Devotions

Here are some thoughts and excerpts from this sermon on January 31, 2021. You can listen, watch, or read the entire sermon here.

Listen! Look Here! He who has ears to hear, let him hear! Pay attention to what you hear! These are the commands from the mouth of Jesus in Mark 4. His listeners’ and our spiritual lives depend on our response to it. Jesus goes on to warn his disciples that if they don’t understand this particular parable (of the Sower), they will have trouble understanding the rest of what he will tell them. We would do well to pay attention as well.

There are two obvious obstacles to consistent and meaningful devotions that I will mention briefly before moving on: (1) sin and (2) lack of affection 

1. In prayer, reading, and meditation we make eye-contact with God. And, like a child with his earthly father, when we are in habitual, secret, unrepentant, sin we are loathed to make eye-contact with our heavenly Father. Repent, walk in the light. Draw near to Him and he will draw near to you. 
2. If you do not truly love God, if your emotions, affections, and joy are not securely engaged and tied up in right…

Two years ago we ran a series of blog posts for Advent written by different members of our church. Please consider reading the series by yourself or as a family to help you remember once again the miracle of Christ coming to earth.

Reformation. That's not a word we use often, but it has to do with re-forming something that already exists. Ideally, it is re-forming it in a better, more desirable manner. What we call the "Reformation" of the 16th century didn't create the church or the gospel or the Bible, but it significantly re-formed what many people thought about each of these.

This summer we're preaching a set of sermons that all fit together around this broad topic of Personal Reformation. These three mini-series' are brief and practical, and for each one we have selected a book to recommend if you…

As much as I still prefer a Bible with pages, a cover, space to write in, and the whole pre-modern deal, I appreciate the benefits of a good Bible app. Here are some recommended by various people at SGC.

"The Most Important Week of the Most Important Person Who Ever Lived": That is the sub-title of a book by Andreas J. Kostenberger and Justin Taylor called, The Final Days of Jesus. In the book the authors, both highly regarded evangelical scholars, work through each day from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. The book provides a helpful reflection on the historicity of these events, but it also gives a good set of readings for individuals and families who want a way to reflect deliberately on these teachings and events so central to our faith and life.

In the European gallery at the art museum, I found myself alone in a silent maze of carpet and dimly-lit pictures. I was surrounded by depictions of Christ on every side, each one different. As I stood there in the stillness, I heard the words Jesus spoke to his disciples in Matthew 16:14, "Who do you say that I am?"

It was Christmas Eve in Decatur, Georgia, and my brothers and I had been tucked into bed. In the darkness of my room I opened the curtains on the window next to my bed and peered out into the dark night, my eyes scanning the skies expectantly. But I wasn’t looking for a sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. I was hoping to see the star of Bethlehem appear.

The birth of Christ takes up much space in story books, movies, Christmas pageants, songs, and poems. Certainly these advent readings cover many events in the Gospels surrounding the coming of Christ, such as the birth of John the Baptist, the visits of Gabriel to Mary and then to Joseph, the announcement to the shepherds, the visit of foreign wise men, and the blessing of Simeon. There are also all of the amazing prophecies fulfilled in the circumstances surrounding the advent of Jesus. Yet Luke here records the birth of Christ in a single, simple sentence. Mary gave birth, wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger.

Redemption Has Come! At long last! Nine months had passed for Elizabeth. Nine months of solitude and anticipation in watchful care. She was waiting for redemption from the stigma of social pity and personal shame.