Current

Here are some good posts about current events and issues related to the church and culture:

The Difference Between Being Offended and Being Persecuted – Russell Moore

The Day Christians Were Martyred on American Soil – Todd Starnes

The Targeting of Christians and How Christians Respond – Ed Stetzer

Christian Virtue in the Age of Authenticity – Kevin DeYoung

Sermon Songs: Ephesians 1:1

MusicNotes

The Lord has set us each apart
As saints to do His will
Believe in Christ with all your heart
Be faithful to Him still

In Christ we’re saved to do what’s right
To love and to forgive
So put off sin and be a light
In this world where we live

(To the tune of the “Amazing Grace”)

Satisfied

MorningEveningThe person who believes in Jesus finds enough in his Lord to satisfy him now and to content him forevermore. The believer is not the man whose days are weary for lack of comfort and whose nights are long on account of the absence of heart-cheering thought. The believer finds in faith such a spring of joy, such a fountain of consolation that he is content and happy. Put him in a dungeon, and he will find good company; place him in a barren wilderness, and he will eat the bread of heaven; drive him away from friendship, and he will meet the “friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Destroy all his shade, and he will find shadow beneath the Rock of Ages; erode the foundation of his earthly hopes, but his heart will still be fixed, trusting in the Lord.

The heart is as insatiable as the grave until Jesus enters it, and then it becomes a cup full to overflowing. There is such a fullness in Christ that He alone is the believer’s sufficiency. The true saint is so completely satisfied with the provision of Jesus that he no longer thirsts-except perhaps to drink more deeply at the living fountain.

In that sweet manner, believer, you will thirst; it will not be a thirst of pain, but of loving desire; you will find it a sweet thing to be longing for a deeper enjoyment of Jesus’ love. An old saint once declared, “I have been lowering my bucket into the well so often, but now my thirst for Jesus has become so insatiable, that I long to put the well itself to my lips and drink right out of it.”

Is this the feeling of your heart now, believer? Do you feel that all your desires are satisfied in Jesus and that you have no need now except to know more of Him and to have closer fellowship with Him? Then come continually to the fountain, and take the water of life freely. Jesus will never think you take too much but will always welcome you, saying, “Drink; yes, drink abundantly, loved one.”

– Charles Spurgeon in Morning and Evening (Updated by Alistair Begg)

Declaring the Glory

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Lake Muskallonge in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
– Psalm 19:1

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,
have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,
in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
– Romans 1:20

Sermon Songs: Psalm 16:9-11

MusicNotes

Lord I rejoice – glad is my heart
As I walk close to you
In Your presence – joy You impart
And pleasures ever new.

My hope is in the Lord today
He will take care of me
And though I die – Christ made a way
To rise in victory

Then in Your presence I will live
With joy forevermore
Enjoy the pleasures that You give
And You always adore

(To the tune of the “O God Our Help In Ages Past”)

Sermon Songs: Psalm 16:7-8

MusicNotes

I want to walk close to my God
In all I say and do
So as I daily walk this sod
Lord keep my gaze on You

Listening to Your Holy Word
and by Your Spirit led
Praising You for what I have learned
For what You’ve done and said

Knowing You are at my right side
Your presence is with me
In You I’m safe, in You I hide
In You security

(To the tune of the “O God Our Help In Ages Past”)

Sermon Songs: Psalm 16:5-6

MusicNotes

I want to walk close to my God
In all I say and do
He satisfies like no false god
He is the God who’s true

The Lord is my chosen portion
A cup of refreshment
He holds my lot – I’ll trust in Him
My God all-sufficient

In pleasant places fall the lines
And in Him I will rest
My wondrous inheritance shines
With God forever blessed

(To the tune of the “O God Our Help In Ages Past”)