Christ Church (Moscow, ID)

What do you need to succeed in a military conquest? Bigger guns, more men, better equipment, shrewder strategy, more courage than the enemy––all seem reasonable. What did Israel need to successfully conquer Canaan, a land of giants? Faithfulness to God.  For Israel, it wasn’t about the size of their army or tactics or chariots but about faithfulness to their covenant God and obedience to his comma...

Who are you? From one vantage, the gospel is a great re-memory project. To be lost and dead in our sins is to have forgotten who we are and what we are for, and this makes us afraid. But the gospel of the cross of Jesus is God’s perfect mirror showing us our sin, showing us our Savior, showing us who we really are in Him so that we will not be afraid.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Proverbs 22:24-25, “Make no friendship with an angry man, and with a furious man do not go, lest you learn his ways and set a snare for your soul.” Proverbs 14:29, “He who is slow to wrath has great understanding, but he who is impulsive exalts folly.”

Ready or not, a new season and a new school year is upon us. It’s good for us to review Christ Church’s mission which is “All of Christ, for all of Life, for all of Moscow.” Our mission of course is nothing short of the Great Commission that Christ gave to his Church––the evangelization and discipleship of the nations. That mission is our mission. And here we are in Moscow, Idaho attempting a smal...

"Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, There is no help for him in God. Selah. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah. I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the Lord sustained me. I will not b...

"Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise o...

1. Deut. 6:4-5, “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” - The foundation: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. - The greatest commandment: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength - Can you legislate love? - Heart, Soul, and St...

In the second half of chapter 2, Peter warns the church about false teachers. Teachers are not only those who stand in front of a class or behind a pulpit. Teachers are those who influence, who lead, who discipline, who catechize your responses. Teachers are those who you follow. And so, who is your teacher?

In a world gone mad, Christians can become unwitting assistants to the insanity, and therefore, it is incredibly important for Christians to keep the building blocks of civilization straight in their own heads. How are cities built? They are built on the principle of personal responsibility.

What pops into your mind when you think about “conversations” over doctrine? Chances are, “love” isn’t what comes immediately to mind. Shepherds love sheep by fighting wolves. Kings love citizens by fighting invaders. Husbands love their families by fighting the seduction of the workplace & the adulteress. Fences make the obligations of love clear.

God as chosen and call His people for a purpose – that they may be like the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And what’s more is that God desires for us to know that we have been called and chosen for godliness. So Peter says, “Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure.” But how are we to make our calling and election sure? Peter tells us in verses 5-7.

Today we are remembering the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. We will be considering the convergence of all things in the Father, coming to Him through the Son, and enabled to do this by the Spirit. But though this must be our central focus, coming to the Father, we do not want to let this true scriptural emphasis become a superstition for us. Stephen addressed Jesus when he...

Today is celebrated as Ascension Sunday throughout the Christian Church, marking the ascension of Jesus to the right hand of the Father as Lord and King of all. In an important sense, this celebration marks the day on which all that Jesus did in this world was fulfilled. He was born as Lord, lived as Lord, died as Lord, rose as Lord, but the ascension marks His enthronement as Lord. In this sense,...

Today we are commemorating the Lord’s Ascension into Heaven, the time when He received universal dominion, absolute and unfettered, from the hand of His Father. But we must never forget that His Ascension is built on the bedrock of His Descent. We are told that He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. One of those gifts is the privilege of imitating Him in this pattern—true glorification is...

Peter is preparing is readers for a battle with false teachers, sexual invasion, persecution, corruption in the church. Peter will get to these battles in chapter 2 and 3. But we first my be armed with the knowledge of God, and what he has done for his people. Right knowledge leads to right living. The church needs courage to face these challenges. A corrupt people, both of mind and life, will not...

1. Peter’s Confidence “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts." 2 Peter 1:19 2. Sense of Urgency “...knowing that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me." 2 Peter 1:14 3. What is coming shortly? New Heaven and New Earth “For behold,...

As Peter has done throughout the letter, he calls Christians to look to Christ, to be like Christ, to act like Christ. In this final chapter, he does this again, and we are to be like Jesus the Shepherd––humble and glorious. To imitate the Shepherd, Peter gives two primary exhortations. The elders are to shepherd the flock of God (vs. 1-4), and the flock of God is to resist the devil who is a roar...

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, 2 through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, 3 who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For everything created by God is g...

The apostle Paul wanted to sing in the Spirit, but wanted to sing with the mind also (1 Cor. 14:15). In a similar way, we come here week after week to worship God the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, empowered by the Spirit of God. But it is important for us to understand what we are doing, and why we are doing it. Otherwise we will drift into a mindless routine—which is quite distinct from a S...

The Problem of Pain is a well known booklet written by C. S. Lewis making the argument for why a good God would allow pain in His universe. One aspect of his argument is our culture’s confusion between kindness and love. We prize kindness with the view that we would prefer a God with more of a benign “grandfatherly” kindness over a father’s disciplinary love. The difference is mainly one of outcom...

Dr. Michael McClenahan is an Irish Presbyterian minister and Professor of Systematic Theology at Union Theological College. He has degrees in Jurisprudence, Theology, and Ecclesiastical History from the University of Oxford, where he wrote his doctoral dissertation on the theology of Jonathan Edwards. He is the author of Jonathan Edwards and Justification by Faith (Ashgate, 2012). This academic ye...