Sermon: The King’s Authority

The King’s AuthorityMatthew 9:1-8November 28, 2021 I have a friend who — right before he gives his opinion on what I should do — likes to say, “If I were king for the day…” I think he means that jokingly. I think. What would you do if you were king for the day? Poet Judith […]

The King’s care of His people

No matter how personally wealthy a king is, no earthly ruler provides for his people. Rather, every earthly king seeks provision from his people through taxation. Political rulers don’t give to their people; they take. [And by saying that, I am not suggesting that the “taking” through taxation is wrong — it isn’t, as Rom. […]

Sermon: The King’s Father

The King’s FatherMatthew 6:9-15November 14, 2021 King George VI ruled as king of England for about 15 years in the first half of the 20th century before he died in 1952 from coronary thrombosis. He was immensely popular, as was his wife, Queen Elizabeth. Yet as popular as she was, when George (“Bertie”) died, she […]

Christ the King

The history of the world is that in many (most? all?) nations, the people want leaders and “kings” different from the ones they have. A few hundred years ago, the United States didn’t want England’s king to be our king. And a few thousand years ago, Israel didn’t want God to be their King (1 […]

Sermon: The King’s Blessing

The King’s BlessingMatthew 5:1-12November 7, 2021 The last 100+ years have seen some of the most atrocious leaders and dictators in the history of the world: Adolf Hitler, who ruled Nazi Germany in the 1930s-40s was responsible for the incarceration or death of between 15-20 million people during the Holocaust, and responsible for a total […]

Fighting for Church Unity

Unity in the local church is the goal of every church (or it should be). It is not always easily or readily attained, as a newspaper account about a church in Wales a couple of generations ago testifies: Yesterday the two opposition groups both sent ministers to the pulpit. Both spoke simultaneously, each trying to […]

Why it is worth following Christ

“Are not we, the doers, weak and infirm, bent to backslide, unskillful in the word of righteousness, not only backward to but awkward in everything that is good? And have we not then great need of an example, one to go before us to show us how and which way? Our heavenly Father, who knows […]

Enjoying Christ and His gifts

Sanctification is a long (life-long) process that is hampered by painful battles against the flesh, temptation, and sin as well as the hard task of enduring in doing what is right. It’s hard. But it’s not complicated. The pathway to sanctification is also the road to Christ. That is, if you want to be sanctified […]

Sermon: Jesus Prays

Jesus Prays John 17:20-26 January 3, 2021 Few things reveal the nature and condition of our hearts like prayer (when we are genuine and truthful). That is true as well of the heart of Christ, which makes the Lord’s prayer in John 17 a particularly rich and stimulating passage of Scripture. Of this passage, Melanchthon […]

The Father Who Sent His Son

The following is the manuscript of the message given at our Christmas Eve service this evening. In February 1942, the American war against the Japanese in the Philippines was not going well. It was going so poorly that by March 12, 1942, President Roosevelt ordered General Douglas MacArthur, who was stationed in the Philippines, to […]

Sermon: Christ is Coming

Christ is Coming Revelation 1:7 December 20, 2020 It was early in November that I saw my first sign of Christmas. There on someone’s Facebook video was a Christmas tree in the background — two weeks before Thanksgiving! It was shortly after that Raye Jeanne and I began noticing that Christmas lights started appearing on […]

Sermon: Christ Has Come

Christ Has Come Revelation 1:4-6 December 6, 2020 A truck driver was driving across a town but something appeared to be wrong — every time he stopped at a red light or stop sign, he would jump out of his truck running around it and beating the side of it with a baseball bat. Someone […]

Book Review: Gentle and Lowly

Many years ago, while counseling a troubled married couple, the wife asked me, “How do you deal with anxiety in your life?” I don’t remember what precipitated the question, but I remember my response: “I’m not sure what to tell you. [I hadn’t had any biblical counseling training yet, as you can tell by the […]

Sermon: What Are You Thinking?

What Are You Thinking? Colossians 3:1-4 April 26, 2020 What we think is important. I don’t mean that our opinions about various topics are important — they may or may not be important — but that what we are thinking about in any given moment is important. The millions of thoughts that travel around our […]

Jesus’ seven words from the cross

While He hung on the cross, Jesus made seven statements. The first three words concern His personal relationships — a prayer for His executioners, a promise to the thief (His fellow-sufferer on that day), and a provision for His mother. The next three words concern His work of salvation — the cry concerning His moral […]