May 7, 2013 • 12:28 pm 0
If I set the sun beside the moon,
And if I set the land beside the sea,
And if I set the town beside the country,
And if I set the man bedside the woman,
I suppose some fool would talk about one being better.
G.K. Chesterton
(Wilson, Future Men, 18)
Filed under: Biblical Manhood, Marriage & Family, Sermon prep, Chesterton
February 4, 2013 • 10:38 am 0
We’ve been making our way through the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray on recent Sunday evenings as we come to a close of our consideration of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. This coming Sunday we’ll be looking at the request, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Although we may have said these words literally hundreds of times, when we stop and think what we are asking for, it’s a huge challenge to our self-centred lives where so often we want our will to be done. Praying that God’s will be done on earth – here and now in my life, is a prayer for change; for painful, costly change.
In thinking on this, my mind wandered to John Newton’s old Hymn I asked the Lord that I might grow. It’s a great hymn, giving testimony of how God works in us to achieve his will and purpose.
I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.
‘Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.
I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.
Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.
Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“‘Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.
These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”
Filed under: Sermon prep, prayer, psalms hymns and spiritual songs, westminster shorter catechism
January 2, 2013 • 4:09 pm 0
What am I to you, that you should command me to love you and, if I do not, you should be angry with me and threaten great miseries?
Augustine, Confessions, I.5
Filed under: Sermon prep, heart religion
December 9, 2012 • 2:30 pm 0
Man’s maker was made man,
that He, Ruler of the stars,
might nurse at His mother’s breast;
that the Bread might hunger,
the Fountain thirst,
the Light sleep,
the Way be tired on its journey;
that the Truth might be accused of false witness,
the Teacher be beaten with whips,
the Foundation be suspended on wood;
that Strength might grow weak;
that the Healer might be wounded;
that Life might die.
- Augustine of Hippo (Sermons 191.1)
Filed under: Sermon prep, christmas
December 5, 2012 • 8:48 am 0
And so your celebrations are all to be conducted in the name of Jesus, of course. He is the reason for the season. But more than this. He Is the Lord of the season. He is the Lord of the season because He is the Lord of the earth. He did not come down here, He was not born on this earth, in order to work out a power sharing arrangement with Caesar. So let your Christmas celebrations be joyful all the way down to the ground. But in order for it to be the right kind of joy, those celebrations should be one of the most political things that you do. It should be the sort of thing that carnal kings worry about. (Wilson, God Rest Ye Merry, 66-7)
Filed under: Sermon prep, christmas, doug wilson
September 6, 2012 • 8:45 am 0
We’re looking at the 6th Commandment this coming Sunday evening. Here Trevin Wax outlines three media made myths concerning abortion. He’s speaking with reference to the US and all of the stats he mentions reflect that, but the myths themselves are as prevalent here in the UK.
MYTH #1:
Believing abortion should be outlawed in most or all cases is an extreme position.
MYTH #2:
A pro-life position is unpopular with women and risks losing their votes.
MYTH #3:
Abortion is one of many women’s health issues.
Filed under: Sermon prep, 10 Commandments
September 3, 2012 • 12:45 pm 0
This coming Sunday evening we’ll be considering the 6th Commandment, You shall not murder. Below is a link of Dr Peter Kreeft on why even those who are not convinced by pro-life arguments, have no reason at all to support the abortion of the unborn foetus.
You’ll need to pay attention to the argument and maybe watch it a few times over but the logic is undeniable.
Filed under: Marriage & Family, Sermon prep, peter kreeft, pro life arguments, westminster shorter catechism
August 30, 2012 • 10:11 am 0
On Sunday evening we will be thinking about the fifth commandment as we continue our way through the Westminster Shorter Catechism. John Frame in his excellent The Doctrine of the Christian Life, shows how the narrow application of the command within the context of family relationships, is rightly to be broadened to the other areas of authority in life – church and state. He also gives a timely warning against one sphere of authority encroaching upon another.
So the family is the basic unit of human society. … all the institutions of society—prophetic, priestly, and kingly—begin in the family. To children, parents are rulers, educators, providers, and evangelists. All other forms of authority are extended forms of fatherhood and motherhood. Historically developmentally, and logically, the family is, I said in the previous chapter, “the fundamental sphere from which all others are derived.” Honor in all spheres is derived from parental honor.
The family is also crucial to economic well-being. Honor to parents brings inheritance. It brings long life and prosperity. Rousas Rushdoony points out that “throughout history the basic welfare agency has been the family.” Government policies that weaken the family lead to poverty and cultural decline. (Frame, Doctrine of the Christian Life, 595)
Filed under: Marriage & Family, Sermon prep, John Frame, westminster shorter catechism
August 6, 2012 • 8:30 am 0
This coming Sunday evening we’ll be continuing our look through the Westminster Shorter Catechism where we’ve reached questions on the second commandment.
To get you thinking have a listen to the below
Filed under: On the links, Sermon prep, westminster shorter catechism
June 16, 2012 • 10:06 am 0
It’s Father’s Day in the UK tomorrow and we’ll be thinking about holy fatherhood tomorrow morning from Ephesians 6:4 and Colossians 3:21. In his post here, Glenn Stanton picks up on Lewis’ words that because our God is a Father, fatherhood is at the core of the universe. What are the implications of our God, the Eternal Father? Stanton says this means
that the universe is not a dark, empty, impersonal place. Just the opposite. At its core, it is an overwhelmingly warm, relational, personal place. This explains why broken and unhealthy relationships, loneliness, and abandonment are among the most painful of human experiences.
God’s essential Fatherhood also means the devil
loathes our fathers and those of us who are fathers. He recognizes fatherhood’s power. He recognizes each earthly father’s iconic nature. He realizes the pain it causes God and his image-bearing creatures when fatherhood is corrupted. And this delights our mortal enemy.
It’s worth reading the whole article, whether you are a father or not.
Filed under: Biblical Manhood, Marriage & Family, Sermon prep, C S Lewis, christian parenting
