Gospel

David, Goliath, and the Gospel

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If you’ve been around North Side lately, you know that we are switching curriculum to The Gospel Project. I am really excited about this for 3 primary reasons: Unites Families – This curriculum will position our church to have every age, every group going through the same discipleship curriculum together.  That means you don’t have to dig to find out what your …

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Why Are There 4 Gospels?

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The New Testament begins with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. These four books, commonly called “the Gospels” serve as biographies on the life and ministry of Jesus. In New Testament study, the word “gospel” is used frequently. It means “good news.” When speaking of the message of the gospel, it will most often be written with a lowercase “g.” When …

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What John Piper Feels About the Prosperity Gospel

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North Side spent months going through 1 Peter and 2 Peter.  1 Peter’s message is all about suffering well for the name of Jesus.  2 Peter’s message is all about being on guard against false prophets.  It was a challenging time in the life of our church. This edition of Short Sermon Saturday addresses both in under 3 minutes and …

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Following God May End Badly

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Short Sermon Saturday features Matt Chandler of The Village Church.  In this 2-minute clip, taken from preaching at the Catalyst Conference a few years ago, he delivers a not-so-feel-good message that following God may end badly for some of us.  We are not promised health, wealth, and prosperity.  Instead, we get Jesus. If you notice in the video below, he …

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A Gentle Reminder

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Over lunch today, I told Amanda: “I have never seen such a hunger for God in our congregation than what I am seeing right now.” It’s true.  The people are rising up to be all that God has called them to be.  Their worship is more sincere.  Their intentionality is through the roof.  The expectations are rising.  It’s incredible to …

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The Mission of the Church

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We had some guest worship leaders helping out this Sunday for Father’s Day at North Side.  I assembled some of the band to recruit their children to help lead in worship and we had a stage full.  I was so honored to have my two sons leading beside me.  Obadiah and Eli are passionate singers and musicians.  Many people commented on their energy, and I told them this was them on calm.  If you were out of town, watch online here.

Family is important at North Side.  We prize lifestyles of worship lived within the homes.  This wasn’t a stage idea for Sunday, this was an example of what real life in the home should look like – men leading their children to love Jesus.

That’s what was great about the other elements in the service today.  It was about fathers and sons going on mission together.  Men of God stepping up to lead in the Great Commission.

Today, we worshiped to:

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Never Been More Helpless

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While we were in Africa, we were busy sharing the gospel.  Even if we were meeting needs, we didn’t do it without sharing the gospel.  Why?  Because that’s what Jesus did.  Yes, Jesus met physical needs, but he always addressed the greater spiritual need.  He never gave people a handout that would last for a day, he offered them words that could change their lives.

On one day, we held a gospel/medical clinic.  We would let people enter the courtyard in groups of 15 that later would turn into groups of about 100 at a time.  We would share the gospel with them, we would pray over them, and then we would try to address medical concerns.

In that day, I have never helped more people in my life and felt more helpless all at the same time.

As I rushed from person to person, some conditions could be treated with a simple Tylenol, Tums, or Neosporin.  Some of the other conditions were too great for the country to handle.  From 8-6 that day, I served as a medical assistant to some of the following conditions:

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“No One Else is Willing to Come Out Here”

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I’m still processing all God did among us in West Africa.  In some ways, this was the hardest mission trip I have ever been on in the fact of the conditions and what it takes to get there.  In other ways, it was the easiest in that it was very simple in theory.  Our primary objective was to share the gospel.

When speaking to our partnering missionary, I told him how difficult it was to get to him.  I had to fly across the world.  Then drive across the country.  Then walk across the desert.  Then, I was where he wanted me.  He said, “This is frontline missions.  There’s a reason your church was the last one to visit me months ago.  No one else is willing to come out here.  It’s too far.  Too hard.”

It was interesting to find out that out of the 18 summer volunteers serving with them this summer, 6 of them are from North Side, 3 are from Brook Hills (David Platt’s church), and the rest are from different locations.  Out of all the Southern Baptist churches, only 2 “radical” churches (sorry for the pun) are willing to encourage their students to go there.  And that is the reason why we must continue to go.

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God of GRACE

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Today we started a new series at North Side called “GRACE.” To help us understand the gospel, for the next few weeks, we will use the acrostic “GRACE:” God, Rebellion, Atonement, Conversion, and Eternity. The gospel begins with God. In fact, it is accurate to say that everything in life begins with God.  Jeff’s message was so powerful: anytime you

NSU – Night #2

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Thanks again for another great night at NSU in our Hermeneutics class. Your insights in our breakout time digging into Romans 12 were fantastic! You guys are really understanding on how to 1) grasp the text in their town, 2) measure the width to cross, 3) cross the connecting bridge, and 4) grasp the text in our town. I think

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