From Matthew Henry’s comments on Matthew 3:13-17:
“Apart from Christ, God is a consuming fire, but in Christ, he is a reconciled Father.”
33 TAKEAWAYS FROM THE HAPPY CHRISTIAN
Notes and quotes from The Happy Christian by David Murray.
1. Christians should be the happiest people in the world.
2. “As Christians find themselves increasingly on the losing side of the culture wars, sermons and prayers sound more like discontented defeatism than inspirational calls to worship and service.”
3. We have so much to be positive about. “Taste the sweetness in this small sample of blessings:”
We love and are loved by the one true and living God.
God is our perfect Father.
We know Jesus as our Lord and Saviour.
The Holy Spirit is sanctifying and empowering us.
Our sins are forgiven.
We are justified and adopted into God’s worldwide and heaven-wide family.
We have all the promises of God.
Everything is working together for our good.
God is our guard and guide.
God lives in our hearts.
Jesus has prepared a place for us in heaven and will welcome us there.
4. “Christian happiness is a God-centered, God-glorifying, and God-given sense of God’s love that is produced by a right relationship to God in Christ and that produces loving service to God and others.”
5. “We cannot change certain events in life, but we can change the way we respond to them.”
6. The need to feed our minds with a media diet that is biased toward what is good and beautiful. Choose books, magazines, websites, TV programmes, movies, and art that “elevates the heroic, inspires awe, and that generates worship.”
7. Recognise that “many activist and advocacy groups have a vested interest in selecting and emphasising the negative.”
8. Too much focus on falsehood breeds cynicism, suspicion, mistrust and hostility.
9. “Some Christians might need to know more of the detail about major disasters and tragedies, especially those whom God has especially called to interpret and explain these monstrous actions to the public and the church. But most of us don’t need to glue ourselves to the TV and to Internet news. Instead, we should actively shield our families and ourselves from much of it.”
10. I don’t need to know everything.
11. Pastors, what diet are you feeding Christ’s sheep with? Are you focusing more on salvation, truth, wooing, victory, celebration, life, and strength than sin, falsehood, warning, struggle, lamentation, death, and weakness?
12. “It’s often said that Jesus preached on hell more than anyone else. That’s true. But He did not preach on hell more than anything else. Yes, He warned a lot, but He wooed and won even more.”
13. As well as highlighting and sympathising with persecuted Christians around the world who are suffering horrendously, also remember the wonderful impact of the gospel around the world, and that people are coming to faith.
14. “Sure, we need to hear about our Christian duties, but not at the expense of Christ’s Done, and only after His Done has performed its soothing work in our souls.”
15. “We get in by His Done. We stay in by His Done. We finish by His Done. If not, we’re done. That’s why we need to keep preaching, hearing, and believing the gospel of grace.”
16. When we look to Jesus, we will begin to look like Jesus, think like Jesus, act like Jesus, and even feel joy like Jesus.
17. “His Done is our foundation for service. His Done is our fuel for service. His Done is our forgiveness for imperfect service.”
18. The devil wants us to keep thinking and talking about Christians rather than think and talk about Jesus. “And the more we think and talk about Christians instead of Jesus, the more dismayed and downcast we will become.”
19. Don’t talk negatively about other Christians in front of your children or unbelievers.
20. The more we have to look forward to, the happier we will be.
21. “As believers, however, we must remember the past from which the Lord saved us. If done rightly, it is not painfully humiliating but happily humbling. Instead of leaving us wallowing in guilt, it makes us so thankful to God for what He delivered us from.”
22. “In the Christian life, forward looks should outweigh backward looks because no matter how wonderful the past has been, the best is yet to be.”
23. Hope produces action. “When we hope for better days for the church, we serve the church. When we hope for the conversion of our children, we are motivated to share the gospel with them. When we hope for God’s blessing on His Word, we listen to it much more avidly.”
24. The Christian should see far more beauty in the world than the non-Christian.
25. “Everywhere grace can help us fill out some of the details of the general principles that God gives us in His Word.”
26. “If it were not for God’s everywhere grace filling our world day by day, our neighbours would turn into devils and our world into hell.”
27. “If God has enabled a non-Christian to make the best product or provide the most efficient service, we should gladly buy from him or her and regard it as God’s grace to that person and to us.”
28. God-centered thank-you’s: I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all…
29. To encourage people is going to take discipline on my part.
30. “If you’re going to criticise every fault and failing of everyone around you, you’re going to be very busy and lonely.”
31. “Make sure that you’re criticizing what God criticizes, that you’re not basing everything on your preferences or prejudices.”
32. Positive leaders serve with cheerfulness, by challenging, with confidence, by communicating, are contagious.
33. Diversity will make you happier than uniformity.
DAILY HENRY
From Matthew Henry’s comments on Matthew 3:13-17:
“Behold, then, behold and wonder, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that he would give up the One who was the Son of his love to suffer and die for those who were the generation of his wrath.”
KNOW YOUR CHURCH HISTORY
Every January for the last seven years I’ve done a teaching series looking at a different period of church history in our evening service at Banstead Community Church.
Here are all the handouts:
The Early Church (AD70-312)
(1) Growth
(2) Persecution
(3) False Teaching
The Imperial Church (AD313-476)
(4) Controlled
(5) Reactions
(6) Councils
The Medieval Church (AD476-1517)
(7) Deterioration
(8) Developments & Dissent
The Reformation Church (AD1517-1648)
(9) The Swan Begins to Sing
(10) The Word did everything
(11) How Sausages Changed a City
(12) From Calvin to Calvinism
(13) Not Roman and Not Reformed
The Awakened Church (AD1648-1789)
(14) The Light Goes Out
(15) Europe Awakened
(16) America Awakened
The Missionary Church (AD1789-1914)
(17) Challenged by Science
(18) Challenged by Society
(19) Challenged by the World
(20) Challenged by the End
The Contemporary Church (AD1914-present)
(21) Initial Observations
(22) The Ecumenical Movement
(23) The Charismatic Movement
(24) The Evangelical Movement
(25) The New Calvinist Movement
Conclusion
(Photo: Dave Lancaster)
DAILY HENRY
From Matthew Henry’s comments on Matthew 3:13-17:
“Sin closed heaven, putting an end to all friendly fellowship between God and human beings, but now Christ has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.”
FIELD NOTES (17/2/M)
17/2/M
Craig Carter’s The Westney Catechism expounding the Great Commandment, the Apostles’ Creed, Baptism, the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Supper, the Lord’s Prayer & the Great Commission in 84 questions & answers looks a useful resource.
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Jeremy Walker: “Study the best preaching, not to become more popular but to become more faithful.”
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Dustin Benge: “A “communal walk with Jesus” is better than a “personal walk with Jesus.” I couldn’t make it without other saints!”
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This thread of free online seminary courses available.
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The booking page is up and soon (Thursday this week) you’ll be able to get tickets for the excellent IPC Catalyst conference.
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Michael Bird: “The evangelical world needs leaders who embody holiness, not hubris; who grow disciples, not groom sycophants; who see themselves as naked before Christ, not robed in the prestige of their platforms; who know that when success becomes an idol that bullying becomes a sacrament.”
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Jacob Denhollander: “We treat people with great ability but bad character pragmatically: “Yes, we know they are dangerous but we can control them to minimize the damage & maximize our goals.”
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Marcus Honeysett: “If we take models from the world such as the military or commerce, apply them to church and assume that equals Christian leadership, there is inevitable trouble ahead. Those models are often about running effective organisations with efficient chains of command, responsible to a CEO. Christian leadership is servanthood for the feeding, caring and flourishing and equipping of the flock.”
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Lee Grady: “When Paul bragged on Timothy, he didn’t say, “Nobody can preach like him!” or “He has the biggest church!” Nope. Paul said: “I have no one else like him, who will show genuine concern for your welfare” (Phil. 2:20). Paul looked for authentic love. It’s the mark of a real leader.”
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Juan Sanchez: “A pastoral candidate’s character, convictions (biblical-theo), care (for church), competency observed over time = credibility.”
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I listened to the first episode of God’s Big Story with the boys and it was a winner. Check it out if you have under 11s.
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Sam Allberry: “Observation: in the NT we do not ‘plant’ churches. We plant the word and build churches. Not sure what to do with that, but offer it an an observation.”
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Dustin Benge: “Satan loves disunity, divisions, factions, dissensions, uproars, falsehoods, distortions, lies, compromise, cowardice, distraction, slander, and counterfeits. Satan hates the body of Christ!”
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Mark Dever: “Devote so much time to prayer in church that nominal Christians grow bored talking to the God they only pretend to know.”
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I’m really looking forward to Craig Carter’s series on “Christ in the Psalms” coming soon to the Gospel Coalition Canada site.
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Garrett Kell: “Look to Jesus and see: – His righteousness, not your rebellion – His fidelity, not your failure – His beauty, not your burden – His love, not your lethargy – His mercy, not your misery – His death, averting your destruction – His resurrection, assuring your own.”
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Andrew Wilson: “If a) the Ten Commandments are divided into 5+5, not 4+6 (since the first five all have an explanation, and the last five don’t), and b) the ten are basically “love God” (1-5) and “love your neighbour” (6-10), then c) honouring parents is more about loving *God* than neighbour.”
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Dustin Benge: “Charles H. Spurgeon on how a husband should love his wife: 1. With a constant love. “He does not vary in his affection.” 2. With an enduring love. “It is not mere lip service.” 3. With a delighted love. “He prizes her.”
KNOW YOUR CHURCH HISTORY (26)
Know Your Church History – Help from the Past
Download my teaching handout as a pdf
More teaching handouts can be found HERE
(Photo: Dave Lancaster)
SERMON: 1 CORINTHIANS 11:17-34
Sermon I preached on 1 Corinthians 11:17-34 at Banstead Community Church on 16th February 2020.
1. Look in
2. Look out
More sermons can be found HERE
(Photo: VerticalStripe)
DAILY HENRY
From Matthew Henry’s comments on Matthew 3:13-17:
“Ministers, who preach to others and baptize others, should make sure that they also preach the message to themselves and that they themselves are baptized with the Holy Spirit. Watch your own life and teaching closely.”
A PRAYER PRAISING OUR GLORIOUS GOD AND CONFESSING THAT WE HAVE REBELLED AGAINST HIM
A prayer praising our glorious God and confessing the many ways that we have rebelled against Him.
We lift up our hearts to You, O God.
You who are in heaven.
We seek Your face.
We want to give You the glory due to Your Name.
To worship You who are spirit in spirit and in truth;
because we know Father that these are the kinds of people You are seeking,
and we want to be like them.
Help us to give You our full attention.
To be undistracted in our devotion to You.
Keep our hearts from being far from You now, as we honour You with our lips.
We thank You that we can come to You with confidence.
That we can boldly draw near to You and enter into Your holy place.
Because by His blood shed on the cross;
His death in the place of sinners;
Jesus has made it possible for rebels like us to approach You.
And so, we praise You.
For:
You are the Holy One – Holy, holy, holy, are You, Lord God Almighty.
You are the eternal One – the One who is, and was, and is to come.
You are the Great I AM – the everlasting King; the Most High over all the earth.
You are light and in You there is no darkness at all – You are the Father of lights and in You there is no inconsistency.
You are the true God and the living God – the one only living and true God.
You are the unchanging Lord – You do not change like shifting shadows.
You alone are immortal – Your Name shall endure forever and Your fame across the generations.
And incredibly we can say You are our God and You love us.
How we long to know You more.
Our souls thirst for You and long for You as in a dry and weary land where there is no water, for only You can satisfy.
Yet we acknowledge before You there are times when we are foolishly drawn to the idols of this world.
The idols that are worshipped by millions of people, but which are no gods at all, and which will one day perish from the earth.
O our God, we are ashamed of our folly.
We cannot hide from You our many iniquities and our many transgressions – all the ways in which we break Your laws and commands.
We confess that we have sinned against You.
Like the leper we are unclean in Your sight;
and we deserve Your just punishment.
The only hope we have is to plead for You to show us mercy and not wrath.
How grateful we are that You can for those who are trusting in Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ;
who have called on His Name to be saved.
It is amazing to know that in Christ, there is no condemnation for us;
that in Christ, You are for us and not against us;
that in Christ, You will graciously give us all we need to ensure that we make it heaven;
that in Christ, nothing will separate us from Your love.
We adore You our God.
In Jesus’ Name.
Amen.
[Inspired by Matthew Henry’s A Method for Prayer]
(Photo: Freely)
DAILY HENRY
From Matthew Henry’s comments on Matthew 3:13-17:
“Even those who were born before Christ in time depended on him, received from him, and looked to him.”
28 TAKEAWAYS FROM CHRIST-CENTERED WORSHIP
Notes and quotes from Christ-Centered Worship by Bryan Chapell.
1. This is probably the book that has influenced my thinking about what and at what point and why we do what we do when we gather on Sundays. The gospel shaped liturgy which it promotes and encourages is what we’ve been using at Banstead Community Church for almost a decade.
2. “We are to be informed by tradition; never are we to be ruled by it.”
3. All churches have a liturgy.
4. What is a liturgy? Liturgy “simply describes the public way a church honours God in its times of gathered praise, prayer, instruction, and commitment.”
5. “Because they have not been taught to think of the worship service as having gospel purposes, people instinctively think of its elements only in terms of personal preference: what makes me feel good, comfortable, or respectable.”
6. Congregations have always been composed of three groups: communicants (believers eligible for communion), catechumens (those learning the gospel), and seekers (those seeking to know whether the truths of the Christian faith are for them).
7. The Regulative Principle states that only what is mandated by explicit instruction of Scripture or logically required as a good and necessary consequence of Scripture’s statements was appropriate for the public worship of God.
8. There are foundational truths in the gospel that do not change if the gospel is to remain the gospel.
9. “The corruption and weaknesses of our natures make it vital that we preach the gospel to our own hearts every day.”
10. “If gospel principles do not determine worship choices, the people’s preferences will tear the church apart.”
11. We would be naïve to simply mimic or idolise past worship practices. It is also naïve to presume the Lord could teach us nothing from the wisdom of centuries of saints who have preceded us.
12. The gospel is communicated in the worship patterns of the church. We tell the gospel by the way we worship.
13. Liturgy of the Word = part of the worship service that culminates in preaching // Liturgy of the Upper Room = part of the worship service that includes the Lord’s Supper.
14. A good liturgy follows New Testament worship patterns and reinforces the message of the gospel.
15. “Christian liturgy has a gospel pattern, not because someone’s rulebook demands it, but because believers express their love to God by responding to the way that he has expressed his for them.”
16. “Corporate worship is nothing more, and nothing less, than a re-presentation of the gospel in the presence of God and his people for his glory and their good.”
17. All the historical liturgies of the Word have a sequence in common: Adoration, Confession, Assurance, Thanksgiving, Petition, Instruction, Charge, and Blessing.
18. “The Call to Worship should call the people to “do” something: praise, adore, gather, give thanks etc. If the words of Scripture do not expressly include this charge, then the minister should add words that make the text a Call to Worship.”
19. Rubrics are instructive transitions that tell the congregation what to do and why.
20. To read the Bible really well is a difficult task.
21. “When love for Christ dominates our affections, sin loses its allure and, consequently, loses its power.”
22. “A Benediction can be a powerful instrument of pastoral care. With the Benediction, a pastor can communicate the care of the Heavenly Father with such tenderness and power that the worshippers leave the service full of confidence and joy for their work in the world.”
23. Pastors need to take the Benediction seriously. It is the means by which God sends His people out with the promise of His “pardon, presence, and peace.”
24. How should we receive the Benediction? If we see it as God’s speaking to us, sometimes “we would bow in humble thanksgiving,” while at other times “we would look up and lean forward as toward the embrace of a loved one.”
25. People may advocate a musical style because they find it appealing or because they believe it appropriate.
26. Many of the tunes we are accustomed to singing to were not originally attached to the words we know.
27. The Reformers were willing to borrow musical forms from the secular culture to encourage congregational singing.
28. What are the different aspects of Christ-centered worship?
Adoration (recognition of God’s greatness and grace).
Confession (acknowledgement of our sin and need for grace).
Assurance (affirmation of God’s provision and grace).
Thanksgiving (expression of praise and thanks for God’s grace).
Petition and Intercession (expression of dependence on God’s grace).
Instruction (acquiring the knowledge to grow in grace).
Communion/Fellowship (celebrating the grace of union with Christ and His people).
Charge and Blessing (living for and in light of God’s grace).