Never let Sunday be routine

J. I. Packer, The Quest for Godliness: We must never, therefore, let our Sundays become mere routine engagements; in that attitude of mind, we shall trifle them away by a humdrum formality. Every Sunday is meant to be a great day, and we should approach it expectantly, in full awareness of this.

Preparing for communion

This Sunday morning we will practice the ordinance of communion. The apostle Paul exhorts the Corinthian believers to examine themselves prior to taking the elements of the Lord’s Supper so that they might not take them in an unworthy manner (1 Cor. 11:27-32). This is a principle that applies to every believer — thorough self-examination […]

Worship that is better than the angel’s worship

J. Todd Murray, Beyond Amazing Grace: The disparity between the angels’ worship and our own is especially ironic in the light of the fact that we have so much more to be grateful for than the angels do. When angels sinned just once, they were immediately judged by God and given no opportunity of redemption […]

Grab bag

Some helpful articles from the last week: David Murray has “20 Helps to Sermon Listening.” Number 1? “Read and mediate on God’s Word every day: Daily Bible reading whets our appetite for the main course on the Lord’s Day. We can’t expect to be ready to digest spiritual food if we’ve not been eating through […]

Preparing for a sermon on 1 John 1:9

This afternoon I’ve been thinking about tomorrow’s sermon on 1 John 1:9. This may be one of the most well-known verses in Scripture, behind perhaps John 3:16, Psalm 23, and Genesis 1:1. It’s easy to miss the importance of a passage because of our familiarity. How can we prepare to hear this familiar word in […]

The blood of Jesus cleanses us from sin

When it comes to blood, I am squeamish. On two separate occasions I’ve almost fainted while making a pastoral hospital visit. When a hospital scene comes up in a television show, I always avert my eyes. When someone wants to show off a scar or wound, I ask not to be shown. Yet there is […]

Ready to worship?

“O Lord, who may abide in Thy tent? Who may dwell on Thy holy hill?” (Psalm 15:1; NASB) It was a simple question. We do not know the circumstances under which it was asked, but we do know the heart from which it came. David, the man whose life was patterned after the heart of […]

The Supremacy of Christ

Watch this. It’s a little long (just shy of 20 minutes). But it’s worth the investment of that time. HT: Challies.

Communion an occasion of gratitude

To continue to prepare my heart for communion tomorrow morning, I read another chapter this evening from The Puritans on the Lord’s Supper. The chapter, “The Renewal of Our Christian Vows” by Edmund Calamy concludes with these paragraphs: Take care that the deepest thankfulness is a constant concomitant of all your renewed vows [in communion]. […]

The value of communion

At least once per month, most churches practice the ordinance of communion. Some partake of the bread and the cup weekly. For older believers who have been faithful in church participation, it is likely that they have taken communion hundreds of times, if not into the thousands. It might be tempting to wonder, “what’s the […]

Praise the Lord

Indicators of skewed priorities in churches abound. Yet this morning’s newspaper contains a statement from a pastor of a “sound,” “evangelical” church that pinpoints the problems in too many contemporary American churches: “We’re really building a community center, more than we are a worship center.” It’s rare to read or hear such an open acknowledgement […]

“You shall call His name Jesus”

From John Broadus on Matthew 1:21: It is familiar fact that Hebrew names were commonly significant, a natural and pleasing custom. This being no longer a usage with us, we often give names of great and good men who have lived in other days. Sometimes heroes of fiction. This too is beautiful. Names often make […]

He is worthy

We know that God does not share His glory with another (Is. 42:8). But a careful reading of that verse reveals that the Father is not saying that He does not share His glory with anyone else, but that He does not share His glory with another besides His chosen One, His Servant, the Messiah […]

As you prepare for worship, give thanks

This morning you may be in a hurry to get to church to worship. Your clothes may not look or feel right; your children may be complaining; you may have had some conflict with your spouse; you may have slept too late and now you are rushed. But in your haste to leave the house, […]

Don’t miss God at church tomorrow

Read a Scripture. Sing a hymn. Pray. Sing a hymn. Pray. Sing a chorus. Sing another chorus (or two). Pray. Read another Scripture. Hear the special music. Listen to the sermon. Sing a hymn. Pray. Beat the Methodists to the cafeteria. For many that is the extent of their worship experience. It just all seems […]