Ancient Lens What can we learn from the historical context? Context to the Letter While we don’t have a robust understanding of the context of Hebrews compared to, for example, many of Paul’s let...
One of the stunning realities of the Christian life is that in a world where everything is in some state of decay, God’s mercies never grow old. They never run out. They never are ill timed. They neve...
Preaching Commentary Opening Illustration A friend of mine has a slate roof business that has been passed down in his family. He is a true artisan in copper and slate, and has completed custom wor...
Preaching Commentary Ministry Ain't Easy Ministry is arduous. While it is difficult to deal with the day-in, day-out dramas that can come from dealing with people, imagine the grind of constan...
2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Proverbs 24:16, James 1:12, Philippians 3:13-14, Psalm 103:13-14, Hebrews 4:15-16, Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 18:1-8, Exodus 16:, Mark 5:25-34, Romans 5:3-5
God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them.
Preaching Commentary Besieged from All Angles The context of this passage is best summed up with the words recorded throughout the letter: Trouble, Distress, Suffering, Hardship, Death at work, Jar...
Jesus, Not Nero, is Supreme To understand any written document one must understand the purpose for which it was written. Sometimes this is stated overtly, as in the Preamble to The Constitution; som...
Opening Illustration A friend of mine has a slate roof business that has been passed down in his family. He is a true artisan in copper and slate, and has completed custom work on buildings as famou...
Hebrews 4:12-16, Hebrews 3:1-4, Mark 10:17-31, Mark 10:21-22, Job 23:16-17
Unbelief in the Wilderness The author of Hebrews concludes chapter 3 with the history of Israel’s unbelief in the wilderness which kept the unfaithful among them from entering into the rest of His pr...
Preaching Commentary Plenipotentiary Anyone know what a “plenipotentiary” is? Try that compound Latin word on for size! It is derived from the Latin words plenus “full” and potens “power.” It r...
Hebrews 4:12-16, Hebrews 3:1-4, Hebrews 4:15, Hebrews 4:12-13, Psalm 22:1-5, Job 23:1-9, Mark 10:17-31, Hebrews 4:12-16, Hebrews 3:1-4, Hebrews 4:12, Mark 10:21, Mark 10:22, Hebrews 4:15-16, Job 23:16-17, Mark 10:17-18
Preaching Commentary Unbelief in the Wilderness The author of Hebrews concludes chapter 3 with the history of Israel’s unbelief in the wilderness which kept the unfaithful among them from entering ...
Hebrews 9:11-14, Hebrews 9:22, Matthew 13:17, Hebrews 9:10
Preaching Commentary Opening Illustration In the movie Apollo 13 (1995) we are led through the dramatic mission that was supposed to result in a lunar landing but instead became an epic struggle ...
Preaching Commentary Jesus, Not Nero, is Supreme To understand any written document one must understand the purpose for which it was written. Sometimes this is stated overtly, as in the Preamble t...
Preaching Commentary Will the Real Jesus, Please Stand Up? Quite a few years have passed since I sat through a systematic theology class and had the professor pitch a variety of difficult to hit ba...
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23, 1 Corinthians 3:6, Romans 12:2, Matthew 7:22, Hebrews 6:4-5, Isaiah 6:9-10, Matthew 12:34-35
Preaching Commentary Preaching Angle: Preach the Word, Rest in God’s Work Maybe I tend to focus on the negative, but when I read the parable of the soils, I tend to focus on the soils that struggle...
Preaching Commentary What, then, does the author intend to communicate in verses 1-4? He proclaims that an authoritative and authentic high priest must both identify with and be distinct from those...
Psalm 34:1, Hebrews 13:15, James 1:7, Matthew 7:11, Colossians 3:23-24, Matthew 22:37-39, Psalm 51:1-2, Psalm 145:8-9, Psalm 51:15
Praise to God, eternal praise, For the love that crowns our days; Abundant Source of every joy. Let your praise our tongues employ. All to you, our God, we owe, Source whence all our blessings flow...
Will the Real Jesus, Please Stand Up? Quite a few years have passed since I sat through a systematic theology class and had the professor pitch a variety of difficult to hit balls at us regarding the...
Ancient Lens What’s the historical context? Background Structure This Psalm of David is unique. “It is the only hymn in the Old Testament composed completely as a direct address to God.” [1] It e...
Matthew 28:16-20, Acts 1:8, Hebrews 1:1-4, John 1:1-5
Preaching Summary An Incomplete Trinity? Protestant churches who lean evangelical but not charismatic have occasionally been accused of being more “binitarian” than “trinitarian.” The suggestion i...
Psalm 22:, Matthew 27:26, Mark 15:34, Hebrews 2:12
Ancient lens What’s the historical context? A Structured Complaint The Psalmist organizes his complaint against God in three sections. The first two sections dramatize the complaint (vv. 1-11 and...
Psalm 22:, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34, Hebrews 2:12
Ancient lens What’s the historical context? A Structured Complaint The Psalmist organizes his complaint against God in three sections. The first two sections dramatize the complaint (vv. 1-11 and...
Ancient Lens What’s the historical context? Background Structure This Psalm of David is unique. “It is the only hymn in the Old Testament composed completely as a direct address to God.” [1] It e...
Context Prophecy: Not Just Future-Telling When confronted with the question of the purpose of the prophetic books in the Old Testament, it is commonly supposed that their primary purpose is future t...
John 15:26-27, 16:4b-15, John 15:26-27, John 16:4-15, John 13:10, John 14:7, John 14:13-14, John 13:31-32, John 14:19-21, John 14:16, John 14:15-18, John 3:8, John 8:46, Matthew 4:8-9, Luke 4:5-6, John 14:30, John 12:31, John 6:12, Ephesians 2:2, Hebrews 12:2, John 16:12, John 14:17, John 16:14, John 16:6, John 14:6
Preaching Commentary Context The Upper Room Discourse Our Gospel reading for today takes place within what has come to be known as the “Upper Room discourse,” a stretch of Scripture unique to Jo...
Pastor: Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs. God of mercy, You provide us with Your Holy Word, that we might know and believe in Ch...
Context Prophecy: Not Just Future-Telling When confronted with the question of the purpose of the prophetic books in the Old Testament, it is commonly supposed that their primary purpose is future t...
Psalm 98, for both Israel and the Church, is an intriguing statement about God’s work in Israel and the world, especially in regard to how they are related. Ancient Lens What's the historical c...
“Holy, holy, holy.” What are they saying? Have you ever wondered that? What does that mean? Many people have tried to understand what God’s holiness means. Some describe it as his perfect morality. Go...