Godliness - Spiritual Carefulness, Trained in Religion, Walking with God, Striving for Influence
Continuing with Thomas Watson on characteristics of the godly person from “The Godly Man’s Picture”...
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Tried and Tested: The Deacon's Examination
So churches need to try and test the character and maturity of their deacon nominees prior to their appointment by the elders, a process that requires time and familiarity. That’s the deacon’s examination....
Examined By the Assembly: The Deacon's Nomination
Biblical deacons, then, are to be examined by the assembly. That’s at the heart of the deacon’s nomination for office....
Appreciating the Problem: The Deacon's Definition
Deacons, again, are to guard the unity of the church and the ministry of the elders from the demands of practical problems. Appreciating such problems requires the careful definition of each deacon’s role....
The Fifth Qualification: The Deacon's Purity
There is only one qualification Paul mentions to Timothy that is not found in Acts 6, and it is that qualification we now turn to examine: the deacon’s purity....
The Fourth Qualification: The Deacon's Faith
This combination of a practical, nuts-and-bolts focus and a separation from doctrinal and pastoral oversight ministry might tempt a church to overlook the piety and conviction of a candidate. That would be a grave mistake....
The Third Qualification: The Deacon's Wisdom
The very fact that this responsibility requires dedicated attention should tell us that it may not come easily, and that not just anyone will be able to fulfill it. It’s no surprise, then, that the third qualification emphasized by the apostles in Acts 6 is wisdom......
The Second Qualification: The Deacon's Maturity
Having seen last week that the first qualification of a potential deacon is a solid reputation, we now turn to look at the second qualification found in Acts chapter 6: being “full of the Spirit.” Of all the qualifications, this one is perhaps most at risk of being misunderstood in the present day. What does “filled with the Spirit” mean?...
The First Qualification: The Deacon's Reputation
Now that we’ve looked at the intent, mission, and objective of the New Testament deacon, it’s time to look at what kind of Christians fill this office. What are the qualifications of those called to be deacons?...
Freeing Elders For Word and Prayer: The Deacon's Objective
We see in Acts 6 that even in the earliest church the temptation to be distracted from this ministry is strong. The apostles put it in blunt terms: “it is not right that we should give up the preaching of the Word of God to serve tables.”...
Caring For Practical Needs: The Deacon's Mission
The mission of the office of deacon is to care for practical needs in the local church....
The Deacon's Intent: Fostering Church Unity
Deacons exist, first and foremost, with the intent of fostering unity in the church. Only with that primary purpose in mind can we then turn to look at others....
When God Pours Out Blessings, Part 10
David talks in First Chronicles 29 about uprightness of heart, but why does he do that? Why does the heart matter when looking at good deeds like a Temple offering? ...
To Believe and To Suffer in Seedtime and Harvest
The Christian life might not be romantic or nostalgic but its real. Our organic connection to Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection is better than all of the hoped for clean eating and living that hopeless shoppers pursue. ...
When God Pours Out Blessings, Part 9
Human beings have an innate longing for meaning and significance. As we continue to pray after David's example in First Chronicles 29 we wrestle with the need for us to confess our mortality and shortness of days to God, and live in light of them....
When God Pours Out Blessings, Part 8
Even our willingness and ability to do things for God are gifts from his hand. In this article we look at and pray in light of this truth as David presents it in his prayer, found in First Chronicles 29....
When God Pours Out Blessings, Part 7
God provides all that we have. As we continue to pray through First Chronicles 29 in celebration of a year in our own building, we look at how David acknowledged God's provision of all things as an example for our own prayers....
When God Pours Out Blessings, Part 5
As we remember God's provision in the life of our own church one year ago, when we took possession of a building of our own for the first time, we look at the example of David's model prayer in First Chronicles 29. In this article we consider how David opened his prayer--with blessing and praise....
When God Pours Out Blessings, Part 6
Gratitude is a crucial attitude of the Christian life. As we continue to mark our first anniversary in a building of our own, we seek to imitate David's example of thanksgiving in prayer found in First Chronicles 29....
When God Pours Out Blessings, Part 4
As we continue to celebrate our first year owning our own church building, we are meditating on and praying through First Chronicles 29. How does the Christian look at a text like First Chronicles 29, or indeed any Old Testament story or promise or command? The answer is the classic Sunday School answer: “Jesus!”...
When God Pours Out Blessings, Part 3
As we at Calvary Grace continue to mark our first anniversary as "homeowners" in a building of our own, we consider the miracle of Israel's offering for the Temple in First Chronicles 29:1-9, and mark its meaning....
When God Pours Out Blessings, Part 1
Sometimes God provides spectacularly in the life of an individual or a church. On Calvary Grace's first anniversary as "homeowners" in a building of its own, we pause to consider the example of King David's Israel after God ordains a staggering offering by his people for his Temple, seeking wisdom on how to pray after God pours out blessings....
When God Pours Out Blessings, Part 2
We can’t understand the amazing prayer offered in First Chronicles 29 unless we first understand the man who offered it. In this article, we’re going to look at King David, a "man on a mission." We’ll review what brought him to that moment, in order to help us grasp why he prayed the way he did....
Resources for Gathering One2One
We’ll wrap up this newsletter series by introducing three new e-book Ministry Guides you can download to help you with this ministry, along with providing (all in one place) the links to the Study Outlines introduced over the past month...
Gathering One-2-One For Bible Reading
To get you started reading the Bible one-to-one, what follows is a simple method of Bible study called the COMA method. COMA studies a Bible passage in four steps: Context, Observation, Meaning, and Application....
Gathering One-2-One For Prayer
ACTS stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. When gathering one-to-one for prayer, you simply take turns, each praying a prayer of adoration, then each praying a prayer of confession, and so on....
Gathering One2One For Sermon Application - Be An Expositional Listener!
Sermon listening is a central part of the Christian life, and so why not learn more about it? Christopher Ash has written a very short but very useful booklet called Listen Up! A practical guide to listening to sermons, filled with useful tips and challenging questions that will help you “take care…how you hear” (Luke 8:18). After getting started with Gathering One2One, we strongly urge you to find and use this book....
How Do I Get Started Gathering One-2-One?
Here’s some steps to follow, both before the first meeting, and at that first meeting together....
Who Should I Find to Gather One-To-One With?
Try to build up one another, and build up the church, by building fellowship across the whole congregation one-to-one around God’s Word!...
Godliness - Thankful, Loving the Saints, Non-Indulgent, Relationally Good
This month we are continuing with Thomas Watson on characteristics of the godly person from “The Godly Man’s Picture”. This goes together with the earlier series I did in August, 2015. Thomas Watson’s words will be in italics as a means of identification....
Keep ReadingA Wide Open Door
Calgarians are anxious. As the oil boom comes to an end, there is a sense of stress and fear. People who have tried to buy their way to happiness are realizing the vanity of wealth and chasing after the wind. Others who have trusted in the security of a prosperous society are now disoriented and confused about what life is all about....
Keep ReadingSword & Trowel: From Nehemiah to Spurgeon to Calvary Grace
When the exiles returned from Babylon they rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah tells us that, “each laboured on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.” (4.17). They didn’t have the luxury of focusing entirely upon the building work, since they were in a hostile environment. But they couldn’t simply focus on fighting all of the time; they had...
Keep ReadingHow to Defeat Idolatry?
In the first post on idolatry, we have considered what idolatry looks like in the life of the Christian. In the second post, we have reviewed some diagnostic steps that will help us to identify idolatry in our hearts. Now, how do we defeat it?...
Keep ReadingHow to Diagnose Idolatry?
How do we Diagnose Idolatry? Idolatry begins in our hearts. Our hearts are tricky to diagnose ...
Keep ReadingWhat is Idolatry?
Idolatry is a really big deal in the Bible. It comes up over and over again as the most basic of sins, both for Old Testament Israel and New Testament Christians. Both the presence and damage of idolatry is obvious in much of the Old Testament, but its presence in the New Testament is not as obvious. However, idolatry is no less a foundational sin in the New Testament....
Keep ReadingGodliness: Love for the Word, Spirit Inhabited, Humble, and Prayerful
Continuing with Thomas Watson on characteristics of the godly person from “The Godly Man’s Picture”:...
Keep ReadingGodliness - Worship, Serving God, Prizing Christ, Weeping
A godly person cares about the worship of God. This isn’t to say that he enjoys worship, but that he is careful about it. A godly man reverences divine institutions, and is more for the purity of worship than the pomp....
Keep ReadingGodliness - Knowledge, Faith, Love, God Likeness
Thomas Watson, in “The Godly Man’s Picture”, puts forth 24 characteristics of a godly person. The first is that they are spiritually knowledgeable. This knowledge is grounded in the faith (Col. 1:23). It is one that esteems God and energizes (enlivens) the spirit. It is applicable to our sinful nature and transforms that nature (2 Cor. 3:18). It is a knowledge t...
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