Christ Church

How to Hear a Sermon

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The Text

“And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”

10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that

‘Seeing they may not see,
And hearing they may not understand.’

11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience” (Luke 8:4–15).

Westminster Larger Catechism (1647)

Q. 160. What is required of those that hear the word preached?

A. It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine what they hear by the Scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God; meditate, and confer of it; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives.

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Troubled Peace and Christmas

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The Texts

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet. 1:6-9).

“Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.’ 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: 14 ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'” (Lk. 2:10-14).

“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: 18 ‘A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.'” (Matt. 2:16-18).

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:7)

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Good Tidings of Great Joy

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The Text

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:8-14 ).

  • What content of the Angel’s proclamation makes the tidings “good”?
    • Location
    • Heritage
    • Title
    • Outcome
    • A Babe
  • How does this content relate to our creeds, what we believe?
  • Does Great Joy come as just a gift to be received or is it a result of the gift giver receiving us?
  • If the Joy of the Lord is your strength, what does Great Joy look like in your life?

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Dayspring of Christmas

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The Texts

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, and all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up,” says the Lord of hosts, “That will leave them neither root nor branch. 2 But to you who fear My name the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings; and you shall go out and grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3 You shall trample the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this,” says the Lord of hosts. 4 “Remember the Law of Moses, My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with thestatutes and judgments. 5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. 6 And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse” (Malachi 4:1-6).

“And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, 77 To give knowledge of salvation to His people by the remission of their sins, 78 Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; 79 To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace” (Luke 1:76-79).

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Jesus in the Garden

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The Passages

For so many reasons, Christ’s agony in the Garden of Gethsemane is one of the most pored over scenes in Scripture by the devout. Wedged between the Last Supper and Judas’ betrayal, the scene shows us Jesus at His most emotional. In John 11:35, Jesus weeps over Lazarus. But in Matthew 26: 36-42; Mark 14: 32-35; Luke 22: 39-44, we see and understand His pain. His tears are like blood. His disciples are sleeping. His anguish is so extreme that an angel is sent to comfort Him. Hebrews 5 describes the desperation of Christ’s prayer, but also the surrounding purpose. Christ had something to learn?

The Whole Story

In the Garden, we see Jesus ask His Father to do something. And we see His Father deny Him. This is the Incarnate Word, the One through Whom all things were made. This God-Man was the lynch-pin of all history. The One Whom the prophets foretold, the Lamb to unmake and remake the world. And in His most desperate prayer, His Father denied Him.

The Lessons

I’m sure faithful pastors have been thundering on these verses since they were still freshly written history, and faithful ministers will be thundering on them still until the very end of history. And there will still be new things for us to learn from Christ’s anguish and courage when this world is in its final week. There are new things for us here right now.

God Says No

God is speaking all around us all the time, crafting every whirring atom in every scene in which we exist. Every one of our moments is divinely bespoke, and when we cry out to Him, He hears us. He answers prayers. But He does not always say yes. Because, while we are often focused on physical comforts (comforts which He invented for us), your comfort is not your highest and best use. The Father denied Christ here, because His purpose was Christ’s glory for eternity, for His Son’s highest and best use…

Feelings

Feelings should be given to God to be confirmed by Him or to be thrown down. By all means, tell Him what you feel. Be raw and completely honest. But our feelings should never be given the steering wheel. Not even Christ’s feelings in that Garden were given control. How much less should yours be? And Christ’s pleading had an ending. In the story that follows, throughout the passion narrative, we do not see Christ still begging to be relieved of the cup. Think of Him standing in front of Pilate and how changed His demeanor is. Christ pleaded with God. And then, having received His answer, Christ acted. He ran the Father’s play to His own extreme hurt.

We live in a moment in time when feelings are treated like more than just sacred cows. They are treated like sacred black holes, bending light itself with their gravity, bending the very truth. In the face of feelings, truth is treated like blasphemy.

It’s Not About Us. It’s Never Been About Us. Let’s Talk About Us.

Jesus died for you, but He didn’t really die for you. The atonement wasn’t one of those terrible claw games at a grocery store where our Savior paid an enormous price only to discover that we were cheap trash made of itchy, recycled polyester suits. Jesus didn’t get ripped off. And if we were all He had been given, the rip off would have been significant. Jesus glorified the Father. He drank the cup and went to the cross and rose again to glorify the Father. If saving us—if saving you–hadn’t glorified the Father, Jesus wouldn’t have done it. It wasn’t about us. We weren’t worth it! But Restoring the imago dei, raising millennia upon millennia of corrupt dry bones, remaking a race of helpless, hopeless trash into beings that could also please and glorify the Father, that was a miracle of miracles. Our rotten corruption, our darkness, our canker sore hearts—what we brought to the table was an impossible level of difficulty and a manifestation of Christ’s humility. And yet, Christ stooped lower than low and made us new. Yes, He died for us. But He did it for our Father’s glory…

Fatherhood

Fatherhood is not protectionism. Fatherhood is preparation. Fatherhood is sending.

Freedom vs Predestination

God shows His work when He chooses to. We love the idea of a radical human freedom that even God defers to. It is a concept that rubs our human fur the right way, because it’s a tasteful basket of fruit left at the feet of our favorite idol…ourselves.

Our Cups, Our Crosses, Our Easter Mornings

We should face our trials, our suffering, our feelings in the same way Christ did. Give them to your true Father, the One Christ leads us to. But once you’ve given them to God, submit to what He chooses to do with them. More than that, labor to live through them and with them in whatever way will bring your Father in Heaven the most glory, knowing that route is never painless. Not even for the most perfect man who ever walked this earth. But on the other side, there is Easter, and joy eternal to dwarf mere hours of pain.

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