As a church intern, I saw something firsthand. A family had taken on a high niche child. I can’t remember if it was a foster adoption, something to that degree. The wife particularly had asked, maybe demanded a lot of help from others in the church. Several families had come together and brought meals. They arranged for extra care, and they really …

So today’s a topical message, looking at a component of biblical Anthropology. It’s a fancy way of saying we’re going to talk about our feelings today. It applies to everyone who’s still breathing. Sometimes we think of these types of conversations and it’s like, Oh, not one of those. But again, the reason for it is this affects all of us. There’s …

Psalm 1:19. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we ask that you would remember your word to us, your servants, and that it would be that in which you have made us hope. That it would be a comfort in our affliction, that your promises would give us life. That when we think of your rules from of old, that we would take comfort, O Lord. Lord, that your stat…

Let us pray. Father, we do ask that your steadfast love would come to us, Lord, that your salvation would be according to your promise. Then we shall have an answer for those who taunt us, for we will trust in your word. Lord, take not the word of truth utterly out of our mouths, for our hope is in your rules. We desire to keep your law continually…

We’ve seen Paul’s final greeting and final caution. Next week, we’ll be looking at the doxology at the end of chapter 16. We’ll be finishing out our series in the Book of Romans. We look through the reading of God’s word. If you would please join me in prayer. Blessed, trying Lord in your great and kind providence, all holy scriptures were written …

The Minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the Priestley service of the gospel of God, so that the offering of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the Holy spirit, by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the spirit of God, so that from Jerusalem and all the way around to Illyricum, I have fulfilled the ministry of the gosp…

A common meme or satire of beauty pageants is the contestant’s answer of world peace in the interview question. The greatest thing our society needs may indeed be peace, but nobody really thinks that it’s going to come about by something inspired through a beauty pageant. It’s not going to bring the world together in harmony. A while back, NBA bask…

Romans 14. Paul continues to speak to the practical ways. This is not currently working. I am on… It’s working? Can you hear me? Yeah. All right. I can hear you. Paul is speaking to the practical ways that love works its way out in the church. He’s addressing, particularly, the weak and the strong. Romans 14:13-5:7. Can you please join me in prayer…

Eclectic group of non- Koreans who also attended. Because of a dear family from India, I was introduced to some amazing Indian cuisine. And the course of conversation over a meal, the couple mentioned how it was wrong to eat pork. Now, I don’t know if this was a regional thing in India from where they were from or maybe a part of the church that th…

Father, indeed, it is a joy to be here in this, your house, to worship you. But we come with busy and distracted lives. Father, we come with hearts full of trouble, with minds anxious about what has happened and what is about to happen. And Father, so we ask as we come now in this time of worship to your word, that you would soften our hearts that …

As we read this famous text, our tendency is to rush into exceptions and qualifications. Didn’t the Hebrew midwives defy Pharaoh’s order? Weren’t they commended for disobeying the civil government and saving babies? When the Apostles were strictly charged not to teach in the name of Jesus, didn’t they defy the order, claiming that they must obey Go…

Tongue, but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this, to visit the orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. Here is God’s word. Please be seated. It’s a pleasure to be here this morning. I see lots of familiar faces. My wi…

Come to the end of Romans 12. We are shaped by grace, we serve by grace, and our love is to be fueled by grace. We look to the reading of God’s word. If you please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, as we meet now in your presence, we ask that you would open our ears to hear your voice, that you would open our hearts to love you more and more, to …

In God forever. Amen. Beginning in verse three, For by the grace given to me, I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same functi…

Romans 12. Eleven chapters of what God has done for us. And now Paul moves to our response, how we are to be shaped by this amazing grace. We look through the reading of God’s word. If you please join me in prayer. Christ our God, we ask that you set our hearts on fire with love through your word, that in its flame we may love you with all our hear…

We’re reading God’s word in our time of prayer. Romans 11. After contemplating some weighty thoughts about divine election and the future of Israel, Paul ends with a doxology to God. We look then to the reading of God’s word. If you please join with me in prayer. Blessed are you, O God, the Father of all mercy. You have elected us, you have called …

What’s your plan today? How about for your life? Plans can sometimes stress people out. Sometimes they give us great comfort. Today, we’re going to be looking at what Paul has to say to the Corinthians church about the wisdom of God and how he revealed his plan. So let’s pray together. Gracious God and heavenly Father, we thank you that you did not…

On God being faithful to his promises to Israel. If you look to reading God’s word, please join me in prayer. Father of all mercies, in your word, endless glory shine forth. Your word guides our steps. It gives discernment to those who seek you. We ask that you would grant that we would find new beauties in an ever-increasing light this day. Divine…

Life and continue to cause them to bear much fruit in our lives. Lord God, that you would continue molding and shaping us into the image of our blessed savior, Jesus. We pray and ask for these things in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy spirit. Amen. Beginning in verse 14, just reading the first four verses. How then will they call on h…

You please remain standing for a prayer and a reading of God’s word. We come to the end of chapter 9 and into chapter 10. And as Micah mentioned earlier, chapter 9 highlights the sovereignty of God, and 10 highlights human responsibility. Paul is thinking in a dense and compact way and requires a bit more of us to understand as we enter into these …

Today, we ask that you would make us hungry for this heavenly food that would nourish us in the ways of eternal life. And this we pray and ask through Jesus Christ, who indeed is the bread of heaven. Amen. Beginning with just the first six verses. What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means. For he says to Moses, ‘I will h…

Well, Lord, we do ask that you would come and shed your light upon us, that being rid of the darkness of our hearts, that we would come into the true light, which is Christ, who is the light of the world, who lives and arrange with you in the unity of the Holy spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. Beginning in verse one, I am speaking the truth…

We look then to read in God’s word if you join me in prayer. God, indeed, you are our helper. And by your Holy spirit, we ask then that you would open our minds to your word, that as they are read and as they are complained, that we would be led into your truth, that we would be taught your will, that you would continue to transform us into the ima…

‘blessed Lord, it is you who caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning. ‘ And so we ask then that you would allow us to hear them, to read, to mark, to learn them. ‘And Father, that we would embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of eternal life, which you have given to us in our savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Ame…

Paul addresses that great future hope that we now have been given in him. Romans 8:14-25. We look to the reading of God’s word if you would join me in prayer. God, indeed, you are our helper. And by your Holy spirit, we ask that you would open our minds so that as scriptures are read, as your word is complained, that we would be led into your truth…

‘he who raised Christ from dead will also give you your mortal bodies through his spirit who dwells in you. ‘ Likewise, the spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the spirit himself intercede for us with groanings too deep for words. And he, who searches hearts, knows what is the mind of the spirit, be…

Presence, the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Let me pray for the preaching of God’s word. Father, as my words are true to your word, may they be taken to heart. But if my words should stray from your word, may they be quickly forgotten. I pray this in the name and in the power of Jesus Christ. Amen. On Pentecost Sunday, the …

Romans 8. Paul keeps spelling out what our new life in Christ is to look like, Christ in us and Christ for us. And here is a picture of that as he continues. So we look to the reading of God’s word if you please join me in prayer. God of all mercy, you promise never to break your covenant with us. And amid all the changing words of our generation, …

Undemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do by sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh. And for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement…

Of the role of the law of Moses in the life of a Christian. As we look to the reading of God’s word, if you please join me in prayer. Merciful Father, from you are all the blessings of the light. And even in our darkness, you are near to us. We praise you for your manifest goodness. We thank you for your Holy word delivered to your church for the f…

Father, as my words are true to your word, may they be taken to heart. But if my words should stray from yours, may they be quickly forgotten. I pray this in the name and in the power of Jesus Christ. Amen. Well, the signs of spring are beginning to abound. Many gardeners have started seedlings in pots by windows, and a few have decided to brave th…

In the world we live in, paying someone up front for the work they promised to do is usually considered foolish. Half now, half on completion, something like that. Why? Because once they have our money, what’s the incentive to finish the job? The objection that Paul addresses is similar. Paul, all this grace up front is going to keep people from a …

Romans 6. What a great way to move from Easter back to Romans, just as Jesus died and was raised to life, so too we are dead to sin and alive to him. We look to the reading of God’s word if you join me in prayer. Living God, we ask you to help us to hear your Holy word that we may truly understand and that in understanding we may believe and believ…

Darkness of Good Friday gave way to the brightness of Easter morning. He has risen indeed. Our text before us is John 20. We’ll be starting with the first 10 verses. And as we look to the reading of God’s word, if you please join me in prayer. Blessed are you, Holy God, in Jesus Christ, your light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not ov…

That the inspiration of our thoughts may be true and all our ways truly righteous. Pour down your spirit, that we might be lifted up in your presence, that we might dwell in your righteousness and live forever bathed in your truth. We pray this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. This morning, you can see our scripture passage is John 12:12-21. O…

Before we look at these verses 12 through 21, let’s pray together. Please pray with me. Our Father in heaven, we give you thanks for this beautiful day in which the creation is revealing your glory and power. We give you thanks for this beautiful day in which there is grace in this place for these people. We give you thanks that this is your Holy w…

We’ve obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoiced in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoiced in our suffering. Knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the…

You’ll join me in prayer for the reading of God’s word. Blessed Lord, in your great and kind providence. All holy scriptures were written and preserved for our instruction. We ask that you would give us grace to hear them proclaim this day. That you would strengthen our souls with the fullness of their divine teaching. That you would keep us from p…

In one cohesive whole, all Christians are saved by God’s gift of Christ’s righteousness. We look to the reading of God’s word if you join me in prayer. Most gracious God, our heavenly Father, it is in you alone dwells the fullness of light and wisdom. And we ask them that by your Holy Spirit that you would continue to enlighten our minds to underst…

Forgotten. I pray this in the name and in the power of Jesus Christ. Amen. I don’t know if you know this about me, but I played college baseball. Yeah. Pretty impressive, isn’t it? Yeah. I played second base on the account of my weak arm, and I only started because the real second baseman thought he was too good to show up for practices, and he was…

Romans 3. Paul is steadily building his argument that all are unrighteous before a holy God, that we need the righteousness of Christ received by faith alone. If you look to the reading of God’s word, though, if you would please join me in prayer. We give thanks to you, a Lord of lords, for your steadfast love endures forever. You alone do great wo…

Some have referred to this part of Romans as an exposition of the Lord Jesus parable of the two lost sons. Can I have the sex, drugs, and rock and roll son of the younger brother, and then the self-righteousness, the hard-heartedness, the indifference of the older brother seen between Gentiles and Jews. We look to the reading of God’s word if you w…

Reigns with you in the unity of the Holy spirit, one God, world without end. Amen. Chapter 2, beginning in verse 1. Therefore, you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges, or in passing judgment on another, you condemn yourself because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those …

Has admitted, frankly, that abortion is murder, the extermination of the powerless by the powerful. Liberals, for the most part, have shrunk from facing the ethical consequences of their embrace of abortion, which results in the anihilation of concrete individuals that people… And not just clumps of insensate tissue. We must acknowledge that people…

Let us pray for the reading of God’s word. Father, as we come in this worship service now to this time of your word, to hear it read, to hear it preached, Lord, we need you to act. We ask that you would soften our hearts, that you would unstop our ears, that we would truly hear your word. Father, that by the power of your spirit, you would work it …

Today is Epiphany Sunday. Epiphany is that Greek word which means to show or to appear. We celebrate the light of Christ coming into the world. Typically, on Epiphany Sunday, we look either at the baptism of Jesus or global missions through the Magi. This morning, we are in Matthew 3, looking at the baptism of Jesus. As we look through the reading …

I’m a standing for a prayer and the reading of God’s word. We pray for the reading of God’s word. This is from Psalm 1:19. Let us pray. Father, we long to love your law that it would be our meditation all the day, that your commandments would make us wiser than our enemies, for they would be ever with us, that we would have more understanding than …

Zephaniah, chapter three, the prophets message of God’s anger and wrath have given way to the joy of God. We look to the reading of God’s word if you join me in prayer. Blessed are you, holy God. In Jesus Christ, your light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. Blessed are you, God of light. We ask you to shine in our lives …

Zephaniah, chapter 3. The prophet moves from judgment now to hope. So you look to the reading of God’s word, if you please join me in prayer. Father, indeed, you are the source of all life, and by your word, you give light to our souls. We ask that you would open the eyes of our heart that we would know your wisdom, that we would live by your under…

Prophet Zephaniah. Chapter two and three. We continue looking at the Zephaniah as we consider preparation for advent. Zephaniah was a prophet who ministered before the fall of Jerusalem. It’s a great destruction. And this week we see again more of the bad news. Hope is around the corner, but it must come through the ruins. So we look to the reading…