Open Thread - 2/25 Sermon: The Wrath of God Revealed

This is an open thread to discuss Sunday's sermon, which covered Romans 1:18-32.

Open Thread - 2/18 Sermon: Cherish and Believe the Gospel

This is an open thread for questions/comments regarding yesterday's sermon from Romans 1:16-17.

Open Thread - 2/11 Sermon: The Gospel Ministry

Consider this an open thread for any discussion or questions from Sunday's sermon from Romans 1:8-15.

Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt: Weakness Christianity

Here is an interesting article. Though I don't have time right now, I would like to write a longer post on this topic at some point in the near future. What do you think of this article?

Galatians 3 and the Promised Gospel

One of the texts that we briefly looked at yesterday was Galatians 3:8-29. It was too large of a text to focus on since the sermon text was elsewhere, and I "promised" to post a short article about it in case anyone wanted to pursue the line of thought further. So, here are some brief thoughts about Galatians 3 in relationship to the concept of the gospel as a promise. I will leave the comments in this brief form to pique your interest, if anyone desires to discuss it in more detail, post your questions/comments and we can begin a dialog.


The gospel is a promise. Note Romans 1:1-2, “the gospel…which was promised…” And again in Galatians 3:8, “The Scripture…preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘All the nations will be blessed in you.’” It says that the gospel was preached, and then it quotes a promise.

There are several big ideas in Galatians 3, but here are the big three as I see them: promise, blessing/curse, and covenant. In verses 15-18 the idea of covenant and promise are used almost interchangeably, which makes sense given God’s faithfulness to His covenants. Thus, the covenant with Abraham is a promise. In this chapter we see that the promise (the gospel) is this – all nations are blessed through Abraham if the share in His faith. What is this blessing? It is the promise of justification by faith, that is, the promise that those who trust God’s promise in Christ receive righteousness. The law does not make us righteous. In fact, we are cursed by the law. But because Jesus became the curse for us, we can have the blessing rather than the curse.

There is of course more that could be said if we were to unpack Galatians 3 in detail, but study the text and see if these things are not true: the gospel is a promise (as already noted above), the promise of the gospel is rooted in the work of Christ (verses 10-14), our inheritance with Abraham (our blessing) requires that we belong to Christ and is based solely on God’s promise, not on the law (vv.18, 29).

If the gospel is a promise, that means that we ought to think of it not merely as a message to be heard but also a promise/covenant to be believed. This should help us realize the role that our own works play - none at all! Let us hear the gospel message, recognize it as a promise, and receive it by faith! Christ became the curse for us - do you believe this? If so, then make Christ alone your only refuge from the curse of the law - believe the promise and stop pretending that you are able to gain by effort what God promises by grace.

Open Thread - 2/4 Sermon: God's Gospel is the Gospel of Jesus Christ

This is an open thread to discuss issues related to yesterday's sermon from Romans 1:1-7. Post any questions if you have them.

Major Milestone - First Sunday Worship Gathering

Church of the Cross will pass a signficant milestone this Sunday when we gather together for worship. It is the beginning point of our truly functioning as a congregation. Praise be to God who has brought us together and given us this opportunity!

This seems like a fitting occasion to offer a few thoughts about worship, specifically about the corporate worship of the church. First, corporate worship differs from private worship in that it is worshiping together. We are there not only to worship God, but to worship God together. In the songs we sing, the Scriptures we read, the prayers we offer - we sing, read, hear, and pray as a body. That is truly exciting! We celebrate being a community of Christians united in Christ and His gospel.

Second, since there is the element of community and together-ness, corporate worship should be an edifying experience. God is not the only audience for our songs, we sing to one another. We preach the gospel to one another, we pray for one another. Without the "one another" it is merely many different private worship times all happening at the same place and time.

Without the gospel there is no unity, and without unity there is no true corporate worship. And, as we will see in this first sermon from Romans (1:1-7), without Christ there is no gospel. What an appropriate beginning to our corporate worship experience!!

There truly is great joy in the fellowship of Christ. I look forward to what God will do as He builds His church here upon the gospel of Jesus Christ.