The fourth Sunday of Advent: Celebration

(This is the fourth in a four-part series that seeks to help Christians observe Advent, that season celebrating the coming of our Savior and leading to Christmas. This series is designed for use on each Sunday of Advent, but it can be used at any point up to and including Christmas Day.)

The incarnation -- God becoming man -- finds an appropriate response in celebration.

This is the response of two groups who hear the glad announcement on the night of the God-man's birth.

When an angel of the Lord announces to the shepherds a Savior has been born in Bethlehem, an army of angels gathers with him to praise God and declare in Luke 2:14:

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.

The human beings who witness this joyful pronouncement do not hesitate. They find this baby who is God in the flesh wrapped in cloths in a lowly feed trough in Bethlehem and share with Mary and Joseph what the angel of the Lord has told them. In his last comment on the shepherds, Luke reports in Luke 2:20:

The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

A multitude of angels and a band of shepherds do what we all should do at this news: Celebrate.

God has become man. Let us celebrate. The Creator has become a child. Let us celebrate. The Son of the Most High has become a male infant. Let us celebrate. The Almighty God has become a needy baby. Let us celebrate. God is with us. Let us celebrate. God has come to show us what He is like. Let us celebrate. God has come to serve us. Let us celebrate. God has come to save us. Let us celebrate.

And in celebrating, may we follow the example of the angels and shepherds. How did they celebrate? By glorifying God, Luke says.

As we near Christmas, may we celebrate and glorify God for the most important development in human history that leads to the central event in redemptive history: God became man, a man who came to "save His people from their sins," as the angel tells Joseph in Matt. 1:21.

Because He is God in the flesh, the Savior, and the Risen and Ascended Lord, we await another advent. As we celebrate His first coming, may we encourage one another to look forward to His second coming -- an advent which will begin a celebration for His people that will last forever.

The third Sunday of Advent: Incarnation

(This is the third in a four-part series that seeks to help Christians observe Advent, that season celebrating the coming of our Savior and leading to Christmas. This series is designed for use on each Sunday of Advent, but it can be used at any point up to and including Christmas Day.)

The greatest development in human history is simple in its presentation.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. (Luke 2:7)

With that no-frills description, the Bible reports the incarnation. God comes in human form.

Hidden within the simplicity of the description is unfathomable truth. This baby is fully God and fully man. The Creator of the universe becomes the child lying in a feed trough for animals. This seems impossible. Yet, it is true.

J.I. Packer depicts the wonder of it this way in Knowing God:

[T]he Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the incarnation.

This is what Christmas is about. God the Son humbles Himself to become a man. Yet, this embryo who becomes a newborn who becomes a boy who becomes a man maintains the deity He possesses as God.

The New Testament points to this reality:

And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Phil. 2:5-8)

The incarnation -- God the Son willingly humbling Himself to become a man -- is for the purpose of a humiliation that makes Christmas all important. God the Son suffers and dies in the place of sinners that they might know His Father. He lives righteously as a substitute for us, then dies sacrificially as a substitute for us. It is a work He only could perform through His incarnation.

And as we anticipate Christmas and its truth of God putting on human flesh, we also look forward to His second coming -- when we will see Him in the glorified body which He now possesses.

The second Sunday of Advent: Declaration

(This is the second in a four-part series that seeks to help Christians observe Advent, that season celebrating the coming of our Savior and leading to Christmas. This series is designed for use on each Sunday of Advent, but it can be used at any point up to and including Christmas Day.)

God not only makes promises and provides foreshadowings in many ways to build expectation for the coming of the Savior. He also declares His Son's incarnation when it is time for the expectation to become reality. He makes declarations to two human beings who are waiting expectantly for the Messiah but who have no expectation of how dramatically His coming will affect their lives.

To a young Jewish maiden who is betrothed but not officially married, He sends an angel, who declares:

Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end. (Luke 1:30b-33)

To a Jewish man who is burdened by the pregnancy of his betrothed one, He sends in a dream an angel, who declares:

Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. (Matt. 1:20b-21)

Centuries of expectation are at an end. The hopes of the people in the promises of God are fulfilled. They are met in a divine embryo. The Savior of the world miraculously resides in a virgin's womb.

A poor Jewish couple awaits not only the delivery of a first-born son but the appearance of the only One who can deliver them. The world, largely unsuspecting, awaits the greatest moment in human history -- God will appear as a man. The baby now hidden will soon emerge the way others do, but He will come forth as "the Son of the Most High" to "save His people from their sins."

Joseph, Mary and the world await His first coming. We await His second coming.

Advent is a time for remembering the declarations of God regarding the coming of the Savior in His humble state long ago. It also is a time of remembering the declarations of God regarding the coming of the Savior in His glorious state over a kingdom that "will have no end."

The first Sunday of Advent: Expectation

(This is the first in a four-part series that seeks to help Christians observe Advent, that season celebrating the coming of our Savior and leading to Christmas Day. My wife, Linda, and I did a 31-day devotional booklet to observe Christmas as a gift to Covenant Community Church in 2004. This series is designed for use on each Sunday of Advent, but it can be used at any point beginning Dec. 1.)

Human history is marked by the expectation of the coming of the Savior. This is made explicit in the prophecies of the Old Testament.

Even when the first man and woman disobey God and make sin a common reality for humanity, God provides hopeful expectation. In mankind’s darkest hour, He proclaims a gospel promise. It is known as the “proto-evangelium,” which means “the first gospel.”

The Creator declares to Satan disguised as a serpent:

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise Him on the heel. (Gen. 3:15)

A descendant of Adam and Eve would crush the tempter whose voice they had heeded instead of their Creator’s. That descendant, of course, is the baby born in Bethlehem who defeats the evil one through His life, death and resurrection.

The prophecies of Isaiah also point to the coming of the Savior.

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. (Is. 7:14)

For a child will be born to us; a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness form then on and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this. (Is. 9:6-7)

Yet, not just these prophecies and others build expectation of the coming of the Savior. The Old Testament in its entirety is pregnant with this expectation. The miraculous events of both rescue and judgment – such as Noah’s ark in the flood and the deliverance of Israel through the parting of the Red Sea – point to the Great Rescuer from sin. The worship by God’s Old Covenant people -- the tabernacle, the temple, the Ark of the Covenant, the priests, the sacrifices – point to the Ultimate Priest and Sacrifice through whom we worship God. The heroes – such as Joseph, Moses and David – point to the True Hero of all.

Advent is a time for remembering the promises of God regarding the coming of the Savior. And it is a time of expectation – not only for Christmas Day but for another coming. We await with expectation the Second Coming of our Savior, a coming in which His rule over all will be revealed.

The church and the family (Part 8)

This post marks another in a series in response to the following statement at a church's website:

"We believe that the family is the first and most important institution that the Lord created. Moreover, following God the family should hold the highest priority."

In my first post of this series, I asked a series of questions regarding this statement. Since then, I have replied to one or two of those questions per post as I considered the relationship between the church and the family. In this post, I am responding to the final question I asked regarding the statement above. The question is:

-- Does this mean it is okay for me to think my family is more important than God’s family?

It is not difficult to guess what my answer will be if you have read my previous posts on this topic. I would say, "No, it is not okay for me to think my family is more important than God's family. God purchased His family by the blood of His own perfect Son. The blood of God the Son produced a family that will live together forever. As a forever family, the members will always relate to each other on the basis of the blood of the Son, not on the basis of whether they share the same bloodline."

This does not mean I should consider my family unimportant. Nor should you consider your family unimportant. And we are not free biblically to minimize, ignore or neglect our families. It is a matter of what is ultimate. God's family is ultimate. Our families are not. God's family is eternal. Ours are not.

Yet, the Bible makes it clear how you and I live in our families is exceedingly important in the context of the gospel and the church. For instance, God's Word says:

-- Marriage was intended by God from its inception to portray the everlasting union of Christ and His bride (Eph. 5:22-33).

-- A person who does not provide for his family denies the faith and is even worse than an unbeliever (I Tim. 5:8).

-- A man demonstrates his qualifications to shepherd the family of God by shepherding his family well (I Tim. 3:1-7).

-- Jesus showed His love and concern for His mother by giving responsibility for her care to one of His disciples, even while suffering on the cross to rescue the condemned to be the children of His Father (John 19:26-27).

May we sacrificially love our families because God has given us vital responsibilities to those whom He has placed in our care, but may we realize at the same time He has placed us in a family of fellow adoptees with whom we will worship Him forever.

The church and the family (Part 7)

This post marks another in a series of posts in response to the following statement at a church's website:

"We believe that the family is the first and most important institution that the Lord created. Moreover, following God the family should hold the highest priority."

In my first post of this series, I asked a series of questions regarding this statement. Since then, I have replied to one or two of those questions per post as I considered the relationship between the church and the family. In this post, I am responding to more questions I asked regarding the statement above. One includes bracketed language as a means of clarification. The questions are:

-- What does this mean for church members who are not part of a nuclear family [in the church]? Is their value less because they are only part of a church family and not part of a biological/adoptive family?

Hopefully, no Christian would say the value of an unmarried believer is less than that of a married believer. Yet, espousing the nuclear family as the "most important institution" created by God and as the "highest priority" other than God may send that message.

Even a church that would not affirm such beliefs can imply this by a constant focus on the nuclear family, by what is said in the pulpit, by the nature of the prayer requests shared, by the establishment and nurture of a culture that dwells on marriage while basically ignoring singleness.

As others have pointed out, the church is not a family of families but the family of God. It is a family of equal members -- some married, some never married, some divorced, some widowed. The never married or otherwise unmarried are not second-class citizens. The married and unmarried all share the same riches in Christ. They are all joint heirs with Christ. There is no difference before God for those who are in Christ. And there should be no difference in standing within the church.

They are all married to one eternal bridegroom, and they all -- whether married or unmarried on earth -- are part of the bride of Christ.

One of the solutions offered by some family focused church advocates seems to be to make singles essentially members of nuclear families and thereby perpetuate the misguided idea of the church as a family of families. That should not be our goal as the church of Christ. Yes, we should welcome unmarried brothers and sisters into our families and homes, but our primary goal in doing so should be to make them sense they are full members of the family of God.

As I have said before in this series of posts, Jesus created the church by His blood, not by the union of a man and a woman. By His work, He has produced a family that is not divided into the categories we so often dwell on but united in this reality -- we are all "in Christ." May it be so for us as we think about His church.

The church and the family (Part 6)

This post marks another in a series of posts in response to the following statement at a church's website:

"We believe that the family is the first and most important institution that the Lord created. Moreover, following God the family should hold the highest priority."

In my first post of this series, I asked a series of questions regarding this statement. Since then, I have replied to one or two of those questions per post as I considered the relationship between the church and the family. In this post, I am responding to another question I asked regarding the statement above. The question is:

-- Does this mean the church is subservient to the family?

That seems to be the message from a particular segment of evangelicalism today. It may be an unintended message, but it appears to have that practical effect nonetheless. Ministries and churches identified with this movement seem to have concluded: The local church should be structured around the nuclear family with a focus on the perceived needs of families. At least some of them define the church as a "family of families."

This is another version of the consumer-oriented approach to church life, Michael Lawrence observed a few years ago. The Portland, Ore., pastor wrote about this approach: "To systematically and holistically define and organize the church around biological families is to put the church at the service of yet another customer and to insist that it provide what that customer needs. We've simply traded the individual religious consumer for a collective."

This is not, of course, how the New Testament portrays the church. We see no evidence in the gospels, Acts or the letters of the church existing for the family.

The church and the family are not foes. They are -- or can be -- partners. The church is not subservient to the family. The church is the one true family, one that will last forever by the unbreakable bond established by the cross-work of Jesus. The nuclear family has no such cord of everlasting existence. Death will break up the nuclear family. Neither death nor anything else will break up the family of God.

To elevate the nuclear family above the family of God is a disservice to both, especially to the only family created by the life, death and resurrection of God the Son. The nuclear family -- especially marriage -- is a picture of the ultimate marriage and family established by Christ. The nuclear family is not the ultimate institution before which the church of Jesus is to bow in subservience.

The church and the family (Part 5)

This post marks another in a series of posts in response to the following statement at a church's website:

"We believe that the family is the first and most important institution that the Lord created. Moreover, following God the family should hold the highest priority."

In my first post of this series, I asked a series of questions regarding this statement. Since then, I have replied to one or two of those questions per post as I considered the relationship between the church and the family. In this post, I am responding to another question I asked regarding the statement above:

-- Does this diminish the church and thereby diminish the work of Christ in His perfectly righteous life and totally satisfactory, substitutionary death that created the church?

Jesus' work brought into being something that did not previously exist. That something -- referred to in the Bible by such terms as a people, a body and a family -- was, and is, made up of human beings not just from one nation, one ethnicity, one tribe, one language, one skin color, one gender or one biological family. No, Jesus has produced a family made up of people unlimited by differences.

That family is the church. Jesus is the head of the church, the New Testament declares, and the church is the body of its head.

Prior to his conversion, Saul was "breathing threats and murder" against Jesus' disciples, according to Acts 9. He was on the way to Damascus to capture Christians and take them to Jerusalem. When the resurrected Jesus spoke to Saul on the road to Damascus, He asked the future apostle Paul, "[W]hy are you persecuting me?" When Saul asked for identification of the One speaking to Him, the Lord said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting." How was Saul persecuting Jesus? By persecuting His body, the church. In this exchange, Jesus closely connects His body to Himself.

If we say the nuclear family is the "most important institution" created by God and exalt it to the "highest priority" after God (and that includes the Son and the Holy Spirit), we are saying what Jesus produced by His sinless life and sacrificial death is less valuable than what God established in the natural realm.

Marriage and family are blessings established by God for humanity's good, but any man and woman can establish a nuclear family by marriage, and they can expand that family by birth or adoption. Only God can produce a family that will live forever under His Fatherhood. And God could only create such a family through the life, death and resurrection of His Son.

So, yes, the Bible seems to indicate categorizing the nuclear family as the "most important institution" and exalting it to the "highest priority" after God is diminishing the church. And diminishing the church diminishes the work of Jesus. May we love, appreciate and guard the nuclear family, but may we not exalt it above our head, Jesus, or His body.

The church and the family (Part 4)

This series of posts is organized as a response to the following statement at a church's website:

"We believe that the family is the first and most important institution that the Lord created. Moreover, following God the family should hold the highest priority."

In my first post of this series, I asked a series of questions regarding this statement. Since then, I have replied to one of those questions per post as I considered the relationship between the church and the family. In this post, I am responding to two questions. Here is the first question regarding the statement above:

-- Does this mean the government is more important than the church, since God established it (Gen. 9) before either Israel or the church and this statement appears to be based partly on chronology?

I don't think any believer would contend the government is more important than the church. The government is a vital institution God created for the good of humanity. It serves an important role in society, including the punishment of evil. Its importance and virtue do not mean it is superior to the church, however. Nor does its priority chronologically make it superior to the church. (I guess it is possible some would argue the church came first in time because God chose those who would make it up before the foundation of the world, but I am speaking here of the inauguration of the church on earth.)

This means we all should be careful about using the chronology argument regarding the family and the church. If the argument for the superiority of the family is based on chronology, then the same argument would logically apply for the superiority of the government to the church.

The chronological argument for the family's superiority over the church does not seem to be based on logic or Scripture.

The next question is:

-- Does this mean an institution based on flesh and blood is more important than one based on the blood of God the Son?

Now we are cutting to what seems to be one of the most important issues regarding this topic. The nuclear family comes into existence by the marriage of a man and a woman and grows through birth or adoption. The spiritual family comes into existence by the gracious work of God to provide new birth to sinners who enter His household by repentance and faith.

The death of Jesus creates God's family. It does not create a nuclear family. As Christian parents and grandparents, we all desire for and pray for our children and grandchildren to trust in Christ and His atoning work so they would become part of God's eternal family. We cannot guarantee that will happen by virtue of them being born or adopted into a Christian family. No, entering God's family requires His grace.

When we think this way about the church and the family, it seems difficult to me to think we would assert the nuclear family is more significant than the one Jesus established by His sacrifice.

The church and the family (Part 3)

My first post on this topic -- "The church and the family" -- asked a series of questions based on the following statement at a church's website:

"We believe that the family is the first and most important institution that the Lord created. Moreover, following God the family should hold the highest priority."

My second question in response to this declaration is:

"Is this consistent with what Jesus is teaching when He offers some hard sayings at various points in His earthly ministry regarding His disciples' devotion to Him in contrast to their devotion to family members?"

Here are some of those sayings of our Lord:

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it." (Matt. 10:34-39)

Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him. A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.” Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3:31-35)

Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:25-27)

What are we to think?

First, I think Jesus would have a difficult time winning the family values vote if He ran for political office in our day with that kind of paper trail.

On a more serious note, these teachings by Jesus should shake our worlds if we have deified family or exalted it to a higher place than God intended.

For one thing, Jesus is establishing there is a relationship far more significant than the closest of relationships within the nuclear family.

For another, He clarifies the gospel cuts right through families, just like it does through other relationships and institutions. His gospel is the ultimate divider.

And for another, He establishes there is a family He is part of -- and His disciples are part of -- that supersedes His own earthly family and all other earthly families.

Marriage and families are good -- very good. God created them for a purpose as a blessing to humanity and society. We are blessed to be a part of them.

But God sent His Son to bring into existence an eternal family, a family not joined by blood or earthly adoption but by His blood and spiritual adoption. While we are to love our spouse and other family members sacrificially, we are to love Christ supremely. We are to realize the gospel of Jesus brings all of those He saves into union with Him -- and into a kinship with one another that is centered in Him.

So do the sayings of Jesus support the idea the nuclear family is the "most important institution that the Lord created?" They don't appear to.

The church and the family (Part 2)

My first post on this topic -- "The church and the family" -- asked a series of questions based on the following statement at a church's website:

"We believe that the family is the first and most important institution that the Lord created. Moreover, following God the family should hold the highest priority."

My first question, which includes a revision here, in response to this declaration was:

"Is this -- the assertion the family is the 'most important institution' and 'following God should hold the highest priority' -- what we see as we read the four gospel accounts, Acts and the letters in the New Testament?"

Please take some time to think about that question. Try to recall your impressions of the New Testament as you read the various books of which it consists. Consider how many times the nuclear family is the focus of passages in the gospels, Acts and the letters. Ponder the emphasis the New Testament gives specifically to the family.

Yes, there are references to the family. And there are a few instructions regarding the family, including Eph. 5:22-6:4 and Col. 3:18-21. Even those, however, are presented in the context of instructions to Christians in churches on what it means to follow Christ.

The nuclear family does not dominate the New Testament. That is not to say it is unimportant.

D.G. Hart, a religious and social historian, recently posted at Reformation 21 a review of Mary Eberstadt's new book, How the West Really Lost God. In her book, Eberstadt writes about secularization in America and the significance of the family to Christianity. Hart does not look as admiringly as Eberstadt apparently does on what the baby boom of the 1950s helped produce in American churches. He suggests Eberstadt "may inflate the family's significance beyond what Christianity has taught historically."

Hart also writes, "For conservative Protestants, the family is good but only in a proximate sense - not in an ultimate one."

You see, the family is important in both the Old and New Testaments, but something else -- really Someone Else and His family -- dominates the New Testament in particular.

The New Testament is about King Jesus and His work. It is a work that encompasses His perfectly righteous life and His perfectly atoning death. Christ's resurrection affirms His work was totally sufficient. That fully accomplished work produced a people -- or a family, as it is sometimes portrayed.

We even see it in the Old Testament. In that great chapter on the Suffering Servant's substitution for sinners, it says prophetically of Christ, "If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring" (Is. 53:10). Even 700 years before Christ, the Bible pointed to a family to be established by the blood of the Messiah.

The New Testament focuses much more on this family created supernaturally than the one created biologically or even by adoption. Adoption specifically pictures the reality of our spiritual adoption by God in places like Rom. 8:15-17 and Gal. 4:4-7. We find the bridegroom/bride or husband/wife relationship -- even in a go-to marriage passage like Eph. 5:22-33 -- points to the ultimate meaning of that union in Christ and his bride. We see God described as Father and we who are saved as His children in such sections as I John 3:1-2. And we see ourselves described as brothers and sisters with each other in books like I John.

Jesus Himself points in the gospels to the temporary nature of the nuclear family, when He says in Matt. 22:30 there will be no marriage in Heaven. Instead, all who are in Heaven will be bound together there as the truly forever family.

Near the close of his review of Eberstadt's book, D.G. Hart commends her defense of the family but not her handling of its significance in comparison to the church. "If the family ever becomes more important to the conservative Protestant wing of 'family values' voters than the gospel and the Christian ministry, then what happened to 1950s churches and families could well be the fate of Christian defenders of the family."

The church and the family (Redux and Part 1)

(Below is a post from September 2012 I have yet to follow up on. I plan to use this repost as the first in a series on the church and the family.)

Understanding, explaining and practicing the biblical view of the relationship between the family and the church can be a challenge.

Opinions about how the two should relate to one another run the gamut. In fact, we have seen them run the gamut in just our small fellowship, Covenant Community Church. And those opinions can be strongly held -- sometimes prompting, partly, people at both ends of the spectrum of opinions to depart the church family.

Because of opinions expressed in our church, I have given a lot of thought to the issue over several years. I have wanted to address it at this blog but have not seemed to find a good entry point for the discussion. I think I have now.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw that an acquaintance in the ministry whom I respect a lot had begun serving in a pastoral position with another church. I went to that church's website and found the following statement in the information about its ministry:

We believe that the family is the first and most important institution that the Lord created. Moreover, following God the family should hold the highest priority.

I believe we would all agree the family -- marriage specifically -- is the first institution God established. The other assertions -- "the family is the . . . most important institution that the Lord created" and "the family should hold the highest priority" -- raise questions for me, however. And I think they should for you, if you are a disciple of Christ identified with a church.

In this post, I don't intend to address those questions with answers. I have opinions that I think are biblically based. For now, however, I just want to ask some of the questions I think the statement above raises.

I welcome your responses to these questions and any additional questions you think should be raised.

Here are my questions:

-- Is this -- the assertion the family is the "most important institution" and "should hold the highest priority" -- what we see as we read the four gospel accounts, Acts and the letters in the New Testament?

-- Is this consistent with what Jesus is teaching when He offers some hard sayings at various points in His earthly ministry regarding His disciples' devotion to Him in contrast to their devotion to family members?

-- Does this mean the government is more important than the church, since God established it (Gen. 9) before either Israel or the church and this statement appears to be based partly on chronology?

-- Does this mean an institution based on flesh and blood is more important than one based on the blood of God the Son?

-- Does this diminish the church and thereby diminish the work of Christ in His perfectly righteous life and totally satisfactory, substitutionary death that created the church?

-- Does this mean the church is subservient to the family?

-- What does this mean for church members who are not part of a nuclear family? Is their value less because they are only part of a church family and not part of a biological/adoptive family?

-- Does this mean it is okay for me to think my family is more important than God’s family?

The church's response to homosexuality (Part 6)

Here are some questions and comments in this sixth and last post -- for now, at least -- on how the church should respond to the challenge of homosexuality:

-- How would you respond if someone you know to be a practicing homosexual were to walk into your church's corporate worship on Sunday? What if a same-sex couple -- maybe even a married couple in the state's view -- were to attend corporate worship? Would you go to them and ask them to leave? Or would you keep looking at them, detesting the fact they were in the same worship service as you? Or would you see them as image bearers of God and sinners who need God's mercy and be grateful they are in a corporate gathering where they will hear the gospel of Jesus proclaimed in the songs, the prayers, the readings and the preaching?

-- Would a Christian struggling with same-sex attraction feel free to come to you to share his temptation and to seek your help? Or would he not feel that freedom because he has heard your disparaging comments about homosexuals and homosexuality? Or would she not feel that freedom because she has recognized in your attitude and words a disfavor, maybe even a disdain, toward those who don't perform in the Christian life the way you think they should?

-- If one of your children experiences homosexual temptation or sexual confusion, would he be able to approach you and share this with you? Would she be able to take such a courageous step with the assurance you will respond with grace and love?

These are only some of the questions we face as followers of Christ in a culture that increasingly signals homosexuality is no different morally than heterosexuality, in a culture that increasingly defines a same-sex union as a marriage, in a culture that increasingly declares same-sex attraction equals being gay.

The primary question is: What will be the controlling factor in our response in such a culture?

Will it be our moral code? Will it be our family values? Will it be our sentiments? Will it be our pride? Will it be our fear? Or will it be the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, as revealed in God's Word?

Here is an observation that certainly is not unique to me: This issue at this time may be a great opportunity for the church to rely on the grace of God and the power of the Spirit to become more compassionate toward sinners and more bold in defending and proclaiming the gospel. As a result, may we see greater fruit than ever in our own lives and more sinners becoming saints than ever through the testimony and ministry of our churches.

The church's response to homosexuality (Part 5)

If the church's challenge regarding homosexuality is increasingly to speak the truth courageously, its companion challenge for a long time has been to speak and relate lovingly.

Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., addressed this two-fold challenge in a May 30 blog post. In part, he wrote:

True compassion demands speaking the truth in love – and there is the problem. Far too often, our courage is more evident than our compassion. In far too many cases, the options seem reduced to these – liberal churches preaching love without truth, and conservative churches preaching truth without love.

Evangelical Christians must ask ourselves some very hard questions, but the hardest may be this: Why is it that we have been so ineffective in reaching persons trapped in this particular pattern of sin? . . .

I believe that we are failing the test of compassion. If the first requirement of compassion is that we tell the truth, the second requirement must surely be that we reach out to homosexuals with the Gospel. This means that we must develop caring ministries to make that concern concrete, and learn how to help homosexuals escape the powerful bonds of that sin – even as we help others to escape their own bonds by grace.

If we are really a Gospel people; if we really love homosexuals as other sinners; then we must reach out to them with a sincerity that makes that love tangible. We have not even approached that requirement until we are ready to say to homosexuals, “We want you to know the fullness of God’s plan for you, to know the forgiveness of sins and the mercy of God, to receive the salvation that comes by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to know the healing God works in sinners saved by grace, and to join us as fellow disciples of Jesus Christ, living out our obedience and growing in grace together.”

It seems to me this kind of merciful, compassionate love toward practicing homosexuals and those struggling with same-sex attraction includes:

-- Lovingly seeing them as fellow image bearers of God.

-- Lovingly recognizing them as fellow sinners against God.

-- Lovingly realizing they, like us, need the gospel of God.

-- Lovingly befriending them and welcoming them into our lives.

-- Lovingly caring for and serving them.

-- Lovingly sharing the good news of Christ's redeeming work with them over the long haul.

-- Lovingly walking with them through the struggles of following Christ after their conversion.

We can do this because of the power of the gospel in our own lives to make us new creatures who exist to glorify God as we are used by Him in a "ministry of reconciliation" to beg others to "be reconciled to God" through Jesus (II Cor. 5:17-20).

The church's response to homosexuality (Part 4)

Speaking prophetically in response to a culture's rebellious, misguided and destructive bent -- whatever form that takes -- always has been a part of the church's responsibility. So it is with homosexuality in 2013.

This is a critical moment on this issue in our culture. We all recognize that. People and organizations are changing their minds on homosexuality and same-sex marriage at a neck-breaking rate as the cultural pressure rapidly escalates. Some appear to do so out of a desire to be understanding of and compassionate toward people who have same-sex attractions or identify as homosexuals. For others, especially some politicians, it seems little more than caving in to what they perceive is the new societal norm.

In the midst of this shifting cultural landscape stands the church, the guardian of "the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints" (Jude 3) and the herald of the only hope for all sinners. We are responsible before God to "stand firm in the Lord" (Phil. 4:1). We are responsible before God to "[speak] the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15). We are responsible before God to present the gospel of Jesus, the only message that saves sinners, regardless of the nature of their dominant transgression. We are responsible before God to live lives of purity. We are responsible before God to pass on to our children and all others with whom we have influence an ethic that rejects all sexual activity outside marriage.

To affirm others in their sins -- whether it be homosexual behavior or any other -- out of so-called love is no love at all. To affirm others in their sins is an act of hatred toward them and betrayal toward God. By doing so, we act as enablers on their road to a hellish future. By doing so, we proclaim our mistrust in the gospel of Jesus.

May we speak the truth. May we do so lovingly, compassionately, sensitively and winsomely, but may we speak the truth. We are not truly speaking and acting as the church of Christ unless we do so.

The church's response to homosexuality (Part 3)

One of the remarks many evangelical Christians have made in recent decades regarding homosexuality goes something like this: "It is a choice."

In so doing, we have seemed to make no distinction between homosexual attractions and homosexual acts. That, I believe, has been a mistake -- a mistake we need to correct if we have not done so already. Before you write me off as a sin-condoning compromiser and trash this blog, please let me explain.

To me, when we paint with such a broad brush by declaring, "Homosexuality is a choice," we are in danger of confusing desires with choices. We don't do this with other sins. We seem to cordon off homosexuality and same-sex attraction into a land all its own. For instance, we seem to grant understanding to people, including some fellow believers, who say they have a propensity toward alcoholism and drunkenness. And there may be other sins and temptations to which we are willing to grant such a possible explanation -- but not homosexuality.

It seems to me this language of "choice" has left us insensitive to people who struggle with same-sex attraction and temptation for which they recognize no origin. Since sometime in their childhood or youth, they have felt these desires and have not known what to do with them. Make no mistake: Anyone who gives in to such a temptation is responsible for his sinful choice to act on such a desire. But to imply even the desire is a "choice" not only seems to reflect a refusal to try to understand others' struggles, but it seems to undermine our ability to evangelize and minister to such people.

Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote in a 2007 blog post, "Caring Christians will be aware of the fact that many persons who struggle with homosexuality — males and females — testify as Christian believers or as those troubled in conscience that they simply have no idea where same-sex desire originated in their lives. They do know that they did not choose this pattern of attraction. Again, that does not reduce their moral responsibility in any way or to any degree. But caring Christians, fully committed to the sole authority of the Bible, must want to help persons to understand and deal with this specific temptation to sin."

Describing the causes of same-sex attraction as "likely to be very complex," Mohler also wrote, "Let’s remember that all of us are born with a huge moral defect — we are sinners from the start. Christians who have responded with claims that God would not allow a person to be born with a bent toward sin miss the clear biblical teaching that all of us are born with a bent toward sin and with a sin nature. We are born marked by Adam’s sin and already under God’s just condemnation for that sin."

So yes, we should affirm that participating in homosexual behavior is a sinful choice, but we should be careful about ascribing "choice" language to attractions and temptations that may lead to such acts. The gospel of our Lord Jesus holds the only hope for those involved in homosexual acts and those struggling with homosexual attractions. May we be bold and compassionate ambassadors for the One who delivers from sin and temptation.

The church's response to homosexuality (Part 2)

I don't remember for sure the preacher's exact words, with one exception, but I remember what he communicated and how the congregation responded. What happened is still Exhibit A for me of how a preacher and church should not address homosexuality.

It came in the mid-1990s during an evangelistic service hosted by a local church. The evangelist was telling a story about a man who was acting effeminately, and his punchline -- clearly intended to produce a laugh -- included a slur word for a homosexual. That was grievous enough, but the congregation's response grieved me even more. Seemingly everyone -- although probably not every one -- burst into laughter.

I feel certain neither the preacher nor the church intended these results, but here are some messages I think they were transmitting by those words and actions to anyone there who might have been struggling with homosexual behavior or the temptation to give in to homosexual urges or same-sex attraction:

-- We don't value you as an image-bearer of God, only as fodder for our jokes.

-- We consider your particular, sinful proclivity to be in a category by itself, worthy of our laughter but not our loving concern.

-- We don't want you to come to us in your need, because your kind of sin or temptation should be squelched, not shared.

-- We doubt this gospel we believe and preach has anything for you, so we are going to belittle the kind of sinner you are instead of offering you mercy.

Against those attitudes we have Jesus and God's Word.

We have Jesus, who loved those image-bearers of God considered the dregs of society during His time on earth. We have Jesus, who suffered and died as a substitute for all kinds of sinners.

We have God's Word, which testifies in I Corinthians 6:9-11: "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God."

That's right: Homosexuals are right in there with all kinds of sinners, including idolaters, who definitely include all of us. The same gospel that saves the covetous and thieves and revilers and idolaters is the gospel that saves homosexuals.

Do we believe this? Will we think and live like this? The church's identification and mission to the world are tied up in how we answer those questions.

The church's response to homosexuality (Part 1)

How should the church of the Lord Jesus respond to homosexuality and its companion issue, same-sex marriage?

How should the church of the Lord Jesus respond to practicing homosexuals?

How should the church of the Lord Jesus respond to Christians struggling with same-sex attraction?

There are good answers to those questions, even trustworthy answers, I believe. Why? Because the gospel is powerful, and because I believe the New Testament shows us the way.

My observation based on a lifetime of being a part of evangelical Christian churches is the American church has made a number of mistakes regarding homosexuality. First, to clarify for any who have questions about that statement, let me be clear: Those churches that continue to teach homosexual behavior is a sin and is incompatible with Christian living are correct. We can never back away from this clear teaching in the New Testament, as well as the Old.

But many of those churches that have remained faithful to the Bible's sex ethic have made other mistakes, it appears to me. Among them are these:

-- We have often treated homosexual behavior as a sin worse than all others.

-- We have often treated practicing homosexuals as untouchables.

-- We have often made practicing homosexuals, and even those with same-sex attractions, feel unwelcome, even sometimes the brunt of cruel jokes.

-- We have often confused same-sex attraction with homosexual identification.

-- We have often spoken and acted in ways that prevent people with same-sex attractions from revealing their struggles and finding help in the power of the gospel and Christian community.

I believe our church and other churches want to be biblical and gospel-focused in confronting these issues. I look forward to trying to address them in future blog posts. May we all respond to these issues humbly and prayerfully, trusting in the power of our sin-conquering, sinner-delivering Lord.

For mothers and other disciples near Mother's Day

(Below is a reprint -- with only a tweak or two -- of a blog post from November. I hope it is a helpful reminder to those who read it then and an encouraging message for those who have yet to read it.)

What a blessing it is to know many ladies of many ages who are recipients of God’s saving grace and are following Jesus. They encourage and challenge me by the grace I see expressed in and through their lives. I benefit from those who are part of our family by birth or marriage and from those whom I have known across the years and miles. I also reap the reward of worshiping with such sisters in Christ week by week within Covenant Community Church.

Many of these female saints are mothers. As mothers, they bless their families with their sacrificial service for the good of their husbands and children. Some ladies who are not mothers or whose children have grown and moved away serve as spiritual mothers to young ladies, and some who still have children at home are spiritual mothers to others outside their nuclear family.

Some mothers in our church – and many other churches – are home educators as well. In addition to all the responsibilities all mothers have, these mothers also teach their children reading, writing, math and the other disciplines. For mothers with large families, this can mean home-schooling children for as much as a quarter of a century.

A recent conversation with my wife -- as well as some writing by Stephen Altrogge at The Blazing Center blog -- prompted me to want to write something for Christian mothers. This won’t be as provocative or as humorous as Altrogge’s posts, but I hope it proves helpful. You can read his posts on the subject here and here.

Here are some questions to set the stage for six recommendations: How does a Christian mother respond to the challenges mothers have always faced? And how does a Christian mother respond in seasons sometimes further complicated by even more responsibilities? How does she react to criticism from a world that often does not esteem motherhood? How does a mother respond when other Christians – often other mothers – pile unbiblical expectations on her and try to tell her via books, blogs, Facebook, speeches and one-on-one communication she is failing or she is not being a faithful Christian mother?

Certainly, it helps to have a loving and servant-hearted husband who leads her by grace. And it is beneficial to have children who genuinely express gratitude.

What I share below, however, is for a mother to apply regardless of how good her support system is. I hope these points will help mothers know how to think biblically about the unhelpful and even disconcerting messages they may receive from others. These points can be applied by any follower of Christ to his or her life, but I offer them specifically for mothers who are seeking to do their best to love their children and rear them to worship God and follow Jesus.

1. Flee fundamentalism, legalism and any other performance-based approach to Christianity. While sincere, those individuals and ministries that excel at burdening mothers and others with works-based and/or culturally driven standards seem always to be with us. They promote what amounts to an unbiblical, grace-deprived Christianity. Don’t let these anti-gospel messages define you.

2. Flee to Jesus and His gospel. This point is really a summary of those that follow, but there seems to be a need to state it explicitly. If you are going to flee something, you need to run to someone or something. Run to Jesus.

3. Recognize your security and most important identity are in Jesus. They are not in whether you do all the mommy things some Christian voices or some in the world try to convince you a good mother does. They are not in whether you accomplish all the things you think you should. They are not even in those occasions when you do accomplish all you think you should. As Milton Vincent says in A Gospel Primer for Christians:

The gospel also reminds me that my righteous standing with God always holds firm regardless of my performance, because my standing is based solely on the work of Jesus and not mine. On my worst days of sin and failure, the gospel encourages me with God’s unrelenting grace toward me. On my best days of victory and usefulness, the gospel keeps me relating to God solely on the basis of Jesus’ righteousness and not mine.

Your security and most important identity are also not in how your children perform. They are not in how your children turn out. That is important, but you cannot control those outcomes, no matter how well you perform your role as mother. You are not sovereign – even over your children’s lives. God is. Trust Him, because He is worthy of trust. Rest – yes, rest – in who Jesus is as your Savior, Lord and Life and in what He has done for you.

4. Preach the gospel to yourself. Remind yourself at least daily – maybe several times a day – what the gospel is and what Jesus has done for you. He is your substitute in His righteous life, His all-sufficient death and His triumphant resurrection. The gospel of Jesus is the truth that matters most. Read the New Testament with your spiritual eyes attuned to what it says Jesus achieved for you and who you are as a result of that work on your behalf.

5. Live by grace. Your salvation is all of God and all of His grace. Remind yourself of that grace when you fail. Extend grace to other mothers who do things differently than you while living under the lordship of Christ. Shower grace on your children, giving them a real-life picture of a God who is a loving, forgiving, embracing Father and not a performance-based, rule-focused tyrant.

6. Spend time with grace-extending ladies in a church with a growing gospel culture. Have other ladies in your life as mentors and friends who are seeking to live by the gospel of grace and are not continually burdening themselves and others with the weight of a moralistic, performance-focused mentality. This is best done in a church where everyone is hearing the gospel proclaimed and applied from all of Scripture to Christians, as well as non-Christians, and the church is growing in grace as a result. Our church is blessed by ladies who have learned to reject fundamentalism and legalism and are able to guide younger mothers in living by the gospel of grace. An online resource that is helpful for mothers is the Domestic Kingdom blog, which is edited by Gloria Furman, a pastor’s wife and mother in Dubai. She also is the author of the new book Glimpses of Grace: Treasuring the Gospel in Your Home.

Why should we arrive early for corporate worship?

Being prepared and present at the start of corporate worship each Sunday is important for us as worshipers of God. I have shared that message at various times in writing and speaking.

The excerpt below explains why it is good for worshipers even to be early for corporate worship. It comes from a blog post by Joe Thorn, lead pastor of Redeemer Fellowship in St. Charles, Ill. I hope it proves helpful to you.

[T]here are times when nothing can be done about it. We are all late some of the time.

But many churches (including the one I pastor) go through periods of time where people begin showing up to services late. It becomes a thing. It doesn't sound like a big deal, and of course this isn't the sort of thing that brings fire from heaven or church discipline. But being late can have a genuinely negative impact in more ways than one.

For example, a consistently late arrival may contribute to the leadership's felt need to postpone the start of the service. Or, when a lot of people are arriving late visitors are more likely to feel uncomfortable and isolated. And if you are frequently late to worship you may be missing the opportunity to meet new people. These things (and many more) are true, but I don't want to come down on people for being late, as much as I want to encourage everyone to get to church early. Why?

Well, if the opening of your worship services feature[s] a pastor flying in on a zip-line, or some such nonsense, feel free to be late. Or find another church. Otherwise, you should be careful to get there on time because the beginning of the worship gathering is not a throw-away of announcements (which you should pay attention to anyway). Rather, at least in our case, the beginning of our corporate worship is thoughtfully put together with the aim of directing our thoughts toward God. From the opening Scripture to the closing benediction every piece of the liturgy is a piece to a puzzle that, when assembled, gives us all a fuller picture of the gospel.

And consider this; if you are frequrently late you are missing something you need: perhaps a reading from a Psalm that highlights the character and work of God as the answer to your own fears and doubts. Why does this matter? Well, scripture is one of the primary means of grace God has given us, and by coming in late you may be missing the very truths your heart needs the most. You may be unintentionally side-stepping the very words from the mouth of God that would address your heart, lift your head, and strengthen your faith. The opening reading and prayer of corporate worship [are] also what God will use to prepare you to listen, sing, and believe the truth of God that fills the entirety of the service.

So, get to church early, and eager. Who knows what God is going to do in your heart this Sunday?!

Are you still on the performance treadmill?

Performing is a human preoccupation. It is in the air we breathe as human beings. Most of us grow up with it. We learn it. We think we can earn whatever it is we desire -- acceptance, approval, favor, blessing, respect, love. It becomes our default position. And some people never escape its grip on their lives.

Then, when God awakens our dead hearts and opens our blind eyes, we realize our performance is never good enough -- not in His estimation. The message of the Bible is we "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). The Word tells us our righteousness we hope will make us acceptable to God is like a "filthy garment" (Is. 64:6).

By God's grace, we cast ourselves upon the sole Righteousness One, and His righteousness is credited to our bankrupt account. Yet, too often, we see the gospel of grace as only the entrance to the Christian life. Then, even as recipients of this unending grace, we live as if our acceptance and approval by God is based on our performance. As a result, our distorted theology can lead to debilitating feelings, wavering assurance and ineffective ministry.

I addressed this at one point in last Sunday's sermon on the final four verses of Luke. It wasn't in my notes, but part of what I said was essentially a paraphrase of the quote below. This paragraph from Milton Vincent's book, A Gospel Primer for Christians, has provided strategic help to my life in recent years. I commend it to you as an aid to help you preach the gospel to yourself and remember whose performance you are always to trust in:

The gospel also reminds me that my righteous standing with God always holds firm regardless of my performance, because my standing is based solely on the work of Jesus and not mine. On my worst days of sin and failure, the gospel encourages me with God’s unrelenting grace toward me. On my best days of victory and usefulness, the gospel keeps me relating to God solely on the basis of Jesus’ righteousness and not mine.

Are you among others as 'the one who serves?'

Greatness = servanthood.

That is the way it is in the upside down, other worldly realm known as the kingdom of God.

Obviously, that is not the way it is in the kingdom of man. That is not the cultural air we breathe in the natural world we inhabit. No, in this world, greatness is marked by how many follow us, how many wait on us, how many do what we say.

A solitary voice echoes through time against that torrent of worldly wisdom, self-centeredness and pride. To those He served by sacrificing Himself, Jesus says, “But it is not this way with you, but the one who is the greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the leader like the servant” (Luke 22:26).

Jesus gave this counter-cultural message when His followers were arguing about which one of them was the greatest. Their contest in boasting came only hours before God the Son would serve them and all who would trust in Him by sacrificing Himself in an ignominious fashion. He capped his brief tutorial by saying, “But I am among you as the one who serves” (Luke 22:27).

When I preached on this passage in February, I offered the following five points for us to use to examine what it might look like for us to resemble these disciples and regard ourselves as greatest. In other words, what it might look like for us to resemble the disciples instead of Jesus. Here are those points:

* If you think your opinion is always better than another Christian’s, you might be regarding yourself as greatest.

* If you think primarily about how others should serve you instead of how you should serve others, you might be regarding yourself as greatest.

* If you want others to consider your perspective on issues that arise in the church or family but don’t consider their perspectives, you might be regarding yourself as greatest.

* If you believe there are some opportunities to serve that are beneath you, you might be regarding yourself as greatest.

* If you demand that opportunities to serve be convenient before you will accept them, you might be regarding yourself as greatest.

What does it mean for our church? All of us should value others as more important than ourselves and look to others’ interests, not just our own (Phil. 2:3-4). All of us should be focused on how we can serve the church corporately and our fellow disciples individually, not on whether we will be served. All of us should be willing and ready to serve as needed by the church – whether it is caring for toddlers and special needs children, sweeping the floors or embracing any of the other opportunities that present themselves.

May each of us live as our Lord did: “But I am among you as the one who serves.”

Marriage is a gospel issue redux

The head-long, cultural rush to accept same-sex "marriage" keeps accelerating.

We have witnessed it just in the last week. A conservative Republican senator (Rob Portman), a potential Democratic presidential candidate (Hillary Clinton) and a popular -- yet not particularly biblically faithful -- preacher (Rob Bell) have endorsed marriage for people of the same sex. Though its findings have been challenged, a new poll shows 58 percent of Americans support same-sex "marriage" -- a reversal from only seven years ago, when 58 percent opposed and only 36 percent approved it.

It is a huge issue that will test the convictions and courage of Christians. The advocates for same-sex "marriage" seemingly will accept nothing less than total acceptance of their belief system. For those of us who accept the authority of Scripture, there can be no doubt where we stand -- and where we should continue to stand.

As the church of Christ, we would do well while our beliefs are under siege to remind ourselves marriage is a gospel issue. I explained in a blog post in February 2012 some reasons marriage is a gospel issue. I think it is a good time to remind ourselves of these truths. Here is an excerpt from that post:

Marriage is a gospel issue because we, the church, exist as the adulteress God the Son came to purchase off the slave block of sin to transform into a beautiful bride.

Marriage is a gospel issue because we, the church, should defend, promote and teach the truth that this covenantal relationship between a man and a woman is -- at its most meaningful -- an earthly portrait of that most valuable message -- Christ came to redeem a bride for Himself.

Marriage is a gospel issue because we, the church, have been commissioned to take the good news of Jesus and His all-sufficient work to children, young people and adults who have been devastated by broken marriages and betrayed by society's wicked siren song about sexuality.

Marriage is a gospel issue because we, the married couples within the church, are to model the gospel before children, young people and adults in order to help them think biblically about marriage and trust God and His good design for it.

As the church, may we believe Jesus and His gospel -- and attest to the power and beauty of the gospel by our lives -- in order that God would be glorified, Christ would be exalted, and the good news would be made known to and believed by others.

Corporate worship: Some important reminders

I am providing a one-sentence review of each of the six posts I offered last year titled "Worshiping as a church" as the first entry in my return to blogging. God has created us to worship Him. Corporate worship is primary in church life. It is vital we think about it biblically. These truths -- which I believe are based on Scripture -- are important for Covenant Community Church to consider, and I long for us increasingly to understand and apply them as we gather each Sunday. After each point, there is a link to the original post that fleshes out the summary message.

Here are the six review statements:

1. Corporate worship as part of a local church is indispensable for Christians and has both God-ward and human-ward aspects. (Full post is here.)

2. Corporate worship is a priority for disciples of Jesus from the start to finish of their church's weekly gathering, and their presence provides numerous benefits, including the opportunity to encourage brothers and sisters in Christ. (Full post is here.)

3. Corporate worship calls for physical, mental and spiritual preparation that demonstrates its importance in the lives of Christian disciples. (Full post is here.)

4. Corporate worship is to be God-centered from the start and consists of the revelation of God and His work from Scripture, as well as His worshipers' response to that revelation. (Full post is here.)

5. Corporate worship is more than music, as important as it is, and includes a variety of activities during the church's time together. (Full post is here.)

6. Corporate worship calls for singing by the church as an activity that has multiple purposes. (Full post is here.)

Back to blogging

I blogged last in early January and said I would take a couple of weeks to determine what form this blog would take in the future. Well, it has been a couple of months, and I am just now getting back to the blog. So, first, I apologize for not abiding by the time frame I established. I have struggled with exactly what to do. I want to blog frequently to help our spiritual family, Covenant Community Church, but I finally have recognized I just don't have time in my schedule. There are other priorities -- especially time with my wife, time in sermon preparation and time with God's people -- that take precedence. Upon recognizing this and surveying people in our church for their interest in reading this blog, I have decided on the following plan for now:

I will blog once a week, mostly on Wednesday, on a topic I consider to be important to our church. I will make this post available as a hard copy on the information table when we gather for worship on the following Sunday.

In doing so, I hope to reach as many people as possible in our fellowship. I want those outside Covenant Community Church to read this blog. I think what I post will be helpful to brothers and sisters in other congregations. When I blog, however, it is with the dear saints of Covenant Community Church in mind.

My desire in this is that God be glorified, Christ be exalted, the gospel be made known, the church be built up and disciples be produced.

Preparing for corporate worship: A new year reminder

The first Sunday of a new year is a good time to remind ourselves of what we are doing when we gather each Lord’s Day: We assemble to worship together the only true God. David wrote this in one of his psalms: “There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like Yours. All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and they shall glorify Your name. For You are great and do wondrous deeds; You alone are God” (Psalm 86:8-10). The One we will worship corporately this Sunday is not a man-made deity. He is not a god we have designed in our minds. He is the Creator and Ruler of all as revealed in the Holy Scriptures. He is the only One worthy of worship. He alone is God. These basic and indispensable truths call for us to give proper attention to and make sufficient preparation for corporate worship. We will unite to worship and glorify the one true God.

A glorious future, and this blog's future

The new year portends a new, glorious day for which we await. The first five verses of the final chapter of God’s Word describe it this way:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever (Rev. 22:1-5, ©ESV).

What a beautiful, hopeful description of our future as those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb: A river of life from God’s throne; an abundant tree of life; leaves with healing for all peoples; no curse on anything; worship by God’s servants, who will see His face with a sign they belong to Him on their foreheads; no more night; God as our light, and eternal rule with Him.

That time will far surpass any year, no matter how great. In 2013, may we long more for that time, primarily because we will then be in the presence of God and the Lamb. While we await that time, may we rest this year in the finished work of the Lamb, seek to know Him better and to make Him known to others.

I am going to spend the next couple of weeks considering what I should do with this blog. I have retired “Mondays are for music.” I am unsure what other changes I will decide I need to make. You should expect me to blog little in the next two to three weeks. I will share my plan at the end of that time.

In the meantime, thank you for taking the time to read this blog, may God bless you with a great year for His glory.