Our Wednesday service has been reading through Luke’s gospel consecutively each week. We have just concluded Luke 15, a favorite chapter of many. Jesus tells there the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost sons. Those of you who have read Luke 15 with frequency as I have done and have… Read More The Ninety and Nine
I first read of Isaac Watts as a boy learning American history at school in that battle cry, “Give ’em Watts, boys!” at the battle of Springfield, New Jersey. Over time I spotted his name in hymnals as the author of the some of the most famous hymns in evangelical Christendom. It happened this week… Read More Give ’em Watts, boys!
There are times in a regular pattern of study in God’s word and in a regular pattern of prayer that brings together who God is in his holiness and my deep and desperate need in my sinfulness, to see afresh the amazing grace and mercy in our Savior’s bloody sacrifice done for me as a… Read More Man A Nothing
Here at St. Mary’s we pick-up our verse by verse study of Paul’s letter to the Romans. This life-changing letter has been a focus each summer since 2010. This year is the last. We started at the final great hinge of the letter, Romans 12.1-2, two Sundays ago. And as we go through the 40… Read More Summer’s here, and that means…
Why did Jesus have to die? He is your substitute. He took the punishment you deserved so that you can receive the blessing he deserved, all for the glory of God. Here it is in black and white. The most important paragraph in the Bible. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart… Read More The Most Important Paragraph in the Bible
With sermons for tonight, tomorrow night and Easter Sunday done, my thoughts and prayer turn to those whom our heavenly Father draws to hear the gospel this year – those who only come to church on Christmas and Easter. Do you know what is true about folks who only come to church on Christmas and… Read More Holy Week, Easter, Prayer and Preaching
2013 is the year the Episcopal Church, well, The Diocese of New Jersey anyway, has discovered reading the Bible. I was thrilled to hear the presentation in our minister’s meeting of last September because the reading and particularly the hearing of the Bible preached is God’s primary means of grace. The cycle of local ministry… Read More Robert M. McCheyne and The B-I-B, L-E
Ever met an evangelist? I met one recently in the pages of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. He is simply called “Evangelist” but it would be wrong to impose upon Bunyan’s character a modern understanding of an itinerant, American-style preacher. Rather, Evangelist here represents an important facet of the office of pastor which remains connected… Read More Seeker, Seeking, Sought
January 31, 2013 is the 121 anniversary of the death of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the Prince of Preachers. It seems fitting today to honor the witness of such a godly man by reading the account of his own conversion. God had blessed Spurgeon with so many gifts for the preaching and teaching ministry of the… Read More Remembering C.H. Spurgeon
I do not usually remember my dreams and I don’t usually put much stock in them but I had a dream the other night that was very vivid. I was standing before a crowd of people and it obvious by their stance and facial expressions that I was being interviewed and evaluated by them. It… Read More I had a dream.
The Vicar's Garden 