The Path to the Cross, Part 3: Seized
0 CommentsYesterday, in the third message of our series, The Path to the Cross, I preached from Matthew 26:45-68. As the Savior is arrested and accused, “that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled,” He reveals that God’s purposes are not accomplished by the weaponry and methodology of this world.
Options for reviewing and applying the message:
• Listen online or download an MP3.
• A summary outline in PDF format
• Use the questions below for further reflection and application to your life:
1. When the crowds came to take Jesus by force, Peter reacted with violence. But Jesus knew the sovereign plan of His Father was being fulfilled. How did God use the crowd’s evil to accomplish His perfect plan of salvation?
2. Through what lens do you most often view your trials and sufferings—the lens of this world, or the lens of God’s power, goodness and sovereignty? How does remembering that God is in control of every detail of your life bolster your faith?
3. In the circumstances of your life (at home, in school or at work), in what are you oftentimes trusting—your power (your gifts, abilities, intellect, etc.), or God’s grace and power? What weapons do you oftentimes use—your words, your forcefulness, etc., or the spiritual weapons of prayer, faith and God’s Word (see Eph. 6:10-20)?
4. Charles Bridges once wrote, “Unbelief looks at the difficulty. Faith regards the promises.” What would faith look like in your circumstances? What promises from God’s Word would strengthen your faith?
5. When asked if He is the Christ, the Son of God, Jesus answers that He is equal with God and is the Son of Man (Daniel 7:13-14) who is seated at the right hand of Power ruling over all the earth (Ps. 110:1,5). What does Jesus’ answer reveal about His character, His authority and His Kingship?
March 11 2010 at 4:43 pm
Education Options
1 CommentsOn Sunday, February 21, I took a few minutes to talk to the church about education options. My focus was on our sobering responsibility as parents to steward the hearts and minds of our children as we guide them through their school years, and on guarding our unity as different families choose different education paths. Above is the video of my comments.
March 8 2010 at 4:00 am
The Path to the Cross, Part 2: Gethsemane
0 CommentsYesterday C.J. Mahaney preached from Matthew 26:36-46 on Jesus’ time in the garden of Gethsemane before going to the cross. C.J. asked and answered the questions, “What did Gethsemane mean for Jesus?” and “What does it mean for us?”
Options for reviewing and applying the message:
• Listen online or download an mp3.
• A summary outline in PDF format
• Use the questions below for further reflection and application to your life:
1. In Gethsemane Jesus experienced the difficulties of relational abandonment from the disciples as well as distress of soul regarding the wrath he was about to endure. How does Jesus’ experience deepen your gratefulness for your Savior?
2. Three times Jesus appealed for an alternative to drinking the cup of God’s wrath; three times the Father was silent. How does the Father’s silence demonstrate His deepest love for you? (See John 3:16)
3. William Lane writes that Jesus looked into the cup and “found hell rather than heaven opened before him, and he staggered.” How does Jesus’ resolve to drink this cup demonstrate His amazing love for you?
4. C.J. reminded us that the cup of wrath that Jesus drank was our cup. He took it from our hands and gave us the cup of salvation. How does a reflection on this truth assure you of God’s love for you?
5. How can Jesus’ weakness and suffering as a man in Gethsemane provide comfort through your darkest and severest trials? (See Hebrews 4:15-16)
March 1 2010 at 4:00 am
The Path to the Cross, Part 1: Betrayed
0 CommentsYesterday I preached the first message in our sermon series, “The Path to the Cross.” I taught from Matthew 26:1-29, on the plot to kill Jesus, his anointing at Bethany, Judas’ betrayal, Jesus’ passover meal with his disciples, and the institution of the Lord’s Supper. Yes, it was a lot to cover in one message.
Options for reviewing and applying the message:
• Listen online or download an mp3.
• A summary outline in PDF format
• “Preach The Gospel To Yourself” (PDF) - created by Don DeVries
• Use the questions below for further reflection and application to your life:
1. Are you a disciple like Mary asking, “What can I give to my Lord?” Or are you like Judas asking, “What can I get instead of Jesus?”
2. Like Mary’s heart of love and gratefulness, to what act of sacrificial worship is the Lord calling you? What gifts and resources can be poured out for His praise and glory?
3. What obstacles prevent Jesus from being your dearest friend and your most valued treasure?
4. Josh taught us that proximity to Jesus, to the church, or to other Christians can never save us. Are you relying on religious knowledge and practice for salvation, or have you believed and surrendered your life to Jesus as both Savior and Lord?
5. How can a reflection on the Lord’s Supper move you to bow your heart in gratefulness and worship for such a costly sacrifice and such infinite love?
February 26 2010 at 11:30 am
Quotes from C.J.’s Message
0 CommentsC.J. Mahaney referenced a number of quotes in his second sermon from Jude last Sunday. I wanted to share them here to help us all call to mind the great truths we’ve heard in C.J.’s two messages:
“There is simply no other way to compete with the forebodings of my conscience, the condemnings of my heart, and the lies of the world and the devil than to overwhelm such things with daily rehearsings of the gospel.”
–Milton Vincent, A Gospel Primer
“... some of the most beautiful statements about God’s sustaining grace are found in Jude.” –Thomas Schreiner, The New American Commentary: 1, 2 Peter, Jude
“One of the most frequent one-word descriptions of the Christian in the New Testament is that he is called.”
–Sinclair Ferguson
“It is not God’s invitation to be saved, it is God’s determination to save.” –J. Alec Motyer
“Now, the reasons why no man ever started the work of grace in his own heart, are very plain and palpable: firstly, because he cannot; and secondly, because he will not. The best reason of all is because he cannot–he is dead.” –Charles Spurgeon, “The Work of the Holy Spirit,” a sermon given on November 5, 1858
“Let me refresh your memories with your calling. Was there not a day, the mementoes of which you fondly cherish, when you were called from death unto life? Fly back now to the day and hour if you can, and, if not, light upon the season thereabouts, when the great transaction took place, in which you were made Christ’s forever, by the voluntary surrender of yourself to him. In looking back, does it not strike you that your calling must have been of divine origin? The text says, ‘God called you’–does not your experience prove the same? How gracious that calling must have been since it came to you from God; came to you irresistibly, and came to you with such personal demonstration! What grace was here! What was there in you to suggest a motive why God should call you? Oh, beloved, we can hardly ask you that question without the tear rising in our own eye. Should not this calling of ours evoke our most intense gratitude, our most earnest love? Oh, if he had not called thee, where hadst thou been tonight? Who am I–what should I have been if the Lord, in mercy, had not stopped me in my mad career! This was a kind and gracious call, when we consider what we might have been.” –Charles Spurgeon
[C.J. said] “I heard John Piper reference the following description of conversion by one of the elders in his church: ‘The Lord saved me from a life of drugs, crime and adultery—at the age of 6.’”
“People commonly view God as distant, wrathful, and angry about sin, ‘always angry’ and so ‘implacable’ that no creature would dare draw near to him. Though it is understandable that those outside the faith fear God in this way, these emotions often persist in the believer’s conception of the Father.” –John Owen
“If the believer ought not to view the Father as simply wrathful and angry, why is this so common among Christians? Owen argues that much of the problem stems from believers uncertainty about the Father’s attitude toward them. Believers may easily imagine Jesus concern and the comforting work of the Spirit, but the Father seems distant and angry. An example of this may be seen in the disciples response as they learn of Jesus coming departure (John 16:26-28). Although they are secure in Jesus compassionate commitment to them, his coming ascension turns the disciple’s thoughts toward the Father, and Jesus perceives their uneasiness. Owen deduces that this is why when Jesus prays to the Father for his disciples, he adds the clarification, ‘for the Father himself loveth you.’ Jesus is assuring his disciples that the Father does not need to be persuaded to love them, for indeed love is the Father’s ‘peculiar respect towards you.’ While Jesus does pray and the Spirit brings comfort, these are not the causes but the fruit of the Father’s love … Owen claims that until this truth is fully grasped, disciples in all ages will hesitate to hold communion with the Father.” —Kelly Kapic, Communion with the Triune God
“Every Christian can say, ‘I am loved by my Father.’” –Peter Davids
“The greatest sorrow and burden you can lay on the Father, the greatest unkindness you can do to him, is not to believe that he loves you.” –John Owen, Communion with God
“Then go to the blood of Christ! There is always comfort ... Go ... to the blood of Christ, that is, if we find sin upon our consciences, if we find not peace in our consciences, nor sanctification in our hearts, go to the blood of Christ … As we say of the mother and the child both hold but the safety of the child is that the mother holds him.”
–Richard Sibbes, Commentary on 2 Corinthians 1:22
“God brought you to Christ.” –Bruce Demarest
February 23 2010 at 6:25 pm
Love Those Cougars!
0 CommentsI am so proud of our Covenant Life School varsity boys and girls basketball teams who BOTH won their championship games last Saturday night! Go Cougars! See photos and video below, and a write-up from Kris Marcantonio, the Middle School Principal and Athletic Director at CLS.
Varsity Girls
Varsity Boys
Celebrate good times!
Tournament MVPs: J.D. Garris (L) and Kristen Mstowski (R)
Here I am showing some team spirit.
Cougars Sweep Basketball Championships
What a memory! Roughly 500 screaming fans dressed in black and gold were on hand at American University’s Bender Arena this past Saturday night to watch the Covenant Life School boys and girls varsity basketball teams win back-to-back championship games.
The Lady Cougars, behind third-year head coach Dave Marable, led for most of the game and held on for a 49-46 victory. As they’ve done all year, Dominique Seamon and Kristen Mstowski (tournament MVP) led the way in scoring, and Brielle Knowlton came strong during the final quarter to seal the win. The girls came into their fourth championship game in five years with an undefeated conference schedule and brought home their ninth conference basketball banner. The team is coached by Wayne Cates, Taylor Ferry, and Anna Marable.
The boys, led by third-year head coach Jim Lutz, came into their first conference championship game in nine years as the underdogs but rose to the challenge with Daniel Ferry and J.D. Garris (tournament MVP) leading the team in scoring. The guys refused to buckle under pressure in an intense game where Nick Riddlesburger and Andrew Melrose made key shots to hold onto a 61-58 win and bring home the first boys’ championship banner.
The boys are also coached by Bob Ferry. Both teams compete in the Potomac Valley Athletic Conference (PVAC).
What really sets these players apart, though, is their humility and servanthood. Josh highlighted this on Sunday morning when he referred to seeing one of the boy varsity players serving on the parking crew the morning after the championship win. Thank you to all the players, coaches, and fans for representing the Savior so well during the season and the championship games. We are grateful for the opportunity to play sports to the glory of God!