Gospel Living

Christ Alone: The Legacy of Reformation Truth in Puritan Preaching General Session 6 by Iain Murray 2017 Shepherds' Conference General Session 6 - Iain Murray - Shepherds’ Conference 2017 from Grace Community Church on Vimeo .  MEDIA LINKS:   MP3  /  VIMEO  /  ARABIC MP3  /  KOREAN MP3  /  RUSSIAN MP3  /  SPANISH MP3

This Grace Gem message is quite à propos today: Such weather vane preachers are worthless! (Frank Hall) A weather vane preacher  is any preacher who changes what he preaches or how he preaches when the wind changes direction. The preacher who alters his message or his method because of the ever-changing advice, counsel, and opinions of men is not a leader, but a follower.  Such weather vane preachers are worthless!  They only do harm to the souls of men, and they need not preach at all. True, gospel preachers are pillars in the church of God-- not puppets in the hands of men. "On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel.  We are not trying to please men but God , who tests our hearts." 1 Thessalonians 2:4 "Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to ...

(Delivered in Sunday School) Since the start of the new year, the topic of our Sunday School discussion has been resolutions.  Pastor Rick gave a couple of messages that really got to the heart of our lack of resolution-keeping: sin.  They also encouraged us to make God-centered resolutions. Because it is hard to talk about godly resolutions without talking about the Great Resolver, I was tasked with introducing Johnathan Edwards and the Puritans.  We could only briefly note what made them so committed to godly living. These kinds of messages are good, but they don't get to issues like motivation, desire, and power.  How is a Christian able to pursue holiness? We will not be talking a lot about New Year's resolutions today.  However, hopefully this message will give you a better framework upon which you can construct your resolutions. The plan is to skip through the book of Galatians like a stone on a pond.  We don't have time to dig into the b...

It is the New Year, and the topic on many minds is that of resolutions.  Weigh-loss, exercise, and quiting cold-turkey. Perhaps you've already broken yours. Why can't we seem to keep resolutions?  How do we choose good resolutions?  What is even the point of resolutions? This post won't answer all of those questions.  But let's choose a starting point for the discussion. I was asked two Sundays ago to give a biography on Jonathan Edwards.  Among many other things, he is famous for writing some very stirring resolutions, and overall, his life certainly matched his resolve.  I'm not expert on the life of Edwards, nor am I accustomed to teaching biographical surveys, so it was an interesting challenge. Nonetheless, I find Edwards to be a very interesting brother from generations past: inspirational in spots, convicting in others, and yes, questionable in still others. John Edwards?  Isn't he that nasty Puritan?  Here are my notes fro...

I had to do this for a class project, and you might like it. Enjoy! ______________________________ · Born in 1604 in Widford, Hertfordshire, England. Family moved to Nazeing, Essex when he was six. · Educated at Jesus College, Cambridge. o He enjoyed classical literature and Hebrew. o While at college, both his mother and father died (1620 and 1621, respectively). o He earned his BA in 1622. · Disdained the rules of the Anglican church, so he taught at the grammar school in Little Baddow, Essex, under master Thomas Hooker. It was during his time living with Hooker that Eliot was saved: “ To this place I was called, through the infinite riches of God’s mercy in Christ Jesus to my poor soul: for here the Lord said to my dead soul, live; and through the grace of Christ, I do live, and I shall live for ever! When I came to this blessed [Hooker] family I then saw, and never before, the power of godliness in its lively vigour and efficacy. ” · ...