Sermon: The Message of the Cross – Grace

The Message of the Cross: Grace John 1:14-17 January 25, 2015 The story (I assume it’s apocryphal, but who knows…) is told about a woman who went to a photographer to get a portrait done. She was anticipating the day when he would call her back to see the result of his work on her […]

It was wonderful that Christ would die for us

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from The Lord’s Supper, Chapter 4: “Christ’s Love Displayed in the Sacrament.” Behold the amazing love of Christ. His body was broken. The cross, says St Augustine, was a pulpit in which Christ preached his […]

He explains the Father

What is God the Father like? John 1:18 tells us that no one can see God and live. So we cannot know the fullness of God. It is impossible for us to know God. Except Christ came for the express purpose of revealing the nature and character of God to us. So because of Christ […]

He came to explain the Father

The following is a manuscript of the Christmas Eve message I gave tonight. After my junior year in college I got a job working in a hardware store and lumberyard. While “fix-it” projects had always intrigued me, I really knew nothing about what I was selling. And our store had one particular customer who seemed […]

Why was it useful that Jesus Christ was made flesh?

This is a bonus edition of Wednesdays with Watson — a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from A Body of Divinity, Part IV: “The Covenant of Grace and Its Mediator;” it follows this morning’s post, “Why was Jesus Christ made flesh?” Use one: Of instruction. (1.) […]

Why was Jesus Christ made flesh?

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from A Body of Divinity, Part IV: “The Covenant of Grace and Its Mediator.” (1.) The causa prima, and impulsive cause, was free grace. It was love in God the Father to send Christ, and love […]

Sermon: The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown

The Cradle, the Cross, and the Crown: A Short History of Jesus 1 Timothy 1:15-17 December 14, 2014 If you didn’t know better, it would be pretty easy to be confused about what Christmas is about. When you listen to Christmas music you might think that the heroes of Christmas are: Frosty the snowman Rudolph […]

The glory of the incarnation

“The glory of the incarnation is that it presents to our adoring gaze not a humanized God or a deified man; but a true God-man — one who is all that God is and at the same time all that man is [yet without sin]; one on whose almighty arm we can rest, and to […]

What God looks like

When I was in high school, I worked for a grocery store where an impressively large man used to shop with some regularity. One day someone asked me, “You know who that is, don’t you?” “No.” “That’s Keith Fahnhorst; he’s an offensive tackle for the San Francisco 49ers!” From then on, this football fan was […]

Sunday Leftovers: Be sure you’re secure

Many people struggle with assurance that they are secure in Christ’s salvation. There are many reasons why that may be (Don Whitney has an excellent chapter detailing some of those reasons in How Can I Be Sure I’m a Christian?). But as we near the end of our study of 1 John, there is one […]

Sermon: That You May Know Assurance

That You May Know Assurance 1 John 5:13 July 27, 2014 Everyone wants a sure thing. Bettors at a horse track are (vainly) searching for certainty. Couples standing at the altar of marriage would like a guarantee of a successful union. Parents would like a guarantee that the training they are giving their children will […]

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 […]

What God changes at salvation

The writer to the Hebrews exhorts his readers to “consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart” (12:3). In other words, one antidote to discouragement, despondency, and depression is a serious consideration and meditation on the work of Christ. To that end, […]

What does it mean to be united to Christ?

From a recent sermon by Keith Palmer (quoting an unnamed source): What does it mean to be united to Jesus Christ? The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am united to Jesus Christ. I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be […]

Christmas Eve: The Indescribable Gift

The Indescribable Gift 2 Corinthians 9:15 December 24, 2013 It was the Christmas that almost wasn’t for me. I think I was about 8- or 10-years-old. I didn’t almost miss Christmas because I overslept or was out of the country. It was because I made a tactical error. In my recollection, in those years my […]