Here’s what I desire for CLF: I want us to be courageous to make decisions that we have prayed about, researched, and we believe are best for us and our families, without the fear of being criticized or falsely accused. Further, I want us to be a church that can have openness of dialogue on very hard issues, be able to disagree, yet not hold one another at “arms length”.
In Sunday’s text, we ran into 1 Corinthians 15:29 that’s just really hard to translate. So, without giving you hundreds of different approaches/interpretations of this, let me just offer two of them that I think are the most plausible.
The Church gathered on Sunday mornings is a cosmic event. It’s a moment in time when we gather together to say, “Jesus is King.” It’s a moment when in unison, we sing praises to the One true God.
In both sermons I thought, “with the treasure that I have in Christ, why do I not read God’s word more and pray more often?” My prayer is that I will apply the things I’ve heard from these two wonderful men.
Sunday was amazing. When we go to the baseball field, I get the unique privilege being in the 1st base dugout until it’s time to preach. The viewpoint from down there is awesome. I can hear the crowd singing, see the entirety of the group, and watch.
I literally can allow situations to dominate my thinking, my time, and my headspace. (Anyone else?) And, because I’m naturally persuaded by my own arguments or ideas (which is pride), I have a tendency to not listen very well to another perspective. Or to put it in the above metaphor, when the Lord tries to pull the binoculars away from my face to correct how I look through them, I anxiously pull them back to the way I like them.
When we recognize that Jesus is God’s final revelation about His character and how to be right with Him, we can stop wrestling in our souls. Here’s what I mean: so often, we feel like we need to be in the “center” of God’s will. We need to have some clear, discernible, ‘word’ from God about our lives. And if we don’t, we’re missing out on “God’s best”.
It’s crazy to think that the last time we were all together in 1 service was March 15, 2020. Our church has responded very well to the changes in the past year. Together, we have served each other, worked to make changes in our church services possible, and we have grown in grace and in number. Sunday was another expression of God’s grace among us.
One of the verses that I’ve kept at the forefront of my thinking has been Psalm 115:1, which says, “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” The Lord has been kind to give us wisdom, to help us resolve conflicts, add/subtract ministries, and given us the courage to share the gospel.
Well…we safely made it through 1 Corinthians 14! There was no food fight in the cafeteria and we came out the other side with no one hanging from the rafters or doing cartwheels down the aisles! Seriously, it has been a very good time for our church as we studied 1 Corinthians 11-14.
One of the challenges with this particular gift is how much misapplication has happened with it and how much hurt has happened because of that.
I think it’s very interesting how Paul put 1 Corinthians 13 right before his discussion about prophecy and tongues in chapter 14. Those two gifts, especially tongues, seemed to cause the most issue in Corinth. And…they’re still an issue today. That’s why we need the love chapter so desperately.
One challenge with preaching on a familiar text, like 1 Corinthians 13, is that it’s…familiar. When a text is so widely known, the danger for me is to try to be cute or “original”. You know what I mean…try to do something no one else has done. Well, with true biblical preaching, that’s a very serious danger.
It’s an art to give honor correctly without flattery. Honor is about recognizing the work that God is doing in a person’s life and honoring them for obeying God or doing something well.
One of the things that I’ve been particularly burdened about as a pastor is to take the ‘weirdness’ out of spiritual gifts and if I can be frank here, take the ‘weirdness’ out of being a Christian. By that, I acknowledge that there will be times when being a Christian or God doing something miraculous will seem ‘weird’.
Grace is more powerful than our sin. Grace is more forgiving than our consciences. And grace motivates us to change and inspires us to love Jesus more.
We must admit that much of the confusion about gender and gender roles is not because God is not clear or that God has not spoken. It has to do with the Church misapplying or even in some cases, abusing the truth. This has created an overreaction in our world to these abuses or misapplication (not in every situation). The Church, must not only correct these misapplications and abuses, but we must live lives in our manhood and womanhood for the glory of God and the good of others.
When the power of God goes to work in our lives after we believe in the gospel, God begins to open our spiritual eyes and appetite to a variety of things. One of the areas that happened to me was beginning to see that God has provided all things for us to “richly enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17).
In my years in the ministry, I have found that people like to put on fronts, like to protect their reputations, and are afraid of being exposed. I’ve said often, “everyone wants accountability until they get it.” It’s true. We’ll ask off-the-wall questions, make untrue accusations, and even remember things that never happened…all for the sake of the cover-up.
When you read this text, especially when you see that the Old Testament people were “overthrown in the wilderness” or “were destroyed by the Destroyer”, it creates some challenges for us. Were these people Christians? What happened to them? And what does this mean for us? Is it possible for us to be lost, be found, then be lost again?
It’s never easy to talk about suffering and trials. It’s much easier to speak about God’s promises, God’s grace, and the empowerment to overcome sin. But Scripture is full of suffering examples: Joseph, people of Israel, and most importantly, Jesus.
There is so much to be said about the Church. I really wanted to help all of us see how the Church benefits to our souls. The combo of “drawing near to God” and “drawing near to one another” was challenging for us. Especially in the independent and isolated Northwest. My hope was that we would see how valuable and precious the family gatherings are to us and that we should make them a priority in our lives and calendars.
I have really enjoyed this sermon series. In hearing from many of you, it seems this series has been needed and encouraging. My prayer is that it’s a good launching point for 2021. We are children of God…adopted by God’s grace; representing Jesus in this world; empowered to overcome sin and the grave; and we love Jesus more than our lives.
For a long time in my Christian life, I found myself on the “tread mill”. Things seemed to always be a big deal or worse or better than they actually were; I didn’t find much traction; or I was up and down spiritually. It was frustrating, to be honest. Then I spent more time in Romans 5-8.
It is always amazing to me how the Lord providentially puts us in a text that fits perfectly with issues in our world. That was certainly true this past Sunday.
I was looking forward to opening up the new year at CLF because of this. It’s just felt like we need a fresh beginning. That’s part of the impetus for the series, “Children of God”.
I love preaching at CLF. I love my “home field” and I am eager each week to see the “upturned faces” and m hope each week is to turn those faces to their Savior and King, who is the best Shepherd and pastor.
It was a delight to step into our Christmas series this year. I really got a sense as we started planning for this series that it was needed.
There are so many various directions that a text like 1 Corinthians 9:1-18 can take you, that’s it’s tough to stay on track. My hope from Sunday was to make sure that we noticed/remembered the context of 1 Corinthians 8 because it plays itself out in 1 Corinthians 9.
A major principle: Love should win the day because Christ has won our hearts. Let that guide all of this.
Learn how to prepare your family and home for a potential disaster.
Doing an overview of 1 Corinthians 5-7 is a challenge due to the vast amount of information that is covered. When I went back and reviewed for this sermon, I was struck that I had preached 10 sermons in these 3 chapters. So…taking that information and reducing it into 1 sermon was a fun challenge.
The texts from 1 Corinthians 7 have been incredibly challenging to interpret and then make clear. Much of the dilemma is cultural, but the syntax, grammar, and language also made these sections really hard. So, my prayer is that throughout this chapter, it has been clear and hopefully, encouraging and helpful.
ALL of God’s people are in ministry, at one level or another. And when Jesus enters our lives, he doesn’t expect us to move, change locations/jobs/spouses/etc., to be better Christians or be more acceptable to God.
Marriages that represent Jesus and His church are desperately needed and the Lord has given us everything we need to serve Him faithfully in our marriages: the power to change; the grace to forgive; the church to mentor, counsel, & help; and His word to direct.
I added some thoughts in 1st service that I didn’t add in the 2nd, and vice-versa. For instance, in the 2nd service, one thought I gave that I didn’t say in the 1st service, was that as Christian parents, raising Christian kids, the tendency is to treat sex as bad, rather than good, when it’s in it’s right context.
Over the past few weeks, we’ve had a desire to provide hope and help during all the craziness. As I mentioned at the outset of yesterday, our goal has been to shed some light on the reality of the craziness…a historical battle about the supremacy of Jesus.
As I prepared for this week, I was very mindful of so many of the “ironic” cultural moments. I mentioned several of them in the sermon: abortion clinics being open and churches being closed; gathering to worship Jesus is deemed a public hazard, while gathering in a protest is deemed honorable…but to be honest, there’s so many of these ironic issues that it literally makes your head spin.
There have been few moments in my ministry that have happened where the Lord seemed to change directions on me at the last minute. This past week, really wasn’t one of those.
We finished up our Summer Psalms Series on Sunday. And what a great series this has been. When the idea for this series first popped into my head, I wanted it to be a “refreshing summer experience”.
I love that our people love God’s word; respect the preaching of God’s word; and are expecting the preaching of God’s word. I am very grateful for what the Lord has done at CLF and what He continues to do.
The past couple of weeks have allowed me some needed time off. As a general rule, the elders have asked that I am in the pulpit at least 44 out of 52 Sundays. This allows for our church to benefit from the wide-range of other men, who can preach God’s word to us. One of the joyful challenges we’re currently facing is that we
One of the challenges of doing multiple services is that it really doesn’t matter what you try, no 2 services are the same. One feel rushed, the other feels too slow. One feels forced, the other feels free-flowing. One feels like there’s a time crunch, the other feels like there’s no clock. However, this past Sunday was different…both services were the same. They had the same pacing,
This past Sunday was a unique one for me. I was able to take the Sunday off, be a church member, and sit with my family. It was amazing. I really enjoyed being part of the crowd and not having any responsibilities, except to fellowship, sing, pray, listen and heed God’s word being preached, and pray for all involved. It really was a joy. Sitting with my
Well, it’s been a few weeks since I sent out my musings. Lots has happened. Doesn’t it feel like the world is changing every few hours? I look up from my desk or head out the field and it seems like something new has been recommended, required, or ordered. I’ve literally had to keep my “head on a swivel”… Since our last time, we had our
For the first time since starting 3 services, I finally “hit the wall” in the 12:00 service yesterday. I preached about 10-15 minutes shorter and when I got done, I thought that I might’ve left something out! So, if you were in that service and you felt gypped ?, get the video/audio from the website tomorrow. But man, was I tired. Not sure what happened. Now, onto
Well, Sunday with 90/service went off without a hitch. Amazing Sunday! I’m very grateful for the way you have navigated through this season. CLF, you continue to amaze me with your gratitude, generosity, and eagerness. Thank you. Here are several things from Sunday’s sermon that I didn’t cover: Christian Freedoms with food/drink: One of the issues in 1 Corinthians 6:12-20 that we didn’t cover was how
Sunday was one of the smoother Sundays for us, since we started the re-opening. There was a great spirit at church and many remarked about how great it was to be back in the building. We agree. As Dave Quilla has said often…those of us doing the services each Sunday get to see 75 people each week. It’s been awesome. One of
There’s a ton to get to after Sunday’s message, so let me say a few things at the outset: This is a little longer post than normal, so I’ve tried to highlight the various sections so you can skip to things that might interest you more. I will be putting something this week about the President’s comments on Friday about churches and
A full day of services, preaching 3 services, and hearing other voices in the church building…let the musings begin. Sunday’s services: I cannot tell you how excited I was (and am) about Sunday’s services. It’s the first time since March 15th that we had an in-person church service. I didn’t sleep well (more on that in a moment) but I was full of faith
We put out an important video this past Saturday and I want to take on that, so you can hear a little more of our thought process. You can see that video here: https://clfroseburg.com. Also, I wanted to give some of the quotes from Sunday’s sermon and also talk about why I did what I did on Sunday to help you see the importance of
Pastor Dave York is joined by Elder Bill Heard in this episode of “Thursday Thoughts”. Together they look discuss the question “How has CLF decided to respond to the pandemic?”
There’s quite a bit that I want to say about Sunday’s sermon, so let’s just get right to it. Sunday’s sermon: Let’s start with things that need some clarification: In one point of my sermon, I mentioned that some believe this COVID-19 thing is a hoax. That needs to be cleaned up a bit. Here’s my concern and here’s what I meant to say…regardless
Pastor Dave sits down and looks at the question, “What is God doing in me during the pandemic?”
Sunday’s sermon was challenging on a few levels. One, the text was challenging. Two, not having people in the building to look at, to insure that the concepts were coming across clearly, was challenging. Three, there is so much more to say on this text. So, what I hope to do in this edition of ‘musings’ is to explain a little more. Sunday’s sermon: One
Pastor Dave sits down and answers the question, “What is God doing during the pandemic?”
In the weirdness of our times, I really cannot thank you guys enough. Our church has been so encouraging and helpful throughout this time. I’ve heard from many of you, expressing your gratitude, as well as giving us areas of improvement. The gracious critiques, as well as the encouraging words from you have been amazing. Thank you! Also, coming up in the coming weeks, after hearing
As we set out to plan the Easter series, our hope was to give you online content that would encourage you and prepare you for Easter Sunday. We really cannot thank you enough for the notes of appreciation and how this series helped you. I’ve said this a number of times, but I’m very grateful for Perry’s work in recording, editing, coaching me along,
These are just some ramblings about a variety of things that I hope will give some thought and insight into what we’re thinking during this really odd time in our country. Not to mention, I hope it will give you some thoughts on what we’re learning (CLF Staff anyway) through all of this. Thoughts on Sunday’s sermon and “Easter in Real Time” video
Well, the odd new normal, at least for a few more weeks, is upon us. Doing live-stream wasn’t as weird as last week and working hard to speaking into the camera, isn’t as difficult. However, I don’t know about you, but “doing” church in an empty building, makes me long for the days when we’re all together again. After watching the President’s news briefing on
Well, where to begin…I really have no idea, but off the top of my head, let me start with this past Sunday. Thoughts on Sunday and Sunday’s sermon (I’m just going to randomly put ideas that have come up and these are in no particular order): My wife has always told me that she can tell when I’m feeling awkward or a
CLF Family, As I mentioned in my letter last week to you, these are unprecedented times for us. I think I’ve said, texted, and emailed words like: “unreal”, “shock”, “unimaginable”, more than I have at any other time in my life. Those words really describe my emotions. It certainly seems like there are some days where things ratchet up and go at
Well, a ton happened this past week and I wasn’t able to get musings out last week, so I’ll try to keep this post just on some recent happenings. I hope this gives you some insight into how some decisions are made at CLF and why they’re made. A deep bench: First, I think it’s important to highlight an important thing that’s happened
There are times when I feel my weakness while preaching more than others. Sunday was one of those and these are days that are like milestones or stand out days that remind me of God’s faithfulness to His people, over and over. There were a couple of reasons for this: 1) This was the longest manuscript I had taken to the pulpit in quite a long
The text on Sunday was especially challenging because there have been so many different ways that it’s been preached and taught. It’s a text that is hotly debated at times and because of that, lots of misunderstanding has happened because of it. Here are a few of those challenges and my reasoning behind preaching it the way I did…
Restraint…that was what I had to tell myself this past week as I prepared for Sunday’s sermon. This text has literally been a guardrail for what I have sought to do. While not perfect, it has been desire each week to honor the Lord by “knowing nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Overriding thoughts: When I ‘cut my teeth’ on ministry,
A clarifications/improvement: Like I do many times, I wish I would’ve said some things differently on Sunday. Here’s one from yesterday: There are times when I’m writing my manuscript and reviewing it, that I get a “check” in my mind about a statement. Many times, I’ve learned to listen to this and change what I’ve written. But yesterday, I didn’t and I should have. It came
Several weeks ago, I made a snarky comment from the pulpit about us singing some songs that even I don’t like. Well, let me say this…”Only a Holy God” is not one of those! Introducing that song to our church was something I’ve been eagerly looking forward to. And our team did a great job with that. In that same vein of thought, this is
Sunday’s text is one of my favorites because of the leadership lessons it’s taught me through the years. Further, it’s one of my favorites because of how much God and Jesus are mentioned, with regards to the Corinthian church’s gifts and abilities. Studying that text and then teaching on it, was a lot of fun. Convicting, challenging, and enjoyable. From the cutting room floor: For
Morning Musings Well, I’ve got to admit…I got lost in the holiday season. I took a couple of weeks off from my normal routines and I found that it was much more difficult to get back in the groove again. So, let’s give this a shot and try to give you a few thoughts from this past Sunday. The last 2 sermons have
Let’s jump right into Sunday’s sermon stuff because there are several things that I’d like to say about it. Overarching theme: As I jumped into the study for Colossians 3:18-4:1, I was struck by the overarching theme of Colossians, which is Jesus is superior over all things and all people. And what struck me (powerfully, I might add) was the posture that Jesus
There are times when writing a sermon that questions pop up in my mind that I feel the urgency to answer. Many times those questions are for me, personally. But there are times when the questions I’m wrestling with are ones that the church needs answered as well. Such was the case in Sunday’s sermon on Colossians 2:16-23. The question that has been lingering in my
One of the things that I don’t want you to miss, as we’re blitzing through these 4 books, is that we’re covering a lot of ground, in a very short time. Believe me when I tell you, if we were studying each of these books, and allowing them to “breathe” a little, we would take a lot more time mining the depth
Pastors’ conferences are a great time to get some spiritual food for my soul. But, I have to admit…there is nothing like being back at CLF for a Sunday gathering. I love our church. I’m amazed at the grace and mercy that God has shown us through the years. Through times where we’ve metaphorically stubbed our toes to the times when, quite
This past week, I had more extra-local phone calls that normal, but I thought one call would be one that you’d enjoy hearing about. About once/month, I get to talk with Luis Castellanos, pastor at Taproot Church in Burien, WA. Most of you know Luis, but for those that don’t: Luis faithfully served at CLF for about 5 years as our administrator and youth pastor. He
Yesterday’s sermon reminded me of a time when I was younger and a lady came up to my first pastor after he had preached about the gospel and said, “preacher, keep telling me that old story, over and over again.” It was one of those days at CLF yesterday…being reminded by God that the gospel is His power and the gospel of Jesus
From the amount of texts that I’ve received about yesterday’s sermon, it seems that it hit a chord with many of you. I’m really glad to hear the encouragement, as well as the ways the Lord used the sermon to challenge you. It’s another reason why I’m grateful for God’s work at CLF. You are very sensitive to the Lord’s work and you’re passionate to
There are many things about Bill Heard that have amazed me through the years and one of them was on display as he preached. Here’s a guy who has literally spent thousands of hours reading/studying God’s word. He’s literally studied Philippians 4:1-9 more than anyone I know and has used that text in counseling people for years. And yet…when it came time for him to
There are so many moments in public speaking that you just have no idea what happened. One of those happened Sunday, when my voice began to leave me, during a section where I was straining my voice, and voila…sounded like I was going through puberty again. All I can do in those moments is: 1) laugh at myself…believe me, I’ve done far more weird
One challenge of preaching from texts like Philippians 3:1-11, is that it is so familiar to most, that it’s hard to look at it with a “fresh set of eyes.” This text is by far my favorite in Philippians and it’s been one of those life-altering texts for me through the years. I am grateful that the Lord gave us this passage, to look
Thoughts on Sunday’s sermon: Over the course of last week, our discussion around Sunday was how to handle a text like Philippians 2:19-30, which doesn’t seem to afford a ton of explanation (because it’s pretty clear) and it’s mainly about 2 guys: Timothy and Epaphroditus. My thought heading into this text was to look at the overall narrative of Philippians and also to see
This version of musings will be a different one because I didn’t preach this past Sunday. Instead, what I thought I would do in this post is talk briefly about how I process a sermon & also chat a little about what goes into our sermon planning/schedule. About that sermon: I love Dan Sieker. He’s one of my favorite men on the planet &
About the sermon: There are times when the Lord uses a particular text to preach to me. For some reason, since we’ve been in Philippians, it has felt like the Lord has been preaching to me more than normal. This past Sunday was no exception. I received some unexpected news last weekend and the thought of counting others more significant than myself and looking out
This past week, as I was thinking through various things (kids starting school, the blitz of a summer, leadership meeting, Sunday gathering, Sovereign Grace Council of Elders, etc.), I was reminded of Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 4:7 when he wrote, “What do you have that you have not received?” A phrase like this causes you to pause of a moment and
My hope is to get back to writing musings more frequently as the fall gets going. Our summer was a bit of a blitz (no different than many of yours). With the big event of Hannah and Grant’s wedding, summer baseball, and trying to keep up with church things, things were a bit hectic, to say the least. With fall just around the corner, the
One of the challenges of preaching a text like Ephesians 5:1-14 is how straight-forward it is. There is really no wiggle room and there is very little elaboration from Paul. On the flip side, it’s a challenge because the text is so straight forward, there’s not a lot of examples that have to be given for explanation. Some have asked me if it’s hard on
It’s always interesting to me the way that things ‘go’ during a sermon that I didn’t necessary expect. For one, I was really uncertain how to close the sermon yesterday. I had a few thoughts written down but nothing seemed to settle in my mind about it. Then, when I was working through the prep all week, the sermon never seemed as somber as it
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a sermon by Thomas Chalmers. I couldn’t remember the name of the sermon, until…the moment I walked off the stage:). This sermon is about how a growing affection for Jesus, will expel sin from our hearts. This is a sermon that’s great for people like us….who’s hearts are “a factory of idols.” Here’s the link that will lead
Well, after a really crazy spring, I thought I would take this musings to give you a report about my Philippines trip. Last year, I was approached by our Sovereign Grace leaders about helping out with ministry partnerships in the Philippines. For almost 10 years now, I have had a growing passion for that country, for reasons unknown to me. I had a friend,
It is so good to be back home in my home church. The Philippines trip was a good one and in the very near future, I will send out a report about that trip. But it’s always good to be home. I missed my family, dearly. And I missed you. There is nothing like worshipping Jesus with the church I love the most on earth. Now,
The tension in the room was palpable when I read through Ephesians 1:1-10 on Sunday. I always find it interesting, when God’s word is read to a congregation, to “feel” the “gasps” or the “anticipation” about what is in the text. Many people told me after Sunday…”I was wondering where you were going with that text!” My sincerest hope on Sunday was for us to
I was asked this question after church yesterday and I thought it would be a good way to start: “how do I boast in Christ, when I’ve got to bid on jobs and try to sell what my company does?” That’s a fantastic question. Here was my answer: boasting in Christ does not mean, “let go and let God”. Nor is it
Let’s start this edition of musings off with a minor correction from Sunday (some of you might think this is major)…I know that I misstated which superhero tossed Loki around and called him “puny god”…it was Hulk…I had it written in my notes correctly, but got so excited that I said it was Thor who did that…oops…and yes, you know you’re a
My daughter, Abi, who’s one of our most direct, honest communicators, said to me last night…”Dad, I have to admit, I can never tell a difference between your inside voice and your outside voice.” My voice isn’t in “mid-season form” yet, as one of my coaches recently told me and luckily the Lord kept me from sounding like I had gone back to
Well, two weeks in a row now, we have hit on topics in Galatians 4 that have inspired me and challenged me. These texts really get my emotions flowing because of their content and depth. Galatians 4:21-31 is definitely one of the most challenging texts to preach on and one of the most challenging to understand. My prayer is that I was able to preach
There are many passages of Scripture that are difficult to preach from because of interpretation challenges. Then there are passages that are hard to preach from because of the emotions those texts bring. Our text from Sunday was one of those. The reason this text had so many emotions in it is because of the pastoral emotions that Paul mentions. As a pastor, I can
No one will ever have a successful marriage, let alone one filled with intimacy and romance without a firm understanding of what that is supposed to look like form a biblical standpoint. (Ephesians 5) Every marriage is unique because couples are unique. Your marriage will not look exactly like mine or anyone else’s. But every marriage between two born again believers joined
On Saturday afternoon, prior to the Marriage Banquet, I texted the elders this: “Hey guys, as you know Galatians 4:1-7 is one of the most dense, glorious texts on redemption in Paul’s writings. Would you pray for 2 things: 1) that I could do this text the justice it deserves. God has been really kind in my prep this week & my
I’m still laughing this morning at one of the weirdest moments in preaching that happened yesterday in my 29 years of preaching…I forgot what I was talking about in the middle of my sermon! Those of you who know me best, were giving me that “you’ve literally just lost your mind” look. It was so fun…and scary at the same time. Weird. I’m glad I got
I received this fitting text from Bruce Wells, one of our faithful members, on Monday: Run John, run the law commands; But gives you neither feet nor hands.Far better news the gospel brings.It bids you fly and gives you wings” -John Bunyan What a fitting way to describe Sunday’s sermon. I love it when our people send those kinds of texts my way.
YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS OUT ON THE FELLOWSHIP.