Sermon Video Introduction: In these annual “state of the church” messages, we sometimes address our local circumstances here in Christ Church. At other times the message has addressed our ...
State of the Church 2021
Special Providence and the Problem of Answered Prayer
Introduction: One of the problems associated with being a cessationist is that people think that you must hold the idea, as the firmest of doctrines, that the Holy Spirit no longer does anything ...
Audio Reading of Post
Mistaken Faithful Prayer
Sermon Video Introduction: As many of you know, it is our custom to have a “state of the church” message around the beginning of each new year, and that message will be coming next week. But, ...
And Famously Wrapped in Swaddling Clothes
Christmas Eve 2020: If we understand the message of Christmas rightly, we understand it not only as the celebration of the birth of the Christ, but also as the starting point or birthplace of our faith. According ...
Advent and Angels
Introduction: One of the more obvious things about the Christmas story (as Scripture records it) would be prevalence of angels in it. The angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah to tell him about the birth ...
Advent and Astonishment
Sermon Video Introduction: We sometimes glide over the stupefying doctrines that are entailed by the Christmas miracle. We are accustomed to the story, and so we simply nod our heads at the familiar ...
On the Filling of the Spirit
The Holy Spirit is present with us here, now. As we come to this Table, He is the one who makes it all efficacious. Now He is always at work, regardless of our disheveled condition. He deals with us when we come prepared as we should have been prepared, and He deals with us when …
Thunderstruck
It is our usual custom to recite the Apostles Creed at this point in the service, but several times a year we break from that custom, and recite the Nicene Creed or the Definition of Chalcedon. During Advent season, it is Chalcedon, and so there are a few things for use to consider. It would …
Advent and Abundance
Introduction: A genuine biblical faith is one that knows how to climb mountains, and how to not get lost in the valleys. In the flesh we know how to get used to what happens to us all the time. But ...
Advent and Affliction
Sermon Video Introduction: Over time, holidays take on a certain patina. Long usage and custom make this unavoidable and necessary, but it remains our responsibility not to allow such later accretions ...