The people of Karis gathered Sunday to worship God through the proclamation of the gospel, through the singing of the gospel, and through the celebration of the gospel at the Lord’s table.  Jeremy Linneman, an intern and deacon at Karis, preached from Philippians 4:4-9.  He talked about pursuing true Christian spirituality found only in the gospel.  He covered the following:

Everyday Christian Spirituality
Philippians 4:4-9

Everyday Christian Spirituality is…

• Rooted in the Gospel     (Philippians 1:1-4:3)
• Fighting for Joy     (4:4-5)
• Fighting against Anxiety     (4:6-7)
• Fighting for Fellowship with God     (4:8-9)

Everyday Christian Spirituality is… Rooted in the Gospel (Philippians 1:1-4:3)
Philippians: Christ-centered encouragement for everyday holiness

The Goal of Spirituality is…     a full mind
a full heart
and busy hands

Everyday Christian Spirituality is… Fighting for Joy (Philippians 4:4-5)

True joy does not rely on circumstances
True joy rests in fellowship with God
True joy is expressed only in community

Everyday Christian Spirituality is… Fighting against Anxiety (Philippians 4:6-7)

Don’t be anxious:     Suggestion or commandment?

Don’t be anxious:     Why?

Because anxiety reveals joylessness in God
Because we’re at war
Because we represent God

Don’t be anxious:     How?    Actively fight against it

Prayer (General):     Listening to and talking to God
Supplication (Specific):     Asking for help (Matthew 7:7-10)
Thanksgiving:    Trusting the response (Luke 12:22-33)

Everyday Christian Spirituality is… Fighting for Fellowship with God (Philippians 4:8-9)

Preaching the Gospel in your Thoughts
Practicing the Gospel in your Actions

Christ-centered Spirituality…     Practices to receive grace
Christ-less Spirituality…     Practices to achieve grace

Symptoms of a Christ-less Spirituality:

Discouraged
Disconnected
Condemned
Lonely
Stagnant
Defeated

Causes of a Christ-less Spirituality:

A gospel without Jesus (moralistic therapeutic deism)
A gospel without grace (legalism)
A gospel without truth (subjectivism)

Marks of a Christ-centered Spirituality:

Centered on the gospel

Changing and growing

Confident and humble

Sustainable and teachable

Active in spiritual discipline

Engaged in community

Restless

Restful

Ryan Worley stepped in for Luke Daugherty this week to lead us in song.  The band played the following tunes:

“Doxology”

“All Creatures of our God and King”

“Here Is Love”

“All I Owe” (Matthew Smith)

“Blessed Be Your Name” (Matt Redman)

“Satisfied” (Red Mountain Church)

“May You Have Power” (The Spares)

Join us this Sunday at 10:00 a.m. in the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts for the weekly Karis Worship Gathering.  We’ll be worshipping Spring Break style with Jeremy Linneman preaching from Philippians 4:4-9.  He will be encouraging us toward a Gospel-shaped spirituality.  Luke Daugherty and his wife Ann had their first son this week, so Ryan Worley will be leading us in song.  What do we do each week?  We sing songs, hear God’s word preached, take the Lord’s Supper, and pray together, among other things.  Join us!

Karis is proud to be a part of the Acts 29 Network and to be supported monthly financially by Mars Hill Church.  The church’s pastor is Mark Driscoll.  This week, Mark was on ABC’s Nightline, debating the existence of Satan.  He did a fabulous job.  The video is found here.  The website is a bit messed up.  Some persistence is required.  Sometimes the video just randomly starts over and you have to replay it.  But the debate is well-worth watching.  Great job, brother!

Today, Karis’s Pastor for Worship and Mission, Luke Daugherty, and his wife, Ann, welcomed their first child into the world.  Ian was born early this afternoon.  He was 22 inches long and 7 lbs and, I think, 11 ounces.  Congrats, Luke and Ann.

We had a great Gathering yesterday.  We had a lot of people out of town for spring break, but it was super.  Aarik Danielsen stepped in and led music for Luke (whose wife Ann may be having a baby today!) and did a great job.  I preached from Luke 12:1-12.  Aarik and the band did the following songs yesterday:

1. “The Glory of God” (Mars Hill)
2. “Come Ye Sinners” (Indelible Grace)
3. “Give Us Clean Hands” (Passion; cool “minor” Karis version)
4. “The Lord Will Provide” (Matthew Smith)
5. “Jesus, Cast A Look On Me” (Indelible Grace)
6. “And Can It Be?” (Mars Hill)

Below are yesterday’s slides:

Jesus, Our Dangerous Comforter (Luke 12:1-12)

1. Be real… for He will uncover you (vv. 1-3)
2. Don’t fear… for they can only kill you, for only He can judge you, for He truly cares for you (vv. 4-7)
3. Be faithful… so He won’t deny you (vv. 8-10)
4. Don’t fret… for He will assist you (vv. 11-12)

My main point of the message was that in the presence of the Lord there is a kind of danger, and that same Lord, if we’re faithful to Him, leads us into danger.  But in His dangerous presence as He takes us into dangerous places, there is much amazing comfort.

The great theologian D.A. Carson defines the gospel in this way:

Thus the gospel is integrally tied to the Bible’s story-line. Indeed, it is incomprehensible without understanding that story-line. God is the sovereign, transcendent and personal God who has made the universe, including us, his image-bearers. Our misery lies in our rebellion, our alienation from God, which, despite his forbearance, attracts his implacable wrath. But God, precisely because love is of the very essence of his character, takes the initiative and prepared for the coming of his own Son by raising up a people who, by covenantal stipulations, temple worship, systems of sacrifice and of priesthood, by kings and by prophets, are taught something of what God is planning and what he expects. In the fullness of time his Son comes and takes on human nature. He comes not, in the first instance, to judge but to save: he dies the death of his people, rises from the grave and, in returning to his heavenly Father, bequeaths the Holy Spirit as the down payment and guarantee of the ultimate gift he has secured for them—an eternity of bliss in the presence of God himself, in a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. The only alternative is to be shut out from the presence of this God forever, in the torments of hell. What men and women must do, before it is too late, is repent and trust Christ; the alternative is to disobey the gospel (Romans 10:16; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 1 Peter 4:17).

From here: http://s3.amazonaws.com/tgc-documents/carson/1996_biblical_gospel.pdf

Join us in the beautiful Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts this Sunday for the weekly Karis worship Gathering.   I, Kevin, will be preaching from Luke 12:1-12 in our “Jesus in the Margins” series.  We’ll see Jesus as our “dangerous comforter” in the passage.  The passage’s big idea is expressed well in these lyrics from Sandra McCracken’s “Awake My Soul”:

I trust no other source or name, nowhere else can I hide
This grace gives me fear, and this grace draws me near
And all that it asks it provides

Join us Sunday at 10 a.m. to hear God’s word proclaimed, sung, prayed, and celebrated by His people, around His table.

At Karis, in our weekly Community Groups, we recently finished up a discussion of a book by Jerry Bridges, The Gospel for Real Life.  We then launched into another, related resource, “The Gospel-Centered Life,” put together by Bob Thune of Coram Deo in Omaha.  It is fabulous.  Well, my friend Timmy Brister put together a list of books today that all deal with applying the gospel to everyday life.  Check it out here.

Check out this fabulous Christianity Today article.

Amidst much of the silliness and shamrocks on St. Patrick’s Day, it is easy to forget the man this holiday was created to celebrate. St. Patrick looms large as a great missionary in church history. Born in 5th Century Roman Great Britain, Patrick was captured into slavery by the the Irish at a young age. He worked as a slave for many years amidst the pagan Celtic culture, before escaping to England. However, he could not but hear the voice of the Irish calling him to return, saying, “We beg you to come and walk among us once more.” He heeded the call to take the Gospel to Ireland, and such began a great missionary spurt through Ireland that would soon spread back into Scotland and Britain. So, whatever St. Patty’s Day festivities you partake in today, remember that this great man was a key instrument of God in the growth of the early church. Below is the great prayer that has famously been attributed to him, and we can very much make this our own today.

I bind unto myself today
the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.
I bind this day to me for ever,
by power of faith, Christ’s Incarnation;
his baptism in Jordan river;
his death on cross for my salvation;
his bursting from the spicèd tomb;
his riding up the heavenly way;
his coming at the day of doom:
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
of the great love of cherubim;
the sweet “Well done” in judgment hour;
the service of the seraphim;
confessors’ faith, apostles’ word,
the patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls;
all good deeds done unto the Lord,
and purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
the virtues of the starlit heaven
the glorious sun’s life-giving ray,
the whiteness of the moon at even,
the flashing of the lightning free,
the whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
the stable earth, the deep salt sea,
around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
the power of God to hold and lead,
his eye to watch, his might to stay,
his ear to hearken, to my need;
the wisdom of my God to teach,
his hand to guide, his shield to ward;
the word of God to give me speech,
his heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me,
Christ within me,
Christ behind me,
Christ before me,
Christ beside me,
Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort
and restore me.
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ in quiet,
Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of
all that love me,
Christ in mouth of
friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself today
the strong Name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.
Of whom all nature hath creation,
eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
praise to the Lord of my salvation,
salvation is of Christ the Lord.