Brownwood Church

The uniqueness of male and female finds its creational roots in the distinction of the image of God. As Martin Luther analogized by using sun and moon, the relationship between the man and the woman is derivative, reflective, and unique. When Paul repeatedly argues for headship in the man, He does so by using the distinction in imaging we see in Genesis, because man was formed first, and the woman...

What does it mean that man was made in the image of God, and what was lost of it in the fall? On the sixth and final day of creation, after creating all other living creatures according to their kind, God created man in His own image and likeness. Scripture speaks of a glory in man that not only set him above all other living creatures, but was all but lost after sin. Man, the very creature that w...

On the fifth day of creation, God filled the seas and skies with living creatures that swam below and flew above. These breathing souls were blessed and commanded by God to be fruitful and multiply. Even the great sea monsters that the Mesopotamians, Egyptians, and Canaanites saw as rival gods were actually creatures under the sovereignty of Yahweh. In Genesis, the themes of blessing, multiplicati...

God created the sun, moon, and stars as light-bearing signs of the days, years, and seasons. These celestial bodies were not created to define the day, but to sign the day. God obviously didn't ordain the day on the fourth one, but the first. One of the reasons we know the days of creation are the same as the days we experience now is that the when the heavenly bodies were created in accordance wi...

The land and seed that God brought forth on the third day of creation remind us of the promised seed who was buried in the earth and came forth on the dawn of the third day as the true first fruit over all creation.

When God stretched out the expanse of the heavens on the second day between the formless waters, He began the act of forming the earth through separation. Just as He had formed time when He separated light from darkness as evening and morning of the day, He formed space when He spread out the expanse of the heavens. Every morning and evening, the heavens are a canvas in which God paints a unique p...

As the first church in the New Testament grew, a major problem arose when certain widows who depended on the church were being neglected in the distribution. The twelve apostles, acting as the first elders of Jerusalem were made aware of the problem, but instead of attending it themselves, petitioned the congregation to choose 7 men who they could appoint to the duty, so that they could devote the...

The eternal Word of God was in the beginning as the agent through which creation was spoken into existence. All things which came into being did so through the Word. Light itself illuminated the darkness of creation when the Word communicated that which was in Him, not merely as involuntary emanation, but by His eternal will. By His sovereign will, God spoke and it was. Time as we know it began, o...

God created the earth formless and empty so it could be formed and filled over the next six days. The darkness, or the evening of the first day, was over the chaotic waters that initially could not sustain life. But the Spirit of God hovered in oscillating movement, surrounding His newly birthed creation like an eagle over its young, indicating His love, protection, and plans for its formation and...

Genesis is the book of beginnings. It is God's authoritative revelation of the beginning of space & time as we know it, matter & energy, light & life, history & humanity, peoples & nations, sin & judgement, redemption & restoration. In Genesis, salvation is promised and pictured in Hebrew sensory realities. For 2,500 years, the world that God created was not in possession of the record of its begi...

The Great Commission is the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham to make His descendants as numerous as the sand and stars. From the mountain in Galilee overlooking the nations, Jesus sent out the eleven to make disciples. Though the mission of some is a Great Crusade or a Great Conservative Movement or a Great Colonization, the Great Commission is one command: to make disciples. Though many in...

After His resurrection, Jesus began to appear to many witnesses, beginning with Mary Magdalene and the other women. However, most of the accounts of His appearances indicate the witnesses' inability to recognize Him, though they had visual evidence. Even when the disciples arrived in Galilee and saw Him on the mountain He designated, some believed, and some still doubted. Evidence is always interp...

Paul understood the importance of membership in the local church when he was rejected by Jerusalem but later received through Barnabas' appeal. Though he had been joined to the body of Christ after the road to Damascus, it was vital for him to join the local church at Jerusalem and later Antioch. When he then writes to churches like Corinth struggling with problems and immaturity, it is membership...

When Jesus died, an earthquake opened the tombs around Jerusalem. When He rose from the dead, another occurred and the saints of old walked out of them. Matthew connects the cross and the grave with these earthquakes and the women who were near for both. For years, Jesus had told them that this day was coming, but when it did, they still looked for Him in the tomb. But just as He said, Jesus had r...

The Roman soldiers, who would mock crucifixion victims in their plays as fake kings before killing them as part of the "act," mock Jesus before executing Him. The cross was such a torturous and brutal means of execution, the populace of Rome wouldn't mention it, nor would they crucify their own. The Jews wouldn't allow it within the city walls of Jerusalem. But on it, our Savior died. So we glory...

Jesus is brought to Roman trial before Pontius Pilate, who asks if He is the King of the Jews to see if He is claiming his position as ruler of Judea. As Caiaphas and the religious leaders accuse Jesus of every possible charge that would offend the Romans, He again doesn't defend Himself. Not wanting to put Him to death, Pilate proposes the annual paschal amnesty to either the insurrectionist Jewi...

The difference between true repentance and mere remorse can be seen in the contrast between Peter and Judas in Matthew's gospel. Both disciples had utterly failed, but how they ultimately respond gives us a glimpse into difference between the one whose failure pushed him away from Christ and life itself, and the one who would later come running back to Christ and find life eternal in the end.

Almost nothing about Jesus' trial before Caiaphas was legitimate under Jewish law. It was held in the middle of night, during Passover, and at the high priest's house. Going in to the proceedings, there were no formal charges, witnesses, or defense. As a capital trial, there was no period given to avoid hasty judgment because the verdict was decided before it began. When Caiaphas determined it wou...

As Jesus leads His disciples out to Gethsemane, Matthew's gospel frames a stark contrast between the self-confidence of Peter and the utter dependence of Jesus in the garden. Peter contradicts Jesus by boasting in his loyalty, though he will be soon be falling asleep, denying Christ, and swinging his sword in fear. But like so many young men, his contagious false bravado had spread and all the dis...

The Lord's Supper is the end of Passover. It is its fulfillment, its purpose, its τέλειος. On the night Jesus was being betrayed, the final Passover they ate together became the Lord's Supper as the New Covenant was established. Judas' betrayal of Christ for 30 pieces of silver marked the transition from the Old to the New Covenant, as he ate the Passover as a Jew, but didn't stay for the whole Su...

Mary of Bethany, the woman always found at Jesus' feet, had kept her alabaster jar to anoint Him for burial. She hadn't even broken it when her brother Lazarus died weeks before. Though what she had done was one of the most sacrificial and generous acts of worship in all the gospels, she was rebuked by all the disciples for her "waste," and told she should have given the proceeds to the poor, even...

Jesus ends His Olivet Discourse as He does all of His discourses in Matthew: with the distinction of those whose faith is evidenced as genuine through their obedience from those who do not obey the gospel. This separation is the final judgment pronounced when the Son of Man comes in His glory and sits upon His throne, when the nations are gathered before Him. The imagery Jesus uses is of sheep who...

God has entrusted us with talents, lifetimes of ability to be invested in His kingdom. Like the slaves in Jesus' parable who were entrusted with their master's assets upon his departure, those who use that which has been given to them will see a certain multiplication to return to the landowner when He returns. But those who bury their talent in fear will not have done what he gave it to them for....

Jesus' parable of the ten virgins is that of bridesmaids in a wedding party, some of whom were not prepared for the bridegroom’s arrival at midnight with oil in their lamps for the procession. These represent those in the visible church who lack the Holy Spirit at Jesus’ return. This parable is one exhorting preparedness and another imperative not to sleep. For believers who are prepared, Jesus ex...

Jesus' response to His disciples in the Olivet Discourse was not for the purpose of them knowing the day or hour of His return, but for their perpetual readiness for it. This is evident as He contrasts a faithful servant who expectantly awaits his master's return with an unfaithful one who expects him delayed, upon whom the master comes like a thief in the night. The readiness Christ calls us to i...