Sometimes, less is more. As we prepare ourselves for going to two services this coming August, one of the things we want to do is make our service of worship shorter. Not only so, but we want to do this by disciplined arrangement, and not by chopping things off arbitrarily. In order to do this …
The Sins of Seven Nations/Amos 2
INTRODUCTION: As we work out way through the book of Amos, we have to remember the two great themes—the violence of oppressive cruelty and the abandonment of right worship. The prophet Amos requires us to reject all those who embrace either sin. These are the two great themes of this prophet of God. THE TEXT: …
It Will Be Yours
The Westminster Confession also teaches, rightly, that one of the purposes of the sacraments is to “solemnly engage” us “to the service of God in Christ, according to His Word.” When we are “engaged” in this way it means that we are bound to Him by means of an oath. When we are baptized, we …
Mothers Day and Pentecost
This year, as it happens, the church holiday of Pentecost and our cultural holiday of Mothers Day, happen to fall on the same day. There is no deep spiritual significance to this, but it is suggestive of a few things that we ought to consider. Mothers Day is one day a year on which we …
The Spirit Groans
INTRODUCTION: On Pentecost Sunday, we rejoice in the fact that the Comforter has been given, poured out upon us, so that the world might be prepared for the final consummation. This is a central role of the Spirit in the world, and it ties in directly with the purposes of God for this world that …
Odd Behavior
In just a few moments, we will come to the point in our service where we confess our sins. We do not do this because we think it should just be part of the drill—because we just want to acknowledge something theologically. Although this does make a theological statement, we are not preaching here; we …
A Visible Difference
Our standards also teach that one of the purposes of the sacraments is to “put a visible difference between those that belong to the Church and the rest of the world.” Being a Christian means that you have been washed in the waters of baptism and that you have free access to this Table. Those …
Colonies of Heavean
INTRODUCTION: On Ascension Sunday, we mark the glorious coronation of the Lord Jesus. After His resurrection, He established to His disciples that He was in fact alive forever, and then He ascended into the heavens. When He did this, He was received by the Ancient of Days, and was given universal authority over all the …
Your Mother Cuts Your Meat for You
Several years ago, Pastor Leithart exhorted us, concerning the public reading of the Scriptures, to seek to listen to the Word rather than to just read along with it. This was done to encourage you to add the layer of simply hearing the Word in worship, and not to subtract the experience of reading the …
Confirm Your Stake in Christ
Our confession of faith, the Westminster Confession, says that sacraments are given by God in order to confirm our interest in Him. The word interest does not mean what we would intend if we were to say that we were interested in spiritual things, that is, we wanted to think about them. Rather our interest …