Sunday Sermons

Yesterday I had the opportunity to preach two difficult passages. Cypress Lake Baptist was extremely gracious to me as they thanked me for the messages, but it was certainly one of those days where I felt I need to grow in grace before I preach those again! If you're interested, you can access the sermons by clicking on the links below.

AM - A Hunger for God (Luke 5:33-39)

PM - Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath (Luke 6:1-5)

Buying Books

This year I've tried to cut back on the number of books I buy. However, yesterday I ordered three books and now am eagerly anticipating each of these to arrive. According to the tracking number, they should be here next Tuesday! The three books are:

Don't Call it a Comeback: The Old Faith for a New Day by Kevin DeYoung

King's Cross: The Story of the World in the Life of Jesus by Tim Keller

Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on The Way by Michael Horton

Have you read any of these books? What are your thoughts?

The Trellis and the Vine

Tonight we will start discussing The Trellis and the Vine together as a church. I expect around 15 people to be present (but could be a couple more). Our church is not a large church, especially when you look at our active membership. However, this is a great response to this time together. When I came to CLBC, I started preaching immediately on the necessity of making disciples (devoted followers of Christ). I see this as an opportunity to have healthy discussions around this very topic. Would you please pray that the Lord might urge us to take seriously His command to make disciples of all nations?

Also, if you're local and would like to be a part of this, we have a few extra copies of the book and would openly welcome you!

The Call to Fish and to Follow

Yesterday morning I preached a message from Luke 5:1-11 (you can listen here). I was extremely pumped to preach yesterday morning. The few days leading up to Sunday I was able to let the message soak into my brain as I had completed my sermon work on Thursday morning. It was great. It had me excited. As I concluded the message I prayed that the Lord may use our time together yesterday as a changing point in our congregation. I certainly do not mean that all things are bad, or that everything needs to change, but I do believe we can always do more. We can always become more like Christ. As I preached on the passage, I stated that I think Jesus was giving a live illustration of how the kingdom would grow. He told Simon to cast his net into the sea and the nets filled up and began to tear. Simon called for his partners to come over as well. They caught so many fish that both boats began to sink. So I concluded that we need to cast our nets into the sea of this world and trust that Jesus would fill them up with disciples (based on the fact that Jesus told Simon Peter that he would become a catcher of men).

For my few readers out there, would you pray for Cypress Lake Baptist Church? We had many visitors yesterday (probably 10-15 first time visitors!) and we want to be used by God to reach them and help them become devoted followers of Christ. In fact, yesterday was the largest gathering we've had since I came almost 6 months ago. This was great, but we do not simply want more numbers. We want to reach Fort Myers and the surrounding area so that they follow Christ. We want to be those few followers whom God may use to multiply His kingdom by drawing many others to submit their lives to Christ.

Is Change Good?

When you're the young guy in the church, or the new pastor, you often times have to wrestle with change and how it ought to be handled. Unfortunately, some changes that are made are often times not really needed. They are preferences at best. However, my point in this post is not first about change within the church, but rather change within one's self.

Here's what I mean by that last statement. As I have recently come to a new church to pastor there has been much talk about change. The church expected change when I came. They were blessed with one pastor for the past 34 years. In fact, he was the first pastor of this church. That's right, in almost 35 years as a church I am the second pastor this church has been under. That means the church has taken on the personality and DNA of the previous pastor. By God's grace, that's a wonderful thing. However, they expected change. I've thought a lot about change and what it would look like in the church. My imagination has gone all over the place!

This, however, quickly turned personal. Many people resist change. Indeed, some change is bad and not worth pursuing. Other change, however, is not only good, but it's necessary. In fact, anyone who claims to be a follower of Christ must constantly change. After all, we are seeking to become like Christ. Each day ought to be filled with a pursuit of godliness that causes one to think and act differently because they are becoming like Christ. That means, each day ought to bring about some change in the individual. Right? These changes may be small, and even unnoticeable for some time. But if one looks back over the past year, or 10 years, they ought to see some significant change.

Now, the church is made up of individuals who have covenanted together in Christ Jesus. Logically this means that the church, made of of individuals who are changing daily into the image of Christ, must also change as time goes on. If this is true, and I think it is, then change is not only good, but change is necessary.

Thoughts?

All I Have is Christ

I love this song. I am freshly reminded of it again tonight.


All I Have Is Christ from Sovereign Grace Ministries on Vimeo.

Going to India

This past week a good friend of mine called and asked if I was interested in going to India with him (you can find out the details of our trip here). Since I came to Cypress Lake Baptist I've pushed for our church to get involved with missions. We want to make sure we are looking to reach our immediate community AND seeking to minister to those far from us. This is a great opportunity for us and I hope and pray that others will get on board with us. If you're interested, please do not hesitate to contact Wil Owens with Search and See Ministries.

Neighborhood Block Party

The house that we have moved into is on the same street as my secretary and her husband. They have greatly modeled hospitality since we've arrived in Fort Myers. Across the street from them lives another couple who seek to live out Christianity in their home as well. They decided to have a neighborhood block party and asked us if we'd like to be involved. We jumped on the opportunity! Today, at 4:00 PM, we have invited several people from out street and the block surrounding us. As of Thursday morning we had 28 confirmed coming today. We are extremely excited about this opportunity.

Why are we doing this? It is common for churches to have some sort of block party, but it seems less common (rare?) to hear of Christians trying to have something in their neighborhood. As far as I'm concerned, there are at least two main reasons we wanted to be involved with this block party. The first is that we hope to be good neighbors. What I mean is that we want to know those who live around us so that we can, as much as they allow, be a part of their lives. We hope to build friendships with them so that they know they can trust us and want us to be a part of the neighborhood.

The second reason is probably pretty clear since I'm writing about this. It is my hope that we will have many gospel conversations. I hope we do today, but I really hope we will have ample opportunity in the future as well. This is not because I'm a pastor, but because I'm a follower of Christ. I truly believe there is salvation in no one other than Jesus. I also truly believe that there is no greater joy than that found in Christ. If this is true, then I hope to be able to point our neighbors to the life giving Son of God.

So would you pray for us? Would you pray that whether or not someone believes in Christ for salvation that we would still be good neighbors to them? Would you pray that God would open a door for the word and give us the wisdom and clarity to share it properly?

Shepherding your Family

When Paul lays out the expectations for those who desire the office of overseer in First Timothy 3:1-7, he says in verses 4-5, "He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's church?" I have thought much about this in recent years. I spent two years in an internship with Open Door Baptist Church with Dr. Pete Schemm as my mentor. He modeled to me great discipline in managing his household well and encouraged me to do so as well. I must admit, however, that I have often times felt that I needed to do much more. I want to make sure I am leading my wife to the fountain of grace in Christ. I want to make sure I am helping her along as she seeks to pursue and treasure Christ. Now that I have two children, I want to make sure I am leading them to know and love the Lord. The truth is, if we take this as a serious expectation of God for the leaders of His church, then we will realize that it takes time and diligence.

Just recently I decided it was time to make sure we had a plan in our household to help us be disciplined in our pursuit of Christ together. I certainly do not have all the answers. I know I have a long way to go. However, I thought I'd post our plans on here for anyone it may help. Also, since I want to do this well, any thoughts for improving would be of great benefit. Before I show the schedule, I also want to make sure it's clear that this is not the only time we talk about the gospel. We hope to cultivate a family life that centers on Christ and all He's accomplished on our behalf. Also, we have used a variety of resources in the past, so I am not recommending anything particular at this time (except to say make sure the Bible is used, and make sure whatever songs you sing and prayers you pray are Biblical).

Sundays are pretty wide open because I pastor Cypress Lake Baptist Church and we have Sunday School, Sunday Morning Worship, and Sunday Evening Worship. Therefore we do not have a particular order for this day. Wednesday are not as structured either as we have a prayer/Bible study time with CLBC.

Mondays and Thursdays we try to eat at 6:00 PM. We do this as a family and sit around the table until about 7:00 PM to discuss life and how our day has been. At 7:00 my wife or I will clean the kitchen while the other one gives the kids their baths. We give 45 mins for this to make sure all is well and finished! At 7:45ish we begin playing games as a family (which may be on the wii, or with toys, or just wrestling). We stop early enough to have prayer together and put the kids in bed around 8:30.

Tuesdays and Saturdays we try to eat at 6:00 PM. We have the same schedule as Mondays and Thursdays, except on these nights we have a time of family worship from 7:45 until 8:30. During this time we sing hymns together, read Scripture and Bible stories, and pray together. We actually hope to add to this Scripture memory and Catechisms. We try to pick songs that my oldest (5 years old) knows the words too so she can sing with us. Last night it was cool because as we sang my 17 month old son tried to join in!

On Fridays we cut our time around the table short and try to start watching a movie together in time to still get them in bed at a decent time.

I am sure there are things we can improve on. However, having a plan in place has already helped us to make sure we are intentional about spending time together and with the Lord. I typed out this schedule in Excel, printed it out, and we put in on our refrigerator. This has proved helpful for us. What are your thoughts or suggestions?

Qualified for the Ministry?

I have really enjoyed Charles Bridges' Christian Ministry. It's been a slow read thus far, however, because I have been deeply convicted and encouraged on nearly every page. I just finished reading through the qualifications of the minister. Without giving you all of what he says, I found this closing paragraph one worth posting.

A person may, in a general way, be said to be qualified for the Ministry, who has talents for preaching though not fitted for profitable private intercourse, or the affairs of Church Government. But this is evidently not a complete adaptation to the work. It is, on the contrary, a very imperfect one, and one with which no man should be content. For, all the aspects of Ministerial labour are, if not equally, yet highly, important; every one of them far too important to be trifled with. The right performance of each affords facilities for the rest, and gives additional beauty and efficacy to all. To be fit for only one department, cannot but greatly impede our activity, and diminish our success. To fill the Ministerial office with a degree of satisfaction and benefit commensurate with its capabilities, or with the desire of a heart awake to its importance, we must be all that it demands--men of God, perfect, completely furnished to every good work. This is an elevated standard. He that aims highest will most approximate to it."

After reading this, I'm glad he started this section by writing:

Mr. Newton's important remark may be considered as an axiom--"None but he who made the world can make a Minister of the Gospel."

I have found myself in much need of God's grace as a pastor. I have found myself lacking in areas that only He can fix. I have found myself driven to much prayer as I hear and think about what it means to fulfill this office of the church.