Topic
Worship
962 sermons · All topics
The Lord's Prayer in the Garden, Part 1
Matthew 26:36–39 sets the scene of Christ's agony in Gethsemane, and this sermon works through three observations: the setting of the Savior's agony, the sorrow of the Savior, and the supplication of the Savior. The preacher grounds the soul-distress of Christ firmly in His true humanity, engaging the Council of Chalcedon's two-natures Christology and the condemnation of monothelitism to show that Christ's two wills are both affirmed and required by this text. The cup Christ prays to have pass is identified as the cup of divine wrath, which differentiates His anguish from that of any martyr and establishes the necessity of substitutionary atonement. The sermon's primary application is worship and adoration in response to the lengths the incarnate Son went to in order to secure the salvation of His people.
The Contest at Carmel
The contest on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18 is not merely a dramatic episode from Israel's monarchic period — it is a confrontation between the living God of Israel and the futility of every false god. Elijah's challenge to a compromised people, 'How long will you falter between two opinions?', exposes the recurring temptation to blend true religion with idolatry, whether in ancient Israel's Baalism or in the subtler syncretism of today. The sermon traces the theological case for why Baal attracted Israelite worship — royal sanction, tradition, relevance to felt needs, and sensual appeal — before showing how God's consuming fire rendered that attraction indefensible. The application presses toward total allegiance: no halting between God and money, God and self, God and any competing lord.
The Truth Concealed and Revealed
Matthew 11:25–30 presents three interlocking realities that together form the foundation of gospel rest: the sovereign will of the Father in concealing and revealing gospel truth, the exclusive mediatorial office of the Son as the only means of access to the Father, and the gracious invitation of Christ to sinners burdened by sin. The sermon argues that a right understanding of divine sovereignty — including both election and reprobation — should produce not polemical pride but the thankfulness and praise modeled by Christ himself in verse 25. Sinners are called to come to Christ by faith alone, receiving rest from the burden of sin, and to take up his yoke in discipleship, which the Savior himself declares easy and light.
The Prince of Life and the Penitent Thief
The conversion of the penitent thief on the cross presents what one 19th-century commentator called the finest demonstration of vital theology in all the gospel narratives. Working through Luke 23:38–43, this sermon examines four elements of that occasion: the ironic truth embedded in the inscription 'This is the King of the Jews,' the unrepentant blasphemy of the cursed robber as a mirror of unregenerate depravity, the dying thief's Spirit-wrought confession of God's holiness, Christ's innocence, and Christ's lordship, and the sovereign comfort of Christ's assurance that salvation rests on divine promise rather than human merit. The sermon is delivered in the context of a Lord's Supper service, and each point is drawn toward the ordinance as a call to remember the King, to recall one's former state of enmity, and to rest on the blood and righteousness of Christ alone.
Paul at the Areopagus
Paul's sermon at the Areopagus (Acts 17:22–34) is an unapologetic proclamation of the exclusive lordship, unbounded glory, and all-sufficient independence of the one living and true God over against the multiplicity of Athenian idols. The sermon traces Paul's argument through four movements — the prelude, the proclamation proper, the mercy extended, and the Athenian reception — grounding each in the prophetic witness of the Old Testament. The idols of Athens are shown to be dependent, spatially confined, and utterly without refuge, while Yahweh is immense, uncircumscribable, and the source of all life, breath, and existence. Hearers are pressed to abandon the folly of any idolatry, old or modern, and to believe on the risen Christ before whom all will be judged.
Paul in Athens
Acts 17:16–21 presents the Apostle Paul's arrival in Athens, where he encounters a city so consumed by idolatry that ancient sources estimated some 30,000 deities. The sermon examines two subjects: the preacher and the people. Paul's spirit is provoked to a wholesome, righteous indignation — not a curmudgeonly repulsion — rooted in zeal for the glory of the one true God, the demands of His law (particularly the first and second commandments), and a knowledge of the deliverance the gospel brings to souls in bondage. His response to that provocation is immediate proclamation of Christ in the synagogues and the marketplace, even before a hostile audience of Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who insult him as a babbler and misunderstand the resurrection as a second deity alongside Jesus.
Free Grace Baptist Church - May 28, 2017 AM
Paul's arrival in Athens confronts him with a city given over to idolatry, and his response — a wholesome, Spirit-provoked indignation — serves as the model for Christian engagement with a world that exchanges the glory of the one true God for created things. This exposition of Acts 17:16–21 traces the background of Paul's Gentile mission from his apostolic commission in Acts 26, the two venues of his reasoning (synagogue and marketplace), the identity of his Epicurean and Stoic interlocutors, and the kerygmatic pattern that frames his proclamation. The sermon closes by calling hearers to imitate Paul's disposition — righteous provocation issuing in gospel proclamation and intercessory prayer — and to find in Jesus and the resurrection the only answer to the idolatry of every age.
The Proper Motivation in Prayer
The proper motivation and manner of prayer stand at the heart of Jesus' teaching in Matthew 6:5–13. Drawing a sustained parallel between the false prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18 and the hypocrites and heathen Jesus condemns, this sermon argues that prayer is corrupted whenever it is reduced to a technique for manipulating God or impressing men. True prayer flows from faith in a sovereign, omniscient God who is not domesticated, not coercible, and not indifferent — and the Lord's Prayer is not a formula to be rattled off but a framework that reorients the believer's priorities toward God's name, kingdom, and will before personal need. The sermon calls hearers to abandon both performative religion and mercenary devotion, and to seek the face of God alone in the secret place, trusting that He hears and rewards those who draw near to Him in faith.
1 Kings 18:1-40
1 Kings 18:1–40 presents the contest on Mount Carmel as a divinely ordained demonstration that Yahweh alone is the living and true God, and that Baal is no god at all. The chapter sets Elijah's bold, public confrontation against Obadiah's quiet, behind-the-scenes faithfulness, showing that God deploys His servants in different ways toward the same kingdom purpose. Elijah's challenge — 'How long will you falter between two opinions?' — indicts both ancient syncretism and every form of divided allegiance, insisting that God demands total loyalty and is not manipulated by religious frenzy. The sermon closes by warning that a Baal-worship mentality — doing religious duty in order to extract blessing from God — can infiltrate even Reformed churches.
The Institution of the Lord's Supper, Part 2
Matthew 26:26–30 records Christ's institution of the Lord's Supper in the context of the Passover, and this expository sermon works through the significance of the cup, the anticipation of the messianic banquet, and the concluding hymn sung before Gethsemane. The cup of the new covenant is unpacked under three headings: the covenantal background rooted in Exodus 24 and Jeremiah 31, the substitutionary and particular atonement it seals (Christ's blood shed for many, not for all without distinction), and the redemptive benefit of the remission of sins. The sermon closes by setting the Lord's Supper within its threefold orientation—backward to the cross, present in the church's communion, and forward to the consummated messianic banquet—and by pressing the gospel invitation upon the unconverted through John 6:40.
The King's Wedding
Psalm 45 is a royal wedding psalm that the New Testament applies directly to Christ, identifying the king as God incarnate whose throne is forever. This sermon works through four movements: the psalmist's overflowing intention, the glory and divine-human person of the king, the call for the bride to forsake all competing allegiances, and the declaration of the king's everlasting dominion. The congregation is pressed to enter the Lord's Supper — and every Lord's Day gathering — with the gladness and rejoicing that befits a bride coming into the presence of the one who is fairer than the sons of men.
The Institution of the Lord's Supper
Matthew 26:26–30 records Christ instituting the Lord's Supper in the context of the Passover meal, and this sermon expounds the theological significance of that institution under three headings: the setting, the institution itself, and its conclusion. The bread and cup are shown to be covenantal signs rather than instances of transubstantiation or consubstantiation — the elements represent Christ's body and blood without any change of substance. The covenantal background of Exodus 24 and Jeremiah 31:31–34 illuminates the cup as the blood of the new covenant, fulfilled by Christ as the true Israel who accomplished what national Israel swore but failed to do at Sinai. Believers are called to receive the supper as God's gift of spiritual nourishment and to trust not in their own performance but in the blood and righteousness of Christ alone.
The Prohibition Against Partiality, 2
James 2:5–13 grounds the prohibition against partiality in three interlocking arguments: a soteriological argument from God's sovereign election of the poor, a practical argument from the church's inconsistency in tolerating the very oppression it suffers, and a theological (decalogical) argument from the indivisibility of God's royal law. The sermon insists that partiality is not a minor social failing but a violation of the whole Decalogue, a rejection of the lawgiver himself, and a possible evidence of a heart still a stranger to sovereign grace. Because God has chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, his people must receive and honor those whom he has loved, letting the law of liberty — not license — regulate their conduct toward one another.
The Passover with the Disciples
Matthew 26:17–25 presents Jesus as the sovereign master of the Passover, not a hapless victim of events spiraling beyond his control. Working through the preparation for Passover and the announcement of betrayal, this exposition shows how Christ's active obedience to the law, his precise foreknowledge, and his willing submission to the Father's eternal decree together constitute the ground of redemption for his people. The contrast between Judas, whose hardened heart renders him a reprobate despite extraordinary privilege, and the eleven, whose sorrowful self-examination models the disposition of genuine faith, drives home two applications: trust in Christ alone, by grace through faith, for justification; and cultivate a healthy self-suspicion rather than a confident presumption of one's own standing before God.
The Confession of Thomas
John 20:24–31 presents Thomas's movement from emphatic unbelief to the confession 'My Lord and my God' — the confession that frames the entire fourth gospel, answering John 1:1 at its close. Thomas's refusal to believe is shown to be not mere doubt but a willful rejection of Old Testament testimony, the word and works of Christ, and apostolic witness — making Christ's gracious condescension to meet him all the more striking. The sermon expounds John's stated purpose in verses 30–31: that the gospel was written to produce saving faith, defined in the confession's terms as accepting, receiving, and resting upon Christ alone for justification, sanctification, and eternal life. Hearers are called to forsake the folly of placing conditions upon God and to confess with Thomas, 'My Lord and my God.'
1 King 14:1-20
1 Kings 14:1–20 records the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite delivered to Jeroboam's wife in disguise — a passage that functions as a programmatic text for the entire Northern Kingdom. The sermon traces three movements: the occasion of the prophecy (the sick child prompting a hypocritical resort to God's prophet), the content of the prophecy (divine provision scorned, royal rebellion catalogued, and sweeping judgment announced on Jeroboam's house and the northern tribes), and the fulfillment of the prophecy in 1 Kings 15 and 2 Kings 17. A recurring application runs throughout: like Jeroboam, men seek God's word only in crisis while rejecting its rule over the whole of life, and no disguise — literal or spiritual — can hide a soul from the searching power of God's word.
1 Kings 13
1 Kings 13 records the confrontation between an unnamed man of God from Judah and Jeroboam's idolatrous altar at Bethel, followed by that prophet's fatal disobedience when deceived by an old prophet, and Jeroboam's unmoved persistence in sin. The chapter turns on how men respond to the word of the Lord: the man of God obeys it before Jeroboam but abandons it under the old prophet's lying claim of angelic revelation, receiving temporal chastisement rather than condemnation. Jeroboam, by contrast, witnesses message, sign, mercy, and providence in sequence, yet does not turn from his evil way — becoming the negative standard against which subsequent northern kings are measured. The study calls hearers to simple, unreserved obedience to whatever God commands, and to recognize that signs and evidences do not produce faith; the Holy Spirit does.
The Anointing at Bethany
Matthew 26:6–13 records the anointing of Jesus at Bethany by Mary, sister of Lazarus, who poured a flask of costly spikenard worth a year's wages upon his head. Matthew places this account between the conspiracy of the chief priests and the betrayal by Judas for deliberate theological reasons: where the cross is associated with treachery on every side, it must also be associated with wholehearted worship and adoration. The disciples' indignant charge of 'waste' is exposed as both a direct insult to Mary and an indirect slight upon the dignity of Christ himself, while Jesus' fourfold response vindicates her act as a beautiful thing, a prophetic preparation for his burial, and a deed to be proclaimed wherever the gospel is preached. The sermon calls believers to imitate Mary's extravagant, undivided devotion to Christ, resisting the tendency to reduce Christian faithfulness to either social concern or piety alone.
1 Kings 12:25-33
Jeroboam's religious innovations in 1 Kings 12:25–33 are not a misunderstood accommodation but institutionalized idolatry driven by fear, insecurity, and a refusal to trust the God who gave him his throne. The passage exposes six specific violations: rejection of the first and second commandments, the central sanctuary law of Deuteronomy 12, Solomon's temple, the Levitical priesthood, the appointed feast calendar, and the canonical rule of Deuteronomy 12:32 against adding to or taking from God's commands. The sermon draws a direct line from Jeroboam's heart-driven worship innovations to the regulative principle of worship, arguing that acceptable worship is defined solely by divine prescription, not human preference or political convenience.
The Prologue to the Passion Narrative
Matthew 26:1–5 opens the Passion Narrative with two structurally parallel statements placed side by side: Christ's sovereign prophecy of His own crucifixion and the chief priests' conspiracy to accomplish it. The sermon argues that the word 'delivered up' (paradidōmi) carries far greater theological weight than a simple 'betrayed,' pointing ultimately to the Father as the primary agent who delivered His Son according to the eternal covenant of redemption. The Passover timing is no coincidence but the deliberate fulfillment of Old Testament typology — Christ is the new Moses leading a new exodus — and the only fitting response to such grace is worship, adoration, and the resolve to point children and neighbors to the cross.
The Idolatry of Solomon
Solomon's reign, celebrated across 1 Kings 3–10 for its wisdom, wealth, and temple-building, collapses in 1 Kings 11 under the weight of multiplied foreign wives, hardened idolatry, and a heart turned away from Yahweh. The sermon exposes the problem, precedent, and practice of Solomon's idolatry in verses 1–8, and then traces the divine response — God's righteous anger and covenantal judgment — in verses 9–13. Solomon's sin is shown to be aggravated by his knowledge of the law, his good example in David, and his twice-repeated experience of God's direct appearing. Drawing out seven practical warnings, the sermon calls believers to vigilance in marriage, obedience, and utter dependence on the Holy Spirit, while pointing to Christ — the greater Solomon — as the only secure ground for salvation and perseverance.
1 Kings 11:1-13
Solomon's fall in 1 Kings 11:1–13 confronts the reader with the most disorienting reversal in the narrative of the monarchy: the wisest man who ever lived, a man who built the temple and prayed for God to incline the hearts of his people, ends his reign bowing before Chemosh, Milcom, and Ashtoreth. The study traces how violations of Deuteronomy's prohibitions on foreign marriages and the principles governing kings — compounded by great privilege, faithful example, and divine warning — render Solomon's idolatry inexcusable and God's threatened judgment just. The divine response in verses 9–13 demonstrates both God's righteous anger at covenant-breaking and his covenant faithfulness to David, as the conditional and unconditional elements of the Davidic covenant together shape the coming division of the kingdom. Eight practical warnings are drawn from Solomon's fall, all converging on the believer's utter dependence upon the Holy Spirit as the only safeguard against apostasy.
The High Priest of the New Covenant
Hebrews 7:20–28 presents Christ's high priesthood as superior to the Levitical order in three respects: His appointment was confirmed by divine oath rather than hereditary succession, His priesthood is permanent because He lives forever, and His personal sinlessness qualifies Him as the perfect once-for-all sacrifice. The passage presses toward a practical conclusion: believers must actively avail themselves of this High Priest — confessing sin through their Advocate, crying out for aid in temptation, and resting in the unchangeable intercession of the One who always lives to make intercession for them.
The Fear of God
Proverbs 1:7 declares that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, yet this disposition is widely misunderstood and neglected among professing Christians. This topical survey distinguishes slavish fear from filial fear, demonstrates from Romans 3, Jeremiah 32, and the book of Proverbs that true fear of God is a gracious implantation sovereignly worked in the regenerate soul, and traces its necessary effects on the mind, the conduct, and the perseverance of believers. The sermon closes by calling both individual believers and the corporate assembly to cultivate this fear — in personal holiness, in theological engagement, and in God-directed, regulative-principle worship.
1 Kings 9
1 Kings 9 functions as a theological hinge in the narrative of Solomon's reign, positioned between the golden era of chapters 5–8 and the decline traced in chapters 10–11. God's second appearance to Solomon confirms his approval of the completed temple while issuing a sobering conditional warning: faithlessness — above all, idolatry — will cost Israel its land, its temple, and its Davidic dynasty, precisely as the covenant curses of Deuteronomy 28 stipulate. The second half of the chapter catalogues Solomon's political pursuits in foreign affairs, defense, worship, and trade, each carrying subtle narrative signals of the decline to come. The sermon closes by tracing how Christ fulfills what Solomon forfeited: the land recovered through the Abrahamic promise, the temple realized in his body, and the throne secured forever in the Davidic covenant.
1 Kings 8 Part 2
Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8 exposes several foundational truths for the people of God: the covenantal faithfulness of God across the Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Davidic covenants; the nature of God's presence among His people, which produces both reverential awe and deep joy; and the theological precision required for rightly ordered prayer, including the doctrines of divine incomparability, transcendence, immanence, and simplicity. The sermon closes by drawing out practical lessons for new covenant believers: the centrality of Scripture, the necessity of heart obedience, the perpetual need for forgiveness, the remedial purpose of afflictions, and the indispensable role of communion with God in the genuine pursuit of holiness.
1 Kings 8 Part 1
Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8 presents some of the richest theology in all of Scripture. The prayer's foundation is theology proper — God's incomparability, faithfulness, transcendence, and imminence — before moving to seven petitions that range from civil justice to Gentile inclusion to the prospect of exile and restoration. The sermon draws direct lines between Solomon's theology of prayer and the structure of the Lord's Prayer, and calls believers to cultivate daily communion with God as the indispensable ground of genuine holiness.
The One Thing Needful
Luke 10:38–42 presents two sisters whose contrasting responses to Christ's presence expose a perennial danger for every believer: allowing lawful, even godly, activity to crowd out the one thing needful. The sermon works through the difference between Martha's distracted service and Mary's devoted hearing, establishing that Christ's commendation of Mary is not a commendation of monasticism but of right priority — the kingdom of God and communion with Christ must govern the believer's ordering of life. Drawn from the parallel teaching of Matthew 6 and Luke 12, five consequences of carnal anxiety are identified, and the congregation is exhorted to repent of marginalizing Christ from the daily calendar and to attend faithfully to both the corporate preaching and the private reading of God's Word.
1 Kings 7
The construction details of 1 Kings 7 — Solomon's palace complex and the bronze furnishings of the temple — press the reader toward several theological lessons: that the worship of God takes priority over earthly government, that all skilled labour done to God's glory is honoured in Scripture, that the twin pillars Jachin and Boaz are theological sentinels declaring Yahweh's promise and power, and that the preparation and splendour of the temple calls every generation to approach God with reverence rather than casualness. The sermon traces these lessons through the chapter's three main sections — Solomon's palace, the craftsman Hiram, and the temple's furnishings — while drawing on Proverbs, Ephesians, and 1 Thessalonians to ground a doctrine of faithful ordinary vocation. The controlling warning comes from 1 Kings 6:11–13: external religious magnificence means nothing without the obedience of the heart.
The Seventh Commandment
The seventh commandment, 'You shall not commit adultery' (Deuteronomy 5:18), is neither a narrow prohibition of one act nor a relic of Mosaic theocracy — it is the summary of God's creational design for sexual integrity, binding on all people in every age because it reflects the law first written on Adam's heart and confirmed throughout both Testaments. This exposition examines the basis of the commandment (God's law, the purposes of marriage, and the severity of its sanctions), then moves through ten specific sins the commandment forbids, from adultery and fornication to pornography and unlawful divorce. The three uses of the law are applied: the civil use demands that governing authorities punish gross sexual sin; the pedagogical use drives sinners to confess their guilt before a holy God; and the normative use calls believers to active mortification of sexual sin, the faithful practice of biblical marriage, and close communion with God as the surest guard against violating the second table.