The Town

David was an adulterous murderer. Moses was a coward at one point. Solomon had no self control. Adam brought the whole ship down. Eli couldn't keep control of his sons. Aaron built idols. Balaam talked to donkeys. Elijah played hide and seek. It doesn't take long to see that all of the prophets, priests and kings of the Old Testament were not Messiah-ready. That is because they were only a type of...

David was an adulterous murderer. Moses was a coward at one point. Solomon had no self control. Adam brought the whole ship down. Eli couldn't keep control of his sons. Aaron built idols. Balaam talked to donkeys. Elijah played hide and seek. It doesn't take long to see that all of the prophets, priests and kings of the Old Testament were not Messiah-ready. That is because they were only a type of...

Jesus is not dead. He has risen from the grave by his own power. He crushed sin and death. The resurrection proved that Jesus was indeed who he claimed to be. In the resurrection we see the dual nature of Christ very clearly. His body, like any other body, was buried in a tomb and was laid there without life. Jesus was fully dead. But God did not stay in the grave. He brought life back to his body...

Jesus did not lord his omnipotence over us. As we drove nails into his hands he forgave us. As our sin was placed on his back he paid the ransom. He was made a sin-offering for his enemies and we were his enemies. Without the cross there is no Christianity. Isn't it interesting that the word "crux" comes from crucifixion? The Cross really is the centerpiece of what we believe and who Jesus is. Jes...

The virgin birth is crucial to the early church confessional statements. It is a centerpiece of the Gospel story. It was foretold by a prophet some 700 years before the incarnation. It's vital to who Jesus is. It was necessary, it is central to the Christian faith, it was expected, and it means God came to earth.

God did not leave mankind in sin and misery even after they directly disobeyed him in the Garden of Eden. He immediately stepped into history and promised us a Redeemer who would crush Satan's head. In order for this to happen, a man, a second Adam, would have to do what the first Adam was unable to do. No man could keep God's law once sin entered the world. So God became man. Jesus did not cease...

There is no other person like Jesus Christ. A man who was God. A man who claimed to be God. A God-man who backed up his claims by defeating death and rising from the grave on his own authority and power. No other man has changed the world like Jesus. He really is the God who became man. This is the extraordinary claim of Christianity. This is the beginning of our journey as we examine the claims o...

The argument goes something like this: if God is all powerful and good and loving, how come he allows people to suffer, evil dictators to rule, tragic deaths, disease, orphans, and other horrible catastrophes? Couldn't he just stop the evil? How can there be an all powerful God and evil existing in the same universe. It is easy to theologize. Indeed, good theology will be like a healing balm in th...

So why do we need to understand what election and predestination is? Does it really matter? The simple answer is that the Bible refers to predestination and so it matters. In the English Standard Version of the Bible, the word predestined appears in Romans chapter 8. In both verses 28 and 29, the Apostle Paul talks about how God has predestined us to be conformed to His Son. Paul also talks about...

One of the greatest prayers offered to us in the gospels is Jesus' high priestly prayer in John 17. Here, we read that Christ asks that his disciples, and all those who would come to believe in him, would be one! The appeal for Christian unity is a large theme of this great prayer offered to the Father from His Son. Christ goes on to ask that we might be one, even as He and the Father are one—that...

How is it possible to know that the Bible is true and that it has any authority in our lives? What makes the Bible so different or more important than the Quran, ancient Hindi writings, the Jewish Scriptures alone, or the latest book in the Twilight series? In essence, the question that many asked in our Religious Questions survey was why any of us should trust the Bible? I want to set out to demo...

During the 2008 presidential election, Rick Warren hosted an interview with Barack Obama and John McCain in which he asked, "Does evil exist, and if it does, do we ignore it, do we negotiate with it, do we contain it, or do we defeat it?" This question is more complicated in our current generation where evil is not a common term and its existence is often questioned. The aim of Christians should b...

What is going on in churches and in the Christian faith today? What exactly do we believe and why? Can Christians articulate their beliefs and does it really matter? So what if a person prays a prescribed prayer? Anyone can do that! What are the fundamentals of the faith? To be a right-wing Republican? To be a theological conservative? To be a "Reformed Christian"? Does it really matter what we sp...

God has given us parameters for sex. We shouldn't be afraid to talk about them. We should embrace them and celebrate them. Our culture, family, teachers and friends all attempt to dictate what we think and act concerning sex. Rather than allowing these people to dictate our view on sex we should turn to the Bible—God is the author of sex and therefore He knows best. We will all have a choice when...

Christianity used to be so easy. All you had to do to be a Christian was to hold on to the fundamentals of the faith. Over time more rules were added as the culture shifted and produced new problems that the church needed to address. For many, Christianity became a list of rules rather than the story of redemption found in Scripture. God was no longer pursuing his people; instead, his people were...

There is no doubt that God designed marriage. Genesis 2 shows God creating a helper and completer for Adam because it was "not good" for man to be alone. In all of his creation, this was the first thing that God declared was not good. So he created Eve, and the Bible states in Genesis 2:24, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one...

It's probably a safe bet to say that every Christian, at some point in their life, has asked what God's will for them was. Since we look to him as the Creator and master over all things, it makes sense to consider what he would have us do, where he would have us go, and how he would have us live. Recognizing this aspect of God's lordship is not a stretch for most Christians. But there are two big...

What sometimes gets lost in this story, as we focus on how bad Jonah was, is how evil Nineveh was. They weren't the poor, innocent neighbors who just needed to hear about Jesus. Assyrians hated Israel. They eventually would help undo the entire nation. Eventually, the northern ten tribes of Israel, because of the actions of the Assyrians, would never be heard from again. Jonah had good reason to h...

Jonah 1:17 through all of chapter 2 tell us the story about Jonah's spiritual and physical death. So far, the entire book of Jonah has taken us on a downward journey to Hell itself. There has been no little debate about whether or not Jonah was actually in the belly of a fish for three days. It would be hard to remain dogmatic about certain interpretations. The focus of these verses is that Jonah,...

In Jonah 1:4-16, we continue to learn a lot about the man Jonah, about ourselves, and about Jesus. We'll get to the Jesus part in just a moment. But first let's talk about us. Just like Jonah, we try to thwart God. We have gone astray. Psalm 51 tells us we were sinful from the time we were conceived. We didn't have a shot at being perfect. For some reason, we continually try to thwart God. Paul ex...

Like Jonah, we are prone to disobey, despite the clarity of God's call on our lives. Our rebellion is often based in fear, self-righteousness, a wrong understanding of God's character, or some combination of the three. Whatever the case, we can see in Jonah that God's plans will be accomplished despite our disobedience. God's sovereignty, patience, and desire to save all people will not be swayed...

The main message of Jonah is often missed because of much debate around whether or not the story is historical or a fable. We have already devoted much time to discussing the nature of Jonah. Let's look into the message. Jonah reveals much to us about God's character. We learn through this amazing story that God is a universal God, He desires to bless us rather than blow us sky high, and that He i...

The Gospel of Luke has often been likened to a manual on true discipleship. Luke 9-19 explores the journey to Jerusalem that Jesus took with His disciples. Jesus knew He was heading to the cross. It would be a burden of unspeakable pain and misery. And yet, Jesus was to fulfill the will of the Father. On the road, Jesus teaches His disciples what it means to be a disciple of the Savior. Luke recor...

Every church has a mission statement. Well, at least they are told they are supposed to have a mission statement. You will notice that the mission statements of Bible-believing churches look very similar to each other. That is because Jesus gave the church its mission statement in Matthew 28. It is Christ's desire that His church should proclaim his name, baptize His people, and teach them all tha...

There are many churches popping up all over Middletown. One question we will have to ask ourselves is whether or not we are valuable to the community. What makes a church valuable? Our value is in how much of Jesus people see when they see us. Are we leading people to the Savior? Our motto says that we want people to "come as they are." When people come, they will want to know if we really mean wh...