Welcome to the Silence

Hi. Welcome to the silence.

Life is so loud sometimes and just being still even for a few minutes can powerfully rearrange everything that’s assaulting our minds and our hearts. Especially when God is in view. After all he’s the one who said “be still and know that I am God.”

So we’ve turned the volume down as we start what we hope will be a beautiful and raucous night in the hopes that the things we need to hear most will become really, really loud.

God knows who you are. Where you are. And he knows what you need in this moment. He is not looking at a massive crowd but the eyes of the one who so easily spoke galaxies into their places are looking right at you. Amazingly he knows your name and the color he painted your eyes. And he knows what makes you laugh and what makes you cry. He is not distracted by what you think about him. Or what you want him to think about you. He knows what he thinks about you and how he feels. And he wants to say something to you in the silence.

“I love you.”

Let that sink into the silence and the stillness and the soil of your heart.

God loves you. Oh don’t believe the words on the screen or the words of somebody. You don’t have to take it from a third party. No. The Father has spoken directly to you. The God of all creation is engaging you in a pretty stunning conversation. And as is always the case God is speaking first. Not waiting for your proposal or assessment of where you feel you are. Or if you’ll ever be as amazing as something deep inside tells you that you were meant to be. He isn’t waiting to hear about all your screw ups or your great deeds to make it up. No God is eager to share his take on you.

Applying the Text: 6 applications to 1 meaning

In preparation of my first real preaching invitation, I found this “Application Grid” to be very helpful in developing applications from the countless hours of exegetical study:

Unique Salvation History ??? What about the passage is important for the way God unfolds his plan of salvation in history??? What???s unrepeatable by us but worthy of worshipping God for?

Non-Christian ??? How does the passage speak to the unbeliever??? How does it call him/her to repentance and belief? How does it warn, rebuke, correct, or prod the unbeliever??? What does it say about the danger of the unbeliever???s situation, the exclusivity of Christ, the sinner???s need for a Savior, or the sufficiency of that Savior as a substitute for the sinner?

Public ??? What does the passage say about our lives and roles in the public sphere, both as Christians and non-Christians (e.g., government, neighborhood)?

Christ ??? How is Jesus foreshadowed or typed??? What particular perfection of Christ does that type depict??? How is Jesus remembered or described in character, authority, glory, or essence?

Christian ??? What does the passage mean for the life of the individual Christian??? How does it call him/her to deeper repentance and belief??? How does it warn, rebuke, correct, motivate, comfort, or?? encourage the Christian?

Local Church ??? What does the passage mean for the corporate life of our local church??? How does it call the local corporate body to tend to its corporate life together and corporate witness to the unbelieving community around it?

Source: 9 Marks – Expositional Preaching Application GridAlso, I’ve found these lectures/sermons from the 2007 Expositors’ Conference very helpful, especially for this seminary student who hasn’t yet taken a Preaching class yet ;-)?? Dr. Steve Lawson outlines 10 steps for expositional preaching that is really insightful for the beginner or seasoned preacher!

Complementarian Singles: Who Should I Marry?

I found this recent blog post at CBMW to be a very appropriate reminder for our pomo, egalitarian culture:

1. We should court someone who is a Christian.2. We should court someone who knows and treasures God.3. We should court someone who is pursuing humility (by the grace of God).4. We should court someone who we see God at work in.5. We should court someone who is committed to a local church.6. We should court someone who is personally mature.7. We should court someone we “like”.

And here’s their conclusion:

Finally, in any and all of these areas, do not look for perfection, except that we should not court a non-Christian. Look for growth. Look for God at work, transplanting new desires and new delights in place of old desires and old delights.

Read the entire article here.