Redwood Church Preaching

Because sacrifice is built into creation, we are always living sacrificially. But what are we giving up, and to what? Christians are called to live in a way that puts the right things in the right places, and gives up the right things in the right way. This can only be done by placing God in his proper place. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 121. 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

Because sacrifice is built into creation, we are always living sacrificially. But what are we giving up, and to what? Christians are called to live in a way that puts the right things in the right places, and gives up the right things in the right way. This can only be done by placing God in his proper place. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 120. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 129. 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

Although we tend to think of sacrifice in terms of atonement, it is actually built into the nature of creation before the fall. The pattern of giving something up to a higher thing is found in everything from seeds to 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 129. 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

If women image God especially by being life-givers, how does this affect how they live? Is it just a question of having babies, or are there implications that should direct how they order their whole lives? 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

If men image both the Father and the Son as name-givers and dominion-takers, how do women image God? When we examine Eve's creation and naming, we find patterns that strikingly resemble the Holy Spirit's eternal procession and economic work. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 129. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 130. 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

Just as the Father gives his name to the Son, so human fathers confer identity and meaning upon their children—and the name of Christ himself, the greatest inheritance possible. 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

Knowing how sin wars against our calling to image God as Father, ruling over our houses on his behalf, we now turn to the positive vision that scripture provides of how to do this, by learning to rule over ourselves. 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

Like women, men are cursed by God, and that curse combines with their fleshly desires to war against ourselves and our households. We must know our enemy to defeat our enemy—so we must understand all the ways in which sin tries to sabotage us in obeying our calling as men. 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

Because Eve comes from Adam, and is called to help Adam, when God curses her, he curses that work. Just as he made Adam’s work toilsome by setting the ground against him, he makes Eve’s work toilsome by setting her against him. The curse creates a paradoxical ambivalence in woman: by nature she desires to serve her husband, but in the flesh she is no longer willing to give herself up to him. Fortunately, scripture gives us guidance to understand what this looks like, so as to avoid it, and models virtuous women like Abigail, so that wives may know what to strive for instead. 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

If a wife is to glorify her husband, there must be something he is doing for her to glorify. How can a husband know God’s particular calling for himself and his household—and how can he cast a vision for that to his wife and children? 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

While the vocation of mankind is to glorify God in the work of dominion on his behalf, women have a special place in this, as they are called to be the glory of their husbands. While the vocation of men is focused outward to building the world, the vocation of women is focused inward to building their own houses. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 130. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 130. 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

Contrary to common pop-theology, what God is preparing us for in glory is not a purely spiritual state, but a complete, embodied joining of heaven and earth. In eternity, we will continue to participate with God in the work of stamping his will into the world—a work no longer cursed by toil, but restful, blessed, and fruitful. 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

Mankind through Adam, and redeemed in Christ, is called to exercise dominion on God’s behalf, impressing the heavenly pattern into the physical world, so that his will may be done on earth as it is in heaven. Yet this grand, cosmic vision is fulfilled through ordinary, daily work. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 127. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 127. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 127. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 127. 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

An exposition and application of Psalm 127. 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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