“I don’t want to be a comfort-seeking, entertainment-addicted, security-craving, approval-hungry Christian.” -John Piper
Sunday we discussed some of the very same things covered in the short video below. Of course, John Piper says it much better than I did. Check it out:
In John 17, Jesus prayed to God the Father, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent theminto the world.” Jesus has SENT us into the world on a mission to sacrificially serve and make Christ known. So we talked about how this presses us to go beyond the statement “In the world and not of it.” It would be more appropriate to say “Not of the world, but sent to serve the it.”
Here are some resources that go along with the teaching:
Don’t Waste Your Life, by John Piper (free pdf)
Don’t Waste Your Life by John Piper (Amazon)
Are You Missional? 10 Diagnostic Questions
Some questions for reflection:
What does John 13:1-17 teach us about how we should relate to the world that he has sent us to?
Charles Spurgeon said “Every Christian here is either a missionary or an impostor.” How does John 17:18 prove his statement true?
What is the difference between living safe and living sent?
Has your experience of the Christian life been boring? Could it be that you missed the fact that Jesus has commanded and sent you to go into a world that doesn’t know Him, to serve and make Him famous?
W’ve been going through the first 11 ch’s of Genesis in our Tuesday morning Men’s Bible study. Below is an excellent, but also short, overview of the entire book:
Here are a couple of resources pertaining to Sunday’s sermon from John 17:20-26 on Christian unity.
What Is Christian Unity? — An article by John Piper
Some questions for reflection:
Charles Spurgeon: “Where the Spirit of God is there must be love, and if I have once known and recognized any man to be my brother in Christ Jesus, the love of Christ constraineth me no more to think of him as a stranger or foreigner, but a fellow citizen with the saints.”
A prayer and reflection for Christian unity from the apostle Paul in Romans 15:5-7– May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live insuch harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together youmay with one voice glorify bthe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
Wednesday night, February 1st, 6:30-7:30pm, in the Grace Bible auditorium we’ll be providing a “Grace Equip” seminar on the subject of marriage.
Marriage is a way of life given by God to put the gospel of Jesus on display, and provide a husband and wife with help, comfort, companionship, and love. There are few things more wonderful than a biblical marriage. But at times, there are also few things more difficult. Our marriages will fail without God at the center of them. We need God’s Grace in order to make it work.
In our time together, we’ll be looking to God’s Word and discussing practical steps to strengthen our marriages. You can come as a couple or come by yourself, Married or unmarried. The only prerequisite is that you’re seeking God’s will for your life and marriage. Bring a Bible, pen, something to take notes on, and be ready to smile. In keeping with Grace Bible’s approach, this time will be biblical, relational, and fun:)
I hope all of my church family and friends will take just a few minutes to watch this video. Tim Keller has been a great help to me and so many people, and then this video puts together some of his most simple, but VERY helpful observations on religion and the gospel. CHRISTIANS YOU NEED TO KNOW THIS STUFF. Get equipped. Check it out…
This week marks the 10 year anniversary of the iPhone. Does it seem like that happened fast??? I remember the first time I saw an iPhone. I was a youth pastor, and a student was showing off his shiny new caseless iPhone on a youth trip. My first thought was that it looked REALLY COOL, and breakable, and expensive, and hard to hold on to, and…breakable. I remember being fearful that my student’s mom was gonna kill him (or me) if his new phone was broken on our youth trip! A few years later I’d have my own iPhone, and just a few hours later, we would disassemble a restaurant booth to try and retrieve my student’s new iPhone, because, you guessed it, he dropped it. BUT, good news is it didn’t break!
iPhones have been life changing for our culture. So many conveniences afforded to us as the push of a button! So many ways to stay in contact with people we love! Access to so much great entertainment and information right in the palm of our hands! But have we become too dependent on our iPhones? Have we become LESS relational by trying to keep up with too many people and activities? Has so much instant access made us less patient with the people we love?
This week I did something that I haven’t done in a couple of decades. I bought an alarm clock. Weird right? Why would I need an alarm clock, when there’s one on my iPhone? Here’s the deal, I’ve formed a bad habit of making the last thing I look at before I go to sleep, and the first thing I look at when I wake up, my phone. I’ll even scroll through sports scores in the middle of the night when I wake up. But what’s wrong with that? Nothing really. Except for the fact that I use to spend my last waking moments talking to God about the day’s events. I use to talk to God in the morning before I saw the weather, the news, or social media too. I use to spend more time talking to my wife in the morning and at night rather than scrolling through timelines and newsfeeds. Those things were better. So, I’m moving my phone charger across the room, and I’ve invested in an old school alarm clock instead of using the one on my phone. I could still hear my phone ring if someone called with an emergency, but it’s much less accessible. No big deal, just a small adjustment that also serves as a reminder of my priorities.
Maybe the iPhone is all good for you! Or who knows, maybe you’re still rocking one of those gigantor bag phones from the 90’s wouldn’t even fit on your night stand. But if you’re like me these simple questions might be worth asking:
I’m sure there are more/better questions than these. What would you add?
Here are a couple of resources pertaining to yesterday’s sermon from John 17:1-5.
At the end of the message I shared 7 ways to pray for yourself from Jon Bloom. Here is a link to those in case you didn’t get them written down: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/seven-ways-to-pray-for-your-heart
Here are some questions to think about from John 17:1-5
It’s just Monday, but I am already looking forward to next Sunday for another time of worship and The Word with my church family! See y’all then.
Ever wondered how David, who’s well known for committing adultery with Bathsheba and a cover up that included murder, could be called “a man after God’s own heart” in the Bible. Below is a 7 minute video that addresses that question very well, in my opinion. Listen close, because there is A LOT of applicable truth in this little video, including an excellent definition for discipleship towards the end. Click below:
Pastor Roy Layman 