In Sunday’s sermon, “God Speaks in the Order of Biblical Books,” Ron opened up our summer-long series God Speaks, We listen: Through the New Testament in 90 Days Together. As you know, we’re listening or reading through the New Testament as a church at a rate of about 12 minutes a day. Instructions for obtaining audio are available here, and audio is posted daily to DSC’s Facebook Page. If you haven’t started yet, just pick up with today’s reading and go from there.

On Sunday, Ron shared a few slides giving the order of the Bible’s books. A Pdf of what he shared is available here. If you weren’t with us on Sunday but plan to listen, this should help you do so, as Ron spent a good portion of his sermon expanding on the order and arrangement of the Bible.

At the close of his sermon, Ron also gave some great suggestions to help you not only listen to the New Testament, but to listen to the New Testament well. Here they are:

1. As you listen to, or read through, a book in the New Testament, see if you can figure out what question the book is trying to answer.
2. Make a list of one or two key verses in each book.
3. As you listen to a book, chapter by chapter, write down what that book is teaching about Christ.

One way in which we are commanded to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly is by singing (Colossians 3:16). We mean to do that as a church as we gather each Sunday to worship the risen Christ. In fact, so much is singing a part of what Christians do when we gather that worship is often, even if unthoughtfully, used synonymously with singing. Worship, of course, means very much more than singing, but in as much as we do sing the Word together and in our hearts to God, we are indeed worshiping.

At DSC we mean to sing songs that impress on our hearts the truth of God and the gospel, and express well right affections for the God of the gospel. DSC’s Music Ministry is a great help in leading us in this important element of our life together. Songs help shape the way we think about God, ourselves, and our life in between the comings of Christ. Music has a way of embedding words, and thus ideas, into our very soul. Reflecting on the songs we sing and singing those songs in our hearts during the week adds to our adoration of God and helps us to anticipate Sunday morning.

So, every now and then we will post to the blog lyrics of a new song, and, when a one is available, a video to help you grow into a new tune.

On Sunday, Drew introduced to us a new song by modern hymn writers, Keith and Kristyn Getty and Stuart Townend. “By Faith” is a meditation on the themes of the book of Hebrews, and on our glorious identity as those who do live by faith in the glorious promises of God.

Above is a video of this song from their album, Awake the Dawn, and below are the words. Enjoy!

By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation’s grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight

By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God’s own hand
A place where peace and justice reign

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the power to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave

By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth

We will stand…

By faith this mountain shall be moved
And the power of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name

We will stand…

Words and Music by Keith & Kristyn Getty
& Stuart Townend

From June 24-25 we will be joined by Dr. Fred Zaspel for a weekend on the subject of parenting called, “The Word on Parenting.” Here’s the schedule:

Friday night, 6:00-8:30 PM

• Parenting with a Goal
• Saving our Children

Saturday morning, 9:00-11:15 AM

• Directing and Disciplining our Children
• Q&A

Fred will also preach in both services on June 26.

While the schedule is built with parents of children in mind, this conference is for more than just parents, even as the Bible’s instructions to parents and children is for more than just parents. If you are a child, it’s for you. If you long to parent, it’s for you. If your kids are out of the home this is for you, as you have much to offer the younger parents at DSC.

Now, a little bit about our speaker.

Many of you are familiar with Fred, as this parenting weekend will mark one year since his last visit with us, when he spoke on the subject of God’s sovereignty in salvation and in suffering. But even if you weren’t with us for that weekend, you’ve been helped and encouraged by him in as much as you have been helped and encouraged by Ryan. In Ryan’s own words, “he’s really been a long-distance Paul to this Timothy.” Over a dozen years they have shared hundreds of emails and hours of conversation about the decisions and struggles of life, including the ins and outs of parenting.

Fred is a pastor on staff at Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia, PA, and instructor in Bible and theology at To Every Tribe missions. His recent book, The Theology of B. B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary, is the fruit of his PhD dissertation on one of the most important American theologians. On a slightly lower shelf of reading, he also co-authored (with Tom Wells) New Covenant Theology. Even more accessible, dozens, or even hundreds, of Fred’s sermons and articles are online at biblicalstudies.com.

So Fred is a lover of God, a lover of theology, and a lover of the church. But, certainly as relevant to the subject of his next visit, he is also a lover of his family. Fred and his wife, Kimberly, were married in 1979 in Columbus, Ohio, and have two grown children: Gina and Jim. All four love and serve Christ together and they are known for their happy, happy home.

As Christians, we know how happy homes get that way – love, confession, forgiveness, discipline, time, instruction, and the grace of God. We look forward to hearing God’s Word on parenting from a man who is both a hearer and a doer of God’s Word on parenting, by God’s grace.

Registration is required for childcare. You can register on Sunday morning or just email Kayla to let her know the number, names, and ages of your children (birth-12 years).

At The Gospel Coalition Blog, David Schrock has written a helpful reflection on the recent devastation in Joplin, Missouri, by tornado. Schrock’s article, “The Words of Christ and Midwest Storms,” begins this way:

When the winds raged and the waves threatened, the disciples awoke Jesus with fear in their hearts. Jesus arose, stood on the storm-tossed boat and spoke three simple words, “Peace!  Be still!” The winds ceased and the storm ended faster than it came (Mark 4:39).

In that moment, the terrified fishermen were more frightened by the man in their presence with the power to subdue nature than they were of drowning under the heavy waves. God’s Son in human form had just displayed his divine power, and that with a word.  On that lakeside journey, Jesus stopped the storm with a sentence. On May 22, in Joplin, Missouri, he didn’t.

For the disciples, Jesus stopped the storm and it led to a question of his identity: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (4:41). For the survivors in Joplin, the question is different. For them and for anyone staggering from a recent world-halting tragedy, the question is closer to that of the Psalmist, “How long oh Lord? How long will you hide your face from me?” (Ps 13:1). Because Jesus word did not stop the storm before it hit last week, there is now the need for Jesus word to come speak “Peace. Be Still.”

With such a need in mind, let me suggest four words from God’s Word that I pray may bring a biblical perspective to those bruised and broken by the storm, and to those ministering to them.

The rest of Schrock’s reflections fall under these headings:

• An Unspoken, Tear-Filled Word
• A Word of Resurrection Life
• A Word of Sadness and Sober Judgment
• A Word of Repentance to the Rest

This is an important word for all of us as we look in on this and other such tragedies. Read the whole thing here.

If you’d like to give toward the care of these people through God’s people in that city, The Journey from St. Louis and Mystery Church in Joplin are partnering to raise funds and strategically serve that community for the gospel. You can give online. If you give through DSC, use a missions envelope and designate “Tornado.” Any checks received by DSC will be directed there.

As many of you heard Pastor Ron announce a couple of weeks ago, the elders have very graciously given me this summer to be away from the office and off from preaching in order to focus on writing and, Lord willing, finish my PhD dissertation. But I thought it might be helpful for me to give a little more detail and explanation here—especially for those new enough at DSC to not know that I’m still a student, and also for those who have been at DSC long enough to assume that this project probably got finished a long time ago!

In 2003 (so almost eight years ago now!) I came to DSC with an unfinished PhD project. Since then I have slowly chipped away at a dissertation, but basically only made progress when I got a month or so away from the office to completely focus on it (usually in July). It was slow-going, but 80% of my dissertation got written this way.

That brings the timeline up to about two years ago when I started getting frequent, debilitating migraines (5-6 per week). Since then, the PhD work has been on the back-burner…or maybe it’s better to say that it hasn’t even been on the stove since I don’t think I’ve written a sentence or read a whole book related to the PhD since the summer of 2009. Throughout that time it seemed that God was making increasingly clear that this degree would eventually have to be abandoned. And I was fine with that.

But as of January of this year the migraines have been significantly better. (So many of you faithfully prayed for me and my family during that time, and I can’t thank you enough!) Once we realized that this was more than just a temporary improvement, the old question resurfaced about whether I would take another stab at finishing this degree. After some discussion and prayer with the elders and Sarah, we all agreed that it was worth one more shot. And we all agree that, after all these years, we really are talking one more shot. Either this summer will end with something very close to my final draft complete or I’ll drop it altogether. My wife and kids, the elders, the staff, and really the whole church have all been amazingly patient, gracious, and supportive over the years. I think we all agree that on the one hand, it’d be a shame to not finish a degree that has literally thousands of hours already invested; on the other hand, this really has been a bit of a distraction for so long—far longer than any of us originally imagined—so it’s time to “fish or cut bait,” as they say.

Speaking of fishing, let me make clear that I won’t be doing any of that this summer. As Ron said, this won’t be an easy summer for me. I won’t be preaching or available for meetings (besides a weekly elders meeting), but I’ll be at home feverishly reading, writing, and reworking my dissertation. I figure that I have something close to 1000 hours of work ahead of me between now and August 31. If you do the math you’ll see that I have my work cut out for me.

So, if you think of it, I would very much appreciate prayer: for clarity, energy, health, efficiency, etc. But also pray for me more spiritually than that: for trust and joy in Christ, an increased love for his Word and prayer; to not be motivated by fear of man, but working unto the Lord. Pray also for my sweet wife and kids. This won’t be an easy summer for them as you can imagine. We’ll work in some “fun” here or there, but on the whole I’ll be far busier than usual. And, they would want me to say they are completely behind the plan for this summer.

I probably should also clarify that getting this degree is in no way to be able to leave DSC and go to teach in a college or seminary. I did begin postgraduate study years ago wondering whether the Lord would have me serve in a church or in a classroom. But that question has long been answered. I love pastoring; I love the church; I love our church. I believe in long-term ministry in a single church, and I plan to be at DSC for as long as the Lord will allow me. I can also say that after years of almost having a PhD, and that pathway being such a rollercoaster, the prospect of sometimes being called “doctor” or anyone being impressed with “credentials” is no motivation at all.

So, then, why bother finishing? First, I would like to finish a project that has been given so much time and energy. Second, I think that the research and writing have been good for my overall thinking, preaching, and theological refinement. Third, I think that I have a topic that is worth the time and effort, not just for myself but also perhaps for others (should anyone besides my examiners ever read it!).

Some other time I can explain a little more about the degree and the topic of the dissertation. This is too long as it is.

In short, thank you for your patience, support, and prayer. I am blessed beyond measure to be at DSC, and humbled to be able to serve such wonderful, fruitful, growing people. I’m looking forward to seeing you on Sundays this summer and seeing how God works in us through the 90 days of listening to the New Testament.

Ryan