The Eagle Has Turned (Hosea 8:1-14)

The Lord protected his people as an eagle hovering over its young. The Lord saw to it that he continued to protect his people so that they survived their wilderness time. The Lord is the great protecting Eagle. However, the Lord now uses the nations to come against Israel. They are the eagle poised to attack God's people. We might think that God has given up his purpose for his people. However, Hosea gives a subtle reminder that the Lord will use Egypt again to reshape and mould his people.

The Redemption Scandal (Hosea 3:1-5)

Hosea is commanded by the Lord to go and bring his adulterous wife hom. Hosea must pay the cost to buy her back. We might wonder what God is doing through the prophet until we realize that Israel is not a distant people, but it is a picture of us. We continue to desire the false gods, but it is the Lord who continues to overwhelm us and woo us to him. Praise be to God that he redeems such a people and may we not push the boundaries of his grace.

#expositorypreaching #hoseasermon #gospelpreaching#expositorypreaching #hoseasermon

Removing our Shame (Hosea 2:14-23)

The Lord promises to transform his people. This is not some outward makeover, but internally. We will move from being people enslaved to Baal's ownership and idolatry to a people transformed by the Lord. How much we need to take comfort in the Lord showing his mercy and compassion to us in Christ Jesus. #expositorypreaching #hoseaseries #gospelpreaching

Steadfast Love Endures Beyond Prison (2 Timothy 1:1-7)

Paul confers a greeting to Timothy that sounds consistent. However, Paul adds “mercy” to his greeting to Timothy. This is language the echos the Old Testament concept of steadfast love. Paul is in prison writing a friend who has grieved the loss of Paul, a friend who wonders if he will see Paul again, and so how is the Lord still showing his steadfast mercy? Is God’s steadfast mercy able to be conferred beyond Paul's current circumstances? How does this assure us that Paul's greeting applies even to us today?

Cross Ethics (2) (Matthew 18:6-14)

We can say that not caring about the little people is just a contemporary problem.  However, if you look at the Old Testament and Israel’s ideal call they were a nation to be in the forefront to care for the widow and the orphan.  Are these the only little ones that Christ is expressing his concern?  Can we be a little one?  What does it mean that the Lord cares for the little ones?  Does it mean that as the little ones we have a free pass to sin because others made us stumble?  What does the cross teach us about living out the Gospel for our Lord?  

God’s Comforting Oath (Isaiah 45:23)

Israel is in exile when Isaiah writes chapter 45.  You would think that all is lost because Israel has failed, they are in a foreign land, and God should be done with them.  The Lord does not discard his people, but binds himself to deliver his people out of exile.  What does this deliverance teach us about God’s name?  What does this deliverance teach us about the Lord’s redemptive promise?

Reviewing Christ’s Mission (Matt. 14:34-36)

Christ goes to a small town and all the people come out to Christ.  They worship him and bring their sick to him.  What is the purpose of this narrative?  What does this narrative teach us about our need for Christ?  How do we approach our Lord as HIs redeemed?

(We apologize for the mic issues about halfway into the sermon.  We had to cut a few minutes of the sermon, but you can still get the gist of the sermon)

A Prophet Without Honor (Matthew 13:53-58)

Christ is our redeeming messiah.  You would think that Christ entering town would be a very rich blessing because the Lord would teach the intentions of Scripture.  However, Christ is not received with such honor in his hometown.  What does this tell us about the Word of God?  What does Nazareth teach us about our potential reaction to the Lord’s Word?

The Gospel Key (John 20:21-23)

Our Lord took on real flesh and has entered history to live a perfect life, die on the cross, be raised to life, and ascend to heaven.  He gives the sure promise that those who respond to the gospel in faith have life right now and true life in the age to come.  However, those who do not respond in faith do not and will not have life in the age to come.  His assurance and warning is that how one responds to the gospel in this day has ramifications for the life to come.  So, what is essential to the Gospel message to have life?  Do we really need to believe that Christ took on the flesh?

Mysterious Knowledge Revealed (Matthew 13:17-30)

We sit with the disciples to hear about the parable of the sower.  Christ then continues with this theme to talk about a false sower. Does this mean that Satan has equal power and authority?  Can we be sure that the Lord really will accomplish His goal?  How do we know that the Lord is really capable to finish what He starts? 

Living it Out: Gospel Informed Ethics (Matthew 7:01-14

Our Lord gives us the warning about being judgmental.  This is somewhat strange because our Lord will judge the religious rulers in Matthew’s gospel, our Lord pronounces judgments against others, and our Lord does not approve of sin.  So, how can our Lord rebuke us for being judgmental when Christ is the judgmental judge?

Worship Elements: Sacraments General (Romans 4:11)

The Apostle Paul speaks Abraham first having faith and then receiving he sign. This would seem that the sacraments are a sign of our faith rather than a sign of the covenant.  This has profound implications because this would mean that first we would profess our faith and then receive the sacrament.  So, why would we as reformed people baptize infants if this contradicts the Apostle Paul? Why would infants potentially receive the sign if they have not first professed faith like Abraham did? 

Worship Elements: Preaching: Word or Gospel? (2 Timothy 4:1-5)

We have been considering at the language of the Belgic Confession that identifies the preaching of the Gospel as a mark of the true church.  If the reformers claim that a mark of the church the the preaching of the gospel then why does Paul exhort Timothy to preach the word?  Does our confession need to be rewritten?  Does Paul understand the preaching of the word to be the preaching of the Gospel?

Worship Elements: Preaching: Redundant Gospel? (1 Cor. 1:18)

We might think that we know the Gospel and we know the Gospel well.  So, why would we think that we need to continually hear the Gospel preached if we know the Gospel message?  Is there a point in our Christians lives when we move beyond the Gospel message?  What wisdom can be gleaned from church history that would shed some light on this issue of Gospel preaching? 

Worship Elements: Assurance (Micah 7:18-20)

If we already know the gospel then why do we need to hear about our sins being forgiven?  Why would we want to talk about the forgiveness of our sins week after week?

Thanking God (4-7)

Paul is thankful for this man who creates more stress for Paul while Paul has enough to think about while being in Prison.  Why is Paul thankful for this additional work?  What can Paul celebrate in the midst of his circumstances?  What does this teach us about a true grace-centered and Gospel-centered joy?

Friday Fools (1 Corinthians 1:18)

Christ assures us that the folly of Christ’s cross is salvation manifested by the power of God.  How can this be?  This sounds impossible because the cross is a method of execution.  Why would we want this symbol?  The tragedy is that we are tempted to sanitize this symbol, but why is that so tragic?  What could be the possible benefit of this cross?

Wounded for OUR Transgressions (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

The servant is the one who secured us by His work.  So, how is the servant going to remove the offense of exile from His people?

No, You Are Wicked! (Job 20:1-29)

It is time for Zophar to express his concerns regarding Job’s convictions.  He is going to continue his conviction about traditional wisdom making clear that this is the wisdom that has been manifested since man walked the earth.  If Zophar has surveyed human history then he has to be right in his assessment of the problem right?

Suffering Servant:Suffering Warrior (Isa. 52:13-53:12)

When Isaiah speaks of the suffering servant we think that this is a champion who will prevail and will not falter.  You would hope that a warrior would be one who would show up with armor, and adorned in such a way that the nations would tremble to be in his midst.  However, this is not how the Lord conducts this war.  What does this servant look like?  What kind of servant and warrior do we see?