Sermon: God’s Plan for Universal Dominion

God’s Plan for Universal DominionZechariah 6:1-8November 27, 2022 In his book Comrades, Stephen Ambrose writes about the horror of war: “Combat requires all the nerves, all the physical attributes, every bit of the training. It is only in combat, nowhere else, where time is measured in other ways than by clocks or calendars. Only […]

What shall we do to be thankful?

On this Thanksgiving morning, what can we do to stimulate our hearts to gratitude if we are feeling discouraged or unthankful? Thomas Watson answers: “A gracious soul is thankful and rejoices that he is drawn nearer to God, though it may be by the cords of affliction.…When God has a rod in his hand, a […]

Believers have cause for thankfulness

“See what cause the saints have to be frequent in the work of thanksgiving. In this Christians are defective; though they are much in supplication, yet little in gratulation. We meet many Christians who have tears in their eyes, and complaints in their mouths; but there are few with their harps in their hands, who […]

What is Gratitude?

What is gratitude? It’s more than only saying, “thank you” for blessings received, as John Piper explains: …gratitude that is pleasing to God is not first a delight in the benefits God gives (though that will be part of it). True gratitude must be rooted in something else that comes firstnamely, a delight in the […]

God is Good

God is good. So says Psalm 100:5. And Psalm 73:1. And Psalms 34:8, 100:5, 135:3, and 145:9. And the prophets also speak of God’s goodness in Jeremiah 33:11, Lamentations 3:25, and Nahum 1:7. Jesus also affirms the goodness of God (and at the same time asserts His own deity, Mt. 19:17). To say that God […]

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

In this morning’s worship service, we included a prayer of thanksgiving to prepare our hearts for the week ahead. The prayer is based on Psalm 95. Our Father, we begin this week of Thanksgiving by offering to You hearts of gratitude. In a week where many will give thanks for temporal and even ungodly things […]

Sermon: Give Thanks

Give ThanksPsalm 100November 20, 2022 We live in difficult days (has there ever been a time in the world when we couldn’t say that?). People are trying to define the exact nature of our troubles; one theologian has observed that social observers and politicians and others have called our time, “the age of anxiety, the […]

Sermon: God’s Judgment on Sin

God’s Judgment on SinZechariah 5:1-11November 13, 2022 We live in a sinful world. We are well aware of the sinfulness of the world: There is a kind who is pure in his own eyes, Yet is not washed from his filthiness. (Prov. 30:12) For the wicked boasts of his heart’s desire, And the greedy man […]

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament

The Holy Spirit was not “created” with the inception of the New Testament church. Yes, He functions differently in this new age than He did in the old age, but as a member of the Triune godhead His nature is unchanging. What He is today, He always has been. So how does the Old Testament […]

The Heart of Christ for Sinners

Half a dozen years ago, I read Thomas Goodwin’s work, The Heart of Christ. Daily I found refreshment and encouragement from that 350-year-old work. Since the book is our Book of the Month in November, I pulled it off my shelf and have refreshed my soul by rereading sections of it again. Here is one […]

Sermon: God’s Provision for His Purposes

God’s Provision for Accomplishing His PurposesZechariah 4:1-14November 6, 2022 Goats are social creatures, apparently. They like to do things together. So a couple of years ago, when two goats escaped from their yard in Pennsylvania, it was not surprising that they went on an adventure together. Their escapades took them to the Mahoning River bridge […]

Q&A: Forgiveness

Q: What does it mean when you say, “We forgive from the heart when confession is not made (Mark 11:25).” This seems to run counter to statements about transacted forgiveness when someone asks for forgiveness by acknowledging sin and one grants forgiveness based on that request. Could you please clarify this as I am a […]

Resurrection Work

In summarizing the necessity and nature of the resurrection in 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul draws a very short conclusion: Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord (15:58). That exhortation can be made even more […]

Sermon: Excel Still More in Ministry Labors

Excel Still More: Ministry Labors1 Corinthians 15:48October 30, 2022 Tomorrow is an important day. You know it well. October 31. No, it’s not important because of the opportunity to accumulate large quantities of chocolate in a short time. It’s important because it is Reformation Day. It is the day that we remember Martin Luther nailing […]

Sing for Joy

There are (seemingly) many reasons to be discouraged: The economy My economy Personal conflicts (especially the unresolved kinds) Temptations Suffering — both significant (cancer, totaled cars, lost jobs) and insignificant (four red lights in a row, paper cuts, lost computer files) Physical weakness Family concerns — marital needs, young children needing training and discipline, teenage […]