“The Training of the Twelve” Pt. 1Luke 9:1-11December 14, 2025 It’s Christmas season. And there is a common question being asked these days: “Do we have enough?” E.g., Do we have enough food? Do we have enough cookies? Do we have enough gifts? Do we have enough decorations (lights on the house, tinsel on […]
Read More The Training of the Twelve, Pt. 1“The Tale of Two ‘Daughters’”Luke 8:40-56November 30, 2025 Pain is universal. Suffering is common. Illness, though frequent and normal, often surprises us. Death is one out of one. We recoil against all of these. And God uses pain, illness, and death to sanctify us. Samuel Rutherford wrote that believers should “praise God for the […]
Read More The Tale of Two “Daughters”“The Son of Man, Demons, and Rejection”Luke 8:26-39November 23, 2025 We have an enemy. He is intelligent — “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder” (Js. 2:18). He is strong — “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm […]
Read More The Son of Man, Demons, and Rejection“Jesus, in the Storms of Life”Luke 8:22-25November 2, 2025 Call it what you want — affliction, calamity, difficulty, disaster, disease, hardship, horror, illness/sickness, pain, persecution, suffering, tragedy, trial, trouble — life is filled with events and circumstances that seem contrary to us. It has always been that way, the Bible is filled with it: Murder […]
Read More Jesus, in the Storms of Life“How is Your Hearing?” Pt. 2Luke 8:16-21October 26, 2025 I have some tools in my workshop and some more in our kitchen that need some attention: My air compressor hose has a leak at the joint where the tool connects. The tools still work, but while I’m working there is a constant sound of […]
Read More How is Your Hearing? Pt. 2“How is Your Hearing?”Luke 8:4-15October 12, 2025 One of the phrases a parent uses most often is “listen to me…” Parents use that phrase with distracted three-year-olds and impatient 17-year-olds. They use it when they are teaching, when they are correcting, when they are encouraging, and when they are warning. It’s a useful, and well-used, […]
Read More How is Your Hearing?“The Kinds of People the Son of Man Saves and Uses”Luke 8:1-3September 28, 2025 One of my favorite sections in the Bible is Deuteronomy 7:7-8 — “The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of […]
Read More The Kinds of People the Son of Man Saves and UsesJesus Teaches: On the HeartLuke 6:43-45July 13, 2025 Theodore Dalrymple is a British medical doctor and psychiatrist who has spent his life with the worst of the worst people; he has spent the last 15 years of his life working in British prisons treating “serial killers, petty thieves and everything in between.” Much of his […]
Read More Jesus Teaches: On the Heart“Jesus Teaches: On Judging and Judgmentalism”Luke 6:36-42June 29, 2025 While Jesus was known as a compelling speaker and a plain speaker, He was regularly misunderstood. And He continues to be misunderstood. One of the most misunderstood statements is the one that is in our passage this morning, “Do not judge and you will not be […]
Read More Jesus Teaches: On Judging and Judgmentalism“The Hard Life”Luke 6:24-26May 25, 2025 “In A View from the Zoo, Gary Richmond, a former zoo keeper, offers this warning about raccoons: Raccoons go through a glandular change at about 24 months. After that they often attack their owners. Since a 30-pound raccoon can be equal to a 100-pound dog in a scrap, […]
Read More The Hard Life“The Good Life”Luke 6:17-23May 18, 2025 What makes a good life? What is a happy and satisfied life? Is it even possible in this broken world — a world where there are broken relationships, broken cars, broken bodies, and broken economies — to have a good life? People have been asking that kind of question […]
Read More The Good Life“The Son of Man’s Authority to Call His Own”Luke 6:12-19May 11, 2025 In virtually every realm of life, there are questions about authority — the question is often cynically asked, “who died and left you in charge?” The debate about authority and what the authority can and can’t do is seen between people and government, […]
Read More The Son of Man’s Authority to Call His Own“God Raised Him Up”Acts 10:34-43April 20, 2025 Every preacher, every week asks himself the same question, “what do you preach this week?” What do you preach to those who are suffering by walking through the valley of the shadow of death? (Six church members have had mothers die in the past 4-6 weeks.) What do […]
Read More “God Raised Him Up”The Son of Man’s Authority Over the SabbathLuke 6:1-11March 30, 2025 In three weeks, we will remember the most important aspects of Christ as we gather to meditate on His death on Good Friday and celebrate His resurrection on Easter morning. What happened on those days 2000 years ago is the foundation of our faith […]
Read More The Son of Man’s Authority Over the SabbathThe Son of Man’s Authority to Seek SinnersLuke 5:27-39March 23, 2025 One of my favorite declarations of authority was given by poet Judith Viorst, writing in the voice of an elementary-aged boy named Alexander: “If I were in charge of the world…” If I were in charge of the worldI’d cancel oatmeal,Monday mornings,Allergy shots, and […]
Read More The Son of Man’s Authority to Seek Sinners
Words of Grace 