Perhaps the most-recognized attribute of God is His love. And it is true. God is love (1 Jn. 5:16). God not only loves, but His very nature is love — His identity is love. His nature is love and He loves — He acts lovingly (1 Jn. 4:10). Further, all love emanates from Him (1 […]
Read More The priority of loving one anotherIn America, we feel entitled. We have a constitutional right to life, liberty, and happiness, we believe. The constitution actually says, “the pursuit of happiness,” but in this day, we believe that to mean that we should have happiness (and ease) without having to labor for it. We should not have trials, difficulty, suffering, or […]
Read More Expect persecutionWhen the Scriptures speak about the Christian’s relationship to the government, the emphasis is consistently on the civil obedience, not civil disobedience. For instance: The believer is to pray for his civil authorities (1 Tim. 2:1–3) The believer is to submit to his civil authorities (Rom. 13:1; 1 Pet. 2:13–15) The believer is to obey […]
Read More When civil disobedience is permissibleThere are several common objections to the wrath of God: The wrath of God is inconsistent with God’s love The wrath of God is inconsistent with God’s forgiveness The wrath of God is unfair/unjust The wrath of God isn’t taught in the New Testament Yet Scripture consistently affirms that both the Old Testament and the […]
Read More The biblical basis for God’s wrathThe gospel is powerful to save. Both the Old and New Testaments provide ample illustrations of the saving power of God. While the Old Testament often stresses the temporal salvation of God’s people (e.g., Ex. 14:13; 15:2), there are other demonstrations also of God’s power to spiritually save sinners (e.g., Ps. 77:14-15; Is. 12:2; 52:7, […]
Read More The saving gospel“The Greatness of the Gospel” (Part 1) Romans 1:16-17 August 9, 2015 I have in my closet some important letters — Raye Jeanne wrote them to me when we were dating and not yet married. Over the 13 months that we dated before marriage I suppose I have 100 or more letters (hard copies — […]
Read More Sermon: The Greatness of the Gospel (Pt. 1)“Caring for One Another: A Life of Service” (Part 2) Romans 1:11-15 August 2, 2015 A number of years ago, London resident Simon Thompson was trying to push his stalled BMW off a road in a London suburb when another driver called out, “Do you want a hand?” And then the car’s back doors flew […]
Read More Sermon: A Life of Service (Pt. 2)“Caring for One Another: A Life of Service” (Part 1) Romans 1:11-15 July 19, 2015 It’s hard to be a servant. To serve others is to do something that is contrary to our natural inclinations and to fight against the flesh. That’s why we just read the story of Epaphroditus. We don’t know much about […]
Read More Sermon: A Life of ServiceIn one of the shortest verses of the Bible, believers are instructed to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17). The believer is not only to pray regularly and habitually, but prayer is to constantly be at the forefront of his mind. He is to be always ready for communication with His Lord and Master. And […]
Read More What to pray for one another“Caring for One Another: A Life of Prayer” (Pt. 2) Romans 1:8-10 June 28, 2015 Loneliness is an age-old problem, and in Japan one restaurant has come up with a novel solution. The owners of Tokyo’s Moomin House Café observed many customers who came alone and sat alone. So they set about to cultivate a […]
Read More Sermon: A Life of Prayer, Pt. 2“Caring for One Another: A Life of Prayer” Romans 1:8-10 June 21, 2015 Speaker Robert Henry went to a large discount department store a number of years ago in search of a pair of binoculars. Charles Swindoll tells the story: As he walked up to the appropriate counter he noticed that he was the only […]
Read More Sermon: A Life of Prayer“It’s About People: the Priority of Relationships” Selected Scriptures May 31, 2015 Someone called this maze of relationships, “the theory of relativity:” …consider the marriage mayhem created when 76-year-old Bill Baker of London recently wed Edna Harvey. She happened to be his granddaughter’s husband’s mother. That’s where the confusion began, according to Baker’s granddaughter, Lynn. […]
Read More Sermon: It’s About PeopleLove One Another, Pt. 3 1 John 4:15-21 June 15, 2014 Some things that should be self-evident aren’t as obvious as we might suppose. When he was a football coach, Buddy Ryan was known as being a no-nonsense, tough-nosed coach. He learned well from his father, as an article from 1994 recounts: Leaving Korea as […]
Read More Sermon: Love One Another, Part 3Love One Another, Pt. 2 1 John 4:11-14 June 8, 2014 It is perhaps the worst case of amnesia in the world. Deborah Wearing tells the story of her husband, Clive: Clive had no idea that Tuesday, March 26, 1985 would be his last day of conscious thought. We weren’t ready. Did he feel his […]
Read More Sermon: Love One Another, Part 2Love One Another, Pt. 1 1 John 4:7-10 June 1, 2014 While it is true that you never stop being a parent, there are definitely particular transitions in the process of parenting, and this weekend Raye Jeanne and I are crossing one of the big transitions: for the first time, neither of our girls will […]
Read More Sermon: Love One Another, Part 1
