Living in Light of Two Ages
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Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 05:01PM 
Here's the audio from Friday Night's Academy lecture from our series on the Two Kingdoms, "In the Land of Nod." The lecture deals with the moral imperative given to all Christian citizens in the civil kingdom, "Love Your Neighbor." Love Of Neighbor--Our Civil Kingdom Mandate
Sunday, March 6, 2016 at 04:52PM 
What People Believe and Why
On this program the hosts begin a new series as we prepare for Easter in celebrating the Resurrection of our Lord. As we come closer to this time, we have continually found that the necessity for an examination of the historic truth claims of Christianity is continuously needed. If you ask people on the street what they believe about God and the afterlife, you’re likely to get a wide variety of answers. But an important follow-up question you should ask is, “Why do you believe that?”
On this program the hosts will listen to and interact with a number of on-the-street interviews dealing with basic religious questions. Why do people believe what they believe, and do the answers they provide work in other areas of life? Is it arrogant to believe in a factual religion? Why or why not? Join us for this broadcast of the White Horse Inn as we begin a new series, focusing on the resurrection as the foundation of the Christian faith.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016 at 10:08AM 
The Fifth in A Series of Sermons on 1 Peter
Those Christians receiving this letter from the Apostle Peter are aliens in their own land. They have been displaced from their homes by a decree from the Roman emperor Claudius several years earlier. As elect exiles, beloved by God, and members of Christ’s church, Christians of the diaspora in Asia Minor are to consider themselves as the New Israel. In God’s sight, believers in Jesus compose a chosen race, a spiritual house, a royal priesthood, and holy nation dwelling within the midst of the civil kingdom. In the first half of 1 Peter 2, Peter exhorts these Christians to keep their conduct honorable before the Gentiles persecuting them, so that those who speak evil of them will be forced to give glory to God. In the last half of chapter 2 (vv. 13-17), Peter instructs these elect exiles how to view the civil magistrate which oppresses them. Then, in vv. 18-25, Peter instructs those Christian who are slaves and servants, how to respond to their masters. If Christians are to live honorable lives before the watching Gentiles, they must have a proper view of the civil government. As for those who were bound to their masters–the large caste of slaves in the Roman empire, many of who were Christians–they are to serve their masters and follow the example of Jesus, who, more than all men, suffered unspeakable injustice and humiliation.
As we continue our series on 1 Peter, we take up the second half of chapter 2. At the end of chapter 1, Peter gives three imperatives to those believers whom God caused to be born again, who already have been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, and who are set apart (sanctified) by God for obedience. These imperatives are Peter’s exhortation to fix our hope upon Jesus (v. 13), to live holy lives which reflect the holiness of our creator and redeemer (vv. 14-16), and to live in the fear of the Lord, because the one we invoke as our Father is also judge of all the earth (vv. 17-19). The practical implications of these commands are spelled out in the next section, vv. 1-12, of chapter 2, which we covered last time.
Peter implores his readers/hearers to set themselves apart from “all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” To prepare themselves for action (as Peter exhorted his readers in verse 13 of the first chapter), Christians should see themselves as “newborn infants, [who] long for the pure spiritual milk,” of God’s word. Christians are to realize that their struggles arise because of their identification with Jesus, who was the rejected foundation stone of Israel’s messianic kingdom, but who is the foundation of a spiritual temple composed of all those who have been delivered from their sins by the blood of Jesus, and who are identified as a New Israel by Peter using a number of images taken directly from the Old Testament. Peter encourages his struggling readers to consider their identity as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
The way in which persecuted citizens of heaven demonstrate to the watching world around them that they are the people of God has nothing to do with distinctive clothing, diet, or in a withdrawal from society–typical of most world religions (and even some forms of Christianity). It is the doctrine Christians profess–that we are believers in the Triune God who sent his son to save us from our sins–as well as the lives which we live before the unbelievers around us. This life of holiness is to be lived by obeying the three imperatives Peter gives, and as he exhorts his readers in verses 11-12 of chapter 2, “beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” In our text, vv. 13-25 of 1 Peter 2, Peter will flesh out two of the ways in which elect exiles keep their conduct honorable: Christians are to submit to the civil authorities (even those who persecute them), and Christians of low social standing (slaves and servants), are also to submit to their masters.
To read the rest of this sermon, Click Here
Monday, February 29, 2016 at 10:38AM 
Sunday Morning, March 6: We are continuing our series on the Book of Daniel, looking at the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, unharmed in the fiery furnace with a mysterious fourth man (Daniel 3:1-30). Our worship service begins at 10:30 a.m.
Sunday Afternoon: We are discussing the doctrine of the Holy Trinity from Lord's Day 8 (Q & A 24-25). Our catechism service begins @ 1:15 p.m.
Wednesday Night Bible Study, March 2: We are going verse by verse through 1 Thessalonians. Our study begins at 7:30 p.m.
The Friday Night Academy, March4: We continue with our series "In the Land of Nod." We are discussing the Reformed doctrine of the two kingdoms. In this lecture we'll be discussing the Christian's most important obligation in the civil kingdom, "Love of Neighbor." The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m.
For more information on Christ Reformed Church you can always find us here (Christ Reformed Info), or on Facebook (Christ Reformed on Facebook).
Sunday, February 28, 2016 at 04:03PM 
Here's the audio from this morning's sermon: Click Here
Sunday, February 28, 2016 at 03:52PM 
Here's the audio from Friday night's Academy Lecture on the Two Kingdoms ("In the Land of Nod"). The Lecture is entitled The Temptation of Civil Religion
Sunday, February 28, 2016 at 03:41PM 
The Story of David (Part 2)
On this program the hosts are wrapping up their series on The Story of God’s People as they conclude their discussion of the life and ministry of David.
How can we reconcile that David was both a man after God’s own heart and also a notorious sinner? Ultimately, the most important aspect of the story of David is the promise that God himself reveals about a future king who will reign on David’s throne, and whose kingdom will never end. Join us on the White Horse Inn as we conclude The Story of God’s People. Click Here
Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 10:06AM 
The Fourth in a Series of Sermons on 1 Peter
Many of the elect exiles to whom Peter is writing have been forcibly removed from their homes, often because of their faith in Jesus Christ and for refusing to worship pagan deities. These exiles are undergoing a difficult time of trial and testing. They possess a heavenly citizenship and a living hope which determines what they believe and what they do. But how should these elect exiles think of themselves during their sojourn? Merely as individual sojourners, marking time until they die? What should their identity be as they struggle in this world, despised and rejected, and during times when their faith is put to the test? Peter answers this question in our text, vv. 1-12 of the second chapter of Peter’s first epistle.
In verses 13-19 of I Peter 1, the Apostle issues three imperatives (commands). These commands unfold against the background of the gospel promises made in the previous verses (vv. 3-12). Peter’s readers/hearers already have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit (set apart for God), already have been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, and have been set apart for obedience. The commands which follow the gospel promises are given to the elect exiles (Christian believers) mentioned back in the opening verse of this epistle. Obedience to these imperatives, then, is the means through which elect exiles identify themselves as citizens of heaven (believers in Jesus), while they dwell in the midst of the civil kingdom, where they now find themselves undergoing various trials which test their faith.
The first imperative is that the Apostle instructs us to fix our hope upon Jesus (v. 13). Jesus will keep all of the promises he makes to us in the gospel. We live this life in light of the realization of God’s promise of a heavenly inheritance in the next. Second, Peter exhorts us to live holy lives which reflect the holiness of our creator and redeemer (vv. 14-16). We are to strive for holiness out of gratitude for all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ. The third imperative is that we are to live in the fear of the Lord, because the one we invoke as our Father is also judge of all the earth (vv. 17-19). The practical implications of these commands are spelled out in the next section of this epistle, vv. 1-12, of chapter 2.
Far too often the imperatives in I Peter (and similar passages) are read by American evangelicals in light of individual and personal sanctification–in other words Peter is talking to me (not a church or group of Christians) and these imperatives primarily refer to “my personal walk with the Lord.” But the Apostle mentions the “love of our brothers [and sisters]” and commands us to love one another (v. 22) using language which comes from the Old Testament, and which applied to the people of Israel–a nation chosen by God, and set apart for his purposes. Peter now applies to same language to Christians in the context of their membership in Christ’s church. The command to love one another which is worked out in the opening verses of the second chapter (vv. 1-3), and which leads to a discussion of the church’s identity (in vv. 4-10), reminds us that sanctification and the striving for holiness take place within the community of sinful people who together believe in Jesus Christ, and this mirrors the nation of Israel in the Old Testament as a people “set apart” by God unto himself and for his purposes.
To read the rest of this sermon: Click Here
Monday, February 22, 2016 at 10:27AM 
Sunday Morning, February 28: We return to our series on the Book of Daniel, and we come to the end of chapter 2 with Daniel's prophecy of YHWH's everlasting kingdom (vv. 44-49). Our worship service begins at 10:30 a.m.
Sunday Afternoon: Rev. Chris Coleman will be leading our catechism service which begins @ 1:15 p.m.
Wednesday Night Bible Study, February 24: We are going verse by verse through 1 Thessalonians. Our study begins at 7:30 p.m.
The Friday Night Academy, February 26: We continue with our series "In the Land of Nod." We are discussing the Reformed doctrine of the two kingdoms. In this lecture we'll be addressing the great American heresy -- "Civil Religion." The lecture begins at 7:30 p.m.
For more information on Christ Reformed Church you can always find us here (Christ Reformed Info), or on Facebook (Christ Reformed on Facebook).
Sunday, February 21, 2016 at 04:58PM 
Here's the audio from this morning's sermon, on the occasion of the ordination and installation of new deacons and elders: Click Here
