“The Blessings of Justification” Pt. 2 Romans 5:3-5 August 13, 2017 Four years ago, Ryan Boomershine, a principle of a Christian school in Nashville, wrote this account: Last Wednesday, the third day of this year, I was working at my desk at school when Christie called me on my cell. She said a jumble of […]
Read More Sermon: The Blessings of Justification, Pt 2“The Blessings of Justification” Pt. 1 Romans 5:1-2 August 6, 2017 Proverbs 18:22 says, “He who finds a wife finds a good thing And obtains favor from the Lord.” So the day that Raye Jeanne and I got married, I knew I was a blessed man. Only a little more than a year before we […]
Read More Sermon: The Blessings of Justification, Pt 1“The Message of Justification: Delivered and Resurrected for Us” Romans 4:23-25 July 23, 2017 In Geneva, Switzerland, there is a park near the church where John Calvin preached and conducted his ministry. In that park there is a memorial wall containing the statues of 10 of the leading men of the 16th Century Reformation. The […]
Read More Sermon: Delivered and Resurrected for Us“By Faith Alone” Part 2 Romans 4:17-22 July 16, 2017 This week I read this statement by John MacArthur in Justification by Faith Alone: “No doctrine is more important to evangelical theology than the doctrine of justification by faith alone.” That’s a strong statement. J. I. Packer affirmed that statement when he wrote, “Martin Luther […]
Read More Sermon: By Faith Alone, Part 2“By Faith Alone” Romans 4:17-22 July 9, 2017 On October 31 this year, we will mark the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 theses (topics for debate) on the door of the Wittenberg (Castle) Church. Historians typically interpret that event as the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. And the Reformation is vital to […]
Read More Sermon: By Faith Alone“How is One Justified?” Romans 4:13-16 July 2, 2017 I’m a curious person. I always have been. Do you know how young children ask “why?” and “how” incessantly? That’s me. Raye Jeanne didn’t fully comprehend that when we got married. Then in our first year or two of marriage, there was a massive power outage […]
Read More Sermon: How is One Justified?“What to Pray When You’re Afflicted” Psalm 119:73-80 June 25, 2017 Scripture is filled with exhortations and examples of suffering: For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. (2 Cor. 1:5) For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to […]
Read More Sermon: What to Pray When You’re Afflicted“The First Thing on Your Second Wedding Day” Revelation 19:6-9 May 28, 2017 Weddings were always exciting in our home. So many things made weddings attractive and desirable: the wedding dress, the bridesmaid’s dresses, the flowers, the music, the food and friends after the wedding, the music and dancing, and (most of all?) the cake! […]
Read More Sermon: The First Thing on Your Second Wedding Day“The First Thing in Your Marriage” Selected Scriptures May 21, 2017 I’ve been thinking about marriage quite a bit lately. I’ve been thinking about marriage because I’ve been working on my notes for the trip to Russia to teach biblical counseling, where I will be teaching several times on various aspects of marriage. And I’ve […]
Read More Sermon: The First Thing in Your Marriage“Who Can Be Justified?” Romans 4:9-12 April 30, 2017 Put this in the category of unexpected blessings. When Kushikatsu Tanaka was a young girl, her father developed a particular recipe for deep-fried fried meat on a stick. Though he was a real estate agent, he spent many of his leisure hours perfecting the craft of […]
Read More Sermon: Who Can Be Justified?“The Old, Old Story” Pt. 2 Romans 4:1-8 April 23, 2017 When I was in seminary, the church Raye Jeanne and I were part of trained its members in evangelism with the Evangelism Explosion materials. I went through the program and eventually also became a trainer for EE. One semester, one of my trainees was […]
Read More Sermon: The Old, Old Story, Pt. 2“Blessed Are Those Who Believe” John 20:19-31 April 16, 2017 — Easter Morning As a young man, Benjamin Franklin wrote an epitaph for himself that he hoped would be used on his gravestone after his death (though it wasn’t): The body of B. Franklin, Printer, Like the cover of an old book, Its contents torn […]
Read More Sermon: Blessed Are Those Who Believe“The Old, Old Story” Romans 4:1-8 April 2, 2017 Every child loves a good story. It was not uncommon that when the girls were still living at home — even when they were in high school — they would ask at the dinner table, “Daddy, tell us a story.” And with a little prompting about […]
Read More Sermon: The Old, Old Story“He Gave His Life a Ransom for Many” Mark 10:32-45 March 26, 2017 Over the years, I’ve preached about 25 Easter messages, and have also preached about the same number of Palm Sunday and Good Friday messages. I’ve preached several dozen communion sermons related to Christ and the cross, and preached through all of the […]
Read More Sermon: He Gave His Life a Ransom for Many“The Christian and the Law” Romans 3:31 March 19, 2017 If you’ve ever been frustrated with other drivers on the road — people going to fast or too slow or weaving too much or not getting out of the way, here are some traffic laws that are sure to frustrate you even more! These are […]
Read More Sermon: The Christian and the Law
Words of Grace 