Archives for January 2017

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and...

This Sunday we start up a new cycle of Discover OBC classes. And in our first part we look at the Gospel and the Church. I love teaching about these two subjects, because they are at the core of Christianity. The gospel is the message which brings hope to a sinful world; the church is the community created by that gospel and commissioned to protect and proclaim that gospel...

Abortion is a bloody evil that has taken the lives of almost sixty million children since 1973. Rightly, Christians (and non-Christians like Secular Pro-Life) have stood up against this modern-day holocaust. Through prayer vigils, sermons, information campaigns, legislation, and pro-life marches, much ground has been gained ground in the fight against abortion. But much gr...

An abortifacient is any man-made device which leads to an intentional miscarriage. Typically, this word is used to describe drugs or devices which terminate a pregnancy. But I want to suggest that it is not only chemicals and syringes that abort babies. Ideas do too! For instance, when a Christian learns their method of birth control kills embryos, they change. Why? Becau...

We believe that all human life is sacred and created by God in His image. Human life is of inestimable worth in all its dimensions, including pre-born babies, the aged, the physically or mentally challenged, and every other stage or condition from conception through natural death. We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life....

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. John 15:78 Yesterday I preached a message on disciple-making that, for me, is the culmination of about 15 years of thinking on discipleship and Christian hedonism. In college God used...

Concert of Prayer Postponed...

You Are What You Loveby James K. A. Smith is a needed corrective to overly cerebral approaches to discipleship. It is a challenge to followers of Christ to evaluate how 'secular liturgies' are training our hearts to love things other than God and our neighbor. And it presents a vision of discipleship that does more than just cement spiritual disciplines in new believers; i...

Hey Brother, Can You Share Some Change? It's probably happened to you. You're at church one Sunday morning and see a face that doesn't look familiar. Wanting to be a good host, you approach and introduce yourself. "Are you new to OBC?" you ask. "Well I've been attending for about 6 months," they reply. After overcoming your initial embarrassment for failing to recogniz...

Yesterday, Ben Purves, our Pastor for Student Ministries at Occoquan Bible Church, continued our series on spiritual disciplines. What follows are some discussion questions and resources to go deeper in Psalm 119....

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "The LORD is my portion," says my soul, "therefore I will hope in him." Lamentations 3:2224 With every new day, God grants new mercies. And the same is true with the dawning of a new year. Just as Israel participated in annual feasts that...

As we begin 2017, our church has taken January to focus on a handful of spiritual disciplinespersonal and public. The first in our series is prayer. But instead of just commending its importance and techniques to help, I took the route of seeing how God forms desire for prayer in our hearts. By drawing near to God, by remembering the promises of his Word, and by desiring ...