Resources for the Day

I wanted to provide our members with some resources that will be helpful as we process the recent Supreme Court decision regarding same-sex marriage.  Please note the following.

The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC, led by Dr. Russell Moore, is our convention's cultural and public policy arm and is a great resource for a host of topics. Quoting from the ERLC website:

 The Ethics Religious Liberty Commission is an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention. The ERLC is dedicated to engaging the culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ and speaking to issues in the public square for the protection of religious liberty and human flourishing. Our vision can be summed up in three words: kingdom, culture and mission.

To learn more about the work of the ERLC and find resources on this issue: www.erlc.com

A second resource is the blogsite of Dr. Al Mohler, who is the President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Dr. Mohler provides a daily podcast called "The Daily Briefing." It's a twenty minute summary of breaking news and trends related to culture and a biblical world view. He has also written extensively about same-sex marriage and other current topics.  His latest article is a review of the Supreme Court Decision on same-sex marriage. Dr. Mohler's blogsite can be found at: www.albertmohler.com

New Post of Older Sermon Notes on The Believer's Future

As I've been working on this new sermon series titled Basic Training, I ran across an older sermon where I had drafted some points related to the future work of God. These points are appropriate for this weeks' sermon - so here they are again.

 I addressed a theme from Isaiah 48 which reminded us that God has been active in our past.  I’m posting here the seven conclusions of the sermon.

1.  A review of our history verifies God has been involved in our journey.
2. The Lord has invested in our past to give us promise for the future.
3.  The incidents of our lives are not coincidental; they are caused by our choices or orchestrated by God.
4. The circumstances we have experienced are not wasted; they contribute to our spiritual character in Christ.
5. The missteps we make do not negate our future.
6. God’s intervention has saved us from unknown results.
7. Thankfully, God is at work in our lives – past, present, and future.

Sermon Notes: From Micah 6:6-8

Excerpt Notes From Micah 6:6-8

Preached on 5-31-2105

The Issues Raised:

Ritual and Relationship

Obedience and Devotion

Obligation and Worship

I. The Question of Relationship

II. The Pretense of False Worship

III. The Content of True Worship

IV. Relational Obedience

A. Obedience must move beyond mere observance of certain actions, but rather embrace the biblical values that move you to do what you do.

B. Obedience must be filtered through a desire to know Christ.

C. When people see worship as obligatory, then any higher priority will become its substitute.

D. Obedience without relationship is obligatory compliance - which quickly leads to fatigue and failure.