Church Collection

On July 27, 2016July 27, 2016 By BrianIn Church Collection

I am very much in favor of including children in the Worship Service. Our children grew up in the Worship Service, and learned at an early age to sing what they could, pray when everyone else did, and listen to the sermons. So here are some good posts on why to keep children in the service:

4 Reasons Your Kids Should Sit with You on Sunday– Jared Bridges (TGC)

5 Reasons to Keep the Kids In – Nick Batzig (TCC)

It’s Okay for Kids to be Bored During Church – Melissa Edgington

4 Ways to Welcome Children in Worship– Megan Hill (TGC)

Worship

On July 21, 2016October 1, 2016 By BrianIn PASSION Quotes

Above all else, worship is an encounter with the living, true, holy, sovereign, triune God of the universe. He chooses to meet with us by His Word and Spirit, and there is nothing as meaningful, rich, and glorious on earth as the church gathered together with its Lord and Savior in worship.

– Jason Helopoulos in Tabletalk (May 2016)

Classic Quote

On June 27, 2016 By BrianIn Classic Quotes1 Comment

Holy wonder will lead you to grateful worship.

– Charles Spurgeon

Passion Points

On October 31, 2015 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

What Is Reformation Day All About? – Robert Rothwell (Ligonier)
But what is the significance of Reformation Day, and how should we consider the events it commemorates?

Reformation Day: Jesus Came Knocking – Jon Bloom (DG)
In fact, given the prosperity that most of us in the West are experiencing and the arid spiritual climate most of us live in, it may be that the best way we can observe Reformation Day is to do some serious, prayerful soul-searching…. And we should ask ourselves, is Jesus knocking — or pounding — on our door? Are we hearing him? Are we ignoring or even resisting him? Are we tolerating and justifying any idols?

How To Lose Your Zeal for Christ – Tim Challies
Are you zealous for Christ? Do you have a genuine zeal to live for him and to advance his cause in the world? Or have you lost the zeal that once marked you?

Two Ways To Sing To God – Joel Limpic (D&T)
Psalm 81:1 commands us to “sing for joy.” How does this command play itself out practically in our worlds, particularly when we feel joyless? I want to propose that to fully embrace this command, we must learn to sing in two ways: from affection and for affection.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day singing for joy to the Lord!

Passion Points

On October 24, 2015 By BrianIn PASSION Points1 Comment

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Anselm’s Prayer for Fullness of Joy in God (via Justin Taylor)
I pray, O God, that I may know you and love you,
so that I may rejoice in you.

The Joy of Living in Jesus’s Shadow– Marshall Segai (DG)
What we learn from John the Baptist is that the greatest glories in this life are not in receiving attention or fame, but in funneling it all to Jesus.

Five Steps to Meditating on the Bible – Colin Smith
To meditate, then, is to think deeply about what God has said to us in the Bible and to prepare our minds and hearts for prayer. Scripture is the foundation of our praying; meditation readies us for it by helping us focus, understand, remember, worship, and apply.

The Sunday Worship Killer – Jason Helopoulos
Donning the robes of the critic maims and kills many would-be worshipers in churches every single Sunday morning.

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshiping our great God!

Passion Points

On September 5, 2015 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

Exceptionally Ordinary – Borrowed Light

4 Things to Remember When Reading the Bible – Matt Tully (Crossway)

4 Really Good Money Questions – Tim Challies

Prepare for Corporate Worship – Geoffrey Kirkland

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day prepared to worship our great King!

My Soul Longs For The Lord

On June 9, 2015 By BrianIn Songs of Passion1 Comment

A new song from Keith and Kristyn Getty and Graham Kendrick. Free mp3 download and piano music here.

Passion Points

On May 30, 2015 By BrianIn PASSION Points

Here are some good posts for your weekend reading:

God Is an Inexhaustible Fountain of Love – Jonathan Edwards (via Trevin Wax)
And there this glorious fountain forever flows forth in streams, yea, in rivers of love and delight, and these rivers swell, as it were, to an ocean of love, in which the souls of the ransomed may bathe with the sweetest enjoyment, and their hearts, as it were, be deluged with love.

Fountain of Love, Fill Our Souls – E. B. Pusey (via Trevin Wax)
O God, Fountain of love, pour your love into our souls,
that we may love those whom you love with the love you have given us…

Conflicts: Our Laboratories of Love – Jon Bloom (DG)
Here’s the good news: Conflict is the laboratory in which love (agapē) grows. Conflict is the construction area where humility is built. Conflict is the radiology department where pride is exposed. Conflict is the field where our treasure is unearthed. Conflict is a discipline God uses to make us holy and bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:10–11).

Worship God as Our Father – Stephen Miller (DG)
Worship is responding to God — who he is and what he has done. And the truth that God would give his own Son that he might make us his sons and daughters ought to produce awe and wonder and amazement in us. It ought to make us stop for a second — or for a Sunday morning — and say, How great is the love of the Father! How could we not sing? How could we not shout? How could we not respond, with all that we are, to all that he has done for us?

Hope you have a great Lord’s Day worshiping our Father and loving his people!