12/28/14 Sermon

Here is the sermon from Sunday.

Sunday, December 28, 2014
Preaching: Josh Mathews
Sermon Series: Wisdom for Navigating Life
Title: "Wisdom and Life and Death"
Proverbs

You can also access the sermon HERE.

12/21/14 Sermon

Typically, each Monday we will be posting the previous Sunday's sermon. Here is the sermon from yesterday.

Sunday, December 21, 2014
Preaching: Vergil Brown
Sermon Series: Wisdom for Navigating Life
Title: "Wisdom and Money"
Proverbs

You can also access the sermon HERE.

Links we recommend 12/19/14

Time Is Now for Gospel Transformation in Race Relations
On Tuesday several evangelical leaders and pastors got together to discuss race and the gospel. This post reviews these discussions and includes a link to the video.

Advent: The Announcement

Paul Tripp looks at Luke 2:14 and talks about the Good News of Christmas.

Christmas Traditions: For Progress and Joy in the Faith

Here are some thoughts about Christian Christmas traditions.

3 Christmas Pitfalls for Parents
Christmas can be a dangerous time for Christians, particularly when it comes to parenting. This post addresses 3 potential issues.

5 Questions to Ask Before Posting on Social Media
This post lists a few helpful safeguards against unwise Facebook posting.

The Hole in Our Holiness: A Review in Quotes

Written by: Dan Stump

This is a book review of The Hole in Our Holiness: Filling the Gap between Gospel Passion and the Pursuit of Godliness, by Kevin DeYoung

Kevin DeYoung is one of my favorite authors. He is the type of guy who can put to words what I have in my head, only he says it much better than I ever could. His 2012 book The Hole in our Holiness is one that challenged me and that I heartily recommend. I would encourage you to pick it up yourself, or gift it to someone this Christmas. 

In the book, DeYoung contends that the hole in our holiness is that we don’t really care about it. We don’t give holiness much thought. We are content to cruise through the Christian life, and while we try to avoid the really big sins, holiness isn't much of a concern. 

Rather than a traditional book review/summary, I thought I would instead share a bunch of my favorite quotes from the book. I’m the underlining type of person when I read. One of my favorite things is to go back and re-digest an old book by reading what I underlined. 

Here is a sampling of some favorite quotes from the book: 

The Bible could not be any clearer. The reason for your entire salvation, the design behind your deliverance, the purpose for which God chose you in the first place is holiness. 

On the last day, God will not acquit us because our good works were good enough, but he will look for evidence that our good confession was not phony. 

Worldliness is whatever makes sin look normal and righteousness look strange. 

Many Christians have the mistaken notion that if only we were better Christians, everyone would appreciate us. They don’t realize that holiness comes with a cost. 

It sounds really spiritual to say that God is interested in relationship, not in rules. But it’s not biblical. From top to bottom the Bible is full of commands. They aren't meant to stifle a relationship with God, but to protect it, seal it and define it…Just like if you love your wife, you’ll keep your vow to be faithful to her as long as you both shall live. The demand for sexual fidelity does not pervert the marriage relationship; it promotes and demonstrates it. In the same way, God’s commands are given as a means of grace so that we might grow in godliness and show that we love him. 

The right way to go is also the best way to go. When God gives us commands, he means to help us run the race to completion, not to slow us down. 

Some Christians make the mistake of pitting love against law, as if the two are mutually exclusive. You either have a religion of love or a religion of law. But such an equation is profoundly unbiblical. For starters, “love” is a command of the law (Deut. 6:5; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:36-40). If you enjoin people to love, you are giving them law. Conversely, if you tell them law doesn't matter, then neither does love, which is the summary of the law. 

There is no abiding in Christ’s love apart from keeping Christ’s commandments (John 15:10). Which means there is no fullness of joy apart from the pursuit of holiness (v. 11). 

“No one can attain any degree of holiness without God working in his life,” Jerry Bridges writes, “but just as surely, no one will attain it without effort on his own part. God has made it possible for us to walk in holiness. But he has given us the responsibility of doing the walking.” 

Sanctification is not by surrender, but by divinely enabled toil and effort. 

Our first love is Jesus. Holiness is not ultimately about living up to a moral standard. It’s about living in Christ and living out our real, vital union with him. 

God doesn't say, “Relax, you were born this way.” But he does say, “Good news, you were reborn another way.” 

Do not strive after holiness because you cower in dread of God. Strive after holiness because you are confident you already belong to God.

I've never heard a Christian couple regret all they didn't do before they were married. 

Ironically, if you say “I can’t forgive myself,” it’s probably a sign of worldly grief—either unbelief in God’s promises and the sufficiency of Christ’s work on the cross, or regret that is merely focused on your loss of esteem and your loss of opportunities. 

There is an eternal difference between regret and repentance. Regret feels bad about past sins. Repentance turns away from past sins. Regret looks to our own circumstances. Repentance looks to God. Most of us are content with regret. We just want to feel bad for a while, have a good cry, enjoy the cathartic experience, bewail our sin, and talk about how sorry we are. But we don’t want to change. We don’t want to deal with God.

12/14/14 Sermon

Here is the sermon from Sunday.

Sunday, December 14, 2014
Preaching: Vergil Brown
Sermon Series: Wisdom for Navigating Life
Title: "Wisdom and Words"
Proverbs

You can also access the sermon HERE.

Links we recommend 12/12/14

The Role of Singing in the Life of the Church
In this post the author discusses three principal reasons for singing in church.

An Advent Prayer: Knowing and Treasuring Jesus
In the same vein as Wednesday's blog post Scotty Smith writes a prayer for the Christmas season.

The Santa Question
This post gives two things for Christian parents to think through when it comes to Santa.

When God Doesn't Zap away our Sin
This short piece talks about God's grace in our struggle against sin.

10 Plumblines for Local Outreach (part 4, with links to parts 1–3)
These are the guidelines used by the Summit Church in North Carolina for their local outreach ministry. It's a larger church than GBC so the principles apply differently, but generally they are quite helpful to consider.

First Thing First: Anyabwile, Tripp, and Strickland on the Priority of Abiding in Christ

Written by: Josh Mathews

There’s a theme that I've been thinking about and challenged with lately. It has to do with prioritizing communion with Christ. Life is busy, full of doing, thinking, and talking about all kinds of things, many of which are very good. But all these endeavors will be fruitless unless we are abiding in Christ.

Jesus says, 

Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me (John 15:4).

Here are some thoughts from three wise men on this theme:

Thabiti Anyabwile

In a post on The Gospel Coalition website, Thabiti Anyabwile offers several suggestions for how to apply the gospel “in actionable ways” in light of recent events in our country. 

His first point is to Stick Close to Jesus Personally. He quotes from the puritan Richard Sibbes’ book, The Bruised Reed, which says this: 

That age of the church which was most fertile in subtle questions was most barren in religion; for it makes people think religion to be only a matter of cleverness, in tying and untying of knots. The brains of men inclining that way are hotter usually than their hearts. 

Anyabwile goes on to say, 

We must recognize the danger of entrapment in “subtle questions,” whether they’re the subtle questions of theology or of sociology. Those dangers include—to paraphrase Sibbes—hot heads and cold hearts. A quick visit to most twitter feeds and Facebook pages will supply ample evidence that this heating of the crown and cooling of the chest is well underway among many Christians. 

We have it on the greatest Authority that, “Whoever abides in [Christ] and [Christ] in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Apart from Christ we can do nothing. We become unfruitful in spiritual knowledge and barren in our activism. Nothing could be more vital in Ferguson-like times than we sing and pray, “Jesus keep me near the cross.” To put it another way: We must first apply the gospel to our own lives by immersing ourselves in the truth of God’s word, warming ourselves with the Spirit’s fervency in prayer and keeping ourselves in the love of God. We begin here and never finish this delightful duty.

Paul Tripp

The elders have been reading Paul Tripp's book, Dangerous Calling. This book, and the quote below, is directed towards pastors, but the truth applies to all Christians. 

In chapter four Tripp highlights the importance of a pastor’s communion with Christ, over things like knowledge and skill. He tells a story of a pastor who seemed to have it all together in ministry but then crashed because he was missing the most important element. 

The problem was the pastor’s lack of a living, humble, needy, celebratory, worshipful, meditative communion with Christ. It was as if Jesus had left the building. There were all kinds of ministry knowledge and skill, but those seemed divorced from a living communion with a living and ever-present Christ.”

Just a little later, Tripp says that to be truly effective in ministry (and again, this doesn't just apply to pastors), 

The pastor must be enthralled by, in awe of—can I say it: in love with—his Redeemer so that everything he thinks, desires, chooses, decides, says, and does is propelled by love for Christ and the security of rest in the love of Christ. He must be regularly exposed, humbled, assured, and given rest by the grace of his Redeemer. His heart needs to be tenderized day after day by his communion with Christ so that he becomes a tender, loving, patient, forgiving, encouraging, and giving servant leader. His meditation on Christ—his presence, his promises, and his provisions—must not be overwhelmed by his meditation on how to make his ministry [or marriage, job, family, etc.] work.”

Rob Strickland

At last Saturday’s men’s breakfast we talked about ways we can strive to keep Christmas preparation and celebration centered around Jesus. We were thinking together about how, as men particularly, we can lead in this area. There were several wise and helpful comments. One thing that stood out was something Rob Strickland said. He gave this advice:

You can't give away or lead in an area that you don't have yourself. So make sure to spend time daily nourishing your spirit with the Lord, reflecting on his gifts to us and the awe inspiring story of his birth.

Rob’s challenge—which applies to all of us, men and women—was to make a priority of cultivating a heart of worship through regular communion with Christ. What we do and say and how we lead flows from our hearts. Abiding in Christ is the starting place for doing things that help keep the focus on Jesus, at Christmastime and beyond.

12/7/14 Sermon

Typically, each Monday we will be posting the previous Sunday's sermon. Here is the sermon from yesterday.

Sunday, December 7, 2014
Preaching: Dave Martin
Title: "The Story behind the Story"
John 1:1–18

You can also access the sermon HERE.

Ferguson and Justice

Written by: Josh Mathews

This post is a follow-up to Vergil’s sermon on justice last Sunday. If you weren’t there you can listen to it online here, and you can read Vergil’s column in the Gresham Outlook last week here. Vergil asked me to write and address some of the tensions and pushback you may be feeling in response either to the sermon or to the situation in Ferguson more generally.

To be honest, I’ve been wrestling through this kind of tension myself. Some tension, and even disagreement, is probably valid. It isn’t necessarily rooted in racial prejudice, apathy about justice, or lack of compassion, though it might be. I hope you can read along here and think, “yeah, I agree with that point and that’s how I think and feel about it.” 

But what I really hope and pray is that you can move beyond having your perspective validated and come to the point of humbly responding. I’m convinced the tensions and pushback do not negate the core challenge of Vergil’s message. And so the two responses this post is shooting for are the same as Vergil’s message: 1) understanding and compassion towards those who are hurting and those with different perspectives than ours, and 2) conviction to strive for justice and correct injustice. The goal here is to build unity and affirm what Vergil preached. 

Issues of Tension

There are several difficulties that could be raised, more than this post will address, but let’s start here.

What about the facts?

Maybe the most confusing tension, which underlies the other arguments, has to do with the specific details of the situation in Ferguson. The fatal encounter between Michael Brown and officer Darren Wilson and the ensuing grand jury decision not to indict Wilson are what set off the powder keg of emotions and outcry from the black community. But what about the facts? We don’t know what happened that day, or what exactly went down in the courtroom. What if Wilson was acting in self-defense, like it seems he was? Doesn't that matter? Shouldn't facts and truth be considered?

In response to these questions, we hear things like, this isn't just about Ferguson. This is about the broad issue of injustice towards black people. But this is about Ferguson. This intense, even violent, outrage occurring across the country has indeed been instigated by the shooting of Mike Brown and the grand jury decision last Monday. In the interest of giving voice to the larger narrative of systemic injustice, am I supposed to disregard the details of this individual case? That is hard to understand.

I don’t think anyone knows exactly why it was this tragic situation that sparked such an explosive and polarizing response. Perhaps it’s because of the volatile racial tensions in the St. Louis area, or because of the recent killings of other black men, like Oscar Grant and Trayvon Martin (and now Eric Garner), by law enforcement (or wannabe law enforcement) officers. I don’t know why, but the truth is, for some reason, people seem to align very strongly with either one perspective or another. Some are powerfully impacted by the general issue of racial injustice Ferguson represents, regardless of the facts of the situation itself; while for others it’s impossible to separate the facts of Ferguson from the outrage and demands for empathy and justice. 

It would probably be helpful for those of the first perspective to acknowledge that the facts do matter to some degree. Nevertheless, I’m addressing here those who have a hard time separating the facts from the response. The primary responsibility falls on us to do the hard, humbling work of putting ourselves in the shoes of those who are hurting, even if their hurt doesn’t make sense to us; because it does make sense to them, and that is profoundly important.

One way that has been helpful for me to think about this is using an analogy with marriage. Stacy and I have had arguments where I think logic, facts, and truth are on my side, while she feels very hurt or misunderstood on her side. (Sometimes the situation is reversed.) I’m still learning this lesson but, even on the rare occasion that I am right, it’s often best for me to forgo a logical, fact-based argument in order to listen to Stacy’s heart, and work really hard to understand what she’s feeling. This inevitably opens the door to moving forward in the conversation and in our relationship. 

This is the kind of sacrificial love we’re called to in the marriage relationship (Eph 5:25–32; 1 Pet 3:7). And if the principle applies to marriage, it certainly applies to relationships with other Christians as well (Phil 2:1–11). To take it a step further, in marriage, a spouse should address feelings graciously even if they’re not based on truth. This issue of race is different in an important way. The emotions are based on truth. There is real basis and a vast resource of facts—from history, today’s culture, and every minority individual’s life experience—supporting the feelings of injustice. In this situation, there is most definitely a truth-based foundation for deep emotion. 

Like the marriage analogy, we must be the ones to take the sacrificial step of really listening to those who are feeling hurt and misunderstood right now. We must engage in the deep-seated sense of injustice and systemic oppression that the African American community is feeling so strongly. We might talk about the facts more later, but for now let’s accept this as an opportunity to listen and empathize with the pain of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

[See this article by Bryan Loritts on facts and feelings. And also look at Prov 18:13; James 1:19; 1 Cor 12:26; Heb 13:3.] 

What about the other side of justice?

Closely related to the tension between facts and feelings is the question of different aspects of justice. The focus of the conversation, again from the perspective of those who are hurting, is on the racial injustice evidenced by another white police officer killing an unarmed young black man and then not being accused of a crime. But, as Vergil said, justice is complex (Lev 19:10, 15; Prov 10:4; 13:23).

What about the side of justice from Darren Wilson’s perspective? Again, we don’t know the facts, but to many it seems like what people are protesting is that Wilson wasn’t wrongly accused of murder. Or even more troubling it might appear that the grief and anger is because the struggle for Wilson’s gun didn’t go the other way, that Wilson isn’t dead instead of Mike Brown. What message about justice is this sending to Darren Wilson and his family, or to all the police officers of all colors and races in our country? I think this is the kind of tension many of us are feeling. Whether we’re close to someone in law enforcement or not, we wonder, if we’re going to talk about justice, what about that side of it?

As Vergil said, we care about justice because God is just and He cares about justice (Isa 61:8; Prov 14:31). Perhaps that is part of why Christians feel very strongly on both sides of this situation. A few days ago it seemed to me like the only options were either to uphold the justice of this individual event, or to take a stand against broad, systemic racial injustice. And since justice matters to us because it matters to God, it’s very troubling to feel like we have to reject one aspect of justice in order to uphold the other.

While that kind of tension is real, and much of what is being said on both sides contributes to it, it’s not an impossible choice we have to face. We don’t have to relinquish our sense of justice for Darren Wilson, or for police officers across the country (or for the residents and shop owners in Ferguson who have been impacted by riots and looting), in order to engage with genuine, sacrificial effort in the painful sense of injustice this grand jury decision has triggered. 

As Christians, we must admit that racial injustice is a still a very real and very sinful problem in our world today. We can and must pray and work to correct that injustice, and contend for justice, because the Lord is just. And we can, and must, do this without needing to let go of our sensibilities about the justice that may have indeed been served in the Brown-Wilson interaction and legal proceedings. 

Again I think people, Christians especially, on both sides of this justice tension would do well to consider the other perspective. But again I’m primarily addressing those who have a harder time focusing on racial injustice. Like it or not, we are the ones who should feel the weight of responsibility to engage the other perspective and do the soul-searching work of striving for justice towards the downcast and oppressed. If we’re honest it is a lot easier to deny, or at least overlook, the reality of racial injustice. We often don’t have to think about it and this is an opportunity to let it sink in, to have our hearts changed, and to heed the challenge to care, correct, and contend for the Lord’s justice towards those who are treated unjustly.

Isn't racial injustice a thing of the past?

Moving to the next tension, you might be wondering whether racism and racial injustice are really even a problem today. Because of where and when we live, it might seem like racial oppression is a thing of the past. We have a black president and really, around here in the progressive Portland area especially, we don’t see much outright racism, at least we don’t notice it. 

Maybe you've even experienced the other side of this complex matter, or run up against seemingly unfair attempts to advance the cause of diversity. Many white people, myself included, have been overlooked for education or employment because of explicitly stated policies to favor minority applicants. If we’re honest though, that kind of unfairness is nothing like the systemic injustice they have experienced and are experiencing. 

First, the reality is, racial injustice is still an issue. If we would resist the urge to be dismissive and defensive, I think we’d have to acknowledge this is true. And now there’s the news of Eric Garner, another black man who died at the hands of a police officer. Earlier this week we found out the officer would not be indicted. There might be arguments for why the grand jury did not indict him, but the video makes it tough to see from that perspective. It’s about time we admit there’s a problem, and at least the possibility of widespread racial injustice. 

[You can access two of the many helpful responses to the Eric Garner situation here and here.]

Second, even if you don’t admit there is still a problem, it doesn't make sense to say, “It’s in the past. You need to get over it.” As one writer has pointed out, I doubt we’d deny the damage and scars that still remain for Jewish people from the holocaust. As embarrassing as it is, slavery and Jim Crow segregation are not very distant memories. 

And third, even if somehow you still think there shouldn't be feelings of injustice, it is still our responsibility as Christian brothers and sisters to listen, to labor to understand, and to have compassion. We must strive to be one as the body of Christ (Eph 2:11–22).

What about the rioting and looting?

You might also be thinking, “How am I supposed to respect or listen to people who are rioting and looting?” First, the vast majority of the black community, and those who are empathizing with their pain, are neither participating in nor condoning in any way the destruction we've seen on the news. We must be very careful to distinguish between rioting and peaceful grieving or protesting, even if that distinction isn't always easy to see. 

[Carl Ellis, jr. offered some helpful thoughts on this distinction in response to the initial situation in Ferguson in August.] 

Second, without in any way excusing or overlooking the rioting and looting, we need to try to see through those wrong responses and get a sense of the pain and helplessness. The feelings of being wronged by those in power is raw, and it’s something white people in America have never experienced in anything close to the same way. Sure, there have doubtless been instances in which a black officer killed an unarmed white person, and you could probably think of other examples too. But as white people in America, we’ll never fully know what it’s like, as a race, to be in the minority. As we attempt to empathize, not just quickly but in a sustained and deliberate way, I think we can begin to understand the helplessness, fear, distrust and despondency of our minority brothers and sisters.

Gospel

There might be other aspects of tension you are feeling, questions like, “Why the demand to understand when it seems like I’m being misunderstood too?” or “Can I have a different perspective without feeling accused of racism?” But let’s conclude this already too long post by thinking about tension related to the gospel.

With the Advent season upon us we rejoice in the gospel. We exult in knowing that Jesus came and defeated sin, including injustice, on the cross, and that He’s coming again to consummate His justice and His kingdom finally. It was appropriate that we sang these words last Sunday:

O come, Desire of nations, bind 

All peoples in one heart and mind 

Bid envy strife and quarrels cease 

Fill the whole world with heaven's peace 

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Yet, as Vergil pointed out powerfully, we have failed to grasp the gospel fully if our joy and hope in Jesus’ coming stops short of longing, praying, and acting as Christ’s body, for His kingdom and His justice to come here on earth as it is in heaven. Gospel action and gospel hope are not competing against each other. It’s not either-or, it’s both-and.

In times like these in our world today we must labor to represent Christ. We must rise up and defend the oppressed. We must be arduous in our efforts to oppose the sin of injustice and defend God’s perfect justice, displayed ultimately at the cross. And we must also anchor our hope and joy deeply in the saving and sin-defeating work of Jesus on the cross, and in the certainty of His coming kingdom.

As a mostly white church with a black pastor, we’re in an uncommon situation at GBC. And it provides us with a distinct and exciting opportunity, an opportunity for which we should be very thankful. As a church, let’s embrace this opportunity and respond by repenting of apathy and inaction if we need to and by heeding the challenge to correct injustice and contend for justice. Let us show compassion and empathy for those who are hurting, whether we understand them or not. And let us grow in unity as we strive to love one other sacrificially and as we learn how to talk, and especially listen, to each other when we see things differently. 

11/30/14 Sermon

Typically, each Monday we will be posting the previous Sunday's sermon. Here is the sermon from yesterday.

Sunday, November 30, 2014
Preaching: Vergil Brown
Title: "Wisdom and Justice"

You can also access the sermon HERE.