Madison Reformed Church

In this sermon on the 4th command, we learn that God's own eternal rest is the ground of our observance of the Sabbath, and that we apply the Sabbath to our lives in two main ways: (1) our weekly Lord's Day celebrations, and (2) our daily rest from evil works.

In this world, it is hard to feel truly satisfied.  But in this famous story of the feeding of the 5,000, we are given a glimpse of where satisfaction may be found. Jesus reveals himself to be the compassionate Shepherd from heaven, who denies himself in order to feed his people until they are satisfied.

At some point, everyone uses God's name. We hear it in our services and sermons, but we also hear it in the profanity of people around us. How do we use God's name rightly? By coming to terms with his almighty power and his wonderful grace. In this sermon on the 3rd Commandment, we learn some of the ways to use God's glorious name in a reverent way.

Last week we saw a painful episode in which Jesus himself faced rejection . Today, we come to a passage that challenges us to see ourselves in that same story. In fact, the message of these verses is nicely summed up by what another book of the Bible says: “All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12). Because our Savior suffered rejection, his followers mu...

There are many who hear the term “10 commandments” and immediately are turned off. All they can think of is rules and condemnation. Psalm 19:10 says this about God’s commandments: “They are to be more desired than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.” In this sermon, we begin the 1st Commandment and learn how to turn away from idolatry.

Rejection is hard. But it really depends on who is doing the rejecting, and who is being rejected. In this passage, Jesus is a prophet who is rejected by his hometown. Yet he demonstrates that he has the marks of God’s ultimate Prophet—the one who truly reveals the way to be saved. The response he receives teaches us that we must not allow our familiarity with him to lead us over time to push him...

Many people assume that if you have started to go to church, then they have “converted to Christianity.” But authentic conversion is not about making a couple of changes. It requires a spiritual restart. You must be made new . You must die and be raised to new life.

If you've ever been in a desperate situation, you might identify with the two main characters of this story in Mark 5. One is a prominent member of the community with a dying  daughter. The other is a woman suffering from a chronic disease. Jesus enters into these situations and responds mercifully to their weak faith. He heals them, but he also strengthens their faith—and in doing so, he giv...

Doing good is something we can all agree on. But why? Why do good works? In this catechism sermon on Q&A's 86–87 from the Heidelberg Catechism, we learn that we do good works because of our new status, new image, and new motivations.

In this story from Mark 5, Jesus casts many demons out of a man whose life had been ruined. He was isolated, oppressed, and unclean. But Jesus dramatically reverses all that, and in doing so, he shows us what his cross has accomplished for all of us.

Jesus calms a great storm on the Sea of Galilee, but not without teaching his followers a lesson about true faith and godly fear. In this famous passage from Mark's Gospel, we learn that Jesus proves his trustworthiness to his people, and that he is worthy of our deep reverence too.

What comes to your mind when you think of the Final Judgment? Does it give you any comfort, or only a sense of dread? In Scripture, the 2nd Coming of Christ and his final judgment upon the world is meant to reassure Christians that their obedience and suffering is not in vain. In this final lesson in our series on the End Times, we look at some key passages on this important topic.  

In this last Kingdom parable in Mark's Gospel, Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God has small beginnings, but will eventually have full and absolute dominion over all the earth. This teaching challenges our sensibilities, but also offers great comfort to those discouraged by the small beginning of holiness in their own lives.

Who or what is the New Testament referring to when it uses the term "antichrist"? In this Bible study lesson, we look at several passages of Scripture to help us understand that even  now antichrists are in the world, and that probably there will be an ultimate  Antichrist  who comes at the end, just before our Lord Jesus returns.

So how does the church grow? Jesus answers that question for us in the parable of the growing seed. It teaches us that Christ grows his kingdom through his powerful Word, which produces fruit gradually until God says it’s complete. If this is true, then this parable is a powerful indictment against the ways some Christians have talked growing churches. But it is also a wonderful guide.

Lots of American Christians hear "tribulation" and picture a seven year period on earth after the secret rapture. But in our passage today, we learn that tribulation is simple the common experience of all Christians in this age, previewing a more intense "great tribulation" that is to come. But Jesus tells us, "In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I hav...

Jesus continues teaching in parables, this time showing us how to grow in Christian maturity. This passage reminds us that Christ is the chief revealer of the Word of God to us, and that the more we give ourselves to that Word, the more Christ will give us the understanding that we need. 

In this Bible lesson in our study of the End Times, we look at the "thousand years" of Revelation 20:1–10 and discover that we are in this "millennium"  now:  Christ is seated on the throne, Satan is bound, and departed Christians are reigning with Christ.

Our brother, Rev. Zac Wyse ( Westside Reformed Church ), opens Psalm 40 and helps us to see that it's all about the exaltation and humiliation of our risen King, the Lord Jesus Christ.

During our Sunday Bible Study, Rev. Zac Wyse joins us from our overseeing church (Westside Reformed Church) to help us understand the part of Christian worship commonly called the "absolution" or "assurance of pardon."

Scared of being  left behind ? The topic of the "Rapture" is everywhere in Christian pop culture. But is it a biblical doctrine? In 2nd lesson on Eschatology (basically, the study of the End Times), we look at two of the most important passages on this topic and conclude that the doctrine of the rapture is not there.

On the occasion of ordaining our first deacon, we pause in the Gospel of Mark to look at the book of Acts and the creation of the first deacons. When the question is asked, “Why deacons?” the answer is, because the Lord loves his people. Specifically, the Lord has given us deacons to relieve needs, to bless the church, and to exemplify Christ.

In this first week of our Bible Study series on the End Times, or "eschatology", we learn some basic principles for reading prophetic sections of the Bible. In future weeks, we'll apply these principles to the topics of the tribulation, the millennium, and others.

Although Jesus is setting captives free in his ministry,  pretty much everyone has misunderstood him, a warning to us in our day too. In this passage from Marks' Gospel, we learn that misunderstanding the work of God leads to a failure to do the will of God. In other words, you can’t be a true disciple of Jesus and obey him if you don’t understand who he is or what he’s done. 

At this point in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus has been proclaiming that the kingdom of God is at hand. Now he begins  building the kingdom. What we see in this passage is the Son of God creating order out of the chaos of this world, and this new order is the order of his kingdom.