Spring break is approaching, and for many families, that means a welcome pause in the normal pace of life. School schedules slow down, routines shift, and there may even be a chance to step away for a few days. For some people, however, slowing down feels almost uncomfortable. We’re used to running hard, pushing ourselves to exhaustion, and filling every moment with activity.

But Scripture reminds us that rest is not a weakness—it is a gift from God. Psalm 127 begins with a simple but powerful truth: “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for he gives to his beloved sleep.” (Psalm 127:1–2)

The psalm describes the exhausting cycle many people live in: rising early, staying up late, and constantly striving to keep everything together. The writer calls this “vain,” not because work itself is wrong, but because we often live as though everything depends entirely on us. The message of Psalm 127 is that God is the one who ultimately builds, protects, and provides. When we forget that, life becomes a relentless grind. When we remember it, we can finally breathe.

When we step away from our constant striving—even briefly—we are acknowledging something important: the world keeps turning without us. God remains at work even when we are not. Sleep itself becomes a daily reminder that we are not in control, and that’s actually good news. That doesn’t mean work isn’t valuable. Scripture consistently praises diligence and responsibility. But God never intended for human beings to live in a constant state of anxious effort.

From the very beginning, God built this rhythm of rest into creation itself. After six days of creating the world, God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2–3)—not because He was tired, but to establish a pattern for humanity: work followed by rest.

Later, God formalized this pattern through the Sabbath, setting apart one day each week for His people to stop their normal labor and remember that their lives and provision ultimately depended on Him. While Christians today are not bound to observe the Sabbath exactly as Israel did, the principle still remains. God calls His people to rhythms of rest, worship, and trust rather than anxious striving. As Jesus Himself said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

In other words, rest is not merely a break in our schedule—it is an expression of faith. It is a way of remembering that we are not the builders of everything in our lives. God is. And because He is at work, we are free to pause, breathe, and receive the rest He graciously gives.

Spring break can be a small picture of that principle. Maybe it means a family trip. Maybe it simply means a slower week at home. Maybe it means turning off the alarm clock for a few days, spending extra time with loved ones, or stepping outside to enjoy the changing season. Whatever it looks like, rest is not something to feel guilty about. It is something to receive gratefully.

Psalm 127 reminds us that God “gives his beloved sleep.” Rest is one of the quiet ways God cares for His people. It reminds us that our value does not come from how busy we are, and that the weight of the world does not sit on our shoulders.

So as spring break approaches, consider embracing the gift of rest. Step away from the constant hurry. Spend time with the people who matter most. Enjoy the small moments God provides. And remember: the God who builds the house is still working—even while we sleep.

When Bill Prater stepped into the pastoral leadership of Fellowship, he had the burden of starting an event for men.  A conference where men of churches could come and hear the Bible preached in a way that would challenge them to be strengthened as Godly men.  To build up men to be spiritual leaders in their homes and churches.
That vision continues on 26 years later with the Amen Conference this coming Friday and Saturday.  We carry on Pastor Bill’s burden of ministering to men in the area through Bible preaching, meaningful worship and heartfelt prayer as a community of men to encourage and strengthen one another.

But as in so many other ministries in the church, we can get so focused on ministering to other men that we forget that we need the ministry offered through the Amen Conference so I’d like to give a few tips on how to make sure that we are present and engaged at Amen Conference.  

It’s not enough just to be physically present, we must be mentally, emotionally, and spiritually present.  We can all identify times when we were physically present but not mentally or emotionally.  Just think of Thanksgiving Day when the entire family is spending time with each other, visiting, catching up, playing board games, etc. except for that one football fanatic glued to the TV.  They are physically present with the rest of the family, but mentally and emotionally, they are somewhere else.

The same happens to us on Friday and Saturday, when we are pre-occupied with work, projects, and family that we are not engaged with the spiritual aspects of the Conference.  It is very easy to get so caught up with food prep, or serving in whichever area that we volunteered that we miss the message of the preached word.  

One practical way to protect ourselves is to anticipate distractions.  Spend some time considering what distractions might come this weekend and how you’re going to handle them.  Plan your weekend accordingly to ensure that you have adequate time to accomplish the work needed before or after the Conference.  Visit with your co-workers and make sure they understand that you are unavailable during that time.  As with anything that we view as important, it’s necessary to set clear boundaries.

Many, many things go on behind the scenes to make the Amen Conference happen and I want to thank anyone and everyone who does even the smallest tasks.  But if something has prevented you from being in the preaching service in the past, please consider alternative ways and additional workers to accomplish those things so that everyone can be present and engaged in the preaching and worship.  If you’re unsure when or how to get things done in the time allotted, ask a pastor for leadership in that area.

Men’s ministry is vital in the church.  The more spiritually healthy the men are, the more spiritually healthy their families are and the church is as a result.  The Amen Conference is not only an opportunity to serve men of other churches, but also an opportunity for the men of Fellowship Baptist Church to be sharpened and strengthened by Biblical preaching, to be spiritually charged by heartfelt worship and encouraged by fellow men of God.  Remember what Jesus said to Martha in Luke 10:41-42 when she was distracted with much serving that she forgot to spend time with Him, “Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: but one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.”  Don’t be so distracted this weekend that you forget the good part.

Have you ever watched a kid try to keep a balloon in the air? Not a helium balloon. I mean the regular balloon — the one filled with your breath. At first, it feels magical. You blow it up, tie it off, toss it into the air, and for about two seconds it looks like it might work. It floats. And then gravity remembers. So you smack it. Now you’re committed. You smack it again. And again. And suddenly you’re no longer enjoying a balloon — you’re in a full-contact sporting event. You’re diving across the living room. You’re lunging over furniture. You’re yelling, “Don’t let it touch the ground” like this balloon somehow holds the fate of civilization. Eventually someone spikes it too hard and it hits the ceiling fan. Chaos ensues. The balloon shoots off at 40 miles per hour like a rubber torpedo, lands behind the couch, and everyone pretends the game was fun. But here’s the reality: a breath-filled balloon never stays up on its own. It requires constant intervention. Constant smacking. Constant effort.

Now compare that to a helium balloon. You don’t have to smack it. You don’t have to remind it what it’s supposed to do. You simply fill it with the right thing — and it rises. It floats quietly in the corner of the room doing its job without exhaustion or a pulled hamstring.

There are two ways to keep a balloon afloat. If a balloon is filled with your breath, you have to keep smacking it to keep it off the ground. That’s how many people are with their generosity. They need someone, once or twice a year, to “smack” them into giving. All of a sudden, they give out their money left and right, but it only lasts for a short time — that is, until they’re “smacked” again.

There’s another way, of course, to keep a balloon in the air. It’s to fill it with helium, and it soars on its own, no smacking required. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 8 that what he wants for believers is generosity that works like that — generosity that rises naturally. He doesn’t want reluctant giving. He doesn’t want pressured giving. He doesn’t want generosity that only appears when someone makes an announcement, shares a need, or creates urgency. He wants love that is genuine, because genuine love produces natural generosity.

In 2 Corinthians 8, Paul points to the Macedonian believers — people who were not wealthy, not comfortable, and not giving from surplus — yet their generosity overflowed. Why? Because their hearts were full first. Their giving was not driven by a moment. It was driven by a reality: they had experienced the grace of God. That’s the helium.

When generosity is powered by guilt, it needs constant reminders. When generosity is powered by pressure, it fades quickly. When generosity is powered by emotion, it spikes and drops. But when generosity is powered by grace, it floats. Grace changes giving from something you do occasionally into something that naturally rises from who you are.

So the question is simple: are you trying to keep generosity in the air by smacking it or by filling your heart with the right thing? Because when the grace of Jesus fills your heart — the One who became poor so you could become rich — generosity stops being forced. It starts to float.

By 7:30 a.m. — and often earlier — the building we’re sitting in right now is already awake. Classroom lights flick on one by one. Coffee cups (or in my case, Sonic cups) are set beside open lesson plans. Teachers straighten desks, write objectives on whiteboards, and glance over the day ahead. Some pause quietly at their doorway before students arrive, praying over the room and over the names that will soon fill it. The hallways are still calm, but preparation is already in motion.

By 8:00, the rhythm shifts. Backpacks line the walls. Morning greetings echo through the building. A teacher kneels to zip a coat. A paraprofessional redirects a wandering mind with patience. An administrator steps into a classroom to check in. The office fields early phone calls and follows up on absent students. Lunchroom staff prepare for the busiest part of the day. It may look like an ordinary school morning — but it is anything but ordinary.

It is formation.

Every Monday through Friday, the men and women who serve at FBA and LLA walk into this building carrying more than lesson plans. They carry responsibility for hearts, habits, and character.

In LLA, teachers are doing far more than teaching letters and numbers. They are teaching structure, self-control, kindness, and obedience — shaping tiny hearts in ways that will echo for years.

In elementary, teachers are teaching math, reading, writing, and science while modeling perseverance, humility, and responsibility. They coach students through frustration and help them try again when something feels hard.

In secondary, teachers guide students through literature and history while reinforcing discernment, conviction, and courage. They challenge them to think biblically and stand confidently in their faith, preparing them not just for graduation, but for adulthood.

And they are not doing it alone.

Paraprofessionals step into gaps with steadiness and patience. Administrators carry weight most people never see — protecting culture, making difficult decisions, and supporting teachers and families. Office staff keep everything moving behind the scenes. Substitutes provide stability. Lunchroom staff create order and warmth. Coaches invest long hours shaping discipline, teamwork, and resilience long after the final bell rings.

In the middle of all of this, our teachers carry another weight as well. They pour into students all day and then go home to pour into their own families. They help with homework, attend practices, parent their own children, and carry the needs of their households — often while still praying for the students they left behind. The calling does not end at 3:00.

For many, this calling also includes financial sacrifice. Most of our teachers and staff could earn more elsewhere. They remain because they believe in the mission of Christian education and in the eternal value of shaping young hearts in truth. They have chosen calling over comfort — and that decision should not go unnoticed.

From the outside, this may look like ordinary work. But it is deeply meaningful and generational. Psalm 78 reminds us to “tell the coming generation the works of the Lord so that they may set their hope in Him.”  That is what is happening here. Hope is reinforced. Truth is practiced. Character is built.

And it is happening because faithful people keep saying yes — even when the work is heavy.

But this is not just their mission. It is ours. The same gospel proclaimed on Sunday is lived out in classrooms on Tuesday.

If you call this church home, you are part of this story. Pray intentionally for our staff. Encourage a teacher or paraprofessional this week. Thank an administrator, office staff member, coach, or lunchroom worker for what they carry. Ask how you can support when needs arise.

The next generation will not be shaped by accident. Years from now, the men and women leading this church, raising families, and serving their communities will trace part of their spiritual foundation back to classrooms in this building. What is happening here today will ripple into marriages, ministries, workplaces, and communities we have not yet seen.

Let us be a church that not only values Christian education but actively strengthens the people carrying it. The calling is sacred. The impact is eternal. And what we are building together will outlive us.

I’m not an outdoorsman by nature, but I do know how to get a fire going. It’s simple. You just buy Duraflame fire logs, set the packaging on fire, and voilà, you’ve got yourself a fire burning. Whenever the fire starts to wane you just throw real wood onto the already existing fire and it keeps the fire burning. If you want to keep the fire burning, you have to do this. If not, the fire will die. The same is true for our love for Christ. Our love for Christ upon becoming a Christian burns with an unquenchable fire, but over time it is easy for the flame to begin to weaken. We saw this in the church of Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7), and we see this in ourselves.

This past Sunday morning, Pastor Tyler preached the first letter of seven to the seven churches. Though this church had gotten much right, they got something important terribly wrong: they lost their first love for the Lord. This first letter to a church almost 2,000 years ago still resonates with us today. Why? Because like them, our love for Christ often goes cold. In this short article, I want to give you some kindling to throw on the fire of your love for Christ. As the hymn “Come Thou Fount” tells us, we are prone to wander. This includes wandering from a passionate love for Jesus. Pastor Tyler gave us some indicators to help us gauge when the “fire” is getting low. So what can we do to rekindle the flame?

There is a story in the Gospel of Luke (Luke 7:36-50) where Jesus is eating at a Pharisee’s house. During the meal a woman, who all we know about her from the story is that she’s a well-known sinner, comes to the dinner and does something radical. She broke a box of ointment on Jesus, wet his feet with her tears, whipped the tears with her hair, kissed his feet, and then anointed them with the ointment. The Pharisee wasn’t happy with this. But his negative response wasn’t directed a the woman. It was directed at Jesus. He thought, “Surely if this man was a prophet he would know what kind of woman this is and he would not be allowing this to happen.”

Jesus responded. He told the Pharisee that it wasn’t an inappropriate action on the woman’s part, but an action of extravagant love. How was this an act of extravagant love? It was an act of extravagant love because the woman was indeed a sinner and she knew it, but she experienced grace and forgiveness from Jesus for all of her sin. That’s why she was doing what she was doing. She loved Jesus and expressed her love because she understood what it meant to have sin that she had and yet be forgiven of it. Jesus said this in Luke 7:47, “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” Do you see that? If not, go back and reread it. She loved much because she was forgiven much!

This passage gives us some kindling to throw on the fire of our love for Jesus. To reignite love for Christ you need to remember the gospel of Christ and what the gospel means regarding your sin. When we forget the extent our forgiveness, our love for Jesus burns low. When we remember who we were before we came to Christ by faith and all that he did to forgive us and make us right with God, our love for him is rekindled.

Make time today to remember that just like this woman, your sins were (are) many, but God loved you anyways. He loved you so much that he sent his perfect Son Jesus to die on the cross so that your sins would be forgiven. Return to loving Jesus much this week by remembering that you have been forgiven much!

This past Sunday, we saw John’s breathtaking vision of the risen Christ in Revelation 1:9–20. John describes Jesus as standing among seven golden lampstands and holding seven stars in His right hand. For the sake of time, I didn’t linger on one interpretive question in the sermon—but I’d like to follow up with it here: Who are the “angels of the churches?”

Let’s begin with what is unmistakably clear. In Scripture, the right hand is the hand of strength and authority. So when John tells us that Jesus holds the seven stars in His right hand, the message is simple and powerful: Christ reigns. He does not answer to anyone—everything answers to Him. This is what John makes clear is most important to understand.

Before exploring the two main interpretations of the angels of the churches, let me offer a brief pastoral word. Not every detail in Revelation carries the same theological weight. Some truths we hold tightly—like who Jesus is and what He has done. Other questions invite careful study and humble discussion. Faithful believers have sometimes disagreed on symbolic details while standing shoulder to shoulder on the gospel. This is one of those areas. So let’s look at the two main views.

View One: The Angels Represent Pastors or Church Leaders

The Greek word angelos simply means “messenger,” and in Scripture it can refer to human messengers as well as heavenly beings (e.g., Luke 7:24; James 2:25). Supporters of this view note that Revelation 2–3 contains very practical commands—repent, remember, hold fast, shepherd faithfully—that must ultimately be carried out by people within the church. They also emphasize that Scripture consistently places spiritual responsibility on church leaders: they are called to watch over souls (Heb. 13:17), shepherd God’s flock (1 Pet. 5:2–3), guard sound doctrine (Acts 20:28–31), and will give account to Christ for their ministry.

Advocates also point out that each church has only one “angel,” which fits naturally with the idea of representative leadership. Throughout the New Testament, God often addresses His people through their leaders (cf. Mal. 2:7, where priests are called God’s “messengers,” and Rev. 2–3 follows a similar pattern). In addition, the letters feel distinctly pastoral in tone—evaluating spiritual health, confronting sin, encouraging perseverance, and calling for repentance—suggesting Christ is speaking directly to those entrusted with guiding the congregation.

This view also highlights Christ’s authority over His under-shepherds. If pastors are the “stars” in His hand, the imagery becomes deeply personal and sobering: Christ appoints leaders, sustains them, evaluates their faithfulness, and can remove them (Rev. 2:5). Many find this reading compelling because it underscores pastoral accountability while affirming that every church leader serves under the Chief Shepherd (1 Pet. 5:4).

View Two: The Angels Are Heavenly Beings Connected with the Churches

Others understand the angels to be actual heavenly beings. Throughout Revelation, John consistently uses the word angel to describe spiritual beings, and nowhere else in the New Testament are pastors called angels. The imagery of stars also often carries heavenly associations, and Revelation regularly presents earthly realities alongside unseen spiritual counterparts.


In Revelation especially, angels deliver revelation (Rev. 1:1; 22:6), worship Christ (Rev. 5:11–12), restrain judgment (Rev. 7:1), fight spiritual battles (Rev. 12:7–9), and carry out God’s purposes across the earth (Rev. 8:2–6; 14:6–7). Some passages even suggest angels have a guarding role connected to God’s people (Matt. 18:10; Acts 12:15; Dan. 10:13, 20–21). From this perspective, each church has a kind of heavenly counterpart. John is pulling back the curtain to show that what happens in local congregations is tied directly to heaven itself.

Some have also approached the passage by stepping back and asking what kind of vision Revelation 1 actually is. First and foremost, it is a vision meant to display the magnificence, supremacy, and authority of the risen Christ. John is not simply being given information about church structure—he is being granted a heavenly unveiling of Jesus in glory. Every detail in the scene serves that purpose. Christ stands radiant among the lampstands, His voice is like many waters, His face shines like the sun, and He holds the stars in His right hand. The entire vision lifts our eyes above earthly realities and fixes them on Christ’s sovereign rule.

From that perspective, some suggest the stars fit naturally as angelic beings—part of Christ’s heavenly administration—rather than human leaders. Throughout Revelation, angels repeatedly appear as instruments of Christ’s power, carrying out His will, delivering His messages, restraining judgment, and executing His purposes. Read this way, John is seeing Christ surrounded not by church officers, but by symbols of His cosmic authority. The emphasis is not on leadership structures within the churches, but on the reality that Jesus governs His people through both visible and invisible means.

A natural question with this view is: If these are literal angels, how do they carry out Jesus’ commands—and why would Christ address His churches through them? Advocates respond that angels are not replacing human responsibility. The calls to repent, persevere, and remain faithful are clearly directed to the churches themselves. The angel is simply a representative addressee, highlighting that Christ’s words come with divine authority and that heaven stands behind every command, warning, and promise.

Where I Land

I genuinely see biblical strengths in both views, and I want you to feel free to study the text and reach your own conclusion. This is not a test of faithfulness. Personally, I lean slightly toward understanding the angels as heavenly beings, largely because of John’s consistent use of the word angel throughout Revelation and the book’s strong emphasis on the unseen spiritual realm. Still, I hold that position humbly, and I respect those who see it differently.

What John makes unmistakably clear is this: whoever the stars represent, they are held in Christ’s right hand. He walks among His churches. He rules over every authority—earthly and heavenly. And He speaks to His people not as a distant observer, but as the risen King who governs their future. May all of this lead us not merely to deeper understanding, but to greater worship of our sovereign Savior!


Pastor Tyler

One of the first interpretive challenges we meet in Revelation appears almost immediately. In John’s opening greeting, he writes: “Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ…” (Revelation 1:4)

At first glance, that phrase—the seven Spirits before His throne—can feel confusing. Who (or what) are these seven spirits? Over the years, faithful students of Scripture have offered several interpretations.

Some understand the seven spirits as seven angelic beings who stand in God’s presence, often connecting this to Jewish traditions about archangels. Others suggest the phrase refers symbolically to the seven churches themselves, since Revelation is saturated with the number seven and frequently ties spiritual realities to local congregations. Others see the seven spirits as a poetic way of describing the fullness of God’s activity in the world, without identifying them as a distinct person. These views deserve to be acknowledged, but I believe the best understanding is that the seven Spirits refers to the Holy Spirit, described in terms of His perfect fullness and completeness. Here’s why.

First, notice John’s greeting structure. Revelation 1:4–5 forms a Trinitarian pattern: grace and peace come from the Father (“him which is, and which was, and which is to come”), the Spirit (“the seven Spirits which are before his throne”), and the Son (“Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness…”). It would be strange for John to place angels between the Father and the Son in a formal blessing of grace and peace—something Scripture consistently presents as flowing from God alone. This strongly suggests that the “seven Spirits” is another way of speaking about God the Spirit.

Second, the number seven in Revelation regularly symbolizes completeness or perfection, not literal count. Just as there are not literally seven Jesuses or seven Gods, there are not seven Holy Spirits. Rather, John is emphasizing the Spirit’s fullness—His perfect, complete ministry among God’s people.

Isaiah helps us see this. Isaiah 11:2 describes the coming Messiah and says: “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” Many have noticed that this passage presents the Spirit in a sevenfold way: the Spirit of the LORD, wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and fear of the LORD. Isaiah is not describing seven separate spirits, but one Spirit expressed in seven attributes—again highlighting completeness and perfection. John’s language in Revelation echoes this same idea: the Holy Spirit in all His fullness.

Zechariah adds another important layer. In Zechariah 4, the prophet sees a golden lampstand supplied continually with oil. When Zechariah asks what this vision means, God answers: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6). Revelation picks up this same lampstand imagery and places the seven Spirits before God’s throne, showing us that the light of the churches is supplied the same way Zechariah’s was—not by human strength, but by the Holy Spirit in all His fullness.

That matters deeply for the original readers of Revelation. These churches were small, pressured, and afraid, but John begins by reminding them that they are not facing these challenges alone. The same Spirit who empowered Christ rests upon His people. The same Spirit who supplies oil to the lampstands is actively at work in every faithful church.

And that’s the encouragement for us today. Grace and peace do not come from human strength, clever strategy, or favorable circumstances. They come from the eternal Father, the risen Son, and the Holy Spirit in all His perfect fullness. Whatever the pressures of our moment, God has not shortchanged His church. His Spirit is still before the throne—and still at work among His people.

Taken together, the Trinitarian greeting of Revelation 1, the sevenfold Spirit of Isaiah 11, and the lampstand imagery of Zechariah 4 all point in the same direction: the “seven Spirits” are not seven beings, but the one Holy Spirit described in His perfect fullness.

The book of Revelation has a unique effect on people. For some, it immediately sparks curiosity and excitement. For others, it brings hesitation—even anxiety. That reaction alone tells us something important: Revelation is a book we don’t want to rush into carelessly.

As I stated in my sermon this past Lord’s Day, God did not give Revelation to confuse His people or to turn Christians into speculation experts. He gave it to reveal Jesus Christ, to strengthen weary believers, and to anchor the church’s hope in the certainty of His victory. When handled carefully, Revelation produces confidence, endurance, and worship. When handled poorly, it can lead to fear, pride, distraction, or division.

That’s why how we study Revelation matters just as much as that we study it. As we begin this series together, it will be helpful to identify a few common pitfalls that believers often fall into when approaching this book—pitfalls that can quietly pull us away from the very encouragement God intends to give.

Here are several we should seek to avoid.

1. Avoid an Overly Literal Reading

Revelation is apocalyptic literature, which means it communicates truth through symbols, imagery, and visions rather than wooden literalism. When John describes beasts with multiple heads, lampstands, stars, and bowls of wrath, he is not trying to confuse us—he is revealing spiritual realities in symbolic form.

The danger comes when we treat every image as if it must correspond to a physical object in the modern world. Doing so often obscures the message rather than clarifying it. A better approach is to ask:

- What would this image have meant to the original audience?
- How does this symbol function elsewhere in Scripture?
- What truth is God revealing through the imagery?

Revelation is not meant to be decoded like a puzzle—it is meant to be understood as God intended.

2. Avoid “Newspaper Eschatology”

Every generation is tempted to read Revelation with the morning news in one hand and the Bible in the other. Wars, elections, technological advances, and global crises can make it feel as though we’ve finally discovered the key to the book.

History should humble us here. Faithful Christians in every century have been convinced that their moment in history was the final fulfillment of Revelation—and every generation before ours was wrong in at least some ways.

Revelation was written to first-century believers, under real persecution, to assure them that Jesus reigns, evil will be judged, and faithfulness is worth the cost. While the book certainly speaks to all generations, it was not written primarily to predict headlines—it was written to produce endurance and worship. The message of Revelation is not “figure out the timeline,” but “follow the Lamb.”

3. Avoid Overconfidence with Under-Studying

Revelation can give a false sense of confidence because many of us are familiar with its images, phrases, and themes. But familiarity is not the same as understanding.One danger is forming strong opinions without careful study—especially when those opinions are based on:

- Popular books or charts
- YouTube teachers
- Or what we’ve always heard

This is a book that calls for slow reading, careful interpretation, and humble learning. Strong convictions should be built on deep study, not surface impressions. If Revelation teaches us anything, it’s that God opposes pride—but gives grace to the humble.

4. Avoid Division over Minor Issues

Faithful, Bible-believing Christians have disagreed on certain details in Revelation—timing, sequences, and specific interpretations—while still agreeing on the core truths:

- Jesus is the risen and reigning King.
- Evil will not win.
- God will judge justly.
- Christ will return.
- God’s people will dwell with Him forever.

We must never allow disagreements over secondary or tertiary issues to disrupt our unity in Christ or distract us from the book’s main purpose. Revelation was written to strengthen the church—not fracture it. As we study, we must hold our conclusions with conviction and charity, remembering that love for one another is itself a powerful testimony to the world.

Conclusion:

My prayer is that we would approach this book with:

- humility instead of arrogance
- patience instead of speculation
- unity instead of division
- worship instead of fear

The blessing of Revelation does not belong to those who know the most theories—but to those who hear its words, keep them, and follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

I’m grateful to walk this journey with you.

(Continued from Part 1)

3. What Kinds of Deconstructors Will I Meet?

People like to use trendy words, and words become trendy fast. Terms can explode so quickly that they become a part of normal language even though the meaning can be vague. In these cases, when usage jumps ahead of meaning, someone you know and love may adopt a term to describe a life-changing upheaval that may be something quite different to you.

Just because someone tells you they are deconstructing, doesn’t mean you should rush to conclusions. You need to listen. Solomon says “If one gives an answer before he hears, it is his folly and shame.” (Proverbs 18:13)

Here are four possible kinds of deconstructors:

The Untaught

A great biblical example of this is found in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2. Here, Christians had been sold a bill of goods when they were told they missed the day of the Lord. Notice how Paul treats these people. He doesn’t accuse them of being false teachers (Paul had no patience for false teachers). They just didn’t know any better and he needs to set them straight on the second coming of Christ. In his book, Leadership and Emotional Sabotage, Joe Rigney helpfully contrasts how Paul, the prophets, and Jesus distinguished between “apostles of the world” and “refugees of the world.” It would be wise for us to develop this same kind of discernment by asking good questions. Apostles are confronted but refugees are helped.

I am afraid that one of the reasons some Christians that are raised in evangelical churches might hear a few arguments that cripple their faith is because they have never really been taught. Some might think they are walking away from Christianity, but the truth is they don’t know enough about Christianity to walk away from it. And many of these people are quite teachable, if you love them and give them some time.

What can be done to help the untaught? They need to be discipled. Of course for pastors this must be done both in and out of the pulpit. But it is just as much a calling for all Christians, as the church was given the commission to teach the baptized how to obey all Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:20).

The Doubters

These are believers who know the truth but still go through intense seasons of doubt. There is a shocking biblical example of this found in Luke 7:19-23.
Why was John the Baptist shaken in his faith about Jesus’ identity as the Messiah? Most likely John was suffering with doubt because of the same reasons Christians struggle with it today: personal tragedy, wrong expectations, and the sorrow that the combination of these things leads to are hard to face. If they were so difficult for someone as sturdy as John why would we think believers have an immunity to doubting today?

Jude would say we need to have compassion on some. And isn’t this what Jesus does? He gently points out all the ways he is fulfilling the prophecies about himself. He points John back to the rock solid promises of God.

What can be done to help the doubters? We need to patiently listen to them, and keep pointing them to Christ. We need to show them how to apply the gospel even when they are have a hard time believing it. We need to help them learn the art of questioning their questions, or, doubting their doubts, as Tim Keller used to say. This takes time. As someone who has both struggled with doubts and has helped strugglers, I can tell you that responding to doubt is less often like removing a cancerous tumor with surgery and more often like radiation therapy. Be patient, listen, point, and guide. Then do it again. And don’t forget to pray.

The Backslidden

The backslidden can be hard to distinguish from unbelievers. But with this term I am referring to those whose love for sin leads them to use apostasy as a cover for their lifestyle. It calls to mind what Paul addressed in 1 Corinthians 6:12-15. Here, bad theology accommodated sinful living. Has much changed today?

More than once I have encountered believers posturing as if they are having a crisis of faith, but it turned out they looking for a plausibility structure to excuse the sin that they loved.

I want to be clear that I am not at all suggesting there is a covered-up sin behind any claim to deconstruction. That would be overly simplistic and dangerous to assume that in our care for others. But it would be just as simplistic and quite naive to think this could never be going on in the lives of the deconstructing. The motive behind deconstructing may be the allure of the moral freedom that comes with it. None of us are immune to this, because the allure of sin can get to each of us, so there should be no room for pride when we do find this to be the root issue in others.  

What can be done to help the backslidden? We need to lovingly confront them. If there is a sin that we discover is behind the deconstruction, we need to point them toward repentance. Arguing about textual criticism, archeology, and hermeneutics is not going to be of much help if sin is being cherished in the heart of the deconstructor.

The Unbelieving

John writes soberingly in his first epistle:“They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.” (1 John 2:19)

The hard truth is that some people you and I know and care about will talk about deconstructing their faith because they are not Christians. This is tough to face but much worse to avoid. Why is it worse to avoid this truth? Because when we keep on pretending people are Christians who clearly are not Christians we will not pray for their conversion or evangelize them. In pastoral ministry I have met several well meaning and worried people who do their best to convince themselves that a close friend or adult son or daughter is a Christian though there is absolutely no fruit to show for it. The reason that some of these people no longer identify Christ as their Lord is because Christ is not their Lord and never was. I hope you don’t assume everyone you have ever attended church with, everyone that once identified as a believer, or everyone you have seen grow up in a Christian family is converted.

How do we distinguish between unbelievers and doubters? Doubters don’t see Christ right now but they are looking for him. Unbelievers do not see Christ and are not looking for him. Doubters love the Lord, though they are confused about some things. Unbelievers simply do not love the Lord - they cannot love someone they do not know.

Conclusion: How Can We Work Against Deconstruction?

I know that the mood of the day may suggest we shouldn’t even try to work against deconstruction. People’s personal religious beliefs are just that, personal. But I hope you realize that this kind of neutrality doesn’t work if the gospel is true. If the good news of Jesus is not just a personal truth but true truth, then whether or not someone walks away from Christ is a matter of infinite importance. To be neutral toward it is to betray unbelief. We should follow Paul’s example who cared very much about the response of others to Jesus, and committed himself to battling false ideas that could undermine the claims of the gospel (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Here are some ideas to help:

Be open to questions.

This should not replace the pulpit ministry in church. Biblically speaking, Christian preaching is and always will be authoritative monologue. But you need places in your ministry to your others where you are approachable to be asked anything. Are the people you are discipling comfortable asking you anything? If you have people in your home (and I encourage you to do so) can those struggling with sin and doubts about the faith feel welcome to open up about those things?

Lead a culture of reading in your sphere of influence.

How can one do that? It’s simple. Read good books and encourage others to read them with you. I am especially worried for our young people that don’t read books. They will be unprepared for the world of ideas. Reading not only helps you create arguments, it helps you analyze arguments and see how they work. Fears surrounding AI dependance should not only be in response to the dishonesty issue or quality (have you seen the generic slop filling your feeds?) but because of how it short-circuits thinking through ideas. I know that some may assume that reading is the gateway to deconstruction. Of course, there are plenty of people who are well read who are not followers of Jesus. However in my experience those that end up walking away from the faith did not typically start with deep dives into lengthy articles from journals of philosophy. The people I know heard or watched something that they could not understand how to counter. Some (not all, but some) of the content pushing the deconstruction movement is poorly reasoned but well produced propaganda, and propoganda resonates with people who have had precious little reflection of their worldview, if they have reflected on it at all. It is difficult to overstate how vulnerable these kinds of people are to a media-saturated environment. The literary strugglers are easy prey, and will have a hard time surviving with their faith intact. It is no secret that where Christian mission movements have spread reading came along as part of the package. After all, we are people who believe that God wrote a book. So read and disciple others by encouraging them to read.

Give your life to selfless ministry so when the light shines through, the deconstructing see Jesus.  

Take a break from this article and take a moment to carefully read 2 Corinthians 4:1-12. If you have someone in your life who is deconstructing, don’t stop pointing them to Jesus. But don’t stop selflessly serving them and loving them. And if in God’s sovereign grace their eyes are eventually opened they won’t see you, they will see him. Paul argues that God designs the vessels carrying his gospel (that’s us) to be weak so that the beauty we are carrying shines all the brighter. This is what motivated Paul to serve like he did, and the same reality should motivate each of us. Love people. Open your home. Use your time. Be willing to be taken advantage of for the gospel. Do things for people who cannot pay you back. Serve others, and let Christ be seen, even by those who are wondering if he is worth giving their life to, because you know that he is.

“So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.’” (John 6:67-69)

You have heard it said, maybe online, in a text from a close friend, in a personal conversation, or over the phone: “I’m deconstructing.” A thousand questions may follow in your mind, the most prominent one being “What am I supposed to do?”

I have written the following to answer that question. In the next two Midweek articles I will explain what deconstruction is, some of the cultural factors that have contributed to its rise, the kinds of deconstructors you will meet, and what you can do to help.

1. What is Deconstruction?

In their helpful book, The Deconstruction of Christianity, Alisa Childers and Tim Barnett offer the following definition:

“Faith deconstruction is a postmodern process of rethinking your faith without regarding Scripture as a standard.”

As I will explain later, the word has a certain kind of built-in fluidity that makes a strict definition hard to articulate, but I think the framework provided above is helpful. 

As we think about the term and the movement it represents, there are some important things to note about deconstruction:

1. The mainstream understanding of deconstruction does not appeal to Scripture as an authority. That is not to suggest your deconstructing friends do not need to hear Scripture, but it is to say that one of the core problems with deconstruction is how it treats Scripture. As a side note, I want to say that this is why I think it is unwise to use the word deconstruct to talk about reexamining our beliefs in light of the Bible. That simply is not what deconstruction is. Re-examining our beliefs in light of the Bible is simply doing theology. 
2. Those who push deconstruction often utilize emotional appeals to make their arguments. Of course all of us are emotional creatures. But if you are trying to care for someone who is deep in the weeds of deconstruction, it is good to remember that what has seemed most persuasive to them may be incredibly subjective. A rational argument or two may not instantly win them over to being more comfortable with the claims of Christianity if their objections to Christianity are subjective.  
3. Christianity is not just framed as unpersuasive, but often, immoral. If you are shocked because someone who used to attend church with you or even study the Bible with you is now offended if you bring up the Christian faith at all, you need to remember that it is possible they believe those who are questioning the claims of Jesus automatically have the moral high ground. Being prepared for these conversations involves acknowledging this is where your friends or family may be.
4. There is no well defined goal or end point. Derek Webb, a prominent musician in a Christian group talked about the goal of his own deconstruction as “permanent uncertainty.” This is common language in the deconstructing movement. It’s another reason that I think the adoption of the term to describe comparing beliefs to the Bible is so unhelpful.

2. What Factors May Explain Why Deconstruction Is on the Rise?

1. Distrust in authority is the mood of the day. Increasingly it is not just trust in the Bible or Christian orthodoxy that is waning among the new generations - but rather a lack of trust in anything. Of course, every worldview, even the most agnostic ones, have claims, and claims can only exist in an atmosphere of authority (ie something has to be said, by someone, and believed by someone else - or you don’t have a worldview). Secular worldviews have just as much of an authority structure as world religions - although they may be harder to see. But orthodox Christianity’s authority is harder to miss. To be a Christian is to believe claims, and to take those claims so seriously that one’s life is committed to them being true. There is no Christianity without claims, and claims don’t work without authority. To the degree that Christians are attracted to the spirit of the age, the trust in authority will be uncomfortable at the least.
2. The quest for the authentic self is increasingly important to many.  Carl Trueman has documented in this in our culture in his wonderful book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self.  In this excellent work, the question of identity has always been “Whose am I?” the question today is “Who am I?” At the heart of Christianity is belonging to someone other than yourself. Paul summed it up nicely when he reminded the Corinthian Christians “You are not your own” (1 Corinthians 6:19). The individualistic quest to find the self is promoted and normalized everywhere, from songs to shows to movies. It’s in the air we breathe. So we should not be surprised that this assumption fits in quite nicely with the deconstruction ethos.
3. Online community can supplant real community. Much if not most of the arguments, or talking points for those deconstructing came to them in their online world. MIT professor Sherry Turkle, in her eye-opening work Alone Together documents that we are more lonely now despite the fact we have more ways to be virtually connected. By the way, that book is already fourteen years old. I do not bring up the prevalence of online community to shake my fist in the air and long for simpler technologically restricted days. Rather, I am pointing out something all of us already know: that what people see as normal or abnormal, beautiful or disgusting, persuasive or silly, plausible or implausible - in short their culture - will be affected by their community. If that community (at least in a Christian context) is largely made up of things like family, friends, and congregation, then you can expect one thing. But if that community is determined by an algorithm and experienced digitally in the main, then the culture that person experiences could be quite another thing entirely.

Next week, I will unpack the different kinds of deconstructors you will meet, and talk about how to help them.

Last week, we acknowledged what many people feel but rarely say out loud: Christmas can be a season of grief. The empty seats at the table. The strained relationships. The memories that stir old wounds. The disappointments that rise to the surface when the world around us seems to be celebrating. Scripture never asks us to pretend those things don’t exist. In fact, it invites us to face them honestly before the Lord. But Scripture also refuses to let grief have the final word.

One of the clearest pictures of this is found in Psalm 42. The psalmist is brutally honest about his sorrow: “My tears have been my food day and night.” He names his discouragement, his inner turmoil, and even the spiritual confusion that often accompanies suffering. Yet in the middle of the darkness, he preaches to his own soul: “Why art thou cast down, O my soul? … Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him.”

That’s the pattern of biblical lament. We come to God as we are—hurting, weary, confused—but we don’t stay there. Lament is the pathway through sorrow that leads us to renewed confidence in God. The psalm begins with tears, but it ends with trust. It begins with questions, but it ends with praise.

This Christmas, I want to encourage you to follow that same pattern. Don’t ignore your grief. Bring it honestly before the Lord—He already knows. But then fight, by faith, toward a posture of praise. Not because life is easy, but because God is faithful.

Here are a few practical ways to pursue faith-filled optimism in this season:

1. Preach the truth to your soul.

Like the psalmist, don’t let your emotions narrate the whole story. Speak God’s promises back to your own heart—out loud if you need to. Remind yourself of who God is and what He has already done.

2. Practice gratitude intentionally.

Gratitude doesn’t erase grief, but it reframes it. Each morning, write down three evidences of God’s kindness. Small, ordinary, unnoticed blessings count.

3. Anchor your hope in Christ’s coming.

Advent reminds us that light breaks into darkness. Christ did come. Christ is with us. And Christ will come again. Let that hope steady you when your emotions fluctuate.

4. Worship even when you don’t feel like it.

Sometimes praise must be chosen before it is felt. Sing the songs. Read the Scriptures. Sit under the Word. These habits pull your heart toward joy even on heavy days.

5. Invite someone into your struggle.

Optimism grows in community. Share your burdens with a trusted believer and let them point you back to the Lord.

Grief is real—but so is the God who meets us in it. And because He is faithful, we can say with the psalmist: “I shall yet praise Him.” This Christmas, fight for that kind of optimism—not naïve, not shallow, but rooted in the unshakeable goodness of God.

When a church takes communion several things happen at once. The three we are most familiar with are remembrance, fellowship and unity. (1) Believers remember Jesus' suffering and death (Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:18-20). (2) They fellowship with Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16). (3) The church expresses its unity together (1 Corinthians 11:27-33).

But there is a fourth aspect of communion, and I think of the four this has the potential to be the most neglected. Perhaps we neglect it because it seems a bit underwhelming. But after meditating on this verse, I believe there are wonderful riches here that show us just how significant the Lord's Supper is in the plan of God.

In 1 Corinthians 11:26, the apostle Paul writes that when we eat the bread and drink the cup, we proclaim the Lord’s death until he returns.

I want you to pay close attention to that phrase in verse 26: the eating and drinking of the people of God in communion shows the death of the Son of God. And this is absolutely extraordinary. The word translated to “show" or “proclaim” is καταγγέλλω (pronounced kat-an-gell-o). The word is stronger than to mean something like "symbolize." It means to announce something, to go public with something so that it will be known far and wide. The communion meal proclaims the dying sin-bearing substituting Son of God to the world. In Paul's mind, when the church eats and drink they are making a global announcement like John the Baptist: "Behold, the Lamb of God!"

As I began to mediate on this verse, this struck me as curious, and left me asking: does communion really do that great of a job at showing the death of Jesus? After all, in the following centuries the church would introduce crucifixes, etches, drawings, and paintings of the dying Messiah. Today we have Mel Gibson's Passion  and The Chosen, not to mention thousands of plays all around the world around Good Friday. Let's be honest: doesn't reenactment do a much better job of proclaiming Christ's death than bread and juice? Is Paul wrong in thinking the ordinary means of communion performs a passable job of showing the death of Jesus when so many other extraordinary means seem to pull it off more effectively?

A parallel text helped me answer with an emphatic, soul-satisfied "yes."

Now, take a moment to read John 6:51-57.

Here is why the Lord's Table is 10,000 times better than the flashiest reenactment you will ever see: to show, or to proclaim the death of Jesus in 1 Corinthians 11:26 is not merely to demonstrate the act of crucifixion. It is to proclaim its meaning. No image, no reenactment, no cat-of-nine-tails or thorned-crown props, no wooden crosses will ever demonstrate what Jesus' death means. But do you know what does proclaim the death of Jesus, when coupled with the preached gospel? Redeemed sinners eating and drinking together. Small churches and big churches, beautiful cathedrals and unimpressive houses, famous and unheard of - it matters not. When Christians eat and drink they are showing what Jesus' death means for his people: we have eternal life because Christ has given himself to nourish us. It is not simply that his blood was spilled and his body was broken: we are the beneficiaries of what was spilled and broken. We have no condemnation because Christ has met our hunger in the wilderness of sin and quenched our thirst for the water of life in his blood. To eat and drink is to show the world that Jesus' death is not just something that happened, it is the very thing that feeds our souls with spiritual life.

Come this Sunday night to remember. Come this Sunday night to fellowship with Christ. Come this Sunday night to express our shared fellowship. But don't forget, when we come and eat and drink together, we perfectly and beautifully proclaim the gospel.

This past Sunday morning I had the privilege to preach another “Walking Through Grief Sunday”, and as I often do when asked to speak during the Sunday School time, I spoke from the book of Job. Following the lesson, the pastor pointed out something interesting from Job 2:8 where the Bible says, “And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.” Job 2:8.
 
Job, once the wealthiest man in the land, is now sitting on the ground, covered in sores, scraping his skin with a broken piece of pottery, and the only comfort he could find came from something shattered. That thought, “the only comfort he could find came from something shattered” stuck in my mind, and for most of the five hour drive home was something I gave a lot of thought to — turning brokenness into usefulness. We often think our brokenness is the end because what could God possible do with the fragments of our broken life? Our sorrow, our failures, our disappointments, our regrets, our wounds. They can either become instruments of bitterness or instruments of healing. Job didn’t have anyone cheering him on. His friends didn’t help. His wife didn’t help. His situation didn’t change for a long time. All he had was a piece of pottery that had once been whole, once had purpose, once had beauty, and now it was broken. And yet, that was the very thing God used in the moment to bring relief.

Could it be that the parts of your story you’re most ashamed of carry the very message someone else is praying to hear? Maybe the tears you cried in private are going to water the soil of someone else’s restoration. Maybe the pain you thought would destroy you is going to be the very testimony that sets someone else free. We don’t have to hide our ashes. Jesus isn’t afraid of them. He came into the world, not to celebrate the strong, but to bind up the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1). He is near to those who have a broken heart (Psalm 34:18). Your pieces are safe with Him.

So sit in the ashes if you must. Cry there. Pray there. Wait there. But don’t despise the broken piece of pottery in your hand. Don’t throw away the very thing God might use to bring healing to others. Your brokenness does not disqualify you. It prepares you. Someone is going to be healed because you survived what tried to break you. Let God use what’s shattered because there is a ministry in your scars. There is a testimony in your pain. There is purpose in your ashes.
 
And remember friend, God isn’t done writing the story yet.

While depression is depression, the kind brought on by ministry stress often carries unique spiritual, relational, and vocational layers that make it more complex and sometimes harder to navigate. Here are some key distinctions:
 
1. The Weight of Spiritual Responsibility

Pastors and ministry leaders don’t just carry their own burdens; they carry the burdens of others’ souls. There is a constant sense of responsibility to care, teach, guide, and intercede for people. When things go wrong — a member drifts, a marriage fails, church members squabble — a pastor can internalize those outcomes as spiritual failure. This spiritual dimension makes the emotional toll heavier; depression becomes mingled with guilt or a perceived lack of faithfulness.
 
2. The Pressure of Constant Expectation

Unlike most jobs, ministry is never off the clock. Every conversation, social gathering, and Sunday service can feel like performance under scrutiny. There’s often a pressure to “be okay,” to appear strong, joyful, and unshaken — even when internally, a pastor may be unraveling. That emotional isolation can amplify depression because there’s little safe space to be human.

3. The Blurring of Identity and Calling

In ministry, your work and your worth can easily become intertwined. When a businessperson struggles at work, they can still separate who they are from what they do. For pastors, the call is so personal that failure or exhaustion in ministry can feel like spiritual or personal failure before God. Depression, in this case, isn’t just about sadness — it’s about identity crisis.

4. Loneliness in the Midst of Community

This irony is one of the deepest wounds of ministry depression. Pastors are surrounded by people but often have few real confidants. Congregants may love their pastor, but they also see them as spiritual leaders, not peers. That isolation means a pastor can suffer silently, unseen by the very people they pour into.
 
5. Spiritual Warfare

Ministry invites unique opposition. The fact is, any time you can take out the leader of a team or a nation or a church, those they lead become vulnerable. Thus, Satan often attacks a church’s leader — it’s pastor — more intensely. And thus, the resulting depression from Satanic attack is intensified. This isn’t to “over-spiritualize” mental health, but to acknowledge that ministry leaders often face a dual front: psychological and spiritual.

6. The Guilt of Needing Help

Many ministry leaders struggle to seek help because of stigma or fear of disqualification.

“If I admit I’m depressed, what will people think?”
“Shouldn’t I have enough faith?”

This guilt compounds the problem, delaying treatment or support and deepening despair.

Depression from ministry stress isn’t necessarily deeper — it’s different. It’s a collision of emotional exhaustion, spiritual burden, and vocational identity — all within a context that often discourages vulnerability.

• A couple refuses to admit their marriage is in trouble.
• A father fails to stand up to his own children.
• An employee is pressured into an unethical decision by his boss.
• A child is terrified because she must be in front of a large group of people at her recital.
• A high school student stays up until 2 am on the phone with his girlfriend.
• A man purchases a car he cannot afford so his neighbors don’t leave him behind.
• A college student goes somewhere she should not with her friends, because she is too embarrassed to say “no."
• A wife never hosts anyone, because she is afraid they won’t be impressed by her home.

The scenarios I have offered above may seem innocently random, and thus call for unrelated solutions. To the contrary, I am convinced there is a common thread that nastily runs right through them. Each of these fruit problems comes from the root of a particular sin: the fear of man. Man fear is a root sin that often remains hidden - but its bile regularly spills out into the open and has a way of contaminating just about everything.

I was helped to see this sin with new eyes about a decade ago, when a truly life-changing book was recommended to me. The work was When People Are Big and God Is Small, and it was authored by Ed Welch. In addition to serving as my introduction to the great tradition of biblical counseling, the book helped me understand myself by pointing to a devastating diagnosis in my spiritual life. I have read it several times since. The logic of this diagnosis comes straight from the pages of God's Word. Two passages come to mind that are especially appropriate as they are referenced and unpacked in the book:

"The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe." - Proverbs 29:25

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." - Matthew 10:28

In the book, Welch defines the fear of man this way: "'Fear’ in the biblical sense includes being afraid of someone, but it extends to holding someone in awe, being controlled or mastered by people, worshipping other people, putting your trust in people, or needing people.” Welch does not suggest that all fear is sinful, but posits this important qualifier: we are sinning when the fear of people controls our lives more than the fear of the Lord.

This contrast (as you have probably figured out from the book's title - an intentional dead giveaway) is between the fear of man and the fear of God. Underneath our fear then is the contest between our view of man and our view of God, as is especially clear in the aforementioned words of Jesus in Matthew 10:28.

Thus Ed Welch, Bible grasped firmly in hand as he works, helps the reader evaluate the extent of this sin in his life, revealing the surprising and not so surprising packages in which the fear of man comes. He pulls few punches as the book takes an uninhibited romp through your personal, social, familial, and thought life. So consider yourself warned. But the book works toward another end, just as insightful and far more glorious: Welch uses the Bible to give you a taste for a bigger view of God. After all if our fear and worship (the two are inseparable) are given to people more than God, and if the God we claim to know made the world (Genesis 1:1) controls everything in it (Daniel 4:35) and will be worshipped for eternity (Revelation 4:9) then it is not difficult to conclude that we must not think about him very much, or quite accurately when we do. This is Welch's conclusion and he goes to great pains helping the attentive reader address this.

What fear-related problem is wreaking havoc in your life? It's probably more theological than you think. And if the problem is theological perhaps the solution will be as well.

When People Are Big and God Is Small is our November book of the month. I heartily commend it to you, and suggest you secure a copy this Lord's Day, to be helped by its Scriptural wisdom for the problems of life.

When I was younger I was having a conversation with someone that I knew, but wasn’t very close with. As the conversation ended and we began to part ways I said, “Bye, I love you.” I was horrified. I began to stutter and stammer trying to explain what had just happened. Saying those words had become so engrained to my sign-offs with people that they slipped out at the end of a conversation with someone that I barely knew.

That reminds me of another common sign off that we have: In Jesus name, Amen. Those four words tend to close off every one of our prayers. Unfortunately, those words have become the words that we say with the least amount of thought about it. It’s just habit at this point. In reality though, those three words, in Jesus name, are the three most important words you say when you pray.

We don’t see any prayers in the NT that close with those three words, so where does it come from and what difference does it make? We say in Jesus name primarily because of what Jesus taught us about prayer in John 14-16. He repeats over and over in those three chapters prayer in his name: “Whatever you ask in my name” (John 14:13), “Whatever you ask the Father in my name” (John 15:16), “Whatever you ask of the Father in my name” (John 16:23). The repetition teaches us just how important it is to approach God in prayer in Jesus name. Why is praying in Jesus name so important? I’ll give you four reasons.

1. We Have Access to God in Jesus’s Name.

Every time we pray in Jesus name we are reminding ourselves how and why we can come near to the throne of God and make reverent, humble requests for ourselves and others. We can’t pray in Jesus name and think that we someone got there on our own. Every prayer in his name is a chance to remember that it is through the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have reconciliation with God and access to God.

Before you pray, every time you pray, remind yourself of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. You are approaching God based on his merits, not your own.

2. We Pray in Jesus Name Because Apart from Him, Our Prayers Accomplish Nothing.

Without Jesus, nothing is guaranteed in prayer. Jesus told his disciples plainly in John 15:5, “apart from me you can do nothing.” Without union with Jesus, the disciples would never produce in fruit for God. The same is true with prayer. Apart from Jesus in prayer, your prayers aren’t guaranteed to accomplish anything.

God wants to work through our prayers, but not the prayers that we offer up in our own name. He works through prayers offered up in Jesus name.

3. We Pray in Jesus Name Because Doing So Brings God Glory.

One thing has become clear as we have studied the gospel of John together on Sunday mornings: Jesus wants to point people to God the Father. When we pray in Jesus’s name we are joining Jesus in his mission to bring glory to God. Jesus tells us in John 14:13, “Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

Jesus promises to put his signature on and perform the prayer requests that we offer in his name so that the Father will be glorified in him. So then, our prayers in Jesus name aren’t just in his name, they are for his name.

4. We Pray in Jesus Name So That Our Joy Will Be Full.

When we pray in Jesus name, God the Father and God the Son get the glory. But what do we get? We get fullness of joy! Jesus tells us in John 16:24, “Ask (in his name), and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Christ increases our joy as we pray in his name and receive the requests that we ask. Why wouldn’t we want to pray in his name?

Savor Those Words

Don’t let in Jesus name become a throw away line at the end of your prayers. They aren’t our sign off to God in prayer. They are the most precious words that we will say when pray.  Let them remind you of why you can pray in the first place. These words are not an afterthought in prayer, they are the doorway to prayer. So when you are finishing up saying a prayer, don’t rush through the last four words. Slow down. Cherish them. Think about them. Savor them.

“While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.” (Luke 24:15)

Pastor Tyler encouraged all of us at Fellowship to practice discipling one another and he equipped us with several tools to do so. I am excited to share how one of those methods, One-to-One discipleship, has strengthened my walk with God.  Though it seems small and simple, the results are huge. Consistent meeting for a short Bible study resulted in encouragement, accountability, sharing of insights, and growing passion for God’s word!

What does it look like to study a passage of Scripture using the One-to-One format?  Just as Pastor Tyler said, there is no homework or preparation needed. Show up, read whichever passage one of us has selected, say a brief prayer, and then write down four things: Observations, Questions, Main Point, and Application.  Conclude by sharing your answers. That last part is tremendously fruitful and encouraging.  One-to-One discipleship is so easy that my wife and I started using it with another couple in church over lunches after church. I even find myself doing it in my personal quiet times because it is a powerful tool for getting more out of every Bible passage.  For example, I happened to be in Luke 24:28 for my daily reading and noticed Jesus “acted as if he were going farther.”  I wrote down a single question: Why did He act as if he were going further?  This in turn prompted another question: what if the disciples had not “urged him strongly” (v 29) to stay with them?

Next, I wrote down an observation: “it was toward evening and the day is now far spent” (v 29). Ah! Maybe that is why Jesus acted as if he would go on: He didn’t want to presume upon the hospitality of these men who had finally arrived at their destination after a seven mile walk.  But as he turned to go, they earnestly urged him to stay with them.

Suddenly, I began noticing the many ways Jesus gently revealed himself in this passage.  He drew near (v. 15).  Rather than blast them with the full and terrifying revelation of himself, he mercifully concealed his identity at first (v. 16).  He probed with gentle questions (vv 17,19).  He calmly took everything they thought they understood (Moses and the Prophets, v. 27) and interpreted it for the disciples.  It culminated in Jesus taking bread, blessing it, breaking it, giving it to them…and opening their eyes to recognize him (vv. 30,31).  A theme emerged: Jesus intentionally worked to bless these dejected men with the one thing they needed: himself.  That helped me with the next step of One to One discipleship: summarizing the passage into a main point.  God gently reveals himself to us, so take advantage of every opportunity he gives us to know him more.  If the disciples hadn’t allowed him to interrupt their conversation, or  hadn’t responded to Jesus’s gentle questions, or ignored his explanation of the Scriptures, or hadn’t urged him strongly to stay with them, they would have missed him!

That brought me to the final step of One to One Discipleship: application. My application for this passage flows out of the the Main Point: take advantage of every opportunity God gives us to know him more.  Specifically, I will get my nose into the Book every day and get my seat into the pew every time the Word is being opened.  I don’t want to miss Jesus’ gracious offer of himself!

The simple acts of reading, praying and sitting under Gospel preaching seem minor, but when they are done with faithfulness and intentionality these humble means become the doorway to receiving God himself! So I encourage you to invite a fellow believer to engage in One-to-One discipleship together and experience this joy for yourself.

Belonging to a church means committing to a group of sinners, so you should expect offenses. But belonging to a church also means committing to God's plans for his redeemed people, which means you should respond to offenses much differently than the world. The Lord's desire for a unified church is clear in the Bible:

If God's mandate for the church is loving unity, you need to think carefully about how to respond when you are offended. First, I want to offer some general, biblically-based rules for offenses, and then some practical ways to help you navigate specific situations.

I. Four Biblical Rules

James tells us to confess our faults to each other (James 5:16). One who has committed an offense has but one valid decision to make, namely, to confess his error. Confess personal sins personally to God, and private offenses privately to the offended party.

According to Matthew 5:23-24, it is imperative that we are reconciled to our brother. We should follow this command anytime we become aware that a brother has been offended by us. If we always die on the hill called “I have not done anything wrong” we lack self-awareness, both of our own sin and the way we affect others, and this only makes the problem worse. It is our duty to go and listen, regardless of whether we feel like we did anything wrong.

The expression means that forgiveness should be endless. The parable that follows (Matthew 18:23-25) reminds us that the basis and means of our forgiving others is God’s gracious forgiveness of our sin. Our forgiveness to other believers is not based on whether or not we feel they deserve it, but on the fact that even though we did not deserve it, God forgives us in Christ. As Paul writes, “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.” (Ephesians 4:32)

Why is this rule applicable to offenses? Because Christians who know how to love well - whose love for others is shaped by the cross - will offend less, apologize and forgive faster, and be less offended.

II. Some Practical Measures

Below are some specific approaches to handling offenses, particularly aimed at those who find themselves offended.

David does this in Psalm 7:3-5, granting his enemies worst desires for him if he is in the wrong. Think about the fact that David is living in the Ancient Near East pursued by war lords who wanted to brutally kill him and his family (perhaps this is a bit worse than whatever you are annoyed by right now) and even in that he evaluates his own innocence before the Lord.

I am not suggesting you gossip. But I am suggesting you find a single, wise voice to give you feedback. Find the person in your life who is the shock-absorber in the room, the person who doesn't always follow her emotions but has mastery over them, the person who slows others down and makes them think. Their wisdom can help you (Proverbs 13:20).

Love is hopeful about others (1 Corinthians 13:6). This doesn't mean Christians must be naive, but it does rule out of bounds the perennial cynicism that unfortunately is all too common in the church. If you have an easily excited imagination, you may have ran through all the worse-case scenarios in your mind about how much the offender is out to get you, but have you imagined any scenarios in which you simply misunderstood them?

 
Not every offense demands a series of reconciliation meetings. Sometimes, you just need to get over it quickly. Love helps with this, according to Peter (1 Peter 4:8). If the offense is serious enough that you need some sort of reconciliation, then talk with the specific person that has offended you, but do so in a way that really seeks reconciliation, not to tell them off, or to simply feel better about yourself. If you seek out an offender and your primary intent is self-justification, you will most assuredly get what you want, but you will not get your brother or sister.

Stewardship; a means of sacrifice or a means of gain

"Then Mary took about a pint of expensive perfume, made of pure nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was going to betray Him, asked, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold for three hundred denarii and the money given to the poor?”

Did you know that stewardship is never neutral? In John 12, we are told the tale of two types of stewardship that could not have been any more different – on one hand is Mary the sister of Martha and Lazarus and on the other hand is Judas Iscariot. Both are in the same room with Jesus, but their hearts toward money and possessions reflect a major contrast.
Mary takes a jar of very expensive perfume (worth nearly a year’s wages) and pours it on Jesus’ feet and devotedly wipes them with her hair. To some in that room, what Mary did seemed inappropriate or even irresponsible, but for Mary, it was the most reasonable response to the one who raised her brother from the dead and to the one who was soon going to give His own life for the whole world.
Her stewardship was not about hoarding or preservation; instead, it was about sacrificial love. Mary took a huge risk with what she had: her perfume, her hair, her reputation. She held her resources loosely and used them to glorify Christ, showing us that true stewardship is not merely about managing money well but about aligning our finances, our stewardship with our worship.
Judas, on the other hand, looks at the same act and in his disgust, sees waste. He complains that the perfume should have been sold, and the money given to the poor. At face value, Judas’ words sound decent and orderly, even somewhat generous. However, Jesus knew the truth and John lets his readers in on the truth about Judas, he did not remotely care about the poor.
Judas was looking out for himself, as he regularly stole from the ministerial coffers. While Mary practiced sacrificial generosity, Judas was consumed with worldly gain. Judas’ poor stewardship revealed his true heart, a heart enslaved to greed and self-focus. In time, this perspective would lead him to his greatest downfall - betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (personal gain).
The contrast between Mary and Judas is striking. John uses great imagery: Mary’s gift filled the house with fragrance, while Judas’ words filled it with tension. Mary left behind the aroma of sacrificial worship; Judas left the stench of self-serving gain.
The example of Mary and Judas reminds us again, that stewardship is never neutral. It reveals what we truly treasure as seen in the words of Jesus, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Faithful stewardship as seen in the example of Mary means generosity, sacrifice, and an overwhelming willingness to use what God has given us for His glory. Bad stewardship disguises selfishness behind practicality and decent words and values personal gain more than Christ Himself.
So where does this leave us? The question is not only whether we track our expenses or save wisely; those things are wise to practice, but stewardship goes deeper. The real question is whether our financial lives reflect love for Jesus. Do we give Christ and His church our first and best, faithfully and sacrificially as Mary did, or instead, like Judas, do we keep our resources to ourselves?
At the end of the day, what we do with the resources God has entrusted us with will either leave behind the pleasant fragrance of sacrifice or the disgusting smell of gain.

P.S. I would be amiss if I left out the irony of Christ’s words in Matthew’s gospel regarding Mary’s sacrifice in contrast of Judas’ behavior “Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.”

Katie and I are honored to have the privilege of sharing with our home church what we have shared with churches all over the country for the last 4 ½ years. What we will do this Sunday is what we feel the Scriptures encourage us to do in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;

Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.”

In His mercy and love, God is eager to provide comfort to His children in any and all circumstances. Whatever the trial we face, our Heavenly Father knows the situation and offers comfort as needed. The fact that He is the God of all comfort teaches that all comfort ultimately comes from Him. He is our source of peace and happiness and blessing.

In turn, God wants His comfort to flow through those who have received it to those in need of it. We may think of it as a "comfort cycle," where God's comforting presence enables Christians to become instruments of hope and support for others experiencing difficulties, thereby extending God's love and grace.

I encourage you to reach out to anyone you can think of who may be dealing with the grief of loss and invite them to join you this Sunday. And please don’t be discouraged if they turn down your invitation. There could be any number of valid reasons for their refusal. If that’s the case, encourage them to watch the livestream. Some may feel more comfortable taking in the service from the privacy of their own homes, and that’s understandable. It could be they’re just not ready to deal with their grief publicly. That has been the case in almost every church that has held a Walking Through Grief Sunday, and that may be the case for some in our own church family. But regardless of how or when or where they take in the truth of God’s Word presented from 2 Corinthians 12, please pray they will be ministered to by “the God of all comfort.”

This Sunday, we’ll open John 13:1–17 together—a passage where Jesus shocks His disciples by taking up the towel and washing their feet. It’s a moment that teaches us, not just about humility, but about the heart of Christian service.

In this text, three things stand out:

The Motivation for Service is Love (v. 1). “Having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” Real service doesn’t begin with duty or guilt, but with love. Christ’s love for us frees and fuels our love for others.

The Model for Service is Jesus (vv. 2–11). “He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet.” The King of glory stooped down to wash dirty feet. He didn’t cling to His rights but gave us a living picture of servant-hearted leadership.

The Mandate for Service is Clear (vv. 12–17). “If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” Service isn’t optional for the Christian; it’s the way of discipleship.

As we prepare to gather on the Lord’s Day, let me encourage you:

Come ready to serve. Church isn’t just about receiving; it’s about giving. Look for someone to encourage, pray with, or simply greet with warmth.

Let love shape your worship. Just as Jesus’ love compelled Him to serve, let His love for you overflow into how you sing, listen, and fellowship.

See the gathering as practice. Sunday isn’t the only time we serve, but it’s a weekly reminder. As we wash one another’s figurative feet, we’re being shaped into the likeness of Christ.

This Lord’s Day, let’s come not asking, “What will I get out of it?” but, “Whom can I serve because Christ has served me?”

One of the highlights of the year at Fellowship Baptist Church is the annual missions conference. Growing up at my church back home, I always looked forward to this time. The Sunday before missions conference, a small model of our church building, handmade by a long-term member, was placed on the communion table, attended by small flags from all over the world sticking out of it. It always excited me, as I knew we were about to meet families going all over the globe to tell people about Jesus. I have never lost that sense of excitement, and gearing up for our own missions conference is just as thrilling to me, now decades later.

But we are four months removed from the conference, and I think it is easy to become less involved in the lives of our missionaries. I want to begin by giving you two reasons for being interested in missions around the year, and I will end by giving you some practical steps to stay plugged into our missions ministry.

Two Reasons

First, you should care about our missions ministry all year long because our missionaries depend on your giving all year long. It's easy to think about missions during our conference, and that could be when you are most faithful to give. But those on the field need funds just as badly the rest of the year. We will be most faithful to give if our heart is most invested in the people and ministries we are giving toward, and this necessitates staying up to date with these people and ministries. It is harder to drop off in your giving if you know this leads to real world effects downstream for missionaries you truly care about.

Second, you should be invested in missions all the time because our missionaries are in spiritual warfare. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:17-18, "But we, brethren, being taken from you for a short time in presence, not in heart, endeavoured the more abundantly to see your face with great desire. Wherefore we would have come unto you, even I Paul, once and again; but Satan hindered us." Do you not think Satan is still at work trying to interrupt evangelism and church planting today? If you know he is, then you know our missionaries need our prayers. But you also know that we do not tend to pray for people we never think about. If you miss connection group for a month, your morning quiet time will most likely not be filled with prayers for people in your group. If you do not keep up with our missionaries you will not pray for them much either.

Those are two basic reasons you ought to keep up with our missionaries. Here are some practical ways to stay engaged.

Three Suggestions

First, prioritize attending services when we host missionaries. This Sunday evening, we are blessed to have Dallas Brown with us in services. He is a dedicated missionary to Burkina Faso, a 63% Muslim country in Africa. I hope you plan on attending Sunday evening services all the time (I have written about that in the past!) But this Sunday evening will be extra special as we get to hear from this brother missionary.

Second, read the missions update toward the end of the Midweek. In other words, scroll down on this very page, and see who you can pray for this week. When it is available, I am going to start listing the missionary's contact information so you can let them know you are praying for them. Missionaries and church planters are often shocked to be told their letters are read and specific prayers are being made for them. This can be very encouraging.

Third, become friends with our missionaries on Facebook if they have an active presence. We often complain about the woes of social media, and there are many to complain about. However one blessing of Facebook is getting real time updates from our missionaries.You can go through our missions booklet we gave out this Spring and see how many of them are online. Some of them even post videos that will give you a really good idea of what ministry is like in their field.

One Aspiration

In 2 Corinthians 7:3, Paul told the church at Corinth: "you are in our hearts." I love that little phrase tucked away in this verse. It is just glorious. I trust you attend and enjoy our missions conference - even that you look forward to it. It would be a delight if you pick up prayer cards, meet missionaries at their tables, watch their presentations, and come to the missions banquet each year. But much more than that, I hope that by the end of your Christian life, you will have cultivated relationships with a few missionaries so deep that they can say you, brother or sister, were in their hearts.

If you’ve been part of our Sunday morning services, you’ve noticed that we usually end with a benediction. But have you ever wondered why we do that—and what it means?

A benediction isn’t just a polite or poetic way to say goodbye. The word itself comes from the Latin bene (“good”) and dicere (“to speak”), meaning “a good word.” In the Bible, a benediction is a blessing—God’s own good word—spoken over His people as they go.

This practice is as old as God’s covenant with His people. In Numbers 6:24–26, God told Aaron and his sons to speak these words over Israel after worship: The LORD bless thee, and keep thee: The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. When that blessing was pronounced, God promised, “And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27). In other words, a benediction is not just a wish—it’s a reminder and assurance of God’s care, grace, and presence for His people.

The New Testament continues this pattern. Paul regularly closed his letters to churches with Spirit-inspired blessings:

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all” (Romans 16:20).

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all” (2 Corinthians 13:14).

From the earliest days of Christian worship, pastors would close gatherings with a blessing from Scripture. The practice became a fixed part of worship in many traditions by the second and third centuries.

When Baptist churches began forming in the 1600s, they inherited much of their worship structure from the Reformed and Puritan congregations of England, which almost always ended with a Scriptural benediction. Early Baptist pastors viewed it as both biblical and pastoral—a way to send God’s people into the world under His blessing.

In the American colonies and the Great Awakening era, Baptist meeting houses often had simple services with singing, prayer, preaching, and always a final word of blessing before dismissal. Nineteenth-century Baptist hymnals and worship manuals even printed suggested benedictions, often drawn directly from Paul’s letters, to guide pastors in this closing act of worship.

So when we use a benediction today, we are joining not only with the pattern of Scripture but also with centuries of believers—Baptist and otherwise—who have stood together to receive God’s blessing before scattering into their week.

We end our service with a benediction because worship isn’t meant to stay in the building. The benediction reminds us that when we walk out those doors, we are not dismissed—we are sent. We leave under God’s blessing and in His power, ready to live for Christ in our homes, workplaces, schools, and community.

That’s why, when we come to the benediction, it’s not a time to gather your things or mentally shift to lunch plans. Instead, lift your head, still your heart, and receive God’s parting word to you. Think of it like a parent sending a child off for the day—not just waving goodbye, but sending them with encouragement, love, and confidence. That’s what God is doing for His people each Sunday.

So next time we close the service with a benediction, let it land on you. Let it be God’s truth ringing in your ears and resting on your heart. And then go into your week, not just “done with church,” but sent in the grace and peace of Christ.

A recurring frustration for members of a local church is the thought "I wish I could have been there for _________ before he left the church." We think about what we could have said, how we could have listened, or simply the ways we may have noticed that someone was slipping.

There are struggling sheep. Some are struggling with their faith in God. Others are up to their necks in a tragedy and it ends up affecting their commitment to the church family. Others are frustrated with something going on in the church, and that frustration builds until they choose to go somewhere else, and perhaps it was not even known to you they were having problems.

Then there are straying sheep. These are the ones losing the fight with unrepentant sin. The loss of straying sheep is the most heart-breaking loss of all.

We need to be proactive to these struggling and straying sheep, not just reactive. The article below is from 9 Marks, a ministry focused on building healthy churches. While this piece by Eric Brown focuses more on helping people before a church practices official excommunication, and thus many things here do not really fit our regular practice at Fellowship, it is still a thought-provoking essay that can equip our church family to focus on people before problems get out of hand. I hope it is helpful to you.

You can read the piece here.

We are no strangers to preparation. Just about everything that we do requires some measure of preparation. If we are taking a trip, clothes need to be washed, the house needs to be picked up so as to not come home from the trip to a mess, and the vehicle may need an oil change or a tire rotation. When I first got into golf about a year ago, I would prepare for my round of golf. I would spend the evening prior to the round making sure my clubs were clean, had enough tees and golf balls (I tend to lose those to the course a lot), and that my on the bag club cleaner had plenty of water so that I could clean my clubs throughout the round. All in all it took around 30 minutes just to get prepared for the next day’s round of golf.

Sadly, while we prepare for many other things in life, even non-consequential things like golf, we often neglect to prepare for something as important as the Sunday morning church gathering. You and I may have our routines that we go through on Saturday and Sunday’s before church, but do we really prepare?

Over the next two weeks I want to give you some help in this area. Today’s article will focus on how we should prepare for the Sunday morning church gathering the day before. I mean, we prepare for trips the days leading up to it, why not prepare for the Sunday morning gathering the day before? Next week I will focus on how we can prepare on the morning of the Sunday morning church gathering.

Prepare Through Prayer

One of the best ways you can prepare for the next days worship service is by spending some time in prayer about it the day before. First, spend time praying that the Lord would make you sensitive to the needs of the people in your church family before you meet on the following day. This is a biblical idea. Paul said in Philippians 2:4, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” We do not go to church in isolation. We gather with our church family. Praying this way can protect you from showing up on Sunday morning with a “me, me, me” mindset. It can shift your focus away from only going to church to consume, but to serve your church family. Ask the Lord, “Who around me is hurting, struggling, needing encouragement, needs a friend, etc?” The Lord could lead you into a conversation with another church member that you don’t typically talk to and it could be a real blessing to them. The Lord could lead you to someone who is hurting and that might prompt you to pray for them. The possibilities of how God may use you in the life of another church member is endless. Spend time praying the day before for God to make you sensitive to those around you and their needs.

Second, spend time in confession. Ask the Lord to reveal to you ways in which you are living in disobedience to him and confess those things to the Lord so that you can enter the Sunday morning worship services without anything hindering your time of worship and hearing from the Lord. But don’t we do this on Sunday mornings already? Can I not just do it then? True, there is a time of confession every Lord’s day during the Sunday morning gathering. It is a blessing to corporately confess sins and receive mercy together. I don’t want to take away from that. But why wait until half way through the service to confess our sins and experience God’s cleansing (1 John 1:9)? Spend some time in confession the night before so that you show up to the Sunday morning gathering cleansed and ready to receive.

Prepare Your Wardrobe

I can’t reference any verses to support me on this, but this is practically helpful nonetheless. By “Prepare Your Wardrobe” I don’t mean that you have to wear the fanciest things you own to the Sunday morning gathering week after week. I am not even saying that everything needs to be pressed and in pristine condition. Obviously what we wear should be appropriate and fitting for the occasion, but let each person be persuaded in their own minds how much starch to use on their clothing articles!

What I am saying is select your clothes the day before and set them out so that you don’t have to waste mental energy on deciding on it the day of. Why risk getting in a huff before the Sunday morning church gathering simply because you cannot decide what to wear? This idea can be especially helpful for parents. A lot of stress can be avoided on Sunday mornings by simply deciding the day before what your children will wear to church the day of.

Prepare With Sleep

D.A. Carson once said, “Sometimes the godliest thing you can do in the universe is get a good night’s sleep—not pray all night, but sleep.” I wonder how much of the spiritual coldness we tend to wake up with is a result of simply not getting enough sleep every night. I understand that certain schedules demand less sleep, but those schedules are the exception to the rule. Most of us don’t get the sleep we need not because we are really serving the Lord or people, but because we can’t put the phone, iPad, remote, or book away. If we want to show up to the Sunday gathering refreshed and ready for all that God has for us and all the people need from us, we must get rest.

One thing that my family has decided is that on Saturday’s we are going stay in. No movie dates. No having people over or going over to someone’s house. We stay in and we ensure that we get to go to bed at the time that we want. Sure there are exceptions from time to time, but making Saturday evenings before the Sunday morning church gathering our social hour is not our norm.

Going to bed early will help you not just be ready and refreshed for the following day, but it will enable you to wake up on Sunday morning early enough to not feel rushed trying to get to church. So, put the device away an hour before bed, set the clothes out for the next morning, decide what you will have for breakfast, and go to bed. It will help you more than you could ever imagine with your approach to the Sunday gathering the next day.

In conclusion, on Saturday, prepare for the following Lord’s day with prayer, getting your wardrobe ready, and getting plenty of sleep. Next week we will consider how to prepare for the Sunday morning worship service on the day of before you head to church.