Christ Church Bentonville

Our identity as Christians is based solely on God’s creation and choosing (election) of us and who we are in Christ.

As Abraham’s spiritual offspring, Christians have been blessed in every way because we are recipients and benefactors of God’s covenantal faithfulness. 

Death is not the end of the promises for those in Christ. 

We can be faithful and obey God’s Word because our God is a God who has made incredible promises to us and provides all we need in Christ.

The great anticipation of Isaac's birth and the joyous response it elicited foreshadowed the joyous response of those who greatly anticipated the arrival of another Son some 2000 years later. 

Abraham may be in the hall of faith, but his faith wavered. He was a man that fell short of the glory of God just like the rest of us.  

The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was an example of the judgment of a holy, righteous, and just God who never acts arbitrarily.  But the good news is, the same God is also merciful and will faithfully forgive any and every sin, no matter how small or great the sin might be, of those who repent and turn in faith to Christ.      

Friends of the Lord dine with the Lord, are disciplined by the Lord, and dialogue with the Lord.

The Abrahamic covenant, while it did have earthly, biological, national, and geographical aspects to it, pointed to a greater spiritual reality.  The Abrahamic covenant was a spiritual covenant promising spiritual blessings.

Sarai grew impatient with the Lord and was tired of waiting on the son He had promised her husband, and decided to take matters into her own hands.  But she wasn't the only one.  

When the circumstances of life collide with our faith, we have assurance that the promises are true.

Despite 2/3 of the passage being used to describe conflicts between nations, the chapter isn’t actually about the conflicts.  The conflicts are simply the circumstances that the Lord used to put the spiritual battle that Abram experienced on display. 

Genesis 13 has a tendency to get lost in the midst of Chapters 12, 15, and 17 that play such an important theological role in redemptive history.  But the pericope is actually packed full of lessons to learn or practical wisdom and applicable truth that shouldn’t be overlooked.

When we are more like Abram than we want to be, and we fail like he failed, there is hope for us, just as there was for him.

Father Abraham has many sons, many sons has father Abraham.  I am one of them, and so are all of those who are in Christ.  So let's just praise the Lord!

This text tells us the nations should be important to us.  Though there are things that differentiate us and divide us, we are, in some respect, all family.  

This part of the Genesis narrative shows us the flood did not totally eliminate sin.  Noah and his family brought sin with them into the new or re-creation.

We have a living hope because Christ has risen and we are united to Him by faith. (This sermon was given during our outdoor Easter worship service held at Blowing Springs Park.)

While the Noahic Covenant isn’t redemptive, it does undergird God’s plan of redemption in such a way that Covenant Theology as a whole suffers without it.  And that’s because Covenant Theology is incomplete without it. 

God remembered Noah and He remembers those in Christ as well!  He is mindful of us and His mindfulness led and leads Him to act on our behalf.  

While we can't ignore the weight of judgement, we can draw out the relief of grace that we see in the midst of judgment. 

The story of Noah and the Flood tells us salvation comes through judgment, it is by God’s grace alone, it will only be experienced fully and completely in the new creation, and it comes through Christ.

In the midst of humanity's downward spiral further and further into sin, God's patience is pushed to its limit.  But, He also exhibits His grace and faithfulness and preserves a remnant.

In this special service, representatives of Hills and Plains Presbytery join us to ordain and install Aaron Raines as Associate Pastor. Rev. Chris Miller preaches Jesus, the Good Shepherd, Who calls His sheep and saves them by laying down His own life for them. Included after the sermon are the ordination and installation proceedings.

This is a sermon preached by Rev. Chris Miller, Pastor of Trinity Grace Church in Rogers, for our Associate Pastor's ordination and installation service.