Get Your Marriage in Gear

Pastor Steve Cornell, of Millersville Bible Church, has put together a marriage resource packet and made it available on the church website. The packet contains seven links, or resources, that can be of great help. Maybe you are considering divorce? There is a link in this packet that addresses the myths of divorce, especially its effect on children. Maybe your marriage just needs a boost? Then take the enrichment exercise.

Here is the link. I would encourage you to go to the website and take advantage of these resources. Marriage Packet

Also, please visit our church at http://www.wakefieldbible.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=40157

Urgency, Necessity, and Obligation

I was away this past week at the Moody Bible Institute Pastors' Conference. It was a fabulous week. I attended classes on transformational preaching taught by Erwin Lutzer, John Piper, Crawford Loritts, and John MacArthur Jr.

It will take me a few weeks to digest all that I learned. However, for now I am stimulated by the urgency of the Word. This urgency comes from idea that salvation and the Word have a direct relationship. Consider Romans 10:17. The gospel of Jesus Christ is essential to salvation.

So then, urgency really takes on the idea of necessity. If necessary, then pastors have an obligation to preach the Bible; a mandate to faithfully communicate God's Word. As I sat and listened to these men teach and relay their convictions on preaching, I was reminded of a sermon I sat under some four years back. The pastor preached 45 minutes and never opened the Bible. Not only did he not open it, but did not quote from it or even project it on the screen. The Bible was nowhere to be found in a 45 minute talk. This, of course, was not preaching, but a speech. They were words without power to transform.

It is time for pastors to preach God's Word or shut up. Better that these men, who elect to not use the text, to step down and give the pulpit over to one called to preach. Preaching that opens and explains the Bible is the only preaching with the power to change a person from a life of death to a life of faith.

-Mark

Please visit our church at http://www.wakefieldbible.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=40157

Are You Comfortable?

The book of Isaiah closes with the idea that God provides comfort like that of a mother - Isaiah 66:13. Last night we pursued this idea, the idea of God the comforter, in our evening lesson. It took us to 2 Corinthians. Here we find a greater understanding of God the comforter, what it means, its purpose, and the lesson it teaches us.

In 2 Corinthians 1:3 we find that God comforts us in all our troubles. I don't need to tell you what trouble means. The moment you read the verse and your eyes land upon "troubles" you think of your situation, your troubles. However, let's not linger there long. Rather let's grab the message that God provides comfort during these times.

What is comfort? When I think of comfort I think of the ez-chair, the recliner down in the family room. However, that is not the original idea of the word. It truly means "greater support." Split the word in half and you find "fort" for strength and "com" for extreme. So God provides support in your time of trouble not the ez-chair.

There is a purpose to your troubles and the comfort gained. It can be found in 2 Corinthians 1:4. The purpose is to comfort others, especially those in similar circumstances. At Wakefield, we have seen God put us in this ministry. Many in our body have been called by God to share their hurts and to comfort others in need.

There is a great lesson that comes with troubles and comfort - the lesson of reliance. Look at 2 Corinthians 1:9-10. You go through these things to learn to rely on God not on self and to come to understand that the God who delivered you in the past will deliver you in the future. Set your hope on Him...on the God of comfort.

-Mark

Please visit our church at http://www.wakefieldbible.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=40157

The Big Fall

The back end of Habakkuk 2:4 reads, "the just shall live by his faith." Seven simple words, quoted two times by Paul in his epistles, stirred the heart of Martin Luther and provoked a change in him and ultimately in Christendom. What is it about this simple verse that gripped Luther?

A simple understanding of the passage is that those who have confidence, or faith, in God will be spared the unfortunate things in life and will live a life of joy. However, Paul took the verse to the next level. He used it to teach that those who have faith in the Gospel will be saved from their sin. Both are wonderful promises but the latter has eternal possibilities. Imagine the awakening Martin Luther experienced when he realized that his salvation had nothing to do with any work on his part. He understood how it radically changed his walk of faith and also how it would affect all those that followed Christ.

Back when we were studying the Gospel of John, we learned that faith had the idea of "falling upon." Those that put their faith in Christ, then, fall upon Him. This means that there is truly nothing we do other than trust in Him.

I don't know that Habakkuk went this direction with his understanding of faith, but he had to understand that God was more than sufficient to see him through. Where are you in your faith walk? Are you trying to please God with your actions, expecting your good to out weigh your bad? If that is your journey, then you are off course. Correct your walk by falling. Only He is able to see you through your current circumstances and only He is able to save you.

-Mark

Please visit our church at http://wakefieldbible.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=40157