Christ Covenant Church

Safely navigating our souls to the shores of heaven requires we spy the lies that lead to shipwreck and the truth those lies often conceal. 1. You don’t have what it takes to live for God and get to heaven (2Pe 1:3). 2. The Devil poses no threat to the Christian (1Pe 5:8). 3. The consensus of pagans, our thoughts, our spiritual beliefs and our feelings are all things we can trust when attempting t...

Safely navigating our souls to the shores of heaven requires we spy the lies that lead to shipwreck and the truth those lies often conceal. 1. You don’t have what it takes to live for God and get to heaven (2Pe 1:3). 2. The Devil poses no threat to the Christian (1Pe 5:8). 3. The consensus of pagans, our thoughts, our spiritual beliefs and our feelings are all things we can trust when attempting t...

In Matthew 6:19-24 Jesus reveals the power our discretionary and belief loyalties possess not only for determining who we truly serve (who we are loyal to as King), but also for producing the salvation-essential attributes of affection (for God) and conviction (in regard to the Word of God). Our confidence that loyalty is indeed His subject is confirmed by His conclusion (24 “serve…be devoted to”...

In Matthew 6:19-24 Jesus reveals the power our discretionary and listening loyalties possess not only for determining who we truly serve (who we are loyal to as King), but also producing the salvation-essential attributes of affection (for God) and conviction (in regard to the Word of God). Our confidence that loyalty is indeed His subject is confirmed by His conclusion (24 “serve…be devoted to” =...

Act 17:22-31 These verses represent Paul’s Mars Hill (Areopagus) address to the Athenians. In it we find six “shiny” words to think/talk about when you spend time after the sermon stuffing your face and fellowshipping for Easter. Why I refer to them as “shiny” = They are words that (in their context) evoke the kinds of conversations we need to be having with the people in our world today. They (I...

1. The King’s math 1.1. Christ = King (Luk 23:1-2) 1.2. Love = Loyalty (Joh 14:15) 1.3. Upgrade = Sacrifice (Phi 2:5-11) 1.4. Holiness = Intolerance (of sin) (2Co 7:1) 1.5. My King is King > All other Kings (gods included) (Mat 28:18). 1.6. My King’s reboot > than your best life now. (Rev 21:1-5). 1.7. Serve the King = savor the Kingdom (Phi 1:21-23) 2. The King’s inquiry 2.1. Do you serve t...

Nobody gets to heaven by themselves. Why? Because Christianity is a team sport. We need to be on the King’s team, the church. More than that, we need to be doing our part to see that the King’s team is a success. Here then is what you need to know about the King’s team and your place on it: Every church member is important to the team’s success. (1Pe 1:18-19) = The King purchased you for the team...

Though we cannot know the exact day or hour (Mat 24:36), the evidence strongly suggests that we be prepared for our King to return in approximately 25 years. Year 6000 will mark the end of human history and the return of our King. (2Pe 3:1-10): 1.1. We need to remember that Jesus and the apostles predicted His return (1-2). 1.2. Sinful people ignorant that God has already made good on His promise...

 (Act 5:42) = Notice there are two different venues where the apostles met with the church for teaching and preaching: 1) “Temple” = larger venue (Act 5:12 – “Solomon’s Portico” = Court area outside the Temple): On the Lord’s Day, the entire church came together for corporate worship (~15k people), 2) “house to house” = smaller venue: During the week, church members wb divided into smaller groups...

Jesus was the perfect man. But what kind of man (or human) was He? What things did He care about? What things did He not care about? Where or with whom did He spend His time? How did He respond or react to others? How did He come across to others? How did people view His words or the way He spoke? Our investigation into the (human) person of Jesus has as its purpose not simply the gaining of knowl...

Jesus was the perfect man. But what kind of man (or human) was He? What things did He care about? What things did He not care about? Where or with whom did He spend His time? How did He respond or react to others? How did He come across to others? How did people view His words or the way He spoke? Our investigation into the (human) person of Jesus has as its purpose not simply the gaining of knowl...

Jesus was the perfect man. But what kind of man (or human) was He? What things did He care about? What things did He not care about? Where or with whom did He spend His time? How did He respond or react to others? How did HE come across to others? How did people view His words or the way He spoke? Our investigation into the (human) person of Jesus has as its purpose not simply the gaining of knowl...

Having finished our discussion on Jesus’ radical view on family, it is important that we (now) consider its application to our everyday lives. In other words, that we understand what doing family according to Jesus it looks like. With regard to the world’s values or expectations, conversations with outsiders, and fellowship with those not welcomed to God. You reject the family values or expectatio...

Having finished our discussion on Jesus’ radical view on family, it is important that we (now) consider its application to our everyday lives. In other words, that we understand what doing family according to Jesus it looks like. With regard to the world’s values or expectations, conversations with outsiders, and fellowship with those not welcomed to God. You reject the family values or expectatio...

Having finished our discussion on Jesus’ radical view on family, it is important that we (now) consider its application to our everyday lives. In other words, that we understand what doing family according to Jesus it looks like. You reject the family values or expectations established by the world. 1.1. (Luk 9:57-62) = Given Luke’s decision to group these events together, means that we should ass...

Why (at 24 years old) did I make such a decision and continue to follow Him today (no matter what the world does or how difficult it might be at times)? (3 reasons): 1) what I knew about myself, 2) what I knew about the world, 3) what I knew about the future.   What I knew (and continue to know) about myself = It didn’t take me long to realize that I was (and would continue to be without Christ) a...

Proper biblical interpretation requires two steps: 1) discovering WGO? (what’s going on?), 2) discerning WTP? (what’s the point?). WTP (what’s the point)? = What timeless, universal principles of wisdom are established based on WGO (what’s going on)?   Many preachers today discount (or outright reject) the need to discover WTP? believing it to be the Holy Spirit’s job (e.g. John MacArthur believes...

The goal of all biblical interpretation is to discover the timeless, moral principle being established (“What’s the point?” [WTP]). The reason every Christian should be striving to do this is because this is how we grow in our relationship with God. We do it by discovering Who He is through the principles He has established in His Word (by discovering WTP?). The bible is God’s self-disclosure: the...

The goal of all biblical interpretation is to discover the timeless, moral principle being established (“What’s the point?” [WTP]). The reason every Christian should be striving to do this is that this is how we gain or grow in our relationship with God. We do it by discovering Who He is through the principles He has established in His Word (by discovering WTP?). The bible is God’s self-disclosure...

The goal of all biblical interpretation is to discover the timeless, moral principle being established (“What’s the point?”) (1Co 9:7-11). To do that, however, requires we (first) determine the context (“What’s going on?”). The following represents what must be among our most basic considerations: Who was the original audience? (it’s not you or me) What was the culture or their cultural biases? (e...

The goal of all biblical interpretation is to discover the timeless, moral principle being established (“What’s the point?”) (1Co 9:7-11). To do that, however, first requires we determine the context (“What’s going on?”). The following represents what must be among our most basic considerations: Who was the original audience? (For example) 1.1. The word, “you” The “you” in Scripture refers to the...

The common denominator between hospitality and charity (and the reason I am discussing them together) is that both refer to the generous sharing of our wealth w/others: hospitality is what it is called when it is in regard to entertaining others – most especially God’s people, and charity it is what I am calling it when such sharing is in relation to the God (i.e. His church). God expects His peop...

1. Image bearing was God’s PURPOSE in creating us. 2. Image bearing is, therefore, how we WORSHIP God. 3. Being God’s image-bearers is an immense and rare PRIVILEGE. 4. Image bearing is why God SAVES people. 5. Image bearing is, therefore, what will determine where we spend ETERNITY. 6. To be made in the image of God is to reflect, imitate, and copy Him in FUNCTION, not form. 7. Attempts to reflec...

God’s exhaustive sovereignty (rule/control) and supreme power is experienced by all creatures in heaven and on earth (25:1-3).   God’s transcendence has caused some to believe that God’s view of things is different (qualitatively) to ours (even Scripture presents a condescension of what is actually true or accurate) (25:4-6; “One of the fundamental postulates of [liberal] theory, is the claim that...

In Mark 8:33-38, Jesus gives us an ultimatum: die to self – or being controlled by our feelings/emotions or we cannot “come after [Him]” for salvation[1]. The reason Jesus possessed such a negative view in relation to self or our feelings, is because He knew them to be severely compromised by sin and easily manipulated by Satan and the world. To be controlled by them will therefore result in us be...