Various Texts — What are we saying about God’s sovereignty when we are cynical? What are we saying about his goodness? Or His promises? In the first part of our study we learned that cynicism is a love problem, in this second part, we learn that it’s a faith problem as well. Cynicism reveals a deficient…
Luke 6:20 & 24 — “Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God…But woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation.” What did Jesus mean when He said this? How do His words relate to us and the attitude we have towards money and material possessions? This is a…
I Kings 21:11-29 — In this sermon we consider what happened to Ahab & Jezebel after Naboth’s murder. Their cruel and wicked act did not go unnoticed in the halls of heaven. Immediately God sent his prophet to pronounce judgment against them both. We also consider the kind of influence Jezebel was upon her husband and it…
Hebrews 1 — What is the Book of Hebrews about? Who were the original readers and what circumstances were they facing? How does this help us understand the themes and structure of the Book? How does the message the Book apply to us today? These are the questions we explore as we begin our verse-by-verse…
Philippians 2:19-24 — In this text, Paul offers a rather sad assessment of many of his fellow minsters, they “seek their own things and not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” Timothy was the only one he could send to the Philippians because he alone “naturally cared for their souls.” What about us? What do…
Luke 6:20-26 — Four blessings and four corresponding woes. With these Jesus opened the sermon that takes up the greater part of Luke chapter 6. How are we to interpret these blessings and woes? To whom are they addressed? Is this Luke’s version of the Beatitudes that we find in Matthew chapter 5? Before we address…
I Corinthians 13:7 — Cynicism is the inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest. A cynical person is overly skeptical, constantly distrustful and generally pessimistic. We live at a deeply cynical time in history. People are more distrustful and contemptuous of institutions than ever before. Unfortunately this attitude can find its way into…
Philippians 2:14-18 — Unfortunately we all have the tendency to complain and we manage to complain about almost everything! This shouldn’t be the case for a Christian and the Apostle Paul tells us why. Our complaining has very serious consequences for our Gospel light in the midst of a “crooked and perverse nation.” This is an…
Luke 6:17-19 — Jesus came down the mountain with his freshly chosen apostles and was immediately met by a great multitude. Many in the crowd were sick and disabled, some were troubled by evil spirits. They pressed in upon Jesus hoping just to touch him and thereby receive healing. How would Jesus respond to this…
Colossians 3:3-4 — A belief in the return of Jesus Christ is definitional to the Christian faith and it’s what Paul talks about in the second half of this text. His return is the consummation of His redemptive work and the end of our salvation. When He appears in glory so will we. Our everlasting…