Tag: spiritual formation
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Defining Discipleship: Romans 12:1 and Ephesians 4:11-16
Discipleship is what happens when the words of Romans 12:1 and Ephesians 4:11-16 become flesh in the lives of ordinary. everyday sainted sinners.
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If all we needed were …
Jesus once asked His disciples: “Who do you say I am?” He still asks that question. What answer are we giving? Is there any Good News in it?
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Teach us to Number our Days: A Sermon on Psalm 90
It’s back-to-school time, and already our kids are counting down the days until summer vacation, or graduation. But Psalm 90 teaches us to number our days, not in view of summer vacation or graduation, but eternity.
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“I am my Beloved’s, and He is mine”: Christ and the Church in the Song of Solomon [sermon 6-18-23]
![“I am my Beloved’s, and He is mine”: Christ and the Church in the Song of Solomon [sermon 6-18-23]](https://thesermonator.blog/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/phonto-5.jpg?w=1024)
In recent years there’s been a tendency to read Song of Solomon as erotic poetry for Christians. But for most of Christian history, it was read as an allegory of Christ’s love for His Bride, the Church. What do we gain when we return to the traditional way of reading the Song of Solomon? This…
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My “Confession,” or scattered notes on how to live as an ordinary, messy saint
The one where I, an unimpressive minister with ADHD, assure ordinary, unimpressive Christians that Jesus will meet them among the pots and pans of their messy kitchens.
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Christ, the Shepherd of our Souls (a sermon from Psalm 23)
Manuscript of my most recent sermon, a Christ-centered exposition of the Twenty-Third Psalm.
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The Lord’s Supper, the way the good Lord intended (a sermon on Ecclesiastes 9:7-8)
The Lord’s Supper the way the Good Lord intended is much more than a memorial. It is a communion with the living Christ. By His grace, we are able to eat the bread with gladness and drink the cup with cheerful hearts, because God accepts our works, and the blood of Christ keeps our garments…
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Vertical and horizontal: how distinguishing the directions of the Christian life can strengthen assurance
The one where I explain how our security in the vertical dimension—peace with God through Christ—comforts believers in our struggles in the horizontal dimension. Which includes ourselves and everything else that’s not God.
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Some further thoughts on the Holy Spirit in Romans
The one where I explain how Romans chapters 6 and 8 are telling a particular story, from different angles. And how understanding this will help us rescue a gem of pastoral theology for struggling Christians in Romans 7:15 – 8:2. (Fair warning, this one is heady, and I’m still working out the finer points.)
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The Spirit of Holiness: Brief Thoughts on the work of the Spirit in Believers
In Romans 1:4, St. Paul refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of holiness.” This phrase alerts us to the totality and all-pervasiveness of the Spirit’s work in the sanctification of believers: it is all “from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).
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