Trinity Evangel Church

Selected Scriptures Series: Our Worship #4 # Introduction It's possible to confess Jesus Christ as Lord, to gather with the church for worship on Sundays, and to miss, or at least to misunderstand, the goal of the gospel. I say that it's possible because of my own testimony as a Christian, including years of my sanctification and in my understanding of preaching and pastoral ministry. Last Lord's...

Selected Scriptures Series: Our Worship #3 # Introduction We are studying and hopefully stimulating our own corporate worship. Things happen when the *corpus*, the body, gathers in His presence that do not happen in isolation. We are His people, His temple, His dwelling place. We are a priesthood, enjoying direct access to Him. We are His sacrifices, offering our lives to Him in Christ. Through th...

Selected Scriptures Series: Our Worship #2 # Introduction The feedback after last Sunday's sermon about liturgical feedback was encouraging, as in, many of you were encouraged. There is more to say today, and there will be more to say after today. My observations about what the liturgy has been working into us over the last decade or so are what they are, but those observations don't say much abou...

Selected Scriptures Series: Our Worship #1 # Introduction Years ago I read an observation that by the time you get meaningful feedback, the real work is already done. It’s a general principle, even if modern men are more assuming about immediate replies and reports. The farmer works and works, and waits, to see how much will come up in his field, and he is not the only one whose fruit takes a whil...

Romans 8:18-39 Series: Misc

Matthew 1:1-17 Series: Advent 2020 #4 # Introduction My favorite technique of painting is Pointillism. For whatever reason, I remember my fourth-grade art teacher introducing us to “Seurat the Dot” at least as she nicknamed him (here is [my favorite painting] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Sunday_Afternoon_on_the_Island_of_La_Grande_Jatte )). Pointillism, as you might expect, is the meticulous p...

Matthew 1:1-17 Series: Advent 2020 #3 # Introduction Christians do not believe reasonable things, at least as the world defines reasonable, and often even what *religious* people call reasonable. Jesus Christ, God’s Son in flesh and blood, is not reasonable. His existence is a scandal. Many Jews anticipated the promised Messiah, but they stumbled over Jesus' claim to be that divine King and they k...

Series: Centers and Circumferences Part 11

Matthew 1:1-17 Series: Advent 2020 #2 # Introduction One December when I was a kid I got into big trouble for writing "X-mas" on a box. As I remember the circumstances, I wasn't trying to make a theological statement or express a new commitment, I had seen X-mas somewhere and it seemed like fun, plus, it fit on my small box. My abbreviation skills were not appreciated and I got a good lecture on k...

Matthew 1:1-17 Series: Advent 2020 #1 I have never preached a series of advent/Christmas messages before. For a number of years I've taken the four advent Sundays and connected four confession exhortations or communion meditations, but never four sermons. I prefer keeping the course through a book of the Bible, at least up until the Sunday immediately preceding Christmas. Even then many times I tr...

Revelation 17:7-18 Series: Just Conquer Part 46 # Introduction It has been observed that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and getting the same result, but expecting a different one. Because of sin, there are more insane people than polite people want to acknowledge. To be insane means to be in a state of mind which prevents normal perception and behavior. Our Englis...

Revelation 17:1-6 Series: Just Conquer Part 45 # Introduction Because we are always becoming more of what we are, we're not wrong to look down the road and see what’s coming. It's as true for cultures and nations as it is for individuals. God Himself promises to "restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish" His people (1 Peter 5:10), having chosen us in order "to be conformed to the image of His S...

Revelation 16:10-21 Series: Just Conquer Part 44 # Introduction It seems possible to know something truly and yet be deceived, whether by one’s own sinful anger or by supernatural propaganda. The people who experience the final plagues know exactly who sent the plagues that are destroying them and yet they refuse to humble themselves, which you'd think would be the reasonable response. Many of the...

Series: Centers and Circumferences Part 10

Revelation 16:1-9 Series: Just Conquer Part 43 # Introduction How we do things communicates along with what we say about the things we're doing. This is more than about body language, though that's an example. We've talked a lot over the years about how liturgy affects us, the patterns and repetitions and attitudes along with the words. The same is true in good fiction; C.S. Lewis cared about the...

Revelation 15:1-8 Series: Just Conquer Part 42 # Introduction Imagine living in a world hostile to Christianity, in which not just friendships, but financial opportunities were lost because of being public about one's faith. Imagine a world that lied about where real glory was, where political leaders portrayed themselves as saviors and tribes formed according to public loyalties. Imagine a world...

Series: Centers and Circumferences Part 9

Series: Just Conquer Part 41 # Introduction Many believers hold the balance between current events and end times as well as our presidential candidates compliment one another on social media. In other words, we swing wildly back and forth, and the swinging is usually ugly. Balancing is hard, whether we're trying to rejoice in the promises for the future or to navigate the problems of the present....

Series: Centers and Circumferences Part 8 I have missed preaching about economics twice now; the first time was in March due to virus-lockdowns, and then it was rescheduled for last Sunday night, but I was laying flat on the floor. It's part of our Centers and Circumferences series, concentrating on how Christ's lordship ought to be the focus (center) and full-scope (circumferences) of every spher...

Revelation 14:6-13 Series: Just Conquer #40 INTRODUCTION I've read too many British novelists, including Lewis and Tolkien, not to come across the word draught. It's apparently not an American English word; we use "draft.” They are pronounced the same, but, to me, draft doesn’t seem quite the same. Though it has a number of meanings, for now, think of draught as a portion of drink, a gulp or swall...

Revelation 14:1-5 Series: Just Conquer #39 INTRODUCTION Our study through the Apocalypse, which, you'll remember is a word that means "unveiling," keeps giving us opportunities to be blessed. Those who read and hear and keep the words of the prophecy will be blessed, so says John at both bookends (Revelation 1:3; 22:7). Our pace, approximately a paragraph at a time, is like a brisk walk but not so...

Revelation 13:11-18 Series: Just Conquer #38 # Introduction If you understand these parts of Revelation to describe future events, as I do, you may wonder how you could reasonably claim an optimistic eschatology. The dragon hates the community connected with the Messiah and chases them into the wilderness in chapter 12. The beast out of the sea parodies the Messiah and conquers many of the saints...

Revelation 13:5-10 Series: Just Conquer #37 # Introduction It is always instructive to see how God handles things. By that I don't mean how He reacts, I mean how He has organized things in order to show off various aspects of His character, including His wisdom and His patience. If the virtue of endurance had its origin and essence in you, how would you communicate that to others so that they woul...