In Sunday’s sermon, “A Better Home,” Ryan preached from Psalm 84, a psalm with the familiar and lofty line, “A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere” (84:10). While we certainly believe this to be true, we recognize that we don’t always live like it. We believe it, but we know we should believe it more.

That’s why, as Ryan said, the Christian life is a pilgrimage. We are on our way to the perfect presence of God.

On this pilgrimage, the author of Hebrews encourages us with the example of Old Testament saints who looked forward to their heavenly home in Hebrews 11:13-16:

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.

Following in the example of the faithful from the Old Testament means following them, ultimately, in the direction of their hope. This better and heavenly country, of course, is nothing less than the New Heavens and New Earth. And what’s so much better about it? There, we will hear the words, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man” (Revelation 21:3).

Another help for the pilgrimage comes to us from the English Puritan, John Bunyan. His classic, Pilgrim’s Progress, unfolds the nature of the Christian life by means of a powerful and imaginative story, making sense of the various struggles and temptations faced by every Christian. You can purchase a copy of Pilgrim’s Progress at Amazon here.

For children nine years old and up, Oliver Hunkin’s adaptation, Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress, is an excellent resource.

Below is a two hour version of Hunkin’s adaptation being read with illustrations.

[RSS and email readers, click here to view this video]

HT: Justin Taylor

On Sunday, Ryan preached from Psalm 78, one of six history psalms. The other history psalms are Psalms 105-107, 114, and 136. Psalm 78 is unique, however, for its focused statement of purpose to rehearse the history of Israel in order that the next generation should “set their hope in God.” That’s actually a very nice way of stating the aim of all Christian parenting.

Here are some resources for helping you help your children set their hope in God:

Resources on Parenting

• The Word on Parenting, Seminar Weekend by Fred G. Zaspel
• Three messages specifically on parenting by Ryan Kelly in the series, Proverbs: Wisdom for the Home, (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)
• Messages on parenting preached at DSC
• The Duties of Parents, J.C. Ryle
• Your Child’s Profession of Faith, Dennis Gundersen
• Gospel-Powered Parenting: How the Gospel Shapes and Transforms Parenting, William Farley
• Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Tedd Tripp
• Instructing a Child’s Heart, Tedd and Margy Tripp
• Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens, Paul Tripp

Resources About Family Worship

• “Family Worship: In the Bible, in History & in Your Home,” Don Whitney
• “Rediscovering Family Worship,” Jerry Marcellino
• “Leading Family Worship,” a message by Joel Beeke at the Desiring God 2011 Conference for Pastors
• “Do Not Forget: The Message of Deuteronomy,” (Part 1, Part 2), sermons by Ryan Kelly

Tools for Family Worship

• The Big Picture Story Bible, David Helm
• The Jesus Storybook Bible: Every Story Whispers His Name, Sally Lloyd-Jones
• The Gospel Story Bible: Discovering Jesus in the Old and New Testaments, Marty Machowski
• The Child’s Story Bible, Catherine Vos
• “And for Older Children…Respect Their Desire to Read and Learn,” an article by R. Albert Mohler, Jr. about The Child’s Story Bible with tips for reading Bible stories to school-age children
• Bible audio from Bible Gateway or of the ESV from Crossway
• ESV Children’s Bible, Crossway
• A Catechism by Ryan Kelly (This is not yet complete, but is more than enough for a few years of memorization. This pdf is intended to be printed and folded as a booklet. Here’s an alternative layout).
• The Heidelberg Catechism
• My ABC Bible Verses: Hiding God’s Word in Little Hearts, Susan Hunt
• Mighty Acts of God: A Family Bible Story Book, Starr Meade
• The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan
• Dangerous Journey: The Story of Pilgrim’s Progress, Oliver Hunkin
• Long Story Short: Ten-Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God, Marty Machowski
• Big Truths for Young Hearts: Teaching and Learning the Greatness of God, Bruce Ware
• Grandpa’s Box: Retelling the Biblical Story of Redemption, Starr Meade

Resources About The Church’s Ministry to Families

• “The Family Together in Corporate Worship,” sermon by Ryan Kelly
• A Vision for Ministry to Children and Their Parents, Bethlehem Baptist Church
• “The Family: Together in God’s Presence,” article by John Piper
• Worship: Together for the Glory of God, Saturday Seminar by Ryan Kelly

We know that the preacher and service leaders have a job to do on Sunday morning. That’s obvious enough.

But what about the congregation?

Colossians 3:16 tells us, for example, that we are all involved in singing: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” That we are all involved in singing shouldn’t come as much surprise. But this principle of participation applies to our hearing of the Word as well, as James 1:22 says, “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

In short, when we come together around the Word, we should come easily edified. We should hear in order to apprehend, absorb, and appropriate the God’s Word. Sermon listening is not a passive activity.

That’s the point made by Jay Thomas in his helpful post, “Easily Edified.” Below is the intruduction to his post, followed by five points he goes on to make. Go here to read the whole post, including an expansion on each of the five points below.

I recently ran across a statement that has stuck with me. It is this: spiritually mature people are easily edified. . . .What does that mean? There are some people who are almost always blessed by sermons. They do not need to be coaxed into a sermon. The introduction, supporting material, and conclusion are not that important to them. The mannerisms, inflections, and voice command of the preacher are not the make it or break it parts of a sermon for them. They listen closely, but to the right stuff, not the side comments or statement a preacher makes that often trip up and cause many listeners to over analyze or get distracted. The irony is these people often have a great deal of Bible knowledge. They should be the pickiest listeners, but they aren’t. Why?

The easily edified person has a built in hunger, curiosity, and receptivity to the Word of God. By the time the preacher takes the pulpit, they are ready, Bible open, heart unfurled, happy to take in the Word of God – even when it rebukes.

1. Don’t expect the preacher to be the totality of your spiritual interaction every week.
2. Pray for God to give you a love for the Bible.
3. Put to death a critical spirit.
4. Focus on the content and faithfulness.
5. Keep short accounts with the preacher if there is a relational issue that is getting in the way.

For a helpful resource on the subject of good sermon listening, check out, Expository Listening: A Practical Handbook for Hearing and Doing God’s Word, available at the Resource Center.

Need help remembering to pray? Need help remembering what and who to pray for?

Yes, there’s an app for that.

Pray! lets you easily create requests, sort requests, and remind yourself to pray. If you have an iPhone, this should prove a helpful resource for praying more faithfully, more regularly, and for the right things.

Screenshots and feature descriptions are available at the Pray! site, and the app is available here through Apple’s App Store.

On the subject of prayer, David Powlison has a helpful lecture, “Modeling Grace Through Prayer Requests.” The audio is available online along with a pdf outline to help you follow along. Prayer, he says, “has this potential to become a door for the most profound forms of one anothering.” Also, if you make a habit out of listening to sermons and would like some encouragement and help in this area, several messages by Jerram Barrs should be helpful from his 2009 visit for DSC’s Prizing the Privilege of Prayer Weekend.

Earlier this week we published a blog in follow up to Ryan’s sermon, “Why Are You Downcast? Unpacking Depression.” That post included a number of Scriptures, quotes, and reflections on the subject of depression and spiritual desertion specifically.

In this post we’re including links to a number of the more helpful books and articles on the subject of depression and spiritual desertion. Of course, a great first-stop in exploring this matter is Ryan’s three-session Saturday Seminar on Depression conducted several years ago here at DSC. The third session was about spiritual desertion specifically.

Resources about Depression in General

• Blame It on the Brain?: Distinguishing Chemical Imbalances, Brain Disorders, and Disobedience, Ed Welch
• The Bruised Reed, Richard Sibbes
• Spiritual Depression: Its Causes and Cure, Martin Lloyd-Jones
• Deserted by God?, Sinclair Ferguson
• When I Don’t Desire God: How to Fight For Joy, John Piper
• Depression: Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness, Ed Welch
• “Spiritual Depression in the Psalms,” John Piper
• “Depression, Gratitude and Charles Haddon Spurgeon,” Randy Alcorn
• “The Minister’s Fainting Fits,” Charles Haddon Spurgeon
• “Spiritual Depression” (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4), Thabiti Anyabwile
• “Lessons from an Inconsolable Soul: Learning from the Mind and Heart of C. S. Lewis,” John Piper
• “Charles Spurgeon: Preaching Through Adversity,” John Piper
• “Insanity and Spiritual Songs in the Soul of a Saint: Reflections on the Life of William Cowper,” John Piper

Resources about Spiritual Desertion

• The Case and Cure of a Deserted Soul: Or a Treatise Concerning the Nature, Kinds, Degrees, Symptoms, Causes, Cures Of, and Mistakes About Spiritual Desertions, Joseph Symonds
• “The Puritain in Private,” in The Genius of Puritanism, Peter Lewis
• A Lifting Up for the Downcast, William Bridge
• Spiritual Desertion, Gisbertus Voetius
• The Dejected Soul’s Cure, Christopher Love
• The Soul’s Conflict With Itself and Victory Over Itself by Faith, in The Works of Richard Sibbes, Vol 1
• Discouragement’s Recovery, in The Works of Richard Sibbes, Vol 7
• A Child of Light Walling in Darkness, in The Works of Thomas Goodwin, Vol 3
• “Desertion: Does God Ever Desert His People?,” C. Matthew McMahon
• “Puritans Living in Relationship to Affliction, Desertion, and Sin,” Joel R. Beeke