10 resources on the topic of humility

Last week I shared 10 resources on the topic of pride. This week we turn to pride's opposite, humility. Listen to the sermon, and check out these resources below. 

1. C.J. Mahaney - Humility: True Greatness. A very practical and helpful book.
2. John Stott - Humility is our greatest friend.
3. John Piper - What is humility?
4. Charles Spurgeon - Learning humility from Jesus.
5. John Piper - Are you humble enough to be care-free?
6. Ken Sande - The demeanour of humility vs actual humility.
7. Jane Tooher - 8 ways to become more humble.
8. John Piper - Looking out for the interests of others.
9. Ligonier - A devotional on the topic of humility.
10. R.C. Sproul - Humilitation to exaltation.

10 resources on the topic of pride

On the weekend, I preached on the topic of pride - what it is, why God hates it, and how we can put it to death in our lives. Here's 10 resources I found helpful in preparing for this sermon. 

1. Baker's Evangelical Dictionary - a Biblical overview on pride.
2. John Piper - How to fight the sin of pride, especially when you are praised. 
3. C.S. Lewis - The Great Sin.
4. Tim Challies - What happens when I am God.
5. Augustine - on pride.
6. A.W. Tozer - on pride.
7. Chris Larson - It's all about me.
8. Robert Rayburn - Pride and Humility.
9. John Stott - Pride, Humility and God.
10. John Piper - Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord!

Simple tips for promoting Easter on Twitter and Facebook

Want to promote Easter events to your friends and family on Facebook and Twitter? Here's some ideas to help you out.

Facebook Events

We've set up 2 events on Facebook for our Good Friday services, and our special 6.30am service on Easter Sunday.

You can see both these events at https://www.facebook.com/churchbythebridge/events. Click on 'Join' if you're coming, and 'Share' to invite a friend.

Facebook and Twitter wording ideas

Feel free to copy and paste the words below, or edit them as you see fit. When you're posting on Twitter, it would be great if you could use the hashtag #changedlives

What better way to celebrate Easter than with hot cross buns under the Harbour Bridge! http://cbtb.org.au/easter

No excuses not to come - my church is having 10 different Easter church services! Join me? http://cbtb.org.au/easter

Easter changed my life. [EXAMPLE]. Why not join me at church this Easter. http://cbtb.org.au/easter

8 people from my church share how Easter changed their lives (http://cbtb.org.au/easter).

Don't miss the chance for your life to be changed. Come to church with me this Easter. http://cbtb.org.au/easter

How will you be celebrating Easter this year? If in Sydney, join me at church! http://cbtb.org.au/easter

Come to @cbtbkirribilli this Easter and discover why Jesus is such good news. http://cbtb.org.au/easter

If you've got kids and want to experience church this Easter, come to my church's 9.45am service on Good Friday. http://cbtb.org.au/easter

I'd love you to join me at church this Easter. Jesus death and resurrection changed my life forever. Let it change yours. http://cbtb.org.au/easter

Easter article: Christ's resurrection is more than just a story. http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/25243-a-case-for-resurrection

"The resurrection was God’s way of stamping PAID IN FULL right across history so that nobody could miss it." http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/deeper-walk/features/25243-a-case-for-resurrection

Video: Christ is Risen. Great music, beautiful lyrics about the power of Easter. http://www.communicatejesus.com/2010/08/video-come-awake/

Free download: "Fifty reasons why Jesus came to die". http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/free-download-of-fifty-reasons-why-jesus-came-to-die

Easter is really good news. Why not take 2 hours this weekend to discover why. http://cbtb.org.au/easter

What Easter means to me: [TEXT]. What does Easter mean to you?

A script to help you invite friends to Carols

Would you like to invite friends, family or colleagues to Carols under the Bridge but you're not sure how to word the invite?

To help you, we've put together a short script that you can use in an email (as is, or adjusted as needed) to invite these people to Carols. You can also attach this invite to your email (download here)

…

Hey NAME

How are you?

Have you got any plans on Sunday 18 December - I'll be going to Carols under the Bridge - and I'd love you to join me!

My church in Kirribilli is putting on this event and its going to be in Bradfield Park with Sydney Harbour as the backdrop! It's hard to think of a better location!

It's a free event with live jazz from 5pm, and then the carols from 7.30pm.

There is food available at the markets, but we could also pack a picnic and some drinks too!

Check out the website for more info: www.carolsunderthebridge.com/.

It should be a lot of fun - I think they are expecting 4,000 people to come (4,001 if you can make it!). 

Let me know if you're keen, and we can work out the details. 

…

10 resources to help you count the cost of following Jesus

Over the weekend, Simon and Steve preached on Matthew 8:18-34. Here, Jesus explains that following him involves costly obedience. As we follow after him, we are literally following in his footsteps as he endured great cost that we might have the privilege of following him. Below are some resources to continue to help you follow after Jesus.

• 'The Cost of Discipleship' by Dietrich Bonhoeffer is a classic, and a challenge against 'cheap grace'. 
• In a similar vein, 'Free is not cheap' is a short article and background to Bonhoeffer's book.
• 'Follow Jesus' is a short video by Francis Chan, that includes a reflection guide. Chan has a couple of other videos on following Jesus here and here.
• John Sott preached a great sermon on the topic: 'The Cost of Discipleship'. 
• A short devotional from Ligonier Ministries.
• John Piper on 'The radical cost of following Jesus'. 
• This video explains how the early disciples counted the cost in following Jesus.
• John Macarthur speaks/writes on 'the cost of following Jesus'.

Two organisations seeking to end child sex exploitation

2 children are sold every minute. There are many people who are seeking to do something about this. Here’s details of two organisations, with a couple of videos to learn more about this international issue.

Love 146

International Justice Mission

Making sense about God’s OT wrath

More…

The Holiness of God - free audiobook

More…

A great description of the Christian life

More…

How to be a missional small group

More…

Why we all need the gospel

More…

How not to choose a job

More…

Why bookstores matter

More…

When is an issue important enough to correct someone?

More…

Are you viewing porn on your iPhone?

More…

Moore College launches the Centre for Christian Living

More…

How NOT to listen to sermons

More…

8 tips for talking to your kids about the sermon

More…

Praying for your pastor

We’re one month into the new year. Perhaps a belated resolution could be to pray for your pastor?

Read more here.

3 ways to get the most out of a sermon

Preparation.
Concentration.
Rumination.

Read more here.

Shaping the Nation

A speech by the Hon Kevin Andrews MP. Download here

Evangelism for the rest of us

A link to the article quoted in this week’s newsletter.

The focus for this year is ‘Reaching those you know’. Below are some helpful thoughts and resources from Randy Newman in response to the question ‘How would you encourage those of us who don’t feel particular gifted at evangelism to strengthen our practice?’

More…

The Hole in Our Holiness

Kevin de Young challenged that the pursuit of personal holiness doesn’t occupy the place in our hearts that it should. He gives five reasons why - read more here.

Confessing our sins

In my Connect Group recently we’ve been discussing why and how to confess sins. Here are a couple of articles that have helped us think through topic.

- “If you really want to make peace, ask God to help you breathe grace by humbly and thoroughly admitting your wrongs. One way to do this is to use the Seven A’s.” Read more - The Seven A’s of Confession

- “Some of you have taken significant risks in this whole area of relationships and are much the better for it today. Others of you are hurting yourselves and the cause of God by bottling up something that someone should know about—some grudge, some failure, some habit, some remorse. May the Lord give us the wisdom to know the difference between an unhealthy indulgence in self-exposure on the one hand and the biblical risk of authenticity and confession on the other.” Read more - The Risk of Confessing Our Sins.

- “David Powlison has provided a helpful tool for walking through a sin issue—where it comes from and how it can be dealt with at the cross.” Read more - Personal Liturgy of Confession.

- Steve

15 Questions to Help You Evaluate Your Marriage

This post was sourced from Justin Taylor’s blog.

In the latest Journal of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood Rob Lister has a good article (link) filled with practical suggestions for married couples to use in evaluating their marriage. The whole thing is worth reading for counsel on how and when to do this.

1. On a scale of 1-10, give your overall assessment of our marriage in the past six months. To be sure, this is a very broad and subjective item, but I have found it helpful to open the conversation with an item of this kind of breadth, because it helps to prime the pump. Obviously, you won’t hit on a ton of specifics with this one—that’s what the rest of the questions are for—but I have been truly amazed at just how much discussion this assessment alone can generate, as various issues come to mind. From there, we’re off and running. Follow-up questions in the event that the conversation fails to gain traction initially: What have been the strengths of the past six months?

2. What would make your assessment higher?

3. How has the husband’s leadership been over the past six months? The wife’s support? Follow-up: How can I improve in fulfilling my respective role?

4. How is your walk with God, both personally and as a couple?

5. Where do you see ungodliness in my life?

6. Do I have any unconfessed sin that needs to be shared with my spouse?

7 Are we guarding meaningful time together? Prayer? Conversation? Date Night?

8. How is our sex life?

9. What could I do to make you feel more loved/secure/respected?

10. How can I serve you better?

11. What are the issues that we need to anticipate in the upcoming six months?

12. What’s your greatest personal disappointment and your greatest satisfaction in the last six months?

13. How can I best pray for you?

14. What are our major upcoming mutual prayer concerns?

15. Spend a few moments, in an encouraging fashion, sharing several of the things that each of you loves and appreciates about the other.

Then close, by spending some concerted time in prayer for those prayer concerns you just shared, as well as thanking God for his faithfulness to you as a couple over the past six months.

Praying for African Muslims

Following on from our prayer meeting on Wednesday, Suzie has put together some prayer notes for African nations with a Muslim population of 80% or more.

Download the prayer notes here.

Also check out these resources from Justin Taylor on ‘Reaching Muslims for Christ’.

Interview with a Kirribilli local

Interview with a Kirribilli local from Church by the Bridge on Vimeo.

Encouragement from the C.S. Lewis Institute

C.S. Lewis came to faith in 1931 - self-described as “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England.” Lewis was teaching at the English faculty at an Oxford College when he came to faith, and it was his command of the English language that continues to have an impact today. Lewis has written many books - Mere Christianity is a personal favourite, and reading The Screwtape Letters gave me a greater perspective on the spiritual battles present in the Christian life. You can read more about C.S. Lewis here.

I recently came across the C.S. Lewis Institute. I’d like to draw your attention to three free resources on their website.

1. Reflections are the thoughts of C.S. Lewis, crafted into monthly meditations. Read more…

2. Knowing & Doing is a 28-page teaching quarterly that offers a wide variety of articles from nationally recognized leaders in discipleship, spirituality, theology, apologetics and cultural analysis. Read more…

3. Annual Spiritual Check-up - a two-page set of questions to review your spiritual life. Download…

May these resources encourage you as you seek to live for Jesus.

By the way, you can get both Mere Christianity and The Screwtape Letters for $30.73, delivered from The Book Depository. Click here for more information.

- Steve Kryger

Why do we read the Bible in church?

In a culture that loves the bright, shiny & new – the practise of publicly reading from the Bible is perhaps the most counter cultural thing we do when we gather.  There aren’t many places you can go to hear a book, several thousand years old, read from.  Even stranger is that we read it not for its insights into the past – but the present.  As someone put it, ‘Give me a candle and a Bible, and shut me up in a dark dungeon, and I will tell you all that the whole world is doing’.  Why do we have such confidence?  Why are we so committed to reading the Bible in Church? There are a whole variety of possibilities - not least the command in to Timothy to ‘devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching & to teaching’ 1 Tim 4v13.  But of all the possible reasons – here are two to reflect on that we might treasure Bible reading as the high point of our meeting:

First, the ‘Clarity of God speaking to us’. 

The Bible is a ‘plain book’. Not that it is boring, but God speaks through the Bible to us in a way that is understandable.  He chooses to not only create us capable of communication – but also chooses to step down to our level & communicate with us.  John Calvin put it: “God, in so speaking, lisps with us as nurses are wont to do with little children”.  Paul commands Timothy to simply read from the Bible, because its clarity means you don’t need to be ‘an expert’ to understand it. Anyone under the guidance of the Spirit is entitled (even obligated) to search the Scriptures to judge for themselves what it means.  The clarity of God’s word doesn’t discount your effort.  The infinite God revealing Himself to us is a big & complex subject! Even more, God communicates this way to create relationship over a lifetime, so invites us to prayerfully consider what He tells us.  But the Bible’s clarity does mean the big issue for us as we come to church is not ‘hearing the Word’, but obeying it (James 1:22-25).  As the Bible is read to us each week in church, we mustn’t beware our temptation to complicate & qualify it to the point we ignore it.  If what is read from the front is uncomfortable to put into practise, or unnatural to our thinking, or out of step with our culture – it doesn’t mean God doesn’t mean it!

A second reason is the ‘Power of God speaking to us’. 

The Bible is a ‘powerful book’.  After Paul gave his command to be devoted to reading the Bible publicly, he explains the ultimate outcome of saving both ‘yourself & your hearers’ (1 Tim 4v16).  God’s Word achieves His outcomes (Isaiah 55v11).  No other book can produce eternal salvation.  No other book speaks complete truth about the most important topics.  No other book can produce such ‘good fruit’ in the lives of those who hear & obey.  No other book can enable us to understand the mind & purposes of God.  No other book can give confidence in the face of evil, pain & even death.  The Bible is powerful.

As a church, I trust we will never stop reading the Bible publicly, no matter how strange it seems.  But, as a church, may it not be because of stale tradition – but because we treasure God’s ‘plain & powerful Word’.

In Him
Mark Smith (Assistant Pastor)

Women on the job

An article from Mars Hill Church.

Pursuing daily repentance

Are You a Real Friend? Do You Have Real Friends?

Here’s a very helpful two-part blog post from Keith Simon, giving biblically grounded practical wisdom on the nature of true friendship and criticism, building off of Proverbs 27:6: “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.”

You Can Change - a book by Tim Chester

All of Life is Repentance - a short article by Tim Keller.

1 Kings 8:46-51 - a passage that describes the process of repentance. 

46 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to his own land, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their conquerors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 48 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their fathers, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their conquerors to show them mercy; 51 for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.

Some other passages to check out include:

- Hosea 6:1-3
- Ezekiel 36:24-32
- 2 Corinthians 7
- 1 John 1

Christian biographies for kids

Christian biographies are a source of tremendous encouragement. The annual lectures from John Piper, featuring the biographies of saints of old, warm the soul, and challenge may aspects of my life.

Isn’t it good to see that kids can get in on the action?! Joshua Harris writes about a new biography series for kids. Read more...

Beginning with Moses

A website to help you learn more about Biblical theology - the big story of the Bible. Read more...

What’s key to healthy Christian growth in godliness?

A handful of thoughtful Christian men answer this question. Read more here.

Resources to help you think Christianly at the ballot box

Church by the Bridge doesn’t necessarily endorse any of these resources, but we’ve made these links available to help you in the process of discerning how to vote.

The Australian Electoral Commission is a good place to start, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the election process.

Godly Voting. An article by Assistant Minister, Mark Smith.

How Should a Christian Vote? An article by Michael Jensen with John Dickson.

The Australian Christian Lobby has an Election Summary Booklet (PDF).

A similar booklet has been published by the Uniting Church.

The Centre for Public Christianity has a section on election.

Salt Shakers has a Christian Values Checklist, as well as links to the parties policies.

Below The Line is a tool to see how preferences would be distributed (in the Senate), if you vote for a particular party above the line.

This post is helpful in considering the limitations of ‘Christian values checklists’.

This post provides a helpful response to critiques, such as the post above.

Josh’s 2010 Election Voting Guide - this post provides some encouragement to Christians in how they approach the election.

On Voting and Jesus - a series by my friend (and Moore College student), Steve Boxwell.

If you have come across other useful resources, let .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) know.

A recommended book (although difficult to get your hands on before this election!) is by Harry Blamires - ‘The Christian Mind: How Should a Christian Think?’.  It’s a great book about thinking Christianly, and was one of the most influential books in John Stott’s life.

Deconstructing defeater beliefs

Every culture hostile to Christianity holds to a set of ‘common-sense’ consensus beliefs that automatically make Christianity seem implausible to people. These are what philosophers call “defeater beliefs”. A defeater belief is Belief-A that, if true, means Belief-B can’t be true…

Click here to read the article.

To serve is to suffer

At the Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor shares two excerpts from a recent essay in Christianity Today. Read the excerpts below, and the full essay here.

The West, having struggled with the tyrannical rule of time, has a lot to teach the East about the need for rest. The East has something to teach the West about embracing physical problems that come from commitment to people. If you think it is wrong to suffer physically because of ministry, then you suffer more from the problem than those who believe that suffering is an inevitable step on the path to fruitfulness and fulfillment. Since the Cross is a basic aspect of discipleship, the church must train Christian leaders to expect pain and hardship. When this perspective enters our minds, pain will not touch our joy and contentment in Christ. In 18 different New Testament passages, suffering and joy appear together. In fact, suffering is often the cause for joy (Rom. 5:3-5; Col. 1:24; James 1:2-3).

Another excerpt:

I have a great fear for the church. The West is fast becoming an unreached region. The Bible and history show that suffering is an essential ingredient in reaching unreached people. Will the loss of a theology of suffering lead the Western church to become ineffective in evangelism? The church in the East is growing, and because of that God’s servants are suffering. Significant funding and education come to the East from the West. With funding and education comes influence. Could Westerners influence Eastern Christians to abandon the Cross by communicating that they must be doing something wrong if they suffer in this way? Christians in both the East and the West need to have a firm theology of suffering if they are to be healthy and bear fruit.

Two videos on money

That’s My Money

That’s My King

What’s wrong with wanting good things?

As mentioned in this week’s newsletter, here’s a link to the essay.

20 Resources to Help Us Spend Time in God’s Word

1. For the Love of God - a book by Don Carson, that is also collated as a daily blog post on the Gospel Coalition’s website.

2. Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions - classic prayers and devotions from saints of old.

3. No Excuses for Not Reading the Bible - opportunities to use technology (the internet, your phone) to read the Bible, including a variety of Bible reading plans.

4. Gospel Meditations for Women - a month-long devotional book for women.

5. Taste and See - 140 meditations in God’s Word by John Piper.

6. Fighter Verse Program - “short passages of Scripture selected to equip the believer in the fight of faith”.

7. Desiring God Articles on Devotional Life - articles from the Desiring God website on the topic of the ‘Devotional Life’.

8. Spiritual Disciplines of the Christian Life - “Based on the rich heritage left us by the early church fathers, the Puritan writers, and Jesus Christ Himself, this book takes you through a carefully selected array of disciplines including Scripture reading, prayer, worship, Scripture meditation, evangelism, serving, stewardship, Scripture application, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning.”

9. Matthias Media Resources for Personal Bible Reading - Christian publishing house, Matthias Media, has a range of resources to help with personal Bible reading.

10. 40 Questions About Interpreting the Bible - when reading the Bible prompts questions, this book will help with some of these. Check out this post by Justin Taylor for more on this title.

11. Morning and Evening - a year-long collection of devotions by Charles Spurgeon.

12. Daily Readings from the Life of Christ - a collection of devotions from John Macarthur.

13. Through the Bible, Through the Year - daily reflections from Genesis to Revelation from John Stott.

14. Walking with God Day by Day - 365 devotions from Martin Lloyd-Jones.

15. 365 Days with Spurgeon - as the title suggests, “a unique collection of 365 daily readings from sermons preached by Charles Spurgeon”.

16. Heart Aflame - daily readings from John Calvin on the Psalms.

17. Devotional Books by Crossway Publishing - Christian publishing house, Crossway Publishing, has 16 books in the ‘Devotional’ category.

18. Diligently Seeking God - meditations for each day of the year, to help us take God more seriously.

19. My Utmost for His Highest - 365 one-minute devotions from Oswald Chambers.

20. Holiness Day by Day - “a one-year devotional on spiritual transformation, with each reading carefully chosen from Jerry Bridges’ best writings. It takes you deeper than other, shorter devotionals, stimulating stronger commitment and spiritual transformation.”

15 Questions to Consider Our Bible Reading Habits

2 Timothy is a book of the Bible that exhorts us to take God’s Word seriously, especially as we consider its power to speak to our lives, to change us into the ever-increasing likeness of Jesus. And yet, we don’t always give God’s word the place in our lives that it deserves. Below are 15 questions for us to consider how we read the Bible, to encourage us to spend more time with God in His Word.

1. How many minutes (approximately) did I spend with God in His Word last week (not including church or Connect!)?

2. What things keep me from spending time with God in His Word? What do I find myself doing in the times that I could be spending with God?

3. How would my life look different if I spent more time with God in His Word? (consider decisions, speech, perspective, parenting, prayer life, etc)

4. Think of a time when I was regularly reading God’s Word (that could be the present, if so - great!). How did I benefit from that time?

5. How have I seen God’s word change me?

6. What time of the day am I most alert and able to concentrate?

7. What things help me to remember and meditate on what I’ve read? (Is it by taking notes, highlighting the Bible, talking to someone about what I’ve read?)

8. Do I have a plan for how I will spend time with God in His Word? If so, what is it?

9. Are there parts of God’s Word that I have never read, or actively avoid reading?

10. Do I have questions or doubts about the Bible that cause me to want to read the Bible less?

11. When I do read the Bible, what things cause my mind to wander, or distract me?

12. How can I minimise these distractions?

13. Humanly speaking, what are some practical things I could do to make my time with God in His Word more enjoyable? (e.g. drinking coffee, sitting in park, with a friend)

14. How can others help me to spend more time with God in His Word?

15. Guilt is a weak motivator. What are some more Biblical and compelling motivations for me to spend more time in God’s Word?

The story of Zac Smith

The Story of Zac Smith from NewSpring Media on Vimeo.

What is the gospel?

What is the Gospel? from Southern Seminary on Vimeo.

27 inspirational quotes about mission

Courtesy of Dave Freeman, below are a collection of inspirational (and convicting) quotes about mission.

“People who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives…and when the bubble has burst, they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.” - Nate Saint, missionary martyr
 
“He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” - Jim Elliot, missionary martyr
 
“Our young men are going into the professional fields because they don’t ‘feel called’ to the mission field. We don’t need a call; we need a kick in the pants. We must begin thinking in terms of ‘going out,’ and stop our weeping because ‘they won’t come in.’ Who wants to step into an igloo? The tombs themselves are not colder than the churches. May God send us forth.” - Jim Elliot

(Nate and Jim along with Ed, Roger and Pete died together)
 
...
 
“If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” - C.T. Studd
 
“Had I cared for the comments of people, I should never have been a missionary.” - C.T. Studd
 
“Some wish to live within the sound of a chapel bell; I wish to run a rescue mission within a yard of hell.” - C.T. Studd
 
...
 
“The saddest thing one meets is a nominal Christian. I had not seen it in Japan where missions is younger. The church here is a “field full of wheat and tares.” - Amy Carmichael (missionary to India)

 
“You can give without loving. But you cannot love without giving.” - Amy Carmichael

... 

“Would that God would make hell so real to us that we cannot rest; Heaven so real that we must have men there.” - Hudson Taylor (missionary to China)
 
“It will not do to say that you have no special call to go to China. With these facts before you and with the command of the Lord Jesus to go and preach the gospel to every creature, you need rather to ascertain whether you have a special call to stay at home.” - Hudson Taylor
 
“The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed” - Hudson Taylor
 
“God isn’t looking for people of great faith, but for individuals ready to follow Him” - Hudson Taylor
 
“God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him.” - Hudson Taylor
 
“If I had 1,000 lives, I’d give them all for China.” - Hudson Taylor
 
...
 
“I cared not where or how I lived, or what hardships I went through, so that I could but gain souls for Christ. While I was asleep I dreamed of these things, and when I awoke, it was the first thought that I had, the thought of this great work.” - David Brainerd
 
...
 
“Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.” - William Carey (pioneer missionary to India, and called ‘the father of modern missions’)
 
“To know the will of God, we need an open Bible and an open map.” - William Carey
 
“Is not the commission of our Lord still binding upon us? Can we not do more than now we are doing?” - William Carey
 
...
 
“The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become.” - Henry Marty (missionary to India and Persia_
 
...
 
“Someone asked Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved?’ It is more a question with me whether we - who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not - can be saved.” - Charles Spurgeon
 
...
 
“Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because missions is the overflow of God’s delight in being God.” - John Piper
 
“God is pursuing with omnipotent passion a worldwide purpose of gathering joyful worshipers for Himself from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. He has an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the supremacy of His name among the nations. Therefore, let us bring our affections into line with His, and, for the sake of His name, let us renounce the quest for worldly comforts and join His global purpose.” - John Piper
 
...
 
“Sympathy is no substitute for action.” - David Livingstone (missionary to Africa)
 
“God had only one Son and he made that Son a missionary.” - David Livingston
 
“If a commission by an earthly king is considered a honour, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a sacrifice?” - David Livingstone
 
...
 
“We must be global Christians with a global vision because our God is a global God.” - John Stott
 
...
 
“Tell the students to give up their small ambitions and come eastward to preach the gospel of Christ.” – Francis Xavier (missionary to India, the Philippines, and Japan)
 
...
 
“I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.” - John Keith Falconer

5 books to meditate on the gospel

A big theme of 2 Timothy (our new sermon series in the evenings) is the gospel – knowing the gospel, suffering for the gospel, being strengthened by the gospel, being unashamed of the gospel. As we begin this series, here are some books worth reading to continue to meditate on the gospel. Some of these books will be available in the book stall, and links to purchase these books online will be provided on our website.

’God is the Gospel’ by John Piper.
‘‘Gospel” means good news—but what makes the good news good? What is the goal of the gospel, without which it is no longer good? It is that Christ’s death brings sinners to God! Were it to bring us anywhere else we would be left hopeless. But the gospel is that God gives us himself—Christ died to give us Christ—, and this self-giving is his highest mercy to us and the best news for us! The most profound, most exceedingly gracious, final and decisive good of the good news is Christ himself as the glorious image of God revealed for our endless satisfaction.’

’Know and Tell the Gospel’ by John Chapman.
A friendly and engaging read to help us as Christians explain the gospel to others.

’What is the Gospel?’ by Greg Gilbert.
‘Beginning with Paul’s systematic presentation of the gospel in Romans and moving through the sermons in Acts, Gilbert argues that the central structure of the gospel consists of four main subjects: God, man, Christ, and a response. The book carefully examines each and then explores the effects the gospel can have in individuals, churches, and the world.’

’Foxe’s Book of Martys’ by John Foxe.
‘They were men that triumphantly donned the armor of God—the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of God’s Word. They faced torture and death in their fight of faith, willing to stand for their beliefs and Word of God regardless of the price.’

’Jesus Freaks’ by DC Talk (see also Volume 2).
Similar to the above, with stories of saints of old, as well as more recent examples of Christians being persecuted for the gospel. An inspiring read, and difficult to read without tears welling up in your eyes.

Update

’Ashamed of the Gospel’ by John Macarthur.

’Nothing but the Truth: Upholding the Gospel in a Doubting Age’ by John Macarthur.

Four new(ish) books to spur you on

Scandalous by Don Carson.

Explores “the irony, scandal, and greatness of the work done on the cross.”

You Can Change by Tim Chester.

“A practical, interactive, and solidly biblical book designed to help Christians in all stages of life to find victory over sin by focusing on what God has already done in us.”

Girls Gone Wise in a World Gone Wild by Mary A Kassian.

“Many women today are eager for mentors. While a book is never a substitute for a real, live mentor, this one does connect women everywhere to the wise counsel of Mary Kassian. And we should heed her winsome, culturally relevant, and biblically sound words in Girls Gone Wise. This book provides an accurate gauge of the current feminine perspective in western culture and contrasts it with the eternal wisdom found in Scripture. Easy-to-read, humble, humorous, and thoroughly sound, Girls Gone Wise is a book both long-time believers and new converts will benefit from reading. Highly recommended!” – Carolyn McCulley
God’s Undertaker – Has Science Buried God? by John Lennox.

“Intended to provide a basis for discussion, this book evaluates the evidence of modern science in relation to the debate between the atheistic and theistic interpretations of the universe. Written like a scientific detective story, this excellent introduction to the current debate grew out of the author’s lengthy experience of lecturing and debating on the subject.”

Don’t forget to check out the bookstall at The Lounge, with a selection of music from Matt Redman, Passion and Hillsong United.

Voice of the Martyrs

In ‘All is not well with the world’, Paul Dale shared the daily reality for many Christians in the world - suffering and persecution.

As a church, we support Voice of the Martyrs, and in particular, some Christians in prison for their faith. For more information, you can:

- subscribe to their prayer watch email,
- subscribe to their newsletter,
- write to prisoners,
- watch videos, and much more.

‘Foxes Book of Martyrs’ and ‘Jesus Freaks’ are two books that speak of the persecution suffered by Christians in the recent and more distant past.

Two free audio books

Audio books are a great form of spiritual encouragement. They are books, that are not read but listened to. For this reason audio books are perfect for when you’re exercising (it’s hard to read a book whilst running on the treadmill), or negotiating painful traffic to and from work. And every month Christian Audio gives away one audio book for free.

This month they are giving away two books:

- “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and
- “Fifty Reasons Jesus Came to Die” by John Piper.

To download the books, visit christianaudio.com, sign-up for a free account and download!

Read more about the value of audio books for spiritual encouragement.

Praying simple prayers

We all find it hard to pray. It doesn’t come naturally to us. But this article by Michael Mckinley (citing Paul Miller’s book, ‘A Praying Life’), encourages us to pray simple, 2 or 3 word prayers.

Read ‘Praying simple prayers’.

How to mediate on God’s word

A helpful article to grow this discipline in our lives. The author, Stephen Altrogge, shares four practical suggestions for how we can do this:

- meditate prayerfully
- meditate quietly
- meditate vocally
- meditate with pen in hand

Read ‘How to meditate on God’s word’.

Charles Spurgeon on doing good where we are

In his book ‘Counsel for Christian Workers’, Charles Spurgeon writes the following:

“Many Christians do all the good they can five miles from their own house, when the time they take to go there and back might well be spent in the vineyard at home. I do not think it would be a wise regulation of the parochial authorities if they required the inhabitants of St Mary, Newington, to remove the snow from the pavement of St Pancras, and the inhabitants of St Pancras to keep clean the pavement of St Mary, Newington. It is best and most convenient that each household should sweep before his own door; so it is our duty to do, as believers, all the good we can in the place where God has been pleased to locate us, and especially in our own households”.

Six books to help us love the church

Some of these books are currently for sale in the welcoming area at the back of church, or you can follow the links to purchase them online:

1. Stop Dating the Church, by Joshua Harris.
2. Why We Love the Church, by Kevin DeYoung and Ted Kluck.
3. 9 Marks of a Healthy Church, by Mark Dever.
4. The Living Church - Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor, by John Stott
5. The Deliberate Church: Building Your Ministry on the Gospel, by Mark Dever
6. Total Church: A Radical Reshaping Around Gospel and Community, by Tim Chester

Resources for responding to ‘Mission and money’

The final two talks in the ‘We Are’ series explored the topics of money and mission. You can listen to each of the talks from this series in ‘Bible talks’. Here are some resources to help us continue to reflect on these topics, and apply the truth we have learnt to our lives:

- Paul mentioned several passages that reveal the heart of God. If you missed them, you can see them here and continue to meditate on God’s heart for mission.

- Every week an email is distributed with prayer points for our church, our city and our world. You can .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to sign-up to the prayer email, or visit ‘Pray’ on our website.

- There are several ways you can give to the work of the gospel in Kirribilli. Check out the ‘Give’ section for more information.

- Joshua Harris (author of ‘Stop Dating the Church’ writes a post entitled ‘Think globally, love locally’.

- In his book ‘Counsel for Christian Workers’, Charles Spurgeon writes the following:

“Conversion should begin with those who are nearest to us in ties of relationship. I stir you up, not to be attempting missionary labours for India, not to be casting eyes of pity across to Africa, not to be occupied so much with tears for popish and heathen lands, as for your own children, your own flesh and blood, your own neighbours, your own acquaintance. Lift up your cry to heaven for them, and then afterwards you shall preach among the nations.”

- A couple of quotes by Rick Warren on Twitter recently also spoke to the heart of some of these topics:

What u LOVE MOST is seen in your schedule& bank statement. How u use your time & money shows what matters most to u. Mt.6:24

“The majority who reject the gospel do so simply because they know nothing about it.They arent opposed…but indifferent” - J Gresham Machen

Passages that reveal the heart of God

This week we looked at God’s heart for mission. Here are some of the passages from the Bible that reveal God’s heart for all people to come to him and be saved.

Ezekiel 18:23 - “‘Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked?’ declares the sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not please when they turn from their ways and live?”

1 Timothy 2:3 - “This is good and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth”.

2 Peter 3:9 - “God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance”.

Acts 4:12 - “Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved”.

Charles Spurgeon on ‘going it alone’

“I know there are some who say, ‘Well, I have given myself to the Lord, but I do not intend to give myself to any church.’ Now, why not? ‘Because I can be a Christian without it.’ Are you quite clear about that? You can be as good a Christian by disobedience to your Lord’s commands as by being obedient? There is a brick. What is it made for? To help build a house. It is of no use for that brick to tell you that it is just as good a brick while it is kicking about on the ground as it would be in the house. It is a good-for-nothing brick. So you rolling-stone Christians, I do not believe that you are answering your purpose. You are living contrary to the life which Christ would have you live, and you are much to blame for the injury you do.”

Charles Spurgeon

Seven A’s of Confession

This article is sourced from Peacemaker Ministries, and was found at Justin Taylor’s blog at the Gospel Coalition.

As God opens your eyes to see how you have sinned against others, he simultaneously offers you a way to find freedom from your past wrongs. It is called confession. Many people have never experienced this freedom because they have never learned how to confess their wrongs honestly and unconditionally. Instead, they use words like these: “I’m sorry if I hurt you.” “Let’s just forget the past.” “I suppose I could have done a better job.” “I guess it’s not all your fault.” These token statements rarely trigger genuine forgiveness and reconciliation. If you really want to make peace, ask God to help you breathe grace by humbly and thoroughly admitting your wrongs. One way to do this is to use the Seven A’s.

1. Address everyone involved (All those whom you affected)
2. Avoid if, but, and maybe (Do not try to excuse your wrongs)
3. Admit specifically (Both attitudes and actions)
4. Acknowledge the hurt (Express sorrow for hurting someone)
5. Accept the consequences (Such as making restitution)
6. Alter your behavior (Change your attitudes and actions)
7. Ask for forgiveness

See Matthew 7:3-5; 1 John 1:8-9; Proverbs 28:13.

Does God hate Haiti?

View the article here.

Patrick Henry Hughes

Bible reading plan for 2010

One of the goals at Church by the Bridge in 2010 is to read the whole Bible in a year! If you would like to join us in this aim, please feel free to use this Bible reading scheme (download). You can also read along on your mobile phone - just visit i.cbtb.org.au, and you will see details and links to the day’s readings.

We will read the OT and gospels once, and the NT epistles twice in the year. Please feel free to read this by yourself, or you may wish to join with others to discuss regularly (e.g. end of each month). We pray this will help you love God more as you spend more time in his Word.

21 questions to help you consider your ways

Don Whitney helped us consider the year ahead with ‘10 questions to ask yourself at the start of the year’. Don helps us with another 21 questions to consider our ways.

11. What’s the most important decision you need to make this year?

12. What area of your life most needs simplifying, and what’s one way you could simplify in that area?

13. What’s the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?

14. What habit would you most like to establish this year?

15. Who is the person you most want to encourage this year?

16. What is your most important financial goal this year, and what is the most important step you can take toward achieving it?

17. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your work life this year?

18. What’s one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?

19. What’s one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?

20. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?

21. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?

22. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?

23. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?

24. What’s the most important trip you want to take this year?

25. What skill do you most want to learn or improve this year?

26. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?

27. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your commute this year?

28. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?

29. If those who know you best gave you one piece of advice, what would they say? Would they be right? What will you do about it?

30. What’s the most important new item you want to buy this year?

31. In what area of your life do you most need change, and what will you do about it this year?

10 questions to ask yourself at the start of the year

Courtesy of Don Whitney, here are 10 questions to ask yourself at the start of this new year:

1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

5 books for knowing God better

This month at all services we are exploring the attributes of God in our series ‘I AM - the God you didn’t think of’.

One of the best ways to know God better is to read his Word - it’s one of the key ways God has revealed himself to us. If you need some encouragement as you read, you might like to join others at church in a Bible reading schedule - we’ve produced one you can download here.

Below are some books that explore the attributes of God that you might like to check out too:

• Knowing God, by J.I. Packer
• The Attributes of God, by Arthur Pink
• Attributes of God, by A.W. Tozer
• Knowledge of the Holy, by A.W. Tozer
• The Pursuit of God, by A.W. Tozer

What books have helped you know God better?

Test and examine yourself with x-ray questions

During Sunday’s sermon (‘One living and true God’), Paul mentioned some ‘diagnostic questions’ for identifying idols in your life. David Powlison is the author of those questions and more, and these appear in his book, ‘Seeing with New Eyes’. These X-Ray Questions are from pages 132-40, and have been reproduced below, and can also be downloaded from various websites, including Monergism.

X-Ray Questions

1. What do you love? Hate?
2. What do you want, desire, crave, lust, and wish for? What desires do you serve and obey?
3. What do you seek, aim for, and pursue?
4. Where do you bank your hopes?
5. What do you fear? What do you not want? What do you tend to worry about?
6. What do you feel like doing?
7. What do you think you need?What are your ‘felt needs’?
8. What are your plans, agendas, strategies, and intentions designed to accomplish?
9. What makes you tick? What sun does your planet revolve around? What do you organize your life around?
10. Where do you find refuge, safety, comfort, escape, pleasure, security?
11. What or whom do you trust?
12. Whose performance matters? On whose shoulders does the well-being of your world rest? Who can make it better,make it work, make it safe, make it successful?
13. Whom must you please? Whose opinion of you counts? From whom do you desire approval and fear rejection? Whose value system do you measure yourself against? In whose eyes are you living? Whose love and approval do you need?
14. Who are your role models? What kind of person do you think you ought to be or want to be?
15. On your deathbed, what would sum up your life as worthwhile? What gives your life meaning?
16. How do you define and weigh success and failure, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable, in any particular situation?
17. What would make you feel rich, secure, prosperous? Whatmust you get to make life sing?
18. What would bring you the greatest pleasure, happiness, and delight? The greatest pain or misery?
19. Whose coming into political power would make everything better?
20. Whose victory or success wouldmake your life happy? How do you define victory and success?
21. What do you see as your rights? What do you feel entitled to?
22. In what situations do you feel pressured or tense? Confident and relaxed? When you are pressured, where do you turn? What do you think about? What are your escapes? What do you escape from?
23. What do you want to get out of life? What payoff do you seek out of the things you do?
24. What do you pray for?
25. What do you think aboutmost often? What preoccupies or obsesses you? In the morning, to what does yourmind drift instinctively?
26. What do you talk about? What is important to you? What attitudes do you communicate?
27. How do you spend your time?What are your priorities?
28. What are your characteristic fantasies, either pleasurable or fearful? Daydreams? What do your night dreams revolve around?
29. What are the functional beliefs that control how you interpret your life and determine how you act?
30. What are your idols and false gods? In what do you place your trust, or set your hopes? What do you turn to or seek?Where do you take refuge?
31. How do you live for yourself?
32. How do you live as a slave of the devil?
33. How do you implicitly say, “If only…” (to get what you want, avoid what you don’t want, keep what you have)?
34. What instinctively seems and feels right to you? What are your opinions, the things you feel true?
35. Where do you find your identity? How do you define who you are?

Carols under the Bridge 2009 pictures

Quotes to challenge and inspire

A.W. Tozer - “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us…Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at any given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.”

D.L. Moody - “Go play with forked lightning, go trifle with pestilence and disease, but trifle not with God”
(quoted by Paul Dale in ‘God is not a cuddly teddy bear’).

C.H. Spurgeon - “Sometimes it is a great blessing to have those hard lines drawn, and drawn very straight, too. By this means we may be set on the right track for eternity. One said the other day to a friend of mine, ” I once went to hear Mr. Spurgeon, and when I went into the Tabernacle if you had asked me about myself I should have judged that I was as religious a man as ever lived in Newington, and as good a man, certainly, as ever made part of a congregation ; but all this was reversed when I heard the gospel that day. I came out of the place with every feather plucked out of me. I felt myself the most wretched sinner that could be on the face of the earth, and I said I will never go to hear that man again, for he has spoiled me altogether.” ” Yes,” he said, ” but that was the best thing that could have happened to me. I was made to look away from myself, and all that I could do, to God and to his omnipotent grace, and to understand that I must pass under my Creator’s hand again, or I could never see his face with joy.”
(quoted in ‘According to Promise’ - read online here, or purchase here).

John Stott - “For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting Himself for man.” (quoted in ‘The Cross of Christ’)

Jonathan Edwards - “Remember that pride is the worst viper that is in the heart, the greatest disturber of the soul’s peace and sweet communion with Christ; it was the first sin that ever was, and lies lowest in the foundation of Satan’s whole building, and is the most difficultly rooted out, and is the most hidden, secret and deceitful of all lusts, and often creeps in, insensibly, into the midst of religion and sometimes under the disguise of humility”
(quoted by Paul Dale in ‘Seek the Lord and live’). Read more from Jonathan Edwards on the dangers of spiritual pride.

C.S. Lewis - “Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man.”

John Newton - “Whatever…makes us trust in ourselves that we are comparatively wise or good, so as to treat those with contempt who do not subscribe to our doctrines, or follow our party, is a proof and fruit of a self-righteous spirit.” (quoted by Tim Keller in ‘How do you take criticism of your views?’)

Questions about other people

What about people who have never heard of Jesus?
The Bible does not specifically address this question. However, the Bible does reveal to us a God who will be absolutely fair in his judgements. Justice is good if you have done the right things. But if you have not, mercy is the best option. Many people behave as if they have heard nothing about God when in fact they have. You need to respond to what you have heard, and not use this question as an excuse for your inaction. With respect to those who have never heard, we need to trust God’s fairness and justice

What about other religions?
There are many people who sincerely believe in a different ‘religion’ or ‘creed’. However, sincerity is not the issue - people can be sincerely wrong. Truth is the issue. It is not possible for every religion to be true or right because they contradict each other. Christianity has some distinctive features which are not compatible with other religions. Other religions say you must do certain things in order to be right with God. Christianity says Jesus has done it all, by dying to take the punishment that we deserved so that we could be right with God. Jesus himself said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Visit Christianity.net.au for more questions and answers.

Questions about the Bible

How do you know the gospels are reliable?
Scholars of history apply various tests to ancient documents to establish their historical reliability. When these tests are applied to the Bible it stands head and shoulders above any comparable early writings as a document to be taken seriously as reliable history. The New Testament writings were written close in time to the events of Jesus’ life, and that of the early church. The large number of copies of the original manuscripts means we can be confident that what we read today is what was originally written. Other historical writings confirm what is recorded in the Bible at many points. Many of the Biblical authors themselves stress that they are recording historical events based on eye-witness accounts. The best way to check this out would be to read one of the accounts of Jesus’ life (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) with an open mind and weigh up what it says about him for yourself.

Visit Christianity.net.au for more questions and answers.

Questions about Christianity

Isn’t a Christian just a good person or someone who believes in God?
God wants us to be friends with him not just good enemies. It is not good enough to just to believe God exists (even some people who hate God believe that). We actually need to apologise to God for rebelling against him, and thank him for the death of Jesus which pays for our rebellion. We should then ask God to help us live with Jesus as our Lord. We are to live in a way that pleases God because we have been forgiven, not in order to be forgiven.

Do I have to go to church to be a Christian?
The short answer is No! Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than walking into a garage makes you a car. A Christian is not defined by what they do for God, but by their trust in what God has done for them in Jesus. God is not after church attenders; he is building a family. Of course, once you are a member of his family it will be natural to want to meet with other members of the family, learn together and encourage each other and church is a great way to do that.

Aren’t Christians just a bunch of hypocrites?
Christians don’t claim to be perfect and we are aware that we often don’t live in a way pleases God. Ultimately, though, you should decide about the value of the Christian faith not on the bad performance of its followers but on the basis of its founder - Jesus. The accounts of his life in the Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) show he was no hypocrite, he perfectly practised what he preached. Read one of them for yourself and check out his life and claims

Hasn’t science disproved Christianity?
Science assumes order and uniformity in the world, and provides ways of understanding what normally happens. It doesn’t ‘disprove’ the miracles recorded in the Bible, since these are examples of God at work in the world in ‘unusual’ ways which we would not be able to predict. Science doesn’t set out to answer the bigger questions such as ‘Why are we here ?’ and ‘How should we relate to God?’ and cannot do so. To find the answers to these questions we need to look at what God himself has said in the Bible.

Visit Christianity.net.au for more questions and answers.

Questions about God

How do we know God is there?
We can only know God is there if he chooses to make himself known. He has done this in creation, through the Bible and supremely in the person of Jesus. Had we lived almost 2000 years ago, we could have seen him face to face. Jesus claimed to be God and he backed up those claims with his actions. He calmed storms, healed the sick, cast out evil spirits, raised the dead, and forgave people. When Jesus himself was put to death, he rose again. The evidence of Jesus’ life and actions demonstrate that he was who he claimed to be: the living God

How can a loving God send people to hell?
The Bible reveals two sides of God’s character - his justice and his love. Since all of us have rebelled against God, he is just in giving us the punishment that we deserve. If we tell God we want to be separate from him, God gives us what we want - eternal separation. However, because God is supremely loving he sent his son, Jesus, to take all of God’s anger on himself. If we accept the death of Jesus for us we can spend eternity in heaven not hell. The amazing thing is not that God sends people to hell (as we all deserve), but that he has made it possible for us to go to heaven, even though we don’t deserve to.

How can God allow suffering in the world?
There is no simple answer to this question. All of us go through suffering in our lives, and many people suffer greatly. The Bible shows us that God is completely perfect (he hates suffering and evil) and also completely powerful (and so he could remove it in an instant). Suffering exists in the world because of our rebellion against God. God hates suffering, has suffered himself, and has promised that there will be no suffering in heaven. He is delaying the day when he will end suffering once and for all, in order to give us the opportunity to turn back to him and forgiven for rebelling against him.

Visit Christianity.net.au for more questions and answers.

Resources for pursuing justice

Following on from the first sermon in the Amos series and God’s desire that we be passionate about the pursuit of justice, here are some resources to keep us thinking.

- Micah Challenge (Sydney) Micah Challenge is a global campaign for Christians speaking out about poverty and injustice.

- World Vision has a fact page on human trafficking and slavery with information about this issue.

- They are also running an advocacy campaign ‘Don’t trade lives’ with information about how to combat human trafficking and slavery. Also check out their information page on this issue.

- Child Rescue is another initiative of World Vision to provide rehabilitation and support for children who have been the victims of trafficking and abuse.

- International Justice Mission is a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression. IJM lawyers, investigators and aftercare professionals work with local officials to ensure immediate victim rescue and aftercare, to prosecute perpetrators and to promote functioning public justice systems.

- International Justice Mission is also about to release a new documentary ‘At the End of Slavery’.

- Tribes and Nations supplies the tea, coffee, chocolate and gifts that we sell at our fair trade markets. Our next markets will take place on 28 November, from 8.30am to 3.30pm.

- The ‘Demand ethical chocolate campaign’ is another initiative of World Vision, encouraging Australians to pay farmers a fair price for the cocoa they produce. It includes the ‘Good Chocolate Guide’ - a reference for ethical chocolate purchases. Cadbury has also come on board.

- Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger by Ronald J. Sider. This book discusses the question ‘why is there still poverty in the world?’ and offers practical suggestions for change.

- The Poverty and Justice Bible highlights the more than 2,000 verses in the Bible that spell out God’s attitude to poverty and justice.

- The Hole in Our Gospel is a book written by Richard Sterns, CEO of World Vision, USA. “This is a story of how a CEO faced his own struggle to obey God, whatever the cost, and his passionate call for Christians to change the world by actively living out their faith. Believing that the “good news” is more than a private transaction between God and us, Stearns challenges readers with this question: What does God expect of us? Two thousand years ago, twelve people changed the world. Stearns believes it can happen again.”

- Sojourners have produced a number of study materials (for purchase) including ‘Christians and trade justice’, ‘Christians and the Global Slave Trade’, ‘Christians and Racial Justice’ and ‘Christians and Immigration’.

- ‘The Gospel and the poor’ - an article by Tim Keller from Redeemer Presbyterian Church.

- ‘Don Carson on the Gospel and Social Action’.

- ‘Good news to the poor: the Gospel through social involvement’ - a book by Tim Chester.

- Ethical Consumer Shopping Guide.

Thanks for those who have sent in their suggestions for resources. Know of other useful resources? Contact .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Not saved for the jacuzzi

“The great tragedy of much contemporary Christianity is that the cross is safely relegated to the distant past. And practically what it means is that Jesus was soaked in blood so that I can soak in a Jacuzzi.” Courtesy of Desiring God.

Six things grace frees us from

By God’s grace…

1. We’re freed from the hopeless necessity of trying to commend ourselves to God by being perfect
2. We are freed from pride – that self-protective, self-righteous attitude
3. We are humbled – constantly – because our lives are all of God, all of grace!
4. We view other people differently – grace is the great leveler! So there’s no difference – we’re all equally loved by God, equally forgiven, equally saved in Jesus.
5. We are freed from sin’s domination (Rom 6:14) – our union with Christ has changed our nature and changed our heart! So we hate sin, we no longer get the pleasure we once experienced from sin – Christ is my Saviour, I love him!
6. We are freed from the bondage of fear (Rom 8:15) – fear of meeting God. Because grace assures me that I’m adopted, beloved, secure, awaiting an inheritance and eternal joy.

Get ready for Jesus: All About Life

If you turn on your TV this September you will be sure to see an advertisment with a difference… it’s all about Jesus! During prime time TV there will be a advertising campaign going to air called “Jesu:s All About Life” – backed by all the major Christian denominations and the Bible Society. This will be the church’s biggest and sharpest media campaign perhaps since Billy Graham or ever.

How will it work? There will be approximately 40 days on our televisions where professional and high quality advertisements will be screened. Different ads will be aimed at different demographics, but each will promote the person of Jesus, the one who came to give life to the full and invite people to consider his claims found in Luke’s Gospel.

A free-call number will be attached to the advertisements, and those who respond will receive a booklet with info about what it means to know Jesus and also be given a Luke’s Gospel. They will also be given details of their nearest church that has registered with ‘Jesus: All About Life’.

At Church by the Bridge we have signed up to be one of those contact churches and will be listed on the Jesus All About Life website as a place people can find out more about Christianity. We will also be hosting another Fair Trade Market (Saturday 26th September) to promote the goodness of fair trade but also to act as a point of contact for people in our community. It is my hope also that you will not ignore the opportunities that lay ahead during this media campaign. May each of us at Church by the Bridge be bold to make the most of this incredible opening for the gospel and be prepared to share the hope we have in Jesus.

Can I commend you to most of all pray for the Jesus: All About Life campaign:

- for all those who will view the TV campaign.
- that God would work powerfully to stir hearts to want to know about His Son, Jesus.
- that the Holy Spirit will convict people of their sin and grant them repentance.
- that God would give you opportunities to speak of Jesus with friends and family.

with love

Hayley Neal
Community Pastor

Who am I?

On Sunday, Dave Irving continued the series on Saints of Old, teaching us about the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Listen to this short segment here.

The following poem is taken from The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Who am I?

Who am I? They often tell me
I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.

Who am I? They often tell me
I used to speak to my warders
Freely and friendly and clearly,
As though it were mine to command.

Who am I? They also tell me
I bore the days of misfortune
Equally, smilingly, proudly,
Like one accustomed to win.

Am I then really all that which other men tell of?
Or am I only what I myself know of myself?
Restless and longing and sick, like a bird in a cage,
Struggling for breath, as though hands were
compressing my throat,
Yearning for colors, for flowers, for the voices of birds,
Thirsting for words of kindness, for neighborliness,
Tossing in expectation of great events,
Powerlessly trembling for friends at an infinite distance,
Weary and empty at praying, at thinking, at making,
Faint, and ready to say farewell to it all?

Who am I? This or the other?
Am I one person today and tomorrow another?
Am I both at once? A hypocrite before others,
And before myself a contemptibly woebegone weakling?
Or is something within me still like a beaten army,
Fleeing in disorder from victory already achieved?
Who am I? They mock me, these lonely questions of mine.
Whoever I am, Thou knowest, 0 God, I am Thine!

Bible references on the topic of ‘gossip’

Proverbs 10:19
Proverbs 11:13
Proverbs 13:3
Proverbs 16:28
Proverbs 17:27-28
Proverbs 18:13
Proverbs 18:17
Proverbs 20:19
Proverbs 26:17-28
Proverbs 26:20
Proverbs 26:22
Matthew 15:18
Matthew 18:15
Luke 18:19
Romans 1:28-32
2 Corinthians 12:20
Ephesians 4:29
1 Timothy 5:13

Questions for small group accountability

Personal accountability is an important way of growing in godliness. These trusted relationships (usually between two or three people) are a place where we can ask one another honest questions about our lives and how we are living to please God. They also provide a place to pray for one another and encourage and support each other in difficult times. Ed Stetzer shares some questions that can be good to ask one another for the purposes of accountability.

Below are 10 questions. You can also check out the full article that includes other lists of questions - ‘Accountability Groups’.

1. Have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of Jesus Christ with both your words and actions?
2. Have you been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed your mind to entertain inappropriate thoughts about someone who is not your spouse this week?
3. Have you lacked any integrity in your financial dealings this week, or coveted something that does not belong to you?
4. Have you been honoring, understanding and generous in your important relationships this past week?
5. Have you damaged another person by your words, either behind their back or face-to-face?
6. Have you given in to an addictive behavior this week? Explain.
7. Have you continued to remain angry toward another?
8. Have you secretly wished for another’s misfortune so that you might excel?
9. Did you finish your reading this week and hear from the Lord? What are you going to do about it?
10. Have you been completely honest with me?

Depression - A Stubborn Darkness

Songs sung at Worthy

Sing Sing Sing
Hello Love | Chris Tomlin
http://www.christomlin.com/
Buy on iTunes

Let God Arise
See the Morning | Chris Tomlin
http://www.christomlin.com/
Buy on iTunes

Praise the Father
Hello Love | Chris Tomlin
http://www.christomlin.com/
Buy on iTunes

Jesus Messiah
Hello Love | Chris Tomlin
http://www.christomlin.com/
Buy on iTunes

How Great is Our God
Passion: How Great is Our God | 2005 | Chris Tomlin
Arriving | 2004 | Chris Tomlin
http://www.christomlin.com/
Buy on iTunes

Almighty God
Holding Nothing Back | 2007 | Tim Hughes
http://www.timhughesmusic.com/
Buy on iTunes

Beautiful
Singalong | 2007 | Phil Wickham
http://philwickham.com/
Buy on iTunes

Take My Life
Take My Life | 2008 | Garage Hymnal
http://www.garagehymnal.com/
Buy on iTunes

From the Inside Out
Mighty to Save | 2006 | Hillsong Music Australia
Buy on iTunes

Lord of Lords
LIVE Saviour King | 2007 | Hillsong Music Australia
Buy on iTunes

Saviour King
LIVE Saviour King | 2007 | Hillsong Music Australia
Buy on iTunes

You can also view the videos played on the night at ‘Two videos from Worthy worship night’.

10 promises of God to cling onto

1. God has promised forgiveness
   1 John 1:9 - ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’
2. 2. God has promised eternal life
   John 12:25-26 - Jesus said ‘“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”’
3. God has promised eternal blessing
   Luke 18:29-30 - ‘“I tell you the truth,” Jesus said to them, “no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.”’
4. God has promised help in temptation
   1 Corinthians 10:13 - ‘No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.’
5. God has promised he will listen to us
   1 John 5:14 - ‘This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.’
6. God has promised that HE is enough
   Hebrews 13:5 ‘Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”’
7. God has promised he will hold onto us
   John 10:27-28 - ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.’
8. God has promised he will only work for our good
   Romans 8:28 - ‘And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.’
9. God has promised us an eternal, unspoiled inheritance
   1 Peter 1:3-4 - ‘Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you.’
10. God has promised indescribable and inconceivable blessings
    1 Cor 2:9 - ‘“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”’

Resources for pursuing sexual purity

Listen to the Seminar

On 20 July, a men’s seminar was held at Church by the Bridge to discuss how to respond to pornography.

Download Porn - A Christian Response.

Request Accountability

Accountability is an important way of striving for sexual purity, and being encouraged (and encouraging others) to be pure. Small groups of men meet regularly for the purpose of accountability (specifically in the area of sexual purity). Please complete this form if you would like to join one of these accountability groups.

• Accountability Request Form (the contents of this request form are sent only to Paul Dale).

Computer Filters and Accountability Software

• Covenant Eyes
• XXXChurch
• Comparing Covenant Eyes with X3 filter
• List of reviews of internet filters

Books and Articles

• Sex is Not the Problem (Lust Is) by Joshua Harris - the best book on the topic of pursuing purity.
• Porn Again Christian by Mark Driscoll - a free e-book.
• ANTHEM - Strategies for Fighting Lust by John Piper.
• Avoiding the Pitfalls of Sexual Sin by John Piper.
• Missions and Masturbation by John Piper.
• Sexuality - an index of resources on this topic by Desiring God.
• Breaking Pornography Addiction - a helpful article with practical strategies.

Scripture to Memorise

• Psalm 119:9 “How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to thy word.”
• Romans 12:2 ?“Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
• James 1:14-15? “But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin when it is full grown brings forth death.”
• 1 Peter 5:8-9 ?“Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experience of suffering is required of your brotherhood throughout the world.”
• Galatians 6:7-8 ?“Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
• Proverbs 5:3-5, 8 ?“For the lips of a loose woman drip honey, and speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol…Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house.”
• Psalm 101:3-4? “I will not set before my eyes anything that is base. I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cleave to me. Perverseness of heart shall be far from me; I will know nothing of evil.”
• Psalm 51:10? “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.”
• Ephesians 4:22-24? “Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit if your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”
• Philippians 4:8 ?“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
• Hebrews 4:12 ?“For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intention of the heart.”

Online Courses

• Setting Captives Free - two free, online courses for pursuing purity.
• Promise Keepers

Self-Tests

Are you addicted to pornography? These tests may be helpful as a guide. If you are concerned about your sexual behaviour, details of a trusted counsellor are listed below.

• How do I know if I’m addicted to pornography?
• Pornography compulsion self test
• Sexual addiction screening test

Counsellor

If you, or someone you know, would like to see a counsellor for help with pornography addiction and associated problems, we recommend:

Derek Higgo MACA Adv.Dip.CFT
Phone: 02 9953 8884
Mobile: 0404 218 149
Email: dhiggo@bigpond.net.au

1/108 Cabramatta Road
Mosman NSW 2088

More?

Do you have resources that you think would be helpful for others to know about? Please share them with us, and email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

How has God answered your prayers?

How has God answered your prayers? Share your answered prayer here.

I had an impending essay on an intimidating topic (well… intimidating for me anyway!), and I was quite stressed about it. Finally I decided to settle down and give it a crack, but I made a conscious effort to have a quiet time first and commit the essay to God.

1 Samuel 2:30 says “Those who honour me I will honour”, and my decision to honour God was an excellent decision. Before I knew it, I’d knocked off the entire thing.

God’s inspiration is truly remarkable, and by putting our trust and hope in Him, we will not be found wanting.

(Dylan Malloch, Saturdays at 5.30pm)

I asked for help. Then I participated in these areas and as usual my needs have been met.

(Ian Harrison, Sundays at 6.30pm)

Death is not dying

“After four and a half years of vigilantly fighting breast cancer, the 37 year old wife and mother of two was diagnosed with terminal cancer.”

But for Rachel the essence of life is found in her relationship with God through Jesus. And that’s why Rachel is convinced that death is not dying.

On March 4, 2009, what started out as a small talk to a women’s group at her church grew into an event attended by 600 women from around Vancouver, giving Rachel an opportunity to share about her hope in the midst of terminal cancer.

Rachel’s honest and thought-provoking talk touched women of all ages and left a hunger for discovering more about Rachel’s journey and the faith that has so deeply affected her life.”
Click here to watch the video.

35 reasons not to sin

Courtesy of Jim Elliff at CCWBlog.

1. Because a little sin leads to more sin.
2. Because my sin invites the discipline of God.
3. Because the time spent in sin is forever wasted.
4. Because my sin never pleases but always grieves God who loves me.
5. Because my sin places a greater burden on my spiritual leaders.
6. Because in time my sin always brings heaviness to my heart.
7. Because I am doing what I do not have to do.
8. Because my sin always makes me less than what I could be.
9. Because others, including my family, suffer consequences due to my sin.
10. Because my sin saddens the godly.
11. Because my sin makes the enemies of God rejoice.
12. Because sin deceives me into believing I have gained when in reality I have lost.
13. Because sin may keep me from qualifying for spiritual leadership.
14. Because the supposed benefits of my sin will never outweigh the consequences of disobedience.
15. Because repenting of my sin is such a painful process, yet I must repent.
16. Because sin is a very brief pleasure for an eternal loss.
17. Because my sin may influence others to sin.
18. Because my sin may keep others from knowing Christ.
19. Because sin makes light of the cross, upon which Christ died for the very purpose of taking away my sin.
20. Because it is impossible to sin and follow the Spirit at the same time.
21. Because God chooses not to respect the prayers of those who cherish their sin.
22. Because sin steals my reputation and robs me of my testimony.
23. Because others once more earnest than I have been destroyed by just such sins.
24. Because the inhabitants of heaven and hell would all testify to the foolishness of this sin.
25. Because sin and guilt may harm both mind and body.
26. Because sins mixed with service make the things of God tasteless.
27. Because suffering for sin has no joy or reward, though suffering for righteousness has both.
28. Because my sin is adultery with the world.
29. Because, though forgiven, I will review this very sin at the Judgment Seat where loss and gain of eternal rewards are applied.
30. Because I can never really know ahead of time just how severe the discipline for my sin might be.
31. Because my sin may be an indication of a lost condition.
32. Because to sin is not to love Christ.
33. Because my unwillingness to reject this sin now grants it an authority over me greater than I wish to believe.
34. Because sin glorifies God only in His judgment of it and His turning of it to good use, never because it is worth anything on its own.
35. Because I promised God he would be Lord of my life.

Recommended Reading on Creation, Science and Evolution

Our current sermon series on Genesis might have raised some questions for you about creation and science. The Resurgence has recently published a list of recommended reading on these topics that you might like to check out.

The awe factor of God

A short video by Francis Chan, that helps to put our life on earth into perspective, and give us a greater sense of the majesty of our God.

Art and Faith

How will you make much of Christ with your “economic stimulus payment”?

This week the government has announced it will be distributing payments as part of its second stimulus package. When Americans were to receive a similar payment, John Piper at Desiring God wrote this article challenging how to use this payment to make much of Christ. It continues to speak to us in our more recent situation. The original article appears at Desiring God.

For a moment, forget the political puzzle of getting money back when the country is nine trillion dollars in debt. The more immediate question is: How will you make much of Christ with your “economic stimulus payment”? The president says it will be in the mail in time for Cinco de Mayo.

Clue: Nobody in the world will see you spend your money on yourself and conclude that Christ is your treasure. They will assume you are just like them, no matter how loudly you thank God for this boon. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t spend it on yourself (the way we do with most of what we earn). Not everything we do can look different from the world—eat, pay utilities, fill up the car, wear clothes (even thrift-store clothes). And yes, we hope (somehow) that spending on ourselves in some way contributes to our being more Christ-exalting people.

But do we really need this money? Very few do. We would have gotten on fine without it. If we didn’t know it was coming, we wouldn’t even be feeling the desires we are feeling right now.

May I encourage you to be radically creative and hedonistic. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). And those crazy Macedonians in a “severe test of affliction” and in “extreme poverty” had an “abundance of joy” that overflowed in a “wealth of generosity.” They even begged Paul “for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints” (2 Corinthians 8:2-4). They really believed what Jesus said. Really.

Before the cheque comes dream of some person or ministry which might make much of Christ because you treasured him above your next home project.

The reason God created money and enabled us to earn it is so that we could show by the way we use it that money is not our treasure, Christ is. That’s why the cheques are coming. So we can make Christ look great.

“Be content with what you have, for he has said,
    ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you’”

(Hebrews 13:5-6).

15 ways to get involved in our community

One. Go along to the comedy trivia night at the Kirribilli Hotel each Wednesday night.

Two. Visit the General Markets (4th Sat of the month) and Art and Design Markets (2nd Sun of the month).

Three. Enrol in a digital photography course at the Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre.

Four. Offer your legal skills to the legal advice centre.

Five. Come along to Boomers by the Bridge on Thursdays.

Six. Visit James Milson on the 1st & 3rd Sat of month.

Seven. Use your skills to run a course at the Kirribilli Neighbourhood Centre.

Eight. Go to a show at the Ensemble Theatre.

Nine. Join an acting class at the Ensemble Theatre.

Ten. Join Lane 9 Gym at the North Sydney Pool.

Eleven. Sign up for Boot Camp under the Bridge.

Twelve. Help out with a community lunch, fair trade market or any of the 125 Anniversary activities.

Thirteen. Buy coffee for the person standing behind you at the cafe.

Fifteen. On public holidays, drop off a small gift (e.g. baked goods) to the local businesses that are open, thanking them for their service to the community and that we appreciate them for working when everyone else is not.

Got an idea that isn’t on this list? Why don’t you share it with the rest of us! Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with your idea.

Six goals of Satan in getting you to hold grudges

Following on from the messages from 2 Corinthians 2, here is an extract from Desiring God on how Satan’s goals are advanced when we hold grudges against one another. It references Ephesians 4:22-27.

If there is any way that Satan can assist you to hold a grudge, he will do it. For there are six goals of Satan which are greatly advanced when professing Christians hold grudges.

1. To Make Us Put Ourselves in the Place of God
   Ever since Genesis 3 Satan’s goal has been to make us put ourselves in the place of God. “When you eat of the fruit of the tree your eyes will be opened and you will be like God.” Nothing helps in holding a grudge like thinking too highly of ourselves. The more exalted we are in our own eyes, the more justified we will feel in holding a grudge against the person who offended us. If Satan can succeed in making a grudge feel natural or justified, he will have gone a long way toward his goal of making us put ourselves in the place of God.
2. To Make Us Act as If We Are Judge, Not God
   Satan aims to make us act as if we were judge and not God. Romans 12:19 says, “Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but give place to wrath, for it is written: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. No, if your enemy is hungry feed him.” If we hold a grudge, we act as though God were not a just judge. We act as though we are the moral guardians of the world and if we don’t hold this wrong against this person, it’s going to slip away into oblivion and a great injustice will go unrequited. But this is sheer unbelief. Vengeance belongs to God. He will repay. It is his business not ours. So again holding a grudge puts us in the place of God—just where Satan wants us.
3. To Make the Cross of Christ Look Weak and Foolish
   Satan aims to make the cross of Christ look weak and foolish. Notice Ephesians 4:32-5:2. “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children. And walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” The power that frees us from holding grudges is that in the cross of Christ God satisfied his grudge against us and dropped it. So Paul says, forgive as God in Christ forgave you. When we hold a grudge, we cancel out the cross. We act as though God did a foolish thing on the cross, since he dropped his infinite grudge against us, but we are going to hold on to our little grudge against so and so. And thus Satan brings the cross of Christ into contempt.
4. To Cultivate Disunity in the Body of Christ
   Satan aims to cultivate disunity in the body of Christ so that the grand evidence for Christ’s divine reality is shattered. Proverbs 15:18 says, “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but he who is slow to anger quiets contention.” Short tempers and long grudges breed strife and disunity in the church. But in John 17:23 Jesus said that unity in the church is a great evidence to the world of his reality. So if Satan can preserve and deepen grudges among God’s people, he will have achieved a great goal—the hiding of Christ’s reality from the world.
5. To Crush Broken Christians into Depression
   Satan aims to crush broken Christians until they are depressed into uselessness. Paul tells about an instance of church discipline at Corinth in which the offending party repented. Paul counsels in 2 Corinthians 2:7, “So you should turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you reaffirm your love for him.” The burdens of life are so great at times that someone’s grudge against us can be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. You can destroy a person by holding a grudge against them—the very work of Satan from the time of Cain and Abel.
6. To Help You Destroy Yourself
   Finally, by holding a grudge Satan will help you destroy yourself. Satan always throws away his tools in the end. He promises the moon and delivers misery. When the unforgiving servant was thrown into jail, Jesus said to his disciples, “So also my heavenly Father will do to you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Forgive from Your Heart—Put On the New Nature

   Which brings us back to where we started—“from your heart,” from your new nature, the purified spring, the good tree. The only way to get victory over anger is to put off the old nature corrupted by desires of deceit—Satan’s deceit, and to put on the new nature, by acting according to the truth:

   1. the truth that none of us is so exalted that we can justify holding a grudge,
   2. the truth that vengeance belongs to God, he will settle all accounts;
   3. the truth that the cross of Christ is the wisdom and power of God, not foolishness;
   4. the truth that the unity of the church is precious beyond words;
   5. and the truth that it is possible by holding a grudge to commit spiritual murder and suicide simultaneously.

   The Son of God came into the world to destroy the works of the devil. Let’s resist the devil this Christmas with all the power of God by putting on the new nature Christ came to create.

Loving God with our wealth

1) Things to pray for:

- that we would be cheerful givers and increasingly enjoy/get a kick out of giving;
- that we would be freed from legalism/guilt re: percentages, and instead focus on cheerfulness and generosity (cf. 2 Cor 9:1ff);
- that our sinful desires to make excuses for not being generous would be repressed;
- that we could be really creative in thinking about how to give with our money;
- that we would have the ri ght mixture of wisdom and courage in managing our money.

2) Things to do:

- car-pool with someone who doesn’t own a car;
- have a ‘luxury tax’ in your household for a month (i.e., think of all the luxuries you normally have, e.g., coffees, etc, and for one month put the money you would have spent on them in a jar and give the proceeds to charity);
- start a food co-op with friends and give away the money you save;
- give half of your government recession payment away.

Do you have other ideas for how we can love God with our wealth? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) with your ideas.

How to weaken pride and cultivate humility

As mentioned in the sermon at 6.30pm on Sunday night, here are 17 ideas for weakening pride and cultivating humility. It is quoted directly from Humility - True Greatness by C.J. Mahaney.

Always:

1. Reflect on the wonder of the cross

As each day begins:

2. Begin your day by acknowledging your dependence upon God and your need for God.
3. Begin your day by expressing gratefulness to God.
4. Practice the spiritual disciplines - prayer, study God’s Word, worship. Do this consistently and at each day’s outset, if possible.
5. Seize your commute time to memorise and meditate on Scripture.
6. Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.

As each day ends:

7. At the end of the day, transfer the glory to God.
8. Before going to sleep, receive this gift of sleep from God and acknowledge His purpose for sleep.

For special focus:

9. Study the attributes of God.
10. Study the doctrines of grace.
11. Study the doctrine of sin.
12. Play golf as much as possible.
13. Laugh often, and laugh often at yourself.

Throughout your days and weeks:

14. Identify evidences of grace in others.
15. Encourage and serve others each and every day.
16. Invite and pursue correction.
17. Respond humbly to trials.