Archives for February 2017

The Church's One Foundation: Spiritual Gifts and the Universal Church (Sermon Audio) This week's sermon looked more closely at the spiritual gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:810. I argued that the sign gifts were given to the apostles and prophets to "lay the foundation" of the universal church, which is described as Christ's body in 1 Corinthians 12:13. Just as Paul des...

It has been said of Mark's Gospel that it is a passion narrative with an extended introduction. The same could be said of all the Gospels. In each account, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John introduce Jesus of Nazareth as the long-awaited Messiah of Israel. In various ways they display his divine power and human personality. Yet, with each evangelist, the focus of each Gospel t...

Holy Spirit Power: The Gift, the Giver, the Goal, and the Gifts (sermon audio) Despite their obvious flaws, Paul loved the church at Corinth. And in his section on spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 1214, he aims to help his spiritual children come to a true understanding of the Holy Spirit and the purpose of the spiritual gifts. Important for us standing twenty centuries ...

This afternoon we are taking 35 youth and leaders up to Pennsylvania for our annual winter retreat which is one of our favorite ministry events of the year. We are driving up this afternoon for a weekend filled with fellowship and teaching at the Greenwood Hills Retreat Center. From Friday evening to Sunday morning we will gather for five sessions of singing, teaching,...

There are a lot of cultural challenges to 1 Corinthians 11:216, a passage that invites discussion about the trinity, gender roles, the use of head coverings, and the role of angels in public worship. Tomorrow I will preach on this passage, but today I share a number of quotations from various commentaries related to various cultural and theological challenges in this passa...

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,not like the covenant that I made with their fatherson the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.For they did not continue in my covenant,and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.For this ...