How is a wedding the distillation of human need? How can a Royal event with the whole world watching capture everything that humanity needs in a single event? The gospel tells us how.

The conclusion to our celebration to the Reformation at 500 - God's Glory Alone! 

“Why did God create the world?” Have you ever considered such a question? Why did God create the world? Why does God cause the sun to come up each morning and the stars to follow at night? Why does God allow the mountains to sit silently in place and the ocean to roar and foam? Why do newborn babies cry? Why does the butterfly come to rest on a flower and drink its nectar? The answer – All for the glory of God alone! 

The most important question of your life is, How can I be made right with God? Think about that question for just a moment. There are many presuppositions that undergird that question. First, there is an acknowledgment of God and that your desire is to be in right relationship with him. Second, a person who dares ask such a question acknowledges that they are not right with God. So, after all of those presuppositions have been covered, we come to the question., How can I be made right with God? What is the answer?

What is the greatest theme of the Bible? Some might say love is the greatest. Love is not the greatest. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13, Now faith, hope, and love, remain, and the greatest of THESE is love. Out of faith, hope, and love, the greatest is love.

At the center of Christianity stands a Cross. But not just any cross, the Cross of Christ. From that Cross, Christ has accomplished salvation for us. Christ and Christ alone is the only way for us to be made right with God. And since he has come and accomplished redemption from the Cross, we who were once slaves to sin are now sons of God. It is essential that we have the right teaching of the Cross because the Cross is the centerpiece of our salvation. But what on earth do we mean when we say that? 

This year marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his 95 Theses to the doors of the Wittenburg Church in Germany. That event was s defining moment in the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Over the month of October, I invite you to see the doctrines that sparked the Reformation - the Five Solas. 

It is commonplace to hear people say things like, "Our thoughts and prayers are with you." Have you ever been told that? What do people mean when they say that? More importantly, do people mean what Jesus meant when they reference prayer?

I remember feeling the pressure of the weekly preaching event at my first pastorate while in seminary. Between Greek and Theology, I had to plan and prepare a message to preach. The distance from Monday to Sunday seemed to shorten. 

I noticed in my thinking that I was guilty of missing the grand narrative of Scripture. Maybe you have done the same?

Looking with lust will cost you your life, desiring God will give you life.

Behind and upholding whatever we may believe is this truth: God has made the world and has made us for himself, and the way that we come to know him is on his terms, not terms of our own.