Gracious Father and Lord of heaven, we thank You for family, for our husbands and wives, for our children and grandchildren. We thank You that You brought us safely through another week, and that You have enabled us to stand now on the threshold of another week. We are so grateful for the Lord’s Day, …
It Is Not So
After the Lord Jesus established the sacrament of the Supper, He asked His disciples if they had lacked anything when He sent them out. They had been commissioned to go without purse, money, or shoes. When He had done this, He asked, had they come to lack for anything? They had lacked for nothing was …
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 …
So Raise Your Hands to His Commands
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Forgive me now, oh Lord and God And let your mercies come. Descend from heaven and save me here, According to Your mercy now, According to Your kindly Word. Then I will have an answer for The one who brings rebuke. My …
The Fence-Climbing CEO
Once there was a man who was very disgruntled with his employer, and so he began to spread stories around the workplace about all the awful things his employer had done. But the only thing the employer had really done was fail to promote this employee rapidly enough for his liking. Other charges, however, were …
From Torquemada to Stalin
At this table, we remember Christ and Him crucified. In the death of Jesus, it was not sufficient for Him simply to die—He could not have died in His sleep for our sins. It was necessary for Him to be betrayed by the chief priests, and to be run through a kangaroo trial. It was …
Delighted in Gratitude
Our Father and gracious God, we thank You for the arrival of yet another Lord’s Day. The food before us illustrates one more time how much You love us, and one more time, we are delighted to show our gratitude. We pray that You would be honored in our fellowship, in our eating, and in …
Ezra Nehemiah 13
Introduction: Laughter and mockery are inescapable. It is never a question of whether, but which. In a world where God has established the antithesis between righteousness and unrighteousness, it is never whether something is going to be ridiculous, but rather which thing is going to be ridiculous. The Text: And it came to pass in …
Ezra Nehemiah 12
Introduction: As God restores His people to the land, He does not put them on a fast track. The process has many blessed moments, and a number of setbacks. This book of Nehemiah begins in the middle of one such setback. The Text: The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to …
Turn Back My Eyes From Vanity
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Educate me now, Oh Lord In Your statute law And I will keep it to the end, And I will walk within the way, Until this journey finally ends. Give an understanding heart So that I keep Your law, With all my …