Tag: Church

Passion Points

On By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts on the Word and prayer for your weekend reading:

How to Listen to a Sermon – Phil Ryken (via reformation 21)
So what is the right way to listen to a sermon?  With a soul that is prepared, a mind that is alert, a Bible that is open, a heart that is receptive, and a life that is ready to spring into action.

A Smorgasbord of Bible Memorization Methods – Jean Williams (Matthias Media)
Every Bible memorization method has one or more of the three Rs at its heart: Repeat, Recall, Review. Repeat a passage over and over until you’re familiar with it; practise recalling it until it’s worn a path in your memory; then review it so you don’t lose it. But there are different ways to do these three things, and not all of them will suit you.

Does Your Church Pray Together? – Sinclair Ferguson quoted by Justin Taylor
I greatly wish that our churches would learn to keep the main things central, that we would learn to be true Churches, vibrant fellowships of prayer, Gospel ministry and teaching, genuine mutual love.

31 Petitions to the Lord on the Occasion of my 31st Birthday – Trevin Wax
My knowledge of You as a loving Father is what compels me to come before You, to ask You, plead with You, beg of You: Accomplish these 31 things in the years to come….

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshipping the Lord as you sit under His Word and come before His throne.

Acts Articles – Church 02C

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Church Life, Habit of Prayer

In Acts 2:42, the early church devoted themselves to prayer.  The context is the church.  They were devoted to praying together.  What about us?  Are we devoted to meeting together for prayer?  Do we love God and his people so much that we want to gather together before the throne?  What is our attitude?  Are we devoted?  How might we grow in our devotion to praying together?

Church Quotes To Ponder

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

Only if you are part of a community of believers seeking to resemble, serve,
and love Jesus will you ever get to know him and grow into his likeness.
– Tim Keller

Be united with other Christians. A wall with loose bricks is not good.
The bricks must be cemented together. 
– Corrie Ten Boom

When people leave a church because they do not fit the program,
it communicates a deadly message: that our commitment is to the work
and not to the person, that our unity is primarily in the work
and not in Christ and the gospel.
– Ajith Fernando

When you choose a church you are choosing the people
you want to have around you when you die.
– Arthur Holmes

 

Acts Articles – Church 02B

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Church Life

In Acts 2:42, the early church devoted themselves to the breaking of bread.  There is some debate as to whether this refers to simply eating meals together (part of their devotion to fellowship) or to the Lord’s Supper.  As the Lord’s Supper was often connected to eating together (see I Corinthians 11), the answer might be both.  As we already addressed their devotion to fellowship, let’s consider briefly their devotion to the Lord’s Supper.

As Jesus commanded, they were devoted to coming together to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  They came together to remember Christ’s death for them.  We too need this devotion.  We too need to regularly remember what Christ has done for us.  Indeed Christ’s sacrifice for us is a large part of our motivation for the other three devotions, and all of our devotion. 

He died for me.  In amazement and gratitude, I’ll live for him.

Acts Articles – Church 02A

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Church Life

In Acts 2:42, the church devoted themselves to the fellowship.  Fellowship has the idea of sharing – both sharing with and sharing together. 

Verses 44-45 describe the sharing with.  They were generous.  They shared what they had with each other, and especially with those in need.  They weren’t clinging to their stuff, but were willing to share, to even sell what they had to give to those in need.  We need this generosity today – not only for the good of each other, but to break free of the materialism that grips our land.  Generosity opens our clutching hands; it teaches us to give instead of hoard.  We too need to be devoted to the fellowship – generously sharing with others.

Verse 46 describes their sharing together.  They came together publicly (in the temple) and privately (in their homes).  They gathered together regularly.  They spent time together.  They shared their lives together.  Part of this sharing together was eating together.  We like to joke about fellowship being tied to food, but fellowship is often tied to food in the Bible.  Jesus is always eating with people.  And here, the early church is eating together.  Eating together implies friendship, a relationship.  Refusing to eat with someone shows division.  So we eat together in part to show our unity with one another.  We need to make time in our busy lives to eat together, to do things together, to do life together.  We too need to be devoted to the fellowship – sharing our lives together.

Verses 46-47 go on to tell us that they ate together with glad and generous hearts, praising God.  Fellowship was a joyful thing for them.  They delighted in one another.  They enjoyed coming together.  They praised the Lord for each other.  Is that your attitude?  Are your sharing together?  Are you sharing with?  Are you devoted?  How might you need to grow in your devotion?

Acts Articles – Church 02

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Church Life, Habit of Scripture

In Acts 2:42, we find the early church devoted to coming together for the apostles’ teaching.  The apostles of course were teaching about Jesus from our Old Testament and eventually wrote the New Testament about Jesus, so we devote ourselves to the apostles’ teaching when we devote ourselves to God’s Word, and especially to the teaching about Jesus from the Bible. 

Like the early church, we should be devoted to coming together to study God’s Word, so we can learn and know more, and ultimately grow.  We should gather to listen attentively and respond appropriately.  We should have a real commitment and a real hunger.  Our attitude should be that we can’t wait to meet together with God’s people to study the Word. 

Is that your attitude?  Are you devoted?  How might you grow in your devotion to gathering together with God’s people to study His Word?

Ministry Moments

On By BrianIn Ministry Moments

Recently White Horse Inn and The Gospel Coalition ran a series of posts on youth ministry which are well worth your consideration:

Generation Me and Youth Ministry Today: Part One – White Horse Inn
And so it has become increasingly easy for one to go from the nursery to children’s church to youth group and on to college ministry without having actually belonged to the local church. Young people may still drive with their family to the church campus, but from the parking lot they scatter to their own target-marketed groups. For many, the church is more a cafeteria of ministry offerings than a communion of saints.

Generation Me and Youth Ministry Today: Part Two – White Horse Inn
What we believe, why believe it, and why it matters for our lives: these are always the coordinates that we have to keep in mind together especially as people enter emerging adulthood.

A Brief History of Youth Ministry – Dave Wright (via The Gospel Coalition)
To get an idea of where we have come from, let’s turn back the clock more than a half century. Space here only allows the broadest overview….

MTD: Not Just a Problem with Youth Ministry – Brian Cosby (via The Gospel Coalition)
That a youth ministry “teaches the Bible” does not necessarily mean it teaches the gospel. Many mistake the gospel with moralism—being a good person, reading your Bible, or opening the door for the elderly in order to earn God’s favor. But the gospel is altogether different.

Youth Ministry’s Tendency Toward Legalism – Cameron Cole (via The Gospel Coalition)
Based on my experience in youth ministry, if I had to identify the greatest theological problem in the field, it would be the absence of the gospel in teaching on sanctification.

Youth Need the Church, and the Church Needs Youth – Mark Howard (via The Gospel Coalition) My prayer is that as we minister to a generation starving for meaning, we won’t lose sight of the reality that what these youth need is Jesus, and that he is most fully offered within the community of the church, of which they are a vital part.

Why We Need Youth Ministry – Paul Martin (via The Gospel Coalition)
Jesus modeled one of the best practices for the church. His discipleship did not depend on the latest book, the newest game, or the best icebreaker. Instead, his model relied on the spiritual health of the leader, and his willingness to spend time investing himself, his love, and his truth in them.

Two-Dimensional Youth Ministry – Dave Wright (via The Gospel Coalition)
Several years ago, in trying to simplify my teaching on youth ministry, I boiled it down to two dimensions: content and context.

Acts Articles – Prayer 01C

On By BrianIn Book of Acts, Church Life, Habit of Prayer1 Comment

Yesterday we saw from Acts 1:15-26, that the 120 disciples sought direction from Jesus in prayer.  Our churches need to pray together for direction from Jesus too.  Three specific applications from the passage:

We need to pray together for direction in our witness.  The 12 apostles had a special role in being witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus, and so Judas’ replacement was important for their witness.  We too need to seek direction from Jesus as we seek to be witnesses in our communities, and beyond to the ends of the earth.

We need to pray for direction in our meetings.  As the disciples met together, they prayed.  It is entirely too easy for us to begin a church meeting with a quick perfunctory prayer and then rush into the business at hand.  But prayer is the most important business at hand as we seek to discern what Jesus wants us to do.  Every meeting should begin as a prayer meeting.  And when we come to an issue that we are unsure of or divided on, the meeting should return to a prayer meeting.  Because it is not what any of us want or think that is important.  It only matters what Jesus wants and thinks.  Our churches are not supposed to be country clubs with God tacked on.  They are churches of the Living God – and we must pray for his direction.

Finally, we need to pray for direction in leadership.  As an apostle, the man the 120 disciples chose would be a leader in the church.  And so they prayed to the Lord who knew the two men’s hearts for direction on which man should take this place of leadership.  The Word gives us certain requirements for leadership to guide us.  But we can’t see the hearts of men.  So we need to pray to the One who can see men’s hearts to guide us to whom he wants to serve as leaders in our churches.

May our churches grow in their commitment to praying together for Jesus’ direction in our witness, meetings, and leadership.

How To Encourage Your Pastor

On By BrianIn Church Life

R.C. Sproul, Jr. recently shared three simple ways to encourage your pastor.  As a pastor myself, I know how easy it is to become discouraged, and I thought his suggestions were right on:

First, pay attention to his labors. Though we do not have a duty to be at the church every time the doors are open, one thing that discourages pastors is our unwillingness to simply avail ourselves of his gifts. When the pastor labors in his study to prepare a Bible study lesson, or writes a blog post, and the sheep under his care pay no attention, it is discouraging….

Second, speak well of him to others. …if word comes back to him, and it will, that you have spoken well of him, to others in the church, or even to those in your community, he will have to take your good word to heart….

Third, pursue godliness. Because he loves you, what your pastor wants more than anything else is for you to grow in grace and wisdom, to become more like Jesus….

I encourage you to read the whole post here.

How Is Our Listening?

On By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

The conversation after church, from a biblical perspective, should go like this:

“How was your hearing today?”

“Pretty good.  I was attentive, and I’ve taken the truth to heart.  I want to hold on to it, so I’ve taken some notes, and I’m going to be praying about it this weekend.  I don’t want to lose what God has given me.”

The sad truth is, most of us would worry more about losing our wallets in church than we would about losing the truth that God laid out for us.

– Gary Thomas in Holy Available