Why Give Thanks?

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What does the Bible tell us about thanksgiving?

Not about the American holiday. Not about pumpkins and Indian corn and turkeys. But about the giving of thanks to God. How does the Bible emphasize the importance of giving thanks? When are we to give thanks? To what end? For what reasons? In what manner should we give thanks?

In preparation for the holiday, I read all the verses of Scripture that contain the words “thank,” “thanks,” or “thanksgiving.” I encourage you to read a subset of these verses, available online at this link. Here are a few key verses to answer these questions: (more…)

The Desire for Selfish Gain

What does your heart go after? What does your heart desire?

Our hearts naturally desire abundance, ease, and security. Indeed, the candidates for various offices in this fall’s election all tried to attract our votes by claiming that they – and not their opponents – would be best for our pocketbooks. And such appeals work.

The psalmist warns us against these natural desires:

Psalm 119:36 Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain!

There is an inherent trade-off between having a heart inclined toward God and His Word, and a heart inclined toward the things of this world. The two are like oil and water. They may be mixed for a brief period of time, as the Holy Spirit works within us. But in the end, one will come out on top. (more…)

Forget Not All His Benefits

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David writes in Psalm 103:

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits

Pray with me as I recount some of those benefits:

  • I praise You, Lord, for though I deserve your wrath and judgment, instead in Christ I have forgiveness for all my iniquities.
  • I praise You that Your love and mercy follow me all the days of my life.
  • I praise You for giving me health and energy – all the health and energy I need to fulfill Your plans for me. In particular, I thank You for the physical ability to go out for a run on this brilliant autumn day.
  • I praise You that You work justice for all the oppressed – that You will eventually right all wrongs, that You will eventually see that perfect justice is done. In the present, Lord, I thank You that it is possible today for a man to be elected President of this country who only a few decades ago would not have been allowed to sit next to me at a lunch counter in this city. (more…)

Ministry and Results

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How does God use you? What is your personal ministry? Are you excited because you have seen results? Are you discouraged from lack of results?

Consider these words from the Apostle Paul:

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Whatever our personal ministry might be, if we see good results, we are tempted to pat ourselves on the back. We’re tempted to think, “I’m really something, given what I’ve done!” But Paul says that when we think clearly, when we think soberly, we see that our faith is all that matters – our faith in the One with all power, with all authority, who has given us whatever gifts and skills we have, and who Himself accomplishes whatever He wishes through us.

Paul elaborates on this idea in 1 Corinthians, when writing to those who were lining up behind one or another leader:

1 Corinthians 3:5-7 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Those God chooses to work through for His good purposes are His servants. The work they accomplish is God’s work, which He assigns. Paul goes so far as to say that the workers are nothing. The work is all of God, from beginning to end. (more…)

Responding to Economic Turmoil

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Gyrations in the stock market. Banks losing billions. Dire predictions unless Congress does X. Congress does X, yet the situation deteriorates.

What does it all mean? How should Bible-believing Christians respond?

We should respond by trusting in God and in His Word.

Paul tells Timothy to know that hard times are ahead (in his case, from persecution and evil deceivers), but to “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 3:14-15).

Just so for us. Remain steadfast. Remind yourself and others of the truths of Scripture. God does not change. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His Word is our anchor; His promise is our hope, a “sure and steadfast anchor of the soul” (Hebrews 6:19). (more…)

How Should a Christian Vote?

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Is there a Christian position on the political issues facing us today?

We have seen that all in the body of Christ are exiles in this present world, citizens of another kingdom. Our primary responsibility in this period of exile is to serve as ambassadors of our King, speaking and living out His message of reconciliation.

At the same time, we are to “seek the welfare of the city” where we are in exile (Jeremiah 29:7). In a democracy, this surely implies voting; for some individual Christians, it might well mean deep involvement in the political process. But our hope is never to be in any political candidate or party; our hope is in our coming Redeemer King.

Here are some biblical principles concerning voting that I commend to you during this political maelstrom. (more…)

Receive the Spirit

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Have you received the Holy Spirit? Are you filled with the Spirit?

While these questions look similar, biblically they are distinct.

Two weeks ago I exhorted you from Scripture to be filled with the Spirit. We need the power of the Spirit to fulfill God’s purposes for us, to live the Christian life to His glory. This is true in every area of our lives, from craftsmanship to marriage. So in Ephesians 5:18 Paul exhorts those who are already believers to be filled with the Spirit.

But in the text we will consider the next several Sundays, Peter, speaking to those who are not yet believers, says, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Peter is clear: All those who repent and trust in Jesus for forgiveness will receive the Holy Spirit. (more…)

Christians and Politics

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What is the relationship of the Christian to politics?

As we move towards November’s election, what should role should Christians play?

As a church, we explicitly say in our vision and values statement: “We are not tied to any political party. We value speaking biblical truth to the issues that confront our society, regardless of what parties might be made uncomfortable by the proclamation of that truth.” Over the course of the next several weeks I will address issues facing us this election. My goal is to do just that: to bring out the ways that biblical truth sheds light on the issues discussed in this election.

But prior to looking at specific issues, we need to understand our fundamental role. To that end, consider some key biblical texts: (more…)

Filled with the Spirit

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How can you live the Christian life? How can you fulfill the purpose of your creation through glorifying God? How can you resist temptation and obey the command to rejoice in the Lord always?

The message of the Bible is: You can’t. That is, in your own power, through your own resolution, by means of your concentrated effort, you can’t.

But you can – by the power of God.

Jesus says, “Apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). But that same verse implies that with Him, when you are connected to Him, leaning on Him, depending on Him, you can live to His glory: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. . . . By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:5, 8).

God gives us power for living the Christian life through filling us with the Holy Spirit. Next month, as we consider Acts 2 for three or four sermons, I’ll have much more to say about the different images that Scripture gives of the activity of the Spirit within Christians. For today, consider these different passages that discuss the filling of the Spirit.

Why does God fill His people with His Spirit? (more…)

Seven Years On

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This week marks seven years. Seven years since the towers fell. Seven years since terrorists hijacked four planes, aiming to kill tens of thousands of innocent people. Seven years since they succeeded in killing almost 3,000. Seven years.

In God’s providence, the Bible reading plan I developed eight years ago schedules for the 11th reading in September Jeremiah 39 and 52 – the accounts of the terrible destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BC. In the following days I read the Psalms that look back on that event – Psalms 74, 79, and 94 – as well as the book of Lamentations. On September 11, 2001, I read of Jerusalem’s fall without much feeling in the morning; that evening, knowing of the attack and the destruction of the towers, I reread the account, and continued to read these psalms and Lamentations – and wept.

Today, much of our visceral reaction to that attack has faded from memory. Newspapers this year used more ink talking about lipstick on pit bulls and pigs than they devoted to remembering 9/11.

But we must remember. We must remember.

What must we remember? (more…)