Dear Redeeming Grace, In times of difficulty, a good question to ask is "In what or whom am I trusting right now?" Psalm 9:10 says this: "And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you." There are a couple helpful observations we can make from this verse and think about in our own lives. First, we start with t...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, A few years back, at our annual youth camp, I was introduced to a helpful book called Praying the Bible. Donald Whitney, the author, walked us through the process of reading a passage of a Psalm, then responding in prayer using some of the very words or truths from the passage. He gives the following example of this practice from Psalm 23: "You read...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, During Dave's message on Joy last Sunday, he mentioned Proverbs 10:28 which says this: "The hope of the righteous brings joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish." I'd like to focus this week on the first part of that truth: the hope of the righteous brings joy. First, this proverb speaks to believers in Jesus Christ. It is us who have bee...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, Through these weeks of prolonged attacks on Ukraine, perhaps you've wondered about practical ways to help in addition to fervently praying. Recently the Executive Director of Sovereign Grace Churches, Mark Prater, informed us of one way we can help on the ground in Ukraine. Through partnership in Sovereign Grace, relationships are formed. One such r...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, In the opening prayer of "The Valley of Vision", a collection of Puritan prayers, the writer prays this: "Let me learn by paradoxthat the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high...." As we thought last week about putting on the gospel value of humility, I think this prayer gets at the pursuit of humility. Ultimately, our desire is to b...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, Last week Dave helped us see more clearly that if we are to show mercy, our compassion and empathy has to give birth to action. Mercy involves both our hearts and our hands. As we considered what it looks like to be merciful because God has been merciful to us, I was reminded of a simple and very helpful verse from Ephesians 5. "Therefore be imitato...
Keep ReadingDear Redeeming Grace, In his sermon on fellowship, Jason shared this great quote from J.I. Packer: "A body in which the blood does not circulate well is always below par, and fellowship corresponds to the circulation of the blood in the body of Christ. The church gains strength through fellowship, and loses strength without it." - J.I. Packer By God's grace we always wa...
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