For the last few weeks, I’ve tried to give practical instructions for seasons of busyness. What are the practical Christian disciplines that are easily forgotten when things get busy?
In 1 Corinthians 13, the Apostle Paul says that love keeps no record of wrongs. This means that true love doesn’t calculate. It doesn’t keep ledgers of debts owed and dents paid.
With school in full swing, sports games scheduled, and your company making a big …
Each week we confess the faith together and we confess our sins to the Lord and ask his forgiveness. Each week we hear the Word of God preached and we regularly eat at the Lord’s Table. All of that is well and good because God commands us to do all these in our gathered worship.
But in any church which observes a Biblically rich liturgy, there’s a beguiling temptation to believe that having said the …
God has blessed our church with many hard workers. We aren’t sitting around wishing we had more to do. If anything, we wish we had a few more hours every day to get things done. As we write out our annual plans, our monthly calendars, and our daily checklists we must remember that God has also written out a plan and it often railroads our own.
Unforeseen snags in a project, friends that drop by …
Whenever we feel that our deepest needs are not being met, we often act in ways that will ensure those needs will not be met. Whether it’s a husband who needs respect from his wife, a wife who needs love from her husband, or a child who needs the attention of their parent: whatever it is we need, when we set about trying to get it—if we are not submitting to Christ, we inevitably push …
EXHORTATION
Many of us embarked this week on our three-month reading plan through the New Testament and getting the most out of our Bible reading requires the right approach. The old English Puritan, Thomas Watson, gives us the right approach when he said the Scriptures show the Credenda, what we are to believe, and the Agenda, what we are to practice.
First, read the Bible with reverence. Think, in every line you read, …
The Christian life is all of grace. We never do the right thing apart from God’s grace. Our motives are never pure apart from God’s enabling grace. And you need to sink this truth deep into your repentance.
Oftentimes, when a Christian realizes they are ensnared by sin; be it bitterness, or anger, or fear, they know they need to repent of their sin, and yet they might wonder: “Am I truly repenting because I …
Psalm 56:3 says:
What time I am afraid,
I will trust in thee.
A defining mark of a Christian is trust in the Lord; resting in his Fatherly disposal of every circumstance. Our trust is in the Lord.
This doesn’t mean that Christians are never afraid. Even mature Christians have security systems installed in their homes. Trusting in the Lord goes hand in hand with common sense safety precautions. So, it is no lack of …
Some of you have noticed that in the last year we’ve moved from reciting the Apostles Creed monthly to every week, and I figured I would tell you why.
Our endeavor as a congregation isn’t simply to form individual Christians. We are out to form a distinct Christian community. A community that embraces and cherishes the truths of the faith. A community which is bound by those truths. A community that will live and die …
EXHORTATION
If you’ve ever grown a vegetable garden, you know that certain plants make great companions. Native Americans famously planted the Three Sisters together: corn, pole beans, and squash. The tall stalks of corn made great support for the climbing beans and the low growing squash shades the ground to retain moisture and suppress weed growth.
In the same way, certain sins make great companions. One sin runs defense for another. One sin provides shade …
EXHORTATION
In 1 Thessalonians 4 the Apostle Paul gives us a trio of exhortations:
“aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands”
First, aspire to live quietly. We live in an age of “Hot Takes.” The way to get noticed it to say something crazy, and if that doesn’t work, try screaming it. But Biblical Christians aren’t seeking attention for themselves. Jesus Christ must increase, and we …
