Redwood Church Preaching

IVF violates three different biblical laws: (1) gross negligence, as many embryos die; (2) adultery, by introducing a third party into the sex act; (3) presumption, by creating life without the certainty of birth. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Cretans are liars, sluggards and gluttons—and from this, Paul infers that they will desire to go after fables and myths. Why? Because they want to waste themselves on consumption, without care for whether it is false. Unfortunately, social media algorithms and on-demand entertainment is now shaping us all into Cretans. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscrib...

The consumerism of our age shapes our souls, by instant gratification, to covetousness and impatience. These are antithetical to contentment and faith, and leave us numb. The biblical remedy is not to ascetically resist the urge to indulge—but rather to reorder our desires toward God. Fasting teaches us how to do this. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscrib...

Scripture has much to say about the happiness of those who consume God’s word. But how should we understand this, when antidepressant usage is common among Christians and non-Christians alike? Part of the answer is that biblical happiness is not a feeling, but an action of faith ordering the affections. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get acces...

To consume God via his word, he tells us to be speaking the scriptures to ourselves, singing the scriptures to ourselves, and dialoging the scriptures between ourselves. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Hospitality is a natural function of bodies. Giving the best of yourself for others works out not just at the personal level of individuals or families, but also in churches and even nations. What are some ways that New Zealand is hospitable, what does this hospitality reveal about its religion — and how should we then live? This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other su...

We become like God by consuming him. But this pattern does not originate with us. To understand what it means to eat God — and how to do it — we must first know what it means that he eats us. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Our nation, and everything that makes it unique, is Christ’s own inheritance. We therefore cannot despise it, ignore it, or reject it—but rather love it and build it up for him. An exposition and application of Deuteronomy 21:1–9. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

An exposition and application of Psalm 132. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Even more elemental than light and eyes are food and mouth. Scripture teaches us that we are always consuming something, and that the first sin was a sin of consumption. In the modern day, we are especially tempted by the unearned wisdom, and unearned glory, of the tree of knowledge. But we must learn first to feed upon the tree of life. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this...

Rejecting the creator/creature distinction logically and naturally leads to rejecting the male/female distinction. This follows necessarily from the biblical logic of “you become what you worship.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

An exposition and application of Psalm 124. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

All of life is worship, and we become what we worship; therefore, we are continually being conformed to the image of whatever it is we serve. Let us make sure that this is God, and not a black mirror. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

An exposition and application of Romans 1:14-32. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

An exposition and application of Psalm 124. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

When we fix our attention on something, we are caring for it. This is why the heart follows the eyes, and our affections are transformed by our attention. Unfortunately, we live in an age where sustained attention and deep thinking are harder than ever. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.c...

Mankind fell through an act of thankless, selfish consumption: take, eat, give. Christ gives us a redeemed pattern of thankful, sacrificial consumption in the Lord’s Supper: take, bless, give, eat. We should cultivate this liturgical pattern in everything we take hold of to consume. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes,...

An exposition and application of 2 Timothy 3. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

An exposition and application of Acts 16. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Gospel peace and joy are not necessarily tranquility or happiness in very situation. Christ models for us how to rejoice in God and find peace even in circumstances where what we naturally feel is great turmoil and agony. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

An exposition and application of 2 Timothy 3. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Whereas the modern church has become convinced that appeasement and avoiding confrontation are required to ensure peace, scripture requires us to wage war against everything that opposes Christ in order to be peace-makers. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com

Whereas we tend to think of peace as just one of many fruits of the Spirit, it is in fact central and foundational to the gospel itself. The gospel is described as the gospel of peace, and this peace is said to exceed our ability to understand it, not just experientially, but doctrinally. This is because biblical peace gathers up every blessing of God’s presence, and in fact is shorthand for heave...

Man is designed to go where he looks, and to become like what he looks at. For this reason, scripture instructs us not only to fix our attention on God through prayer and reading of his word, but also to think upon whatsoever things will direct our attention upward to the true and the good and the beautiful. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get...

An exposition and application of 2 Timothy 3. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com