Sermons from 2022 (Page 2)
Such A Great Salvation
In his book, The Shallows, Nicholas Carr writes about how the internet is changing our ability to think. “Neuroscientists and psychologists have discovered that, even as adults, our brains are very plastic. They’re very malleable, they adapt at the cellular level to whatever we happen to be doing. And so the more time we spend surfing, and skimming, and scanning … the more adept we become at that mode of thinking.” Wisdom is associated with deep concentration. Scholarly intellectuals, or any…
But You Remain
We can all get a bit nostalgic about returning to time when we didn’t have a care in the world. For many of us, that’s a time in childhood where we felt a sense of security. For some of us that time was a very brief window before the hardships of reality crept into our lives. An essential aspect of our reality is that we are in constant flux, alongside other creatures and creation that is constantly changing. We have…
The Scepter Of Uprightness
Perseverance is the final description applied to those who maintain their faith in Christ to the end of their lives. That faith will not remain in hearts that do not treasure Christ. That is why this sermon-letter opens (and continues) with numerous examples of the superiority of the Son. The author of Hebrews establishes Christ deity, and thus, his ultimate supremacy over all things like few other sections of Scripture (cf. Jn 1; Col 1). Last week we considered how the Son is superior…
Superior To Angels
“In Defense of Being Average”, Mark Manson encourages his readers to accept that they won’t be extraordinary at most things they do, if anything. He writes: “There are over 7.2 billion people on this planet, and really only about 1,000 of those have major worldwide influence at any given time. That leaves the other 7,199,999,000 +/- of us to come to terms with the limited scope of our lives and the fact that the vast majority of what we do…
The Atonement and Enthronement Of The Son
In his book, Rejoice and Tremble, Michael Reeves makes the following insightful comment: When people, through misunderstanding, become simply afraid of God, they will never entrust themselves to him but must turn elsewhere for their security. In fact, it is when people have this confused fear of God that they turn to other gods. Michael Reeves, Rejoice and Tremble One of the primary benefits of reading God’s Word and sitting under its preaching is that we might gain a sense of security.…
He Upholds The Universe
What is the area of your life that you feel you MUST control? How devastated are you when things don’t go according to your plan? Parents feel this pressure to protect every aspect of the life of their children to the point that their lives literally revolve around them. Fathers feel the the need to provide for their families to the point that their lives revolve around work. Single men and women get so preoccupied with finding a spouse that…
The Exact Imprint Of His Nature
C.S. Lewis has a famous argument called the Trilemma in Mere Christianity that prepares us for this morning’s sermon. Roman Catholic philosopher, Peter Kreeft, calls Lewis’ Trilemma “the most important argument in Christian apologetics.” US President, Ronald Reagan, used the argument in reply to a Methodist minister who didn’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God (I use the term ‘minister’ loosely). “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m…
The Radiance Of Glory
Every once in awhile I get a little controversial from the pulpit. I know there are some differences among us on very weighty issues, but please hear me out. I think we can all agree that music peaked in the eighties. And the only genre that really mattered in the eighties was soft rock. But narrowing down a favorite soft rock song is where it gets challenging. “The Glory of Love” by Peter Cetera has to be in the running.…
The Heir And Agent Of Creation
You’ve likely heard about the Marshmallow Test. Young children were given a giant marshmallow to eat, but if they were willing to wait for an unspecified amount of time, they would receive an additional marshmallow. Most of the children could not do it, but the few who did were creative at distracting themselves from looking at the prize. This example is often used to illustrate the value of delayed gratification. Most of us are willing to forfeit the best things…