Recommended Resources for Parents: General Parenting
By · CommentsOver the next three Sundays, I will be preaching a series on gospel parenting. I am not an expert on parenting, to be sure. In fact, the reason for a series on parenting is because I know the deficiencies in my own life as a father, and I am called to shepherd High Pointe in all areas of life by applying the gospel in specific ways.
As I am preparing for this series, I have been compiling a list of helpful resources for parents. I will be sharing that list in parts over the next few days. To begin with, allow me to recommend some general parenting materials.
General Parenting
God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation by Andreas J. Köstenberger
*Dr. Köstenberger, New Testament professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, provides a thorough handbook on all things related to marriage and family. In this book, Dr. Köstenberger argues from the biblical texts what God says about such things as marriage, family, reproductive technologies, singleness, homosexuality, divorce and remarriage. Every family should have a copy of this book as a biblical reference manual.
Gospel-Powered Parenting: How the Gospel Shapes and Transforms Parenting by William P. Farley
*Gospel-Powered Parenting is a book about how the gospel applies to parenting without assuming what the gospel is. This book is not a book about parenting methodology; it is a book meant to change our thinking (our wrong assumptions) about God, ourselves and our children. In other words, it is a book that lays the biblical and theological foundations for gospel parenting. Farley does an excellent job of explaining the gospel and applying the implications of the gospel to our lives as husbands, wives and parents.
Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Tedd Tripp
*Shepherding a Child’s Heart is a classic in gospel parenting. I recently re-read it, and I realized that I had forgotten just how good and helpful it is. Because the Bible argues that the heart is the well-spring of life, Tripp helps parents learn how to shepherd a child’s heart. He helpfully exposes the unbiblical goals (well-behaved, well-educated, well-mannered kids) and unbiblical methods (emotionalism, threats, yelling, withholding affection, license) parents are likely to use when not focused on the issues of the heart. If you only read one book on gospel parenting, pick this one up.
Instructing a Child’s Heart by Tedd and Margy Tripp
*In this book, Tedd and Margy Tripp focus on formative instruction, though they do not exclude corrective discipline, for the purpose of equipping our children with a Christian worldview – a view that “delights in God and the goodness of His ways.”
Age of Opportunity: A Biblical Guide to Parenting Teens by Paul Tripp
*In Age of Opportunity, Paul Tripp debunks contemporary culture’s view of teenagers and helps expose whether or not we Christians have bought into culture’s views. He addresses the frustrations and fears that come with raising teenagers but helps us understand that the family is the place God has chosen as the primary place of instruction for our children. Consequently, he helps us establish biblical goals for parenting teens (part 2) and helpful strategies (part 3).
Culture
All God’s Children and Blue Suede Shoes by Ken Meyer
*Many of us have grown up in pop culture and have assumed many of its unhelpful views. Ken Meyer defines culture and shows us how pop culture, with all its damaging affects, has swallowed up high culture and pop culture. This may not sound like an appealing book at first, but it will help you understand the effects of culture on us and our families.
Gospel Parenting: A Three Week Sermon Series
By · Comments
Join us at High Pointe beginning this Sunday morning at 10:30.
May 20
Title: Gospel Parenting and The Father’s Love
Text: Hosea 11
May 27
Title: Gospel Parenting and Parental Example
Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-15
June 3
Title: Gospel Parenting and Biblical Instruction
Text: 2 Timothy 3:14-17
Resources
Leviticus – Outline (PDF)
Leviticus – Book Overview (PDF)
Leviticus – Study Resources (link to The Gospel Coalition)
Sermon Series
- Rash Vows: The Sacrifice of Fools (Leviticus 27)
- The Curse of the Law (Leviticus 26)
- For You Were Bought with a Price (Leviticus 25:39-55)
- Neither Poverty Nor Riches (Leviticus 25:23-55)
- The Year of Jubilee (Leviticus 25:1-22)
- An Eye for an Eye (Leviticus 24)
- Holy Days or Holidays? (Leviticus 23)
- Holy Sacrifices Acceptable to God, part 2 (Leviticus 22:17-33)
- Holy Sacrifices Acceptable to God (Leviticus 22)
- God’s Holy Priesthood: Above Reproach (Leviticus 21:6-9, 13-24)
- Death and Grief to the Glory of God (Leviticus 21:1-6, 10-12)
- And Such were Some of You: Healing for the Sexually Broken (Leviticus 20:10-26)
- What is God’s Will for My Life and How Can I Know It? (Leviticus 19:26, 31; 20:6-8, 27)
- The Scandalous Justice of a holy God (Leviticus 19:9-10, 33-34)
- Sacrificing Our Children to the gods of this World (Leviticus 20:1-5)
- The Whole Law in One Word (Leviticus 19)
- The Glory of God and the Gift of Marital Intimacy (Leviticus 18)
- Acceptable Worship (Leviticus 17)
- Why Did Jesus Come in the Flesh? (Leviticus 16)
- What Can Wash Away My Sin? (Leviticus 12-15)
- To Eat or Not to Eat: What is the Question? (Leviticus 11)
- A Holy Nation (Leviticus 10)
- A Royal Priesthood (Leviticus 10)
- Acceptable Worship: Our God is a Consuming Fire (Leviticus 10)
- Approaching God through the High Priest of a Better Covenant (Leviticus 8-9; 21-22)
- The Annointing (Leviticus 8:1-13)
- Approaching the Holy God through the Once for All Sacrifice (Leviticus 1-7)
Holy Week: What Happened on Good Friday? – Justin Taylor
By · CommentsJustin Taylor provides a helpful reconstruction of the chronology of the events on Good Friday, leading up to the crucifixion of Christ.
As we prepare our hearts this Easter season, meditate on the passages provided in this harmony of the gospel accounts.
This year Good Friday will be on April 6. High Pointe will offer a Good Friday service at 6:00 p.m., but I would encourage all of us to prepare our hearts before then. One helpful way to prepare is to read through John Piper’s Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die. It’s available in a free PDF.
If you are in Austin and you don’t attend church, we would also invite you to our Easter Sunday service at 10:30 a.m.
The book of Exodus ends with the glory of the Lord filling the tabernacle. Leviticus begins with “And the Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting.” Now that the Lord had filled the place of His presence, the people needed to know how to approach Him. The book of Leviticus answers the question, “How can a sinful and rebellious people approach a holy God?”
We began our study of Leviticus on October 23. Though I had originally planned to be finished with Leviticus by now, the Lord has allowed us to slow down and consider several parts of this book for further application. I pray that you have been as blessed and challenged during this study as I have. I pray that you will faithfully join us as we continue to see God’s answer to the problem of our sin. Below you will see a tentative preaching schedule that will take us through the rest of Leviticus. I am providing this schedule to help you look ahead and prepare yourself for our Sunday morning gatherings.
As you will also note below, I have already begun preparing for our next study in Matthew’s gospel. Feel free to begin working your way through the gospel of Matthew. I think it will be a helpful follow up study to Leviticus as we see how Jesus applied the Law of Moses in His day. Until our study of Matthew, I look forward to growing with you as we finish Leviticus together. May the Lord grant us much grace, and may the Holy Spirit be our teacher
2012 Sunday Morning Preaching Schedule
Mar 11: Leviticus 22:1-15 | Holy Sacrifices Acceptable to God
Mar 18: Leviticus 22:16-33 | Holy Sacrifices Acceptable to God, part 2
Mar 25: Leviticus 23 | Holy Days or Holidays?
Apr 1: Leviticus 24 | An Eye for an Eye
Apr 8 (EASTER): Leviticus 25 | The Year of Jubilee
Apr 15: Leviticus 26 | The Curse of the Law
Apr 22: BEN WRIGHT PREACHING
Apr 29: Leviticus 27 | Let Your Yes be a Yes!
Beginning in May: The Gospel According to Matthew
The Church: A Display of God’s Manifold Wisdom
By · CommentsCheck out my post on the multi-ethnic church over at Ed Stetzer’s blog. I’ll be checking in and out throughout the day to interact with comments.
God’s People: A Royal Priesthood
By · CommentsIt is a sad state of affairs in the evangelical church when our conduct fails to distinguish us from the world. What kind of witness do we offer the world about the holiness of our God when we ourselves are not a holy people?
Adam: God’s Priestly King
God purposed to create a people who would dwell in the place of His presence and serve Him as priestly kings. We were created after God’s likeness as His sons and daughters in order to image God in His rule over all the earth (Genesis 1:26-28). In God’s presence, man had a priestly function (Genesis 2:15), serving God in the garden temple, extending its boundaries and fruitfully multiplying the image of God through godly offspring until the glory of God covered the face of the earth. Genesis 3 recounts man’s rebellion, resulting in man’s ejection and exile from God’s presence. However, there is hope of restoration through the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15). This hope begins to be realized through Abraham.
Israel: A Kingdom of Priests
What was promised to Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3) becomes a reality in the people of Israel (Exodus 1:1-7). After having rescued Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand, God lead the people to Mt. Sinai and proposed that if they would obey His voice and keep His covenant, then they would be God’s treasured people and serve Him as a kingdom of priests (Exodus 19:5-6). As Israel kept the Mosaic covenant, they would declare their dedication to the one true living God, Yahweh, and distinguish themselves from the other nations, thus becoming a holy nation.
Within this kingdom of priests, God established a particular priesthood from the Levites with Aaron as high priest. This priesthood was to be holy to God and not profane His name (Leviticus 21:6). As holy priests, they were forbidden from marrying women of questionable character (Leviticus 21:7); the high priest could only marry a virgin (Leviticus 21:13). Further, whomever had a physical defect or deformity was forbidden from service (Leviticus 21:16-24).
As Israel’s history progresses, it becomes evident that the priesthood disqualified itself from service and received God’s judgment (Malachi 2:1-9). Nevertheless, again there is hope. The Lord Himself would come, but He would first send a messenger to prepare His people for His coming (Malachi 3:1-4; 4:5-6).
Jesus: The High Priest of a Better Covenant
The New Testament reveals that John the Baptist was the messenger and Jesus was God in the flesh (Matthew 3; 11:1-15). Unlike Adam and Israel before Him, Jesus is God’s son who faithfully images God’s rule over all things (Hebrews 1:1-4). Also unlike Adam and Israel, Jesus is a faithful, innocent, unstained, permanent priest (Hebrews 7:24-28)—a high priest of a better covenant (Hebrews 8).
The good news is that unlike the high priest under the Mosaic covenant who could only marry a sexually pure, virgin woman, Jesus betrothed Himself to a profaned bride in order to sanctify her (Ephesians 5:25-27) so that she would be pure on the wedding day (Revelation 19:7-8).
The Church: A Royal Priesthood
Now, under the new covenant inaugurated by Christ, God is restoring His original intention for a people to serve Him as priestly kings. Now, all who embrace Christ by faith become a royal priests (1 Peter 2:4-10). So then, let us be a holy people unto our God (1 Peter 2:11-12), glorifying our Lord as we proclaim His excellencies until that day when we will serve in the very presence of God as His priests, reigning on the earth (Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6).
Show Yourself a Man! March 2-3, 2012 in Austin, Texas
By · Comments
For more information or to register click here:
