A Sermon on “Amazing Grace”
Last Sunday, my sermon outline was John Newton's hymn "Faith's Review and Expectation" (which we know as Amazing Grace).
Find out why, here.
Posts for the ‘General’ Category
Hymn of the Century
Ok -- so you were thinking that this blog was dead!
In April of 2008 (!), Stephen Nichols predicts the "Hymn of the Century." Thoughts, brothers?
On Taking the Lord’s Supper
Currently, we take the Lord's Supper together once a month. We pass out the elements and take them together as a family.
I'm not a fan of taking the Lord's Supper individually. Jesus instituted the Supper with his disciples corporately. We only see it practiced in the New Testament corporately. It seems best to be me that we celebrate the Lord's Supper as a body, just as we will celebrate the Marriage Feast of the Lamb as one body.
I don't think that this poses any tension between emphasizing communion with other believers and communion with Christ. I think that there is ground for saying that at least some aspects of my communion with Christ occur in and with my communion with the body of Christ. When we strip the Lord's Supper of its corporate setting, we are missing something very important.
On Taking the Lord’s Supper
Brothers, we are looking at different ways to celebrate the Lord's Supper at Grace Church. We do it weekly. Lately we have been passing out the elements and taking them, one at a time, together. What other ways have you done it? What do you prefer? Do you prefer approaches that emphasize our communion with each other or our communion with Christ Himself? How do we keep both in tension?
The Northbrook Conference
I'd encourage our readers to consider attending The Northbrook Conference, October 13-14 at our church in Cedar Rapids. We'll be learning about "The Church: Temple of the Holy Spirit or Tower of Babel?" from Jim Hamilton. Should be a great time to learn to be a people for his glory!
A Discussion on Glory
Since we are Doxologue (which might be translated "discussions on glory"), I thought I'd link to my sermon last week which outlines the glory of God in the story of redemption. My attempt to remind myself and the church why God does all that he does.
Corporate Prayer
A few helpful links on corporate prayer:
Bob Kauflin posts a corporate prayer of confession from WorshipGod06.
Jim Hamilton discusses corporate prayers, especially prayers of supplication.
David and Kevin, what sort of corporate prayers are incorporated into your congregational worship services?
Covenant Song
Readers of Doxologue may want to check out "Covenant Song," recently published on Reformed Praise.
Al Mohler on Authentic Worship
David, great post on private worship! Thank you for convicting and encouraging us all. I will reply.
I would encourage our readers to check out Al Mohler's three-part series on Authentic Worship (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). It would be a great conversation starter for a small group or Sunday School class.
Sovereign Grace Worship Conference
I'll be at the Sovereign Grace worship conference this week in Gaithersburg, MD. God has used these conferences and this group of churches mightily in my life to reform and expand my view of worship and worship music. I have found no other group that is so dedicated to a God-Centered, Cross-Centered, and Word-Centered view of worship AND is dedicated to a passionate expression of worship through music using a wide variety of styles of music in the contemporary orb. In the same service that they might preach a fifty minute expositional sermon on Ephesians 1 and the glorious truth of election, they will have a fifty minute time of intense and God honoring singing, prayer, sharing, and reading.
Reformed Praise presents Martin Luther's setting of Psalm 130 in a fresh, reflective, piano-driven setting suitable for a wide range of worship music styles.
