Christ Church (Moscow, ID)

Preacher: Aaron Ventura

Preacher: Ben Zornes.Text: Psalm 40This Psalm has three layers to it. The first is the one on the surface. David recounts a deliverance from one of his many trials, and his response of praise. The second layer is that David’s sufferings reflect the common plight of Israel as whole. Her history of exiles and returns, persecutions and deliverances, separation from and the reunion with Jehovah lie just beneath the surface of David’s story. But as we go deeper we see that David’s story, which is Israel’s story, is really the Messiah’s story.

Over time, holidays take on a certain patina. Long usage and custom make this necessary, but it remains our responsibility to not allow such later accretions to overthrow or to reverse the actual import or meaning of the festival. In the case of Christmas, we have, quite obviously, the scriptural story of the birth of the Messiah, but we also have—do we not?—silver bells, softly falling snow, Hallmark movies, caramel popcorn, miracles on 34th street, fireplaces aglow, and various sorts of festive jello dishes. What are we to do with all of that? Well, enjoy them... but don’t let them become your teachers.

Preacher: Ben Zornes.Discontentment makes the turkey dry, the gravy bland, and the pies dull. Worse yet, it makes the fellowship frigid, the conversation barbed, and the relationships strained. Contentment, on the other hand, can make a meager meal a feast, it can make enemies into friends, it can turn hardships into joys. It does this because it is rooted in the fact that God is on the throne.

Preacher: Douglas WilsonThe world of men, with their wars, and their politics, and their elections, and their controversies, is a turbulent sea. The disciples of the Lord were once in the boat with Him under challenging conditions, but it took them a while to learn what kind of authority the Lord Jesus actually has in the affairs of men. Even from within a vulnerable boat, He speaks to the wind and the waves, and they obey Him. If He can speak this way to the waters, how much more can he speak to the nations, who are, like Reuben, as unstable as water (Gen. 49:4)?

Preacher: Aaron Ventura.Text: Deuteronomy 21:1–9

Preacher: Douglas Wilson.This psalm contains a marked contrast between the eyes of faith, which look to the Lord, the God of heaven, and the blind eyes of insolent unbelief, which see nothing as they ought to. Unbelief and pride are the chains that anchor the soul to this earth, such that the entire globe becomes the great ball in their ball and chain. From this benighted position, they heap abuse on the faithful, who feel it acutely.

Preacher: Ben ZornesThe solution to all our various authority anarchy is to first acknowledge Christ’s authority over all things.

Preacher: Toby SumpterGod sent His own Son into the world in the fullness of time, and that means the time was exactly right for the mission. Everything had been leading up to that moment, according to God’s perfect plan. Not one thing was out of place. Every blessing, every calamity, every gift, every heartbreak, every detail made that moment pregnant for God to redeem the world.But that perfect timing was not a one-off event. We serve the God who rules every time and every season...

Preacher: Matt MeyerWe need to remember that we are debtors that have been, and daily are, forgiven much.