When God Calls

08.31.08 Proper 17 Exodus 3:1-15 On May 31, 1792, a little congregation in Nottingham, England heard a shoemaker preach about people far away in need of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He had a vision of reaching those multitudes, and he called on this congregation to catch the vision. "Expect great things from God!" said William Carey. "Attempt great things for God!"

The Church Christ Built

08.24.08 Proper 16 Matt. 16:13-20 Only three times in the sacred record is the word church ever on the lips of our Lord Jesus. These three times are in our text for today and in chapter 18 of this same gospel. He did not use the word the way we typically do. We speak of the church as a building or as a denomination. On the lips of Jesus and indeed in all the New Testament, the church is a society of believers called out of the world by Christ, gathered around his divine person and provided with his almighty power.

Overcoming Bitterness

08.17.08 Proper 15 Gen. 45:1-15 The pastor was devastated when the church he had served for 12 years rejected him. Ignoring his self-sacrificing service and faithful ministry of the Word, the lay leadership decided it was time for a change. For months afterward, the increasingly bitter minister opened his newspaper to the obituaries every morning. He wanted to see which one of those deacons or their wives God had smitten dead. It did not help when a few of the old saints in the congregation began to appear on those pages instead of the troublemakers.

Henry Allan Ironside: Expositor of the Word

My introduction to the expositions of H. A. Ironside (1876-1951) came in my 17th summer. Working in Texas and Arkansas away from family and friends, I spent considerable time reading. One afternoon I visited a Christian bookstore and selected Ironside's Expositions in Joshua...