Children of God 1 John 3:1-3 October 20, 2013 Say the words “family” or “father,” and not everyone has a positive response. A few examples: Former NFL coach Buddy Ryan was known for his intensity and explosive temper. He learned well from his father. Leaving Korea as a master sergeant and coming home, “he saw […]
Read More Sermon: Children of GodZachary Crofton, quoted by J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness: [Repentance] is a habit, power, principle, spring, root, and disposition; not a bare, single, and transient action.…Repentance is different and distinct from all penitential acts.…Repentance is not the work of an hour, or a day: but a constant frame, course, and bent of the […]
Read More Genuine repentanceWe Give Thanks to God Colossians 1:3-8 October 13, 2013 Picture Charlie Brown sitting at a desk and writing. In the second panel he utters the single word, “Rats,” and crumples up the paper. It joins a large pile of crumpled up pieces of paper in the third panel. And in the final panel he […]
Read More Sermon: We Give Thanks to GodAbide in Christ 1 John 2:28-29 October 6, 2013 One of the hardest things in life is perseverance. Sticking with a project. Not quitting. That’s true of the spiritual life as well. It’s easy to want to quit. Life circumstances pile up on us and we become heavy-hearted and weary. It’s not that we’re overtly […]
Read More Sermon: Abide in ChristRichard Baxter, The Saint’s Everlasting Rest: He that makes not God his chief good and ultimate end, is in heart a pagan and a vile idolater. Let me ask, then, dost thou truly account it thy chief happiness to enjoy the Lord in glory, or dost thou not? Canst thou say, ‘The Lord is my […]
Read More What is your true happiness?As someone who has battled with controlling his weight for most of his life, I appreciated this from The Christian Pundit: Thing is, almost nobody is seeing the fat issue as an expression of a heart issue: an idolatry of food. That’s what gluttony is, whether or not our BMI is over 30. Because gluttony […]
Read More Gluttony – it’s not just overeatingThe Spirit’s Protection Against Spiritual Deception 1 John 2:26-27 September 29, 2013 It’s always good to have a little protection — that’s why we have health and life and disability and car and house insurance, among others. But we don’t always realize the things that are protecting us. Like the little sister of Patricia Opfel. […]
Read More Sermon: The Spirit’s ProtectionFrom Desiring God: The fun begins early Friday afternoon. First it’s the seminars, then the opening plenary. Saturday brings four main sessions and a panel with the speakers. And the grand finale comes Sunday morning with a sermon, just the way C.S. Lewis would like it. At long last, we gather this weekend in Minneapolis […]
Read More Free Live-Stream of Desiring God ConferenceThis morning’s Old Testament reading recounts the story of Assyria’s threat against Judah. It seemed that Judah was hopeless. But Hezekiah, having received the threat from the king of Assyria through the words of his servant Rabshakeh, went to pray. The content of his prayer was direct: You are the God, you alone (Is. 37:16) […]
Read More Why pray?John Dyer: From the Garden to the City: Adam and Eve’s clothing, then, was not only designed to protect them from their environment; it also represents their attempt to hide their sinfulness from God. Moreover, they were trying to invent a means by which they could live without God and were therefore acting in rebellion […]
Read More Living without God?Sometimes in the simplicity of a statement or a situation we miss an obvious truth. “If it was a snake, it would have bit me,” we like to say. That happened to me as I read this familiar verse recently. Jesus, on the night of His betrayal, spent several hours instructing the disciples on the […]
Read More The HOLY SpiritHow fickle our joy is. If our favorite sports team (or our child’s sports team) wins “the big game,” or even just “a” game, we’re happy. If a T-bone steak shows up on the dinner plate, we’re happy. Brussels sprouts and sauerkraut? Not so happy. If there’s more money than month? Happiness. More month than […]
Read More Real joyJ. Todd Murray, Beyond Amazing Grace: The disparity between the angels’ worship and our own is especially ironic in the light of the fact that we have so much more to be grateful for than the angels do. When angels sinned just once, they were immediately judged by God and given no opportunity of redemption […]
Read More Worship that is better than the angel’s worshipSome helpful articles from the last week: David Murray has “20 Helps to Sermon Listening.” Number 1? “Read and mediate on God’s Word every day: Daily Bible reading whets our appetite for the main course on the Lord’s Day. We can’t expect to be ready to digest spiritual food if we’ve not been eating through […]
Read More Grab bagFrom Jon Bloom: Private devotions aren’t magic. We know that (for the most part). But still, we can be tempted to think that if we just figure out the secret formula — the right mixture of Bible meditation and prayer — we will experience euphoric moments of rapturous communion with the Lord. And if that […]
Read More Benefits of daily time in Scripture
