May 28 Sermon: Wonders & Signs
At the end of our passage there today, we hear a rather familiar phrase for us. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, we've heard this statement many times. We're very familiar with it. But I think it's also pretty easy for us to forget just how profound and revolutionary that statement was where we're reading it in the Book of Acts. Because we struggle to fully grasp the power of this statement because we're used to the idea. We get this idea that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But in the first century, for the Jewish people experiencing the events of Pentecost there in Jerusalem, this idea would have not only been a change to the way of thinking, it would have been scandalous. For them, the greatest marker for being saved would have been being a Hebrew and having the covenant sign of circumcision to establish you being in the in group, to being one of God's people, to propose that that state of affairs has changed and to make the claim that anyone who invokes the name of the Lord will be saved would have been seen as preposterous.
May 21 Sermon: Triumph
It's good when we arrive at a destination, isn't it? It's good to finally get where we're going. We're glad that we end up safely where we intend to be. Now, we don't dwell on a safe arrival with every arrival that we do because it's not that often that we travel in significant ways. I don't rejoice every time I have a safe journey to the post office or the grocery store. I don't get out of the car and go, I'm safe. I don't call my mom and say, I made it. I don't do that when I walk the some 350 odd steps over here to work every day. It's not a big deal. But when it's a long journey, it's a different story. First, there is that sense that you are done with the trip. That's the part of the arrival that we perhaps like the most. No worrying about whether or not there's a stop to our spot to stop to get food or do other things that you have to do on a trip.
May 14 Sermon: When You Pray
We believe in the power of prayer, don't we? We know that God hears us when we pray. We acknowledge this great truth. We have a confidence that because of the work of Jesus on our behalf, we know that he is interceding for us right now at the Father's right-hand. We hear the words of Scripture and we are convicted that all this stuff about prayer is in fact true, such as the prayer of a righteous person has great power. We see this as we look at James 5 16. This is a great truth. We believe this to be true. We even understand that even when we don't have the words to say, we know the scriptural truth that the Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. We see this truth about prayer in Scripture. We know this, we understand this, we have a conviction about this. And yet, I'm guessing that many of you are like me.
Held By God
A while back, I needed to make two visits in Sioux Falls. One visit was to someone in the hospital in the morning and another visit to pray with someone before surgery. There was about a three hour window of time that I needed to fill. I went to a coffee shop, got a little caffeine, and did a little work on my tablet. Before I went to do the afternoon visit I decided to go to the mall to see if I could find a good price on some clothes that I was in need of. I parked near the food court entrance and spent roughly 30 minutes looking for a dress clothes. On the way out I was observing how little activity there was at the mall compared to times past. The handful of cars in the parking lot reflected how few people were moving around the interior of the mall. The activity in the mall was nothing like I knew when I was younger, even on a slow day.
Our Living Hope
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. - 1 Peter 1:3-5
What is Maundy Thursday?
Most of us have heard of Maundy Thursday. You likely know what it is, but I’m guessing that you have wondered what the word “Maundy” means.
God Has Spoken in His Son
Back in 2018 I decided that I was going to try a new approach to studying the Bible. I was going to pick a shorter book in the New Testament and read it every weekday from beginning to end. I would then read a chapter from a commentary that I have in my library. I have always enjoyed the book of Hebrews and it can be read in about 20 minutes and so, I decided that this would be a good book to start with.
Growing Spiritual Fruit
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:10
Our Identity in Christ
This is why it is so important that we know the Word of God. If we are to understand who we are and to grow in holiness, we must prepare ourselves with the means by which God has ordained our sanctification. God the Holy Spirit does not work in a us in a random or haphazard way. The Spirit works through Word and sacrament to do this good work in us. This is why it is so vital that we are in God's Word and attending Lord's Day worship.
March 19 Sermon: Speaking the Truth
This week we look at the importance of truthfulness and how it is rooted in the character of God. We consider the consequences of lying, both for the person being deceived and the one telling the lie. The commandment against bearing false witness reflects God's truthfulness. We apply the ninth commandment by seeking and advocating for truth in all aspects of life. Living in truth reflects the character of God and provides an opportunity for the people of God to share the gospel.
March 12 Sermon: God Provides
I can remember the first time that I heard about someone that I know violating the Eighth Commandment. A friend of mine and I were playing outside, and he invited me in to hear a little bit of gossip. I guess I was violating the ninth commandment too. But anyway, he invited me in to hear this gossip regarding his older brother. Now, of course, my four or five-year-old ears wanted to hear something bad about what his brother has done. He was a couple of years older than us, and he didn't treat us nice all the time, so I wanted the dirt on this kid. I was excited. Well, when I told my friend that I wanted to hear about this, he let me know what he had done, and I learned about the great Eminem heist of Worthing South Dakota. It was a big deal. That's right. His older brother had taken the five-finger discount of a bag of Eminens at our little grocery store there in town.
March 5 Sermon: God is Pure
So, we arrive today at the seventh commandment. And unsurprisingly, this is the commandment that more people than any of the other commandments have given me a little ribbing about. When you see something coming up in the text, particularly on this topic, anything involving sexuality, you're wondering, how is that guy going to handle that? And for the record, this guy wonders the same thing. You end up thinking about it a lot. You go through it in your head, what do you want to say? It's a sensitive topic because it's something that is persistently in front of us in our culture. You can't avoid it. Our culture is obsessed with the topic of sex. To preach on it then requires that we have to find some balance. You don't want to be soft on sin. You don't want to sound permissive. Well, then you want to be straightforward, but you don't want to risk maybe sounding vulgar or too blunt. You want to be sure that people understand that there's grace and that there's forgiveness for all sin, and that includes sexual sin.
February 26 Sermon: God is Life
So, as we've been making our way through the Ten Commandments, we find ourselves now to the Sixth Commandment. Now, each of the commandments are very serious, very serious, because if we violate them, we are violating the commands of a holy God. We're acting in rebellion against Him. But as we come to the Six Commandment, there's almost a new gravity to it, isn't there? Because the first table of the law, the first four commandments are very much something that we don't physically see the results of our breaking them. As serious as it is, the most serious commandment is to only serve the Lord God. The first commandment. That is the most serious commandment. But if I don't do that, I'm not really seeing my disobedience and my rebellion in a way that manifests itself. And, even as we were in the first table of the law two weeks ago, and we had honor your father and your mother, definitely a command directed toward somebody. My lack of honor toward somebody is more an internal thing.
A Sacrificial Love
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. - Ephesians 5:25
The idea of love is always in front of us. Stop and think about how love is the primary theme in a lot of the content that we absorb in the popular culture. I am not aware of much popular music but I come across enough of it to know that the majority of songs talk about love. Most of the time television shows focus on some sort of romantic element. It is no wonder that Valentine's Day is such a big holiday. Romance is presented as the ideal and if you don't have this, well, then you better find it.
February 12 Sermon: Honor
So, as Caty and I were having a discussion a few weeks back to figure out where the Ten Commandments were going to fall each week as we were going through this series, we discovered that the Sunday that we had planned for Youth Sunday ended up being the Sunday that we were going to be doing Honor Your Father and Your Mother. Now, initially we laughed about that. We thought that was good. It was good. What a great opportunity for us to discuss this commandment as we are thinking about our young people and as we are thinking about their role in these commands and where we sit as adults in that role. Wonderful opportunity. But at the same time, one of the things that came to mind for me during this is that what we might have a problem with is that we automatically think and we assume that this command is about the kids, that this is primarily for them. And we can use this to say, Honor your father and your mother.
Dwell in the Word: Isaiah 46:1-13
Honestly, passages like this are some of my absolute favorite in all of scripture. I love it when God skewers idolatry. There's always a lot of fun language, isn't there? This imagery that here, your gods, the things that you are worshiping are traveling on beasts of burden. They are being carried. They're not sustaining anything. They haven't created anything. You created them. They can't even save the beasts of burden or the burden. In fact, if you were to go into captivity, if you were captured, they would go with you. And so what does God say? We see this here, as I've highlighted in verses three and four. Listen to me, O House of Jacob and all the remnants of the House of Israel who have been born by me from before your birth, carried from the womb. Even to your old age, I am he. And to gray hairs, I will carry you. I have made and I will bear. I will carry and I will save. Notice the difference here. The Gods are being carried by these beasts, by these beasts of burden, but instead God is carrying His people. And He goes all the way to the beginning.
Dwell in the Word: 45:14-25
Well, we see throughout the Book of Isaiah that it is that God has spoken to the people of Israel. God has revealed Himself to them, and He has caused them to hear. He is doing this, and so they know who He is. Later on, down in this passage, after this acknowledgment of this God who did all this creating work, the God who made everything. Remember, as we've been seeing, as we've been through the Ten Commandments, there's this important idea between the gods of the nations and the God of Israel. The God of Israel is other. He is separate from the creation. He is not like the creation. There is a creator creation distinction, important to understand. They don't have this with the pagan gods that they go running after. And here we see that the real difference is that God speaks and He causes His people to listen. We see this in verse 19. I did not speak in secret in a land of darkness. I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain. ' He didn't say, Hey, come find me if you can. God spoke with a purpose to His people.
February 5 Sermon: When We Worship
As we come to the fourth commandment this morning, there are many different angles that we could consider and different angles that we could take. Specifically, what I'm thinking of is we've been looking at the Ten Commandments. I've been pointing out that there are these two tables of the law, that there is our duty to God in the first four Commandments, and then our duty to man in Commandments 5 through 10. Well, as we think about this, we come to them and we might be wondering, Okay, is there any overlay on this in how they benefit us? Obviously, it's a good benefit to keep God's law. There's always a benefit to keeping the law of God. But as we think about this command, the fourth commandment, to remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. Yes, it is a duty to God, but there is a significant benefit to man, isn't there? We honor God on this day. We worship God on the sabbath. We do this, but we also receive from this the benefit of rest.
January 29 Sermon: How We Talk About God
Language is a substantial gift from God, isn't it? It's important. But I think we often take language for granted because it's just something that we do every day. And, when we look back on what percentage of our life we didn't talk, it's pretty small. And after that, some of us talk more than others, no judgment there. But we talk all the time. It is something we do every day, but it's an important part of who you and I are. And it's powerful. Language is an important thing because it allows us to communicate. It allows us to express ourselves. Now, like I said, we often take language for granted. We speak flippantly at times, don't we? But have you ever been at a sporting event and found yourself sitting next to a camera? Normally, if you're at a sporting event, you say all kinds of things, good, bad or otherwise, but you're talking to the person next to you and you just say what comes to your mind while you're doing it.
Dwell in the Word: Isaiah 45:1-13
So we see a clear, prophetic word here in the Book of Isaiah as we come to Chapter 45. Cyrus hasn't even come to power. He hasn't even been born yet, yet Isaiah is speaking this word about this one, Cyrus, who is going to do a great work. Now, this is strange because Cyrus is not a Hebrew. He is not from the nation of Judah. He is not from the nation of Israel. He is a Gentile. And yet God is ordaining that this one is going to be the one who will bring the people back, that he will free the people from where they have been exiled to, that they will come back to the land. And again, he is a Gentile. This is off. But why is God doing this? Well, we know the answer, as reformed folk, we know the basic concept behind the glory of God. Westminster Short of Catechism, question and answer one, what is the chief end of man? To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. This is going to bring glory to God. This is why this is being done. We see here specifically, it's being done for the people of Israel, for God's servant, Jacob.