I've had the chance this week to finish a couple of shorter books: Smethurst's Before You Share Your Faith: Five Ways to Be Evangelism Ready and Reeves' Delighting in the Trinity: An Introduction to the Christian Faith. Both are outstanding books on very important subjects.

We, as a church, made Smethurst's book available to the congregation earlier this year. If you didn't get a copy and would like one, I think there are copies left. But since I've been on my sabbatical, I'm not sure where they got to. Maybe Brian could help you track down a copy. I highly recommend you do.

And Reeves' book equally deserves your consideration. I think the subtitle may be a bit misleading. This is not "an introduction" in the sense that it is the milk intended for baby Christians. There's some meaty stuff here. I think I'd probably use a word like "foundational." Reeves demonstrates that the doctrine of the trinity is fundamental to our Christian faith generally, and to some basic doctrines of the Gospel specifically. I think this is yet another book from Michael Reeves that deserves to be included on your must-read list.

Last time I talked about the produce that Psalm 92 references; this time let me mention the process. If "produce" is the what of fruit-bearing, "process" is the how. And the answer is threefold.

First, it is by the sovereign act of a gracious God. If you read through verses 12 to 15 of Psalm 92, you'll find no commands or conditions. All of the sentences are simple statements, declarative (or indicative) sentences. That is, all of these descriptions are true because God is doing the work (cf vv 4-5, 10). If you and I are going to be individually fruitful, and if Calvary will be a fruitful church, it is because God makes us fruitful. That should increase our sense of dependence on him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

And that leads me to the second answer: the process of fruitfulness includes our access to God through faith. Remember that the heading of this Psalm tells us that this is "A Song for the Sabbath," and remember that the Sabbath is all about rest. If we are to be fruitful, we must be resting in, relying on God. The natural bent of the human heart (because of our pride) is toward effort and earning. I told someone I've gotten a little bored this week. As I've thought about it, though, I'm probably fighting pride more than boredom. I want to be and feel useful. Of course there is not necessarily anything wrong with that, but the gut check I need for myself is WHY I want to be/feel useful. Is this about my trying to justify myself (and I'm using that term in every sense of the word I can think of)?

And the third answer to the question I find in verse 13: "They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God." That is, fruitfulness is by our association with the people of God. The "house of the LORD" through which God works in the world today is the church. I just returned from an afternoon with covenant groups. I'm so thankful for the chance to hang out with brothers and sisters at Calvary who are interested in deep and growing relationships/fellowship, and for the opportunity covenant groups afford to pursue them together. Fruitfulness is not only about me and Jesus, not in isolation from the rest of his vineyard. God uses his people in every stage and facet of fruit bearing.

Let's pursue the kind of fruitfulness we talked about last week, and let's do so in the way we've seen this week.

By His Grace & For His Glory,