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Keep praying, giving, going!

Women’s Fellowship Tonight

(by ns)

The ladies of GC will be gathering together at our house this evening at 6:00p for Biblical fellowship. The men of the church will be providing the ‘daddy day care’ so that the ladies can utilize this time to spur one another on in Christ-likeness. This has proven to be so beneficial to the soul of my wife (and mine too when she recaps for me); along with countless others who have attended; so we encourage you to make every effort to come.

If anyone needs directions to our house, please email me.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?

Feel More Outrage About Your Sin Than…

From John Piper:

Ask yourself an honest question: How intensely outraged are you over your belittling of God compared to the engagement of your emotion when your child is hurt, or your leg is cut off, or you lose your job, or some physical thing happens? Everything in you rises to say, “No!” How often does your heart say “No!” with the same emotional engagement at your own sin?

HT: TR

Aid Your Pastor’s Joy

(by: jt)

The people of Grace are such a joy to pastor. Thank you for the privilege! Here’s a good article from C.J. Mahaney on how you can continue to foster your pastor’s joy.

Joy-filled pastoring is partially dependent upon joy-filled church members. So how can members of a local church help foster joy in their pastor?

Read the rest!

Worship Follow-Up

Last week’s sermon was admittedly a different approach. The goal was to look directly into the brightness of the sun, while praying that we would not be blinded in the process.

Here’s a powerful follow-up from Octavius Winslow that is well worth the read:

The Redeemer, the Revelation of the Father’s Glory

“The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Cor. 4:6

That God was under any obligation or necessity to reveal Himself to man, is an idea that cannot for a moment be seriously entertained. It will follow, then, that such a revelation of Himself, of His mind and will, to fallen creatures having been made, it must be regarded as astounding act of His sovereign mercy, irrespective of any claim whatever arising from the creature man. The source where it originates must be entirely within God Himself.”

Touch not the glory, carry well the Name

(by ns)

I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.  1 John 2:12

Treasuring Christ Together

(by: jt)

I’m in Minneapolis for Monday’s final Treasuring Christ Together meeting for the ‘07-’08 year. These gatherings are for church planters who have some sort of connection to Bethlehem. Each meeting has proven immensely profitable for me.

Fellowshipping with like-minded church planters over matters that are essential to the church’s health is a unique joy. And being a pastor of one of the youngest TCT churches affords me the privilege of being able to learn from those who are just ahead of us in the journey. We’ve prayed for one another, counseled each other through pastoral needs, and gained insight from one another’s ministry strategies. Added to that, staying with my good friends John and Leslie Erickson is always a treat.

Thank you Lord for the gift that the Treasuring Christ Together vision has been in my life, and now for many others in Memphis. May what we’ve seen to date of Your work through the TCT churches only be a foretaste of Your purposes to bless beyond our greatest imaginations!

Solus Christus!

Praying for the ‘hard ones’

(by: ns)

Devotionally I am in the book of Acts right now and this morning’s section was ch. 9:20-22. Acts 9 is familiar to many because it is the account of the conversion of Saul, while he was intentionally persecuting Christians. According to Ananias and those in the synagogue, Saul had quite the reputation for the suffering he was inflicting.

One of the ways the Lord prompted me to pray this morning were along the lines of praying for people who we would deem as hard people. In our minds we give them this description because of the their hardness of heart towards the gospel; lovelessness towards Christ; and overt disobedience to almost every authority placed over their life. In our minds, people such as this are ‘written off’ as ones who are without hope because they are destined for jail or a troublesome life because that is the fruit that there attitude and actions are producing now.

Consider Saul: He persecuted Christians and evoked fear in them. He had no love towards Christ but sought to remove Christ from the law. He pursued righteousness, but not the righteousness that is Christ. We would all agree that Saul would be considered a hard one.

Consider your soul: Apart from the very righteousness of Christ, how are we any different than those whom we’ve ‘written off’? A careful assessment of the scriptures concerning our soul apart from Christ would answer that we should consider ourself a hard one as well.

Now Consider Christ: Didn’t He die for the ungodly? Isn’t He capable of changing the heart of stone into flesh? Isn’t He able to save to the uttermost all who draw near to Him? Isn’t He able to shine His light into dark hearts revealing the glory of God in His face? Isn’t He the bread of life? Isn’t He the light of the world? Isn’t He the door for His sheep? Didn’t He lay down His life for His sheep? Isn’t He the good shepherd? Isn’t He the resurrection and the life? Isn’t He the way, the truth, and the life? Isn’t He the true vine? Isn’t He the great I AM?

Who are some of the ‘hard ones’ in your life? A neighborhood kid; husband; wife; rebellious child; you? Pray to the only One is able to deliver from sin and save to the uttermost those who would draw near to Him. Our sufficiency is in Christ!

Though the likelihood of you reading this post is slim; this is how I prayed for you this morning lil Tony, Richard, and Mitch. May the Lord get much glory for Himself by doing all that is necessary to satisfy you with Christ.

Worship Preparation | Christ’s Essential Glory

Christ is inherently glorious. He is essentially so. That is to say, gloriousness belongs to Him by virtue of Who He is. Christ is. And He is glorious. Period.

In this week’s sermon text, we are given a momentary glimpse of Christ’s essential glory during His incarnation.

Here’s how one dictionary defines essential: (Especially pay attention the attributive usage):

Essential |iˈsen sh əl|
adjective
Absolutely necessary; extremely important : [with infinitive ] it is essential to keep up-to-date records | fiber is an essential ingredient. See notes at inherent, necessary .
• [ attrib. ] fundamental or central to the nature of something or someone : the essential weakness of the plaintiff’s case.

I’m not sure that I’ve even started mining the depths of Mark 9? Please pray for me as I’m continuing to prepare.

My prayer for myself, and for all of Grace for this coming Sunday, is that 30+ years from now (beyond year 2038), like Peter, will still be as gripped by the revelation of Christ’s glory that we’re privileged to encounter on June 15, 2008! Awe. Wonder. Amazement. Glory. Majestic Glory. Risking oversimplification, Peter was slightly impacted by seeing Christ’s glory. May nothing less be true of us!

You are encouraged to prepare for corporate worship this week as if you knew it would be your last earthly opportunity. What God said in a negative context through the prophet, I now urge you positively, ‘Prepare to meet Thy God‘.

Summer of Spreading Christ

(by: jt)

While seeking that Grace’s efforts will always overlap, Grace Church intentionally seeks to concentrate her focus differently during the school year and during the summer.

• During the school year—September-May, Grace’s primary focus is on ‘Seeing Christ‘
• During the summer—June-August, Grace’s primary focus is on ‘Showing Christ‘

Now that we are well-engaged in our ‘Summer of Spreading Christ‘ I wanted to try to whet your appetite to do something, and to anticipate something.

1. Most importantly, I want to encourage you to be intentional about spreading Christ this summer. There are a variety of ways this can happen. That long-desired gospel conversation with a work-associate, family member, or long-time friend… now’s the time. Pray up and preach Christ. You’ll be glad you did! I would appreciate your prayers for me as I’m eager to have that gospel conversation with a number of folks myself.
2. I also want to make you aware of a new aspect of Grace’s ‘Summer of Spreading’ that will happen right here on the GC blog. We’ve asked a few of our church members to help us ’spread’ by contributing posts on various topics. The goal is not simply information, but encouragement. Namely, encouragement toward obedience in commending Jesus to a lost and dying world. I hope these posts will stimulate you and I to that end.

A few of the topics that are already underway by folks in our church, and will be posted soon are:

• Honoring Christ in the Workplace: A Christ-Centered Approach to Vocation
• BYBC: Receiving The Greater Blessing Through Ministry to Uptown Kids & Adults
  
• New Attitude: Applied Theology For All – Through the eyes of the Next Generation
• The Nature of God: How His Greatness Applies to Today
• Following Christ Through Significant Change: Saying ‘Yes, Lord’ When It Changes Everything
  
• …and maybe more. These are just the one’s that are currently under construction. Stay tuned…
  

Here’s a few shots from the first several evenings of Back Yard Bible Clubs.

That Christ May be exalted among our neighbors, the nations, and the next generation!