Free to Serve

Putting the Lord’s Day to Good Use

This past Sunday a member of the church came up to me with an honest question. He wanted to know how he could best absorb all the teaching he received on a Sunday. His comment was something like this: 

Aaron, do you have a method to figure out what to walk away with on a Sunday? In Sunday school I get a great lesson, the sermon is meaty, and the Sunday evening devotional is helpful. But sometimes I’m overwhelmed, and I’m not sure how to take what I’ve learned and put it to use the rest of the week. What should I do? 

I don’t remember what I told him in the church lobby, but after a few days to think and some conversations with others, here is how I would answer his concern.

When We are Mocked for Faith in God

This past week, CNN posted a video poking fun of creationists. For just under three minutes a young man dressed as a Mormon drives through universe in a white minivan with the words, “Creationist Baptist Church,” emblazoned on the side. Wheeling his way through the cosmos, he makes weighty theological points with a quirky smile: 

        o   Black holes don’t exist because they can’t be found in the Holy Bible.

        o   One shouldn’t ask why God made anything, since that would be irreverent.

        o   Fossils were put on earth by Satan to trick us.

You get the point. Mocking creationists is a good way to a quick laugh, and it looks like CNN thinks anti-creationist comedy will promote Internet traffic. The last thing Christians need to do is fret over the public lampooning of their faith. After all, faith in God has existed since creation, so it’s got a pretty good track record. 

When Sermons Don't End in Applause

It's been six years since I started to pastor at MVBC. My first day in the pulpit was June 7, 2008. What a ride! I'm convinced that there is nothing more challenging or satisfying than being a pastor. I'm thankful for doctors and lawyers, plumbers and electricians, writers and basketball players--but as for me, I want to preach. What a privilege the saints give me at Mount Vernon. If you are one of them, thank you!

I heard today, at the annual SBC meeting, that 9 out of 10 men who start in pastoral ministry don't finish. I'm not sure if that number is accurate or not, it seems hard to believe. But even if it's close to being true, I'm shocked. It makes me thankful for each and every day that I get to serve the local church. I'm especially thankful for each Lord's Day I get to preach.

Stephen was a great preacher. Luke records in Acts 7 how Stpehen spoke to a crowd of skeptics, tracing the storyline of the Bible. He started with God's call to Abraham. He recounted God's faithfulness to bless Abraham with Isaac and Isaac with Jacob and Jacob with the twelve. Stephen spoke of God's providence in taking Joseph to Egypt and of God's goodness in raising Moses to lead the people home. Stephen skillfully reminded his audience how the people rejected Moses and turned their hearts over to idols. Through all this, God perserved with his people; God dwelt in their midst.

Stephen basically expounded the whole Old Testament to drive home the point that the Israelites rejected their faithful God. And then, like a boxer going for the final punch, Stephen applied the text: "You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you . . . they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered" (Acts 7:51-52). Stephen boldly proclaimed the truth. They should have been humbled and cut to the heart. They should have repented and believed.

What happened next? Do you know?

They stoned him to death (Acts 7:58). A sermon that should have ended with applause, ended with blood.

Lord willing, should Christ tarry, God will give me another six years at Mount Vernon and another six after that. Unlike Stephen, I preach to saints who are filled with the Holy Spirit, hungry for the Word of God, and eager for the Spirit to perform surgery on their hearts each week. When they see their sin they run to Christ. I don't take that for granted.

But regardless of the response of the congregation, please pray that I'd be like Stephen. Pray that I'd preach the whole counsel of God, that I'd apply the text faithfully even if it hurts, and that I'd be loving and resolute even when the sermons don't end in applause.

How Do I Rest in Christ?

One of the most incredible New Testament passages is the simple explanation of Jesus’ identity we find in Colossians 1:15-18: 

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. ¹⁷And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

The main point is clear: Jesus is preeminent, supreme, glorious and excellent. There is none like him. He is the Lord. But how do we apply such a text? What difference does it make in how we live our lives?

To answer that question, it might help to think of Colossians 1:15-18 as a sister text to Matthew 11:27-28:

 ²⁷All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. ²⁸Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

In both passages, Jesus is presented as one with the Father. In Colossians 1:15 he is the image of the invisible God. In Matthew 11:27 he is the only one who can reveal the Father. We know from both texts that to know Christ is to know God himself! What do we do with such a tremendous truth? The answer is in Matthew 11:28. We turn to him for rest. We run to Jesus promises to give us rest for our souls. Because Jesus is excellent we can find rest in him.

Not far from where I live stands Stone Mountain. It’s a chunk of granite jutting nearly 1,700 feet out of the earth. The path to the top has just a few steep inclines, but on a hot day the burning sun can make the journey grueling. But Stone Mountain is a bit unusual in that on the top that is a concessions stand that sells refreshments. After a long hike, sitting on that rock, looking out over the edge of the mountain, sipping on a cool treat—one understands the value of rest.

Let me suggest five ways, today, you can rest in Christ.