Monthly Archives: October 2013

Posted on

Logos: John Piper Sermon Manuscript Library

944321cb-866b-43ae-aaec-fe884f14733f-640x360

One of the latest additions to the Logos library is the sermon manuscript library from John Piper. Like Keller I believe Piper through his obvious teaching gift has done a great service to the Church by cataloging their messages. Both Keller and Piper tend to preach more exegetically. When you have 30 years of messages from these two profound teachers you have many Bible passages covered.

Piper and Keller are not the first pastors to have their messages turned into a commentary, John Calvin, Matthew Henry, R C Sproul are just a few who have done this. What make Keller and Piper unique in the set of pastor theologians is they are parsing scripture from a postmodern vantage point. There are many similarities between our world now and Matthew Henry’s world. There are also vast differences.

Posted on

Free Bible Lesson Amos: The problem with lies

book of amos

Amos

–  Book of how Israel was Led astray by lies
The problem with lies?

Key Point – Lies Hurt!
Memory Verse –Exodus 20:16 “Do not tell lies about others.”

Skit – Lies lead astray – have someone ask for directions but the person giving the directions is lying so the people who are lost get even more lost. – Have a family lost at an amusement park they ask someone who works there for directions the person they ask lies to them they wander around and eventually come back right were they were. They begin to get upset and ask the same guy for directions he apologizes for leading them astray. They again return frustrated by this person who lied to them and told them the wrong directions. They explain to the guy who gave them wrong directions that he has wasted their entire day. The boy who lied starts feeling bad because he thought that his lies were funny he didn’t realize that Lies Hurt.

Skit – Exaggerations are lies, A kid exaggerates about everything but doesn’t think that he is lying. A little girl walks around talking to all her friends always exaggerating to make her stories sound better than anyone else’s story. Finally one of her friends comes and talks to her she continues to exaggerate, her friend asks her if she realizes that exaggerations are lies too. The lying girl seems shocked that she didn’t realize that. The good girl explains when we stretch the truth it stops being truth. The good girl explains that when we exaggerate we are lying and when we lie we hurt others.

Object lesson – Lies don’t die they grow bigger and bigger. – Show a clip of the veggie tales about Larry boy and the big lie. Explain that when we start lying we have to use other lies to cover up lies that we have said the lies just continue to grow. The more the grow the bigger they get the more people they hurt.

Object lesson – White lies are still a lie – no such thing as a good lie – use the lie object lesson – Show that it doesn’t matter if the lie we tell is a “good” lie or a bad lie it is still a lie.

Puppet – A puppet is scared he told a lie and he is a puppet doesn’t want to end up like Pinocchio.

Amos Small Group

Key Point – Lies Hurt!
Memory Verse –Exodus 20:16 “Do not tell lies about others.”

Questions –

  1. What is a lie?
  2. Who lied in the Bible story?
  3. How did Samuel feel?
  4. What happened to Saul?
  5. How did Saul feel?
  6. What is an exaggeration?
  7. What is a “white” lie?
  8. Do lies grow bigger?
  9. What happens when we tell a lie?
  10. Do we hurt ourselves? Others?
  11. What does the Lord expect of us? Why?
  12. What can we do to make sure that we tell the truth?
  13. Should we tell the truth and hurt people’s feelings?

 

Posted on

6 questions to help you rethink your family ministry needs

card pick up slide

Rethink the needs of your church – What do the families in your particular context need?

  1. When are they dialed in?  Do they need a resource or a program? Here are a few we have identified.
    Baby born – resource
    Baby dedicated – program
    Talking to your kids about sex – resource
    Baptism – resource
  2. Don’t reinvent the wheel but make the wheel fits your car. – A few things out there to check out, Group’s milestones, Orange’s parent resources, and D6.
  3. Make sure the steps are practical. – Parents need simple and step by step.
  4. Make sure you help parents see that their story for their family is part of a much bigger story.
  5. Make sure that in everything you do Jesus is clearly seen. We have to partner with Christ before we can partner with parents.

All ministers will be called upon often to pray in public. But public prayer can never be a substitute for private prayer. Private prayer is a basic feature of the Christian life and thus a key aspect of preparation for public ministry. Methodist preacher E. M. Bounds once wrote, “Some Methodist preachers pray too short in private and too long in public. As a rule, private prayers ought to be long and public ones short….” One who is not in intimate personal contact with God cannot lead God’s people into his presence.

Jesus Driven Ministry (CROSSWAY, 2007), Page 226
Posted on

3 Simple things we ask parents to do.

talk pray do

One of the things we have to do in family ministry is do a better job of defining to parents what we mean by being the spiritual leaders of your home.  I have heard many messages and have had many conversations around the concept of parents being the primary spiritual leaders. I totally agree and think these conversations need to continue. The question I have asked myself and other family ministry leaders is what do the practical out working of partnership with parents look like. We really get the problem and the need but the solution isn’t one size fits all.