Words, Words, Words.... For Those Who Have Ears to Hear

Andrew Klavan

February 26, 2024

Excerpt:

But at the core of the Christian faith is the confirmation that the human experience reflects reality. It can be gotten right, and its truths can be spoken. When Moses saw the burning bush, he saw the universe in full, creation and destruction without end. From that eternal process, came the voice of God and his name: I AM. The dance of being emanated from a person, a person who could speak his name and his nature. Because of that, I AM could ultimately take human form and speak the truth about our lives.

The Word — and all the words, words, words with which he spoke of it — became flesh.

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.   Read it all...

Philanthropy in the Desert...

First Things

by Hans Boersma

2/23/24

It is meet and right that Lent should start with Matthew 4. Its first sentence sums up not just Lent but the entire Christian life. “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matt. 4:1). We may apply this to ourselves: “Then was I led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” Our brief span of life is the wilderness. The Spirit himself has led us here. His purpose is that we be tempted by the devil.

This sentence contains a great mystery: Why would God himself—the Holy Spirit—lead us into this world so that we might be tempted by the devil? I cannot solve this mystery, for God's mysteries are not like puzzles. They cannot be solved; they are meant to be lived instead.

When Jesus comes into the wilderness and the devil tempts him, he does not ask, “Why does the Spirit lead me here? What rational sense can I make of this?” What he does instead is fight the devil, with the Scriptures as his weapon. Read it all...

It Was Finished Upon That Cross...

 

 It Was Finished Upon That Cross: CityAlight

How I love the voice of Jesus

On the cross of Calvary

He declares his work is finished

He has spoken this hope to me

Though the sun had ceased its shining

Though the war appeared as lost

Christ had triumphed over evil

It was finished upon that cross.

Now the curse it has been broken

Jesus paid the price for me

Full, the pardon he has offered

Great, the welcome that I receive

Boldly I approach my Father

Clothed in Jesus’ righteousness

There is no more guilt to carry

It was finished upon that cross.

Death was once my great opponent

Fear once had a hold on me

But the Son who died to save us

Rose that we would be free indeed!

Death was once my great opponent

Fear once had a hold on me

But the Son who died to save us

Rose that we would be free indeed!

YES He Rose that we would be free indeed!

Free from every plan of darkness

Free to live and free to love

Death is dead and Christ is risen!

It was finished upon that cross.

Onward to eternal glory

To my Saviour and my God

I rejoice in Jesus’ victory

It was finished upon that cross.

Sermon: Matthew 6:5-15 Part 2

 

Pastor Rob Burns: Matthew 6:5-15 Part 2 

 February 11, 2024

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.  But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.  Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

 Give us this day our daily bread,

 and forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

 And lead us not into temptation,

    but deliver us from evil.

For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Love Among the Ashes...

  

February 14 this year brings the rare convergence of Ash Wednesday and Valentine’s Day. Rarer still is that it will happen in 2029 as well, twice in one decade. The two observances will not meet again until 2170. That rarity highlights an apparent disparity: “sackcloth and ashes” seem uneasy neighbors with roses and chocolates. What does penitential fasting have in common with romantic indulgence? When we look a little deeper, the coincidence of these holidays unveils a surprising complementarity, as each can bring out the true meaning of the other. Read it all...

Sermon: Matthew 6:5-8

 

Pastor Rob Burns: Matthew 6:5-15 Part 1 

February 4, 2024

 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

 “And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. -Matthew 6:5-8

A Moment in History Pregnant with Purpose...

Excerpt: 

Do you question that God’s hand is sculpting the challenges we face today?  If so, it is never too late to “awaken” to God’s truth and, through His truth, to find implacable strength.  As one of the most popular Christian hymns ever written ebulliently declares: “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound / That saved a wretch like me! / I once was lost, but now am found; / Was blind, but now I see.”  John Newton, an English slave-trader turned evangelical cleric and abolitionist, wrote that stanza, coincidentally enough, around the same time that Americans were declaring their independence from Great Britain.  Throughout history, spiritual awakenings have consistently provided the timely foundations for every great struggle for human liberty.  Ours is not at all different.

Enlightenments are messy.  Social and political revolutions are fraught with unpleasant moments.  Every quest for human emancipation is filled with heartaches, setbacks, and miseries.  Yet it is what we do with the obstacles before us that changes the course of history.  We are not expected to pick up the weight of history, heave it over our shoulders, and carry it to the place it belongs.  We are nudgers.  We push and pull at the current and help shape its path.  You feel that impulse in your soul, don’t you?  That’s because God is nudging each one of us, too.  Read it all!

Sermon: Matthew 6:1-4

 

Pastor Rob Burns: Matthew 6:1-4 

January 25, 2024

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.

 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.  But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,  so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  -Matthew 6:1-4