Shepherds’ Conference, Days 3-4

The Shepherds’ Conference is now over. In the busyness of the week I was unable to post my notes from the last two days, so I post them here, now. In the next week I’ll also post a summation of some of the best things I heard during the week. As usual, the week was […]

Sermon: God’s Righteousness Questioned (Pt. 1)

“God’s Righteousness Questioned” (Pt. 1) Romans 3:27-28 March 5, 2017 This week several of us attended the Shepherds’ Conference. Over four days, we listened to 16-18 sermons. And all the sermons were around the theme, “We Preach Christ.” It might seem remarkable to listen to so many sermons on that one theme. How can you […]

Shepherds’ Conference, Day 2

And now, day two of the 2017 Shepherds’ Conference is over. More Christ-exalting worship and preaching and fellowship. The days are full and the days go quickly. Of particular encouragement are the discussions at meal times and in the cars and between sessions. I am grateful for the 4500 men we worship with in each […]

Shepherds’ Conference, Day 1

Day one of the 2017 Shepherds’ Conference is over. It was a day of sweet and encouraging fellowship with the men in our church body and a number of other men from other places and ministries — some new friends and some old friends, re-acquainted. And there was the music — the Gettys, the TMU […]

The gospel in one sentence (and even one word)

We want to know the gospel well so that we can teach it to others with the intent to persuade them to trust Christ. So we’ve demonstrated how to speak the gospel in six words. And we’ve demonstrated how to speak the gospel in three minutes (I’ve timed it). And now here is the gospel […]

The gospel in three minutes

Yesterday I identified the gospel in six words. Here is the gospel that you can speak to someone in three minutes. God is gracious and merciful toward mankind. He has made us to live with Him and for Him and He provides the means by which we can do that. Man has rebelled against God. […]

The gospel in six words

This year our church is actively working to create a culture of evangelism — regularly looking for opportunities to teach the gospel with the intent to persuade. One of the basic components of teaching the gospel is that you have to know what the gospel is. There are many different biblical ways to articulate the […]

Sermon: God’s Righteousness Revealed (Pt. 4)

“God’s Righteousness Revealed” (Pt. 4) Romans 3:25-26 February 12, 2017 It doesn’t take much for even a believer in Christ to become aware of his past sins and the shame and guilt associated with those sins. Though the sin might have been confessed both to the Lord and the one we sinned against, too often […]

Can we talk too much about justification?

For several weeks we have considered the passage in Romans that one writer has called “the most important paragraph ever written.” It is Romans 3:21-26 and it is perhaps the most concise explanation of the doctrine of justification — how unrighteous men are declared to be righteous before God. Taking four weeks to look at […]

Sermon: God’s Righteousness Revealed (Pt. 3)

“God’s Righteousness Revealed” (Pt. 3) Romans 3:24-25 February 5, 2017 This is the third week that we’ve looked at this passage that one commentator said “is possibly the most important single paragraph ever written.” [Morris, 173.] Why are we taking so much time and going so slowly through this passage? Because this may be the […]

Salvation and Sola Fide

In his great text on the doctrine of justification, Paul notes that it is acquired only by faith — “the righteousness of God [is] through faith in Jesus Christ.” He will reiterate the necessity of faith several times in this passage: God displayed Jesus Christ “publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith” (v. […]

Sermon: God’s Righteousness Revealed (Pt. 2)

“God’s Righteousness Revealed” (Pt. 2) Romans 3:21-23 January 29, 2017 Sometimes things are just not as they seem. Three years ago a 100-year-old woman only known by her first name, Eisha, died in Jeddah, Saudia Arabia, leaving behind an estate worth approximately $800,000. Her wealth included gold coins, jewels, and a real estate portfolio that […]

Sermon: God’s Righteousness Revealed (Pt. 1)

“God’s Righteousness Revealed” (Pt. 1) Romans 3:21-22 January 22, 2017 Martin Luther had a problem. Listen to his words: “I greatly longed to understand Paul’s Epistle to the Romans and nothing stood in my way but that one expression, ‘the justice (righteousness) of God,’ because I took it to mean that justice whereby God is […]

How do the Scriptures have divine authority?

Wednesdays with Watson is a weekly reading taken from my favorite Puritan writer, Thomas Watson. This week’s selection is taken from A Body of Divinity. How does it appear that the Scriptures have a Jus Divinum, a divine authority stamped upon them? Because the Old and New Testament are the foundation of all religion. If their […]

God is always good

Not everything that we know is true feels like it is true. We know that there is always hope for someone’s salvation (Heb. 3:12-13), but when that person has rejected Christ repeatedly and vehemently, we might not feel hopeful. We understand the power of Christ to reconcile believers to one another (Eph. 2:13-18), but when […]