Dear Redeeming Grace, In his book "The Cross of Christ", preacher and theologian John Stott makes this statement: "It was by his death that he wished above all else to be remembered. There is then, it is safe to say, no Christianity without the cross. If the cross is not central to our religion, ours is not the religion of Jesus." (John Stott, The Cross of Christ) Indee...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, In our newsletter this week and next, we want to reflect on Palm Sunday and Good Friday. Between these two dates, the gospels tell of Jesus's last week on earth. The days that see shouts of hosanna, lessons at a final meal, anguish and betrayal in a garden, cries of crucify, and a silent tomb. But it all begins with the royal, exuberant and humble pr...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, As the Westminster Catechism states, the chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. And in our memory verse for this month, we see that God is glorified when there is thanksgiving for grace. It's as if grace sparks the fire of gratitude and thanksgiving radiates like heat. The final verse of our scripture memory for this month end...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, One of the virtues we seek to be known by as a church is joy. In fact, joy is one of seven shaping virtues that all Sovereign Grace Churches seek to display, along with humility, gratitude, encouragement, generosity, servanthood, and godliness. In his introduction on these virtues in the Sovereign Grace Journal, Mickey Connolly, pastor at Crossway C...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, This month our memory verse helps us meditate on extending the grace of God in Christ. Among the ways we extend grace to others is to verbally share what we believe. Sometimes this takes the form of sharing your testimony, the story of God's saving work in your life, with a friend, neighbor or someone the Lord gives you opportunity to talk with. ...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, In our study of Ecclesiastes last week, we read this wisdom from Solomon: "The fool folds his hands and eats his own flesh. Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind." (Eccl. 4:5-6 ESV) Jason pointed out that in contrast to the extremes of laziness and workaholism, "a handful of quietness" refers to cont...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, Within our family of churches called Sovereign Grace Churches, one of the many resources we're thankful for is Sovereign Grace Music. This ministry exists to "produce Christ-exalting songs and training for the Church from our local churches." This Sunday we're excited to be learning one of their new songs from a recent project they've been working ...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, For our second month of scripture memory, we are focusing on a verse that points to the beauty of enjoying God's grace together. As we learn and meditate on Hebrews 10:24-25, God is shaping the way we think. I love how author David Matthis in his book "Habits of Grace" helps us see scripture memory as an application of the prayer "Give us this day ou...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, Two words continue to help me reflect on Jason's message from our last meeting: futility or fullness. Life here on earth can be either one. I suspect we experience moments throughout our days that fall into both of those categories. There are times when we discover that our focus has been on ourselves and we've sought joy in what's temporary. We may...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, This week we begin our new sermon series titled "Ecclesiastes: Enjoying True Life", and we are eager to see how Ecclesiastes will lead us to better "enjoy the grace of God in Christ" and help others see how they lay hold of it through Jesus. We live in a world that is quite the enigma. It's a world that makes endless promises but rarely delivers on ...
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