We are living in a generation of great upheaval and change. One of the results of this is that many Christians have found themselves in a slippery place, not knowing quite how to behave. As the gospel works through a culture, that culture is transformed, and many external cultural helps to godliness are developed. This …
God Is No Miser
The Table of the Lord is a rich table, one that is filled with all good things. We who have been invited to that Table are not filled with all good things. The point, one that Scripture makes over and over again, is to bring about a transfer. What God has, He gives to us. …
How Flocks Are Protected
Introduction: Scripture teaches that the flocks of God are precious, and they are precious because of what it took to purchase them. “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own …
Almost Desperate Love
“Spiritual eloquence should arise out of the preacher’s almost desperate love for the gospel truth itself and the people for whom accepting the truth is a matter of life and death” (Keller, Preaching, p. 14).
Psalm 86/A Token for Good
Introduction: In this world, it is not possible to be a friend of God and not be in trouble with the world. Friendship with the world is enmity with God, James tells us (Jas. 4:4). It goes the other way also. Friendship with God means that you will be constantly and regularly at odds with …
So Stop Doing That
The apostle Paul exhorts us to do all things “without murmuring or disputing.” The result, he says, will be that we will be blameless and harmless, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, “among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” How do obedient Christians stand out? This is one …
Moses the Unreasonable
Our presence here at this table makes a claim on us. Because we are here, we must not become idolaters, as some of the Jews did in the wilderness. We must not eat and drink at another god’s table, and then rise up to play. The golden calf, however, was not called another god. Aaron …
Missions and Media
Introduction: Every year our congregation sponsors a missions conference, the one we just finished Saturday. It is also our custom to have the sermon following the missions conference be related to the subject of missions in some way. This message is no exception, but it is important for us not to misunderstand. The fact that …
Rough Edges
Learning to live in genuine community is one of the central goals that we have set for ourselves. And, to be honest, we did not set the goal—it is set before us in Scripture as one of the basic elements of the Christian faith. We are one in Jesus Christ, and this is not to …
Covenantal Presence
The apostle tells us that all the Jews in the wilderness drank the same spiritual drink. They all drank from the same spiritual Rock that followed them, the Rock that was Christ. But with many, he says, God was not pleased. They were overthrown in the wilderness. In the same way, certain members of the …