Good Preaching: Wive's Submission

On this blog I talk a lot about Dr. David Peacock because I listen to his sermons all the time.
He's in Florida so I listen to his morning service when I'm getting ready for church in the morning. I listen to his evening service when I get home from our church in the afternoon and I try to listen to his Wednesday service before our church's Wednesday service. He also has a question and answer time before preaching on Wednesday nights and those are always interesting to listen to too. Any sermons I miss are uploaded on Sermon Audio and I am always sure to listen to those.

David Peacock has been going through a series- since November if I recall correctly- on Christian character. It is GOOD.
At the moment he is on submission. It's not a fun topic at all but I am learning a lot from it.

Not last Sunday night but the previous one he spoke about wifely submission. It wasn't particularly groundbreaking, at least to me, but of course there were things that convicted, encouraged, and comforted me.

I thought I'd share it on here in hopes you will listen and be equally blessed by it as I was.


Here is a link to the sermon on Sermon Audio: Wive's Submission
(I highly recommend listening to the entire series on Christian Character. There are a few miniseries within it- The Judgement Seat of Christ miniseries is a must listen to.)

I hope you give that sermon a bit of your time! It's occurring to me right now that wifely submission is a topic I should tackle on this blog given that this blog is about encouraging young women like myself.

Work of the Word

The two Sunday School classes I've taught are as different from each other as night is from day.

The first class I ever taught were children from a poorer neighborhood, their parents did not come to church, and none of them had fathers that were actively involved in their lives.

All the students in my current class were born into christian homes, they all have two parents that bring them to church, and they are all home schooled.

The differences are very apparent and it makes me laugh sometimes but I can say this for all of them: they're all sweet and inquisitive. 

To be honest, I never know if the children I teach are learning anything. I can ask them questions about what they learned in previous weeks but head knowledge isn't what I'm going for. I want them to learn about God in a way that applies to their daily lives.

I don't believe that Sunday School and church is there to entertain us. We can fellowship at a hockey game or have a gym night- those things are meant to be fun and entertaining. The main reason we come together on Sundays is to be fed from the Word by teaching and preaching.

God teaches me a lot through the children He's given me to teach and He put it in my heart to share one of the more recent lessons here on the blog.

I came across a sermon by one of my favourite preachers online and as I listened to it I realized I had heard it before.

The funny thing was that when I first heard this sermon a few years ago it was particularly earth shattering to me; this second time, while the force and heaviness of the message was in no wise diminished, I heard it as one who knew those things by experience.

In other words, I had learned the principles he was teaching in my own life and come to the same conclusions.

This made me very happy because I realized all the sermons I listen to are not in vain. My human self may not retain all the information but the Spirit uses those messages to bring about Spiritual growth.

I listened to a few of the other sermons that followed the initial sermon I listened to, I had listened to them before as well, and I realized that they were the ones that had turned me on to my problem with covetousness.

Frankly I didn't remember those sermons at all but since I'd first listened to them I have been sensitive to covetousness and careful not to commit it. The way I deal with people, how I look at myself, and what I do has all be affected by those sermons and I didn't even remember them.

God pointed these things out to me and a wave of relief washed over me.

I realized then and there that it is not my job to create memorable, exciting, dynamic lessons for my students. While I'm not going to bore them to death and make my classes tedious, I don't need to feel any pressure to 'entertain' the children just to keep them engaged.

God has made it very clear many times that it is given to me to diligently teach the Word. (Yes, this is where that post on the diligence of David came from last week)

I ask the children questions, they get the chance to give personal examples of what we're talking about, we play a review game at the end of class and I make the lessons applicable to their daily lives.

I don't read the lesson out of a man written book, I read the account from the Bible and use lots of scripture to emphasize the point.

We recently finished Solomon and the point of Solomon was the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. In every lesson I emphasized that and gave different examples each week depending on what part of his life we were talking about. 

I love these children and I pray for them, I pray over each lesson, I pray for their parents, and their other teachers. I have to remember, though, that what they take away from the lesson is up to them.

I can't control wether they listen or not, I can't make them learn anything, and I cannot turn their hearts toward the Lord. All I have to do is give them what God gave me and let His Spirit do a work in their lives.

Growing up in a christian home I was exposed to movies, TV shows, books, and things outside of church that taught me biblical principles.

I was always very conscious about lying, stealing, violence and things like that because I had been exposed to a multitude of sources that taught me those things are wrong.

Funnily enough, I did not realize the influence christian cartoons, story books, and movies had on me until recently. While I don't remember everything I saw or heard, they still had an effect on me.

Train up a child in the way he should

go: and when he is old, he will not depart

from it.

Proverbs 22:6

We've taught our son to pray by praying before every meal, before we go out, and before bed. One of the first words he ever could say was 'Bible' because every morning I'd get my Bible out (not on my ipad or phone!) and read Proverbs to him.

He's been trained to know those things by consistency and repetition. 

He sees his parents praying, he sees pastor praying, he sees his teachers praying, he sees his grandparents praying, he sees his aunties and uncles praying, this helps teach him to pray.

If you are wondering why someone's morals are wacky, they probably weren't consistently exposed to good morals and they don't know better. Don't be angry at them for that, just be a blessing by being a good testimony and witnessing.

If a saved person's morals are wacky, let God work on them.

If they are newly saved, they don't know better, help when you can and pray for them.

So in conclusion, just put the Word in. If you're a parent or a teacher, just give them the Word, give them good doctrine, expose them to good influences, and pray unceasingly for them.

Be diligent to do these things and God will bless it.

Good Preaching for the Family

I don't have much time to write today so I thought I'd let others do some work for me.
The following links are to sermons that have helped me as a wife and mother. I hope they are as much a help to you as they have been to me.


This first sermon is one I would share with every wife I know. The Power of a Submissive Wife by Reg Kelly. Submission is not at all easy. It becomes easier when you understand it better and realize that submission protects you. I hope you listen to it again and again and follow the wisdom God is showing you through it.


This next sermon, also by Reg Kelly, is on biblical child training. It is a great sermon and he makes many good points to draw from.


Lastly, this link is to a series of sermons called 'Happy Ever After (The Home)' by Dilbert Terry. He addresses everything that has to do with the home in this series. He's one of the best preachers ever because he speaks the whole Word (he reads through the Bible at least 4 times a year and he knows it so well) and he does not shy away from saying anything. He is not vulgar or anything he just deals very plainly with scripture.
Happy Ever After- Dilbert Terry

I hope these sermons are a blessing to you!

More than Teaching

One of the things I appreciate most about my pastor is his diligence to instruct and teach. He wants us to serve the Lord the best we can and he knows that there are things we need to learn on the way.
While there are lots of classes, teachers, events, and things going on, he is constantly reminding us of the purpose of it all- strengthening our relationships with each other and most importantly winning souls.
Almost every Sunday evening before the service we have a teacher's meeting. There he checks in on all the teachers, hears prayer requests, concerns, and teaches us about teaching.
Something he's been particularly drilling home is our need as teachers to fellowship with our students outside the class and thus showing our students that we're living the Word that we're teaching.
He has stressed, many times that being involved in church and fellowshipping with our students is as much part of teaching as the actual class time. If I tell them that telling others about Christ is our number one priority and never show up for Saturday morning outreach, they will never believe I'm living what I'm teaching.
Every third Saturday our outreach is a gym-night. On Sunday pastor announced it and said it was for 'elementary and high school'. Since he specified the age this time I asked him on Wednesday if I should still come since my son is only two and doesn't participate at all.
Pastor said I should absolutely come so that I can fellowship with my new students.

This short discussion really got me thinking.
On Sunday I was talking to my little cousin, she is fourteen, and in the midst of high school. High school is a treacherous place and if you're not grounded as a believer, you will be tossed from the Solid Rock and lose your way with bad friends in a multitude of temptations.
One thing she said to me is that my sister and I seem really happy. We're both married to christian men and have our babies. We were both married by 22 and we've had our sons by 25, she sees that and it makes her consider her path. This lead to a good discussion on how we were able to get there and it made me realize the gravity of my position.
I don't know what her home life is like, but what if it's not encouraging her to live right? What if the only Godly testimony she knows is my sister and I?
I look at that and I think about the young ones at church.
If there's anything I desire for my son, my nephew, and all the children in my sphere of influence is that they live their lives to serve the Lord. They will be successful if they are in the Lord's will.
Growing up is full of aches and pains, physically and mentally. At the tender age of 18, teens are expected to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. As teachers and elders in the church, we cannot tell them what to do with their lives, but we can show them what serving the Lord is.
This is one of the things that constrains me to dress right, speak right, and conduct myself wisely every day in every situation (although I fail constantly at acting wisely), you never know who is watching and  how they will take it.
If I do something reckless or rude while I'm driving and one of my students is driving with their family and sees, how will they view me when I'm teaching?
What if I wore something inappropriate while I was out and about and they saw me?
What if they over heard me using bad language or disrespecting my husband?
How could I then teach them? I can't.

As a mother, teacher, and elder (relatively) I want to be gracious, gentle, kind, wise, and of a good report.
The terrible tragedy of today is that young ladies are no longer required to be young ladies. Men and boys can get what they want elsewhere so why would they choose a pure, wholesome girl that wants to serve the Lord?
These girls will feel more and more pressure to bow to worldly standards just to get a husband.
I fully intend to show them that they don't have to. If they wait on the Lord, He will bless them.

My pastor has a sweet older daughter who loved to help me in my previous class- Junior Church/nursery. I loved having her in there with me but I did not want to take her out of too many services. When I expressed this at a teachers meeting my pastor's wife reminded me of this passage:

The aged women likewise, that they be in

behaviour as becometh holiness, not false

accusers, not given to much wine, teachers

of good things;

That they may teach the young women to

be sober, to love their husbands, to love

their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home,

good, obedient to their own husbands, that

the word of God be not blasphemed.

Titus 2: 3-5

There is so much in there to dissect but the purpose is this: we are instructed to teach. Whether the aged woman is 26 and the young woman is 8, I am instructed to teach.

If the Lord wills and tarries I may know my pastor's daughter from 8 years old to 28. I may see her through high school, college, marriage, and children. If that is the case I hope she can look at the older women in church who have gone through those things before her to be comforted, strengthened and helped by our example. There are a few young ladies her age at church. I hope I can be that example for all of them.

One last example then I'm done: I was with an older woman and a younger woman one day. The younger woman was boasting about being disrespectful to someone that had helped her and the older woman laughed about it. There is more than a thirty years between them but the older woman found disrespect funny.

That bothered me for many reasons but the biggest one is that the older woman, by laughing, encouraged the younger woman to be disrespectful. I don't know the nature of the relationship between the young woman and the person she was disrespectful to, but regardless, the older woman should have the wisdom not to laugh at a young persons folly.

Sometimes my son does something bad but it's either cute or really funny.

I can't laugh at it. He's only two but laughing at it would encourage him in sin.

This is what teachers in the church must be:

We must be bulwarks against sin. We must be a testimony of holiness, obedience, and service.

As we fellowship with our students, we get to learn about them, we're able to teach them better, and we're able to draw from our own experiences to teach them. 

So at gym night on Saturday, as I play dodgeball with my students I must be an example of sportsmanship, losing with grace, winning with humility, and being inclusive to all that come. 

Lord willing, as my students grow, they will remember some of the lessons I taught them, but I hope they remember my testimony and when they're faced with tough decisions in the future they'll remember that Miss Grace read her bible, prayed every day, prayed for them every day, and that they Lord used those things to help her do right.

From Junior Church to Bible Class

Earlier this summer my pastor asked me about my role as a Junior Church teacher and it came out that I have a special place in my heart for pre teens (ages 8-12 roughly).
As our church has grown we've needed changes in our children's program and so my pastor has moved me from Junior Church to teaching a bible class to 8-12 year olds on Sunday mornings before the main service.
I am very VERY excited to take this on but, of course, I feel a deep pang of sadness as I leave my beloved class of 0-4 year olds.

I had never had my own class before this one. At my last church I shared a class and only taught on a substitutionary basis. I did do a fair amount of teaching, but the class was not my own. This class was ages 7-12.
It was not long after we made Park City our church (or rather God made it our church) that the Lord gave me a great desire to teach. I've always loved teaching and the Bible is my favourite subject so I made it known and was given a class.

In my new class I had four consistent students: my son age 2, the pastor's children- twins aged 4 and their youngest age 3. More often then not we'd have twin boys who just turned 2.
With such a diverse group of ages it was hard to keep things under complete control but we had a lot of fun. There were hard days and easy days. The biggest blessing to me was being able to let the Lord lead me in leading the class. The lessons were so short it would not take long to prepare them. The difference was whether I sought the Lord that week or not. God's hand was always more evident when I leaned on Him to teach.
Our classes were something like this: we would have a little snack, then we would sing- some of our favourites are: The Lord's Army, Jesus Loves Me, My God Is So Big, Inright Outright, and the Wise Man- I would then teach the lesson.
The lessons were short- like their attention spans- but the Lord gave me the tools to keep them focused. I would bring objects, do some role play, and I used a felt board to illustrate what was going on. It's easier for them to listen to the story when it is played out in front of them. We would always have fun crafts to reenforce the lesson.
In the time I was given with them we only covered the main events in Moses' life.
The last weeks leading up to my leaving them as their teacher were very sweet. I took time to go over each of the ten commandments, a few each Sunday with a different colouring page for each commandment. At the end each child had a 'Ten Commandments Book'.
I was unsure how to proceed from there, the lesson plan I was loosely following had the Ark of the Covenant next but I wasn't sure that was the best way to proceed. One morning during my devotions it came to me: teach about salvation. I had given them a bunch of rules that God commanded but what were they supposed to do with them? One thing they had learned was that everyone lies- how were they supposed to proceed from there? Salvation was the perfect ending to the four weeks we had taken learning the ten commandments.
I had the perfect craft to go with it- a 'stain glass' cross- and I got out all the felt pictures I needed- the empty tomb, Jesus alive, heaven's pearly gates and golden streets.
That last Sunday I had with them I gave them a clear presentation of the gospel and finished the lesson with:

For whosoever shall call upon the name

of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 10:13

At that time I did not know it was our last Sunday together, but God did and He made it perfect. The children paid extra good attention that day and had a lot of fun with the craft.

From this short and sweet experience I've gained a special love for four year olds. Its such a sweet, short time- they can communicate but they cannot read or write, they have uninhibited affection, and they say the funniest, cutest things.
One of the things I desired most was to make sure each child knew I loved them no matter what. I think I accomplished that.
They're little sponges. They pick up everything and they can learn a lot if you take the time to teach them.
My students may not remember the time I taught them but I will never forget.
Here are some of the things my little students taught me:
-They will sit anyway but the proper way
-Everyone will pray for the food if you let them
-If you let someone get away with something the others will follow
-The older ones remember what you say and how you said it
-There is no such thing as too much glue
-When one wants a glass of water they all want a glass of water
-Make sure they're all 'zooming o'er the enemy' in the same direction
-They want to believe the very best of you- my pastor's daughter almost cried when she found out that I am guilty of lying
-Never let boys sit together
-The girls do not want to sit with the boys
-They enjoy structured activities more than free play
-Singing action songs help bring the focus on the teacher and engages everyone
-Singing helps calm fussy little ones
-Letting them speak and listening to what they say helps them know you care and are approachable
-Allowing them to give examples from their lives helps them grow
-Singing a song then teaching them what the song is about is just as fun as the lesson
-They are learning something whether you realize it or not

I may do a post on some of my favourite toddler friendly crafts.
I hope this was in some way a blessing to you.

Hymns vs. Praise Songs -- Round One

There are two things that mark modern Christianity: new age Bible versions and praise and worship music. The modern movement has rejected the wisdom of their elders and removed Christianity's ancient landmarks. In place of that good old time heritage, they've erected monuments of their own feelings. Instead of what's right, it's what do I like and what makes me feel good?

I have very strong opinions on music and bible versions. In fact, I can't take worship or preaching seriously if it's not hymns and the King James Bible. That may sound extreme to many but please hear my case: If you had a genuine brand name watch that cost thousands of dollars and you saw someone with a similar watch but clearly a complete rip off of the real thing, would you take it seriously?
Having spent good money on a well designed and carefully manufactured watch you would take good care of it, clean it, and protect it. Perhaps you would only wear it on the weekends or to special occasions. Now then, you see someone else that has that exact same watch. You inquire after it and find that they spent $20 on it at some little shop in Chinatown that sells fake brand name watch. Upon closer inspection, you see the cheapness of the make and the scratches and dings from everyday wear and tear. Would you take that watch seriously? Heck, even it's owner does not take it seriously.
That may be a poor analogy but it's a close sentiment about how I feel about church.
I go to my King James only, hymn singing church and I know that it is real. I know God is worshipped there in truth.
I go to a whatever bible suits you, contemporary praise song singing church and I know it's not real. I'm not saying the people aren't genuinely trying to serve God, I am saying that their worship is shallow. As shallow as the bibles they read and the songs they sing. I know the real thing and I will not take anything but.

I went to a church, for about five or six years, that was not a KJV church and they sang hymns and praise songs together. Normally my family would not attend a church like that but we had been searching for a long time and just gave up. We were spiritually dead during that time.

I don't remember any Spiritual growth during that time. I did, however, get to witness firsthand the contemporary Christian movement. I was never caught up in it, but I've experienced it. I'm not just writing against it from an outsiders perspective. I've been in the midst of it and witnessed it.

I will go into bible versions eventually but first I'd like to tackle the music. It is a big, divisive topic so I've decided to take my time with it and really delve into the matter. This music has taken both the youth and the old of North America. If you think it does not matter, you're wrong. Everything you do matters, and everything you put in your head will manifest itself in your life. It may not happen right away, but if allowed to remain and grow, the things in your head and the sins of your thoughts will manifest themselves in your words and actions.

I've already said that praise and worship music is shallow.

To prove this I'll juxtapose a hymn and a well known praise song together and we'll see how they compare.

The two songs are these:

Praise song- Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman*

Hymn- Blessed Be the Name by Ralph E. Hudson and William Clark**

Please note: Blessed Be the Name is in black, Blessed Be Your Name is in blue, my comments are in green

Verse one- 

All praise to Him who reigns above -we get to know who we're singing about and give him 'all praise'

In majesty supreme

Who gave His son for man to die -hey look, the gospel!

That He might man redeem - this is why we are singing to Him who reigns above

Blessed be Your name -who are we blessing the name of?

In the land that is plentiful

Where Your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be your name

Okay, I get that Blessed Be Your Name has a story to it, but come on, Blessed Be the Name has the gospel in its first verse. Not only that, it tells us who the song is about: Him who reigns above.

Who is the 'your' sung about in Matt Redman's song?

Chorus:

Blessed be the name! Blessed be the name!

Blessed be the name of the Lord! -reference to Job 1:21 and Psalm 113:2

Blessed be the name! Blessed be the name!

Blessed be the name of the Lord!

Every blessing You pour out

I'll turn back to praise

When the darkness closes in, Lord

Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord-okay this is who we are singing about

Blessed be Your name

Blessed be the name of the Lord

Blessed be Your Glorious name

The hymn is based on scripture. Blessed Be Your name has a nice sentiment in it's chorus.

Verse two- 

His name above all names shall stand- reference to Philipians 2:9

Exalted more and more 

At God the Father's own right hand-reference to Acts 7:56, Hebrews 1:3

Where angel hosts adore-reference to countless scriptures where angels stand before God

And blessed be Your name

When I'm found in the desert place

Though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be the Name tells you why we are blessing His name with scriptural references. Blessed Be Your Name is still telling a story.

Verse three-

Redeemer, Saviour, Friend of man -just a few names of Christ that we are singing about

Once ruined by the fall -our depravity

Thou has devised salvation's plan -this is why we are singing about Him

For thou has died for all -our salvation, why we praise Him

Blessed be Your name

When the sun's shining down on me

When the world's all as it should be -I'm thinking this line is probably talking about when things are going well for us, but to say the world is as it should be is not biblical at all.

Blessed be Your name

Once again, you have a hymn that is informative, descriptive, and explanatory and a praise song that keeps saying the same things and doesn't really describe anything except the ebb and flow of life.

Verse four-

His name shall be the Counsellor

The Mighty Prince of Peace

Of all earth's kingdoms Conqueror

Whose reign shall never cease -this whole verse is a reference to Isaiah 9:6, it is prophetic, more of Christ's names, this is why we praise Him, because He will reign in peace, we can rest assured on that.

Blessed be Your name

On the road marked with suffering-didn't we cover this already in verse two?

Though there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your name

Now at this point, I'm realizing that Blessed Be Your Name is just feeding emotions. The whole song to this point has been about good times and bad times and praising the Lord in both. It is a very nice sentiment but there has not been one edifying, strengthening line thus far. Not one verse of scripture either- at least from the King James.
Blessed Be The Name has power behind it because it is filled with scripture. I believe every verse in the song. I can sing it loud, strong, and with conviction because I believe the Words and they speak to me the way the scripture does.

So this is where Blessed Be The Name finishes. Blessed Be Your Name has to continue because it hasn't said half of what the hymn said.

You give and take away

You give and take away -reference to Job 1:21

My heart will choose to say, Lord -the heart is deceitful above all things

Blessed be Your Name, Lord

(apparently this repeats three times then breaks out into the chorus)

Okay, so you might be thinking, well the songs have similar names but the point of each was differnt.

Very true: Blessed Be the Name blessed the name of the Lord while describing the names, reasons, and  references why we are praising Him. Blessed Be Your Name is about blessing God in good times and bad.
The fact is, the hymn is all about God. It mentions us in our depravity but that is it. The praise song is all about us. It doesn't tell us why His name is blessed or enforce our beliefs about the matter. It just says the same things over and over and over and over again.
If you don't think that the praise song is shallow, you don't know what shallow is. There is so much meat in the hymn, the praise song is half a cracker.
I cannot sing Blessed Be Your Name with any conviction because there's no Word in there. Its just like a love song written by the world.

I hope this was a help and a blessing to you. Stay tuned for round two!

*Redman, Matt. "Blessed Be Your Name." Rec. 2002. Where Angels Fear to Tread. Survivor Records, 2002. Metrolyrics. Web. 13 July 2015.

**Clark, William. Hudson, Ralph. "Blessed Be the Name." 1888. Timeless Truths. Web. 13 July 2015