Grace Blog
Counsel on Giving and Receiving Correction
In his message on giving and receiving correction, Pastor Tom concluded with the following points of application on how to give and how to receive correction. Here they are:
On Giving Correction
1. Correct in love
a. Proverbs 3:11, 12 says, “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, Nor detest His correction; For whom the LORD loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.”
b. Don’t let your frustration of pain drive your words. Deal with any personal issues in your own heart first before you try to speak correctively.
c. Pray before you speak. Ask the Lord to help you love the one you will address.
2. Correct with a redemptive purpose
a. Christ died to redeem us, to make us holy; you can be a means of your brother’s or sister’s sanctification by offering godly correction.
b. Do not let it be personal—revenge; wanting her to feel as badly as you do; wanting to make yourself look better, etc.
c. Ask yourself what God wants for this person, and see yourself as an instrument in the Lord’s hands to bring it about
d. Matt 18:15-18—remember that the goal is always “to win your brother”
e. Begin with words of affirmation
f. Examine yourself before you offer your appraisal of someone else. Matthew 7:1-6, first get the log out of your own eye before you help your brother get the speck out of his. Speak, as you would like to be spoken to
g. Speak as one who has been rescued and not one who is immune to the problem you are correcting
3. Correct plainly
a. Proverbs 26:28 says “A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin.”
b. Don’t beat around the bush or merely imply what should be plainly stated. Nathan did not leave David guessing about his sin but said to him, “You are the man!”
4. Correct privately (usually)
5. Correct with well-chosen words
a. Proverbs 25:11, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver.”
b. Col. 4:6, “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt…”
On Receiving Correction
1. Admit that you need correction and always will as long as you are alive
2. Recognize that God uses the critical and corrective words of others to help you overcome the deceitfulness of sin
3. Refuse to respond defensively
4. Refuse to respond despairingly
5. Accept correction and criticism as coming from God
6. Resolve, by God’s grace, to benefit from and grow as a result of criticism
7. Meditate deeply on the cross of Jesus
a. It has criticized you
b. It has justified you
8. Meditate deeply on the resurrection of Jesus
a. His resurrection guarantees yours
b. The power that raised Him from the dead resides in all those who trust Him, giving us the ability to change!
Labels: Change, Christianity, Community, Correction, Criticism | posted by TimBrister at 8:55 am | Categories: Change, Community, Reflection and Review, Words |
20 Questions to Ask for the New Year
Donald Whitney has put together a great list of questions to ask ourselves at the start of this new year. Please take a moment to reflect on these questions and answer them for the good of the gospel in your life and its progress in the future (Col. 1:6). Here are 20 in particular:
1. What’s one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?
2. What’s the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?
3. What’s the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?
4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?
5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?
6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?
7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?
8. What’s the most important way you will, by God’s grace, try to make this year different from last year?
9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?
10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?
11. What’s the most important need you feel burdened to meet this year?
12. Who is the person you most want to encourage this year?
13. What’s one new way you could be a blessing to your pastor (or to another who ministers to you) this year?
14. What’s one thing you could do this year to enrich the spiritual legacy you will leave to your children and grandchildren?
15. What book, in addition to the Bible, do you most want to read this year?
16. What one thing do you most regret about last year, and what will you do about it this year?
17. What single blessing from God do you want to seek most earnestly this year?
18. In what area of your life do you most need growth, and what will you do about it this year?
19. To what need or ministry will you try to give an unprecedented amount this year?
20. What one biblical doctrine do you most want to understand better this year, and what will you do about it?
Labels: Donald Whitney, New Year, Spiritual Inventory | posted by TimBrister at 7:35 am | Categories: Reflection and Review, Spiritual Growth |
Don’t Waste The Sermon!
One of the great means of grace God has given His people is the faithful proclamation of His Word on the Lord’s Day. By means of grace, that is to say the exposition and instruction through Spirit-empowered proclamation are to be used to bring truth to bear on us so that repentance and faith are exercised as we seek to be changed and conformed into the image of Christ on a daily basis. Sermons are not merely intended to be heard, but they are to be applied. They are to be used, not just once, but time and again.
Having said that, I would like to point you to a helpful resource created by The Church at Brookhills. It is a PDF document called “Reteaching Guide” focused on giving practical helps in applying Sunday messages throughout the week. Sermons can be applied individually through personal devotions or corporately through family worship or small groups. The goal is simply that the sermon as a means of grace will flourish in your hearts and lives. The ministers who bake the sermon and deliver the message are called to present a banqueting table for believer’s to feast on God’s Word. We are all called to develop a growing appetite that hungers and thirsts for God. May we never settle or cease to remember Jesus and rejoice in the life-transforming truth of His Word!
Labels: Applying the Sermon, Reflection and Review, Reteaching Guide | posted by TimBrister at 10:03 am | Categories: Reflection and Review, Resources |
Jesus Makes All Things New
On the first Sunday of the new year, Pastor Tim Brister preached a message entitled “Jesus Makes All Things New” from Matthew 9:14-17. We live in a season of the new year filled with new hopes, new resolutions, new dreams–all in pursuit of renewal. Renewal movements have existed since the creation of society and certainly were existing during the time of Jesus, including groups such as the Zealots, the Essenes, and the Pharisees. However, the only movement of hope and renewal that is lasting and eternal was created by Jesus Christ and ultimately will culminate in a new heaven and a new earth. His kingdom is established in the hearts of men who, when they repent and believe, become a new creation in Christ where the old is passing away and all things are becoming new (2 Cor. 5:17).
Pastor Tim’s main point was that, because Jesus Christ is the one who makes all things new (Rev. 21:5), the Christian life is one of both feasting in His presence and fasting for His purposes. From Matt. 9:14-17, Pastor Tim explained the three illustrations that answered one question with two truths, followed by personal application. Jesus Christ did not come to do a patch-job to the garments of Jewish traditionalism but rather came to cleanse it and renew it with the fulfillment of the new covenant promise through His blood.
To listen to the sermon, click here.
To download the sermon, click here.
To subscribe to the podcast, click here.
Labels: Jesus, Matthew 9:14-17, Tim Brister | posted by TimBrister at 9:20 am | Categories: Jesus, Reflection and Review, Sermons |
Our Greatest Need: A Fresh View of Our All-Sufficient Savior
This past Sunday, Pastor Tom Ascol preached a year-end message entitled “A Fresh Vision of Our All-Sufficient Savior” from Revelation 1:9-20. In his message, Pastor Tom articulated from Scripture that our greatest need and deepest desire should be to have a fresh view of Jesus Christ for the new year. God has blessed us (already) with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus, and we know that He will meet our needs according to His riches in glory. Yet, many are ignorant of what God has done for them in Christ. Finding Jesus as the Treasure God has made Him to be shows us biblically what God has given us in His Son.
To listen to Pastor Tom’s sermon, click here.
To download the sermon, click here (right click, “save as”).
To subscribe to GBC Podcast, click here.
Labels: Christ, Grace Baptist Church, Jesus, Tom Ascol | posted by TimBrister at 9:13 am | Categories: Reflection and Review, Sermons |
The Birth That Changed the World
This past Sunday (December 14), Pastor Tom Ascol preached a message entitled “The Birth That Changed the World” focusing on Isaiah 9:5-7. Jesus’ birth was good news then, and it is good news for everyone who is willing to receive it. Pastor Tom’s three main points were:
1. Who He [the One who is born] is—God in flesh (incarnation)
2. What He [the One who is born] does—reigns as Eternal King
3. Why this matters
The one who is born is a Son given bearing and fulfilling the titles of Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace. He came to take the government on His shoulder and expand it forever, and all this matters because of what God is doing in this world–more specifically what God has done for us. “Unto us” a child is born. This birth indeed has changed the world, and Jesus Christ continues to change lives.
Click here to listen online :: Click here to download (MP3)
Labels: Christmas, Incarnation, Jesus | posted by TimBrister at 5:34 pm | Categories: Reflection and Review, Sermons |
Six Goals of Satan in Coming Against Believers
At the conclusion of his sermon “The Goal of the Enemy”, Pastor Tom Ascol listed six goals that Satan has to come against believers. They are:
1. Reclaim believers (Luke 22:31) - “Satan has asked for you all”
2. Devour believers (1 Pet. 5:8) - “like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”
3. Ensnare believers (1 Tim. 3:7; 2 Tim. 2:24)
4. Intellectually confuse believers (Eph. 4:14) - “father of lies” (deceiving spirits, doctrine of demons)
5. Spiritually oppress believers (Rev. 12:10) - “accuser of the brethren”
6. Morally pollute believers (Rev. 2:18-29) - the spirit of Jezebel
Pastor Tom concluded with the truth that the devil hates the church. He hates Grace Baptist Church, and sometimes he will use individuals to accomplish his mission. Be on guard!
Think of Peter when he was being used by the devil (Jesus addressed Peter but said “get behind me Satan!”). Did Peter volunteer to be used by the devil? He probably would not have been aware of his involvement in the devil’s agenda had Jesus never made it known. How does this sobering account not cause us to examine ourselves and seek to have undivided loyalty and uninterrupted submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ?! May God help us to know, understand, and be about His work and stand firm against the schemes of the evil one.
Labels: Satan, Spiritual Warfare | posted by TimBrister at 10:59 am | Categories: Reflection and Review, Spiritual Warfare |
The Goal of Our Enemy
On Sunday, December 7, Pastor Tom Ascol continued in his series on Spiritual Warfare with a sermon entitled, “The Goal of Our Enemy.” This is the fourth sermon in the series taken from Ephesians 6:10-12, this time taking up the phrase, “the wiles of the devil.” Pastor Tom begins by asking two questions:
1. What is the goal or ultimate aim of Satan?
2. What are the strategies Satan uses to accomplish this goal?
Taking up the first question, Pastor Tom argued that “the goal of the devil is to destroy the work of God” (whenever or wherever it is found).
Satan’s identity is bound upon in his opposition to God. He is your “adversary” seeking to devour you. When Jesus explained the parable of the wheat and tares, it is explained that the devil had sown the tares among the wheat. His attack is first and foremost against God and secondly against God’s people.
There are two main arenas for the devil’s work: (1) the arena of creation and (2) the arena of redemption. In the arena of creation, we see the devil’s work from distinguishing Gen. 1-2 which as exceedingly good from Gen. 4-6 which was exceedingly evil such that God regretted that He had made man. The “x” factor is Gen. 3 where we see the devil attempting to destroy the work of God in His creation. In the arena of redemption, Satan attempts to overthrow the work of God first by attacking Jesus Christ, then individual Christians, and finally the church.
To listen or download this sermon, click here.
Labels: Grace Baptist Church, Spiritual Warfare, Tom Ascol | posted by TimBrister at 3:02 pm | Categories: Reflection and Review, Sermons, Spiritual Warfare |
Knowing Your Enemy, Part 2
On Sunday, November 30, Pastor Tom Ascol continued in his series on spiritual warfare with his third message from Ephesians 6:10-12 focusing on primarily on verse 12. Paul writes:
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Pastor Tom’s outline addresses each description of the enemy’s army, namely (1) princes and principalities, (2) powers, (3) rules of he darkness of this age, and (4) spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places. Satan has a kingdom, and every human being is either under the rule of Christ or under the rule of the devil. There is no spiritual neutral zone. Jesus said, “He is not with me is against me.” Those who have not come to Jesus are under he deceptive power and domain of darkness of the devil.
Yet the conquest of the cross was the overthrow and defeat of the prince and power of the air. There is a real danger in thinking that God and Satan and dueling interlocutors who are fighting for supremacy. This dualism is nowhere found in Scripture. God is sovereign, and the devil is God’s devil. Although the world in which we live today embraces the ruler of darkness, his kingdom will come to an end, and those who belong to the kingdom of light in God’s beloved Son, take ground by the force of the gospel.
To listen or download this sermon, click here.
Labels: Grace Baptist Church, Spiritual Warfare, Tom Ascol | posted by TimBrister at 9:35 am | Categories: Reflection and Review, Sermons |
Praising God When Life Gets Hard
This past Sunday, Pastor Tom Ascol preaching a timely Thanksgiving message entitled “Praising God When Life Gets Hard” from the book of Habakkuk. In his message, Pastor Tom shared that a heart rooted in the goodness, wisdom and sovereignty of God will have reason to rejoice and be thankful during difficult times. He gave six ways of living with faith and hope from the text which I have outlined below for your benefit:
1. Faith enables us to look honestly at life (1:2-4)
2. Faith enables us to look honestly at God (1:12-13)
3. Faith enables us to humbly listen to God (2:1)
4. Faith enables us to pray fervently to God (3:1-2)
5. Faith enables us to recognize that God’s sovereign purpose are, and will continue to be, revealed in history (3:3-16)
6. Faith enables us to enthusiastically rejoice in the work of the Lord (3:17-19)
Because there is hope in the risen Savior, we should hitch our joy in Him, not our circumstances. When our hearts are where God’s is, then we can rest in Him in the midst of pain, difficulty, and loss. God indeed will move heaven and earth to accomplish His purposes, so let us have a deep rooted joy in the God of our salvation!
To download Sunday’s sermon, click here.
To listen online, click here.
Labels: Habakkuk, Sermon, Thanksgiving, Tom Ascol | posted by TimBrister at 12:13 pm | Categories: Reflection and Review, Sermons |
The Arena of Our Warfare
One of the most important points in Pastor Tom’s two messages thus far is understanding the arena of our spiritual warfare. Because it is spiritual and the fact that our opponents are not flesh and blood but princes and principalities, it is tempting to conclude that we physical beings are rarely involved in the fight. The arena is in the heavenlies, right? Well, not if you take into the context Paul’s letter to the Ephesians as it leads up to the section on spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10-18).
The first three chapters of Ephesians address our relationship to God in Christ, emphasizing our union with and identity in Jesus Christ. Chapter four brings out the implications of the gospel at work in the context of the body of Christ, such as unity, putting on the new self, and applying the virtues that cultivated through the graces of repentance and faith. In chapter five, we discover a key verse in Ephesians 5:18 which says,
“And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit”
From there, Paul launches into a series of relational contexts, beginning with the husband and wife (5:22-33), then to parents and children (6:1-4), and finally to masters and slaves (6:5-9). Not only is the Spirit-filled life to be lived out in these contexts, but it is also here that we find the arena of our spiritual warfare. The greatest battles we will face in our Christian lives will take place in the most ordinary places (such as home and work) with the most familiar people (spouse and children). While these contexts are not comprehensive, they serve to show that there is not an area of our lives where there is not a fight. Nowhere will you find neutral ground. The devil is out to wage war with an army arrayed that wants to destroy your home, ruin your children, lose your job, and ultimately shame the name of Jesus Christ.
As Pastor Tom shared with us, “The call to follow Christ is a call to fight,” so let us recognize the arena of our warfare, put on the whole armor of God, and fight the fight of faith in all of our relationships. The battle is not in the heavenlies; it is in our own living rooms and prayer closets. The way we love our spouse, raise our children, and live out our lives in the world will indicate whether we are by God’s Spirit waging a good warfare as more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. May the family of Grace be strong in our stand, submitted to our Savior, and steadfast in the simplicity of our devotion to God in all things for His glory!
Labels: Ephesians, Grace Baptist Church, Spiritual Warfare | posted by TimBrister at 9:36 am | Categories: Reflection and Review, Spiritual Warfare |
