Mainline churches in Canada are dying. Since 1960 – Lutherans, Anglicans, Presbyterians, and the United Church have lost half their members. The United Church closes one church a week, on average.
But a few mainline congregations are thriving and growing. Why is that?
That was the question three Canadian academics—David Millard Haskell and Stephanie Burgoyne of Wilfrid Lau..
Verse: “O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men.” — ps 107:8
Thought: If we complained less, and praised more, we should be happier, and God would be more glorified. Let us daily praise God for common mercies-common as we frequently call them, and yet so priceless, that when deprived of them we are ready to perish. Let us bless God for the eyes with which we behold the sun, for the health and strength to walk abroad, for the bread we eat,..
Editors’ note: “Preacher’s Toolkit” is a monthly series that seeks to answer questions related to preaching. If you have a preaching-related question or issue you’d like for us to answer, please write us at ask@thegospelcoalition.org. We recently launched an Expository Preaching Project, for which TGC Council pastors will prepare free instructional resources on expository preaching in both video and print formats in six strategic languages. We’re prayerfully seeking to raise $150,000 to fund the..
Television is being transformed. Long considered something of a low-art stepchild to cinema—both the fuel and fodder of mass culture in all of its capitalist glory—TV has decidedly matured. No longer bound to old broadcast models and the confines of “Mondays at 8/7 Central” timeslots, television’s very form is changing. But so is its reputation. Through shows like The Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, The Wire,and many others, television is now considered a “prestige” medium attracting the best v..
Editors’ note: This year’s election season clearly revealed what many have long suspected: America is a deeply divided nation. What has caused this division? What is the way forward? How can evangelicals respond in a way that leads to healing and increased unity? The Gospel Coalition invited several writers and observers to explore those and related questions for an online symposium on the State of Evangelicalism.
Previously:
What Persecuted Syrians Can Teach Us About American Politics (Mindy ..
Thursday, December 1, 2016
Commemoration of Charles de Foucauld, Hermit, Servant of the Poor, 1916
Meditation:
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to..
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.— Romans 12:1 (KJV)
Thoughts on Today's Verse…
Our worship isn't confined to Sunday! Each day that we offer ourselves to Jesus as his servants, we also are offering him our worship. Every time that we consciously resist evil and choose good, we are offering pleasing and acceptable worship to God. Isn't it ex..
Verse: “Thou hast made summer and winter.” — ps 74:17
Thought: My soul begin this wintry month with thy God. The cold snows and the piercing winds all remind thee that he keeps his covenant with day and night, and tend to assure thee that he will also keep that glorious covenant which he has made with thee in the person of Christ Jesus. He who is true to his Word in the revolutions of the seasons of this poor sin-polluted world, will not prove unfaithful in his dealings with his own well-beloved Son..
Key PassagePilate wanted to please the people. So Pilate freed Barabbas for them. And Pilate told the soldiers to beat Jesus with whips. Then Pilate gave Jesus to the soldiers to be killed on a cross.
— Mark 15:15 ERV (Read Full Text)
Key ThoughtPilate knows Jesus is innocent, yet gives in totally to the wishes of the mob—he first has Jesus scourged (“flogged with a lead-tipped whip”) and then turns Jesus over to be crucified. Why does he do it? Pilate has to keep Rome happy by maintaining order..
PassagePhilippians 4:7-11
PrayerDear Father, victorious deliverer,May I be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on rule-keeping but that which is through trust in Christ, the righteousness of God that depends on trust, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that if possible, I might attain the resurrection of the dead.O God, let me obtain it! Let me be awake! Let me put on the armor of light! Let m..