Jayber Crow on “Weathering” Sermons

Can God bring good out of bad preaching? Here’s Jayber:

“In general, I weathered even the worst sermons pretty well. They had the great virtue of causing my mind to wander. Some of the best things I have ever thought of I have thought of during bad sermons. Or I would look out the windows. In winter, when the windows were closed, the church seemed to admit the light strictly on its own terms, as if uneasy about the frank sunshine of this benighted world. In summer, when the sashes were raised, I watched with a great, eager pleasure the town and the fields beyond, the clouds, the trees, the movements of the air—but then the sermons would seem more improbable. I have always loved a window, especially an open one.”

Notice how he speaks of “weathering” sermons, then talks a lot about the weather. Are there symbolic connections in this paragraph between bad preaching and winter and darkness? Are there connections between the word of God going forth to give life and summer? Is Jayber seeing a connection between better sermons being harder to believe? Is this a symbolic reference to a window at the end? Is good preaching a window on the world? What do you think?

Jayber Crow on Preachers

Are you a minister who wonders what people really think? I suspect that the words people say to me probably tend to be a lot nicer than the thoughts they keep in their heads. At Andrew Peterson’s recommendation, I read (listened to the audio book) Wendell Berry’s Jayber Crow. Wendell Berry gives us Jayber’s honest thoughts on church: preachers, preaching, prayers, hymns, and silence in worship services. These will be posted one by one so they can be savored. Here’s what Jayber had to say about preachers:

“And a few of those young preachers were bright and could speak—I mean they could sound as if they were awake, and make you listen—and they were troubled enough in their own hearts to have something to say. A few had wakefully read some books. Maybe one or two of these might even have stayed on in Port William, if they could have lived poor enough. But they would have a wife and little children, and the economic winds would blow them past and beyond. And what, maybe, would Port William have done with them if they had stayed? Port William tends to prefer to hear what it has heard before.”

 

Sermons on Nehemiah

In God’s kindness we made our way through both Ezra and Nehemiah at Kenwood Baptist Church. The sermons on Ezra can be found here.

May the Lord bless his word.

September 12, 2010, Nehemiah 1–2, “Pray and Act”

September 19, 2010, Nehemiah 3–4, “Building While the Nations Rage”

October 3, 2010, Nehemiah 5, “A Wartime Lifestyle on a Millionaire’s Budget”

October 10, 2010, Nehemiah 6–7, “Press On”

October 24, 2010, Technical difficulty – Nehemiah 8, “God’s Word Forms God’s People” was not recorded

October 31, 2010, Nehemiah 9, “Repentance”

November 14, 2010, Nehemiah 10, “Making a Covenant to Keep the Covenant”

November 28, 2010, Nehemiah 11–12, “Repopulating the City and Dedicating the Wall”

December 5, 2010, Nehemiah 13, “The Ongoing Need for Correction and Repentance”

December 26, 2010, “The Messianic Hope in Ezra–Nehemiah”

1 Peter 5:1-11, Shepherd, Submit, Stand

It was my privilege to preach at the installation of Ryan Bishop as the Pastor of Graham Bible Church in Graham, TX this past Sunday.

The apostle Peter, the rock, follows Christ by humbling himself to serve others, identifying himself as a fellow-elder as he exhorts elders to model Christ-like self-sacrificing shepherding (1 Pet 5:1-4).

Then he calls the congregations to Christ-like humble submission to authority (“I came not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me”) as he calls them to be subject to the elders in humility (1 Pet 5:5-7).

Peter then explains that Christ-like shepherding and Christ-like submission are enacted in Christ-like standing against Satan (1 Pet 5:8-9).

He concludes with a promise and a doxology (1 Pet 5:10-11).

Spurgeon, being dead, yet speaketh, and here are some of his eloquent statements that appeared in this sermon:

“It is not great talents God blesses so much as likeness to Jesus. A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hand of God.” (Lectures to My Students, 2).

On the pastor’s job description:

“To face the enemies of truth, to defend the bulwarks of the faith, to rule well in the house of God, to comfort all that mourn, to edify the saints, to guide the perplexed, to bear with the froward, to win and nurse souls—all these and a thousand other works beside are not for a Feeble-mind or a Ready-to-halt, but are reserved for Great-heart whom the Lord has made strong for himself. Seek then strength from the Strong One, wisdom from the Wise One, in fact, all from the God of all” (Lectures to My Students, 12).

On seeing the saints safely home:

“I am occupied in my small way, as Mr. Great-heart was employed in Bunyan’s day.  I do not compare myself with that champion, but I am in the same line of business.  I am engaged in personally-conducted tours to Heaven; and I have with me, at the present time, dear Old Father Honest:  I am glad he is still alive and active.  And there is Christiana, and there are her children.  It is my business, as best I can, to kill dragons, and cut off giants’ heads, and lead on the timid and trembling.  I am often afraid of losing some of the weaklings.  I have the heart-ache for them; but, by God’s grace, and your kind and generous help in looking after one another, I hope we shall all travel safely to the river’s edge.  Oh, how many have I had to part with there!  I have stood on the brink, and I have heard them singing in the midst of the stream, and I have almost seen the shining ones lead them up the hill, and through the gates, into the Celestial City” (source).

Have a listen here: 1 Peter 5:1-11, Shepherd, Submit, Stand

What is the greatest honor you can imagine? Perhaps the medal of honor given to an American soldier? The honor that Christ the King will bestow on those who served him faithfully so far surpasses that as to make the comparison of the two seem inappropriate. The church is God’s cause in the world. She is Christ’s own bride. The work done in the church has eternal ramifications and it pertains to all nations.

There is no other gospel that saves, no institution more significant, no agenda more important, no task more urgent, no cause more noble, no message more true, no office more dependant on the character of those who discharge it, and no reward greater than what Peter describes here.

Sermons on Ezra

It has been my privilege to preach through the book of Ezra at Kenwood, and here are the sermons in one post:

June 27, 2010, Ezra 1-2, God Keeps His Promises

July 4, 2010,  Ezra 3, Disappointing Fulfillment

July 18, 2010, Ezra 4, In the World You Will Have Trouble

August 1, 2010, Ezra 5-6, The Second Temple

August 8, 2010, Ezra 7, Change the World: Study the Bible

August 22, 2010, Ezra 8, The Hand of Our God for Good

August 29, 2010, Ezra 9-10, Repentance Is the Only Remedy

May the Lord bless the reading and hearing of his word.

Ezra 7, Change the World: Study the Bible

James Davison Hunter recently published To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World, which Justin Taylor and Douglas Wilson both blogged through, and Greg Gilbert reviewed.

Ezra set out to advance the kingdom of God, and seeking that agenda entailed nothing less than changing the world.

Ezra 7:10 tells us how Ezra went about seeking to change the world:

“For Ezra had set his heart to study the law of the LORD, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.”

Here’s my attempt to exposit Ezra 7, “Change the World: Study the Bible.”

Ezra 6:22, Darius King of Assyria? Error or Typological Biblical Theology?

Time was slipping away from me yesterday, so some parts of the sermon manuscript got passed over. For instance, in Ezra 6:22, the king of Persia, Darius, is referred to as “the king of Assyria.” Here’s how the part of the manuscript that got skipped read:

Ezra isn’t confused here about the identity of the king (cf., e.g., 1:2 “of Persia,” 3:7 “of Persia,” 4:3 “of Persia,” 5:13 “of Babylon,” 6:14 “of Persia,” 7:1 “of Persia”). The point of the reference to Assyria is the linkage of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, all of which represent the evil empire over against the kingdom of God. Those who oppose Israel are identified with one another, just as Ezra identifies his own generation with the generation who returned to the land and successfully rebuilt the temple.

Ezra knows that Darius is king of Persia and calls him that in Ezra 4:24, “until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.” It’s possible that calling Darius the king of Assyria in 6:22 is merely an incidental way of referring to the territory or realm that was first ruled by Assyria, then Babylon, then Persia. But even that incidental conflagration has significance for our understanding of what Ezra took for granted.

I’m inclined to think that Ezra intentionally refers to Darius as king of Persia in 4:24 then as king of Assyria in 6:22 to make a point. Similarly, he has referred to Cyrus as king of Persia in 4:5 only to call him king of Babylon in 5:13.

The point Ezra is making by referring to King Darius of Persia as the king of Assyria in Ezra 6:22 represents a profound, yet subtle, biblical theological move that reflects the typological identification of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia. The enemies of God and his people are distinguished from one another, but at the same time they are identified with one another because they are, in a sense, all the same.

Well, Then This Is Theological Interpretation of Scripture (Ezra 5-6, The Second Temple)

In his forum piece in the most recent SBJT (pp. 78-80), Kevin Vanhoozer writes,

“TIS [Theological Interpretation of Scripture] holds that the most important context in which to interpret the Bible is the church.”

He later states:

“TIS acknowledges the Bible for what it is: the word of God at work in believers (1 Thess 2:13).”

Having asked:

“where might biblical interpretation be headed after its liberation from bondage in the academy and wandering in the desert of criticisms?”

He states in his concluding paragraph:

“It is best to view the new interest in TIS in relation to the old task of training ministers of the gospel. If TIS is to have a future, it must stop clearing its throat and preach what it is practicing. The church ultimately needs theological interpreters of Scripture in the pulpit, not just behind the lectern, though education is of course essential to this end. Pastors may well be the ones to show us the way past the debilitating dichotomy of biblical exegesis and doctrinal theology. If the chief end of biblical studies and theology is to minister understanding of God’s word, then the pastor-theologian should be evangelicalism’s default public intellectual, with preaching the preferred public mode of TIS. The health, not only of TIS but also of the church itself, depends on it.”

To these thoughts I voice a hearty amen, and I offer an attempt at Theological Interpretation of Scripture in the church for the church. Yesterday it was my privilege to preach Ezra 5-6 at Kenwood.

This passage teaches that God causes those who believe the Bible to prosper in whatever they do (even using opposition to bless his people). Do you want to be a part of a movement that will toil through difficulty across the ages and come out victorious in the end? Do you want to be part of a movement that appears to be small and insignificant but will certainly triumph? If so, you should want to be part of the church!

Ezra 5-6, The Second Temple

See You in Bowling Green?

I’d love to see you in Bowling Green if you’re in the area.

You can register here.

Schedule

August 13, 2010
5:30pm – 6:30pm
Check-In

7:00pm – 10:00pm
Session 1 – A Theological Vision—Churches that Display God’s Glory
Session 2 – Preaching & Biblical Theology Q&A

August 14, 2010
8:00am – 9:00am
Continental breakfast (provided)

9:00 – 12:00pm
Session 3 – Gospel, Conversion, & Evangelism
Session 4 – Membership, Discipline, & Discipleship Q&A

12:00 – 1:00pm
Lunch (provided onsite)

1:00 – 4:00pm
Session 5 – Leadership
Session 6 – Covenanting Together
Q&A

4:00pm
Workshop ends

Location

Christ Fellowship Church
1347 Ky Hwy 185, Ste 13
Bowling Green, KY 42101

Helpful Links

Church’s Website

9Marks Workshops

Pretty Good Advice for Preachers, Too

Shakespeare presents Hamlet giving advice to a troupe of actors, and as I watched the fabulous reproduction of Hamlet pointed to recently by JT, it struck me that those who preach the word should heed this advice, too:

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to
you, trippingly on the tongue: but if you mouth it,
as many of your players do, I had as lief the
town-crier spoke my lines. Nor do not saw the air
too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently;
for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say,
the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget
a temperance that may give it smoothness. O, it
offends me to the soul to hear a robustious
periwig-pated fellow tear a passion to tatters, to
very rags, to split the ears of the groundlings, who
for the most part are capable of nothing but
inexplicable dumbshows and noise: I would have such
a fellow whipped for o’erdoing Termagant; it
out-herods Herod: pray you, avoid it.

First Player
I warrant your honour.

HAMLET
Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion
be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the
word to the action; with this special o’erstep not
the modesty of nature: for any thing so overdone is
from the purpose of playing, whose end, both at the
first and now, was and is, to hold, as ’twere, the
mirror up to nature; to show virtue her own feature,
scorn her own image, and the very age and body of
the time his form and pressure. Now this overdone,
or come tardy off, though it make the unskilful
laugh, cannot but make the judicious grieve; the
censure of the which one must in your allowance
o’erweigh a whole theatre of others. O, there be
players that I have seen play, and heard others
praise, and that highly, not to speak it profanely,
that, neither having the accent of Christians nor
the gait of Christian, pagan, nor man, have so
strutted and bellowed that I have thought some of
nature’s journeymen had made men and not made them
well, they imitated humanity so abominably.

First Player
I hope we have reformed that indifferently with us,
sir.

HAMLET
O, reform it altogether. And let those that play
your clowns speak no more than is set down for them;
for there be of them that will themselves laugh, to
set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh
too; though, in the mean time, some necessary
question of the play be then to be considered:
that’s villanous, and shows a most pitiful ambition
in the fool that uses it. Go, make you ready.

If you’ve never enjoyed Shakespeare’s Hamlet, you should watch this riveting production.

Ezra 4: In the World You Will Have Trouble

God glorifies himself as the weak overcome the proud and strong by faith, and these triumphs are like God’s creative surprises–he makes butterflies from caterpillars and oaks from acorns.

Here’s my attempt to exposit Ezra 4: In the World You Will Have Trouble.

The chapter is arranged thematically rather than chronologically. Here’s a chart that lays out the contents and timeline of Ezra 4:

Ezra 4:1–5 The Time of Cyrus to Darius	538 – 530, reign of Cyrus 522 – 486, reign of Darius
Ezra 4:6–7 The time of Ahasuerus to Artaxerxes	485 – 464, reign of Ahasuerus (cf. Esther) 464 – 423, reign of Artaxerxes
Ezra 4:8–16 Rehum’s Letter to Artaxerxes	464 – 423, Reign of Artaxerxes
Ezra 4:9–23 The Response of Artaxerxes
Ezra 4:23 could be the setting for the news Nehemiah received in 445 BC (cf. Neh 1:1–3)
Ezra 4:24 Return to the Time of Darius	520 BC “second year of the reign of Darius”

Interview with Jason Skaer: From Pro Basketball to the Pastorate

You never know who is sitting in your class. When I was teaching at SWBTS Houston, I had the privilege of teaching Jason Skaer. It’s been an even greater privilege to see our friendship grow over the last few years, and he was kind enough to answer some questions about his conversion, how basketball (Oklahoma State, Rice, Austria, and the Rockets made the mistake of not keeping him) has helped him in the ministry. Whereas he used to talk trash at Michael Jordan, Jason now pastors The Church at Alden Bridge in The Woodlands, TX.

Fast facts: Jason was second off the bench on the 1995 Oklahoma State team that went to the Final Four, and he was a Rhodes Scholar candidate. His wife was a star basketball player at Rice and a scholar in her own right (if it doesn’t open to page 10, go to page 10 on the linked PDF). The best thing about Jason, though, is that he is a humble man of God who knows that God the Father exalts Jesus by his Spirit through the word.

Could you describe how you came to faith in Jesus?

Not growing up in the church I had very little Bible knowledge and consequently knew close to nothing about the gospel.  However, during my first year playing professional basketball in Europe I decided to read the Bible from cover to cover.  Thus it was quite literally through the power of God’s Word that I came to know Christ.  No tricks, no gimmicks, the gospel was good enough to convict and save.

Are there ways that basketball has helped and/or hurt your approach to the ministry?

Basketball has been immensely helpful.  There’s no “I” in team and that certainly holds true in the church.  It takes everybody working together and utilizing their gifts to grow a healthy congregation.  Stubborn persistence taken from the athletic arena has also served me greatly.  Helping plant and eventually pastor a new church is difficult work.  There will be days when the deck seems stacked against you.  But if you believe God’s called you to the task you can’t give in.  Too many ministers (and church members) throw in the towel during the hard days.  But as we’re experiencing now there is great fulfillment and joy in sailing through the storm and ultimately seeing brighter days.

Tell me about The Church at Alden Bridge.

The Church at Alden Bridge has a simple mission statement:  “Our mission is to be disciples and make disciples of Jesus Christ.”  This means we aim to both know God and make Him known.  Thus we are serious about discipleship and equipping our members while being equally passionate about reaching the lost.  In my experience churches are usually good at one or the other.  Either we’re good at equipping but offer a cold environment, or we’re really welcoming but have no real depth.  My hope and prayer is that TCAAB holds these two important mandates in balance.

What do you find most helpful as you prepare to preach?

The most helpful aspect of my preaching preparation is that I am absolutely committed to and passionate about expository preaching.  We simply march verse by verse through the whole counsel of God’s word.  For instance, we spent the last two semesters in James and this Summer we are working through Psalms 11-21.  I simply don’t have the capacity or creativity to wake up each Monday morning and invent some new catchy sermon series.  We believe that God’s Word is good enough for God’s people and it’s been my experience here that His Word is more relevant and penetrating than anything I could ever invent.  Thus in sticking with the Bible, regardless of how it gets delivered (which I work very hard on), I know for certain that the content is always good.

Tell me about the specific challenges of doing ministry in The Woodlands.

The Woodlands is a pretty affluent community and thus like other similar communities many don’t see a need for God.  We’ve built our identity around job and possessions and family and missed out on the Main Thing.  I will say however that with the recent economic downturn some of our idols have been taken away and many are now asking questions that only the gospel can answer.

What have you most enjoyed seeing God do as you have served The Church at Alden Bridge?

There are few greater joys than witnessing hungry people get fed the things of God.  We get lots of folks who are “tired of seeing the same movie every week” and looking for something deeper and it’s fun to feed them.  We also get lots of unchurched and unbelieving folks who stroll in on a Sunday not knowing what they’re looking for but get turned on to the truth of the gospel and it’s fun to feed them too.  God is building a church in this community that vindicates once more the sufficiency of His Word and it thrills me to no end to have the privilege of serving a work like this.

Thanks for taking the time to serve us with this interview, Jason!

It’s beautiful to see the Lord transform people. Glory to God for his mercy!

I recommend you check out Jason’s sermons here.

Now Available: Text Driven Preaching

When Andy Cheung asked me about the extent to which biblical theology should influence preaching, I mentioned my essay, “Biblical Theology and Preaching,” which has just appeared in a new book from Broadman and Holman.

Text Driven Preaching: God’s Word at the Heart of Every Sermon, edited by Daniel L. Akin, David L. Allen, and Ned L. Matthews.

Broadman and Holman has granted me permission to link my essay here: “Biblical Theology and Preaching,” pages 193–218 in Text Driven Preaching: God’s Word at the Heart of Every Sermon, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David L. Allen, and Ned L. Mathews. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2010.

Join me in an expression of gratitude to them: buy the book!

Here’s the outline of my essay:

1. Introduction

2. Do I Need This to Preach?

2.1 Preaching the Whole Counsel of God
2.2 All Scripture God Breathed and Profitable

3. What Is Biblical Theology?

3.1 Structural Features
3.2 Intertextual Connections
3.3 Placement in the Big Story
3.4 Encouragement

4. How Do I Do Biblical Theology?

5. How Do I Preach Biblical Theology?

6. Can God’s People Handle This?

7. How Do I Get Started?

Check it out.

“Biblical Theology and Preaching,” pages 193–218 in Text Driven Preaching: God’s Word at the Heart of Every Sermon, ed. Daniel L. Akin, David L. Allen, and Ned L. Mathews. Nashville: Broadman and Holman, 2010.

Disappointing Fulfillment: Ezra 3

Yesterday at Kenwood it was my privilege to preach Ezra 3. The main point of the sermon was that safety is only to be found in obedient worship to God. This grows out of the way that the returnees respond to their fear of the inhabitants of the land by building the altar and renewing Israel’s worship according to the instructions in the Law of Moses (Ezra 3:3). The other side of this main point is that sin will rob you of joy and endanger your life. We see this in Ezra 3 as the returnees mingle joy and weeping at the foundation of the temple in Ezra 3:12-13.

This weeping also indicates that while certain prophecies are being fulfilled in the return to the land, the dramatic end time restoration promised in the prophets awaits future fulfillment. So in the midst of the fulfillment of prophecy, they are disappointed, and yet they are safe as they obey God and worship.

Thanks to Josh Philpot for his kind words about something that happened last week, and for his ministry in getting these sermons online.

May the Lord bless his word. Disappointing Fulfillment: Ezra 3.

Douglas Wilson on Worldview and Preaching

Douglas Wilson makes an offhand comment that is worth further thought regarding:

what makes up a worldview in the first place (dogma, narrative, symbol, and liturgy),

Narrative–biblical theology; Dogma–systematic theology and catechesis; Symbol–art, architecture, etc; Liturgy–the expression of dogma, narrative, and symbol in worship. More to think on here.

In the previous post, Wilson prescribes some good medicine for preachers:

Preachers need to remember that the way to the heart is through the head, but the preacher is to take that route and drive toward the heartwithout stopping. Too many turn aside at the head to eat bread and drink water, and that is why a lion kills them (1 Kings 13:9-10).

Too many preachers wrestle with a point in their messages far too long, as though they were Jacob and that particular point were the angel of the Lord — and so they cry out, “I will not let you go!” (Gen. 32:26).

Unregenerate man is a profanity. Too many evangelical ministers preach as though that condition were an inconvenience, or a mere disqualification for entry into the club. But real preaching overturns tables in the court of the Gentiles (Mark 11:17). Real preaching messes with the profanation.

God help us.

Baptism Now Saves You?

Have you ever wondered why Peter says (1 Pet 3:20-21) that the waters of the flood through which Noah and a few others were saved correspond to baptism?

In the sermon it was my privilege to preach yesterday, I tried to pursue a biblical-theological explanation of how the flood was an expression of God’s wrath that was used by Israel’s prophets to symbolize the wrath of God that would fall at the exile. When Jesus died on the cross, the full expression of wrath anticipated by the flood and the exile was poured out on him. To capture this reality, Jesus spoke of his death as the moment when he would “drink the cup” of God’s wrath and be “baptized” (e.g., Mark 10:38-39). Jesus was baptized into the floodwaters of God’s judgment, and when believers are baptized into the body of Christ, they are united to Christ, and his baptism into the floodwaters of judgment counts for us. We are saved through the death dealing waters of judgment and raised to walk in newness of life.

As I say, I did my best to exposit these themes in a sermon preached at Baptist Church of the Redeemer on June 6, 2010. You can download it here. Thanks to my dear friend and former fellow elder, Travis Cardwell, for letting me seek to serve the beloved saints of Redeemer.

I didn’t say this in the sermon, but if my exposition is correct, we see Moses doing biblical-theological interpretation of the creation and flood narratives and then connecting those events to his own experience as a baby in the Nile and Israel’s crossing of the Red Sea at the exodus. The prophets then follow the biblical-theological interpretation modeled by Moses, and Jesus interprets what will happen to him in line with these biblical-theological moves made by Moses and the Prophets in the OT. That is, Jesus interpreted the OT and his own life the same way that Moses and the prophets interpreted the OT and their own lives. Then the Apostles, Peter in this case, interpret the OT, the Gospels, and their own experience the same way that Moses and the Prophets did, and Peter learned this way of reading the Bible, as well was this way of reading life through the lens of the Bible, from Jesus.

I didn’t say this in the sermon either, but I think that the flood, the exile, the cross of Christ, and the baptism of new believers all show that the glory of God in salvation through judgment is indeed the center of biblical theology, which is the thesis of my forthcoming book. One of the reasons I wanted to preach this sermon was that I hadn’t dealt so much with these connections between the flood and baptism in the book.

As days go by someone may want to find this sermon among the others in the sermon player on that page. If you need to search the sermon player, you can probably search my name (Jim Hamilton), the date (June 6, 2010), or perhaps the title of the sermon (“The Floodwaters of Judgment”).

Sermons on Titus

The past four weeks at Kenwood we were in Paul’s letter to Titus. Here are the sermons:

April 18, 2010, Titus 1:1-4 Truth Produces Godliness

April 25, 2010, Titus 1:5-16 Elders in Response to False Teachers

May 2, 2010, Titus 2:1-15 Behavior that Commends the Gospel

May 9, Titus 3:1-15 Behavior Based on the Gospel

May the Lord add his blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word.

Revelation Sermon Series

In God’s kindness, Kenwood Baptist Church voted to call me as their pastor of preaching the last Sunday of March, 2009. The first book I preached through was the book of Revelation. While some might question the wisdom of jumping right into apocalyptic literature, the book of Revelation pronounces a blessing on those who read, hear, and keep what is written in it (Rev 1:3). Those who understand John’s Apocalypse–and live such that they have “kept” what it reveals–are blessed. We went through the book from April to April, and the year’s worth of sermons are linked below. May the Lord bless us with the reading, hearing, and keeping of this word.

April 5, 2009 Revelation 1:1-8 The Blessing of the Revelation of Jesus Christ

April 12, 2009 Revelation 1:9-20 John’s Vision of the Risen Christ

April 26, 2009 Revelation 2:1-7 First Love

May 3, 2009 Revelation 2:8-11 Faithful unto Death

May 10, 2009 Revelation 2:12-17 Repent of Nicolaitan Teaching

May 17, 2009 Revelation 2:18-29 King Jesus Versus Jezebel

May 24, 2009 Revelation 3:1-6 Wake Up!

May 31, 2009 Revelation 3:7-13 An Open Door No One Can Shut

July 5, 2009 Revelation 3:14-22 I Will Spit You Out of My Mouth

July 12, 2009 Revelation 4:1-11 The Throne Room Vision

July 19, 2009 Revelation 5:1-14 The Lamb Standing as though Slain

July 26, 2009 Revelation 6:1-16:21 God’s Plan to Save and Judge

August 9, 2009 Revelation 6:1-17 The Seals on the Scroll

August 23, 2009 Revelation 7:1-17 The Sealing of the Servants of God

August 30, 2009 Revelation 8:1-13 Trumpeting the End of the World

September 6, 2009 Revelation 9:1-21 The Unimagined Horrors of God’s Judgment

September 13, 2009 Revelation 10:1-11 Eat This Scroll (and prophesy the history of the future)

September 20, 2009 Revelation 11:1-19 Bearing Witness til Kingdom Come

October 11, 2009 Revelation 12:1-17 The Seed of the Woman Conquers the Serpent

October 25, 2009 Revelation 13:1-10 The Beast

November 1, 2009 Revelation 13:11-18 The False Prophet

November 8, 2009 Revelation 14:1-13 The Song of the Redeemed

Unfortunately our recording system failed the day I preached Revelation 14:14–20. For this sermon, please see my forthcoming Preaching the Word volume on Revelation. Please let me know if you are interested in funding a new sound system for Kenwood Baptist Church.

December 20, 2009 Revelation 15 Seven Angels with Seven Plagues

December 27, 2009 Revelation 16 The Seven Bowls of Wrath

January 3, 2010 Revelation 17 The Harlot and the Beast

January 10, 2010 Revelation 18 Lamenting or Rejoicing over Babylon’s Fall?

Unfortunately our recording system failed the day I preached Revelation 19:1–10 The Harlot and the Bride

February 14, 2010 Revelation 19:11-21 The Return of the King

February 28, 2010 Revelation 20:1-15 The Millennium

March 7, 2010 Revelation 21:1-8 A New Heaven and a New Earth

Unfortunately our recording system failed the day I preached Revelation 21:9–27 The New Jerusalem

March 21, 2010 Revelation 22:1-9 They Will See His Face

April 4, 2010 Revelation 22:10-21 Come, Lord Jesus

Crazy Love for Radicals?

Some think we should sell everything and give it all away, or that we should be constantly rearranging the furniture of our lives. It’s almost as though they think not having an experience like Abram’s–where God calls you to leave everything and go to the land he will show you–is a lack of integrity or disobedience.

That’s not what Paul called for when he gave instructions for ordinary Christians pursuing radical Christ-likeness in displays of crazy love.

How did Paul expect Christians to be revolutionary?

I sought to exposit what he says in the second chapter of Titus this past Sunday at Kenwood: Titus 2:1-15 – Behavior that Commends the Gospel

The Millennium

I recently had the privilege of expositing Revelation 20 at Kenwood Baptist Church.

The main point of the text?

The glory of God will cover the dry lands of this earth like the waters cover the sea when Christ reigns with his resurrected followers in the millennium.

Revelation 20:1-15 – The Millennium