“Years ago, I was in England at a large Christian conference. During one seminar, we were led in corporate worship by a guitarist whom I thought was average in every respect. As he finished what I would describe as a sorry time of worship in song, the elderly gentleman to my side turned my way. With a glowing smile, he asked, “That was simply lovely, wasn’t it?” I wanted to say no, but the Holy Spirit caught my tongue before the answer slipped out. What I realized was that only one of us had been worshipping God during that time. And it wasn’t me. I was busy worshipping myself, exulting in my knowledge of worship, my experiences, my training, my background. Needless to say, God wasn’t impressed. ‘But this is the one to whom I will look: he
who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word’ (Isa 66:2b ESV). May God grant us grace to truly seek His reputation above our own each time we meet to worship Him.”

– Bob Kauflin, Worship Matters

The Adoption Ministry has created a new page on DSC’s website to provide information about adoption and how to get involved with the Adoption Ministry at DSC.  This includes:

• Upcoming events and news
• The mission of the ministry
• An explanation of our church’s interest in adoption
  
• Information about other families who are involved in the ministry
• An invitation to the bimonthly Adoption Ministry fellowship
  
• Videos relating to adoption
  
• Information about financial help available for adopting families
• Frequently asked questions about adoption
• Links to adoption agencies and other necessary services
• Contact information to learn more about adoption

Also, make sure to listen to Zach Nielsen’s sermon from Adoption Sunday on Our Adoption in Christ.

Last Sunday, Ryan preached on “Understanding the Kingdom of God” from Luke 13.  This is a really important theme to grasp in order to understand how the flow of the Bible relates to Jesus’ message.  Make sure to listen to it if you missed it.

Along the same lines, Graeme Goldsworthy has written a short article that maps out how the kingdom of God theme runs throughout the whole Old Testament.  If you’re like me and you sometimes struggle to understand how all the various events and writings in the Old Testament fit together, this is a very helpful article.

For a slightly more in-depth treatment of this theme, see God’s Big Picture: Tracing the Storyline of the Bible, by Vaughn Roberts.  This book examines the whole Bible and explains how Jesus’ promise of salvation and bringing the kingdom of God is one story with one purpose and not just a collection of unrelated narratives.

Bob Kauflin:

How many of our thoughts about music and worship revolve around what we like, what we prefer, what interests us, and what we find appealing? And how often is that attitude passed on to the next generation, who then focus on what appeals to them?

I suspect this may be one of the reasons churches develop separate meetings for different musical tastes. In the short run it may bring more people to your church. But in the long run it keeps us stuck in the mindset that musical styles have more power to divide us than the gospel has to unite us. (my emphasis)

How do we pass on biblical values of worship to coming generations when we can’t even sing in the same room with them?

We have to look beyond our own generation, both past and future, if we’re to clearly understand what God wants us to do now. Otherwise we can be guilty of a chronological narcissism that always views our generation as the most important one. As Winston Churchill insightfully wrote, “The further back you can look, the further forward you can see.”

Enough thinking about ourselves and what kind of music we like to use to worship God. God wants us to have an eye on our children, our grandchildren, and even our great grandchildren. We have a message to proclaim: “God is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”

Let’s not allow shortsightedness or selfish preferences keep us from proclaiming it together.

Read the rest.

As a follow-up to Ryan’s sermon on money, here are four great books about money and giving.

• The Treasure Principle, by Randy Alcorn, is a short book that we have available for free at the resource center.  This book is about seeking joy through giving; it is a challenging, but exciting, devotional-type book.  If you read only one book from this list, this is the one I would recommend.
• Another short and easy read is In God We Trust, by Michael Haykin, also available at the resource center.  This book was written as an evaluation of the current financial crisis, specifically answering the questions, “What is God trying to tell us in the midst of this crisis?” and “How should we respond in a financial crisis?”
• Slightly longer is Randy Alcorn’s, Money, Possessions, and Eternity.  This book provides a more comprehensive view of money and possessions than either of the previous books, and calls Christians to rethink their perspectives in a biblical light.  This is a great reference book to have around when you’re wondering what the bible teaches about anything from tithing and helping the poor to gambling, debt, and investing.
• One further resource, which Ryan mentioned during the sermon, is Juliet Schor’s, The Overspent American.  Although this isn’t a Christian book, it still provides a helpful evaluation of consumerism and the mechanics of desire in our marketing-driven culture.