Archive for April, 2010

04.29.10

MALACHI 1.1-5 (Study And Application)

By Rob Berreth

Malachi 1.1-5, LOVED

THE ORACLE OF THE WORD OF THE LORD:
Malachi, among many things, is a book of rebuke and correction. There is much grace offered, but additionally, that grace is meant to produce repentance. As you prepare to study through this book it is important to understand the different ways you can respond to the Malachi’s message. After you read through the different approaches decide which response you are going to pray God grants you.

Ignore: Some may choose to ignore the message of Malachi. This can happen through dismissing too quickly God’s Word in this Book. Ignoring can also happen by drowning out its message by cluttering up your life with busyness or by medicating the message away through distraction.

  • Do you believe you need the message of Malachi?
  • Is your life too busy to sit and listen to this text? In what ways might you try to medicate and distract yourself from Malachi?

Worldly Grief: Read 2 Corinthians 7.8-11

  • What is the result of worldly grief?
  • How is worldly grief the product of a religious attitude?
  • How does worldly grief produce confession without repentance?

Godly Grief: Read 2 Corinthians 7.8-11

  • What are the results of godly grief?
  • How does godly grief reflect a “gospeled” life?

WHO THE WORD IS TO:
Like every book in the Bible, Malachi is written to a specific people in a specific time. Familiarity with the cultural setting of the book is helpful in understanding the message for us today. Many of the issues Malachi was addressing in his time are the same problems that plague the church today. Following is a brief list of the different “types” of people addressed in Malachi. As you look at each of these approaches to faith ask yourself where you see evidences of each of these “worldviews” in your life.

Practical Atheism (Live As If God Doesn’t Exist, Material And Temporary)

  • How often do you consciously think about God throughout your day?
  • How much of your day is spent focused on material and temporary things?

Functional Deism (Live As If God Doesn’t Care, Distant And Indifferent)

  • What does your prayer life look like? Does it feel like anyone is listening?
  • How often to do you talk with God about decisions and direction in your life?

Cynical Agnosticism (No Judgment, No Resurrection, No Relationship)

  • How often do you think about the return of Jesus?
  • How often do you think about eternity and heaven?

Religious Formalism (Spotted Leftovers, Minimum Offerings, And Rule Driven Routines. Obedience To Be Accepted)

  • Is your faith more rule-oriented or relational?
  • When you fail in your obedience do you believe God is going to leave you?
  • Do you find yourself doing the very minimum you can so God “isn’t angry with you?”

Stoic Spirituality (Passionless Worship, Lukewarm Affections, And A Joyless Relationship)

  • What is your passion?
  • What do you spend most of your time talking about, thinking about, excited about?

Misdirected Hedonism (Immediate, Finite, Comfort Seeking And Control)

  • In what ways do you pursue temporary pleasure in place of eternal satisfaction?
  • What do you delight in?

GOD’S CONTRACONDITIONAL LOVE
David Powlison asserts, “the Gospel is better than unconditional love. The Gospel says, “God accepts you just as Christ is. God has ‘contraconditional’ love for you.” Christ bears the curse you deserve. Christ is fully pleasing to the Father and gives you His own perfect goodness. Christ reigns in power, making you the Father’s child and coming close to you to begin to change what is unacceptable to God about you. God never accepts me “as I am.” He accepts me “as I am in Jesus Christ.” The center of gravity is different. The true Gospel does not allow God’s love to be sucked into the vortex of the soul’s LUST for acceptability and worth in and of itself. Rather, it radically decenters people—to look outside themselves.” The following questions attempt to unpack Powlison’s insights as applied to Malachi 1.2-5.

God Has Loved You

  • In what way is God’s love the ground of the entire book of Malachi?
  • Why are God’s words both unexpected and undeserved?
  • Why did God love (choose) Jacob and hate (reject) Esau? (See Romans 9)
  • How can a holy God love sinful people?
  • Why is God’s contraconditional love such good news for sinners? How does God’s love for us “as we are in Christ Jesus” both comfort us and compel us to respond?

Responding To God’s Love
The rebukes throughout the book of Malachi are particularly strong in light of the initiatory, electing, contraconditional love of God for His people. This kind of love demands a response. God’s love will produce a response. Read the entire book of Malachi in one sitting asking these two questions:

  • How has God loved His people?
  • Have God’s people loved Him?

Posted in Eat Truth, Malachi, Sermons | No Comments »

04.26.10

HAPPINESS: “ENJOY THE BLESSING! REVEL IN THE GOODNESS” (Part 10)

By Rob Berreth

Psalm 128 (ESV)
1 Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD,
who walks in his ways!
2You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

3Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
around your table.
4Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the LORD.

5 The LORD bless you from Zion!
May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
6May you see your children’s children!
Peace be upon Israel!

Being a Christian is what we were created for. The life of faith has the support of an entire creation and the resources of a magnificent redemption.


Promises and Pronouncements:
Blessing is the word that describes this happy state of affairs. Psalm 128, sandwiched between promises and pronouncements, is an illustration of blessing. An image of a life that is bounded on one side by promises of blessing, on the other side by pronouncements of blessing, and experiences blessings between those boundaries.

Jesus, in his Sermon on the Mount, identifies the eight key qualities in the life of a person of faith and announces each one with the word blessed. Jesus makes it clear that discipleship is an expansion of our capacities, an overflowing of joy, and a blessed life.

Sharing In Life:
Blessing has inherent in it the power to increase. It functions by sharing and delight in life. We must develop better and deeper concepts of happiness than those held by the world, which makes a happy life to consist in “ease, honors, and great wealth.” Psalm 128 helps us do that. Too much of the world’s happiness depends on taking from one to satisfy the other. As we learn to give and share, our vitality increases, and the people around us become fruitful vines and olive shoots at our tables. For the Christian, blessing comes so that we can bless. Being blessed results in blessing others.

Traveling by the Roads:
To guard against all blasphemous chumminess with the Almighty, the Bible talks of the fear of the Lord—not to scare us but to bring us to awesome attention before the overwhelming grandeur of God. Not only do we let God be God as he really is, but we start doing the things for which he made us.

People accuse religion with interfering with what they consider their innocent pleasures and wishes. But religion is an inconvenience only to those who are traveling against the grain of creation, at cross-purposes with the way that leads to redemption. God’s way, and God’s presence are where we experience happiness that lasts, to our children’s children.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Eugene Peterson’s book “A Long Obedience In The Same Direction.” It is based solely on Peterson’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through Peterson’s effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Eugene Peterson and consider buying the book.)

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04.21.10

Fasting And Feasting And The Book of Malachi

By Rob Berreth

Fasting And Feasting
As I was preparing for Malachi I sensed something that as a church will be unique for us, a corporate fast. My hope is that as a church we will see individuals, by God’s grace, fast throughout the entire 7-week series. In other words, that at least one individual will fast every day from the start of the series on April 25th until we end the series with a feast on June 6th.

To prepare for the fast I found the following summary by John Piper helpful in focusing my affections and my mind towards some Biblical aims of fasting. Here are six aims Piper provides for reasons to fast:

1. For Jesus to come back
Matthew 9:14-15: Then the disciples of John came to Him, asking, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” 15 And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast

2. For help in a new venture in ministry
Matthew 4:1-2: Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became hungry.

Acts 13:3: Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

3. To avert some danger or threat
Ezra 8:21: Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a safe journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions.

2 Samuel 12:16: David therefore inquired of God for the child; and David fasted and went and lay all night on the ground.

4. To express sorrow and loss
2 Samuel 1:12: They mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and his son Jonathan and for the people of the LORD and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword

1 Chronicles 10:12: All the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh, and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

5. To express repentance and grief for sin
Joel 2:12-13: “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping and mourning; 13 And rend your heart and not your garments.” Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness And relenting of evil.

6. Not for the praise of men
Matthew 6:16-18: Whenever you fast, do not put on a gloomy face as the hypocrites do, for they neglect their appearance so that they will be noticed by men when they are fasting. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. 17 But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by men, but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.

In reflecting on my prayer time and preparation for Malachi over the last year there are a number of reasons that fasting seems of the Spirit and exceedingly appropriate for a study like Malachi. I imagine all of the Biblical aims Piper summarized above will come into play through our study of Malachi. Perhaps the biggest aim I sense in fasting, is the practical discipline of willingly removing things that often curb our hunger for God so we can learn to feast on Him as The Only One who can truly satisfy. For now consider praying and asking God if you should participate in this corporate fast and to what extent. Some may choose to fast multiple days throughout this series, others may be led not to fast  (for medical or other reasons) but to pray for those that are. If you are going to fast I strongly recommend John Piper’s book, “A Hunger For God” as a helpful and inspirational book on what it means to desire God through fasting and prayer.

Let me end this brief call to fast with Matthew 6.16-18. Jesus says; “16And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, 18that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” As you prepare to fast this passage would be a good one to memorize. Jesus’ words teach us that fasting when rightly understood and practiced is not a gloomy and sad experience but a joyful time of enjoying the Father more than anything else. What could be a more glorious in fasting than feasting on the Father’s reward? My prayer for our church is a deeper hunger for God and a lessening thirst for the things of this world. For God’s glory and our satisfaction in Him, Amen.

Posted in Malachi, Prayer | No Comments »

04.21.10

WORK: “IF GOD DOESN’T BUILD THE HOUSE” (Part 9)

By Rob Berreth

Psalm 127 (ESV)
1Unless the LORD builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2It is in vain that you rise up early
and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

3Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
4Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
5Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

One of the tasks of Christian discipleship is to relearn how to work. One requirement of discipleship is to learn the ways sin skews our nature and to submit what we learn to the continuing will of God, so that we are reshaped through the days of our obedience. Psalm 127 show both the right way and he wrong way to work. It posts a warning and provides an example to guide Christians in work that is done to the glory of God.

Babel or Buddhist:
Psalm 127 first posts a warning about work. If we work without God then we are wasting our time. Anything we try and accomplish on our own, without his blessing, will never glorify him. Psalm 127 shows a way to work that is neither sheer activity nor pure passivity. It doesn’t glorify work as such, and it doesn’t condemn work as such. If we want to experience the fullness of work we need to work for what God wants.

In the Beginning God Worked:
The Bible begins with an announcement that God created. He did something, he created something, he worked. The work of God is defined in the Scriptures. One of the reasons that Christians read Scripture repeatedly and carefully is to find out just how God works in Jesus Christ so that we can first rest in the work of Jesus Christ (The Gospel) and then work in the name of Jesus Christ.

In every letter that the apostle Paul wrote, he demonstrated that a Christian’s work is a natural, inevitable and faithful development out of God’s work. Christian discipleship, by orienting us in God’s work and setting us in the mainstream of what God is already doing, frees us from the compulsiveness of work. Every Christian must be constantly vigilant against believing that they can do God’s work for him.

The foundational truth is that work is good. If God does it, it must be all right. Work has dignity: there can be nothing degrading about work if God works. Work had purpose: there can be nothing futile about work if God works.

Effortless Work:
In contrast to the anxious labor that builds cities and guards possessions, this Psalm praises the effortless work of making children. We do not make these people that walk among us, we participate in an act of love that was provided for us in the structure of God’s creation. By joining Jesus and the Psalm we learn a way of work that does not acquire things or amass possessions but responds to God and develops relationships. The work that we are called to do is the personal relationships that we create and develop. Out of numerous handshakes and greetings, some germinate and grow into a friendship in Christ.

Relentless compulsive work habits which our society rewards and admires are seen by the psalmist as a sign of weak faith and assertive pride, as if God could not be trusted to accomplish his will, as if we could rearrange the universe by our own effort. Psalm 127 insists on a perspective in which our effort is at the periphery and God’s work is at the center.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Eugene Peterson’s book “A Long Obedience In The Same Direction.” It is based solely on Peterson’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through Peterson’s effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Eugene Peterson and consider buying the book.)

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04.19.10

JOY: “WE LAUGHED, WE SANG” (Part 8)

By Rob Berreth

Psalm 126 (ESV)
1When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then they said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”
3The LORD has done great things for us;
we are glad.

4Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like streams in the Negeb!
5 Those who sow in tears
shall reap with shouts of joy!
6He who goes out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
bringing his sheaves with him.

One of the delightful discoveries along the way of Christian discipleship is how much enjoyment there is, how much laughter you hear, how much sheer fun you find. As Christians we should partake in joy as a daily ritual, exclaiming our enjoyment in living a life of obedience to God.

A Consequence, Not a Requirement:
Joy is characteristic of the Christian pilgrimage. It is the second in Paul’s list of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22 – 23). It is the first of Jesus’ signs in the Gospel of John. Joy is not a requirement of Christian discipleship, it is a consequence. It is not what we have to acquire in order to experience life in Christ; it is what comes to us when we are walking in the way of faith and obedience. We can decide to live in response to the abundance of God and not under the dictatorship of our own poor needs. One of the certain consequences of such a life is joy, the kind expressed in Psalm 126.

Joyful Expectation:
Joy is nurtured by anticipation. If the joy-producing acts of God are characteristic of our past as God’s people, they will also be characteristic of our future as his people. Christian joy is not an escape from sorrow. Pain and hardship still come, but they are unable to drive out the happiness that the redeemed will experience. Joy is what God gives, not what we work up.

Christian joy happens in the midst of pain, suffering, loneliness, and misfortune. “3More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation” (Rom 5:3-11).

The psalm does not give joy as a package or as a formula, but there are some things it does do. It shows up the tininess of the world’s joy and affirms the solidarity of God’s joy. God promises that whatever else is happening we can be a happy people. Why? Because “the LORD has done great things for us; we are glad.”

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Eugene Peterson’s book “A Long Obedience In The Same Direction.” It is based solely on Peterson’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through Peterson’s effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Eugene Peterson and consider buying the book.)

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04.14.10

Seven Characteristics of Highly Evangelistic Christians

By Rob Berreth

Thom Rainer (the president of Lifeway Christian Resources) just posted seven characteristics of evangelistic Christians. His list is clear and helpful. He reminds us that evangelism is about people pursuing people for the Glory of God with the Gospel of Christ. Some of the characteristics might fit you, some may not, but by God’s grace we can all grow in each. Here is his post in entirety:

For over twenty years I have been researching and studying churches, primarily those in North America. I had the joy of serving as senior pastor in four churches where God blessed with evangelistic growth. I have written over twenty books about the church in America.

I am not giving you my credentials to impress you, but simply to share that my life’s passion has been leading and learning about evangelistic churches. At this point in my life and ministry, however, I realize that I have not given sufficient attention to one of the primary characteristics of evangelistic churches.

The Great Omission

It is so obvious. Indeed it is so clear that I am surprised at my neglect of this factor. Stated simply, the evangelistic churches that I have researched for the past twenty years have one or more highly evangelistic Christians.

I know. The previous statement is no great revelation. It is almost stating the obvious. But, if it is reality, why are we not hearing more about these Christians who seem to have a passion for evangelism? Why are we not doing a better job of telling their stories?

In this short article I hope to address this great omission.

Seven Characteristics

It is inevitable that, when we do research on evangelistic churches, we learn about one or more members in the church who, to use the book title by Charles H. Spurgeon, embody the traits of “The Soul Winner.” Oftentimes one of those members is the pastor. But we have also seen many laypersons who are themselves soul winners.

In our interviews with these people, or with those who tell us about the soul winners, we began to discern some clear patterns. We called those patterns “the seven characteristics of highly evangelistic Christians.”

1. They are people of prayer. They realize that only God can convict and convert, and they are totally dependent upon Him in prayer. Most of the highly evangelistic Christians spend at least an hour in prayer each day.

2. They have a theology that compels them to evangelize. They believe in the urgency of the gospel message. They believe that Christ is the only way of salvation. They believe that anyone without Christ is doomed for a literal hell.

3. They are people who spend time in the Word. The more time they spend in the Bible, the more likely they are to see the lostness of humanity and the love of God in Christ to save those who are lost.

4. They are compassionate people. Their hearts break for those who don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They have learned to love the world by becoming more like Christ who has the greatest love for the world.

5. They love the communities where God has placed them. They are immersed in the culture because they desire for the light of Christ to shine through them in their communities.

6. They are intentional about evangelism. They pray for opportunities to share the gospel. They look for those opportunities. And they see many so-called casual encounters as appointments set by God.

7. They are accountable to someone for their evangelistic activities. They know that many good activities can replace Great Commission activities if they are not careful. Good can replace the best. So they make certain that someone holds them accountable each week, either formally or informally, for their evangelistic efforts.

The “Secret” of Evangelistic Churches

The secret is really no secret at all. Ultimately, evangelistic churches see more persons become Christians through the passionate efforts of highly evangelistic Christians. More than any programs. More than any church events. More than anything else, we are the instruments God has chosen to use.

Sometimes we ask the question “What is my church doing to become more evangelistic?” But the better question is “What am I doing to become more evangelistic?”

Charles H. Spurgeon was right. We need more soul winners.

We need more highly evangelistic Christians.

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04.12.10

SECURITY: “GOD ENCIRCLES HIS PEOPLE” (Part 7)

By Rob Berreth

Psalm 125 (ESV)
1Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the LORD surrounds his people,
from this time forth and forevermore.
3For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
4 Do good, O LORD, to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts!
5But those who turn aside to their crooked ways
the LORD will lead away with evildoers!
Peace be upon Israel!

Backslider was a basic word in the religious vocabulary depicting people who had made a commitment of faith to our Lord, had been active in church, but had lost their footing on the ascents to Christ and backslid. This was a threat to all, at all times. You could at any moment fall victim to loosing your footing and slipping backwards. Another way to look at this action Christians are prone to is by examining scripture and seeking a different truth. In scripture there is a background of confidence, a leisured security, among people of faith.

Someone Else Built the Fortress:
The emphasis of Psalm 125 is not the precariousness of the Christian life but on its solidity. Jerusalem was set in a saucer of hills. It was the safest of cities because of the protective fortress these hills provided. Just so, is the person of faith surrounded by the Lord.

People of faith have the same needs for protection and security as anyone else. What is different is that we don’t have to build our own. God provides our safe haven. He constructs the walls that secure us in his presence. At no time does a person of faith feel left out in the wilderness, but brought within the city gates to rest in the peace and shelter that God provides in Christ in the Gospel.

A Saw–Toothed History:
The confident, robust faith that we desire and think is our destiny is qualified by recurrent insecurities. Singing psalm 125 is one way Christians have to develop confidence and banish insecurity. One threat to our security comes from feelings of depression and doubt. We can be moved by nearly anything: sadness, joy, success, failure.

Israel can be described as a having a saw–toothed–history. One day it’s up, and next it is down. But as we read about their history we realize something steady: they are always God’s people. We learn to live not by our feelings about God but by the facts of God. Our security should come from who God is, not from how we feel about him. Discipleship is a decision to live by what we know about God, not by what we feel. In other words, it’s not what we feel about God that makes us secure, its that God chooses to know us and Christ chooses to save us.

A Damoclean Sword:
Another source of uncertainty is our pain and suffering. The daily conflicts that we face can be demoralizing. God tells us that danger and oppression are never too much for faith. That nothing counter to God’s justice has eternity to it. God will never let you down; he’ll never push you past your limits; he’ll always help you come through it.

A Nonnegotiable Contract:
The third kind of threat to the confidence promised to the Christian is the fear of defection. However, once you are a Christian there is no getting out of it. We have our ups and downs, zealously believing one day and gloomily doubting the next, but God is faithful. You may choose the crooked way. You may choose to run from God. But if you are His, He will not lose you. If He has begun a good work He will bring it completion. Our confidence, our security, our perseverance is not due to our performance, our faithfulness, or our determination but to the LORD who surrounds His people, to the Spirit who seals His people, to the Shepherd who leads His people.

Mountain Climbers Roped Together:
Psalm 125 says that being a Christian is like sitting in the middle of Jerusalem, fortified and secure. Neither our feelings nor the facts of suffering nor the fear of defection are evidence that God has abandoned us. Do not be anxious, our life with God is a sure thing, because He is sure and because He surrounds and because He saves and because He seeks.

Traveling the way of faith and climbing the ascent to Christ may be difficult, but it is not worrisome. The weather may be adverse, but it is never fatal. We may slip and stumble and fall, but the rope will hold us. God will always hold us.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Eugene Peterson’s book “A Long Obedience In The Same Direction.” It is based solely on Peterson’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through Peterson’s effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Eugene Peterson and consider buying the book.)

Posted in Eat Truth, Songs Of Ascents | No Comments »