You are accustomed now to all the liturgical changes we have made over the course of this last year. You must now be exhorted to remember the point of all such orders of worship. The fact that you know the order of events frees you to concentrate on worshiping the Lord Himself, just as learning …
Palm Sunday 2006
Introduction: We are seeking to recover a Christian sense of time, and in some sense this means a recovery of the Church year. But though we are seeking to escape a secularized calendar, we must never forget that we got this secular calendar (in part) because of a reaction away from the problem of “saints …
Freedom? What Freedom?
Most Christians do not have a problem in acknowledging God’s sovereign control over every aspect of the physical creation. Not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from the Father, and He know the numbers of atoms that make up the planet Jupiter. We will consequently spend our time here considering the two areas that …
Applications from Hebrews
As we conclude the book of Hebrews, the writer ends his letter with a potpourri of ethical admonitions and instruction. A common theme is “living in a certain way,” but the subject matter changes radically from passage to passage. “Let brotherly love continue . . .” (Heb. 13:1-25). We begin with friends,strangers and prisoners. These …
Staying Out of the Deep End
Once there was brother and sister, and they were on a vacation with their parents, driving across the country. One evening, after a long day’s drive, the family checked into a motel, and both the kids were very excited about the prospect of swimming in the motel pool. “You can get into your suits,” their …
Authority and Apostolic Succession
A number of years ago I had a number of friends who maintained that the way to argue with me was to answer yes to the first question, and then to stoutly say no thereafter. I mention this because I am about to attempt something that I think our Roman Catholic friends might want to …
For Food and Wine
Gracious Father in heaven, we thank You for the arrival of another Lord’s Day. We thank You for the fellowship we share around this table. We praise Your name for the food and wine. We are grateful for the opportunity to sing to You and prepare our hearts for worship in the morning. We ask …
You Were Baptized in Water
When we gather together as the people of God, remember that we are the redeemed of the Lord. Our characteristic note should therefore be one of exuberance and joy. Accept no substitutes, particularly the substitute of carnally generated joy. We are called to worship God in the joy of the Holy Ghost. We are commanded …
The Real Action Is Elsewhere
Jesus told the parable of two sons who were told to go work in the vineyard. One said he would go and did not. The other said he would not go, and then went. “Which one was obedient?” Jesus asked. The recent posts that I have offered on Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy have certainly …
Ezra Nehemiah 17
Introduction: Nehemiah and those with him have continued to make good progress. When they have nearly completed their work, their adversaries try a few remaining tricks. The Text: Now it came to pass when Sanballat, and Tobiah, and Geshem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had builded the wall, and …