Simple Grace Radio

What do you want? Have you ever stopped and asked yourself that question? What do you want from life? You know, we are busy people. Busy with work. Busy with family. Busy with school and hobbies and chores and vacations and buying stuff on Amazon. And there are various desires behind all those busy activities. We work because we want to eat. We study because we want to graduate. We head to Florida...

Every great story involves a great conflict: some great battle to be fought, or a great danger to face or journey to complete. Whether it’s Lord of the Rings, The Old Man and the Sea, or Beauty and the Beast, conflict is essential to a great story. And in these scenes of great conflict there are great decisions that need to be made – decisions that have profound consequences. Frodo makes the fatef...

This morning we’ve come to one of the great conversion stories of the Bible. This is, in fact, the longest recorded conversation between Jesus and another person in any of the gospels. It’s a very important text for conservative Reformed churches in general, and for Harvest church in particular. You see, the vast majority of conservative, Reformed churches suffer from the same problem – we are poo...

You may have noticed, in the first few chapters of John’s gospel, that John spends a lot of time explaining who Jesus is. He wants his readers to be perfectly clear about this. And so, he begins his gospel with those memorable words, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” All through these first 3 chapters John has been striving to show us the truth about...

What’s wrong with the world? It’s a very important question. We can all agree that there is very much wrong in the world. For instance: There is devastating poverty in the world. Although the number of deaths from hunger is declining – it is estimated that 9 million died from starvation last year, many of them children under the age of 5. Millions of people are suffering under soul-crushing totali...

Have you ever had the experience of missing out on something you had hoped to do because you lacked the sufficient requirement? Maybe you were heading to Canada but when you got to the border you realized you had forgotten your passport and were turned away. Or you arrived at a concert but realized, at the entrance, that you had left your tickets at home. Or you went to the car rental desk but wer...

Victor Hugo, 19th Century poet and author of Les Miserables said, “Life’s greatest happiness is to be convinced you are loved.” I think that’s true. But it’s an interesting statement. Why would this be the case? Why, for instance, is romantic love so cherished and sought after? Why are we so desperate to be loved?

Well, we are about 2 weeks into the New Year and, I must confess, it doesn’t feel very new. In fact, the new year feels an awful lot like old one. Same old names in the news. Same old problems in the world. Same wars. Same disasters. Same diseases. Same crimes. And it’s much the same on a personal level: Same old aches in my body. Same old battles in my soul. A lot of same old. Nothing really new....

Have you ever been in a relationship with someone and you thought you knew them fairly well – but then they said or did something that surprised you? Maybe they revealed a talent or skill you never knew they had. (Paul Potts) I hope you have a bit of that experience this morning. The Jesus we meet here is surprising. He’s maybe a little different than what we had imagined.

Our text this morning is about the glory of grace. But I’d like to begin by asking you a question. What does “grace” look like? How would you define it? It’s a word we use all the time, at least when we talk about the gospel. “By grace you have been saved through faith….” “Where sin abounds, grace abounded all the more.” We often say in the benediction: “May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be w...

“Choices”. You don’t need to be a sociologist to realize that the most influential factor in your life are the choices you make. There are the big choices of marriage partner, career, where you are going to live, etc. And there are the smaller but equally significant day to day choices of how you are going to spend your time, how you are going to manage your finances, how you are going to treat pe...

The first line of John’s gospel is one of the very best opening lines of all the books in the Bible. It reads like the opening chords of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony. It’s dramatic, bold and memorable. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” It echoes the opening line of Genesis, the very first line in the Bible:  “In the beginning, God created the heavens and...

The book of Romans is Paul’s most extensive treatment of the defining love of his life - the good news of God’s salvation for lost sinners in Jesus Christ. Paul loved this message, this gospel. He loved it because this gospel had rescued him from his self-righteous blindness and bondage. This message was the power of God that rescued him from eternal hell and made him an heir of eternal glory. Pau...

As we approach the end of this magnificent letter, Paul has a warning for the church. “Watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine/teaching that you have been taught. Avoid them.” It’s the last imperative in the letter. The last command Paul has for them. It may seem strange to end such a wonderful, gospel letter this way. This letter is filled with toweri...

Our text is a lesson in how to see the church of Jesus Christ. Let me ask you, what do you see when you look around you or across the aisle? You probably just see a person filling a seat. If you were asked to describe them you would point to their age, their gender, their family affiliation, their personality, their particular gifts or intelligence. Those are the categories we would use. But Paul...

We have come to the final portion of Paul’s letter to the Romans. Chapter 15:13 concluded the main body of the letter which was devoted to a glorious presentation of the gospel (1:18-ch8); a discussion of God’s dealing with the Jews (9-11); and a call to Christian obedience (12-15:13). The rest of the letter is devoted to personal matters – Paul’s explanation of his ministry, his plans to visit Ro...

Last week we noted that, at first glance, these verses might seem to be pretty barren soil for a meaningful message. How much insight for practical living can there be in hearing about Paul’s travel plans? If you were reading this letter to a friend, and trying to quickly capture the essence of it, this is probably where you would go “yada-yada-yada”, until we get to end of the letter - ‘to the on...

we have come to the conclusion of the main body of Paul’s letter to the Romans. And it is no surprise that it ends with a benediction, a blessing.  “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” Hope is a universal human trait. We hope as naturally as we breathe. Paul Tripp, in his devotional, “40 Days of Hope”, sa...

I own several things that don’t work. I’ve got an old leaf blower that doesn’t work - I think the carburetor needs a good cleaning. I have a Mercury outboard with a stuck lower unit – doesn’t work. These items don’t function as they were intended to, they are incapable of doing what they were created to do. They don’t work. That’s not that big of a problem when it comes to mechanical things. You c...

We are continuing Paul’s discussion of how to love each other in the face of differences and disagreements. There are many things we can disagree about and easily live with the difference. My wife likes mysteries, I like historical novels. I like coffee, she likes tea. But those are just differences of preference and they in no way interfere with the peace and joy of our relationship.   Disagreeme...

You don’t need to be a Christian for very long to realize that Christians do not agree on everything. And you will also soon discover that Christians don’t always handle their disagreements well. We can quickly judge motives and easily condemn. Disputes often result in derision, discord, and division. We have all seen it. We have all probably participated in it at one time or another. 

Do you ever feel like you are sleepwalking through your Christian life? It feels like you are just going through the motions: you go to church, sporadically read your Bible if at all, you try to pray – but you don’t feel like you are growing in your sanctification. You aren’t experiencing the joy of salvation. You maybe wonder if you are a Christian at all.  Let me encourage you today by saying, w...

We’ve come to a tremendously relevant text for our time. We are a nation awash in political turmoil – and it is a marvelous opportunity for the church, as children of the Heavenly King, to show that we are a distinct people. Unfortunately, many Christians, on both the right and the left, are allowing themselves to become just another angry constituent group of their preferred political party – rat...

I’d like to begin with a true story of a missionary couple. Graham and Gladys Staines were a young couple from Australia who decided to dedicate their life to missionary service in Eastern India. They spent 34 years there, ministering the gospel particularly to lepers in the jungles of Orissa. In January of 1999, Graham took his two sons, Philip (11) and Timothy (6) to a Christian camp where Graha...