The Pastor's Blog

I have missed blogs on the past couple commandments, but this week I pick up on the seventh commandment. The Scripture reading for Sunday is Exodus 20:14 (“You shall not commit adultery”) and Matthew 5:27-32. During his presidential campaign, presidential candidate Jimmy Carter agreed to an interview with (of all magazines) Playboy. He was criticized for agreeing to an interview with such a magazine, but that was only the start of it. During the interview, Jimmy Carter made a startling admission that raised the eyebrows of many in the media. In a somewhat unsolicited comment, Jimmy Carter said, “The Bible...

The Scripture reading for this Sunday is Exodus 20:8-11 and Matthew 12:1-14. We are looking at the fourth commandment this week – “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy…” It wasn’t that many years ago that almost no one worked on Sunday’s. Sure, farmers still had to milk the cows or pick eggs or do whatever necessary chores needed to be done, usually one gas station and one pharmacy had to be open for at least a few hours, but other than that things were closed down. Sunday – the new Sabbath because it is the day Jesus rose from...

Our Scripture reading this Sunday comes from Exodus 3 (the whole chapter). We will use this passage to look at the third commandment: “You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His name.” (Exodus 20:7) There is a lot more to a name than a title that we use to address someone. Names represent something; something as common as a name carries with it one’s reputation, past accomplishments, character, and future expectations. For example, what happens when you read these familiar names? Adolf Hitler. Tiger Woods. Michael...

Starting on September 15th, we will begin a series on the Ten Commandments. Each Sunday we will look at one of the commandments using Scripture and with help from the Heidelberg Catechism (see Question and Answer 92-115). Here is a link to the Heidelberg Catechism online: http://www.crcna.org/welcome/beliefs/confessions/heidelberg-catechism In his commentary entitled, “The Ten Commandments,” from the “Interpretation” commentary series, Partick D. Miller writes: There are few biblical texts that have played as large a role in church and public life as the Ten Commandments. From their setting in Scripture to the contemporary debate about their public display, the Commandments have...

The Scripture reading for this Sunday is Hebrews 11:23-12:3. The Christian life isn’t easy. Perhaps that is something that, from our experience, we don’t need to be reminded of. In the same breath where we will affirm that our faith gives us strength, hope, and meaning we can readily exclaim that being a Christian is hard. There are those, however, who tell us that the Christian life if lived properly moves from one material blessing to the next. If we pray right, love right, act right … but if there is one thing we learn from Genesis 3 it is...

The Scripture reading for this Sunday is Hebrews 11:1-22. Throughout the first 10 chapters of the book of Hebrews, the author has carefully laid out the case for Jesus. He has proclaimed that Jesus “is a better way, the true way, the only way” (Stan Mast, CEP This Week article). The author wrote to those whose faith was wavering in the face of persecution (see Heb. 10:32-35). The author’s concern was that these new Christians who had already endured persecution would be lured away from their faith and back to the “country they had left” (Heb. 11:15). And so he...

The Scripture reading for this Sunday is Galatians 5:1, 13-25. What does freedom look like? In verse 1 Paul writes, “It is for freedom Christ has set us free,” but I think freedom is often misunderstood. Freedom, for many of us, is what we got when we moved out of the house and had the ability to do what we wanted, whenever we wanted, free from our parent’s rules and restrictions. “Freedom!” is what William Wallace cried out as he led the Scottish army against the English in the movie Braveheart. Freedom is something we earn, or fight, or long...

The Scripture reading for this Sunday is Luke 18:9-14 – The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Whenever a Pharisee is mentioned in the Gospels, most of us have this stereotypical picture of one in our minds. This Pharisee is a self-righteous, finger-wagging, rule-abiding-to-a-fault, works righteousness kind of person who judges others based on how good they, themselves, are. However, whenever the crowds that surrounded Jesus heard him talk about a Pharisee, most of them had pictures in their minds of someone who strived to live a holy life – Pharisees were looked up to as model citizens....

The Scripture reading for tomorrow is Matthew 20:1-16, however, it is helpful to read all of Matthew 19 and 20 to get the context for this parable that Jesus tells his disciples. I remember a Bible lesson on this parable when I was in Cadets. My counselor asked the 3 or 4 of us, “Do you think that’s fair that Jesus taught that the first will be last and the last will go first?” “Not really,” we agreed, and in our heads that is kind of where we left it. We answered other questions from the Bible lesson, trying to...

The Scripture reading for this Sunday is Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52. Where kingdoms were once flashy, powerful, and political they are now vestiges of what they once were. They are still in the news, they are still celebrated as symbols of political might and power, they still capture the attention of the world but their power and clout has withered away to the point where they are only figureheads in the political system. Many young people today have their view of a kingdom shaped more by Disney than current world events. A Disney kingdom is a romantic view of a people...

This Sunday we will begin a series on Jesus’ parables. The Scripture reading for Sunday is Luke 8:1-15 – The Parable of the Sower. There are a few different ways that we can look at this parable: we can focus on the sower, the seed, or the soil. On Sunday, my primary focus will be the sower but here I want to take some time to focus on the soils. The actual “Parable of the Sower” is found in verses 5-8 where we hear Jesus tell the story of a ‘sower’ who sows seed in what seems like a careless...

Our Scripture reading for this Sunday is Psalm 146. “Praise the Lord,” the Psalmist proclaims, “Praise the Lord, O my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.” In his book, “Praise Habit,” David Crowder writes: We naturally understand praise. As kids, we talk about our favorite toys; later we praise pizza and football players. Kids just know how to enjoy things. They give themselves fully to whatever has a hold on them. Remember as children how we would fearlessly hold up our favorite toy and petition...

Our Scripture reading for tomorrow is 1 Kings 18:16-39. What prompted Elijah to challenge the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel is that the Israelites had bought into the worship of Baal. It wasn’t that they had outright given up on God. Far from it, in fact; they had merely added Baal worship on top of their God worship. They hedged their bets just in case Baal could send them the rain they needed or give them the prosperity they longed for. Today isn’t much different. We live in an “and” culture and as Christians we have bought into it....

The Scripture reading for tomorrow is John 16:5-16. This Sunday, “Trinity Sunday,” is being celebrated in many churches throughout the world. In some of these churches a Biblical explanation of the Trinity will be given. In others the mystery of the Trinity will be highlighted, giving opportunity to praise God in his surpassing greatness. For us, by looking at John 16:5-16 we will look at what Jesus meant by calling the Holy Spirit the “Spirit of truth” and how the Spirit works in relation to Jesus (God the Son) and God the Father. However, here I want to give us...

Our Scripture reading for this Sunday – Pentecost – is Acts 2:1-21. Pentecost marks the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church. As the group was gathered together – numbering around 120 (see Acts 1:15) – we are told that they heard a sound like the blowing of a violent wind, and saw tongues of fire that came to rest on each person. Luke then tells us, “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” (Acts 2:4 NIV) As we prepare for Sunday,...

The Scripture readings for this Sunday are Psalm 47 and Acts 1:1-11. Yesterday (Thursday, May 9) was Ascension Day – a day that went by without much Hallmark fanfare. We can’t buy Ascension Day cards or Ascension Day themed bouquets. It’s not like Christmas or Easter in that regard. In fact, it’s a day that the Christian church often doesn’t even do much with. At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Baby Jesus, at Easter we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead – He is present – but on Ascension Day we remember that he left … How...

The text for this Sunday is John 5:1-18. “Do you want to get well?” It was a startling question for Jesus to ask. Of course the man wanted to get well; he and the many others with various disabilities who were there with him. He had been struck with this disability for 38 years. He had been coming to this pool, Bethesda, perhaps daily hoping to be the one to make it into the water first “when the water is stirred.” He never made it though. Someone always beat him in. And so he waited and watched with countless others...

The Scripture passage for this Sunday, GEMS Sunday, is Philippians 4:8-9. This year the theme for GEMS was, “Think Right: Win the Fight,” a theme that comes from Paul’s letter to the Philippians (Philippians 4:8) – “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” As the GEMS learned throughout the year, our very thoughts are important to our walk with the Lord and in determining our words, actions, and behaviour. It seems that wherever...

After 2 Sunday's without a blog entry, we're back! This Sunday is Cadet Sunday. The Scripture reading is Romans 12:1-2, 9-21. Throughout the year, the Cadet group has been studying the “what now?” of our Christian walk, as in: “Now that I am a Christian… What do I do? How do I live? What does living as a Christian look like?” These are important questions for both new Christians and long-time Christians. Upon hearing the Gospel – the Good News that Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, became human, lived a perfect life, died, rose again, and ascended back into heaven...

The Scripture reading for this Sunday is Jeremiah 31:27-37. Something had to change. God had renewed his covenant countless times with His people over the years, but it just wasn’t working. His people chased after false gods, they trusted in themselves and in their military might, and they defiled God`s reputation. Even though God was a husband to His people, they had broken His covenant over and over. So God declared a plan to fix it once and for all. Jeremiah 31:31-34 is the central message of hope in the book of Jeremiah. When we consider the entire prophetic work...