Glory of Christ Fellowship

To you, O Lord, we lift up our souls!  O our God, in you we trust,  Let us not be put to shame,  Let not the enemies of the cross exult over us,  For none who wait for you shall be put to shame.  Make us to know your ways, O Lord, teach us your paths,  Lead us in your truth and teach us,  For you are the God of our salvation,  For you we wait all the day long.  Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love,  For they have been from of old.  Remember not the sins of our youth or our transgressions,  According to your steadfast love remember us,  For the sake of your goodness, O Lord!  Good and upright is the Lord,  Therefore, he instructs sinners in the way.  He leads the humble in what is right,  And teaches the humble his way.  All the paths of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness,  For those who keep his covenant and his testimon...

For some, the past month has been one with more free time than usual as people navigate the combination of loss of work and loss of community. For others it has meant a different kind of busy—one that involves troubleshooting Zoom for remote work or school, adjusting to new rhythms as regular activities move home or are delayed, sharing space that wasn’t necessarily shared a little while ago. And whether experiencing more free time or less, we are also facing the uncertainty of not knowing what the next week will look like. This season is challenging, uncomfortable, frustrating, and often mundane. As milestones that ought to have been celebrated and moments that should have been shared pass by, and events that should have taken place are postponed indefinitely, it often feels like we are being kept from all the things that we should be doing.  It is true, there are many good things that we are not able to do right now, but Amy Carmichael once made an observation that may refra...

This week we take a break from COVID 19 issues to discuss something completely unrelated. Biblical submission in marriage. To be more specific, I would like to present seven clarifications related to biblical submission in marriage. This past Wednesday night our students at GCF studied studied Ephesians 5:22-33 and of course, submission came up. Thus, this is on the top of the mind and that's why it is the subject (no pun intended) of our discussion today.  It almost seems that the church both makes too big a deal of marriage and not a big enough deal of marriage at the same time. Marriage in itself isn't eternally important. What is eternally important is the fact that it points to Christ and his church. This is an eternal reality. Submission finds its importance as it functions to resemble Jesus and his church. This is the mystery Paul talks about in Ephesians 5:31-32 and it is now revealed to us in Christ. This must be the starting place if the church is going t...

Several years ago, Josh Reeves, Pastor of Redeemer Church in Round Rock, Texas, developed a resource entitled, “100 Practical Ways to Engage your Neighborhood.” The idea behind this resource is to help Christians add gospel intentionality to everyday life, to help lovers of Christ live as missionaries in their own neighborhoods. Several weeks ago I began the process of posting these ideas 10 at a time. Not every idea will work for everyone, but please pray over each list and ask the Lord to help you identify one thing you can do each week. And if none of the ideas on a given section of the list works for you, then let it inspire you to think of something else. Whatever the case may be, ask Jesus to enable and empower you to join him in the joy-producing, God-exalting quest of seeking and saving the lost in our neighborhoods. Here’s the fifth part of the list: Neighbors – Your Immediate Neighborhood (continued) 41. Start a sewing group 42. Go Christmas caroling in your ne...

O GLORIOUS GOD, Teach us to rejoice in the cross of Christ, Where we forever gain eternal life, Where our sins are washed away, Where we find transforming power each day, Where we behold grace and justice on display. Teach us to rejoice in the resurrection of Christ, Which destroyed the power of death, Which frees us from the fear of death, By which you have caused us to be born again, By which you empower us to live anew, For the glory of your name and the good of others. Teach us to rejoice in who you have made us to be, A chosen race, A royal priesthood, A holy nation, A people for your own possession, A family that is treasured and valued by you. Teach us to rejoice in the holy life, That is set apart for you, That is satisfied in you, That delights to be like you, That finds its purpose in following you. Teach us to rejoice in the calling you have placed upon our lives, To taste and then testify, To experience and then explain, To receive and then recite, To come into your ...

GLORIOUS GOD,  It is the flame of my life to worship you,   the crown and glory of my soul to adore you, heavenly pleasure to approach you. Give me power by your Spirit to help me worship now,  that I may forget the world,  be brought into fullness of life,  be refreshed, comforted, blessed. Give me knowledge of your goodness  that I might not be over-awed by your greatness; Give me Jesus, Son of Man, Son of God, that I might not be terrified,  but be drawn near with filial love, with holy boldness.  He is my Mediator, Brother, Interpreter, Branch, Advocate, Lamb;  him I glorify,  in him I am set on high.  Crowns to give I have none,  but what you have given I return,  content to feel that everything is mine  when it is yours,  and the more fully mine when I have yielded it  to you. Let me live wholly to my Savior,  free from distractio...

Heath Lambert wrote a book called Finally Free and in it he talks about the power of grace in the first chapter. In it Lambert warns believers not just to think of grace as a concept but as power from God. John 20:31 says these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Notice that belief in Jesus is both a one time salvation moment as well as ongoing belief that marks growth in Christ. In other words, the believer in Christ is called no only to believe in Jesus but to keep believing in him. This is no different when fighting against sexual sin and pornography. As gripping as it is the pathway out of the pit is still paved with simple belief in the gospel. So this begs the question, how am I failing to believe the gospel in my struggle against sin and what does belief look like instead?  What it Looks Like to Fail to Believe in the Gospel In short, when someone is more captured...