Providence Community Church

There were many living witnesses to the resurrection power of Jesus Christ assembled during the course of the Messiah's earthly ministry... We recount the “widow of Nain” and all who attended the funeral of her only son in (Luke 7:11-17). Then there was Jarius' daughter raised again to the amazement of the onlookers in (Luke 8:49-56). Who can forget the account of Lazarus and the life-changing eve...

 Romans 1:20 reveals that all men of every generation are without excuse in their unbelief because God has revealed Himself in the things that have been made sufficient to condemn the Gentile for his rebellion against his creator.  There is an additional category of individuals, however, who Jesus addresses even more directly in His ministry.  This would be the Jews, or more generally, those with...

Genesis provides another striking instance marking an extraordinary milestone of faith in the life of Abraham. Genesis 21 records the patriarch's interaction with Abimelech documenting a distinct change of roles between these two national figureheads. Why the sudden confidence and authority assumed on the part of Abraham who entered this land disguising his covenant identity, fearing for his life?...

Psalm 113 introduces another set of songs (113-118) in the Psalter which traditionally accompanied Jewish liturgy at festival, particularly; Passover, New moon, Weeks, Tabernacles, and Dedication of temple. These 6 songs are referred to as the 'Hallel' or 'Egyptian Hallel' Psalms. This category recognizes their themes as fitting to commemorate the works of the Lord promised and executed in the Exo...

Philippians 2:4-8

Psalm 112 announces: “...blessed is the man who fears the Lord; who greatly delights in His commandments”. The song thusly continues expounding, via 'poetic ideal', the rewards of godly fear. Abraham's account in our text today illustrates the 'blessed man' of Ps 112 in real time. In Gen 21, a foreign king is seeking Abraham's favor and acknowledging the status of the patriarch whose renown is inc...

Smith's Bible Dictionary provides a summary of events through our text today that serves well as an introduction to this message. “Hagar (whose name means) 'flight', an Egyptian woman, the handmaid or slave of Sarah, whom the latter gave as a concubine to Abraham. (Gen 16) When Hagar saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes” & Sarah, with the anger, we may suppose of a...

Psalm 112 joins Psalm 111 as a set complimenting one another in several ways. They match each other in length, stanza, even verse count. At many points, the stanzas align directly between the songs to emphasize ideas via parallelism. They are complimentary in theme. Whereas Ps 111 proclaims the glories of God, Ps 112 proclaims blessings attending those who truly appreciate the glory of God. Both s...

Peter reiterates and summarizes the main exhortation themes of his epistle in this section. Those who took to heart this epistle would not have been shocked, disillusioned, or broken by persecution sure to come for many in the early church. In fact, early church history bears witness to the opposite, sometimes in the extreme. There were those who sought to be martyred as the pursuit of high Christ...

Sound familiar? The circumstances recorded in Genesis 20 involving Abimelech, King of Gerar are virtually identical to the situation in Egypt when Abraham and Sarah encountered Pharaoh (12:10-20). There was a routine strategy that Abraham would use to protect himself in foreign lands. He would claim, with Sarah, that they were brother and sister (she was in fact his step sister). This deception wa...

Genesis 19:24-25 records in just three sentences, the destructive judgements of God executed upon the wicked societies of Sodom and Gomorrah. Nevertheless, this moment is referenced time and again through all of scripture as a forewarning. Sodom presents a cautionary tale for all history. One of its great contributions is to set forth by significant historical event, a dire warning for future gene...

Amos was a shepherd, a herdsman, and a dresser of sycamore figs (7:14) before God called him to prophesy to the nation of Israel. Amos was an unlikely vessel to bring the oracles of God's judgement to a sinful people, however, this wasn't the first, and wouldn't be the last time when God would raise up a shepherd to proclaim His glories in an era where the seats of power and influence were thoroug...

Psalm 111 is one of 9 songs in a unique and distinguished subset called “acrostic psalms”. These poems in their original language are structured in a alphabetic sequence. Each new stanza begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet. A number of truths are illustrated by this literary device... God is a God of order. His truth is comprehensive (From A to Z, He is the Alpha and the Omega), His...

Elect exiles will endure as they live in light of absolutes and ultimates. The unchanging truths of the gospel serving to bring the Lord maximal glory will provide ballast stones in the hull of the believer's vessel stabilizing him even through the roughest seas. Traditionally this time of year corresponds with the closing of the 'advent season'. Advent means coming, arrival, fulfillment, appointe...

Ruth was not the only unlikely bride in the line of Christ. Our last message on Lot's legacy was titled: “A Bitter End?”. The answer by all immediate indications is a resounding yes, until you follow his compromised lineage all the way through to the Moabite, Ruth, for which a book of the Bible is named. In the redemption of Ruth, we find the glories of salvation magnified in spite of a legacy mar...

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Let us note, first of all, the providence of God in placing Psalms 109 and 110 back to back in our Bibles. The prior song is a lament addressing the sufferings of the Messiah and his legal appeal through the voice of His fore-bearer, David. Ps 109 is immediately followed by an anthem of sovereign triumph by the same author and inspired by the same hope. This time it is the glories of the Messiah r...

It is easy to imagine how the life of an exile might be marked with frequent suffering. The scriptures record the woeful plight of Israel in hardship of this sort on multiple occasions in multiple scenarios. Maintaining enduring faith under such hardships is a challenge worthy of apostolic exhortation and so Peter addresses this issue thoroughly in his epistle. The context references a situation i...

The scriptures are never shy when relaying the truth of sin and its consequences. As such, Lot's life appears as the anti-fairy tale... “they lived tragically ever after”. However, the Bible is unique in another way as well. The story is always much bigger than any one individual and the fallout of one chapter of history. Lot and his lineage are not without hope when we view his legacy from the va...

The record of the trial of Sodom and the entire valley region continues in Genesis chapter 19. In this passage (1-25), two eye witnesses are sent from the Lord Himself. These angels arrive at Sodom to carry out judicial reckoning. By the testimony of these messengers, the case against Sodom will be established. The outcry against the city is confirmed almost immediately when these angelic beings a...

This is not the first time Abraham has experienced an extraordinary encounter with mysterious individuals who represent the power and presence of God. In Gen 14:17-24, a feast was shared in the presence of Melchizedek (who was priest of God Most High) and Abraham received a blessing of fellowship and prophecy from this important individual. This meal was on the heals of the defeat of Abram's enemi...

Psalm 109 is the 2nd of a set of 3 Davidic Psalms in this portion of the Psalter. Each of the Psalms portrays decisive action in different ways. Victory in war (108), victory in court (109), and victory in ascension (110). What is the punishment deserving of treason against the Messiah and how would a prosecuting attorney, seeking justice on His behalf, make his case? Ps 109 answers this question...

Psalm 108 is a selective composite written/compiled by King David drawing nearly word for word from portions of 2 other songs (Ps 57:7-11) and (Ps 60:5-12). Ps 57 is an individual lament, Ps 60 is a community lament, yet interestingly, Psalm 108 can hardly be categorized as a mournful song, in fact, it has a decidedly triumphant tone with one brief interjection acknowledging prior discipline of th...

The book of Hebrews introduces us to Jesus in superlative terms. He is proclaimed in His redemptive majesty with reference to men and angels of significance throughout covenant history in the opening chapters of the epistle. The greater portion of Hebrews proceeds to document His superiority to them all. Chapter 3 introduces Jesus as superior to Moses. The context gives way to the multi-fold offic...

The apostle Paul explains to the early church that the experience of the people of God in their deliverance from Egypt was a kind of baptism. I Cor 10:1-5 expounds proclaiming that “ all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea..” We have recognized in recent messages that baptism, in part, is a rite of covenant head affiliation. In a baptism event, there is a sharing of the experience...