Life’s Questions and God’s Word

“Life’s Questions and God’s Word” Psalm 119:81-88 December 31, 2017 It’s hard to think about Americans being persecuted for their faith for two reasons: While our country was founded largely for a pursuit of religious freedom, that very pursuit of religious freedom has largely kept believers from being persecuted for our faith since that time. […]

The Greatest Christmas Gift

“The Greatest Christmas Gift” John 6:37, 39 December 24, 2017 This might be the most extravagant, unexpected gift given this year. Two weeks ago a man walked into the “5 & Diner” restaurant in Scottsdale, AZ for a Saturday morning breakfast. He ordered an ordinary bacon and eggs breakfast with coffee. The bill came to […]

What will you see at Christmas?

The word “Christmas” elicits many sensory responses: the vanilla, buttery smell of spritz cookies baking, the sounds of excited children whispering with giggling anticipation about gifts and Christmas songs at church, in the car, on iTunes, and at the mall and Home Depot, the sights of houses lit up in various kinds of splendor every […]

Sermon: The Story of Jesus

“The Story of Jesus” 1 Timothy 3:16 December 17, 2017 Christmas is full of surprises. But one of the surprises about Christmas in Scripture is the brevity of the NT narrative of Christ’s first advent. For instance, the four gospels tell the story of Jesus Christ, yet two of the four gospels do not mention […]

Sermon: Semper Reformanda

“Semper Reformanda: Always Needing Reformation” Romans 12:2 December 10, 2017 On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther posted 95 theses for theological debate in an effort to transform the Roman Catholic Church. He hardly anticipated when he posted and printed those 95 topics that he was lighting the fuse that would create the dynamic explosion that […]

Sermon: Sola Gratia

“Sola Gratia: a Pillar of the Reformation” Ephesians 2:8-10 November 19, 2017 In late November of 1988, a 19-year-old woman fell asleep while driving shortly after midnight on a Los Angeles freeway. The car went through a guard rail on an overpass. But the left rear wheel got trapped by that guard rail and left […]

Sermon: Solus Christus

“Solus Christus: the Center of the Reformation” Colossians 1:15-20 November 12, 2017 Rowland Taylor was a Reformer living in England who died on February 9, 1555. He was identified as a Protestant, questioned, imprisoned, and then taken from London to his hometown of Hadleigh “where to his great delight [he was] to be burned before […]

Scripture is authoritative

In “If I Were in Charge of the World,” Judith Viorst’s popular child character Alexander opines, If I were in charge of the world There’d be brighter night lights, Healthier hamsters, and Basketball baskets forty-eight inches lower. If I were in charge of the world You wouldn’t have lonely. You wouldn’t have clean. You wouldn’t […]

How a godly man loves the Word

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Godly Man’s Picture. A godly man shows his love to the Word written: (i) By diligently reading it. The noble Bereans “searched the Scriptures daily” (Acts 17:11). Apollos was mighty in the Scriptures […]

Sermon: Sola Scriptura

“Sola Scriptura: the Foundation of the Reformation” 2 Timothy 3:16-17 November 5, 2017 The passage before us this morning is well known to us: “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good […]

The Reformation isn’t over

The fire of the Reformation was lit by the match of Luther’s 95 theses in 1517, even though the kindling of change had been established centuries before through the ministries of men like Augustine, Anselm, Wycliffe, and Hus. Some might think that following the separation of the Protestants from the Catholic Church that the Reformation […]

The spiritual value of reading history

When I was in school, one of my least favorite subjects each year was history. Each history lesson just seemed to be a tangle of confusing names and random dates. If there were any compelling stories to be found in history, it didn’t seem that any of my history teachers knew them. And then in […]

It’s Reformation Day, Not Halloween

When I went to get a sandwich for lunch today I was greeted by an employee at the shop with, “Happy Halloween!” I immediately responded to her with, “HAPPY REFORMATION DAY!” to which I received a quizzical look akin to “who is this lunatic who just came into my restaurant?” So I queried, “Do you […]

The hymn for the day: A Mighty Fortress

HT: Kevin DeYoung

Sermon: Luther, the Reformation, and You

“Luther, the Reformation, and You” Selected Scriptures October 29, 2017 You might say that the Reformation began because a church building program went awry. Pope Leo X wanted to paint the church ceiling, but he wanted a man named Michelangelo to paint it, and because of Leo’s other art expenditures, he couldn’t afford the project. […]