"With the Help of Our God" -- Nehemiah 6:1-14

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

Click Here

This Week's White Horse Inn

Identity In the Age of the Selfie

We are continuing our series on Brand Me on the White Horse Inn. This week we will be having a roundtable discussion concerning forming identity in the digital age. Whether in movies, commercial advertisements, or social media, we’re constantly bombarded with images of the good life. But images are often manipulated and, in the process, so are we. What unique challenges and practices inform the Christian’s understanding of identity in such a context?

Have we bought into the assumptions of consumerism, materialism, and autonomy? How should Christians think about the issue of identity in our time? On this program, producer Shane Rosenthal fills in as host and is joined by Kelly Kapic, Matt Vos, and Tim Morris from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Join us this week on another edition of the White Horse Inn as we discuss identity in the age of the selfie.

Click Here

Christ Reformed Church's Twentieth Anniversary

Our first service--sometime in 1995--in Mike Horton's living room in Anaheim

Our first location on Madison Avenue in Placentia, CA

Our first service in the Anaheim SDA, our current location.

You are invited to Join us for Christ Reformed's Twentieth Anniversary, Friday October 30 and Sunday, November 1.

I Had Issues Today . . .

I was on Issues, Etc., today with host Todd Wilken, discussing Chris McCann of eBible fellowship's end-times prediction, and his refusal to backtrack when the Lord did not return on October 7, as McCann predicted.

You can listen here:  McCann's failed prediction

Congratulations to My Colleague Andrew Compton!

Andrew made the announcement this morning:

Dear Congregation of Christ Reformed Church,

Last Friday, I was offered a professorial position at Mid-America Reformed Seminary, an appointment that will begin on June 1, 2016. After much prayer and consideration, I have chosen to accept the appointment.

Mid-America Reformed Seminary is a confessional Reformed seminary located in Dyer, IN (in the south suburbs of Chicago). It has been preparing men for ministry since 1981 and has a large number of graduates who now serve as pastors in the URCNA.

As many of you know, Old Testament studies have always been a significant part of my life. After seminary, I spent several years in graduate school studying Hebrew and Old Testament, eventually earning my M.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles. While pastoring at our church, I have also remained engaged in Old Testament studies via writing, lecturing, and participation in professional societies. Thus when Mid-America began searching for an additional professor of Old Testament, I possessed an ideal set of credentials.

Following a lengthy and thorough interview process, I was appointed by the board of Mid-America to the position of Assistant Professor. Because of this, my labors at Christ Reformed Church will conclude in May, 2016, and I will begin my appointment at Mid-America on June 1, 2016.

I am greatly humbled by this honor and praise God for allowing me this new opportunity to serve Christ’s church by helping men prepare for ministry. This coming Sunday, October 18, 2015, I will speak for a few minutes over the lunch hour to give some more information to the congregation and will also be available for a time of questions and answers.

I covet your prayers in this time for my family and me as we begin preparations to move to the Chicagoland. Please pray too for the council of our church as it begins the work of searching for a new Associate Pastor.

I am very happy for you Andrew!  Mid-America's gain is certainly our loss.

"Ask and You Shall Receive" -- John 16:16-24

The Fiftieth in a Series of Sermons on the Gospel

The disciples are about to participate in a series of events which will change the course of human history in ways they cannot yet comprehend.  Jesus has gathered his disciples together in an upper room in Jerusalem to celebrate their final Passover together.  After redefining the meaning of the Jewish Passover (he is the true Passover Lamb to which the Passover pointed), Jesus must now prepare his disciples for the great turning point in redemptive history (his death and resurrection).  Jesus has but a few remaining moments to teach his disciples about his imminent death and resurrection; events which will usher in a whole new era in redemptive history, in addition to changing the lives of his disciples forever.  Little do they know that they are about to become witnesses, to and proclaimers of, the saving work of Jesus Christ (the gospel), first in Jerusalem, and then on to the ends of the earth.  Soon, he says, they will not see him, and then soon they will see him again.  What does Jesus mean by this?  Jesus will explain to them that he is about to die, and then will be raised from the dead, and then ascend into heaven.  

As we continue our series on the Gospel of John, we are working our way through the Upper Room Discourse (which extends from John chapters 13-17), given during Jesus’ last Passover celebration with his disciples.  Jesus has given them the difficult news that he was departing from them, and then going to prepare a place for them in his Father’s house (heaven) where (for the time being) they cannot come.  Jesus has also told them that it is good for him to depart because he will send them the Helper (the Holy Spirit) from the Father who, as the third person of the Holy Trinity, will ensure that the disciples are not left on their own despite our Lord’s return to the presence of the Father.

As the Upper Room Discourse unfolds, Jesus tells the disciples that the Holy Spirit will do a number of things for them after his departure (his ascension into heaven).  First, The Holy Spirit will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment, because the world does not believe in Jesus.  Second, the Holy Spirit will bear witness to the truth of all of the things Jesus has said and done in their presence.  Third, the Spirit will enable the disciples to bear witness to the things that Jesus has told them–we see this play out in the Book of Acts when the disciples began preaching the Gospel to Israel on the Day of Pentecost.  Fourth, when the Helper comes, he will bring to remembrance all of the things which Jesus taught the disciples–especially the words of Jesus, words which the Holy Spirit ensures are written down through the process of the inspiration of Scripture.

As we have seen, the disciples are struggling to understand all of the things Jesus is telling them.  There is a great deal of new information being given them–much of it troubling to them (the news of Jesus’ imminent departure, for one thing).  From a theological perspective, the things Jesus was telling them were very difficult to fully understand.  For one thing, they were having a hard time understanding how three divine persons were the one true God.  They were also struggling with their expectations about the messianic kingdom–Jesus was clearly teaching something very different about the future of Israel than they anticipated.  And then, the disciples were deeply saddened by the fact that their Messiah, Lord, and close friend, was leaving them.  Given the way Jesus is speaking throughout the course of the evening, the disciples are beginning to realize that they would never see him again.  As Jesus has told them, his hour has come.  Everything is about to change.  Jesus must prepare them for what is now to come. 

To read the rest of this sermon, Click Here

Brian Lee's Take on Martyrdom in Oregon

Our friend and colleague, Dr. Brian Lee (the pastor of the "other" Christ Reformed Church in DC), offers his thoughts on the recent Oregon shooting.

If you profess Christ as your highest good, your only hope, your only comfort, while staring down the barrel of a gun, you are a martyr. You have born witness to the character of the Christian faith, to the truth of the resurrection of the body, and to your risen Lord. You have acknowledged that the sufferings of the present time are not worth being compared to the glory that is to be revealed to us. You have testified that it is better to be absent from the body, for a short time, if you are present with Christ.

How bizarre. Something higher than bodily pleasure? A greater good than Me, Here, Now.

You can read his mediation here.  "Are You a Christian"

This Week at Christ Reformed Church (October 12-18)

Sunday Morning (October 18):   Our text for Sunday is Nehemiah 6 and the renewed attempts by Israel's enemies to stop the progress of the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls.  Our Lord's Day worship service begins at 10:30 a.m.

Sunday Afternoon:   We come to Lord's Day 3 (Q & A 6-8) and the question of the effects of the Adam's fall upon the human race. Our Catechism service begins @ 1:15 p.m.

Wednesday Night Bible Study (October 14):  We return to our study of Paul's letter to the Galatians.  We pick up where we left off in chapter 4.

The Academy:  On Hiatus (TBA)

For More Information on Christ Reformed Church you can always find us here (Christ Reformed Info), or on Facebook (Christ Reformed on Facebook)

"In the Fear of Our God" -- Nehemiah 5:1-19

Here's the audio from today's sermon

on Nehemiah.  Click Here

This Week's White Horse Inn

Millennials and Education

We are continuing our series on Brand Me, issues in authority and identity in the Christian life, on the White Horse Inn. This week we will be looking at higher education with the present generation. In light of what we have seen in previous episodes, what unique challenges face educators today? What might we do to faithfully and imaginatively engage the millennial generation with the gospel of Christ? What kind of educators must we be? How has education and catechesis of covenant youth changed?

To help us answer some of these questions, Michael Horton talks with Jim Belcher on this program. Jim is the author of Deep Church and In Search of Deep Faith. Among other things, they discuss his new role as president of Providence Christian College in Pasadena, California, and the challenges associated with fostering true Christian discipleship among today’s millennials in a college setting. Join us this week on another edition of the White Horse Inn as we discuss this important topic.

Click Here