Created for a Purpose (discipleship material)
On Sunday we began a new sermon series entitled Created for a Purpose, where we will spend 4 weeks looking at how and why God created humanity...
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Parenting According to Proverbs
The Bible has much to say about how parents ought to treat their children and lead their homes, and much of it is located in the book of wisdom that we call “Proverbs.” This post is an attempt to summarize a lot of the content of Proverbs regarding parenting, and present it in a simple and memorable way with some additional resources that I hope will be helpful as well. My points are that parents (1) lead the way, (2) train up in the way, and (3) correct waywardness. ...
Summer of Wisdom
Over the next few months (June, July, August) our church will be moving through what we’re calling the “Summer of Wisdom” where we will be seeking wisdom from God for our lives on Sundays and throughout the week. ...
Why Christians Should Garden
Have you ever found yourself saying things like, “I have a black thumb” or, “I kill everything I touch” or just simply, “I can’t garden”? Well, I am here to encourage you to not stop there and to see why, as a Christian, you and all of your spiritual brothers and sisters should be gardening....
Daily Bread
See, we live in this stuff called flesh, but if you are a follower of Christ we also have his Spirit within us. Our spirit can then commune with his Spirit. The bible tells us that our flesh and the Spirit are always at odds with each other. The point? What you feed will become stronger in you....
To the Christian who doesn’t give to their local church
While most Christians delight to give to their local church to provide for their leaders and help fund gospel ministry, there are many Christians who do not give at all. It is often because of one of the following three reasons: 1. I don’t make enough money to give. 2. I give to other missionaries or Christian nonprofits. 3. I don’t get spiritually fed at my church. I will respond to each of these below, and I hope this is helpful for any Christians that are not yet giving to their local churches. If that’s you, I pray you will consider these words and start giving to your local church! ...
Planting Two Churches
When I came to Eastside Community Church (ECC) as a Church Planting Intern, my objective was to learn all that I could about church planting before “actually” planting. This is definitely an important step in my church planting journey. But what I didn’t realize all along was that everything I did as training at ECC was something I was actually doing for ECC. Every disciple, every church invite, every ministry I start, every process I put in place, every bit of set up and tear down and anything else I have done has all been to help a new church thrive!...
Church planter, serve low-income communities
If you’re a church planter, and especially if you’re thinking about planting a church in Austin, I hope you would take these words to heart: “Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.” (Galatians 2:10)....
Equip: A New Ministry
The great commission is a well-known command from Jesus, yet most believers do little to no evangelism. While I think we could all do better at this, I believe that the church leaders all over the states have simply not offered enough training in the area of evangelism. The average attendee is terrified of seeming like a salesman for Jesus, or simply being judged for their faith. Church leaders, like the average attendee, should not only know the importance of sharing the gospel, but, unlike the average attendee, their responsibility to equip all believers to do the same....
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Life as a New Mom
Sam and I became parents at the end of March and there have been so many great days but also some really not great days. There is so much joy in looking into your daughter’s eyes as she is figuring out the world and learning to trust you. It’s so rewarding reflecting back and seeing that (somehow) you’ve been able to take care of her basic needs and your little family is surviving. But it’s hard laying down to sleep knowing that your baby is going to need to eat in just a few hours. It’s tiring trying to keep up with household tasks when the laundry just keeps coming....
Created for a Purpose (discipleship material)
On Sunday we began a new sermon series entitled Created for a Purpose, where we will spend 4 weeks looking at how and why God created humanity...
Relationships According to Proverbs
We spent 8 weeks in the book of Proverbs looking at what it teaches about various kinds of relationships. Here are the points from each sermon, and links to the full sermons as well! ...
What is the doctrine of the “Perseverance of the Saints?”
This doctrine explains that all who truly trust in Christ for salvation can never lose their salvation, but will certainly and assuredly persevere to the end. Scripture assures us of this by explaining that our salvation is not our “own doing; it is a gift from God” (Eph. 2:8). It’s God’s doing, not ours! Indeed, “Salvation belongs to the Lord!” (Ps. 3:8). And if we didn’t do it, then we can’t undo it....
Praying the Bible
What has helped me the most over the years in becoming someone more devoted to prayer is the practice of praying the Bible. By “praying the Bible,” I mean reading the Bible and turning its words into personal prayers from the heart. An example would be reading Psalm 23:1, which says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want,” and then praying “Father, thank you for sending Jesus to save me and lead my life as the Good Shepherd that he is. Help me remember that in him I lack nothing, I shall never be in want, since in Christ I have all that my soul truly needs.”...
Why should I give to my church? And how much should I give?
Through several years of young adult ministry and now church planting, I have noticed that many people (especially young adults) do not have a good, Biblical understanding of giving to their local church. As someone who came to Christ in college and didn’t grow up in church as a kid, this was something that took me a long time to understand as well. So I wanted to offer a brief explanation from the Scriptures to answer why we should give to our churches and how much we should give....
Peace and Quiet: A Different Pace for Church Planting
As a church planter in one of the most vibrant and fastest growing cities in the country, one of the most interesting verses to me is Paul’s command in 1 Thessalonians 4:11, to “aspire to live quietly.” This seems strange. Live quietly? It sounds boring and unproductive. Similarly though, in 1 Timothy 2:2, Paul calls people to pray to the end of living “a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” Peace and quiet are not the typical adjectives people use to describe a life of ministry, especially for church planters. We don't want slow, peaceful, and quiet; we want fast, famous, loud, and large. That’s how most people talk about it anyway. ...
Church Planting Internship
This internship is for godly Christian men who are interested in church planting and pastoral ministry, and is focused on developing future pastors and church planters in 7 specific areas, each with assigned readings and practical experiences to participate in and lead. ...
Intriguing quotes from a book on the Apostles’ Creed
Over our annual summer family vacation I dipped into a few books, one of which was entitled, "What Christians Ought to Believe: An Introduction to Christian Doctrine through the Apostles' Creed." As someone who didn't grow up in church and has never belonged to a church that recited any creeds, I found this book to be intriguing and encouraging! Since many of my friends and churches in my circles have not done much with ancient creeds in theological education or worship practice, I thought I would just share a few quotes from the first two chapters of the book as a way of inviting others to consider the creeds....
How to Read the Bible
The Bible is a wonderful and beautiful gift from God to us; his very own words, which are an extension of his very own self. To read the Bible is to hear from God. To know the Bible well is to know our God well. And the Bible itself makes clear that this is impossible apart from the grace of God and the Spirit of God. It is only through God’s grace in Christ that we can know and commune with our loving Father in heaven (John 14:6), and it is only by the Spirit’s illuminating power that we can see the glory of God in Christ through the Scriptures (2 Cor. 3:14-18). ...
Why These Murals Matter
There has been some commotion here in East Austin recently regarding some wall murals that have been painted over. Several people have asked me what the story is, so I'm writing this short blog to fill in some gaps for people trying to understand what’s going on, and why it matters for our growing and changing city. I don’t have all the details, know all the answers, or have the best solutions, but I’m trying to be a good listener to our community and be informed and involved in loving ways. Hope this is helpful for you....
Resources for Studying Mark
This Sunday we begin a new sermon series studying the Gospel according to Mark. We are excited to dig into this book of the Bible, and wanted to give some helpful resources to complement our sermon series and Community Group discussions too! These two videos and downloadable PDF are from The Bible Project....
Discipleship Centered on Remembering
All throughout the Old Testament, there is a call to “remember.” From setting up the Eben-ezer after the Lord defeated Joshua’s enemies, to establishing the Passover as a memorial to recall God’s powerful deliverance in the Exodus, and then a repeated call to remember the Lord all throughout Deuteronomy as Israel is about to enter the Promised Land. The people of God were called to be a remembering people. Remembering the Lord always led to worship, repentance, and covenant faithfulness. On the other hand, forgetting the Lord produced doubt, idolatry, pride, and covenant breaking....
Who should I disciple?
While everyone should be discipled, not everyone is actually ready or willing to be discipled, and the book of Proverbs gives us some guidance on this. ...
New Poem: "Heaven's Call"
Hello brothers and sisters. First, I would like to express my gratitude for all of you. Your service, compassion, and perseverance continues to inspire me, and I have very often thanked the Lord for surrounding me with such a strong family in Christ. Therefore, I hope that this poem is helpful and encouraging to you, as you have been to me. I have prayed that it will stir your affections for Christ, and strengthen your confidence in his salvation....
7 Ways to Pray for our Church
As we prepare for our first Sunday service this month, and our first year together as Eastside Community Church, we would love to have as many people praying for us as we can. Here are 7 specific ways you can pray for us today, and throughout the year....
What does our logo mean?
Our church logo looks like both a crown and a community of people. The crown symbolizes that Christ is King, and the community symbolizes that we are the people of God's kingdom (the church). We live as the people of God's kingdom, an embassy and colony of heaven on earth, displaying the life of heaven on earth, and pointing to the day when heaven and earth are one, and we reign with Christ forever....