“Today You Will be with Me in Paradise”

“Today You Will be with Me in Paradise” Luke 23:39-43 March 25, 2016 — Good Friday For reasons that are pragmatic and biblical and theological, I have never gambled or participated in the lottery. And because of that, Raye Jeanne and I taught our daughters not to gamble. And that makes a situation that Emily […]

Sermon: The Final Words of Jesus

“The Final Words of Jesus” Selected Scriptures April 5, 2015 (Easter Sunday) They are some of the dying words of famous and infamous men: Napoleon Bonaparte, the French general and emperor, said, “I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth. Such is the fate of him who has […]

Good Friday — “Father, forgive them”

It is hard to forgive; it is harder to forgive one who intentionally sins against you. I know of no story that better illustrates that statement than the account of Kevin Tunell. On New Year’s Day, 1982, 18-year-old Susan Herzog was killed in a car accident when her car was struck by one driven by […]

Sermon: For This Purpose I Have Come to This Hour

“For This Purpose I Have Come to This Hour” John 12:27-36 March 29, 2015 (Palm Sunday) Today is Palm Sunday. It’s a day to remember that everybody loves Jesus. Everybody loved Jesus on the day He entered Jerusalem riding on the donkey, making His claim to be Messiah. And everybody loves Jesus today. Except that’s […]

Sermon: He is Risen

He is Risen Mark 16:1-8 April 20, 2014 Some words are life-changing words. After they are uttered, the direction and course of one’s life is irrevocably changed. Words like the ones I said to Raye Jeanne a few months after we first met — “I love you.” Everything about our relationship changed after that. Words […]

Good Friday: “Why Have You Forsaken Me?”

“Why Have You Forsaken Me?” Mark 15:33-34 April 18, 2014 (Good Friday Communion Service) How do you estimate something’s value? If you own a home, you can have a property evaluator or insurance adjuster come to your home and give you and estimate of your property’s value. If you own a car, you can take […]

That’s My King

He is the risen Savior! And He is the ascended King! He’s my King! HT: The Cripplegate.

Christ’s death and God’s will

George Smeaton, The Apostles Doctrine of the Atonement: Peter intimates that God subjected Him to death, and that He was not properly overcome by His enemies, — that it was the will of God, His determinate counsel or plan, that Messiah should be delivered as a malefactor into the hands of men, and be put […]

Who killed Jesus?

The cross of Christ is repugnant to many. Polly Toynbee, one of the most well-known opinion columnists in Great Britain and leader of the British Humanist Association, reviewed the 2005 movie The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In an article subtly entitled, “Narnia Represents Everything That Is Most Hateful about […]

Every time we look at the cross…

John Stott: Every time we look at the cross Christ seems to say to us, “I am here because of you. It is your sin I am bearing, your curse I am suffering, your debt I am paying, your death I am dying.” Nothing in history or in the universe cuts us down to size […]

Sunday Leftovers — The Supremacy of Christ

Christ is supreme over all things. He always has been. When creation began, He was already in existence, co-eternal with God the Father. He was, in fact, the One who created all things. And one week after His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, He demonstrated that supremacy for all men to see with His resurrection. That […]

He is risen!

Charles Spurgeon: If you ask where God’s glory is most seen, I will not point to creation, nor to providence, but to the raising of Jesus from the dead. [“Christ’s Resurrection and Our Newness of Life”]

“Not My will…”

Last night as we read the account of Christ’s betrayal, crucifixion, and death at our Good Friday service, I was particularly struck by Christ’s willing submission to the will of the Father — a will that decreed that the Holy One take on sin and the attendant cup of God’s wrath. “My Father, if it […]

You can reject Christ

Paul tells Timothy to “remember Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:8). Specifically, Timothy is told to remember the resurrection of Christ and the Messianic fulfillment of Christ. In keeping with that command, this week is the great remembrance of Christ and His work. There is nothing that Jesus did or does that surpasses what was accomplished […]

He came in the name of the Lord

Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, and this morning’s Scripture reading (Mark 11) recalls the event of Christ’s ride into Jerusalem. There was much joy that day and declarations from the Psalms of Praise were sung as shouted as Jesus and the crowds processed into Jerusalem. One statements that was called out was, “Blessed is He […]