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Christian Living
1,140 sermons · All topics
CTF 2025 - Who Is The Conference For?
A brief panel discussion previewing a theology conference for pastors, elders, deacons, and laypeople in Reformed churches. The conversation addresses why doctrinal instruction — rooted in historical theology, systematic theology, and exegesis — is more foundational than purely practical programming. The core concern is that Christians in the modern church bypass the knowledge of God for immediate application, and the conference intends to remedy that by grounding practical Christian living in a right understanding of who God is.
The Conduct of the Believer
Philippians 1:27–30 presents a twofold exhortation to the church: that believers conduct themselves in a manner worthy of the gospel, and that they do so with courage in the face of adversaries. The sermon expounds the Greek word for citizenship as the governing concept of verse 27, grounding the call to worthy conduct in the reality of justification by faith — the life of sanctification flows necessarily from what God has graciously accomplished in the believer. Corporate unity in striving together for the faith of the gospel, and undaunted boldness before enemies, are shown to be not optional virtues but demonstrable proofs of sovereign grace at work in God's people.
The Future Prospect of the Apostle, Part 2
Philippians 1:21–26 presents Paul's conviction and anticipation as an apostle facing imprisonment and the real prospect of execution. The sermon works through Paul's declaration 'for to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,' showing that his union with Christ in life and his glory with Christ in death make it impossible for any earthly power to harm or stop him. The intermediate state — the soul's immediate presence with Christ at death — is set against the benefit of continued gospel ministry, and Paul's others-minded anticipation of release grounds his confidence that the Philippians' progress in faith and joy will abound. The sermon closes by pressing the question whether each hearer can say with honest self-examination that Christ is their all in life and death.
The Joy Associated with Christ's Departure
John 16:16–24 records Jesus preparing his disciples for the grief of his death and the joy of his resurrection, framing both under the single announcement 'a little while.' This exposition works through two movements: the announcement of Christ's departure and the disciples' confusion (vv. 16–18), and then the benefits of that departure — lasting joy grounded in the resurrection, and direct access to the Father through prayer in Christ's name (vv. 19–24). The sermon argues that the joy promised here is not the absence of suffering or temporal prosperity, but an indestructible joy rooted in Christ's finished work of life, death, resurrection, and ascension, a joy no adversary can strip from the believer.
Ask FGBC #31: What is the difference between saving and common grace?
Common grace and saving grace are distinct but related aspects of God's goodness. Common grace is God's non-redemptive kindness extended to all mankind and creation — including the restraint of sin, fruitful seasons, and the capacity for civic good among unbelievers — while saving grace is God's particular redemptive work in the hearts of sinners through the preaching of the gospel. Understanding this distinction shapes how Christians relate to the world, how they pray for unbelievers, and how they understand the church's mission without compromising it.
The Waters at Meribah
Numbers 20 records a pivotal transition: the first generation of Israel is dying off, yet the second generation repeats the same sins — grumbling, blaming Moses and Aaron, and longing to return to Egypt. At the waters of Meribah, Moses himself falls under divine chastisement for failing to hallow God before the people, striking the rock rather than speaking to it and presumptuously attributing the miracle to himself and Aaron. The chapter closes with the death of Aaron, whose priestly garments pass to his son Eleazar — a token of covenantal continuity pointing forward to the greater High Priest who stands between the dead and the living. The recurring lesson for the people of God in every generation is that the hardships of the wilderness are not evidence of divine abandonment but instruments of providence by which God conforms his people to the image of his Son.
Ask FGBC #30: What does a holy walk look like in a Christian?
What does a holy walk look like for the Christian? This Q&A response argues that holiness is neither mystical nor monastic but is concretely shaped by three coordinates: conformity to Christ, regulation by the law of God, and the practice of ordinary good works in every sphere of life. The discussion draws on Romans 8, Romans 12–13, 1 Peter 1–2, and Galatians 5 to show that holy living begins with the renewal of the mind and expresses itself in the dignity of daily work, household relationships, and engagement with the world as pilgrims and sojourners.
Ask FGBC #27: Why the shift from Saturday to Sunday worship?
Why did Christian worship shift from the seventh day to the first day of the week? This Q&A response argues that Sunday observance is not an abolition of the fourth commandment but its new-covenant fulfillment, grounded in Christ's resurrection as the inauguration of new creation. The moral principle embedded in the fourth commandment — one day in seven set apart for the worship of God — transcends any particular covenant, while the positive element specifying which day shifts from Saturday to Sunday in light of Christ's finished work and rest. Drawing on Hebrews 4, the eighth-day Sabbath typology of the Old Testament, and the 1689 LBCF's treatment of the Lord's Day, the speaker urges believers to receive Sunday worship not as a burden but as the highest delight and privilege available to the people of God.
Ask FGBC #26: How to witness to homosexual neighbours?
A pastoral question-and-answer exchange addresses how believers should relate to homosexual neighbours — including neighbours pursuing same-sex IVF — without either withdrawing from the world or condoning sin. Drawing on 1 Corinthians 5 and Romans 1, the speakers argue that homosexuality is one sin among many, that the root problem is man's estrangement from God, and that genuine friendship and neighbourly kindness are the proper soil in which gospel witness grows. Practical boundaries are discussed alongside the call to be ready to give a reasoned defence of what Scripture says.
Ask FGBC #25: How do I handle family members, friends, etc, not believing?
A questioner is grieved by family members and friends who refuse to believe the gospel, citing a theology that demands a prolonged crisis of sin and misery before conversion is credible. The response addresses both the pastoral burden of watching loved ones reject Christ and the theological confusion that treats immediate repentance and faith with suspicion. Practical counsel includes persisting in prayer, reading Scripture together rather than arguing theology, and pointing to the diverse conversion experiences in the New Testament and in works such as Pilgrim's Progress to show that Scripture nowhere requires a prescribed experiential cycle before a sinner may come to Christ.
The Future Prospect of the Apostle
Philippians 1:19–21 presents the apostle Paul's future prospect from a Roman prison cell, where he faces the real possibilities of release or execution. The sermon works through Paul's expectation of deliverance and vindication (vv. 19–20), grounded not in his own stature but in the prayers of the Philippian church and the power of the Spirit of Christ, and then turns to the great conviction of verse 21: 'For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.' The union Paul has with Christ in the present makes life a sustained magnification of the Savior, while death is simply the gaining of more Christ — a logic that dismantles every threat his persecutors could level against him. The congregation is called to the same orientation: to fight the good fight now, so that whether in life or in death, Christ is magnified in the body.
Ask FGBC #24: Why is it important for a Christian to continually confess his sins?
Why must a Christian continue to confess sins after justification? This question-and-answer session draws on 1 John 1:9, 1 John 2:1, and several Psalms to distinguish between the believer's unchanging forensic standing before God and the ongoing maintenance of relational fellowship with the Father. Justification secures the status; confession restores the communion that sin fractures. The priestly intercession of Christ at the Father's right hand is the ground of that ongoing access, and all confession is ultimately designed to locate glory upon the Savior.
Ask FGBC #23: Can you forgive someone who has not apologized or asked for forgiveness
Can a Christian forgive someone who has never apologized or asked for forgiveness? Drawing on Mark 11:25 and the pattern of divine deliverance in Judges 13, the answer is yes — there is biblical warrant for unilateral forgiveness, and the alternative is bitterness, which is both spiritually harmful and sinful. An important distinction is pressed between interpersonal forgiveness, which Christians are called to extend regardless of the offender's response, and civic justice, which makes its own legitimate demands: forgiving a criminal does not suspend the civil magistrate's obligation to punish crime.
The Spirit's Conviction of the World
Jesus declares to his sorrowing disciples that his departure is to their advantage — not despite the coming persecution, but precisely because it secures the gift of the Holy Spirit. This sermon works through John 16:5–11 under two heads: the departure of Christ (vv. 5–7) and the conviction of the world (vv. 8–11), pausing to develop the first at length. The Trinitarian logic of the temporal missions — the Father sending the Son, the Father and Son sending the Spirit — is shown to be the very theology that sustained the apostles under hostility and that sustains the church today. The sermon closes with a call to rest in the Spirit's power rather than human eloquence or celebrity, because the Paraclete is the disciples' power, protection, and advantage.
The Priority of the Gospel for the Apostle
Paul's imprisonment in Rome, far from silencing the gospel, became the occasion for its advance — to the Praetorian Guard, and through the emboldened preaching of the wider brotherhood. Philippians 1:12–18 presents a progress report that reveals Paul's singular priority: the proclamation of Christ, regardless of the motives of those who preach him or the circumstances that surround the preacher. The sermon works through the paradox of fruitful suffering, the anatomy of bad and good ministerial motivation, and the theology of providence that sustains both. The congregation is called to the same pattern — faithfulness and perseverance to the end, interpreting all circumstances through the lens of God's sovereign purpose for the gospel.
2LCF Chapter 27 – Of the Communion of Saints
The communion of saints, as confessed in 2LCF Chapter 27, is grounded in the believer's union with Christ by the Spirit and through faith — a union that conveys participation in His graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory without any divinization of the creature or diminishment of Christ's divinity. From that vertical union flows a horizontal obligation: holy fellowship in corporate worship, mutual edification through rightly ordered spiritual gifts, and material relief distributed according to ability and necessity. A necessary qualification guards the confession against both spiritual individualism and collectivist error: the communion of saints neither licenses neglect of public worship nor grants any person a right to another's private property, placing both socialism and communism in direct conflict with the Eighth and Tenth Commandments.
Ask FGBC #19: Should Christians engage in politics?
Should Christians engage in politics? This Q&A addresses the Christian's dual citizenship — as a member of both the church and the civil body politic — and argues that while political engagement is neither commanded nor forbidden by Scripture, it is entirely lawful. The discussion distinguishes the church's spiritual sword (the gospel and the keys of the kingdom) from the civil state's coercive sword, drawing on the Noahic covenant in Genesis 9 as the foundational charter for justice, family, and enterprise in society. The threefold use of the law is applied to show why preaching against abortion or civil injustice is ethics and theology, not partisan politics.
Baptism service
A baptism service in which three candidates — one raised in the congregation from birth, and a married couple — publicly profess repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ alone and are baptized by immersion. Each candidate gives a brief testimony of conversion: one through Isaiah 55 and the finished work of Christ on the cross, another through a sermon on Mark 5:36 following years of grief over a father's death. The service rehearses the 1689 LBCF paragraphs on the significance, proper subjects, outward element, and mode of baptism, anchoring the visible ordinance in the gospel it pictures.
Ask FGBC #18: Should churches observe holy days?
The regulative principle of worship governs which days the church is obligated to observe, and the only holy day Scripture commands is the Lord's Day — the Christian Sabbath. Drawing on 1689 LBCF chapters 21 and 22, this Q&A explains why Reformed Baptist churches do not hold services on Good Friday, Christmas, or other traditional holy days: God has not commanded them, and imposing them binds consciences in ways Scripture does not authorize. The Lord's Supper, not Good Friday, is the appointed means of remembering Christ's death; every Lord's Day is already a resurrection celebration.
The Intercession of Moses for the People, Judgement by God, and Folly of Israel
Numbers 14 records the aftermath of Israel's refusal to enter Canaan, and this exposition works through three movements in verses 11–45: Moses' intercession before a holy God, God's measured judgment upon the faithless generation, and Israel's final act of presumptuous folly. Moses' prayer is examined as a model of bold, Scripture-grounded intercession — appealing to God's reputation among the nations, His covenant character revealed in Exodus 34, and the precedent of His patient mercy. The chapter ultimately teaches that faithless cowardice is the fruit of rejecting the living God, that covenant-breaking brings assured judgment, and that faith in God's promises is the only ground of genuine courage.
The Persecution of the Apostles and the Church
Christ's warning in John 16:1–4 that the apostles and the church will be expelled from synagogues and killed is not given to produce fear but to prevent stumbling. The sermon works through two movements: the purpose of Jesus' instruction (verse 1) and the nature of the church's enemies (verses 2–4), showing that persecution is religiously motivated and theologically driven by a denial of the Trinity. The world's hatred of Christ's servants follows necessarily from its hatred of Christ Himself, and remembrance of His warnings equips believers for preparation, encouragement, perseverance, and pity toward those who persecute. The sermon closes in 1 Timothy 1:12–17 with the apostle Paul as the supreme exhibit of divine mercy toward the chief of sinners — the former persecutor who became the persecuted.
Ask FGBC #15: How can I steward my children, and know they are saved?
A parent's fear that their children may not be among the elect raises the question of how to steward children toward faith and how to have confidence in their salvation. Drawing on the doctrine of the means of grace, the answer is plainly stated: bring children consistently to the worship of God, where the Word is faithfully preached, and trust that God ordinarily works conversion through those appointed means. No parental method guarantees salvation, but faithless substitutes — sports on the Lord's Day, churches chasing entertainment — rob children of the very instrument God has appointed. The exhortation is simple: live a credible Christian life before your children, keep them in the assembly, and trust God to work.
The rebellion in the wilderness
Numbers 14:1–12 records the congregation of Israel responding to the faithless report of the ten spies with weeping, complaint against Moses and Aaron, blasphemy against God, and a proposal to appoint a new leader and return to Egypt. The passage exposes the idolatry underlying Israel's rebellion — not merely a preference for Egyptian food, but a wholesale rejection of Yahweh in favor of the gods they had left behind. God's response in verses 11–12, spoken in what theologians call the 'manner of men,' underscores the gravity of Israel's sin, the holiness of God's judgment, and sets the stage for Moses' remarkable intercession on behalf of a people who had just sought to stone him.
The Intercessory Prayer of the Apostle
Paul's intercessory prayer in Philippians 1:9–11 reveals what the apostle most deeply desires for the church: not comfort or relief from suffering, but abounding love anchored in knowledge and discernment, sincere and blameless conduct persevering to the day of Christ, and good fruit borne entirely by the agency of Jesus Christ to the glory of God. The sermon works through two main petitions — the disposition of the heart (vv. 9–10a) and the actions of the life (vv. 10b–11) — showing that love divorced from sound theology produces sentimentalism, while theology divorced from discernment produces loveless pride. The whole is framed by the Pauline conviction that from justification by faith alone flows the life of sanctification, and that every fruit of righteousness is not the cause but the consequence of God's grace, rendered ultimately to the glory and praise of God.
2LCF Chapter 25 - Of Marriage
Marriage as a divine institution is examined through the four paragraphs of 2LCF Chapter 25, with Matthew 19:5–6 as the anchor text where Christ grounds marriage in the creation of male and female. The sermon argues that marriage is not a social construct or ecclesiastical sacrament but a creation ordinance ordained by God before the fall, designed for the union of one man and one woman in monogamous covenant. A threefold providential purpose is unfolded — companionship, the inhabitation of creation, and a hedge against sexual immorality — and the regulative bounds of marriage regarding consanguinity, affinity, and Christian marital duty are applied against both contemporary sexual confusion and Roman Catholic sacerdotalism.
The Reconnaissance of the Land
Numbers 13 records the reconnaissance of Canaan, in which twelve tribal leaders are sent to survey the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Ten of the spies return with a report grounded not in the word of the living God but in an appeal to fear, functioning as anti-prophets who slander the land and paralyze the congregation — while Caleb calls the people to immediate, faith-driven obedience. The chapter exposes the difference between faithless fear and faithful courage as the decisive interpretive divide among those who witnessed the same evidence and held the same promise. The narrative calls believers to ground their courage not in the absence of obstacles but in the sovereign faithfulness of God, who has promised, guided, and proven himself in redemptive history.
2LCF Chapter 24 - Of the Civil Magistrate
What does the Bible teach about civil government, and how should Christians relate to governing authorities? Working through 2 London Baptist Confession of Faith Chapter 24, this study expounds the divine origin and limited purpose of civil magistracy, the lawfulness of Christian participation in government, and the qualified obedience owed to rulers who govern within God-ordained bounds. The particular Baptists are shown to occupy a distinct position between the Anabaptist rejection of civil authority and the Erastian tendencies of their Presbyterian contemporaries, grounding Christian submission not in the authority of the magistrate but in the sovereign ordination of God over all nations.
The complaint of the people
Numbers 11 records the complaint of Israel in the wilderness — a sin that provokes divine judgment, exposes the limits of Moses as covenant mediator, and points forward to the burden-bearing Christ and the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. The chapter is not a collection of independent narratives but a unified account of complaint (vv. 1–15), the appointment of seventy elders (vv. 16–30), and the execution of God's judgment (vv. 31–35). Israel's craving for meat is not mere hunger but a rejection of Yahweh as their God — an idolatrous longing for Egypt that God answers with poetic justice. The passage calls the new-covenant people of God to replace grumbling with gratitude, recognizing that God is to be valued for his own sake, not merely for what he provides.
The World's Greater Liability Before God
Jesus declares in John 15:21–25 that the world's hatred of his disciples flows from a deeper hatred of himself and the Father who sent him, making the rejection of Christ not merely a moral failure but a compounding of guilt before God. Increased revelation brings increased liability: those who witnessed Christ's word and works have no excuse for their unbelief, and their rejection of the Messiah is simultaneously a rejection of the triune God. The sermon argues that right Trinitarian theology is therefore not an academic luxury but a matter of eternal life and death, since to deny the Son is to deny the Father. Believers are called to stand fast in the word of God, rejoice in suffering as those united to Christ the master, and proclaim the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ without apology.
The Gratitude of the Apostle
Paul's opening lines to the Philippians (1:3–8) reveal an apostle whose gratitude, commendation, and affection are all grounded not in the merits of his friends but in the sovereign grace of God. The sermon works through three movements: the object and fruit of Paul's gratitude (prayer with joy), his commendation of the Philippians for their fellowship in the gospel and his confidence in God's preserving grace, and his oath-backed declaration of personal affection for them. The assurance of salvation rests not in the believer's perseverance but in the faithfulness of the God who begins and completes every good work, a truth the church is called to receive with gratitude and express through active participation in gospel ministry.