The Gospel 700 years in advance

The Rescue- The Suffering Servant from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Do You Care?

Is it all about you, your needs, and what you are feeling? Do you care about lost people? What would your bank account and your schedule tell us? These are just a few poignant questions that Mark Driscoll asks his congregation. I am asking you. Where is your heart at? What is your heart condition?

If you are interested you can view the whole sermon here.

Why American Christians should never EVER think they're persecuted...

Persecution in India: Unedited Footage from Cornerstone Church on Vimeo.

Elijah

The Rescue- Turning us back to Him from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Decide to Abandon Retirement as the Reward for Your Life

Here is a video put together by the folks over at Desiring God. The voice you are hearing is that of Pastor John Piper. Would you abandon your plans for retirement to serve God and His kingdom until the day you die?

What's the Point?

The Rescue- The Search for Meaning from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

To be a Church like this

Ray Ortlund:


“. . . a friend of tax collectors and sinners!”  Luke 7:34

What does it mean for a church to be gospel-centered?  That’s a popular concept these days.  Good.  What if we were scrambling to be law-centered?  But the difference is not so easy in real terms.

A gospel-centered church holds together two things.  One, a gospel-centered church preaches a bold message of grace — so bold that it becomes the end of the law for all who believe.  Not our performance but Christ’s performance for us.  Not our sacrifices but his sacrifice for us.  Not our superiority but only his worth and prestige.  The good news of substitution.  The good news that our okayness is not in us but exterior to us in Christ alone.  Climbing down from the high moral ground, because only Christ belongs up there.  That message, that awareness, that clarity.  Every Sunday.

Two, a gospel-centered church translates that theology into its sociology.  The good news of God’s grace beautifies how we treat one another.  In fact, the horizontal reveals the vertical.  How we treat one another reveals what we really believe as opposed to what we think we believe.  It is possible to say, “We are a gospel-centered church,” and sincerely mean it, while we make our church into a law-centered social environment.  We see God above lowering his gun, and we breathe a sigh of relief.  But if we are trigger-happy toward one another, we don’t really get it yet.

A gospel-centered church looks something like this album cover — my all-time favorite.  A gospel-centered church is a variegated collection of sinners.  They come together and stick together because they have nothing to fear from their message or their culture.  The theology creates the sociology, and the sociology incarnates the theology.

The one deal-breaker in a gospel-centered church: anyone for any reason turning it into a culture of legal demandingness and negative scrutiny.  Few would do that in the theology, of course.  But still, a church with a message of grace can stop being gospel-centered in real terms.

A major part of pastoral ministry is preaching the doctrines of grace and managing an environment of grace.  The latter is harder to accomplish than the former.  It is more intuitive.  It requires more humility and self-awareness.

May the Friend of sinners grant beautiful gospel-centricity in all our churches.

Giving back to The Giver

Generosity from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

The Process of Sin's takeover

The Rescue- David and Bathsheba from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

A Kingdom of Grace

The Rescue- David's Eternal Kingdom from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Video Update from Matt Chandler

Video Update from Matt Chandler

Satan is Looking for Part-Time Christians

Here is an interesting video depicting Satan interviewing a young woman for the position of part-time Christian. He encourages her to go to church, but not pay too much attention to the message. He encourages her to be generally familiar with bible terminology, but not to actually read her bible. Does this sound familiar? Have you encountered theses tactics of the enemy? Do you know any part-time Christians?

Are you one?

Devil's Advocates Ep. 1 from Mothlight Creative on Vimeo.

Whom then shall I fear?

The Rescue: No Fear cause David is here from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Bold

The Rescue: God Glorifying Decisions

The Rescue- Choosing a King from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Scratching the Itch

Here is a vid from Ligonier Ministries where Dr. R.C. Sproul is asked about his thoughts on the "seeker-sensitive" movement. Enjoy!

The Perfect Gift

"Lord at thy Birth" from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

Receiving....Growing....Going....

Going....Jesus: Sent for you!

Jesus the Sent One from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

This is War

Here is a video from an artist named Dustin Kensrue. The video is made for a song called "This is War," from his 2008 Christmas album titled, "The Good Night is Still Everywhere" The video contains an intro from Dustin explaining his different take on the advent of Christ as a declaration of war on sin and death.

Receiving....Growing....

The first video from our new location at First Lutheran:

Growing from Erick Sorensen on Vimeo.

P.S. Next week, the angle for the video should be a little better. Hopefully ;)

Bad News: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town

A quick clip from John Piper regarding the bad news of Santa and the Good News of Christ. The complete sermon can be viewed here.

"and you will be hated by all for my name's sake."

What is being called the "first mega-church in China" was attacked by 400 police and hired thugs in China on a rainy Sunday in mid-September of this year. Here are a couple of excerpts from the Associated Press article:

LINFEN, China — Towering eight stories over wheat fields, the Golden Lamp Church was built to serve nearly 50,000 worshippers in the gritty heart of China's coal country.

But that was before hundreds of police and hired thugs descended on the mega-church, smashing doors and windows, seizing Bibles and sending dozens of worshippers to hospitals with serious injuries, members and activists say

Today, the church's co-pastors are in jail. The gates to the church complex in the northern province of Shanxi are locked and a police armored personnel vehicle sits outside.

The closure of what may be China's first mega-church is the most visible sign that the communist government is determined to rein in the rapid spread of Christianity, with a crackdown in recent months that church leaders call the harshest in years.

Courts, police and government officials in Linfen refused to comment on the claims of violence and persecution. A local Communist Party spokesman said only that the case centered on the mega-church's lack of planning approval.

"We have always supported and allowed everybody to believe in religion. But the church itself is an illegally constructed building," said the spokesman, who would give only his surname, Wang.

A lawyer for Wang and Yang, Li Fangping, said the church had applied for permits to build the church from the local religious affairs bureau and the land use authority, but received no reply.

Almost three months after the crackdown, people in and around Linfen refuse to discuss the church, and police vehicles remain parked on virtually every corner of the neighborhood where the Golden Lamp is located.

This church is part of the ever growing "house-church" movement in China. In another part of the article it claims that there are 60,000,000 Christians worshiping in "illegal" churches. There are approximately 20,000,000 worshiping in the state controlled churches. (For the rest of the article click here.)

When Jesus sent out the twelve apostles he told them that they will be hated for his name's sake. We see that this hatred and persecution was not only shared by the apostles but by the early church as well. This hatred and persecution continues on today in many parts of the world.

Have you suffered? Have you been hated because of Jesus' name? What forms do hatred and persecution take? Do you think a lack of proclamation equals a lack of persecution?

Santa vs. Jesus

Here is a little video created by the folks over at Igniter Media. It seems to be geared towards children, but I think we all need to be reminded of this message.

How Helpful Is The New Pew Study?

Interesting, disturbing, yet not surprising article posted on the White Horse Inn's blog regarding a new Pew study. Here are some of the stats:

Between twenty and thirty percent of self-described Christians

• believe that people will be reborn in this world again and again (22%)
• believe that Yoga is a spiritual practice (21%)
• believe that the position of stars/planets can affect people’s lives (23%)
• have been in touch with the dead (29%)
• have found “spiritual energy” in trees, etc. (23%)

The article goes on to point out that,

In addition to pointing out a crying need for catechesis in our churches, this survey should also encourage pastors to be aware: don’t take your congregation’s grounding in the faith for granted. Continual teaching (especially in identifying alternative religious movements and contrasting them with the Gospel) is crucial for disciple-making.

Click the link to read more: How Helpful Is The New Pew Study?

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Pre-Surgery Video from Matt Chandler

Video from Matt Chandler