Our congregation continues to grow, which can only be a problem if we cease to grow in love. Paul tells the Thessalonians that their love for the brethren throughout Macedonia was highly spoken of. But this, for Paul, was inadequate. He wanted them to love “more and more.” You are loving congregation, but far from …
Mint, Dill, and Cummin Cops
In our service of worship, we declare the mighty acts of God. He has made all things, and then recreated them in His Son Jesus Christ. We are here today because we profess to believe this. Now these declarations by God’s covenant people are potent, whether or not unbelievers are paying any attention to them …
Flooding the World Again
As Scripture instructs, we must be adults in our understanding. But we must also cultivate what Luke records in the books of Acts when he says that the early Christians ate their bread with gladness and simplicity of heart. We may be refreshed with both maturity and simplicity when we come to understand the water …
Dead Men
In the Word of God, we are summoned to approach the throne of grace with great boldness. The early apostles, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, dominated by Him completely, preached the Word with great boldness. The apostle Paul, after many years of apostolic ministry, had, as one of his prayer requests, the …
A Few Tattered Rags
Not only must the Church throw down idols, but the Church is called to throw down idols using God’s appointed instruments for doing so. We are to pull them all from their marble pedestals, but what ropes are we to use? In the apostolic era, the word of God was preached with great boldness, and …
False Peace With False Gods
God has assigned a task to the Church in the world, and that task is to throw down all idols, and to establish the right worship of God throughout the earth, from the River to the ends of the earth. But looking around, we have to come to grips with the fact that idolatry in …
Little Ones in the Heavenly Courts
This morning the exhortation is for a particular (and very important) part of our congregation—the little ones. I want to begin by asking all the children who are eight-years-old and younger to pay close attention. Step out in the aisle if you need to, or stand on your chair, or have your mom or dad …
Music for Jericho
We rejoice in the power of the Holy Spirit of God, who was poured out upon us so that we could be the true Israel of God in a pagan and dark world. As the true Israel of God, we are summoned and equipped to confront and overcome the paganism of the unbelieving world. In …
A Different Kind of King
In the great hymn found in Philippians, we are told that Jesus humbled Himself, and was obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross. Therefore God exalted Him highly, and has given Him the name that is above every name. This is what we celebrate on Ascension Sunday—Jesus Christ is Lord of …
Worship Topples Idols
The fundamental center of all human history is the issue of worship. In the faithful worship of the true God, we contend with the worship of all idols. Idolatrous societies structure everything around their idolatrous assumptions, and their constant ploy is to try to get true worshippers of God to share in those assumptions somehow, …