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Why Sacrifice?

This month our church is asking the question, "Why sacrifice?"
To sacrifice is to give up something valued to achieve a greater goal. Sacrifice isn't a concept most of us are naturally drawn to. Why give up anything that makes us comfortable and secure?
We're using the occasion of our 30th Anniversary and our annual Go Forward Fund offering as a chance to look in the mirror and ask some probing questions:
• Does our faith in Jesus shape every part of our lives?We've talked about giving up money for the sake of the gospel's advance. Last Sunday we looked at a different form of sacrifice--the sacrifice required to plant churches. (You can hear my sermon, drawn from Acts 11 and the example of the church in Antioch, on our Sermon Page.)
• Are we living for God's reward or this world's pleasures?
• Are we willing to sacrifice for the sake of advancing the gospel?
This year, one of the most significant opportunity for faith-fueled sacrifice our church has relates to our sister church Solid Rock in Riverdale, Maryland. Solid Rock is an established, 32-year old church. They've been part of Sovereign Grace for almost 20 years and, as part of our region's network of Sovereign Grace churches, we have a close partnership with them. One of our pastors, Kenneth Maresco, assists C.J. Mahaney in providing care and support for the pastors at Solid Rock.
In the past year a need has arisen at their church. In need of a new senior pastor, they asked for help. We didn't clearly see how to help them, or who God would identify to take that role. But God surprised us. He has provided the ideal man for Solid Rock. And he has provided our church with the faith to make the sacrifice necessary for him to go and serve there.
After much prayer and consideration, we believe that it is God's will for John Loftness, a man who has pastored at Covenant Life for almost 25 years, to be the new senior pastor of Solid Rock church.
The following video, shot and edited by Mike "Sundance" Hartnett and produced by Don Nalle, tells the story of how God worked to bring this about. Though you might not know the people or churches involved, I hope the story inspires you to live a life of sacrifice for the sake of gospel's advance.
Featured Sermons
- The Heart of the Problem
This message, the third of our Jeremiah series, considers the root of our sinful actions, and the only true cure. - This week at Covenant Life
Psalms, Part 6: A Mother's Day Message
Nanoblog
What I'm Listening To: I just bought The Weepies new album Hideaway
. Shannon and I are in my office. She's reading and I'm filing and paying bills. I like this album. Great melodies. Good working, studying, chillin' out music.
Bad Guy Caught With a Mac: This is a great story. A girl's Apple laptop gets stolen but she uses a remote access program to control it and takes a picture of the thief as the doofus sits in front of the stolen computer. "Smile! You're getting your mug shot taken!" Using the picture, the police nab the bad guy. Moral of the story? Don't mess with a high-tech girl's Mac.
New Word Alive's Top 10: The recent New Word Alive conference showed a video top-ten list of books for students. My book Sex is Not the Problem made the list. It's pretty funny. I just wish mine could have made it in the wok.
Search joshharris.com:
Favorite Posts
Blogs
- Al Mohler
- Between 2 Worlds
- Church Matters
- CJ Mahaney
- Girl Talk
- New Attitude
- Of First Importance
- Pure Church
- Reformation 21
- Solo Femininity
- The Blazing Center
- The Shepherd's Scrapbook
- Tim Challies
- Together for the Gospel
- Trusting God with a Migraine
- Worship Matters
Sites
Church?
"I am reading Joshua Harris book Stop Dating the Church...love it. He talks about the people who believe they can be Christians and never go to church. I have heard this argument many times. They don't believe you have to fellowship..." (Read full post here.)
Jargon Meets Advice
"Boy Meets Girl: I read part of this back when I bought it 7-ish years ago. If you get past the jargon-y parts it has some solid advice." (Read full post here.)
A Brief Review
"I think this book [Sex is Not the Problem (Lust Is)] would appeal to both teenagers and parents, although I would give the parents the book first to read. This is not explicit in its language but it does tackle the difficult questions." (Read full post here.)
