New Book by Pastor Dave - Debtors of Grace

Pastor Dave has published a new booklet for several of the Discipleship Groups called "Debtors of Grace - A Biblical and Practical Look at Evangelism."

If you would like a copy of the book email (or talk) Dave (his email is davidjvanacker@hotmail.com).

Here is a pdf version of the book for you to download and read on your computer or print.

Dave's intro gives an overview of what he covers in the booklet:

When it comes to evangelism (sharing the Gospel
with non-Christians or making grace payments),
there are four very important—indeed, necessary—
elements: communicating the Gospel to
non-Christians 1) is part of following Jesus, 2) is
usually most efficacious, and always most pleasing
to God, when it springs from deep, personal
satisfaction in God, 3) requires a clear, Biblical
understanding of the Gospel, and 4) involves intentionality,
purpose, and practice. While we will
briefly address the first three elements, the primary
purpose of this booklet is to look at element
4 (the intentionality, purpose, and practice of
evangelism). However, please do not think that
because, in the context of this booklet, we are not
spending a great deal of time on elements 1-3
they are not important. As I said above, they are
absolutely essential. No biblical evangelism can
take place without them. Again, please do not
gloss over them. Do not minimize or marginalize
them. We must begin there. It is only after we
have them in place that we have any hope of engaging
in Biblical evangelism.

Love = "Truly Wanting What's Best"

This past Sunday and this week our topic at Grace in the series Following Jesus is "Becoming a Worshipper/Lover of God." I want to quote an excellent section in Dave's book "Follow Me" (Click to get the PDF of the entire book) about the definition of Love and how that relates to our call to love God and glorify Him.

I believe that true, transcendent, Biblical love is: Truly wanting what’s best.

Therefore, when the Bible says that God is love, it means that God truly wants what is best. When the Bible teaches that God loves us, it means that God truly wants what is best for us. When the Bible commands us to love others, it is commanding us to truly want what is best for them. And again, when the Bible commands us to love God, it is commanding us to truly want what is best for God.

Before moving on, I want to provide two points of clarification: First, by “wanting” (what’s best) I mean possessing a deep longing for what’s best, a sense of delight in the attainment of what’s best, and a willingness to sacrifice to get what’s best (action). Second, by (wanting what’s) “best” I mean that which is truly best—not most appealing at the moment.

So, what is best? Best for us? Best for others? Best for God? The answer is...God! God is what is best for us. God is what’s best for others. God is what’s best for God. God is what is best!

“Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders” (Exodus 15:11)?

Here we are left with a most remarkable truth: Being a lover of God means realizing and wanting what’s best for God, namely, God! Loving Him means wanting, with all that we have and are, that God would be glorified; that He would receive the honor and fame and glory due His name.

Sermon -- Following Jesus in Seeing God and His Word Rightly

Here is my sermon from last Sunday (April 20th) -- "Following Jesus in Seeing God and His Word Rightly."

This is the first of seven sermons in the answer to the question -- "What is a Disciple (or Follower) of Jesus Christ?" A disciple of Jesus is in the process (a lifelong one) of seeing God and His word rightly.

This sermon corresponds with the first Chapter of Dave VanAcker's book -- "Follow Me."

"Following Jesus" - Sermon from April 13, 2008

We are beginning to post the manuscripts (and audio if we have it) from my sermons at Grace Church on the website (gracewyoming.com ). Here is my sermon from April 13 called "Following Jesus."

This sermon was the introduction to the sermon series that is running parallel with the Discipleship Group Studies during the week. I hope they will be a help. The manuscripts were written primarily to be preached not to be read (other than by me).

Discipleship Groups at Grace

Grace Church,

We are in an exciting time here at Grace Church. The pastors and elders are united by a common vision for reflecting God’s glory by making disciples at Grace Church and the greater Wyoming area. Part of this vision includes something that we are calling “Discipleship Groups”. At the heart of our discipleship groups are four simple Biblical truths:

1. The chief calling on our lives is to glorify God by following Jesus in the power of the Spirit—from the cross to glory (Matthew 10:37-39).
2. The chief elements of following Christ are seeing God and his Word rightly (2 Timothy 3:16; John 17), being a worshiper/lover of God (Matthew 22:37-39), being a debtor/lover of people (Matthew 22:39), recognizing our dependence on God (John 15:5), being a suffering servant (Matthew 20:25-28, John 15:20), being a part of the body of Christ (Romans 12:4-5), and growing in godliness (1 Timothy).
3. The chief context for following Jesus is within a community of believers—the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12).
4. The chief call of a community of believers to each other and to the world is: “follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1)—from the cross to glory.

Specifically, we want to invite you to be a part of one of the six discipleship groups (3 men and 3 women) which are set to begin on the week of April 7th. Below you will find some of the details about the discipleship groups. Right here, I want to encourage you to join with the leadership at Grace in praying that God would use the discipleship groups to glorify His name by bearing much fruit in and through us. And I want to challenge you to consider coming alongside of us as we follow Christ together!

Who: Everyone who has a heart for (or curiosity about) following Jesus and calling others to follow Him as well.

What: In order to foster and maintain the kind of honesty, openness, vulnerability, fellowship and community that we believe the Bible urges us toward, discipleship groups will be less than 12 people (of the same sex), led by a trained leader, and designed to spur one another on in following Jesus and serve as a springboard for life together. .

When: Beginning the week of April 7th the discipleship groups will meet, at the leader’s discretion, at least twice/month (usually 3-4 times).

Where: Various locations (usually homes) determined by the group.

Why: To glorify God by obeying His calling to be disciples (followers of Jesus) and His commission to make disciples of all nations because of our love for God and others.

More information will be made available soon. Please feel free to contact Pastor Dave, or any of the other elders, if you have any thoughts or questions.

Most Sincerely,
Pastor Dave

Free C.J. Mahaney Download About Need for Small Groups

Here's a great free resource on small groups. I put a quote from Mahaney below.


http://www.sovereigngracestore.com/productinfo.aspx?ProductID=B3150-00-60

“Many of the most significant changes in my Christian life have taken place in the fellowship of the local church—specifically, in small groups. On many occasions, members of my small group have lovingly (but firmly) confronted my sin and held me accountable as I pursued change. Of course the Holy Spirit is directly responsible for convicting me of these things, but I can only guess where I would be without such faithful friends. God has used them time after time to address sins in my life that I would never have perceived if I were on my own.
It’s been sobering to observe others who have chosen not to participate in a local church or in small groups. They have demonstrated a distinct lack of growth. What’s worse, they haven’t even been aware of their spiritual condition and stagnation. Small groups provide the encouragement, correction, and accountability that keep us from drifting. As important as it is to cultivate a personal relationship with God by practicing the spiritual disciplines, we need others to help us in our pursuit of sanctification” (Why Small Groups, p.6).