Pleading for the Work of the Holy Spirit

The latest Sunday morning sermon series at church is entitled ACTS: The Unstoppable Advance of the Gospel to All Peoples. This study has already had a significant impact on my life simply by making me see the importance of the Holy Spirit’s work and my need for it.
One recent sermon in the series was The Vital [...]

How the Gospel has Nothing to do with Eyes that Fall off Dogs

Our church is cross-centered, wanting to bring the gospel to bear on everything–the gospel is not just for salvation, but for every thing that I face every day of my life.
When you’re not really accustomed to thinking this way, it’s difficult to see the connection between a life reality and a particular facet of the [...]

The Retreat Files – Book Review

For our retreat study, we chose Feminine Appeal: Seven Virtues of a Godly Wife and Mother by Carolyn Mahaney.  As a study of Titus 2:3-5, the book is mainly geared to wives and mothers, but many of the principles found therein could certainly be applied to single women.
We wanted our study to be cross-centered and, [...]

When the Gospel is Only a Door

I’ve learned a lot of things in the past few years, one of the most important things being that the gospel is not just for salvation.  The grace that justifies is the same grace that sanctifies.  Simple words; profound, life-changing truth. 
The sermon Sunday at church was about “The Cross-Centered Church” (it was actually in two [...]

The Retreat Files – An Introduction

re·treat: 1) an act or process of withdrawing especially from what is difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable; 2) a place of privacy or safety; 3) a period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, or instruction under a director.
I’ve been to a few ladies retreats.  The first definition doesn’t apply so much; well, I suppose if [...]

What Does Radical Look Like?

Having completed our study in the book of Romans, our Ladies’ Bible Study is continuing throughout the summer without a specific topic.  We are listening to selected sermons that some of our husbands were privileged to hear when they attended the 2008 Shepherd’s Conference and/or Together for the Gospel.  We started off Monday night with [...]

What Christ is to me

Occasionally in our Sunday evening service, our pastor will randomly call on people to say what Christ is to them in three words or less.  When put under pressure, I draw a blank.  I cannot think on my feet.  If you asked me what my phone number is, I couldn’t tell you.  Not because I don’t [...]

“Worst Sunday Sermon Ever”

Happy Mother’s Day!  Aren’t we used to hearing a warm, fuzzy, uplifting sermon about motherhood on Mother’s Day?  Hmmm.  I wonder when that tradition went out the window.  Tim was working with the sound system and he and the other guy were joking that they should name the sermon the “Worst Sunday Sermon Ever” before they uploaded [...]

Systematic Theology Isn’t Just for the Men

Our church has “Table Talk”, a 6:30am Saturday morning men’s meeting where they work through a book study coupled with group discussions focused on applications to church and personal life.  Over the past couple of years they’ve studied Mark Dever’s 9 Marks of a Healthy Church and Why Small Groups (edited by C.J. Mahaney).  I’ve always [...]

Free Audio Downloads from Together for the Gospel

Tim previously posted (here and here) about the Together for the Gospel conference he went to a couple of weeks ago.  Unfortunately, he’s been so busy since he returned that he hasn’t been able to finish putting his thoughts down in this venue.  The four men that attended from our church have shared over the last [...]