Covenant Life Church

August 26 2009 at 8:38 am

Scripture Memory: Proverbs 5:22-23

Last week’s Scripture memory verse was Proverbs 5:21. I forgot to mention the new one on Sunday, but for this week let’s memorize Proverbs 5:22-23:

“The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him,
and he is held fast in the cords of his sin.
He dies for lack of discipline,
and because of his great folly he is led astray.”

July 22 2009 at 4:35 pm

Your Favorite Proverb

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Take a moment to leave a comment and share a favorite verse from Proverbs that God has used to help and instruct you.

September 11 2008 at 10:11 am

Not Seeing the Forest for the Trees

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The video above is a clip from the first message in our Ephesians series. My goal was to illustrate the Apostle Paul’s intention to help us see the “big picture” of God’s purpose for the Church and the rich spiritual blessings believers enjoy in Christ. And here is a quote from John Stott that sums up the message of Ephesians:

The letter focuses on what God did through the historical work of Jesus Christ and does through his Spirit today, in order to build his new society in the midst of the old.

It tells how Jesus Christ shed his blood in a sacrificial death for sin, was then raised from death by the power of God and has been exalted above all competitors to the supreme place in both the universe and the church. More than that, we who are ‘in Christ,’ organically united to him by faith, have ourselves shared in these great events. We have been raised from spiritual death, exalted to heaven and seated with him there. We have also been reconciled to God and to each other. As a result, through Christ and in Christ, we are nothing less than God’s new society, the single new humanity which he is creating and which includes Jews and Gentiles on equal terms. We are the family of God the Father, the body of Jesus Christ his Son and the temple or dwelling place of the Holy Spirit

Therefore we are to demonstrate plainly and visibly by our new life the reality of this new thing which God has done: first by the unity an diversity of our common life, secondly by the purity and love of our everyday behavior, next by the mutual submissiveness and care of our relationships at home, and lastly by our stability in the fight against the principalities and powers of evil. Then in the fullness of time God’s purpose of unification will be brought to completion under the headship of Christ.

—From The Bible Speaks Today: The Message of Ephesians

August 29 2008 at 11:11 am

ESV Study Bible

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Here’s a video introducing the new ESV Study Bible. It features my friend Tullian Tchividjian, and I make a brief appearance to gush about the Bible. Take a minute to watch it. I hope that it will motivate you to get a copy when it’s released. As I share in the video, I would like to see every family in Covenant Life get a copy of this wonderful tool.

August 21 2008 at 11:27 am

Writing and J.I. Packer on Scripture

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Yesterday I spent the day at the Worthy 08 Youth Retreat and had a great time. What incredible, godly, fun high school students we have in this church! Dave Brewer and his team are doing such a good job leading families with teens.

I’m continuing to plug away at my book writing project. I’d appreciate your prayers. This week I’m working on a chapter on God’s word. I came across this quote from J.I. Packer’s book Concise Theology and share it here for your encouragement:

What Scripture says, God says; for, in a manner comparable only to the deeper mystery of the Incarnation, the Bible is both fully human and fully divine. So all its manifold contents—histories, prophecies, poems, songs, wisdom writings, sermons, statistics, letters, and whatever else—should be received as from God, and all that Bible writers teach should be revered as God’s authoritative instruction. Christians should be grateful to God for the gift of his written Word, and conscientious in basing their faith and life entirely and exclusively upon it. Otherwise, we cannot ever honor or please him as he calls us to do.

Amen! Let’s base our lives “entirely and exclusively” on God’s authoritative instruction given to us in Scripture.

July 29 2008 at 10:13 am

Hiding God’s Word

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Last Friday we had our third “Mill” meeting. The Mill is a series of Friday morning gatherings for men where we worship, hear God’s word and then pray together. One of the biggest encouragements for me has been seeing the attendance grow every week. If you haven’t yet made it out, please make plans to join us this Friday at 6:30 a.m.

For all the men who were there, I wanted to follow-up on our assignment. Erik Sheffer gave a great message about the importance of hiding God’s word in our hearts (you can hear it online.) I asked all the guys present to pinpoint one area of their life where they were fighting sin and then to choose one Scripture passage to memorize in the coming week.

So how’s the memorization going, men? I chose to memorize John 15:5 about the importance of abiding in Christ. I’ve been convicted lately of allowing my “to-do list” to distract me from communing with God. This week I’ve been meditating on Jesus statement that “apart from me you can do nothing.”