Before I say [anything] about healing, a few words about the gift of faith are in order. Although the New Testament has much to say about faith in general, it doesn’t explicitly refer to the charisma, or gift, of faith outside this passage in 1 Corinthians 12. Therefore, the best way to identify and define the nature of this gift is to look briefly at how faith is portrayed elsewhere. Generally speaking, the New Testament mentions three kinds of faith or, better still, three distinct contexts or circumstances in which faith is exercised. Although not original with me, I will use the terminology that many have found helpful and distinguish between conversion faith, continuing faith and charismatic faith. 

God-centered, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered worship happens whenever the mind is filled with deep, robust, expansive, biblical thoughts about who God is and what he has done, which in turn awaken and inflame heart-felt and passionate affections for God such as joy, gladness, delight, gratitude, admiration, love, fear, zeal, and deep satisfaction in all that he is for us in Jesus Christ.

On Sunday, October 8th, we are going to celebrate baptisms at the Benbrook Stables. It is both humbling and encouraging to see God at work in the lives of His people. At times like this, we have an opportunity to talk about baptism with our children. Below, you will find a resource to use when you are speaking with your kids about baptism. We hope this will be helpful for you as you teach your children diligently in your homes, as you walk, when you lay down and when you rise. (Deuteronomy 6:7)

Early in my Christian life I heard someone say, “the Bible was not given to increase your knowledge but to guide your conduct.” Later I came to realize that this statement was simplistic at best and erroneous at worst. The Bible is far more than a rulebook to follow. It is primarily the message of God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ, with everything in Scripture before the cross pointing to God’s redemptive work and everything after the cross—including our sanctification—flowing from that work.

WHAT DOES BAPTISM MEAN?

The Bible presents baptism as an outward sign of faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. Christian baptism is an act of obedience to the command of Jesus, declaring the believer’s faith in and identification with their crucified, buried, and risen Savior. Baptism is a visible sermon of the gospel of Jesus Christ, identifying the Christian with his death, burial, and resurrection. Baptism does not save and is not “necessary” for salvation. (Matt. 28:19–20; Rom. 6:1–11; 1 Cor. 12:13; Col. 2:12).

Never a part of a church?

Burned by church?

Skeptic? Irreligious? Prodigal?

We are a new church starting this fall for you. We love Jesus and we love Benbrook. No matter your background you are welcome to join us. We have space for you and your doubts, wounds, and frustrations. Jesus has grace for you. (Read that last sentence again slowly)

We desire to have a culture of “one-anothering throughout our church. Where we don’t have a church with biblical counseling but a church of biblical counseling when one–anothering is normative in our church life.”1 This happens in the life of Grace Benbrook primarily through Community Groups, which is a place where people learn how to follow Jesus and love one another because of how He has loved us. We are not a church with groups but a church of groups. 

I was 28 when I became the pastor of Highland Village First Baptist Church (now known as The Village Church). I had had a rough go early on in my church experience, and at that time I was not fully out of my “disenchanted with the local church” phase.

In all honesty, I wasn’t sure at the time that church membership was biblical. Despite that, the Spirit had made it all too clear that I was going to be pastoring this small church in the suburbs of Dallas. That was one of the many ironies of my life in those days.

In a previous post we discussed the balance of honesty, urgency, and joy in our evangelism. In this post we will give five specific suggestions on how we should evangelize. 

How should we evangelize? There is a certain balance that we want to strive for in our evangelism, a balance of honesty and urgency and joy. Too often we have only one, or at best, two, of these aspects rather than all three. The balance is important. These three together most appropriately represent the gospel. 

HONESTY

First, we tell people with honesty that if they repent and believe, they will be saved. But they will need to repent, and it will be costly. We must be accurate in what we say, not holding any important parts back that seem to us awkward or off-putting.