Darryl Dash's Blog, page 46
October 2, 2022
Why We Exist (Colossians 1:24-2:5)
Big Idea: We exist to tell people about what Jesus has done.
I have a friend who became the pastor of a large church here in Toronto.
When he started, he went around and asked people, “Why do we exist?” People looked at him funny. The most common answer they gave was, “Because we’re…” and then they gave the name of the church. In other words, we exist simply because we exist.
That wasn’t a good enough answer, so he’d repeat the question. Why do we exist? He drove people crazy. But out of that quest...
October 1, 2022
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
God’s design includes a responsibility for one another.
The Local Church Is Your Spiritual Gifts Test
For generations, the only effective means of assessing one’s spiritual gifts has been the local church.
What Small Churches Teach Us About Meaningful Membership
There are three relational dynamics present in small churches that are crucial for developing a meaningful membership.
What Job Titles Should Churches Use? Two Simple Rules
The...
September 27, 2022
Fall Update
Every year around this time, I find myself shocked that the summer’s over, and that we’re less than 100 days from the New Year.
It seems like it might be a good time for a brief personal update.
Liberty Grace ChurchThis past Sunday, Liberty Grace Church celebrated its ninth anniversary.
Over a decade ago, I sensed a growing burden to see churches started in downtown Toronto. I didn’t think I would ever plant a church; I felt too old and too unqualified. I actually thought I was on my way to joining...
September 25, 2022
Renewing Our Vision of Jesus (Colossians 1:15-23)
Big Idea: Our greatest need is to renew our vision of Jesus.
Earlier this year we visited Banff. We got to see mountains, and those mountains leave me breathless. I can’t believe how grand and beautiful and amazing they are.
Whenever I visit somewhere with mountains, I ask people there: Do you ever start to take those mountains for granted? Do you ever stop being amazed by them? Usually, people say no, but we know the truth: of course they do.
A lot of things amaze us at first, and then get boring ...
September 24, 2022
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
2022 Results Now Available: The State of Theology
What do Americans believe about God, the Bible, and salvation? Ligonier Ministries’ State of Theology survey provides eye-opening insights.
The Distressing State of Evangelicals and Theology
A couple eye-popping stats show that evangelicals are terribly wrong on doctrines of central importance.
New Testament leaders—the pastor-elders—are teachers. Christianity is a teaching movement.
September 20, 2022
Just Enough to Keep Going
“Some pastors, mightily endowed by God, are remarkable gifts to the church,” writes D.A. Carson. “They love their people, they handle Scripture well, they see many conversions, their ministries span generations, they understand their culture yet refuse to be domesticated by it, they are theologically robust and personally disciplined.”
We know those people. We admire them for it. We want to be like them.
But most of us aren’t like that, Carson writes:
Most of us … serve in more modest patches. Most...
September 18, 2022
The Unstoppable Gospel (Colossians 1:1-14)
Big Idea: You don’t need anything more than the gospel. You just need more of the gospel.
Have you ever been part of something big, something unstoppable?
I’m talking about something like a sports team that goes undefeated and then wins the championship, or a company that grows rapidly in both size and profitability, or an election in which the winning party doesn’t just win but crushes the competition. Have you ever been part of something like that?
I have, just once. I was once part of a competit...
September 17, 2022
Saturday Links
Curated links for your weekend reading:
Why I’m No Longer Trying to Be Extraordinary
Alongside my ambition, I also now long to be faithful and content in life’s more mundane rhythms.
Church is often dull because we think about it like secularists, not according to scripture.
Do You Submit to the Bible, or Does the Bible Submit to You?
The question I had to wrestle with was whether I was willing to submit to the Bible or whether I would submit it to me.
September 13, 2022
Examples
In some ways, we’re not so different from the recipients of the book of Hebrews.
They’d believed in Jesus, but they were wavering in their obedience. Their circumstances were different: they seemed to be in danger of drifting back to a form of Judaism. But we should be able to relate. We’re always in danger of drifting from Jesus to lesser things.
That’s why I find Hebrews 13:7 so powerful. “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, a...
September 11, 2022
A Farewell Sermon (Acts 20:17-38)
Big Idea: When someone serves God faithfully and leaves, the church responds with love, sorrow, and blessing.
When someone serves God faithfully in a local church, something remarkable happens.
That’s what happened with Paul in Ephesus, and it’s what’s happened here in our church for the past couple of years.
As part of his third missionary journey, Paul stayed in Ephesus and lived there for about three years. God used him while he was there, and the church in Ephesus had been marked by his ministr...
