Standing in Awe of the Gospel’s Greatness
We need to appreciate and celebrate the greatness of the God-breathed New Testament gospel and its power to transform and shape our lives.
Sanctification
The Pains of Testing
We must be prepared for the challenges of the testing that will be sure to come in the Christian life, passing these tests without falling to the schemes of our spiritual enemy.
March 5, 2025
Questions in this episode: – Are aborted babies predestined to be aborted? – In Matthew 18 where Jesus is talking about forgiveness, are you supposed to forgive even if the other party isn’t repentant? – I’m struggling to find a good church in our rural town, how do I make the best decision on which …
Precarious Paths
In the model prayer that Jesus provided to guide us into the kinds of prayer concerns we ought to habitually bring before the Father, he included the request: “lead us not into temptation” (Mt.6:13). I would hope this recurring appeal for God to direct us around sinfully enticing…
Plan Big
We, as Christians graciously saved by God’s grace, ought to sincerely and resolutely aim at living a life that pleases the Lord.
December 10, 2024
Questions in this episode: – Can you lose your salvation? – What is the difference between the Day of the Lord, the Millennial Kingdom and the Revelation End Times? – I always feel anxious, what do I do about that? – Is a Christian living in sin still a Christian? What does 1 Corinthians 5:5 …
Battlefield of the Mind
The progress in our sanctification is fought in the battlefield of our minds. Though the Bible often enlists the word “heart” for the “organ” we must guard so carefully (Pr.4:23), it is important to remember that this Hebrew analogy refers to the faculty of our thoughts, reason, imagination, intention, and contemplation. When God looked on the corrupt…
October 8, 2024
Questions in this episode: – Sanctification, what is it and is it an on going process or is there a point we reach in this life? – Is Jesus’ name manmade? – What is your opinion on Christians being prejudiced and showing hatred toward an ethnic group of people? – When you are working on …
Motivated by Our Sanctifying Effect
We as Christians should understand the important role God has graciously allowed us to currently have in preserving, protecting, and improving the concentric spheres in which we live.
The Path of Sanctification
God is at work on us, using a variety of means to bring us into increasing holiness in the Christian life.
Soul Warfare
We are engaged in an internal battle with temptation which will rage until we are glorified, and until then will require daily vigilance and the serious application of every available godly resource.
Always on Guard
Our service in the church must always prioritize biblical truth, guarding against the selfish ambitions that fracture the church and derail the sanctification of its congregants.
Disturbed by Sin
The society in Israel had become compromised, corrupt and forgetful of God. Ezekiel was God’s mouthpiece to point out to them just how far they had regressed into worldliness, and what the divine consequences of that regression would be. Of course not everyone…
Caring About What Matters Most
Our desire to be useful to the Lord for the spiritual benefit of others must begin with a sincere devotion to the Lord and a commitment to his eternal priorities.
Getting Serious about the Counterattack
As we work hard to fight the temptation to envy, God’s Spirit fights through us and motivates us by his faithful promise to bring us final and eternal victory over all sin.
Self Examination
The Bible often reminds us to not forget. It tells us to hang on to what we’ve learned and to build on the gains that we’ve made in the Christian life. The goal is not to be nostalgic, but to be sure to “live up to what we have already attained” (Phil.3:16) “remembering what we’ve received and heard” so that we can “obey it” (Rev.3:3). This requires purposeful…
Changing to Be Like God
This is a set of messages delivered to the high school group True North at the Revival 2021 summer camp.
Biblical Preaching
A consistent intake of challenging biblical preaching is essential for your spiritual growth. The Bible tells us that we cannot be the maturing and discerning Christians God wants us to be unless we are ingesting thoughtful biblical exposition when we gather. Peter equated biblical preaching to…
Courage to Be Identified with Christ
Christians should boldly and enthusiastically seek to be identified with Christ in water baptism and in our ongoing and unabashed work of evangelism.
The Promises Through Abraham
We ought to be gratefully reassured by the impeccable promises of God which have guaranteed us a future salvation through the work of the Jewish Messiah.
Family and Warfare
The familial terms like “Father,” “brother” and “sister” which are used in the Bible to describe the Christian experience remind us of the importance of love, devotion and connectedness that ought characterize our congregation. But it is important…
Comparing Our Fruit Bearing
We must be careful to never allow our quest to bear the fruit of the Spirit to become a prideful or competitive endeavor.
Zeroing in on the Battle to Bear Fruit
Bearing the fruit of the Spirit is a battle that only results in real progressive victory over the desires of the flesh by those who are regenerate and actively reinforce and apply their repentance each day.
Fruit of the Spirit: Love
The presence and activity of God’s Spirit in our lives is displayed by the increasing expressions of Christlike love, which don’t come easy, but will come, as we understand and cooperate with what God is working to do through us.
Change
Though most of us are inherently opposed to it, change is an important part of God’s good plan for his children. You and I may prefer the cozy security of familiarity, but both the advancement of the church and personal sanctification usually involves large quantities of change. Throughout the Bible we see God
Grace and Sanctification
Unfortunately, there are many these days who have come to believe that as it relates to our sanctification, God’s grace and personal effort are mutually exclusive. They unwittingly, and in some cases intentionally, conflate their understanding of justification with their practice in sanctification
God’s Perfection
Psalm 18 states the obvious when it proclaims that “as for God, his way is perfect” (v.30). What may come as unexpected is that the psalmist is quick to testify that God in turn makes David’s way “perfect”…
Citizens of the King
Knowing that God is the sovereign owner of all things who will personally come to reign over his creation should motivate us now to live in submission to the King of kings.
Shine Your Light
Jesus was clear that he has no interest in “covert Christians.” He expects our commitment to him to “shine” forth in everything we do. He has no tolerance for…
How the Righteous Respond
Responding rightly to Christ’s redemptive work should result in a growing love for God that produces good works, love for people, and a desire to obey the Bible’s commands.