Thursday, July 29, 2010

Sunday, July 25 Service

Above is the media player that will allow you to listen to, well, most of Sunday morning's service.  Seems someone (me) forgot to start the recorder until about 15 minutes in.

 

Here, by the way, is the sermon outline that prompted the sermon in the service above.  There are some differences, but that's part of the difference between preaching class and preaching in church: the requirement when standing before the church is to deliver God's word as the Spirit of God directs.  In preaching class, it's to deliver your sermon as directed by your professor.  Classes are about learning to sharpen and prepare tools, and it's an invaluable goal to have those classes.  Experience is necessary too.

 

Text: Matthew 13:1-9

Theme: Plant the seeds

Date: July 25 2010 AM

Location: CBC Monticello

And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow;
4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.
5 "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.
6 "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.
8 "And others fell on the good soil and yielded* a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

Matt 13:3-8 (NASB)

  1. Is the seed planted in you?

    1. Have you heard the Word of God for the first time?

    2. That your Creator has redeemed you?

  2. Is the seed growing in you?

    1. We need to allow the Word to be present and growing within us

    2. Will we work as hard to allow the Word to grow as we work for other things?

  3. Have you planted the seed in others?

    1. Are we quick to scatter the seed?

    2. Are we seeking good soil to spread the seed to?

  4. Have you helped it to grow? (1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”)

    1. Have you scattered seed and then neglected it?

    2. Have you considered sticking around and chasing off the birds?

    3. Or watering the seeds?

 

 

Oh, and we started Vacation Bible School Sunday night, so there's no evening service.

Book Review: Jungle Warfare

Sorry for the sporadic posting.  Hopefully I'll get back on routine next week, but I wanted to ahead and get my review up for Booksneeze, since I've had the book for a couple of weeks. 

Jungle Warfare: A Basic Field Manual for Christians in Sales

I've been kind of locked up on this book review, and that's why I've held it up for a week.  So, this is going to be a slightly split-personality review.  You'll see the split when it happens, trust me.

I took this book to review, not because I'm imminently qualified to comment on Christopher A. Cunningham's sales abilities, but rather to take a look at the Christian aspect of this work.  I'm far from qualified to critique anyone's sales techniques on their own, because the time I tried to survive as a sales rep resulted in earnings of $0.00 in 5 weeks. 

It was enough of an exposure, though, to see the jungle Cunningham is speaking of in this work.  As with any other profession, there are legitimate questions of how to retain your Christian faith while sustaining yourself in the work.  Cunningham provides some good insights and on-topic directions.

Moreover, I was extremely pleased that his stretches of illustration were from the World War II Jungle Warfare Manual, and not from Scripture.  I have read a few sales books that claimed to be for Christians in sales that were full of Scripture out of context, twisted to support points that were only slightly related.  This was a refreshing change from that, and makes the book a useful one.

As long as you tear out page 80.  Or just the 2nd paragraph of Cunningham's writing.  You see, this is my difficulty with this review and this book.  There's 207 great pages, and 1 page that, probably unwittingly, denies the eternal nature of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The rest of the book is well worth reading for the Christian in sales.  It's worth reading by Christians in business, and it's worth reading for ministers, to remind us that the people in our congregations are dealing with these types of problems.

Then, there's this one sentence that throws the whole thing into doubt.  Nowhere else do I see bad theology in this work.  I don't see it on his blog or in his influences.  I think it just slipped past him and his editor, and that it's something people looking for theological statements will catch, and many will overlook.

As such, I'll say what I've said of other books: get your theology from the Bible.  Build the foundation of your wisdom from the Bible, but seek Bible-following people to build on that foundation.  As such, Cunningham, with Jungle Warfare, has provided a good piece for people in sales and business.  Just skip that one page.

 

Doug

PS: Read Disclosures! to satisfy your need to know how I got this book for free.

Additional PS: As a happy Booksneezer, I'm curious if they've considered using electronic delivery, preferably via Kindle, for participants.  It would save on shipping, although we'd lose the ability to giveaway/pass-on books.

 

Doug

Monday, July 26, 2010

Sunday, July 25 Service

Above is the media player that will allow you to listen to, well, most of Sunday morning's service.  Seems someone (me) forgot to start the recorder until about 15 minutes in.

 

Here, by the way, is the sermon outline that prompted the sermon in the service above.  There are some differences, but that's part of the difference between preaching class and preaching in church: the requirement when standing before the church is to deliver God's word as the Spirit of God directs.  In preaching class, it's to deliver your sermon as directed by your professor.  Classes are about learning to sharpen and prepare tools, and it's an invaluable goal to have those classes.  Experience is necessary too.

 

Text: Matthew 13:1-9

Theme: Plant the seeds

Date: July 25 2010 AM

Location: CBC Monticello

And He spoke many things to them in parables, saying, "Behold, the sower went out to sow;
4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.
5 "Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.
6 "But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7 "Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.
8 "And others fell on the good soil and yielded* a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

Matt 13:3-8 (NASB)

  1. Is the seed planted in you?

    1. Have you heard the Word of God for the first time?

    2. That your Creator has redeemed you?

  2. Is the seed growing in you?

    1. We need to allow the Word to be present and growing within us

    2. Will we work as hard to allow the Word to grow as we work for other things?

  3. Have you planted the seed in others?

    1. Are we quick to scatter the seed?

    2. Are we seeking good soil to spread the seed to?

  4. Have you helped it to grow? (1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.”)

    1. Have you scattered seed and then neglected it?

    2. Have you considered sticking around and chasing off the birds?

    3. Or watering the seeds?

 

 

Oh, and we started Vacation Bible School Sunday night, so there's no evening service.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

1 Peter 1:3-5 Part II

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:3-5 (NASB)

 

A few more thoughts here:

1.  "Has caused us to be born again."  Our regeneration and new life in Christ is caused by the work of God.  It is really nothing at all to our credit that we've been born again, any more than a child really chooses their own birthday.  Somehow, in His mercy, God has made the starting effort to bring us to Him.

2.  "To a living hope."  Not a dead hope, not a passive hope, but a living hope.  I'm taking this, personally, as a comfort that the hope we have in Christ is not just static, but able to fill whatever void we're feeling in our hearts.  We're not handed a hope that only hits one point.  True, it's based in eternity, but the hope spreads from there to replace false hopes in current lifetimes.  I should be allowing the living hope from God to grow and replace the hopes I've pinned on earthly sources. 

3.  "An inheritance."  You don't gain an inheritance without someone's death.  And it's not yours by your own virtue, but rather by the decedent's gift.  We have the advantage of both, though: Christ's death bought us our inheritance, yet He lives still! And we shall come into the fullness of our inheritance when we've died.

4.  "Protected by the power of God."  Realize something important here:  We are not saved by the strength of our faith.  In fact, based on Ephesians 2:8-9, we're saved by faith that is the gift of God.  So, our salvation and inheritance are good as long as God's power is intact.  So is His work in perfecting us to the image and likeness of Christ.

 

That's where I am going through Peter today and for the past few days.  More to come, hopefully at a quicker pace!

Doug

Saturday, July 17, 2010

1 Peter 1:3-5

Born Again to a Living Hope

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:3-5 (ESV)

A few things to note here:

1.  "Blessed be" is more of an observation than a command.  It's the essence, really, of our worship of God.  We don't add anything to God by worshipping Him.  This doesn't mean we don't do it, just that we're doing is expressing realities, not inventing them.  This is why you can worship God with new songs or old ones: as long as they are connected with the truth of who God is, and He doesn't change, they're valid. It depends, of course, on where your heart is.  But you're not adding to God by worship.  You're recognizing the reality that is already there.  Peter is observing that God is blessed, not blessing God.

2.  "our Lord Jesus Christ" is an essential here.  Peter is an eyewitness of the Resurrection.  He's been with Jesus face-to-face, was called by name, and even had his name changed, by Christ.  He's the first one to really confess "You are the Christ!" about Jesus.  Yet he doesn't identify "my Lord Jesus Christ, and yours too" or any other differential.  He equates himself among his fellow believers.  Did he have some authority as a preacher and teacher?  Certainly!  He taught the Word, and rightfully received respect and honor from doing so.  Moreover, when he presented truth and instruction, he most likely had a reasonable expectation that people would follow those instructions. 

However, he's still one of all who follow "our Lord Jesus Christ."  We fall into several errors these days.  One is that our leaders are always right when our leaders aren't always right.  Another is that we need no leaders at all, since we're all part of the priesthood of believers.  Find the balance.  Respect, listen, compare to Scripture, but realize that God might just have placed that leader in your life to guide you.

3.  "According to his great mercy" is where we'll stop: never forget that what God did for us through Christ at Calvary was to be merciful to us.  He has never owed us a favor, and nothing we do puts God in our debt.  It is according to His mercy, His great mercy, that we continue on.  We live our lives in response to this mercy.  We sometimes act like our actions make God obligated to us.  If we go to church, He's obligated to give us a great week.  If we tithe, He's obligated to balance out our finances.  Actually, we're obligated to His mercy to count 100% of our money and 7 days of our week as His.

There's obviously more here.  Hopefully next week will bring the opportunity to address it!

 

Doug

Friday, July 16, 2010

Lifeway hits a mark

Last year, in June, I criticized the Southern Baptist Convention's Lifeway Christian Resources over their advertising of a few products.  You can read it all here.  However, in the interest of fairness, I thought I should share a good thing I saw from them this past week.

Last week I went to M-Fuge, part of the student summer activities Lifeway puts together.  It was a well-run camp/mission activity that we'll talk about later.  One of the activities was an adult Bible study while the youth had their own Bible studies, and as we were getting ready for this Bible study time, there was always a short video profiling some aspect of Lifeway's student ministries system.  (Ok, it was a commercial.)

One of these was for the curriculum directly related to young women.  It was a video showing some of the various temptations and issues girls face, and and expressing some of those emotions.  It also shared the viewpoint, repeatedly, of "you can't protect me," addressed to both parents and youth leaders.

And when you reach the end of the video, the statement was essentially that you can't protect, but you can prepare, encourage, guide spiritually.  And then Lifeway expressed that they can help adults know how to handle being there for teenagers.

This is good.  Very good.

Why?  A few reasons:

1.  Lifeway isn't claiming they can solve all of a student's problems with a book or a class. 

2.  I took the primary audience for this advertisement as parents, with church ministries as a secondary target.  Which is good: parents, especially Christian parents, are responsible for helping their children grow in Christ.  The church should help, but one of the dangers we've fallen into is farming out our kids, even to churches.  How do we expect church to be more effective than the home?  If the home is filled with Believers, then church is a supplement, not the whole meal.  Kids whose parents aren't in church is a whole different story.  Still, and this is a whole long thought, the ministry to youth and children is a ministry of the church not a small or solo volunteer or a hired gun.  Any ministry that separates the church into isolated groups is not building the body of Christ.

3.  The point was, to me, clear: no one program is the solution.  Individual relationships are the the key.  This is a good point for all involved in discipling (which should be all Christians).  Relationships are the center: relationship with Christ, with fellow believers, and with those who need to come to Christ.

Anyway, I just wanted to post that bit of positive. Something I've seen in my personality is a tendency to see problems and express that I've seen problems but not to express positives. It's not that the problems aren't there or aren't serious, because they are.  We have a lot of issues that we've borrowed into the church that we don't need.  Yet I want to do a little better about highlighting the positive.

So, just as I pointed out a missed point, here's a hit mark: literature doesn't solve your problems, but it can help you be able to know how to work through your relationships to build disciples.  And that's a good thing.

 

Doug

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Book Review: Beyond Opinion

Up next from Booksneeze: Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zacharias.  Well, it's primarily by Ravi Zacharias.  There are other contributors, but he's the general editor, so he gets both credit and blame for the whole work.  Here's what it looks like:

Beyond Opinion: Living the Faith We Defend

(Just a note: this book is a re-issue, originally published in 2008.  I didn't read it then.)

There is much talk today about being Christians in the midst of a multi-cultural and pluralistic world.  Some of the talk comes from within the family of faith, some from outside, and it raises good questions.  What are those questions?

Well, there are questions like: "Why is there evil?" or "How can Christians claim that their God is the only right one?"  Within the church, we ask similar questions, like "How can I insist I'm right? Is that not disrespectful?"

Unfortunately, we in the American church aren't generally well-equipped to answer these questions.  Over the years, the ease of cultural Christianity has dulled the sharpness of our minds, the ability to formulate coherent explanations of our faith and defenses of it.  Moreover, as we're faced with these questions, our answers have too often been long on talk and short on action.  We've professed a belief in a life-changing God without changed lives.

Enter the efforts of Ravi Zacharias with Beyond Opinion.  This is not simply another textbook on apologetics, nor is it a basic list of evidences for our faith.  This is, instead, a collection of essays that address specific topics.  They are written by a variety of theologians, many that are involved with Zacharias' ministry group.  Some of these names were familiar to me, others I've never heard of.

As to the content of this work:  this is not light reading.  There is a great deal here to digest, and much to consider.  The arguments and ideas are well presented.  The order, to me, is logical.

The difficulty with this book arises with accessibility.  It's a challenge to write a book that deals with philosophy and theology and not go over a few people's heads.  And this is not to take away from those people's intellect.  Theology is a science, after all, and just as you wouldn't expect to lightly read a forensics textbook, you are not going to grab this off the shelf for casual summer reading.

That's not to say it shouldn't be read.  Nor that the casual reader shouldn't stretch themselves to tackle it.  Rather, I would encourage you to read this, and be prepared to ask a few questions.

This is well worth your time.

 

Doug

Remember to read Disclosures! so you know that I received the book for free in exchange for a review through Thomas Nelson Publishers.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

A detour to Jonah

For those of you who don't know it, I'm with the youth from Calvary Baptist Church at M-Fuge Camp.  We're in Birmingham, Alabama, on the beautiful, spacious campus of Samford University.  Anyway, I'm living a youth camp schedule this week which includes: 1. getting up crazy early to shower; 2. running like crazy throughout the day; 3. eating in a college cafeteria; 4. worship that would be awesome if I hadn't gotten old enough that it's a bit loud; 5. being up insanely late, since I have to make sure all my guys are back and in their rooms.

Anyway, with all of this, blog posting is not as easy as I'd like it to be.  I meant to have this up yesterday, and it didn't happen.  Yesterday's Bible study was about Jonah.  I had some thoughts on Jonah, and I want to share them.

1.  We tend to think of Jonah as a story of God's missionary calling, even in the Old Testament.  At one level, that's part of why we have the book of Jonah.  Another reason to consider is to explain why the Assyrians (Nineveh is the capital of Assyria), who were known as vicious conquerors who left few survivors, would take the northern kingdom of Israel into captivity rather than eliminate them.  Look at the chronology of Bible events, and fit Jonah into the flow.  There is a change of behavior in Assyria.  And realize: No northern kingdom return, no Galilee.  No Galilee, no Nazareth.  No Nazareth?  See a problem?  Jonah shows not only God's call to speak the truth to all nations but also fits God's long-term plan for redemption of mankind.

2.  Notice how the sailors know the name of the Lord?  And are afraid?  This is the after-effect of God's work through Israel, starting in the 1400s BC in the Exodus.  God's work is never wasted.  If we allow God to work through us in His way, the ripples will extend for centuries, not generations.

3.  Ever compare the parallels between Jonah asleep in a ship in a storm and Jesus asleep in a ship in a storm?  (other than that I mistyped storm as sotrm in both phrases?)  Nothing accidental happens in the life of Christ, nothing surprises God, and very rarely do you have Biblical events with that many parallels accidentally.  Just a thought to chase----when I can think.

4.  We spend a lot of time haggling out why Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh.  A new (to me) thought crossed my mind yesterday:  What if Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh because of the message God was sending?  He's told to "cry against it."  Maybe Jonah's not a fire and brimstone preacher?  We don't know anything about him other than that he's the son of Amittai.  We assume that he's got it in for the Ninevites, and it's not a bad assumption.  Yet it is just that.  Perhaps Jonah's plan to take God's word to Nineveh is more subtle than raising a "cry against it."  Maybe he wants to go open a coffee shop, do some community surveys, build some relationships, things like that. 

Perhaps Jonah's objection throughout Jonah 1-3 is that he doesn't like the idea of carrying messages for a God who will destroy a city.  He's not into all this judgment and punishment, it's not a happy God that would do such things.  In fact, chapter 1 he'd rather die than serve a God that overturns cities or destroys people.  In chapters 2-3 Jonah comes to grips with a God who destroys.  His anger in chapter 4 is that he's gone through all this to learn God destroys, only to have God not destroy.  He's critical of the fact that he had a plan to turn the Assyrians to repentance, but God didn't want Jonah's "40 Days of Happy Preaching" campaign, but rather "40 Days until Destruction." 

There's not a lot of Scripture that would confirm this, but there's also not a lot to refute it.  This is part of filling in where the Bible is silent: you can draw a lot of conclusions, and some of those conclusions are contradictory.  The Bible isn't, but are fill-in-the-gap work can be.

 

Anyway, be reminded: God's message, God's method, God's glory.  Our own, whatever it may be, heads to storms and whales.

 

Doug

Monday, July 5, 2010

This week

Just to let you know, I'm headed out to M-Fuge with the youth of Calvary Baptist Church this week.  I'm both thrilled and dreading the experience.  I'll be in Birmingham, Alabama on the campus of Samford University.  The President of Samford is Dr. Andrew Westmoreland, who was the President at Ouachita Baptist University when Ann and I were there.  I doubt he'll remember me.

Anyway, blog posting will be sporadic this week.  I'm taking my laptop under the heading of "pastoral privilege" since I might need email and church directory access, but I don't know how much time I'll have to keep up.

Coming up, though, I've gotten Ravi Zacharias' new book, Beyond Opinion, from Booksneeze.  So, that review is coming.  There may be a few other reviews to address, and then some updates on Hibbard world as I get ready to start school this fall.

For those of you that are wondering, I'm going to Alabama.  My wife, children, and loaded firearms will be here, and mother bears are afraid of preacher's wives, so I'd recommend not having any ill-intentions.

Two quick thoughts I'd really like to develop, and wouldn't mind your first reactions to:

1.  Ann is reading some books that are supposed to be encouraging to preacher's wives.  Olivia asked if there was anything for preacher's kids.  We can't find much that's preventative.  There's a decent amount for preacher's kids that need to recover from it, but not a lot about how to survive and not need recovery.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

2.  I'm thinking about how ESPN.com (and the ESPN group of networks) has an ombudsman.  (That's a person who, while technically employed by a party, exists to function as a non-partial observer and sometimes adjudicator of issues.)  ESPN employs someone with credibility, but locks them into a contract of a defined length.  I'm curious if there are escape clauses in the contract or clauses that bar/limit future employment, though I'd assume there are.  Anyway, I'm wondering, given some of our angst in Baptist life, if we need roving ombudsmen within the SBC.  They wouldn't have authority per se, but they would be able to hold up a big sign that says "Right" or "Wrong" when there are questions of propriety or behavior that cannot be resolved within the local church or organization.  Or when the issue affects too much beyond the local body.  Not sure it's the best idea, but it might be better than what we have.

 

Anyway, chew on those, comment, I'll be around….

 

Doug

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Sermon Outline July 4 AM

Text: Psalm 67
Theme: Why God puts up with the US
Date: July 4, 2010
Location: CBC Monticello
  1. Text:Psalm 67: Traditionally used by some Jews as the Sabbath was ending and normal life was returning
    1. Sung/said prior to closing prayer
    2. It's a declaration of what they wanted to see happen in the coming week
  2. Starting how?
    1. Verse 1: A request for God's favor:
      1. Asking for grace
      2. Blessing
      3. Shining of God's face:
    2. Evokes Numbers 6:24-26: [24] The LORD bless you and keep you; [25] the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;[26] the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. (Numbers 6:24-26 ESV)
    3. We have seen these blessings these past 230 years as Americans
      1. Even in our recessions and depressions
      2. Even in our wars and conflicts
      3. God's blessing of liberty has continued to abound on our nation
  3. Continued why?
    1. Verse 2: That His way be known on the earth:
      1. (BF&M 2000:A free church in a free state is the Christian ideal, and this implies the right of free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, )\
      2. Freedom from fear of man and government, that one may fear and reverence God alone is the hope of Christians from their government
      3. His salvation among all nations: not some nations. Not favored nations. All nations.
    2. Verses 3-4
      1. People will only praise God if they know Him
      2. People will only praise God if they have accepted Him
      3. People will only sing for joy to God if they have heard of His grace and mercy
    3. Verse 5
      1. The call to “let the people praise You, O God” involves our commitment to do whatever is necessary that they may do so!
      2. We as the American Church have the resources in people, training, and finances to spread the Gospel
    4. Verse 6-7:
      1. God's blessing is on us, that the ends of the earth may know and fear Him. What are we doing with it?

      Edited in 2012: I no longer use the sermon audio source that I had linked. I have re-linked this sermon here for anyone interested.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

1 Peter 1:2

Thought I'd abandoned this line of thought, didn't you?  Not quite.

I'd like to focus on the closing line of Peter's greeting: "May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure."  (1 Peter 1:2)

What is he talking about here?  Well, let's break it down.  I'm seeing, as us preachers are typically taught to see, 3 major points:

1.  Grace:  Grace is being treated differently than we deserve to be.  Too often we are caught up in our own rights and privileges, as if we have earned these.  Whether we take God's word for it or Jefferson's, our rights are ours not by merit or effort, but by the endowment of our Creator.  Now, certain rights are secured by the efforts of mankind, but others are not subject to human effort at all, but come only through the work of God.  This is the grace of God: that for the rights we need, He provides them.  What right is that?  For the image of God in all of us to be loosed to come out past the corruption of sin.  This is grace. 

2.  Peace: not just absence of external conflict.  First, absence of internal conflict: the victory of the work of the Holy Spirit within us over the effects of sin to block us from the Word of God.  Second, the absence of conflict with our fellow man: the combined effort we strike forward to expand the Kingdom of God ought to put us at peace with our fellow followers of Christ.  Consider this: if you ever watched "Band of Brothers" on HBO about the 101st Airborne, all of the personality conflicts faded when the enemy bullets started flying.  We live in the presence, always, of our mission.  When we get done, we'll have time and energy to bicker.  Of course, my reading of the end of the book is that we won't want to, but that's another matter.  Finally, and most importantly, we're talking about absence of conflict with God.  We've been His enemies.  No longer.  We're on His side.

And peace goes a step deeper: above, I've called it all "absence of conflict."  It's really not.  It's the presence of right relationship.  If you have any relationships, you know the difference, and the blessing of real peace.  It's not just that my wife and I aren't fighting.  It's that we're all the way okay with each other.  I wouldn't call myself at "peace" with President Obama, but neither am I at "war" with him.  We're not in any personal relationship at all.  This is the peace Peter's talking about: a personal level of peace, not merely a legal or technical peace.  A personal state of having a right relationship.

3.  Yours in Fullest Measure:  By the work of God, we have these 2 things, grace and peace, without deficit.  There is no follower of Christ that must do without grace from God or peace with God.  We often choose to neglect these things, especially peace with our fellow believers, but we don't have to do so.  They are yours, they are ours to have.  Not just enough, but the fullest measure. 

 

Let's focus on this.  It's a good thing.

 

Doug

Sermon Add-on for March 10

 Continuing the use of Artificial Intelligence to try and generate discussion questions from the sermon, here's what it gave me this wee...