Bible, theology, culture, etc.
While recently reflecting on George Herbert’s poem, The Agony, I was reminded of an excellent sermon my former pastor, Ryan Fullerton, preached from the book of Proverbs on a Biblical perspective on alcohol. In the sermon, Ryan looked at how the Bible describes alcohol both as a good and dangerous gift from God. Here, I want to briefly summarize … Continue reading The Blessing of Wine
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5aAujaDgr570UtzpJGBdv0?si=1e60095d93fc4d5e The following is an unedited sermon manuscript; for an explanation of my sermon manuscripts, click here.*Originally preached August 21st, 2022* Digory was scared. But not quite nearly as scared as his Uncle Andrew. Andrew was a cruel, small man. His wickedness was blunted by his cowardice, so he was never as bad as he could have … Continue reading Loving Truth (2 Thess 2:9-12)
Jesus holds out a cup towards us and says, "Taste this blessing." Yet, when the cup comes around to Jesus, there is no blessing, there is only wrath.
The message of Jude could be summarized as this: We must contend for the faith against false teaching for one another with mercy and fear.
In my sermon from two weeks ago, I reminded our church of the critical role courage plays in the Christian life. We currently live in a culture of "safetyism" that promotes safety as the highest good, and risk/danger as an unequivocal evil. I was reminded of the wonderful character transformation of Bilbo Baggins from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. Bilbo is a typical … Continue reading Bilbo’s Bravery and Christian Courage
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1dG2PWT8MtyoJN6aZk6gHk?si=8c22a3186c0f4673 The following is an unedited sermon manuscript; for an explanation of my sermon manuscripts, click here.*Originally preached August 7th, 2022* Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see … Continue reading Sight (John 20:24-31)
But the greatest hope, of course, comes by holding forward the gospel and praying for God to transform hearts so that enemies become brothers, sinners become saints, and the heart is transformed by the Holy Spirit, not merely restrained by the sword of the State.
There are two ways to think about the Church: all Christians across time and space, or the local assemblies, like the churches we see as we drive down a street. The universal, "capital-C" Church represents all Christians across time and space–thus it is invisible. It includes every Christian alive on the planet today, as well as residing … Continue reading The Mission of the Church: A Forge of Worship
If someone's vision is that we ought to govern the State the way we govern the Church (with the Law of Christ), or their missions are basically the same–if that is someone's definition of "Christian nationalism", then I could not more strongly reject it. But if someone's vision is that Christians should only rely on secular arguments or a moral consensus when it comes to legislation, civic norms, etc., then I would strongly disagree with that.
Religion is not a compartment that can be hermetically sealed off from the rest of life. It isn't a room in the house of your life, it is the foundation the entire home is built on.
Marc Sims 