Glory of Christ Fellowship

     The gloriously good news of the gospel grows out of the ashes of the horrifically tragic news of human rebellion against God. Therefore, unless we take the time to carefully meditate on the bad news, we will never understand the glory of the good news.      One of the most helpful summaries of the gospel in the Bible is Ephesians 2:1-10, for it begins by telling us the bad news (2:1-3), it then tells us the good news (2:4-7), and it finally tells us about the effects of the gospel in the lives of those who believe (2:8-10). This week we’ll consider 2:1-3 and then over the next three weeks we’ll consider 2:4-10.      Paul writes, “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body ...

As someone who is parenting teens and has worked with them for the past ten years, social media and transgender are two topics that have gotten my attention. I can't say I'm an expert on either...but you can if you want to;) In all seriousness, let me bring something to your attention for our collective consideration. This is, at best, a theory with a title that kinda sounds like it is the next episode of Nightline. I am not speaking authoritatively here as I would if I was trying to tell you that Jesus is Lord. Not even close. However, in bringing this observation to you it may help the church with some helpful insights on the effect of technology and the effect of our cultural movement towards sexual confusion. In other words, I am going to suggest that technology shapes us in certain ways that makes sexual confusion more plausible and it all equals the erosion of what it means to be a human being. Let me flesh this out for you: Social Media Has Created A Whole New ...

We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee Here In Your Presence Holy Cornerstone Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) We Will Feast In The House of Zion Forever Reign -- Sermon Title: By The True Light Is Shining Sermon Text: 1 John 2:7-11 Making Disciples For The Glory of Christ

A few years ago, I was listening to a radio program on which Marshall Shelley was being interviewed about his new book, The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham (Zondervan, 2005). They were giving away a few copies of the book to those who called in, and something inside me felt compelled to call. But I didn’t have a good question to ask, so I prayed to the Lord and said, “If you want me to have a copy of this book, please give me a good question to ask and I’ll call.” I’m not sure if the Lord gave me this question or if it just popped into my head, but one way or the other, I thought to ask about the connection in Billy’s life between his private pursuit of holiness and integrity, and his public effectiveness and longevity. So, I made the call and was given the last copy of the book they had to give. A couple of years earlier, I had breakfast with some friends and the subject of Billy Graham’s life and ministry came up. We talked mostly about his commitment to integrity in the area...

      Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth . So Says Psalm 100:1. It seems simple enough. At face value this is a familiar phrase in the Psalms and when I hear it, I tend to know what it means without giving it much thought. Today, however, I am tasked with writing a devotion on Psalm 100, so I need to find something to say that is worth reading. Thus, I slow down a little bit and examine the Psalm more carefully.      There are a few interesting points to ponder. First of all, the Psalmist calls for a joyful noise. Initially when I hear this Psalm, my mind automatically interprets that as a nice song, maybe by Chris Tomlin or an ancient hymn. However, the Psalm doesn’t say “sing a joyful song unto the Lord” it tells us to “make a joyful noise.”       In other words, the qualifications of our response to God is much broader than merely singing, it includes any number of ways noise can be made. Good thing the noise is ...

In his classic, little booklet Born to Reproduce (Navpress, 2005), Dawson Trotman writes, “Soulwinners are not soulwinners because of what they know, but because of the Person they know, how well they know Him, and how much they long for others to know Him.” The only word I would add to this quote is “primarily” so that it would read like this: “Soulwinners are not soulwinners primarily because of what they know…” I agree that the most important thing in soulwinning is knowing Jesus, indeed, Christianity is not essentially informational but rather relational. However, what we know about Jesus matters very much, even if it flows from the fact that we know him. For instance, if you were to say that my mother came from the south of France, stood 4-feet 8-inches tall, and worked most of her life in the textiles industry, I would be quick to tell you that you were not speaking about my mother. My mother was from Missouri (pronounced Mazura), stood 5-feet 6-inches tall, and worked mos...

We post these worship songs leading up to the worship service so that parents may listen to them in the house or in the car within the days leading up to the worship service. Our hope is that children will hear the songs prior to and it will prepare them to participate in worship on Sunday mornings. Your Name Lamb of God Before the Throne of God Above Who You Say I Am Let Your Kingdom Come Holy Spirit Trust and Obey -- Sermon Title: By This We Know Sermon Text: 1 John 2:1-6 Making Disciples For The Glory of Christ

E very so often I think of the top ten things I want to do before I die, but one thing that’s never made the list is huddling in a small closet with my family and dog, praying that God will spare our home, our lives, and more importantly, our faith and joy in him no matter what the outcome. But that’s exactly what happened a few years ago. A violent storm had hit our town. It pushed over power-poles, snapped trees like they were twigs, and damaged or destroyed around 100 homes. In fact, one of the families in our church sustained severe damage to their home—about half the roof and a portion of the back of it were ripped away and they were displaced from their home for several months. As hard as that was, another family from the same neighborhood was hit even harder by the news that their ten-year-old daughter died when their house collapsed. As difficult as it was for that family to lose their home, it must have been unbearable for them to lose their precious child. It probab...

     Over the last two weeks we’ve taken a close look at John 10:27-28, and we’ve learned a few things about how salvation works and what it does in the lives of those who believe. This week we need to ponder one more question, namely, how can Jesus so confidently make the promises and claims he made in these verses? Jesus answers in John 10:29-30, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them [my sheep] out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”      First, he says that his Father has given his sheep to him. In other words, Jesus’ authority over the sheep and his stunning gifts to the sheep are ultimately rooted in the authority and benevolence of his Father.      Second, Jesus says that his Father is greater than all, and while the Jews may have objected to Jesus calling God his Father, they would have agreed that no one is greater or more powerful or more capable or more faithfu...

If you are like me you probably don't give a whole lot of thought to angels. Personally, there are other areas of theology that are more interesting to me. If I am honest, and obviously I am because I am a pastor, I believe other things have more relevance as well.  Angels are invisible, mostly, but they shouldn't be forgotten or ignored. We should also strive to come to a better understanding of them from Scripture. This leads me to my next point, which is this: Scripture talks about them which should tell us that God desires us to know something about them.  As I pressed into this topic a little bit more I realized I didn't have a great amount of knowledge about them. I mean, I know a few things. I know they are not made in the image of God but they are still intelligent and rational beings. They are servants and messengers from God. I know Satan is an angel and the leader of the demons who seek to destroy the works of God. I know angels guard and protect believe...

Somewhere along the way I picked up this quote from Phillip Brooks: “Do not pray for easy lives! Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be a miracle.” Several years ago I was going through some difficult things, and though I don’t remember the exact words I used, I prayed and asked God to get me out of the situation. My sense of the Lord’s response was this: “I don’t want to get you out of this, I want to develop you in this.” And that is precisely what he did. He developed my faith, my ability to persevere, my hope, my character, my ministry skills, my trust in the Word of God, my commitment to prayer, my willingness to seek and heed the wise counsel of others, my ability to foresee and head off similar problems in the future, and many other such things. What I saw as a problem from which to flee, God saw as an opportunity in which to develop me and bless ...

     Last week we learned something about how a person is saved from John 10:27. Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” From this, and earlier passages, we learn that they are given by the Father to the Son, they hear the voice of their Shepherd and awaken, they are known by their Shepherd, and they turn from their ways to follow him. But if this is how a person is saved, then what happens once they’re saved? What distinguishes them from those who are not Jesus’ sheep?      Jesus answers in John 10:28, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” I see three effects of salvation here. First, Jesus gives his sheep eternal life. Jesus’ promise here relates to what he said in John 10:10. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” In other words, Jesus came to lay down his life for the good of the sheep ...

A heartwarming story hit the internet this morning about two identical twins, born 12 weeks early, that were reunited with one another for the first time in 27 days since they have been out of the womb. That isn't why the story broke on People Magazine and other news outlets. What made this story so newsworthy is the picture, worth a thousand words, of the two babies hugging each other as they lay upon their mother. So cute. So heartwarming and heart-melting at that. We are left with a beautiful picture of human connection, bonding together well before they could ever speak a word. Yet these two little babies, who should still be in the womb for another two months, have a lot to say. I couldn't help but wonder how, especially in light of the barbaric laws recently passed in New York that allows babies such as these to be massacred, anyone pro-choice could find this heartwarming and not haunting? Make no mistake, I am not targeting the fact that these babies are so cu...

     As Jesus interacted with some of the leading shepherds of Israel, it became apparent that they did not believe in Jesus because they did not belong to him. But if spiritual leaders like them can seem to know God but don’t, then how can anyone be saved. Jesus offers a compact and compelling answer in John 10:27, namely, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” I see four aspects of salvation here.      First, notice that Jesus calls them “my sheep.” This means that before one receives Christ, he or she already belongs to Christ, and from what Jesus has already said, we can infer that they belong to him because they have been given to him by the Father (for example, John 10:7-18).      Second, somewhere in the course of their life, the sheep that already belong to Jesus hear his voice. Perhaps they hear it through reading the Bible, or the preaching of the gospel, or the testimony of a friend, or some type of med...