What is your job here? What are you doing here in worship. First it is important to recognize that each one of us has a job. The congregation is not passive but is renewing covenant during worship. All audibly joins in responsive reading and song, all physically join at the supper, and all spiritually join in prayer. But what about during the sermon? The Pastor’s job is to proclaim the Word of God faithfully, week in and week out. The congregation is commanded to listen. “He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:9.

This is not a passive task. To be a good listener takes hard work. It takes active hard work. You are called to hear that truth and apply it to your hearts and lives. 

Now it is only by the power of the Spirit that men are converted, and without conversion the truth proclaimed will make no sense, it bounces off the forehead. Unconverted hearts cannot understand. Unconverted ears cannot hear. 

But conversion does not instantly make you a good listener. Your ears can now work, they are able to hear, but they need training. You will need to work at it. This takes time and faith. 

To listen well you must remove any hindrance. To remove spiritual hindrance we confess our sins at the beginning of the service. Holding on to sin in your life is like holding your hands over your ears. You refuse to hear. 

But there are other hindrances. It has been said that the mind can only absorb what the body can endure. And so, you must prepare your body for listening. This means getting good rest on Saturday night and getting up early enough to eat a good breakfast. We are given human bodies; we cannot ignore them. Emergencies arise, babies stay up all night, but you should be planning within your control to get the rest needed. And if you are tempted to sleep during the sermon, it might be a good week to sit in the front row. 

You can also prepare to listen by reading the sermon text. Pastor Josh has given us all heads up that we will be in Isaiah for the next few years, so there’s really no excuse. Get familiar with Isaiah and you will hear more each sermon. I especially encourage young parents to practice this. If you know you are going to miss half of the sermon due to faithfully taking care of your kids, it will be incredibly helpful to already have the context for the parts you get to hear.

And lastly pray for wisdom. God wants you to hear more clearly and to grow in truth. So as James says, pray without doubting. 

Zach Browning – May 26, 2024

Read Full Article

Men are called to be leaders. Men are called to responsibility; to go out and take dominion. This is part of the creation ordinance. The idea that some men are alpha males while others are beta males is a false Darwinian lie about man. No, all men are called to lead and be leaders. God created men to be men. 

A man not leading his family, is abdicating, and he hates his family. A man that is bulldozed by the woke regime at work hates the truth and hates his neighbor. That’s because being passive is not being neutral. This is what is referred to as the sins of omission, not doing what God has commanded you to do. And these sins will send you to hell just as fast as any other sin. 

Now you might say, what about Paul’s teaching on the parts of the body? We can’t all be hands; we can’t all be mouths. My role is to be the quiet man, who doesn’t say anything but loves God in his heart. I am not really good at leading. I don’t speak well. I get easily confused and don’t want to blunder. I just mess things up when I try to take the lead. My wife is so much more organized than me, she does things so well when I just stay out of the way. 

This is the same argument that has brought our culture to the place of thinking a man’s role can be a woman. He can just mutilate himself, take some drugs and “Presto!”, he’s a woman. No, the different roles or talents given to men in the body do not include no longer being a man. They do not include abdication of responsibility and they never include sinning. Men, you are to stand for and defend the truth. Every one of you. Husbands, you are to lead your wife and children, every one of you. Men, you are to rule over sin in your life, every one of you. 

Now each one of you should also prayerfully be considering whether you are called to lead in the church, serving as an elder or a deacon. This is a part of the body that you may or may not be called to. But whether you are or not, we are all called to strive to meet the qualifications for Church leadership. To be honest, blameless, a one-woman man, to be watchful, self-controlled, hospitable, able to teach, not drunk, not violent, not greedy, not quarrelsome, not immature, but patient, content, and one that rules his household well.

Zach Browning – May 19, 2024

Read Full Article

On Pentecost, like at Mt. Carmel, the fire of God fell. In both cases the Lord gathered the people called by His name together and demonstrated His power by sending fire on an unlikely place in order to bring them to a point of decision. That they might be holy and purge out the evil among them. When the Israelites saw the fire fall on Elijah’s altar, they executed the prophets of Baal. When the Israelites gathered for Pentecost heard Peter’s sermon, they repented of their sins and were saved, as Peter says, from the crooked generation.

This is an exhortation to zeal. Consider the logistics of Mt. Carmel: Elijah personally, it seems, slaughtered four hundred men in his zeal for the Lord and His holiness. But similarly impressive is the mass baptism after Peter’s sermon: three thousand baptisms. Which I’ve heard as an argument for sprinkling as opposed to immersion, but that’s neither here nor there. But regardless, in each case, the people hear and rush to obey.

The Devil would have us delay, slow down, don’t rush into anything, Consider all the implications of your actions. In general, while zeal without knowledge is bad, we are commanded to be zealous for holiness and more often than not caution is not a mark of the Spirit’s presence. Our inclination is to hold back, to not commit ourselves, to delay obedience to a more opportune time, but God requires us to take the prophets of Baal down to the Kidron valley and slaughter them as soon as we know them for the treacherous snakes they are. We must seek cleansing as soon as we know our sins for the cancerous blights they are.

When the Spirit’s conviction falls on you like fire, illuminating and purifying, know that fire goes on altars, i.e. things that are holy. So when the Spirit’s conviction falls on you, know that it is because you belong to God, and obey.

Joshua Edgren – May 19, 2024

Read Full Article

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

When we think of our own battles with sin, particularly hidden sin, we often consider as a motivation for us the fact that God sees everything. As Hebrews 4:13 says, “There is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” 

It certainly ought to motivate us when we are in the throws of temptation, when no one is looking, when it is just you, alone and in the dark, it ought to motivate you toward holiness to consider and meditate on the fact that God sees all things, that God knows all things, that he is present with you watching everything you do. 

But here, Christ says the inverse of this must also be a present motivation for us. When you’re in throws of temptation, when you’re tempted to lie in order to present yourself in a better light, when you’re tempted to gossip and slander a brother or a sister, when you’re tempted to fully give yourself over to your anxiety about the future, when you’re tempted to click that link to the shady website in order to see forbidden things, Christ tells you that what should stop you dead in your tracks in that moment, is the promised reward ahead of you. 

Yes, God sees you in that moment. You are naked and exposed before the fire of his eyes. Everything you do, everything you say is before his face. 

AND if you would turn to him, if you would purify your heart, if you would confess your sin and cling to the cross of Christ, then you will see God. 

This is what you were made for. To behold your creator in all his splendor, in all his radiant holiness, to take in the sheer magnitude of his glory—like a thimble attempting to hold the ocean. This is what you were made for, to see him face to face. 

So do not let the fleeting pleasures of sin entice you. Do not let the cares of this world distract you. Do not give yourself over to the impurity of lust, and licentiousness, and anger, and envy, and bitterness. Purify your heart and you shall see God.

Zach Wilke – May 19, 2024

Read Full Article