Theocast
I Come to the Garden Alone?
July 6, 2022
Summary
The title for today's episode comes from a 20th century hymn. That hymn is illustrative of the common mindset in the evangelical church--that the real stuff of the Christian life happens when we are alone. Is that what the New Testament teaches? How is it that we grow in the faith? How is it that we become mature in Christ? Jon and Justin consider these questions and discuss how the Christian life is inherently corporate, how devotion is church-shaped, and how the corporate realities of the gathered church drive our private lives. Semper Reformanda: Jon and Justin give some of their perspective on personal time of Bible reading and prayer. What are healthier ways to approach these things? How does the corporate life of the church help us devotional lives? Resources: Our episode on "How Not to Read Your Bible" Our episode "Have We Missed the Point of Church?" Our episode on "Leaving Pietism" Our episode on "Your Sanctification Is Not for You?" Our "Dazed and Confused" episode on Hebrews 12:1-14 https://youtu.be/aXycpYjdDXQ
Topics
- Episode focus: I Come to the Garden Alone?
- The title for today's episode comes from a 20th century hymn
- That hymn is illustrative of the common mindset in the evangelical church--that the real stuff of the Christian life happens when we are alone
- Is that what the New Testament teaches?
- How is it that we grow in the faith?
Transcript
Edited machine transcript. May contain errors. Select a timestamp to watch that moment.
Hi, this is John, and today on Theocast, Justin and I are going to have a conversation about what does it mean to mature in Christ?
How do we grow to be in the fullness and the likeness of Jesus Christ?
And we may have a little bit of fun with an old hymn that's used out there, but the hymn is definitely a result of a theology that individualizes our faith and it has us emphasizing a seclusion of our
faith instead of the corporate body.
So, we're going to look at through the Bible and ask the question: how is it that God grows us in our faith?
We hope you enjoy.
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Welcome to Theocast, encouraging weary pilgrims to rest in Christ, conversations about the Christian life from a confessionally reformed and pastoral perspective.
Your host today are Pastor Justin Perdue of Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville, North Carolina.
And I'm John Moffitt, pastor of Grace Reform Church in Springhill, Tennessee.
And as always, Justin, we find it good to just get to the point, and it's what we're going to do.
But before we do, as I've already said, I want to take a moment for those of you that might be anxious and just need subtle reminders around the house, whether it's a coffee mug or a sticker or a
magnet, whatever, we would encourage you to trust Christ and calm down.
And you can do that by going to our store, and it's an easy way to support our ministry, but it's also just a great way to remind yourself that Christ is in control.
He has finalized all of our hope.
His promises are ever true.
And one of those ways, Justin, that we've been told in the past to be reminded of that is by an interesting hymn that was written in 1912.
Justin, tell us probably about maybe one of the most confusing and theologically off hymns we love to sing in history.
