Praying Scripture

Prayer and scripture are vitally linked together. More knowledge of Scripture produces more robustly God-dependent prayers. More praying feeds a greater hunger for Scripture. If you love one, it will drive you to the other. Nineteenth century French pastor Adophe Monod said of the two disciplines, “Without the Word, prayer is nothing, having no source […]

The Baptism of Jesus

The Baptism of JesusLuke 3:15-22October 13, 2024 We know little about the ministry of John the Baptist; we only have one sermon (really, just one line from a sermon — “be baptized for the forgiveness of sins”). Yet, for all the limited information about him, he was an important person. He came from humble beginnings, […]

The Son of Man as a Child

The Son of Man as a ChildLuke 2:39-52September 22, 2024 A mom and dad were still sleeping one morning when their young son came bounding into the bedroom and jumped onto their stomachs with significant news: “Today’s my birthday! It’s here! I’m five-years-old today!” And then holding up his open hand with all five fingers […]

Having Seen God’s Salvation

Having Seen God’s SalvationLuke 2:21-38September 15, 2024 At least for some things, I am not the most patient person in the world. I have been known to get a little hangry while waiting for dinner to cook. I don’t like waiting for traffic lights or for accidents to clear. I don’t like waiting in checkout […]

Christ Has Come

Christ Has Come: Give Glory to GodLuke 2:8-20September 8, 2024 Five years ago, prior to moving to California, Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan Markle had a baby. While babies are born every second of every day, this birth captured the attention of royal followers around the world. Like many other parents, the birth was first […]

The Birth of the Son of Man

The Birth of the Son of ManLuke 2:1-7August 25, 2024 While perhaps not the most significant authority on the subject, a couple of years ago the India Times compiled a list of “The 10 Most Important Events in Human History.” They didn’t reveal what the criteria for making the list was, or who voted on […]

God’s Visitation

God’s VisitationLuke 1:67-80August 18, 2024 For those of you have children, was your experience with your newborns like mine? I would stand over the bassinet and hear her cry and wonder, “what will your voice sound like?” I would look at her hands and wonder, “what will you like to do?” and her feet and […]

“My Soul Exalts the Lord”

“My Soul Exalts the Lord”Luke 1:46-56July 28, 2024 After a second deployment in Iraq, Stacy Bare returned home but he wasn’t doing well: he was drinking too much, thinking suicidal thoughts, and struggling to think about the future and manage life. “What am I doing with my life? What does it mean to be […]

Praise God for your salvation

When suffering, it can be hard to give praise. It can be hard to worship. It can be hard to be thankful. The pull of our hearts towards disappointment, complaint, discouragement, lament, and even despondency can preclude the desire to honor the Lord with our praise. How might we stimulate praise when we are in […]

The Song of God’s Glory

The Song of God’s GloryRomans 11:33-36June 9, 2024 On more than one road trip, Raye Jeanne and I have lamented the countryside we would miss while driving before dawn or after dusk. The night sky was going to obscure the waving grasslands, or the rolling hills, the mountain peaks, or the waves on the seaside. […]

Have you worshipped this Christmas?

And Mary said: “My soul exalts the Lord,And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.” (Lk. 1:46-47) These familiar words introduce one of the great Christmas hymns — Mary’s poetic response to the announcement of the birth of Jesus to her by the angel (vv. 26-38) and the following affirmation from Elizabeth (vv. 39-45). […]

The problem with idols

Israel had a persistent problem with idols and idolatry. The yearning for idols first appeared in Abraham’s granddaughter (by marriage) who stole her father’s idols when she left his home to marry Jacob (Gen. 31). And idols were a problem for Micah (not the prophet; cf. Judges 17-18), Michal (1 Sam. 19), Solomon (1 Kings […]

A Prayer of Thanksgiving

In this morning’s worship service, we included a prayer of thanksgiving to prepare our hearts for the week ahead. The prayer is based on Psalm 95. Our Father, we begin this week of Thanksgiving by offering to You hearts of gratitude. In a week where many will give thanks for temporal and even ungodly things […]

Sermon: Give Thanks

Give ThanksPsalm 100November 20, 2022 We live in difficult days (has there ever been a time in the world when we couldn’t say that?). People are trying to define the exact nature of our troubles; one theologian has observed that social observers and politicians and others have called our time, “the age of anxiety, the […]

Sermon: The Slain, Exalted Lamb

The Slain, Exalted LambRevelation 5April 17, 2022 We are Christians. We are followers of Jesus Christ. No day on our calendar of worship demonstrates our dependence on Christ more than Easter morning. On this day we affirm we need Him and we will worship Him above all other things and people. But on this […]