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Yesterday’s message for Mother’s Day was called Eve – The Mother of All the Living, taken from Genesis 3:20. Here is a brief outline of the message:

  I. Eve is the mother of all the physically living (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 3:16)

  II. Eve is the mother of all the spiritually living (Genesis 3:15a)

  III. Eve is the mother of Christ the Savior (Genesis 3:15b)

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Here is a poem by Ruth Bell Graham for Mother’s Day. Enjoy!

“Had I Been Joseph’s Mother” by Ruth Bell Graham

Had I been Joseph’s mother
I’d have prayed
protection from his brothers:
“God keep him safe;
he is so young,
so different from
the others.”
Mercifully she never knew
there would be slavery
and prison, too.

Had I been Moses’ mother
I’d have wept
to keep my little son;
praying she might forget
the babe drawn from the water
of the Nile,
had I not kept
him for her
nursing him the while?
Was he not mine
and she
but Pharaoh’s daughter?

Had I been Daniel’s mother
I should have pled
“Give victory!
This Babylonian horde –
godless and cruel –
don’t let them take him captive
– better dead,
Almighty Lord!”

Had I been Mary –
Oh, had I been she,
I would have cried
as never a mother cried,
“…Anything, O God,
anything …
but crucified!”

With such prayers
importunate
my finite wisdom
would assail
Infinite Wisdom;
God, how fortunate
Infinite Wisdom
should prevail!

Happy Mother’s Day!

Yesterday’s message in the Philippians: Partners in the Gospel series was called Advancing the Gospel, taken from Philippians 1:12-18. Here is a brief outline of the message:

I. Nothing is more important than advancing the gospel
    A. Advancing the gospel was more important to Paul than his own freedom (12-14)
        1) Paul’s imprisonment allowed him to share the gospel with the whole palace guard (13)
        2) Paul’s imprisonment encouraged other believers to share the gospel more boldly (14)

    B. Advancing the gospel was more important to Paul than his own comfort (15-18)
        1) Not everyone shared Christ from pure motives (15)
        2) Some tried to stir up trouble for Paul in prison (16-17)
        3) Either way, Paul rejoiced that Christ was preached! (18)

II. Nothing can stop the gospel from advancing
    A. God wants to use your present life circumstances as a platform to advance the gospel
    B. The gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16)

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Yesterday’s message in the Philippians: Partners in the Gospel series was called A Prayer for Christian Growth, taken from Philippians 1:7-11. Here is a brief outline of the message:

I. The motivation for prayer – love for each other (Phil. 1:7-8)
    A. Love for each other as partners in the gospel (7)
    B. Loving each other with the affection of Christ Jesus (8)

II. The content of the prayer – Christian growth (Phil. 1:9-10)
    A. Pray to grow in love (9a)
    B. Pray to grow in knowledge (9b)
    C. Pray to grow in discernment (9b-10a)
    D. Pray to grow in holiness (10b)

III. The result of the prayer – changed lives resulting in praise and glory to God! (Phil. 1:11)
    A. The fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus (11a)
    B. To the glory and praise of God (11b)

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Yesterday’s message in the Philippians: Partners in the Gospel series was called God’s Not Finished Yet, taken from Philippians 1:1-6. Here is a brief outline of the message:

I. We are all partners in the gospel together (Phil. 1:1-2)
    A. The gospel brings people from different backgrounds together (Acts 16)
    B. We are all saints in Christ Jesus
    C. Leaders and lay people are partners together

II. God began a good work in you when you received Christ (Phil 1:3-5)
    A. Paul thanks God for the Philippians every time he remembers them (3)
    B. In all his prayers for all of them, he always prays with joy (4)
    C. Why? Partners in the gospel from the first day until now (5)

III. God will finish the good work he started in you (Phil. 1:6)
    A. God has good works for you to do (Eph 2:10; Psalm 138:8)
    B. How does God complete his work in you?
        – justification in the past (Romans 5:1)
        – sanctification in the present (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)
        – glorification when Christ returns (Romans 8:28-30)
    C. God is also completing the good work he began in the church

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I am looking forward to attending the Desiring God Regional Conference in Fort Lauderdale this weekend along with my son, Sam. Pastor John Piper will be speaking on the theme of Future Grace: The Purifying Power of the Promises of God. The conference will conclude with a discussion panel featuring host pastor Tullian Tchividjian, pastor John Piper, as well as two local pastors from the community.

The conference has got me thinking about the different emphases that Piper and Tchividjian each bring to the topic of sanctification. Whereas most teaching on sanctification seems to focus on the present means of grace (such as the Word of God, prayer, Christian fellowship, baptism, communion, etc.), Piper and Tchividjian bring two different emphases to the table.

Pastor Tullian has emphasized the role of past grace, encouraging us to focus on our justification through faith in Christ which frees us from the law to live a holy life for Christ. Pastor John has emphasized the role of future grace, encouraging us to look forward to the promises of God as a motivation for holy living.

Of course all three emphases are important. Focusing on past grace helps us to avoid legalism and works-based righteousness by resting securely in our justification in the past. Focusing on present grace helps us to avoid spiritual passivity and laziness by actively pursuing God’s prescribed means of grace in the present. And focusing on future grace helps us to avoid fear and falling into temptation by fully believing God’s promises and grace-based rewards for the future.

As we seek to grow in Christ-likeness, let us take full advantage of God’s past, present and future grace extended to us through Jesus Christ.

Yesterday’s message was an Easter sermon called Footrace to the Tomb. This was a first-person narrative exposition of John 20:1-9 told from Peter’s point of view. I don’t do a lot of narrative sermons, but after studying and prepping the passage, I felt this would be an effective way to present the teaching for Easter morning.

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Most Americans say they would visit a church if invited by a family member, neighbor or friend. And Easter is a time when people are more open to considering matters of faith. So who will you invite this year?

A Good Friday Devotional

“Pilate asked him, ‘Aren’t you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of.’ But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.” (Mark 15:4-5)

It was early in the morning on a Friday. The previous evening Jesus had shared a meal with his disciples in the Upper Room. From there they proceeded to Gethsemane where Jesus was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. False witnesses testified against him, but their statements did not agree.

Finally the high priest asked Jesus if he was the Messiah. Jesus responded, “I am.” At this the high priest tore his clothes. He accused Jesus of blasphemy, and the people condemned him as worthy of death. They spit at him, blindfolded him, and struck him with their fists. The guards took him away and beat him.

Now in the early morning hours Jesus stood before Pilate. The accusations came fast and furious, yet Jesus made no response. Jesus, the Word of God who spoke all of creation into being, stood silent before his accusers. And although Pilate found no basis to condemn Christ, in order to satisfy the crowd he handed Jesus over to be crucified.

Why didn’t Jesus speak up? Why didn’t he defend himself? Jesus remained silent in fulfillment of the Scriptures and out of love for you and for me. Isaiah 53:7 says, “He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” 1 Peter 2:23 says, “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”

Have you encountered situations where you felt the need to defend yourself against others? Ecclesiastes 3:7 says, “There is a time to be silent and a time to speak.” Sometimes it is the right choice to speak. But there are other times when we would do better to remain silent. We must seek God’s wisdom and prayerfully consider our words before we speak. And we will always do well to remember the Silent Lamb who remained silent before his accusers and entrusted himself to God who judges justly.

Yes, but only with a lot of help! Every year our church reads the entire Bible out loud in the sanctuary during Holy Week. We start on Palm Sunday by reading Genesis 1 out loud together during the morning service. Then people sign up for half-hour shifts throughout the week. We start at 7:00 a.m. and go to 10:00 p.m. most days. It takes about 150 half-hour shifts to read the whole Bible out loud. We read just up to the last chapter of Revelation on Saturday night. Then on Easter Sunday morning we read Revelation 22 out loud during the service, thus completing the reading of God’s Word out loud in the sanctuary from cover to cover.

We do this as an offering of praise back to God for His Word and to emphasize that “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16) It makes for a great church-wide activity, and everyone profits from participating.

So far this week we’ve read Genesis through Isaiah, so we pick up with Jeremiah 1 at 7:00 a.m. Thursday morning. Here we go!

Sunday’s message was a Palm Sunday sermon called Shout to the Lord, taken from John 12:12-19. The main idea of the message was that Jesus is a great Savior, and he is worthy of great praise. Here is a brief outline of the message:

I. When we praise Jesus greatly, we show that he is worthy of great praise. (12-15)
   – see also Psalm 118:25-27

II. When we praise Jesus greatly, we display emotions appropriate to his greatness. (16)
   – see also Psalm 48:1

III. When we praise Jesus greatly, we draw other people to praise him as well. (17-19)
   – see also Psalm 98:4-6

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I heard a great joke at church yesterday:

What’s the difference between you and God? God never thinks He’s you!