Sinners then shall learn from me,
And return, O God, to Thee
Savior all my guilt remove,
And my tongue shall sing Thy love
Touch my silent lips, O Lord,
And my mouth shall praise accord
—Scottish Psalter (Psalm 51)
Even in Exile the Nations are Blessed (Daniel 4:19-37)
“In God you come up against something which is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. Unless you know God as that—and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison—you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you.
That raises a terrible question. How is it that people who are quite obviously eaten up with Pride can say they believe in God and appear to themselves very religious? I am afraid it means they are worshiping an imaginary God. They theoretically admit themselves to be nothing in the presence of this phantom God, but are really all the time imagining how He approves of them and thinks them far better than ordinary people: that is, they pay a pennyworth of imaginary humility to Him and get out of it a pound's worth of Pride towards their fellow-men.”
—C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Fear of Being Forgotten (Isaiah 49:5-18)
“My name from the palms of His hands
Eternity will not erase;
Impressed on His heart it remains
In marks of indelible grace.
Yes, I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is given
More happy, but not more secure,
The glorified spirits in heaven.”
—Augustus Montague Toplady
Do You Do Well to Be Angry? (Jonah 3:10-4:11)
“Tribes are a normal part of life. They can be as simple as a high school hockey team or a label like ‘Presbyterian.’ Our family is a mini-tribe. Tribalism turns a tribe into a center of worship. Tribes tend towards tribalism, largely because that’s what the heart does. In tribalism, the tribe then becomes not just an affinity grouping but a source of life. In short, the tribe becomes an idol. It’s easy to see tribalism in others, but it’s hard to see our own.”
— Paul Miller
City of Rebirth (Psalm 87)
“Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God;
He, Whose word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for His own abode
On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded,
Thou mayst smile at all thy foes.”
— John Newton, Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken
God Makes a Way Where There is No Way (2 Kings 5:1-14)
“The message of the prophets is not, ‘Israel has sinned; therefore, Israel needs to get its act together or it will die.’ The message is… ‘Israel has sinned; Israel is already dead. Cling to the God who raises the dead.’”
—Peter Leithart
Captured and Captivated for the Blessing of the Nations (Deuteronomy 10:12-22)
God is Faithful to Sustain His Mission (Genesis 50:15-21, Exodus 1:6-7)
“Neither the nature of any created thing, therefore, nor the weakness of the flesh, can prevail against the will of God. For God is not subject to created things, but created things to God; and all things yield obedience to His will.”
—Irenaeus
Due to technical issues, Seven Hills Presbyterian Church shared a copy of their recording for this sermon.
Go, for the Blessing of the Nations (Genesis 12:1-3)
“The love and power of God must address not only the sin of individuals but also the strife and striving of nations; not only the need of human beings but also the suffering of animals and the curse of the ground…What can God do next? Something that only God could have thought of. He sees an elderly, childless couple in the land of Babel and decides to make them the fountainhead, the launch pad of his whole cosmic redemption. We can almost hear the sharp intake of breath among the heavenly hosts when the astonishing plan is revealed.”
—Christopher Wright, The Mission of God
If We Love Jesus, Fear is Replaced with Peace and Joy (John 14:25-31)
Due to technical issues, the sermon audio was not recorded.
“As a man, looking steadfastly on a dial, cannot perceive the shadow move at all, yet viewing it after a while, he shall perceive that it hath moved; so, in the hearing of the Word, but especially in the receiving of the Lord's Supper, a man may judge even his own faith, and other graces of God, to be little or nothing increased, neither can he perceive the motion of God's Spirit in him at that time; yet by the fruits and effects thereof, he shall afterward perceive that God's Spirit hath little by little wrought greater faith and other graces in him.”
—Daniel Cawdray