matt chandler's latest sermon is a solid message on the balance between the sovereignty of God and the love and grace He shows in responding to His people when we pray and call on His Name.

one thing that was especially meaningful and impactful to me about this message was chandler's frequent reference to the fact that nothing he's saying is new, that his theology has not changed. he constantly references old material that he's really just repackaging, showing that he's now just living out, with new appreciation, the words he's preached for years.

"it's also a great comfort to me that i don't have to reinvent anything that i've been saying to you, but i get to stand in now and 'i'm not a liar, guys.' i'm pleading with you, for you, for the glory of God."

i pray that God would help us all to speak well now, to speak truth about our great God and His love and His sovereignty now, and to live it out always, even in the most painful of sufferings, because He is truly good. may none of us be found liars.

the LORD gives and takes away; hallowed be His name.

this is how i fight for faith;
this is the song of my life:

great is Thy faithfulness, oh God my Father!
there is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,
join with all nature in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

great is Thy faithfulness, great is Thy faithfulness,
morning by morning new mercies i see;
all i have needed Thy hand hath provided,
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

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"and immediately [Jesus] left the synagogue and entered the house of simon and andrew, with james and john. now simon's mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. and he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them." -mark 1:29-31

i was reading this passage just now, and it came to my mind how striking it is that peter's mother, after being ill enough that she was probably bed-ridden, as soon as she is healed, starts serving Jesus and His group.

Jesus has done so much for me, has poured out so much grace into my life, and yet i don't generally even do as much as peter's mother-in-law. i was brought from death to life, from darkness to light, and yet i rarely really serve. may this conviction not die with merely writing it here.

God, help me to serve you better, to want to do so, that i may rejoice all the more in your greatness.