God’s Sovereign Mercy, Pt. 2 Romans 9:6-13 June 23, 2019 Unless you are a devout historian, you probably don’t know the name Nicholas Winton. “Nicky” Winton died four years ago at the age of 106. That’s remarkable, but that’s not what is most remarkable about him. His life began somewhat unremarkably, a Jewish son in […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Sovereign Mercy, Pt 2In a potent, revelatory, and brief set of verses, Jesus upends what His hearers know and believe about prayer. Matthew 7:7-11 contains instruction and hope for praying. But the concise words are more than just “teaching” and “encouragement.” They are revolutionary words about the believer’s prayer life. They are revolutionary and transformative in at least […]
Read More If you have a need, ask GodThe Good Gifts of the Good Father Matthew 7:7-11 June 16, 2019 Approximately 80 years ago, the Germans started bombing England in what was known as the Blitz. Over the course of eight months, the Germans dropped 30,000 tons of bombs on Britain, more than half of them on London. While many had nowhere to […]
Read More Sermon: The Good Gifts of the Good FatherGod’s Sovereign Mercy, Pt. 1 Romans 9:6 June 2, 2019 Several years ago, Alexis Gould, a 15-year-old in Magna, Utah was fighting nerve cancer. The family was trying to figure out how to pay Emily’s significant and growing medical bills when an anonymous local businessman stepped up with a $40,000 donation to help pay those […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Sovereign Mercy, Pt 1Romans 9 contains what appears to be a preposterous statement; it is so audacious that Paul affirms in three ways that he is speaking the truth, that this really is what he longs for and wants (Rom. 9:1): were it possible to pray for his own damnation in exchange for the salvation of his kindred […]
Read More A consideration of HellGospel Longings Romans 9:1-5 May 26, 2019 What makes you sad? What makes your heart ache? What are your greatest sorrows? We likely have similar kinds of lists of sad things: Illness of a loved family member Cancer and terminal diseases in children (I was often profoundly sad walking halls of Cooks Hosp) Broken and […]
Read More Sermon: Gospel LongingsWe are quick to attribute to too many things that really aren’t great. A home run while perhaps being timely for your favorite baseball team, is not really great. A snow cone on an August afternoon in Texas will be refreshing, but given its short lifespan, should not be put in the category of great. […]
Read More God’s salvation is great because…God’s Great Gospel Romans 1-8 May 19, 2019 Today we close the book on Romans 8. That means we are halfway through this great letter. It means that we are transitioning to the fourth major section in the book — the sovereignty of God (chs. 9-11). It means that we are leaving one of the […]
Read More Sermon: God’s Great GospelThe Character of Love 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 May 12, 2019 What is love?… One cartoon explained it this way: “Love is what one feels when one meets a person who has a very profound impact upon one, and meets all of one’s psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs.…It’s either that, or, when one’s heart goes pitter-patter.” […]
Read More Sermon: The Character of LoveRomans 8 is one of the most beloved chapters in Scripture. It speaks of the believer’s responsibility and ability to mortify sin. It speaks of the believer’s adoption to become sons of God. It speaks of the coming liberation from the sufferings of this world. It speaks of the intercessory prayer of both the Spirit […]
Read More Live by the Spirit by setting your mind on ChristThe Spirit, Sanctification, and Security Romans 8 May 5, 2019 When I go to the mountains, the last morning I am there I invariably go outside for one last round of pictures of those majestic hills. Then, as we leave the area — when my car is about to take me out of view of […]
Read More Sermon: The Spirit, Sanctification, and SecuritySuffering and the Love of Christ Romans 8:35-39 April 28, 2019 We have questions about love. We want to know what love will do. When we are in love (or think we are in love), we will ask questions like: Will the person I love return that love to me? Will the person I love […]
Read More Sermon: Suffering and the love of ChristLast year, our church elder board developed a policy for missions to determine what missions is and what kind of missionaries our church is committed to support and what our expectations are for ourselves and our missionaries in the missionary endeavor. The process was enlightening as we began to see the breadth of God’s passion […]
Read More A biblical mandate for missionsEarlier this month I took a trip to Siberia and Israel to teach biblical counseling with Pastor Dan Kirk and Eric Mock (SGA). I have traveled with these men previously and was particularly anticipating returning to one location in Siberia where we taught two years ago. The goal of the trip was two-fold: Finish a […]
Read More Reflections on my recent trip to Russia and IsraelSince Christ is Resurrected… Romans 8:33-34 April 21, 2019 Sometimes, when you are given a good gift, you don’t realize just how good that gift is: The first time someone gave us fresh eggs, I thought, “that’s nice…I like eggs…” And then I tasted them. Wow…the difference was remarkable! When I transferred seminaries in […]
Read More Sermon: Since Christ is Resurrected…
Words of Grace 