Life in the Church

Yesterday Phil preached on reasons we give our finances to the church. To put it as snappy as Sam Houston did: "When I got baptized, my wallet got baptized, too." One of the sections of the sermon gave a rationale for why Christians should (at least) tithe. 

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?

Jeremy Walker at the Reformation 21 blog recently wrote a post with recommended books and resources for Christians in the workplace. There is a variety of old and new, long and short, so pick one that fits what you're looking for.

Last fall Jordan and Ashley Liggitt did a Bible study with a group of their neighbors. We asked Jordan about how it went and what he learned along the way.

Michelle Alston has created a list of Scriptures (and some paraphrased Scriptures) that unpack in wonderful completeness who we are in Christ. For some of these, the pronouns are changed to personalize them, and for others a paraphrase is used to get at the essence of the text. Yet, these several dozen texts remind us vividly that God not only loves us, but he wants us to grow in our understanding of that love.

On Sunday, February 24, the call to worship during our Sunday service focused on prophecy and the gift of tongues from 1 Corinthians 14:1-5. As you might expect, a number of people responded to the prompting of the Spirit. One of these was Candace Walton, who served the church by interpreting a tongue given by Sam Hodges. We asked her to describe the experience so that others could be encouraged and maybe informed about what it can be like to step out in this way.

David Powlison recently addressed this question on the CCEF blog (Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation). His answers are insightful and helpful.

Clay Shelor has written some excellent discussion questions based on last week's sermon. We looked at the topic of "every-member ministry," an idea that has gripped us as elders over the last year or so.

A letter from "Brother Jeff" who thanked our youth group for the care boxes they sent recently.

Julie Roe reposts on serving the needy at the Holly Springs Food Cupboard.