When our Lord was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, He answered with Scripture, as we all know. Three times He was tested, and each time He replied in the words of Deuteronomy. But this is sometimes misunderstood. We tend to think that Jesus was quoting Scripture at the devil, as though the devil …
Routine
We celebrate the Lord’s Supper every week, considering it the culmination of our service of covenant renewal. But to many of our fellow believers, this fact by itself smacks of ritualism or superstition. “Why do this so often? Do you keep forgetting?” Well, on one level, yes, we keep forgetting. We believe that we are …
The Apostles Creed 16: I believe in the Holy Ghost
Introduction: The fact that the Holy Spirit is mentioned by name late in the Creed does not make Him an afterthought. He is not present here as a postscript. When we begin the Creed with the words I believe, this is only possible because the Holy Spirit has been at work. He is the one …
Upside Down, Gently Bobbing
Not a person in this room has to struggle with the temptations that other people have. And every person in this room does in fact have to struggle against the temptations that present themselves, daily, to each. Now as we all seek to establish our walk with Christ, one of the perennial temptations will be …
Reciprocity
The Bible teaches us that we as Christians partake of Christ. When we come to this Table, we partake of His body, and of His blood. But we do not partake of Christ in some isolated fashion, as though it were possible to partake of one narrow portion of Him. We partake of totus Christus, …
The Apostles Creed 15: From Thence He Will Come to Judge the Living and the Dead
Introduction: We believe that there was a time when the world was not. God spoke, and all of it came into being out of nothing. We believe that there will be a time when the world (as it is now) will cease to be. That will come about in the same way—God will say the …
Worshiping with Little Ones
Many of you are here as parents of little ones and, in some cases, many little ones. For you, the worship of the Lord is a far more arduous task that it is for the rest of us. All of us are engaged in the work of worshiping the Lord, but you are carrying young …
Treachery
As God writes the story of His covenant people in the world, with this Table at the center, we see that traitors and treachery are an important element in the story. All four gospels have the story of Judas, which is certainly one indication of its importance. When Jesus talks about the Table of the …
The Apostles Creed 14: And Sits at the Right Hand of God the Father Almighty
Introduction: In the creation of Adam as pictured on the Sistine Chapel ceiling, God the Father has a right hand. But the God of the Bible is Spirit, and has no right hand—for He has no body at all. At the same time, with few exceptions (e.g. Acts 7:55), the Scriptures repeatedly tell us that …
Feral Children in a Digital World
Over the last several decades, our church has grown significantly in our numbers, and we thank God for it, but during the same time period, the world has been undergoing a technological and cultural transformation. And the frontier of that transformation necessarily runs right through the teen years. Now a moment’s reflection should tell you …