INTRODUCTION:Near the beginning of every calendar year, it has been our custom for some years now to have a message that addresses the “state of the church.” Sometimes we have addressed the state of the national church, and sometimes of this local congregation. It all varies . . . depending on the state of the …
Grace and Culture Building II
INTRODUCTION:Last week we considered the important distinction between the qualifications for fellowship (sheer grace) and the qualifications for the various forms that leadership takes (grace manifested in and through performance). Not surprisingly, it is a topic that takes a good bit of careful thought, and hence another message on it. THE TEXT:“Let nothing be done …
Grace and Culture Building
INTRODUCTION:As a community of Christians we were all called and shaped by radical grace. One of the things that grace does (and which law cannot do) is build a culture with standards—which then presents a potent threat to grace. We are called to understand this dynamic because if we don’t, we will be continually frustrated. …
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Annotated
INTRODUCTION:We are accustomed to our Christmas carols, but we have to take care not to get used to them in the wrong way—where we are somehow singing and celebrating on autopilot. The word carol comes from the word carola, which means a circle or ring dance—a folk dance. Christmas carols, rightly understood, are a sacred …
The Virgin Birth
Note: This sermon outline is a version of what was published this last week here. INTRODUCTION:Last week we considered the meaning of the Incarnation. This week we will be considering another doctrine with a Christmas theme, and that is the biblical teaching about the virgin birth. You don’t need to be a Bible reader to …
A Christmas Conundrum
INTRODUCTION:Christmas is the time of year when we celebrate the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus. But lest this become an exercise in jargon, we need to think through what we mean by it. If we were to reapply the apostle Paul at this point, we should celebrate with the fudge, but celebrate with the mind …
Concentric Circles
INTRODUCTION:This might seem an odd Advent text, a text more in keeping with Ascension. But as we remember the Lord’s life, we want to remember the beginning at the end, and the end at the beginning. In the blessing of Simeon, Mary was told that her heart would be pierced through, and here, when Jesus …
The Fire of Evangelism
INTRODUCTION:God has two ways of destroying His enemies. One is the old school method—the fire coming down out of the sky method. This is the method that leaves a smoking crater. But the other is a far more glorious method, and that is His method of destroying enemies by turning them into friends. That is …
The Nature of National Repentance
INTRODUCTION:In God in the Dock, C.S. Lewis has a very fine short essay on the dangers of national repentance. In short, what he cautions us against is the prayerful form of “don’t blame me, I wanted to do something else.” In other words, every form of true repentance is hard, while there is a form …
Pulpit Freedom
INTRODUCTION:Today, October 7, 2012, is Pulpit Freedom Sunday. In 1954, the Johnson Amendment was passed which asserted the federal government’s right to set limits on what could and could not be preached from the pulpit. On this Lord’s Day, over a thousand American pastors are going to be preaching in defiance of that regulation, in …