Hold Up The Book

The 175-year-old hymn, "Night with Ebon Pinion," uses strange choices of words to paint a picture of the oppressive darkness under which Jesus found himself praying in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. This talk attempts to elucidate the meaning of the hymn's lyrics and paint the picture of the scene which they describe.

Humility just fits us. Pride is out of place in so many realms of life, but humility helps us in every way. As creatures before our creator, as sinners before a holy God, and as saints before our Savior, we have every reason to live in meekness.

"Humble pie is not always bitter when it's made by God's recipe."This message illuminates the splendor and joy of Christ's humility in his whole life; that he was submissive to God and mankind in spite of the fact that he was God himself. He sets the template for the ideal version of humility — a thing that ought to define every Christian.This is the beginning of a series, titled Humility and Absolute Surrender, based on Andrew Murray's writings under the same title.

This message, the third in our preaching theme series for the year, drills down on the idea that as God's people, the church truly are God's people. That's why we do things his way, why we serve him happily in humility, and why we glory only in his name—not in our own. We are HIS.

In considering our theme for this year, the discussion is about who "We Are..." as the people of Jesus Christ. And so, this message was framed as mock orientation for a new church member. What would we want to tell people who are new to our church family so that they will know who we are and what we expect of them?

A favorite hymn by Fannie Crosby, Near The Cross prays for the ability to keep ourselves near Jesus' Cross at all times so that everything about our lives reflects the depth of God's love and truth seen in the sacrifice of Jesus.

In many churches, a daily Bible reading program is put forward for the members, but in many cases, it just becomes background noise and is easily forgotten. Like a forgotten New Year's resolution, there is some excitement around it in January, but then that excitement fizzles and the idea lies dormant until the next January. In this episode, we talk about some helpful methods and mentalities to make a DBR program work well and gain more traction in the lives of church members. Since we're told to "let the word of Christ dwell in [us] richly," it's my hope that these methods help you and your people accomplish that better than you've ever done before.Note from Dan: There's a fair amount of generalizing about Christians' habits in this episode, so please don't take any of it as a personal attack, but rather as an effort to understand crowds and therefore to help the greatest number of people in the best ways possible.

It seems impossible to distill everything about a person's essence into an accurate description of that person. And as it is with an individual, it's that much more so with a group of people. And yet, we should try, because it helps us explore who "we are" supposed to be as individual Christians and as a congregation of Christians.This year, we'll be digging deep into the idea of identity: the nature of God's people, who we are and who we're supposed to be. And it starts with four focuses that ought to define us:We Are...- Each focused inward. (The importance of discipleship.)- All focused toward. (The importance of fellowship.)- Together focused outward. (The importance of evangelism.)- Always focused upward. (The importance of theology.)

This message quickly runs through five types of resolutions that spiritual people can consider making at any time — whether New Year's or any time that progress in the faith is warranted.

In the first week of a new year, I always think about leadership. I think about how I will lead myself, my family, my church family, and the lost into better things as regards our faith. And so, this lesson reminds me and anyone who listens of some helpful and important ideals that every godly leader should aspire to, for the good of others.

This episode, presented as a Wednesday night invitation, reminds us that a message doesn't have to be eternal in length to have an eternal impact.

This short sermon explores the beautiful sentiments of the hymn "O Come, All Ye Faithful." It reminds us how wonderful it is that God came in the flesh, and it makes the same invitation to us as the hymn: to come and adore the one who came in flesh to redeem fleshy humanity for all time.

The ending of the book of Romans might seem tedious after the grand concepts of theology that have been discussed leading up to it. But, if we continue to look for his main point that's been at work throughout, we'll see it in those closing paragraphs... along with an assurance that God's way WILL work for those who are faithful to him, and a chorus of praise to God to finish off this magnificent letter.This is the conclusion to our year-long preaching theme in the book of Romans, and it's been a gratifying study for me, personally. I hope that the messages in this series have blessed you as well. Thanks for listening to Hold Up the Book!

Often, kids who are growing up in Christian households are seeing the nature of our religious activities truthfully, but a little shortsightedly. This is true with communion, and their view of it ought to remind those of us who are mature to look deeper and appreciate the activity's true blessings.

Today is a recording of one of my recent classes in which I introduced a study of the book of Job. I do my best in my classes to implement all the techniques and advice given in the recent podcast episodes re: Bible classes. I begin with a discussion question to introduce the class, try to ask thoughtful questions throughout, and try to speak with expertise and humility on the meaning of Scripture in this case.

One of the great struggles in the life of a disciple is when we pray to God, believing that he will give us what we need, and yet he says 'no.' This message reminds us of the powerful truth that he DOES promise give us what we pray for, and yet he also retains the right to say 'no' to our prayers. How are we to stay faithful in prayer when that's the case?

Athletes, artists, and writers have all been known to hit a plateau or two as they grow in their respective disciplines, and Christians sometimes do too. This message tells us about some things we can do to break through a spiritual plateau and continue our growth in the Lord.

This episode contains some bonus teaching that had to be left out of my recent "fireside chat" sermon about the current conflict between Israel and Hamas. It's a perspective being offered for those who think, "Christians should be standing up for Christianity like that! We should be silencing our enemies and defending God's honor in the public square with the same kind of counter-attacks that Islam uses to defend their religion."Simply put: I don't think that's right. And this episode explains why I believe that.

This message—the second in a series on prayer—highlights four concepts that can be observed about prayer from when the disciples asked Jesus to "Teach us to pray."Prayer is not wholly natural. It's a skill that must be learned.Prayer is meant to be continual—and ever-present part of our lives.Prayer is both ritual and response. It's not just vain repitition, but sometimes it is repetitious.Prayer works in two worlds, bringing the temporal world to bear before God and bringing the eternal world to bear before us.

How should Bible believers think about the events in Israel right now? Should we be concerned that the end of time is coming near? Should we be in solidarity with the Jewish people because we have a shared faith with them? Should we be expecting Christ to come and set up a kingdom in Jerusalem? Or should Christians see both groups—Hamas and Israel—as being too violent and therefore both sinful?This message, which was more like a 'fireside chat,' addresses a lot of those questions in simple form, but hopefully with enough depth to be helpful to all Biblically-minded people trying to navigate these enermous issues.

In this message, I'm starting a new sermon series on prayer. And this introductory message just drives home the purpose and importance of the fact that we have the privilege of talking to God.

In John 6, Jesus fed 5000 people with one kids' lunch. And the Jews who saw him perform that miracle understood something about him that went a layer deeper into God's plan than what he could do with loaves and fishes. They saw a prophet for whom they had waited for a long time.

This talk, given as a meditation before communion, tells the story of Jesus' crucifixion as it might have been seen through the eyes of Simon of Cyrene — the man who was forced to carry Jesus' cross. It's historical fiction, so some liberties have been taken, and some extra-biblical events and perspectives have been added. But great care was taken to make sure that nothing was done that interferes with or undermines the truth of the Biblical narratives.I hope that your heart is touched by thinking about the Crucifixion from what might have been a first-person viewpoint.

Individuals and churches have the same tendency: To receive God's blessings in any number of ungrateful or arrogant ways. This message reminds us, based on some of Moses' words from Deuteronomy, that true gratitude allows us to enjoy the blessings we receive and the God who gives them.

At Northside, we're gearing up to start a new study among our adults on the wisdom literature of the Old Testament. With that in mind, here's a throwback recording of a class that I taught to introduce the book of Proverbs and to give a few general reminders about how to read wisdom literature.I hope that it piques your interest in this great segment of Biblical literature and that it causes you to go get out the book and read through it afresh.

Chapters 12 and 13 of Romans present guidelines for living as people who have been completely transformed by Christ. It breaks down into four main instructions:Think like ChristiansLove like brothersSubmit like citizensWalk like saints

This sermon, preached that Temple Terrace Church of Christ a few years ago, is part of a series called "I know I should be more..." In this message, we explore the Christian imperative of offering forgiveness to others.We had a guest speaker at my current congregation this weekend, so that's why I'm sharing a throwback message.

An egregious mistake makes all who witness it feel intense awkwardness. But an egregious sin makes all righteous people who witness it feel a painful kind of pity for those who've committed it. In this message, we look at the story of The Golden Calf—when the people of Israel forsook YHWH put another god before him, worshiped a graven image, and took His name in vain. We learn how bad the sin really was, and we learn some lessons to make sure that we do better than they did.

This message does a summary of Romans 9 thru 11, showing how they are one long argument making one main point: that God planned all the way through history to save ALL people (not just the nation of Israel), and since Israel generally rejected him, he rejected them and opened the door for anyone who has faith in him to be made righteous and saved.The PowerPoint slides may be helpful for understanding the flow of thought through this message. You can click here to download them from the sermon post on Northside's church website.

Romans 8 enumerates many of God's promises to those who choose to follow him. The apostle speaks to "those who" must choose to serve God or not, then to "you who" have already made the choice, then about "we who" are in the Spirit, and finally about "He who" is for us and has made all these great promises to us. This sermon tries to cram so much of the New Testament's best and most multi-faceted teaching into one relatively short message.

I believe that the best, most Biblical way to praise God in church assemblies is strictly with a cappella singing—no instrumental music. In this part of a class that I taught, I talk to other believers who share that conviction, noting that: 1) In the broader scope of Christian history, a cappella church singing isn't unusual at all, 2) sometimes those who hold this conviction have articulated it poorly and should do better, and 3) there is more to righteous praise than just getting the method of music correct.I hope this proves helpful to you!

When Jesus was eating the Passover meal with the apostles, he told Judas to get up from the table and do what he was thinking about doing. The emphasis was simple: make up your mind—stop waffling between good and bad, just make up your mind to do one or the other.

In most of the Churches of Christ, you will find only a cappella music in the church assemblies. Many wonder why we do this, and the answer to that is based on a Biblical rationale. This is a class recording from a few weeks back in which we talked about that rationale and its basis in New Testament teaching.Next week, we'll post part 2 of this class, in which we give several warnings for believers who are committed to a cappella assemblies but who have sometimes spoken hypocritically or with intellectual dishonesty in defense of it.

The dissonant harmonies of some musical pieces help us appreciate the consonance of other passages in the same piece. Romans 7 is arguably the most dissonant passage in the grand symphony that is The Letter to the Romans, but there's a resolution for all the tension. This message attempts to smooth it out and help us understand Paul's expression of the good news.

What is it that motivates a man to want to minister to a church of God's people? There may be lots of motivations, and each man may articulate his personal sense of drive differently, but they should ultimately come down to a handful of basic things: a love for people, a conviction about the truth of God's word, and a willingness to serve. This episode explores some of those ideas and hopefully encourages all men who lead in a ministry role to continue doing it for godly reasons.

In Psalm 32, David expresses a series of ideas that ring with familiarity to anyone who, in an effort to take their faith seriously, has yet sinned and attempted to hide it from God rather than confessing it. In beautiful, accessible poetry, David explores the following ideas:vv. 1-2 — Realization that forgiveness is far better than guiltvv. 3-4 — Refusal to confess, and all the problems that come with thatvv. 5-7 — Repentance of sin and the pressure that it relieves from our heartsvv. 8-9 — Reform: the teaching that God gave David to help him change of the bettervv. 10-11 — Reward that comes from confessing and claiming freedom

The beginning of each new school year is a milestone moment in the lives of students and teachers.  And at that milestone, it's good to be reminded of some principles for godly living that will help us in the upcoming stage of the journey. This message pulls four principles out Moses' sermons in Deuteronomy that will help anybody who's going back to school to make the most of the school year as they try to live out their faith.

One of the most important parts of my work in preaching for a congregation over time is planning what to preach and teach. This helps to create a balanced diet of Bible teaching: covering topics of perpetual importance while also having enough variety to cover "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27).In the episode, I made reference to my personal planning method. You an click here to download an example of the type of calendar that I use.

Jesus made a promise to Peter with these words: "I will build my church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it." (Matt. 16:18) The promise is that his kingdom will stand, and it will thrive forever—as long as there are those who seek him through the word. How would Christians behave differently if we truly believed that promise?

Thanks for listening to Hold Up The Book, season 1. There will be a 1-month break of episodes in July 2023, and then we'll resume episodes — new ones and TBT's — around the first Sunday of August.I really appreciate those of you who've helped and encouraged me in this effort!

Miriam, the sister of Moses, teaches us some important character lessons through the narrative of her experience with God and throughout the Israelites' experience of leaving Egypt.

This sermon talks about some of the hallmarks of the church in Jerusalem — the first group of saints who'd been saved by faith in Jesus. Their faithfulness is a model for every church in every time and place, regardless of the size of church that we are.

If we believe that God is the king of our lives, then we'd better treat him as king, which means that we must respect his authority and simply do what he says.

For Father's Day, this message reminds all of us to have high expectations for Christian fathers. Whether you're a dad, a mom, or even a Christian who isn't raising any kids... this message reminds all of us of some of the God-given responsibilities of dads who are called by God to, "bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Eph. 6:4).

The story of Samson is messy. Morally, he's all over the map: breaking vows to God, murdering and stealing, complaining against God, lying, and marrying non-Israelite women on multiple occasions. So how is it that he's considered a heroic figure in the overall plan of God to redeem his people? It's because GOD is the one who gains a victory, even if it comes through the actions of a morally confusing character like Samson.

In this third installment of our series on elders/pastors/shepherds, we talk about three more responsibilities of those who lead a congregation, and we talk about one responsibility that all saints have toward the elders who lead them.