Friday, October 23, 2009

Challenging Ourselves

"Challenging the next generation with truth starts with honest self-examination. We must ask, “Do I know the plotline of the Bible? Do I know Christian theology? Do I read any serious Christian books? Do I know anything about justification, redemption, original sin, propitiation, and progressive sanctification? Do I really understand the gospel?” We cannot challenge others until we have first challenged ourselves."

"Grow in God and you’ll make a difference in people’s lives. If nothing of spiritual significance is happening in your church, your Bible study, your small group, or your family it may be because nothing spiritually significant is happening in your life."

"It’s not liberal professors [in their colleges] that are driving our kids away. It’s their hard hearts and our stale, compromised witness [as parents] that opens the door for them to leave."

"The one indispensable requirement for producing godly, mature Christians is godly, mature Christians. Granted, good parents still have wayward children and faithful mentors don’t always get through to their pupils. But in the church as a whole, the promise of 2 Peter 1 is as true as ever. If we are holy, we will be fruitful. Personal connections with growing Christians is what the next generation needs more than ever."
- Kevin DeYoung

“What your people need from you most is your own personal holiness.”

- Robert Murray McCheyne

Highly recommended: the article "Jumping Ship" by Michael Pearl

2 Peter 1:5-8, 1 Tim. 4:15-16

God is the God of Successive Generations 看顧歷世歷代聖徒的上帝

2009/10/25

2 Timothy 1:3-5
"God is the God of Successive Generations"
Pastor Joel H. Linton

提摩太後書一章3-5節
"看顧歷世歷代聖徒的上帝"
印主烈 牧師




Related texts: 2 Peter 1:5-8, Exodus 34:6-7, Deuteronomy 4:9-10, 2 Timothy 3:15


Further reading:
by Kevin DeYoung, Pastor at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, Michigan
Reaching the Next Generation: Challenge them with Truth
Reaching the Next Generation: Hold them with Holiness

Saturday, October 10, 2009

God's Plan for the World

西敏信條,第3章

上帝從創立世界以前,就憑著自己全然智慧和全然聖潔的旨意,自由並且不變地決定一切將發生的事:雖然如此,上帝並不是罪惡的源頭,也不強迫受造物的意志,祂沒有廢除第二原因(註:受造物)的自由和因果關係,反而加以確立。

Westminster Confession of Faith -- Chapter 3, Paragraph 1

God from all eternity did by the most wise and holy counsel of his own will freely, and unchangeably ordain whatsoever comes to pass: yet so, as thereby neither is God the author of sin nor is violence offered to the will of the creatures, nor is the liberty or contingency of second causes taken away, but rather established.

西敏小要理問答:

20問:神任憑全人類都在罪惡和悲慘狀況中沉淪嗎?

答:神全然根據自己的美意,在萬古之先,撿選了一些人得永生,就設立了恩典之約,
要藉著一位救贖主,拯救他們脫離罪惡和愁苦,進入蒙拯救的狀況。

Westminster Shorter Catechism -- Question & Answer 20

Q: Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
A: God, having out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.

耶穌基督是我們的救主!

Jesus Christ, the Lord, is our Redeemer.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Waiting for the Lord

2009/9/27

講道題目:Waiting for the Lord
經文:哈巴谷書 Habakkuk 2:6-20
-- Caleb Tian 田天德 傳道