Ever struggle with what to say when someone is hurting? Me too. Maybe the best place to start is with what NOT to say. Check out this great post on the subject.

 

Most of our New Testament is made up of letters written to churches reminding them of the gospel (the good news that Christ died for sinners). Ever wonder why? Why would “saved” people need to here the gospel of Jesus again? The truth is we never outgrow the gospel. “The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s but the A-Z of Christianity” -Tim Keller.

The fact is, a growing awareness of God’s holiness, and a growing awareness of our own sinfulness, without a growing appreciation for the gospel, is hurtful. The picture below illustrates this well. Notice what happens when we don’t increase our view of the gospel (the cross). We try to fill the growing gap with performance (religion, moralism, self-justification, legalism, pride) and/or pain (guilt, fear, shame, insecurity, despair).

The picture below illustrates Christianity WITH a growing understanding of the gospel. In this picture we see an ever increasing appreciation of the gospel (the cross) as we further our knowledge of God’s holiness and our own sinfulness.

The Christian life becomes a struggle when we don’t focus the gospel and it’s far reaching implications. We think the benefits of the gospel are limited to when we pass from this life to the next. But the gospel gives us freedom from our past, power of the present, AND hope for the future. The gospel not only saves us (John 3:16, Romans 10:13), but also progressively sanctifies us, allowing us to be “transformed…from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor 3:18). Performance and pain are now replaced by worship, a realization of the grace (unearned favor) that has been afforded to us, and a pursuit of holiness out of thankfulness. 

Now, if you’re reading all of this and are thoroughly confused, don’t worry. It’s probably my lack of explanation more than your inability to understand. Please, shoot me an email and let’s get together and talk about this. There’s nothing I want more than to help ppl apply the gospel to our lives.

Our church’s student ministry recently had their annual weekend retreat aka Breakaway Weekend. Below is a sweet highlight vid!

Loved this from John Piper. Less than 5 mins. Check it out!

Last Sunday we talked about Jesus’ very high view and value of Scripture.  Jesus’ followers should share that view of Scripture and make Bible reading and study an integral part of our lives. A good place to start reading and studying would be one of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. I recommended John for our church because we are currently going through this book on Sunday mornings. Start in one of the gospels, make it your “home base,” and then start reading through it a passage at a time, taking some time to reflect, ask some questions, and pray. Below are some questions that make for a simple approach to studying the Bible one passage at a time:

What does this passage say?

What does this passage mean to its original audience?

What does this passage tell us about God?

What does this passage tell us about man?

What does this passage demand of me?

How does this passage change the way I relate to people?

How does this passage prompt me to pray?

This past Sunday we talked looked at Jesus’ statement in John 10:35 “Scripture cannot be broken.” We talked about how followers of Christ (John 10:27)  we should share Jesus’ high view of the Bible.

I recommended a great book on the subject of the Bible itself: Taking God At His Word

Also, below is a summary of Jesus’ view of Scripture from the author of Taking God At His Word, pastor Kevin DeYoung that I read at the end of the message:

Jesus held Scripture in the highest possible esteem. He knew his Bible intimately and loved it deeply. He often spoke with language of Scripture. He easily alluded to Scripture. And in his moments of greatest trial and weakness—like being tempted by the devil or being killed on a cross—he quoted Scripture.

His mission was to fulfill Scripture, and his teaching always upheld Scripture.

He never disrespected, never disregarded, never disagreed with a single text of Scripture.

He affirmed every bit of law, prophecy, narrative, and poetry. He shuddered to think of anyone anywhere violating, ignoring, or rejecting Scripture.

Jesus believed in the inspiration of Scripture, down  to the sentences, to the phrases, to the words, to the smallest letter, to the tiniest mark.

He accepted the chronology, the miracles, and the authorial ascriptions as giving the straightforward facts of history.

He believed in keeping the spirit of the law without ever minimizing the letter of the law. He affirmed the human authorship of Scripture while at the same time bearing witness to the ultimate divine authorship of the Scriptures.

He treated the Bible as a necessary word, a sufficient word, a clear word, and the final word.

It was never acceptable in his mind to contradict Scripture or stand above Scripture.

He believed the Bible was all true, all edifying, all important, and all about him. He believed absolutely that the Bible was from God and was absolutely free from error. What Scripture says God says, and what God said was recorded infallibly in Scripture.

Jesus submitted his will to the Scriptures, committed his brain to study the Scriptures, and humbled his heart to obey the Scriptures.

In summary, it is impossible to revere the Scriptures more deeply or affirm them more completely than Jesus did. The Lord Jesus, God’s Son and our Savior, believed his Bible was the word of God down to the tiniest speck and that nothing in all those specks and in all those books in his Bible could ever be broken.

Here is a link to the entire post.

Check out GRACE NOTES MAY 2016! Lots of great GBF News including a recap of the elder retreat we took earlier this month.

Our elder team continues to go through Twenty Christian Beliefs by Wayne Grudem together. Last week we looked at and discussed Ch 2, What Is God Like? The chapter looks at, and gives biblical evidence for the existence of God, the knowability of God, His independence, the fact that He’s unchangeable, eternal, and omnipresent. Furthermore He is spirit, invisible, omniscient, wise, truthful, good, love, holy, righteous, just, and jealous. God is wrathful toward sin. He wills what he will. He has freedom. He is omnipotent, perfect, blessed, and beautiful. All of this and at the same time, God is a unity. “He is not more of one attribute at one point in history and another attribute at another time. He is fully and completely every attribute (even those not mentioned here) at every time.” (p.36)

I’d like to recommend further reading on this subject. Check out: God Is The Gospel, By: John Piper

Also, we sang the song below at church on Sunday. It was a great compliment to my reading from chapter 2!

 

Wasteland, by Need To Breathe. One of my favorite songs. Lyrics and YouTube below:

I’m the first one in line to die
When the cavalry comes
Yeah it feels like the great divide
Has already come
Yeah I’m wasting my way through days
Losing youth along the way

Oh if God is on my side
Oh if God is on my side
Oh if God is on my side
Who can be against me

There was a greatness I felt for awhile
But somehow it changed
Some kind of blindness I used to protect me
From all of my stains
Yeah I wish this was vertigo
It just feels like I’m falling slow

Oh if God is on my side
Then who can be against me

Yeah in this wasteland where I’m livin’
There is a crack in the door filled with light
And it’s all that I need to get by
Yeah in this wasteland where I’m livin’
There is a crack in the door filled with light
And it’s all that I need to shine

All of these people I meet
It seems like they’re fine
Yeah in some ways I hope that they’re not
And their hearts are like mine
Yeah it’s wrong when it seems like work
To belong all I feel is hurt

Oh if God is on my side
Yeah if God is on my side
Oh if God is on my side
Who can be against me

Yeah in this wasteland where I’m livin’
There is a crack in the door filled with light
And it’s all that I need to get by
Yeah in this wasteland where I’m livin’
There is a crack in the door filled with light
And it’s all that I need to shine

Oh if God is on my side
Yeah if God is on my side
Oh if God is on my side
Who can be against me

  

The following is taken from a very helpful tract produced by Crossway. You can order tracts by clicking here. 

What Cancer Can’t Do
Cancer. Just the sound of the word fills our hearts with fear and dread. It’s a terrifying diagnosis. For many of us, this disease threatens to rob us of our health, our energy, our vitality, and our sense of well-being. It endangers our ability to provide for ourselves and to take care of our families. It may steal our identity, our sense of purpose and significance. It can ruin our best-laid plans, destroy our hopes and dreams. It has taken friends and loved ones from us far too soon. 
Cancer is a powerful enemy. But it’s not all-powerful. As we find ourselves in the heat of the battle, it helps to remember that there are some things cancer cannot do:

Cancer is so limited…

It cannot cripple love.

It cannot shatter hope.

It cannot corrode faith.

It cannot destroy peace.

It cannot kill friendship.

It cannot suppress memories.

It cannot silence courage.

It cannot invade the soul.

It cannot steal eternal life.

It cannot conquer the spirit.

It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.

-Unknown Author

What God can do

Faith, hope, love, peace, courage—these things are eternal. They go on forever. And, according to the Bible, so do we who are God’s children. But even at the best of times, our physical bodies are imperfect and wear out as we get older. The apostle Paul said it so well: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed….So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9,16-18).

God promises to give us the courage and strength, the hope and peace that we need day by day. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

When facing cancer, you’ll discover new areas of your life where you must learn to depend on God to provide his special empowerment. He is ready to teach you, as he taught Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in [your] weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).

God’s promise in times of ease or times of pain is the same: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5). So, be assured that “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

We can trust in God’s provision for us because he “did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all” (Romans 8:32). Since God made the ultimate sacrifice for you to be saved, be assured he will do whatever benefits those who lean on him in childlike faith.

However difficult the hardships you face, God always has a way for his child to victoriously face them with courage, peace, and confidence. “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

One more thing that cancer can’t do: separate us from God. For those who have made the decision to believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior, the Bible promises that “neither death nor life…nor things present nor things to come… nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).