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 […]

Keep loving God

Question. How may we keep our love from going out? Answer. Watch your hearts every day. Take notice of the first declinings in grace. Observe yourselves when you begin to grow dull and listless, and use all means for quickening. Be much in prayer, meditation, and holy conference. When the fire is going out you […]

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 […]

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 […]

Sunday Leftovers: How great is God’s love?

How great is God’s love to make you His child? God has told us that we are to look for, examine, contemplate, and be overwhelmed by the richness of God’s love for us (“See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us…” 1 Jn. 3:1). So here are some ways in which we […]

Sermon: Children of God

Children of God 1 John 3:1-3 October 20, 2013 Say the words “family” or “father,” and not everyone has a positive response. A few examples: Former NFL coach Buddy Ryan was known for his intensity and explosive temper. He learned well from his father. Leaving Korea as a master sergeant and coming home, “he saw […]

Because Hell exists, God’s love is more comprehensible

In a sermon titled “The Dark Garden,” Tim Keller explains how he came to understand that a god without wrath and Hell is not as loving as the God we find in the Bible. Because Hell exists, our comprehension of the magnitude of God’s love is expanded. Because [a cup of poison] was the method […]

Because God is love…

More than 20 times singers rejected the song before Johnny Lee selected “Lookin’ for Love in All the Wrong Places” to sing in the movie, “Urban Cowboy.” It was never intended to be recorded as part of an album, but with the success of the movie, it was released as a single and sold more […]

How great a love

Our girls were still very young when one night I heard one of them still awake and talking in their room some time after we put them in bed, so I went to check on them. Elizabeth (our four-year-old) was already sound asleep, but Emily (our almost-two-year-old) was wide awake, lying on her back and […]

God’s lovingkindness is everlasting

Psalm 118 begins this way: Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Oh let Israel say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Oh let the house of Aaron say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” Oh let those who fear the LORD say, “His lovingkindness is everlasting.” (vv. 1-4) And it ends […]

Jesus loves me

When the German theologian Karl Barth visited the Untied States many years ago, a student at a seminary supposedly asked him, “Dr. Barth, what is the single most important truth you have learned as a theologian?” Barth replied, “The most important thing I have learned is this: ‘Jesus loves me this I know, for the […]

Valentine’s Day: God’s love for His own

What is God’s unique love for His redeemed people? He made us His children and given us One who is greater than the one in the world Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. (1 Jn 4:4) […]

The greatest verse?

John 3:16 — From R. Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe.

Sunday Leftovers — Combating worldliness

Commenting on this morning’s sermon, someone said, “You have to live life with your head up.” That is, you have to live life always aware that there may be an incoming attack to entice you to move away from Christ. The philosophy of the world is always attempting to delude the believer so that he […]