Ever since we went to 2 Sunday services, I have fought with myself. Usually, one sermon felt smoother, was clearer, or for lack of any measurables, I just felt better about it.  And what’s funny about my assessment is that it’s normally wrong:).  On virtually every Tuesday morning at 10:00, we spend time evaluating the previous Sunday (more on that in a moment).  And usually, in those meetings, I ask, “which sermon did you think was better?”  And usually, the sermon I thought was better is typically the one the others thought wasn’t.  So, I’ll be curious what everyone says this week, but for my tastes, this past Sunday’s 1st sermon was a bit more clear, seemed to flow better, and didn’t feel rushed.  For some reason, I got about 1/3 of the way through the 2nd sermon, and things just seemed to get rushed in my head.  It might’ve been the coffee kicking in, but it just didn’t have the same smoothness as the 1st. My lovely wife (who is celebrating her 29th again birthday today-March 7th) was in the 2nd service, and she’s a great helper for me.  She didn’t notice me being rushed or anything being unclear.  So, that’s encouraging.  

But let me say two things about Sunday’s sermon that I hope you caught:  

• First, when the gospel is preached, believed, and submitted to, it does transformative work in people, nations, and cultures.  I hope you noticed the brief tracing I did through history about this.  We can get lied to by our media about how bad we have it.  We can get lied to by our culture that we don’t have enough “love” or “rights” for others.  But, if you look at cultures/nations that have Christian underpinnings, you will find that advances in science, medicine, education, and human flourishing are prevalent everywhere.  And what you’ll find is that those nations leave their Christian moorings, advances cease, and human flourishing goes away.  I think we’re seeing this in our nation currently.  The rejection of our Christian underpinnings creates an “us against them” mentality defined by humanistic dogma, not Christianity.  Now, we’ve also got to be honest that quite a bit of confusion has come from Christians not living like Christians.  This leads to my second thing.  
• Second, this was the main point that I didn’t feel as clear about in the 2nd service…God uses our quiet, peaceful, godly, and dignified lives for the sake of the gospel.  This means that God can use every Christian to advance the gospel, and it means minding our own business, not being pushy, or not creating conflict plays a part in demonstrating gospel peace.  Further, I’m a bit concerned about how Christians have been taught about evangelism and discipleship.  Nowhere in God’s word are we called to create conflict with the world.  Nowhere are we told to be brash with our witness.  Nowhere are we told to stir the city. Instead, what you will find in Jesus and in Acts are Christians who share the gospel of the Kingdom with others, and the people who disagree, create the conflict.  And when you read the epistles (letters to churches), you read about Paul challenging Christians to be faithful to Christ, love one another, and be great husbands/wives/children/employers/employees.  If we’re not careful, we will fall under false guilt about sharing the gospel and demonstrating the gospel.  Here’s my hope for us.  That we would love Jesus deeply.  We would live winsome, compelling, peaceful, godly, and dignified lives with all our friends (Christian and non-Christian). And that when the opportunity comes to talk about Jesus, we will do so boldly, lovingly, and respectfully.   So, Christian…be in love with Jesus; love your spouse; care for your kids; provide for your family; work your job; love your neighbor; pray for people; and proclaim the gospel.  

Ukraine and Belarus:  Sovereign Grace Churches

I read this vlog by our Executive Director, Mark Prater, and I thought it would be of interest to you as you pray for the war on the other side of the world:  https://www.markkprater.com/blog/ukraine-and-belarus.  

Also, for years, North Roseburg Evangelical Free Church was actively involved in helping Pastor John Bogdan in Romania.  Please pray for John and his church as they take in refugees from Ukraine.  

A great blog post from this week:

I enjoyed this post by Kevin DeYoung, as I do most of his blogs.  Let this stir you about keeping our civilization:  

https://wng.org/opinions/a-civilization-if-you-can-keep-it-1646225409.

This coming Sunday:

We will start studying through 1 Timothy this coming Sunday by looking at 2:8-15. We will take two weeks to cover this passage because it’s very challenging.  I also believe that it will be very helpful to us in our time.    

From the Cheap Seats:

• Any time Man City crushes Man United, it’s a good day.  But when it happens on the same weekend that the North Carolina Tarheels beat Duke in Coach K’s last home game…it’s a small slice of sports’ heaven.  
• I’m ready for MLB to get it figured out.  
• So, now the Cowboys will possibly cut Amari Cooper and Demarcus Lawrence.  Ok.  But why is Zeke Elliot’s contract guaranteed?   
• I found this hilarious:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDrX9f1c3Qw. 

On a personal note:

March 7th is my wife’s birthday.  Jill is the best human I know.  She is thoughtful.  She’s tough.  She’s mentally strong.  She is selfless.  She’s classy but doesn’t mind getting muddy.  She deeply loves Jesus and her family.  She’s my best counselor and my best friend.  She’s the glue of our family and our kids’ greatest heroine.  If we lived in the Middle Ages, she’s take up a sword, a bow with arrows, and a shield.  There’s no one like her.  I cannot thank God enough for giving me the gift of Jill as my wife and friend.  She is the hidden strength in our home, loves being in the background, and will hate it that I wrote this short paragraph about her.  I love you, Jillie.  

Enjoy your week and rejoice that your King is on His throne.  

In Christ, 

Dave York