sermons | study
These are sermons preached during our Sunday worship services. (Recordings were not always successful, so there are gaps in the postings.)
The little letter of Second John serves as a wonderful text for our consideration in a Maundy Thursday service. (Maundy Thursday is named from the Latin mandatum, “commandment,” as found in the words of Christ in the Latin translation of John 13.34: “Mandātum novum dō vōbīs,” in English “A new commandment give I to you.”)
The gospel is news that is good to us because it tells us that our stories are given meaning and beauty and joy because God has made them part of his story. We who found it impossible to write a coherent and satisfying story for our lives discovered ourselves to be a part of the story of God, with a beginning and end more beautiful and inspiring than we could have ever imagined.
"The gospel is not advice to people, suggesting that they lift themselves. It is power. It lifts them up...When the gospel enters anyone’s life, it is as though the very fire of God had come upon him. There is warmth and light in his life.” - Leon Morris
This sermon is the last of a short series focusing on the Apostle Paul, designed to serve as an introduction to the book of Romans. In his letters to Timothy, his son in the faith, we see the heart of this remarkable servant of Christ and his Church.
Continuing this Advent series of Luke texts, this sermon focuses on what we can learn from the narrative of Elizabeth and Mary.
For the Advent season beginning with this Lord's Day, Luke's Gospel provides the sermon texts. The introduction that Luke is inspired to give to his gospel also serves well as an introduction to our observance of the Lord's Supper.
Despite my misstatement in the opening of this sermon, it was preached not in the morning, but in a Thanksgiving Eve service of our church. In a unique manner, this psalm celebrates the never-failing love of God for his covenant people.
Psalm 118, often quoted in the New Testament, calls us to confess the goodness and steadfast love of God that is revealed in its fullness in Jesus Christ our Lord.
In this sermon series on the interpreting of the various genres of Scripture, Daniel serves as the paradigmatic example of apocalypse. Portions of Daniel and other Old Testament books serve as the background for the New Testament book of Revelation.
Concluding a series of sermons on the Bible's teaching concerning itself, this message looks at the literal interpretation of Scripture: how the Bible transforms us, reveals to us truth, and unites us as the people of God. The book of Ecclesiastes provides a text that is as beautiful as it is true, or, we might say, it beautifully communicates truth. As we appreciate that beauty and acknowledge that truth, God's Word is a source of life for us.
This sermon continues a series on the doctrine of Scripture with a passage that clearly teaches the sufficiency of Scripture. The Bible provides us with all that we need in order to come to a saving knowledge of God in Jesus Christ.
Last Lord's Day, the sermon focused on the teaching of the sufficiency of Scripture. To say the Scripture is sufficient would not be of help to us as ordinary believers were it not for the fact that God has made his Word understandable to us. This doctrine is known as the clarity of Scripture.
This sermon opens a series on the Bible's teaching concerning itself with a focus upon what is referred to as the doctrine of sola Scriptura, or Scripture alone. The Bible, and the Bible alone is the standard, the authoritative Word of God for his people.
