Gospel

Sunday's sermon from Ephesians 4:25 was about the need to be godly truth-tellers if we are to build strong relationships in the church. This is part of "putting off" sinful behavior and "putting on" godly behavior.

 One woman's testimony about her work with troubled teens in Cary, putting faith into action at an Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Program.

This Sunday we will celebrate the Lord's Supper. It is an act that some of us have done hundreds of times. Such seemingly routine acts can lose their richness and power if we forget what exactly they mean—just like a wedding anniversary can be just another task on my calendar if I forget that it means this amazing person actually said, "Yes!" to spending the rest of her life with me.

In some ways, yesterday was a bit like stepping back in time for me. Allow me to explain: God gave me the gift of faith in Christ for salvation 20 years ago under the gospel teaching of this church and the example of the extraordinary love the saints have for one another in this place. Yesterday was for me flashback to those early years, as Phil carefully dealt with the subject of ongoing Christian sanctification from the pages of Scripture.

On Friday the Sovereign Grace churches ratified a whole new way of functioning as a family of churches. We introduced a level of organization that far surpasses anything in our history together. That is, we have many more committees and structures than at any point in our past. The question could rightly be asked in the face of this new labyrinth, "Won't this kill mission?"

An experience of grace that we can all relate to as feelings of guilt turn to gratitude. 

One of the purposes of great art is to bring the overwhelming realities of life and thought within reach of normal, distracted, minds like ours. Without it, the gap between my own wisdom and the wisdom necessary to properly comprehend the wonder and mystery of birth, the changing of seasons, a fire in the hearth, sickness, and death is too wide to measure. 

Ten Big realities about God and about us that we all need to hear every morning.

Paul Tripp's book Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands was written to help Christians counsel other Christians. While there is certainly a place for professional counseling, the book underscores the idea that most of our giving and receiving of counsel will not be in the therapist's office, but in living rooms, coffee shops, church lobbies, offices, classrooms, and grocery stores. All day we are listening to and giving counsel. The question is, are we doing that well?

The SGM blog posted "What in the World is Holy Week"? by Walt Alexander, one of our fellow elders at the Knoxville SG church. It has some great helps for preparing our hearts for Easter. Note that we'll be having a Good Friday service to remind us to slow down and behold the cross.