Audio Sermon / Rags or Robes
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Reformation of the Heart
I just finished a book that our secretary, Jinyoung, gave me for Christmas – The Pastor, by Eugene Peterson. He was about seventy years old when he wrote it, and I felt like I was sitting at the feet of a guy who has learned how to spin straw into gold. He excels at that gift possessed by all great writers; he’s able to take those things that the rest of us think and feel, and put them into words.
It was what he said about “one sermon” pastors that really got my attention. I’ve heard a few “one sermon” pastors in my day. The north Georgia mountains, where I spent several years of my ministry, has a lot of them. They tend to be suspect of cemetery trained pastors (that’s seminary trained for those who don’t know the dialect of the Blue Ridge mountains), and they believe that studying before preaching is tantamount to blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. They step into their pulpits on Sunday scarcely knowing what they are going to say. The result is they pretty much say the same thing every week.
But that’s not what Eugene Peterson meant when he described “one sermon” pastors.
What Peterson meant was that after years of teaching and leading God’s people there tends to develop in most pastors an overarching theme or philosophy that undergirds, and is woven into everything they say and do. I’ve noticed this.
For some, it’s all about orthodoxy. Getting it right. For others it’s about missions and ministry. Going and doing. Other “one sermon” emphases include evangelism; winning souls for the kingdom, the Holy Spirit; living an obedient, holy life, the Blessed Life; receiving all God has for us. The list goes on. All of these are good things, and I’ve given time to each of them over the years.
But then I started asking myself, “What is my one sermon?” What is the one thing that I keep coming back to over and over again?
I thought about how often I quote the words of Jesus when he says that all the Law and Prophets (that is the whole Bible) can be summed up in the words of Moses, love God with all your heart, and love others as yourself. Or when Christ says Go and learn what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice. I’ve shared the sobering truth that right doctrine does not necessarily lead to right living; not if we don’t realize that doctrine is not the end, but rather the means to the end.
So, what is my one sermon? What is it that permeates everything else I say? I think that maybe the phrase, reformation of the heart describes it best, because by revealing His heart to us God makes possible the reformation of our own hearts.
What is the Bible if not the revelation of God’s heart? The opening pages of Genesis reveal that heart in the act of creation – and it was good, and it was good, and it was good. We see God’s heart when He cries out to naked, hidden Adam, Where are you? Most clearly, we see the heart of God in Jesus who came to seek and to save prodigal children like you and me.
The Apostle John says; we love him because he first loved us. God’s love is the eternal flame that ignites our own hearts. The closer we draw to that flame, the more our own cold hearts are warmed, reformed, and transformed so that God’s love is experienced by those around us. And that divine love is the irresistible force that draws people to Christ.
That’s my one sermon. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m better at preaching it than living it. But I’m trying. I see others trying too. In fact, from my perspective more and more pastors seem to be preaching about the transforming power of God’s love. More and more communities of believers are being transformed by what Jesus referred to as the two greatest commandments – Love God with all your heart. Love others as yourself.
I’ll have a lot more to say about this in future blogs. For now, I’m reading, watching, and praying for what I believe may very well be the newest reformation of the church. I like to call it, The Reformation of the Heart. Stay tuned.
Audio Sermon / The Importance of the Mind
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Audio Sermon / The New Man
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Audio Sermon / The Old and the New
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Audio Sermon / The Gifts and the Giver
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Audio Sermon / Walking Worthy, Part 2
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Audio Sermon / Walking Worthy, Part 1
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Bible Reading in 2012
Over at the Gospel Coalition, Justin Taylor has done us all a huge favor by compiling a massive list of helpful Bible Reading Plans to suit all kinds of people. He has very kindly allowed SIBC to reproduce the material for the benefit of our own members and guests. For the sake of brevity, I’ve chosen what I think are the three most helpful depending on where you are at in your walk with Jesus. You can read the full post here. Happy Bible reading for 2012, and again, many thanks to Justin Taylor for allowing us to reproduce the material.
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- The Bible Reading Plan for Shirkers and Slackers (Pastor Andy Perry explains the plan and why he recommends it.)
- There are 10 Reading Plans for ESV Editions, and the nice things is the way in which Crossway has made them accessible in multiple formats:
- web (a new reading each day appears online at the same link)
- RSS (subscribe to receive by RSS)
- podcast (subscribe to get your daily reading in audio)
- iCal (download an iCalendar file)
- mobile (view a new reading each day on your mobile device)
- print (download a PDF of the whole plan)
Reading Plan Format Daily Reading Bible
Daily Old Testament, New Testament, and PsalmsWeb RSS iCal Mobile Print Outreach Bible
Daily Old Testament, Psalms, and New TestamentWeb RSS iCal Mobile Print Outreach Bible New Testament
Daily New Testament. Read through the New Testament in 6 monthsWeb RSS iCal Mobile Print M’Cheyne One-Year Reading Plan
Daily Old Testament, New Testament, and Psalms or GospelsWeb RSS iCal Mobile Print ESV Study Bible
Daily Psalms or Wisdom Literature; Pentateuch or the History of Israel; Chronicles or Prophets; and Gospels or EpistlesWeb RSS iCal Mobile Print Literary Study Bible
Daily Psalms or Wisdom Literature; Pentateuch or the History of Israel; Chronicles or Prophets; and Gospels or EpistlesWeb RSS iCal Mobile Print Every Day in the Word
Daily Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms, ProverbsWeb RSS iCal Mobile Print Through the Bible
Daily Old Testament and New TestamentWeb RSS iCal Mobile Print Chronological
Through the Bible chronologically (from Back to the Bible)Web RSS iCal Mobile Print Book of Common Prayer Daily Office
Daily Psalms, Old Testament, New Testament, and GospelsWeb RSS iCal Mobile Print You can also access each of these Reading Plans as podcasts:
- Right-click (Ctrl-click on a Mac) the “RSS” link of the feed you want from the above list.
- Choose “Copy Link Location” or “Copy Shortcut.”
- Start iTunes.
- Choose Advanced > Subscribe to Podcast.
- Paste the URL from step three into the box.
- Click OK.
The entire Bible on audio is usually about 75 hours (or 4500 minutes). If you commute to work 5 days a week, that’s about 260 days a year. And if it takes you, say, 17 minutes to commute each way to work—and if you listen to the Bible on audio during your drive each way—you’ll get through the entire Bible twice in a year. This probably isn’t the only way to do Bible intake—but it’s one most of us should take advantage of more.
Here’s some more detail on these plans (some from Crossway, some from elsewhere).
ESV Study Bible(The ESV Literary Study Bible contains the same plan)
With this plan there are four readings each day, divided into four main sections:
- Psalms and Wisdom Literature
- Pentateuch and the History of Israel
- Chronicles and Prophets
- Gospels and Epistles
The introduction explains:
In order to make the readings come out evenly, four major books of the Bible are included twice in the schedule: the Psalms (the Bible’s hymnal), Isaiah (the grandest of the OT prophets), Luke (one of the four biblical Gospels), and Romans (the heart of the Bible’s theology of salvation).The list of readings from the Psalms and the Wisdom Literature begins and ends with special readings that are especially appropriate for the opening and closing of the year. The list of readings from the Pentateuch and the History of Israel proceeds canonically through the five books of Moses and then chronologically through the history of the OT, before closing the year with the sufferings of Job. The list of readings from the Chronicles and the Prophets begins with the Chronicler’s history of the people of God from Adam through the exile, followed by the Major and Minor Prophets, which are organized chronologically rather than canonically.
You can print out this PDF, which is designed to be cut into four bookmarks that can be placed at the appropriate place in your Bible reading. There are boxes to check off each reading as you complete it.
- Joe Carter and Fred Sanders explain James Gray’s method of “How to Master the English Bible.” My pastor, David Sunday, told me that “the plan they recommend is, from my vantage point, the most productive way to read and to master the Bible’s contents (or more importantly, to let the Bible master you!).”
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For the record, I (Pastor Dave), am using a variation of this final method. Basically, I’ve chosen five books of the Bible that I am going to work through for a season (I got the idea from Justin Buzzard over at theResurgence.com). At the present time I am spending a lot of time in the Old Testament, with a chapter per day from the Psalms (for my heart), Proverbs (for my head), The Song of Solomon (for my marriage), Nehemiah (for my ministry), and 1 Peter (for my personal study). About once a week I post a QT highlight on my blog, the first of which you can see here. I seriously recommend spending time in Psalms and Proverbs daily with at least one other book of the Bible. Give it a try and then send us some of your stories. We’d love to hear about what God is teaching you. God bless and Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Dickens’ opening words in the classic novel, A Tale of Two Cities, flashed across my mind on a recent mountain prayer walk. On my way up I was thinking of this Christmas season and about how, for the first time in our marriage, Sherri and I have no Christmas tree – we bought a spruce scented candle instead. I light it faithfully each night.
I was thinking of my children and about how, for the first time in the life of our family, we won’t all be together on Christmas Day. I was thinking about their stockings – almost as old as each of them – hung by the apartment humidifier with care. Every night Sherri and I see those stockings emblazoned with the names of our flesh and blood, and every night I weep a little on the inside.
It was about this time I reached the top. It was clear and cold, but Seoul, this great city that I’ve come to love so much, shone brightly all around me. Mountains surrounded me. The Han River sparkled in the distance. Seoul Tower stood tall, and I imagined SIBC tucked away in our little alley street in Haebongcheon.
As I started back down the mountain I thought about how blessed Sherri and I are to be a part of such a great church. I thought about the family in Christ that surrounds us, loves us, and prays for us every day. I thought about how, at this church, with this diverse group of people, my wife and I have built strong, transparent relationships where I can be both myself and the pastor God has called me to be with no disconnect; no pressure to conform to certain expectations.
Time passed quickly and soon I was back in our apartment. The heated floor warmed my cold toes as I opened my Bible and read the words of Psalm 37:3-4: Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.
And so He has.
Merry Christmas to our SIBC family — past, present, and future.
