GCV Blog

Desperate Christian people pray. In light of our pursuit of another pastor for preaching, I thought I’d share some very practical prayer suggestions from a book that I’ve been reading lately called When the Word Leads Your Pastoral Search:

Is it possible to be too Gospel-centered? To make too much of Christ crucified? Paul’s concern for the Corinthians certainly seems to say you can’t. His desire was to know nothing else among them, and for them to fixate on Christ crucified.

One of my favorite times of the year is at hand: Thanksgiving. It is a time to turn our hearts to God for all of the blessings He has given us. In fact, every good gift and every perfect gift is from Him (James 1.17). God has blessed us in that every physical need has been met (Matthew 7.9-11). More importantly, we have been blessed with everything that we need spiritually.

Purpose statements are extremely helpful for businesses, teams, ministries, etc. They not only help us know why the organization exists, but they help that organization stay on task. All great businesses have a clear purpose statement. People have purpose statements, too. What’s yours? If I asked you, “What’s the purpose of your existence?” What would be your answer? Or, perhaps more telling, if I asked your three closest friends, “What the purpose of _______’s (your name) existence?” What would they tell me?

The book of 1 John begins right out of the gate by focusing on Christ and making the proclamation of what John and the other apostles heard, saw, and touched (our Savior). John's desire--by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit--was for us to have fellowship with God and one another, made possible by cross.

In my previous pastoral words, we’ve considered giving as a means of grace. God’s Word dictates the manner in which we should give; we ought to give sacrificially, cheerfully, purposefully, and regularly. However, God’s law does not leave us without motivation. Giving is a means of grace, in that, if we give properly, then God will use that action to grow us to be more like Christ. Consider some of the benefits in giving biblically that are found in 2 Corinthians 9.

Dick and Irene have graciously agreed to share this with our entire church family, so I pray you are encouraged again through them and able to serve them better. David

John MacDuff, "The Promised Land!" 1859 "And He led them forth by the right way--that they might go to a city of habitation." Psalm 107:5 God's thoughts are not as our thoughts--neither are His ways as our ways! This truth is strikingly exemplified in the manner in which He led the Israelites from Egypt to the promised land.

David Platt, in his book Radical, takes the above passage and pieces together the steps to salvation beginning in verse 15 and moving backwards in the passage. Those who preach are sent; those who hear do so from someone who preaches; those who believe do so from hearing; those who believe call on Him in whom they believe.

If it weren’t for the Gospel, raising idolaters would be inevitable. Christian parents would be mired in despair, unable to shake the burden of watching their precious children race toward false worship. Knowing that we are born running away from worshipping the one true God, knowing that only a heart change can rescue our children, knowing that in our weakness we ourselves could point our children to idolatry—all this knowledge would only be devastating if it weren’t for the Gospel.