Three Rivers Grace Community Church

Last week I had the privilege of being in Minneapolis for the Desiring God Conference for Pastors. The theme this year was "The Pastor as father and son." You can listen to the messages here.
All the messages were good. I was especially encouraged by the message from Crawford Loritts. I also enjoyed a talk given by Greg Harris during a session Tuesday morning before the main session. I hope Desiring God will make that talk available, too. He gave some very practical guidance on how to be a godly father.

The Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
At the pastor's conference I met David Kotter, the new director of CBMW. He told me that thier website has been updated, and they also now have a daily blog. I encourage you to check it out from time to time. The website is www.cbmw.org. They do a good job keeping up with the cultural trends that have to do with manhood and womanhood. There are troubling consequences as our society moves further from God's design for us, which reminds of the importance of remaining faithful to God's Word.

This was the title of my sermon on Sunday. The main question I tried to answer was: "Why doesn't the Bible clearly condemn the institution of slavery." I was helped the most with this question by Martin Lloyd-Jones, who addressed these matters in his sermons on Ephesians 6:5-9. He makes several very helpful points. Here is a sample quote:
"The primary business of the church is not to deal with conditions in this world, but rather with the Christian’s relationship to them, and with his conduct while he finds himself in them. As the Bible always puts its main and primary emphasis upon man in his relationship to God and his temporary relationship to this passing world, so must the church" (Life in the Spirit in Marriage, Home & Work: An Exposition of Ephesians 5:18 to 6:9, pg. 315).
Several factors need to be discussed in answering the above question, but certainly what Lloyd-Jones points out is most fundamental. The church must keep her priorities straight. The Gospel must be central in the mission of the church, and then as individuals are radically changed from the inside out, those individuals will most certainly have a profound impact on society. Lloyd-Jones goes on to say, "We are not to go out of the world, we do not cease to be citizens of this world; and we are to exercise certain functions as citizens while we are in this world. Yes, but we are to keep ourselves in the right place, in the right position. It is always a question of priorities, and of emphasis, of what comes first and of what comes second” (pg. 316).

Please pray for our search for a downtown rental facility. The leadership of the church is searching diligently for a place we can rent on Sunday mornings that will be centrally located in downtown, and will be easy to find, have plenty of parking, etc. We have a desire to be in the center of the city so that we can more effectively be "A God-centered church for the city of Pittsburgh." We want to ignite a passion for the Gospel of Jesus Christ among all the neighborhoods of Pittsburgh. Not just Beechview, but also the Hill, and the North Side, and the South Side, and Oakland, and so on. Pray with us that God will open up the right facility for us, and pray that we will have the pleasure of seeing Him work through us to fulfill this vision.