As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“If you have had a stable and steady job for 5, 10, or 20 years, it’s easy to get the idea that the job that is what provides for you. No, God provides for you. …You may say—God has provided a small group for me, a dear friend for me, a healthy church for me, a wonderful ministry for me. These are the means of God’s supply.
“On the day Christ commissioned Saul as apostle to the Gentiles, he told him he would suffer. He told Ananias, the believer who healed Saul of his heaven-sent blindness….And Saul, now Paul the apostle, tells the believers in the little church at Philippi that this is the common fate—no, the ‘privilege’—of all believers” - Olinger
“When we’re overwhelmed––perhaps by many changes, or by one major change with seismic effects––Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1:8 will resonate with us: ‘We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength.’ What an apt description of a full load and a heavy heart: utterly burdened.” - TGC
“Yet interruptions—even life-altering intrusions—are a normal part of the history of mankind. Floods, famines, wars, and pandemics have punctuated the lives of our predecessors. How did Christians of the past respond? How should we today?” - Rooted Thinking
Sermon No. 730 delivered on Lord’s-day Morning, January 20, 1867, by C.H.Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
“Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me.” — John 14:1.
From the archives…
There are basically two ways to ride a roller coaster. The first is to resist the ride. You can press your feet against the floorboard and arch your back. You can grip the handle bar so hard your knuckles turn white. You can tense your jaw, tighten your abdominal muscles, and scream bloody murder as you descend the precipitous drops and are flung around the death-defying turns.
“Edwards’s theology of joy sustained him in ministry because he put joy at the center of his ministry. It’s the thread that’s woven through all of his theology.” - TGC
I am fast approaching two major milestones. First, I will shortly celebrate my seventieth birthday and three weeks later, our church will celebrate its forty-fifth anniversary. Since, in God’s good providence, I have pastored the church from the beginning, the church’s milestone is also the completion of my forty-five years as pastor of Beacon Baptist Church. Both of these celebrations are remarkable tokens of God’s kindness. I frankly did not expect to reach either one, but unless something unexpected intervenes, I will soon be looking at these milestones in the rear view mirror of life.
Discussion