Tag: Christianity

Maturity in Christ

On By BrianIn Book of Acts1 Comment

Three times in Acts 15:30-6:5, we find the word “strengthened”.  Judas and Silas “encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words” (15:32).  Paul and Silas were “strengthening the churches” (15:41).  The churches were “strengthened in the faith” (16:5).

We too need to be strengthened.  We need to be strengthened by the teaching of the Word.  We need to be strengthened by the encouragement of others.  We need to be strengthened in our faith.  We need to mature in Christ.

And we ought to pursue this maturity.  We gather together to be strengthened as we spend time praising God, praying, and hear the Word.  We commit to regularly spend time alone with God in His Word, and prayer, and praise.  We come together as families to read the Word and pray and sing.  We pursue growth.  We pursue maturity.  And as we mature, we can help to strengthen others, helping them to mature.

Don’t float through your Christian life.  Get the oars in the water.  Get serious about pursuing maturity in Christ.

Purity in Conduct

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Family/Single Life1 Comment

In Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council requested the Gentile believers to avoid four things.  We addressed three of them yesterday.  The fourth item they were to avoid was sexual immorality.  Why focus on this?  Probably because it was a big issue of the day.  Sexual immorality was part of the culture, indeed part of the pagan worship.  And the Gentile believers needed to understand that sexual immorality was not how Christians acted.  They may have lived that way before, but as Christians they couldn’t anymore.  They had a new life in Christ.  They needed to pursue purity in conduct.

Much has changed in 2000 years, but sexual immorality is one of the big sins in our culture today as it was back then.  Sexual immorality is in the air we breathe, but it must not be found in Christians.  We can’t hook up for a one night stand.  We can’t live together.  We can’t have an affair.  We can’t engage in homosexual activity.  We must flee all sexual immorality.  We must pursue purity in conduct.

Unity in Fellowship

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Church Life

In Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council requested the Gentile believers to avoid food offered to idols, food that had been strangled, and food with blood still in it.  Why focus on food issues?  Because eating together was and still is an important part of fellowship, and these three things would offend the Jewish believers.  If Jewish and Gentile believers are going to have fellowship together, eat together, and find unity together, then the Gentiles need to strive to avoid offending their Jewish brothers and sisters in Christ.

We too must strive not to offend each other.  We all have different personal convictions regarding behavior based on our age, how we were raised, where we have lived, and more.  We ought to strive not to offend each other in what we do.  We may need to agree on some things we will all avoid so as not to offend each other.

We have all seen one child figure out that something bugs another child, and so this first child goes out of their way to do that something just to irritate the second child.  Scripture teaches us to do the opposite.  If we know something offends someone, we should graciously strive not to do it.  Pursue unity in fellowship.

But notice also that the Gentiles were only given three things to avoid so as not to offend their Jewish brothers.  But the Jewish believers held many more personal convictions from the Mosaic Law, and the Gentiles were not expected to keep the Law to please them.  There was still a lot of room for Gentiles to do things that the Jews would find offensive, but the Jewish believers had to avoid being offended.

We too must graciously strive not to be offended.  We can’t expect others to follow our personal behavior convictions, or judge them when they don’t.  We must avoid being offended by what our brothers and sisters in Christ do.

If you go out in the rain in a t-shirt, you will soon be soaked.  You need a rain slicker, so the rain “slicks” off of you.  When you go to church, don’t wear a “t-shirt” in which every offense soaks in until you are drenched with anger.  Wear a “rain slicker”, so the offenses just slick off of you.

In sum, we all need to focus on ourselves.  Graciously strive not to offend.  Graciously strive not to be offended.  Pursue unity in fellowship.

Clarity in Salvation

On By BrianIn Book of Acts

In Acts 15, some people were saying that circumcision was necessary for salvation. So Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem to pursue clarity on this matter. The apostles and elders met to consider the matter. From the evidence of Scripture and the Holy Spirit’s working, they came to the conclusion that salvation was by grace alone through faith alone.

While we may not think circumcision is necessary for salvation today, we must continue to pursue clarity in salvation. Salvation remains by grace alone through faith alone. We must be crystal clear on this. We are not saved by good works or living a good life. We are not saved by going to church or praying or giving money. We are saved by grace through faith. Confusion on this matter can be eternally fatal. So we must come back again and again to this central truth: Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone.

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

8 Reasons to Read Christian Biographies – Paul Tautges
Whether it is the lives of the Puritans, leaders of the Reformation, or faithful believers who lived nearer to our own day, the story of another Christian’s life often lifts our eyes from our own ministries and circumstances to see something bigger.

On Not Losing the Gospel in the Next Generation – Don Carson (via Justin Taylor)

The Church of Earnest Prayer – Kevin DeYoung
Our prayer is often dull because there is so little earnestness in it. We pray as if no one is listening. We pray as if nothing will happen. We pray as if nothing were at stake. We pray without vim or vigor, without passion, without purpose. We pray to pass the time not to pull down blessings from heaven.

Why Should You Go to a Prayer Meeting? – Erik Raymond
Sometimes we forget that prayer is a privilege. And it is not a cheap privilege. When we pray we are communing with the God of the universe, the originator and sustainer of all life. Further, we are talking to our Father. He is more than a cosmic superintendent he is our caring Savior. This family relationship, this access was purchased with the highest price, the royal currency of Christ’s blood. Don’t allow yourself to crowd out privilege with inconvenience.

Why Going to Church on Sunday Is an Act of War – Daniel Darling
When your weary legs rise for another verse of the chorus and you offer praise to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, you are saying, in effect, that the reigning prince of the power of the air, Satan (Ephesians 2:2) is really not the King He thinks he is. There is another King, another Kingdom and it’s coming one day in it’s fullness and power. When you gather with your fellow believers and worship Christ, you are saying to the rest of the world that man is not ultimate. You are saying that the great movements of this world may have some power, but ultimately they are part of God’s gathering of history to Himself and for His kingdom. When you worship the risen Christ every Sunday at your church, you are telling the world that in your life, for this moment, Christ is ultimate. He is to be worshipped above all else. You’re making a statement that there is Someone deserving of more adulation and worship than the lesser things to which we pledge allegiance. You’re inviting them to ask you, “Why do you think the Kingdom of God is better than the Kingdom of man? What is it about Christ that gets you to roll out of bed, get dressed, get your family dressed, hop in the car, and go to church every single Sunday?

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day!

The Test

On By BrianIn Church Life, Habit of Stewardship, Heart3 Comments

Summer is here.  And with summer comes numerous activities that compete for our time.  And some of those activities are on Sunday mornings, competing for our time with the Lord and his people.  It may be a game, a race, a family get-together, a trip to the beach, a work picnic, or any number of other things.  Each alternative Sunday morning activity represents a test.

  • It is a test of our priorities.  Will we choose what Christ offers or what the world offers?  Will we choose Christ or that activity?  Which will be first?  Which will take the priority?  The early church devoted themselves to coming together for the Word and prayer.  Paul risked his life to plant and build up local churches.  Will we share their commitment?  Our world is filled with idols that many people worship, but on Sunday mornings the church gathers to declare that there is one true God.  We gather to celebrate the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We gather together to worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  What could possibly be more important than that?
  • It is a test of our attitude.  We could come every Sunday to church, but with the wrong attitude.  We could come bitter because we really want to be doing something else.  We could sit through the sermon impatiently, hoping it will end soon so we can go and do what we really want to do.  Or we could gather expectantly, excited to see what God might do among us.  We could gather joyfully to worship the Lord through singing and prayer and His Word.  What is our attitude?
  • It is a test of our witness.  Like it or not, church is a public expression of our commitment to Christ.  Our neighbors see if we leave for church each week.  Our families see if we are committed or not.  If we don’t have a strong commitment to church, it communicates to others that Christ really isn’t that important to us.  And if it isn’t important to us, why should it be important to them?

So this summer when those alternative activities come up, go to church.  Tell your family you will be late to that family get-together.  Tell your coach you can’t make the game.  Save that trip to the beach for another time.  You already have plans for Sunday morning.  You have a prior commitment.  Make church a priority, with a good attitude, as a good witness for Jesus.

Supernatural Power

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

HoleHolinessThe same Spirit who was present at creation and caused you to be born again is at work to empower your inner person (that is, your will or heart) so that you might resist sins you couldn’t resist before and do the good things which would otherwise be impossible.  Defeatist Christians who do not fight against sins because they figure they were “born this way” or “will never change” or “don’t have enough faith” are not being humble.  They dishonor the Holy Spirit who strengthens us with supernatural power.
– Kevin DeYoung in The Hole in our Holiness

The Work of Missions

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Church Life

Acts 14 gives us four essential elements of the work of missions:  The work of missions includes:

  • The Work of Proclamation (v1-21) – They went about proclaiming the gospel.  At times they could launch straight into the gospel.  At other times they had to go back and start with the “pre-gospel” – that there is one true God who made and sustains the world.  Wherever they had to begin, they proclaimed the Word boldly.  And they were humble: they knew they were mere men and refused to be exalted.  In the same way, the work of missions today is to proclaim the gospel (and the pre-gospel as needed) both boldly and humbly.
  • The Work of Perseverance (v1-21) – They had to flee one town.  One man was stoned in another town.  But they didn’t quit.  They kept preaching the gospel.  They persevered.  Missions is tough.  Missions is war.  The work of missions today, no less than in Acts, includes the need to persevere.
  • The Work of Planting (v22-23) – They didn’t just proclaim the gospel, but they gathered new Christians into churches where they could grow.  They planted churches.  This included building up the churches and appointing leaders.  The work of missions today still requires planting new churches.
  • The Work of Partnering (v24-28) – They returned to their sending church to tell all the great things God had done.  They understood that they were not lone rangers, but rather partners with their supporting church.  In the same way, the work of missions today includes the need for active communicating partnership with supporting churches.