Praying for Renewal

From Seeking Him: Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival:

• Pray that Jesus Christ will become the first love in each other
• Pray that you will have an increased desire t read and obey God's Word and to Worship Him
• Pray that any outstanding conflicts would be resolved
• Pray that any family conflicts represented in your group will be reconciled
• Pray that you you would be set free from any bitterness, anger, and worry, and that each life would be characterized by love, forgiveness, and God-centered trust
• Pray that each one will cultivate a habit of turning to God first when faced with any kind of trial
• Pray that God will renew your minds
• Pray that each member of your group would experience true revival as you "Seek Him" together in the days ahead.

These topics for remind me of Psalm 24:1-6.

On the Blogs October 21, 2011

Rowan Atkinson, aka Mr. Bean (love me some Mr. Bean)

A Mother's Sacrifice (wow!)

Elders and Congregationalism (interesting)

Simple Outline for a Christian Worldview (good summary)

Prayer

One of the disciplines of the Christian life is prayer. One of the methods for prayer is called the “scripture text method”. This particular method uses a section of scripture to pray through the subjects that the text brings up.

The following is an example of this method using John 17:11-24. This particular passage comes from Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John’s gospel. The following is a guide that helps you pray through this text. Each subject given to pray for is based upon one or more of the verses in the passage. I would encourage you to read the whole chapter and then use this guide during your personal prayer time this week.

• Pray for believers to live a Christ-like character before the world (17:11)
• Pray that Christians will experience the complete joy of Jesus in their lives (17:13)
• Pray for divine protection from Satan (17:15)
• Pray that believers will live set apart and holy lives in Christ (17:17)
• Pray for Christians to be united in mission and purpose (17:20-21)
• Pray that believers will join Christ in His redemptive work and behold his glory (17:24)

This particular resource for prayer comes out of a little booklet entitled Prayer Prompts for Prayer Groups provided by our Baptist State Convention of North Carolina.

In the foyer area of our sanctuary, there is a bookcase. On that bookcase are several different kinds of resources to help you on your Christian journey with Jesus. I hope that you will avail yourself to any of these resources. They are free--use them for your own walk, get an extra one to give to a friend, or whatever--

2 Peter 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

Justification by Faith

I was reading through an old sermon this afternoon and found this quote by Albert Barnes on the doctrine of justification:

"What is justification? It is the declared purpose of God to regard and treat those sinners who believe in Jesus Christ as if they had not sinned, on the ground of the merits of the Savior. It is not mere pardon. Pardon is a free forgiveness of past offenses. It has reference to those sins as forgiven and blotted out. Justification has respect to the law, and to God's future dealings with the sinner. It is an act by which God determines to treat him hereafter as righteous--as if he had not sinned. The basis for this is the merit of the Lord Jesus Christ, merit that we can plead as if it were our own. He has taken our place and died in our stead; He has met the descending stroke of justice, which would have fallen on our own heads if He had not interposed."

Does Doctrine Matter?

Yes, absolutely...and here is an article demonstrating why...

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/thabitianyabwile/2011/10/01/collateral-damage-in-the-invitation-of-t-d-jakes-to-the-elephant-room/