BOOK REVIEW:
Sunday Matters: 52 Devotionals to Prepare Your Heart for Church by Paul David Tripp. Crossway. 289 pages. 2023
*** ½

I’ve read several of Paul Tripp’s books, most of them being his books of devotional readings (daily, Lent, Advent, etc.). This new book features a reading for each week of the year (reading 51 is for Easter week and 52 is for Christmas). The brief devotionals are intended to help prepare your heart for the beauty of what Sunday worship has to offer you. After each reading, there are suggested scripture passages to read, reflection questions and a family discussion section.
I enjoyed these readings, and commend this book – and all of Paul Tripp’s books – to you.
Here are 20 of my favorite quotes from the book:

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• He has ordained his church to regularly gather, that we would remember once again, grieve once again, celebrate once again, and go out and live in light of the beautiful values of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• These regular gatherings of God’s people are not first an obligation; they are a gift. They are not first a duty; they are a welcome.
• The most valuable thing in all of life is my union with Christ. By grace, he is in me and I am in him.
• We gather again to worship because we need to be confronted again and again with the centrality of God in all things. We need to be reminded once again that everything in life is about him.
• We need to understand again that he knows what we need far better than we ever will, and that what he wants for us is better than anything we could ever want for ourselves.
• The gospel narrative pushes us to live with eternity in view. It calls us away from focusing only on the pleasures, the opportunities, the temptations, the responsibilities, and the cravings of this moment.
• He is in control of every aspect of our present and our future, and no matter how things might appear to us right now, he is marching us toward a glory beyond our wildest imaginations.
• He is the definition of everything that is wise, loving, and good. It is impossible for him to fail you, because he is perfect in every way and all of the time.
• We need sabbath so we can see clearly again, confess our need again, turn to grace again, and surrender again our self-glory to the greater glory of our Savior King.
• As we gather, we remember again that there is one who cares for us and who is both willing and capable of meeting us in our moment of burden and doing in us and for us what no one else would be able to do.
• He is present with us always, promising to never leave or forsake us. His grace is inexhaustible, his love is boundless, and his mercies are new every morning.
• As we come together week after week, tired and needy, reaching again for his help, he receives us with tender grace and he willingly shoulders burdens we are unable to bear alone.
• What you regularly and deeply mourn will always reveal the true values of your heart. What causes the most sadness will expose whatever kingdom has captured the allegiance of your heart.
• Corporate worship is designed to expose us, convict us, and lead us to God’s throne of grace where forgiveness and transforming power are to be found.
• Everyone lives for treasure of some kind. The thing that is your treasure will control your heart, and what has control of your heart will control your thoughts, desires, words, choices, and actions. This side of eternity, a war of treasure is fought in our hearts.
• Corporate worship is one of God’s tools in preparing us for hardships to come; he uses it to convince us of his perfect goodness and his ever-present and all-powerful grace.
• You wake up every morning to a Father who is not just your King, but he is a King who exercises his rule over all things for your good because you are one of his children.
• His sovereignty means he unleashes his wisdom to guide his world. He always ordains what is wisest and best, even if it doesn’t always seem best to us.
• Corporate worship is designed to remind us that everything we use and depend on every day has come from the hand of the Lord.
• We gather with other sufferers to be reminded once again that we will never understand our sufferings properly, evaluate them appropriately, or experience them hopefully until we look at them through the lens of the glorious destiny that is our guaranteed destination because of the gift of the grace of Jesus.

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• Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold. My wife Tammy has published a book about HOW to study the Bible. The book is available on Amazon in both a Kindle and paperback edition. She writes “Maybe you have read the Bible but want to dig deeper and know God and know yourself better. Throughout the book I use the analogy of making a quilt to show how the Bible is telling one big story about what God is doing in the world through Christ. Quilting takes much patience and precision, just like studying the Bible, but the end result is well worth it.”
• Let Tim Keller Encourage You Yet Again. Walt Nilsson reviews Matt Smethurst’s new book Tim Keller on the Christian Life. He writes “Tim Keller on the Christian Lifeis a feast for weary Christians. Pastors, church leaders, and faithful Christians should read it to be encouraged toward a deeper faith.”
• A Light on the Hill. Tim Challies reviews A Light on the Hill by Caleb Morell. He writes “It surprised me what a blessing it was to read about that church and to see how God has seen fit to bless, preserve, and use it for so many years.”

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Won’t you read along with us?
We are reading through Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith by R.C. Sproul. From the Ligonier description:
“The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the most precise and comprehensive statements of biblical Christianity, and it is treasured by believers around the world. R.C. Sproul has called it one of the most important confessions of faith ever penned, and it has helped generations of Christians understand and defend what they believe.
In Truths We Confess, Dr. Sproul introduces readers to this remarkable confession, explaining its insights and applying them to modern life. In his signature easy-to-understand style and with his conviction that everyone’s a theologian, he provides valuable commentary that will serve churches and individual Christians as they strive to better understand the eternal truths of Scripture. As he walks through the confession line by line, Dr. Sproul shows how the doctrines of the Bible—from creation to covenant, sin to salvation—fit together to the glory of God. This accessible volume is designed to help you deepen your knowledge of God’s Word and answer the question, What do you believe?”

This week we look at WCF 28: Of Baptism. Here are a few helpful quotes from the chapter:

• Baptism is the outward sign of the new covenant, just as circumcision was the external sign of the old covenant.
• Membership in the visible church does not guarantee membership in the invisible church, the true body of Christ.
• Baptism is not a sign of the child’s faith; it is a sign of what the child will receive by faith. It is a sign of God’s promise, which is received by faith.
• Baptism is the external sign of the internal work of regeneration.
• It is good to remember that throughout church history the vast majority of Christian bodies have understood baptism to apply to the children of believers as well as to adult believers.

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