As you know, tomorrow is the 4th of July. This is the day on which we as Americans commemorate our independence from the tyranny that was being driven by the Parliament of England, but which was allowed by the king—who was constitutionally bound to protect us from all such usurpations. Because he failed in this …
Threshold
For a number of years, in addition to our monthly Psalm sing, we have had a Sunday evening service that we have held once a month, one which we called Evensong. A number of months ago, we shifted the emphasis of that service, making it explicitly evangelistic—church for non-Christians. We have been grateful for how …
Not Throwing Bread from the Balcony
You are a congregation of God’s people. You have been gathered from many places, and many backgrounds. Apart from the work of God’s Holy Spirit, most of you wouldn’t have much to do with one another. And yet now, in that Spirit, you have been gathered together like this. Here you are. What are you …
With All You’ve Got
The greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all you’ve got. This of course can only be obeyed in the context of the grace of God found in the gospel. The way we commend ourselves to God is in Jesus’ name, because He is the only one who perfectly loved God with …
Contrasts
We gather as one body, but we all different troubles. We gather as one body, but we all rejoice in different bits of news. Some of you suffer strained family relations. Some of you have financial pressures. Some of you have to deal with the grinding ingratitude of others, who should know better. Some of …
Hit the Line Hard
This exhortation concerns an event that is still a little over four months out, by which I mean our fall conference, entitled The Grace Agenda. We have held many conferences here over the years, but this year, this one is of particular strategic importance. And because of this, we don’t want it to be a …
The Faithful Dead on Tiptoe
The great struggle that the disciples of the Lord had, even after they had given up everything for His sake, and were following Him, was the struggle to understand what He was talking about. He often had to chide them for their unbelief, which is what He called it. They called it not getting the …
Learn the Passwords Now
In all of our lives, death is an unspoken assumption. Always there, we know that each of us will die, somehow and some way. But we tend to push it out of our minds, knowing that if we are young enough or healthy enough, our odds are good. But this trusting in odds is trusting …
In a Multitude of Texts . . .
In Proverbs 10:19, we learn this: “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise” In other words, as a general rule, lots of words create many opportunities for sin. This admonition from Scripture covers all uses of words, and not just the spoken word. It includes …
Called Into a Story
The gospel tells us that we have eternal life, and the gospel tells us that we must lay hold on eternal life. We have been given an earnest, a down payment, in the person of the Holy Spirit, and we are urged to lean forward to the time when all things will be made new. …