage you to seek the Lord. Here’s some great encouragement from Psalm 70:
Hope this comes out of your heart this weekend.
Ash Wednesday – Hope for Our Sin
Was explaining Ash Wednesday to the boys on the way to school. I kept circling back to being aware that I’m a sinner and that Christ has come. Then, I opened up Psalm 130 this morning:
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. (Psalm 130:3-4 ESV)
Rest there…
Weekend Preview – 3 John
This coming Sunday, Lord willing, we’ll be exploring the tiny New Testament book of 3 John. We meet 2 characters in this short book: Diotrephes and Gaius. I think the way Mark Dever concludes this book (from his book The Message of the New Testament helps us):
“There are Diotrepheses in the church and there will always be. It has been so since the beginning. But there are also Gaiuses. They are the ones who leave vivid, lasting, and inspiring examples for us. And by his love, God keeps those examples fresh in our minds’ eyes. The Gaiuses are the ones who fire up and propel us forward by the example of their love for Christ. In his grace, God gives us Gaiuses.
“Now I ask you, why go to all the trouble of being in a church? For God and his gospel, or for yourself? Dear friend, I give you the warning of the elder: ‘Do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God’.
(taken from p.511)
Hope to see you this coming Lord’s Day as Matthew Ellison and I unpack this amazingly powerful book.
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