We celebrate the Lord’s Supper every week, considering it the culmination of our service of covenant renewal. But to many of our fellow believers, this fact by itself smacks of ritualism or superstition. “Why do this so often? Do you keep forgetting?” Well, on one level, yes, we keep forgetting. We believe that we are …
Marriage As Manifest Glory XV
Introduction: Forgiveness makes it possible to “start over.” The power of forgiveness is enormous—the reason it is so infrequently employed is because it transforms everything, and not because it is “a dud.” Last week we addressed what forgiveness is (a transaction), and how to understand it when the other party is being difficult. We now …
Sabbath After Sabbath
Father in heaven, we glorify Your name and we lift up our hearts to You. Thank You for all the kindness You bestow, day after day, week after week, Sabbath after Sabbath, year after year, and generation after generation. We know that we are utterly dependent upon You and we ask You to show Your …
Small Beginnings
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Great God, heavenly Father, Lord of all that is, King of heaven and earth, we pray to You now in the name of Jesus Christ, Your Son and our Lord. You delight in manifesting Your glory in things that are small. You …
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 …
Reciprocity
The Bible teaches us that we as Christians partake of Christ. When we come to this table, we partake of His body, and of His blood. But we do not partake of Christ in some isolated fashion, as though it were possible to partake of one narrow portion of Him. We partake of totus Christus, …
Surpassing Comprehension
Our Father and God, Your kindness to us surpasses comprehension. We are so grateful as we approach yet another Lord’s Day. We thank You for our salvation rest, we thank You for Jesus Christ, we thank You that our children and grandchildren can grow up loving You by the grace You have given. The food …
Resurrection Life
Minister: Lift up your hearts! Congregation: We lift them up to the Lord! Great God of wonders, God of our risen Lord Jesus, God of the new creation, we worship You now in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. You gave the breath of life to our father Adam, and You gave new life and …
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 …
Treachery
As God writes the story of His covenant people in the world, with this Table at the center, we see that traitors and treachery are an important element in the story. All four gospels have the story of Judas, which is certainly one indication of its importance. When Jesus talks about the Table of the …