"Ten Times Better" -- Daniel 1:17-21

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon:  Click Here

Friday Night Academy Audio

Here's the audio from Friday night's lecture, "The Church's Witness in Nod: John the Baptist, John the Apostle, and Civil Disobedience"

This Week's White Horse Inn

The Story of Joseph

On this program the hosts continue their series, The Story of God’s People, as they look at the great characters and moments of redemptive history. On this edition of the program the hosts are taking a look at Joseph. In Andrew Lloyd Webber’s famous musical, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream-coat, audiences around the world are presented with a parable about what we can all accomplish if we dream big dreams, since at the end of the day, “Any Dream Will Do.”

So is this the best way to read the story of Joseph? Is he just a model for us to emulate if we dream big dreams? What if the story is not about us at all, but rather is about God and his plan of redemption? That’s the focus of this edition of the White Horse Inn as the hosts continue their series, The Story of God’s People.

Click Here

Ben Sasse on Trump and the Abuse of Executive Power

Ben Sasse continues to raise an important question regarding the continual increase of the power of the executive branch of government.  Sasse calls out Donald Trump and those in both parties who champion presidential unilateralism.

What is Trump's Solution?

Updated Christ Reformed Church Website

Christ Reformed Church's website has been upgraded (using Squarespace V7).  Check it out here:  Christ Reformed Church

There will be a few bugs and broken links for a while, but we'll get these worked out.

Hopefully, there will be a revised Riddleblog down the road--this blog is long overdue for a makeover (as is its owner).

"We Know His Testimony Is True" -- John 21:15-25; Ezekiel 34:11-31

The Sixty-Fourth and Final in a Series of Sermons on the Gospel of John

Jesus has but a few final words for his disciples before he ascends into heaven.  That night on which they celebrated the Passover together now seems so long time ago in light of all of the things which have happened since.  Jesus has since been arrested, tried, crucified, rose again from the dead, and then appeared to his disciples three times–twice in Jerusalem, and once in Galilee.  The fundamental character of redemptive history has changed.  Jesus will reinstate Peter as chief apostle, and prepare the others for a new phase of redemptive history, when Jesus pours out his Holy Spirit upon them on the Day of Pentecost.  Jesus’ disciples will go and preach the gospel to the ends of the earth, and in doing so, will turn the whole world upside down.

We have finally come to the end of our series on the Gospel of John.  Sixty-four sermons, twenty one chapters, eight-hundred and seventy-nine verses.  This is truly an amazing document–especially in comparison to the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke).  John’s Gospel has many affinities with the other gospels, yet at the same time John has a completely different organizational structure and unique points of emphasis.  Hopefully, John’s Gospel will remain familiar to us as we move on to new biblical texts in the weeks to come.  Now that we know John’s Gospel a bit better, it is my hope that we all turn to it often and read through it regularly.  This gospel is too important to neglect.

As I pointed out last time when we began going through the epilogue of John (the 21st chapter), critical scholars tend to argue that this chapter is an appendage–not an integral part of the gospel, and tagged on to the end by either John, or someone else.  As we saw, however, these verses make an important point and are not carelessly stuck on to the end of John’s summary statement in 20:30-31 as critical scholars believe.  Recall that in his summary statement, John writes, “now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”  This is both a summary statement of the content of his gospel, as well as a challenge to all who read and hear the gospel to believe in Jesus Christ.

In context, John’s point about believing in Jesus and then possessing life in his name is tied to the blessing which Jesus extends to the doubting Thomas, as well as to those, who, unlike Thomas, believe in Jesus based upon the testimony of those who did see Jesus’ miracles and heard him preach.  John says “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”  In addition to defining the promised blessings, John’s summary statement also wraps-up his account Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances in Jerusalem.  Yet several important things do occur after the risen Jesus appears to his disciples in a locked room in Jerusalem eight days after Easter.  These things are recounted in John 21.

In chapter twenty-one the scene shifts from Jerusalem to the Galilee region at some point in the days and weeks after Jesus appeared to his disciples on two different occasions in Jerusalem.  After this, the disciples (at least those mentioned here by John) returned to their home towns and their previous vocation–fishing.  Although Jesus told them that he would go ahead of them to the Galilee, they did not recognize Jesus when he began speaking to them from the shore.  Given the difficulties of grasping the new realities of redemptive-history after Jesus was raised from the dead, the disciples do not expect that Jesus was the one speaking to them from the water’s edge as they struggled to get their boat ashore.

To read the rest of this sermon:  Click Here

This Week at Christ Reformed Church (January 25-31)

Sunday Morning, January 31:  As we continue our series on Book of Daniel, we will take up Daniel's rise to prominence in the Babylonian court (Daniel 1:17-21).  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, January 27:  We are doing an overview of the theology and Christology of Paul's two Thessalonian letters.  Our study begins at 7:30 p.m.

The Friday Night Academy: January 29:  The Academy resumes this week as we return to our series "In the Land of Nod" on the two kingdoms.  We will continue to discuss the church's prophetic role in the midst of the civil kingdom.  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).

"God Gave Daniel Favor and Compassion" -- Daniel 1:8-21

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon, the second in a series of sermons of the Book of Daniel.

Click Here

Friday Night Academy Audio

Here's the audio from Friday Night's Academy Lecture.  The series is entitled, "In the Land of Nod," and deals with the two kingdoms.

This lecture is entitled The Church's Witness in Nod: Politics in the Pulpit?

Earlier lectures in the series can be found here:  Lectures on the Two Kingdoms

Update on Monday, January 25, 2016 at 10:44AM by Kim Riddlebarger

Previous lectures in this series can be found here:  In the Land of Nod, Lecture Series

This Week's White Horse Inn

The Story of Abraham

On this program the hosts continue their series, The Story of God’s People. We are taking a look at the great characters and moments of redemptive history. On this edition of the program the hosts are taking a look at Abraham, the man of faith who lies through his teeth in order to save his own skin. He’s the friend of God who impatiently attempts to enact God’s promises by his own works.

Too often Christians jump in and out of the Old Testament looking for morality tales and lessons for life, yet the story of Abraham refuses to be treated this way. Rather, what we see is the great plan of redemption continuing to unfold, as God makes amazing promises that are ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Join us for this exciting episode of the White Horse Inn.

Click Here