Living as Christ’s New Community (Colossians 3:5-17)

Living as Christ’s New Community (Colossians 3:5-17)
CrossWay Community Church
September 18th, 2022

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You should “church shop,” so says Screwtape

“My Dear Wormwood,

You mentioned casually in your last letter that the patient has continued to attend one church, and one only, since he was converted, and that he is not wholly pleased with it. May I ask what you are about? Why have I no report on the causes of his fidelity to the parish church? Do you realize that unless it is due to indifference it is a very bad thing? Surely you know that if a man can’t be cured of churchgoing, the next best thing is to send him all over the neighborhood looking for the church that ‘suits’ him until he becomes a taster or connoisseur of churches.

The reasons are obvious. In the first place the parochial organization should always be attacked, because, being a unity of place and not of likings, it brings people of different classes and psychology together in the kind of unity the Enemy [God] desires. The congregational principle, on the other hand, makes each church into a kind of club, and finally, if all goes well, into a coterie or faction.

In the second place, the search for a ‘suitable’ church makes the man a critic where the Enemy wants him to be a pupil. What He wants of the layman in church is an attitude which may, indeed, be critical in the sense of rejecting what is false or unhelpful, but which is wholly uncritical in the sense that it does not appraise—does not waste time in thinking about what it rejects, but lays itself open in non-commenting, humble receptivity to any nourishment that is going on. (You see how grovelling, how unspiritual, how irredeemably vulgar He is!) This attitude, especially during sermons, creates the condition (most hostile to our whole policy) in which platitudes can become really audible to a human soul. There is hardly any sermon, or any book, which may not be dangerous to us if it is received in this temper. So pray bestir yourself and send this fool the round of the neighboring churches as soon as possible. Your record up to date has not given us much satisfaction.

Your affectionate uncle,
Screwtape”

—C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Resurrection Life in Christ (Colossians 2:16-3:4)

Resurrection Life in Christ (Colossians 2:16-3:4)
CrossWay Community Church
September 11th, 2022

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Don’t Let Anyone Disqualify You (Colossians 2:16-3:4)

Don’t Let Anyone Disqualify You (Colossians 2:16-3:4)
CrossWay Community Church
September 4th, 2022

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The Gospel & Personal Evangelism by Mark Dever (Book Recommendation)

Do you struggle to share your faith with unbelievers? Do you often feel ill-equipped for the task? Many Christians want to share the gospel more frequently with others but feel intimidated or incapable of doing so. In this book, Mark Dever discloses the Biblical foundations for evangelism and challenges us to think through the “what, why, who, and how?” of evangelism.

In addition, you can download my study guide for the book.

For my full list of recommended books, see here.