At SPT, we love the church. And because we love the church we love pastors. After all, pastors are to “care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28). For the pastor to best care for the church—God’s blood bought people—he must have a heart warm to the work. That is, shepherds cannot be merely “going through the motions” on Sunday morning which makes Saturday night incredibly important.
To help pastors in their prep for Sunday, we offer this weekly digest of devotional material. This content is intended to serve you by you reading or listening or watching all or some of it. You decide what is best for your heart as you further prepare for the most important day of the week.
With you in caring for the church of God,
~SPT
WHAT WE BELIEVE, TEACH, AND CONFESS
Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (325/381)
We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made. Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end.
And [we believe] in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life; who proceeds from the Father and the Son; who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified; who spoke by the prophets; and one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; and I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.
TWEETED
OVERHEARD
“like unto Christ,” by John Owen
Growth in grace, holiness, and obedience, is a growing like unto Christ; and nothing else is so.
–John Owen, “Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ,” The Works of John Owen, Volume 1: The Glory of Christ (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1684/2000), 1: 392.
[HT: Tolle Lege]
DOXOLOGY
NOTE BENE
The Ecumenical Creeds (R. Scott Clark)
Dogma Drives the Christian Life (Carl Trueman)
The Marks of True Preaching (Christopher Gordon)