Thoughts from Matthew 21:1-11 - Your King is Coming to You

"Your King is coming to you!"  This was the announcement from the prophet Zechariah roughly 580 years before the time of Christ.  But, Jesus didn't come like most people wanted Him to.  They wanted a military leader who would establish an earthly kingdom.  Jesus came as a humble servant to sacrifice Himself to redeem a people for God.

In Matthew 21, Jesus nears Jerusalem as He embarks on His final week of life during His first advent.  He is moving towards the cross with determined steps and everything is unfolding just as He and His Father had planned before anything, including time itself, ever came into being.  For His triumphal entry, his coronation, Jesus does not choose a might army and great horses.  He chooses two disciples, a donkey and her colt.

Verse 4 tells us that He did this on purpose in order to fulfill the prophecy made by Zechariah 580 years earlier.  Think about this.  Jesus made sure that He came into town at exactly this time and sent two disciples to exactly the right spot where he had the exact animals that were promised waiting just for Him.

This is how God works!  We don't know which disciples Jesus sent, but they played an important role in bringing these animals to the Master.  And, no one may ever know your name, but, if you are a child of God, you play an important role in the development of His kingdom.  He is sovereign and directs absolutely everything.  And, in that direction, He also allows us to participate in His plan!

Think about this for a minute.  We, who have lived in rebellion to God for our entire existence, are not only forgiven of our sin and adopted into His family, but we are also His chosen vessels to build His kingdom.  No matter what abilities you think you do or do not have, if God is able to use two unnamed disciples and a donkey, He is able to use you!  God does not make mistakes.  When He saved you and left you here on earth, He also equipped you to be able to love Him and love others.  What God wants from you is not some exceptional show of talent.  What God wants from you is faithfulness to pursue Him with all your heart and to serve others as He has served you.

You may feel that you don't have what it takes.  But the donkey and her colt are in this story to tell you that you don't need much.  Just be willing to be used by God for His purposes and He will do the rest.

Equipping – The Ministry-Minded Work of the Church

"For the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry..."  This is how the Apostle Paul described the purpose of the gifts of Christ to the Church (apostles and prophets, evangelists, and pastors/teachers).  God has created the local church to be the primary place where you as a Christian get what you need to grow.  To accomplish this, God has given leaders to the church in order to teach you His Word and give you the tools you need to both enable your own spiritual growth and help others in their spiritual growth.

As Americans, most of us figure that church is a nice place to go on Sundays (maybe even every Sunday) in order to be encouraged as we worship God.  But, the church is much more than that.  The church is the ONE place that God has designed for us to minister to others and be ministered to.  Unless we are actively engaging in mutual ministry with other believers, we will never become more like Christ, which is our ultimate goal.

But, we don't know what we're doing, do we?  We don't naturally know how to minister to others?  In fact, we don't naturally know anything about the ministry that Christ calls us to.  That is why we need the equipping ministry of the church.  And, by "equipping ministry" I do not mean some prepackaged program.  I mean the church being who the church was meant to be.  I mean the elders and deacons functioning in the way God intended.  I mean the Gospel being the central focus of everything the church says and does.  I mean all the members of the church being actively involved in serving one another and the community around them.

So, what does this look like?  Well, there is no simple 4-step program to Christian growth.  Similarly, there is no simple 4-step process of equipping people for ministry.  It is a life-long job.  The Word of God is our primary tool.  As the servant-leaders of the church pour the Word of God into the lives of other believers, those believers begin to do the same with others.  We teach, we preach, we train, we counsel, we pray, we disciple.  We all do this.  Not just the pastor.  Not some board of super-spiritual people.  Paul says Jesus gave the pastors/teachers to equip "the saints".  That means all Christians.  And we equip with the Word because that is what God says He uses to make us all more like Christ, which is the goal.

As you become a part of a local congregation, your job is to find two types of relationships - 1) you need to find someone who is more mature than you spiritually so they can help disciple you, and 2) you need to find someone who is less mature than you spiritually so you can help disciple them.  Think about this for a minute.  What is your goal when you look for a church?  Why do you go to church?  What do you hope happens?  If you go to a church looking for what it can do for you or your family, you are only looking at half the picture.  The other half is what you can do for others within the congregation.  The question that remains is, "How have you purposed to get involved in the equipping ministry of your local church?"

Great Faith (Part 2) - MORE Reflections on Matthew 15:21-29

"Have mercy on me, Lord!"  This was the desperate cry of the woman who approached Jesus.  She came to the right person (see yesterday's article).  And she came for the right reason - mercy.  This was a woman who was at the end of her rope.  Her daughter was demon-possessed and who knows what other problems that caused?  She could do NOTHING about her situation.  She had probably exhausted all the religious options her own people could offer.  No medicine could cure her daughter.  No amount of psychoanalysis would help.  She was desperate.  So, when Jesus came through her area, she ran to meet him.

And she cried out for mercy.  Notice she doesn't go up to Jesus and start complaining about her circumstances.  She doesn't whine about how God's not fair. No, this is the cry of someone who recognizes they deserve nothing from God.  That's a little different from the way most of us feel.  Most of us, although we would never say it like this, believe that God owes us something.  We think we deserve better than what we have.

The reality is that we all deserve much worse than we have.  We all deserve eternal damnation for our cosmic treason that we commit with every breath we take.  We probably don't think we are all that bad, but the reality is that we are!  The Bible describes us as utterly corrupt, evil down to the core, enemies of God, violent, boastful and proud.  Not one of us ever loves God the way we should and we definitely don't love others the way we should.

This is why we need mercy.  We are in no position to ask for anything from God and DEFINITELY in no position to demand anything.  But, God gives mercy.  The Father sent the Son into the world to fulfill our righteous requirement and die in our place.  He then offers forgiveness of our sin if we will just repent of (that means "turn from") our sin and trust in Jesus Christ alone for eternal life.  I plead with you, if you are not a believer in Jesus, stop reading right now and deal with that issue.  Nothing else matters.  God's mercy is available to you.  Don't pass it by.

Even as Christians, sometimes we think God owes us an easy life.  After all, we made the right decision.  We chose Christ instead of rejecting Him.  We go to church (at least once a month).  We don't drink, smoke, chew, or go out with girls who do.  We think we have performed well enough to earn God's blessing.  Isn't that how it works?

NO!!!  Christianity is never a performance-based religion.  Well, actually, it is.  But it's not our performance that matters.  What matters is not our works, but Christ's.  Of course, this in itself is mercy!  If our standing with God was in any way up to us, we would be cast out of His presence forever.  But, we have Another who stands in our place, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who has performed all the righteousness we will ever need and also took all our punishment on Himself.

Well, why is life so tough for the Christian then?  Shouldn't "mercy" mean that life gets easy after we come to Christ?  Of course, that question betrays our lack of an eternal perspective.  We forget that God is more interested in our holiness than our comfort.  And, so everything that God brings into our lives has a greater purpose than we can even contemplate.  He, in His mercy, is working Christ-likeness into us with everything He brings into our lives - the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Romans 8:28 says, "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose."  It doesn't say, "everything feels good."  It says, "all things work together for good."

This is all mercy!  Christ being our righteousness, Christ taking the wrath of God for our sins, Christ constantly interceding before the Father on our behalf, the Holy Spirit guiding us and empowering us to live the Christian life, God ordaining all the things that come into our lives to make us more like Christ - all these things - are examples of God's mercy!  And we need it.  We need God's mercy every day.  And God withholds no good thing from His children.

So, the way to approach God is the exact way this woman did - crying for mercy.  And the beautiful thing is, God gives it!  Rather than giving us judgment, through Jesus Christ, God gives us mercy.  So, Christian, keep coming to Jesus pleading for His mercy.  He won't disappoint.

Great Faith (Part 1) - Reflections on Matthew 15:21-28

OK, so every 6 months or so, I decide I need to type something.  Actually, one of my desires is to have time to update this blog more often, not because I think I'm all that important.  Mostly, I want to reflect on my understanding of Scripture so that those who end up reading this have a greater appreciation and love for God.  SO... I am going to attempt to be a little more persistent (which will come into play in a few days when we get to that issue in this passage in Matthew).

When Jesus went into the region of Tyre and Sidon, He was approached by a woman who was in desperation.  She wanted help.  She had nowhere else to turn.  So, she came to Jesus.  As we looked at this passage this past Sunday (the sermon will be posted on www.gracebaptistonline.com later tonight), we saw that Jesus described her as having great faith.  In our consideration of this proclamation by Jesus, we sought to find out what about this woman's faith was so great.  Because WE want great faith.  Wouldn't it be (dare I say it) great to have Jesus say that about us?  So, what made this woman's faith so great?

Well, the first thing we noticed was that she came to the right person for the right reason.  In this post, I'll deal with the first part of that.  The right person.  You see, the object of our faith is just as important, if not more so, as the faith itself.  You can have a lot of faith, have it be in the wrong object, and be lost for eternity.  Everybody has faith, but most of it is misplaced.  No, this woman came to the right person.  The object of her faith was the King of kings and Lord of lords.

If we are to have great faith, we must, first of all, have God as He is described in the Bible as the object of our faith.  We can't just trust in some god of our own making.  We must trust in the one true God.  And, apart from the Scripture, we do not really know who God is.  So, we must turn to the Bible to see who we are to trust.

There is a lot about God that the Bible reveals.  John tells us that God is love.  Both in his gospel account and his epistles, he emphasizes that God loves His creation and sent His Son to save His people.  So, yes God is love.  We also see that God is merciful and gracious.  He is a God who, despite our sinfulness and war against Him, consistently and continuously forgives us because of the death of His Son in our place.  In Genesis 18 (as we noticed Sunday night), Abraham recognized that God is a just God.  As the "Judge of all the earth", God will always do what is just and right.  We could go on and on talking about God's sovereignty, His power, His omnipresence, His omniscience, His perfection, etc.

BUT (and this is a big "but"), the one aspect of God's character that the Bible emphasizes over and over is His holiness.  We must understand that the God we approach is holy.  He is not like us.  The basic definition of the word "holy" is "separate, distinct, other".  God is not like His creation.  In fact, all of His other characteristics are bound up in His holiness.  His sovereignty is a holy sovereignty.  His justice is a holy justice.  God is completely different from any other thing in existence.  He is holy.

In Isaiah 6, shortly after the death of a very powerful and popular king in Israel, the prophet Isaiah was given a vision of the King of kings.  He describes the Lord as "high and lifted up" and seated on His throne.  Around Him are angelic beings known as seraphim, or burning ones, who are described as having multiple wings and flying around constantly.  Over and over they call out to each other, describing the character of God.  And the one aspect they choose to proclaim is God's holiness.  They cry out, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts."  The tripling of the word "holy" is a Hebrew method of emphasis.  Notice the seraphim don't say, "Love, love, love" or "sovereign, sovereign, sovereign."  They say, "Holy, holy, holy."  Above all else, the God we approach is holy.

This is why, in Matthew 6, when Jesus begins instructing us in how to pray, he starts by telling us to address God as "our Father, who art in heaven".  And immediately, we are to pray for God's name to be hallowed.  In other words, as we come to God as little children to their daddy, our initial and primary concern should be the holiness of His name.  Everything else takes a back seat. Before we ask for stuff either for ourselves or for others, we should plead that God's name would be set apart from all else.  That He would be considered holy by His creation.

So, when we approach God, as we come to Him to plead with Him for His mercy and grace and help in time of need, let's remember that we are coming to a God is not at all like us.  He is not given to weakness or unjust anger.  He is not capricious or needy.  He is not forgetful or mistake-prone.  He is not greedy or sinful in any way.  He is preeminently holy.  And "as He who has called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy'." (1 Peter 1:15-16)

**If you're looking for a good resource to do deeper study of the holiness of God, I recommend the book by R. C. Sproul with that same title (The Holiness of God).  You can buy the book or watch the teaching series here.

Edification - The Growth-Focused Service of the Church

We're all involved in a building project. Anyone who is a believer in Jesus Christ is also a disciple.  That's a loaded term that has the basic meaning of being a learner or a follower.  Our pursuit is Christ-likeness and our teacher is Christ Himself.

God uses a LOT of tools to help us grow as Christians.  Historically, the church has used the phrase "means of grace".  One of the major means of grace that God has chosen to use for thousands of years is the Church.

The Church is not a building, but a people.  The Greek word for church is "ekklesia", which could be translated "a called out assembly".  God has called out people, through salvation, and put us together into various churches in order to display His glory through the spread of the gospel and the growth of disciples. Simply put, we need each other and God has designed that we help each other.

Ephesians 4 tells us precisely God's plan for our spiritual growth as disciples of Christ:

Ephesians 4:11-13 - And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-- Christ-- 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

This passage tells us a few things.  Firstly, the entire building project is the plan of God and also under His direction.  We do things His way because it is His project, not ours.  Secondly, Jesus has placed gifted men (in the case of the modern church, evangelists and pastor-teachers) in order to equip the saints (that's all of us) to do the work of the ministry.  Pastors are not the paid professionals who do all the work.  They are equippers.  Thirdly, we all do the work of the ministry - serving one another, teaching one another, loving one another.  It's our responsibility.  Fourthly, we all grow up together through the power of Christ and become more like our Savior.

This whole plan shows why the church is vital to your Christian growth.  You can't do ANY of this stuff by yourself.  Oh, you can read the Bible and get some knowledge about God and the gospel, but you can't live it out on your own.  You were meant to be part of a growing body of believers who love and serve God by loving and serving others.

While our church is small and doesn't currently have all the age-segregated programs some other churches might have, there are plenty of opportunities for both learning God's Word and applying God's Word in the context of the relationships you will build here.  The challenge is to not sit on the sidelines, but jump in and get involved.

Evangelism - The Soul-Seeking Mission of the Church

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Elwood Blues (yes, I am going to quote one of the Blues Brothers) once claimed that he and his brother Jake were "on a mission from God".  Of course, their mission was to get a fictitious band back together to complete a movie plot.  Our mission, however, is direct from the Captain of our salvation and Lord of the universe.  And it involves something far more important than the comedic elements of a Saturday Night Live spin-off.  It involves the eternal destiny of everyone with whom we come in contact.

You see, for reasons known only to God, He has given us a major responsibility and privilege in being a part of the growth of His kingdom.  I call it a responsibility because Matthew 28 (and the other parallels of this passage) is a command.  He doesn't make this an option.  A former pastor of mine, who I greatly respect, many times would remind us that "the Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed".  We aren't allowed to opt out of making disciples.  We simply must obey our Lord's command.

I call it a privilege because I can't believe that we get to be involved in God's saving work!  This is not a drudging requirement.  It is something to rejoice in.  God uses US to keep people out of hell!  He allows US to be a small part in his glorious work of salvation!  He calls US to evangelize the lost.

Evangelize the lost.  What does that mean?  There are two parts of this to understand.  First, what does it mean to evangelize?  And second, who are the lost?  So, technically speaking, "evangelism" comes from the Greek word "euangelizo", which means to proclaim good news.  The good news that we proclaim consists of the historical facts of the gospel - the sinfulness of every human being in the eyes of God, the sinless life of Jesus (the eternal Son of God), the sacrificial death of Jesus, and the resurrection of Jesus.  Along with the historical facts, we also need to proclaim a call to respond to those facts.  Biblically speaking, we are to call people to repentance (to turn from their sin) and faith (to turn to God by trusting in Jesus alone).  If we fail to give either the historical facts or the plea to respond, we have failed to evangelize.  We have failed to share the gospel.

The second question involves to whom we are to share the gospel.  Who are the lost people we are to reach?  The simple answer to this question is EVERYONE!!!  The person who lives in Iran and knows only Islam is lost and so we are to send missionaries (and go as missionaries) to reach them with the gospel, sometimes at great peril to our own lives.  The person who lives next door to us and knows Jesus as only a curse word is lost and so we are to build relationships with them in order to share the gospel with them.  Our family members, our coworkers, friends and anyone else we come in contact with are lost and in need of the gospel.  Our evangelistic responsibility knows no ethnic barriers, no culture barriers, no social class barriers, no gender barriers, no barriers at all.  We are to share the gospel with everyone.

And, as we do, God saves some.  This is the joy of our work.  God uses us to reach people and we get to see them come to know the Lord.  We get to see the Lord convict them of sin.  We get to see the Lord change them from hating Him to loving Him.  We get to see them experience forgiveness of sin.  We get to see God cause them to grow in their faith.  We get to see them go out and share the gospel with others.

This is the only reason we are still breathing.  God has left us here to share the gospel with the lost.  Let us never shy away from this awesome privilege.  Let's get to work!

Exaltation - The God-Honoring Purpose of the Church

Psalm 99 begins with the proclamation that the Lord reigns and ends with the command, "Exalt the LORD our God, And worship at His holy hill; For the LORD our God is holy."  This is a great summary of a major theme that runs through the entirety of Scripture.  God is king and we exist to declare that and worship Him for it.

This is basically what we mean when we say that Grace Baptist Church exists to glorify God.  In fact, if you look at our mission statement, it reads, "Grace Baptist Church exists to glorify God by bringing people into God's family through the gospel, building them up into mature followers of Christ, and training them for ministry in the church and to the world."

That's a lot of words!  And we don't expect everyone can remember something like that, so we have boiled it down to 4 words that all begin with the letter E (of course I alliterated - I'm a Baptist after all).  These are Exaltation, Evangelism, Edification, and Equipping.  This is what we do and who we are.

First and foremost, we are here because God created us in order to exalt him.  While it is true that God created everything for His glory (see the 2nd question to the Catechism for Young Children), God has uniquely designed the local church to be a display of His glory.

Display of His glory.  This is what we mean when we talk about exaltation.  We, as the people of God, exist as a display of God's glory.  We don't make God more glorious than He is.  We can't. But, we do display the glory that is there. Everything we do - preaching the gospel, singing songs, praying together, reading Scripture, teaching the Bible, eating food a pot-lucks, sending out missionaries, ministering to our community, discipling one another, disciplining errant church members is designed by God and must be planned by us to display not our own greatness, but the greatness of the God who saved us.

This is the primary mission of the church - to exalt the Lord our God.  And, it's the primary interest of God as well - His own glory.  It's good for us to have the same motivation as God, isn't it?  So, let's keep that motivation at the center of everything we do.

God cares. Now what?

In the last couple of posts, I have tried to emphasize (from the Scripture) that God genuinely cares about you.  He loves you.  He is compassionate toward you.  He knows that you are weak and in need and He is right there with you to help you.  Jesus showed this throughout His earthly ministry as he met people where they were and helped them both physically and spiritually.  He came not to be served, but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for sinners.

So, now what?  I began talking in the last post about what we should do in response.  Once you recognize that God cares about you and has the power to help you, you should come to Him.  This only makes sense.  If you knew a doctor had the only cure to your deadly disease, you would be stupid to not go to him for help.  Well, it's the same with God.  He is the only one who can help you and loves you enough to give His own Son for you.  So, come to Him for help!  Pray to Him.  Ask Him.  Believe in Him.

And (to quote Journey) don't stop believing.  Keep on trusting Him even as you struggle through the difficulties of your life.  Even as you deal with pain and loss and suffering and disappointment and joy and love and EVERYTHING, keep trusting God.

NOW...bring others to Him.  This is exactly what Jesus taught when he transitioned from compassionate ministry in Matthew chapter 9 to collaborative mission in Matthew 10.  He gathered a special group of men together (we'll talk about them sometime in the future) and sent them out to bring others to Himself.

Honestly, if you really believe in the God who loves you so much He gave His Son for you, how can you keep Him to yourself?  How can you not tell others?  You don't need a degree in theology to bring someone to Jesus.  You just need to know people (who are sinners) and know Jesus (who is the Savior).  I'm not saying you shouldn't always be learning more of Christ, because you should.  But, it is not your knowledge that people need.  It is your God.

So, what are you waiting for?  If you know Jesus, share him with others.  Perhaps God will use you to bring someone to Him.

God cares. So what?

So, God cares.  If you've paid any attention to the sermons from chapters 8 and 9 of Matthew, you have heard this resounding chorus over and over.  Jesus showed the compassion of our heavenly Father.  In these 2 chapters, Jesus heals people; he touches people; he eats with people; he raises the dead.  In short, Jesus cares.

In fact, the passage we just looked at in Matthew 9:35-38 tells us that Jesus looked out at the crowd of people coming to him with a lifetime of problems and he was "moved with compassion for them".  What a statement!  The God of the universe, who upholds all things by the word of His power, cares about the every day problems people have.

In the last entry, I said we would look at why this matters and what we should do.  Well, I think the answer to the first question should be obvious.  What can you usually do about the situations you find yourself in that bring you pain?  NOTHING!!  Usually, though there may be little steps we can take to better ourselves if our problems involve finances or health, we have no way of actually changing the situation.  That is why we are so distressed when we find ourselves in these situations.

But, God can change it!  In fact, He is the only one who can completely turn a situation around.  He is the only one who can completely heal.  He is the only one who can completely solve any financial situation.  He is the only one who, when He chooses not to solve your problem, can help you persevere through the problem.  So, it matters greatly that He cares about you.

Now, what do you do about it? Well, there may be a lot of little (and some major) things that you can do about your specific situation. But, in general, there are only two things that you can and should do throughout the entirety of your life as you face problems. And those two things are found in every passage we have looked at in Matthew 8 and 9.

First - come to Jesus.  Pray to Him.  Plead with Him.  Tell Him what your problems are and how you feel about it.  Ask for His help to solve the situation.  Sometimes He will miraculously change what is happening in your life.  He did in each one of these cases in Matthew.  Sometimes, He will make you go through the problem because it is better for you in your quest for holiness and Christ-likeness to endure.  Consider that some of these situations in Matthew had been going on for years.  And, of course Jesus already knows what you're going through.  He's God!  But, remember, He cares about you.  So, come to Him with your doubts.  Pray to Him about your fears.  Plead with Him in your despair.  This is what about half of the Psalms are about!  It's good for your soul to do this.

Secondly - keep trusting Jesus.  One of the hardest things to do as your are struggling with your situation is to keep the faith.  It's easy to give up...particularly if it seems like God is disinterested in you.  But, don't give up.  Don't lose heart.  This is why Jesus gave the parable of the widow and the unjust judge - to teach us to continue coming to him with our needs and to keep trusting Him to do what is best for us.  Remember, God is faithful, even when we are faithless.  If you are His child, NOTHING happens to you but what is good for you.  And, God is a loving heavenly Father who only does what is right and good.  Remind yourself of the character of God and of His love for you.  Remember the cross and the love God showed for you as He poured out His wrath for sin on His Son.  Remember, that if God is for us, who can be against us?  Hold tightly to the truth that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.

Romans 8:38-39 - For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Does God Care? (and does it matter?) - Reflections on Matthew 9:18-26

"Man who is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble."

These words were spoken by someone who knew what trouble in life was all about.  Job had lived his life as righteously as he knew how.  He was so righteous that even God bragged about him.  God blessed him in many ways - he was wealthy, had a good marriage, had many kids, and was well-respected in his community.

And, then things went south for Job.  Unknown to Job, Satan stood before God and accused Job of only trusting God for the benefits he received.  So, God allowed Satan to test Job.  He lost everything.  Robbers stole everything he had and burned all his fields.  All of his kids were killed in a "freak accident".  And Job's wife turned on him and told him to "curse God and die".  Talk about a rough time.

All this happens in the first few chapters of the book of Job.  The rest of the book (chapters 3-37) is a heart-wrenching account of Job's misery and his 4 "friends" telling him it's all his fault.  Job wonders why God allowed all these things to happen.  Job cries out to God for 34 chapters asking Him for an answer or a solution or, at the very least, to just let him die.  And God is silent...

Do you sometimes feel like Job?  Admit it.  Sometimes life throws so many curve balls at you that you have no idea where to turn next.  You get beat down.  You're hurt.  You feel alone.  And God seems absent.  You wonder, does God even care? And, if He does, what does it matter?

I'm reminded of the story of Job as I contemplate what we looked at last Sunday in Matthew 9:18-26. Here were 2 people of different social standing, that had life-altering problems.  One was a synagogue official named Jairus.  The other was an unknown woman in a crowd.  Jairus' daughter got so sick that she was at the point of death, and died during this account.  The woman had an incurable bleeding disorder for 12 years!  Neither one had hope of help from anyone around them.

And then along came Jesus.  He brought hope.  He could do something about their problems.  He had healed people, cast out demons, directed storms and waves.  If anyone could help, He could.  But, did he care enough about them to stop what he was doing and actually help?  The answer was a resounding YES!!!

When the synagogue official came to Jesus, pleading for Him to come with him and raise his daughter, Jesus dropped everything and followed him.  In the midst of the crowd during the journey, the woman touched Jesus' clothes and was immediately healed.  Jesus stopped and offered her not only physical healing, but deeper spiritual healing as well.  Then Jesus raised Jairus' daughter from the dead - an feat unheard of even today!  Yes!  Jesus cares.

But, does he care about you and me?  This was the question Job was asking for 34 chapters.  This is, I'm sure a question you ask all the time.  We have real problems.  And sometimes the answers seem few and far between.  Does God even care?

The answer to that question is a resounding "YES!!!".  God does care.  The old hymn "Does Jesus Care" answers the question this way:

Oh, yes, He cares!  I know he cares.
His heart is touched with my grief.
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

So, know this.  When you are at the end of your rope and everything seems to be against you, if you are a child of God, He cares for you.  In the next post, we'll look at why this matters and what we should do.

"As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, While they continually say to me, 'Where is your God?' When I remember these things, I pour out my soul within me. For I used to go with the multitude; I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast. Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him For the help of His countenance."

I must confess something.  I have been in a desert.  I have been in this desert for a long time.  Eight years ago, I left the full-time ministry to go back to work because our church couldn't continue supporting me and paying our bills at the same time.  But, I began wandering into the desert before then. Partly through life circumstances, partly (mostly?) through my own sinfulness, I began a slow but steady walk away from the "streams of living water" to try to drink from "broken cisterns". As God said through the prophet Jeremiah, it is an astonishing thing. But, it is true.

No, I didn't cheat on my wife, or abandon the faith, or anything like that.  But, is pastoring without passion any less of a sin? Is preaching without praying any better than not preaching at all? I tend to doubt it.

I think every pastor goes into the ministry with a great desire for the glory of God. We all long to see people come to know the Lord, grow in their faith, and extend the kingdom. But, sometimes, we get weary. Things don't go as we had hoped. The church we are pastoring doesn't grow, but shrinks. People who we have loved and served turn on us and, worse yet, turn on God.

And the human response is to wander into the desert. To stop caring as much. To stop praying as much. To begin to go through the motions, hoping to just survive.  Some of that describes what I have been going through.  Oh, I love the people in my church.  I always have.  I have wept over them and prepared messages for them and taught them.  But, while I was doing that, I was not weeping over my own soul or studying God's Word in order to know God myself.  In short, I was dry.  I was thirsty, but not going to the Fountain.  I was just flopping in the sand. And my ministry was not in the power of the Spirit, but in the half-hearted effort of a sinful man.

Well, something has happened to me over the last six months.  It is hard to describe, but I can tell you that I am not who I have been for the last eight years. No, I am not perfect.  In fact, I am far from it.  But, I have a new-found hope and trust in God.  I long for Him like I never have before.  I want others to have this same longing I do.  I can say, without a doubt, that I am now ministering from an overflow of the work of God on my life and not just from my own strength.

Does this mean that everything is going to go perfectly?  Did it for David?  Will the church I pastor suddenly grow by leaps and bounds?  Will we see thousands getting saved, families reconciled, sin fought against?  Maybe some of that will happen.  Maybe it won't.  I have been praying for a revival first in my heart and then in the hearts of our people.  But, the answer to that prayer isn't up to me, it's up to God.  For now, I am happy to be out of the desert and, once again, drinking from the fountain of living waters. And I pray that I may be able to serve God's people from the overflow of what I am drinking.

A Gospel-Driven Church

You ever wonder why you're still here?  I mean, if salvation is all about your forgiveness of sin and keeping you from hell so that you spend an eternity in heaven, why are you still breathing?  Wouldn't it have been much better for God to save us and then take us immediately to heaven?

These are questions that I wonder about sometimes.  I know the theological and biblical response to these questions.  But, sometimes it just doesn't make sense to me.  I guess it's a good thing I'm not God.  You see, God, for some reason I can only guess, seated Christ at His right hand and left the mission of spreading the message of His death, resurrection, and reign to people who often don't seem to care.  Obviously, God know what will best bring Him glory, and God chose to display that glory here and now through the Church.

This is why we need to ask ourselves some tough questions.  Like what motivates our church ministry.  In other words, why do we do what we do?  Our church has developed a mission statement that is, under Scripture and our doctrinal statement, supposed to govern everything we do.  It goes like this:  Grace Baptist Church exists to glorify God by bringing people into God's family through the gospel, helping them grow into mature followers of Christ, and equipping them for ministry in the church and to the world.  We have boiled it down into four easy-to-remember words - Evangelism, Exaltation, Edification, Equipping.

The first phrase of the mission statement gives the why of our existence.  We are here to bring God glory.  Everything we do revolves around this.  Everything we do is motivated by this.  This is our central focus and should be at the forefront of our minds at all times.  We do not bring attention to ourselves or our organization.  We are not about having huge buildings or making people feel comfortable.  We don't stroke egos or try to make people rich.  We are about the glory of God now and for all eternity.

And God has told us how He expects us to glorify Him.  In Jesus' final instructions to His disciples before He ascended into heaven, He said, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

This was His Great Commission to His followers - take my message to others.  That is why we are still here.  We are like waiters.  The Chef has cooked up the meal and we are to bring it to the table.  We exist to proclaim the good news (the Gospel) that God in Christ was reconciling men to Himself.  And what greater privilege could we have?  We are heralds of the Sovereign King of the universe and we bring a message of peace with Him!

And the Gospel message isn't just for unbelievers.  It's for believers as well.  We need to hear constantly that our God chose us, love us, sacrificed His Son for us, clothed us with Christ's righteousness, forgives us when we sin, restores us, and will sustain our faith until we reach glory.  This is the Gospel!

This is what should motivate or drive our church.  This is what we should be our focus.

A Christian response to the Penn State scandal

I'll admit, first of all, that I am taking all of this personally. I am not in any way affiliated with Penn State, either through the university or as a fan of the football program. But, I am primarily a father of two children from the ages of 8-11. I have been a youth pastor of Middle School and High School kids. I have dealt with countless kids in my pastoral ministry. And I have been a kids' soccer coach for the past 5 years. Most of all, I am a Christian, so I love the glory of God and hate sin. So, I take all of this a little personally.

And you may not care what I think, but I figured I should weigh in on this Penn State situation. So, let me elucidate a few of my thoughts:

1) Jerry Sandusky is a despicable man. He preyed on little boys who couldn't defend themselves and took advantage of their predicament in life. He is disgusting and there is absolutely no excuse for what he did. He is a sinner and deserves to be punished to the full extent of the law.

2) Mike McQueary should have done more. How you can walk in on those events and turn around and walk out is beyond me. The proper response is not to go to your office and call your daddy. The proper response is to stop what is happening and call the police.

3) John McQueary gave his son the wrong advice. When told of the events unfolding as they spoke on the phone, Mike's father told him to leave the building. He should have told him to go back into the shower room and beat the crap out of Jerry Sandusky and rescue that boy. By no means should he have told him to leave the building and wait until the next day to call his supervisor.

4) Joe Paterno didn't do enough. Joe Peterno, apparently, obeyed the letter of the law by reporting the alleged incident to his supervisors. But in a LOT of areas he failed. He waited an entire day (from Saturday morning until Sunday morning) to report this event. He may not have given the full description that McQueary gave to him. At the very least, he allowed Sandusky to continue to use his facilities and have access to his own football players and program for the next 9 years after this incident was reported to him. This is odd, given the nature of the accusation. At best, it is negligence. At worst, it is enabling and cover-up.

5) The rest of the university administration that knew about this incident are guilty of allowing the further abuse of boys on their facilities and by someone they knew was doing it due to their negligence.

6) We as Christians must primarily consider how these events profane the name of God. Sin is an affront to a holy God. The sexual abuse of children by those in authority over them defiles not only those children, but also the glory of God. Sin is disgusting. This is a prime example of the depravity of mankind. It is sick. It is sad. And God hates it.

7) We must also consider the victims of this alleged abuse. Our concern should not be for a sports program or a college, but for those who are most hurt by these incidents. I am sure that Joe Paterno will suffer because of his inaction. And I don't care. The victims here are the children who were abused during his watch. We must pray for them and we must pray for their families.

8) We, as Christians, should be concerned about the spread of the Gospel through this situation. The reality is that the only answer to the sin here is the Gospel. The cross is the only solution. As we are praying for the emotional healing of the victims, we must pray for the success of the Gospel and look for opportunities to bring it up as the only solution. Remember, apart from Christ, we are all Jerry Sandusky.

9) We must, in our churches, seek to protect our children from such predators. Make no mistakes. The enemy (Satan) ever looks to corrupt people within out churches. And he will stop at nothing to make the Kingdom of God look like a joke. Sexual predators have done this often because we have, in the church, been negligent in our jobs of protecting the ones who are most susceptible to abuse.

10) Above all, our response as Christians is not about us, nor about these boys, nor about Joe Pa, nor about Penn State. Our response is about God. We must never forget that.

As we grieve for these boys, experience anger towards Jerry Sandusky, wonder about Joe Paterno, reminisce about the supposed greatness of Penn State football, consider the remaining football players, and discuss the events of the last 9 years, let us never forget that our primary consideration as Christians is not in the human realm. It is in the spiritual. The focus of our thoughts and our discussions should be the glory of God. We must hate sin as God hates it. We must care for the lost as God cares for them. We must love the glory of God as God loves it. And we must live accordingly.

Why Theology Matters

In Hebrews 10, the writer begins to give a lot of commands to his readers as to how they are supposed to live their Christian lives. If we were writing this letter in today's church, we probably would have started right in with the commands of verse 22. We would tell our audience (congregation) that they need to draw near to God and hold on tight to Him, while trying to help others grow in their faith as well. This would be exactly what people would want to hear. They want practical applications for their daily life.

But verse 22 (which begins a section of practical application) is not in chapter 1. It is in chapter 10. Chapters 1 through the first have of 10 deal with theology. They cover subjects like the supremacy of Christ over angels, the supremacy of Christ over the Law, the progressive differences between the Old and New Covenants, the built-in frailties of the Old Covenant sacrifices, how the shadows of Old Covenant worship pointed to the reality of Christ and His once-for-all sacrifice.

The author thought it important enough to have 9 1/2 chapters of theology before getting into any kind of application. Paul did the same thing in Romans. He spends 11 chapters on theology before getting into practical application in chapter 12. So, the biblical writers seem to think that theology is as important as practice, if not more so. Why?

Simply put, right practice comes from right belief. Your actions flow from your beliefs. You cannot live correctly if your theology is wrong. In Hebrews 10, the writer shows this with one very important word. That word is found in the beginning of verse 19. After dealing with how God made promises under the Old Covenant and fulfilled them through the sacrifice of Christ as He brought in the New Covenant, the writer then says, "Therefore..."

I say this is an important word because it tells us how the following information is going to function. What follows are specific commands that detail how we are to live both individually and corporately. But, the word "Therefore" shows us that these commands don't stand on their own. They are a conclusion from previous material. You don't draw near, hold fast, and consider one another for just any reason. THEREFORE, you do these things. In other words, you do these things because of what God has already done for you. You base your actions on trusting in what God has already done and what He is doing. You live your life by faith in what the writer has just detailed in 9 1/2 chapters.

It's very similar to the Great Commission. We all know that we are to make disciples by going, baptizing and teaching. But, what is often missed in the Great Commission is the word "therefore". We are not to go, baptize and teach in our own power and for our own purposes. If we look back to see what the "therefore" is there for, we see that we are to go, baptize and teach because "All power in heaven and earth has been given to [Jesus]." In other words, our practice is based on our theology.

You cannot know how to live or what to do if you do not know what to believe. The Bible is full of theology because who God is and what God does is much more important than who you are or what you do. Spend a little time learning some theology. Once you know God well enough, then you might be able to figure out how you should live.

What not to say when you visit a church

I strive very hard not to pay attention to extreme points of view in any situation. For instance, I know I am not a perfect preacher. There are many aspects of study and delivery that I haven't mastered. Given that I work 50 hours per week normally outside of church, I definitely believe that I could use more preparation time. So, I don't usually listen to extreme praise or extreme criticism.

But, something very funny, almost shocking, was said to me at church this morning. We had a man visit our church who was obviously not enjoying his time with us. Throughout the service he refused to sing any of the songs and when we would read Scripture, he stared at the ceiling. After the service, just before he left, I went to introduce myself to him and talk to him a little. I went up to him, stuck out my hand, and said, "Hi. My name is Doug. Glad to have you here with us this morning."

His response? And I quote: "Hmmmm. You need to organize your thoughts a little better. And you are too repetitious. You repeat yourself over and over. You know, someone famous once said that everything you need to say should fit on a 3 x 5 card. If you can't limit yourself to that, then you don't really know your subject. You go on way too long. If you can hear yourself talk, you are going on too long."

And with that, he walked out.

Thankfully, nothing I did this morning was about me or my public speaking skill. It was about the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ and the glory of God. But, please. The next time you visit a church, say something nice to the pastor for me. He may have just worked a 60-hour work week and had to do the bulletin on his own printer at 10 o'clock the night before. Try building someone up, rather than tearing them down.

Out of the Abundance of the Heart

Now, I don't know Chris Reichert personally. I haven't even seen the video footage of him throwing money at the man with Parkinson's at the political rally against the Health Care bill. I have read some of what went on and, frankly, as a conservative, I am disgusted. But, I don't know Mr. Reichert, or anyone else who was at the rally, so I have to take his apology at face value.

But, one thing I am sure about what Mr. Reichert originally said and did is that he meant it. It was not as if he was forced to say something he didn't want to say or wasn't really feeling. He can use the excuse of getting caught up in the emotions of a political rally all he wants, but it doesn't change the fact that what he said came, not from the surroundings of the rally, but from his own heart. It's much like someone who gets drunk and says or does things they regret trying to blame the alcohol. It is not that the alcohol made you do something, it is that the alcohol took away some of your inhibitions that keep you from saying or doing what you really feel inside.

Which brings us back to a proper biblical understanding of human nature. We are not basically good. We are not even tabula rasa, or blank slates that are formed completely by our environment. The Bible says that the heart of man is "desperately wicked" and that "every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Now, this is a pretty strong indictment against mankind. But, look at our history, even the events of this past week, and it should be obvious that the Bible is correct.

As fallen human beings, our greatest need is not a new Health Care plan (or a government that completely adheres to the Constitution). The greatest need of every human being, including Mr. Reichert and you and me, is a Savior. We need to be changed from the inside out. We need the sins we commit to be forgiven. And we can't do that ourselves. This is why God sent His Son to die on the cross. He did it for sinful people like Chris Reichert. He did it for sinful people like Doug Mixer. He did it for you.

Health Care and Christianity

Well, now that we have all had a chance to catch our breath after the signing of the Health Care bill, it's time to take a few steps back to really think about how a Christian, not just an American, should think about Health Care. Let me preface everything I am about to say by being clear that I have NOT read the 1990 pages of the bill, so my comments will not be on the substance of the particular bill that just got signed into law.

Now, as a political and fiscal conservative, I could rant on and on about how I don't like big government, how I don't believe health insurance (which is really what I think the debate is all about) is a right guaranteed by the Constitution, how a multi-billion dollar expense when we already are fiscally irresponsible is a bad idea, and many other things. But, I want to approach this issue not as just an conservative American, but as a Christian.

So, here goes:

1) God is concerned about people and we should be, too.

This is not just an American issue, but a human issue. As Christians, we ought to be concerned about the well-being of all human beings and should be willing to sacrifice our "rights" and money to help others. You know, the whole "do unto others" thing? The Reformers rightly understood that the negative commandment to "not murder" presupposed a positive command to care for others well-being.

2) Christians, above all others, should be giving people.

The Bible says that to whom much has been given, much will be required. Now, without taking this verse completely out of context, the general principle is that we as Christians have been given more than anything this world could ever offer. Is it really too much to ask that we are willing to give of our possessions to others to help meet their physical needs?

3) Part of the responsibility of the church is to help those in need.

Of course, the Bible is clear that our primary responsibility is the spread of the Gospel and that, even as far as meeting physical needs is concerned, our responsibility is primarily towards "brothers" or other believers. But we can't get around the biblical mandate to look out for the needs of others and to put "feet" to our words. James 1:27 says "Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world." Perhaps, if the church wasn't so busy building coffee houses and softball fields on our properties, we would have more resources to do what we don't think the government has a right to do.

4) The answer to everything is never government, but always God.

We must understand that we shouldn't get so caught up in politics that we forget our primary responsibility as Christians. Although we are citizens of our particular country (in my case, the United States of America), ultimately we are citizens of heaven. And our primary interests and responsibilities are not related to our earthly home, but our heavenly home. We should be more concerned with the glory of God and the spread of the Gospel than proper functioning of the civil government. Of course, that does not mean that we pull out of government and put our heads in the sand. It means that we seek to make government better to the glory of God while recognizing that we are ultimately dependent on Him, not that government.

This issue is not a simple cut and dry issue. It is very complex and very complicated. As we respond to the events that are currently taking place, we must remember to do so with patience, love and a view to honoring God.

Trusting the One who alone is trustworthy

Wow! I haven't blogged in a few years. And no one missed me. I guess I'm not as important as I thought!

Anyway, I just finished reading another blog, by David Peters, about preaching to yourself and it reminded me of what I had been talking about in my sermon on Sunday. The topic (yes, I actually preached a topical sermon) was The Church: Who we are and What we do. I wasn't completely a good Baptist, because I only made 2 points and they weren't even alliterated. But the gist of the sermon was that the Church has been founded on and by Jesus Christ and it was founded and continues to develop according to God's divine timetable.

This is, honestly, a troubling reality for us self-centered humans that make up this divine institution known as The Church. We like to at least think that we are in control and that the whole thing is about us. But, in studying Matthew 16:16-18 and Acts 2, we find that it really isn't about us at all. It's all about God and His glory as displayed through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. It's all about the Gospel.

And because Christ created the Church and builds the Church as he sees fit, He is the one in control. But, here is where the good news comes in: because Christ is also sovereign and good, He can be trusted to build the church in the best possible way. See, if building any church were up to the pastor or the congregation, we would surely mess it up. But, since building the church is ultimately up to Christ, then we can be guaranteed that the final outcome will be exactly what He wants.

Let's put this into perspective. The church which I pastor, Grace Baptist Church, has been in existence for a little over 10 years. In that brief time, we have seen some great things happen. We have seen the Gospel change people's lives. We have seen marriages healed. We have seen those who had been under discipline from other churches reconciled with those believers and growing in their faith. We have been able to send out missionaries.

But we have also seen some "not-so-great" things. In our 10+ years, we have made some stupid decisions. We have not always pursued families as we should have. We have not always functioned the way the Body of Christ is supposed to function. And we have suffered for it. We have struggled at times and grown discouraged (especially me). But, in preaching this sermon Sunday to myself, one thing I was able to come out with is a confidence. Not a confidence in myself or in my abilities. But a confidence in God and His goodness. God is in absolute control over the development of any church, just as He is in absolute control over everything that happens in our world. Our job, as His children, is to trust Him as we serve Him.

How to Pray from Matthew 6:9-13

INTRODUCTION

Last week, we focused on Bible Study and teaching our families the Word of God. It is a daunting task that we cannot do in our own power. Other impossible tasks in the Bible:

1) Make disciples of all the nations (Matthew 28)

2) Love one another as Christ loves us (John 13:34)

3) Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord (Ephesians 5:22)

4) Husbands, love your wives as Christ loves the church (Ephesians 5:25)

5) Walk worthy of the calling with which you have been called (Ephesians 4:1)

6) Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)

CONCLUSION: We desperately need God to do something for us. We need to be on our knees in prayer before Him.

Therefore, we are going to look at how we should pray and for what we should be praying.

Matthew 6:9-13 – "In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

John Calvin - though Christ does not enjoin his people to pray in a prepared form of words, but only points out what ought to be the object of all our wishes and prayers. He embraces, therefore, in six petitions what we are at liberty to ask from God. Nothing is more advantageous to us than such instruction. Though this is the most important exercise of piety, yet in forming our prayers, and regulating our wishes, all our senses fail us. No man will pray aright, unless his lips and heart shall be directed by the Heavenly Master. For that purpose he has laid down this rule, by which we must frame our prayers, if we desire to have them accounted lawful and approved by God.

I. Recognize your need for Prayer

Matthew 6:5 – And when you pray
Matthew 6:6 – But you, when you pray
Matthew 6:7 – And when you pray

In these verses, Jesus assumes that His disciples will recognize their need to pray and will, therefore, be people of prayer.

The disciples did recognize this as shown in the parallel passage in Luke:

Luke 11:1 – one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."

Charles Spurgeon - “Make the most of prayer. . . . Prayer is the master-weapon. We should be greatly wise if we use it more, and did so with a more specific purpose…All hell is vanquished when the believer bows his knee in importunate supplication. Beloved brethren, let us pray. We cannot all argue, but we can all pray; we cannot all be leaders, but we can all be pleaders; we cannot all be mighty in rhetoric, but we can all be prevalent in prayer. I would sooner see you eloquent with God than with men. Prayer links us with the Eternal, the Omnipotent, the Infinite, and hence it is our chief resort. . . . Be sure that you are with God, and then you may be sure that God is with you."

II. Recognize that God wants you to pray

Matthew 6:9 – In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven

God is our Father and wants us to come to Him.

Augustine - O my God, Light of the blind and Strength of the weak; yes, also Light of those that see and Strength of the strong: we turn and seek You, for we know You are here in our hearts when we converse with You; when we cast ourselves upon You; when we weep, and You do gently wipe away our tears, and also when we weep for joy because You who made us does remake and comfort us. Grant that we may entirely love You, even unto the end.

III. Pray Kingdom-Focused Prayers

A. Pray that God's name would be holy

Isaiah 6:1-3 – In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!"

B. Pray that God’s kingdom would expand on earth

Matthew 16:18 – "And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

Acts 1:8 – But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

C. Pray that God’s will would be done on earth just like it is done in heaven

IV. Pray People-Focused Prayers

A. Pray for corporate needs (Give US this day)

1. Pray for your family

a. Pray that you would be godly parents, properly teaching and disciplining your children

b. Pray that your children would come to know the Lord

c. Pray that your children would live and die for the glory of God

d. Pray that your home would be a place of joy

e. Pray that your family would be a good witness in the community

f. Pray that your family would be good members of your church

2. Pray for your church

a. Pray for the leaders (IOUS from John Piper)

1) Incline our hearts to love God’s Word (Psalm 119:36)
2) Open our eyes to see wonderful things from God’s Word (Psalm 119:18)
3) Unite our hearts to fear God (Psalm 86:11)
4) Satisfy us with God’s steadfast love (Psalm 90:14)

b. Pray for the members

Ephesians 3:14-19 – For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height -- 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

1) Pray that God would strengthen other believers in our church
2) Pray that God would cause their faith in Christ to increase
3) Pray that God would cause them to be firmly grounded (see Psalm 1) in the love He has for them, the love they have for Him and their love for one another.
4) Pray that God would cause them to get a taste of the incomprehensible love that Christ has for them.
5) Pray that they would be completely satisfied with all that God is for them.

c. Pray that we would reach the lost

Ephesians 6:18-20 – praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints -- 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

d. Pray that, ultimately, we would be to the glory of God

3. Pray for your city, state, country

1 Timothy 2:1-2 – Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.

B. Pray for corporate forgiveness (forgive US)

Daniel 9:3-19 – Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, "O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 "we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 "Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 "O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day -- to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. 8 "O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 "To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 "We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 "Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 "And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. 13 "As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 "Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 "And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day -- we have sinned, we have done wickedly! 16 " O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17 "Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord's sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 "O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 "O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name."

C. Pray for corporate holiness (lead US not)

1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 – And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, 13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.

GRASS ON YOUR PATH
In one region of Africa, the first converts to Christianity were very diligent about praying. In fact, the believers each had their own special place outside the village where they went to pray in solitude. The villagers reached these “prayer rooms” by using their own private footpaths through the brush. When grass began to grow over one of these trails, it was evident that the person to whom it belonged was not praying very much. Because these new Christians were concerned for each other’s spiritual welfare, a unique custom sprang up. When ever anyone noticed an overgrown “Prayer path,” he or she would go to the person and lovingly warn, “Friend, there’s grass on your path."

Watch Yourself and Your Doctrine

1 Timothy 4:16 - Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

This was the passage that C. J. Muhaney recently focused on in the Together for the Gospel conference. The impact of this verse is staggering. It begins with a command. "Take heed." It can also be translated to "watch closely." To often we just float through life. We go from morning to evening, week to week, year to year without a thought about how we are living. But Paul doesn't let us off the hook. He says we must take heed. We must watch closely.

We must take heed to two things. First of all, we must watch our life. We have to watch how we live. We must be careful to pay attention to how we live in public and in private. We can't assume that because we have a title or position (like Pastor). We can easily fool ourselves into thinking everything is alright, when in fact, we are walking down the wrong path. We must watch our lives. We must put ourselves in a position where we are protected from sin. We must repent of and confess our sin and renew our walk with God. We must get other people around us who can help us watch.

The next thing we must watch is somewhat easier for us theological types. We must watch our doctrine - our teaching. We had better pay attention to what we believe and teach or we will easily go down the broad road to heresy. This has never been more obvious than recently with so many who used to be orthodox espousing views like Open Theism and the New Perspective on Paul. If they would watch their doctrine closely, they might not have gone down these paths. Again, it helps to have others around to keep you close to the truth.

Now comes the kicker. The result of this will be both our salvation and the salvation of those who hear us. Did you see that? God has ordained (sovereignly) that the means of salvation for ourselves and our hearers will be us keeping a close watch on ourselves and our teaching. The opposite must also be true. If we don't watch, we forfeit the means of our salvation and that of our listeners. This verse has eternal consequences. There is an urgency here that we dare not ignore. If we long for the salvation of our hearers, then we must obey the first half of the verse. We must keep a close wathc on ourselves and our teaching. The promise is that God will work through us to save others. What a glorious part we can play in God's work of salvation!