In between Jesus' first and second comings it is frequently difficult to see what the good God is up to, but through faith in the power of his gospel we are called by God to always be joyful, always be praying, and always be thankful to him for the sanctification...
Our first impulse when someone we know and love goes through a season of suffering tends to be either to try to assert ourselves too much – by talking too much, using trite cliches, or by trying to cheer our friend up by distracting them, or by avoiding them...
Psalm 126 begins with God's people rejoicing that he has restored their fortunes but, when in the middle of the Psalm, it abruptly turns to a plea that God would restore their fortunes in the future it becomes clear that the first three verses were not realized...
John the Baptist's clothing, diet, and desert-dwelling marked him as a countercultural prophet against Israel's leaders and way of life; his message was a proclamation that God was about to deliver his people through a coming anointed one; and his presence in...
Israel is God’s vineyard, but she bore no fruit and her enemies destroyed her. So God determined to rescue his vineyard by sending his son to be the supreme vintner, but also to become himself the true vine. Readings and sermon were delivered by Pastor Aaron Mueller....
The two most common notions in the West of what makes a man masculine are, on one hand, a physically strong, domineering man who leads through sheer force of physicality or personality and, on the other hand, a sweet, sensitive man who refuses to assert himself. Both...
The prophet Isaiah knew God had the power and potential to act to deliver his people, but he was also simultaneously aware that the empty righteousness of God's people had put up a huge barrier between him and them. The solution, as always, is to admit that the...
In Psalm 148 all creation – the powers of the heavenly beings, all of earthly nature, and all human beings from every conceivable background – spend eternity in endless praise of the creator God and his Messiah. Readings and sermon were delivered by Pastor...
In 1 Timothy 4, Paul is warning Timothy against the asceticism which would argue that particular foods are bad or good by pointing out that "nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving." In other words, the ability to be thankful to God for...
The Western Liberalism of John Locke, Rousseau, and the founding fathers of America, promised to set us free from the tyranny of kings and priests. That the God of the Christian Bible would be a casualty in this great purge seemed to many to be a necessary step on...
