Great stuff from Phil Johnson…
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- How to smoke out a Calvinistic pastor in your church
- Books by CJ Mahaney
- The most broken vow of all
- Piper and Keller: The Priority of Evangelism over Caring for the Poor
- Ordinary life with gospel intentionality
- Sermons on Jude
- Jesus’ Theology of the Family
- Uncool People Need Jesus Too & UPDATE: What I Actually Meant
- Family Devotions for Young Children
- How To Preach The Gospel To Yourself Everyday
- This politician was passionate for precious doctrine
- Fulfill your ministry
- Humble Orthodoxy in a Sentence
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“You do not begin to be a Christian, until your mouth is shut, is stopped, and you are speechless and have nothing to say. You put up your arguments, and produce all your righteousness; then the Law speaks and it all withers to nothing – becomes ‘filthy rags’ and ‘dung,’ and you have nothing to say.”
(Martyn Lloyd-Jones)
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William Newell calls Romans 3:10-18: “Fourteen horrible things about all men”
- None is righteous (v10).
- No one understands (v11).
- No one seeks for God (v11).
- All have turned aside (v12).
- They have become worthless (v12).
- No one does good (v12).
- Their throat is an open grave (v13).
- They use their tongues to deceive (v13).
- The venom of asps is under their lips (v13).
- Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness (14).
- Their feet are swift to shed blood (v15).
- Their paths are ruin and misery (v16).
- They have not known the way of peace (v17).
- There is no fear of God before their eyes (v18).
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“Verse 21 [Romans 3:21] begins with my favourite word in the New Testament – but. It makes all the difference in the world. These three letters, b-u-t, are the difference between heaven and hell.”
(RC Sproul, Romans)
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The talks from this year’s Bible Centred Youthworker Conference are a must listen for those who lead youth and children’s ministries at their churches.
Main Sessions:
- Steve Midgley – Wise Up: stop pretending it all makes sense
- Steve Midgley – Wise Up: learn the fear of the Lord
- Steve Midgley – Wise Up: take some risks and live a little
- Dave Whitehouse – Wise Up: your youth and children’s work
- Dave Fenton – A Wise Relationship with the Lord
- Jonathan Fletcher – Wise Relationships with family and friends
- John Benton – Wise Relationships with those we work with
Seminars:
- Steve Midgley – Being wise about marriage
- Steve Midgley – Being wise about special needs
- Dave Fenton – The long haul
- Sue Fearon & Helen Buckley – Getting the message across to 3-11s
- Rutb Cross – Bible Explorer: Teaching the Bible in Primary Schools
- Mark Ashworth – Keeping tweenagers
- Thalia Blundell & Rory Bell – Evangelising children: the big picture
- Ian Fry – Schools work
- John Benton – Young people in a consumer culture
- Trevor Pearce – Preparing our children and young people for persecution (Part 1)
- Trevor Pearce – Preparing our children and young people for persecution (Part 2)
- Tamar Pollard & Tim Thornborough – One Day Wonders: Running one-off events for the whole family
- Ann Benton – Supporting parents of teenagers
- Jonathan Berry – The Sex-Factor Obsession
- Jonathan Berry – Homosexuality: Clarity and Compassion
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Here are the latest three NEXT webzines on the doctrines of God, Scripture, and Sanctification. Click on the covers to check them out!
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Been on holiday and came back to all these links…
- How Should Churches and Leaders Be Preparing to Address These Big Issues Facing the Church?
- Seven Possible Reasons We Find the Bible Boring
- What You Can Do with the Gospel
- How the Grace of God Amazes Me
- Pastor, Have You Been Evangelizing the Children in Your Flock?
- How to keep going when you’re feeling broken
- Ryken Farwell
- The gospel in four lines
- The gospel in three words: love, hate, love
- The Importance of Mentors and Mentorship
- What can distract us from a biblical vision for our family?
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Two great new and free resources for leaders:
1) Theological Clarity: Equipping Leaders in Biblical Doctrine
Scott Thomas has produced this workbook based on Wayne Grudem’s systematic theology books. Download it HERE.
2) 15 hour, 4-Part Sermon Prep Outline
Justin Buzzard has produced this booklet on how to prepare a sermon. Download it HERE.
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From Jonathan Carswell’s interview with Wayne Grudem in Evangelicals Now:
JC: Scripture teaches that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. How do we avoid filling our mind with knowledge, yet failing to be renewed?
WG: I think it’s always important to ask,
- What application does this doctrine have to my life?
- How does it change the way I pray?
- How does it increase my faith or deepen my worship?
- How can it lead me to a deeper and fuller trust in God each moment?’
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To introduce the Holiday Bible Club theme of lost and found we played a game using 3 of the characters from the Where’s Wally books.
A3 sized pictures of Wally, Wenda, and Woof were hidden around the room we were meeting in (it could be extended to other areas of the building).
The children were given the instruction at the start of the club that when they heard the ‘Where’s Wally’ theme tune, they had to stop whatever they were doing and go searching for these three characters around the room. The children that found them were given a prize.
To play you need the following:
- A3 copies of these pictures: Wally, Wenda, Woof (obtained from official Where’s Wally website).
- Where’s Wally theme tune (available to download HERE).
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Here’s the programme for the second day of the Where’s Wally Holiday Bible Club that we ran.
Opening Session (9.45-11am)
1) Registration
2) Craft
- Pig Masks
3) Prayer & Explanation of what’s going to happen
- Explain Where’s Wally Game
- Explain Box Game
4) Singing
5) Where’s Wally Game
6) Drama based on the ‘Parable of the Lost Sons’
7) Singing
8) Box Game
9) Talk on Luke 15:11-32
Break (11-11.15am)
Second Session (11.15-12ish)
10) Craft
- Father and lost son moving picture
11) Game
- Pig Feeding
12) Memory Verse
13) Singing
Lunch (12-12.45pm)
We showed a Veggietales DVD while they ate their lunch.
Third Session (12.45-3pm)
14) Worksheets
15) Activities
- Face Painting
- Making Peppermint Creams
- Games (inc. Parachute games)
16) Quiz
17) Singing
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Here’s the programme for the first day of the Where’s Wally Holiday Bible Club that we ran.
Opening Session (9.45-11am)
1) Registration
2) Craft
- Where’s Wally Badges
- Sheep Masks
3) Prayer & Explanation of what’s going to happen
- Explain Where’s Wally Game
- Explain Box Game
4) Singing
5) Where’s Wally Game
6) Drama based on the parables of the ‘Lost Sheep’ & ‘Lost Coin’
7) Singing
8) Box Game
9) Talk on Luke 15:1-10
Break (11-11.15am)
Second Session (11.15-12ish)
10) Craft
- Lost Sheep Collage
- Coin Rubbings
11) Games
- Treasure Hunt for jelly sheep and chocolate coins
- Sheep herding
- Coin sweeping relay
12) Memory Verse
13) Singing
Lunch (12-12.45pm)
Third Session (12.45-3pm)
14) Worksheet
We showed a Veggietales DVD while they ate their lunch.
15) Activities
- Coloured Hair Sprays
- Jewellery Making
- Games (inc. Parachute games)
16) Quiz
17) Singing
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Links to keep you busy this week reading…
- At Last! Dead Puritans Learn How to Blog
- How to Determine Which Biblical Mandates Are Binding for Us Today
- Open Air Evangelism
- Why Expository Preaching?
- Ask Doug – Advice on Childrearing
- You Know You Are on the Wrong Side of a Church Split If . . .
- Outline of John Owen’s Mortification of Sin
- 24:3 – The Value of Prayer!
- The Lordship of the Five Love Languages
- Professor Donald Wiseman
- FAQ on Romans 5:1-5
- Top Ten R.C. Sproul Lectures
- Why the Cross Matters
- Books by C.S. Lewis
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Order copies of this on DVD to give away at a great price HERE. The church I part of has got a load which we are going to give away as part of our Easter services advertising.
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It’s half-term this week, and we are running a Holiday Bible Club from 10am-3pm on Thursday and Friday, with an hour-long family service on Sunday.
We are using the Where’s Wally (Waldo) books to introduce the theme of lost and found stories in the Bible (Thursday: Lost Sheep, Lost Coin; Friday: The Lost Sons) and the memory verse from Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” which I will preach on at the service on Sunday.
Over the next week or so I’ll post a number of resources that we used:
- Flyer (distributed in the local schools)
- Registration Form
- Badges (print double-sided, place photo of child in Wally’s hat and glasses in box)
- Where’s Wally Pictures (download for free at Where’s Wally official website)
- Where’s Wally Game
- Lost Sheep Craft
- Lost Sheep Game
- Lost Coin Craft
- Lost Coin Game
- Lost Sons Craft
- Lost Sons Game
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Some links to look at…
- Loving the Way Jesus Loves
- Centered on one or the other
- Apply the Gospel to Everything
- What is sin?
- The great barrier of entering a church
- The Big Issues facing the Western Church
- Further Thoughts on Reading: Going Deep AND Wide
- “First Step” Children’s Discipleship Classes
- Robert Morrison Project
- Objection to Christianity: “I Don’t Want to Spend Eternity Playing Harps”
- Preparing Your Child for Baptism
- Sproul on the Holiness of God
- When Sinners Say “I Do”
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William Taylor in the final session did a question time with Rico Tice and Mark Dever. Here are some of the comments they made that I noted down.
From Rico Tice
- At your services have a card that non-Christians can fill in, have evangelistic courses like Christianity Explored set in the church calendar to invite them to.
- How do 1-2-1’s? Have 2 or 3 questions on a passage to answer and then pray.
- Read the Bible and pray until we die or Jesus returns.
From Mark Dever
- Can’t all be Bible teachers but we can be Bible sharers.
- 1-2-1’s good for evangelism, essential for discipleship.
- 1-2-1’s is a good extension of the pulpit.
- We care for people the world does not care for.
- At the heart of all heresy is an inadequate view of sin.
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My notes from Mark Dever’s talk in the third session at the SEGP conference…
How do we make disciples? (Matthew 28:18-20)
It’s a familiar passage. What do we learn about making disciples here? How do we go about making disciples?
1. Making disciples is basic
Jesus here is thinking about others. Selfish Christianity is disallowed. Making disciples is helping others follow Jesus. Being a disciple of Jesus means helping others follow Jesus. Imperative to make disciples. Realise that we are not just to be disciples.
Could it be that if we are not making disciples we might not be disciples? (Not saying salvation by works). The command is said to them as disciples. Commission therefore is given to all those who would be disciples of Jesus. Does your Christianity begin and end in yourself?
2. Making disciples is essential
Doesn’t allow casual Christianity. Concerned for real evangelism. God wants disciples not decisions (although you do need make a decision to be a disciple). Jesus calls us to make disciples.
Are there any true Christians who are not disciples? No. Decision that leads to obey what Christ has commanded. It’s about our lives. This command is not fulfilled when people believe, it’s when they believe and obey.
3. How do we go about making disciples?
What kind of church will cultivate this kind of discipleship? Several things we want to see:
a) Central ministry of the Word.
Your sermons are the main ministry of the church. Main way of reach lots of people. Not saying don’t have lots of ideas. But main way is to preach God’s Word, expositional preaching. Listen to God’s Word speak to your life. Consecutive preaching not cherry picking, gives your church a wonderful fullness of what God says. Teaches a culture of listening to what God says.
b) Help people understand the truth about God and us.
Be concerned about what people are learning.
c) Clarity of the gospel.
Don’t assume the gospel. Teach them the gospel again and again.
d) Make sure they have a biblical understanding of conversion.
Help them understand the change that’s gone on in their life. Bring gratitude to God in their hearts.
e) Help them to grow in their understanding of evangelism.
Main problem is that we are not sharing the good news of Jesus Christ and they need to do it. Understanding it will help them do it. They will grow as they do it. Knowing God does the converting is good news.
f) Figure out how you can have a biblical practice of church membership.
Teach new disciples to grow together as Christians. Including people we don’t necessarily like. Commitment to membership helps you take responsibility to serve, love, be accountable, helps us see if we are deceiving ourselves.
g) Begin obeying what Jesus taught in Matthew 18 and practice church discipline.
Included in this is the right administration of the Lord’s Supper. God’s plan does not leave us free to let wolves munch. It’s good for one being disciplined. For the church it makes clear what it means to follow Christ.
The local church is what Jesus set up as His evangelism plan.
4. Is spiritual growth really that important?
Growth in disciples makes a growing church. Everyone can evangelise. It’s clear that healthy church should be concerned with church growth – growing members. Growth that enables you to navigate the difficult areas of your life. Statistics fall short of this true growth.
We want people to continue to grow in Christ and give glory to God. When church grows God gets the glory. Work to see Christian discipleship promoted in the church. Pray that God will give this spiritual growth.
The Father has given Jesus all authority. Jesus says I will be with you always. Why this? So we will make disciples.
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