July 15, 2012 | Luke 3:18-4:22 - Who's Your Daddy?: Our Christian Identity and the Nature of Temptation

Sunday we discussed how the root and nature of temptation is to question our true identity. We are children of God and joint-heirs with Christ, but when tempting, that identity is challenged. As is argued in the sermon below, our father moves from God - the Creator and Lord - to the belief that I am god and I am an animal.





Audio 
Notes 


July 1, 2012 | Mark 1:1-15 - Make War: The Great Cosmic War & the Warrior Whose Already Won It 
July 8, 2012 | 1 John 2:15-17 - Gone Fishing: The Bait & Hook Strategy of Temptation  


For more:
GBC - Trip Lee "War" (lyrics)
GBC - Brad Stine on Fishing and Fishermen
GBC - "Make War!": Piper's Call To Fight Sin
GBC - "Tempted and Tried": A Review
Sermon - December 20., 2009 - Worship the King:  The Folly of Misplaced Allegiance 
Sermon - November 22, 2009 - Self-Control in the Face of Temptation
GBC - Still Surviving The Storm

June 19, 2011 | Proverbs 31: The Virtuous Man - Father's Day 2011

I hope everyone had a great Father's Day and it is always great to celebrate our earthly fathers on the day we worship our Heavenly Father.  Here is the audio and notes from Sunday's message.

Audio
Notes





For more:
May 8, 2011 - Proverbs 31: The Virtuous Womans - Mother's Day 2011 
November 20, 2010 - God is Triune: God the Father  
June 21, 2009 - The Faithful Father 
Myths of Fatherhood  
May 9, 2010 - Manly God for Godly Men:  A Word to Men on Mother's Day 
God is Not a Dude:  Rob Bell and the "She" Video
The Maternal Nature of God: Jim Wallis and the Emergent Worldview 

November 20, 2010 - God is Triune: God the Father

I failed to record yesterday's sermon and so only the notes are available.  This week we looked at the Doctrine of the Divine Trinity and focused on God the Father - the first member of the Trinity

Notes


For more:
September 12, 2010 - God is Creator 
September 19, 2010 - God is Provident 
October 10, 2010 - God is Sovereign  
October 24, 2010 - God is Immutable
October 31, 2010 - God is Holy 
November 7, 2010 - God is Jealous  
November 13, 2010 -  God is Love 

This is Who We Are: What a Baptist Is and Believes - God the Father

God is Dad.  Let us not under-emphasize or neglect such an important reality.  If your like me, to say that God is our Father is routine, Christianeze.  We just say it without ever really thinking about what it means.  The next section of the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 discusses the foundational doctrine of the Trinity; that is, God is three persons but one nature.  The BF&M 2000 says:

God as Father reigns with providential care over His universe, His creatures, and the flow of the stream of human history according to the purposes of His grace. He is all powerful, all knowing, all loving, and all wise. God is Father in truth to those who become children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men.

Gen 1:1; 2:7; Ex 3:14; 6:2-3; 15:11ff.; 20:1ff.; Lev 22:2; Deut. 6:4; 32:6; 1 Chr 29:10; Ps 19:1-3; Is 43:3,15; 64:8; Jer 10:10; 17:13; Matt 6:9ff.; 7:11; 23:9; 28:19; Mk 1:9-11; Jhn 4:24; 5:26; 14:6-13; 17:1-8; Acts 1:7; Rom 8:14-15; 1 Cor 8:6; Gal 4:6; Eph 4:6; Col 1:15; 1 Tim 1:17; Heb 11:6; 12:9; 1 Pet 1:17; 1John 5:7

The first member of the Trinity is God the Father – God our Dad.  The words our and Dad are purposeful.  If God is Dad, then God is personal, relational, and knowable.  Like any dad, God isn’t distant or cold, but near and intimate.  At the birth of America, the rise of Deism was unmistakable in our nation.  Even the author of our Declaration of Independence was written by a Deist.  Deism affirms the existence of God but holds that He is distant and uninvolved.  God is rather cold in Deism.  But though few today refer to themselves as deist, many (including Christians) hold fast to such a belief (intentionally or not).

How many times have you asked, “where was God when tragedy struck?  Does God even hear my prayers?  Why do I feel so alone?  Has God forgotten me?”  If your like me, all the time.  Every hospital is full of rooms of people asking such questions.  Every funeral is populated by mourning loved ones shedding the tears of such questions.  Every church is full of members putting forth the front that all is good, but inside, they’re decaying.  That promising marriage is falling apart – where is God?  That rebellious child has abandoned their parents rock-solid faith – does God not hear the their prayers?  That young couple desiring to have a child can’t and yet the promiscuous girl too immature to be a mother does – what is God up too?

We’ve all been there.  What hope do we have?  For one, God is Dad.  Such a fundamental understanding of God assures us that our prayers don’t fade in the wind, our questions aren’t empty concerns, and though we are alone, we can be comforted, though we are confused, there are present and real answers, and though life is tough, God is in control, aware, and active.

I’ve learned more about God in the past 22 months than I had the previous 24 years of my life.  Though where I fail as a father, God triumphs as our Dad.  I lock the door at night concerned for the safety of my family, because as dad its my primary responsibility.  I learned to pour formula in a bottle because my son needed me.  I wear a seatbelt because I have a family.  I wrestle with a toddler because I enjoy Elijah’s smile.  I am awake when he is, I run when he is in danger, and of course, I discipline when he is in the wrong.

God is Dad and thankfully He’s better at it than me.

But this language of God as Father, especially in the BF&M 2000, means more than just God’s closeness to His creation.  It also means that God is the source of everything and in “providential care over” everything. To no one’s surprise, Elijah was not dropped off by a stork.  He is the offspring of Amanda and I.  Without our union, Elijah would not exist.  Elijah is here because we are.  Likewise, we are here because God exists.  This means that as Elijah has value to us, so too we are valuable to God.  Issues over life and the protection of life are fundamental because life is a God issue.

God’s providence reminds us that just as creation was purposeful, so is everything else.  Every disaster and every celebration is well within God’s good purpose.  So even when we suffer, we can celebrate knowing that all is not lost, all has a purpose, and God will triumph in the end.  If God is Dad, then God is provident and in control and for that we rejoice.

God the Father is an important doctrine that we dare not take for granted.  If God was not Dad then we are a people without hope.  Let us live in comfort and peace knowing that He who created the world is not a distant, cold God, but an intimate Father that planned my existence and has me in His arms.


For more:
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Introduction
This is Who We Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - Scripture  
This is Who WE Are:  What a Baptist Is and Believes - God  

God Is Not a Dude: Rob Bell and the "She" Video

This Sunday is Mother's Day and instead of speaking to women, we will be discussing manhood, fatherhood, etc.  Needless to say there is an absense of what it means to be a man in our culture today. One of the recent trends in postmodern theology is to reject or at least downplay the masculine language of God in the Bible.  The Bible frequently refers to God as King, Father, Son, Judge, and Bridegroom.  Many argue that to speak in such language only encourages chauvinism and sexism in our culture.

I think it is all garbage.  Not that the Bible never uses feminine language, but that the motive behind this movement foolishness.

I fear that by making such an argument, what we are doing in essence is not defending women and uplifting their status, but refusing to hold men accountable.  If God is described as a Father, then I need to get my act straight.  Do I love my wife the way God loves His Bride, the Church?  Do I lead in a godly manner like God?  Do I sacrifice as a husband like Christ?  By undermining the masculine language of God we are letting men off the hook.

Well if you want an example (and I'll probably reference this Sunday morning) of this trend, I point you to Rob Bell.  Bell is perhaps the most recognizable face in postmodern Christianity.  He is the face behind the Nooma videos which are short (about 12-15 minutes long each) films dedicated to a spiritual topic.  In the following video, called "She," Bell argues that God isn't a dude, he's also feminine.  For a critique, see the links below the video.




For more:
Christopher W. Cowan - Rob Bell, NOOMA, and “Feminine Images” for God, Part 1
Christopher W. Cowan - Rob Bell, NOOMA, and “Feminine Images” for God, Part 2

June 21, 2009: The Faithful Father

You can download the notes by clicking here. Otherwise, the audio can be downloaded by clicking on the title.

Myths of Fatherhood

Recently I commented on an article written by Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where I attend regarding five myths of fatherhood. I encourage everyone to read what Dr. Mohler had to say about each myth as we approach father's day.

Here are the 5 myths:
1. The Mr. Mom surge.
2. Women want all housework and child-related work divided 50-50.
3. Cohabiting fathers are just as involved as their married counterparts.
4. The children of divorced parents do just fine.
5. Dads are dispensable

And we wish everyone a very happy Father's Day!

For More:
Mohler on the 5 Myths of Fatherhood
Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. - Watch Out for Myths About Fatherhood
Alex Chediak Blog - Five Myths on Fathers and Family
CNN - Dad feels cheated on Father's Day booty
"A City Without Fathers" - A Sober Call to Bring Back Dad
Mohler: Are We Raising a Nation of Wimps?