Behold! Your King (Zechariah 9:9-17)

Christ rides a donkey into the holy city of Jerusalem. This is upsetting to the rulers, but we might wonder why is riding on a donkey so upsetting? Why do the people chant praises to Christ as their king when he is on a donkey rather than a war horse? Zechariah provides the backdrop to this prophecy. Zechariah declares that the Lord will establish his vision of peace unlike the fallen nations. It is not through the war horse, but through the king laying down and taking up his life to establish the Lord's eternal kingdom.

(Sunday August 14, 2022)

Blessed are the Peacemakers

Jeremiah gives a very severe warning that we are not to say , “peace, peace when there is no peace. “ Christ states in Matthew 10, ““Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth.” If we are not to broadcast peace, and Christ does not bring peace, then how can peacemakers be blessed? What is a peacemaker and can we know if we are one?

Cross Ethics (3) (Matthew 18:15-20)

Christ commands us to confront Christians who offend us or we see in sin.  This is an obligation for us under Christ’s cross or christian ethics.  However, Christ also commands us to have our concern fixated on the log that is in our own eyes before considering the spec in another’s eye.  So, how do we maintain a consistent application of these two commands?  How do we live out the cross ethic for the honor and glory of our God without being a busy bodied people?

Sojourning Under the Sun: Sabbath Silence (1 Thessalonians 4:11)

The Apostle Paul exhorts us to live a life to the Lord without stirring up controversy.  Why would Paul say such things and what does Paul by living a peaceful and quiet life?

You Can Be Right with God (Job 22:1-30)

Job has made the case that life does not always go as planned and the Lord does not always deal with the wicked as we would like the Lord to deal with the wicked.  Eliphaz now takes another turn to persuade Job that Job is not seeing these things clearly.  What does Eliphaz have to say to Job?  Are these going to be encouraging words about how one finds their path to peace in the Lord?

Serenity Now! (1 Timothy 6:1-10)

This life can overwhelm us at times.  If we are honest, many of the things which overwhelm us are self inflicted.  We want the perfect job, house, marriage, or whatever it might be for us.  The reality is that we can quickly become a dog chasing its own tail while believing our own tale.  So, where do we find peace right now?  Where do we find a happy place where we can retreat?  How can we have a true peace right now even in a fallen world?

What is Our Peace? (Micah 5:5-15)

Many times when we think of peace we think of things in our lives going well for us right now.  However, this peace is still working out despite Christians who are tragically being martyred and it was working out when saints were martyred.  How can we find peace in all circumstances of life?  How do we find peace when we are among the nations in a dispersion and living in terms similar to Jeremiah 29 rather than the book of Joshua?  Where is our peace ultimately?

Why Move Forward? (Philippians 3:12-16 (LD 44)

We conclude the teaching on the law of God from the catechism.  The tenth commandment is that we are not to desire anything that goes against the law of the Lord.  So, we know that we are not to desire something contrary to God, but we do which is why we sin.  How do we move beyond sin?  Do we conform to the Lord because it is better to conform to Him rather than not conforming to Him?