Three Rivers Grace Community Church

Last weekend we had the special privilege of hosting Tom Steller at our church. Tom is Dean of The Bethlehem Institute at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis. He has served alongside John Piper since 1980.

Tom's messages were a great blessing to our church, and I encourage you to download and listen to what he shared. His pastoral heart is very evident, along with his passion for teaching the Bible. He is a great example of someone who not only teaches the important truths of the Bible, but also teaches his students how to study the Bible for themselves.
This is what I appreciated so much about my experience in The Bethlehem Institute. It's what I continue to benefit from every time I read the Bible and especially when I'm preparing sermons.

"Making Much of Christ from 8 to 5." This is the title of Chapter 8 in John Piper's book, Don't Waste Your Life. I listened to a couple of very good sermons this week that are a great supplement to this chapter. I encourage you to listen to them. They are by Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.
WORK (click the link and scroll to the bottom). One is on "Work" and another is on "Work and Rest."

I just came across a very encouraging verse in my Bible reading today. It's from Psalm 112. The Psalm begins in this way, "Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments!" Then in verse 7, as the Psalmist continues to list the qualities of the person who fears the Lord, it says, "He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord."

Are you afraid of bad news? Are you discouraged when bad news comes your way? This, of course, is our natural and expected reaction to bad news. But as those who fear the Lord and delight in His sovereign goodness, we need not fear bad news, because even the bad news (could we even say, especially the bad news) He is working for our good (Romans 8:28).

May we trust in the Lord, looking to the future with hope and not fear!

Have you ever asked this question? In our study through the book of Genesis, we looked at chapter 25 this week where God said to Rebekah, "the older shall serve the younger." The apostle Paul quotes this verse in Romans 9 to make a point about God's election.
So does God choose us, or do we choose God? Here's what I said in the sermon yesterday.

We ask the question, “Does God choose us, or do we choose God?” And the answer is: YES. Yes, it’s both. For a person to become a Christian, he or she must choose to repent of sin and turn to Jesus Christ for forgiveness. The human will is most certainly involved in conversion. But that is only half the story. The point that we see in our passage this morning is that God’s choice comes first. Yes, we choose God. We must choose God. And it’s also true that the ones who choose Him are those whom He has first chosen. God has to choose us before we can choose Him. We’re in such bondage to sin that God has to change our hearts and change our desires, and then we will choose Him.

In our Bible Study yesterday morning we discussed Luke 24, in which we find the fascinating interaction Jesus had with two disciples on the road to Emmaus. In verse 27 it says, "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." We all wish we could have been there to hear that sermon that Jesus preached! Have you ever wondered what specific passages He pointed to? What were the main points He made in that sermon? The ultimate point was show that all the Scriptures pointed to Him! The whole Bible is ultimately about Jesus Christ.

James Montgomery Boice once preached a sermon about this sermon that Jesus preached. He starts in Luke 24 and then discusses some of the Old Testament themes that pointed to Jesus. I've listened to this sermon several times over the past few years, and I benefit from it every time. I encourage you to listen to it. Click here.

By the way, I'll give you a little biographical data on Dr. Boice. He was born right here in Pittsburgh, and grew up in McKeesport. He died in 2000 in Philadelphia. He had served as the pastor of 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia for over 30 years. This sermon he preached in Minneapolis at the Bethlehem Conference for Pastors in 1999.

Here is a sermon by Mark Dever on the whole book of Genesis. We've been working our way through Genesis over the past few months, and we'll be coming to the end of it in the next few weeks. This sermon by Mark Dever may help you get a better grasp of the big picture of the book.