Did you know there is a type of giving that dishonors God? Giving should not be dependent on wealth, circumstances, or comfort. Christian giving is a voluntary, sacrificial, joyful, overflow of God's grace, despite circumstances, testifying to a changed heart. The call for followers of Christ is to excel in giving out of an overflow of God’s ultimate act of grace to us. Our giving is a big deal.

Show Notes:

1/10/2021 Money Sunday Message mentioned in this podcast (not 2019).

Gospel-Centered Finance class 3/9/25-4/13/25

Resources Currently Available at the Veritas Church Bookstore:

Redeeming Money - Paul David Tripp

A Short Guide to Gospel Generosity

People who are willing to cause and receive godly grief find deep joy. There are two kinds of grief, godly grief and worldly grief. Why you feel bad matters - the right kind of grief is key to deeper joy. Godly grief is good because of God's mercy.

Our holiness is key to our effectiveness for God and our intimacy with God. Holiness is something we should care about, and if we better understood why, we would have a greater passion for it. Christ died to remove the offense of sin and break the practical power of sin over us. The motivation for holiness is promises -- good news drives good behavior. 

Depend on the grace of God in your devotion to the mission of God. We are called to spiritually invest in the lives of others - like soldiers who are laser-focused, athletes who compete with integrity, and farmers who work hard. This mission of God is too important for you not to participate, but too large for you to accomplish on your own. So, we need to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Recommended Resources:

Evangelism as Exiles

Let the Nations Be Glad

Missions: How the Local Church Goes Global

The Mission of God and the Witness of the Church

You Will Be My Witnesses

Evangelism Is...

The rhythm of weekly worship encourages us and others with the realities of Christ - his past work and future hope. We were created to worship and we all worship something. Our foundation and motivation for worship is that Christ has invited us into right relationship with God the Prize.

Recommended Resources:

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life

God the Prize

Worship: The Reason We Were Created

Family Worship

Knowing God

Did you know we can approach prayer with improper motivations, mindsets, and methods? The right motivation for prayer is one in which we pray to be heard by God, not seen by others. The correct mindset in prayer is one in which we pray intentionally to enjoy God, not mechanically to appease God. And the proper method for prayer is when we pray God-centered prayers, not self-centered prayers.

Highlights from the message:

Forget “New Year, New Me”… the key to true transformation is not through a discipline of self-improvement but self-denial, think more along the lines of “New Year, less of me.”

Prayer is not what comes naturally to us, pride is what comes naturally to us. Prayer is assumed because it is what we need to continually reorient our lives to a God-centered focus.

Fasting is also assumed and should be done both reactively and proactively.

Practical Encouragements:

Pray like a child - Pray with God as the focus - Fast with a purpose.

Are you a Bible Person? Followers of Jesus are Bible people. Someone is a Bible person if they love their Bible, read it daily, memorize scripture, align their life with God’s Word, and others know that the Bible guides and directs their life.

Highlights from the message:

Reading the Bible at least four times a week is proven to result in a dramatic change of behavior and missional engagement.

Practical Tips

Start somewhere. Pick a time, pick a place, pick a plan.

Bible Dwelling: Small bites. Chew it up. Digest it in your heart. Let it come out in prayer.

SOAP: Scripture. Observation. Application. Prayer.

Stop by the Veritas Bookstore to browse the recommended resources for engaging with God through his Word! https://www.veritaschurch.org/books?s=1

Follow along with our current Bible Reading Plan in the Veritas Church App, pick up a bookmark from the Bookstore, or download it here 

The good news of Jesus Christ is song-producing news! The good news of Jesus Christ is cause for celebration, especially singing. Understanding the good news of Christmas results in song-producing JOY!

Highlights from the message:

If someone looked at your response to the good news of Jesus, would it appear that you get it? A life lived in continual response to the good news of Jesus is one where the holiness of God (his uniqueness) is perceived in the glory of God (the impact of his uniqueness).

The impact of Christ coming to earth results in peace with God, peace with self, and peace with others.

We get to give glory to God in all of life because of the peace we have with him!

Praising God starts with trusting God. God has graciously given us a Savior while we were spiritually hungry. Worship of God reflects his holiness and our wretched state apart from his saving power. Public praise of God in the extraordinary moments of life overflows from people who privately praise God in the ordinary moments of life.

2 Corinthians 6:1-13 Grace is real and God is worth it. Paul gives a call to follow Christ wholeheartedly. The call to follow Jesus is a call to embrace hardship, engage in ministry, and live for eternity.