Righteous Lord God, you love justice and hate evil, and you care for the weak, vulnerable, needy, and the oppressed. Bless our country and its leaders with the wisdom of righteousness and peace. May they secure the right of protection for the unborn, equality of educational opportunities for the young, work for the unemployed, health care for the sick, and food for the hungry. Help management and labor to cooperate for the common good, giving honest work and receiving a fair wage. Deliver our land from all tribal, social, and religious strife, and make our national life more pleasing in your holy sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Stott, J. (2018). The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott. (M. Meynell, Ed.). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

We’re talking about a discipline of proclaiming the Gospel as a practice of faithful presence.

In the fellowship of the faithful, we might sometimes be tempted to think that we have moved beyond the simple Gospel truths. In reality, we never move beyond them, only “further up, and deeper in” as C. S. Lewis wrote.[1] As we discern the presence of Christ, as we proclaim the Good News of his faithful presence with us both in history and in the present and in the future, we learn what it means to live in light of his Lordship in every area of our lives together.

Now, I have a special responsibility to proclaim the Gospel every Sunday and connect every part of the Scriptures to the Good News, and teach what that means for our lives today. That’s a crucial part of my vocation as a pastor and priest, but each of you has a responsibility to faithfully proclaim the Gospel as well. We all need to be proclaiming the Gospel to one another.

When some of us are suffering, we need to hear together that God came to be with us. When some of us are guilty and full of shame, we need remind one another that we’re forgiven. When some of us begin to feel despair as society spirals out of control, we need to help each other see we’re part of a different Kingdom and we have a different King than the nations of this world. As each of us draws closer to physical death, we must continue to celebrate Jesus’ victory over death.

As we proclaim the Gospel to one another each Sunday,

we are placing ourselves and our situations under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

As we gather in our home with Christians and non-Christians alike in an intentional way, there will always be opportunities to declare Jesus as Lord.

J.I. Packer said,

“Hospitality is the evangelism of the 21^st century.”

As we open our lives to others by being faithfully present with our friends and neighbors, every situation, every conversation, will present opportunities to humbly witness to the Lordship of Jesus. There will come a moment, as we are faithfully present, where we will be called to say, “I have some Good News for you.”

Out in the world, we go as guests. Just like the disciples in Luke 10, we go in humility and weakness to be present first. Then we have a proclamation to make…and all we have to offer in that proclamation is Jesus. We are so tempted to bring own solutions to problems, our own ideas, our own skills to the table…but in the half circle, we are called set those things aside so we can witness to the Lordship of Christ above all.

St. Peter wrote,

…in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…

(1 Peter 3:15, ESV)

It starts by setting Jesus apart as holy—above all—in your heart. You are to treasure him above everything and anything else. You must believe—at the deepest level—that he truly is the Resurrected Son of God, he has saved the world, and this Good News demands urgently to be shared.

Without hopefulness, no one will ask you for the reason your life is different.

Without gentleness, you risk hurting those who need healing desperately.

Without respect, you may push away those that desire something more than what the world offers, but simply don’t know where to turn.

Living this out demands intentionality and relationship over time.

One more J.I Packer quote:

“The truth is that real personal evangelism is very costly, just because it demands of us a really personal relationship with the other man”[2]
Brothers and sisters, in order to be faithful as we are present with one another, with our neighbors, and with the world, we must faithfully proclaim the Gospel.

[1] Lewis. The Last Battle.

[2] Packer. Evangelism & The Sovereignty of God, p. 82

Tell me what good it is to weed a garden if we do not plant good seed…. Sow good habits and dispositions. To be free from a bad habit does not mean we have formed a good one. We need to take the further step of forming good habits and dispositions to replace what we have left behind. .
– John Chrysostom

Antagonism is that spirit of opposition that seems so prevalent in society today. The world runs on antagonism, says David Fitch. Do any of us really disagree? Us vs. them seems to be the default worldview in our culture; indeed in most cultures. This is of course a direct result of the Fall. It started with the very first family, when, as result of sin (not as part of the Divine Plan) God says to Eve that her desire will be for her husband but he will rule over her (Gen. 3:16).

It continued with many heartbreaking examples from the Old Testament. The estrangement between Joseph and his brothers, the relational and power struggle between David and Saul, even the bickering among the disciples all stand out as examples of an antagonistic world view continuing even into the New Testament.

If you want to see antagonism in the present time, check the news. (more…)

Preface: I’m not saying here every senior pastor must be paid, or be full time, or that full-time, paid pastors are even necessarily optimal in every situation. There are pros and cons to the various ways of supporting clergy, and that’s what this is about. (more…)

Photo by Debby Hudson on Unsplash

The discipline of coming together regularly around the Lord’s Table helps us return to Christ and trains us to tend to Christ’s presence not just here, but everywhere we find ourselves during the week.

Think about some of what we do every time we gather around the table: (more…)

The brand new, totally plant-based Impossible Burger is a game changer for vegetarians like myself, and possibly for carnivores as well. This animal-meat alternative is basically indistinguishable from it’s less-sustainable counterparts (at least the fast-food versions) and is becoming more and more widely available. (more…)

It really is true to say, “I cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. “You cannot serve the Lord…”— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you?

My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers