“God, make me a man with thick skin and a soft heart. Make me a man who is tough and tender. Make me tough so I can handle life. Make me tender so I can love people. God, make me a man.”
From Darrin Patrick. This will now be part of Malachi and my nighttime ritual.
That quote is from a recent interview on Joe Thorn’s blog with Jonathan Dodson. The whole interview is fabulous. Here are some highlights
In chapter one of 1 Timothy Paul shows us that sound doctrine is “in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God.” Literally, the good news of the glory of the happy God. Sound doctrine shows us the something about God, namely that he is glorious and blessed! Sound doctrine isn’t merely getting your beliefs right; it is getting your heart happy in a right view of God. …
This deep heart change happens through doctrine, God-centered teaching …
If we’re to make progress in godliness, we must be continually taught and trained in Jesus …
Practically speaking, how would you encourage churches to make disciples?
Recover the centrality of the gospel in producing Jesus-shaped godliness, a godliness that is missional and God-centered. Apply the gospel everyday.
Recover a practice of discipleship that is communal not individualistic. Jesus make disciples in community, sent them by two, make them by threes and a dozen. Be a disciple with other disciples.
Recover a discipleship that is missional not comfort or knowledge based. Sound doctrine sends disciples that imitate Jesus. The incarnation is the paradigm of mission. Be a disciples that makes disciples, not on your turf but on their turf.
Follow the biblical distinctives of discipleship in the Gospels. Ask yourself where you are 1) relying on the Spirit 2) embracing suffering 3) dying to yourself 4) living in the hope of resurrection. If our lives aren’t risky enough to force us to rely on the Spirit, to suffer the reproach of others or loss of comfort, to surrender our rights, and demonstrate hope in a much greater world to come, then we have very little to point to as Christian discipleship. Take these 4 areas, plucked from the Gospels and Acts, and ask a group of disciples to provoke you to live this kind of life, one that puts Jesus at the center of your failures and your successes.
Being in a college town means there should always be a desire to reach the next generation, the college students, with the gospel. If you want to hear how to do that, listen to this sermon by Kevin DeYoung. Kevin is a “pretty big deal” in the evangelical world, writing books and speaking at conferences. He’s also the pastor of a local church, in his case University Reformed Church in East Lansing, MI. What Kevin shares in this sermon is a model every church should follow to engage the next generation with the gospel. We should
This is a challenge to us at Grace as we look towards a new chapter at our church with the recent hire of Tyson Lemke. We need to understand that while a Senior Pastor will lead us, he cannot do the work of ministry for us. We individually need to be committed to making and sending disciples and planting churches. This is the model of engagement and connection that the Bible teaches and one that we ignore to our peril and sin.
From Bob Thune at the Coram Deo Blog. Not much to argue with
Here’s my “working definition” of church planting which provides the skeletal outline for this series:
Church Planting is:
- Planting the SEED of the gospel
- in the SOIL of a culture
- and trusting the SOVEREIGNTY of God
- to bring forth a THRIVING CHURCH.
We like this definition for a number of reasons: it is organic; it sees a visible church as the end rather than the beginning (people living as missionaries in their culture is the beginning); it involves both hard work and patient, prayerful dependence on God. The definition attempts to capture four important elements of any missional endeavor:
- gospel proclamation and demonstration (planting seed)
- contextualization (understanding the soil)
- prayerful dependence (resting in God’s sovereignty)
- gospel renewal (goal is a thriving church – Acts 2:41-47 – not just any church)
From Dr. Bruce Ware, Re:Train instructor and professor at Southern Seminary, as blogged by Owen Strachan. You can listen online here.
- Love. 1) Loving God increasingly w/ all my heart, soul, mind and strength; loving Christ and the cross; loving the gospel — these are the foundation for all else. Drawing from God all I need to be the man and husband God has called me to be is my strength and hope. 2) Loving my wife as Christ loves the Church — this is the umbrella principle for marriage; everything else flows from this responsibility and privilege (Eph 5:25ff).
- Leadership. Biblical manhood involves cultivating, embracing, and exercising leadership initiative, especially spiritual leadership initiative. This is a principle that applies to young men and adult single men just as well as to married men. Cultivate, embrace, and exercise spiritual leadership initiative. In marriage, my love for my wife involves and requires that I exert leadership in our relationship. My headship of my wife means I’m responsible for her spiritual growth and well-being. And as a father, I’m responsible in ways that my wife is not for the spiritual development of our children (Eph 6:1-4). And again, to do this, I must be seeking God and growing personally. Only out of the storehouse of my own soul’s growth in God can I assist my wife to grow spiritually.
- Example. Lead by example as much as by admonition and instruction. Set the example in: consistent times in the Word and prayer; in sacrificial service for your wife, children, church family members, and community needs; in giving faithfully, generously, and regularly of your finances; in humble admission of wrong-doing along with confession, asking forgiveness, and repentance. Fight pride, fight defensiveness, fight carnality before others.
- Authority. All three points above imply and invoke the concept of male-headship. Yes, God has given special authority to husbands and fathers. Learn, though, the correct expression of healthy, constructive, upbuilding, God-honoring, Christ-following authority. Resist and reject the sinful extremes of 1) harshness, bossiness, mean-spirited authoritarianism, and of 2) laziness, apathy, lethargy, negligence, and abdication of authority to the women in our lives. Learn to blend firmness with gentleness, truth with grace, a firm hand with a warm smile.
- Acceptance. Each of us is unique as God has made us. We should accept others’ differences w/o thinking ourselves to be either superior or inferior to others. In marriage, my wife is unique, and so in many ways, she is not like me. I need to accept who she is, prayerfully and sensitively seeking to assist her in changing what is sinful and needs to be changed, and accepting what is “just different.”
- Listening. One of my wife’s biggest and most real needs is my attentive and respectful listening ear. She loves to share her experiences, thoughts, ideas, feelings, concerns, hurts, joys, etc. I can minister to my wife more than one might think by offering her caring, responsive, and respectful listening and interaction. Learn to listen sympathetically w/o rushing to “fix it” solutions. Connect first heart to heart, then later heart to head. Establish regular times of mutual sharing (yes, mutual), keep short accounts, and act on what you hear and learn.
- Understanding. I need to live with my wife in an understanding way (1 Pet 3:7), to learn her needs, her sensitivities. I should seek to know the desires and felt needs of my wife and, when appropriate and possible, fulfill these. I need to discover her “language of love” and make every effort to love her in ways she feels loved.
- Work. A man’s main sense of identity, responsibility, and purpose is found in his work. Wives want to take pride in their husbands, and taking pride in their work is an important part of this. Women are not meant to bear the financial weight of a marriage or family, so husbands must work hard and responsibly. As important as work is to a man’s identity and fulfillment, we must not allow work to overshadow our commitment to and time with our wives first, and also to our children. Work hard, work well, work to the honor of Christ, and then put work to rest.
- Sexuality. My wife is my only legitimate sexual experience, and I am hers. So, learning to love sexually with increasing skill and pleasure is vitally important to the satisfaction and intimacy of our marriage. See human sexuality for what it is — the good gift of God to be experienced in marriage, as God has designed.
- Home. She cares much about our home. The “honey-do” list is far more important to her than she is likely to let on. In love for her, I must pay attention to her requests and treat them as important. But more important even than this is cultivating the “culture” and “ethos” of our home. Develop an atmosphere of appreciation, respect, kindness, service, holiness, happiness, gratefulness, contentment, forgiveness — all as expressions of our love for God and one another.
I’ve been told by my Re:Train coach, Cliff Low, that the best use of my time is developing leaders. Much easier said than done, however. When developing leaders, you need a plan and you need to make it a priority. When planning, you should ask “What are the
- Requirements from Scripture (For example, what do 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 say?)
- Requirements from your Denomination or Network (For example, what does it mean to be an elder in a Presbyterian, Baptist, or an Acts 29 church?)
- Requirements from your context and church (For example, what does it mean to be an elder at my church, at this time, this stage, this size, in this part of this specific city?)
Scott Thomas of the Acts 29 Network recently published a study guide that is very useful in training and raising up new leaders. Here’s an overview of the guide.
This study guide is an interactive curriculum of the book, Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005) written by Wayne A. Grudem and edited by Elliot Grudem.
Christian Beliefs (160 pages) is a condensed version of Grudem’s book, Bible Doctrine (528 pages), and that itself is a condensed version of Grudem’s award-winning Systematic Theology (1,290 pages).* This guide is designed to introduce Christians to the core beliefs of Bible doctrine in preparation for church leadership or to help new Christians to distinguish truth from error. This guide can be used to prepare elders, deacons, small group leaders, Sunday School teachers and all those who want to learn more about maturing in their Christian faith and becoming equipped to give a gentle and respectful answer to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). An instructor in a class or small group or in a one to one environment can facilitate the questions or it can be utilized as a self-study or as a tool to equip a family in Biblical doctrine.
Theological Clarity and Application seeks to preserve the contents of Grudem’s Christian Beliefs by using questions to stimulate further understanding and application. The participants in this curriculum would benefit by first reading each chapter in Christian Beliefs before answering questions. It is also highly recommended to have a respected study Bible and a copy of Grudem’s Systematic Theology available for reference.
Each chapter of this guide corresponds to the chapters in Christian Beliefs. At the end of each section, a prayer text and Scripture memory is included. Additionally, a reference to the corresponding chapters and supplementary readings in Grudem’s Systematic Theology are included as well as further readings by noted conservative scholars and authors who contribute to the specific topic covered in the chapter.
This material is not something that should be rushed through to complete. It is a refrigerated locker full of meat that must be eaten regularly and systematically one meal at a time, allowing ample time to chew and digest the information and ideally to savor with others. One can complete the study in 20 weeks by covering one chapter a week or complete it in 40 weeks (approximately one school year) by covering one chapter every two weeks. The latter allows for a deeper reading of the accompanying Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem.
You can download it here
Thoughtful corporate worship is rare. Thoughtful children’s worship even more so. If there’s a church to model, however, when it comes to cross-centered, thoughful children’s worship, Sojourn Community Church is it. Here is their description of the liturgy
twice a month your children get together with kids from other classes and take part in a mini-service modeled after the Big Church, with songs and liturgy and prayer and all. The idea is to introduce the kids to a typical Sojourn worship service so they’re ready when they leave the Sojourn Kids program, and also to get them thinking about how good and glorious and beautiful and true God and His gospel are.
Here are examples of their Kids Music Liturgy.
This morning’s lesson is about God’s Amazing Grace! What is God’s grace? God’s grace is kindness and favor that you and I don’t deserve. Let’s repeat that again together: God’s grace is kindness and favor that you and I don’t deserve. Our first song is a Bible memory verse. So we are going to memorize a Bible verse by singing it. Some of you may remember it. The “address” is Ephesians 2:8 and 9.
Let’s say the verse together. Please repeat after me:
For by grace you have been saved through faith
and that not of yourselves
it is the gift of God
not as a result of works
that no one should boast
Ephesians 2:8 and 9This verse is saying that we can be saved from God’s punishment by faith in Jesus. We cannot earn or work for God’s forgiveness– His forgiveness is a free gift to us when we trust in Him. And because it’s a free gift– we can’t brag about it– because we have done nothing to deserve it. Let’s sing this verse together.
Let’s pretend that you have been very mean to your brother. And your Daddy comes to you and says, “Because you have been mean to your brother, you have to sit in time-out. Plus, you can’t go to a Birthday party that has cake and presents for everybody.” You would feel sad, but you would deserve the punishment that your Dad has given you. Then, your brother, the one you were mean to, comes and says, “Daddy, I’ll sit in time-out and I’ll miss the birthday party so that he/she can go.” Now, your brother doesn’t deserve the punishment, but he is showing you GRACE. Grace is kindness and favor that you don’t deserve.
This story is not true. But Jesus is true. How much more amazing is God’s grace in Jesus! We have sinned against God and we deserve to be punished. Perfect Jesus who never did any thing wrong took our punishment for all of our sins when He died on the cross. That’s amazing grace! Let’s sing to God about His amazing grace!
Let’s learn another new song about God’s amazing grace, His undeserved kindness. This is a song called “You show me kindness.”
Jesus is a mighty, mighty Savior! He can save us from the punishment of our sins. Let’s sing to our mighty Savior!
4. “Mighty Mighty Savior,” words and music by Mark Altrogge. © Sovereign Grace Praise (BMI). Sovereign Grace Music, a division of Sovereign Grace Ministries. From Awesome God.
We are going to pray. Fold your hands and be still and talk to God. Let’s pray to God.Jesus, your grace is amazing! You have not treated us as we deserve. You have not punished us like we should be punished. You took our consequences and punishment on the cross. Thank you! We want to believe in you and turn to you to forgive us for our sins. We want to love you more each day. Help us to forgive each other like you forgive us. Amen.
What do we celebrate in February? (Allow children to answer.) That’s right, we celebrate Valentine’s Day! Valentine’s Day is a chance to make or send cards to tell others that you love and appreciate them. It’s fun to get cards in the mail. Did you know that God has sent you a “love letter”? What is God’s love letter to you? (Allow children to answer.) The Bible! What is the Bible? The Bible is God’s written word.
Who wrote the Bible? (Teach the children this answer exactly. It is from their children’s catechism. Have them repeat it after you.) “Holy men who were taught by the Holy Spirit.” You know we think about sending love letters and telling people we love them SOME times, but God thinks about you and loves you ALL the time. His love is the BIGGEST LOVE in the universe. Even while you were sleeping last night, God was loving you and thinking about you all night long. We are going to sing some songs this morning about God’s HUGE love for us. Let’s (STAND UP and) sing a love song to God!
Who loves you the most in the world? You might instantly think of your Mommy or Daddy, because they do love you so much. But God loves you even more than your parents. God made your parents, so their love is His gift to you too. Even though others let us down, God’s love is completely pure and never fails. How has God shown us that He loves us? (Allow children to answer.) God has shown us that He loves us in JESUS. God has shown us his love in that while we were still sinners, He sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for our sins. God loves us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to take the punishment for our sin. We are going to sing this truth as a Bible memory verse.
Jesus told stories to teach us something. One time Jesus told this story. There was a shepherd who had 100 sheep. That’s a lot of sheep! He was counting them and realized one was missing. Does anybody know what the shepherd did? He left the 99 and went looking for the one missing sheep until he found it. What was Jesus teaching us? That we are like little sheep and God loves each and every one of us. You are like the missing 100th sheep. You are special to God and He wants you to come to Him and be close to Him. Let’s come to God this morning and sing about His Love.
The Bible says in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (NIV). The greatest love is laying down your life for someone else. That means to die for someone. Jesus has the greatest love because He died for our sins. We do not naturally love Jesus. Jesus first loved us. We do not love others like Jesus. We need Jesus to change us to love Him and to love others. We are going to sing about loving Jesus in our next song.
We are going to pray. Fold your hands and be still and talk to God. Let’s pray. “Jesus, you are wonderful! You’re love is amazing! We want to love you too. Help us to love each other like you love us. Thank you for coming to earth to save us from our sins! In Jesus name we pray. Amen.”
Does anybody know what fun day is coming up this month? I’ll give you a hint– you get pinched if you don’t wear green on this day. (Allow children to answer.) It’s St. Patrick’s Day! Do you know who Patrick was? Patrick was a real REAL (emphasize real — “this was a real story that happened a very long time ago”) little boy who has an amazing story! Patrick grew up about 1500 years ago in Britain. His parents were Christians, and he grew up learning about Jesus. But one day people invaded his town and kidnapped Patrick! They took him away to their own country, Ireland, and made him a slave! He was a shepherd for six years, until God led him to a boat that took him back home.
But the story doesn’t end there. When Patrick grew up, he had a dream that the people who kidnapped him were begging for his help. He could have been angry at them for what they did, but instead Patrick became a missionary, and moved to Ireland to tell the people there about Jesus!
Just like God was with Patrick even when he was scared, God is always with us and watching over us no matter what’s going on. Let’s STAND UP and sing “You Are Always With Me!”
Every day that Patrick was in Ireland working as a shepherd for the people who kidnapped him, he prayed to God. Patrick didn’t forget about God when he had a big problem. But even more importantly, God didn’t forget about Patrick! When you have a big problem, or when you feel sad, remember that God answers our prayers when we ask Him for help. He cares about our problems and He loves to help us!
We’re going to sing a new song today. It comes from Psalm 55:22.
(Take some time to go through the words and motions with the kids. There aren’t too many words to it.)
Cast your cares on the Lord, and He will sustain you
He will sustain you
He will never never never let the righteous fall
Let the righteous fall, no-o2. “Cast Your Cares (Psalm 55:22),” words from New International Version © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Music by Seeds Family Worship. From The Power of Encouragement.
God saved Patrick. God rescued him by getting him on the boat that took him back to his family. But God also saved Patrick in a bigger way: He sent Jesus to die on the cross, so that Patrick’s sins could be forgiven! When Patrick placed his faith in Jesus, He was rescued from the punishment of sin. He was saved from eternal death in hell. Jesus died to take away our sins. Let’s sing to Jesus and thank Him for loving us like that.
Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” When we hear the word “enemy,” we might think of some supervillain or bad guy in a cartoon or movie. But Jesus is saying we should love everyone, even when they are being unfair, or mean, or not doing what we want them to do. We naturally love our good friends, but we need God’s help to love our enemies. Patrick loved the people who kidnapped him! Jesus loved His enemies by dying on the cross for them. Let’s sing together and ask God to help us love everyone like He loves us.
We are going to pray. What is prayer? (Allow kids to respond.) Prayer is talking to God. Let’s be still and talk to God. Let’s pray.
“God, thank You so much for taking good care of us. Thank you for sending Jesus to die for us. Help us to remember You every day, to love everyone and to tell them about Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”Patrick told people that Jesus died on the cross. Now let’s go and tell our family and friends about what God has done for us in Jesus! Let’s tell them that they can be forgiven because Jesus died to take away sins!
5. “Go (Matthew 28:19),” words from New International Version © 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Music by Seeds Family Worship. From The Power of Encouragement.
This Sunday is Palm Sunday. Most classes are studying the Jesus’ Triumphal Entry (Luke 19:28-40) or Jesus’ Death (Matthew 26-27; Luke 22:63-23:56). Each class will keep in mind the day’s main theme—that Jesus is God’s King, sent to deliver his people from sin and death. Here is the cool part! Each child will receive a palm branch to take home after the service. And some classes (ages 4-grade 2) will be led in a “Hosanna” parade into the adult worship gathering. Kids will run down the aisles shouting Hosanna then gather at the front of the auditorium to help in singing this song with the gathered community! Then, they’ll gather upstairs with the entire children’s ministry for the following liturgy:
Leader 1: Welcome to Sojourn Kid’s Worship. This morning we are going to worship the Lord together as we celebrate Palm Sunday. Why is today called Palm Sunday? (Pause for answers.) More than 2000 years ago Jesus was greeted by crowds of people who were happy to see him coming into the city of Jerusalem. To show Jesus they were glad to see him, they waved palm branches in his honor and shouted praise to him. Listen as I read this story from the Bible, it’s from the book of John chapter 12 verses 12 to 14. Listen as I read God’s word:
12The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the King of Israel!”
The crowd shouted “Hosanna” to Jesus. Hosanna means
“Praise the God who saves!” Let’s sing to Jesus and wave our arms to Him singing “Hosanna!”
Hosanna in the Highest (Palm Sunday edition), Words & Music by Jeremy Quillo (c) 2010 Sojourn Music
Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, In the highest.
Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest, In the highest.Look! The Lord is drawing near!
Let the children shout and sing!
Tell the world that Life is here,
Jesus Christ, our God, our King!Leader 2—read this portion with excitement:
We’re going to praise God by saying “HALLELUJAH!” Hallelujah means “Praise the Lord!” I will say something that is true about God and you will repeat after me: “HALLELUJAH! PRAISE THE LORD!” Listen to what I say and then respond with “HALLELUJAH!”
Leader 2: Jesus is God! Jesus is Lord!
Children: HALLELUJAH!
Leader 2: Jesus suffered and died on the cross for my sins!
Children: HALLELUJAH!
Leader 2: Jesus was in the tomb. He was dead in the grave for three days! Death could NOT keep Him dead!
Children: HALLELUJAH!
Leader 2: Jesus is alive! Jesus is risen! He rose from the dead!
Children: HALLELUJAH!
Leader 2: Jesus is the champion. Jesus is victorious. He is the winner!
Children: HALLELUJAH!
Leader 2: Now stand up and let’s shout: “JESUS IS ALIVE!”(Repeat several times. Optional: have children jump while chanting “Jesus is alive!”)
Leader 3: Romans 5:8 says: “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” So how has God shown us He loves us? (Answer: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.) Yes! Let’s sing this verse together and remember that Christ died for us!
Intro to the next song involves saying the lyrics and doing the hand-motions:
(Raise arms and hands in praise and then cross arms over heart to say “love.”)
Leader 1: Holy God, in love, be – came
(Place fists on hips to stand like a man)
Perfect Man to bear my blame
(Stretch arms out to sides to look like cross.)
On the cross He took my sin
(Raise arms above head in praise.)
By His death I live again
These are the words and the lyrics for the next song we will sing to the Lord. Let’s sing to God together.
This song is less familiar to the children. Please sing it several times to teach it to them. Feel free to make the tempo a little quicker if that works better.
Leader 2: It is a gift to be able to pray to God. Let’s fold our hands quietly, close our eyes, and talk inside our hearts to God. God sees in our hearts and He hears us:
“Jesus, you deserve our praise! But Lord we are often like the crowds, quick to praise you and then to turn away from you. You died on the cross for our sins. Thank You, Jesus. We want to love you and follow you always. Amen.”
5. “Low in the Grave He Lay,” Words and Music by Robert Lowry (1826-1899)
Jazz up this traditional hymn. Sing the verses very slowly and quietly. Then play the chorus “Up from the grave” with increased excitement moving the tempo faster and faster. For the motions: have the kids down on the floor crouched down singing the verses “Low in the grave He lay. . .” Then stand up slowly on “Up from the grave He arose. . .” You can jump up and down for the chorus and/or sing with your arms stretched upward for the final “He arose. . .” section.
Singers introduce themselves.
Singer 1: This month we celebrate Easter! Why do we celebrate Easter? What is Easter? Allow children to answer: Jesus died on the cross. Jesus died for my sins. Jesus is risen from the dead. Fill in any part left out and encourage right answers. Gently correct wrong answers. Let’s start this morning by remembering the Easter story and saying, “HALLELUIA!”
Call and Response:
Singer 2: Hallelujah means, “Praise the Lord!” Say, “HALLELUIA!” (HALLELUIA)
Now say, “PRAISE THE LORD!” Listen to what I say and when I pause say, “HALLELUIA!”
Leader: Jesus is God! Jesus is Lord!
Children: HALLELUIA!
Leader: Jesus suffered and died on the cross for my sins!
Children: HALLELUIA!
Leader: Jesus was dead! But death could NOT keep Jesus!
Children: HALLELUIA!
Leader: Now Jesus is alive! Jesus is risen! He rose from the dead!
Children: HALLELUIA!
Leader: Jesus is the champion! Jesus is victorious! He is the winner!
Children: HALLELUIA!
Leader: Now stand up and let’s shout, “JESUS IS ALIVE!” (“JESUS IS ALIVE!”) Repeat several times.
Have children jump up and down chanting, “Jesus is alive!”Singer 2:
We are going to sing a song to help us memorize a Bible verse, Romans 5:8. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” So how has God shown us He loves us? (Answer: While we were still sinners Christ died for us.) Yes! “God demonstrates His own love for us in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Let’s sing this together!Guitarist: Jesus is risen! (Have kids answer again: ALLELUIA!) JESUS IS RISEN! (Have kids answer again: ALLELUIA!)
Singer 2: Let’s pray! Let’s fold our hands quietly, close our eyes, and talk inside our hearts to God. God sees in our hearts and He hears us: Jesus, You are the winner! Death did not win! You died on the cross for our sin. Thank You, Jesus. Jesus we want to love you and follow you all of our lives. Amen.”3. “Low in the Grave He Lay,” Words and Music by Robert Lowry (1826-1899)
(Traditional Hymn… but jazz up the refrain! Sing verses slow. Jazz up and sing the chorus VERY LIVELY! Make sure the kids do the motions. Have the kids down on the floor crouched down singing the verses, then stand up and jump up and down for the chorus, “Up from the grave He arose…” You may need to help teach them the song a bit the first time as they probably won’t know it. Then add in the motions. If they seem too bored, just do it all together and repeat as needed to learn it.)4. “His Love Will Last Forever,” Words and Music by Chandi Plummer © 2009 Chandi Plummer/Sojourn Music
Rock it out!
From Rob Plummer at the SojournKids.com blog
The Psalms – A Biblical Guide to Worshiping God
In the Psalms we find raw honesty – expressions of immense sadness, anger, joy, anxiety, etc. The Psalms give expression to the full range of human emotions, but they do so always with reference to the God who made us and stands as Judge and Savior above us. How do we worship God when others have wronged us? The Psalms instruct us every conceivable situation as to how we should express our thoughts to our loving heavenly Father and ultimately how to worship him through all situations in life.
Suggestions for Incorporating the Psalms into Family Devotions
- Over the course of this month, have everyone in the family memorize the same Psalm (suggestion: Psalm 19). Then, when the family takes a walk or is in the car together, take turns reciting parts of the psalm.
- Read a psalm or part of a psalm together at a family meal or before bed time. If you read roughly one psalm per day, you will read through the book of Psalms twice per year.
- If your children are facing particular struggles, find a psalm that teaches them how to express their emotions in a God-honoring way.
- In family prayer time, read a psalm slowly verse by verse. Pause after each verse to allow family members to express the ideas in their own words and apply them to their own situations.
- If you have a musically gifted member of the family, invite that person to make up an original melody to a psalm or portion of a psalm.
- Have the whole family draw pictures that illustrate some of the images or metaphors found in a psalm.
- For older children – have a “scavenger hunt” through the Psalms. Everyone is required to find five types of psalms: (1) A psalm that praises God, (2) A psalm that expresses sadness, (3) A psalm that mentions the King, (4) A psalm that expresses repentance, and (5) A psalm that expresses thanksgiving.
From Ed Roberts on the 9Marks Blog
missiology is the intentional, ongoing, purposeful, biblically controlled, serious and prayerful reflection on the doing of God’s mission in the world
Living in the state with the worst economy in the country makes unemployment a topic of frequent conversation. Greg Gilbert on the 9Marks blog recently posted the ten things that a member at Capital Hill Baptist has learned from his unemployment.
#1: Own your unemployment
This struggle has revealed how much I wrongly value work and wrongly value being seen as important. As a reaction to this new reality, my flesh wants to pass through this trial quickly. My flesh doesn’t want to slow down and absorb the lessons that God has for me in this season.
So there is a constant struggle to avoid admitting that I am unemployed or that my unemployment has extended so long because it tells my flesh that the world doesn’t think much of me. So I am tempted to tell people that I took a few months off before I really started looking; anything to minimize the embarrassment.
Embracing the trial, to me, means being honest with myself and forcing myself to run to God and to depend on him. I need to work at not putting up defenses. I need to regularly admit to people that I am unemployed…
This honest assessment drives me to the scriptures to find rest and solace in God and His word and NOT in anything else.
#2: Preach to yourself
In times like this, it is too easy to speak to yourself and become discouraged, to doubt and even to accuse God. We need to arm ourselves with His word and battle those thoughts. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
Here are a few common “thoughts” that we need to “take captive:” worry (Luke 12), fears that my struggle is meaningless (James 1), fears that God doesn’t love me (Galatians 4:6-7), fears that God is powerless (Numbers 1:23).
Use God’s Word to fight your thoughts that challenge God’s truth.
#3: Prepare for the Storm
The book of James is clear that we do not know the future. We don’t even know what is going to happen tomorrow. So, we are wise, to prepare. As proverbs says: “Ants are creatures of little strength, yet they store up their food in the summer.” Are you prepared for tomorrow? For those of you with jobs, you are in your ‘summer.’ Are you preparing for winter? Don’t think that it can’t happen to you. It is a good thing to live well within our means so that we can give sacrificially now while also saving that we might provide for our families in the future.
#4: Depend on the LORD
As a believer, it is a blessing to depend on the LORD. It is really evident to me that the LORD is pouring out his grace on me and my family right now. We know that Faith is a gift from God and he has been kind to allow me to trust him as I walk through this trial.
God is giving me hope. Not just in that he will provide a next job. But is giving me hope in him and is fitting me for heaven.
#5: Be surprised at his Kindness
In the midst of real difficultly, this has been a surprisingly sweet period in my life. Don’t get me wrong, I want a job, but I see this as God ordained. He gives and he takes. And, while waiting for a job, he has blessed me.
- He has refreshed my soul and reoriented my heart towards Him.
- I have been able to spend a ton of time with my family.
- The extra time has allowed me to serve my church and care for them.
God knew what I needed and has been an abundant provider of blessing.
#6: Encourage the unemployed
We are called to shoulder one another’s burdens. Around town I hear that job-searcher fatigue is taking hold. That is, people are getting tired of helping job searchers. As a church, we must not grow weary in doing good, but continue providing for those who are unemployed.
#7: Beware of Idol Worship
We know from Genesis 2 that work is ordained by the LORD and is good. But our hearts are idol-factories, and in the middle of a prolonged search a job can easily become more important than God and drain your joy. And we lose perspective and think that all we need is a job and then life will be happy and fulfilling. So we must fight this tendency by recognizing it, confessing it, and exercising the discipline of thanksgiving in all situations.
#8: Cry out to the LORD
It is a good thing to cry and pour out your heart to God. Trials remind us that any sense that we have it all together is a complete illusion. God and God alone is in control. As the Psalmist says: “Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.”
#9: Invest the Extra time well
Being without a job is not without its benefits. You have extra time on your hands. And, you will soon miss this when you get a new job.
- Serve others
- Walk through this trial with other unemployed members of the church.
- Spend more time reading and with the LORD. One warning: you still need to plan your quiet times or the day will slip by without one.
#10: Take Advantage of Unique Opportunities for Evangelism
Many friends and former colleagues have invested their entire lives in work. And now many of them are unemployed and are panicking… All of my former colleagues, whether employed or unemployed, expect that I should be panicking too. That is the natural reaction of an unbelieving world.
What’s more, I’ve found that people who normally would never ask you how you are doing will do so now–and now they expect more than a cursory answer. This is a great and natural opportunity to share how you are trusting in the Lord. Share how the Lord has provided for you this week or how the church members are caring for you, or what Scripture you are feeding on that day.
In my experience, it floors people when they realize that you are trusting in something other than yourself. And right there is the opening to share the hope of the Gospel!
Verse:
John 3:16; Jn 3:16; John 3
Keyword:
Salvation, Jesus, Gospel
With Operators:
AND, OR, NOT, “ ”
