Church Calendar Archives - Christ Church: Recent Episodes
Church Calendar Archives - Christ Church
INTRODUCTION Two thousand years ago, a man who had been wickedly betrayed by the religious authorities, murderously crucified by the Roman civil authorities, did the unthinkable by rising from the dead. This was God’s plan from the beginning, and the Lord Jesus knew that this was the plan. “Therefore doth my Father love me, because […]
The post The Resurrection of the World appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION It doesn’t take long in a child’s life for them to begin to expound on matters of justice.“That’s not fair!” is learned early. And indeed the world is littered with seemingly senseless instances of unjust suffering, evil persecution of the righteous, and unfair weights and measures. The question must be asked, “What is God […]
The post The Resurrection as Judgement (The Inescapable Story of Jesus #6A) (CCD) appeared first on Christ Church.
THE TEXT: Matthew 27:52-28:15 KJV
The post The Body of Jesus (Troy) appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION Far too many people in the church are not truly converted to God. They are religious or maybe conservative, but they do not know Christ and the power of His resurrection. They know about Christ, and perhaps they know about the Bible and catechism answers. But they do not know Christ, and this is […]
The post Resurrection Hope (King’s Cross) appeared first on Christ Church.
Ever since our rebellion against God in the Garden, the human race has been locked up in the chains of fear, guilt, and shame. We were promised one thing, and we have received another. We planted what we thought were the seeds of our own deification, but when the crop came up, it was nothing […]
The post Our Gibbeted Christ (Good Friday 2024) appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION One of the things that happened in the medieval period was that the church calendar began to get cluttered up with numerous saints’ days and celebrations, like so many barnacles on the ark that was the church. There were many blessings that resulted from the great Reformation, and one of them was that the […]
The post Stand Still and See His Salvation appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION Our experience shows that death, corruption, and uncleanness flow one direction. But Mark’s Gospel summons us to look at Jesus the Son of God and by faith see the glory of this Kingdom of Messiah. THE TEXT And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. […]
The post In The Tombs (The Inescapable Story of Jesus #5) (CCD) appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION Our modern world pits authority against friendship, falsely insisting that friendship can only exist be- tween complete equals. But in that case, a complete equal has nothing to offer, nothing to contribute. True friendship exists in relations of inequality and hierarchy, where different parties have different skills and responsibilities. Ultimately, this heresy of egalitarianism […]
The post True Authority (King’s Cross) appeared first on Christ Church.
THE TEXT: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-7
The post State of the Church 2024 (Troy) appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION As you might know by now, the tone coming out of Moscow has gained a little bit of notoriety. For good or ill, this reputation shows no signs of going away, and because you are likely to be fielding questions about it, I thought that it would be good to use our annual “state […]
The post State of the Church 2024 appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION This is our observance of Pentecost, the time we set aside to commemorate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church. There are many things that can be said about all of this, but we sometimes overlook the obvious. Today we should consider the holiness of the Holy Spirit. THE TEXT “For God […]
The post The Holiness of the Holy Spirit (Pentecost A.D. 2022) appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION As we embark on a new work here in Moscow, we must begin by getting our thinking in line as to how God builds. History is the story of how God built His house. He didn’t do a cost/benefit analysis. He built it despite all the conniving of hell & earth. He built it […]
The post A House Filled With Fire (Pentecost A.D. 2022) appeared first on Christ Church.
Introduction Whenever we discuss the incarnation of Christ, or His death and resurrection, or His ascension, we are talking about something that is much more important than simple location. We are not just interested in certain powerful works that He performed, but rather are interested in the meaning of those works. In the ascension of […]
The post The Ascension and the Gunk in Our Brains appeared first on Christ Church.
Download Audio INTRODUCTION On this festal day, we remember, we commemorate, we celebrate the fact that Jesus Christ our Lord rose from the dead. Death no longer has dominion over Him, which means that He is entirely and utterly out of death’s reach. Not only so, but the same thing can be said of all […]
The post Completely Coated in Red Forgiveness (Easter A.D. 2022) appeared first on Christ Church.
Download Audio INTRODUCTION The Bible teaches that the resurrection of Jesus is an historical fact with cosmic ramifications. The resurrection of Jesus establishes the forgiveness of human sins, the bodily resurrection of all believers, and the renewal of all things. And so the resurrection of Jesus is the ground of all Christian hope. THE TEXT […]
The post Firstfruits of the Resurrection (Easter A.D. 2022—King’s Cross) appeared first on Christ Church.
Download Audio If you would slay sea dragons then you must go down into the sea. It is dark down there, of course. But there is just no way to crush the head of the sea serpent without going down into the waters. Our Lord’s passion can be considered under many themes and slaying the […]
The post Slaying the Sea Dragon (Good Friday A.D. 2022) appeared first on Christ Church.
Download Audio INTRODUCTION Over the years, I have mentioned a number of times that there is no good biblical reason to use the hosannas! of Palm Sunday and the crucify him! of the Passion account as proof of the fickleness of crowds. We have no reason for assuming that the make-up of the crowds was […]
The post Palm Sunday as Powder Keg appeared first on Christ Church.
Download Audio OVERVIEW Part 1 (v. 1-4 ) Enduring Mercy – First, the author of the Psalm begins with an exhortation to contemplate God’s goodness and his enduring mercy. Part 2 (v. 5-18) A Godly Confidence in Turmoil – Here the Psalmist remembers a time when he was surrounded on all sides by entire nations […]
The post Psalm 118 (King’s Cross Church) appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION We live in troubled times, certainly, and a regular response that rank-and-file Christians have to this difficulty is found in the lament, “But what can we do?” This year, our annual state of the church message is going to set before you a very local response to a very global and international panic, not […]
The post State of the Church 2022 appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION The Lord Jesus was born in this world in order to reestablish mankind. The first mankind in Adam had failed at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and so Jesus was born into this world in order to rebuild the ruin we had created here. Our celebrations at this time of […]
The post The Knowledge of Good & Evil appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION This is something of a Christmas message and end of the year State of the Church sermon all wrapped into one. But the point is that I want to meditate on the covenant curses that are raining down on us in the form of Covid-statist tyranny, the sexual promiscuity and perversion jihad, on top […]
The post Christmas for the Blind: A State of the Church Message appeared first on Christ Church.
As we continue to tell the story of how the Christ child was born, we need to take into account the story that his birth place had already been telling for centuries. That small town provided the perfect backdrop for the work of redemption that the Messiah was going to accomplish. It would be hard […]
The post Black Bethlehem (Christmas Eve A.D. 2021) appeared first on Christ Church.
THE TEXT And now, indeed, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days.” 15 So he took up his oracle and said: “The utterance of Balaam the son of Beor, And the utterance of the man whose eyes are opened; 16 The utterance of […]
The post The Coming of Christ (A Star Out of Jacob #4) appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION At the beginning of Hebrews 3, we are told that Jesus Christ is the Apostle and High Priest of our confession. As an apostle, sent from the Father, He represents God to us. As a high priest, designated to come before God on our behalf, He represents us to God. Consequently, the bridge between […]
The post The Person & Work of Christ (A Chalcedon Christmas #3) appeared first on Christ Church.
THE TEXT Then Balak said to Balaam, “Please come, I will take you to another place; perhaps it will please God that you may curse them for me from there.” So Balak took Balaam to the top of Peor, that overlooks the wasteland. Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here […]
The post Through Covenantal Eyes (A Star Out of Jacob #3) appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION As we reflect on the mystery of the Incarnation, we have to recognize that we are dealing with a staggering miracle. And the miraculous aspect of it has to do with what Chalcedon confesses of the one person, Jesus of Nazareth. He is one person, with two natures, and these natures are conjoined, but […]
The post Truly God & Truly Man (A Chalcedon Christmas #2) appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION This second blessing pronounced by Balaam doubles down on the first, insisting that God is determined to bless Israel because He always keeps His promises. On top of that, God insists that He sees no evil or trouble in His people. This doesn’t seem right to us, and that’s why we need to be […]
The post The Shout of a King (A Star Out of Jacob #2) appeared first on Christ Church.
INTRODUCTION In our denomination, all churches are required to adopt three creeds into their statement of faith. Those three are from the time of the early church, and are the Apostles Creed (2nd century), the Nicene Creed (4th century), and the Definition of Chalcedon (5th century). If all the great figures of history were little […]
The post The Virgin Birth (A Chalcedon Christmas #1) appeared first on Christ Church.