With this sermon, I begin a series titled "Back to Basics." I start with a sermon on what we give our minds to. What do you think about? What consumes your mind's attention? You may think these are not important questions, but I think they are. I believe this is the battleground where the war for your very heart and soul is fought.

The first battle line is the battle over your mind. From Philippians 4:8-9, I hope to encourage you to guard what has your attention, curate what has your attention, and recognize that actions follow attention.

Paul’s teaching on the armor of God comes at the end of a more extended teaching on how Christians are to live out their faith in this world. Often when this passage is preached, attention is given to the pieces of armor and how God uses them in our lives. This approach is certainly an appropriate way to preach this passage and helpful to our understanding of how faith works to provide for us in this spiritual conflict. However, my attention in this sermon is more basic. I discuss the different armor pieces, but my attention is primarily on the reality of our spiritual conflict and the power by which we can have victory.

We are in a spiritual battle and are commanded to stand firm and endure. The encouraging word of this passage is that we stand in the power of God with the armor that He provides and endure with confidence.

The world often sees freedom as being unrestrained from anything. However, grace known through salvation is not about being totally unrestrained but being free from the bondage of the law so that you might be free to obey Jesus willingly.

To be transformed is to be irrevocably changed. Once a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, it can no longer be a caterpillar again. Butterflies never return to being caterpillars, nor do those saved by the cross of Jesus go back to a life ruled by sin.

The end of Romans 5 says that where sin increases, so does grace. To the sinful mind, this sounds like an invitation to sin more to get more grace. In Romans 6, Paul responds by teaching what it means to be transformed. Yes, more sin equals more grace, but the response by one transformed by the gospel is not to desire more sin but more righteousness.

Since the Supreme Court ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, much commentary has been in the news. Unfortunately, much of it has been hyperbolic and reactionary. And there have been many proclamations of doom and outlandish fretting over the court's decision.

In response, on July 3, 2022, I preached from Acts chapter 25 and shared what the Bible says to us about how we as Christians are to interact politically in a secular world. I also share what the Supreme Court decision means for abortion so that we might understand what has been gained and the work that still remains to do.

The Gospel of Luke records in the fourth chapter that just after beginning His ministry, Jesus returned to His hometown of Nazareth. He went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, which was His custom. That day, by the sovereign providence of God, He was given the scroll of the prophet Isaiah to read to the congregation. He stood, took the scroll, unrolled it to where chapter 61 was written, and read the first verse and a portion of verse 2.

When He finished reading, He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. But Luke tells us that every eye in the building was still fixed on Jesus. He then spoke nine words that would forever change how we understand this verse. He said, "Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

Isaiah 61 comes in the context of God proclaiming His righteous judgment to His rebellious people. But God's judgment is not focused on Israel's destruction but on her redemption and restoration. The prophet proclaims a hopeful word for us today as well. This is an encouraging word to help us persevere and a promise of the glory that is to come. Jesus declares that the prophet's word has been fulfilled, and this is good news that comforts us presently and gives hope for tomorrow.

In these last verses of Romans 13, Paul encourages Christians to recognize that it is time to be ready for Jesus' return and put away the things of darkness. Like how we respond to the dawn of a new day by getting ready for the day, Paul instructs that Christians should get prepared, welcome the light of truth, and put on Jesus.

Matthew 11:28-30 is a beloved passage because of its pastoral care, gracious invitation, and the promise of rest. However, the context in which this passage comes is of Jesus speaking a harsh word of judgment on those who had rejected Him. But even as He warns of the consequence of sin, He offers a gospel invitation. Jesus invites all to come to saving faith and know the rest that is only known through the forgiveness of sin.

When you are carrying a burden greater than your ability, it creates all kinds of difficulties and dysfunctions. Hebrews 12 is a call to look toward Jesus and be clear in purpose, be confident in power, and be certain of your relationship with Jesus.

Proverbs 22:6 is a testimony to the goodness of parents, the blessing of godly parents, and the hope by which parents labor. Presently our culture has become very hostile to the God-ordained role of family and, in particular, parents. It seems that in recent years the efforts of secular forces to diminish the importance and influence of parents in the lives of their children have grown more intense. From a biblical worldview, children's primary and first teachers are their parents. Parents are recognized as the ones with both the primary authority and responsibility for their children. There are many resources that parents can make use of to help them raise their children. Certainly, one of the most important institutions God uses to help parents raise their children is the church. However, no one and no institution can take the place of parents.

Proverbs 22:6 is not a guarantee of outcome. Instead, it recognizes the important role of parents in the spiritual development of children and the grace of God that flows from His truth.

Many of the disciples were fishermen by trade before Jesus called them to follow him. After the dramatic events of the death and resurrection recorded in John 20, we find these men out on the water fishing again in chapter 21. They have returned what they knew before following Jesus. It almost seems like they are trying to return to normal. However, their routine was interrupted by the miraculous.

I think the real question the disciples were struggling with was what do we do now and how do we do it? Jesus had some lessons still to teach these fishermen. He wanted them and us to know by what power the purposes of God would be accomplished.

You can read every apologetics book that has ever been written. You can ponder the mysteries of the universe and the human body's complexities. And though all creation testifies to God's glory, their testimony alone will not lead you to saving faith.

Like Thomas, it is not about more proof but presence. In the presence of Jesus, our fear is confronted, our faith is affirmed, and our belief is celebrated.

If you look for how Jesus preached at funerals, you will search in vain because when Jesus went to funerals, He did not just comfort the grieving; He raised the dead. Even before His resurrection, death could not exist where He was.

The hope of the gospel is not that we would cope with death. The hope of the gospel is that Jesus has defeated death. In sin, no one can escape death and its curse. But Jesus conquered death. And through salvation, we can know His resurrection.

Jesus proclaimed, “It is finished,” as His final word from the cross. With His death, scripture was fulfilled, and the work of redemption was complete. We can do nothing to earn our salvation. Jesus finished the work of atonement on the cross. You cannot add more to what Jesus has done. You must either receive the gift or reject it.

In an attempt to demonstrate His weakness and powerlessness, Jesus is ridiculed as a false king. But even in His suffering and mistreatment, His kingdom is unshaken. His authority as King of all kings is not threatened.

Death on the cross was intended to be humiliating and shameful. But on the cross, Jesus confronts the guilt and shame of our sin and overcomes it with His own blood.

It has been a difficult week. Due to a family tragedy, I did not preach this pastor Sunday, and we have been out of town this week for the funeral.

For the podcast this week, I have chosen a sermon I preached in 2020 from the book of James. In this passage, James takes on the cause of conflict in the church and the resulting broken relationship with God and gives a clear solution – draw near to God through repentance. I hope it will be a blessing to you.

This week has had its challenges. Due to a major water leak in our sanctuary, no recording was made of last Sunday’s sermon. And as the week unfolded my time was consumed with the logistics of dealing with the cleanup and moving our services to another building. Unfortunately, I do not have a sermon podcast for this week and was not able to finish writing my blog post. Today’s episode is a quick update on the events of this past week and what I hope will be in the days to come.

Church leadership can be a complicated subject. Tradition and customs often have more weight on how we structure church leadership than the biblical witness. And there is always the human concern of who has more power than who.

The word elder is almost exclusively used in the New Testament in the plural form. The only references to a singular elder are greetings and instructions on how the church should respond to accusations against an elder. The point is simple: the church is to have a plurality of elders.

The office of elder is sometimes referred to as overseer or pastor. Every reference to elders recognizes the elders as the ones who have authority over and responsibility for the church.

I am confident that the more faithful we obey God’s word, the more the church will be effective and blessed. Thus, in this sermon, I hope to be as biblically faithful as possible, knowing that we do not perfectly reflect this teaching in our church and may find this uncomfortable. I do so that we might constantly examine our faithfulness to God’s word and continually move toward more faithful obedience.

When someone goes to school to learn a trade, the ultimate goal is to become proficient in the skill well enough to employ it to earn a living. When students choose their degree program in college, the intended purpose is to prepare for a career in a specific field.

Training for a job or studying for a future career are worthy endeavors and have a sense of anticipation for what is to come after the training is complete. However, if your goal were only to train but never to employ your skill, it would become a purposeless endeavor.

A ministry is something that serves as an agency, instrument, or means. The church's ministry is to equip and mature the saints for faithful service to the Lord. Ephesians 4:11-16 points to the role that church leaders have in equipping the saints and the command on all the members of the church to mature and grow.

The book of 2 Timothy was written by Paul to Timothy as a letter of instruction as to how he was to pastor and lead the church. This passage (4:1-5), is often used when giving a charge to a newly ordained pastor – and rightly so.

Yet we should not see this passage as only speaking to or applying to pastors. The books of our New Testament were mostly letters written to encourage individuals and specific churches in their living out of the gospel. Being inspired by the Holy Spirit, the church recognized that these letters were instructive for the whole church and thus passed them around to others for their edification. Thus with a passage like this one, we can appreciate how it speaks to a particular group, but we must not lose sight that all of scripture is instructive and beneficial to the whole church.

2 Timothy 4:1-5 commands us to preach the word, minister the word both for God's glory and man's blessing.