The Whole Counsel

Praying Together I: Digging the Well

Recently some of our team members listened to a sermon series preached by Jeremy Walker on the corporate prayer service. We were so blessed by it that we wanted to share it with you. But Jeremy preached those sermons for his own church where there is already a foundational understanding of the purpose and focus of the corporate prayer service. To better help our audience, we thought it would be beneficial for Jeremy and Teddy James to have a few discussions to help establish that foundation and answer a few questions that may arise from the sermons.
So in some ways this new series will be different than what we have done in the past. For this introductory episode, Jeremy and Teddy are talking in our normal format. Next week we will share the first sermon of Jeremy’s series. The following episode will be Jeremy and Teddy again in our normal format. And the final episode will be Jeremy’s second sermon. We are excited about this series and pray it is a blessing to you.
Show Notes:
How to ruin your spiritual life sermon series - https://www.sermonaudio.com/series/185833
A Word in Season - https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/a-word-in-season
From the Heart of Spurgeon Podcast - https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts-1/from-the-heart-of-spurgeon
Some of our favorite books by Jeremy:
Life in Christ - https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/life-in-christ-becoming-and-being-a-disciple-of-the-lord-jesus-christ-walker.html The Brokenhearted Evangelist - https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/the-brokenhearted-evangelist-walker.html
Books by Jeremy Walker at Reformation Heritage Books: https://www.heritagebooks.org/Search.html#/Search.html?search=Jeremy+Walker
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Labor in Prayer III: Praying for Rescue

We have spent the last several weeks discussing the life of prayer in the Christian. Only those who have cried out to the Lord for the salvation of a child, parent, spouse, or other loved ones know the desperation one can feel in this situation. We are regularly tempted with the whisper of the enemy that our prayers aren’t working. We continually pray, but that loved one seems to only put more distance between himself and God. So what do we do?
Dr. John Snyder and Hugh Morrison discuss how we can approach these situations in faith and how we can answer the enemy’s lies with Scripture. A danger the duo points out is that one tactic of the enemy is to make us withdraw from prayer and turn to our own schemes. But God has told us that he will only be found by seeking his face. And prayer is one of the primary means by which we seek his face. So do not despair and do not surrender the sacred privilege of prayer in your life today, particularly in regard to loved ones.
Show Notes:
Psalm 102
Exodus 2
Psalm 107
Psalm 116
To hear Hugh’s sermons at Christ Church New Albany: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvnJqlEs5pO6h_fRk2vMVWJqEL112dvIW
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Labor in Prayer II: Praying in Faith

How do Christians pray when we aren’t sure God is going to answer positively what we pray for? That is the heart of the discussion this week between Dr. John Snyder and Hugh Morrison, pastor and HeartCry missionary in Canada.
As Hugh says in the podcast, our role in prayer is to ask; God’s role is to answer. So how do we ask? We bring questions God has told us to ask. He has told us to pray for the salvation of loved ones. He has told us to pray for the healing of the sick. He has told us to pray for sanctification and holiness. And he has told us to pray for all of those things without doubting.
But when it comes to praying for healing or for the salvation of a loved one, how do we persevere when we doubt? We begin by confessing the doubt to God and giving it up to him. As Hugh later said during one of his sermons at Christ Church New Albany, we reject what we see as reality and replace it with God’s reality.
This is not an easy task to accomplish. But it is one that God has obligated himself to help his children do. So cry out to him for help, and he will, like a loving father, walk alongside you and help you pray to him.
Show Notes:
Autobiography of George Muller: https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-George-Muller/dp/0883681595 Hudson Taylor Biography: https://www.davidsonpublishing.org/hudson-taylor.html Amy Carmichael: Beauty for Ashes: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/history-biography/amy-carmichael/ The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd: With Notes and Reflections by Jonathan Edwards: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/history-biography/diary-and-journal-of-david-brainerd/
To hear Hugh’s sermons at Christ Church New Albany: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvnJqlEs5pO6h_fRk2vMVWJqEL112dvIW
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Labor in Prayer I: Learning to Linger

In one sense, prayer is the simplest thing for a Christian. It is simply a child going to his father and talking. But it is also mysterious because it is a relational transaction between our soul and the only uncreated being in the universe. We can have communion with the Redeemer of our souls. We can walk into the presence of almighty God to have his attention. Hugh Morrison, you may remember his talk to church leaders a few weeks ago, is on the podcast this week to discuss the labor of prayer with Dr. John Snyder. This will be a three-episode series with this opening discussion focused on the necessity of meeting with God in prayer. Because prayer is seldom studied, it is often seen as something to do as part of our morning devotion, part of a worship service, part of eating a meal. But prayer is much more. Prayer should be the heartbeat, the breathing of a Christian. It is a thread through which nearness and communion with God is woven into our lives. So how can we have the prayer life we yearn for? How can we perform that work of praying to God? One help is to read all that Scripture has to say about the issue. A secondary help is to find someone you know who practices prayer. A third help, particularly if you do not have someone who can disciple you in prayer, is the use of biographies. John and Hugh share how God had used several biographies to shape their prayer lives.
Show Notes:
Autobiography of George Muller: https://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-George-Muller/dp/0883681595 Hudson Taylor Biography: https://www.davidsonpublishing.org/hudson-taylor.html Amy Carmichael: Beauty for Ashes: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/history-biography/amy-carmichael/ The Diary and Journal of David Brainerd: With Notes and Reflections by Jonathan Edwards: https://banneroftruth.org/us/store/history-biography/diary-and-journal-of-david-brainerd/
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Gospel Realties Session 1: Christ Alone

If you would like some help in studying Galatians, consider Gospel Realities: Lessons from Galatians.
Watch the study trailer here: https://youtu.be/HlAIb5uSBOI
Find more information here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/gospel-realities-lessons-from-galatians
This week we present to you session one of Gospel Realities: Lessons from Galatians. In this session, Dr. Yuille focuses on the intent of the Bible study and what he hopes to teach throughout all eight sessions.
What others are saying about this study:
“The gospel is the beautiful, glorious, and central message of Christianity. All of history and all of Scripture revolve around it, and unless we lay hold of it by faith, we will perish eternally. But it was precisely this gospel that was under attack among the first-century churches of Galatia. Paul, under the inspiration of the Spirit, wrote this forceful letter to remind the Galatian Christians of the pure gospel of Jesus Christ. With faithful exegesis, concrete application, and experiential meditation, Dr. Yuille guides us into the glories of the gospel and the implications of the gospel for our lives. Excellent for personal devotions, small groups, and Bible studies!”
Dr. Joel R. Beeke, Chancellor and President, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan
The Galatians needed Christ. They needed the whole Christ. They needed all of Christ. They needed nothing and no-one else apart from or in addition to Christ, as revealed by the Holy Spirit, to bring them into and keep them in the family of God. Clearly, warmly, sweetly, earnestly, logically, and consistently, Stephen Yuille presents to us that Christ whom Paul preached to the Galatians. In doing so, he walks us through the gospel in all its brilliance and beauty and blessing. To spend two happy months in this study would be a worthy investment of your time and effort.
Jeremy Walker
Show Notes:
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Gospel Realities: Interview with Dr. Stephen Yuille

Media Gratiae is pleased to announce our newest, Gospel Realities: Lessons from Galatians, written and taught by Dr. Stephen Yuille. Yuille is the professor of church history and spiritual formation at The Southerwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the preaching pastor of a local church, and serves as a content director and editor at Reformation Heritage Books.
We at Media Gratiae found the writing and editing of Dr. Yuille so helpful we asked him to create a study for us. Even though he has an incredibly full schedule, he was happy to do the work of preparing, writing, and preaching this study. We are grateful for his work. We pray after hearing from him you will be encouraged to study Galatians alongside us.
If you would like some help in studying Galatians, consider Gospel Realities: Lessons from Galatians.
Watch the study trailer here: https://youtu.be/HlAIb5uSBOI
Find more information here: https://www.mediagratiae.org/gospel-realities-lessons-from-galatians
Show Notes
William Perkins volumes from Reformation Heritage Books: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/the-works-of-william-perkins-the-10-volume-collection.html
A Perfect Redeemer by William Perkins: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/a-perfect-redeemer-perkins.html
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

Given to Prayer and Study II

Several weeks ago, Canadian pastor and HeartCry missionary Hugh Morrison came to visit New Albany. While here, he preached to our congregation a number of times. We also asked him to speak to local ministers on prayer.
His talk was so beneficial to us that we wanted to share it with you. Because the talk was so long, we opted to split it for you. So this week, we present to you the second half of Hugh’s talk on the necessity of prayer for every Christian, and particularly for those in positions of leadership.
If you would like to see or hear Hugh’s sermons at Christ Church New Albany, see the links below:
YouTube playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvnJqlEs5pO6h_fRk2vMVWJqEL112dvIW&si=xNEI9YMhJuXxxssB
SermonAudio playlist:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/speakers/67539/sermons?sort=newest

Given to Prayer and Study I

A few weeks ago, Christ Church New Albany hosted Hugh Morrison, a missionary pastor in Canada and invited him to preach to our congregation. During his visit, he also recorded a few podcasts with us and spoke to local ministers.
His ministerial talks were so helpful and broadly applicable that we decided to publish them. So, for the next two weeks, we will deliver his talk to ministers, focusing on the necessity of prayer in the Christian life. We pray it blesses you as it has us.
If you would like to hear Hugh’s sermons at Christ Church New Albany, you can find those here:
YouTube playlist:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvnJqlEs5pO6h_fRk2vMVWJqEL112dvIW&si=xNEI9YMhJuXxxssB
SermonAudio playlist:
https://www.sermonaudio.com/speakers/67539/sermons?sort=newest

A Command to Remember IV: The Object of Our Focus

For the last several weeks, we have considered the sweet command of Hebrews 12:2: looking, fixing, focusing our eyes upon the author of finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ. Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James have previously discussed the foundational principles necessary for obeying this command. Today, they will address whom we are blessed to look towards. Have you considered what a blessing it is to behold Christ? He is the image of the invisible God. Those throughout the Old Testament who wanted to behold God could not do so and live. But in Jesus Christ, we have the full deity of God and all of his attributes coming to meet us in friendship and mercy. So how do we gaze upon Christ? There are many passages we could look to, and we have them listed below for you to look up and examine for yourself. In these passages, we see him in eternity past, in his incarnation, learning and growing, teaching, persecution, the cross, the resurrection, and now in his enthronement in heaven! These gazes should fill our souls with hope and love for God. Charles Spurgeon said it well, “And we invite you to look to this scene that you may be lightened. What are your doubts this morning? Whatever they be, they can find a kind and fond solution here, by looking at Christ on the cross. You have come here, perhaps, doubting God's mercy; look to Christ upon the cross, and can you doubt it then? If God were not full of mercy, and plenteous in his compassion, would he have given his Son to bleed and die? Think you, that a Father would rend his darling from his heart and nail him to a tree, that he might suffer an ignominious death for our sakes, and yet be hard, merciless, and without pity? God forbid the impious thought! There must be mercy in the heart of God, or else there had never been a cross on Calvary. But do you doubt God's power to save! Are you saying in yourself this morning, ‘How can he forgive so great a sinner as I am?’ Oh! look there, sinner, look there, to the great atonement made, to the utmost ransom paid. Dost thou think that that blood has not an efficacy to pardon and to justify?” If your gaze has been fuzzy and unfocused. If you have found yourself looking more at life, stress, or even the good gifts of God more than at God, consider the words Theodore Monod wrote in his small pamphlet: Looking unto Jesus—NOW, if we have never looked unto Him! Looking unto Jesus—AFRESH, if we have ceased doing so! Looking unto Jesus—ONLY! Looking unto Jesus—STILL! Looking unto Jesus—ALWAYS! With a gaze more and more constant, more and more confident, "changed into the same image from glory to glory" (2 Corinthians 3:18), and thus awaiting the hour when he will call us to pass from earth to Heaven, and from time to eternity—the promised hour, the blessed hour, when at last "we shall be like Him, for we shall Him as He really is!" (1 John 3:2).
Throughout this series we have been conducting a giveaway. If already receive emails from Media Gratiae then you are already entered to win. If you don’t get them, you can sign up here:
https://www.mediagratiae.org/the-whole-counsel-giveaway
Show Notes:
Sign up to win a copy of Looking Unto Jesus here: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/looking-unto-jesus-ambrose.html
Theodore Monod’s Looking Unto Jesus
https://www.gracegems.org/30/looking_unto_jesus.htm
John’s Sermon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOLMyt5SYpI
Scripture References:
John 1
1 Peter 1:20
Hebrews 2:14-18
Luke 2:52
Hebrews 5:8-9
1 Peter 2:21-23
Hebrews 12
Colossians 2
Zechariah 12:10
John 19
Ephesians 1
Romans 4:25
Revelation 5:6-14
1 Thessalonians 4:16
2 Thessalonians 1:7-10
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app

A Command to Remember III: Look Away from the Bad…and the Good

Last week we looked at the Greek word apherontes eis, which translated literally is “away from look toward.” And we shared how we must look away from certain things if our eyes are going to focus on Jesus Christ. This week Dr. John Snyder and Teddy James share specific things we must look away from.
First on the list is the temptation to long for the old life. This common refrain is found in the book of Exodus. The Israelites complain that life in Egypt was better than walking in the desert with God. The Christian can be tempted to look fondly upon life before Christ. We must fight this.
Second on the list are sins that perhaps were not very tempting at one time, but they are now. It will be impossible to run the race of life with Jesus if we hold on to sins such as greed or the idolization of people’s opinions.
The third item to look away from are the good things. Paul said he counted all things as rubbish. He was willing to let go of all he knew previously, all his “right” upbringing, in order to gain Christ. If we as individual Christians or careful churches take pride in our past relationship with God, we will not run today’s race well.
We are still giving away two copies of Isaac Ambrose’s Looking Unto Christ. Sign up here:
https://www.mediagratiae.org/the-whole-counsel-giveaway
Show Notes:
John’s Sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-aPhM2DO4k
Sign up to win a copy of Looking Unto Jesus here: https://www.heritagebooks.org/products/looking-unto-jesus-ambrose.html
See our previous episodes where we mentioned Looking Unto Jesus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLLiw_Xqa08
Want to listen to The Whole Counsel on the go? Subscribe to the podcast on your favorite podcast app: https://www.mediagratiae.org/podcasts
You can get The Whole Counsel a day early on the Media Gratiae App: https://subsplash.com/mediagratiae/app