Category: Worship

Do I Yearn for You?

Posted in Life Happens, Worship1 Comment

Tonight I sit wide awake in the early hours of the morning as I wrestle with this question, “do I yearn for God”?  The song “Yearn” by Shane and Shane has captured me. It haunts me. I hear it everywhere I go. I can’t escape it.

Tonight, I understand why.  God has reminded me that there was a time when I thirsted for Him night and day–a time when He was my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. There was a time when I would literally rather sneak away and spend time with Him than eat, and often did. A time when I devoured His Word every day. A time when I looked for any and every opportunity to share the story of Jesus.

Tonight, He reminded me of special moments at the Morehead Baptist Student Union, of the afternoon I led a man to Christ on the streets of Flemingsburg, of nights sitting on the hill above my house at Banner, and of day-long hikes in the hills of eastern Kentucky–all because I yearned for Him. All because He was everything to me. All because I was desperate for Him. All because I couldn’t get enough.

God is reminding me tonight and it’s painful–so painful that it’s hard to see as I type, but the pain gives me hope that He hasn’t given up on me. The pain gives me hope that He will still use me in His work, but His message has never been more clear. “My son, only if you yearn for Me! There’s no shortcut….YEARN! There’s no secret–YEARN! There’s no other way–YEARN! YEARN!”

The chorus of “Yearn” by Shane and Shane goes like this:

Lord, I wanna yearn for You. I wanna burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, I wanna yearn for You. I wanna burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, I wanna yearn.

In humility can I ask you, do you yearn for Him? Is He everything to you? Do you burn with passion in your life for Him, and only Him?  If so, praise God! If not, then do whatever it takes to get there. Remove anything in your life that dampens your fire and passion for Him. Yearn! Yearn for Him! He desires it. He deserves it. He demands it.

“Lord, help me yearn for You. Help me burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, help me yearn for You. Help me burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, I wanna yearn.”

Project 1189

Posted in Church Chat, Discipleship, Ministry, Preaching, WorshipLeave a comment

Several months ago, while I was on a morning run through Clear Creek Park, the Lord distinctly laid something on my heart. He emphasized that I was to lead our church to read straight through the entire Bible from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22—all 1,189 chapters. He also stressed that we should read from behind our pulpit in our sanctuary.

In obedience to His instructions, we are going to read through the entire Word of God beginning Sunday, March 11 and ending Sunday, March 25. Every person who wishes to participate in reading a portion of the Scripture, will be asked to sign-up for a time slot on the sheet posted in the Sanctuary. The weekday schedule will look like this:

 Week of March 12-16 & March 19-23 / 10am-6pm

Pray about how the Lord wants you and your family to participate. Maybe He will lead you to read or just drop in and listen while others read—just obey Him as He leads.

Here are three important things I believe the Lord wants us to accomplish through PROJECT 1189:

  • Renew our dedication as a church to hearing and obeying the Word of God
  • Renew our commitment in our families to the Word of God
  • Renew our passion as individuals to the Word of God

Resolutions

Posted in Discipleship, Evangelism, Ministry, Worship1 Comment

My friend, Dr. Paul Chitwood serves as the Executive Director of the Kentucky Baptist Convention.  He recently published a very well-written challenge that I would like to share with you.  I echo the following words of Dr. Chitwood as we seek to magnify and honor the glorious name of the Lord Jesus in 2012:

With this first 2012 post, I’m hoping a New Year’s resolution list for Kentucky Baptists will be well received. I offer no earth-shattering new insights. I simply challenge us to be faithful to the basic call of Christ upon our lives and obedient to the fundamental teachings in God’s word. If every Kentucky Baptist would commit themselves to the following resolutions, our churches would flourish, every lost person in the Commonwealth could hear the gospel, and the cause of the Great Commission would be rapidly advanced.

First, would you resolve to walk closely with Jesus through concerted prayer and daily Bible reading? Our Lord exhorts us in John 15:4, “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” The first call of the gospel is the call to be in Jesus Christ. He is the source of spiritual life and spiritual power. Apart from him, we will remain powerless.

Second, would you resolve to obey Jesus in all things? Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it” (Luke 11:28). Matters like sexual purity, financial stewardship, personal honesty, sobriety, and refraining from gluttony are not negotiable for those who have confessed Jesus as Lord of our lives.

Third, would you resolve to share Jesus with at least one lost person each week? The command to be witnesses and the promise of the Spirit’s empowerment to that end are clearly stated in Acts 1:8. As for the lost, “how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard” (Rom 10:14)? Yet, multiple studies and surveys reveal most of us never take the initiative to tell lost people how to be saved. Pray that God would give you the opportunity to share the gospel with just one person each week.

Fourth, would you resolve to love and serve Jesus’ bride with more passion than ever before? Your church isn’t perfect but it needs you. And you need the church. We simply cannot be faithful followers of Jesus apart from his church. Love and serve her.

Fifth, would you resolve to commit more of your resources to Jesus’ Great Commission? The sin of greed has captivated us. Rather than starting with a tithe and giving generously beyond that, the average church member gives less than 3 percent of their income. If we merely gave a tithe, church ministry budgets and the Cooperative Program mission budget would triple, resulting in an exponential harvest of souls in Kentucky and around the world.

Can A Christian Be Divorced?

Posted in Church Chat, Life Happens, Preaching, Worship1 Comment

I am currently preaching a Summer Sermon Series called Hot Topics. This week’s sermon is entitled, Can A Christian Be Divorced? Several of my pastor friends believe that this week’s “divorce sermon” will be the most difficult message to deliver in the entire series. I suppose they’re correct, but all that I know to do is to explore what the Bible says on the subject.

During this series, I have been reminded over and over that most people want to hear the truth. They want a preacher to stand with a heart full of love and share straight from God’s Word. Even if the topic is difficult, they want to know what God has to say! Well, this summer, I’m desperately trying to share what God has to say on each of these hot topics.

If you would like to hear any or all of the sermons from this series, you can listen to them on our website at http://www.shelbyvillebaptist.com.

Record Attendance on Easter 2011

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We had a BIG Day on Easter 2011 as we kicked off our new sermon series called The Life You’ve Always Wanted. Since 2007, we have been carefully tracking worship attendance and last Sunday’s attendance was a record for that time period. Thank you for all your hard work toward making Easter at Shelbyville Baptist a huge success.

This Sunday we will continue our sermon series with a message entitled Life with Meaning. We will study King Solomon and his quest to find true meaning and purpose in life.

Luke Wisely, our new contemporary worship leader, will be leading our 8:30 am service and Gene Wright, our worship pastor, will be leading our 11:00 am service. See you there!