Gracious Lord and Father, we are most grateful to You for all the kindness You pour out upon us, and we rejoice in the fact that You continue this kindness week after week, and year after year. We thank You now for the food You supply, for our fellowship together, and for the privilege of …
Ezra Nehemiah 8
Introduction As we study the narratives of Scripture, one of the things we have to learn to watch for are the narratival patterns. And one of those patterns is captured by our expression “hoist on his own petard.” Most take this to be some form of hanging, but a petard was actually a medieval hand …
Ezra Nehemiah 6
Introduction As we have already noted, the parallels between the post-exilic Jews in Jerusalem and our situation are many, and sometimes uncanny. And just like some of our tussles seem to go on and on, so did their legal wrangles go on and on. The Text: Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the …
Service in the Supper
The Lord Jesus, as He established the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper, taught His disciples about another kind of authority, one that does not depend upon who shall be reputed the greatest. He also taught that it did not depend upon how people might flatter the one who holds to carnal power – when someone …
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 …
Sammy the Stinkard
Once there was a young boy named Sammy. His father had been on quite a few business trips recently, and was working long hours even when he was in town. As a result, Sammy had not seen much of him for the last several months, and neither had Sammy’s mother. Now you might think that …
Longing for Judgment
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Come down and judge, O God and king! Plead my cause, Plead my case Before an ungodly nation. Deliver me from liars, And from the unjust man. You are the God of my strength . . . Why do You cast me …
Meeting At the Appointed Place
When God feeds His people He uses means. These means are called means of grace. They do not bring grace to you the way a bucket carries water, but they are means of grace. So what does this mean? The biblical formula is that God saves and sanctifies us by grace through faith. Different wings …
State of the Church 2006
Introduction One of our customs in Christ Church is to have a “state of the church“ message sometime around the first of the year. There are two slight changes this year. First, this year it is right at the first of the year, and the second difference is that this year we are going to …
Merry Christmas 2005
Just a few personal notes about a wonderful Christmas. This year, because Christmas fell on the Lord’s Day, we had to spread our normal activities out over a couple days, in order to make room for two worship services within eighteen hours. We normally have a Christmas Eve service, which we did this year, but …