Sermon: Christ on Trial

Christ on Trial 1 John 5:6-12 July 6, 2014 The darkest night of the disciples’ lives was the night of Jesus betrayal, arrest, and trial. They knew that Jesus was hated by many — the Pharisees and Sadducees rejected Him, Nazareth rejected Him, even His own siblings rejected Him. But to see Christ on trial […]

Sermon: New Life in Christ: Victory

New Life in Christ: Victory 1 John 5:4-5 June 29, 2014 I went to my first Texas Ranger game sometime in the summer of 1972. As far as baseball goes, they were not very good that year, but they were my team and I loved to watch them. Even now, when I read their names […]

Sunday Leftovers: What God Desires in His People

God desires that His people submit to Him and obey Him. So Peter reminds his readers, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” (1 Pet 5:6). Because God is the sovereign King, His people are to submit to His authority and follow His dictates […]

Sermon: New Life in Christ: Faith, Love, and Obedience

New Life in Christ: Faith, Love, and Obedience 1 John 5:1-3 June 22, 2014 In late April/early May, 1989 I remember very distinctly walking out of a seminary classroom building, crossing the street that separated the campus from our apartment building and thinking, “I’ve taken my last exam; I’ve been taking tests in school for […]

Sermon: Love One Another, Part 3

Love One Another, Pt. 3 1 John 4:15-21 June 15, 2014 Some things that should be self-evident aren’t as obvious as we might suppose. When he was a football coach, Buddy Ryan was known as being a no-nonsense, tough-nosed coach. He learned well from his father, as an article from 1994 recounts: Leaving Korea as […]

Sermon: Love One Another, Part 2

Love One Another, Pt. 2 1 John 4:11-14 June 8, 2014 It is perhaps the worst case of amnesia in the world. Deborah Wearing tells the story of her husband, Clive: Clive had no idea that Tuesday, March 26, 1985 would be his last day of conscious thought. We weren’t ready. Did he feel his […]

The Old Testament in five minutes

James Street, from The Master’s College and Seminary, made this five-minute summary of the Old Testament’s plot: HT: the Cripplegate.

Sermon: Love One Another, Part 1

Love One Another, Pt. 1 1 John 4:7-10 June 1, 2014 While it is true that you never stop being a parent, there are definitely particular transitions in the process of parenting, and this weekend Raye Jeanne and I are crossing one of the big transitions: for the first time, neither of our girls will […]

Sermon: Discerning the Spirits, Part 2

Discerning the Spirits, Pt. 2 1 John 4:1-6 May 18, 2014 I’ve always been pretty curious, and I like to collect questions and somewhere I picked up these: What color is a chameleon on a mirror? Where does weight go when you lose it? Why are Chinese fortune cookies written in English? Why is abbreviated […]

Sermon: Discerning the Spirits

Discerning the Spirits 1 John 4:1-6 May 11, 2014 On this day that we recognize our mothers — and the mothers of our children — we recognize the uniqueness of a mother’s role. And as you have reflected on the way your mother has influenced you, perhaps you’re asking the question today, “what makes my […]

Who made David do what he did?

Late in David’s life, he make a foolish and sinful decision. You would expect a man to mature with age and his decision-making to become more God-honoring the older he gets, and in some regards, that was the way David lived. But not on this day. As David prepared to transition the kingdom of Israel […]

Sunday Leftovers: what in the world is the Holy Spirit doing?

In one of his books, R. C. Sproul quotes a portion of Martin Luther’s final sermon — something preached just days prior to his death in 1546. Among those final words, Luther said: In times past, we would have run to the ends of the world if we had known of a place where we […]

Sermon: What in the world is the Spirit doing today?

What in the World is the Spirit Doing Today? John 16:5-11 May 4, 2014 We live in a crazy world. I know it’s always been that way. But it certainly seems to be getting worse, doesn’t it? It is easy to look at the world and shake one’s head in disbelief at what is happening. […]

Sermon: The Gifts of the Spirit (tongues)

The Gifts of the Spirit, Pt. 3 1 Corinthians 14:1-28 April 27, 2014 Over the past two months, we’ve taken a brief excursus from our study of 1 John to study the work of the Holy Spirit. We did this because in 3:24 it says, “We know by this that He abides in us, by […]

Shepherds’ Conference 2015 | the Cripplegate

Nathan Busenitz points out this morning that “next year’s Shepherds’ Conference promises to be one of the most memorable and impactful yet. If you’re thinking about coming, you should plan to register sooner than later. (The conference is already more than half full.)” Here is the brief promotional video: A website devoted to resources about […]