" ...as you help us by your prayers"

The Apostle Paul was never coy about declaring how much he valued, indeed depended upon, the prayers of others to enable him to fulfil his apostolic ministry (eg: 2 Cor 1: 10-12). Kevin DeYoung has very helpfully written of why the prayerful support of the congregation is necessary to maintain the spiritual vitality of church leaders so that they might fulfil the particular mandate given to them, that of praying and preaching ...

Your pastors and elders need your help to live out the calling of Acts 6:4: “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Because everything seems more important and seems more urgent than being in the word and prayer. Everything.
What happens if all the lights are burnt out and the heat doesn’t work and the pews are upside down and the sound is off? People will notice. People will say something. People will be upset.
But what if your elders didn’t pray more than five minutes at their meeting last month? Would you know? No one would, not right away. What if your pastor hasn’t prayed for weeks? What if the elders are not deep into the word? With almost everything else in the church someone will says, “What’s going on? Why didn’t you show up? What’s the problem? Why didn’t this get done?” But who knows when the pastors and the elders forget Acts 6:4?
Most pastors won’t tell you this, but they can preach a passable sermon with almost no preparation. We know how to string sentences together. We know more about the Bible than almost everyone in the church. We can cheat our prep time and no one will know. Not right away.
But over time, church members will think to themselves, “Something’s missing. There’ some power not here that used to be here. There’s some gospel connecting no longer at play. I can’t put my finger on it, but pastor doesn’t preach like he used to.” It happens slowly but surely. Maybe the emails seem more pressing this week, or maybe it’s a meeting, or this administrative thing. It’s not one massive thing, but a mountain of molehills. And then one day, Acts 6:4 is gone. The elders don’t pray. The pastors don’t study.
We must all fight for the ministry of the word and prayer. Elders and pastors must fight to keep it and congregations must fight to support it, to encourage it, to give time for it. Because most pastors and most parishoners don’t notice Acts 6:4 is missing until it’s too late.

Deep Conversion - Repentance in the heart

On Sunday mornings, we're still broadly following Ray Ortlund's outline as we consider the characteristics of  'Gospel-Community-Mission' within the life of the local church.  This morning we considered 'Deep conversion:  turning from false saviours'.  When available, you can listen to the talk here, or directly below.  Here are the slides to go with it...

Nothing I do is my fault

Thanks, as ever, to Bill Watterson.
UPDATE:  see also here. Do I detect a theme?

What is God doing in your life? Only God knows.

DA Carson

Recently at the Gospel Coalition blog, Don Carson was asked to respond to the question that I personally am asked most often when listeners are trying to process in their own minds the depth of Gospel love, viz., that there is nothing we can do that will make God love us more or love us less (Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace).  Here's the question: How do we know if God is disciplining us?

Professor Carson, as one might expect, gives a sensitive, wise and astute response that is definitely worth one's time in reading and reflecting upon.  One section however, stood out as being of particular pastoral help.

 "...in any suffering, or in any other event for that matter, God is doubtless doing many things, perhaps thousands of things, millions of things, even if we can only detect two or three or a handful. A godly woman in her middle years is diagnosed with stage-four breast cancer. What is God doing? My little brain can imagine several possibilities. At one level, he may be providentially allowing the effluents of the Fall to take their course, a constant reminder that it is appointed to all of us to die, and then face judgment (Heb 9). He may be preparing her for eternity: it is a great grace to know when you are going to die, and prepare for it. He may be shocking her 20-something son, who is living his life indifferent to the gospel, to prod him into self-examination and repentance. He may use her testimony about the joy of the Lord even in the midst of suffering to call another of her children into vocational ministry. He may be using her as a way to teach people in her church what it looks like to "die well," anticipating several other deaths in the next two years. He may be teaching her minister-husband to slow down and care about his family, and in principle other people, instead of being endlessly busy with "the ministry." He may be sparing her from living long enough to witness the moral destruction of her daughter. Her funeral may be the means by which several of her unconverted relatives, for whom she has been praying, will come to faith — conversions for which she would happily give her life. Perhaps one of those converts will become a Christian pastor of rare gift whose ministry of proclamation will touch thousands. Perhaps she is hiding some deep bitterness and hate in her life, and God is using this means to confront her.
"I've barely started a list of possible things God may be doing, and I have a small brain. What does the omniscient God think he is doing? In other words, sometimes we have to cover our mouths and confess, in faith, that we cannot possibly grasp all that God is doing when someone suffers. So why should we think in antithetical terms about how God must be doing this but not that, when in reality he may be doing this and that and that, and that and. . . ? But he is trustworthy; we know that, for he sent his Son to suffer on our behalf."  

Sunday Sermon: The Transformed Life (John 3)

Here's the outline of this morning's sermon:

You can download the sermon here or play it below:

Sunday's Sermon: GCM 1 - The Transforming Vision

This morning we began a new series that will dominate our thinking throughout 2013, and which will, I trust, set our direction and agenda for the foreseeable future: Gospel, Community, Vision.

As ever, thanks to the teaching ministry of the likes of JI Packer, David Jackman, Dick Lucas and Tim Keller for the inspiration and insights.

Les Misérables - the definitive review?

For those of you still not sure whether to pay the money up front to see Les Mis, perhaps the following will persuade you to give it a go.  
Or then again, maybe it won't.  
Anyway, spoilers!!...but really funny!

HT: Trevin Wax

Worth the price of the TV licence fee ...

Les Misérables: the power of a grace-transformed life

Coming to a cinema near you ...
Next weekend sees the UK release of the latest version of Victor Hugo's Les Misérables to be brought to the big screen.  By all accounts, this promises to a real treat, cinematically, musically, and theologically illuminating the impact of overwhelming undeserved grace upon the human heart.
The film is bound to stir conversations among regular film-goers and those who go only occasionally.  It will (or should) also provide opportunities for discussion among those who misunderstand the nature and character of the Christian faith. You might find the following links helpful in preparing for those 'water-cooler' moments:  Trevin Wax positively and very helpfully reviews the film from a Gospel-centric position; while Tullian Tchividjian comments thoughtfully upon a dominant theme of the book and film, our heart's addiction to the law and natural aversion to 'grace'.

Repost: An 'Edwardsean' prayer for the New Year

Lord God Almighty,

I understand that I am unable to do anything without your help, so I ask you to enable me by your grace to fulfill your will.

Give me grace to do whatever brings most glory and honor to you, pleasure and profit to me, and life and love to others.

Help me to number my days,spending my time wisely, living my life with all my might while I still have breath.

Humble me in the knowledge that I am chief of sinners; when I hear of the sins of others, help me to not look upon them with pride, but to look upon myself with shame, confessing my own sins to you. 
When I go through difficulties and trials, remind me of the pains of hell from which you have already delivered me.

Place people in my path who need my help, and give me a compassionate and generous spirit.

Fill my heart with such love that I would never do anything out of a spirit of revenge, nor lose my temper with those around me.

Hold my tongue when I am tempted to speak evil of others.Thank you for the gospel and for the hope of glory. 
Help me to live in light of these truths every day of my life, so that when the time of my death  arrives, I will rest assuredly in you, and you will be most glorified in me.

In Christ’s name, Amen
Adapted from some of the first of Jonathan Edwards' resolutions by Trevin Wax