Darryl Dash's Blog, page 39
February 14, 2023
Don’t Just Say It Once
I had a cold a couple of Sundays ago. I preached in a bit of a fog. I sat down at the end and didn’t know whether it went well.
Every preacher has Sundays like that.
That’s why we need to say it more than just once.
I used to try to communicate the gospel in my sermon. Truthfully, I don’t always do this as well as I’d like.
For this reason, it's helpful to structure the service so the gospel is not only communicated once but multiple times:
It’s communicated in the songs we sing.It’s communicated in ...
February 12, 2023
The Gift We Didn't Know We Needed (Exodus 19-40)
Big Idea: God’s law is the gift we didn’t know we needed.
If you’re a guy, and you’re in any kind of relationship with a woman, you should probably be required to take a course called Gift-Giving 101. This course would have helped my brother the year he gave my mother a toilet bowl cleaner for Christmas, or me on my first wedding anniversary — traditionally the year you give linen as a gift — and I thought a pillow would qualify. It would have helped Fred Flintstone know that he shouldn’t buy Wil...
February 11, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
The Importance of Theological Pairs
Many disagreements in theological matters come from only holding to one of two complimentary theological truths.
Do your best to be (visibly, at least) unshockable in the face of your children’s unfortunate decisions, choices you don’t like, or struggles with issues you may not fully understand. Why? To maintain the relationship.
5 Ways to Persevere Through a Hard Book
Here are five tips to help you perse...
February 7, 2023
Taking No for an Answer
“Everything we do in the Christian life is easier than prayer,” said Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
He’s not the only one to make this observation. “There is nothing that we are so bad at all our days as prayer,” observed Alexander Whyte. “There are times in my life when I would rather die than pray,” said Thomas Shepard. “As for my heart, when I go to pray, I find it so reluctant to go to God, and when it is with him, so reluctant to stay with him,” wrote John Bunyan.
These are not the observations of s...
February 5, 2023
When God's Plans Seem Thwarted (Exodus 1-18)
Big Idea: No matter how bad things get, never doubt God’s power to save.
I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about one of the moments when all of God’s plans seemed to be going down, literally.
The moment takes place in Mark 4. Jesus had just finished teaching about his kingdom: that it was going to grow and take over the whole world. Immediately after, Jesus and his disciples get in a boat. I want you to picture what happened: “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boa...
When God's Plans Seem Thwarted (Exodus 1-28)
Big Idea: No matter how bad things get, never doubt God’s power to save.
I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about one of the moments when all of God’s plans seemed to be going down, literally.
The moment takes place in Mark 4. Jesus had just finished teaching about his kingdom: that it was going to grow and take over the whole world. Immediately after, Jesus and his disciples get in a boat. I want you to picture what happened: “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boa...
February 4, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Brothers and Sisters, We Are All Apologists Now
Cultural and societal changes have turned apologetics into an unavoidable consequence of living publicly as a Christian.
Preach the Gospel, Die, and Be Remembered
Preach the gospel, die, and rest assured, you will be remembered. God preserves the memory of the faithful.
Good Leaders Are Easy to Follow
Dutiful, dour, and begrudging shepherding serves no one — not the sheep and not the shepherd.
January 31, 2023
Secular Liturgies Leave Me Longing for More
I attended a meeting for creatives in downtown Toronto last Friday.
Get a group of people together — sixty or so in this case — and it’s fascinating to watch what happens. I was reminded of how James K.A. Smith describes cultural practices that serve as rival liturgies, forming us to see the world in a particular way without being aware of the ways in which we’re being influenced.
We have to learn to exegete the rituals we’re immersed in. We need to become anthropologists who try, in some way, to ...
January 29, 2023
Job’s Monsters (Job 40:15-41:34)
Big Idea: We face supernatural danger, but these evil supernatural forces are no match for God.
We’re zooming through the Bible this year. So far we’ve covered Genesis and Job, and we’re not even out of January yet.
Once in a while, though, we’ll have a chance to slow down a bit and linger a little. And I thought that today’s passage may be a good place to stop for a couple of reasons:
First, because the passage is so unusual.Second, because I think this passage is so relevant to our lives.What am ...
January 28, 2023
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
“What is this church like?” asked the little old couple as they shuffled in the doors of church.
A tall, slim church greeter with silver hair smiled and asked, “What was your last church like?”
Discipling Your Congregation to Understand the Importance of the Church
Most Americans say worshiping alone is a valid replacement for regularly attending church. How do you teach the importance of the church?
Spurgeon on Livestreaming Church
How ...
