Sunday Leftovers: four reasons for hope for the believer who sins

Toxicologists Frank LoVecchio and Jeffrey Suchard of the Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Phoenix conducted a study a few years ago and discovered that 15% of Arizona rattlesnake attacks occurred after the snakes had been mortally shot, bludgeoned, or even beheaded. One man shot and decapitated a snake, then waited five minutes before picking […]

Sunday Leftovers: Fellowship with God

The term “fellowship” is used regularly in the context of the church (do non-believers use the word?). Often the word is used synonymously for “food” or “feast,” as in, “be sure to bring enough food to the fellowship (feast)…” or “come Wednesday evening as we enjoy fellowship (a meal) together…” While fellowship can take place […]

Sunday Leftovers: First John and sanctification

Reading 1 John has often created questions for believers about the security of their eternal life, because of what John seems to be saying about sin — e.g., “No one who abides in Him [Christ] sins…” (3:6). Yet every believer still knows the reality of sin in his life, so too often people think something […]

Sunday Leftovers: What do you know?

Last Sunday I attempted to provide an extensive amount of background information about the book of 1 John, and someone suggested it might be helpful to post my sermon notes on the blog because he couldn’t get it all down. Given that the way I format my notes together is not conducive to a quick […]

Sunday Leftovers — Beyond Forgiveness

Genuine and complete forgiveness is more than just transacting forgiveness. There are further implications when we forgive those who sin against us. Forgiveness means that we will go beyond what is “required” (Philemon 21). Remember, forgiveness is granted in two ways: forgiveness is transacted when a sinner confesses his sin to the one he has […]

Necessities of life

What we deem to be necessary for our lives and what God deems to be necessary for us are often in conflict. We idolize simplicity and solitude and ease. God desires our sanctification and Christlikeness. And sanctification rarely happens in ease and leisure. So God — decreeing what is necessary for us (1 Peter 1:6) […]

You shall call His name…

When Raye Jeanne and I chose names for our children, they were our attempts to give them an identity. We desired for them to carry names that would reflect our desires for them. And we hoped that the legacy we left them with their surname would give them a heritage to live for when we […]

Why the virgin birth is important

This morning we considered the birthday story of Jesus and the virgin birth (Matthew 1:18-25). Some might think that spending time thinking about the virgin birth is immaterial — that it really doesn’t matter whether or not Jesus was born of a virgin. Yet there are many reasons why the virgin birth is essential. To […]

Sunday Leftovers — He knows our troubles

We know that Jesus did not sin. But we can wrongly infer from that truth that life was easy for Him. It wasn’t. He felt the troubles of life as no other man has ever felt them. And that means that not only has He experienced the trials of life Himself, but that He really […]

Sunday Leftovers: the deity of Christ

From the opening verses of John’s gospel, a number of truths about Christ are readily apparent: Jesus Christ has eternally existed. Jesus Christ has eternally existed alongside God the Father. Jesus Christ is Himself God, with the Father. Jesus Christ is the originator of all things. Jesus Christ is life and is the source of […]

Elder qualifications

This morning’s post is a re-post of an article from earlier this year, with some additional information from other posts included at the end of this post. The New Testament provides a clear picture of the kinds of men who are to lead the church as elders. Both Titus 1:5-9 and 1 Timothy 3:1-7 give […]

Sunday Leftovers — the believer and good works

There are five succinct statements that identify the essential doctrinal issues that were bolstered by the Reformation: sola Scriptura — the Scripture alone is sufficient to produce salvation sola gratia — salvation is by grace alone sola fide — salvation is through faith alone sola Christus — salvation is by Christ alone soli deo gloria […]

Sunday Leftovers — Me and the Government

For two weeks, we’ve been thinking on Sunday morning about the relationship between the believer and the government from Titus 3:1. The primary principles and their implications in this passage could be summarized this way: Our responsibility before the Lord is not to change the government but to submit to it (v. 1). We are […]

Sunday Leftovers — what’s an employee to do?

One more thought from John Piper (Don’t Waste Your Life) about the value of secular work: We make much of Christ in our secular work by treating the web of relationships it creates as a gift of God to be loved by sharing the Gospel and by practical deeds of help. I put this last not […]

Sunday Leftovers — what’s a young man to do?

If there is one thing a young man should do, he should be sensible. That is, he should be self-controlled, clear-headed, and sober-minded (Titus 2:6). Paul tells Titus six things an older man should be (2:2), four things an older woman is to be and do (2:3), and seven things that a young woman is […]