Point to the Light at Home for the Holidays

On Sunday, I mentioned a sermon that I found very helpful from Charles Spurgeon about going home for the holidays and how to strategically seek to share the gospel.

You can check it out on C.J. Mahaney's blog.

I hope that you will find it helpful as well and that God will use you to point to Christ, the true light, this holiday season.

Let Us Read in 2011

Have you ever set out to begin new habit or discipline in your life and failed? And then you tried again and then failed again? I know I have done that more times than I care to remember. That cycle is certainly difficult and disappointing but it doesn't mean that we must always fail. I can also look at some areas in my life where after failing numerous times I finally made real progress. I have found that it is helpful to remember that just because I haven't done something doesn't mean that it's impossible, it simply means that I haven't done it yet.

The discipline that I would encourage all of us to think about today is the discipline of consistently reading the Bible. I mentioned this in the sermon on Sunday and I challenged all of us to consider how we might seek to be more disciplined in our intake of the Scriptures in 2011 in order that this would be a means for us to grow in the knowledge of Christ as well as growing in His grace.

Here are few questions to consider:
What would it look like if I set aside a regular daily time to read the Scriptures? Where? When?
How much time should I try to carve out at the beginning? If you aren't reading at all right now don't try to set a goal of one hour a day. Start where you are and then seek to expand upon that.
Should I consider challenging myself to try to read through the entire Bible in 2011? Believe it or not, it takes less time each day than you might think.
Who could I invite into my life to bring some encouragement and accountability in this area?

If you would like to consider reading through the Bible in 2011, here are some links to some reading plans:

http://www.esv.org/resources/reading-plans-devotions/
http://www.bibleplan.org/mcheyne.htm
http://www.bibleplan.org/

Let's struggle with all the strength that God gives us to take in more of the Scriptures in 2011!

Quotes on Preaching the Gospel to Ourselves

Here are some quotes that I mentioned on Sunday. These have been encouraging and challenging to me and I hope they will be to you as well.

C.J. Mahaney- “if there’s anything in life that we should be passionate about, it’s the gospel. And I don’t mean passionate only about sharing it with others. I mean passionate about thinking about it, dwelling on it, rejoicing in it, allowing it to color the way we look at the world. Only one thing can be of first important to each of us. And only the gospel ought to be.”

Milton Vincent, “God did not give us the gospel just so we could embrace it and be converted. Actually, He offers it to us every day as a gift that keeps on giving to us everything we need for life and godliness. The wise believer learns this truth early and becomes proficient in extracting valuable benefits from the gospel each day. We extract those benefits by being absorbed in the gospel, speaking it to ourselves when necessary, and by daring to reckon it true in all we do.”


Milton Vincent: “My God is immense beyond imagination. He measured the entire universe with merely the span of His hand. He is unimaginably awesome in all His perfections, absolutely righteous, holy and just in all His ways. He has also been unbelievably good and merciful to me as the Creator and Sustainer of my life. Every breath, every heartbeat, every function of every organ in my body is a gift from Him. Every legitimate pleasure I experience is a gift from His loving hand to me. All that I am and all that I have I owe to Him and to His goodness. My life in every way is, and will continue to be, utterly dependent upon Him in whom I live and move and have my being. This wonderful God is the most supremely worthy Object of admiration, honor and delight in all of the universe; and He has created me with the intention that I might glorify Him by finding my soul’s delight in Him and by living in joyful obedience to Him in all of my ways.”

Caring for the Most Vulnerable

I wanted to post some helpful resources as we think about how some ways we may engage in caring for the most vulnerable. Here are some links that I mentioned in the sermon or that we recommend.

Ryan Keith, Forgotten Voices Ten Together
Laura Blank, World Vision
Daybreak Pregnancy Resource Center
A Woman's Concern Pregnancy Health Services

Books to Help Us Engage Our Neighbors

In the sermon on Sunday we looked at John 4. You can listen to the sermon at the church website on the Sermons page.

I mentioned a few helpful books and wanted to pass those on to you.

Tell the Truth: The Whole Gospel to the Whole Person by Whole People by Will Metzger

Speaking of Jesus by J. Mack Stiles

Marks of a Messenger by J. Mack Stiles

The Gospel and Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever

Contentment

I wanted to pass on some links to the book that I mentioned in the sermon on Sunday.

You can read a free version of Jeremiah Burrough's book "The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment" here.

You can also purchase a copy of the book here.

More Questions for Discerning the Idols of our Hearts

The following questions are adapted from David Clarkson's sermon on idolatry.

What do you esteem most? That which we most highly value we make our God. For estimation is an act of soul worship.

What occupies your thoughts most?
That which we are most mindful of we make our God.

What are your most significant intentions?
That which we most intend we make our god; for to be most intended is an act of worship due only to the true God; for he being the chief good must be the last end.

What have you resolved to do most of all in your life?
What we are most resolved for we worship as God.

What do you love most?
That which we must love we worship as our God; for love is an act of soul-worship.

Who or what do you truly trust with your life?
That which we most trust we make our god; for confidence and dependence is an act of worship which the Lord calls for as due only to himself.

What do you fear most? That which we most fear we worship as our god; for fear is an act of worship.

Where are you hopes grounded? That which we make our hope we worship as God; for hope is an act of worship.

What is the deepest desire of your heart? That which we most desire we worship as our god;

What do you most delight in? That which we most delight and rejoice in, that we worship as God;

What are you most zealous for? That for which we are more zealous we worship as god;

What are you most grateful for? That to which we are most grateful, that we worship as God; for gratitude is an act of worship.