Mike Horton's Book "Calvin on the Christian Life" Free Ebook

Crossway is making Mike Horton's outstanding book, Calvin on the Christian Life available as a free eBook download.  This was posted yesterday and Crossway will keep these specials up for a very limited time.

If you want it, get it quick!

Here's the link:  Calvin on the Christian Life

"From There to Philippi" -- Acts 16:1-18

The First in a Series of Sermons on Philippians

We are beginning a new series on two of Paul’s letters, Philippians and then Colossians.  Some of you may be asking, “why begin a series on Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi by starting in the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Acts?”  I am doing so because the entire sixteenth chapter of the Book of Acts is devoted to the establishment of the first Christian churches on the European continent, including the founding of a church in the Roman city of Philippi, named for Phillip II, the father of Alexander the Great.  Acts 16 contains the record of Paul’s second missionary journey about 50 AD.  Since Luke (the author of Acts) give us such a detailed account of Paul’s bold preaching of the gospel which led to a church being founded in Phillipi, this passage serves as a good place to start our series, so that we know something about the church to which Paul sends his Philippian letter a dozen or so years later, in 62 AD, while the Apostle was imprisoned in Rome.
 
In verses 6-10 of Acts 16, Luke recounts the so-called “Macedonian call.”  Paul has a vision of a man urging him come and preach the gospel in Macedonia (a region in Greece).  In the 16th chapter of Acts we also find the account of the conversion of Lydia (vv. 11-15)–possibly the first convert to Christianity on the European mainland–followed by Paul’s encounter with a demon-possessed girl, which led to Paul’s arrest (vv. 16-24).  And then there is the wonderful account of the conversion of the Philippian jailer (vv. 25-34).  All of these events are behind the formation of a church in Philippi to which Paul writes his letter some years after first visiting the area and preaching the gospel.  So, before we take up the text of Paul’s Philippian letter next week, we will begin with a survey of Acts 16, and Luke’s account of the initial spread of the gospel into Europe.

In the 16th chapter, Luke describes events which transpired while Paul, Silas, Timothy, and Luke were together in the city of Philippi.  The background to Paul’s arrival in the city is the Jerusalem Council recorded in Acts 15, when the Apostles and elders of the church gathered to settle the question of Gentile salvation.  After the council had concluded, Paul and Silas made a pastoral visit to those churches which were founded during Paul’s previous journey to Galatia (in what is now central Turkey).  These churches faced the threat of Judaizers–those who were teaching that in addition to believing that Jesus was Israel’s Messiah, one must also be circumcised, and even embrace elements of Jewish religion–keep the Jewish feasts, eat a kosher diet, etc.  Silas was one of those commissioned by the churches to take the Jerusalem Council’s decree to the newly founded churches in Galatia plagued by this false teaching (Acts 15:22).  

Prevented by the Holy Spirit from going to Asia Minor and Bythinia (Acts 16:6), Paul, Silas and two others newly added to the group, Timothy and Luke, crossed the Aegean Sea.  In response to the vision given him (the “Macedonian call”), Paul began to preach the gospel in Macedonia on the European mainland.  The reason why the Spirit prevented Paul and the others from going back to Asia Minor now becomes clear–God had other plans for Paul, namely taking the gospel to the very heart of Gentiles lands in Europe.  We read in verses 11-12.  “So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony.  We remained in this city some days.”  

Phillipi was the site of a fierce battle in 42 BC when Mark Anthony and Octavian defeated the forces of Brutus and Cassisus, Julius Caesar’s assassins.  When Octavian and Mark Anthony subsequently fought one other in 31 BC (the battle of Actium), Octavian ordered that the city become a colony for Antony’s disbanded army.  This is why Phillipi is a Roman city (non-Greek) with little if any Jewish population.  The city was located on the Via Egnatia, an important Roman road running from Italy to Asia Minor.  Phillipi was a very important place for a Christian church.  As we read in our Old Testament lesson from Isaiah 49, the messianic prophecy regarding YHWH’s servant, indwelt by the Spirit, who will be proclaimed to the nations begins to unfold in the light (truth), righteousness, and justice proclaimed to the Greeks and Romans by the Apostle Paul.

To read the rest of this sermon:  From There to Philippi

My Orange County Roots

A local newspaper recently did a story on my family ties to Knott's and Orange County--if you are interested.  That's my mom (at nineteen) behind the counter next to Walter Knott in the original Berry Market, about 1939.

Thanks Brooklynn!

Fourth-generation local has an illustrious family history at Knott’s and in Orange County

By Brooklynn Wong

Orange County has changed a lot over the last century. What was once farmland has become suburbia; what was a homogenous post-war settlement has become multiracial; and what was a local stand to sell berries to families on their way to the beach has become an amusement park visited by millions each year.

One man, who has lived in the same home, blocks away from Knott’s Berry Farm for his entire life, has had a unique vantage point to the changes.

Dr. Kim Riddlebarger is a Buena Park lifer, spent years running a business at Knott’s, and his family roots run deep, as his relatives were around in the earliest days.

Knott’s Berry Farm, at the start, was just that. A man named Walter Knott and his wife Cordelia opened a berry stand. Beginning in the 1930s, Walter and Anaheim City Parks Superintendent and horticulturist Rudolph Boysen began selling the boysenberry, a hybrid fruit Boysen had created.

To read the rest, The Riddlebargers and Buena Park

This Week at Christ Reformed Church (March 5-11)

Sunday Morning, March 11  We are continuing our series on the Minor Prophets--We are currently in the Book of Micah.  When the Prophets speak of the "Mountain of the Lord," what do they mean?  We will be covering Micah 2-4 this coming Lord's Day. Our worship service begins at 10:30 a.m.

Sunday Afternoon:  We are studying the Belgic Confession (Articles 4, 6) and considering the canon of Holy Scripture.  Our catechism service begins @ 1:15 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study (March 7 @ 7:30 p.m.):  We continue our series, "Apologetics in a Post-Christian Age."  This week, we will discuss the noetic effects of sin"

White Horse Inn Event (Friday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m.):   An Evening with Michael Horton

The Academy:  Will resume on Friday, March 16.

For more information on Christ Reformed Church you can always find us here (Christ Reformed Church), or on Facebook (Christ Reformed on Facebook).

"The Word of the LORD That Came to Micah" -- Micah 1:1-9

Here's the audio from this morning's sermon on the Minor Prophets from the Book of Micah

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This Week's White Horse Inn

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism

What are the implications of our being united to Christ through baptism, and how does this new reality affect the way we live here and now? As a result of this new union, how should we then relate to other members of the body of Christ? On this program, the hosts are continuing their survey of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, and they will discuss the first half of chapter 4.

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Apologetics in a Post Christian Age (Audio) -- Theological Categories (Part Two)

Here's the audio from the Wednesday Night Bible Study:  "Total Depravity and Apologetics"

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Previous lectures in this series can be found here (scroll down): Apologetics in a Post Christian Age