At-Home Service Guide

Below is a worship guide to consider for your family worship. One of the rhythms of grace we desire to cultivate at GLBC is family worship in our homes. We believe the Bible particularly holds fathers responsible for leading their families, and for mothers when their husbands are unable for any reason.

Below is a worship guide to consider using, but feel free to use whatever your family usually does. It is based on the sermon last week from Matthew 13:3-9, 13:18-23, so if you haven't had a chance to listen to the message from last week, be sure to do so!

1. Read Psalm 1
2. Pray together.
   • Consider praying through our prayer calendar.
     January Prayer Calendar 
3. Sing Together
   • Songs to consider
     In Christ Alone by Keith & Kristyn Getty
     Is He Worthy? by Andrew Peterson
4. Read and Discuss James 1:19-27
5. Questions to consider (the questions will depend on the age of children):
   • "James offers timeless wisdom on sinful anger and hasty speech (vv. 19–20). He then broadens out the exhortation, calling on believers to “get rid of all moral filth” and cultivate the implanted Word of God (v. 21). For the genuine Christian, the Word of God has a lasting and growing presence in their life. Verse 22 provides a succinct summary of many themes in the letter: “Do not merely listen to the word [of God], and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Superficial, nominal, non-transforming faith is not saving faith. Just as a mirror reveals what our faces look like, so the Word of God reveals who we really are and calls us to repentance, faith, and obedience. “The perfect law that gives freedom” (v. 25) is the Old Testament Scriptures as fulfilled and interpreted by Jesus (cf. Mt 5:17). True freedom is found in obedience to Jesus, something that is only possible for the Spirit-empowered, born-again believer. True religion, warns James, is not a matter of thinking oneself to be religious. True religion, in God’s eyes, is keeping away from wickedness (e.g., evil speech, various moral pollutions in the world) and aligning oneself in word and deed with the priorities of God (e.g., caring for those in society who face the direst material circumstances)." (The NIV Grace and Truth Study Bible, Robert Plummer)
     • What is the right response of a child of God to the Word of God? Why?
     • In the arena of faith, how are the actions of “hearing” and “doing” different? How are they related?
     • What must we do to properly receive God’s Word (v. 21)? How do we do this?
     • What examples does James give as behavior indicative of true faith? Why do you think he chooses these particular actions?
   • "As important as the proper reception of the Word of God is, without obedience to its truths it is not only without benefit, but also becomes a further judgment against its readers. Obedience to the Word is the most basic spiritual requirement and is the common denominator for all true believers. The bottom line of true spiritual life is not a momentary feeling of compliance or commitment, but long-term obedience to Scripture.Genuine believers receive Christ and continue in Him. They hear His Word and do it. They know His commandments, and they keep them. They do not claim to know God yet deny Him with their deeds. The validation of salvation is a life of obedience. It is the only possible proof that a person really knows Jesus Christ. If one does not obey Christ as a pattern of life, then professing to know Him is an empty verbal exercise." (John MacArthur, James)
     • Reflect on your life and habits. Do your actions show that you have received Christ and are following Him in obedience?
     • Are you aware of any specific situations in your life in which you are not doing what you know God’s Word calls you to do? Why the reluctance on your part to obey? Ask God to bring about His desired transformation in your life.
6. Sing together.
   • Songs to consider
     All My Boast is in Jesus by Matt Boswell and Matt Papa
7. Pray together.

I pray that your time with your family and those around you will be filled with the Spirit as we lift high the Name of Jesus in our homes!
Daniel

C.S. Lewis in his book Surprised by Joy referred to an attitude he called "Chronological Snobbery" where current generations look back to past ideas with a kind of haughty attitude of superiority. This haughty attitude assumes that we could never have made the same mistakes. It assumes that the intellectual climate of modern people has ascended out of past illusions.¹ It's often true that the very thing a society looks down their nose at people of the past can be hypocritically seen in their own day. Our society as a whole stands back aghast at the atrocities of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, and this is right and good. Our society looks down our proverbial noses at those of the past and wonders with amazement, "How could this have happened? How could you have stood by and done nothing?"

As Christians, we live in a day that calls for sober-minded awareness (1 Peter 5:8-9), and the church is meant to stand for truth and prophetically herald the "good news" of our Savior's life, death, burial, and resurrection for sinners. She is meant to stand prophetically against wrong as she prophetically proclaims Christ (Revelation 19:10). I was recently pointed to an article from the New York Times about an Abortion clinic in our area. (I know that not everyone will read this article from the New York Times because of the pay wall, but the article is linked below.)

New York Times Article – A Blessing of Abortion
 
"A Baptist minister, a Presbyterian pastor and a Jewish cantor held burning incense as they walked quietly through the empty, white-walled clinic. They blessed the exam tables and their stirrups, the boxes of disposable gowns and the cushioned chairs in the recovery room, where women are moved after their abortions." – A Blessing of Abortion

It's hard to write an oxymoronic title like, "A Blessing of Abortion." The height of human hypocrisy coddles what God condemns. The height of human hypocrisy blesses that which is evil. It calls evil that which is good.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matthew 23:27-28) 

A white-washed tomb looks clean on the outside yet inwardly filled with bones. On the outside they're clean and by all appearances look “good” for all to see. But inwardly they are gross. Inwardly they are dead. The illustration is powerful and prophetic to those walking the "white-walled clinic." White-washed tombs "blessing" white-washed walls of death. What greater condemnation exists for people who "bless" what God hates? What does a society look like under judgment? We’re witnessing it. We’re seeing a generation that would prefer the millstone hung around their neck than to speak for the unborn.

"Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matthew 18:5-6)

What greater stumbling block could exist than taking the life of a baby? What greater atrocity than destroying what God loves? This article goes far beyond abortion. It actually "blesses" it. This New York Times article should be a stench to the Christian. It should reek in the nostrils of those who wish to honor Christ. Yet in the article they go beyond affirming to try and "bless" it. As God spoke through the prophet Isaiah to the people of Israel, 

"When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood." (Isaiah 1:15) 

May God have mercy on the society that puts up with gross immorality in His name. 

Christians are meant to proclaim the truth of the gospel prophetically against sin and unrighteousness. God is not pleased with the silence of his people when there is clear sin. I am not saying that every Christian needs to speak out in the same way about this issue. But there is a kind of silence that reflects an inward approval. There is a silence that refuses to speak because of fear of what people think of us. It says, "What happens if they think I'm a bigot? What happens if they think I'm a fundamentalist?" These kinds of accusations are used to keep Christians silent. Andrew Walker has helpfully observed something about our Western culture that we would do well to pay attention to, "Our culture tolerates a Christian faith that aligns with its values but resists a Christian faith that challenges it. Christianity, at its core, is meant to do both—comfort and confront. If your Christianity is getting celebrated in the highest echelons of culture, maybe that's a sign that something is a bit off."²

There is a kind of silence that a Christian must turn from and by faith learn to speak. It will not only be those who participate in abortion who will be judged but those who silently stand by and give approval.

“Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Romans 1:32).

It's not just the practice of evil, but approving those who do that will also be condemned. Abortion is sacrificing children on the altar of convenience in a world of self-worship. I pray for the day that I can drive into Maryland and stop explaining to my son why people want to kill their babies. A friend of mine always recounts a story that Erwin Lutzer cites in his book and I will quote it at length. Lutzer describes how some Christians in Nazi Germany handled the knowledge that the holocaust was happening. They handled it by essentially plugging their ears by "singing louder" to drown out the noise of knowing what was happening. Notice what he says...

"I lived in Germany during the Nazi Holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. We heard stories of what was happening to the Jews, but we tried to distance ourselves from it, because what could anyone do to stop it?

A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we could hear the whistle in the distance and then the wheels coming over the tracks. We became disturbed when we heard the cries coming from the train as it passed by. We realized that it was carrying Jews like cattle in the cars!

Week after week the whistle would blow. We dreaded to hear the sound of those wheels because we knew that we would hear the cries of the Jews en route to a death camp. Their screams tormented us.

We knew the time the train was coming, and when we heard the whistle blow we began singing hymns. By the time the train came past our church, we were singing at the top of our voices. If we heard the screams, we sang more loudly and soon we heard them no more.

Years have passed, and no one talks about it anymore. But I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. God forgive me; forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians yet did nothing to intervene."³

Some Christian's during this time had the solution, "Sing louder, so we cannot hear what we know is happening." May it never be said of genuine Christians that we have stood by and silently gave our approval of a great evil. Let us never take the posture of "Sing louder" so that we try to drown out the realities we know are happening all around us. 

 "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God." (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)

Unrighteousness will not dwell in the kingdom of God. The kind of unrighteousness we see displayed all around us, but especially the unrighteousness that is found in the heart of man will not enter the kingdom of God. No matter how many false prophets come to "bless" something that God defines as evil. So what hope do we have? The only hope that anyone has is the mercy of God our Savior. God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance (Romans 2:4). It's His mercy, and kindness to the helpless, shown in a crucified Savior that takes the place of sinners that we see His kindness. It's Jesus' mercy in drinking down the wrath of God on sin. It's this kindness and mercy that is meant to lead the sinner to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. The way a person responds to the kindness of God reveals their heart posture.

"And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1 Corinthians 6:11)

Paul says that all people, Christian and non-Christian, were at one time slaves to the sin that prevented us from coming into the kingdom of God. But it was the loving kindness of God our Savior that "washed" the sinner. The loving-kindness of God regenerates the sinner from death to life (Ephesians 2:1-6). The loving-kindness of God sets the believer apart from sin and unto Himself. The loving-kindness of God that declares the sinner righteous in Jesus Christ. Even the most vile of sinners can be made truly righteous. But don't be deceived, it is NOT through the veiled religiosity of white-washed tombs. Don't be deceived, it will not come from the secular priests seeking to cover the gross immorality of the death of children. It is only through the blood of Jesus that sinners are made truly clean.

"For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:6-8)

"Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. 'Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.'" (Isaiah 1:16-18)

It's only through faith in this crucified and risen Savior that the sinner is made right before a Holy God.

What should we do in light of all this? I would contend that there are several action steps for a Christian to take.

Turn and Trust – We need to first examine our lives and see if this form of sinful silence exists within us. Then we need to turn from it (repentance) and cling to Christ. Part of this clinging to Christ must relinquish the things we view as "socially acceptable" to talk about. If you're a Christian, your life is Christ's. He is your Master and Head, so we don't have the prerogative to determine what is acceptable to talk about, He does (Matthew 10:34-39). To find your life is to lose it. But to lose your life for Jesus’ sake is to find it. This beautiful paradox is the Christian life. As we die to sin and live to Christ, we find life. Remembering Jesus and Him crucified for sinners is the path forward in this issue.

Pray – I cannot emphasize this enough. Pray for these things yourself. Encourage your church leaders to pray. Pray for those who delight in taking the life of the unborn. Pray for the Lord to bring conviction of the Holy Spirit upon them. Pray that the body of Christ (local churches) would care for those involved in the lives of the unborn. Pray that the church would care deeply about this issue and reflect the heart of her Savior. Pray that the Lord will providentially stop this great injustice.

Support – Consider how to support the pro-life cause of protecting the unborn. You could do this in a myriad of ways (i.e. supporting a pregnancy resource center, serving within your local church to help young mothers...). There is NOT one solution, but many for speaking for the life of the unborn. I want to suggest a more governing form of support which may initially sound counter-intuitive. You ought to first ask, "Does my local church reflect the heart of Christ in this way?" You may think, "Of course my local church does!" But I would contend that the silence of many local churches on this topic proves that many churches do not support the life of the unborn. Please do not just leave your local church if you think they do not support it. But consider talking with your pastors about how your church is speaking in the face of deafening silence. Hear me again: do not assume or merely become a critique, but you may be surprised that your local church does not share the heart of Christ in this area for the life of the unborn. You may be surprised that your local church is not even aware of this issue in your community. 

^1. Surprised by Joy, C.S. Lewis (page 156), "the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is on that account discredited...one passes to the realization that our own age is also ‘a period’, and certainly has, like all periods, its own characteristic illusions."
^2. Andrew Walker comments on the recent passing of President Jimmy Carter where he helpfully observed this reality.
^3. When a Nation Forgot God by Erwin Lutzer

Jack became a Christian at age seventeen. He met Jill when he was 24 and married for 11 years. They have been happily married in an American middle-class dream way. Yet beneath it all they have long-standing bouts of relational anger. Jack is a high achiever and hard worker. He drives his family to perform with high standards. When he doesn’t get the results he wants (things like Jill’s affection, his supervisor's approval, and his daughter's obedience), he explodes. He explodes with blazing hot anger. His anger is like a volcano.¹
‌
This is typically the scene we think of when we talk on the subject of anger. Jill has an anger problem too. Inside she resents Jack for the demands he places upon her. She murmurs to herself in frustration. Upset that she ever got herself in a relationship in the first place. Her anger is ice-cold. Her anger is like the Arctic. Jack and Jill are more angry than they would care to admit.²

Let me give you a hypothetical situation about Jack and Jill. The next Sunday they both come to church. On the outside, they both get dressed up. Yet inwardly, they are just as angry at one another. The pastor stands up at the end of the message to give an invitation to come forward. He says, "If you have anything you need to lay down here at the altar, come forward!" Both Jack and Jill come forward and confess their sin to God and with tears and sorrow they say inwardly, "God, I'm sorry for my sin, please forgive me." They go home still as angry at one another as the week before. This pattern continues for several months until Jack and Jill are on the verge of divorce. What are we to make of this situation? How should we think of it? 

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells His followers what kind of people will be in the kingdom of God. He lays out what His followers will be like. Jesus shows how He has "not come to abolish them but to fulfill" (Matt 5:17). Using the Old Testament law he gives six examples (Matt 5:21-48) of how He has fulfilled the law to its intended purpose. The first example he gives is concerning murder.

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. (Matthew 5:21-22)

Jesus raises the standard far above that of the Old Testament law. He asserts that anger is equal to murder. To be angry with a brother is to murder a brother. No different than Cain in the OT (Genesis 4:1-16). The two words there for insult are, "[Raka] expresses contempt for a man’s head=you stupid! [Mōre] expresses contempt for his heart and character=you scoundrel.”³ These words spoken express the heart of the angry person toward a brother. For Jesus, anger within the community of God is a significant problem. So, what is anger?

In his book, Uprooting Anger, Robert Jones defines anger as a “whole-personed active response of negative moral judgment against perceived evil.”⁴ Anger is not something that passively happens to us which sounds like, “They made me angry!” or “I was angry because of ____________.” Anger always reveals what is within us. It always reveals our beliefs about God, ourselves, others, and the world. We get angry when what we most love is shaken. We get angry when what we value is taken from us. Jesus' answer to this includes a principle and a process to get rid of anger. We will first consider the principle and then move to consider the process.

"Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered." (1 Peter 3:7, ESV)
‌
A husband's prayers can be hindered because they are at odds with their wife. Now picture with me for a minute Jack from earlier. The guy who continually blows up on his wife. Picture him saying something like, “I don’t understand why God feels distant. I come forward to the altar, but nothing I do seems to help.” He has continued to blow up on his wife and never sought reconciliation. His problem is not with the altar call. It's with his anger toward his wife.

The plea from most altar calls sounds something like, "Come forward and deal with God." But particularly with anger, Jesus tells us the exact opposite. He doesn't say, "Come to the altar!" He says, "Go to your brother, and reconcile!" There are three steps in this process...

‌"leave your gift there before the altar…" (Matthew 5:24, ESV)
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Step 1 - Leave Your Gift at the Altar
‌What is a gift?
‌I would argue that any act of worship could be considered a gift (Romans 12:1). It could be anything as simple as giving gifts of money, helping the poor, or corporate singing. What should Jack or Jill do when they are convicted the next Sunday at service? They should get up and leave the worship service. Or turn to one another and seek forgiveness before anything else happens. He would rather you leave your gift at the altar and be restored than receive worship from you.
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‌"First go and be reconciled to them…" (Matthew 5:24, NIV)
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Step 2 - Go! Be Reconciled.
In a culture that says, “Just cut them off”, “Get rid of that person out of your life”, or “You don’t need that kind of negativity.” Cancel culture is ONE step removed from full-blown homicide. Viewing relationships as toxic with the need to "cut them off" is an anti-Christian agenda. Which needs the reconciling nature of the gospel to heal it.

The command to “Go!” emphasizes the command to be reconciled quickly.  One of the best ploys of the evil one is to convince the Christian to linger. We rationalize in our minds, "I'll deal with it next week." or "I'll wait for them to come to me." But none of this will work. To continue to linger and stew in anger will only harm your soul. Don’t linger in iniquity. Jesus tells them, "Go! Go now! Go and Be Reconciled!"
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‌"…and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:24, ESV)
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Step 3 - Then Offer Your Gift.
‌The conclusion of the reconciliation is restored worship to God. The answer then is not to stop offering your gifts of worship! The answer is to first be reconciled and then worship! What does this mean for people like Jack and Jill? It means that they need the forgiving and empowering grace of God to live. It means for all of us that we need the forgiving and empowering grace of God! Worship becomes a false appearance if we’ve offended others. If we have offended others, our worship is vain. Christian, God would rather have you have your brother or sister than He would have your gift. In the economy of the kingdom, money is not that important. God is not poor. He doesn’t need your gift. A high priority within the economy of God is reconciliation with your brother. Your brother is of more importance than your gift.

We need to consider leaving our gift at the altar in the same way that Jesus left our sins at the cross. This word that is used for “leave” literally means to leave behind. In other contexts, this is how God describes our sins in Jesus Christ (this is just a sampling, Matt 9:6, Matt 18:27, Mark 2:7; Luke 5:21, Luke 5:24, Luke 7:49, John 20:23). God in Christ Jesus has left behind our sins at the cross. He no longer picks them up and holds them against us any longer because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. God is calling us to leave behind the gift we are making in the same way that God has left behind our sins. Set down your gift, seek forgiveness, and then offer your gift. When we continue to give gifts like everything is fine, we continue to hold on to our sins and refuse reconciliation.

John tells the believers in 1 John 3, "For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous...We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers." (1 John 3:11-12, 14-15)

The beginning and end of this process is worship. But the anger stands in between the worship. The most God-honoring thing we can do in some worship services is just leave and be reconciled to a brother. What keeps any generation from a fresh renewal of the Holy Spirit is not "having a meeting", as much as reconciling with a brother. May we continue to reconcile with our brothers and sisters in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

¹ Modified example from, Jones, Robert D. Uprooting Anger: Biblical Help for a Common Problem. (Phillipsburg, N.J: P&R Publications, 2005), 13.  
² Modified example from Jones, Uprooting Anger, 13. 
³ Robertson, A.T. Word Pictures in the New Testament. Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933.
⁴ Jones, Uprooting Anger, 15.
⁵ Carson, D. A. Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and His Confrontation with the World: An Exposition of Matthew 5–10. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 1999)

Here are several resources on the topic of anger that I have found immensely helpful. 

Daniel Sisler

I remember the first time I was told that Santa wasn't real. It was a disorienting feeling to my young mind. Questions raced through my mind: "Who puts the presents under the tree, then? Is Christmas a sham?" All of these thoughts passed through my naive mind. But I came to learn that Christmas wasn't dependent upon Santa coming down the chimney. My young selfish mind was eased to find that the gifts were still there every year. As far as I was concerned, the arrangement was satisfactory because I still received my gifts annually.

To some readers, this article will feel like an assault on their faith. But before dismissing this article as an attack, please consider the words of someone who is just like you. I was raised with the "sinner's prayer." Every summer there would be an evening of "consecration" where we would all be encouraged (at times pressured) into saying "the sinner's prayer." Kids would be pressured to come forward and recite the "sinner's prayer" and receive Jesus into their hearts. There were many good things about those weeks at summer camp. However, this article aims to address some of the shortcomings of this approach.

The sinner's prayer is typically something like this:

"Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior." 
(This was found in Wikipedia)

Many people have been told, "If you pray this prayer, then you're a Christian!" The problem is this prayer is not found anywhere in Scripture. Not only is this prayer not found in Scripture, it has only recently been used in Church history. The words themselves are fine. There is nothing wrong with the words. The problem is that people begin to trust in the words. I have met an untold number of college students who have "prayed the sinner's prayer" and they think they are "Christians" because a pastor, parent, or summer camp worker has told them they are. But when pressed, these same students admit that they are not following Jesus. I want to highlight two main problems with the "Sinner's Prayer" and present one main solution to this problem. 

A misconception is a misunderstanding of an idea, such as "the sinner's prayer." The primary misconception regarding this prayer is their trust in the prayer itself. It's a fine prayer to pray. It's not fine to trust in fact that you prayed it correctly or that the words themselves make you right before God. Often when asked if a person is a Christian or not, they will cite, "I said the sinner's prayer when I was 12" or "I was saved on October 15, 1955." The issue is not that people know the day they were saved. The problem is that people begin to trust the words as though they have some power in themselves. The sinner's prayer can morph into a sort of "Christian" superstitious ritual that we all pray to enter the fold. Some may even repeat it multiple times on different occasions until they feel it "worked." Let me give you an example.

College students love strange facts. The campus I did ministry on was no exception. At one point, a bizarre fact circulated (though it was later debunked): the majority of sloths die annually because they mistake their arm for a branch, causing them to fall to the ground and die. They let go of the branch thinking they have a hold of another one when in fact they are holding onto their arm. Picture this with me: a sloth is hanging in a tree, moving slowly to grab its arm (thinking that it is a branch) only to find how incorrect it is. Though this fact was later debunked, it stands as a powerful analogy for how we sometimes trust rituals like the sinner's prayer, similar to those unfortunate sloths.  A person who is trusting in their confession of faith is like one of those sloths mistaking their arm for a branch. When Christians are instructed to hold on to a confession they made, they will discover how shaky it is. The vast majority of Christians I meet in college ministry have struggled with their faith at some point. I would wager 90% of them because of the misconception of the "sinner's prayer."

A misgiving is a faulty assurance that a person holds. The Bible gives great assurance to the Christian. But what happens if a person has assurance in the wrong thing? What happens when a person's confidence rests in a prayer that the Bible doesn't say should be a firm foundation? Answer: deception or lack of assurance.

Deception. Some who are completely deceived to think they are Christians because they "prayed the prayer." They prayed the prayer as their "get out of jail free card" or "fire insurance" but they had no interest in Jesus Christ of Nazareth. As Tim Keller has mentioned, they see Jesus Christ as "useful rather than beautiful" They see Him as useful to get them out of hell, useful to make their life better, useful to make them better people, useful to a better life, useful to make them rich, or even useful to make them feel better about themselves. Is this where Christians find assurance? No. As Paul Washer chillingly says of the person who is deceived into thinking they're a Christian because of the prayer, "When someone comes along later and tries to preach the Gospel to them because they’re living in the world, they won’t listen."

Lack of Assurance. Then some lack assurance. They lack assurance because they were told to say a prayer, walk an aisle, raise their hand, and sign a card. Despite of this, they have trusted Christ. They are thus saved according to Scripture alone by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone to God's glory alone. They see Jesus Christ as beautiful. They see Jesus Christ as beautiful to bear the wrath of God in the place of sinners (Romans 5:6-11). They see Jesus Christ as beautiful when compared to their sin before a Holy God (Psalm 51:4). In short, our assurance doesn't rest in our flabby confession. It rests in the crucified and risen Savior, who is ruling and reigning at the Father's side. It rests in the grace of our heavenly Father to justify sinners in the death of His Son applied to them by the Holy Spirit. As John says, "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us" (1 John 4:10-12). I would contend that many do not love one another because they have not experienced the love of God in Christ Jesus. This leads me to the solution. 

There are many "sinner's prayers" in Scripture. The blind man in Luke 19 cries out for Jesus to heal him. “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Luke 18:38). Or the thief on the cross crying out to Jesus in his last moments of life, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” (Luke 23:42). Now imagine if you will, one of these characters living another fifty years. Take the man born blind who can now see. Would he just continue to say, "Man, I am so grateful that I prayed that prayer, and Jesus healed me. I know Jesus changed me, but my life is the same as before except for the blindness."  It would be nonsensical to think of one of these examples of Scripture not being radically changed forever. When a person comes to faith they are a new creation in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:17-18) and this new creation radiates all of life. Their right standing with God in Christ now radiates outward to a transformed life in the Spirit.

In the book of Hebrews, the writer continually urges his readers to not revert to their former faith or abandon Christ. And he encourages the believers in Hebrews 3:12-13, "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." We're commanded to exhort one another about the deceitfulness of sin. The person who has truly trusted Christ will flee from the deceitfulness of sin. The person who truly has been convicted of their sin will keep on repenting and keep on trusting. We are not called to trust in our yesterday decision. We are called to warn one another today. The person who has truly come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ does not need to be dragged to heaven. No. We are saved by grace alone (Eph 2:1-10) through faith alone (Rom 3:19-26) in Christ alone (Heb 1:1-4), not by a prayer expressing that faith. We are saved upon the righteous declaration of God for sinners, and not by the flabby expression of that faith.  

He goes on to tell us how we know if we are in Christ, "For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end" (Hebrews 3:14). A person knows that they have shared in Christ when they continue to hold the confession of "Jesus, is Lord!" with a life lived for His glory to the end. The way we know that we are in Christ, is trusting Christ today, and keep on trusting Christ as long as it is called "today." As J. C. Ryle once said (with slight addition), "Tomorrow [and yesterday] is the devil’s day, but today is God’s. Satan does not care how spiritual your intentions are, or how holy your resolutions [past or future] if only they are determined to be done tomorrow [or relied on yesterday]." We are called to cling to Christ today. We behold Him as beautiful and our sin as ugly, today. If you find yourself relying more on a past confession than on a living relationship with Christ, may your experience be similar to my realization about Santa Claus: may your old system of belief be shattered, but may you discover a newfound clarity and confidence in the gift of salvation and eternal life through Jesus Christ, today. 

Daniel Sisler

Every year, as the holiday season approached, Jim couldn't shake off the lingering disappointment that had become a familiar companion. Two years ago, tensions flared over the seemingly innocent matter of when we were meeting for dinner, leading to an unexpected outburst from Uncle Bill. The following year, it was the subtle but pointed remarks exchanged between the cousins that sent ripples of discomfort through the family gathering. It felt like an unspoken tradition, a different form of conflict brewing each year. Amid these familial tensions, Jim found himself pondering, 'Shouldn't this be the time of year when we give thanks and celebrate Christ?' The disconnect between the idealized vision of a joyous holiday season and the recurring stress weighed heavily on him. He thought, 'How is it always so stressful, and how do I avoid being bothered by it?”

The Bible presents hope for people like Jim, in Colossians 3, Paul reminds the believers who they are in Christ. He reminds believers like Jim that they have died with Christ, their current life is hidden in Him, and the hopeful expectation of His appearing (Col 3:1-4). Paul’s leading conclusion for them then is to “set your minds on the things above” (Col 3:2). The question then is: how do we set our minds on Christ this holiday season? Typically during the holiday season, we give ample thought to what we are wearing. (Literally the only time of year I will even entertain the question, “What am I wearing?”) As I have heard suggested to me by one pastor/theologian, the way we set our minds on Christ is to get dressed up. Paul will go on to give two clear commands in Colossians 3:5-14 and they can be summed up with (1) take off the "old man" clothes and (2) put on the "new man" clothing.


Take Off the"Old Man" Clothes
In Pauline thought, the “old man” refers to the sinful nature that dominated us before we came to Christ. This includes our sinful patterns of thinking, unforgiveness, and inordinate values. Paul says to “put to death” (Col 3:5) or as the old KJV says, “mortify” the old man–a term originating from removing clothing. Before we get dressed up it is critical that we take off the old clothing we were wearing, lest we come to Thanksgiving looking like my three year old who dressed himself. This means as we prepare for the stressful holiday season where expectations run high and energy runs low; we need to prepare ourselves by taking off the old attitudes, values, estrangements, and frustrations with family. “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices” (Colossians 3:8-9). We put these things away by repenting and confessing these past frustrations and annoyances prior to our family gathering. But this will be insufficient if we don’t clothe ourselves. So what do we put on?


Put On the "New Man" Clothing
Paul tells us to put on or to “dress”, and “clothe oneself in”, the imagery here again is like placing on a jacket for winter. The “new man” then is the regenerate man that has been transformed in the Holy Spirit (Romans 7:21-25). We are to “put on” by the Holy Spirit the Christlike virtues purchased for us by our Savior. If you approach the holidays remembering your status in Jesus Christ, you will be able to forgive the snide comment from your mother-in-law, you will be able to overlook the disappointments of unmet expectations, and you will be able to rest in Christ by the Spirit. Whether you find yourself resonating with Jim's holiday struggles or not, the call of Christ is to navigate the season with Christlike virtues. As you prepare for Thanksgiving and Christmas, consider the Spirit-wrought character of Christ as your attire, rather than the whiny, fussy, complaining spirit of the world.

Dane Ortlund wisely notes, “The fundamental battle as we roll out of bed each day is to settle in our hearts the deeply counterintuitive truth of Scripture: Our ‘okay-ness,’ our ‘enough-ness,’ our sufficiency, is a gift to be received, not a prize to be earned.”¹ Approach the holidays with this disposition, and you'll find it truly becomes a merry Christmas.

Written by Daniel Sisler
November 22nd, 2023

¹Ortlund, Dane. 2020. “2 Corinthians.” In Romans–Galatians, edited by Iain M. Duguid, James M. Hamilton Jr., and Jay Sklar, X:440. ESV Expository Commentary. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.