Throughout our lives we have been so blessed with friendships and ministry opportunities.
This blog is meant to share what God has been doing in, for and through us. It is also used as a resource page for teaching and preaching Dave has had the opportunity to do. We do this for the purpose of GLORIFYING GOD and HELPING OTHERS GLORIFY GOD.
Tomorrow, I am going to begin teaching the Genesis Class at West Cannon Baptist Church entitled The Story of God's Glory.
As we begin this new study which is an overview of the Old Testament, I wanted to explain what the study is and why I believe it is important.
There
are two specific goals that I
have for the class.
To remind each of us of the one true God and
His glory that is revealed in the Bible.
To equip us to help others see God and His
glory in the Bible.
John
Piper says it so well, “Our ultimate goal in
reading the Bible is that God’s infinite worth and beauty would be
exalted in the everlasting, white-hot worship of the blood-bought Bride of
Christ from every people, language, tribe, and nation.”
This quote is taken from the first of a series of messages Piper preached about Reading the Bible Supernaturally. HERE is the link to this message.
I would love the lessons to be Biblical and extremely practical. With that in mind I want to examine each of the goals. To remind each of us of the one true God and His glory that is revealed in the Bible
Using our class time, I plan to use a fast-paced look at very familiar and not so familiar passages of scripture and what they reveal about God and His glory and how these truths should impact the way we live.
To equip us to help others see God and His glory in the Bible.
Many of the resources shared online and in class coordinate with lessons from the Generations of Grace curriculum used in our Kids 4 Christ classes. It is my prayer that parents would think about how they can use things we are studying to lead their children in reading the Bible and glorifying God.
Today, many people are not as familiar with the whole story of the Bible. It is my prayer that each of us would think about how we can use this study in our own understanding of the Bible while considering how we can share the truth of the Bible with others.
O.K. I may have used a sensationalized title to get you to click on this post. If you thought this was going to be a video of a pastor wrestling with someone in the congregation, I am sorry to disappoint you. This post is about using Fighter Verses during pastoral prayer times. One of many aspects of my new ministry I have enjoyed is regularly praying during the pastoral prayer time in our Sunday morning gathering times. If you were part of the second service, I used this week's Fighter Verse, Philippians 4:19, as the foundation of my prayer. Here is what the Fighter Verse website and app focus on
the character and worth of our great God,
battling against our fleshly desires
the hope of the Gospel.
These are three great things to focus in our daily life, in our scripture memory and in our prayer life. It would be my prayer that my personal prayer life and the prayer lives of those I influence would become more and more Biblically based. That is, my prayers would reflect the heart of God and not my selfishness. Which is why I really want to try to use the upcoming week's Fighter Verse in my pastoral prayers on Sundays. There are two reasons for this:
This will help focus my heart and word on God and His Word not me and my circumstances or the church and her circumstances.
This will model how to pray Biblically-based prayers to the church. Here is an online resource to help you learn how to pray the Bible - vimeo.com/127598699
West Cannon Baptist Church's upcoming streaming of the Parenting
Seminar is an important training time not just for the families of the church but for the entire church. Recently, Paul
Tripp sent out reasons why people, not just parents, should plan to be part of
the seminar. One of the reasons was “This teaching is not just for
parents raising children.Parenting is a community
project, and you know parents who need your support. This event is an
opportunity to equip yourself for ministry.”
A parenting conference equips parents equips church members to help and encourage parents.
Two of the reasons why I wanted WCBC to show this seminar are two of my often repeated ministry quotes: "Parents are the primary disciple-maker in their child's life." "Disciples are disciple-makers."
It is excited to think about how God has provided this great ministry resource and opportunity a month and a half after arriving at West Cannon Baptist Church. A couple of other personal, God-given encouragements related to Parenting and Ministry.
For several years, West Cannon Baptist Church has been using the same Biblically-driven, God-centered, Christ-exalting, Gospel-saturated, Family-focused curriculum that Emmanuel Baptist Church is using - Generations of Grace
In conversations with Tim Anderson, the director of children's ministry at WCBC, it is evident that we have similar thoughts regarding ministry to children and parents.
This Sunday, October 1st, I have the opportunity to begin teaching a class with many young married couples. We are going to be doing an overview of the Old Testament with the specific focus of helping others understand how God's glory is made known throughout the Bible. It is my prayer that this class will help parents talk with their children about the Bible in a God-centered not man-centered way.
Leading a group of about 30 people through the DVD study "Your Walk With God Is a Community Project" on Wednesday nights has been great. This is another study by Paul Tripp on the Gospel and the church community. It is my prayer that this study will help those attending and others understand that we need to be seeking opportunities to help and encourage one another.
As I have written before, there are many challenges in beginning a brand new ministry at an unfamiliar church. At the same time I am thankful that God's Word is the same. I am thankful that the mission of God's church is the same - glorify God and make disciples. I am thankful that God is the one, constant provider and sustainer. I am thankful for the great people at West Cannon Baptist Church who have been praying for and encouraging us. Below is some information about the Parenting conference.
To help you know what the conference is about, here are
summaries of the four sessions.
Session One is about being an ambassador. Paul will remind us that
parenting is not about what we want for or from our children, but what God
wants to do through us in our children.
Session Two is about using the law in parenting. Paul will explain what the
law is, why our kids need it, and why it never works to ask the law to do what
only grace can accomplish.
Session Three is about our inability as parents. Paul will ask us to embrace
the reality that we have no ability to do what God has called us to do ... in
our own strength.
Session Four is about the unlimited grace God has for moms and
dads.
Paul will end the event with hope for tomorrow, encouraging us that Christ
never calls us to a task without giving us what we need to do it.
October 6 (7:00 to 10:00) and October 7 (9:00 to 12:00)
October 13 (7:00 to 10:00) and October 14 (9:00 to 12:00)
We are offering this conference on TWO different weekends in order
to help with childcare. Plan to come one weekend and offer to watch another
family's children the other weekend or alternate childcare with another family
over the two weekends.
