Redwood Church Preaching
154 episodes — Page 3 of 4
Psalm 131: Having faith with an uncertain future
An exposition and application of Psalm 131. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 123: Singing with Eyes to the Skies
An exposition and application of Psalm 123. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 13: the Lord's Day as the Day of the Lord
From the voice of God walking in the garden in “the spirit of the day,” to John hearing the same voice when in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, the pattern of the Sabbath has always included the fear of judgment to those who are unfaithful. Despite the obfuscation of English translations, scripture uses the same term for “the Day of the Lord” and “the Lord’s Day,” which means that worship is not just about praise, instruction, and communion—it is also about judgment and punishment. God summons his church to participate in this as heavenly council members. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
What makes a church a church? Part 6: Christians as divine council members
In the Old Testament, God divided up the kingdom of Adam into nations, and placed them under members of the divine council. But these angelic princes were more interested in receiving worship than in ruling on God’s behalf, and so God raised up the Lord Jesus to replace them. Through Christ, these heavenly powers are disarmed, the nations are re-inherited, and the church becomes the earthly contingent of the divine council in heaven. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 14: song and warfare
We conclude our series by looking at how, as earthly members of the heavenly host, God fights for us, and with us. We especially look at the unique role that music plays in this, and how our own songs seem to affect the spiritual realm, repelling evil spirits, and rousing righteous ones. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 12: worship as divine council meeting
Most of scripture’s depictions of the heavenly court involve deliberations between God and his angelic princes, the divine council. Since we enter the heavenly court in worship, it is important to understand this aspect of its function—and when and how human beings are also involved in it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 10: the sacrificial significance of bread and wine
Why did Jesus choose bread and wine as the elements of the Lord’s Supper? Although some of the symbolism is obvious, understanding the sacrifices of Moses reveals a great deal more about the nature of the Eucharist; especially about the wine, and why we symbolically drink blood—something always forbidden, even to the priests, in the old covenant offerings. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 11: covering our glory to magnify God's
The central logic of 1 Corinthians 11 is that only one glory should be on display in worship: God’s. Veiling still matters in the modern day because God’s glory still matters in worship—and that is what is at stake. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 9: the Lord's Supper as the center of life
If life flows out from worship, and worship culminates in communion with God, then the Lord’s Supper in some deep sense is the pinnacle and center of Christian existence. Correctly participating in the form and timing (liturgy) of the Lord’s Supper is not only critical to right worship, but to right living. This involves a sixfold liturgical pattern—roughly: taking, thanking, breaking, giving, judging, and integrating. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 8: the Lord's Supper as covenant remembrance
Although the Lord’s Supper is a deep mystery, Christ’s words of institution make it plain that it is a mystery of remembrance. When we trace the use of such language throughout scripture, it becomes clear that the Eucharist gathers up all of the feasts and sacrifices of the Old Testament into a single sacrament that brings God’s covenant to his remembrance, and reaffirms it between him and his people. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 7: the covenant logic & obligation of infant baptism
The covenant with Abraham finds its fullness in Christ: both the sign and the promises are fulfilled in the church. Since the sign and the promises are universally given to children in the various administrations of the old covenant, certainly they are given to children under the new—unless otherwise rescinded. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 20: Sing for Your Kings
An exposition and application of Psalm 20. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 6: worship as the center of life
Scripture views all of life as worship—it is impossible to avoid religious service to some god or other in everything we do. Although Christians think of worship exclusively in terms of the Lord’s Service, this is really the pinnacle from which weekday service to God flows. All of life is liturgical, with Sunday worship at the center. The Lord’s Service teaches us how to participate in the heavenly patterns, so that we can embody those patterns in our own everyday service, fulfilling “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 29: The Glory of Wild Weather
An exposition and application of Psalm 29. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 5: body language & song
What we do with our bodies always communicates something, and so our body language in worship matters a great deal. Even the word that we translate as worship in scripture really means to prostrate or bow down, and this is an essential posture toward God that we need to recover. Similarly, men should be lifting their hands in prayer.In the same way, our singing matters also. It is through music that our speech to God is glorified, beautified, elevated, emphasized, made weightier and more solid, and stirs us up to the highest degree. We should therefore earnestly sing to the best of our abilities, accompany our singing with the most fitting instruments possible, and desire to grow a culture of musical excellence. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 18: Coming on the Clouds Once More
An exposition and application of Psalm 18. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
What makes a church a church? Part 5: enrollment by covenant
Scripture models for us in many places that there is an enrollment in heaven—a book of life consisting of all the members of God’s covenant people. As in heaven, so on earth: in the New Testament, elders are required to know who is enrolled under their care, and church members are required to submit to their elders. The only way for this structure to have moral force is through membership vows. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 4: the meaning of what we wear
Clothing is a kind of language, and we cannot avoid speaking it. God provides careful patterns and instructions about fitting attire for worship. We must honor and revere him with our clothing, without magnifying ourselves against his own glory, or other brothers. Dressing for worship therefore requires a balance between modesty, and bringing the best of our substance before God’s throne. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 104: Let Creation Please Its Creator
An exposition and application of Psalm 104. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 3: liturgical order of worship in scripture
The Bible reveals a clear sequence to how we should worship, which has been used as a general structure for Lord’s Day services throughout the history of the church: call; cleansing; consecration; communion; commission. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 19: The Perfections of God's Speech
An exposition and application of Psalm 19. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 2: liturgy as true magic
Arranging our worship to mimic and echo the heavenly reality is critical, because it creates a kind of “resonance,” where by expressing and embodying spiritual patterns, we actually enter into them. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 2: Fitting Kings with Fetters
An exposition and application of Psalm 2. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Why Christmas carols are so postmillennial
We divide history into BC and AD—Anno Domini, “in the year of the Lord.” But is Christ currently reigning—and if so, why do we mark the beginning of this “year,” this age of Christ, from his birth, rather than his resurrection or ascension? It is because his reign, carried out through his body on earth (his church), is not like the heavy-handed lording of the gentile rulers. It follows the same pattern in the whole world as it does in the life of the individual believer: tender sanctification unto maturity and perfection.Subscribe to get new sermons in your mailbox: This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
How should we worship? Part 1: the regulative principle
When we come to our Father’s house, we ought to greatly fear transgressing the rules for appearing before him. Lest we worship presumptuously, we must be careful to pattern everything we do after what is laid down for our instruction in the Bible. Scripture alone must regulate our worship. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 128: Praise Yahweh for The Patriarchal Blessing
An exposition and application of Psalm 128. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
What makes a church a church? Part 4: communion with God
Since the church is the house and temple of God, a holy priesthood offering spiritual sacrifices, its ministry is actually the substance of the shadows modeled in the temple worship of the old covenant. The nature of Old Testament sacrifices are therefore of great importance for showing us that the very end and purpose of worship is table fellowship with God himself—fellowship that we have by entering into heaven itself through Christ and the Holy Spirit. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
What makes a church a church? Part 3: key ingredients
There are certain fundamental elements, without which a church cannot be (or fails to properly be) a church at all. Three of these elements are: (1) Gathering together physically on the Lord’s Day; (2) Holding fast to and instructing its members in the full counsel of God; (3) Discipling its members to apply that counsel to all of life. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 125: Saints as an Immovable City
An exposition and application of Psalm 125. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 122: Praise God for Christian Prosperity
An exposition and application of Psalm 122. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
What makes a church a church? Part 2: duty & jurisdiction
Although the church is exclusively governed by Christ, and is commissioned to disciple and train the nations in righteousness, it is not the only authority that Christ has instituted in the world. It must co-exist with, and uphold the lawful authority of, the natural institutions of household and state. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 133: The Blessing of an Oily Beard
An exposition and application of Psalm 133. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
What makes a church a church? Part 1: governance
A church is a body that participates in the universal church—a body, a self-regulating nexus of powers, governed exclusively by Christ, its head. This exclusive government, and all that it implies about who does not govern us, is foundational to our existence. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 17: The Pleas of a Righteous Man
An exposition and application of Psalm 17. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Scriptural patterns should shape our thought patterns
We are taught to listen to what Scripture says, but we are not generally taught to listen to how it says it. But the structure of Scripture reflects the mind of God just as much as the content, and we should be paying careful attention to both. The ending of John 3, for instance, “rhymes” or “resonates” with many themes developed in the beginning of the gospel, and teaches us how to discern patterns between like ideas. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 14: Fools that Deny the Obvious
An exposition and application of Psalm 14. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 13: Singing of Someone Else's Sorrow
An exposition and application of Psalm 13. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 100: Marked by Thankfulness
An exposition and application of Psalm 100. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 65: Breaking the Untenable Silence
An exposition and application of Psalm 65. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 12: In the Midst of Apostates
An exposition and application of Psalm 12. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 29: Praise God for Destructive Weather
An exposition and application of Psalm 29. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Qualifications for pastors that pastors won’t preach
The biblical qualifications for elders in the letters to Timothy and Titus are well-known—but some of their implications are carefully avoided by the many preachers who don’t meet them. The requirements for rulers in the church were not invented out of whole cloth in the first century. They are grounded in the law of Moses. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 15: The Works of the True Worshipers
An exposition and application of Psalm 15. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Guardian angels or ghosts? Testing scripture with scripture
The common assumption that Matthew 18 and Acts 12 give us glimpses of guardian angels is probably mistaken. Rather, the term angel in these passages is referring to human spirits. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 119: Loving a Minister of Death
An exposition and application of Psalm 119. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 96: Singing Outside the Church
An exposition and application of Psalm 96. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 11: A Remedy for Escapism
An exposition and application of Psalm 11. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 6: How to Sing Through Troubles
An exposition and application of Psalm 6. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 1: A Song that Teaches Happiness
An exposition and application of Psalm 1. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com
Psalm 9: Nations Sinking into Their Own Pit
An exposition and application of Psalm 9. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit redwoodchurch.substack.com