Kingdom Life in a Fallen World

"Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: " Matthew 5:1-2

And so begins what has been called, the Sermon on the Mount. At Grace Baptist Church we will be spending the next few weeks considering these words of Christ. The teaching contained therein sets a high standard. If we take it seriously we realize that we cannot attain the standard set before us and therefore cannot merit salvation. This teaching of Christ drives us to seek salvation not in our own work, but in Christ Himself.

Once we have received the salvation offered as God's free gift, the sermon shows us how we should live in the service of our gracious God. It shows us what life is like in the Kingdom of God. The sermon removes all complacency and hypocrisy --which is the problem with many Christians today and many churches. No matter how far we have gone along the 'Christian road' the sermon on the mount tells us that there is more ahead of us. It stretches our horizons, but at the same time it helps us understand more of what the grace of God means.

May the love and mercy of God be with us as we see what it means to live and be part of the Kingdom of God in a fallen world.

The Listener's Responsibility

What follows is an article written by Tim Challies. It can be found here. I have reproduced it in full because it is wonderfully helpful and I believe that if we adopted these principles in our church it would bear much fruit.


"While a pastor bears great responsibility in preparing for and delivering the Word of God each Sunday, the listener shares in the responsibility. The church has no place for an audience. We are all to be involved in the preaching, even as listeners.

Weekly Preparation

Preparation for the worship service should begin before Sunday morning. The Bible exhorts us in many places to pray for our pastors. In Romans 15:30-32 Paul begged for the prayers of believers. “Now I beg you, brethren, through the Lord Jesus Christ, and through the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those in Judea who do not believe, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, that I may come to you with joy by the will of God, and may be refreshed together with you.” To the Thessalonians he writes “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you.” We should be in constant prayer for our pastors, asking that God would continue to work in their hearts and illumine his words to them so they might in turn teach us. The congregation cannot grow beyond the pastor, so it is crucial that he continue to learn and grow in his faith. At the same time we should pray that the pastor would not fall to the attacks of Satan who surely seeks to ruin any fruitful ministry.

Physical Preparation

When I was a teenager, I usually tried to sit in the back rows of the sanctuary along with my other friends. We took pride in being able to be the first person to fall asleep during the service. Often we had been up well into the wee hours on the morning the night before and were looking forward to an opportunity to catch up on our sleep. And what better opportunity is there than when the pastor is speaking for thirty or forty five minutes?

One of the most important things congregation members can do is be prepared for the service. This means that we need to be well-rested and attentive rather than tired and glassy-eyed. Our minds need to be alert and both ready and able to hear the Word of God. As a child I was told that preparing for Sunday begins on Saturday night, the implication being that a good night’s sleep is an important prerequisite to attending a worship service.

Personal Preparation

When we attend church we should do so with the eager expectation of hearing words that will challenge, convict and change us. We come expecting to hear Divine words. We should approach the service with these goals in mind. We should seek to allow the words of God, as summarized and explained by the pastor, to convict us of sin and shortcomings, to challenge our presuppositions and comfort zones and to begin the process of change in our lives.

Spiritual Preparation

Knowing that we hope to be challenged, changed and convicted during the preaching of the Word, we should be certain that we are spiritually prepared. Our hearts must not be filled with unrepentant sin. So prior to hearing the proclamation of the Word, we should take opportunity to repent of sin and to make sure we come before God with clean hands and pure hearts. We should seek the Spirit’s illumination for the words we will hear. Psalm 119 models this as David prays “Deal bountifully with Your servant, That I may live and keep Your word. Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from Your law.” (verses 17 and 18) David asks the Lord to open his eyes that he might be able to truly understand and apply the words of Scripture to his heart. In the same way we should ask the Spirit to work in us so we can understand.

Pay Attention

This seems almost too obvious, but we should make sure that we are paying attention during the service. It is easy to look around, to chat with the person next to you or to count heads. It is even easy enough to get involved in a “righteous” pursuit such as reading the Bible. But we have just one hour a week to listen to our pastor so we should listen attentively. It is not just a good idea, but is our responsibility. Listen, learn and grow. Take a pen, take your Bible and make a dedicated effort.

After the Service

Traditionally Sunday afternoons were dedicated to gathering as a family and speaking about the sermon and perhaps looking over notes that were taken. Many families would sit down together and re-read the passage of Scripture that had been exposited that very morning and would share what they had learned. This is a custom that has largely been lost, but we would benefit by its recovery.

Pray For Application

After the service, perhaps during some quiet time on Sunday afternoon, we should again pray that the Lord would help work in us what we heard in the morning. We should ask that He would allow the words to continue to convict and change us and that they would not simply fall out of our minds and be lost. In Revelation Jesus said “He who has ears, let him hear.” Hearing goes beyond the ears, but into the mind, the heart and the life. Hearing involves application.

Be Bereans

Our final responsibility is to imitate the Bereans who “received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11). We should not blindly accept what our pastor teaches us, but compare his words to the Scripture to ensure that “these things are so.” If your pastor is a godly man, he should be willing and eager to answer questions you may have, and be humble enough to accept correction when he has erred. I do not know of a pastor who would claim he has never made mistakes from the pulpit. When we do detect (or think we detect) error, we should approach the pastor humbly and prayerfully, going to him with our questions and not first to others.

Conclusion

While the responsibility of the preacher cannot be underestimated, the listener is also responsible before God. We are to prepare ourselves even during the week, are to listen attentively, to search the Scriptures and to apply what we have learned to our lives. I fear that far too often we expect the pastor to do the work and allow us to be the beneficiaries of his work. It is time for us to take seriously our role in the preaching of the Word of God"

May the Harvest Come!

And he said, "The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. 28 The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come."
Mark 4:26-29

If, as stated in a previous post, God uses His word to build His church how should Scripture be preached?

Many of us give little thought to different ways that pastors approach the Bible in preparing a sermon or Bible study. Does the preacher come to it as the authority deciding what topic to preach and then finding passages that support his own thesis? Is this the way that we hear God speak? While this sort of preaching can and has been used by God, there are many dangers inherent in it. Could it be, that there are problems in a church about which the pastor does not know? Problems that God desires to be addressed through His Word? These issues may even be the root causes of some of the other problems that are visible. If he only preaches on the topics that 'strike his fancy' the congregation runs the risk of hearing the preacher speak and not necessarily God.

Is there another way? Yes, expositional preaching is the alternative. Expositional preaching is, “preaching in service to the Word." It is an exposition (explaination and application) of a specific text. In other words the pastor does not come as the authority to the Bible deciding what to preach rather, he commits himself to hear God’s Word—not just to affirm that it is God’s Word but to actually submit himself to it. If a pastor is preaching in service to the Word it is rare that he will be able to preach against the items he wants, in his flesh, to preach against. But instead, God will speak through his word and impact the lives of those who hear. Like the seed that grows as the man sleeps and rises night and day, the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. After time, the harvest is gathered.

May God work in our hearts at Grace Baptist Church that we will have an abundant harvest. May he equip us for every good work and provide us with leaders who do the difficult work of being in submission to the text of Scripture. May He be glorified in us!

Guest Preachers...Chris A. and then Chris B.

The next two weeks at Grace Baptist Church we will have guest preachers.

On Sunday, March 19 Chris Ambridge will be preaching. Chris A. is a former intern at Capitol Hill Baptist Church and now resides in Washington, DC working as an architecht and continuing to serve at CHBC. His text will be Luke 15:11-32, the story of the prodigal son.

On Sunday, March 26 Chris Bosnyak will be preaching. Chris B. is the chairman of Deacons at Grace Baptist Church and lives in Hamden. His text will be Joshua 1-4.

One way that you can prepare your heart for these sermons is to prayerfully read the text in the days leading up to Sunday and then come with an expectation to hear from God's Word.

Come to the Stream

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1

The Word of God is the instrument God has chosen to use to give life and to sustain life in His children. Those who walk by faith do so with the confidence that the Bible is true and reliable. We need God’s Word in order to re-create us and also to grow and shape us--like trees firmly planted by streams of water.

Many churches today, by their actions and not necessarily by their confession, have placed a secondary importance on the Bible. They focus on gaining a crowd instead of making disciples. Rather than thinking of new and exciting ways to get people into our churches we should look to how God has used His Word in the past and follow the example set before us.

We should constantly stand in awe of the fact that God would speak to us. Carl F. H. Henry states this well in God, Revelation and Authority, when he says, “God will not be known if He does not speak, and we cannot know Him if He has not spoken a word that we can rely on” We should desire the very words of God more than a starving man desires bread. Yet pitifully we do not. We have filled our lives with so many other things that the Word of God does not even captivate us. Our love for God’s Word should be rooted in the fact that God has spoken words of life to our hearts and we are able, by God's Spirit, to hear and understand and also to bring those very same words to others. Allowing God’s Word to percolate in our lives and sharing that with others is how the church is built. “…the church of God, can only be created around the Word of God” [Dever, Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, pg. 36] While the rest of the world’s industries are trying to market their products to a changing populace, God is continuing to build His people together by His Word.

So today, give time to hear God speak through His word. Meditate and listen to Him and may He be glorified in you!
In a future post we will look at how we are to proclaim and hear the Word of God!

Budgets, Committees, and Giving!

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all contentment in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. 9 As it is written, "He has distributed freely, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever." 10 He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be enriched in every way for all your generosity, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. 12 For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God. 13 By their approval of this service, they will glorify God because of your submission flowing from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others, 14 while they long for you and pray for you, because of the surpassing grace of God upon you. 15 Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift! 2 Corinthians 9:6-15

Is it just me or is this the time in the life of a church that many people dread? It is the time when we as a congregation have to make hard decisions regarding the budget and others have to make hard decisions concerning whether they will serve on a particular committee. I believe that Paul's words above should guide us and have implications not only for individuals but also for us as a church as well. Paul says, "The point is this:" (don't you love it when it is so clear? Or in this case would we rather it not be so clear?) "whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully." It does not get much more clear than that. Paul in this context is exhorting the Corinthians to give monetarily to support the Christians who were in Jerusalem.

I believe that the application of this can be enlarged to not only be speaking of money but time, and gifts and abilities. Hence the title of this post...Budgets, Committees and Giving! Notice that Paul lists some reasons to give.
v. 6 Giving will result in a return
v. 7 God loves a cheerful giver
v.8-10 God has given freely to you v.11 God will bless you
v. 12 Your giving brings Glory to God

Will you pray, and consider how you can be used by God this year at Grace Baptist Church? For some, this means you need to join so that you can be involved. For others this means that you need to prayerfully consider how you can serve. May God be glorified in you. And remember: "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully."

Grace Baptist Church

The purpose of Grace Baptist Church is to glorify God by promoting His worship, evangelizing sinners, and edifying saints. We are committed to being faithful to God's Word as we seek to 'grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ' Our pastor is a former intern of Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Join us for our Sunday morning gathering at 10:50am.