Psalm 127 answers four questions for the believer:
It answers the question, why does my building seem to be in vain?
It answers the question, why doesn't it seem like God watches over our nation?
It answers the question, how can I have freedom from my anxiety?
It answers the question, why does it seem God hasn't established my family?
And the answer comes at the pinnacle of the Psalm, in the very center of this poetic song in verse 2: "for he gives to his beloved sleep". God gives. He gives sleep. He gives rest. He gives peace. He gives fulfillment. He gives freedom from anxiety. He gives freedom from worry. When it doesn't seem like things are going my way, and I get caught up in the hamster-wheel-of-worry, the solution is the very presence of God in my life. This is the simple but profound truth that we often forget. God's presence is the spiritual balm to my tired and weary soul. And complete dependence upon Him in all of life leads to true rest.
The Case For Life
October 6, 2024 • Todd Brohaugh
Jesus is Not Ashamed to Call us Brothers and Sisters
August 4, 2024 • Brett Rayl • Hebrews 2:11
The gospel completely saves us from shame which flows from the Fall and presence of sin in the world. One of the most beautiful announcements of this is found in Hebrews 2:11, “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brothers..."
Biblical Eldership: Who, What, Why?
May 26, 2024 • Steve Marshall
An elder is on the same level ground with every other believer before Jesus Christ, having the same and yet added responsibilities. In the New Testament elders are also referred as pastors or overseers. So, biblically, an elder is a pastor is an overseer and according to the New Testament, elders are responsible for the primary leadership and oversight of a church. Elders are called to lead the church (1 Tim. 5-7; Titus 1:7; 1 Peter 5:1-2), teach and preach God’s Word (1 Tim. 3:2; 2 Tim. 4:2; Titus 1:9), protect the church from false teachers (Acts 20:17-31), exhort and admonish the church in sound doctrine (1 Tim. 4:13; 2 Tim 3:13-17; 1Titus 1:9), visit the sick and pray (James 5:14; Acts 6:4), and judge doctrinal issues (Acts 15:6). In biblical vocabulary, elders shepherd, oversee, lead, and care for the local church.
Baptism Sunday
May 19, 2024 • Steve Marshall
God instituted baptism so that you could understand more clearly the promises of the gospel. Baptism is meant to bring Christ’s death and resurrection into your daily reality. Seeing other’s baptism and remembering your own is to physically reenact the drama of the gospel story. Baptism reminds you that you have been united with Christ, buried with Him under the waters of baptism before rising again out of the water to a new life (Rom. 6:3-4). We are all called to reenact the story of baptism, not just to remember it but to make it our own (Mat. 28:19-20). By remembering, you make the benefits of Christ’s death your own. The past becomes a present reality and you are assured of the forgiveness of your sins. Baptism is meant to imprint God’s promises on your heart and confirm that you have been given endless grace in salvation through Jesus Christ. Martin Luther once said, “A Christian life is nothing else than a daily baptism.” Meaning that baptism is a template for Christian living – daily dying to self, daily being resurrected new to Christ.
A Mother's Love
May 12, 2024 • Steve Marshall
"There is no emotion so completely unselfish as maternal affection. Conjugal love expects the return of many kindnesses and attentions. Filial love expects parental care, or is helped by the memory of past watchfulness. But the strength of a mother’s love is entirely independent of the past and the future, and is, of all emotions, the purest. The child has done nothing in the past to earn kindness, and in the future it may grow up to maltreat its parent; but still from the mother’s heart there goes forth inconsumable affection.
Abuse cannot offend it;
Neglect cannot chill it;
Time cannot efface it;
Death cannot destroy it.
For harsh words it has gentle chiding;
For the blow it has beneficent ministry;
For neglect it has increasing watchfulness.
It weeps at the prison door over the incarcerated prodigal, and pleads for pardon at the Governor’s feet, and is forced away by compassionate friends from witnessing the struggles of the gallows.
Other lights go out, but this burns on without extinguishment, as in a gloom-struck night you may see a single star, one of God’s pickets, with gleaming bayonet of light guarding the outposts of heaven.
Oh, despise not a mother’s love. If heretofore you have been negligent of such a one, and you have still opportunity for reparation, make haste. If you could only just look in for an hour’s visit to her you would rouse up in the aged one a whole world of blissful memories."
- DeWitt Talmage
In Jesus' Name, Amen?
May 5, 2024 • John 14, John 15, John 16
What does it mean to pray “In Jesus’ Name”? Does simply stating “in Jesus’ name” at the end of my prayer mean that I’m praying in Jesus’ name? Certainly not, for I probably shouldn’t pray “In Jesus’ name, give me Lamborghini”. It shouldn’t be a phrase that we tag on to the end of our prayers as some sort of spiritual seasoning to convince God to give us what we want. Or to put it a different way, it shouldn’t be a magical phrase that fits the prayer formula that Christ gave us in order to be heard by Him.
To pray “in Jesus’ name” is to pray “by His reputation”. It’s to pray for His sake, not our own. It’s to pray with His priorities in mind, not our own. It’s to pray according to His will (1 John 5:14). It’s to pray on the basis of what He has already done to bring us close to God, and not on our own efforts to bring ourselves close to God. It’s to pray trusting in his wisdom and understanding and not our own. It’s to submit our whole being to Him in prayer, content that whatever the outcome of our prayer it will be for our good and for His glory. To pray “in Jesus’ name” means to entrust ourselves to His sovereign plan and will for our lives.
The Death of Death
March 31, 2024
The good news of the Gospel declares that you can experience a fearlessness when thinking about your death. The Son of God has lived, died and was resurrected for you to live fearlessness in death. Fight the fear of death by knowing that Christ has destroyed Satan's power through his "propitiation." The Gospel is filled with big words that have big meanings that reveal the bigness of our God and the greatness of our salvation. Propitiation is a glorious word for you to ponder so that the fear of death remains vanquished. Declare to yourself that Christ's propitiatory death on the cross is your wrath-removing sacrifice. When Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice for your sins, He also satisfied the righteous wrath of God against your sin, providing for you reconciliation and peace with God. The sting within your death has been defeated by the death of Christ. Death has been swallowed up in the victory of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:54-57). The propitiatory death of Jesus means your victory over death. That truth is to be enjoyed every day.
Jesus Saved You By Not Saving Himself
March 24, 2024
The cross of Christ “is honor, yet it is shame. It is wisdom, but also foolishness. It is both gain and loss; both pardon and condemnation; both strength and weakness; both joy and sorrow … It is grace, yet it is righteousness; it is law, yet it is deliverance from law; it is Christ’s humiliation, yet it is Christ’s exaltation” (Horatius Bonar). When we embrace the power and love of Jesus Christ to stay on His cross, choosing not to save Himself but instead to save us, He makes everything right. The amazing life-changing irony of the cross!
Let's Pray Together!
January 7, 2024 • Steve Marshall • Mark 14:32–42
Corporate praying is a togetherness that creates expectation for God to move in power. God then answers corporately which then brings God corporate, magnified glory. The glory He receives from corporate prayer is much greater than the glory received from you praying alone. And that is the purpose for why He created the world – for His glory (Is. 48;9-11; Ps. 19:1-4; 2 Cor. 1:11; 4:15).
Our Unchanging God
December 31, 2023 • Kyle Mills • Nahum 1:1–8
God is “slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty” (Nahum 1:3). God’s anger toward the wickedness on earth literally “suffers long”. We may read a news headline from a biased news source, and get angry for a moment at the injustice in the world. But God knows far more about the situation than we do. God knows infinitely more about ALL of the evil in the world than we could ever comprehend, and yet He is “slow to anger”. But in His calculated slow-ness to anger, does evil triumph? Does Satan get the upper hand? Do the forces of darkness prevail? Do we sometimes wish that God would hurry up with His justice? “…the LORD will by no means clear the guilty.” The second half of this verse in Nahum gives us the promise of hope that is certain. God will have the last word. God will vindicate His holy name. The guilty will not get away with their wickedness.
But what of those who turn from their evil deeds to the LORD in repentance and faith? “The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in Him” (Nahum 1:7). This promise is for all those who take refuge in God. He rescues every person who trusts in Him. He is our stronghold. And He intimately knows us as a father knows his children, shielding us in the day of trouble. We have no need to fear what 2024 will bring. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble, therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way…” (Psalm 46:1-2).
Christmas PEACE
December 24, 2023 • Luke 2:1–14
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” Luke 2:14.
There is a peace that comes from God that is incomparable to what we can find elsewhere. This Christmas Eve, let us focus on how wonderful and generous our God has been to us and how generous He continues to be. It is all a part of His plan. Let’s give Him great glory as He promises to give us great peace.
Leaping Like a Calf at The Christmas Sunrise
December 17, 2023 • Steve Marshall
God's story of the coming Sunrise of righteousness did not begin with a baby in a manger and it does not end there either. The Sun of righteousness, Jesus Christ, is not a one advent Savior. He has come with "healing in His wings." He will release you from captivity of sin bringing you joy as a "calf leaves a stall and starts leaping for joy." Yes, Jesus has brought healing now but we also look at the guaranteed complete healing that will come at His second coming, the second advent, when the final promise of no more death and no more disease will be fully realized. Let His first coming create "leaping calf like joy" knowing that He is coming again with complete healing of all creation. Jesus, the Sunrise of righteousness has indeed shone forth and will once again completely come again making all things new just as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow morning. That truth should bring calf leaping kind of joy to you this Christmas and every other day as well.
The Joy of Christmas
December 10, 2023 • Luke 1:5—2:20
God is joy. Joy is not only essential to the being of God but also Joy is the ultimate purpose of God in creating you and this world. Right now God is leading everything in His purposeful plan for creation and His Church to experience everlasting joy (Is. 35:10; 55:12-13). What is joy? Joy is a delightful feeling produced by the Holy Spirit that lives in your soul, opening your eyes to look to Him driving out darkness within you, filling you with His glory, graciousness, holiness, faithfulness, and loving emotions. Joy comes from God through the giving of His Son Jesus Christ. Joy comes from God’s hospitality to you, welcoming you to Himself. Joy is the story of Christmas, Christ coming to you so that you not only experience eternal joy but also daily joy, joy in the mundane. Christ has come for your joy.
Where does the anti-Judeo/Christian work of Islam begin?
October 22, 2023 • Steve Marshall • Genesis 17—21, Galatians 4:21–31, Romans 9:6–24
