Wallpaper: Stability
“In the midst of triumphs and trials alike, here is what can give you stability: that God’s steadfast love and mercies toward you will never expire.”
—Alistair Begg
Topics: Weekly Wallpaper
Hymn: “God Make My Life a Little Light” by Matilda B. B. Edwards
God make my life a little light
Within the world to glow;
A little flame that burneth bright,
Wherever I may go.
Topics: Hymns and Worship
The Principles and Practice of Intercessory Prayer
The story is told of a young pastor who, in his first pastorate in Philadelphia, was visited by a group from his congregation. Coming into his home, one of the members told the minister, “You aren’t a strong preacher. In the usual order of things, you will fail here. But a little group of us have decided to meet every Sunday morning to pray for God’s blessing upon you.” In God’s providence, that little Sunday-morning prayer group grew to one thousand people in number. And it was that group and that prayer meeting which underpinned the ministry of J. Wilbur Chapman, one of the great American preachers around the turn of the twentieth century.
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Wallpaper: God’s Providence
“In all life’s ups and downs, remember that you are not bobbing around on the sea of chance, nor are you held in the grip of blind deterministic forces; you are being trained in the school of God’s providence.”
—Alistair Begg
Topics: Weekly Wallpaper
Hymn: “There's a Wideness in God's Mercy” by Frederick W. Faber
There's a wideness in God's mercy
Like the wideness of the sea;
There's a kindness in God's justice
Which is more than liberty.
There is plentiful redemption
In the blood that has been shed;
There is joy for all the members
In the sorrows of the Head.
Topics: Hymns and Worship
Who Is God? What Is Man?
Unless we first understand God’s identity, we will never make sense of our own. So who is God? Psalm 8 proclaims that He is the Lord, the ruler of all things who created mankind in His image. Our inherent dignity, however, has been tarnished by sin. Contrasting God’s greatness with humanity’s frailty, Alistair Begg demonstrates the immense care for us that God expressed through the death of His Son, Jesus. It is this God alone who reaches out to us, answering the deepest questions of our souls.
Topics: From the Archives
Following Jesus Means Trusting the Father’s Provision
Jesus Christ’s teaching about possessions is radical. It confronts both the selfish society in which we live and the sleeping church, which has so often gone with the flow of the world’s anxieties and greed. If the church is to be a shaft of light in the world’s darkness, then those who follow Christ will need to demonstrate a godly outlook toward worldly goods by embracing an absolute trust in the Father’s provision.
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Wallpaper: God Works…
“If you consider yourself of little import, little ability, and little influence, then be encouraged, for God works through insignificant people in insignificant places.”
—Alistair Begg
Topics: Weekly Wallpaper
‘Corporate Worship’ is a Foundational Read for All Church Members
As a local church member, you’ll want to read Corporate Worship: How the Church Gathers as God’s People. This book explains the foundational framework of a worship service prescribed by Scripture. It unpacks who should gather, what we should do when we gather, and how each of us is to participate individually.
Continue reading …Topics: Monthly Resources
Poem: “Love Constraining to Obedience” by William Cowper
No strength of nature can suffice
To serve the Lord aright:
And what she has she misapplies,
For want of clearer light.
Topics: Hymns and Worship
Wallpaper: Give Victory
“God is always at work among His people, and He will give victory—not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit.”
— Alistair Begg
Topics: Weekly Wallpaper
What Is True Faith?
To one degree or another, everyone has faith. Anyone who has sat down in a barber’s chair has exercised faith in the barber’s skill. Anyone who has used an app to send money has trusted that it will get to the right person. But when it comes to the realm of religious experience, all kinds of spurious notions about faith abound. Indeed, one of the great barriers to an experience of true faith in God is confusion about what that faith actually is.
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Hymn: “God Is Still on the Throne” by Kittie Suffield
Have you started for glory and Heaven?
Have you left this old world far behind?
In your heart is the Comforter dwelling?
Can you say, “Praise the Lord, He is mine”?
Have the ones that once walked on the highway
Gone back, and you seem all alone?
Keep your eyes on the prize, for the home in the skies;
God is still on the throne.
Topics: Hymns and Worship
A Prayer for the New Year
There’s something about one year ending and another beginning that encourages reflection on what life is really about. As we reflect on the previous year’s joys and disappointments and wonder at what the coming year might bring, we often are more ready than usual to face questions about mortality and significance. Such musing may lead us to resolutions for good behavior—but it would be better if it led us first to pray the prayer of Moses in Psalm 90:12: “Teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”
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Wallpaper: To Strengthen and Uphold Us
“God is not only willing but also fully able to help us in our time of need. We have no cause for worry, fear, or dismay. He has committed Himself to strengthen and uphold us.”
— Alistair Begg
Topics: Weekly Wallpaper
Thoughts from Alistair Begg on the “Turn of the Year”
I have written previously about the way in which the “turn of the year” evokes strong memories of my previous life in Scotland. Why this should be true of this time of year more than any other is hard to say. Perhaps it is because of the song sung around the world, “Auld Lang Syne.” It begins with a rhetorical question: Should old relationships be forgotten? The answer is clearly no.
Continue reading …Topics: Letters From Alistair Begg
Practice Daily Habits of Grace to Nurture Your Faith
With the start of a new year, do you feel motivated to assess your rituals and habits? What about your approach to studying the Bible, prayer, and fellowship with other believers? If your spiritual disciplines lack zeal and commitment, Habits of Grace: Enjoying Jesus through the Spiritual Disciplines offers a motivational boost for establishing a routine that cultivates a deeper relationship with Jesus.
Continue reading …Topics: Monthly Resources