Once there were two headmasters of two Christian schools who were good friends. They lived in different cities, and didn’t see one another very often, but they did make a point of catching up a couple times a year. One time they got together for lunch when their schools were competing in a regional spelling …
Push Back
One evening a father was sitting in front of the television, watching the evening news. His teenage son happened to walk through, and stopped for a moment. A commercial came on, and so the son said, “Dad, how can you bear to watch that stuff?” His father looked up. “Well, otherwise I would not know …
Forgiveness of Sin
INTRODUCTION: The Lord Jesus was born into a sinful world. His advent was not designed as an inspirational moment to crown all the others, but rather He was sent as a Savior. He came to bring forgiveness, and consequently if there is anything His followers should understand and practice, it is forgiveness. THE TEXT: “Then …
Sinning Against Thoughtfulness
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 aids to godliness are developed. This …
Ordination to Ministry
This morning, we will have an ordination of Douglas Jones to the ministry, right after our reading of Scripture. Doug has been an elder in our church for many years, and so this ordination calls for a little explanation. Our local church polity follows the pattern of Calvin’s Geneva, and is called the “four-office view.” …
Gladness or Gloating
I said last week that this was the last of our exhortations on civic affairs, at least for a while, but I was off by one week. There is one other set of comments that needs to be made. First, it would be wrong of us to let this election pass by without giving thanks …
The Chuckle of Faith
This is the last of our exhortations on civic involvement, at least for the present. And so, let me offer a series of final exhortations, as simple bullet points. Regardless of what happens, we do not win or lose at the polls. God is always sovereign, and His position is absolutely unthreatened. He establishes the …
Living in the Will of God
INTRODUCTION: What Christian does not want to live in the will of God? What an admirable aspiration, and what a difficult thing to figure out. Many Christians have needlessly tied themselves up in knots over this issue. THE TEXTS: “Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such …
The Altars of Democracy
Whenever governments have a problem with God’s people worshipping the true God as they ought to do, the issue is always competition. Those who have made an idol out of the state do not want the presence of anyone who lives in a way that rebukes that idolatry. But we must make a distinction between …
Back to Normal
I have taking a few weeks to urge you to participate fully in the political process of our town. We have a city council election coming up shortly, and I have wanted to consider some of the implications of that. And please note again that it is not the place of the church to be …