Life2gether

In preparation for Easter I’ve been reflecting and meditating on Isaiah 53 – the most famous messianic text in the Old Testament.  Looking at this passage we see that the LORD was despised, stricken, and afflicted for our transgressions and iniquities, yet he opened not his mouth. 

Christ’s response to suffering was silence, patience, and willing acceptance.  Like a lamb led to the slaughter he was obedient.  Quite the opposite of you and me who are like stubborn sheep that have gone astray and turned to our own way.   And often, in the face of suffering, our mouths are wide open with grumbling and complaining. 

Thankfully God knows our frame and sent his ”sheep” to the slaughter to make intercession for the others … and by his stripes we are healed.

I enjoy reading books with my wife.  There’s something sweet about ending the day with a short devotional to set our hearts at rest in God.  This month during Lent we are reading through Nancy Guthrie’s book, Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross: Experiencing the Passion and Power of Easter.  Here are some of her opening words: 

Too many years I’ve found that I have rushed from Palm Sunday into Easter morning, from palm branches to the empty tomb, without giving my mind and my heart over to thoughtful contemplation of the cross. If you can relate to my lament, then I hope you will join me as we turn our gaze toward the cross through the pages of this book.

You can read online for free Guthrie’s preface, as well as Martin Luther’s “True Contemplation of the Cross” and John Piper’s “He Set His Face to Go to Jerusalem.”  Here are the other chapters.

Here’s a great list of questions to check out as you relax and relate with your spouse this weekend.

I tried to answer that question HERE.

The set up: the three guys are competing to see who can be the most romantic with their wives. The women are trying hard not to be impressed.

(HT: Kevin DeYoung)

Merry Christmas from Doug Wolter on Vimeo.

We’re headed out to Iowa in just a few hours to celebrate Christmas with our families … so we wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  Thanks for reading this blog and doing life together.  Enjoy the holidays with your family and friends.  We’ll see you next year!

One more thing … this year we did our first Wolter Family Christmas Worship Service.  I borrowed the idea from a good friend.  We had a fun time singing (and wiggling!) and celebrating together.  This was our order of worship below.  For the message, I used this great devotion where the kids each got to hold a flashlight.  They loved it!

You can also check out my wife’s recent blogpost entitled, “Momma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer!”

A nice video here from St. Helen’s Bishopgate in London, which can be shared with unbelievers.  You might want to consider embedding on your own church’s website or blog.

That’s Christmas (Short Film) HD from St Helen’s Church on Vimeo.

Chris Castaldo writes a helpful post to remind us that evangelism is bringing people one step closer to Jesus Christ this Christmas season.  This sentence stood out:

… we need to view the incremental efforts of seed planting, which we perform in the course of natural relationships, as not only a legitimate form of evangelism but also a critical method among our loved ones.

Tim Chester, in his excellent book, You Can Change, lists some great questions to discern if your church is a community of grace, and thus attractive to broken, needy sinners.

• Are people open about their sin or is there a culture of pretending?
• Is community life messy or sanitized?
• Are broken people attracted to your community?
• Is conflict out in the open or is it suppressed?
• Are forgiveness and reconciliation actively pursued?
• Do you constantly return to the cross in your conversation, prayers and praise?

As many C & E (Christmas and Easter) Christians enter our doors over the next couple weeks, will they see us as real people worshiping a real Savior?  Will they enter a community of grace?

Here’s a video by Tim Chester describing his book, You Can Change (that I highly recommend).

Here’s a simple Christmas devotion from the folks at Seeds Family Worship taken from Luke 2:8-14.