Madison Reformed Church

Exod. 29:31–34  Zech. 8:18–23  Matt. 26:26–29  1 Cor. 11:27–34  It’s always embarrassing to show up to an event badly prepared. You come to class having forgotten all about a test. A get-together with old friends, but you forgot that you were supposed to bring food. Many Christians come to the sacrament of the communion like this. We come ill-prepared because we haven’t recognized what an amazing...

In this passage, God develops and passes along to Abram the promise of the offspring to come, who will crush the head of the serpent. God chooses Abram not only to bless him, but also through him to bring blessing to the ends of the earth. What blessing? The blessing of salvation, which has come to us through Jesus Christ. It is a gospel of salvation, and a gospel that leads sinners like Abram and...

Gen. 17:1–14  Isa. 44:1–8  Matt. 28:16–20  Acts 2:36–41  The great theologian John Murray said, “If it is proper to administer baptism to infants, then the [importance] of baptism must be the same for infants as for adults. It cannot have one meaning for infants and another for adults.” In this message, see in Acts 2 that the promises of baptism are applied not only to adult believers, but to thei...

Psalms 3–7 detail threats from within his kingdom; liars, murders, persecutors; and even the trouble of his own sins. But then here comes Psalm 8, a song of praise that teaches us to put our confidence in God. This psalm shows us how to zoom out from our problems far enough to see the whole world with Christ reigning over it, promising to make all things new. With such a grand vision, we build our...

Num. 5:1–4  Ps. 51:1–12  Matt. 3:1–17  Titus 3:3–7  In baptism, God has given us a simple but powerful means of restoration. In this message we discover what the sacrament of baptism does and how it remains useful to you throughout your entire life. Baptism proclaims the good news of Jesus Christ to your senses. It is gospel water—Christ’s gift to every believer to help us become more assured of H...

Psalm 7 teaches us how to persevere when we’re sinned against . It’s a psalm about God getting justice for His people. But in v. 8, David tells the Lord, “Judge me according to my righteousness.” He speaks beyond himself, because in an ultimate sense, only our Lord Jesus Christ can speak like that. In this sermon, we enter into  Psalm 7 by recalling the experience of our Savior, whose death and re...

Gen. 1:1–5 Isa. 43:1–7 Matt. 22:1­–14 2 Cor. 4:3–6 Ever since the fall into sin, God’s image-bearers have not responded to God’s call properly without His grace intervening. If we are unable to respond when God calls us to belief his Word, then what is the solution? “The Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the holy gospel and confirms it by the use of the sacraments."

Historically, Psalm 6 has been called one of the 7 “penitential psalms.” In other words, it teaches us how to repent when we’ve sinned, or when we’re experiencing the consequences of sin in general. The relief we long for is only found in the Lord Jesus Christ. He has taken the full weight of God’s wrath against sin. And because of this, we know that when we sin, we have a constant path laid down...

Lev. 4:27­–31  Hab. 2:1–5  John 15:1–11  2 Cor. 5:16–21  In this message on union with Christ, we turn to justification and sanctification. We learn how these two are related to each other—a relationship that is far more important than we might think at first. Getting justification and sanctification mixed up can rob you of your Christian joy. But understanding their relationship opens the pathway...

Mornings bring us tiredness. Bad dreams. Chronic pain. And from the word “go,” our phones and tablets are calling the shots with messages, tasks to complete, and news updates about some terrible thing that happened over night. King David knew the stresses of the early morning and got up early to offer a sacrifice and ask for guidance in the face of evil. Psalm 5 teaches us to approach God in this...

The “sleepless night” is a terrible experience. In Psalm 4, Israel’s king—King David—is facing just such a night. A thousand years later, the Lord Jesus would face an even darker night. Psalm 4 teaches us that all the stress and toil and restlessness of our Savior becomes our peace. He gives us the gift of a calmed heart even when our enemies attack so that we can rest.

Exod. 19:1–6  Joel 2:18–32  John 10:14–18  1 Cor. 12:12–27   Union with Christ is the believer’s connection to God, through His Son, by the Holy Spirit. In this message, we explore the Spirit's role in uniting us to Christ, Christ's Body (the Church), and to one another.

No one likes to be told no, but sometimes our heavenly Father gives us this very answer. In this topical message on the problem of "no answers" from God, we recognize that even Jesus received a no-answer from his Father. The passage before us today is the account of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before his crucifixion, asking for "the cup" to pass from him. And...

In this message, Rev. Zac Wyse (Ascension Reformed Church, Cincinnati) opens God's word to explain what a transformed life looks like, the necessity of repentance, and the reason for good works.

We are not only united to Christ in his descent to earth, death on the cross, and burial—but also in his resurrection, ascension, and reign. Paul says in 2 Tim. 2:12, “If we endure, we will also reign with him…” In this message, we look at Jesus’ reign from three angles—his current reign from heaven; when he comes again on the day of judgment; and his reign in eternity. And we reflect on how each...

Genesis 11:10–32 shows us the sovereign faithfulness of God to his people by moving us from the days of the flood to the man of faith, Abram. What do we find as we weigh this chapter with other passages of the Bible? We find the same sovereign God of creation, faithful to his promises, and faithful to his people. We learn that no matter what the state of the world or the church seems to be, the Lo...

Deut. 28:45–15 Zech. 12:10–14 Mark 16:6–15 Gal. 2:17–21 Crucifixion was a truly awful way to die. It was to be avoided at all costs. But in Galatians 2:20, the Apostle Paul says, “ I have been crucified with Christ.” Paul wasn't actually executed with Jesus there in A.D. 33. So what does this mean? Because the Holy Spirit has united us to him, the effects of what he has done now come to his p...

If you’ve ever been in a foreign country, perhaps you’ve experienced the shock of being immersed in another language. The inability to understand what someone else is saying is the foundation of confusion. In Genesis 11 we come to the event where this all began—where humankind tried to itself and ended up scattered and confused. This passage teaches us to give up on our projects to make a name for...

Exod. 4:18–23 Isa. 43:1–7 Luke 1:34–38 Eph. 1:3–6  Many people’s main struggle in life is a lack of connection with others—for what the Bible calls fellowship .  Our main longing is to have fellowship with God. Union with Christ is God’s gift to provide for that need in each of us. In this message, we learn how Christ’s being the Son of God leads us our becoming the children of God through the gra...

Genesis 10 shows us that this sinful world has always been trying to figure out what to do with the problem of divisions and always ends up looking to the wrong figure to sort things out for us. But because the Lord Jesus Christ is uniting a people from every tribe, nation, and language, we don’t need anyone else to do that for us. We thank God when national leaders do well and when there's p...

Num. 14:13–19 Ps. 125 John 14:18–24 Rom. 6:1–11  In this first message on union with Jesus Christ, we learn that this union is the believer's connection to God, through his Son, by the Holy Spirit. The catechism recognizes the importance of when it says in  Q&A 29, “…those who in true faith accept this savior have in him all they need for their salvation.” This series explores the Creed&a...

In Noah's three sons, we are given the spiritual categories: Through Ham, the unbeliever. Through Shem, believers born and raised in the covenant. Through Japheth, those outside the covenant, but brought in later. This passage not only gives us the outline of God’s plan in history, but it teaches us the toll that sin takes. Sin brings us shame and immense regret—that feeling of wishing we cou...

Deut. 8:11–18  Job 1:1–22  Matt. 10:26–33  Jas. 5:7–11  The doctrine of God's providence teaches us about "the almighty and ever-present power of God." We get a glimpse into the mysterious workings of God's providence in the first chapter of Job—not only that we have spiritual enemies, but also that God somehow uses even them to work out saving plan. In this message from the ca...

The way of life in this world after the flood was put in place by God’s covenant with Noah, sometimes called the Noahic Covenant, or the Covenant of Common Grace. This covenant highlights the universal faithfulness and patience of God, and through it, God blesses all people even in a cursed world and gives unbeliever  time to be saved.

When you move to a new town, it takes a long time to feel like you fit in. Many still feel like outsiders. Psalm 87 depicts outsiders and enemies being welcomed into the city of God. It teaches us that the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is such a sweeping message of welcome, that through it, God is able to make the enemies of Zion feel as though Zion is actually their home town, as though they we...