Resources to Help You Receive God’s Good Gifts
AND LIVE WELL IN GOD’S WORLD
On Sunday, we learned that, “everything created by God [nature, animals, sex, food, drink, music, art, culture, friends, pets, coffee, tacos, sports, sunsets, and on and on and on] is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.” As Christians, we should be living in the world that’s been made better than anybody else - because we know the God who made it! We know what it’s been made for. We know why it exists. We can receive all these good things, not as idols to be worshiped or ends in themselves, but as vehicles to deeper joy in God.
We were created and redeemed to live fully-orbed lives in the created world as an expression of our worship to the One who created it. Below are a few resources that will help us live joyfully in God’s world and offer a compelling witness to the world.
The Things of Earth: Treasuring God by Enjoying His Gifts by Joe Rigney - Quoted during Sunday’s sermon.
Strangely Bright: Can You Love God and Enjoy this World? by Joe Rigney - A condensed version of The Things of Earth.
The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis - A book about rightly ordering our natural affections.
Sex, Romance, and the Glory of God by C.J. & Carolyn Mahaney - Contrary to the false teachers in 1 Tim 4:1-3, marital intimacy is a good gift of God that’s worthy to be pursued!
Images and Idols: Creativity for the Christian Life by Ryan Lister & Thomas Terry - Christians should champion creativity.
Art and the Bible by Francis Schaeffer - The human desire to create reflects our being made in the image of the Creator God.
Bread of Life: Savoring the All-Satisfying Goodness of Jesus through the Art of Bread Making by Abigail Dodds - Bread exists to teach us about the goodness of Jesus.
“Anchor yourself in a supreme, full, and expanding love for God and then let your enjoyment of his gifts run wild.”