This Sunday I preached on the first sixteen verses of Matthew 26 and the main point that I saw relating to us today in this passage is, how we prepare for (or respond to) Jesus' death reflects our understanding of it. If you would like to hear the sermon click here.
By God's Grace, Jeff
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Preaching Under-the-Weather
On Friday my throat starting feeling scratchy and dry. On Saturday my throat continued to bother me and I felt a lack of energy. On Sunday I woke up with a stuffy nose in addition to the previous symptoms. By God's grace this was the first Sunday that I have had to lead the service while feeling under-the-weather. I took some water with me to the pulpit and God provided me the strength to make it through the worship service, Sunday School and to make it back later that evening for our Elder meeting.
On Monday my wife and I drove down to Washburn to watch the high school boys' compete in their first-round game at the district tournament. They came in ranked fourth in the District (out of seven) having beat the fifth, six and seventh place teams this year but having lost to the higher ranked ones. They played the fifth seeded team, Garrison, in the first-round and pulled out a close victory. We kept turning the ball over against their press but they had a hard time putting the ball in the basket so it became a war of attrition and Underwood was able to squeak out the victory. On Saturday we played Turtle Lake (#1) and got destroyed. But that wasn't surprising as they're the fourth ranked team in the state and made it to the championship game last year with basically the same team. With one loss Underwood still has a chance to advance to regionals if we can take care of business tonight against Sheridan County.
Junior High basketball was pretty uneventful this week as we did not have any games. But this week we have practice on Monday and then three games in a row! We also found out that at our district tournament in a couple weeks we'll be facing Turtle Lake in the first round. If you've read my previous posts you might remember they're the only team we've lost to this season and we've also beaten then in an overtime thriller. There's no loser bracket in our tournament so whoever loses that game can finished no better than fifth.
Lastly, Netflix sent us "Flash of Genius" which we watched this weekend. This was a movie that I was really looking forward to seeing. It is based on a true story of the man who invented the intermittent wiper but had his idea stolen by Ford and endured through a 12 year legal battle to claim what was rightfully his. Now I am a big fan of justice so I enjoyed seeing the verdict go against the "mean" corporation and for the "little guy." However, going through this process ended up costing the main character his marriage. He got justice at the expense of his family. Reflecting on this after the movie my wife and I concluded that the Bible tells us to care for and preserve our marriages as a first priority and leave the vengeance for righting wrongs to God.
By God's Grace, Jeff
On Monday my wife and I drove down to Washburn to watch the high school boys' compete in their first-round game at the district tournament. They came in ranked fourth in the District (out of seven) having beat the fifth, six and seventh place teams this year but having lost to the higher ranked ones. They played the fifth seeded team, Garrison, in the first-round and pulled out a close victory. We kept turning the ball over against their press but they had a hard time putting the ball in the basket so it became a war of attrition and Underwood was able to squeak out the victory. On Saturday we played Turtle Lake (#1) and got destroyed. But that wasn't surprising as they're the fourth ranked team in the state and made it to the championship game last year with basically the same team. With one loss Underwood still has a chance to advance to regionals if we can take care of business tonight against Sheridan County.
Junior High basketball was pretty uneventful this week as we did not have any games. But this week we have practice on Monday and then three games in a row! We also found out that at our district tournament in a couple weeks we'll be facing Turtle Lake in the first round. If you've read my previous posts you might remember they're the only team we've lost to this season and we've also beaten then in an overtime thriller. There's no loser bracket in our tournament so whoever loses that game can finished no better than fifth.
Lastly, Netflix sent us "Flash of Genius" which we watched this weekend. This was a movie that I was really looking forward to seeing. It is based on a true story of the man who invented the intermittent wiper but had his idea stolen by Ford and endured through a 12 year legal battle to claim what was rightfully his. Now I am a big fan of justice so I enjoyed seeing the verdict go against the "mean" corporation and for the "little guy." However, going through this process ended up costing the main character his marriage. He got justice at the expense of his family. Reflecting on this after the movie my wife and I concluded that the Bible tells us to care for and preserve our marriages as a first priority and leave the vengeance for righting wrongs to God.
By God's Grace, Jeff
Holiness is the Goal of Marriage
"Will we approach marriage from a God-centered view or a man-centered view? In a man-centered view, we will maintain our marriage as long as our earthly comforts, desires, and expectations are met. In a God-centered view, we preserve our marriage because it brings glory to God and points a sinful world to a reconciling Creator."
- Gary Thomas ("Sacred Marriage" p. 32)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Are you Listening or Talking to Yourself?
"On a daily basis we're faced with two simple choices. We can either listen to oursevles and our constantly changing feelings about our circumstances, or we can talk to oursevles about the unchanging truth of who God is and what He's accomplished for us at the cross."
- The Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney (p. 47)
Basketball Ups and Downs
The junior high basketball team I coach had games on Thursday and Saturday. Thursday we had a game against Wilton and although we won, we did not play very well. We jumped out to an early lead and then coasted the rest of the game instead of playing hard. So in our game at Max on Saturday I challenged the guys to play hard for all 24 minutes (four 6 minute quarters). They responded, played hard the whole game and won, even though we were missing two guys.
I should clarify that I'm referring to our 8th grade team. We also have a seventh grade team that have not been as successful in games this season. Actually, we only have two seventh graders and three six graders that make up this team. So it's a young and inexperienced team and in order to play games I usually have to sub in a couple of the less experienced eight graders. Unlike some of the older kids, these kids are still working on getting the basics and I feel like I have not spent enough time during practice helping them with the fundamentals but have instead thrown them into the same routine with the kids who have more experience. In our remaining month please pray that I would have wisdom for leading the younger kids.
Yesterday my wife and I drove down to Bismarck to see our high school girls' team play their first-round regional game. They finished second in our district and only lost twice all season. However, they struggled at times both offensively and defensively against Grant County and ended up losing the game by two. This was certainly an unexpected result as everyone thought this team had a decent chance of making out of the region and playing in the state tournament.
Okay, enough about basketball. This Sunday I began working with the senior highers during Sunday School. The curriculum we use is from Great Commission Publications and this semester is taking the high schoolers through Romans. I am very excited about working with the two guys in the class and especially in going through one of the richest books in the Bible. Please pray for my wisdom in communicating God's truth to these teens and that God would open their hearts to receive it and live it out. Also pray for my wife as she leads the 4-5th grade class and especially as she has the opportunity to teach an unchurched girl named Paige.
By God's Grace, Jeff
I should clarify that I'm referring to our 8th grade team. We also have a seventh grade team that have not been as successful in games this season. Actually, we only have two seventh graders and three six graders that make up this team. So it's a young and inexperienced team and in order to play games I usually have to sub in a couple of the less experienced eight graders. Unlike some of the older kids, these kids are still working on getting the basics and I feel like I have not spent enough time during practice helping them with the fundamentals but have instead thrown them into the same routine with the kids who have more experience. In our remaining month please pray that I would have wisdom for leading the younger kids.
Yesterday my wife and I drove down to Bismarck to see our high school girls' team play their first-round regional game. They finished second in our district and only lost twice all season. However, they struggled at times both offensively and defensively against Grant County and ended up losing the game by two. This was certainly an unexpected result as everyone thought this team had a decent chance of making out of the region and playing in the state tournament.
Okay, enough about basketball. This Sunday I began working with the senior highers during Sunday School. The curriculum we use is from Great Commission Publications and this semester is taking the high schoolers through Romans. I am very excited about working with the two guys in the class and especially in going through one of the richest books in the Bible. Please pray for my wisdom in communicating God's truth to these teens and that God would open their hearts to receive it and live it out. Also pray for my wife as she leads the 4-5th grade class and especially as she has the opportunity to teach an unchurched girl named Paige.
By God's Grace, Jeff
Wisdom, Stewardship, Service of Eternal Preparation
This past Sunday in our church's year-long sermon series through the Gospel of Matthew, I preached on Matthew 25:1-46 in which we saw that being ready for Jesus' return or to face judgment when you die involves godly decision-making, being faithful caretakers of all God has given us, and self-sacrificially caring for others here and now. The sermon is entitled "The Wisdom, Stewardship & Service of Eternal Preparation." If you'd like to listen to it, click here.
By God's Grace, Jeff
By God's Grace, Jeff
Friday, February 20, 2009
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