New Covenant OPC Sermon Podcast

In Matthew 13:53-58 Christ is rejected at his hometown.  Those who knew Christ best and were closest to him end up failing to receive him.  Sadly, it is sometimes those who are most familiar with Christ who end up turning away from him.  It can be easy to take the blessings of the covenant for granted, but they are not to be rested in.  Rather, they are meant to lead you to Christ.

Many believe they are serving God and that many roads lead to heaven, however, the Scriptures teach that obedience is required for God to be pleased with a person’s service.  If a person believe he is serving God but not obeying His Word, this person’s service is sinful  In 1 Samuel 6:1-7:2 various people come into contact with the ark of God as it returns from exile.  The Philistines send the ark...

Many think of evangelism is primarily the act of sharing the gospel in a private conversation.  This is evangelism, but the Bible envisions more than this.  Evangelism is something that the church does as a whole with the members of the church working together in the work of the ministry, using their gifts in a variety of contexts.

At times the church is laid low because of its sins.  These are often times when the enemies of God’s people appear to be quite strong.  Such was the case in 1 Samuel 5:1-12, however, God shows that He needs no one to fight for Him, for He will get the victory Himself.  This is a great comfort for believers: God will always act for the sake of glory of His name and will get the victory in the end.

We recognize that in evangelism only God can change the heart.  If only God can change the heart, then prayer becomes essential for evangelism.  We are not seeking merely to put the Word of God before people but also to see their lives transformed by this Word.  This, however, is not something we have the strength to effect.  Therefore, we must plead with God to bless our evangelism and to change...

Many believe that God will not come in judgment.  They say that God is a God of love, not wrath.  The Scriptures, however, make it clear that God is always faithful to his word, not just the words of promise, but also the words of judgment.  This is evident in 1 Samuel 4:12-22 where God brings upon Eli the judgment prophesied in chapter 2 as well as a more general judgment on the people of God as...

Many things are needed for evangelism, but one that we see in the Scriptures is boldness.  We must recognize that we are in a war.  Courage and strength is needed.  It is not needed destroy the enemy through force of arms but to stand for the truth and lovingly to call people to Christ.

In 1 Samuel 4:1-11 the people of God are defeated at Aphek.  After the defeat, they bring the ark of God to the battle and believe they will win merely because the ark is with them.  This, however, does not help them and they are once again defeated.  What are we to learn from this?  God’s people ought to trust in the God of the ark rather than the ark of God.

In 1 Samuel 3:1-21 Samuel’s call to the office of prophet is recounted.  The most significant thing about this call is that it comes from God.  Ultimately this is what is needed in the church: for God to call men to preach the gospel and to bless that preaching.  There is a connection between prophecy and preaching.  God has always used his Word to grow the church.

In the gospel eternal life is offered.  Wisdom has set a great feast, and yet, many refuse.  Why is this the case?  Many reasons can be given, but one significant reason is that there is another offer to go to another feast, and many choose this one over Wisdom’s.  This is the feast of folly, built on the foundation of sin.  Ultimately, it leads to death.  Those who are foolish content themselves...

In 1 Samuel 2:27-36 a man of God confronts Eli about the sins of his sons and by extension Eli’s own sins.  He pronounces a word of judgment against Eli but also promises that God will raise up a faithful priest after God’s own heart.  Samuel is the type of the faithful priest, which ultimately refers to the Lord Jesus Christ.

In Proverbs 9:1-12 Wisdom sets a table with a great feast and invites all to come.  This is the offer of the gospel that goes out to all.  The beginning of wisdom is to accept the invitation offered. Those who do so will feast with Christ on the last day at the wedding feast of the Lamb.  The question is, will you be there?

As a prophet Christ reveals to us by his Word and Spirit the will of God for our salvation.  This he does today, as the greatest of all prophets, by pouring out the Spirit upon his people and by calling men to preach the Word.

How does Christ’s death relate to Christ’s work as a prophet?  Christ’s death reveals who God is.  In Romans 3:21-26 Paul speaks about the way in which Christ’s death shows God to be both just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Christ.  Christ’s death shows forth the righteousness of God. The cross does not only reveal these things about God but is the perfect revelation of God.  All of...

In 1 Samuel 2:11-26 two different kinds of priests are contrasted.  On the one hand is Samuel with his godly mother supporting him.  On the other hand are the sexually immoral and impious sons of Eli, Hophni and Phineas.  As Samuel provides a contrast between two kinds of kings, so too it teaches that there are two kinds of priests.  Christ is the fulfillment of this priesthood, being not only the...

In Proverbs 8:32-36 the final appeal of Wisdom is made.  In light of Wisdom's call, her greatness as seen in the rule of kings, her righteousness, her glory in creation and eternity, there is tremendous blessing for turning to Wisdom.  Great blessings are offered to those who turn, as well as great curses for those who fail to heed the call.

In 1 Samuel 2:1-10 Hannah sings a song of praise to God for giving her a son. This song contains the major themes found in the books of Samuel. By giving Hannah a son, God has shown his preference for the humble. He often works to exalt the humble while also humbling the exalted. These things show the almighty sovereignty of God. Such an action can be seen in the calling of David, the youngest of...

In Proverbs 8:22-31 Solomon continues his description of Wisdom. Here we see Wisdom's relationship to creation. Amazingly, Wisdom is described as being prior to creation and related to God as one begotten of him. This passage has been extraordinarily important in the history of the church, particularly during the Arian controversy. The passage shows that Wisdom is a person, the Son of God, equ...

Jim Lemen (First OPC Sunnyvale) teaches from Psalm 93.

Pastor Erickson teaches from Psalm 23.

In 1 Samuel 1:1-20 the birth of Samuel is recounted.  This birth was miraculously given to Hannah after she cries out to God in the face of the opposition she faced from Peninnah.  The opposition of Peninnah is a type of the opposition that the godly face from the ungodly.  Hannah's cry for deliverance is a model of how to face such opposition in faith.  God granted her deliver...

In Proverbs 8:1-11 Solomon records the call of Wisdom, the eternal Son of God, which is contrasted with the call of the adulteress in the previous chapter.  This call has gone out to all the earth in the preaching of the gospel.  The words of Christ are pure, true, and righteous, and those who are wise find them to be so.  Do not neglect Wisdom's call.

Pastor Grasso gives an overview of the books of Samuel, focusing on the themes of kingship and the house of God.  The books of Samuel recount the transition from Judges to Kings.  The books of Samuel are not against kingship, but rather make it clear that there is a particular kind of king that must be sought and that king is not a king like all of the other nations but the king after Go...

In Proverbs 7:1-27 Solomon gives his final exhortation against the sin of adultery.  Here the emphasis is on an incident he saw where a young man was tempted and fell into sin.  Solomon exhorts us to learn from the example of others who have been destroyed by sin.  In a world where examples of the destructive nature of sexual sin are abundant, the wise would do well to notice the en...

The genre of the book of Hebrews is self described as a “word of exhortation”, which was a phrase used in the ancient church to describe a sermon.  Therefore, it is good to consider the letter as a whole. Pastor Grasso reads the letter as a sermon.