Click below, browse and be encouraged!

• All the content have previews for your consideration.

  Subscribe now

Welcome In

Take your time. Prayerfully consider the resources you need that will equip and mature your walk and increase your connection with God.

(Not a paid member yet? Upgrade to the paid tier now to unlock all the premium content.)

The content is organized as follows:

Sermons / In-Depth Articles

• The Power of the Gospel (Celebrating 500 years of the Reformation)

• What Does it Mean to Fear of the Lord

• Be Wise and Apply the Word

• The Reality of Your Problems

• Living in the Life of Christ

Webinar / Workshops

In the Works…

• Resetting Your Prayer Life Today (Preview)

Guides

The Ultimate Guide to Praying Without Ceasing

• The Father Hears Me, this I know. For the God’s Word tells me so.

Mini-Courses

In The Works…

• Awaken: Breaking Free From Spiritual Numbness (watch here for future peaks)

In the works and coming soon…

For Premium members only. Sign up today

Need reassurance that God hears your prayers? Here is a guide of Bible verses to help set a firm foundation in our souls that God hears us.

Consider these the eyes that indicate he has heard your request.

1. Choose a style you like.

2. Print them out and pin them somewhere you’ll read them—not just see them.

3. Use them as promises during prayer.

4. Memorize them.

Read more

This sermon is a Premium Content Library resource. It is a sample of what you will receive when you sign up to be a member.

Sign up today.

Subscribe now

The Reading of God’s Word – Colossians 3:12-17

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Prayer Warm up

Good morning my name is Eric Mattie I serve as one of the Elders here at LEFC. Pastor The title of today’s message is Living in the Life of Christ

Where we are in Chapter 3...

The apostle Paul is encouraging the Colossian believers that maturing in their spiritual lives does NOT consist of secret mystical revelation or self-punishing disciplines. Rather it is through understanding and living on the basis of the believer’s union with Christ’s death, resurrection and future appearing.

Now remember In Chapter 3 Paul is showing the Colossians how their identification in Christ leads to a new way of life.

For Paul, He is saying that our life is bound up in Christ who has done an inside work on giving us new life. Remember I went through the short list on how people summarize their life based on something external to them. But that is not how Paul see this at all.

So Paul summarizes that our life is now

· A union in Christ Resurrection v 1,2

· A union in Christ’s Death v 3 and

· union in Christ appearing v 4

Last week I went through the front part of chapter 3 explaining both our union in Christ death and our union in Christ’s appearing.

I highlighted not so much what Christ’s death accomplished in satisfying the wrath of God and provide peace and forgiveness and eternal life. Those are all fruit of the Gospel and main components we rejoice as a Body that we are offered that grace.

Rather the aspect I focused on is what Christ death effected in our spiritual reality. It broke the ties that bind us to our old sinful self, the world and the devil.

· We are born again into a nature that has broken ties to sin,

· born again into sin that is canceled

· and born again with new ability to say no to sin.

And from that I challenged all of us to put to death sin in our own lives

So that’s the review and I want to pick it up where I promised I would take this week and that is to look at the very first aspect about our union with Christ resurrection

New realize Paul’s call to put sin to death is done so for a reason. And that reason is that is that we may have life and have it abundantly.

That abundant life is enjoyed by believers union in Christ resurrected life. Let me give the main point of today’s message then we will dive in.

Paul is saying in a nutshell in Chapter 3...

Your Life in Christ is a Union in His Resurrection. Therefore we are to be Living in the Life of Christ

So here we have the main declarative idea And then

And then main point of action

However each needs a little more explaining

Your Life in Christ is a Union in His Resurrection

EXPLANATION AND BIBLICAL BASIS

“If then you have been raised with Christ,…” Colossians 3:1

And again this points right back to chapter 2:12 where the apostle is declaring to them the reality that…

”… you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Col 2:12

Paul talks about the same powerful work of God in Romans:

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Romans 6:4, 5

· Paul is emphasizing that just as we are united in his death we are united in his resurrection.

In Galatians, Paul explains further that,

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

· That phrase “Christ who lives in me…” was again one of those phrases that escaped my early Christian walk.

· I mean the confusing phrases of having Christ in my heart and The Spirit filling me and now Christ living in me… how does that work? I mean does Jesus walk with a limp to now or am I like a muppet that some else controls me from the back?

THE ESSENCE OF CHRIST BEING OUR LIFE

· Many will say that our life should look like the very verses I preached on last week. That it is a life centered around putting sin to death.

· And I do concur that killing sin is an essential part of taking up our cross, denying our self and follow Jesus. It is a daily lifestyle of repentance.

· I mean I have a website dedicated to that aspect called killsin.com

But while it is an essential part of the Christian’s daily walk, it is not the essence of Christ being our life.

We understand that just as there is a death that has happened, we also know a new creation has come into being.

In fact look at 2 Corinthians 4:16:

“Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

Colossian pinpoints by saying:

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Colossians 3:9, 10

Two things we need to notice here:

Read more

This sermon is a Premium Content Library resource. It is a sample of what you will receive when you sign up to be a paid member.

Sign up today.

Reading of the Word

Genesis 3

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin cloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Prayer

Father is we consider your word, allow its light, its wisdom, clarity, its voice be louder than all that the world noises have to offer

Warm up

Good morning my name is Eric Mattie and I give you greetings from your sister church LaCrescent Evangelical Free church and thank you again for the invite come and worship and share the word this morning

I want to start out this morning to asking if you have noticed any problems that have happened in the world this week?

How about problems yourself, like within your own life. Have there been problems that have come into your life.

When I became engaged and was being mentored and learning what I’d have to do in order to lead my wife and home, I learn that I’d have to man up and make decisions.

Little did I know that I lot of life and “adulting” as we call ity today was manning up and make decisions.

And the aspect of decision making included dealing with problems.

If you’ve heard this before I apologize but a few years ago I received a ministry email from Paul David Tripp in which he identified 4 realities about our problems.

Well I put this list to the test at my work.

You seeI deal with problems all day. I work in the service department. I identify problems. I correct mistakes, I make solutions happen for both my co-workers and our customers. There isn’t a day that I don’t have someone coming to clarify procedures and how to handle a rough email or if they have computer trouble- including my supervisor. And I go to them for the same things its very much a cooperative effort.

But I wanted to gauge with this list if the everyday problems of real work life filter down to these 4 realities.I put them on a yellow sticky note So as the years have gone by and I look at this list it helps me gain a perspective of both the temporal and eternal value of problems, but its also helped me grow up in the Lord and to sanctify me as I stride smoothly some days and even on the days or even weeks that I stumble humbly.

Today I want to give you the overview of the reality of your problems. I ‘ve included notes in your bulletin to follow the train of thought. But I thought could help you form a biblical view point and a starting point o have problems not just be something that you are stuck with, but Lord willing gain wisdom on how to honor God in it and throughit

It all start with the familiar passage in all of Scripture and you can turn with me in your Bibles Genesis 3 The Fall of mankind

Our good God created a good world and a good human race who reflected his goodness. Suffering and evil, pain and problems were not a part of God’s original design. We understand that problems we have today and that make up a big part of our lives, is a by product of sin.

Here in Genesis 3 it shows us 6 realities of the problems we face. And at the core of the mystery of problems many question God’s providence: Why does a good and big sovereign God run the universe the way he does? Why does such a loving heavenly Father cause or allow suffering and problems to be used in his universe that he originally did not create that way?

More personally, why do some seem to live in relative ease while others are consistently pounded with heavy blows? And why does this particular circumstance happen to this person—or worse, to me or my family?

Those are all good probing questions, ones that undoubtedly you may have asked. I will sketch along the edges of those questions and we will have some insights about problems I will conclude our time asking the practical question How do we live with problems?

Let’s consider 6 realities of your problems.

1. We live in a broken world

· In the Genesis 3 account of history and then subsequently through the rest of biblical commentary of it we understand that God says that Adam’s sin brought consequences of a curse, a condemnation and a corruption, into this world

· Consequences includes—estrangement from God, shame, alienation from others, suffering, banishment, lost identity and death.

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you;

Genesis 3:17

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law Romans 5:12,13

For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, Romans 5:16b

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Romans 8:20-22

· The present condition of creation is not it final one. It is like a mother groaning in labor pains. There is something better coming.

Time today does not allow a fuller discourse on the suffering and the presence of evil in world that God created good. It is a massive subject. To talk about disorder on every level, disability physical and mental, disease, depression death and disasters natural or consequential all these a massive subject. All these mentioned and to remind us, we live in a broken world.

I like it when Pastor Matt Chandler talks about it- he says the world is “busted” and if you don’t believe that- shadow a week in the life of a social worker for families. Follow a day with a undercover police officer. Intern with an Oncologist—the ones who diagnose and treat tumors. Consequently, they watch people either survive or die under their care. These are rough jobs They are dialed in to how busted the world is.

Yet we can gain a Biblical perspective on problems by understanding that the some problems we face is because we live in a fallen world where everything and everyone is currently decay and is not as God originally intended.

When we have Problems as a result of a broken world, it screams “Confusion” Problems of suffering and evil confuse us:

· “its not supposed to work this way” “This isn’t the way I was taught life goes” “as we get older it supposed to get better”

· “I’ve already faced this problem before.” “ I’m only supposed to have this happen once in a lifetime and then I learn my lessons and graduate and move on”

· “ Why does life seem so unfair” “Why does this always happen to me”

So the first reality of our problems is that we live in a broken world that doesn’t always run the way we think it should.

2. We have a real enemy

· In Genesis 3 we clearly see and understand the serpent here is Satan a real enemy who hates God and who hates you.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”” (Gen 3:1)

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” 1 Peter 5:8,9

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. “

John 10:10

o The Bible has many Scriptural Accounts of Spiritual activity and involvement in our world that creates problems. We see that even Satan’s action are an attack on God himself and realizing he will never win, he goes after the Father through his children. And what he is after is to steal God’s glory.

o It is so important for a believer to live our lives for the glory of God that is something bigger than ourselves. If Satan can get us to live a life of mediocrity that we don’t reflect the glory of God, than he has accomplished his purpose. One way he does this is by making us preoccupied with possessions of this world. The 2nd is to be preoccupied w/ problems of this world.

There are times we have problems in life because we have a real enemy who hates us and when those troubles come -the devil with also be screaming “Condemnations” and lies to us the whole time. Our Savior himself names the devil the Father of Lies. In Revelation 12:10 we hear that he is called the accuser of the brothers.

o “this always happens to me.” “God doesn’t love me” “If God Loves me why does he allow these problems?”

o “I am such a loser and this is what always happens to losers” I’ve failed again” “I must have sinned again “ “Am I that bad of a sinner that God has to discipline me”” what’s wrong with me”

So the second reality of our problems is that we have an enemy who hates us.

Now let me say, that not all of our problems come from the devil.

Read more

Sign up today.

Subscribe now

Reading of God’s Word

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Introduction and Warm up

Good morning I give you greetings and blessing from La Crescent Evangelical Free Church. My name is Eric Mattie. Thank you for the invitation to come and worship and share the Word of God.

Before I get into today’s sermon, I want to let you know that I have brought for each of you a free book called Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. It is a best selling book about the Heart of Christ for sinners and sufferers. So in other words Jesus’s heart for you and me. I have them in the back and I probably brought too many so this would be a good time to share a free with your neighbor or loved one. Perhaps you weren’t sure how to witness to somebody, this could by a good introduction. So feel free to take and be blessed.

Today’s reading out of James really hits our Sunday morning ritual doesn’t it? Let me re-read a portion of it starting at verse 22 ↑↑↑

Let me give you the :10 Context of where we are at with this letter

James just restated his three main themes and is now explaining what being quick to listen entails for the believer in Christ.

In this first part of this letter James has three themes that he goes into And one of those themes is about Wisdom- How, if you lack wisdom, ask God for it. Believing he will give it to you and that what he gives you for wisdom you can trust it and not doubt.

How does God give us wisdom? Right here through his Word.

Yet James is entreating the believers with a proverbial statement that they are to take to heart: be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. This is not just good relational wisdom.

This is God entreating His people on Sunday morning.

We attend church. We listen to the message. Then we leave for the week.

A poll of faithful church attenders reveals that by the time most good believing born again Christians start their car and head off lunch, they have forgotten 70% of what the preacher said.

James says v 19 “be quick to listen” but then he goes on… v 21 “receive in meekness the implanted word. V 22 be doers of God’s word not just hearers, deceiving yourselves.

The Title of my message this morning is Be Wiser and Apply the Word.

I choose that title because that is in essence what James is telling us.

“Don’t be deceived or fooled into being blinded by being merely listeners. Be wiser and apply what you hear.”

Let’s talk about Being Wiser first by talking about the heart of the matter of why we can be foolishly deceiving ourselves.

Be Wiser

· The result of only hearing God’s word and not doing God’s word can be a self deceiving narrative in our life which can cause us to mistakenly think that we are saved and truly right with God when in reality we really are not. We can blind ourselves of our true eternal state.

· We understand that we can walk out of here and walk away from our devoted Bible times and forget what God commands us to do in living for His glory, in walking in grace. In loving one another.

· We can even deceive ourselves into thinking that reading and talking about the Bible is the same as doing the Bible.

But the question is why would we do that? Some of us are smarter than that?

Jesus reveals the heart of the matter on – of all days- the day he rises from the dead.

· So in essence here are two guys talking about the events of the last few days. Then Jesus appears yet doesn’t reveal to them, who he is. And they reveal that they know their bible- which is the Old Testament writings when they said they had hoped he was the Messiah… perhaps putting a few things together in essence trying to gather what they know in light of what they learned. They are having a biblical conversation.

· Then Jesus says this: Luke 24:

25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

· Why do we deceive ourselves? Jesus says we are foolish and slow to believe…

Now the question beneath that answer is even more telling:

Read more

READ OF THE WORD

PSALM 112:1, 6-9

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in

his commandments!

For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not

afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he

will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries

Let’s pray

Father, you have prepared our hearts through song and scripture. Now as we sit under the teaching of your word, mold how our hearts feel for you and think of you and see you. May we submit to your commands in gladness and delight in your ways over our own. In Jesus name, amen

Warming Up.

Good morning. For those who don’t know me, my name is Eric Mattie and the elder council has asked me to step in this week as both our pastors were out this week. It is my privilege to bring the Word to you this morning.

Introduction:

This morning I want to talk about a biblical concept found in today’s reading. If you’ve grown up in the church at all you’ve heard it time and time again. Yet it’s a concept that for many of us is hard to nail down. When Scripture continues to bring it up over and over again, after a while you realize- “God’s trying to say something and perhaps I need to consider what he’s saying a little more intently.”

Today I want to answer the question “What does it mean to fear the Lord”

Let me start with a large look at the overall Psalm first. In Psalm 112 we run into another one of those acrostic Psalms, where the first letter of the sentence is a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. If we did this in the American alphabet this first verse may sound like what Dr. William Binne suggested back in the 1800’s when wrote about this psalm. He wrote

“Hallelujah! {that stayed the same}

A- All blessed is the man that feareth the Lord.

B- Being filled with delight in His commandments

And so on… you get the picture.

But this Psalm extolls the benefits of those who fear the Lord and it’s quite a list to go through. Some of the more comforting benefits includes in verse 6-8 (staying with Binne acrostic … yet I encourage you to read it in your Bible…)

L -Lo, he shall not be moved forever:

M- Memorable shall be the righteous man forever.

N- No evil tidings shall he fear:

O-On the LORD depending, his heart is fixed.

P- Planted firmly is his heart, he shall not fear:

Q- Quake shall he not, until he see [his desire] on his foes.

With such a firm stability of faith and a heart that is firm and virtually free of anxieties- this concept of the fear of the Lord needs to find its footing here in us- the 21st century Christian-

If the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom as God word says it is, than we want to be wiser than yesterday. We want to walk better and deeper in these concepts- not just by academically understanding the truth of them. But to allow them to take root in

how we feel as Christian,

how we think as lovers of God.

And how we worship in spirit and in truth our holy heavenly Father Creator Redeemer and Judge

Whole Bible Concept

Many people feel when they read the Bible it shows a wrathful God in the Old Testament and a Loving God in the New Testament- as such we can mistakenly think the OT main command is to Fear God and the NT is to Love God.

Nothing can be further from the truth.

First, look at one of the earlier mentions of the phrase “Fear the Lord” in the OT

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?

• Note fear, walk, love, serve- all of it is here and emphasized in the commands of relating to God not just fear.

Secondly, we see the continual command to Fear God in the NT.

• Colossians 3:22 – Bondservants are encouraged to work with sincerity of heart ”fearing the Lord”

• 2 Corinthians 7:1- we are encouraged to cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the body and spirit bringing holiness to completion in the “fear of God”

• 1 Peter 2:17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king

• Acts 9:31 Luke accounts that after Saul conversion, the church was strengthened and grew in numbers “living in the fear of the Lord”

• Jesus was said to have a delight in the fear of the Lord- Isaiah 11:3

The Fear of the Lord is not just an Old Testament phrase of piety or devoutness. Scripture shows it is actually a blessing of the new covenant.

In Jeremiah 32:38–40 while talking about the new covenant God says:

38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

• In summary, we carry in us by the Holy Spirit a planting of Fear of the Lord.

• The BLESSING of being born again believers is not only a heart of stone turned to a heart of flesh, not only the spiritually dead coming to life, not only orphans that have been adopted, the lost, found, and sinners forgiven, but a fear will be put in our hearts that will not make us runaway afraid of God, but a fear will be put in our hearts that is actually to keep us from turning away him.

• The feels counterintuitive to how we view fear

In Jeremiah 33:8-9 the Lord continues:

8 I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

• Let’s pause here for a minute. Is fear the right word? I mean to define that there is a fear we experience when we see the goodness of God- is that even the right way to say it?

• All words have shortcomings and the word fear definitely has its baggage. Culturally, we know it as being afraid. But listen to what Matthew Henry says in his comments about Psalm112 and the fear of the Lord. He sums up two different types of fear

“He that fears the Lord, as a Father, with the disposition of a child, not of a slave, delights greatly in his commandments,” Matthew Henry

• The word picture Henry puts before us is we are to have the disposition of a child’s fear of his Father. Not the disposition of a slave afraid of an angry master.

• A slave is afraid of his harsh and unyielding master. A lot of people feel that describes God. That his wrath is actually an evil driven motivation. And anxiety describes that kind of fear As believers, we can feel that way if we live our Christian life under a performance based obedience, that our good must outweigh our bad to be saved or even favored. Other wise suffer the consequences of the judgment of God- whose character we don’t trust and feel he is evil.

• Now the picture of son’s fear of his father, can carry its own burden of sinful baggage as a word picture. But simply stating A good son in a good relationship with his loving and kind father has a fear of offending or dishonoring the one he loves. Why? Because in the eyes of that child his Father is his world! A source of security and love

Like King David, we need to pray Psalm 86:11 “Give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name.”

• We need that singleness of heart when it comes to living our lives in the fear and love of the Lord.

Working Definition

So now that we understand that we are called to fear the Lord, as New Testament Believers let me give you a working definition of what the fear of the Lord is and from there I’ll break it down for our main points to ponder.

This definition come from Christian Teacher Paul David Tripp. He says

“Fear of the Lord means that I carry around with me such a deep awareness, awe, and reverence for the power, holiness, wisdom, and grace of God that I would not think of doing anything other than living for his glory.”

This is such a good working definition. Because it reminds us as mentioned in Jeremiah, the Lord gives us a fear of him, so that we actually don’t turn away from him. Not in a sinful “afraid of His wrath” type of fear. But in delighting in living for Him, His glory and behaving in way that acknowledges him.

This definition not only identifies three elements of a godly fear we are to exercise, but also pinpoints attributes of God that we are to grow deep in.

So lets look into that.

To grow in the fear of the Lord we, are to exercise 3 things

Read more

Reading of the Word:

Romans 1:16-20

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Prayer

Warm Up

Today is a very special day as we join with Protestant and Evangelical churches around the world celebrating 500 years ago a move of God that changed the Church of God and continues today. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther did something remarkably unrevolutionary: he posted a list of “theses,” on a church door. It notified the community of matters to be disputed in an academic debate. It was common practice and nothing rebellious about it.

But God utilized this one act to spark a reforming of His church that spread throughout all of Europe. To call her back to the purity and the authority of God’s word… and to preach the good news that we can be saved by grace alone through faith alone in the accomplished works of Jesus Christ alone based on the Word of God alone and that all is done to glory of God alone.

But our attention span with history is astonishingly short. I would dare to say that even the mention of the word “history” has cause many of you to already shut down, stare off, disengage and to endure the next 30 minutes the best you can by not falling asleep. The rest of you in the room have an interest or even passion for all things historical. You will undoubtedly keep my feet to the fire to make sure what I have to say is not only true but, because of your passion; to make sure I’m accurate.

But I stand before you as no expert in church history. I count 19 resources I have in my library having only fully finished 2 and having speed read the rest since summer. Not to mention the countless hours of messages I’ve listened to from conferences this year and great resources on the web about the reformation. I have a way to go.

But I know this-- I stand today as man who is changed because of this movement that started 500 years ago.

Had it not been for the move of God using His people like Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli and John Knox, you and I would only be listening in on a worship service that is spoken in Latin.

Had it not been for the move of God in Germany and Switzerland and Europe, you and I would be looking at the Lord’s table or the baptizmal as the center piece of this stage, instead of the preaching pulpit.

Had it not been God’s work through the labors of Erasmus, John Wycliffe and William Tyndale you and I would be lacking our own copy of the Scriptures in our own language.

Had it not been God’s working through the faithful preaching of the Puritans you and I would be laboring for our own righteousness to save us, instead of leaning on God’s grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone that they faithfully taught for over a century

I stand today as a man changed because the gospel message was recovered 500 years ago.

And I am not ashamed of that Gospel. And I am not ashamed of that move of God.

And neither should you.

Transition/Introduction

This verse in Romans has been coined as the Reformation Verse since this was the text God opened the eyes of Luther to help him realize that righteousness here is verse 17- It’s a righteousness that is outside of us. Actually it is the righteousness of Christ. Not our righteousness mustered up in good works and character. Rather that it’s a righteousness that credited to those who receive it by faith alone

And Luther said, “When I discovered that, I was born again of the Holy Ghost. And the doors of paradise swung open, and I walked through.”

That is the power of the Gospel!

One of my favorite of the 95 Thesis is Thesis 62: The true treasure of the church is the Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

Today I want us to consider together The Power of the Gospel that is the title of my message- and from this thought my prayer is that we will learn how to treasure the Lord himself in a greater and more sincere manner. That we would love him with all our heart soul mind and strength.

Looking at the verse there will be 2 questions I will be addressing: First

“What is the Gospel?”

And then 2^nd “What does the power of the Gospel do?” That will take up the majority of the outline.

What is the Gospel?

When we say the word gospel ... we know it to means “good news” Yet within that word we have impregnated it with full and divine and spiritual meaning. We’ll get to that.

For now let’s just keep our terms simple and remember that gospel means “good news” its heralding announcement of good news.

If that’s at the very, very heart of the word gospel, if that’s what the message is, the essence of the Christian message is news … good, joyful news … then this is the difference between the gospel and every other philosophy or religion.

The gospel is not good advice about what you must do. It’s primarily good news about what’s already been done for you, something that’s already happened.

What is that good news? The nut shell version of the gospel is summed up by Peter:

Listen to Peter’s words: “Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

• That is a full statement. That has a lot of inferences to tackle. We will address many of them as we move forward but I just wanted to get a simple definition in your head. Whether you are a believer here today or not a believer at all. This is the good news... this is the gospel.

Now the 2^nd question

What does the power of the Gospel do? I’ve summarized it in an acronym to help follow these points and follow along.

The Power of the Gospel... (P.O.W.E.R.)

1. Graciously Provides

A. God’s response to our rebellion has always been grace

We see throughout biblical history God responds to our rebellion with Grace.

Hints of his grace start early in the OT. We first see God’s grace on display when God confronts Adam and Eve in the garden after the fall. Adam and his wife made themselves clothes out of leaves in an attempt to cover up their shame. When God approaches, he does not accept their coverings, yet he does not wipe them from the face of the earth either. Instead he slays animals and covers Adam and Eve with the skins of the animals so that their sinful nakedness might be covered. God deals with the immediate problem of their guilt in the manner of his own choosing. In other words, he provides the solution to the problem of Adam’s sin.

In the NT Jesus Christ is of course the supreme manifestation of God’s grace. If grace is God’s response to the tragedy of a fallen world, then Christ embodies that response.

If we were going to be brought back from the dead and into the favor of God and enjoy that communion we were originally designed for, then God must take the initiative.

And He did …The Scripture explains that when we see the Words “But God”

God’s grace brought means of having life—He did this by sending His Son Jesus Christ.

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…”

Titus 3:4-6

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8,9

You see we can’t boast because…

B. God’s grace alone is the decisive cause in our salvation

God, and God alone, is the decisive cause of us being saved and adopted into his family, cleared of our guilt and shame and empowered for our daily life of faith and obedience.

None of my human willingness or feelings or human influence or action has contributed to it at all. It’s God’s grace alone

Whatever role we play in our salvation it is never, at the bottom, decisive. Significant, yes. Meaningful, yes. Necessary, yes. But decisive, never. Only God is decisive. This is what it means for God to be God. Only he is mighty to save

The Power of the Gospel Graciously Provides.

No 2. The power of the Gospel…

Read more

Click for audio above

In this semi-regular post, I will share what I enjoy in life that you might also appreciate (or at least get to know me and my quirks better). In addition, I will share things to stir godliness in your life.

This month our daughter Allison is getting married. This is the same daughter that I had the podcast Daughter, Dad and Doctrine 1 with a few years back. We are happy for her and are eager to have her fiancé Brad a part of our family. In light of this celebration of love I have a few recommendations for everyone to consider married or otherwise..

A Tool for Deepening Love (for Everyone)

To stir and stoke the fires of love, there must be a measure of what love looks like and evolves into. Paul David Tripp’s created a list of 24 Things Love Is And Does that is second to none.

It’s highly practical for all loving relationships including parent, child, grandparent, neighbors, friends, etc..

It fleshes out the actions and attitudes of love. I’m only sharing a few to whet your appetite but highly encourage you to click on the link and check them all out In fact I would encourage you to embrace them as prayer prompts.

Take one per day and pray it for your self and your spouse.

Full article and list is here.

“The Couple That Prays Together, Stays Together”

I love quippy quotes like this.

But this one really has stuck with me for over 30 plus years.

For all the years I earnestly prayed for a girlfriend and eventual wife, when the Lord brought Melanie into my life my prayer life shifted.

When our engagement hit I was already in the throws of educating myself with tapes, books and seminars on Christian marriage that were available at the time. I remembering hearing this quote above from a traveling evangelist that visited our church. Around that time I was reading James Dobson’s book Love for a Lifetime. From one of the outlines in a chapter, I realized I need to pray three things. I call them the 3C’s

1. Our marriage would be Christ-Centered.

2. We would have good and productive Communication

3. We would have a strong Commitment. to one another

4. I still pray these for Melanie and I. I began to add a 4th one after all these years. It’s more of a prayer for me but still good for a couple.

the 4th C is: Consideration: that i would be more thoughtful in her desires, needs and wants.

I pray that this list could inspire prayer in Christian couples.

Cinderella By Steven Curtis Chapman.

Finally I’m sharing the song below that my daughter wants to dance with me for the Father-Daughter dance.

I hold her request very dear to my heart when I consider,

1. They are not even having a dance - yet they are doing this along with a Mother- Son dance

2. As child, all Allison dreamed about for her wedding was dancing to this song with me.

I hadn’t really known that since before a recent conversation about the plans for the reception were being talked about.

I also hadn’t really heard the song lyrics before Allison and I had that conversation. I knew of the songs legendary emotional tug for fathers and daughters. But then I played the song in my car a few days later. Wow! What a tear jerker.

I’m highly honored that she wants to dance with me. Yet with a little sparkle in my eye and a chuckle, I think she want to get me to cry. It’s not the main goal. But maaan! My daddy feelings may crumble that afternoon.

I look forward to that moment no matter what the reaction is!!

Thanks For Reading!

If someone has forwarded this for your encouragement, consider subscribing for yourself to receive more encouragement below

Thank you for praying as I’ve been balancing this online ministry with my regular overtime job, as well as other ministries and shepherding responsibilities in my local church and area. Prayer support is the best support!

You can give to this ministry by using the QR code below.

Someone could benefit from today’s encouragement. Who is that person? Share with others as the Holy Spirit leads.

Until next time, whatever you are doing, whoever you are loving, do it For 1Glory- do it for the glory of God.

Eric

Share

The title of my message is the Gospel Empowers Everyday and this is the central truth that I want to tease out over the next several minutes by taking these three words and asking three questions

What is the Gospel?

How does it Empower?

How does the gospel empower my everyday life?

So

Let’s roll.

I. What Is The Gospel?

I’m going to introduce you to the Gospel.

G.O.S.P.E.L.-

GOD

God is alive. He lives, He exists, and to deny him is to be a fool. He is the living God who is creator of the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them and reigns over it all as King. He is Supreme and Sovereign.

Because he is our creator, we are indebted to him for life itself. We are accountable to him as subjects in His kingdom. We are to worship him because he is God and there is no other like him.

• Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Rev 4:11

OFFENDED

Now mankind has offended the rule and reign of God. We break God’s holy law. In fact sin is often defined as missing the mark. But what we’ve done is totally rebellious,. We weren’t even aiming at that mark. We turned away from God and said we‘d be God ourselves.

We are not just victims of the fall. Yes, we live in death and disease, heartache and pain, suffering and sickness, guilt and anxiety, addiction and depression, earthquakes and floods, uncertainty and insecurity.

Yet the Bible says

• Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— Rom 5:12-13

• We can thank Adam and Eve, the first humans. We have inherited sin because of them. They were the first to doubt what is true. They were the first to question what is right. They were the first to wonder, “Who am I?”--- ALL BECAUSE THEY SINNED.

BUT WE’VE SINNED TOO!

We all have participated in the great rebellion and the great offense to a Great and Holy God. Our hearts are so deceptive; we deceive ourselves with the severity of our sin. We minimize it! We excuse it. We sin and are evil, no matter how much good we try to do

• All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; Isa 53:6

• We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Isa 64:6

SENTENCED

Since we have offended God’s infinite holiness through our disobedience, we are sentenced. That’s right! We stand condemned. We are sentenced to the judgment and wrath of God. God will be perfectly fair, and we will totally deserve it.

• For the wages of sin are death, Rom 6:23

• And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matt 10:28

PITY

Now God does not take pleasure in condemning sinners. What we see in God’s character is that he has taken PITY on us by providing a way to be saved from our sin and the punishment our sins deserve.

Look at the character of God in this verse:

• Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? Ezekiel 18:23

• But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy… Titus 3:4-6

EXCHANGE

Now God, being loving and desiring to save His people, and yet having a just wrath needing to be satisfied, cannot simply dismiss the punishment we deserve. That would be unjust.

What he has done is: God has sent his son Jesus Christ, to live a righteous life and to unjustly suffer for sins he did not commit. He suffered the full wrath and separation from the Father himself through the Cross and Death. We deserved that! But because of what Jesus has done… God offers us an incredible exchange.

Our sin and its punishment- for God’s forgiveness and Jesus ‘ righteousness

Defining the Exchange

Our sins are counted as His. And His righteousness counted as ours.

• For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

• For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, 1 Peter 3:18

The Means of the Exchange

You might be asking why is Jesus the only Way?

• Well, because Jesus is God, His punishment was valuable because of His Divine nature.

• Jesus became man; he was flesh and blood and, as a result, was our substitute.

• Jesus lived the perfect life, so he was the perfect sacrifice for our sins, thereby reconciling us to God

• Jesus rose from the dead three days later, conquering death, and thus possesses the authority to give eternal life.

The Avenue for the Exchange

Since Jesus is the only way we are to be saved and rescued, what do we do?

We’ve heard that the Gospel is the good news about God and what he has done, and we stand convicted of the truths of our guilt. Yet now we see even clearer the greatness and goodness of God and what he has done and how he is glorified through this. We understand why Jesus is the only way to be saved; we cannot obviously save ourselves… what do we do to be saved?

There must an exchange of our sinfulness for God’s righteousness by having faith in Jesus Christ.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8,9

What is faith? Faith has simply been defined as reliance or trust. Two aspects

Love this acronym: FAITH

Forsaking All! I Take Him- J.I. Packer

Forsaking all- Repenting of sin! Turning from it and turning toward God and asking forgiveness.

I take him- I rely fully on Christ!

You are saved by Faith alone. Better yet, you are saved by Faith alone that is alive! We don’t have a faith that is dead.

• We bank everything on Christ! His righteousness, His accomplishment, His Work …for salvation, eternal destiny, and even life here and now.

• We forsake all our accomplishments, all our work, all our good deeds to be satisfied in this life

• We take him. We find our satisfaction in Him.

• Not the gifts of justification and imputation and grace and adoption and the Spirit in us. NO. We find our satisfaction in him!

LIFE

The Gospel is also about Life- Life eternally yes. But also life here. And the Gospel empowers us for life here and now.

• The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Now I’m not saying the gospel releases us to have the best life now! I’m not saying he empowers us to live life the way the world declares. The gospel doesn’t help us succeed in the pursuit of materialism, narcissism, and comforts! It is not a means to our selfish ends.

Since God himself is the ultimate good news, and we become reconciled to him through Jesus Christ, and we worship him as Savior and God---

We enjoy this joy in Him despite the pains and disappointments of this world.

We enjoy this life satisfaction in Him despite the situations that leave us empty and dry. Christ is our fullness of life...Simply, he is our life.

That is the gospel! That is the Good news.

OK Now What? What do we do with this information?

The Lord God is calling you to

1. Turn away from your sin and

2. Trust in Jesus’s work on the cross to forgive you, make you new over time and

3. Believe that he is alive and will work in your life until He calls you home

This invitation is a call for you to receive salvation from your sins. This salvation is not a one-time prayer for fire insurance from hell. It is a posture of repenting and placing your faith in Jesus daily.

It begins in a moment, and that moment could be now. Simply talk to God about the three points He is calling all of us to, noted above.

Further Reads:

For the moment of lament you are in has been prepared for.

Blessings- Eric

Get more from Eric Mattie in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

In my guest post at The 7 Resolutions, I encourage the pursuit of strengthening ourselves in the Lord. This strengthening is a divine encounter we are to cultivate in our spirits in order to connect with God.

Here is section of what I wrote:

To learn more about connect wit Christ in this manner read the rest of the article by clicking below. 👇👇👇

The 7 Resolutions

How to Find Strength in the Lord Like David

The greatest reason we exist is the greatest reason to enjoy life…

Read more

24 days ago · 3 likes · T7R and Eric Mattie

Let me know your thought and comments

Like and share with someone who could benefit from reading it.

Share

Whatever you do do it For 1 Glory; do it for the glory of God.

Blessings

Eric

See also:

Share

Get more from Eric Mattie in the Substack app

Available for iOS and Android

Get the app

Many who read the Bible can be like the Greek mythological figure, Narcissus. This handsome hunter came across his reflection in a pond and stared endlessly at it. Yet he had no comprehension of what he was looking at. He got lost in looking at himself. We can end up doing the same thing: our eyes pass along the words of God but our minds never engage long enough to understand them.

In our real world history, the Pharisees did this, and they missed Jesus entirely! In fact they were actually considered by worldly standards, to be the ones who are diligent in studying Scripture. (See John 5:39,40)

How can we overcome this? How do we not fall into this rut?

A short reflection I posted on Substack Notes captured many people’s attention to this idea. It said:

Pastor J. Gresham Machen said this about the process of thinking:

When any new fact enters the human mind it must proceed to make itself at home; it must proceed to introduce itself to the previous denizens of the house. That process of introduction of new facts is called thinking. And, contrary to what seems to be quite generally supposed, thinking cannot be avoided by the Christian man. - J. Gresham Machen

Wow! “previous denizens”! Who uses that word?

“Previous denizens” are the resident thoughts living in your mind. They are the assumptions, ideas, thoughts or opinions, that have inhabited your mind for years.

When new facts arrive they need to be introduced to these residents and find their place in the “home” of your mind.

That process- as Machen says- is thinking.

Reading the Bible can introduce new facts. However in doing that, we can be dull and unperceptive when we simply read the Bible.

Many people think that in order to solve the church’s problem of biblical illiteracy is to dump the information into

• books

• seminars

• classes

• sermons

• studies.

And sure, they have their place.

It’s not just that we read too little, That is true.

But it’s that we read too fast and then move on.

What is behind most material that instructs well, is the intentional, sharp thinking and perceptive, discerning minds that put it together.

But let’s admit something: not everybody has that instant insight at first read. Or even the second reading.

And that’s ok!

Yet that is the reason I’m urging for a slow down in Bible intake.

The mental engagement in reading Scripture is to coincide with prayerful listening to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.

• He is the one who instructs and reforms your thinking.

• He is the one that opens the eyes of your heart in understanding, application, worship and awe.

Scripture Says

2 Timothy 2:7 says: “Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.”

This advice from the apostle Paul to Timothy hits the point.

• We think.

• Yet the Lord gives the insight.

He wants us to take time and reflect on his Word.

Perhaps Apostle Paul was remembering the words of Proverbs 2 where the father urges his son to

• receive his word, (see v.1)

• treasure them up, (see v. 1)

• listen to wisdom (see v.2)

• and apply to understand. (see v.2)

This all takes time.

• Time to reflect.

• Time to think.

• Time to pray.

• Time to hear God.

Some Suggestions

What has worked for me is to expose myself to sharp thinkers. It help my dull perception. It even helps my dry moment in verses I’ve read a thousand times. It doesn’t (and never should) replace God’s Word. Rather it helps me to reflect better on God’s Word.

This is where the good sermons, studies, seminars and conferences come into play. It is why I read and listen to sermons so much. This might work for you too.

• In good studies, it’s the insights they pull together to ask good questions that guide my reflections. This teaches me to ask good questions while reading the text.

• In good sermons, it’s perhaps a statement that catches my attention that I need write down and chew on it a bit. That’s usually the result of the Holy Spirit’s stirring in my heart through the Preaching of the Word.

• In books, as Pastor John Piper identified, life changing insights come from moments when a paragraph or sentence. stand out from the pages. It’s rarely the entire book itself. In fact it is those starred or underlined sentences that I reflect on by bringing them back to God’s word to see if it stands up as a good insight or conclusion that is built from the truth of Scripture.

• In commentaries- depending on their technicality- it’s reading and then thoughtfully considering- the conversations and arguments of scholars who have the academic rigor to think through

  • language

  • cultural

  • and historical gaps

before I apply it to real life.

Start Here

The goal of reading Scripture is to relate with our Savior. To get that mental attitude comfortable in the rooms and categories of your mind and heart may take some help outside of you.

Overall the goal is finding the teacher, writer or preacher whose thoughts grab your attention, slows you down and helps you to think about Scripture in the similar ways you think, yet helps you expand your thought process.

Find someone in your church who knows the Bible well and can commit to meeting with you periodically. It may not be the first person you ask. But keep looking. Human conversation is key to being mentored in this.

Finally, purchase the following:

• A whole Bible commentary. I recommend Matthew Henry’s and the New Bible Commentary. Between the two of them you’ll get a good combination of godly, intelligent and devotional meditations and understanding.

• Add to your quiet time tool box, D.A. Carson’s 2 Volume devotional, For the Love of God. In it you will find scholarly and warm summary of Bible passages you read in a Scriptural Reading plan that will help form your world view to be more like Christ.

If reading the Bible is hard for you, take it slow, steady and prayerfully think. The Lord is not waiting for you to check a box or distill a theological treaties. He desires to meet with you and speak to you. Remember it’s relational.

God is speaking to you through His written word and helps you through the Holy Spirit who lives in you.

Accept his daily invite to hear from him one verse and chapter at a time. (click on link for a Bible challenge.)

See also:

In my guest post with The 7 Resolutions I expose what feels restrictive in God’s word may actually lead to deeper joy, trust, and lasting stability.

Here is a bit of what I shared:

In Killing Sin, Karl writes:
“God is unlike an angry dad who lays down arbitrary rules to serve himself. God’s laws, precepts, and teachings are given by a good Father who is glorified when we taste joy and satisfaction from Him.”

See more about insight about this by clicking below.👇👇👇

The 7 Resolutions

Why God’s Commands Are Meant to Protect You, Not Restrict You

Like every parent, my wife Melanie and I worked hard not to introduce the word “no” into our kids’ vocabulary. We definitely didn’t want it to be the first words they say AND understand what it meant. We were fortunate to make it a little further into those early years before “No” was the challenge, and then we all graduated to the next level of winning…

Read more

2 months ago · 6 likes · T7R and Eric Mattie

I would love to hear from you please like, share, and comment.

Whatever you do do it For 1 Glory; do it for the glory of God.

Blessings

Eric

See also:

For some, living the Christian life can feel like the ancient story of Sisyphus’s boulder.

If you have chosen any of first three options you are not alone. Many feel this way

Remember that tale? Let me recap

Sisyphus was a clever but arrogant human king in the ancient Greek myths. He angered many Greek gods to the point where Zeus, the king of the gods, punished him to an eternity of rolling a boulder to the top of a mountain. However, once at the top, the boulder would slip and roll back down to the bottom. Sisyphus would then attempt again to roll the boulder back up to the top of the mountain, only to have it roll down again. This happens with every attempt.

Perhaps you feel that way when it comes to your Christian disciplines. You read, pray, attend church, hang out with believers who hold you accountable, but the purpose and meaning of these things are the proverbial boulder. You feel your efforts in Christian growth are meaningless. Always going up the same mountain and finding yourself watching your efforts falter down the hill with no end in sight, and your life none the better for it.

Many Christians feel exhausted because we approach it thinking that the Christian life of discipline will be validated through some kind of payoff, experience, or revelation.

Certainly not exhaustion, numbness, and suffering.

We can be tempted to feel “What’s the point?”

Unlike Sisyphus, Paul reminds us that within Christ, efforts in the Lord are redeemed-that is, they are rescued from the vain absurdity of repetitive behavior and hold the values of eternal meaning, purpose, and fulfillment.

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Cor 15:58

Paul knew that Psalm 127 is the cornerstone of truth he is basing his own encouragement to the Corinthians on it.

Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

With this in mind, here’s how we can walk faithfully in the spiritual disciplines.

Reframe the Reason Why We Do What We Do.

The gospel helps us with this. None of the spiritual disciplines I’ve listed above is to invoke or earn the favor of God. Prayer, Bible reading, and the rest of the disciplines are not designed to do that. It is only through Christ that we enjoy a reconciled, peaceful relationship with the Lord that grants us unmerited favor. The favor of a Heavenly Father that is eager to bless his children.

• The spiritual disciplines are for spiritual connection. Not spiritual approval.

• The means of grace* are for enjoying the favor of grace we have in Jesus

• When you are in Christ, you are accepted in Christ.

• No Condemnation.

• Nothing can separate you.

• Tasting and seeing that the Lord is good.

David Mathis says it well when he states:

… God has revealed certain channels through which he regularly pours out his favor. And we are foolish not take his word on them and build habits of spiritual life around them.”

I love his point of building “habits of spiritual life” around the channels.

That is not vainly laboring to push a boulder up a mountain. That is finding the fountains of enjoyment in God that every favored child of God has at their disposal.

So in the coming days, reframe the activities of your Christian life from the relational viewpoint. Rest and rejoice in the activity for its true purpose:

To enjoy Jesus’ presence and praise him for his favor.

When this striving stops and abiding is pursued over time, you will find the inspiration in looking to Jesus and “consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (see Hebrews 12:3)

But when we wait on the Lord, God promises,

“Yet those who hope in Yahweh
Will gain new power;
They will mount up with wings like eagles;
They will run and not get tired;
They will walk and not become weary. “

Isaiah 40:31 (LSB)

Share

Here is snippet of what I shared:

Chris had never experienced the cleansing work of God’s forgiveness- to have his heart be open to God’s life-changing word. (See Jeremiah 31:33-34) Only God’s word brings the power of the truth that sets us free.

Read the rest by clicking below.

The 7 Resolutions

Why Self-Help Can’t Heal a Sin-Sick Heart

Chris* was a man I met for lunch to address his anger issue. Admittedly, this appointment was set up by his Christian parents, and we didn’t know each other very well. I quickly found out that he did not know Jesus…

Read more

3 months ago · 3 likes · T7R and Eric Mattie

I would love to hear from you please like, share, and comment.

What ever you do, do it for one glory. Do it for the glory of God,

Blessings,

Eric

Click for audio above

In this semi-regular post, I will share what I enjoy in life that you might also appreciate (or at least get to know me and my quirks better). In addition, I will share things to stir godliness in your life.

How Did Churches Start Using Grape Juice for Communion?

Adriel Sanchez presents an excellent summary! It grabbed me in the first 15 seconds and held my attention the whole time.

This is an insightful video on the topic of grape juice for communion. I share it here for your encouragement and refreshment.

Since we are on the topic of the Lord’s Supper, consider this…

If the Lord’s Supper is meant to sustain us, why does it sometimes feel so ordinary? Maybe it’s our approach.

Throughout the years I have occasionally varied my approach to the Lord’s supper. Sometimes, I approach it with a heart full of celebration and gratitude for Christ’s sacrifice on my behalf. Other times, my heart is more solemn, filled with serious reflections.

Don’t get me wrong. There should be both a mixture of sober remembrance mingled with celebration of thanks and praise in this ordinance.

Yet when I consider a point that D.A. Carson called out once, I think it fortifies my celebratory point even more. Carson says,

“The Lord’s Supper is a temporary rite of anticipation.”

Christ hinted at this anticipation when he said, we will drink and eat meal and do it in remembrance of him “until that day.” There is a day coming when he is looking forward to experiencing with us.

It blows my mind to think that Jesus, who exists outside and above time, has this future event on His mind that He’s anticipating. Yet because of His all-knowing nature, Jesus can see it and know about it. When all is consummated, he will celebrate with us.

And He’s looking forward to it!!

The Lord’s Supper is a celebration. But it’s also a shadow of an experience yet to come. The anticipation we should be excited for is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. It’s the party to end all parties. Actually its the party that starts the real partying.

At this great Marriage Supper of the Lamb, God’s people are gathered to Himself- the Bride to the Bridegroom. Therefore celebrate the Lord’s Supper, remembering the past, but we are to set our hearts for the exciting moment when He returns.

In that moment of His return, the Lord’s Supper will no longer be celebrated. Rather, it will be elevated- in every way- to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. A victory banquet design to worship in full throated praise and overflowing hearts of love, joy relief, gratitude and peace to the Lord.

That promised day is designed to sustain, strength and warm our faith.

Reflect and respond:

• Take the time to think about how elevated that supper celebration with God and God’s people will be compared to how we celebrate now.

• Fuel your meditations and excitement for this day by reading Isaiah 25:6-9 and Revelation 19:6-9.

Thanks For Reading!

If someone has forwarded this for your encouragement, consider subscribing for yourself to receive more encouragement below

Thank you for praying as I’ve been balancing this online ministry with my regular overtime job, as well as other ministries and shepherding responsibilities in my local church and area. Prayer support is the best support!

You can give to this ministry by using the QR code below.

Someone could benefit from today’s encouragement. Who is that person? Share with others as the Holy Spirit leads.

Until next time,

Whether you are learning the history of church traditions, or taking the Lord’s Supper whatever you do, do it For 1 Glory.

Do all for the glory of God.

Eric