Sunday, we considered the continuing mission of God to establish and expand his family. The Apostle Paul says that God has blessed us, determining to bring us into his family through Jesus Christ. He says that God determined to make us holy and blameless; that he determined to provide us adoption; that through Jesus, we have redemption and forgiveness for our sins; that as sons and daughters of God we have an inheritance in Christ. These are great benefits conferred upon us by God’s grace. But how do we know that these benefits are ours by faith?

As Paul continues, he says, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:13,14) His argument is that God has given us the Holy Spirit to seal the benefits given to us by Jesus. It is the Spirit that assures us that we belong to Him, affirming that his gifts are ours.

Now, the Holy Spirit ministers to us daily, but God has established specific ceremonies of church life, that set the stage for the Spirit to communicate these truths to us directly. Now all the “ordinances” of Christ create these moments, but two ceremonies are specific. We call these the sacraments or the ceremonial rites of God’s pledge to us. Join us Sunday as we begin to consider these ceremonies.

Sunday, we’ll continue our series, “Belonging,” by considering the goal of God’s Covenant of Grace, family. From the beginning of creation, God has been building a family of his image-bearers. Initially, Adam and Eve were created to “be fruitful and multiply” filling the earth with God’s likeness who worship, serve, and glorify him. That fundamental concept is carried through the entire Old Testament, ending in Malachi, where God challenges the broken marriages of his people, asking them to consider God’s objective for their lawful marriage, saying, “And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring.” (Mal. 2:15) This theme is carried forward in the New Testament with familial (family) statements from God toward his people. Consider what John says, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1)

Here's the assertion, God’s ongoing mission is the creation of a family of image-bearers who enjoy and engage with him forever. When Adam and Eve failed to produce a godly offspring, God was prepared to send his Son, the Image of whom became an Image-bearer, to build out his family. His family is not centered on an ethnic clan from Abraham, but on all who believe on the Offspring promised to him. In the Apostle Paul’s words, “if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.” (Galatians 3:29)

Join us as we consider this beautiful teaching of God’s family and our inclusion by adoption in Christ.

Sunday, we began to consider God’s abounding grace presented to us in what we call the Covenant of Grace. I presented it as a Covenant of Promise, because to enter it, God does not ask us to perform in any way. In fact, any performance that we would proffer God is offensive to his offer. This Sunday, we’ll continue our examination of this covenant, considering how it functions in Scripture, both the Old and New Testaments, as the basis for God’s relationship with his people whether in Israel or in the Church.

Paul says it beautifully, when he writes Titus, saying, “when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy,” Titus 3:4,5. Scripture maintains that since mankind failed to obey when he was able, God has provided for our obedience in the presence of our inability. That provision is a one-way covenant that God offers us through his Son, our Savior.

The goal of that covenant, both for the Jews under the Law, and the Church under the gospel, is adoption or Belonging. As Paul continues with Titus, saying, “so that being justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life,” Titus 3:7. Join us Sunday as we consider this important, life-changing truth.

Sunday we’ll continue our series considering God’s Abounding Grace as revealed in the Covenant of Grace. Our Confession says, “The distance between God and the creature is so great, that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of him as their blessedness and reward, but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which he has been pleased to express by way of covenant.”  Together, we’ll lay a foundation for understanding the Covenant of Grace in comparison to the Covenant of Works given to Adam in the garden of Eden.

While the Covenant of Grace is administered differently in the New Testament compared to the Old, it remains the foundation of our relationship to God. God bends toward us to make our relationship with him possible, providing for our redemption in Christ Jesus our Lord. It’s that “bend toward” us that is itself an act of grace, motivated by his goodness and love. That movement toward us results in our reconciliation to him and adoption into his family. The end of God’s Covenant of Grace is our belonging to him and his family. Hence the title of the series, “Belonging.” Join us Sunday as we begin this new study in God’s abounding grace.

We believe that faith in Jesus provides us with imputed (credited) righteousness, what Scripture refers to as justification. Justification is legal terminology and refers to the work of a surety: one who takes responsibility for another’s guilt while allowing that person to benefit from his credit. The gospel teaches that Christ is our Surety, that he assumes our guilt, and allows us to benefit from his righteousness. When God’s law exposes our guilt, calling for condemnation and subsequent judgment, our Surety assumes that guilt and all the legal consequences. When God’s law demands unwavering obedience, our Surety covers us with his record of steadfast obedience. This is the doctrine of justification.

On Easter, we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection because it is essential to our justification. First, it signifies that the death of Christ was undeserved due to his spotless record. While a criminal can and should be held under the punishment of his lawbreaking, a righteous person cannot legally be held. Jesus had to be released. Second, it signals that payment was made for our sin, as Jesus assumed our guilt, submitting to the law’s judgment on our behalf. He is the sacrificial Lamb of God that pays for our sin. Third, it allows for him to appear in the presence of God to apply his blood sacrifice to the mercy seat. Finally, it signals to all who believe that as our Surety, his obedience is credited to us.

The Apostle Paul says, “who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification,” Romans 4:25. We’ll consider Jesus’ assumption of our guilt on Friday night and our standing in his obedience on Sunday. Join us and invite others to hear the gospel.

This Sunday is referred to as Palm Sunday, a term taken from the final entry of Jesus to Jerusalem before his sacrificial death on Friday and resurrection on Easter morning. As Jesus enters, people from all walks of life lay palms and their cloaks on the road as he rides into the city. Jesus’ entrance is a declaration of himself as David’s great descendent. It also fulfills the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9 when the king would ride in on a donkey, which is a symbol of peace.

For us, as we study of God’s law, this Sunday signals to us the salvation of God! As we have studied the law, it has informed us about the holiness of God for the law is rooted in his character. God’s law sets the standard and communicates His vision for humanity. When we compare what we experience in the world to God’s vision, we cry out, “God save us.” The law zeros in on mankind’s sinfulness, exposing our law-breaking behavior, thoughts, and heart. It strips us of any righteousness we might bank based on our performance. There just isn’t anything to merit God’s favor or avert his judgment. As Paul concludes, “none is righteous, no not one,” Romans 3:10. Left fully exposed by the law, we cry out, “God save us.” The law forces us to ask Paul’s question, “Who will deliver me from the body of this death?” (Romans 7:24) Then we see Jesus and again we cry out, “God save us.”

Before the Spirit came into our lives, we were dead in our trespasses and sins children of God’s wrath, Ephesians 2:1. Now, alive in Christ, the law no longer condemns but teaches us the gospel, humbling us to live in the grace provided for us in Christ. “God save us,” remains our cry. Save us from the sin around us; save us from the sin within us; save us with all the benefits of Christ. Join us Sunday as we cry out in worship for God’s gracious salvation in Christ.

The last commandment is a critical one to end with because it exposes the issue behind all the other commandments, desire. An important point to lead with is that the commandment does not say, “don’t desire.” God does not condemn desires, but desires for what others have. God created us to desire! We’re to desire him, his glory, the wellbeing of others, etc. The problem is that our desires are deceitful and distorted by our sin nature. As C.S. Lewis famously said, “Our desires are not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” This adds some clarity to the commandment.

Another important point is that sinful desires are just that, sinful. While the other commandments forbid actions, the tenth confronts what’s going on in our heart that no one but God and we ourselves know. When David saw Bathsheba his distorted desire (10th commandment) led him to violate the 7th (adultery), the 6th (murder), the 9th (false witness) and the 1st (idolatry). David should have recognized his distorted desire and immediately repented. This commandment challenges our culture’s argument that having a desire is not sinful. God says sinful desires violate his law, destroying his creation and our community.

Join us Sunday as we consider the Tenth Commandment and the presentation of God’s goodness. 

Our culture is quirky. A person can claim their own personal truth but then the court can demand that they tell the objective truth at the risk of jail time for perjury. So, which is it? Is truth relative or objective? Our culture is more like Pilate who challenges Jesus’ statement, that he came to testify to the truth, by asking, “What is truth?” A just society requires adherence to truth telling, in legal and personal settings. This means that the “spin” we hear from politicians, business leaders, etc., violates the next commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”

Again, the ninth commandment establishes a paradigm for how we interact with and love our neighbor. The commandment envisions truth telling in a court or legal proceedings.  If speaking the truth in a legal setting it is required, so is speaking the truth at home or in business. We shouldn’t have to be put “under oath” to speak truth.

The commandment has a specific application toward lying about our neighbor, or what the Scripture calls “bearing false witness.” If our neighbor stands accused of a crime, those who testify should tell the truth, even if it exonerates the accused. This broadens the commandment beyond the court system to how we protect our neighbor’s reputation by refusing to gossip or receive gossip.

All of this finds its root in the character of God and his unquestionable veracity. Join us Sunday, as we consider the abounding goodness of God in his law.

Sunday we’ll consider the Eighth Commandment, “You shall not steal,” Exodus 20:15. The obvious application is respecting what belongs to someone else. At least two principles are assumed in this commandment: the right to own personal property and contentment with what God has given to me and others. While this commandment undermines economic theories like socialism and communism, along with the taxation and state ownership that accompanies them, it’s rooted in the teaching that God is the source of all that we have. He gives and takes away, as Job says (Job 1:21).

This is where contentment enters the conversation. Contentment involves accepting what God has given you and owning the responsibility to steward those gifts. But it starts with loving the Giver more than the gift. The Apostle Paul describes this shift as the essence of idolatry, saying, “they worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1:25) The Apostle and author of Hebrews says, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Hebrews 13:5) Notice the connection he makes between contentment and the presence of God. Contentment is the result of loving God with our whole being expressed in loving our neighbor by protecting and not taking what belongs to them whether personal property or intangible things like their reputation.

Join us Sunday as we consider this important commandment and worship God for his loving, wise presence.

Sunday, we consider the Seventh Commandment, “You shall not commit adultery,” Exodus 20:14. Like the former two commandments (honoring parents, forbidding murder), the Seventh is paradigmatic. In other words, it briefly states a paradigm for thinking about marriage and all sexual expression. The paradigm is simple: sexual expression is to be enjoyed in a complimentary (male/female) monogamous marriage. Scripture affirms this paradigm from its beginning in Genesis to the end in Revelation. This is the “created order” instituted by God when he brought Eve into union with Adam, Genesis 2:22-24. Deviations from this paradigm are subsequently condemned by God as against his “order.” This would apply to all the deviations that we see promoted in our culture in the name of sexual freedom.

This commandment builds on the previous two, affirming the honor given to father and mother, the building block of society, and affirming the inherent dignity of life. Sexual fidelity gives dignity to marriage, preserving procreation, protecting the family for the healthy development of children, protecting against disease, and giving dignity to the image-bearer. Sexual infidelity, or sexual freedom, degrades human beings and threatens the order that God created for us to thrive while enjoying his gifts.

Join us Sunday, as we consider this critical commandment and look intently at the grace offered us in Jesus Christ.