We are gathered to worship the triune God. The fact that He is triune is not a side doctrine; it is at the very center of who we are. It is not the case that we believe that monotheism is “basic,” and that our particular form of monotheism affirms this extra truth. All unitarian conceptions …
No Buttercup
You are the people of God, and as Christians you bear the name of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord God is jealous for His name, and so we know from His Word that He will deliver His people from the troubles that confront them. He does not always deliver us on the …
John Paul II
Yesterday marked the passing of Pope John Paul II. As we gather this morning for worship, we do so as convinced, practicing and confessional Protestants, who do not believe that the Reformation was a tragic mistake. We are mindful of the chasm that still separates us from our neighbors in the Roman Catholic communion. Nevertheless, …
Death Reversed
Jesus rose from the dead, and defeated the power of death forever. He did not do this in one moment of time, with all the effects of His work immediately evident, but the central thing was done at that one moment of time. His resurrection was the first fruits of what will be a glorious …
Joy on Holy Friday
We have come to Palm Sunday, and next Lord’s Day we will be marking the event that transformed the heavens and earth, changing them into a new heaven and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. The triumphal entry into Jerusalem marks one of the greatest acts of faith in the history of our world. …
A Divine Comedy
In the resurrection of Christ from the dead, we see the banishment of the old pagan idea of tragedy. The history of the world, in the light of the resurrection, is actually a divine comedy. And Christ rose from the dead in the middle of human history so that we might know the end of …
Life For The Dead
As we approach the wonderful celebrations of Easter, let us remember that all our songs in approaching that day are songs of ascent. We are climbing a mountain, not as recreational hikers, looking for a panoramic view, but as worshipers, seeking to declare God’s praises in the high place that He has assigned for His …
Rejoicing in Lent
Every Lord’s Day, we mark the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Every Lord’s Day we mark the glory of the resurrection. We do this on a grand scale annually, with our celebration of Easter, but we must not forget that each Lord’s Day does the same thing. (And let us leave aside for the …
Worship As Service
What have we gathered here to do? We are here to await God’s pleasure. This is what the word worship means—it means to wait upon God in order to offer the service He requires of us. In both Hebrew and Greek, the word is captured by Isaiah’s great response to his vision in the heavenlies, …
Old Wineskins
As long as we live in this fallen world, we will be buffeted with at least two conflicting standards. The first is obviously the standard by which we are named—the wisdom of Christ, the aroma of the gospel, the scandal of the cross. But in the history of the Church, the competing standard that has …