Providence Community Church

Salve for the Banished Guest Speaker: Dave Ingenrigtson

Having examined how Christian convictions relate to our testimony interacting with the human institutions which make up any given social order, the apostle Peter extends his appeal for Christian conduct in more general terms. He encourages the church to embrace and display Godly virtue in all their dealings. Given Peter's own experience and the teaching of his Master, he is not naive. He knows tha...

Imagine planning a meal for God himself visiting your home accompanied by messengers who will go on with Him to execute divine judgment on neighboring settlements. How would you prepare? What conversation might you share over dinner? This is the situation in which Abraham and Sarah find themselves in Genesis 18. The event is not just life changing for this patriarch and his family, a milestone in...

The second half of Psalm 107 continues building a cumulative case for worship of the One True God responsible for the timeline of the universe and the course of each individual life. The song establishes beyond reasonable argument that Yahweh is worthy of praise. The truly wise and the truly enlightened are distinguished by their consideration and testimony of the steadfast love of the Lord. This...

Book 5 of the Psalter opens with a thematic, poetic, symmetrical, and contextual song. The theme is the praise worthy testimony of the steadfast love of Yahweh redeeming His people. The poetry incorporates 4 pictures of redemption from 4 perilous situations which vividly illustrate the saving work of God and the desperate plight of His people through the ages. The symmetry of ideas incorporates a...

Marriage for the Lord’s Sake

Ephesians 2:11-13 establishes that the Jew/Gentile separation based upon physical circumcision has been transcended through the shed blood of a unifying mediator. (13) “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.” The blood shed of circumcision which symbolically and provisionally set apart a people gives way to Christ's shed blood that binds us...

Covenant signs accompany the revelation of God to His people from the earliest pages of scripture. At times individuals would ask for a sign from God to confirm His word, at other times God presented His word accompanied by unsolicited signs. God sends a bow in the sky to confirm to Noah He will spare the earth whole-scale destruction by flood. He establishes many memorial ceremonies and rites in...

When society has given the remnant every reason to despair, having defiled themselves in the rituals of covenant suicide, the psalmist reminds us that the Lord, the God of Israel, is from everlasting to everlasting. He can raise the dead in sin even from the “graves of craving” (the cemetery in the wilderness named for the cause of death). In the second half of the song, our author recalls three a...

Ps 106 completes a set of 4 historical songs recounting events from creation through the occupation of Canaan as occasions for worship and reflection. Ps 106 is the closing chapter of book 4 of the psalter and thus completes the second to last collection of songs in scripture's hymnal. This note of anguish under just discipline for sin and covenant faithlessness will be eclipsed by the glory of th...

These 5 verses are central to the major themes of Peter's epistle. Further examination reveals additional passages in his letter which reiterate similar, all important truths... chapter 4:12-19, for example, echoes the concepts of purpose in suffering, identifying with Christ, joy in spite of persecution, Christian holiness, fear of God, Gospel centrality, an eschatalogical perspective, and submis...

Psalm 105 picks up where Ps 104 left off, chronicling the revelatory faithfulness of the Lord according to His covenant unfolding in Genesis and beyond. The occasions for worship in Ps 105 expand beyond creation to include covenant. The author (many assume David), references the legacy of God's unfolding purposes in redemption amplified by the history of His covenant relationship to His elect from...

I Peter 1:12 issues a directive for elect exile sojourners to conduct their affairs while they remain distant from their final destination and consummate homeland. We are to practice voluntary submission to human institutions in this meantime. As the passage unfolds, example institutions are referenced including Civil government, Servitude or slavery, Marriage. Peter points us to the example of Je...

In prior messages, we've noted how a Biblical philosophy of history might be summarized as: time measured by the progress of redemption. Accordingly, the historical context of Genesis might be compared to a necklace. The string is the timeline while the jewels are moments of particular redemptive historical significance like creation, the fall, the flood, the patriarchs, and the calling of signifi...

This chapter in the life of Abraham and company is a surprising twist given the account of divine covenant ratification featured immediately prior in chapter 15. How could such supernatural events, including the swearing of covenant oath by Yahweh in person, be so quickly lost on His servant? The answers remind us all of our spiritual frailty. As David waged war on forgetfulness in Psalm 103, he d...

Since ancient times, clothing has represented the rank, class, or even the exploits of an individual. It is often a reflection of dignity or glory. Think of the uniform worn by a military general decorated with medals and various insignia. His garments communicate respect for his office and accomplishments. In light of this concept, one might ask: “what is the clothing of the Lord? Though we canno...

Peter continues to exhort new believers in their calling in contrast to former associations. He draws on a source of cultural understanding that would be entirely new to a Gentile believer – the Word of God preserved via His elect people of old. Isaiah 28, 8:14, and Hosea are foundational to these admonitions. In expounding the Word of God, the apostle familiarizes a called out people with their r...

The occasion for this sermon comes by way of a week of national protests and riots sparked in our state following some 3 months of global fears and lockdowns due to a viral pandemic scare. It feels like our world is coming apart at the seams. A horrifically disturbing video of a law enforcement officer with his knee on the neck of now dead man supplied the spark that has enflamed passions in a tin...

A virtual conference on pressing issues with Andrew Sandlin and Ardel Caneday.

Genesis 15 records the 2nd major installment of covenant documentation to Abraham and his lineage. Aspects of the Abrahamic covenant are successively revealed in the course of Genesis with 3 major reference points, Covenant initiated (Gen 12), Covenant ratified (15), and Covenant signified (17). The promises to Abram (soon to be Abraham) are symbolically rich as they represent gospel truths pictur...

The historical prologue continues apace as the returning nation of Israel recounts their relationship with Yahweh during a timely covenant renewal ceremony. The model given the nation in Deut 27:1-8 provides the legal precedent for this culturally significant repentance gathering. As the nation confesses their sins and the sins of their fathers, they affirm the sovereign intentions of a just and m...

Psalm 103 is a Davidic Psalm rich with Messianic hope and assurance. This song introduces a set of 4 Psalms (103-106) which share themes from creation through the era of exile, as they illustrate the relationship of the Lord to His people. Psalm 103 and 104 share opening and closing refrains. Both Psalms instruct the singer himself to direct his admiration, affections, and worship to Yahweh... “Bl...

The symbolic language of redemption often references imagery that has a rich historical context through the pages of scripture as the purposes of God in the salvation of a people unfold through the ages. The metaphorical reference to the Messiah as a foundation or cornerstone is a great example. I Peter 2:4 refers to Jesus as a 'living stone' set in place establishing the structural reference poin...

Following the instructions of Deut 27:1-8, the returning exiles participate in a covenant renewal ceremony. The great king has been acknowledged as their sovereign (9:5-6). This formal covenant event then continues with a record of the history of Israel in relationship with Yahweh. This extended historical prologue is structured around the wonders of Almighty God. The people affixing their names t...

Israel's repentance, reconstruction, and revival in the days of Ezra & Nehemiah was marked by memorial convocation. These milestone moments of national significance occur in the context of a solemn and extensive covenant renewal ceremony. During this event, the entire nation submits to the rule of their God, humbling themselves with sackcloth and fasting before the authority of Yahweh. His Wor...