Pastor's Corner - Declare the Truth!

Dear Friends,

Iran Nuclear deal, judicial tyranny, abortion, Ashley Madison hack, pastor's falling into sin, etc.... When you line all these things up it makes you wonder: What's going on with our country? What's going on with our world? What's going to happen to our church? I will be the first to admit, all these things are depressing. Surveying all the issues going on in our culture and taking into account how virtually everyone of them stands opposed to biblical truth, it is hard not to get worried or depressed. So what do we do?

I want to invite you to read a new book with me called Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel by Russell Moore. Dr. Moore is the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. In this book Dr. Moore helps us grapple with these questions now that we find ourselves in a post-Christian America. He states, "The loss of the Bible Belt may be bad news for America. But it can be good news for the church." What he means is that "a Christianity that is walled off from the culture around it is a Christianity that dies." He goes on to state that the call of the Church is to "an engaged alienation, a Christianity that preserves the distinctiveness of our gospel while not retreating from our callings as neighbors, and friends, and citizens."

I'm not recommending this book for you to read and giving it some exaggerated endorsement saying that is it is "the book of Hosea for our time." I'm merely recommending this book because I believe Dr. Moore is helping us, the church, wrestle with the very hard questions that we have right now in this cultural moment. Rather than getting discouraged over and over by reading the daily headlines, we need to start asking, "How do I engage the culture without compromising the imperatives of the Gospel?"

Dr. Moore has gotten me fired up and I hope that he will you too. This is not a time to be discouraged but a time where we realize that we now have the opportunity to be a prophetic voice, a mouth-piece from God as we relate to the words of the Apostle Paul in Titus 2:11-15,

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you. (Titus 2:11-15 ESV)

So what  do we do? What can we do? We must declare the truth. We must exhort and rebuke with the authority of Jesus Christ. Let me offer two rock-solid biblical and practical truths for doing this:

• Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV)
• Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. (Philippians 2:14-16 ESV)

See you Sunday! Can't wait to worship our Savior with you.

By His grace and to His praise,

Wilson

Worship Notes: September 6, 2015

• In preparation for the sermon: "Jesus entered into the market place of sin and at the cost of His own life purchased us to Himself so that we might be brought into that glorious liberty that is ours as children of God." -James Montgomery Boice
• A new hymn for the week: Jesus My Great High Priest 
• Click here for this week's bulletin.
• We are podcasting! Catch up on sermons on iTunes.

Wilson's Weekly

• My friend and colleague Dr. Sean Lucas wrote this week a helpful article, What Grace Isn't 
• Here is a link to Onward
• Here is a very helpful video on the craziness of sexual identity by Rosaria Butterfield who has a unique ability to comment on the matter: click here.