Sunday, October 28 I preached my last sermon in the
Revelation series, Stand and Conquer. That made for 28 sermons on the 22
chapters of this remarkable book. Preaching it changed me. One of the deepest
ways I was affected was in my personal confidence in the canon of Scripture. I
have never been one to wrestle with big doubts about the Bible’s authenticity
and reliability, so I was somewhat surprised when I stood back to evaluate what
the big takeaways were for me personally in preaching the book.
The Revelation so wonderfully “ties all the loose ends” of
the Bible’s redemptive storyline, that my certainty in the Bible as a whole
skyrocketed. Those that suggest the Bible was written by men as some product of
an elaborate conspiracy to delude the masses have always amused me. Try getting
ten men to agree on anything, let alone a religion!
The more I read it, the more the single voice of God’s Holy
Spirit is heard in the Bible. Real men, with real personalities and real
hang-ups, were used of God to write His real thoughts… without error. It is a
wonderful miracle. And this miracle was confirmed again and again as I preached
my way through the Revelation of Jesus Christ. The more Jesus was revealed, the
more whole Bible made sense. Praise God.
Now, as for what is next, here is the plan.
We will enjoy the preaching ministry of John Ensor this
Sunday morning. John is in town to speak at the Pregnancy Care Centre Banquet
on Saturday night. We are humbled and happy that he is able to stay over and
preach for us on Sunday.
Sunday night will continue our series on the Ten Marks of aHealthy Church. This week we will talk about the Gospel and its centrality in
the life of a church. I can’t wait!
On November 11 I will begin a small series on Delighting in
God. If you are new to Grace Fellowship Church then you will have observed this
little motto on almost everything we produce: Delighting in God to the Glory of
God for the Good of All People. That is
more than a catchy phrase to us. It sums up the Christian life. But "dead mottos
the delighting Christian do not make!" That is why every few years we like to go
back and remind ourselves what this life is all about. This is big picture
stuff that I hope is going to change us and re-focus our living. Pray God is
with us.
After this series we will take a couple of weeks in December
to meditate on Jesus, not just on His coming, but on what He did when He came
and what He will do when He returns.
Following that, the New Year will start a new series on the Lives of
Saul and David. I have longed to preach this series for years. There is so much
here in the lives of these men that teaches us about God, the fear of man,
Godly risk, the fruit of sin, how to worship in trials and suffering, true love
– the list could go on. I think this extended look at these men from the OT
narrative will do a lot for us as Christians. I want our church to be full of
men and women who have a heart after God.
So, that is where we are going. I trust the Lord is in it.
As always, all of these plans are framed by
the robust theological truth of James 4:15 “If the Lord wills, we will live and
do this or that.”
