Gracious Lord and Father, we are most grateful to You for all the kindness You pour out upon us, and we rejoice in the fact that You continue this kindness week after week, and year after year. We thank You now for the food You supply, for our fellowship together, and for the privilege of …
Ezra Nehemiah 8
Introduction As we study the narratives of Scripture, one of the things we have to learn to watch for are the narratival patterns. And one of those patterns is captured by our expression “hoist on his own petard.” Most take this to be some form of hanging, but a petard was actually a medieval hand …
Ezra Nehemiah 6
Introduction As we have already noted, the parallels between the post-exilic Jews in Jerusalem and our situation are many, and sometimes uncanny. And just like some of our tussles seem to go on and on, so did their legal wrangles go on and on. The Text: Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the …
The Oil of Gladness
The author of Hebrews is seeking to show his Jewish readers that Christ’s supremacy includes supremacy over every angelic being. An undue regard for angels was common among the Jews of this period, and the author of Hebrews is taking care to lift the name of Christ above every name. He accomplishes this through a …
Paul and James
Not that I want to beat a dead horse or anything, but I would be interested in feedback from any critics of Auburn Avenue stuff on the following statement. Would you all be comfortable with this expression of the relationship of faith and works, Paul and James? What are we to do with James’ apparent …
The Glory of Christ
In a very real way, the tragedy of modern worship is that we have become like the Samaritans — we worship what they do not know. The grief of our era is that the Church has fallen into the worship of a tiny Christ. And a good portion of our remedy is to be found …
Gladness in the Sanctuary
In this time of exhortation, it is easy to dwell on the things we are doing wrong, or might do wrong, as we approach the Father in worship. And to a point, this is actually as it should be — sinners must never become presumptive about anything. At the same time, one of the things …
Sammy the Stinkard
Once there was a young boy named Sammy. His father had been on quite a few business trips recently, and was working long hours even when he was in town. As a result, Sammy had not seen much of him for the last several months, and neither had Sammy’s mother. Now you might think that …
Longing for Judgment
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Come down and judge, O God and king! Plead my cause, Plead my case Before an ungodly nation. Deliver me from liars, And from the unjust man. You are the God of my strength . . . Why do You cast me …
State of the Church 2006
Introduction One of our customs in Christ Church is to have a “state of the church“ message sometime around the first of the year. There are two slight changes this year. First, this year it is right at the first of the year, and the second difference is that this year we are going to …