The Leader Who Is Blessed
This morning at our monthly Men’s Breakfast (can I get an amen) I shared with everybody 3 characteristics from Psalm 1 about the leader who is blessed by God. Here’s what we talked about:
1. The leader who is blessed goes against the flow of wickedness- Psalm 1:1
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;”
- This is the man who knows who he is and what he stands for. He is not driven and tossed by the culture around him. Instead he takes a stand for righteousness.
- Choose your friends and influences carefully
- Surround yourself with people who pull you up
2. The leader who is blessed delights in God’s Word- Psalm 1:2-3
“but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”
- Have a specific time each day to read, study, and meditate on Scripture
- Scripture will give you inner strength and nourishment for life and leadership
3. The leader who is blessed understands the futility of wickedness- Psalm 1:4-6
“The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
- The wicked are like chaff that is driven away
- The wicked will not stand in the final judgment
- The wicked will ultimately perish
Divine Appointments
I love how God works. Yesterday was a unique day for me. Throughout the day I met 4 brand new people at different times as I was going about life. In the course of conversation with each of them, God opened up an opportunity to talk about faith and I ended up inviting all 4 of them to church!
I still think that personal invitation is the absolute best form of marketing. You just can’t beat it. People are much more willing to travel long distances to attend a church with a friend than a church down the street where they don’t know anybody. I know its a simple lesson, but I’m re-learning that God does not bring people into our lives by accident, and he loves to set us up with divine appointments.
My encouragement to you is to be sensitive today to the people that God may be sending your way. Look for opportunities that he may open up to share the gospel, and bring somebody along with you this Sunday!
After God’s Heart
Really excited to start a brand new series this Sunday called “After God’s Heart: Developing a God-Centered Life“. One of the best known and most loved of all the people in the Bible is King David. While David is known for many things, perhaps the most intriguing and important fact about his life is that he is the only person in Scripture who is referred to as a “man after God’s own heart” (Acts 13:22).
This is an amazing fact considering the dramatic ups and downs of his life. He went from warrior-king to adulterer-murderer and is still remembered as a man after the heart of God. As a man of success and a man of failure, we all have much in common with David. In this 6-week study the life of David, we will see how we as imperfect people can become people after the heart of God.
This is the first series in which I have written a complete 6-week study guide which will be available on Sunday. Some of our Community Groups are using it as their basis of study. Others may find it helpful to use for family devotions or personal study.
Worship Services: For Believers or Unbelievers?
As a pastor, one of the things I’ve thought a lot about is whether our services should be geared towards believers or unbelievers. I think the most biblical answer is both.
I think it goes without saying that corporate worship gatherings are to build up the body of Christ. Worship and Bible preaching definitely strengthen believers (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16; 1 Tim. 4:11-16). If church services are not strengthening believers we are not being 100% faithful to our calling as a church.
However, if we neglect the evangelistic element in our services we are being equally unfaithful. Why is this? Several reasons from Scripture:
- In the context of public worship, Paul expected unbelievers to enter Christian worship services (1 Cor. 14:23)
- Paul expected unbelievers to be converted to Christ in Christian worship services (1 Cor. 14:24)
- Paul urges sensitivity to unbelievers in corporate worship for the sake of the gospel. In the gathered community, he urges intelligibility in the use of spiritual gifts over unintelligibility for their sake (1 Cor. 14:23b)
- In the context of preaching the Scriptures to the gathered Christian community, Paul told the young pastor Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist” (2 Tim. 4:5). Whatever Paul may have intended by this, he surely expected Gospel-centered Bible preaching to lead to the salvation of sinners
- In the early church, God “added to their number daily those who were being saved.” This would include their day of corporate worship.
In our services I will typically give unbelievers and opportunity to give their lives to Christ because of the above biblical reasons. Also, I’m not at all suggesting that the evangelistic ministry of the church be restricted to Sunday mornings. Indeed, believers should be sharing their faith all week long.
When it comes to corporate worship, I don’t think we need “believers only services” and “unbelievers only services”. The biblical picture of the church is the regenerated family of God worshipping, fellowshipping, and receiving teaching from the word of God on a regular basis in a local community. At these gatherings, unbelievers will be present and should come to faith in Christ. So I opt not for “believer only” or “seeker sensitive” services, but rather “Holy Spirit sensitive” and “Gospel-centered” services. The Gospel builds up believers and saves the unregenerate. The presence of God’s Spirit builds up believers and convicts unbelievers at the same time. In a Gospel-centered church believers will be strengthened and unbelievers will be saved.
Yahweh
This Sunday we are planning to introduce the song Yahweh by Reuben Morgan. It is a powerful song of worship that uses the sacred Hebrew name for God. It is important that we worship God as he is and not how we might want to make him be. He has revealed himself to us by many names in Scripture, but it is Yahweh that is his personal name.
We derive the name Yahweh from four Hebrew consonants YHWH. In revealing himself to us, God chose to combine his name with the Hebrew verb meaning “to be” signifying his eternal, transcendent glory. He is the God who was and is and always will be, and he shall reign forever. Check out the video below to hear Reuben Morgan talk about why he wrote the song:
