Archive for 2017


Oct 31

Reformation Day

2017 | by Ryan Kelly | Category: The Church,Worship

It was 500 years ago.

In the year, 1517, in Wittenberg, Germany, a Catholic monk named Martin Luther had been studying and lecturing on Paul’s letter to the Romans. He became fearfully captivated by one word near the beginning of Romans: “in [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed” (1:17). Luther later explained that he hated that phrase “righteousness of God,” for God’s righteousness, he thought, surely meant God’s righteous punishment of all unrighteous sinners. Knowing himself to be a sinner, he wrestled with “a fierce and troubled conscience” and “beat upon” the text to know what Paul meant.

At the same time Luther had another concern, but this one with increasing clarity. The Catholic Church had for many years sold indulgences. For a fee, one could pay-off the guilt and payment of sins. A new salesman of indulgences, Johann Tetzel, was creatively and aggressively making a bad practice worse. Luther had written against Tetzel’s tactics before, but now Tetzel was coming to Luther’s town of Wittenberg. So on October 31, 1517, Luther nailed to the church door Ninety-Five Theses meant to engender academic debate about such indulgences. At the time, no one could have anticipated—not even Luther himself—the reverberating effects of this moment. While many events, documents, and people were used of the Lord to bring about the Protestant Reformation, for 500 years the church has looked back to the nailing of Ninety-Five Theses upon the church door as a pivotal moment towards the recovery of the gospel.

While Luther’s concerns for indulgences grew in conviction and clarity, he continued to struggle with his own guilty conscience and how God’s righteousness could be good news (a gospel) for sinners. The “righteousness of God” in Romans 1:17 was of no comfort to him until the context made it clear: “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’” Like a lightning bolt, it hit him: God’s just-righteousness was a gift from God to those who believe; God’s just mercy is revealed in the gospel of Christ’s substitutionary sacrifice. “Immediately I saw the whole of Scripture in a different light,” he wrote. “I felt that I was altogether born again and had entered paradise through its open doors.” That word which Luther once hated—righteousness—had now come to be the source of all his hope and joy. In Romans, he later attested, there is the “very purest gospel; …every Christian should know it…[and] occupy himself with it every day, as the daily bread of the soul. It can never be read or pondered too much, and the more it is dealt with, the more precious it becomes and the better it tastes.”

This is the essence of the Reformation. It’s what we celebrate today.

Oct 6

Guest Preacher This Sunday – Michael Lawrence

2017 | by Asher Griffin | Category: Announcement,Sermon Preview,This Sunday

From time to time, DSC has been blessed to have guest preachers who bring the Word to us on Sunday mornings. This Sunday morning, we will joined by Michael Lawrence, where Michael will be preaching in our services from 1 Kings 10.

We’ve been grateful to host Michael for most of this week, as he’s been one of the speakers for the Simeon Trust Workshop on Biblical Exposition hosted by DSC for many regional pastors.

Some of his written works are his contributions to the 9Marks Journal, Christian History Magazine, Boundless, and Preaching Today.

He’s contributed to books like Why I am a Baptist, edited by Tom Nettles and Russel Moore, and Sex and the Supremacy of Christ, edited by John Piper and Justin Taylor, and It Is Well: Expositions on the Substitutionary Atonement, with co-author Mark Dever.

He has also written Biblical Theology in the Life of the Church, Perspectives on Christian Worship: Five Views, and most recently, Conversion.

Michael comes to us from Portland, Oregon, where he is the Senior Pastor at Hinson Baptist Church. He earned an MDiv at Gordon-Conwell and a PhD from Cambridge University in 2002. Michael is married and has five children.

Hope to see you on Sunday at DSC at either 9AM or 10:45AM!

Sep 11

Elders Q&A – September 27

2017 | by Asher Griffin | Category: Announcement,Elders Q&A

Every year, the DSC elders set aside an evening to take questions from DSC members. It’s called the “Elders Q&A.”

Our next Elders Q&A will take place on the last Wednesday of this month, September 27, at 6:30 PM, with dinner together at 5:30 PM.

If you have a question, we hope you will submit it. Here are four ways to ask your questions:

  • Write: Submit your question using your bulletin Comment Card on Sunday and drop that in an offering box.
  • Email: Email your question to info@desertspringschurch.org.
  • Tell: Communicate your question for the Q&A to an elder in person or through email. Click here for faces and emails.
  • Show: Show up with your question on the 27th. The elders will take some questions from a mic during the evening.

Of course, it would be helpful to receive your questions early. This helps the elders notice recurring themes, know how to devote time to particular questions, and spend time in a way that best serves the congregation. Any questions that are not addressed at the Q&A will be answered through the DSC Blog or by email.

Before the Q&A, get acquainted with DSC’s elders by reading their biographies on the Leadership Page, send them an email, or reach out to them on a Sunday morning.

Also, audio from previous Elder Q&A evenings is available at our Messages Page under the topic “Elder Q&A.” For a few recaps from previous years, click here, here, here, and here.

See you at the Q&A on September 27 at 6:30 PM!

Apr 17

Interview with Asher Griffin, Part 2

2017 | by Trent Hunter | Category: Announcement

This is the second in a two-part interview with Asher Griffin, DSC’s new Minister of Theological Training. In Part 1 we learned a bit about Asher’s background and how he met Brooke. Here in Part 2 we’ll learn about some of the larger influences on his life.

Asher2

In Part 2 we’ll focus on some of the influences on your life. What’s your favorite book of the Bible and why?

Psalms. I love this book because I think it captures everything God wants me to see, know, and feel about Him. And you can’t make sense of any of that without hoping for and seeing the Son of God as the Savior. I’m not a fan of poetry (always dreaded it in English classes). But with the Psalms, I can pray to God, learn about Him, see His work, and hope in His will.

What book or author has had the most impact on your life, besides the Bible?

There are so many! Jerry Bridges’, The Practice of Godliness, was so helpful to me in college, and I’m always trying to read it with other people. R.C. Sproul’s, The Holiness of God, is a book that I wish I read every year. Don Whitney’s, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, was helpful in college and in seminary to help me craft a devotional, spiritual life. Don’s section on prayer (now its own book) completely changed my prayer life.

But John Bunyan’s, Pilgrim’s Progress, is, I think, the best book ever written. I’ve read it several times and every time there’s something more that shows me the goodness of God. I try to reread it every year.

Tell us about the most influential sermon you’ve heard?

I started listening to Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermons in college, and remember being mesmerized by his sermon on Ephesians 2:1-10 titled: “But God”. I was out on a jog around OSU’s campus and by the end I was just standing on a sidewalk listening to the last 20 minutes feeling overwhelmed God’s love.

For what seems like most of my life, I’ve been surrounded by good preaching. Growing up, my parents would listen to John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul every time we were in the car. I grew up in a great, expositional preaching church. And while I was in college, iTunes exploded and friends would introduce me to preachers like Alistair Begg, John Piper, Matt Chandler, and many more.

How do you like to spend your down time? Any hobbies?

Brooke and I can truly lounge. And we enjoy hanging out with people, having coffee, and having people over to our house. Beyond that, I like tinkering around on house projects, backpacking/camping, and reading. When I lived in Virginia, I would cycle a lot. I plan to get back into that.

Okay, now a few left fielders. What is the dumbest thing you did as a kid?

My mom has taught gym for most of my life. So, after school, we were in a constant onslaught of climbing, scootering, throwing anything, and jumping off everything. Let’s just say that glow-in-the-dark roller blade hockey in the halls was just the beginning. It’s amazing I’m still alive.

Any odd talents that we should know about up front?

I have this weird ability of recalling things or books by their color. For example: I used to organize all my books by the book cover’s color, and I could always find things. What’s the book by J.I. Packer on godliness? I have no idea, but it’s green. This annoyed and freaked people out so I changed it up. And now I have no idea where any book is.

What’s your favorite animal, and why?

I like dogs. Brooke LOVES dogs. Dogs are fun, up for anything, and dependable. Brooke and I have both had dogs as pets growing up. Some were amazing, and some are truly laughable. And Brooke asks if we can get a puppy nearly every day.

Without going to the internet, do you know what a Lobo is? An Isotope? Carne Adovada?

Yeh, Lobo basketball! I want to see a game in The Pit. I’ve seen the Isotopes play in Oklahoma City several times. And Carne Adovada sounds like something I’d eat, but I don’t know what it is.

And, for one last question, red or green?

Christmas.

Apr 13

Easter Weekend Services and a Special Request

2017 | by Trent Hunter | Category: Announcement

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
– 1 Corinthians 15:3-4

This weekend we will remember and praise God for that which is of first importance: the death and the resurrection of Christ! Here’s a reminder of our Good Friday and Easter Sunday service times:

  • Friday, April 14: Good Friday service at 6:30 PM with childcare for children four years old and under
  • Sunday, April 16: Easter services at 7:30, 9:00, and 10:45 AM, with childcare for all children during the later two services.

Of course, don’t forget to invite someone to our weekend services. Here’s a digital invitation to make that easy. And if you do, make sure they know to be early to whatever service they join us for.

A Special Request for Easter Morning

If possible, on Sunday morning, please attend the 7:30 AM service. Imagine that you come to church once a year and this year a friend from DSC invited you to church. You plan to arrive when service starts. You show up maybe even five minutes early, but you are directed to an overflow room to watch the service on a TV. This is too-bad at a number of levels. But it is preventable if several hundred of our normal attenders attend the 7:30 AM service instead of their regular service.

If you have young children, this may not work, as we don’t provide childcare for this service. Or if you are inviting a friend or family member to join, 7:30 AM may not be the better time. But if it’s a matter of convenience we would ask that you do come early to ensure a seat for our many guests who will attend the later services. Thanks for helping us be hospitable.