Jesus is Lord, and He is Lord forever, world without end, and amen. He is Lord of Heaven and earth–not Lord of tiny compartments in our hearts. His grace must extend to those compartments, and our awareness of His lordship over all things must begin there. We must be converted to God. The works of …
The Right Way to Take Grace for Granted
When we come to the Lord’s Table week after week it is with the expectation that God will feed us. We come here expectantly, and we are right to do so. We bring our children with us to this meal, and they are right to be expectant also. Food and wine were promised, and food …
Derivative Ownership
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all. Father, we confess that as a nation we have abused and …
Less Glory Is More
The Bible teaches us that the times of the new covenant are attended with a greater glory than the old covenant, as well as with a greater simplicity. In effect, that simplicity is part of the glory. The arrival of Jesus the Messiah was not a signal for us to lapse into some kind of …
Our New Birthright
As you teach your children how to come to this Table, one of the things you should be cultivating is this: we come because we were invited, not because we are entitled. The invitation proceeded from grace, and is extended to us in grace. We don’t deserve any of it. The response we should have, …
The Fourth Commandment Raised
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all. Father, we confess that we as a people have wandered away …
Herd Instincts in Church
We want to come to the Table in faith, and not because of superstitious attachment to ritual. At the same time, we don’t want to avoid superstitious ritual by avoiding ritual itself—that would be a superstitious attachment to the arid intellectual customs of the modern age. This stark contrast between faith and superstition can be …
Stealth Disobedience
The Bible instructs us on how we are to live together. When we do not follow those instructions, there are two kinds of disobedience. One is flagrant, and knows that it is disobedient. When professing Christians give way to these sorts of temptations, the results are called theft, adultery, fornication, sodomy, false witness and so …
Our Own Definition of Love
Our Father and God, You have established Your Church as a royal priesthood in this world, and so we intercede for the nations of men now, confessing on their behalf so that the grace of Your forgiveness will soon be extended to them all. Father, we confess that we as a people have drifted into …
The Pentecostal Gift
INTRODUCTION:As we celebrate the various holidays of the church year, we generally know what they are about. Christmas celebrates the birth of Christ, and Easter His resurrection. And even if you didn’t know what Ascension Day was about, you could probably guess from the name—in a “who’s buried in Grant’s tomb?” sort of way. But …