Reformation Weekend at Christ Reformed! It Is also Our Sixteenth Anniversary!

This week we celebrate our sixteenth anniversary!

Friday Night Reformation Celebration:  Join us Friday evening (10/28/2011) @ 7:30 p.m. for a time of singing the great hymns of the Reformation, and reflection on the themes of guilt, grace, and gratitude from the text of Scripture, and from the Reformed confessions.

Sunday Morning (10/30):  Our Sermon is "All Glory to God" (focusing upon Soli Deo Gloria) based on Romans 9:2-29. 

For more information and directions, check out the Christ Reformed website:  Christ Reformed Church

"And Such Were Some of You" -- 1 Corinthians 6:1-11

The Tenth in a Series of Sermons on 1 Corinthians

Only Americans could love Judge Judy–the uni-mom, as I call her, because of her matronly ability to make grown men look like disobedient children.  Yet I’m sure that if the Corinthians had the technology we have, they would love Judge Judy also.  The public airing of personal disputes makes for great theater.  This explains Judge Judy’s huge audience in contemporary America.  In Corinth, legal disputes were aired in large public buildings known as basilicas which were part of the city’s forum.  Whenever the court met, the public gathered around to take in the spectacle of well-known townsfolk accusing each other of all kinds of wrong-doing before the court, while a leading citizen who served as judge made his ruling.  Although the public airing of personal disputes attracted large audiences in cities like Corinth, the Apostle Paul sees this as yet another manifestation of the wisdom of this age.  Christians are to settle their disputes based upon the wisdom and power of God as revealed in the cross.  Those who will judge the world, need to learn to settle their disputes in a God-honoring manner, and not resort to a public spectacle like that in the courts of Corinth.

We are continuing our series on Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians.  We have made our way through the first five chapters of this letter in which Paul is dealing with a number of problems facing this congregation.  Because of their lack of maturity and love of Greek wisdom, the church has divided into factions.  Paul reminds them that the wisdom and power of God is revealed through the message of Christ crucified, even though the Greeks regarded this message as foolishness.  Paul has told them that the foundation of this church is the gospel, and that the members of the church compose a living temple in which dwells the Spirit of God.  This is why the church must not be torn apart by divisions, and explains why those who are engaging in scandalous behavior–like the man who has his father’s wife–must be removed from the church.

Yet another indication of the spiritual immaturity within the Corinthian church can be seen in the fact that members of this congregation were taking each other to court to engage in civil litigation.  Having spoken of the judgment to come upon those excommunicated in the previous chapter (v. 12), this brings to the apostle’s mind the situation reported to Paul by members of Chloe’s family (or others) regarding the fact that church members were suing each other in the city’s courts.  In verses 1-6 of chapter 6, Paul rebukes the Corinthians for this immature behavior, while reminding them that Christians ought to be able to settle their own disputes without such litigation.  Paul then goes on to point out in verses 7-8 that church members were actually defrauding each other and cheating, a practice which Paul says must stop.  Finally, in verses 9-11, Paul sets forth that conduct which excludes people from the kingdom of God so as to contrast that prior conduct with the current status of sinners who are trusting in Jesus Christ.  Once again, it is important to note that Paul does not focus upon the particulars of these lawsuits, nor does he name any of the individuals involved.  In fact, the focus really hasn’t changed much from chapter 5.  The issue in chapter 6 is still the failure of the Corinthian church to be the church.

To read the rest of this sermon, Click Here

Audio from Ken Samples' Academy Lecture

Here's the audio from Ken Samples' Academy lecture (“Clear Pointers to God - Explanatory Power and Broad Scope of Christian Theism - A Meaningful Life”):

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"He Was Looking Forward" -- Hebrews 11:8-16

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon.

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This Week's White Horse Inn

A Christian Mission in a Muslim World

There are currently over a billion Muslims in the world, and according to many that number is likely to double over the next twenty years. How are we to reach this group with the gospel of Jesus Christ? What kinds of things do we need to know in order to be effective in our witness toward Muslims? On this program, Michael Horton discusses these questions with Fikret Böchek, who recounts his fascinating conversion from Islam and his current ministry among Muslims in Smyrna, Turkey.

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"God Judges Those Outside" -- 1 Corinthians 5:1-13

The Ninth in a Series of Sermons on 1 Corinthians

Reformed Christians consider church discipline to be one of the three marks of a true church.  The reason for this insistence upon church discipline as a mark of the church is found in our passage, where Paul commands the Corinthians to remove (excommunicate) a man from their midst who was professing faith in Christ, while at the same time, openly engaging in an activity which even the pagans regard as shameful.  While the church is to be a hospital for sinners, and while there should always be sufficient grace for anyone struggling with sin, those who insist upon living as a law unto themselves, and who harden their hearts and are unrepentant when confronted, must be removed from the church.  Yet, in 1 Corinthians 5, Paul does something quite unexpected.  He cautions the Corinthians not to judge the pagans outside the church (the world)–because they don’t know any better.  At the same time, he warns those who profess faith in Christ that once they trust in the Savior they cannot live as they did when they were pagans.

We have completed the first four chapters of our study of 1 Corinthians.  We have looked closely at Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians to leave behind the worldly wisdom of first century Corinth, and instead to begin evaluating things–including Paul’s ministry–in the light of the revelation of God’s wisdom in the cross of Jesus Christ.  Having established the foundation of this church through the preaching of the gospel, and stating that the members of this church were the living temple of the Holy Spirit, Paul now moves on to discuss specific issues.  As we saw last time, Paul speaks to the members of this church as his spiritual children, rebuking the immature among them and refusing to allow those still holding on to the wisdom of the world to divert him from his divinely-appointed mission.

In chapter 5, Paul now takes up a series of things going on in Corinth which had come to his attention and which are causing serious problems in the church.  The first of these is the case of a man in the Corinthian church who is co-habiting with his father’s wife (his stepmother).  Somehow word had gotten to Paul that this was going on, and that no one in the church was doing anything about it.  As we work our way through Paul’s discussion of this deplorable situation, it is important to notice that Paul speaks much more sternly about the church’s lax attitude toward the issue, than he does about the guilt of the individual offender, who is never named even though presumably, everyone knew who this was.  What Paul condemns in the passage is the conduct of the church–the elders have failed to discipline the offending party.  The fact that Paul says nothing about the woman involved may very well mean that she is not a Christian, and not a member of the church, or else she too would be subject to discipline.

To read the rest of this sermon, Click Here

This Week at Christ Reformed Church

Sunday Morning (10/23):  We are currently going through the Book of Hebrews.  On Sunday we'll be discussing Abraham's faith and its relationship to God's promise (Hebrews 11:8-16)

For previous sermons in this series, go here:  Sermons on Hebrews

Sunday Afternoon:  We are continuing our discussion Lord's Day 23 of our catechism and Q & A 59-61 which deal with the nature of faith (Q & A 61).  Our afternoon service begins @ 1:15 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study:  We are continuing our series on the sacraments, and this week we'll be going through the basics of covenant theology as a foundation for understanding the sacraments.  Bible study begins at 7:00 p.m.

The Academy:  The Academy meets Friday night, October 21 @ 7:30 p.m., as we continue working our way through the the first chapter of Mike Horton's theology text, The Christian Faith.

Also Ken Samples is continuing his series on his forthcoming book, "CLEAR Pointers to God:  The Biblical God as the Best Explanation for the Meaningful Realities of Life."  Ken's class will meet concurrently with mine on October 21, November 4, 18, and December 2.  Ken's book will be released by Baker Books in the spring-summer of 2012. 

For more information and directions, check out the Christ Reformed website:  Christ Reformed Church

Audio from Ken Samples' Academy Lecture

Here's the audio from Ken Sample's Academy lecture:

Click Here

"By Faith" -- Hebrews 11:1-7

Here's the link to this morning's sermon:

Click Here

This Week's White Horse Inn

Give Them Grace

Is sound theology only for people who have their act together? How is the gospel of free justification relevant to people who struggle with utterly broken lives? Michael Horton discusses this issue with Elyse Fitzpatrick, coauthor of Counsel from the Cross: Connecting Broken People to the Love of Christ. Mike also talks with Elyse about the problem of moralistic parenting as she addresses it in her new book, Give Them Grace: Dazzling Kids with the Love of Jesus.

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