The primary ministries for the Christian faith and the life of the church is to worship and serve the Lord. Worship, public and private, is “the good portion,” the best part, the priority. But such worship is senseless if it does not result in service. We serve the Lord when we serve others.

We like to call this the Parable of the Good Samaritan, a tale of one, good, Samaritan who did one, real good deed. But is there more than one good Samaritan in the text, and He did more than one good thing. Let me tell you the Parable of the Two Samaritans.

Every day is not the same, but every day is an opportunity to work with the word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. And while the saints in church need more pastors committed to expository preaching, the unchurched in the world need more Christians committed to everyday evangelism.

Our Lord Jesus Christ capped His superlative life and sacrificial death with a surprising resurrection. And it was women’s intuition, not men’s, that perceived the full meaning of the gospel and began to broadcast it to others.

Only the one, true, triune, and living God is to be worshipped in the manner in which Jesus was exalted on Palm Sunday. The people cushioned His saddle and lined the roadway with the clothes off their backs (and as John’s Gospel tells us, leaves from palm trees). They praised Him and called Him King.

Dear Cade, Instead of preaching at your ordination service, I thought I’d write you this letter instead.  I wish someone had written one like it to me at my ordination.  Things may not have turned out differently, but at least I would have been forewarned.

The stoning of Stephen in Acts 7:54-60 was preceded and precipitated by the attempted stoning and eventual crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ. All three events are recorded by Luke.  

Mary’s song is a theological song. It sings of who God is and what He is like. “Magnify” literally means to greatly illumine, or shine the brightest spotlight.  As she offers this song, Mary does not put this spotlight upon herself, but upon her God.

Advent and Christmas are seasonally intertwined. Advent is the deeply religious celebration of the first coming of Jesus Christ, with a view towards the second.

Now, Christ has paid the price to redeem sinners, and we are all sinners. Now, faith is gift from God that makes a permanent transformation in a person’s life. Now, understand those who have truly drawn near to Jesus will be found, now, in God’s word and in Christ’s church. Those in Christ, now, will be ready when Christ comes again, then.