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Blog Archive
October 08, 2014
Encouraged
Over the past few weeks it has been encouraging to see many of you engaging in Gospel work.
Riverside started two “Meal Trains” in the past several weeks to help organize providing meals for some of our families needing relief. Your response was great! Be praying for those families you served that their bodies would continue to heal and that they would find comfort in Christ.
Many of you eagerly and quickly responded to an opportunity to provide a meal for the BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministries) at Tulane/Loyola. I was personally encouraged by how quickly I received emails from people willing to provide food for that ministry. And our Young Adult small group who helped prepare the meal encouraged me. The meal was tremendously appreciated. I was able to deliver the meal along with another young adult in our church and meet several awesome college students in our city. Though you haven’t met them, pray for those students. Pray that the Gospel would strengthen them and that they would we bold witnesses of the Gospel on their campus.
I also heard that some men in our church served a neighbor by helping her with yard work. One of our members simply saw a need, called some friends, and got to work. It is so encouraging to hear that Riverside is looking for ways to engage in Gospel on their own initiative. Pray for the lady who was ministered to that day. Pray that the actions and words of those men would produce fruit in her life.
Finally, I was encouraged by the turn out at our Night of Prayer last Sunday night. Many of you joined us in corporate prayer for our church and our families. It was refreshing to see so many of you gathered and committed to praying for Riverside as we move forward and seek the Lord in the days ahead. Keep praying for your church each and every day that God would raise up workers for the harvest. Pray that the Lord would give us clarity as we journey into the future.
Riverside, keep pressing on in your work for the Lord. I’m certain many of you served this week in ways many of us will never see. I encourage you to keep working, too. And don’t be afraid to call a friend to help. I bet there are people in the pew next to you willing and able to help you in Gospel work. But whatever you do, do it unto the Lord.
I hope that many of you are encouraged. I pray that this is just a glimpse of things to come and that you would engage yourself daily in Gospel work as you love God and serve your neighbors in word and in deed. I pray that you would not grow weary in doing good, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up.
And don’t forget to join us Sunday as we continue our series, “Haggai: Consider Your Ways.”
September 10, 2014
Doing Gospel Work
This past Saturday several of us from Riverside spent the morning volunteering with Volunteers of America (VOA). Some of you may remember that VOA is the organization that partners with World Changers each summer in New Orleans to help organize work projects for the nearly 300 students who come in from around the country to impact our city with the Gospel.
We spent several hours at a home in Metairie clearing out a considerably overgrown backyard, which was also filled with decades of old tires, scrap metal, lumber, and other objects. The weather was hot and the work was hard. We worked hard, but what makes an opportunity like this "Gospel work" rather than just “feel-good-about-yourself” work?
In the Letter of James (which we are studying on Wednesday Nights), we are told that if we lack wisdom, we should ask God to grant us wisdom and he will give it to you with great generosity. But what is wisdom? Wisdom is more than brief and clever statements. Wisdom is seeing the world as God sees it and then acting in accordance with that understanding. Wisdom is having the mind of God. What does that look like? Well, God has revealed his mind and character through His Son, Jesus Christ. Look to Jesus to see rightly and act rightly.
Therefore, we ask, “God, give us wisdom to understand what makes our work different and more than “feel good” work?”
I think our answer is in the definition I mentioned above. We need to see the world as Jesus sees the world. In the Gospels we see Jesus calming storms, healing the sick and loving the outcast and forgotten. These are all effects of sin; the wages of sin. He reverses the curse of a sin, the effects of the Fall, and shows us how things ought to be. He shows us glimpses of the His Kingdom. He is making sad things come untrue and reestablishing proper order to a broken world. He is inaugurating His majestic kingdom in which there will be no more tears.
As the body of Christ, the church, this is how we ought to see our work. Our work is "Gospel work." The Bible tells us that because of sin, thorns and thistles now fill the ground. Nature is broken. When we see thorns and thistles and disorder (random tires, scrap metal, and other things that are out of place) we engage in Gospel work. We seek to reverse the curse and proclaim to the world through our labor that this is not how it ought to be. God has set in motion a great rescue plan that effects all of creation. Therefore, we mow grass, remove debris, and chop down thorns and thistles reestablishing order, reversing sins effects on creation and showing the community how things ought to be. As a great Christmas hymn proclaims, “He comes to make his blessing flow far as the curse is found!”
But I think there is more. We also call this "Gospel work" because we seek to verbally proclaim Christ to those that these work projects give us the opportunity to meet. We may engage in this by praying with the homeowner and telling them about the Gospel and what motivates us to do what we do. We tell them that God has given us eyes to see some things that he sees, so we are acting accordingly. The world was not meant to be broken, so as His Body, we give it order and proclaim this is how it ought to be. Without Christ, we are broken, and not what we are meant to be. We are broken, but we where made for Christ and will only find true life in Him.
This is how cleaning a backyard is "Gospel work!" This is how we proclaim the Gospel in word and work! Join Riverside in "Gospel work!"
This Sunday, we start a new series through Haggai. It is the second shortest book in the Old Testament, but as one pastor explained, “Haggai is a sword that goes in quick, but deep.” Haggai will help us “consider our ways” and get on with the Lord’s work.
Be a part of Riverside as we pray to God to do wonderful things among us in the days ahead. Join us as we ask Jesus to help us be of “one mind striving side by side for the gospel” (Philippians 1:27).
August 28, 2014
Praying For Provision
This week I wanted to share a brief quote from the president of Wheaton College, Philip Ryken, from his book The Prayer of Our Lord. I hope this will help you further grasp what we pray for when we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”
“The great missionary to China, Hudson Taylor, learned about God’s fatherly care from his own experience as a father. He wrote in one of his journals:
“I am taking my children with me, and I notice that it is not difficult for me to remember that the little ones need breakfast in the morning, dinner at midday, and something before they go to bed at night. Indeed I could not forget it. And I find it impossible to suppose that our heavenly Father is less tender or mindful than I.... I do not believe that our heavenly Father will ever forget His children. I am a very poor father, but it is not my habit to forget my children. God is a very, very good Father. It is not His habit to forget His children.””
When you pray this week, fill up this vessel of the Lord’s Prayer with your own cries of thanksgiving to our Father who graciously gives us all that we need. And if you ever doubt his provision, the Scriptures would tell you to remember that He did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all. He provided for us in the most costly and gracious way by giving His son for our sins. How will he not also graciously give us all things?
Trust your Father this week and the provisions that he has made for you. The amount of money you have, the amount of time you have, the amount of food you have is all graciously given to you by the Father. Use it well and use it graciously.
As a father I find it hard to forget about my son. How much more will our Father, who calls us the apple of his eye, remember you and graciously give to you all that you need?
August 22, 2014
We Got This... We Need You
Moving from “we got this” to “we need YOU”
When we pray, “Your kingdom come,” there should be a definite mind shift, attitude shift and heart shift. When we pray this, our hearts need to be moving from “we got this” under control to “we need You”, our King, to reign over us.
Here’s what I mean.
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve thought, “we got this.” God, their living and loving King had placed them in a perfect garden with all they could possibly want and need. The King had some commandments to follow. They were to work the ground and keep it and obey the King by not eating of the tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. In the day they ate from it they would begin to die. After being tempted by the serpent, they thought, “we got this.” If we eat this, we will be like God and know what he knows. And if we become like him and know what he knows, then we won’t need Him and certainly won’t need him to reign over us. Lets do it. We got this. Turns out they needed him. Their King knew they could not be happy without Him. After that day God graciously put into motion his rescue plan to bring them back to him.
At the Tower of Babel, the builders of the tower thought, “we got this.” Lets make a name for ourselves and build an impressive tower into the heavens. Lets make our own way to God. We don’t need God to bring us back to him. We can go to him ourselves. All we have to do is build this tower into the heavens. We got this. God was merciful that day and confused the builders so that they would see they needed him to make their way to God. They didn’t need to expand their own kingdom and make their name great. They needed to trust Him and his name, which is merciful, slow to anger, and rich in love.
Even Israel had a monumental, “we got this moment” when they asked for a king to rule over them. Turns out, they already had a king ruling over them (God), but that wasn’t what they wanted. We got this. Give us a King like the other guys have and we can be wealthy and rich and awesome like them. Forget this God is King stuff. Make us like the rest of the world. Then we will be something. We got this. Just give us a king. And God did just that. He was merciful to give them some pretty good kings, but they still where a mess. The kingdom ended up divided and in captivity. The merciful King they rejected would continue to pursue them even to the point of sending the King to earth as a baby in a manger to rescue them from the kingdom of darkness.
Hopefully, we never think, “we got this.” It hasn’t seemed to work out too well in history.
Instead when we pray “your kingdom come” we are praying for his rule and reign because “we don’t got this”. We need our righteous King that upholds all things and rules over all things to make things happen for us. We need to submit to his rule in our lives and obey his commands. He is a good king, a righteous king, and loving king. He is a king who loves with a never-ending, always-faithful love.
When you pray like this you will pray, “WE NEED YOU!” When we pray for heaven on earth, we pray “your kingdom come.” Let this be your cry. We need our King to rule because his ways are right. We need our King to uphold us and defend us because his name is a strong tower that keeps us safe. Pray that you would submit to his rule and reign in your life so that the world may get a glimpse of heaven on earth.
August 16, 2014
Conversations With the Father
Is prayer a conversation? This is a question I have asked myself many times as I have been preparing sermons on The Lord’s Prayer. I have wondered many times if the word “conversation” is too light or casual to use regarding prayer.
“Prayer is a great disparity being reconciled; a ludicrous conversation made quite possible.” (Don Everts, Jesus with Dirty Feet)
The fact that we can come to Jesus in prayer is a Gospel thing in and of itself. It is ludicrous to think that we can have fellowship with the Maker of the universe. It is ludicrous to think that we can have peace with God. But, thanks be to God, he has made a way for us through His son to have peace with God. Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus has made a way for us to be with God.
Through Jesus we have access in one Spirit to the Father. We are on longer strangers or aliens, but fellow citizens and members of the household of God. THAT IS GOOD NEWS!!!
Calling prayer a conversation has the Gospel written all over it, so I am OK with calling it a conversation.
Jesus has made a way to God and we can draw near with full assurance in faith. We draw near, but what on earth to we say. Where do we even begin such a ludicrous conversation with the Maker of the Universe? What does this look like?
Each time we pray (have a conversation with the Father) we realize that we are unworthy to approach heaven. BUT we look to the Son who has made a way for us. Based on His work, we approach BOLDLY the throne of grace. PRAY LIKE THIS!!!!!
Throughout the month of August, join us at Riverside to hear more about prayer. We are asking the Lord to teach us to pray. We are asking him to teach us how to commune (have a conversation with) the Father. So be sure to check out our sermons online, and join us this Sunday as we look at “Praying for Heaven on Earth.”
August 05, 2014
"Pray Like This" Sermon Series
Pray Like This
The following was adapted from the first sermon in our “Pray Like This…” series. We were unable to record it Sunday morning. So, take a look and join us Sunday as we look at the words of Jesus in Matthew 6 and learn how to pray.
In times of transition, we have questions. Where do we go from here? Where are we heading? What’s the plan? Do we have any tricks up our sleeve? What do we DO next?
Here’s the truth. The Lord will honor and bless any plan that upholds prayer and promotes His Word (Acts 6:4). Why? God, not people, gets the glory in a ministry that upholds prayer and promotes His Word.
Prayer is to be a priority. Often we don’t miss prayer because we don’t always see the immediate effects of not praying. We see the grass getting taller and the laundry building. We see homework undone and deadlines to meet. We see our bank account fluctuating and more bills coming in. We see all of these things on our to do list and we make time to do them. And we see all of the things on our church’s to do list. Trust me, I see a lot of things we could do differently or better. Often times, prayer then gets laid aside because “who has time to be sit around and pray when there is stuff to do.”
But what if prayer was the very thing that made all of the stuff we have to do, doable?Do you think we individually and corporately could lay aside a lot of frustration and stress if we actually spent time in prayer? You know, really pray, fellowship with the Maker of the universe asking him to give us guidance, asking him to mold and make us for his glory, resting our souls, our struggles, our burdens, our concerns in Him. Imagine that. Maybe we don’t often “see” the problems with forsaking prayer, but oh how we feel them.
Riverside, we need to pray more. Prayer, fervent prayer, by individuals and congregations, has marked every great awakening. Prayer marked Jesus’ life. The early church was devoted to prayer, so maybe we need to notice that truth. We need to pray more.
We will spend the month of August looking at the Lord’s Prayer learning how to pray. As we work through this, lets plan times of prayer together.
In case you missed it Sunday, here is an outline of what we looked at together. Take a look and I hope it encourages you to pray more, to pray more together, and maybe even encourages you to join us at Riverside for some exciting days ahead.
Prayer is NOT…
A Showy Performance – don’t try to impress people. Jesus tells us, ““You must not be like the hypocrites” who hope to be seen by others. Performance is the opposite of prayer. In prayer we are worshiping and asking the Spirit to lead us. We are admitting that we don’t know what is best and need the Spirit to guide us.
A Mindless Routine – don’t try to impress God. Jesus tells us to “not heap up empty phrases like the Gentiles” who think they can manipulate God with their words or think they need to waken God from his sleep. Our God does not slumber. We don’t need to impress God or conjure up the Spirit. He already knows what we need before we ask. Why try to manipulate God to do what you want, when he is a God who knows what you need and knows what is for your good?
Prayer is…
Private and Communal – we pray in secret, but also with other believers – Matthew 6:6, Luke 5:16; Acts 1, Acts 2; Acts16
Submissive and Persistent – we submit to the plans and purposes of God, yet we actively and fervently make our requests known to Him – Matthew 6:8; Luke 11
Effective and Continual – even after we see God answer, we continue to pray with out ceasing – we don’t stop once we “get what we want” – James 6:16; Philippians 1:19; 2 Corinthians 1:11
Necessary and Not Optional for life in the Spirit – even Jesus saw it as a necessary to living a Spirit-filled life – Philippians 4:4-7; 1 Timothy 2:8; Ephesians 6:18
What does a praying church look like?
Unified – Worldly people cause divisions and tear down because they do not have the Spirit – Believers build each other up as they pray in the Spirit – Jude 17-21
But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
Devoted – A praying church is devoted to prayer – a praying church makes time to pray together – Acts 1:14; 2:42; 6:4; 12:5
So what do we do in the days ahead?
EM Bounds wrote…
“We are continually striving to create new methods, plans, and organizations to advance the church. We are ever working to provide and stimulate growth and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has the tendency to lose sight of the man. Or else he is lost in the workings of the plan or organization. God’s plan is to make much of the man, far more of him than anything else. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men. What the church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations or more novel methods. She needs men whom the Holy Spirit can use – men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men – men of prayer.”
We can’t let the busyness of our live dictate to us that prayer must go. We must turn to prayer if we ever want to see renewal.
Pray for laborers (people) to be sent out into the harvest. The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Don’t pray for methods, but for people to be used by the Spirit.
Be alert, stay awake, and pray. Don’t let your guard down. We are citizens of the kingdom of God in a world that is not our home. But we want desperately to see the kingdom advance in this world and through this community. Keep watch and pray. Don’t become lazy in prayer, so that the work of the kingdom in this community advances mightily. And I believe in will only advance mightily if God’s people pray and pray for The Holy Spirit to work through us!