Home Discipleship (Part 2) - Goodbook 04-26-20

In the sermon last week, I mentioned some ways my wife and I grow in faith together. Here is another discipleship tool I use with my wife and kids. It is the three R's: reveal, relate, respond.

After my morning reading, I talk with my family at the breakfast table about what I learned from the Scriptures:
1) REVEAL - What did this passage reveal about God?
2) RELATE - How does this passage relate to our lives?
3) RESPOND - How can we respond with action?

We try to pick one thing from the reading that we can focus on that day.

Hope this helps you have faith conversations in your home. To listen to the sermon, use this link: https://youtu.be/KtCRfY8oxAU?t=1439

Home Discipleship (Part 1)

In the sermon this weekend, I mentioned some of the ways my wife and I grow in faith together. One way is by reading Scripture together. I downloaded this reading plan. Each day we alternate between Old Testament and New Testament. This allows us to learn together from the Bible and have conversations on what God is speaking to us through the passages.

Sermon

https://youtu.be/KtCRfY8oxAU?t=1439

Reading Plan

https://fivedaybiblereading.com/BibleReadingSchedule2020.pdf

Christmas 2019: Goodbook 12-20-19

Each year I share my favorite new Christmas songs.  Here is my list for 2019.  You can click this link to listen: Christmas New.

1. The Afters - Joy Unto the World
2. Building 429 - A Thrill of Hope
3. Casting Crowns - Make Room
4. Vertical Worship - It Came to Pass
5. Phil Wickham - Joy to the World
6. Marc Martell - O Come All Ye Faithful
7. Danny Gokey - Angels We Have Heard on High
8. Terrian - God With Us
9. Revive - The First Noel
10. Elevation Worship - Here Comes Heaven
11. Mallary Hope - Christmas is All About You
12. Phil Wickham - Away in a Manger
13. Building 429 - Be With Us Now
14. Jason Crabb - Silent Night
15. Chris Tomlin - Christmas Day

If you are in the Naperville area, we'd love to celebrate Christmas with you. To learn more about our 7 services, click this link: Christmas Eve with Good Shepherd.

Thankful (part 2): Goodbook 11-19-19

Here are a few more reasons from the Bible to be thankful...

3. If you’re a Christian be thankful that your sins even your deepest darkest sins are forgiven. Your chains are broken you are free!

Romans 8:1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

1 John 1:7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Colossians 1:20-23 and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it.

4. Be thankful for the Bible.

Psalm 119:47 for I delight in your commands because I love them.

Psalm 119:97-98 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands are always with me and make me wiser than my enemies.

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

1 Peter 1:23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

5. Be thankful for community.

Colossians 3:16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Galatians 6:2 Help carry one another’s burdens, and in this way you will obey the law of Christ.

Thankful: Goodbook 11-13-19 (Part 1)

We started a series in the Sanctuary that is a gratitude challenge of sorts to think creatively about all we have to be thankful for. In the MESSAGE we considered not only being thankful for food, home, and family, but also that we can help others experience those blessings by partnering with God and allowing God to work through us. You can listen to the message using the link below. I wanted to send a couple of posts that remind us of more things we can be thankful for from the Bible. Here are two:

1. Be thankful that Jesus Christ died for your sins. He willfully suffered the full extent of God’s wrath that you and I may live. We give Him nothing and all we do is take, but He gave His life for ours. That is true love. Thank God for our only claim to Heaven our beloved Savior Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:6-11 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

2. Be thankful that God’s love endures forever.

Psalm 136:6-10 Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights–His faithful love endures forever. the sun to rule the day, His faithful love endures forever. and the moon and stars to rule the night. His faithful love endures forever. Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt. His faithful love endures forever.

Shame: Goodbook 11-4-19

This was powerful weekend in the Worship Center.  As part of our series Inner Battles, we talked about SHAME.  Many people said they did not realize they were dealing with shame until they heard the message and were set free from a heavy weight they did not know they were carrying.  We explored the meaning and the effects of shame in our lives as well as how to live a shameless life.  Below are some further resources. 

Resources for focusing on who Jesus is…

·         Song: Waymaker

·         Scriptures: 50 Names and Titles of Jesus

Resources for focusing on who Jesus says we are…

·         Song: Who You Say I Am

·         Scriptures: Identity Verses in the Bible

Encouragement: Goodbook 03-08-19

Need a pick me up? We all go through challenging things in our lives. Sometimes that makes us feel scared or discouraged. I've been reading through the book of Isaiah and have encountered reminder after reminder that God is with us and will help us through whatever we are facing. In the good times and bad, lean into God for help and direction. Read these encouraging words as if God is speaking to you...

Isaiah 41:10
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.

Isaiah 43:1-2
But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you.
O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you."

Isaiah 43:5
Do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will gather you and your children from east and west.

Isaiah 44:2
The Lord who made you and helps you says:
Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant,
O dear Israel, my chosen one.

Isaiah 46:3-4
Listen to me, descendants of Jacob,
all you who remain in Israel.
I have cared for you since you were born.
Yes, I carried you before you were born.
I will be your God throughout your lifetime—
until your hair is white with age.
I made you, and I will care for you.
I will carry you along and save you.