Sermons from 2019 (Page 5)
Living in Exile
Most people in the church know something of this storyline: Judah rebelled against God and persisted in idolatrous practices in spite of myriad warnings, so God eventually sent Babylon to conquer Jerusalem and take many captives to Babylon. What many people don’t know is how this theme actually reflects something much more than just that relatively short period of history. The entire biblical story–and many of the stories within Scripture–can be framed in terms of Exile and Return, and I…
I Have Found a Book
These days were some of the darkest in Judah’s history. Manasseh’s fifty-five-year reign of terror was followed by the two-year reign of his son Amon, which was little better. Then came Josiah at the tender age of eight. He began his reign when the people had never known a king who cared about God. Idol worship filled the land, the priesthood was largely corrupt, and the people were lost. And then one day several years later when Josiah had come…
Pierced for our Transgressions
When considered within the scope of both testaments of Scripture, it clearly refers to Christ–something we would know even if we didn’t have Philip’s conversation with the Ethiopian Eunuch, a man who was confused by his reading of Isaiah 53. Luke tells us that Philip began with our text and “told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35). Perhaps the most obvious way this text reaches us is by teaching us again about Christ’s substitutionary death. Notice how many…
