Servants

Servants
  • Matthew 20:25-28; 25:31-46 read or listen online
  • John 13:1-17 read or listen online
  • Philippians 2:5-11 read or listen online
  • 1 Peter 2:16 read or listen online
  • Messengers | Tim Keller | MP3 As disciples of Jesus, we are his messengers, and our mission is to communicate the belief that we have in Christ. Service based on performance, pride, and self-image can be manipulative and harmful, but service based on who we are in Christ allows us to rejoice in what God does in our lives and in the lives of others.
  • Work and Rest | Tim Keller | MP3 The religious leaders in Jesus’ time had a long list of rules regarding the Sabbath. When questioned, Jesus does not respond by dismissing the Sabbath, but rather redefines it — by dying on a cross. As Christians, we are able to enter into his rest and enjoy the same rest that God enjoyed after creation, by means of his works, not ours. The Sabbath is a blessing from God and one we will only enjoy if we understand it correctly.
  • Neighbors | Tim Keller | MP3 The parable of the Good Samaritan demonstrates a powerful example of gospel neighboring. Through examining this parable, we can recognize four elements to help us to act out the neighbored grace modeled by Jesus in our own lives: God's mandate, magnitude, proper motivation, and method.
  • Real Friendship and the Pleading Priest | Tim Keller | MP3 Abraham, in his intercessory prayer for Sodom, engages in the first priestly action of the Bible. His intercession implies a corporate responsibility in which righteousness as well as sin can be ascribed to a people, and his actions point to Christ, the great priest, and our role as the royal priesthood
Stewardship
  • Don't Waste Your Life | John Piper | Book | Free PDF Book | Study Guide | Conference Messages MP3, Video, Transcript |Original sermon that catalyzed the book "God created us to live with a single passion: to joyfully display his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life. The wasted life is the life without this passion. God calls us to pray and think and dream and plan and work not to be made much of, but to make much of him in every part of our lives." Most people slip by in life without a passion for God, spending their lives on trivial diversions, living for comfort and pleasure, and perhaps trying to avoid sin. This book will warn you not to get caught up in a life that counts for nothing.
  • Made for Stewardship | Tim Keller | MP3 We are called to work because God also worked - He created the world! We can work for God by using our gifts for others. We also need rest from our work, which comes from our security in God through Christ.
  • Work | Tim Keller | MP3 Our God works, is creative, and rests. We are made in his image and should mirror these attributes. In this letter, Paul gives the young Christians in Thessalonica practical advice on how to work, not only to be successful and to earn a living, but to fulfill our highest calling: to please God.
  • Generosity in Scarcity | Tim Keller | MP3 Habbakuk tells us how to deal with evil times and maintain joy when everything is going wrong. There are three principles to giving: give sacrificially, joyfully, and graciously. We must recognize that everything is a gift from God, so we're giving back from his gifts. Habbakuk points to Jesus as the true source of our strength.
  • Generosity (3 sermons) | Tim Keller | MP3 .....
  • Can Faith be Green? | Tim Keller | MP3 Genesis shows us the goodness of creation, the stewardship of creation, the fallenness of creation, and the final restoration of creation. The Bible calls us as Christians to be careful stewards of creation because nature reflects God’s goodness and because nature will ultimately be restored in heaven.
Managing Money
  • The Gospel and Your Wealth | Tim Keller | MP3 Money will always reveal what you truly worship. As God’s money managers, we are called to share the money he has provided to us with those who do not have as much. However, money exercises great power over us and we are often oblivious to this power. If you feel unable to part with your wealth, meditate upon the radical generosity of Christ on the cross and he will become the treasure of your heart.
  • Money; The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly | Tim Keller | MP3 Only in Christianity is the world intentionally created by God. The world is not created by accident and then ruled by God. Therefore, all of God's creation — including wealth — should be enjoyed. However, if our worldly wealth becomes our identity, we will remain in unfulfilling jobs; we will overwork to gain financial prestige; and we may become emotionally bipolar. This kind of wealth-based identity causes us to dangerously seal off work life from personal life.
  • The Word on Finances | Larry Burkett | Book Burkett categorizes the 2,300+ Bible verses that have anything to do with money and wealth. Anyone interested in personal finance should start with this book.
  • Magnifying God with Money | John Piper | MP3 & Transcript .....
  • Steps to Making a Budget | by Crown Financial Ministries | Larry Burkett .....
  • Plans and Goals | by Crown Financial Ministries .....
  • The Treasure Principle: Unlocking the Secret of Joyful Giving | Randy Alcorn | Book Alcorn encourages us to understand that everything we might believe we own is actually God's; we are merely managers. In the Gospels, Jesus teaches more on money and possessions than heaven and hell combined. Learn how giving is the antidote to materialism.
  • Tithing and Giving: The Impact of a Life Lived for the Glory of God | Crown Financial Ministries | Article .....
Social Justice
  • Beyond Charity: The Call to Christian Community Development | John Perkins | Book Perkins helps readers rethink their assumptions about what inner-city ministry should be and relates what the Bible says it is.
  • The Peril of Partiality - Riches and Race in the Christian Church | John Piper | MP3 and transcript .....
  • The Gospel and the Poor | Tim Keller The original question I was asked to address was "How does our commitment to the primacy of the gospel tie into our obligation to do good to all, especially those of the household of faith, to serve as salt and light in the world, to do good to the city?" I will divide this question into two parts: (1) If we are committed to the primacy of the gospel, does the gospel itself serve as the basis and motivation for ministry to the poor? (2) If so, how then does that ministry relate to the proclamation of the gospel?
  • Justice | Gary Haugen | MP3 God has a passion for the world and a passion for justice. According to the Bible, injustice is the abuse of power that allows the strong to take from the weak the good things that God intended for all human beings. God calls us to fight against injustice by asking us to be obedient in giving to him what we already have.
  • Blueprint for Revival: Social Concern | Tim Keller | MP3 The parable of the Good Samaritan demonstrates a biblical model of social work and compassion. The Samaritan meets the physical, financial, emotional, and material needs of the man in his path. This parable reminds us that real faith is expressed in deeds as well as sentiments and words.
  • A Theology of Poverty | Coram Deo Church This is a paper written by the elders of Coram Deo with the intent to lay a foundation for understanding and approaching poverty from a kingdom and gospel-centered perspective.
  • Hope, Race and Power | Tim Keller | MP3 Racial and cultural differences exist. They cannot be resolved by simply embracing broad-mindedness, but by adjusting our lives and forming deep relationships with people from whom we are different. These relationships will enable us to finally view all aspects of God’s glory.
  • Generous Justice | Tim Keller | Book ...
Servant Leadership