Here’s a great quote from John Piper in his message given at the Together for the Gospel conference:

God’s aim to display His glory and my delight in that glory are in perfect harmony. You don’t honor what you don’t enjoy. This is what so burdens me. You do not honor fully what you don’t enjoy. God is not glorified fully by being known rightly. He is glorified by being known and so enjoyed that our lives are transformed into the kind of lives that display His infinite worth.

May we come to know and enjoy God in such a way that His glory and infinite worth are on display in this community!

2 Corinthians 3:18

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

FYI- I will be ordering children’s cirriculum this week from Desiring God.  Thought I’d post links for what we will be doing for preschool and k-3rd grade.  Feel free to share any thoughts you have.

This article by Pastor Scott Thomas comes across obviously biased but worth reflecting on. What description best defines what we should be about? Here is the entire article. If you go there, take the test after the description of each church.

The Missional Church:

1. Sent by God as missionaries in their own culture (Mt. 4:19).
2. Exists to take Christ to the lost: Go to the world (Mt. 28:18-20).
3. Members are personally engaged in their communities (Acts 16:20; 17:6).
4. Submerged into its culture like Christ (Luke 7:34).
5. Main focus is training and equipping others to be missionaries (Eph. 4:11-16).
6. Dependent upon Holy Spirit to use individuals as agents for evangelizing (Acts 1:8).
7. Develops relationships with the lost on purpose (Matt. 5:13-16).
8. Relationships are the means to influence others in their journey toward Christ (John 15:12-17; 1 John 4:19-21).
9. The goal is to help others find Jesus in their own way and timing (1 Cor. 9:20-23).
10. Participants are affected in every way through a calling by God to be an agent for the gospel (Acts 4:13, 31-35).
11. Faith is practiced in community - groups of people together (Acts 2:42-45; Phil. 1:27).
12. Worship is unpredictable, spontaneous, Spirit-directed and messy (John 4:23-24).

The Evangelical Church:

1. Has a program of missions alongside numerous activities of the church.
2. Exists as a place for the lost to find Christ: Come to the Church.
3. Members are supportive of mission efforts.
4. Separated from its culture as a holy quest.
5. Main focus is supporting mission works - mainly overseas.
6. Dependent upon altar call and big events as its main tool for evangelization.
7. Knows a few lost people and prays for their salvation.
8. Uses marketing techniques & business principles to draw people to a corporate gathering.
9. The goal is to produce salvation results.
10. Participants conform to man-made standards through guilt and pressure. Change is through self-will, not Spirit.
11. Faith is practiced at the church building during prescribed gathering times.
12. Worship is structured, predictable and orderly.

The Institutional Church:

1. Sends money to missionaries in foreign countries if it is convenient.
2. Exists for the members of the church: Join the Church.
3. Members expect pastors to bring in the lost and unchurched.
4. Has become a sub-culture of Christians living in a parallel universe.
5. Main focus is supporting church activities to attract new families.
6. Dependent upon pastors and staff to evangelize the lost.
7. Stays away from the lost; has very few dealings with those outside the church.
8. Uses tradition, denomination and family ties to attract and keep members.
9. The goal is to increase attendance.
10. Participants compartmentalize their religion and their lives - generally facades of religious adherence.
11. Faith is a routine activity that is private and personal.
12. Worship is ritualistic.

An mp3 download of Josh Winans’ sermon from May 14th is available. The sermon is an overview of the life of Joseph, taken from Genesis 50. If you discover problems with the audio or have questions about the website, feel free to email us at webmaster@asgrace.org.

 

 Lessons from the life of Joseph [25:25m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The guys at Together for the Gospel have completed their statement of declarations and denials.  This is a strong and clear statement signed by some of my living heroes.  Edifying and inspiring stuff.

I have found this article by Tim Keller extremely helpful. It’s a tad long but well worth the read.

Welcome to the Sovereign Grace Fellowship blog! Please bear with us as we get this software tuned and ready to use.