Author: Brian

Follower of Jesus, Husband, Dad, Grandpa, and Pastor

Sermon Songs: Hebrews 1:4-14

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

Jesus is the Final Spoken Word
Heir and Creator of everything
He is very God of very God
Upholder, our Savior, and our King

Chorus
Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

Behold the Son, the Davidic King
Righteous, victorious, forever
His angels serve Him and praises sing
Before our unchanging Creator

(Repeat Chorus)

So stand in awe of the glor’ous Son
Honor Him with your lips and your life
Love the good, hate all sin, like the Son
Trust Him each day in this world of strife

(Repeat Chorus)

© 2022 Brian J. Mikul.

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

Love Like Jesus

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
– John 13:34-35

These verses call us to love like Jesus.

Notice it is a command.  It is not a suggestion for when we feel like it.  We must love one another.  Churches must be places of love for each other.

And it is a new command primarily because it has a new pattern.  We are to love like Jesus.  Go through the entire Old Testament, look at saint after saint, and you will not find a perfect example of love.  But in Jesus, we have that perfect example.  Love like Jesus.

How did Jesus love?  In the context, we could say at least three things.

First, Jesus loved by serving.  At the beginning of John 13, Jesus washed the disciples’ feet.  Here was a real need, for their feet were dirty and smelly from walking the dusty roads. 

Love like Jesus.  Serve each other by meeting real needs.  That service might be dirty and messy.  It might be hard.  It might be unpleasant.  Love like Jesus.  What opportunities to serve do you see in your church family?  How might God call you to serve?  In what ways are you already serving?  Love like Jesus – by serving.

Second, Jesus loved by speaking.  You look through John 13-17, and in most of these verses Jesus is speaking. He is going away, and Jesus knows the disciples need instruction.  They need encouragement.  They need prayer.  And so Jesus lovingly speaks words of instruction, words of encouragement, and words of prayer. 

Love like Jesus.  Speak words of instruction – to spur on another Christian to follow Jesus.  Speak words of encouragement – to strengthen another Christian when life is tough.  Speak words of prayer on each other’s behalf – for strength in trial, for growth, for healing, for safety, for victory over temptation.  What words of instruction, encouragement, or prayer do you need to speak?  Love like Jesus – by speaking.

Finally, Jesus loved by sacrificing.  Immediately after that Last Supper, Jesus is arrested, falsely accused, flogged, ridiculed, and hung on cross.  Why does he endure all of this?  Jesus had already told the disciples: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).  Love motivated His sacrifice.  Jesus lovingly sacrificed his life for us, to pay punishment for our sins. He sacrificed Himself so that we might be forgiven. 

Love like Jesus.  Be ready to sacrifice for each other.  How might God call you to sacrifice for your church family?  Maybe your time or some money.  Maybe you will have to sacrifice your comfort or convenience, even sleep.  Love like Jesus – by sacrificing.

And this is how the world will know that we are His disciples – as we obey this command and love like Jesus.  When the world looks at the church, they should see a place of love, a people of love.  A people who genuinely care about each other.  A people who lovingly serve and speak and sacrifice.  This is who Jesus calls us to be.  This is what we are to be known for. 

Love like Jesus

Saturday Strands

On By BrianIn Saturday Strands1 Comment

Here are some loose strands from various places for your growth:

How to Draw Near to God: Learning Prayer from the Puritans – Jeremy Walker (DG)
As we listen to Puritan and Puritanesque praying, putting our ears to their doors, what do we hear? What can we seek to imitate?

Radical Christian Gentleness in an Era of Addictive Outrage – George Marsden (TGC)
…we live in an age when social media puts an immense premium on cultivating anger and indignation. We’re experiencing a pandemic of addictive outrage that spreads uncontrollably on the internet. Polarized political hostilities have made the situation worse, and Christians of all sorts, whether on the right or left, are hardly immune.

Are You a “Yeah, But…” Christian? – Tim Challies
I have long observed a fascinating but concerning tendency when I read one of the Bible’s clear commands. I have observed it in myself and I have observed it in others. It’s the tendency to turn quickly from what the Bible does command to what it does not, from the plainest sense of one of God’s directions to a list of exceptions or exclusions. It’s the tendency to hear what God says and immediately reply, “Yeah, but…”

The Spiritual Promise the Cinema Can’t Deliver – Trevin Wax
All this is spiritual language. When the lights dim, spiritual illumination begins. All this is tapping into the deepest longings of humanity—for connection, for growth, for inspiration, and for stories that bring resolution.

Flashback: The Savior’s Example
If you think him a harsh taskmaster, then that is how you will treat others. But if we grasp that Jesus is gentle towards us – if we rest in his gentle heart, then we can learn from him and share his gentleness with those around us.

Sermon Songs: Hebrews 1:1-3

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

Jesus is the Final Spoken Word
Heir and Creator of everything
He is very God of very God
Upholder, our Savior, and our King

Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

© 2022 Brian J. Mikul.

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

Our Prevailing Purpose

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. 
– I John 2:1a (ESV)

John is the patriarch of the church, the last remaining apostle.  He writes to the church with the affection of a father for his little children, and he has a purpose in his writing – that we may not sin.

Is that your purpose?  To not sin? 

Is that your goal?  Your desire?  Your ambition?  To not sin?  To stop sinning?

Our world, of course, has other goals: to be comfortable, to be healthy, to be happy.  And comfort, health, and happiness are wonderful blessings.  I like those things too, but they are not our purpose, our goal.

Our purpose here is that we would not sin.

Is that your purpose? 

When you are uncomfortable, is your prevailing purpose to pursue comfort, or to not sin in your discomfort?

When you are unhealthy, is your prevailing purpose to get healthy, or to not sin in your unhealthiness?

When you are unhappy, is your prevailing purpose to get happy, or to not sin in your unhappiness?

Our trials and struggles are not an excuse for sin, but rather opportunities to overcome temptation and not sin.

Is that your goal in whatever you face today? 

Is that your prevailing purpose? 

Saturday Strands

On By BrianIn Uncategorized

Here are some loose strands from various places for your growth:

The Difficult Discipline of Joy: What Keeps Us from Seeing God? – Clinton Manley (DG)
Joy is indeed a difficult discipline. Greed, self-centeredness, and the relentless pull of inattention constantly creep in and cut us off from divine delights.

With Friendship in Decline, Belonging Is a Powerful Apologetic – Sam Allberry (TGC)
What will show the presence of heaven itself among God’s people? What will show that God is alive and well and right here? It’s our love for one another. This isn’t an afterthought, as though what really mattered were other things and our love for one another was the icing on the cake. No, the quality of our relational life is to be an apologetic to the world around us.

Humility and Overcommitted Busyness – Alasdair Groves (Ligonier)
I want to direct our gaze to a significant blemish on humility in our own generation where we need further chipping and sanding: our overcommitted busyness.

Unpacking “Look inside Yourself” – Brian Rosner (Crossway)
Humans are not self-defining, isolated units. The biggest problem with only looking inside to find yourself is that it is hopelessly reductionistic, ignoring crucial dimensions of what it means to be a human being. Human identity does not exist in isolation, it cannot be defined without reference to the narrative in which it finds itself. We know ourselves by looking around to our closest relationships, back and forward to our shared life stories, and upward to something bigger than ourselves. We are profoundly social, deeply story-driven, and we have eternity in our hearts.

Flashback: The Shepherd’s Care
Is this how you think of God – as a gentle shepherd?

Sermon Songs: Hebrews Overview

On By BrianIn Hebrews Hymns

Jesus is better than angel beings
Better than Adam and Moses too
A better hope of salvation brings
Better promise and covenant new

Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

A better sacrifice once for all
By His own blood He offers mercy
Proclaims a better reward for all
A better life in God’s own country

Fast, Fast, Hold fast
Hold fast to Jesus the Better One
Near, Near, Draw Near
Draw near to God through His only Son

© 2022 Brian Mikul

(Sing to tune of “Grace Greater Than Our Sin”)

Christ Our Wisdom

On By BrianIn Sing A Song, Songs to Sing

Here is a great new song by Sovereign Grace Music that looks to the wisdom of Christ in the midst of our suffering. With Biblical lyrics that teach the mind and touch the heart and a modern hymn format that is singable and playable, it would be a great song to consider introducing to your church (I know I am). Or add it your playlist for your own encouragement (already done).

Lyrics, chord charts, lead sheets, related Scriptures, places to listen or buy, and more are available on their site here.

Blog Reboot

On By BrianIn PASSION Reflections

For many years this blog has been called Three Passions with the tagline: Because of Christ’s PASSION for us, we will live with a PASSION for God and comPASSION for people. And this remains an important theme for me. But there are other important themes that I have been focusing on too – idolatry, Sabbath, rest, identity, culture, wonder, family worship, small town church ministry, and more. And so this blog is getting a fresh look with a fresh tagline: For the Christian, For the Small Church.

For the Christian
I hope this blog will encourage Christians in their walk with the Lord. Through regular reflections, quotes, songs, studies, recommended resources, and collections of posts from others (Saturday Strands), I hope this blog will spur you to follow Christ.

For the Small Church
I have been a small-town pastor for over 20 years, and so I am also writing this blog to encourage small town pastors and churches in their important ministries. I want to share ministry ideas, songs, studies, resources, and posts from others that have been helpful to me, that I pray might also be helpful to other small-town church ministries too. Larger churches might find much that is helpful too, but I am writing with the small-town church in mind because that is what I know.

For a while I considered writing two blogs – one for Christians and one for small town churches, but the reality is that there would be too much overlap. For example, I hope that my Sermon Songs would both encourage individual Christians and provide a possible closing song for small town churches. The Bible Journey studies could be used by an individual Christian on their own or in a group, as well in a small-town church Sunday School or group.

So welcome to the new blog. I hope that you will be encouraged, and that God would be glorified.