Cutlerville East Christian Reformed Church

Do you ever think about what a wedding ring means? Giving and receiving the ring doesn't make one married. But it does two things: it is a sign/symbol of marriage and it is a pledge of martial faithfulness to each  other. That is also true of the sacraments of the church. We'll look at the sacraments as a whole, but referring more specifically through the lens of an Old Testament sacrame...

Spiritual heartburn can come from a variety of places. For Cleopas and his friend, it came from a close call with spiritual death, trying to digest too much of the Bread of Life, and meeting their Maker face-to-face! When we take it seriously, Easter will give us spiritual heartburn before it yields hearts of joy! Scripture: Luke 24:13-35

Easter is a great Christian holiday. Easter is a celebration of new life, a celebration that Jesus arose and is our living Lord.  But let me ask you what's so great about that? What difference does it make in our lives? On Easter, I want to look at the very heart of the Christian faith. Why do we do what we do? Why do we believe what we believe? Why does Jesus make a difference?

Recording of past congregational singing of several Easter favorites.

We will focus on the suffering of Jesus Christ, particularly looking at two elements of that suffering: the cross and the cry. Scripture: Mark 15:21-39

We have come to call the events described in Luke 19:28-44 (and parallels) Palm Sunday, and the event of the day "the triumphal entry." But I think we've got the names wrong, both of them. Why Palm Sunday when palms were an inappropriate image for the day? And what is triumphant about an entry into Jerusalem that leaves Jesus  weeping? So what is the appropriate image? What should t...

Before we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we traditionally (in the CRC) use the previous Sunday to prepare to partake of the sacrament. Why do we need to prepare? What sort of preparation? The main passage referring to this preparation is 1 Corinthians 11. In the context of the abuse of the Lord's Supper going on in the Corinthian church, Paul explains the need for self-examination and inte...

Years ago, there was an extremely talented law school student whose life was changed by a couple of scary events: his friend’s sudden death and his own narrow escape from a lightning strike. Suddenly he became terribly afraid for his own salvation. How could he be right with God and find peace for his soul? He eventually found it when he took to heart Romans 3. It changed his life, and it changed...

If you looked in a dictionary, you might find the following definition of pharisaical: “observing the form but neglecting the spirit of religion.” A Pharisee is often defined as a self-righteous, hypocritical person. These are probably the definitions we grew up with. But one thing I’ve found in exploring the cultural background of the Bible: it often explodes your definitions and assumptions. And...

As we near the Passion Week of Jesus, we encounter in the story of Jesus’ suffering two sinners: Peter and Judas. Matthew puts these stories together for a purpose: to compare the sins and to contrast the responses. What is Matthew trying to teach the church of his day? And how is God speaking through these stories to us today? Scripture: Matthew 26:69 – 27:5

In preparation for heading to Jerusalem and the cross, Jesus had just asked his disciples “who do you say I am?” and they responded, through their spokesman Peter, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Then Jesus revealed that he was going to suffer and die in Jerusalem, something they weren’t prepared for. They’d made the great confession (son of God), but did they believe it with ever...

The Hebrew Christians were greatly persecuted by Rome. They were tempted to drop out of the race of the Christian life (in fact, many did), because it was too hard and unrewarding. Here the author of this letter to those Hebrew Christians encourages them with stories of former “saints” who ran and won the race, and now closes this section saying, in essence: “If you don’t run, you can’t win!” Scri...

Jesus actually changed his hometown from Nazareth to Capernaum. Why? Especially at a time when that wasn’t the norm? Any time you move, it is a conscious decision that comes with reasons. In fact, we could all ask that of ourselves: Why has God placed you in this place at this time? So it is not unusual for us to ask that of Jesus. Why did he move to Capernaum? Scripture: Matthew 4:12-25

Pastor Disselkoen leads us in worship tonight by exploring the Great Commission and Jesus' command to "Go". Scripture: Matthew 28:16-20

Doug Higby examines God's invitation to the Israelites to listen and live.  This passage in Isaiah invites "all you who are thirsty" to receive God's grace and blessings. Scripture: Isaiah 55:1-7

I like to visit sites and read books about American history and those who stood up for our freedoms, people like Washington, Jefferson, Paul Revere, and so on. But we don’t celebrate Benedict Arnold, who would have been a hero if he hadn’t turned traitor. We don’t celebrate traitors. Rather, we admire people who stand up for what it right, even against the world and at the price of their death (li...

Ever since I preached at my home church as a seminarian, I’ve been heartened by Jesus’ visit to his hometown, where he commented that no prophet was accepted in his hometown. But there is more going on here than simply bad memories of a hometown boy. Why did the synagogue crowd of Nazareth react to Jesus the way they did? How  did Jesus respond to their reaction? Scripture: Luke 4:16-30

In life we cannot see beyond the obstacle in front of us. We are short on perspective. God, who sees all, wants to guide us through life He gives us His Word, invites us to pray, wants us to listen and be open to his leading. But we don’t always listen or like where he leads. Israel was that way, forced to learn faith in God’s guidance. Scripture: Hebrews 11:29; Exodus 13:17-14:31

We’ve been looking at Jesus through the eyes of the culture of his day as a Rabbi and a parable teller. In that capacity, his goal would have been to make many disciples, who would not only learn his teaching but be prepared to carry on his mission. Jesus comes talking about the kingdom already being here and making disciples. What’s his plan and where do his disciples fit? And what does it mean t...

Moses lived a life that was characterized by faith. He fled Egypt at one point, but eventually returned to lead Israel out of their captivity. He could easily be called a “hero of faith.” But Exodus 3-4 reminds us that so-called “heroes” are just human beings with weaknesses, failures, insecurities. God helped them, and can help us, overcome those insecurities through faith. Scripture: Hebrews 11:...

Christian polls comparing the behaviors of those who claim they are “born again” Christians with those who say they are not Christians generally find that the behaviors of the two groups are remarkably similar! Why do those professing to be born-again Christians differ little from self-proclaimed non-Christians? The answer can be found in Jesus’ use of parables. Scripture: Matthew 13:1-23

Hebrews 11:20-22 talks about three patriarchs dying in their faith. But these were not death-bed conversions (like the thief beside Jesus on the cross); they had an active faith throughout their lives. These three patriarchs, who serve as links between God’s promise to Abraham and God’s redemption through Moses, didn’t experience God’s promises fulfilled, but we see them dying with a living faith...

In Matthew 21-22, we see Jesus at the Temple, overthrowing the moneychangers’ tables, and his authority is questioned. Then he tells some parables, some Pharisees & Sadducees try to trip him up with questions, which causes Jesus to ask questions of his own. It’s pretty familiar, but what’s going on? It’s easy to say that it illustrates that Jesus just didn’t fit in. But in actuality, it tells...

If we want God’s best, we must sometimes go through the furnace of testing until we fully display God’s intended design in our life. Perhaps no one understood this better than Abraham. Genesis 22 is a haunting story about what it means to do God’s will, to experience God! Isaac is growing up; God’s covenant with Abraham is well on its way to fulfillment. Then out of the blue God calls for sacrific...

There are two issues that might get in the way of people’s reading of this story. One is the impossibility of the miraculous, given the scientific understandings of the modern era. Such stories are easily written off as the expectations and faulty understanding of the time. The other is that we often look at Jesus’ life from our cultural perspective. From our perspective, the miracles done by Jesu...