Category Archives: Sermon

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July 6, 2010

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Joel, Sermon

1st Sermon on Joel

Here is an outline of my first sermon on Joel.

Sermon: A Repentant People
Joel 1:1-20

I. Explication/Exegesis

Introduction to Joel
Joel never mentions any specific sin. He only mentions God’s judgment upon Israel for their sins. We also have no idea when Joel was written. There have been various guesses from 700 to 300 B.C. But John Calvin rightly says that we have no idea. Joel is generic. God in his providence has given us a book that walks us through repentance and the fruits that come from that repentance. It is as if God said, “Give my people something to use anytime I bring my judgment upon them, anytime my wrath rains down upon them.”

Joel is structured into two main sections with those two sections each divided into two sub-sections.
Joel 1:1-2:17 Israel is being judged by God and needs to repent.
Joel 1:1-20 A locust plague has come as judgment from God. Israel needs to repent.
Joel 2:1-17 The army of the Lord is coming. Israel needs to repent.

Joel 2:18-3:21 When Israel repents God will pour out his blessing upon her.
Joel 2:18-32 When Israel repents God will restore the land and pour out His Spirit.
Joel 3:1-21 When Israel repents God will judge the nations and restore Israel to her former glory.

II. Joel is telling us what a repentant people look like. This is a corporate repentance, not a private one.
a. A Repentant People have woken up to God’s judgment.
i. God wakes us up by His Word. (vs. 1)
ii. God wakes us up by taking away his blessings. (vs.
iii. God wakes us up by taking away true worship (vs. 9 & 16)

b. A Repentant People grieve over their sin.
i. Shame is key sign of a grieving over sin. Understanding we are exposed before God, that all our thoughts and desires are laid bare before his eyes.
ii. Lamentation is another sign of true grief. Here we have weeping like a young bride whose husband has died. A young bride who looked forward to long life and many years with her spouse, but in a blink the spouse is gone. The future forever changed.
iii. Wailing is the final picture Joel gives us of grieving over our sins.
iv. Emotion not a requirement. Too often those things which are commanded in Scripture are things we think should show up spontaneously. Rejoice Paul says. But we say I do not feel like rejoicing so if I rejoices I am being untrue. One of the great lies of romanticism is that we only do what we feel like doing. If we do what we don’t feel like doing we are being untrue to ourselves.

c. A Repentant People cry out to God.
i. The people are called upon to cry out. (vs. 14)
ii. Joel cries out to God. (vs.19)
iii. Even the beasts cry out to God (vs. 20)One of the primary places we cry out to God is in the worship service

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April 28, 2010

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Micah, Sermon

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Sermon: Micah 4:1-5

Here is my sermon outline from last Sunday. If you want to listen to it you can find it here. (As you can see I have not yet figured out how to indent.)

Christ Church of Morgantown
4th Sunday of Easter
April 25th, 2010
Sermon: The Kingdom of Christ
Micah 4:1-5

Exordium
What is the Kingdom of Christ? If I was to ask you to describe it, what would say it looks like? What characterizes the Kingdom of Christ? Can we even bring the Kingdom of Christ into the present age?
All of the Christian life and the life of the Church can be grouped into three different phases: definitive, progressive and final. Here are some examples.

Personal Salvation
Definitive-Justification
Progressive-Sanctification
Final-Glorification

Corporate Salvation
Definitive-Church was saved at the Cross
Progressive-Church is being saved throughout the ages
Final-Church will be saved when Christ returns

The Kingdom of Christ
Definitive-The Kingdom came with Christ (Matthew 10:7, 12:28)
Progressive-The Kingdom comes in history (Matthew 6:10)
Final: The Kingdom will come when Christ returns (Matthew 25:31-34)

Therefore we must not push what we read here in Micah 4-5 into some future heavenly state. Yes it will be perfectly realized in the new heavens and new earth. But we are to drag the future into the present. We are to make the Kingdom incarnate among the nations of the world. This will never be perfect on earth, just as our sanctification will never be complete on earth. But we are still to pursue our sanctification. So too, we are still to pursue the building of the Kingdom of Christ here on earth.
So Micah gives us some characteristics of the kingdom here at the beginning of chapter 4. We are to take these characteristics and weave them into the life of our church and in our homes.

Exegesis
1. The Kingdom of Christ is glorious (vs. 1)
a. A great reversal from 3:12 to 4:1. In 3:12 the Kingdom is plowed under and destroyed. Here is 4:1 it is lifted up above all mountains. The kingdom has been raised from the dead.
b. Do we value the Church as we ought? Do we despise the glorious kingdom which God has set up?
c. Are we grateful for our inclusion in this glorious kingdom? Do we realize that our adoption in Christ has brought us into the greatest kingdom? Do we take this for granted or feel as if we deserve it?

2. The Kingdom of Christ is centered on God’s Word (vs. 2)
a. The picture here is of a people who hunger and thirst for God’s Word. This is not a people who see God’s Word as a duty or chore. God’s Word is their delight.
b. They are not going to learn God’s Word so they might have more information. They are going to learn God’s Word so they might “walk in his paths.” The goal is obedience.
c. Do we long for God’s Word? Is this what we hunger for? Do we simply know about the Bible? Or do we obey it?

3. The Kingdom of Christ is community (vs. 2, 5)
a. Note the language in this section. It is not “I” am going up to God’s house. It is “let us go to the mountain of the Lord.” And then in verse 5 “we will walk in the name of the Lord our God.”
b. We need to see ourselves not as individuals going to worship God. Or as individuals trudging through the Christian life. We need to see ourselves as belonging to the throng of God’s people who ascend to Mt. Zion. Even when we are alone, we are still united to our brothers and sisters in Christ by the Spirit. Our first identity is not “I,” but we.
c. Illustration: One of the few failings of Pilgrims Progress, is that the picture given of the Christian life is that of an individual pushing his way through the Christian. The Biblical picture is normally that of a group/community

4. The Kingdom of Christ is Peace (vss. 3-5)
a. Because Christ reigns (vs. 3a)
b. Because all members work for the welfare of the other members(vs. 3b)
c. Because God provides for His people (vs. 4)
i. cross-reference Philippians 4:6-7
d. Because our hearts are undivided (vs. 5)
i. Verse 5 gives a picture of a people who are fully devoted to God and refuse to be pushed off the path of righteousness.

Final Application
Do those who see us see an accurate picture of the Kingdom of Christ? It will never be perfect on earth. Are our homes and churches filled with the peace of Christ? Do we live in community? Are we developing community? Is the Word of God our life, our bread? Finally, do we realize that we belong to the most glorious Kingdom that has ever existed?

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December 30, 2008

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Sermon, Worship

Sermons on Worship

If you attended our worship service you would notice that we do things different from most contemporary evangelical churches. Our services are more liturgical with responses, confession of sin on our knees, singing of psalms, weekly communion, the Lord’s prayer, and the Apostles’ Creed. I am often asked why we do what we do. So this past Lord’s Day I preached the first part of a two part series entitled Why We Worship the Way We Do. This past week I covered the basic structure of the Lord’s Service. Next week I will dig into some of the details.

For those who have visited our church and would like to know, on a basic level, why our worship looks the way it does I encourage you to listen to these. You can download the sermon at the link above. If you have not visited with us and are unfamiliar with liturgical worship, I would recommend you look at our order of service before listening to the sermons.

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November 5, 2008

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Sermon

Sermon Outline, November 2, 2008

My sermons can now be downloaded online from our church website. I have been preaching a series on the Church entitled Images of Zion. This week’s sermon was on the Church as the family and household of God. It can be found here.

Here is the outline of the sermon with some extra Scripture references.

The Doctrine Expounded
Christ emphasized that all biological relationships were secondary to a man’s relationship to Christ and the Church. This seen in several passages from the Gospels.

Matthew 10:34-37-The context of this passage is the sending out of the twelve as sheep among wolves. Verse 21 is important as Christ notes that with His coming families will be torn apart because one member chooses Christ and another does not. In Verses 34-37 Christ tells us that despite being the Prince of Peace, peace is not always the result of the preaching of the Gospel.

Mark 10:20-35- Here Mark sandwiches a story of Christ being harassed by the scribes (vs. 22-30) inbetween a story of Christ being harassed by his family (20-21 & 31-35). It is clear from this passage that one’s biological relations were trumped by one’s relationship to God. The one’s who do God’s will are the true family of Christ.

John 9-This the story of the man born blind and healed by Christ. What needs to noted is that the man is kicked out the synagogue for following Christ. When this happens his parents are left behind.

Other Scriptures of note: Matthew 28;10, Luke 11:27-28, Romans 16:1, 23, I Corinthians 16:20, Ephesians 2:19 & 6:23, I Timothy 5:1-2, and Hebrews 2:10-18.

All of these, plus numerous other Scriptures, point us to the fact that the Church is the family of God. The Church is the great family, with God as Father, Church as Mother, Christ as the Brother.

Implications for Biological Families
1. Obedience to Christ and His Word trumps all other authority.

2. Our families are to model the Church, the great family. When someone enters our home they should see the Church in minature.

3. Our children are first and foremost are brothers and sisters in Christ. They are sons & daughters for a time, but we should raise them to stand beside as fellow members of God’s household.

Implications for the Church Family
1. We are all here by God’s grace. Not a one of us deserves to eat the table or be called sons of God. Illustration: Mephibosheth (II Samuel 9). This should shape how we treat those within the body of Christ. If Jesus is not ashamed to call them brethern then we shouldn’t be either. This should also shape who we invite. Illustration-Jonah. Too often because we think a lot of ourselves we are not excited to invite to Christ those whose souls are dark and messy. When we understand that were dead and Christ made us alive, we will cease being proud and bring to Christ all who will come, no matter what problems they bring with them.

2. We should never forget the grand privilege of being sons of God. We call upon our Father in Heaven who hears our prayers and cares for us. One of our primary self-images should be that of children of God.

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September 13, 2008

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Bible, Ephesians, Sermon

Marriage as Death: The Wife’s Role

Here are some notes from a sermon I preached two weeks ago. These are bare bones. I will try to post some on the following sermon for husbands some time next week.

Marriage as Death: Ephesians 5:22-33

Introduction
Having a good marriage is not simply about studying the “practical” stuff in the Scriptures. Men you want to be good husbands study the life of Christ. Matthew can be as big a help in marriage as Proverbs. Women if you want to be good wives study the Church. Revelation can be a big a help in marriage as Ephesians 5 is.

Context
Here in Ephesians 5:22-33 Paul is expanding on his discussion of what it means to be filled with the Spirit. Paul tells the church at Ephesus that they are not to get drunk with wine, but rather are to be filled with the Spirit. This filling is described by four characteristics.
1. Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
2. Singing & making melody in our hearts
3. Giving thanks always
4. Submitting to one another

Then under this final category of submitting Paul goes on to give us three specific relationships in which submission is required and how that submission looks.
1. Husbands and Wives
2. Parents and Children
3. Slaves and Masters

Body of the Sermon
Wives and husbands are each given one central command. Wives are told to submit to their own husbands as to the Lord. Husbands are told to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. For wives what is in view is Christ’s office. When they see their husbands they are to see a lord and king, who loves them. For husbands what is in view is the work of Christ. Husbands are to constantly be asking themselves does my work in my wife’s life bear resemblance Christ’s work in and for the life of the Church.

For many wives this passage is very familiar and therefore we can assume that we know what is being said. More than that we can assume that we are obeying the commands put forth here. With familiarity often comes assumptions. This can be deadly if we do not put our lives under the spotlight. Wives do not assume that just because you know this passage that you are actually obeying it.

It is also very easy to take the edge off of this passage. We like to add qualifiers and “yeah, buts” to Paul’s admonition. But Paul never backs away from what is said here. It is the straight stuff. When a wife hears her husband she is supposed to hear the voice of Christ. She is supposed to listen as the sheep listen to the shepherd. (John 10:4, 27)

A wife by submitting to her husband is protected from submitting to other men who would seek to degrade or take advantage of her. By following the commands given by Paul she is actually setting up a barrier around herself. Too many women do not see this and end up submitting to various people, especially employers, because they do not submit to their husband.

It is important to have a proper view of the Church if we are to have a proper view of women. The picture Paul has is not a meek, quiet woman who is stuck in the corner somewhere why her husband does the important work. The picture of the Church given to us in Scripture is quite different from what we see in many Amish cultures and the like. The Church is glorious, powerful, a queen who has the King of Kings as her groom. She is not to be trifled with. The Church cries out to her Lord and regularly lifts prayers up to Him. The Church in the end will be robed with glory and garments of white. A wife should seek to be a living, incarnate image of the Church. As we will discuss next week, a husband should seek to make sure she becomes that.

Here are a few diagnostic questions for wives to ask to see how they are doing.

Is your default set to yes? Do you regularly question your husband’s decisions? Is your initial reaction to one of his ideas positive or negative? Are you constantly reviewing in your mind the things that could go wrong if your husband decides to go through with it?

Do you see your husband as lord? (I Peter 3:6) We do not live in the Middle Ages anymore, but you still need to see him as a king. More specifically your king.

Do you seek to glorify him? This is a primary purpose of the Church. She is to bring glory to Christ. Are you imaging the Church in this area. Are his vocation and interests central for you? Do you find yourself downplaying the importance of what he is doing? Do you publically lift him up?

Do you make small things big? Do you take minor disagreements and make them into major ones? If you do this is a sign that you are not properly submitting to him.