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 to You that the nations of men do …
A Ritual, Not a Routine
The Supper of the Lord is a ritual that knits us together. We come here, week after week, to worship the Lord — to confess our sins, to sing His praises, to hear His Scriptures read aloud, to hear his Word preached and proclaimed, and to sit down with Him at Table. Some of you …
Live More Than the Length of It
The life that Christ has called us into is a life that is not just everlasting in duration. The eternal life that He welcomes us into is qualitative. Jesus says that He is the resurrection and the life, and that life is one that the Holy Spirit weaves us into. This affects the texture and …
That’s the Way You Do It
This morning Nancy and I had the privilege of worshipping with the saints at Christ the Word in Toledo, Ohio. What a wonderful group of believers — as I told a group of their college-aged members at lunch, it is clearly, manifestly, obviously, a healthy church. It was an honor to worship together with them, …
No False Pride
We are in the presence of God to worship Him. We are gathering in the name of Jesus, and we are doing so as His people. We belong to Him, and, because of this, we belong to one another. Although we are ascending into the heavenly places in our worship, by the power of the …
Receiving the Gift of Being Able to Give
We have been talking about provision—here in this Supper God provides for His people. But God provides for us in His way, and not in the way that we might anticipate. When God gives, He gives gifts that continue to give themselves. He doesn’t give the kind of gift that makes its way to a …
Putting the Checkbook Right
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. Our Father God, we confess to You now, on behalf of …
A Lot of Expectant Whispering
The wonderful thing about living through four seasons is that just when one of them is threatening to overstay its welcome, and you are frankly tired of it, a natural desire is born that longs for the signs of the next approaching season. Snow was met with great excitement and laughter in November, but by …
Replace Them All With Diamonds
I said last week that God provides for His people. Open your mouth, God says through the psalmist, and “I will fill it.” As parents and grandparents, it delights us when a child in a high chair sees the spoon and dutifully opens his mouth. God delights to feed us. He delights to provide for …
Reduced to Grazing
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. Our Father God, we confess to You that our rulers have …