Psalm 55:22 [Wednesday Worship]

Brilliant scripture song by Seeds Family Worship!

Why Expositional Preaching? [Thursday Theology]

Why don't I just pick a sermon text each week and preach whatever I like? Well, sometimes I do, because that is what is called for, but the regular diet of the church is exposition, verse-by-verse travel through a book of the Bible, making every effort to keep the meaning of the text as the point of the sermon.

Why is expositional preaching an important value at Harvest? Pastor Mark Dever teaches why this is the central mark of a healthy church.

Right click here and click 'save link' download the file.

If I Stand [Worship Music]

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God [Monday Morning Messages]

Hey! Check out this incredibly cool free download from Max McLean!
It's the classic sermon Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, by Jonathan Edwards.

http://www.listenersbible.com/free_downloads/ipod_download

2 Corinthians 5:21 [Fighter Verse]

2 Corinthians 5:21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

How to Fight:

• Mercy and grace to the wretched drip all over this passage. This is good news! Break it down clause by clause, as you would divide an orange into pieces, and delight in the sweetness in each section.
• For our sake - Why did God act in the gospel? For His own glory, yes, but also for our sake. The gospel is for us, because God is good and for us! Feel the love of God in this clause.
• He made him to be sin - Jesus is pure and holy, the unblemished lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus accomplishes this by being made sin, the very thing that God hates, so that God could crush sin in the form of His Son, so that he would not have to crush us. It sounds wicked, to punish the innocent, but we exult in the grace of God that the Son loves the Father's mission and was willing to be made sin.
• Who knew no sin - Jesus never sinned. He is a perfect and pure priest. He has never sinned, and never will... and this makes Him a perfect offering, and makes His righteousness a perfect covering for our sinfulness. Our impurity cannot blot out His perfection.
• So that in him - When we repent and believe in the gospel, the cross of Christ, His death as our death... when we are 'in him', under his protection... He as our Savior:
• We might become the righteousness of God. The gospel means that we are viewed, by God, as though we are as righteous as God. To me, that strikes me as insanity as I type it. I am sinful, worthy of scorn, and shame, and punishment. I deserve hell. Yet in the gospel... in Christ... I am counted righteous.
• Fight against a feeling of condemnation and despair and unworthiness and all that fills you with fear with that. God views you as righteous through Christ! Praise be to God for His gracious gift! Thank you, Lord Jesus.

Why Study Theology? [Thursday Morning Theology]

DugDownDeep_Carnahan.mov from Covenant Life Church on Vimeo.

This Fathomless Love [Worship Music]

1 Corinthians 10:13 [Fighter Verse]

1 Corinthians 10:13-14
13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

How to Fight:

- Focus on provision, then obligation. We're called to fight in the strength God supplies, not our own. Don't focus on how big or tough the temptation is... focus on what God has done for you through the cross of Christ and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.

- Remember the 5 big ideas. 4 are provision:

1. Every temptation you struggle with is common. You're not unique in your struggles. Everyone struggles... don't let the devil tell you you're worse than others, or fool yourself into thinking no one can identify with you. Jesus knows what it meant to be tempted.

2. God is faithful. When all else fails, God remains true. He will be there. Believe it.

3. He is restraining the magnitude of the temptation. You can beat it. God says so... He won't let you be tempted beyond your ability to fight... like a big brother or father against a playground bully. There's no contest here... though it may feel like one.

4. With the temptation comes the way of escape, so you can endure it. God has put an escape hatch in every temptation. There are a million ways to divert your attention or put distance between yourself and that temptation... but ultimately it comes down to this: God, in Christ, has given you the ability to escape...

Therefore, knowing these things, we move to idea #5, which is our obligation. In light of 1, 2, 3, and 4... we are called to flee temptation. If the temptation is common, and God is faithful, and it is within my ability (by His grace) to triumph, and He has made a way for me to beat it... then why would I not flee every temptation? Run far from the temptation of sin!

Fight in the Strength God Provides,

Keith

Twitter... In Church?

Should we update our facebook statuses or twitter during church? Josh Harris shares his view.

Heavenly Father, Beautiful Son [Worship Music]

John 15:18-16:4 [Sermon Text]

John 15:18-16:4 (ESV)

¹⁸ "If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. ²⁰Remember the word that I said to you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. ²¹But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me. ²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ Whoever hates me hates my Father also. ²⁴ If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin, but now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. ²⁵But the word that is written in their Law must be fulfilled: 'They hated me without a cause.'

²⁶"But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. ²⁷And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

John 16

¹"I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. ² They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. ³And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. ⁴But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

"I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.

Psalm 27:1 [Fighter Verse for 03/05/10]

Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

How To Fight:
- Are you afraid? Experiencing some kind of fear that is robbing your joy or that is dragging you down? Is there a sinful tendency that you lapse into because of fear?
- Contemplate the fact that God is your light... brighter than any other, driving away all darkness. Call upon Him, and trust Him for light in this present circumstance.
- Contemplate the fact that God is your salvation... He will rescue you, and has rescued you time and again. Call upon Him, and trust Him that He will save you out of this present trouble.
- Contemplate that God is called the stronghold of our lives... impenetrable. Solid. Trustworthy. Safe. What reason do we have to fear? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Easily Pleased [Thursday Morning Theology]

Are you finding your satisfaction in Him, or are you easily pleased?

The Glories of Calvary [Worship Music]