The Day of the Lord
2 Peter 3:1-13
Dan Brooks, Pastor
Download a PDF of Sunday’s notes here.
Sermon Notes, 11.28.10
Meditation for Worship
Our Lord “lingers long, with loving pauses, tarrying by the way to give space for repentance and opportunity for accepting His mercy. Thus deals He with the greatest sinners, and with His own children much more so.”
C. H. Spurgeon
Sermon Notes, 11.22.10
Bless the Lord, O My Soul
Psalm 103
Dan Brooks, Pastor
Download a PDF of Sunday’s notes here.
Meditation for Worship
It is the soul that is to be employed in blessing God, and all that is within us. We make nothing of our religious performances if we do not make heart-work of them, if that which is within us, nay, if all that is within us, be not engaged in them.
Matthew Henry
Meditation for Worship
It is the Lord that is to be blessed and spoken well of; for He is the fountain of all good, whatever are the channels or cisterns; it is to His name, His holy name, that we are to consecrate our praise, giving thanks at the remembrance of His holiness.
Matthew Henry
Book Review: The Gospel for Muslims
Heritage member Stephen Enjaian provides this helpful review of Thabiti Anyabwile’s latest book, The Gospel for Muslims: An Encouragement to Share Christ with Confidence. Thabiti is a converted Muslim and now Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church of Grand Cayman in the Grand Cayman Islands. You can also find a video of a helpful conversation between Thabiti and J.D. Greear, another pastor with a heart for Muslims, entitled Loving Our Muslim Neighbors, here.
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Title: The Gospel for Muslims: An Encouragement to Share Christ with Confidence
Author: Thabiti Anyabwile
Publisher: Moody Publishers (April 1, 2010)
ISBN: 0802471110
Length: 176 pages
Summary
Thabiti Anyabwile [on yob WEE lay] knows that most Christians are afraid to talk to Muslims and are intimidated by the theological expertise they think is required. With a joyful style, he shows why every Christian who understands the Gospel is equipped to share it with Muslims. Having left Islam for Christ, Thabiti is living proof that the Gospel is the power of God to Muslims. His new book is the ideal introduction to Muslim evangelism.
Though Part 1 has a greater theological emphasis and Part 2 more application, both parts have a balance of doctrine, example and practical suggestion.
Part 1: The Gospel
Chapter 1: God by Any Other Name?
Chapter 2: Man’s Sin: Resting Lightly on the Muslim Conscience
Chapter 3: Jesus Christ: Fully God and Fully Man
Chapter 4: Jesus Christ: the Lamb Slain—and Resurrected!
Chapter 5: The Response: There’s Repentance and Faith . . . and Then There is Repentance and Faith!
Part 2: As You Witness
Chapter 6: Be Filled with the Spirit
Chapter 7: Trust the Bible
Chapter 8: Be Hospitable
Chapter 9: Use Your Local Church
Chapter 10: Suffer for the Name
Chapter 11: The Good News for African-American Muslims
Thabiti invites his readers to listen as he excitedly tells of his many conversations with Muslims. These conversations illustrate his points in a way that invites us to follow him out the door and join the next encounter.
Thabiti’s own conversion resulted in part from reading the Qur’an’s affirmations of the Bible as God’s Word. He quotes several Qur’ anic passages that show why even according to the Qur’ an, the Bible could not have been corrupted, contrary to what Muslims are taught.
Though Muslims frequently talk of God’s forgiveness, their system ultimately gives them no guarantee of forgiveness. Thabiti recommends explaining the Bible’s unique and rich descriptions of conversion (i.e., the new birth, raised from death to life, united with Christ).
Most Christians have the fear of not knowing “the right answer.” Thabiti shows that we already know what we need to know. Our role is “to lift the hands of suppression [of truth]” and “draw out the knowledge of sin, unrighteousness, God and judgment that God has already placed inside their hearts” (p. 48).
Unless we intentionally seek out Muslims and befriend them, they will never see a vital witness to Christ. This is especially true of Muslim women, who usually have very limited social contact outside their families. Thabiti makes a heartfelt plea for Christian women to reach out to them with hospitality, and offers practical suggestions.
Thabiti gives five action-provoking reasons to be prepared to suffer for our witness. As an African-American, his insights in the closing chapter on African-American Muslims give valuable insight into the unique barriers and opportunities of witnessing to these individuals.
Recommendation
Authors are pleased enough that people buy and read their books. I will go a step further. I am actually using The Gospel for Muslims to evangelize Muslims. Read this little treasure and be ready to share the Gospel with Muslims—with confidence.
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You may purchase the book here.
Stephen Enjaian is a member of Heritage Bible Church and regularly writes at www.activefaith.wordpress.com.
Sermon Notes, 11.14.2010
The King of Forgiveness and Love
Matthew 26:26-29
Dan Brooks, Pastor
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Meditation for Worship
“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 8:10-12
Meditation for Worship
But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated. For you had compassion on those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the plundering of your property, since you knew that you yourselves had a better possession and an abiding one. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
Hebrews 10:32-36
Sermon Notes, 11.7.10
Smuggling Heresy and Denying the Master
II Peter 2:1-3
Dan Brooks, Pastor
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