1. The Lord keeps adding to our number. We ran out of chairs again yesterday in our Sunday morning service. I'll need to ask the school to begin to set more out for us. Several people have indicated that they're interested in becoming members and sticking around. How encouraging!
2. We've had some pretty awesome visitors lately. Over the past two weeks we've been blessed to fellowship with saints from sister churches in Toronto, as well as those who've travelled from Saskatchewan, BC, and England.
3. It's been such a blessing to witness the prayerfulness and enthusiasm of Paul McDonald as he begins his ministry at GFC. It's contagious and I can't wait to see how God is going to use Paul in our midst.
4. I'm excited to begin our evening series on the spiritual disciplines. I anticipate it will be a special time in the life of our church as we learn to pursue God even more earnestly.
5. I'm really looking forward to our new small groups starting up in just a few weeks. Those are always used of God to do great things in the life of our church.
6. I haven't preached the past two Sundays. It has been a blessed break and I'm thankful for it -- but man, I'm excited to get back into the pulpit! Especially since I've been studying 1 Peter for a while now. I'm praying that the ministry in this next series will be out of the overflow of all that God's doing in my heart as I prepare for it.
7. I'm playing hockey again this winter for the first time in a while. Man oh man, I've missed it. I just hope I don't stink as bad as I'm anticipating I will. I'm pretty excited to have some guys from church joining me on the team this year as well. We're hoping God opens some good doors for evangelism.
8. We are starting a new Fighter Verse schedule this week. For the first time we're trying to match our memory verses with the teaching schedule in such a way that our memorization will help each week by reminding us of what we've just heard on Sunday and what we've been learning together. I'm excited to give it a try and see how it works!

Post from: Julian Freeman

Eight Things I’m Pretty Stoked About

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Looking Back

Looking back over the last few years of my life, there has been really only one significant doctrinal change so far as I can see. And even that doctrinal change hasn't been a change of mind so much as a change of priority.

The biggest change in my theological worldview has been an increasing awareness of the expansiveness of the gospel and its ultimate sufficiency. But rather than reflecting here on being gospel-centred (there are lots of other places you can read about that), I thought I would simply identify a few of the key events God has used to help me realize the ongoing significance and relevance of the gospel for all of life.

1. The Toronto Pastors Conference 2010

The keynote messages preach by Mike Bullmore were especially used of God to help me see the sufficiency of the gospel for all of life.

• Download all the messages here for free (video & audio)

2. Preaching through 1 Timothy

Preaching through the book of 1 Timothy taught me to see just how 'gospel-centred' the apostle Paul was in his approach to pastoring. Throughout the book he insists that Timothy protect the right doctrine of the gospel of Jesus because it alone is what changes lives. No matter what pastoral problems the Ephesian church was facing, Timothy's charge was one and the same: protect the gospel, because that's why the church is there, that's what saves sinners and teaches them how to live in a way that is pleasing to God.

• Here is a post I wrote when I was studying to preach the book on 'the answer to everything'
• Here is the series of sermons I preached on 1 Timothy

3. Sitting Under the Faithful Preaching of a Faithful Preacher

One of the incalculable blessings of being in a church where more than one pastor preaches is the blessing of sitting under the ministry of another man as he teaches the word. For the 13 years or so before planting GFC I sat under the ministry of Pastor Paul Martin. While there are many things which mark his ministry, none is more prominent in my view than this: he is a man faithful to preach the word. What the word says, he says. The effect of sitting under that week-by-week, month-by-month, year-by-year can only be known in eternity. But over the last few years in particular, I have been profoundly affected by the bigness and the omnipracticality of the gospel as Paul preaches. I hope, by God's grace, to be able to replicate that for our people in our church plant.

• Check out Paul's messages online
• If you're looking for a good church on the west side of Toronto, you'll want to check out Grace Fellowship Church (Rexdale)

Looking Forward

I pray that this trajectory of growth in understanding the gospel in new and dynamic ways through all of Scripture will continue. I also pray that my ministry will continue to grow, like the apostle Paul's, to be one that is rooted and grounded in the gospel. The truth of the good news of what God has done for us in Christ must be the guiding principle for all my decisions, words, and actions as a pastor.

------------

** This is written as part of the series 30 for 30: Reflections on Life at My 30th Birthday **

Post from: Julian Freeman

The Sufficiency & Centrality of the Gospel

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Before teaching on the primacy of expository preaching, DAC taught for a while on the importance that the Bible (especially the New Testament) places on preaching. Sometimes I think that people think of preaching as something that we can take or leave. We treat it like it's a product of modernity and may well have seen it's last days of usefulness.

The New Testament has another view, however. DAC roots the priority of the spoken word in the nature of God--the fact that he is a God who speaks, and that is his nature. But then he listed a whole list of texts worth looking up and meditating on (in their respective contexts) which clearly show the New Testament's emphasis on preaching.

Since I wanted to do the work of looking the texts up anyway, I thought that I may as well make the list available to you as well. You can view all the texts by simply clicking here. Here is a great reminder that the priority we give to preaching is not cultural but biblical. It is good to be reminded of even the basics from time-to-time.

It's easy to see why reading and meditating on such a list would be important for a preacher or a pastor like myself. My question, though, is this: What does the average church member stand to gain from thinking about the biblical priority of preaching? How would it / could it affect you and your mindset as you go to church or serve in your church?

Post from: Julian Freeman

The Primacy of Preaching

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We taught this series on Sunday evenings, with various men from our church leadership and mentoring program teaching each week. Each week we were given a handout outlining the question that would be answered that week. Those outlines have now been put into a single booklet, which you can download below.

It's a 61 page systematic theology. It's simple, it's short, we believe it's accurate, and it's as comprehensive as we could be for a short series on Sunday evenings. Best of all, it's free. If you're looking for materials for introduction to the Christian faith or something similar, this could be very helpful.

Our 26 questions cover everything from Creation to the end of the world, even to eternity future. You can even click here to view and download the audio messages from the series so you can listen and read along with the notes. Click the image to download the booklet itself.

Here's a listing of the 26 Questions that you should be asking (and we attempt to answer):

1. How Can I Know What is True?
2. Who is God?
3. How Many Gods are There?
4. Where Did the World Come From?
5. Does Prayer Matter?
6. Are There Other Spiritual Beings?
7. Why Did God Create Us? What is Our Purpose?
8. Who is In Control Here?
9. Is There a Difference Between Men & Women?
10. What is Sin and What Difference Does it Make?
11. Who is Jesus?
12. Why Did Jesus Have to Die?
13. Where is Jesus Now?
14. What is the Gospel?
15. What Does it Mean to Be Born Again?
16. What is Justification?
17. What is Sanctification?
18. Will I Make It?
19. Who Is the Holy Spirit?
20. What is the Church?
21. What is Baptism?
22. What is the Lord’s Supper?
23. Where Do I Fit in the Church?
24. What Will Happen at the End of Time?
25. What Happens When I Die?
26. What is the ‘After-Life’?

Post from: Julian Freeman

Full ’26 Questions’ Series Now Available

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While the TPF page has a media library where you can download all the free sermons and papers for pastors, it can at times be cumbersome to have to download so many files. So I thought I'd put them all in one place for you.

Now, just download the zip file below, open it up and you've got MP3 files of all the messages + the Q&A sessions, all the PDFs of the papers, and all the PDF files of all the book reviews that were distributed this year. All in all, it's a phenomenal resource.

With messages from men like Dr Michael Haykin, Dr Pierre Constant, Dr Darryl Dash, Pastors Tim Kerr, Carl Muller, Stephen Kring, and Paul Martin, and über-blogger extraordinaire, Tim Challies, this is great link to pass along to any pastor friends you may have.

Enjoy!

Post from: Julian Freeman

TPF 2008-2009: Free Download of All the Sermons for Pastors

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Pastors Delighting in God to the Glory of God Together

This coming Monday is the final monthly meeting of the Toronto Pastors Fellowship for the 2008-2009 season. While I'm sad that it will be over for the next several months, I can't wait for Monday to come, because the paper will be great!

I've just had a chance to read over Pastor Darryl Dash's paper on theocentric preaching; it is full of insights, challenges, and encouragements.

Here is a brief preview to whet your appetite for Monday's meeting. In this section, Dr Dash is detailing the pitfalls and flaws of moralistic preaching, and showing how even sermons that are textually based may be ultimately moralistic.

In Scripture, obedience is always a response to the gospel. Application that is not rooted in gospel leads to pride if the listener succeeds, and defeatism if the listener does not. The law does not give us power to obey its commands; we need good news (the gospel), not just good advice. The Bible does contain commands, but these are always applications of the gospel.

Moralism can creep into how-to sermons (e.g. “Four Steps to Better Parenting”), but it can also creep into expositions of a text. For example, preaching the imperatives of Ephesians 4-6 will be moralistic unless we link the imperatives to the gospel described in Ephesians 1-3. God's gift and his commands (theology and ethics) are always linked.

Make sure to join us on Monday morning at 10am to get the full paper, the Q&A, and all the blessings of fellowship. 

See you there!

Post from: Julian Freeman

Preaching God

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One of the best things about serving with the Toronto Pastors Fellowship is that I get to read the papers ahead of time. I thought that this time I might share a tiny, little bit of that blessing with you.

Here is a sneak peek at a the paper Dr Pierre Constant will be presenting at the TPF meeting this Monday (February 9). 

There are dozens of discussion-worthy ideas in the paper, but since this section in particular relates to a discussion we had here not too long ago (see Preaching vs. Lecturing), I thought I'd throw this out there as well.

As said earlier, preaching preparation involves a number of elements, from careful study of words and texts to careful study of the needs of congregations, so that when, as pastors, we are addressing the family of God, the body of Christ is built up, equipped and motivated to worship God and to serve Christ in the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit.

More specifically, preaching involves teaching, motivating, correcting, guiding, leading the people of God to serve Him with joy and thankfulness, with the intention of bringing glory to the only One worthy of any glory. Paul wrote: "For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord" (2 Cor 4.6).

Moreover, when we do preach, we do more than lecture or communicate content. We equip, motivate, encourage people to act upon what they hear. We bring the family of God to worship Christ and be transformed unto His image.

Preaching, then, is more than lecturing because its aim is higher than merely bringing the hearers to an understanding of the material presented. The preacher is pastoring the people of God and moving them by the Word of God and the power of the Spirit to glory an and ultimately reflect the Creator-Redeemer God. 

The argument might be said that the comparison between preaching and lecturing is apples and oranges, since preaching is an entirely spiritual task, empowered by the Spirit of God himself. 

But this, then, begs at least a couple questions:

1. Why do so many preachers find it so easy to lecture rather than preach?
2. What (if anything) should we endeavour to learn from lecturers / lecture techniques that we can apply to preaching?
3. Why are so many churches content with preachers who lecture?

Post from: Julian Freeman

TPF Preview: Preaching is More Than Lecturing

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I wonder if it would be safe to say that one of the most basic differences lies in the responsibility for understanding. Here's what I mean.

In a classroom lecture, the hearer (the student) is held responsible for learning and retaining what is being taught. In preaching, the preacher is viewed as responsible for making sure the hearer (the church-goer) learns and retains what is being taught.

From that basic distinction come all kinds of differences. Here's one example. In a classroom setting, a professor may mention a term like oligarchy or a person like Barth without having to offer any further explanation. If the listener doesn't understand, it's up to him to go do some research and figure out what the professor was saying. In a sermon, however, it's never okay to mention obscure terms or people. You are striving with everything in you to make sure the people who hear understand the truth and its implications, so you would not want to do anything to obscure the truth.

Here's another example. In a lecture setting, if the teacher is presenting a complicated theory, he needs only to cover it once and then move on. The students have the text book and have been assigned the reading, so the one explanation should be sufficient for them. In a sermon, however, the preacher must understand that most people don't read the text book and that even when they do, they need help understanding how to put concepts together. The preacher, then, illustrates, the truth in terms, images, similes, and stories that the people will readily be able to identify with.

There are many more examples, but I think I'll leave it with those two for now. Does it seem fair to suggest that one of the basic differences between preaching and lecturing is the placement of the responsibility for understanding?

Post from: Julian Freeman

Preaching vs Lecturing

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One of the great conversations we had in class this year was on the topic of the need to be preaching the Word of God rather than opinions or topics that may or may not relate to the revealed truth of the Word.

Over the course of the conversation, Dr Penhearow pointed out this pastoral bit of wisdom that I've thought about much ever since:

The needs of the congregation may in fact be different than even they think.

The point is this: Only God the Spirit, who searches hearts, knows our needs. Sometimes in the midst of our problems we think we know what we need; in reality, however, only God knows. If we, as pastors, try to interpret people's lives so as to determine what they 'need' to hear, we'll get it wrong.

If we can't discern the needs of our own heart, how can we hope to do just that for the congregation we don't know as well as ourselves?

If, however, we preach the God-inspired Word, then God will be faithful to address his people's needs. He knows them already and he has given the Word precisely to meet those needs. When we preach the Word of God, the Spirit of God will accomplish all the purposes of God in the people of God. 

As preachers, all we need to do is 'eat the scroll.' God will apply according to his grace and the needs of his people. There is no promise in Scripture that God will work through my thoughts according to his will; there are plenty of promises in Scripture that God will work through his Word. 

That's our hope as preachers--that God would work, because only he sees true needs.

Post from: Julian Freeman

Preaching the Word and People’s Needs

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Pastor Bill Bygroves

I just noticed today that the messages delivered at the 2008 Carey Conference have been posted on the Carey website. There is some great stuff here for you to download!

Bill Bygroves, pastor of Bridge Chapel in Liverpool, was the main speaker for the evening sessions. 

The title of the series was 'Sacred Songs' and each evening he preached from a psalm. He preached: (1) The Song of Blessing, (2) The Song of Hurt, (3) The Song of Guilt, (4) The Song of Unity, and, (5) The Song of Joy.

There were also seven messages preached from pastors in the Sovereign Grace Fellowship from the Gospel of John. At least six of them are worth listening to. Here they are:

1. Brian Robinson -- Water Into Wine
2. David Robinson -- Healing of the Nobleman's Son
3. Stephen Kring -- Healing at Bethesda
4. Kirk Wellum -- Feeding of 5,000
5. Glenn Tomlinson -- Healing of the Blind Man
6. Ian Vaillancourt -- Raising of Lazarus
7. Julian Freeman -- The Huge Catch of Fish

Post from: Julian Freeman

More Free Sermons for Download

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