Why Have a Fall Festival?

We had a wonderful celebration this past Sunday at our annual Fall Festival which takes place each year at the YMCA here in town. Two highlights that stuck out for me during the the evening were certainly the the baptisms that took place in the pool and the unity of a church that loves that Lord . It was a true joy to see young and old, families and individuals publicly committing their lives to Christ. Evidence of a church loving, disciplining and walking with those who are giving there lives to something greater than themselves. A close second to the baptisms was the unity involved in collectively pulling together to provide a fall celebration, a harvest festival or what was called in biblical times the Feast of the Tabernacle or The Feast of Ingathering. Unity in the body of Christ is something that we so often take for granite, something we don't often recognize until it is gone. What a pleasure to see a group of people gathering together in worship.

So why have a Fall Festival? We come together this time of year to celebrate the harvest of both the physical needs that God has provided for us and for the harvest of those who have committed their lives to Christ. God has given both physically and spiritually much more than we ever deserve here at Grace Point and I am so thankful to see a church come together in such unity to thank our Lord and Savior for all he has done.

Deuteronomy 16:13-15 gives instructions for this celebration: You shall observe the Feast of Tabernacles seven days, when you have gathered from your threshing floor and from your winepress, and you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter...and all who are within your gates. Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the Lord your God in the place which the Lord chooses, because the Lord your God will bless you in all of your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice.

May we continue to find our joy in the Lord and all He has done and continues to do for us.

Matt

Falling Deeper

Recently I have thoroughly enjoyed falling deeper in love with the one and only God who is joy unspeakable and full of glory. I want to be a part of an unspeakable joy and I want to be full of God's glory, I want to delight in the things that delight the Lord, I want to celebrate when God celebrates and I want to feel what God feels. I think about Enoch a person who "walked with God", who found his joy not in the things of this world but in the Creator of everything. His relationship with the Lord was in tune with God just as King David's heart and songs were for the Lord and therefore Enoch now walks with God in eternity. My hope is in the Lord I want it to be living as the apostle Peter writes "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him, and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

J.I. Packer writes in Knowing God "What were we made for? To know God. What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God. What is the 'eternal life' that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God. 'This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, who you have sent' (John 17:3)."

I have found that what I read, that meditating on the Lord, that where I place my affections and that those who I let influence my life have a profound effect on falling deeper in love with the one and only God.























. What has d

MONEY

Money has been on my mind lately for various reasons, not the love of money, but how how it fits into the life of someone who wants to put God first. Earlier today I heard Alistair Begg, speak out of the book of James regarding the dangers of riches and the love of money. A couple quotes that stuck out to me in Alistair's talk where from J.C. Ryle.


"A man may greatly love money without having any at all. Beware of the love of self, it may be found in a poor man's home as well as in a mansion. And beware of thinking that poverty alone will save you. If you would sit down with Lazarus in glory, you must not only have fellowship with him in suffering, but also in grace.

“Money, in truth, is one of the most unsatisfying of possessions. It takes away some cares, no doubt; but it brings with it quite as many cares as it takes away.

“There is trouble in the getting of it. There is the anxiety in the keeping it. There are the temptations in the use of it. There is the guilt in the abuse of it. There is the sorrow in the losing of it. There is the perplexity in the disposing of it.

“Two-thirds of all the strifes, quarrels, and lawsuits in the world, arise from one simple cause – money!”


Just yesterday we received a sizable(for us) check in the mail and I was almost disappointed. The reason being is that usually when we receive a check like this it is an unexpected gift that is desperately needed. This time there were no bills or depts in desperate need of being paid and therefore there was no jumping up and down over God's immediate provision. So... I am left with seeking God's plan for that which he gives and in doing so desire that I honor Him and find great joy in using His provisions for His glory. And what I have learned from this simple experience is that the Joy of Lord does not come in having, or not having, but comes in seeking the One who does have.

My prayer is that I continually and desperately love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength no matter the circumstance.

What We Are Studying, Have Studied and Recommendations

Love and Respect by Emerson and Sarah Eggerichs

Desiring God by John Piper

r12 by Chip Ingrim

Life Rules and Breakaway by Andy Stanley

Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby

Crazy Love by Francis Chan

Mere Christianity by CS Lewis

Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey

The Epistles of John, the Bible

Proverbs chapter by chapter, the Bible

John chapter by chapter, the Bible

Community, Your Pathway To Progress by North Point Resources

Seeking Him by Nancey Lee Demoss

Lies Women Believe by Nancy Demoss

Share Jesus Without Fear

What Every Christian Ought To Know by Adrian Rodgers

The Truth Project

Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus

Holy Ambition by Chip Ingram

Fireproof Your Marriage

Beth Moore Bible Studies

and more to be posted.

Treasuring the Holy Word of God

2 Timothy 3:10-17

Paul inspired once again wrote these words in a cold dungeon, chained like a common criminal. During a time when Christians where being burned, dipped in hot wax and parading around on spears Paul wrote this letter to Timothy. He was concerned about the young church, how it was holding up and reacting to the persuasion under Nero. Paul instructions to Timothy where words of encouragement and perseverance in a difficult time where Christians where faced with trials that could kill the strong movement of faith in Jesus Christ or it could strengthen the resolve of the believers. We are told in these verses that to be a follower of Christ will provoke affliction and persecution but we are not to be dismayed we are to remain, we are to continue in the Word, we are by no means to lose faith for to do so would be to go from "bad to worse". The God-Breathed Bible is our source for wisdom, knowledge, for strength, resolve and righteousness.

Paul insisted that the God-Breathed Bible be:

Guarded- It is the responsibility of those who follow Christ to treasure the Word of God, to hold it close and dear in order to preserve and pass it on.

Be Taught- As Timothy was taught as young boy by his mother and Grandmother(2 Timothy 1:5)we are to teach the word.

"Continued In" Abide in the Word, stay in the Word, remain in the Word for it is here that we find direction, answers to life difficult questions and it is here that we find the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Gospel.

John Piper who many would consider a modern day apostle gives "Ten Reasons Why I Am Thankful for The God-Breathed Bible"


In verse 16 Paul closes his inspired thoughts and states these powerful words; "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Here at Grace Point we want to be a church that remains in the word, that teaches, that studies, that discusses the word. We are commit the Word to our children, to our teenagers, to our adults, in our worship service, during prayer meetings and in our small groups. As we saturate ourselves with the Holy Word of God and as we treasure the God-Breathed Word we can be equipped with and for eternity.

Marriage Finds Hope In The Gospel of Grace

I so enjoyed the wedding I had the privileged of preaching at this past weekend. My prayer was that the Lord spoke through me and into to the live of those there to celebrate, and into the lives of Matt Nelson and Catie Kilgore who are now Matt and Catie Nelson united in Holy Matrimony.

The following are some excerpts from the ceremony:

I John 4:7-16
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son[a] into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for[b] our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.


Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing. There are many things below it, but there are also things above it. You cannot make it the basis of a whole life. It is a noble feeling, but it is still a feeling... Knowledge can last, principles can last, habits can last; but feelings come and go... But, of course, ceasing to be "in love" need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense — love as distinct from "being in love" — is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriage) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God... "Being in love" first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it. CS Lewis in Mere Christianity states

There will be times when you can’t do without each other and there may be brief times when you struggle to do with each other. Knowing that, I desire for you and every person in this room to find your strength in the Hope of the Gospel of Grace.

-It is only by the Grace of our Lord and Savior that we can have hope.

-Only by His Grace can love one another.

-Only by His Grace can we love God.

-And only by His Grace can we be united with Him for eternity.

1 John 4:7-16 ...so graciously read for us speaks loudly of the Hope of the Gospel of Grace and how we are to love one another, of how Christ showed his love for us by sacrificing and suffering for us, and it shows that the love in us and through us testifies of Jesus- Savior of the world.

In closing Matt and Catie as you enter into and continue in the covenant of marriage I pray, because “you are the salt, you are the light, because you are a city on a hill, practice love for each other as exemplified by Christ and find your Hope in the Gospel of His Grace

A Hundredfold

"Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brother or sister or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. But many that are first will be last."

Is a hundredfold not a good return on your investment, who would not like to invest a dollar and receive a hundred or $10 and receive $1,000 or $100 and receive $10,000...? God's has commissioned us, charged us, directed us, authorized all those who believe, all who have the Holy Spirit living with in them to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you" Matthew 28:18. Spreading the Gospel to the ends of the earth is not an option, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit come on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Said Jesus in Act 1:8.

These words have been speaking loudly to me in the wake of the death of Chris Leggett in Mauritania, who's murder was claimed by Al Qaeda for sharing the Gospel and in a time where my Brother and Sister in-law will board a plane in three week in route to central Asia to spread the gospel in a Muslim land. As He speaks to me, I for the sake of His commission, for His saving grace, for His sacrifice, for His love want to experience the glory of God, a hundredfold!

Matt