Our Lord’s threefold office has been described as that of prophet, priest, and king. But these are not mere titles we assign to Him, without any practical apparent meaning. At the beginning of our service, we confess our sins. We seek a way to approach God through the blood of Jesus Christ. In the forgiveness …
Worship As Unity
This morning the ministry of the Word will be brought by Pastor Steve Schlissel, of Messiah’s Congregation in Brooklyn, New York. We of course welcome him in the name of Jesus Christ, and declare grace and peace to him, and to his wife Jeannie, and his daughter Rebekah. But he is not here as a …
Words and Worship
James tells us not to bless God with our tongues while we go on sinning with our tongues. You are coming now to sing, to pray, to say amen, to fellowship with the saints. This means you must pay attention to your words. You have frequently heard that you are not to impute motives when …
Take Off Your Shoes
As we are given the enormous privilege, again, of ascending into the heavenly places to worship God in the name of Jesus Christ, take special care. We are walking into the throne room of God, and so we must take off our shoes — we are entering into a most holy place. If we walk …
Avoiding Moral Incongruities
The Lord’s brother warned us about the problem of incongruity in speech. With the same tongue we praise God, in a service of worship, and we also curse those who are made in God’s likeness — whether in traffic, or in family irritations, or in self-righteousness censure. Gossip during the week is inconsistent with what …
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 …
Deep Kindness
A new commandment is given to you, that you love one another. This love is not to be understood as a mere sentiment, although it makes all true sentiment possible, and more than possible, lovely. Love means that we are to treat one another as the voice of God requires, and that we are to …
Indispensable Men
As God allows us to stumble toward more mature forms of worship and government, we must take great care. An essential part of cultural maturity in community is that places of honor will develop. This is inescapable. Jesus did not command the Jews to tear out the chief seats in the synagogues and to level …
Wine or Grape Juice?
As you know, when we come to celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we have wine available in the outer rings of the trays, and grape juice is in the center. We do this because some Christians have developed scruples about drinking wine, and the New Testament is very plain about how such things are to be …
Response to Tumult
When God moves in reformation, it always causes a stir, and it always causes controversy. Take care that you do not give way to the flesh in either circumstance. Receive what God is doing in our midst with gladness and simplicity. But know that Americans have a two-hundred year history of mangling a right understanding …