As we have come to the first Sunday of Lent, I’d like to review our approach to the church calendar here at King’s Cross and why we do not have Ash Wednesday services or encourage corporate fasting during this season. We’ll begin with a story from the Reformation which illustrates pretty well how our forefathers in the faith approached Lent.

It’s the year 1522, and a group of prominent Christian men have gathered in Zurich, Switzerland, for a special brunch featuring home-cooked sausage prepared by the host’s wife. Now, it may sound odd to remember a meal 500 years later, except this really was a big deal, for this took place during the season of Lent, and the eating of meat was strictly prohibited by the church.

Over time these obligatory fasts took on an almost sacramental and salvific role in the church—meaning many sought to merit or earn salvation by their faithful and required observance.

And so this was not a mere brunch, but a bold act of reform, which led to the host’s arrest. In response, the reformer Ulrich Zwingli preached a famous sermon on the doctrine of Christian liberty, declaring that the church had no authority to require that which Scripture did not mandate and that Christians were no longer bound to the observance of seasons or food laws (Col. 2:16–17, Gal. 4:9–11).

He summarized his main point as this: “If you want to fast, do so, if you do not want to eat meat, do not eat it; but allow Christians a free choice in the matter.”

And so due in part to this recovered doctrine, the Reformed churches stripped away the obligatory penitential seasons like Lent and maintained a simplified church calendar consisting of Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost—edifying feast days all centered on celebrating the life of Christ. This then is the general Reformed practice that we follow here at King’s Cross Church. 

And so my exhortation this morning is this: Regardless of your Lenten practice, remember and rejoice in your liberty and freedom in Christ. Rejoicing in liberty means both eating all the sausage you want (or not)—but also sincerely blessing and honoring brothers and sisters who differ.

As the Apostle Paul wrote regarding holy days and food, “Let each be fully convinced in his own mind” (Rom. 14). But let everything be done with a thankful heart unto the Lord.

Shawn Paterson – February 18, 2024

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Today is the first Sunday of Epiphany, the liturgical season where we remember and celebrate the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles. 

In particular, the church recalls the story of the pagan Magi, who traveled from the East in order to offer gifts and bow down before the prophesied Jewish King. For in this scene, we see an initial fulfillment of all the Old Covenant prophecies concerning the nations turning to God, the Gentiles from afar coming in to worship the Holy One of Israel. As the Lord spoke to His Messiah through the prophet Isaiah, “I will give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth” (49:6).

And so Epiphany is a reminder of Christ’s rule over all nations and His commission to the church to be His witnesses to them, that they may glorify Him and receive great joy in His salvation. 

This means that the work of foreign missions is not simply a nice add-on or optional program of the church. Christ is the Light to the Gentiles. And having established this work during His earthly sojourn, He now oversees its fulfillment by His Spirit in the work of the church, by yourwork, as you reflect His glory and shine your light before all men (Mt. 5:14–16). 

This of course begins by first being a light to your families and this community. But you must not stop there. It is a great privilege and honor that Christ has called you to be a part of His plan to make disciples of all nations.

And so in this new year, consider how you and your families may participate in extending His kingdom abroad. In your family prayers, pray for God’s global work and any missionaries that you know by name. As you are able, give financial support to efforts you trust, such as the work of the Madsen family in Zambia. And if there is any desire or interest on your part, do not be afraid to ask God if it may be His will for you to be sent out as well. For the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are still few (Mt. 9:37).

Christ will receive the full reward of His suffering. All the ends of the earth will turn to the Lord and bow down before Him (Ps. 22:27). And this is the joy of Epiphany.

Shawn Paterson – January 7, 2024

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The Incarnation of God highlights a foundational truth of the gospel – that God first comes to us.

But while the Incarnation is the ultimate example of this truth, it is not the first demonstration of it. This is how it has always been, from the very beginning when God sought after Adam and Eve in the Garden as they hid in their shame (Gen. 3:9:10, 15. Throughout all of history, we see God as the Great Initiator in the salvation of His people. 

As Scripture tells us, no man seeks after Him, not one (Rom 3:10–12). Without God, we are all dead in our sins, and not only are we unable to seek after Him, we are also utterly unwilling and uninterested. And yet… God pursues (Eph. 2:1–7). Out of His own love, according to His very character and being, He determined from eternity to not abandon His fallen creation. And He did so at great cost to Himself.  

Two thousand years ago, while the world stumbled in the dark, blind to righteousness, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14). Christ the Son of God appeared. 

As G.K. Chesterton wrote of the Incarnation in one of his Christmas poems, 

“Outrushing the fall of man, 
Is the height of the fall of God.” 

Great indeed was mankind’s fall into sin. But how much greater was, as we may poetically put it, the “fall” of God in pursuit of man, as seen in the Incarnation?

And so the exhortation this morning is quite simple, although not easy. In all of the excitement and busyness of this season, find time to truly contemplate this great mystery of our faith, that “though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor…” (2 Cor. 8:9). Whether it be in a quiet evening beside the Christmas tree, while singing hymns in church, or while buried under last-minute sheets of wrapping paper with scissors in your hand. In light of the Christ’s incarnation, ponder again these words of the Apostle John, “We love God, for He loved us first” (1 Jn. 4:19). And believe them. 

Shawn Paterson – December 17, 2023

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Last week in my exhortation I extolled the efficacy of the Word of God and its centrality in the work of the Reformation. This was a reminder to all of us of our need to keep the Word at the center of our lives. Today I want to apply this high view of God’s Word to our Lord’s Day worship service, specifically the Word preached in the sermon.

When you gather on the Lord’s Day, you are not coming here as mere spectators, looking for free entertainment. The sermon isn’t a classroom lecture or some kind of talk you can find on YouTube.

Rather, you are coming to hear from the living God. For in His wisdom, God has called feeble and weak men, to be His very own mouthpieces, speaking His words to His people. We see this in Scripture when the Apostle Paul wrote that he and his co-laborers were “ambassadors for Christ” with God making His appeal to men through them (2 Cor. 5:20).

And so consider the sermon like this: When an ambassador relays accurately the word of a king, it is no less the word of the king even though it comes through the mouth of a messenger. And though the word of the king is mediated through a much inferior man, it still carries the authority of the king.

The message proclaimed each week to you by a minister of God is one of life for the dead. It is a message that reconciles the world to Christ. For it is an authoritative message from the very Word of God.

And so the Westminster Larger Catechism lists a number of duties for the listeners of the preached Word, which include receiving it as “the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God.”

Now I recognize that you won’t hear all the sermon, let alone understand or remember it. You are human. God made you that way and He knows your frame. And He has given many of you tiny distractions with mouths and legs.

But know that each week, the Lord is adding to the soil of your heart exactly what you need from His Word. And trust that out of that fertile soil, the Spirit of God will cause the fruit of righteousness to grow.

Shawn Paterson – November 5, 2023

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Looking back on all that had been done for the reformation of the church over the course of his ministry, Martin Luther had this to say: 

“I simply taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.” 

In the fuller quotation, he also humbly calls himself a “poor stinking bag of maggots” – but that is beside my point. 

What I want us to consider this Reformation Sunday is this – what gave life to the Reformation? What renewed the church in Europe? Was it the genius of man? Was it mere politics or statecraft?

No, not at all. The Reformation was simply the result of the Word being freed to run wild and hit the hearts of men. This is because the Word is efficacious. The Word gives life. As Scripture testifies of itself, the Word is living and powerful (Rom. 1:16), able to save souls (Jas. 1:21), at work in those who believe (1 Thess. 2:13), and will not return void (Isa. 55:11). 

Isaiah said that the Word of God is like water which gives life to the earth (Isa. 55:10), David likened it to a lamp casting light upon the path (Ps. 119:105), Jeremiah compared it to a hammer that shatters rock (Jer. 23:29), and Paul called it the sword of the Spirit, able to pierce the innermost man (Eph. 6:17, Heb. 4:12). 

It was the Word spoken through Ezekiel that called the dry bones to life (Ezek. 37). And it was the Word spoken through the incarnate Word that called forth Lazarus from the tomb (Jn. 11:43). 

This is simply what the Word of God does. Ever since the beginning – when God spoke and light came forth (Gen. 1:3). And so on this Reformation Sunday, we are reminded of our need to keep the Word at the center of our lives. Let all that you do be according to the Word, and there, in families and in a community where the Word is received and believed, the Spirit of God promises to be at work again.

Shawn Paterson – October 29, 2023

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