Even as believers in Christ, we are weak, broken, and inadequate for our responsibilities. We agree with Paul when he writes, “And who is adequate for these things” (2 Cor. 2:16)? Yet we do also affirm that Christ is adequate and He is sufficient for us. He will provide all we need in every circumstance. […]
Read More Christ, Our Provider“The Training of the Twelve” Pt. 1Luke 9:1-11December 14, 2025 It’s Christmas season. And there is a common question being asked these days: “Do we have enough?” E.g., Do we have enough food? Do we have enough cookies? Do we have enough gifts? Do we have enough decorations (lights on the house, tinsel on […]
Read More The Training of the Twelve, Pt. 1“The Tale of Two ‘Daughters’”Luke 8:40-56November 30, 2025 Pain is universal. Suffering is common. Illness, though frequent and normal, often surprises us. Death is one out of one. We recoil against all of these. And God uses pain, illness, and death to sanctify us. Samuel Rutherford wrote that believers should “praise God for the […]
Read More The Tale of Two “Daughters”“The Son of Man, Demons, and Rejection”Luke 8:26-39November 23, 2025 We have an enemy. He is intelligent — “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder” (Js. 2:18). He is strong — “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm […]
Read More The Son of Man, Demons, and Rejection“Jesus, in the Storms of Life”Luke 8:22-25November 2, 2025 Call it what you want — affliction, calamity, difficulty, disaster, disease, hardship, horror, illness/sickness, pain, persecution, suffering, tragedy, trial, trouble — life is filled with events and circumstances that seem contrary to us. It has always been that way, the Bible is filled with it: Murder […]
Read More Jesus, in the Storms of Life“How is Your Hearing?” Pt. 2Luke 8:16-21October 26, 2025 I have some tools in my workshop and some more in our kitchen that need some attention: My air compressor hose has a leak at the joint where the tool connects. The tools still work, but while I’m working there is a constant sound of […]
Read More How is Your Hearing? Pt. 2Many people say they want to follow Jesus. They want to know the work of His kindness in their lives (like healings and feedings, Jn. 6:1ff). They want to know the wisdom from His teaching. They want unconditional love, acceptance, and affirmation. But do they want to follow Him everywhere He goes and do everything […]
Read More If anyone wants to follow Jesus…How many times as a parent of young children did I say, “Listen to me…Are you listening?…What did I say?” How many times as a student and an employee did my teacher or boss say, “Pay attention to this…you will need this in the future…Listen to me…watch what I’m doing…Do you understand?…What did I say/mean?…” […]
Read More “Listen Up”“How is Your Hearing?”Luke 8:4-15October 12, 2025 One of the phrases a parent uses most often is “listen to me…” Parents use that phrase with distracted three-year-olds and impatient 17-year-olds. They use it when they are teaching, when they are correcting, when they are encouraging, and when they are warning. It’s a useful, and well-used, […]
Read More How is Your Hearing?“The Kinds of People the Son of Man Saves and Uses”Luke 8:1-3September 28, 2025 One of my favorite sections in the Bible is Deuteronomy 7:7-8 — “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of […]
Read More The Kinds of People the Son of Man Saves and Uses“The Friend of Sinners”Luke 7:36-50September 21, 2025 The Bible is filled with deeply profound statements — life-changing statements. You know many of them and have been guided and helped by them. It is a temptation for us to say, “this is the most important statement in the Bible” or “this is the most important statement […]
Read More The Friend of Sinners“Should We Look for Someone Else?” Part 2Luke 7:24-35September 14, 2025 Doubt is a reality of life. Even in the life of the believer. Abraham doubted that God would preserve him and his marriage when they were with Abimelech Abraham and Sarah both (initially) doubted that God could produce an heir through their aging bodies […]
Read More “Should We Look for Someone Else?” Pt. 2“Should We Look for Someone Else?”Luke 7:18-30September 7, 2025 Apologist Randy Newman wrote an open letter to believers in Christ who struggle with doubt: Sometimes doubt comes upon me like a foreboding cold. I wonder if that was just a sneeze or am I coming down with something serious. The sniffles of doubt increase when […]
Read More “Should We Look for Someone else?”Each month we come to the table of communion — the table of remembrance. You may have taken those elements hundreds of times, so that the practice may now seem ordinary and perfunctory. It is not. It is a time to remember some of the most powerful truths God has revealed to us. We gather […]
Read More We RememberIn a recent sermon I mentioned that I think about death regularly — daily. I think about my age and the reality that I am in the last third/quarter of life (at most). I think about my death because of the recent invitation that the Social Security Administration sent me to begin drawing funds from […]
Read More Christ’s Death and Joy
Words of Grace 