The Risen Christ: Satisfied with His Suffering …
Easter Sunday
Jesus' delight in dying and rising was to enable others to rise from the dead and enjoy his majesty forever.
Glorification: Conformed to Christ for the Supremacy of Christ …
God's work to save and sanctify you is not so that you can enjoy yourself more. It's so that you might be free and fit to enjoy Christ forever.
God's Word Stands: Not All Israel Is Israel, Part 1 …
Every person who trusts in Christ becomes part of the true Israel of God.
The Present Effects of Trembling at the Wrath of God …
Believing that God is furious against sin produces a good fear that transforms everything in life.
Do Not Destroy the Work of God …
Faith is what really matters in Christian behavior, not just whether you accomplish certain things or abstain from others.
Whatever Is Not from Faith Is Sin …
Anything, absolutely any act or attitude which is owing to a lack of trust in God is sin, no matter how moral it may appear to men. God looks on the heart.
How to Argue with God …
Summer Psalms
Sunday Evening Message
Don't let your sinfulness hinder your prayers. Run into the arms of God and fill his ear with arguments that aim for His honor.
How to Give Away a G.I.F.T. …
Sunday Evening Message
You can't have fullness of joy in Christ if you never tell anybody about it. Declaring the marvelous deeds of God that have brought light into our life is a means to the full enjoyment of that light.
Who Should We Invite to Thanksgiving Dinner? …
Who you invite to share in your abundance shows where your treasure is.
The Line of Prayer …
Beware of a church that runs on the momentum of tradition rather than the power of prayer.
What Do Answers to Prayer Depend On?, Part 1 …
Obedience
If we are unloving and unrepentant then we should not think that God is likely to answer our prayers.
Spiritual Gifts …
God gives us spiritual gifts so that we can help others keep the faith in the midst of life's storms.
The Cosmic Church …
The church is the cosmic showcase of God's mercy, but he gets cosmic reproach when we fail to receive his mercy with joy.
The Limits of Submission to Man …
We must honor God above the state. But if the state does not require us to disobey Jesus then we should be subject for the Lord's sake.
Even the Hairs of My Head Are All Numbered …
Reflections on My First Year in the Pastorate
Do not fear the work God calls you to. He loves you deeply, knows you fully, and will turn all for your good.
God Meant It for Good …
The Lives of Joseph and John the Baptist
Sunday Evening Message
As I was reading about Joseph's unjust imprisonment the other day, I was struck all of a sudden with the similarity and contrast between Joseph and John the Baptist.
Why the Law Was Given …
The law is a description of the obedience of faith; it is not a job description for how to earn the wages of God's blessings.
Jesus Is Precious Because He Gives Eternal Life …
There is no true freedom where happiness depends on denying the inevitable; there is only slavery disguised in a thousand forms of fun and busyness.
Jesus Is Precious Because Through Him We Become Authentic …
We don't have a deep sense of peace and fulfillment when we have successfully deluded everybody about who we really are or what we really feel or think. There is a deep (and I believe God-given) longing to be authentic, not to be hypocrites.
What Sort of Persons Ought You To Be? …
A life lived for the world will go naked into judgment; a life lived for Christ will be laden with eternal riches.
Grow in Grace and in the Knowledge of Our Lord …
The best fertilizer for our hope and godliness is the knowledge of our future in God's grace.
Eagle Edom Will Come Down …
The violent nation will not boast forever. Very soon the recompense will come, and after that all the nations will render an account to God.
Go and Make Disciples, Baptizing Them... …
When we make disciples, we bid people to come and die to their old, destructive ways and to live for Jesus, who loved them and gave himself for them.
Can You Begin by the Spirit and Be Completed by the Flesh? …
The essential mark of a Christian is not how far you have progressed in sanctification, but on what you are relying to get there.
Those Who Have Faith Are the Sons of Abraham …
The central concern of your life is to ensure that you are a child of Abraham.
Freed to Love …
Freedom flows forth in love just as surely as a bubbling spring flows forth in a mountain stream.
The War Within: Flesh Vs. Spirit …
A Christian is not a person who experiences no bad desires. A Christian is a person who is at war with those desires by the power of the Spirit.
Love: the Labor of Christian Hedonism …
If you abandon the pursuit of full and lasting pleasure, you cannot love people or please God.
Christ Jesus Came into the World to Save Sinners …
Christmas Day
The meaning of Christmas is that what is good and precious in your life need never be lost, and what is evil and undesirable in your life can be changed.
Helping Each Other Endure to the End …
The means by which God intends to guard us for salvation is Christian community.
Sealed by the Spirit to the Day of Redemption …
God's great desire for his people is that we feel secure in his love and in his power.
Let the Children Come to Me …
Sunday Evening Message
Disciples of Jesus should remove all hindrances that keep children from coming to Jesus.
Satan Seeks a Gap Called Grudge …
The only way to get victory over anger is to put off the old nature and put on the new.
Mission: The Gladness of God …
God's invitation to the banquet of his eternal joy is sent through the church indiscriminately to all people.
God Glorified in Good Resolves …
It is the duty of Christians to seek God's power to fulfill good resolves.
How Can I Hope? New Birth! …
To get well from the disease of sin, and to have a living hope, you have to undergo surgery.
The Enthronement of Desire …
Success in morality without the gospel is suicide.
The Pleasure of God in His Name …
God's first love is his name and not his people. And because it is, there is hope for his sinful people.
The Age of Ignorance Is Over …
Today is a day of repentance and salvation, of missions and evangelism, and of loving and sending.
The Curse of Careless Worship …
If you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God, you'll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures.
The Present Power of Christ Crucified …
The cross is not a mere event in history; it's a way of life!
Unless You Repent You Will All Likewise Perish …
The lesson of tragedies is "Get right with God."
Battling the Unbelief of Lust …
If you don't fight lust, you won't go to heaven.
Serving the Lord with Humility, Tears, and Trials …
What are the marks of a good church elder? What kind of leadership does the church need?
From Wonder to Witness …
The flame of worship is a witness to God's exuberance for God.
How to Become a Child of God …
Not everyone is a child of God. Are you?
"You Will See the Son of Man Seated at the Right Hand of Power and Coming on the Clouds of Heaven" …
Palm Sunday
Deep down we know so much truth that we fear and therefore deny.
Repentance, Forgiveness, and the Gift of the Spirit …
Even if you are a murderer of the Son of God, God himself is ready to forgive you! And not only to forgive you but to give you his Spirit!
Serving Widows, Preaching the Word, and Winning Priests …
A major threat to the Christian movement is whatever threatens the ministry of the Word.
I Will Sing Praises to You Among the Nations …
Something is wrong with a private God. But if our God is great, we go public with our worship.
He Saw the Grace of God and Was Glad …
The grace of God does not spare his people suffering in this age, but rather uses suffering to bring people to himself.
God Sanctifies His People …
Palm Sunday
Assurance does not come from making holiness optional. It comes from knowing God is faithful.
Beautifying the Body of Christ …
Christ did not simply die for an unworthy woman or for a reluctant woman, but for a woman who found him repulsive.
The New Covenant and the New Covenant People …
The covenant that makes us belong to God makes us belong to each other.
Anxieties: to Be Cast Not Carried …
Humble yourselves under the hand of God by casting your anxiety on him.
A Sojourn on Earth in Confident Fear …
God's purpose in the blood of Jesus is our justification and our sanctification. They cannot be separated.
Why We Can Rejoice in Suffering …
The Great King keeps his finest wine in the cellar of affliction.
A Fast for Waters That Do Not Fail, Part 1 …
Be ware of substituting religious fervor for righteous living.
Dying as a Means of Loving, Part 2 …
We simply cannot love the way Paul describes until we die.
Diversity in God-Centered Worship …
Unfolding Bethlehem's Fresh Initiative #4
The abiding foundation of our corporate worship is God-centeredness.
In These Last Days, God Has Spoken by a Son …
Palm Sunday
Do you want to hear God speak? God has now spoken not just by prophets, but by his Son.
World Missions and the End of History …
Missions Week
The price will be high, but God's promise that the gospel will spread to all nations will be fulfilled by his omnipotent hand.
Where Does Child Killing Come From? …
Sanctity of Life Sunday
Not Ashamed of the Gospel …
The gospel elicits shaming behavior in those who will not believe it and it gives freedom from shame to those who do.
God's Response to Hypocrisy: Kindness and Judgment …
God's justice does not demand that he punish us for our sins immediately. His kindness leads him to forbear and to be patient with us, to a point.
Let God Be True Though Every Man a Liar …
Who are they whose condemnation is just? Those who play games with the Word of God.
Why Did Christ Come? …
Be Ready This Advent Season with the Meaning of Christmas
Wilderness, Worship, Treason and God …
Learn from David what to do in a brokenhearted, terrifying moment: Worship.
Truth and Love …
Truth aims at love; love aims at truth. Love shapes how to speak the truth; truth shapes how to show love.
Hope-Giving Promises for Triumph over Sin …
If God works to bring about obedience in our heart, then sin will not be lord over us, God will.
Pierced By the Word of God …
Use the Bible to know yourself and confirm your own spiritual life.
Teaching Doctrine to a Six-Year-Old …
How and why to teach kids the complex and essential doctrines of the Bible.
Lessons from Lisa …
A 9/11 Widow Trusts in the Sovereign Goodness of God
September 11, 2001 has served to prove at least these ten truths about the sovereign love of God.
How to Query God …
It is okay to question God if you do it humbly and teachably.
Taking the Swagger Out of Christian Cultural Influence …
Being exiles does not mean being cynical. Christians should be concerned about culture and involved in it.
Lilias Trotter and the Language Nobody Knows …
We shouldn't be afraid to use the spiritual vocabulary of the Bible even where it is foreign.
When Gratitude Gets Complicated …
Thoughts on Saying Thank You at Bethlehem and Desiring God
When you are in a position of receiving blessing from many people, knowing how to express gratitude can be challenging.
