Crossway Christian Church

Nate Yurgaites, pastor of Damascus Baptist Church in Midland, joined us this Sunday as part of our Pulpit swap with Damascus and Sunrise Baptist Church. Nate is seeking to encourage us today through God's word in Acts 13:1-3. Please listen!

Everyone has momentous moments in their lives. Graduation for some, marriage or children for others. Some occasions are momentous, not for the good they remind us of but for the hardship: divorce, death, loss. It is rare, though, for such an individually important moment to be shared through one person by the many. Today, we have just such an event. The Lord will demonstrate his grace and kindness...

The tower of Babel was truly a tremendous undertaking. It would have been an amazing structure, certainly one of the wonders of the world in its day. But, as we know, it was a colossal disaster before the Lord. Today, as we turn to that story and the genealogies that surround it, we get a good taste for the failures of humanity, and the beginning of God’s plan to save us.

Often when we think of Noah, we envision decorations of animals and a giant boat in a child’s nursery. But as we heard in Genesis 7, this wasn’t a children’s story, but a wrathful judgment against sin in the world. In our passage this morning, we see what happens after the devastation and destruction of the flood. Noah and his family have been spared, and these next steps are crucial in the redemp...

The story of the flood is treated as myth by most who do not uphold the Bible as the Word of God. But the nature of the text implies that it is recounting real, true history. But it is not history for history’s sake, and we do not just study the account of the flood for its factual nature. Rather, we know that it is written so that we might not fall as others did. This morning, we are shown how to...

Genealogies are not often thought of as holding a great deal of intrigue for readers. Names and lists of people do not advance characters or provide any sort of action. Yet, for those who read closely, there is much to learn from them. Today, we get to hear of the genealogy from Adam to Noah, and how God is faithful to his word through them.

Movies often present people as the embodiment of the devil, or at least possessed by him. His presence is easily noticed: the sly look, the bodily distortion, the glowing flames and the maniacal laugh. Dead giveaways all. But real life is harder. We read last week of the promise from God that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. But what of his seed? Today, we read of it, fro...

Genesis 3 is another fundamental text in the Christian religion. It chronicles the sin of Adam and Eve in the perfect garden, as they turned against God and listened to the voice of the serpent. Yet, this sin is not a one-time event, something that was huge and large and unrepeated. The basic essentials of this sin are repeated by us every time we sin. And still, God’s love persists, and his mercy...

As people made in the image of God, we understand what it is like to create something. We get to determine how our creation is structured and ordered. In our passage this morning we continue on with God’s creation story and we see how our perfect maker ordered his creation, and we get to see the results. God's creation design is a good thing.

“He’s the spitting image of his father” is not as common of a phrase as it used to be. It is from an old expression, sometime in the 17th century, when people would say “it is like he was spat out of his father’s mouth.” Biologically incorrect, but when it comes to man being made in God’s image, it’s not far from the truth (cf. Genesis 2:7). But what does it mean that we have been made in God’s im...

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” is one of the best-known phrases in all of the Bible. Today, the chapter is used mostly to battle evolution and fuel arguments over the age of the earth. But, if we focus our attention, we find that Genesis 1 has much more to offer us than that. It gives us the plan of God for all of creation. And what is more, patterns for what happens whe...

Some things are hard to top. Achievements in sports and music are sometimes so amazing, that trying to top them seems nigh impossible. Certainly, the resurrection of Jesus is greater than anything anyone has ever done. But Matthew doesn’t leave his gospel with the simple, if amazing, pronouncement that he has risen. Rather, he desires to show us the amazing and absolute authority of this risen Chr...

We gather, as we typically do, to praise God for the work of Jesus Christ our Lord. That work has found its pinnacle in the death and resurrection of Jesus. But today is set aside as a special remembrance of that resurrection, which is our full hope and promise of glory. Today, as we consider Matthew’s account, let us consider these 5 things about the resurrection of Jesus.

Today is a day we gather to remember the heinous and brutal murder of our Lord and Savior. We call it Good Friday, but what is it precisely that makes it good? To remind ourselves again that this death is indeed good, we turn to the book of Hebrews. The book of Hebrews has one overriding emphasis: to show that Jesus is better. And tonight, let us see how his death, as a better death, makes this da...

Sealing something as historical “fact” is fairly difficult for most things. We have to rely on what many today might think of as secondary and unreliable reports: eyewitness accounts and other events that are impacted by what happened. Details are always hard to establish. But, if there is one fact of antiquity that is assured, it is this: Jesus of Nazareth was crucified and died. But that bare te...

Bullies are nothing new. Many of us have experienced their insults and abuse. Such acts are nothing new, as we see today. Jesus, weakened and eventually crucified, was ripe for such abuse, and his enemies took great pleasure in handing it out. Yet, for all their bluster, and for all the pain they inflict, they speak a startling amount of truth. Today, let us look at how Jesus is mocked, that we mi...

In our passage this morning, we encounter a great injustice. We see the trial of Jesus before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. This is the trial that will definitively decide Jesus’ verdict and sentencing. We see three reasons that Jesus was crucified, and behind it all we see that Jesus, though innocent, was convicted so that sinners, though guilty, may be freed.

Jesus is on his way to his execution; Judas is facing the reality and outcome of what he has done. We also see the chief priests tying up loose ends. This sets up what happens in the rest of the book of Matthew, and it highlights something for all of us. All of our attempts to remove our guilt on our own will fail. We need something different.

History is filled with trials that seemed only to mock justice. Nor is this a feature of some bygone era, less enlightened and more open to the whims of the powerful and elite. We suffer from these very things today. The trial of Jesus is perhaps the most famous example in history of such a show-trial. Today, we get a closer look at Jesus before the Sanhedrin, and Peter before the world, to see ho...

We talk about sin quite a lot here at Crossway, and for a simple reason: Scripture seems to talk about it a lot. In the end, sin is nothing but a betrayal of God. It is simply acting as though God’s commands and desires for us are not good for us, and that we know better. We betray him as our creator, designer, and as God. This betrayal leads to our death. In our passage, as Jesus steps in for us,...

Temptations will find us. While it is certainly best to flee from it, there is no way to escape it in this world. What do we do when times of doubt and the allure of sin press hard against us? Jesus was as we are, tempted like us, but without sin. If this is so, and we take it seriously, then watching carefully how he handles his temptation would prove an immense help. Let us see how Jesus faces t...

The Lord is particular in how he is worshipped and approached. Simply having a good heart will not do, for the Lord is keen to have his people follow his instructions and directions. This instinct is very much true in the Lord’s Supper and the Passover it is based on. Today, as we come to think about Jesus’ institution of the Supper, we are reminded of directions; not in how we take it, but the di...

We have all wasted money in our lives on something. Sometimes it is just a poorly thought through purchase, or something that we regret. No one does this better than the government, whose stories of waste are legion. Our story today is one that speaks of waste – an almost unthinkable expenditure of perfumed ointment which could no doubt have helped many in need. But Jesus saw great worth in the ac...

I have only failed two tests in school that I remember. One was an algebra test in 9th grade. The other a Physical Chemistry exam in college. The first was a surprise, the second expected. Neither was pleasant. Being judged and failing never is. In the end, though, these tests were not that important. Most tests aren’t; but there is coming one that will be, though. Jesus will sit on his throne and...

Andrew Carnegie was one of the wealthiest men who ever lived. He was industrious, clever, personable, and had great financial sense. But he was far from a self-made man. He was born at the right place, got involved in the right business, and took advantage of the opportunities given to him. We ourselves have been given a great opportunity; the Lord has left us with a great treasure to invest. What...