Sermon on 1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11, for the 7th Sunday of Easter 2020 A, about suffering and trials for the Christian, and how we respond to it. How does the fact that Christ suffered in the flesh change things? How do we deal with anxiety or worry? What is Jesus' invitation to us?
Sermon on Acts 17:16-31 for the 6th Sunday of Easter 2020 (A series), about Paul's speech in Athens on the Areopagus, or Mars Hill. Paul builds a connection to the local audience by the conversation about the "unknown god" and proceeds to teach about the Known God, and how the God of the Bible is different from all others, and revealed Himself (made Himself Known) in Christ Jesus.
Sermon on Matthew 5:17-37, given during the month of February 2020, about Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and how God's Law presents us with a mirror to see our own lives. How do we respond to what we see in the mirror? What do we see in the mirror besides ourselves and the Law?
Sermon on 1 Peter 2:2-10, for the 5th Sunday of Easter 2020 (A series), about spiritual growth; how we "taste and see that the Lord is good"; and how believers are "living stones" in the spiritual house of Christ.
Sermon on John 10:1-10, for the 4th Sunday of Easter 2020 (A series), about Jesus the Good Shepherd, and how we know His voice and distinguish it from the voices of frauds and imposters.
Sermon on Luke 24:13-35, for the 3rd Sunday of Easter 2020 (A series), about the meeting of Jesus with the disciples on the Road to Emmaus. What does this teach us about how to read Scripture, and about the key ways in which Jesus is revealed to us?
Greetings Listeners! I am back from a year long deployment as a chaplain, and training before that, so most of my sermons haven't been available! Later I will add some of the recordings for messages that I was unable to upload from overseas. God bless!
Sermon on John 20:19-31, for the 2nd Sunday of Easter, 2020, about how Jesus is our Peace (Shalom) and what that means in relationship to forgiveness and our daily fears and challenges. Please check out the Bible Project YouTube video on Shalom, for some parallel ideas that inspired some of this.
Sermon on Luke 18:1-8, for the 19th Sunday after Pentecost (C), the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge. What does this teach us about prayer? Faith? Injustice and difficulties? Persistence? The Character of God?
Sermon on Luke 18:9-17, for the 20th Sunday after Pentecost (C), about the Pharisee and the tax collector. Exploring the themes of self-righteousness and righteousness by faith, repentance and forgiveness, and what is the nature of God that He forgives the repentant sinner?
Sermon on Galatians 3:23-4:7, for the 2nd Sunday after Pentecost, about St. Paul's letter to the Galatians, and the contrast between the two ideas of justification by works of the law, and justification by faith.
Sermon on various Old Testament texts, for Trinity Sunday. How is the groundwork laid in the Old Testament for the full revelation of the doctrine of the Trinity in the New Testament? How are they in harmony, and what is the reason we should seek correct knowledge about God as Trinity? How does it relate to us?
Below are some notes from a Bible study I previously did on this topic, and most of the Scripture references from the sermon are found below, along with many others.
The Trinity: Hints and Allusions in the Old Testament
While the revelation of the Trinity is clear and unambiguous in the New Testament, the ancient Christians also gathered testimonies about the Trinity from the Old Testament, “even though they seemed somewhat obscure. They did this in order that they might use them against heretics and to show that from the very beginning God had thus revealed Himself and that the church of all ages had thus known God, invoked and worshiped Him” (Chemnitz, p. 66).
Several guidelines show where such clues or references to the Trinity occur:
Other significant passages: Daniel 9:19; Psalm 2:7; 110:1 (dialogue within the Trinity); Isaiah 48:16; Genesis 18:2, 16-22; Judges 13:15-25; Zechariah 12:10. Many more passages could be added to these, that follow the pattern of the rules above. Others refer to God as Father (ex. Deuteronomy 32:6; Psalm 89:26); still others refer to the Son (ex. Proverbs 30:4; Daniel 7:13-14) or make reference to appearances of the Son of God as the Angel of the LORD, not to mention prophecies of His future incarnation as Messiah. There are also many places that refer to the Spirit of the LORD (ex. Isaiah 11:1-2; 63:9-10).
While these passages in themselves would not present a fully articulated teaching of the Trinity as we find in the New Testament, they show that the NT teaching is entirely consistent with that of the OT, and that hints and clues run throughout the OT.
Bibliography
Chemnitz, M. (1989). Loci Theologici, Vol. 1. (J. Preus, Trans.) St. Louis: CPH.
Sermon on Genesis 11:1-9 and Acts 2:1-21, for Pentecost, on the relationship (or reversal?) of the Tower of Babel and the speaking in tongues on Pentecost. What does the Bible teach about the origin of languages and people groups? What implication(s) does this have for the evil of racism? What miracle happened to break the language barrier? What were the "mighty deeds" of God that the apostles gave witness to? How is the Gospel spreading across the world today? What still needs to happen for more people to hear God's Word?
Sermon on Revelation 22, for the 7th Sunday of Easter, about the Tree of Life, and how this links the "bookends" of the Bible, Genesis and Revelation. How was access to the Tree of Life lost? How is it restored?
Sermon on Luke 23:23-25 for Palm Sunday, about the call of the people for Jesus' to be crucified, and how the voices, demands, and will of the people contrast to God's Voice, demands, and will.
Sermon on Matthew 2:1-12, for the Epiphany of Our Lord, about the visit of the Magi (Wise Men) and separating tradition from what we can know from Matthew's account, and then observing how God worked through this marvelous situation. How does this relate to our own journeys in life, and God's care and providence. Where should those journeys lead?
